00:00Since you've gone, I've been lost with your trace
00:04I dreamin' that I can only see your face
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the 1980s rock songs
00:13that traded leather and lighters for white wine and ocean air
00:16Number 10, Steal Away, Robbie Dupree
00:30No need to adjust your stereo, you're not the only one who hears the uncanny resemblance
00:36to the Doobie Brothers' 1978 hit What a Fool Believes
00:38In fact, Michael McDonald's publishing company once considered suing singer-songwriter Robbie Dupree
00:44over the similarity, though McDonald himself reportedly had no interest in pursuing legal action
00:49Why don't we steal away? Why don't we steal away?
00:56Whatever the case, Steal Away became a soft rock staple
01:00and Dupree's lone top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
01:02He may have never reached those heights again
01:05but this one smooth gem is more than enough to cement his place in yacht rock history
01:10Number 9, Hard to Say I'm Sorry, Chicago
01:19In the 1970s, Chicago was synonymous with bold horn arrangements and an even bigger sound
01:32but that changed in the early 80s when the band brought in Canadian producer David Foster
01:37Out went the brassy bombast and in came polished synths
01:40and the rising dominance of singer-bassist Peter Cetera
01:43Some longtime fans balked, but the makeover paid off
01:52Just look at Hard to Say I'm Sorry, a number one hit from 1982's Chicago's 16
01:57The ballad more than earns its soft rock stripes
02:00bolstered by the studio finesse of Toto's David Page and Steve Procaro
02:04Number 8, You're the Only Woman, You and I, Ambrosia
02:14You might not know these versatile LA rockers by name
02:27and that's a shame because Ambrosia delivered some of the grooviest soft rock
02:31not just of the 80s but of all time
02:33Originally a prog band in the vein of Rush
02:35they gradually pivoted toward the smooth blue-eyed soul sound of the era
02:39You ain't not been in love too long
02:43Too worried about too long
02:47You're the Only Woman captures that transition in full
02:51A steady, driving rhythm, funky organ and sax solos
02:54and crucially, David Pak's irresistibly soulful vocals
02:57File this one under Songs to Play when your significant other needs a little reassurance
03:02You're the only woman that I really love
03:07Number 7, Against All Odds, Take a Look at Me Now, Phil Collins
03:14How can I just let you walk away
03:17Just let you leave without a trace
03:21Did you really think we'd get through a list of soft rock essentials
03:24without a little Phil Collins?
03:25The real question was which Collins track deserved the nod
03:29And while In the Air Tonight is, of course, a stone-cold classic
03:32we felt that it didn't quite fit the soft rock mold
03:35Instead, we went with this sweeping Oscar-nominated power ballad
03:47recorded as the theme to a mostly forgotten 1984 romantic thriller starring Jeff Bridges
03:53The movie may have vanished from memory
03:55but Against All Odds became Collins' first U.S. number one hit
03:58proving he could tug at heartstrings just as powerfully as he could pound the drums
04:02But you wait for you
04:04Well, that's all I can do
04:06And that's what I've got to face
04:09Number 6, Africa, Toto
04:11I hear the drums echo in tonight
04:15Sure, it's been memefied into oblivion
04:17But there's a reason that Africa hit number one back in 1982
04:20And it's not just ironic appreciation
04:23Yes, the lyrics are borderline nonsensical
04:26Yes, it's an earnest ode to a continent Toto's David Page had never actually visited
04:30Inspired instead by a National Geographic article
04:33And yet, that's exactly what makes it great
04:36Africa is soft rock at its most wide-eyed and overproduced
04:47Full of shimmering synths, soaring harmonies, and unironic grandeur
04:51It's ridiculous, it's irresistible, and it's the kind of song that could have only come from the 80s
04:56And we wouldn't change a thing about it
04:59Let's face it
05:15Soft rock is a tough term to pin down
05:18It means different things to different people
05:20But more often than not, it's a vibe
05:22You just know when you hear it
05:24Nowhere is that clearer than in this global smash
