80s Music Quiz

By Claire

Are you ready to take this 80s music quiz and find out if you’ve got what it takes to be crowned the ultimate 80s music expert? Prove yourself by answering these 60 pop music quiz questions from that era. But you may need to dust off those old cassettes or CDs for reference…

80s Music Quiz Questions Round 1

1 – Which hit was No. 2 for Rick Astley and No. 4 for Nat King Cole in ’87?

When I Fall in Love

2 – What was the first Top Ten hit for Tanita Tikaram?

Good Tradition

3 – What were “shattered” in the 1987 No. 5 hit for Johnny Hates Jazz?

Dreams

4 – Who joined Kenny Rogers on “We’ve Got Tonight”?

Sheena Easton

5 – Which Jimmy Nail hit was a cover of a Rose Royce Hit?

Love Don’t Live Here Anymore

6 – New Edition got to No. 1 in ’83 with which Girl?

Candy Girl

7 – Who were spun around by their No. 1 “You Spin Me Round (like a record)”?

Dead or Alive

8 – Which group had Top Ten hits with “Breakout” and “Surrender”?

Swing Out Sister

9 – Whose first UK No. 1 hit was “West End Girls”?

Pet Shop Boys

10 – What was KC and the Sunshine Band’s only UK No. 1 in the 80s?

Give It Up

Round 5

11 – Which twins had hits with “Love on Your Side” and “Doctor Doctor”?

Thompson Twins

12 – Which town got The Specials to No. 1 in 1981?

Ghost Town

13 – What followed “Ooh La La La” in the 1982 hit for Kool and the Gang?

Let’s Go

14 – The name of which Asian country gave Kim Wilde an 80s hit?

Cambodia

15 – Having left the Jam, Paul Weller charted regularly with which band?

The Style Council

16 – Where did Lipps Inc. take us to in their No. 2 from 1980?

Funky Town

17 – Which antipodean title was a No. 1 for Men at Work in 1983?

Down Under

18 – The song “Intuition” was the only UK Top Ten single for which duo?

Linx

19 – Mental As Anything had a No. 3 with “Live It Up” from which film?

Crocodile Dundee

20 – Who joined Julio Iglesias on his No. 5 success “My Love”?

Stevie Wonder

Round 6

21 – Which animal was sleeping on the No. 1 hit by Tight Fit?

Lion

22 – Which ’87 Billy Idol hit was a cover of an earlier Tommy James hit?

Mony Mony

23 – What was Simply Red’s first Top Ten UK hit?

Holding Back the Years

24 – Which Del Shannon hit became an 80s hit for Icehouse?

Hey Little Girl

25 – How many no. 1 singles did The Bee Gees have throughout the 1980s?

One (You Win Again)

26 – What in 1986 was Spandau Ballet’s last UK Top Ten hit?

Through the Barricades

27 – Who joined Fun Boy Three on “It Ain’t What You Do” in 1982?

Bananarama

28 – Which day links a No. 2 by the Bangles with a No. 3 by New Order?

Monday

29 – Who had No. 1 single working with Queen and then Mick Jagger?

David Bowie

30 – Whose first Top Ten hit was “Harvest for the World” in 1988?

Christians

The 1980s were a decade of significant change in the music industry. The emergence of popular media outlets made it easier for artists to distribute their materials, while at the same time there was an increase in competition from both emerging markets as well as established international stars. It’s been more than 30 years since then, but some things haven’t changed: people still love pop music with catchy hooks. In this quiz, we asked you about your knowledge of 80s songs to see how much you know about the past three decades of popular music. We hope you enjoyed testing out your knowledge and maybe even learned something new.

 

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