Help me make a playlist of the best driving songs from 1978-1985!

September 2, 2015 9:10 AM

I'm making a huge playlist of songs from 1978-1985 that represent the best of all music from that time period THAT ARE GOOD TO LISTEN TO WHILE DRIVING -- groovy, upbeat, etc.

I'm interested in more than just the hits that we all still remember today... let's also dig up some good jams that have been somewhat forgotten -- e.g. I'd prefer something from The Clash's album Sandinista versus "Rock The Casbah".

The only real caveat is that the songs must have been released between February 1978 - July 1985 and great to listen to while driving on a road trip. Any genre is fine -- let's put Madonna next to Soda Stereo!

posted by topsykretts to Media & Arts (38 answers total)

"Ah! Leah!" by Donnie Iris is a TOTAL JAM.
posted by divined by radio at 9:15 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Blondie, Dreaming.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:18 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Duran Duran - Planet Earth (Night Version) (released 1981)
posted by everybody had matching towels at 9:19 AM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Don't forget hair bands:

Van Halen, off 1984: "Jump", "Panama"
Quiet Riot: "Cum on Feel the Noize"
Twisted Sister: "We're Not Gonna Take It"
Also consider all the tracks off the Heavy Metal soundtrack.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:20 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Talking Heads — Cities (1979)

Cyndi Lauper — She-Bop (1984)

Kate Bush — Hounds of Love (1985)

Prince — Delerious (1982)

Sheila E. — The Glamorous Life (1984)
posted by John Cohen at 9:34 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Dirty Back Road and Legal Tender by the B-52's.

Party at Ground Zero and Modern Industry by Fishbone.

Do You Wanna Hold Me by Bow Wow Wow.

Stand and Deliver by Adam & the Ants.

Kiss Me on the Bus by The Replacements.

Guess when I went to high school...
posted by certs at 9:35 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]

Willie Nelson "On The Road Again" (1980)
posted by dnash at 9:36 AM on September 2, 2015

I used to enjoy driving to many tracks from Elvis Costello's album Get Happy, particularly the first ten tracks.

My only speeding ticket - deserved! - was for careless and enthusiastic driving during "Spellbound" by Siouxsie & the Banshees. (Tacky band name! Culturally appropriative!)

A friend made me a fabulous driving CD which contained The Harmonettes' version of Shame shame shame.

Also, the Shop Assistants' "Safety Net" is good for driving.
posted by Frowner at 9:38 AM on September 2, 2015

Kermit The Frog and Fozzie Bear, "Movin' Right Along" (1979) from "The Muppet Movie"
posted by dnash at 9:38 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Maybe obvious, but best driving song ever: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, recorded August 1978
posted by katemonster at 9:39 AM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]

The Clash, "Brand New Cadillac".
posted by ogooglebar at 10:04 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Simple Minds: Theme for Great Cities.
posted by rongorongo at 10:11 AM on September 2, 2015

The Cars. Their first album (same name) was released in June '78 and includes Just what I needed, My Best Friend's Girl, Good Times Roll, You're All I've Got Tonight, and (the BEST for cranking-up-while-driving-at-night) Moving in Stereo.
posted by Halo in reverse at 10:15 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Snif 'n' the Tears: Driver's Seat
Diesel: Sausalito Summernight
Bruce Springsteen's version of Pink Cadillac
posted by JanetLand at 10:17 AM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Cars - Gary Numan

Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello

Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
posted by hz37 at 10:21 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

The album "101 Driving Songs" contains a lot of the obvious candidates.
posted by rongorongo at 10:24 AM on September 2, 2015

First two sides of Welcome to the Pleasuredome
posted by Runes at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2015

Van Halen - Running with the Devil
Ah Ah - Take On Me
Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock
Deep Purple - Space Truckin'
Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
posted by Vindaloo at 12:04 PM on September 2, 2015

Indeep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Chaka Khan - I Feel For You
Jackson 5 - Blame it on the Boogie
Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
Talking Heads - Slippery People
Donna Summer - I Feel Love (1982 Patrick Cowley remix ;) )
Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round
Eurythmics - Love Is A Stranger
nth Gary Newman - Cars
Laura Branigan - Gloria
Duran Duran - Girls On Film (or Rio, or Wild Boys)
Kim Wilde - Kids In America
The Go-Gos - Head Over Heels
The Cure - Close To Me
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Split Enz - I Got You
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Christine
Toni Basil - Hey Mickey
The Jam - Funeral Pyre
Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
The Specials - Ghost Town
Madness - Baggy Trousers
Tenor Saw - Ring The Alarm
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:11 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Kraftwerk - The Man Machine and Computer World. Repeat.
posted by jetsetsc at 12:17 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2015

