Rock Bands From The 80s
On The Acoustic

Better Be Home Soon was the bands 2nd single from the 1988 album Temple Of Low Men.

The song reached #2 in both Australia and New Zealand and hit #7 in Canada and #42 in the US.

Come On Eileen hit #1 in both the UK and the US when it was released back in the summer of 1982.

The song hails from the bands album "Too-Rye-Ay".

Cruel Summer hit the airwaves back in 1983. The song was a single with no album attachment.

The band put the track on their 2nd album in 1994 called "Bananarama". The song hit #8 in the UK and #9 in the US.

Distant Sun was the 1st single from the Crowded House 1993 album entitled Together Along. the original release never charted in the US but eventually did the following year after a remix.

In the UK the song reached #19 as well as peaking at #4 in Canada, #5 in New Zealand and #23 in Australia.

Don't Dream It's Over hit the airwaves back in 1986 and was the 4th single from the Crowded House album Crowded House.

The song was a huge international hit reaching #1 in new Zealand, number #2 in the US and a top 10 in several other countries. Paul Carrick joined Paul Young who covered the song in 1991.

Don't You (Forget About Me) is a single by the group Simple Minds and has appeared in two films. The Breakfast Club in 1985 and the film Easy A in 2010.

Artists Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry both turned down an offer to record the song. The song was written by two fans of Simple Minds and the band was skeptical about recording a song they themselves had not written.

But they had not broken into the US market as yet. The song hit #1 in both Canada and the US in 1985.

Don't You Want Me is a track by The Human League and hails from their 1981 album Dare.

It reached #1 in the UK that year and #1 in the US the following year.

Drivers Seat is technically not an 80s song but came out as a single in 1978.

The song reached #15 in the US in the fall of 1979 and reached #4 in the Netherlands in 1980. The band is considered a one hit wonder band as this was their only big hit.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World is a Tears For Fears 1985 single from the bands album Songs From The Big Chair.

The song did very well internationally reaching #1 in the US, Canada and New Zealand and #2 in Ireland, the UK and Australia. If the title sound familiar

it's a line in the song Charlie Don't Surf by The Clash from a 1980 album of theirs.

Faith hails from George Michaels debut album and was not originally going to be released as a single mainly because the original recording had no guitar solo and was too short.

So once George Michael realized the song would likely do well as a single, a guitar solo was added to the track.

The song reached #1 in the US, Canada, Australia and #2 in the UK.

Fallen On Hard Times was single by Jethro Tull back in 1982 from the album The Broadsword And The Beast.

The single reached #20 on the US Main chart.

Fire Woman is off of the 1989 album by The Cult entitled Sonic Temple.

The song reached #1 in new Zealand, 32 in the US and #15 in the UK.

For Your Babies is from the 1991 album by Simply Red called Stars.

The track peaked at #9 in the UK and was a top 20 in several other countries.

Hannah Jane was one of three singles from the debut album by Hootie And The Blowfish in 1994 called Cracked Rear View.

This track only peaked on a track in Iceland at #23.

Here Comes The Rain Again is a 1983 songs from the duo The Eurythmics and can be found on their album Touch.

The song was a #4 hit in the US and a #8 in the UK.

Hold My Hand was a single from 1994 from the debut album by Hootie And The Blowfish called Cracked Rear View.

The single was a #2 on the US Pop charts and #4 on the US Rock charts. In Canada the song peaked at #36.

I Just Died In Your Arms was the debut single for the group Cutting Crew back in 1986 and hails from their album "Broadcast".

The song was a monster hit reaching #1 in Canada, US, Norway and Finland and hitting the top 10 in several other countries.

I Want Your Sex is also from the debut "Faith" album and was part of the Beverly Hills Cop II movie and peaked at #2 in the US and UK but did hit #1 in Ireland and The Netherlands.

There were three versions of this song recorded.

Laurel Canyon is a track off of a 2014 album from The Church called Further/Deeper. 

