10 Biggest Rock Songs From Every Year Of The 1980s
1. 1989: Another Day In Paradise - Phil Collins
To round out this look at popular rock music in the 1980s, it's another big track from big Phil.
Collins’ fourth studio album …But Seriously, which also featured a picture of his face on the cover, marked a drastic change in his music, as he began commenting more on social and political issues through his songs. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s lead single, Another Day in Paradise.
The song is about inequality, how backwards it is that the affluent can enjoy their lavish lifestyles whilst ignoring those in desperate need. Not exactly the cheeriest of topics, but it clearly resonated with the general public.
Another Day in Paradise gave Collins another US number one single and also topped Billboard’s Eurochart Hot 100, which used data compiled from over a dozen European countries. It was a gold record all over the world and it helped its album go four-times platinum in America.
The fact that something as sombre as this did so well is testament to how times were changing towards the end of the '80s. Either that, or it shows how many people wanted to own something with Phil Collins’ face on it.