10 Perfect Pop Albums Of The 1980s

10. Let's Dance - David Bowie

No David Bowie fan should expect the Starman to stay in one genre for very long. Ever since the days of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie has always looked at his music as an ever evolving thing, pulling from different influences whenever he can from the sounds of blue eyed soul to drum and bass in the mid '90s. When the '80s were starting though, Bowie gave us the textbook example of how to sell out in the right way.

Of all the '70s legends to move into the next decade, Bowie's theatrics fit right in on MTV, and Let's Dance was just the kind of fun loving record that made him a star all over again. Working with funk legend Nile Rogers, every one of these songs are a lot more sophisticated than your average pop song, like including an amazing horn break on the opener Modern Love or having the jazz like chord progression for the title track.

For all of the pop leanings of this album though, it's still far more eclectic than just straight ahead pop, like China Girl originally being offered to Iggy Pop to sing and also featuring the blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan on lead guitar on a few tracks. Even though this sound might seem a little bit dated these days, this might be the best 'product of its time' album that you could ask for. You can listen to it just to dance, but you have even more layers to peel back once you spend some more time with it.