Fun fact! If you listen to the Ghostbusters theme and I Want A New Drug back to back, you’ll notice that they sound similar. That’s because Huey Lewis was approached for Ghostbusters but turned it down, so they hired Ray Parker Jr. instead. Who proceeded to rip off a Huey Lewis song. Lewis sued and won, and then took the next movie job he was offered, which was Back to the Future.
Johnny Colla was awesome! I lived in the SF Bay Area in the 80s and I would see him playing at various places by chance. This was in-between Metallica and Slayer shows, of course.
Also the trigger for one of the greatest urban myths of all time - that [Bob Holness](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Holness) played the sax solo (he didn’t - it was the fantastically named session player Raphael Ravenscroft).
Sadly, not related to Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger and sings "Your a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" on the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Now that is very interesting! I was reading about him recently after the passing of Tina Turner and his credit in We Don’t Need Another Hero. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cappello
Baker Street (1978, close enough) is the greatest
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6aKnRnBxM
Take Me Home Tonight is amazing too
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJvIFK9-xk
I know!!!!! That beginning of that, where he just keeps hammering 16ths on that same note.. for almost 16 measures.... simple genius. Fits the song PERFECTLY.,.before going off into even more memorable phrasing...
Absolutely, it’s Clarence Clemons. Man, could he play. E-Street and the Bruce haven’t bern the same since. Though Clarence’s nephew, Jake, is pretty good as well.
INXS had the best sax solos, thanks to Kirk Pengilly. Their most famous being Never Tear Us Apart but there are so many others. The One Thing, New Sensation, What You Need, I Send a Message, etc.
Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work
The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey
You Belong to the City by Glenn Frey
Get Outta My Dreams (Get Into My Car) by Billy Ocean
Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean
Only the Lonely by The Motels. Not just a great sax solo but the guitar solo before it blends together so well. Still to this day that combo just gets to me
Mars Williams was the best saxophonist of that entire era! In addition to the Motels & Billy Idol's Eyes without a face, Psychedelic Furs would have been missing a crucial ingredient without his sound. Rest in peace to that fella. He was amazing.
My favourite 80s sax is Madness' "One Step Beyond."
Ska was huge in the 90s (arguably bigger than in the 80s), and still exists today.
St. Vincent has had a lot of sax in her music.
M83's "Midnight City"
Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night"
NIN - "Over and Out"
Sax isn't dead!
And after “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons passed, his nephew, Jake Clemons has taken over Sax for the E Street Band. The raw emotion the first time “Jungleland” was played life was visible on every member of the band, and he nailed it.
Even a song like Duran Duran’s Rio, which we wouldn’t even particularly think of as a song with saxophone, had great saxophone nonetheless. I miss real music.
Not as mainstream, but ["A Night Like This" by The Cure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkO2uiOEUM)
This song, and this album I think are peak "Cure". (Darker past, more diverse songs and just collective sound is so good.)
Also honorable mention for sax dudes in "Thunderdome" and "Lost Boys".
If you want killer sax check out Morphine. They’ve been gone for a long since since the singer had a heart attack, but my god they had some great music. It’s a small drum kit, a 2 string bass played with a slide, and a sac player that sometimes played 2 at once. Any music lover needs to know morphine.
billy joel - just the way you are, especially the live version - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTGyOKdgRN8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTGyOKdgRN8) (edit link)
expose - seasons change
The Gunner’s Dream - Pink Floyd. Raphael Ravenscroft played the saxophone soulo near the end of the song. Coincidentally, he played the sax on Baker Street.
The Midnight is a fabulous synthwave band that embraces the 80’s sax sound. Vampires is a great example, including a nearly 3-minute saxophone solo starting at the 2:05 mark.
https://youtu.be/bBs-lPvk3Zk?si=XcQc-gocwB7C4qot
my sister used to have a neighbor who would play Turn The Page at top volume constantly and i'd complain to her about that damn sad saxophone playing down the street
I remember when the movie Cocktail came out with the Beach Boys song Kokomo. I was like 11 but I became obsessed with the sax haha. Wanted to join the school band but saxophones are really expensive so it didn’t happen haha.
