Depends on the type of 80s Music.........for hair rock/metal, something "pointy"
For 80s MTV pop:
John Taylor - Duran Duran - Aria SB with two pickups (the single pickup SB is, for all intents and purposes, a P-bass)
Nick Beggs - Kajagoogoo - Musicman Stingray
Andy McCluskey (sp?) - OMD - Fender Jazz and others
Sting - Ibanez Musician, Steinberger, among others
Patrick O'Hearn - Missing Persons - Carvin LB50
If the visual aesthetic is as important as the music, almost any thru-body bass with that thru-body look will work to reflect that period's visual video look (these were often seen in videos no matter what was used on recording)....also, nothing says 80s pop more than a headless bass like a Steinberger even though a lot of the pop guys didnt use them....but a Steinberger + octagon Simmons Drums + Keytar + Aqua Net Hairspray (purple or white can) = I Want My MTV
One last thing concerning 80s Pop: By this time, production was getting very clean with lots of SPX90 fx washes and Fairlight "overproduction". Bass tones in 80s pop were getting cleaner, defined, crisp, and articulate. Whatever you get, I strongly recommend not a single pickup bass like a P (Stingrays excluded) although a few guys, like Charles Ovatto of Animation and John Crawford of Berlin used single pickup basses, a two pickup bass with one pickup in the mid position and one at the bridge will be optimal. I also recommend learning the "faux fretless" technique (solo the bridge pickup, roll down tone or highs, slide into notes with fretting hand, pluck near bridge) as it is very useful in this style of music. In the 80s, adding chorus and slapback delay to "faux fretless" went a long way to cover songs such as "Save A Prayer" by Duran Duran, "Lonely In Your Nightmare" by Duran Duran, "Be Near Me" by ABC, and several others without having to switch to an actual fretless or to approximate that thing on the record...Fresh bright strings, either rounds or very bright pressurewounds, also optimal
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