This track was never released as a single.

Linger was the bands second major hit when it was released back in 1993 from the album Everyone Else Is Doing It So Can't We? Dreams was released a year earlier and was a top 10 in Ireland.

The band scored a #3 in their native country of Ireland, a #4 in Canada, a #8 in the US and a #14 in the UK.

Love Plus One is a track from the British band Haircut 100 off of their Pelican West album from 1981.

This single was released in 1982 and reached #3 in the UK and #37 in the US, making it their only hit in the United States.

Only Wanna Be With You was a huge single for Hootie And The Blowfish in 1995 when it was released as a single.

The song was a #1 in both Canada and the US and is from their debut album Cracked Rear View.

Personal Jesus was the lead single from this bands 7th album called "Violator" when it was released back in 1990.

The song peaked at #13 in the UK and reached #28 in the US.

Place Your Love is a track off of Roxette's Crash Boom Bang album from 1994.

The song was never released as a single however.

Red Red Wine is actually a Neil Diamond song which he first released back in 1967. UB40 decided to cover this number and included it as a track on their 1983 album Labour Of Love.

The song topped the charts in the UK and made it to #34 in the US. Neil Diamond liked the Reggae so much that he now performs that version in his concerts instead of the acoustic ballad version he originally recorded.

Save It For Later was released as a single back in 1982. The band was known as "The Beat" in the UK and "The English Beat" in Canada and the US.

The was the bands last album called "Special Beat Service". The song reached #47 in the UK and #58 in the US.

Say A Prayer was first released in the UK as a single in 1982 from their album "Rio". It hit #2 on the charts.

Three years later in 1985 they released the song in the US where it peaked at #16.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go was first released in 1981 and did OK on the charts but did not reach the top 40 in the US. The track is from the album Combat Rock.

Years later in 1991 when the song was used in a TV commercial about blue jeans, the song was re-released and hit #1 in the UK and was a top 10 in a few other countries.

Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of A New Day) is from the 1975 album War Child from Jethro Tull.

The song failed to chart.

Sweet Dreams was a 1983 single from The Eurythmics off of their album of the same name.

There were five singles from this album but this song was their biggest hit, hitting #1 in Canada and the US and making it into the top 10 in several other countries.

Take On Me was first recorded in 1984 for the bands debut album "Hunting High And Low". The song was then remixed with some additional music added.

The first release failed to chart in the UK but with that second release, the song went to #2. In the US, with the help of MTV, the song reached #1.

The King And Queen Of America is a single from the 1989 album by The Eurythmics called We Too Are One.

The once reached #23 in Ireland and #29 in the UK but failed to chart in the US.

The Look hails from the Swedish duo Roxette and can be found on their 1989 album Look Sharp.

The song was a monster hit and topped the charts in 25 countries. The music video was filmed in a studio in NYC.

The Promise was the debut single from the group When In Rome and was released in 1987 in the UK and 1988 in the US.

It was the bands only big commercial hit, peaking at #11 in the US.

Under The Milky Way was released back in 1988 as a single from their album Starfish.

The band managed a top 30 in the US, Australia and New Zealand with this song. It did reach #2 in the US on their Mainstream Rock Chart.

Wake Me Uo Before You Go Go peaked at #1 in both the US and the UK and hails from their 1984 album "Make It Big".

The song was also a #1 and top 10 in several other countries.

What's My Scene is a track from the 1987 by Hoodoo Gurus called Blow Your Cool.

The song only charted in Australia but reached #3 on the charts there.

When You're Gone from The Cranberries was one of three singles released from their 1996 album To The Faithful Departed.

The song was a top 20 in Canada and reached the top 30 in a few countries.

Zombie is by the far The Cranberries most successful single and can be found on their 1994 album No Need To Argue.

The song was a #1 in France, Australia and Germany as well as one chart in the US and a top 20 in several other countries.