If you're new to '80s pop music, this collection offers a taste of the best: everything from Cyndi Lauper to the Vapors. Grab your shoulder pads and hairspray and do the Molly Ringwald.

During the Reagan Era, hip-hop expanded beyond its origins in urban Black culture to become a major force in American pop music. No artist played a more important role in making hip-hop a permanent fixture in mainstream American culture than Run-DMC, the Queens-based trio that taught millions of American youths how to rock the microphone.

Born in the U.S.A. sold more than 15 million copies in the U.S. after its release in the summer of 1984. The flag-draped cover art and anthemic chorus of the title track led many to hear Born in the U.S.A. as a straightforward, patriotic record, in tune with the sunny "Morning in America" message simultaneously being invoked by Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign. In fact, a close listen to the lyrics reveals that most of the album's songs actually tell heartbreaking stories of the long decline of heartland America and the betrayal of the American Dream for ordinary working folks.

A classic Reagan-era album, Private Dancer was Tina Turner's most successful solo record. It was released after her very difficult divorce with husband Ike and propelled her into superstardom. No "Hits from the '80s" collection is complete without it.

1984 wasn't only an important year in politics, but it was also an epic year for American music, with groundbreaking releases from Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Prince and the Revolution, the Smiths, U2, and this hard rock band from Pasadena, California. Van Halen's sixth album, and the last featuring frontman David Lee Roth, includes many of the group's greatest hits: "Jump," "Panama," and "Hot for Teacher."

Thriller has sold, incredibly, more than 100 million copies around the world since its release in 1982. The album captured Jackson at the peak of his artistic powers, before the corrosive effect of money, fame, and way too much plastic surgery reduced the "King of Pop" to a faint shadow of his former glory. The title track, "Beat It," and "Billie Jean" all rank among the best pop songs of the 1980s.