Every Gen X Alive Remembers These 4 Classic Pop Jams From 1981
This article revisits four pop songs from 1981 that are said to remain instantly recognisable to members of Generation X, celebrating an era of chart-topping hits that spanned pop, new wave, R&B and soft rock. It highlights the enduring cultural resonance of these tracks decades on, noting chart achievements and personal milestones for the artists involved.
The songs featured are:
– "9 To 5" (also known as "Morning Train") by Sheena Easton, which topped the Billboard Hot 100, Canadian and Australian charts in 1981.
– "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, a Grammy-winning new wave/soft rock hit that reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and remains her biggest success.
– "Being With You" by Smokey Robinson, which hit No. 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 2 on the Hot 100, still his highest-charting solo single.
– "Woman" by John Lennon, released as his first single after his 1980 death, which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 on the Hot 100.
- Article lists four memorable 1981 pop hits for Gen X
- Includes Sheena Easton's "9 To 5" and Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes"
- Also features Smokey Robinson's "Being With You" and Lennon's "Woman"
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Generation X refers to people generally born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s, meaning many of them grew up listening to the radio during 1981, a year often remembered as a golden period for pop music. The article looks back at four songs from that year that are still widely recognised today, spanning styles from mainstream pop to new wave, soul and soft rock.
The featured tracks come from four very different artists: Sheena Easton, a Scottish singer who had a major early-career hit with "9 To 5"; Kim Carnes, whose "Bette Davis Eyes" became a Grammy-winning chart-topper and her best-known song; Smokey Robinson, a veteran soul singer and songwriter marking his highest-charting solo single with "Being With You"; and John Lennon, the former Beatle whose song "Woman" was released as a single shortly after his murder in December 1980.
These songs matter partly because of their chart success at the time, and partly because of what they represent now, songs that have stayed embedded in popular memory for more than four decades and are often used as shorthand for the sound of the early 1980s.