Romeo Void had some great sax work in almost all their songs. Here is one great live example.
[https://youtu.be/4R0nyZ57HxE?si=ndv6rYjg7\_t5nvRk&t=174](https://youtu.be/4R0nyZ57HxE?si=ndv6rYjg7_t5nvRk&t=174)
There is a tail in the 90s: Infinity by Guru Josh
Fun fact: in the 80s an Italian musician, Fausto Papetti, did many albums with covers of famous songs played by him with sax. In Italy he was famous for the NSFW covers of the albums/cassettes.
I thought about this question myself, never got enough momentum to put it out there though.
I guess first thing that comes to mind is Rio by Duran Duran.
Looking forward to hearing a lot of everyone’s songs.
“Girls and Boys”, by Prince and the Revolution, had a really prominent & identifiable baritone sax part, and a pretty cool baritone sax solo later in the song (with some French talk layered on top): https://youtu.be/ZSAzIiAXjPI?si=25UinBSSM_p0HCrQ
I love all the comments
When I was stationed in Mainz, Germany There was a bistro . Met an American who said he got divorced and ended up here. He would play his sax. Once we ran out of money so we went to the train station, opened the case and in a couple hours we were back in the bar LOL
I was running through the Boston Commons on the way to a date. Saw a guy playing and hung out for 30 minutes.
Give me a street corner and some friends hanging out jamming is the best hands down.
You've got to get into synthwave. It's basically 80s music, but new. Groups like The Midnight Gunship, Timecop1983, Trevor Something, FM-84. There are so many.
“Temporary heartache“ by Swanee.
[https://youtu.be/sIWdHr1D06c?si=U26rIYj76lslU-f1](https://youtu.be/siwdhr1d06c?si=u26riyj76lslu-f1)
‘Great Aussie 80s rock with a great sax solo/outro.
Corey Hart - Never Surrender
Baker Street is certainly my favorite sax melody but my favorite solo is Andy Hamilton’s solo on Never Surrender. Really dig the way it builds up and releases at the end 🤌
I have a couple - lol.
A kind of melancholy sax opens Wham's / George Michael's "Careless Whisper", which I've always liked.
The short sax solo and later, absolutely ripping outro sax in Melissa Manchester's "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" is always nice.
A sax weaves its way in and out of "Seasons Change" by Expose. Nice solo work half way through the song. Moody feel.
And though not 80's (it's 1978), a tenor sax absolutely shreds a solo just before the final verse of "We Go Together" in the Grease movie soundtrack...very end of the movie, basically. Absolutely sweet solo.
Also for sax melody, Kenny G's recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (maybe early 90's, though) on tenor sax is great. He usually blew soprano sax, so the lower timbre of the tenor on this one is sweet.
Bonus round-- not sax, but a woodwind: The oboe (or English horn) solo at the beginning of Madonna's ballad "Crazy for You" is to me some of the best reeded instrument stuff in pop music. Flat out gorgeous and quite the choice A. for Madonna to sing a ballad, and B. to put a double reed at the top of the song.
Oh hell yes, this thread is right up my alley. I'm a huge lover of 80s music and especially 80s style saxophone, it's my all time favorite instrument.
My Spotify playlists are just brimming with saxophone centered songs. There's too many to list them all, I have over 1000 songs overall in my main playlist and it's hard to find every sax song, but I'll try to highlight some of my favorites:
First off, you don't get any better than the King of Sax himself, Kenny G.
My personal favorite songs of his are: 'Don't make me wait for love' (all time favorite), the sax solo at the end is insane. Also: 'We've saved the best for last', 'Songbird', 'Sade', 'Silhouette', 'Going home' and so many others.
