Is there a list somewhere or can someone here please share with me a list of the best text only games from the 80s?

I've always ignored them in the past and now I think, there is a chance I've missed out on a lot of fun. :(

Has some graphics but might as well be text only, but mindshadow is great

Great place to start:
http://www.ifarchive.org/

If I remember rightly, there was a Lord of the Rings IF game, sometime in the 80's or 90's. The world is a bit random in the games, because each character like Gandalf and the others tend to wander off and do their thing. You have to take care to avoid the Nazgul, but certain places like the Wight burrows can have nice things.

Just look up Infocom's library. Zork, A Mind Forever Voyaging, Enchanter, Infidel, The Lurking Horror, Suspended, Witness, Planetfall, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc.

They are all good?

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy = Ragequit, if you haven't read the book.

Dig into the infocom library. It's an excellent place to start exploring text games.

Isn't soft porn adventure? Or am I confused?

Some games are better than others, but I can't think offhand of any Infocom games that were just outright bad, and if you want good text adventures from the 80s Infocom basically were the undisputed kings of that genre. That said, a lot of the ones I listed above are also ones that I happen to like most. I forgot to mention Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

I remember playing a game called Wishbringer back in the 80s...found it thoroughly immersive, I could picture everything as it was happening.

Trinity was the best written, for certain

Seconding the suggestion that you read the book version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before trying to beat the game version. Seeing the old BBC series couldbe helpful too.

I loved the Zork series, but funnier still was "Nord and Bert Couldnt Make Head or Tail of It" &
Douglas Adam's lesser known effort "Bureaucracy" (no book needed for this one, but you do need a lot of patience!)

Planetfall is another classic & A Mind Forever Voyaging

I don't recall any actually bad Infocom games either, so the archive is a good place to start.

If you want to play a semi-IF game that's really funny, and if it was available, I'd recommend Eric the Unready (made by Legend). Its easy, but who cares when you are laughing yourself senseless? I keep hoping it will turn up on GoG one of these days.

Omega is a rpg'ish rogue-like from the late 80's.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/omega