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Chapter 146: More Than This

80s pop ballads

The distinctive production of 80s records is a blessing and a curse - on uptempo dance tracks, canned chintzy sounds add to the fun, but on more serious songs they can be a distraction. Here are ten ballads that make the limitations of pre-modern pop work for them. The thin, trebly keyboards on “All Night Long’” and “Bette Davis Eyes” make Lionel Richie and Kim Carnes sound more human and vulnerable. “Broken Wings” steals hair-metal licks to build an atmosphere that’s both intimate and dangerous. “More Than This” is, simply, elegance defined.
1. Lionel Richie

All Night Long (All Night)

2. Billy Idol

Eyes Without a Face

3. Mr Mister

Broken Wings

4. John Waite

Missing You

5. Heart

These Dreams

6. Kim Carnes

Bette Davis Eyes

7. Roxy Music

More Than This

8. Pat Benatar

We Belong

9. Thompson Twins

Hold Me Now

10. The Police

King of Pain