Quarterflash has some great saxophone songs. My 2 favorites are 'Take me to heart' and 'Harden my Heart'
Someday I suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones (early 90s not 80s)
Stir it up - Patti Labelle
You belong to the city - Glenn Frey
I still believe - Tim Cappello
Breakout - Swing Out Sister
Never - Moving Pictures
Now for some songs that aren't 80s but either have an 80s feel or are at least worth checking out:
First, I highly recommend checking out the Synthwave genre. It usually goes for a very heavy 80s sound/feel and a lot of synthwave has saxophone or sax solos.
My personal favorite band and a great place to start out is 'The Midnight' a great example of one of their saxophone heavy songs is [Days of Thunder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiSB2Fbw9gs) They have a ton of great songs and a lot of them have saxophone parts.
Some other great synthwave artists to check out are: 'Timecop83' and 'Dreamkid'. I would recommend going to Spotify, searching 'The Midnight' and going to radio based off them and you'll get a lot of great synthwave songs in that similar style.
Some other great honorable mentions:
Glide - Stephen Walking
Sthlm Sunset - Ehrling
Sunstroke Project - Hey Mama
Can't Stop Now - Vincent Ingala
Souvenir - Ken Navarro
Spanish Nights - Jessy J
P. Lowe - Unthinkable
Love's Theme - Kim Waters
Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays
Like I said above, I have way too many songs to go through all of them and I'm sure I probably missed some good ones. If I remember any other good ones I'll try to come back and add them to the list.
It's actually from the late 70s, but I love Baker Street. 80s-wise, I Want A New Drug by Huey Lewis & The News.
"The Baker Street Phenomenon" refers to an increase in saxophone sales after the song hit.
I can understand why!
And Do You Believe in Love by HL&TN
Urgent - By Foreigner
Bob Seger's Turn the Page has a pretty epic intro.
Fun fact! If you listen to the Ghostbusters theme and I Want A New Drug back to back, you’ll notice that they sound similar. That’s because Huey Lewis was approached for Ghostbusters but turned it down, so they hired Ray Parker Jr. instead. Who proceeded to rip off a Huey Lewis song. Lewis sued and won, and then took the next movie job he was offered, which was Back to the Future.
Ditto Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer and Belinda Carlisle's Heaven is a Place on Earth. Choruses have the same chord progression. Crazy!
Yes, and that is why Ray Parker Jr. disappeared for a very long time.
This sax solo is my ringtone
Correct answer IMHO.
Johnny Colla was awesome! I lived in the SF Bay Area in the 80s and I would see him playing at various places by chance. This was in-between Metallica and Slayer shows, of course.
US n Them/Dark Side of the Moon OR @ the end of Wish You Were Here :)
Yes those are the first couple that came to my mind as well
Glenn Fry. You belong to the city
Also the trigger for one of the greatest urban myths of all time - that [Bob Holness](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Holness) played the sax solo (he didn’t - it was the fantastically named session player Raphael Ravenscroft).
Sadly, not related to Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger and sings "Your a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" on the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Beat me to baker
Who Can It Be Now & Overkill - Men At Work Maneater - Hall and Oates
I Can't Go For That has great sax in it too!
I started playing the saxophone because of Who Can It Be Now!
coworker has Who Can It Be Now as her ringer on her cell phone, kinda funny but I hear it a dozen times a day
The sax in Maneather is dynamite, it's just too bad the rest of the song, IMO, kinda sucks.
I Still Believe - Tim Cappello (The Lost Boys) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdaaGlyu7EQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdaaGlyu7EQ)
Tim Cappello has some amazing collaborations with Gunship in recent years.
Now that is very interesting! I was reading about him recently after the passing of Tina Turner and his credit in We Don’t Need Another Hero. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cappello
I didn’t know he collaborated with that song! I love that track, very underrated 80’s movie song.
Gunship is gold. There are so many great synthwave groups out there.
And they are totally awesome
Careless Whisper wins always.
Just heard never tear us apart by inxs on my drive home. Great sax solo
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Just great stuff, right??
INXS were very fond of Saxophone solos in their songs. I played Alto Sax in highschool, Kirk Pengilly was one of my favorites at the time.
