Anybody got any favourite ballads of the 80's?

For me, it was always 1984's Wishful Thinking by China Crisis. That is such a beautiful song :)

Close second would be a two-way tie with 1987's Wonderful Life by Black and 1984's Closest Thing to Heaven by the Kane Gang

Four words: Lost In Your Eyes. :D

"Open Arms" - Journey
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" - Poison
"Tender Love" - Force M.D.s
"Somebody" - Depeche Mode
"You Surround Me" - Erasure
"True Colors" - Cyndi Lauper
"Only You" - Yaz

Ultravox - Vienna
Need I say more. You can't do anything non-sexual to this song.

Wow, there are so many great 80's ballads, here's few that I love :thumb:

Foreigner - I Wanna Know What Love Is
Jeff Healey Band - Angel Eyes
Madonna - Crazy For You
Patrick Swayze - She's Like the Wind
Richard Marx - Hold On To The Night
Survivor - The Search Is Over

I had a few faves, all for different reasons

Straight from the Heart - Bryan Adams
When you close your eyes - Night Ranger
When its over - Loverboy
Carry me - Ray Lyell and the Storm
Who's Crying now - Journey
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
When I'm with you - Sherrif

i could go on and on

There are SOOOO many....but one that stands out in my mind is "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins.

All through the Night by Cyndi Lauper (1984)
The One I Love By REM (1987)
Lady In Red By Chris DeBurgh (1986)
I Just Call To Say I Love You By Stevie Wonder (1984)
Hello By Lionel Richie (1984)
Woman By Joh Lennon (1980)
Eternal Flame By The Bangles (1989)
The Killing Moon By Echo & The Bunnymen (1984)
Don't You (Forget About Me) By Simple Minds (1985)
Wind Beneath My Wings By Bette Midler (1989)
Endless Love By Dianna Ross & Lionel Richie (1981)

And The list go on but I got tired of thinking...

Blancmange - Waves
Assembly - Never Never
China Crisis - Christian
Cyndi Lauper - Time after time
Pete Godwin - Images of Heaven
Willy Finlayson - On the air tonight
Haxel O'conner - Will You
Midge Ure - No regrets
Black - Wonderful Life
Depeche Mode - Somebody
Soft Cell - Say hello, Wave goodbye

I'm getting carried away again :yesnod:

There are sooo many to choose from that I would go :goofy: naming them all. I'm a sucker for ballads ;) But here's three that I'll always love:

Wish you were here - Fleetwood Mac (Mirage-1982)

Hunting high and low - A-ha (HH&L-1985)

When the smoke is going down - Scorpions (Blackout-1982)

Pete Godwin - Images of Heaven

I'm getting carried away again :yesnod:

I love Images of Heaven. It's a shame it was not a bigger hit. I believe it only made it to #103 on the U.S. Billboard charts

Two came to mind right away for me ...
Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
Def Leppard - "Love Bites"