The 80s-est

We have a mismatch of galactic proportions in our quest to crown the most quintessentially 80s song.

The favorite, wearing the crown of the region's top seed, is Madonna's "Like a Virgin,” the ultimate embodiment of 80s pop, with its pulsing synth beats, provocative imagery, and chart-dominating power.

Facing off against this pop culture icon is mostly unknown 16-seed "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants, representing the decade's thriving underground scene with a neurotic energy that captured the anxious undercurrent beneath all that 80s optimism.

While Madonna ruled the airwaves, television stations, record stores, movie theaters, awards shows, clothing stores, and dance floors, TMBG was busy crafting the soundtrack for college radio while managing to stay relatively unknown.

I’m not sure Madonna will win this whole season, but I am sure that she will win THIS matchup.

This list of Madonna awards/nominations is INSANE.

Get ready for a grudge match that pits arena rock royalty against each other!

In the red corner, wearing the heavyweight belt as our 2-seed, stands Van Halen's "Jump," the song that proved even the kings of hard rock couldn't resist the 80s synth revolution! Eddie Van Halen traded his iconic guitar licks for bouncing keyboards and yet still delivered pure rock euphoria that packed stadiums worldwide, even if it did scare off David Lee Roth!

Challenging this beast is the 15-seed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith, a track that embodies everything deliriously excessive about late-80s rock: big hair, big attitudes, gender-bending glam, and Steven Tyler's trademark shriek!

While "Jump" represents the evolution of rock meeting synth, "Dude" is pure chaos wrapped in spandex. Can Aerosmith's comeback single upset the mighty VH, or will "Jump's" irresistible blend of synths and swagger prove why it earned that coveted 2-seed?

As mentioned on the show, this is a meaningless bonus poll:

This bracket battle brings us a fascinating clash between two very different flavors of 80s. It’s the smooth sophistication of established royalty versus the infectious energy of rising stars.

In one corner, we have Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You," the (kinda shitty) 7-seed that dominated 1984, proving that even legends could join in on the decade's love affair with synth, drum machines, and glossy production.

Standing opposite Stevie is Miami Sound Machine's "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," the 10-seed that brought Latin heat to mainstream America with Gloria Estefan's powerhouse vocals and an irresistible groove, that helped usher in the unstoppable rise of dance-pop that would rule the latter half of the decade.

It's Motown royalty meets Miami Vice energy. Will Wonder's timeless charm and crossover appeal prove too strong, or can the Miami Sound Machine shake things up with pure kinetic 80s euphoria? VOTE!

Here is a screenshot of the moment of “pretend like you are dead”…you make the call—zombie or NOT a zombie?

In today's bracket, we witness what appears to be one of the tournament's most brutal mismatches: 3-seed "Hungry Like the Wolf" preparing to devour 14-seed "Veronica" in what should theoretically be the musical equivalent of a nature documentary's final scene.

Duran Duran's 1983 powerhouse didn't just define 80s excess—it practically wrote the instruction manual, complete with exotic locations, cinematic music videos, and enough synthesized atmosphere to terraform a small planet. This is the song that turned five Birmingham lads into global superstars, and convinced an entire generation that the proper response to romantic desire was to reference predatory wildlife while wearing enough eyeliner to stock a department store cosmetics counter.

Meanwhile, lurking in the 14-seed position is Elvis Costello's "Veronica," a track that represents one of the decade's most fascinating late-game plot twists: the moment when America's most critically beloved underground darling finally cracked the mainstream code in 1989, armed with nothing but his highest-charting US single and a decade's worth of pent-up artistic credibility.

The cosmic joke here is that while Duran Duran spent the early 80s conquering MTV and redefining what pop stardom could look like, Costello was busy being too cool for the room—until suddenly, just as the decade was closing, he delivered his most accessible moment. Can one perfect song from the 80s' final act compete with a track that helped invent what we think of as quintessentially 80s in the first place?

How does one do THIS “bitey-face” without laughing?

Today's bracket brings us a delicious matchup that proves seeding doesn't always tell the whole story: 6-seed "Free Fallin'" faces off against 11-seed "Edge of Seventeen" in what might be the tournament's most deceptive David-versus-Goliath showdown. And the fact that these two were friends for 40 years makes it even more complicated!

Tom Petty's 1989 masterpiece arrives as the higher seed based purely on our artist rankings—a song so timeless that it somehow managed to sound both completely of its moment and like it could have been written in any decade since the invention of the electric guitar.

But lurking in the lower bracket is Stevie Nicks' 1982 witchy anthem, a track that didn't just embrace the 80s aesthetic—it practically summoned it from the ether with its pounding drums, soaring synths, and menu-driven lyrics that sound like a battle cry from the cosmos.