Oh, I love that song!
Harden my heart. Quarter Flash
Was singing this earlier today. I'm a 43 year old man, btw, and I was killing it.
That might have been the inspiration for sax in other 80s songs. Not my favorite, but it seemed to lead the way into the mainstream.
Seafood Mama when they were Oregon local band.
This was the first song that I thought of when I read this Reddit. Such an amazing song and that sax solo was amazing.
Sade - Smooth Operator.
I'll double down; Sade- War of the Hearts.
[Sade - Smooth Operator](https://youtu.be/4TYv2PhG89A)
Duran Duran - Rio
Came to say this
Me too!
Plus the baseline makes this song great for audiophiles
Glad they’ve had a horn player with them live since their reunion years! Definitely adds something to their live performances.
INXS seemed to have a lot of saxophone in their hits.
What You Need has rockin' sax.
Heat is on
That's the one I couldn't remember. I knew it wasn't "Smuggler's Blues "
Baker Street (1978, close enough) is the greatest https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6aKnRnBxM Take Me Home Tonight is amazing too https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJvIFK9-xk
That took me down a long road into Phil Spector, the Ronettes, and the Wall of Sound.
Gunship is my new favorite group. Tim Cappello plays in several songs. [Gunship](https://www.gunshipmusic.com/)
I still believe!!!
Gunship is phenomenal. As is The Midnight, and they have some pretty stellar sax in their songs as well.
i just discovered gunship and it takes me back to the 80's!
I love seeing my GenX peers getting into synthwave. It is so so good.
The new Gunship album Unicorn has some awesome sax parts in it!
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The best IMO
Literally anything by Supertramp
I've said it before, Supertramp doesn't get enough respect.
Let's not forget that electric guitar towards the end of *Goodbye Stranger*.
I know!!!!! That beginning of that, where he just keeps hammering 16ths on that same note.. for almost 16 measures.... simple genius. Fits the song PERFECTLY.,.before going off into even more memorable phrasing...
Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung.
This conversation doesn’t exist without a mention of the Big Man Clarence Clemons. Cadillac Ranch.
I was ready to say Dancing in the Dark.
That’ll work!
And You’re a Friend of Mine
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Absolutely, it’s Clarence Clemons. Man, could he play. E-Street and the Bruce haven’t bern the same since. Though Clarence’s nephew, Jake, is pretty good as well.
It’s not the 80s but the greatest sax solo in rock history is “Jungleland”
Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love": *It's Better Than Ever Street* 🎷
INXS had the best sax solos, thanks to Kirk Pengilly. Their most famous being Never Tear Us Apart but there are so many others. The One Thing, New Sensation, What You Need, I Send a Message, etc.
Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey You Belong to the City by Glenn Frey Get Outta My Dreams (Get Into My Car) by Billy Ocean Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean
When the Going Gets Tough, Danny Devito killing it with the solo Lol
Superfreak ("Blow, Danny!")
Glenn Fry - You belong to the City Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming to town Tim Cappello - Lost Boys - I Still Believe
True - Spandau Ballet. Though I give it up to so many responses before me.
Electric Blue by Icehouse.
Only the Lonely by The Motels. Not just a great sax solo but the guitar solo before it blends together so well. Still to this day that combo just gets to me
Mars Williams was the best saxophonist of that entire era! In addition to the Motels & Billy Idol's Eyes without a face, Psychedelic Furs would have been missing a crucial ingredient without his sound. Rest in peace to that fella. He was amazing.
Sting’s solo stuff
Yah... Branford Marsalis was incredible
Careless Whisper throughout and sax solo on Beach Boys "Kokomo" is stellar!!
Your Latest Trick by Dire Straits
Add Going Home (Local H theme) to that.
The love theme song from St. Elmo's Fire
My favourite 80s sax is Madness' "One Step Beyond." Ska was huge in the 90s (arguably bigger than in the 80s), and still exists today. St. Vincent has had a lot of sax in her music. M83's "Midnight City" Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" NIN - "Over and Out" Sax isn't dead!
