NAVMAN's Car Songs of the 80s

There must have been something in the air in the 80s because that decade produced a lot of songs about cars and driving. For your listening pleasure, we’ve compiled the top cars and driving songs of the 80s.

Little Red Corvette – Prince

Released by the late great Prince in 1983, this was Prince’s first song to reach the top 10 in the US, getting to number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.  The song’s "Little Red Corvette" is a beautiful but promiscuous woman that Prince asks to "slow down" and "find a love that's gonna last". Prince got the idea for the song while dozing off in a band member 's pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an exhausting all-night recording session and the lyrics came to him in bits and pieces in other catnaps.

Freeway of love – Aretha Franklin - 1985

It’s hard not to get in a good mood listening to this joyful tune about a joyride in a pink Cadillac convertible sung by the Queen of Soul. This is one of the most famous driving songs of all time, but interestingly Aretha Franklin doesn't drive!

On the Road again – Willie Nelson - 1980

Nelson wrote the song for the film Honeysuckle Rose, where he also starred in his first leading role. Nelson was asked to write the song by the movie’s producer while on the flight, and he quickly wrote the song on a the airline’s sick bag. The song was released in 1980, and covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1981.

Pink Cadillac – Bruce Springsteen ( 1984) and Natalie Cole (1987)

Who didn’t want to get into that Pink Cadillac with crushed velvet seats?  Cole made this song famous 1987, but it was originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 1984, on the B-side of his album Dancing in the Dark.

Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car – Billy Ocean - 1988

"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" is a 1988 single by Trinidadian-born British singer Billy Ocean, based on a line in the Sherman Brothers' song "You're Sixteen". 80s fans will also remember Ocean’s other two hits – “Caribbean Queen” and “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”

Drive – The Cars - 1894

This 1984 song by The Cars is the group’s highest-charting US single. A fun fact: Czechoslovakian supermodel model Paulina Porizkova was the female lead in the clip. She met The Car’s Ric Ocasek, while auditioning for the role and who she married in 1989.