Something about the rhythm line in "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood always reminds me of being in a car. The "whup-whup" sounds here remind me even more of dashed white lines and guardrail posts zipping by. Plus, at 13.5 minutes, it eats up a few miles.
posted by underthehat at 12:49 PM on September 2, 2015

Blondie - 11:59
posted by corvine at 12:56 PM on September 2, 2015

REM - Don't Go Back To Rockville
posted by jabes at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2015

Todd Rundgren, "Emperor of the Highway"
R.E.M., "Little America"
Thomas Dolby, "She Blinded Me With Science"
Talking Heads, "Life During Wartime"
Jackson Browne, "Running on Empty"
The Clash, "Train in Vain"
Steely Dan, "My Old School"
posted by aught at 1:30 PM on September 2, 2015

John Lennon, "Watching the Wheels"
Warren Zevon, "Werewolves of London"
King Crimson, "Thela Hun Ginjeet"
Fleetwood Mac, "Tusk"
Squeeze, "Tempted"
XTC, "Senses Working Overtime"
U2, "Gloria"
Dire Straits, "Skateaway"
The Police, "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around"
posted by aught at 1:48 PM on September 2, 2015

(Maybe, for Todd Rundgren, "Bang on the Drum All Day" would be a better bet from that era.)
posted by aught at 1:49 PM on September 2, 2015

The Jam: Going Underground, That's Entertainment, David Watts. Really anything by the Jam works.
posted by ferdydurke at 2:11 PM on September 2, 2015

Grandmaster Flash - White Lines
posted by telegraph at 2:33 PM on September 2, 2015

Steely Dan-Deacon Blue. All of Aja in fact.
posted by Oyéah at 6:52 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Driving to The Cars is very satisfying to me.
posted by illenion at 10:24 PM on September 2, 2015

Oh yeah, and Tom Petty too. Full Moon Fever, the whole album.
posted by illenion at 11:28 PM on September 2, 2015

Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five - It's Nasty (Genius Of Love)
Oingo Boingo- Reptiles and Samurai
Electric Light Orchestra - Shine a Little Love
New Order - Temptation, The Perfect Kiss
Beastie Boys - She's On It
Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy
David Bowie - Fashion
The The - Uncertain Smile (extended version), This Is the Day
Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels
R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
Herbie Hancock - Rockit
The Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')
Yello - Bostich, Vicious Game
The Fixx - One Thing Leads To Another
The Style Council - Headstart for Happiness
Rick James - Love Gun
posted by prinado at 12:19 AM on September 3, 2015

Any REM from the first 2 albums (Murmur and Reckoning). Lots of stuff on New Order Substance. Television Marquee Moon. Lots of punk stuff: most Clash, Buzzcocks, Magazine. Lots of Police.
The best driving song is Hallogallo by Neu!, but that's before your time period.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:15 AM on September 3, 2015

E.L.O. - Don't bring me down (March/April 1979)
Prefab Sprount - Faron Young (June 1985)
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (September 1980)
The Bangles - Going Down to Liverpool (early 1984)
The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet (sometime in 1978)
posted by Harald74 at 3:28 AM on September 4, 2015

Am partial to the "Heartland" by the Sisters of Mercy for this purpose.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 4:28 PM on September 4, 2015

Roxy Music's Avalon is great to listen to while driving at night, bonus if driving through unlit roads in the woods. Actually I think the entire Avalon album is great for night-time driving.
posted by needled at 4:55 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: So I basically decided to go through everything released during those years (Feb 1978 - July 1985) and make a mega playlist containing 1 song from almost every album. It ended up being a big mix of the expected hits we still remember, the gems that have been lost in the past 30+ years, and some stuff that probably doesn't deserve to see the light of day but which I left in for perspective (I tried to leave out the really awful ones though).

Here's what I have so far. Songs are more or less in chronological order of release date (if I could find one). All links are to Apple Music. I broke the years up into segments of about 50 songs each, so you can choose to download a single playlist for offline listening without taking up too much space.

Enjoy. I'll update here again as I get through the other years up to 1985.

Please tell me if there's anything that I left out!

1978-A

1978-B

1979-A

1979-B

1979-C

1980-A

1980-B

(I'm only up to August 1980... I'll probably finish 1980 in a few days)
posted by topsykretts at 11:43 PM on September 26, 2015