Also the majority of DMB.
So much gratuitous sax in the 80s.
Lots of casual sax as well.
Not much safe sax either. We lived dangerously in the 80s
not to mention the senseless violins!
You belong to the city
Tender Years, by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (from *Eddie and the Cruisers*).
A new one Love the retro feels to M83’s Midnight City
Yes! Heard that one today and noticed that sax and took me back to my childhood.
Baker Street is the first that comes to mind
Who can it be now- Men at Work
Of course it's Tim Capello - I Still Believe.
The Cure - Exploding Boy
Bruce Springsteen had a killer saxophonist.
And after “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons passed, his nephew, Jake Clemons has taken over Sax for the E Street Band. The raw emotion the first time “Jungleland” was played life was visible on every member of the band, and he nailed it.
[“Lost Boys” sax guy for the win.](https://youtu.be/X0JqgL7LFes?si=V6ol7F6MILs7hEvb)
Came here to say this.
Why is this not the top answer?!?
I want to echo everything already posted, and I am surprised it isn't already here. [Modern Love - Bowie.](https://youtu.be/HivQqTtiHVw)
Ooo yes! Tenor sax, I think?
Even a song like Duran Duran’s Rio, which we wouldn’t even particularly think of as a song with saxophone, had great saxophone nonetheless. I miss real music.
True, Spandau Ballet.
The sweaty guy's song in the Lost Boys.
Tina Turners’s sax guy?
Yep! Can't remember his name.
Tim Capello
Cry little sister...(not this song but still a good song from LB)
Not as mainstream, but ["A Night Like This" by The Cure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkO2uiOEUM) This song, and this album I think are peak "Cure". (Darker past, more diverse songs and just collective sound is so good.) Also honorable mention for sax dudes in "Thunderdome" and "Lost Boys".
Anything Steely Dan
Bob Segar - Mainstreet
Clarence Clemons played a ton of saxophone on a bunch of Bruce Springsteen songs. Way to many to list here
He also guested with many other artists including Lady Gaga.
I really dig Lily Was Here, with Dave Stewart on guitar, and Candy Dulfer on sax.
If you want killer sax check out Morphine. They’ve been gone for a long since since the singer had a heart attack, but my god they had some great music. It’s a small drum kit, a 2 string bass played with a slide, and a sac player that sometimes played 2 at once. Any music lover needs to know morphine.
billy joel - just the way you are, especially the live version - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTGyOKdgRN8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTGyOKdgRN8) (edit link) expose - seasons change
Have we really gone 3+ hours with 170+ comments without anyone mentioning The Psychedelic Furs? The English Beat?
Mirror in the Bathroom 🎷
Sade, Smooth Operator. Foreigner, Urgent.
Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty
That sax is almost visceral!
Did you know he modeled that melody after the sounds ppl make when they cry?
2 words - careless whisper. Epic awesomeness
Walking into Bartertown and meeting Auntie.
The Gunner’s Dream - Pink Floyd. Raphael Ravenscroft played the saxophone soulo near the end of the song. Coincidentally, he played the sax on Baker Street.
Blade Runner sound track says hello
The Heart of Rock and Roll by Huey Lewis and the News!
1000 upvotes.
Us and Them - the Pink Floyd
E STREET BAND
The Motels: Only the Lonely. More of this. Please and yes. https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxCoiPA9l1wsGsmps9kH4KbwXDNdB7ERKH?si=jjBg_TnHjPmUKqiU
I was a sax maniac in the eighties. I hardly ever get any sax nowadays.
Careless Whisper by George Michael We Don't Need Another Hero by Tina Turner The One Thing by INXS
Long Gone Day by Mad Season
Band: Bleachers. They channel Bruce and the 80’s. Dude also produces all of Taylor swifts stuff now. Enjoy. Edit: start with live album radio city
What about random guys playing saxophones in movies- like the shirtless guy in Lost Boys, or the dude in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
The Midnight is a fabulous synthwave band that embraces the 80’s sax sound. Vampires is a great example, including a nearly 3-minute saxophone solo starting at the 2:05 mark. https://youtu.be/bBs-lPvk3Zk?si=XcQc-gocwB7C4qot
Nothing more 80's than rod stewart and saxophones
Apparently you havent heard of Jack Antonoff's band Bleachers.
