James posted a meme on his blog which he picked up from somewhere else (which is the nature of memes, innit?)  So I've decided to participate.  Here are the instructions for this meme:

Go to popculturemadness.com and select the year you became 18 [from the "Hits" list on the left]. Snip the top 50 songs from the list and paste it in your journal. Bold the ones you like and strike the ones you dislike, italic the ones you know but neither like nor dislike, and the ones you don't know will stay in normal text.

Since the list given on popculturemadness is 75 songs long, James decided to include all 75, so I've done the same here. Also, as he did, I've chosen to gray out the songs I can't remember. So the list will follow these conventions:

• I like the songs in bold.
• I dislike the songs with strike-through.
• I'm neutral about the songs in italics.
• The songs in gray text are the ones I don't know.

1. We Built This City – Jefferson Starship
2. Smooth Operator – Sade
3. The Boys of Summer – Don Henley
4. Sea Of Love – Honeydrippers
5. Summer of '69 – Bryan Adams
6. Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
7. Into The Groove – Madonna
8. You Are My Lady – Freddie Jackson
9. Crazy For You – Madonna
10. The Bird – The Time
11. Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
12. Everytime You Go Away – Paul Young
13. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen
14. I Want To Know What Love Is – Foreignor
15. Careless Whisper – Wham!
16. Axel F – Harold Faltermeyer
17. Material Girl – Madonna
18. Roxanne, Roxanne – UTFO
19. All She Wants To Do Is Dance – Don Henley
20. Say You, Say Me – Lionel Richie
21. You're The Inspiration – Chicago
22. Through The Fire – Chaka Khan
23. Heaven – Bryan Adams
24. Freeway Of Love – Aretha Franklin
25. Jungle Love – The Time
26. All I Need – Jack Wagner
27. Born In The U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen
28. Small Town – John Cougar Melloncamp
29. Meeting In The Ladies Room – Klymaxx
30. Take On Me – A-Ha
31. Dancing In The Street – Mick Jagger & David Bowie
32. The Old Man Down the Road – John Fogerty
33. Just A Gigilo – David Lee Roth
34. New Attitude – Patti LaBelle
35. Private Dancer – Tina Turner
36. Centerfield – John Fogerty
37. Lovin' Every Minute Of It – Loverboy
38. People Get Ready – Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart
39. Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat
40. Rockin' At Midnight – The Honeydrippers
41. You Give Good Love – Whitney Houston
42. Dress You Up – Madonna
43. Cool It Now – New Edition
44. In My House – Mary Jane Girls
45. California Girls – David Lee Roth
46. Treat Her Like A Lady – Temptations
47. And We Danced – Hooters
48. Basketball – Kurtis Blow
49. Solid – Ashford and Simpson
50. Invincible – Pat Benatar
51. Wake Up (Next To You) – Graham Parker and the Shot
52. Your Love Is King – Sade
53. I Would Die 4 U – Prince
54. And She Was – Talking Heads
55. Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush
56. Everyday – James Taylor
57. Money For Nothing – Dire Straites
58. Jesse – Julian Lennon
59. You Spin Me – Dead Or Alive
60. All You Zombies – Hooters
61. (Don't You) Forget About Me – Simple Minds
62. Some Like It Hot – Power Station
63. The Heat Is On – Glenn Frey
64. The Oak Tree – Morris Day
65. Fresh – Kool and the Gang
66. Dancing In The Key Of Life – Steve Arrington
67. Can't Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon
68. Can You Feel The Beat – Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force
69. Suddenly – Billy Ocean
70. Kayleigh – Marillion
71. Voices Carry – 'til Tuesday
72. Lover Come Back To Me – Dead Or Alive
73. Oo-Ee-Diddley-Bop! – Peter Wolf
74. One Night In Bangkok – Murray Head (or Robey)
75. We Are The World – USA for Africa

Going over the hits of that year was a pleasant trip down memory lane I suppose. The real interesting thing is seeing where your likes and dislikes match up with or deviate from your friends'.  1985 was a good year for me.  I met James in 1985, as I recall, having graduated from high school that year and bumped into him my first week at UMass North Dartmouth that year (then known as Southeastern Massachusetts University.)  We seem to agree on more than we disagree on, which I suppose makes sense.  James was always very nice about putting up with my music later in life when we worked together.  Obviously not everyone turned 18 in the same year, but you can still run down the list and compare their tastes to yours.  Pretty fun!  Thanks James!

If anyone else wants to try this meme but doesn't have a blog, feel free to post your list in a comments.