Don Henley beats Wham! to claim The Ultimate 80s Summer Song
See the full Top 10
Last updated 26th Jul 2024
Over the past few weeks, Absolute 80s listeners have been voting in their thousands for The Ultimate 80s Summer Song.
Throughout today (Friday 26th July), we’ve been playing the entire Top 50 on air on Absolute 80s, and the countdown started at 10am with Tears for Fears’ ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World.'
Five hours later, Don Henley claimed the Number 1 spot with his seminal solo anthem ‘The Boys of Summer’, a track so good it’s even performed at Eagles concerts.
Written by Don Henley and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, the enduring song is about the passing of youth from the perspective of an older man who reminises nostalgically about a past “summer love.”
In a closely-fought battle, ‘The Boys of Summer’ narrowly beat Wham!’s intensely feel-good ‘Club Tropicana’ to the top spot by just a handful of votes.
Other artists that featured in the eclectic Top 50 include Bon Jovi, Madonna, Queen, Bob Marley, Duran Duran, ABC, The B-52s, Glenn Frey, Guns N’ Roses, Whitney Houston, Bronski Beat, Tom Petty, Journey and Simple Minds.
You can listen back to the entire Top 50 countdown, and check out the Top 10 below.