The best of the best

I'm one of those guys, a la John Cusack and Jack Black in "High Fidelity," who can't resist making lists. I love them. They make me feel good inside, just like puppies, chocolate chip cookies and Jesse Helms' retirement.\nSo to sum up the popular music of the 1980s, I'm making two lists: best songs and best albums. You can agree with me. You can (and most likely will because, when it comes right down to it, I have no taste whatsoever) disagree with me.\nBest Songs\n1. "The Message," Grandmaster Flash. Hip-hop is the most important development in pop music since the British Invasion, and this is the best hip-hop song ever.\n2. "Voices Carry," Til Tuesday. In a decade dominated by new wave, this song stands out above all the competitors.\n3. "Last Caress," Misfits. Listening to this song automatically damns you to hell.\n4. "Make a Change," Buckwheat Zydeco. A simple song with a simple theme: "Make a change in your life/And make it for the better." It's on the "Fletch" soundtrack.\n5. "Feels Like Rain," John Hiatt. This bittersweet beauty helped establish Hiatt as one of the best singer-songwriters of the last 20 years.\n6. "Smoking Gun," Robert Cray. The best blues of the decade.\n7. "Killed by Death," Motorhead. Two words: bleeding ears.\n8. "Islands in the Stream," Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. I know it's smarmy. I know the Bee Gees wrote it. What's your point?\n9. "Smooth Operator," Sade. Her smooth, sensuous voice floated over a cool instrumental background like smoke in a seedy jazz club.\n10. "It's in the Way That You Use It," Eric Clapton. Part of The Color of Money Soundtrack, this was a scorching pop song that highlighted E.C.'s otherwise dreary decade.\nHonorable Mention \n"Peace Sells," Megadeth; "Pink Houses," John Mellencamp; "Rockin' in the Free World," Neil Young; "Don't Come Around Here No More," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; "Tempted," Squeeze; "Talkin' Bout a Revolution," Tracy Chapman; "Love Stinks," J. Geils Band; "Crimson and Clover," Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; "Escape (I need a break)," Whodini; "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em,)", Greg Kihn Band; "Hang Fire," Rolling Stones; "Three of a Perfect Pair," King Crimson and "Open Letter to a Landlord," Living Colour.\nBest Albums\n1. Graceland, Paul Simon. Somehow he was able to fuse African soundscapes and perfect pop melodies. The album is no less than brilliant.\n2. Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen. Born in the USA sold a lot more, but this one was better. Just Bruce and his guitar. Very haunting.\n3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy. Biting social commentary and funky beats.\n4. Master of Puppets, Metallica. The best metal album in history. Well, except for Sabbath.\n5. How Will the Wolf Survive?, Los Lobos. These guys should be remembered for more than a cinematic remake of "La Bamba."\n6. Surfer Rosa, Pixies. Paved the way for the alternative explosion of the early '90s.\n7. Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel. Gabriel's third self-titled album featured, among other things, perhaps the greatest protest song ever in "Biko."\n8. Trio, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris. This album lived up to all the promise that comes from a union of three great country voices.\n9. Street Songs, Rick James. Damn Hammer forever for ruining "Superfreak."\n10. Shoot Out the Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson. Sublime and elegant songwriting and vocals by the former husband and wife.\nHonorable Mention \nStay Hungry, Twisted Sister; Pretenders, Pretenders; Synchronicity, the Police; Document, R.E.M.; Blizzard of Ozz, Ozzy Osbourne; Raising Hell, Run DMC; Texas Flood, Stevie Ray Vaughan; Centerfield, John Fogerty; Screaming for Vengeance, Judas Priest and Double Fantasy, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.\nI've omitted the work of two acts from these lists because, in my opinion, they can only be honored as the Artists of the Decade: Prince and U2. They both proved that it's possible to blend artistic excellence and popular appeal; Purple Rain and The Joshua Tree both sold millions of copies and embodied the unmeasurable creativity and talent of the artists who made them. And that doesn't even take into account Boy, War, The Unforgettable Fire, 1999, Around the World in a Day and Sign of the Times.