The question today becomes whether authentic 80s-ness belongs to the song that conquered the decade's final year, or the one that helped define what the decade should sound like in the first place? VOTE!

There was also a second video for “Edge” that is a straight live performance video:

Welcome to today's episode, where our battle perfectly encapsulates the beautiful chaos of 80s reinvention!

In this corner, we have Phil Collins' 1984 powerhouse ballad, 4-seed "Against All Odds,” a song so commercially unstoppable it turned a former Genesis drummer into America's favorite heartbroken crooner, complete with Phil’s signature mix of emotional devastation and pristine production.

Facing off against this juggernaut is Rod Stewart's 13-seed, "Young Turks," a fascinating artifact from 1981 when the perpetually adaptive rocker was desperately trying to shed his disco-era spandex for synthesizer-friendly respectability.

Who did it better? Collins' mastery of the decade's emotional grandiosity, or Stewart's willingness to completely reinvent himself in pursuit of cultural relevance? VOTE!!

In today's clash of the titans, it’s bangs vs. beards, in a matchup that's absolutely rock royalty.

In the blue corner, wearing leather and attitude, it's our 5-seed: Pat Benatar's powerhouse “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” that had everyone from aerobics instructors to arena crowds “firing away” with finger guns.

And in the red corner, sporting cheap sunglasses and the most iconic beards in rock history, it's our gritty 12-seed, “Legs.” From ZZ Top's synth-heavy MTV makeover era, this Texas-boogie-meets-new-wave song launched a million kids into doing that ZZ Top ‘down the road’ gesture with their friends.

One's pure rock rebellion, the other's got a heavy dose of sheepskin-covered swagger. Both dominated the airwaves, both defined the MTV generation, but which one captures the pure essence of what made the '80s so gloriously over-the-top?

THIS will be the 80s-est thing you watch today:

Alright, '80s college radio lovers, buckle up because we've got ourselves a certified alt-rock-pocalypse brewing!

In this corner, it’s our 8-seed, R.E.M.'s caffeinated stream-of-consciousness ramble, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” that somehow made the end times sound like the most fun you could possibly have—a song so densely packed with rapid-fire references that even Michael Stipe probably forgets half the lyrics mid-performance.

And squaring off against them, our 9-seed challenger: Talking Heads' paranoid funk masterpiece, “Burning Down the House,” that turned anxiety into the most danceable nervous breakdown ever committed to tape.

Both bands were the thinking person's new wave darlings, both songs became iconic '80s anthems in completely different ways, both bands were Deni’s darlings.

So which track better embodies the decade's perfect blend of intellectual weirdness and undeniable catchiness?

In tonight's battle for 80s supremacy, we have the heavyweight champion "Beat It" strutting into the ring with its multi-zippered leather jacket, Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, and that unmistakable Michael Jackson SHAMON swagger. But wait, here comes the scrappy underdog "Head Over Heels," armed with synthesizers, a chimpanzee in a Red Sox jersey (yes, really), and enough new wave quirkiness to make even the most dedicated MTV viewer reach for their oversized glasses.

While "Beat It" flexes its chart-topping muscles and moonwalks through the competition, "Head Over Heels" counters with its distinctly British charm and that irresistible piano motif that somehow makes falling in love in a library seem like the most 80s thing ever. Can the King of Pop's rock-meets-pop perfection defeat the delightfully eccentric world of Tears for Fears, where romantic desperation meets synthesized sophistication? One song defined the decade's sound, but the other captured its beautifully bizarre spirit—let the battle for 80s authenticity begin!

Regarding the show close here’s information on the: 1985 Ohio Tornado Outbreak on Wikipedia

Draped in Irish mystique and enough echo to fill a stadium, we have the 2-seed "With or Without You" – U2's soaring masterpiece that turned Bono into a messianic rock god and made The Edge's guitar delay pedal famous! This atmospheric juggernaut comes loaded with enough existential angst to power a semester of college philosophy classes.

But wait – here comes our scrappy 15-seed "Against the Wind," Bob Seger's blue-collar ballad that's about as 80s as a Detroit assembly line... which, plot twist, might actually BE pretty 80s! Sure, this heartland rocker feels more like 1970s denim than 1980s synth-pop, but don't sleep on Seger's Reagan-era working-class anthem vibes and that distinctly American sound that defined the decade's grittier underbelly.

Can U2's cathedral-sized ambition steamroll the Silver Bullet Band's everyman appeal? Or will Seger's authentic Americana prove that sometimes the most 80s thing is music that sounds like it's fighting against everything the 80s represented? Time to find out if Ireland's finest can weather this Midwestern storm!

[INSERT BOB SEGER VIDEO HERE IF HE EVER MAKES ONE.]