The Best Rock Songs of 1985 – The Mixtape

What were best rock songs of 1985? What better way to share that with you than taking you back in time and using the method in which we often shared what music we loved with others – through a mixtape.

Sure, streaming is great and you can go deep and make playlists surpassing hundreds of songs (I have several of those myself), but it’s also made us a bit lazy working without limitations.

There was something truly individualistic about trying to create a listening experience, a flow, a conveyed message and doing it all within the 90 minute window that a cassette tape allowed (or even 60 minutes in some cases). You had to be keenly aware of how long songs were so you’re not cutting off a track and you couldn’t just throw everything on there.

So for this exercise, I’m approaching it like trying to create a rock mixtape of 1985 for someone who wasn’t there to experience it. You’ve got 90 minutes total, you’re creating a Side A and Side B. You’re trying to make it flow well as a listening experience, while highlight what it was like to be alive listening to rock in the year 1985.

READ MORE: The Best Rock Album of Each Year Since 1970

It should be noted before anyone singles out certain obvious omissions that there will also be “alternative” and “metal” mixtape options as we try to give a clear view of what rock and metal music was like in 1985.

But given these parameters, what would you put on your 1985 rock mixtape? Sure, acts such as Dire Straits, Heart, Motley Crue and Bryan Adams seem like obvious necessities, but which artists would you cut to tell the story of rock in 1985?

Check out what’s on the mixtape below and let us know what songs you’d include to reflect the rock genre in 1985. You can also listen to this full mixtape through a Spotify playlist.