05:27Which remains Foreigner's defining anthem
05:30I wanna know what love is
05:33To borrow a line from Bill Hader's legendary SNL character Stefan
05:37I Wanna Know What Love Is has everything
05:39Dreamy synths, a steady groove
05:41Lou Graham's emotional vocals
05:43And a chorus so huge and moving that it seems to echo through the heavens
05:47I want you to show me
05:50Number 4
05:51I Can't Go For That, No Can Do
05:53Hall & Oates
05:54Some songs glide across genre lines so effortlessly
06:06They end up defining an entire era
06:08Hall & Oates' I Can't Go For That, No Can Do is one of them
06:11A masterclass in groove-forward soft rock that fused blue-eyed soul
06:15Synth-driven minimalism
06:16With its laid-back rhythm, silky vocal harmonies, and a bass line so smooth it inspired Michael Jackson's
06:31Billie Jean, this 1981 chart topper blurred the lines between R&B, pop, and rock
06:36But make no mistake
06:38This is rock music
06:39Just with a looser collar and better cologne
06:42It's the sound of the 80s, pressed to perfection
06:45Number 3
06:54Hey 19, Steely Dan
06:56No band blurred the line between soft rock sophistication and jazz fusion cynicism quite like Steely Dan
07:07Co-founders Donald Fagan and Walter Becker crafted Hey 19 as a deceptively breezy portrait of generational drift
07:13All shimmering keys, slinky grooves, and immaculate production
07:16Fagan's deadpan vocals glide over Becker's surgically precise arrangements
07:20Painting a scene of an aging hipster trying and failing to connect with a much, much younger woman
07:26The gap is cultural, emotional, and deeply pathetic
07:36And that's the point
07:37Sure, it goes down like a top-shelf cocktail
07:39But the aftertaste is pure existential hangover
07:42This is soft rock at its most brainy and biting
07:45Cynical, stylish, and unmistakably Dan
07:49Number 2
07:54Can't Fight This Feeling
07:56R.E.O. Speedwagon
07:57Power ballads don't get much more textbook than this
08:09With Can't Fight This Feeling
08:11R.E.O. Speedwagon traded in their arena rock swagger for something softer, sappier, and totally irresistible
08:17Frontman Kevin Cronin leans all the way into the melodrama
08:20Delivering a lovestruck confession that teeters on the edge of overwrought
08:24But somehow never tips over
08:26Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore
08:29It's the sound of a man white-knuckling his feelings in real time
08:35Backed by swelling piano, chiming guitars, and a chorus engineered to be belted out in the car with the windows up
08:41If soft rock is about sincerity without shame
08:44This is a gold standard
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09:06Of course we had to make room for one of the most deceptively romantic songs of the 80s
09:21Or so it sounds
09:22Every Breath You Take is often mistaken for a heartfelt ballad
09:25But Sting has long insisted it's about obsession, surveillance, and control
09:30It sounds like a comforting love song, he once said
09:32But I didn't realize at the time how sinister it is
09:36And yet even with its cold undercurrent
09:45The song's spare arrangement, mellow groove, and emotional restraint
09:48Hits squarely in soft rock territory
09:50It's a clever inversion of the soft rock formula
09:53Using its trademark sounds and stylings to deliver a decade-defining tune
09:57I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
10:01I keep crying baby, baby, please
10:06Which soft rock song on our list is your favorite?
10:12Are there any iconic 80s tunes that we missed?
10:15Be sure to let us know in the comments below
10:17Make tonight a wonderful thing
10:21Say it again
10:24Let's do that
10:29Make us thank you
10:31We gentlemen
10:32We pathways
10:32To music
10:34Let us know in the comments below
10:35We can see
10:35Let us know in the comments below
10:36We've time to leave
10:37We hope
10:37We verdad
10:39But we we hope
10:40We will not have fun
10:41We will not have fun
10:41We are denominating
10:42We hope
10:43We hope
10:43You wish
10:44Love
10:45We victory
10:45I love
10:46Love
10:47And we hope
10:48We will not have fun
10:49We tell you
10:50We hope
10:51I hope
10:51Volt
10:52Won't ho
10:52Sent
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