Pop of the 1980s – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the Pop of the 1980s quiz, each with a short explanation. Megastars, music videos and synths — how well do you know 80s pop? Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Which 1982 Michael Jackson album is the best-selling album of all time?
Answer: Thriller
Thriller (1982) is widely cited as the best-selling album ever, with estimated sales of more than 70 million copies.
2. Which band topped charts worldwide in 1983 with 'Every Breath You Take'?
Answer: The Police
'Every Breath You Take', written by Sting, came from The Police's 1983 album Synchronicity. It spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the US and four in the UK, and won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
3. Madonna rolled around in a wedding dress at the 1984 MTV Awards singing which song?
Answer: Like a Virgin
At the first MTV Video Music Awards on 14 September 1984 at Radio City Music Hall, Madonna performed Like a Virgin in a wedding gown with a Boy Toy belt, rolling on the floor after a stiletto slipped off.
4. Duran Duran recorded the theme song for which 1985 James Bond film?
Answer: A View to a Kill
Duran Duran co-wrote A View to a Kill with composer John Barry for the 1985 Roger Moore Bond film; released in May 1985, it remains the only Bond theme to top the US Billboard Hot 100.
5. Which 1986 album turned Janet Jackson into a global pop star in her own right?
Answer: Control
Janet Jackson's third album Control, released on 4 February 1986 and produced with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in Minneapolis, was her commercial breakthrough, spawning hits like Nasty and What Have You Done for Me Lately.
6. Michael Jackson first performed the moonwalk in 1983 while singing which song?
Answer: Billie Jean
Michael Jackson first performed the moonwalk during 'Billie Jean' at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special, taped March 25, 1983 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and broadcast on NBC that May. It was also the first time he wore the single sequined glove on stage.
7. Prince's 1984 album and hit movie shared which purple-themed title?
Answer: Purple Rain
Prince's Purple Rain was both a 1984 album and a feature film released that summer; the soundtrack spent 24 weeks at No. 1 in the US and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. 'Purple Haze' is a 1967 Jimi Hendrix song.
8. Complete Whitney Houston's 1987 smash: 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who ___)'
Answer: Loves Me
Whitney Houston's 1987 hit is titled 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)', the lead single from her album Whitney, and it topped the US and UK charts.
9. Which duo had a 1984 number one with 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go'?
Answer: Wham!
Wham!, the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, topped the UK and US charts with 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' in 1984.
10. Which band's Freddie Mercury-led Live Aid set is often hailed as the greatest ever?
Answer: Queen
Queen's roughly 20-minute set at Live Aid on 13 July 1985 at Wembley Stadium, fronted by Freddie Mercury, is routinely voted the greatest live performance in rock history and was recreated in the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
11. Which song was the first music video ever aired on MTV, in August 1981?
Answer: Video Killed the Radio Star
MTV launched at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981, and its first music video was The Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star', directed by Russell Mulcahy. Pat Benatar's 'You Better Run' followed as the second clip.
12. What was the name of Band Aid's 1984 charity single?
Answer: Do They Know It's Christmas?
Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia and led to Live Aid.
13. What was the title of George Michael's chart-topping 1987 debut solo album?
Answer: Faith
George Michael's first solo album, Faith, came out on 30 October 1987 after Wham! split, topped the charts and won the 1989 Grammy for Album of the Year. His follow-up, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, arrived in 1990.
14. Prince wrote the 1986 hit 'Manic Monday' for which all-female band?
Answer: The Bangles
Prince wrote 'Manic Monday' under the pseudonym 'Christopher' and gave it to the Bangles, who took it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, held off the top by Prince's own 'Kiss'. It was originally intended for Apollonia 6.
15. Whitney Houston was a first cousin of which famous singer?
Answer: Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is Whitney Houston's first cousin: Warwick's mother, Lee Drinkard, and Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, were sisters from the Newark gospel-singing Drinkard family.