(Credits: Far Out / lilartsy)
Sat 25 October 2025 14:30, UK
Detractors will often say that the 1980s are the absolute nadir of music, where pop commercialism started to take complete control of the charts over anything artistically ambitious, but if we’re going to look at things from a balanced perspective, then it ought to be seen as a decade of positive change.
Guitars may have been going out of fashion, and electronic instruments were being used increasingly often in hits as the decade progressed, but this shouldn’t be seen as a regression as far as creativity was concerned. At the same time, we were able to witness the birth of new genres, with dance music and hip-hop both arguably having stemmed from the gradual decline of disco and the emergence of club culture.
Lots of people will look at this as a negative, but we wouldn’t have the wealth of variety in pop music that we do today if it weren’t for the trends that started in the 1980s. Guitar fans, worry not; there was rock music in the ‘80s, and while that had seen its goddamn edges soften as well, with modernisation moving it in a direction that purists felt absolutely disappointed with, the genre was still producing some all-time classics that were able to wrangle back ground from its pop competitors.
Both the UK and the US were embracing new genres and trends at different speeds, and therefore, we’re able to witness a slight disconnect between the amount of time that these classic rock tracks were afforded at the peak of the charts.
Which rock song was number one the longest in the 1980s?
The UK experienced a more significant turning of the tide than the US did, with very few classic rock songs maintaining their place at the top of the charts for multiple weeks throughout the decade. However, there was one hit which was practically inescapable, largely thanks to its inclusion in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ managed to remain at number one for four weeks in 1982, as a result of it having been written as the theme song for the Sylvester Stallone hit, Rocky III. Chart history in the UK and US will always tell you that a movie tie-in is always going to fare well, and ‘Eye of the Tiger’ was no exception to the rule.
Unsurprisingly, it also fared well in the US, with it spending six weeks at the top of the charts, although this only tied for second place in the overall decade standings when it comes to classic rock, remaining at the top for the same amount of time that the J Geils Band did in the same year with ‘Centerfold’.
However, one other classic rock song from 1982 proved to be even more dominant in the States, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ seemingly reflected the nation’s perception of the genre, not quite willing to let go of their obsession with this style.
Keeping hold of its spot for a total of seven weeks, it proved to be the most dominant classic rock song of the 1980s in the US, and despite only reaching a peak of number four in the UK, it has become perhaps one of the most beloved tracks of its kind here in subsequent years.
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