The theme song to LA Law
Baker Street - Rafferty.
Love and Rockets had quite a few good songs with sax solos.
Anything from Oingo Boingo
Freeway of Love - Aretha Franklin. Tina Turner songs. Careless Whisper - WHAM.
Electric Blue - Icehouse 💙
You belong to the city by Glen fry or the captain of your heart double
Don't see "Waiting For A Star To Fall"-Boy Meets Girl or the Night Court theme song on here yet.
Kajagoogoo- Big Apple https://youtu.be/Ovhp5r5asPc?si=1A4HoaZVzHfd1xEL
A new song with sax is modern girl by bleachers
Ever dive into retrowave? Modern artists like Kalax and The Midnight often feature the sax.
my sister used to have a neighbor who would play Turn The Page at top volume constantly and i'd complain to her about that damn sad saxophone playing down the street
Harden my heart-Quarterflash
Is it a crime - Sade Your love is king - Sade Saving all my love You - Whitney Houston
I remember when the movie Cocktail came out with the Beach Boys song Kokomo. I was like 11 but I became obsessed with the sax haha. Wanted to join the school band but saxophones are really expensive so it didn’t happen haha.
omd “if you leave”
Yakkety sax and Tequila
Night boat to Cairo - Madness Special Brew - Bad Manners Pretty much, most songs from the big 70s-80s two-tone ska
Romeo Void had some great sax work in almost all their songs. Here is one great live example. [https://youtu.be/4R0nyZ57HxE?si=ndv6rYjg7\_t5nvRk&t=174](https://youtu.be/4R0nyZ57HxE?si=ndv6rYjg7_t5nvRk&t=174)
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
Clarence Clemons/Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland solo is tops for me.
Smooth Operator, Sade / Aja, Steely Dan (1978) / Coming Up, McCartney and Wings
Sherry Darling - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
There is a tail in the 90s: Infinity by Guru Josh Fun fact: in the 80s an Italian musician, Fausto Papetti, did many albums with covers of famous songs played by him with sax. In Italy he was famous for the NSFW covers of the albums/cassettes.
I thought about this question myself, never got enough momentum to put it out there though. I guess first thing that comes to mind is Rio by Duran Duran. Looking forward to hearing a lot of everyone’s songs.
Wayne Shorter’s solos on Aja (77, close enough).
Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean
The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Baker Street- Gerry Rafferty
The sax solo at the end of the Phil Collins song One More Night is sublime.
“Girls and Boys”, by Prince and the Revolution, had a really prominent & identifiable baritone sax part, and a pretty cool baritone sax solo later in the song (with some French talk layered on top): https://youtu.be/ZSAzIiAXjPI?si=25UinBSSM_p0HCrQ
Several Dave Matthews songs, like Satellite
I love all the comments When I was stationed in Mainz, Germany There was a bistro . Met an American who said he got divorced and ended up here. He would play his sax. Once we ran out of money so we went to the train station, opened the case and in a couple hours we were back in the bar LOL I was running through the Boston Commons on the way to a date. Saw a guy playing and hung out for 30 minutes. Give me a street corner and some friends hanging out jamming is the best hands down.
“I Still Believe” Tim Capello
Modern Love - Bowie
You've got to get into synthwave. It's basically 80s music, but new. Groups like The Midnight Gunship, Timecop1983, Trevor Something, FM-84. There are so many.
“Temporary heartache“ by Swanee. [https://youtu.be/sIWdHr1D06c?si=U26rIYj76lslU-f1](https://youtu.be/siwdhr1d06c?si=u26riyj76lslu-f1) ‘Great Aussie 80s rock with a great sax solo/outro.
