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Year-end consensus · Alternative & Modern Rock · two countdowns combined

The best alternative rock songs of 1982

Two radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 1982: KROQ and John Peel (BBC Radio 1). Combining every list, the top alternative rock song of 1982 is “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash, which appeared on two of the two countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Two different songs were voted number one somewhere: “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash and “Temptation” by New Order. The Clash was the year’s most-charted artist, with five different songs placing 8 times across the countdowns.

2countdowns
153songs charted
2different #1s

Top 100 songs of 1982

All 153 songs →

Ranked by combined points across every 1982 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

# Song Strength Lists Best #1s
1 Rock the Casbah The Clash
122		 2 #1 1
2 Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Clash
122		 2 #26 –
3 Promised You a Miracle Simple Minds
106		 2 #30 –
4 Temptation New Order
100		 1 #1 1
5 I Ran (So Far Away) A Flock of Seagulls
99		 1 #2 –
6 Sex Dwarf Soft Cell
98		 1 #3 –
7 Shipbuilding Robert Wyatt
98		 1 #2 –
8 Words Missing Persons
97		 1 #4 –
9 Know Your Rights The Clash
97		 2 #27 –
10 Don't You Want Me The Human League
96		 1 #5 –
11 The Message Grandmaster Flash And The Furious 5
96		 1 #3 –
12 Rock This Town The Stray Cats
95		 1 #6 –
13 I Predict Sparks
94		 1 #7 –
14 The Back of Love Echo and the Bunnymen
94		 1 #4 –
15 Vacation The Go-Go's
93		 1 #8 –
16 Talk Talk Talk Talk
93		 1 #9 –
17 Mad World Tears for Fears
92		 1 #5 –
18 Blue Spark X
92		 1 #10 –
19 Walking in L.A. Missing Persons
91		 1 #11 –
20 Straight To Hell The Clash
90		 1 #6 –
21 Hungry For You The Police
90		 1 #12 –
22 Town Called Malice The Jam
89		 1 #13 –
23 The Story Of The Blues Wah!
88		 1 #7 –
24 Since You're Gone The Cars
88		 1 #14 –
25 Mickey Toni Basil
87		 1 #15 –
26 Do You Believe In The Westworld Theatre Of Hate
86		 1 #8 –
27 Never Say Never Romeo Void
86		 1 #16 –
28 Stand and Deliver Adam & the Ants
85		 1 #17 –
29 Elephant Talk King Crimson
84		 1 #18 –
30 Into The Garden Artery
84		 1 #9 –
31 Goin to a Go Go The Rolling Stones
83		 1 #19 –
32 Peekaboo! Devo
82		 1 #20 –
33 Revolutionary Spirit The Wild Swans
82		 1 #10 –
34 Shock the Monkey Peter Gabriel
81		 1 #21 –
35 Nip it in the Bud The B-52's
80		 1 #22 –
36 A Town Called Malice The Jam
80		 1 #11 –
37 Senses Working Overtime XTC
79		 1 #23 –
38 White Wedding Billy Idol
79		 1 #24 –
39 Only You Yazoo
78		 1 #12 –
40 Goody Two Shoes Adam Ant
78		 1 #25 –
41 Love Plus One Haircut 100
77		 1 #26 –
42 Faithless Scritti Politti
76		 1 #13 –
43 Hungry Like the Wolf Duran Duran
76		 1 #27 –
44 I Love a Man in Uniform Gang of Four
75		 1 #28 –
45 Ziggy Stardust Bauhaus
74		 1 #14 –
46 Party Fears Two The Associates
74		 1 #14 –
47 The Space Between Roxy Music
74		 1 #29 –
48 Heartbeat King Crimson
73		 1 #30 –
49 Open Your Eyes Lords of the New Church
71		 1 #32 –
50 Space Age Love Song A Flock of Seagulls
70		 1 #33 –
51 Fireworks Siouxsie and the Banshees
70		 1 #16 –
52 Girls on Film Duran Duran
69		 1 #34 –
53 Runaway Boys The Stray Cats
68		 1 #35 –
54 Hurt New Order
68		 1 #17 –
55 Who Can It Be Now? Men At Work
67		 1 #36 –
56 Europa and the Pirate Twins Thomas Dolby
66		 1 #37 –
57 Asylums In Jerusalem Scritti Politti
66		 1 #18 –
58 Tainted Love Soft Cell
65		 1 #38 –
59 Come On Eileen Dexy's Midnight Runners
64		 1 #19 –
60 Destination Unknown Missing Persons
64		 1 #40 –
61 Primary The Cure
63		 1 #41 –
62 Empire Song Killing Joke
62		 1 #20 –
63 Too Much Information The Police
62		 1 #42 –
64 Back on the Chain Gang The Pretenders
61		 1 #43 –
65 Whatever Is He Like? Farmer's Boys
60		 1 #21 –
66 Mexican Radio Wall of Voodoo
60		 1 #44 –
67 American Music The Blasters
59		 1 #45 –
68 African And White China Crisis
58		 1 #22 –
69 Stick to the Grind King Cotton
58		 1 #46 –
70 Wild Sex (In the Working Class) Oingo Boingo
57		 1 #47 –
71 Spring In Fialta Slow Children
56		 1 #48 –
72 Slowdive Siouxsie and the Banshees
56		 1 #23 –
73 You Got Lucky Tom Petty
55		 1 #49 –
74 Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage Killer Pussy
54		 1 #50 –
75 Pillar to Post Aztec Camera
54		 1 #24 –
76 Seconds The Human League
53		 1 #51 –
77 Skin on Skin Boomtown Rats
52		 1 #52 –
78 The Hanging Garden The Cure
52		 1 #25 –
79 Stray Cat Strut The Stray Cats
51		 1 #53 –
80 867-5309/Jenny Tommy Tutone
50		 1 #54 –
81 I Eat Cannibals Toto Coelo
50		 1 #55 –
82 Cat People David Bowie
48		 1 #57 –
83 One World (Not Three) The Police
47		 1 #58 –
84 The Figurehead The Cure
46		 1 #28 –
85 Georgia Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
46		 1 #59 –
86 Mickey Mouse Sparks
45		 1 #60 –
87 Love My Way The Psychedelic Furs
44		 1 #29 –
88 Quit The Waitresses
44		 1 #61 –
89 The Hungry Wolf X
43		 1 #62 –
90 Goodbye Goodbye Oingo Boingo
42		 1 #63 –
91 Shake It Up The Cars
41		 1 #64 –
92 Love Action The Human League
40		 1 #65 –
93 Peasant Army Redskins
40		 1 #31 –
94 Me and the Boys Dave Edmunds
39		 1 #66 –
95 It Ain't None of Your Business Missing Persons
38		 1 #67 –
96 Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) Simple Minds
38		 1 #32 –
97 Beatnik Beach The Go-Go's
37		 1 #68 –
98 Precious The Jam
36		 1 #69 –
99 A Strange Day The Cure
36		 1 #33 –
100 Down Under Men At Work
36		 1 #70 –

Every station’s number one of 1982

StationNumber one songCountdown
KROQ Rock the Casbah The Clash KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1982
John Peel (BBC Radio 1) Temptation New Order John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1982

All 1982 countdowns in this ranking

About the 1982 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 1982 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all two qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the alternative results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.