Hello everyone,

My name is Aaron and this is my first post here.  Just introducing myself to the board and saying "hello".

Anyway, it seems as though there were quite a few 80's songs that addressed the subject of greed.  Who can help me think of a few?

To make this fun....I won't list all I can think of but here are a few.

"Opportunities...Let's Make Lot's of Money" - Pet Shop Boys

"Eighties" - Killing Joke

"Depeche Mode" - Everything Counts

How about "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" -- Tears For Fears :)

How about:

Money For Nothing....Dire Straits

Isnt there a song called: "Rich"

I want money..lots and lots of money..I want the pie in the sky..I wanna be rich..

Hi Aaron, I love that name...the name of the song is "I wanna be rich.." by Calloway.

Money (That's What I Want) is a song whose title I'm insure of and whose artist I have no clue of either. But everyone knows it.

'The best things in life are free, but you can leave them to the birds and bees, I want money!'

The song was a remake from an old 50s or 60s song.

Money (That's What I Want) is a song whose title I'm insure of and whose artist I have no clue of either. But everyone knows it.

'The best things in life are free, but you can leave them to the birds and bees, I want money!'

The song was a remake from an old 50s or 60s song.



The song was originally done by the Beatles but the Flying Lizards did a remake of it.


Not a 80s song but a 70s song about greed-One Tin Soldier-Coven



Cat

Gimme Some Money...Spinal Tap

Material Girl by Madonna

"How To Be A Millioniare" ABC and "Big Time" from Peter Gabriel

Welcome!  :) :)

Karma to everyone participating in this thread.  It's hard to find songs that (whether written to be sung with irony or conviction) unabashedly delight in profit.

Eric B. and Rakim's original Paid in Full, and for something a little more aggro, The Racket's rock cover of Paid in Full.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Success!

Scotch had an italo track called Money Runner which was pretty much a trading anthem of its day.
"...some folks like to kick up? a fuss?
'Cuz I'm the best at makin' bucks!
Wallet? like numbers full of zeroes!
Born to be a business hero!
The money run-ner..."
- Scotch, Money Runner (and easier-to-decipher lyrics on the mostly-instrumental Drink a Scotch, gimme a while to transcribe the whole thing...)

Finally, no list of anthems for greed would be complete without Hot R.S. (aka House of the Rising Sun, not "Hot Running Scotch") did a spectacular late-70s disco extravaganza featuring the Beatles' "Money", a disco-rock cover of a 1937 Broadway song "With Plenty of Money and You", and a third track called "Money Runner", and fused all three together on 1980's Heads or Tails. 

Ain't no such thing as dirty money,
The rich folk don't know what I mean,
Money ain't got no smell, anything,
Your greed can make you king!
...
"Money, money, money, money!  Money's on my mind!
I'm so mean with the green, I make the dollar wanna holler..."
- Hot R.S. Money Runner, 1980

I think the With Plenty of Money and You tops it, though.  It comes from a 1937 musical, and... well, the lyrics kinda say it all.  Post-Depression Pre-WW2 America wasn't that much different from the roaring 80s, after all.

"Well, baby, what I couldn't do
With plenty of money and you.
In spite of the worry that money brings.
Just a little filthy lucre buys a lot of things!
And I could take you to places you'd like to go,
But outside of that, I've no use for dough,
It's the root of all evil, of strife and upheaval,
But I'm certain, honey,
That life would be sunny,
With plenty of money and you!"
  - ...sung gleefully with accompanying background vocals singing the "That's what I want..." chorus from (Just Give Me) Money.

Edit:  And next time, I'll use the preview option!

hello! and welcome to the board!  love the sig name too!..................      money changes everything    by  cyndi lauper!      oh  and    money  by  pink floyd!

Seems as though there were quite a few songs about greed in the 80's. 

Here is another one from Killing Joke.  "Money Is Not Our God".

"Money......Money, Money.  Money is not our god".

"The Glamorous Life" - Sheila E.

Good one Midas..great song

Smuggler's Blues...Glen Frey

The song was originally done by the Beatles but the Flying Lizards did a remake of it.


Not a 80s song but a 70s song about greed-One Tin Soldier-Coven



Cat


Actually, Barrett Strong is the artist who did the original version of Money way back in 1960.  I like the Flying Lizards version best though myself. :)

"Opportunities...Let's Make Lot's of Money" - Pet Shop Boys

 

I think the Pet Shop Boys were grossly underrated.  I love that song but their best song was "Suburbia." 

Heaven 17: Penthouse and Pavement
Heaven 17: I'm Your Money
Heaven 17: Song With No Name
(Greed in all its forms is a big theme with H17; it was a consummate '80s band!)

Fad Gadget: Wheels of Fortune
Fad Gadget: State of the Nation
Frank Tovey: Snakes and Ladders
Frank Tovey: Luxury
Frank Tovey: Megalomaniac
(Fad Gadget/Frank Tovey also used greed as a major theme)

Split Enz: Bullet Brain and Cactus Head
Iggy Pop: Blah Blah Blah
The Smiths: A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours
The Smiths: Nowhere Fast
Laibach: I Me Mine (Lennon/McCartney)
Midnight Oil: Helps Me Helps You
The Legendary Pink Dots: Black Zone
Talking Heads: Swamp
The Shamen: Jesus Loves Amerika

Ain't Nothing Going On But The Rent - Gwen Guthrie

Hello everyone,

My name is Aaron and this is my first post here.  Just introducing myself to the board and saying "hello".

Anyway, it seems as though there were quite a few 80's songs that addressed the subject of greed.  Who can help me think of a few?

To make this fun....I won't list all I can think of but here are a few.

"Opportunities...Let's Make Lot's of Money" - Pet Shop Boys

"Eighties" - Killing Joke

"Depeche Mode" - Everything Counts




"Just Got Paid" by Johnny Kemp

Seems as though there were quite a few songs about greed in the 80's. 

Here is another one from Killing Joke.  "Money Is Not Our God".

"Money......Money, Money.  Money is not our god".


Damn... you beat me to it. I forget whether "Extremities..." came out in the 80s or 90s, and I was going to check before posting.

It came out in 1990... close enough :)

Isnt there a song called: "Rich"

I want money..lots and lots of money..I want the pie in the sky..I wanna be rich..


I think 'I wanna be rich' by Calloway was made in 1991.

I suppose 'Pink Cadillac' by Natalie Cole is considered greedy because that's what she wants her man to have.

not to change from the word money,  but  how bout .....  legal tender from the B52's