Check Your '80s Bias at the Door

Don't deny it. You've probably gone through a phase sometime in your life during which you renounced the '80s music you once loved. It's kinda like hating your parents for a while even when they don't really deserve it. Whether in the service of lame '90s faux hipsterism or some other misguided impulse, I can assure you that the urge to dismiss '80s music will only be a passing thing. Of course, if you've navigated to this site, you've already learned this key lesson. Nonetheless, I think it's worth stating how stupid we can be sometimes to deny ourselves of the greatest things in life for hollow reasons.

Like Rick Springfield. So what if he was a matinee idol and soap opera star who sometimes overdid the Casanova thing in his lyrics. The man can write a hell of a pop song, and I'm not just talking about "Jessie's Girl" here. This week I heard "Love is Alright Tonite" on satellite radio, and I'm still feeling the positive power pop reverberations days after. Simply put, if the music is good, listen to it. And the '80s produced far more quality tunes than we thought back then or most people will admit today. Get over the Journey disdain thing that was so fashionable 10 years ago, and simply enjoy the sonic smorgasbord laid out before you.

• Sample or download from the exhaustive Written in Rock Springfield anthology here.
• Sample or download from Journey's Greatest Hits here.
• Top 8 Journey Songs of the '80s
• Top 7 Rick Springfield Songs of the '80s