Gen X 80s Top 20 Countdown UK: Elephants, Frogs & Power Ballads: The Top 20 from January 11, 1985

This week on the Gen X 80s Top 20 Countdown UK, we travel back to January 11, 1985, a chart packed with pop curiosities, heartfelt ballads, and synths that refused to behave.

You’ll hear Bronski Beat flip Gershwin into protest, Madonna make her UK chart power move, and a punk cover of Nellie the Elephant crash into the Top 10. There’s surreal charm, sonic drama, and more than one unexpected hit that had us hitting rewind in disbelief.

From McCartney’s cartoon chorus to the slow-motion heartbreak of Foreigner, this countdown is classic mid-80s: weird, wild, and utterly unforgettable.

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Intro music by Roman Orekhov from Pixabay