Blondie emerged from the late '70s new wave punk scene to grab the biggest selling single of 1980 with "Call Me." Blondie were commissioned to write the song by the composer Giorgio Moroder as the main theme to the movie "American Gigolo." The song spent six weeks at the top of the Hot 100 in the spring of 1980 and was also a big hit in the UK and parts of Europe.
Sting and company scored a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic with "Every Breath You Take" in 1983. Most people take it to be a brooding love song, but it's actually about an obsessive stalker jealously surveying his prey. It held the number one spot on the American chart for eight consecutive weeks and has subsequently been heavily sampled, most notably on Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You," his ode to his friend Christopher Wallace, the Notorious BIG.
Prince stayed at number one for five weeks in the summer of 1984 with the song that cemented his reputation as one of the most promising songwriting talents of his generation. "When Doves Cry" documents the singer's feeling towards his parents at the time. In it, he ponders whether he's becoming more like his mother and father who he describes as "never satisfied" and "demanding" respectively. The song was written as part of the soundtrack to the singer's film project "Purple Rain."