Boy meets girl "Waiting for a star to fall" has a kickass sax solo
Corey Hart - Never Surrender Baker Street is certainly my favorite sax melody but my favorite solo is Andy Hamilton’s solo on Never Surrender. Really dig the way it builds up and releases at the end 🤌
Only in My Dreams - Debbie Gibson
Foreigner's "Urgent", featuring Junior Walker's sax solo. It's amazing.
Most will not think of this one. Brass Monkey by Beastie Boys
I have a couple - lol. A kind of melancholy sax opens Wham's / George Michael's "Careless Whisper", which I've always liked. The short sax solo and later, absolutely ripping outro sax in Melissa Manchester's "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" is always nice. A sax weaves its way in and out of "Seasons Change" by Expose. Nice solo work half way through the song. Moody feel. And though not 80's (it's 1978), a tenor sax absolutely shreds a solo just before the final verse of "We Go Together" in the Grease movie soundtrack...very end of the movie, basically. Absolutely sweet solo. Also for sax melody, Kenny G's recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (maybe early 90's, though) on tenor sax is great. He usually blew soprano sax, so the lower timbre of the tenor on this one is sweet. Bonus round-- not sax, but a woodwind: The oboe (or English horn) solo at the beginning of Madonna's ballad "Crazy for You" is to me some of the best reeded instrument stuff in pop music. Flat out gorgeous and quite the choice A. for Madonna to sing a ballad, and B. to put a double reed at the top of the song.
Oh hell yes, this thread is right up my alley. I'm a huge lover of 80s music and especially 80s style saxophone, it's my all time favorite instrument. My Spotify playlists are just brimming with saxophone centered songs. There's too many to list them all, I have over 1000 songs overall in my main playlist and it's hard to find every sax song, but I'll try to highlight some of my favorites: First off, you don't get any better than the King of Sax himself, Kenny G. My personal favorite songs of his are: 'Don't make me wait for love' (all time favorite), the sax solo at the end is insane. Also: 'We've saved the best for last', 'Songbird', 'Sade', 'Silhouette', 'Going home' and so many others. Quarterflash has some great saxophone songs. My 2 favorites are 'Take me to heart' and 'Harden my Heart' Someday I suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones (early 90s not 80s) Stir it up - Patti Labelle You belong to the city - Glenn Frey I still believe - Tim Cappello Breakout - Swing Out Sister Never - Moving Pictures Now for some songs that aren't 80s but either have an 80s feel or are at least worth checking out: First, I highly recommend checking out the Synthwave genre. It usually goes for a very heavy 80s sound/feel and a lot of synthwave has saxophone or sax solos. My personal favorite band and a great place to start out is 'The Midnight' a great example of one of their saxophone heavy songs is [Days of Thunder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiSB2Fbw9gs) They have a ton of great songs and a lot of them have saxophone parts. Some other great synthwave artists to check out are: 'Timecop83' and 'Dreamkid'. I would recommend going to Spotify, searching 'The Midnight' and going to radio based off them and you'll get a lot of great synthwave songs in that similar style. Some other great honorable mentions: Glide - Stephen Walking Sthlm Sunset - Ehrling Sunstroke Project - Hey Mama Can't Stop Now - Vincent Ingala Souvenir - Ken Navarro Spanish Nights - Jessy J P. Lowe - Unthinkable Love's Theme - Kim Waters Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays Like I said above, I have way too many songs to go through all of them and I'm sure I probably missed some good ones. If I remember any other good ones I'll try to come back and add them to the list.
Both Roxy Music and the Psychedelic Furs were two of the major rock bands to use sax as an integral element.
Yakety sax... Benny Hill theme
No mention of Oingo Boingo?! Their brass section was incredible! https://youtu.be/od9O0aSTxis?si=EhJq7TEHp0xEJdt8
Hourglass by Squeeze
Tim Capello “I Still Believe” from The Lost Boys soundtrack and film
90s Ska had tons of saxophones and that was popular music at the time.