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| PopGoesTheYear: Best of 1984
As 1967 defined the 60s, and 1976 and 77 jointly defined the 70s, 1984 defines the 80s. However, where ‘67 and ‘76 represent two apexes of one of the most creatively fertile periods in pop music history, ‘84 is more like the last triumphant celebration before everything began falling apart. This is, honestly and truly, the last year for the next two-plus decades that I can unreservedly say was great for pop. As always, it bears repeating that EVERY YEAR has its highlights and lowlights, and I am by no means saying that there wasn’t any great pop music through the rest of the 80s and beyond. Nonetheless, ‘84 is, for me, the clear demarcation point between the 80s pop world’s meteoric rise to an unprecedented position of cultural dominance, and its gradual, humiliating decay into a morass of burbling auditory garbage. As the Reagan administration cruised into a second term, the avatars of excess and greed that dominated the decade as a whole began to worm their way into stereos across the nation, rabidly milking the sounds of new wave and synthpop down to the very last drop and repackaging the results in ever-more shoddy trappings. However, anything that can be so cravenly copied and degenerated for 5 full years must have been doing something pretty damn right in the first place, so before we get thoroughly sick of synths and big hair and guitar solos we’ve got an all-star batch of undeniable 80s smashes to heap praise upon- On with the show! | | 1 |  | Quiet Riot
Metal Health
#10: QUIET RIOT- CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE
It’s my firm belief that every hair metal band gets one and ONLY one true classic. No matter how much the rest of their discography plumbs the depths of craven, misogynistic stupidity, even the most mindless hair metal bands were gifted with a single slamming pop staple, with a behemoth hook and a huge helping of wonderfully over-the-top guitar riffs.
Though Quiet Riot has never had the rock-bottom reputation of some of their contemporaries (Warrant, Leppard, Poison et al), “Cum On Feel the Noize” nonetheless defines this principle in every meaningful sense. The great hair metal hits of the 80s all have a feeling of pure, adrenaline-fueled serendipity, gleefully barrelling through cliché after cliché and somehow avoiding disaster by a nose. That’s exactly the feeling at the heart of this song’s appeal. (1/2) | | 2 | | Quiet Riot
Metal Health
(2/2) Quiet Riot crank the dumb-fun energy of the 1973 Slade original as far up as it’ll go and then some, supercharging their chugging glam shuffle with a big gated bash’n’crash beat and an electrifying touch of synth. More importantly, guitarist Carlos Cavazo burns the house down with one of the funnest metal guitar solos of all time, 30-odd seconds of joyous, unhinged momentum. It serves as final proof that Cavazo was the right choice to replace legendary original guitarist Randy Rhoads, a perfect blend of grinning pop sparkle and steely technicality.
By all accounts, “Cum On Feel the Noize” should be way too overblown to work, and yet it miraculously winds up the rare pop-metal track able to cater to both the top 40 and the headbangers lurking underneath it. | | 3 |  | Huey Lewis and the News
Sports
#9: HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS- THE HEART OF ROCK & ROLL
I like Huey Lewis & the News. Their flagrantly un-hip yuppie image and inoffensive, middle-of-the-road sound make them a hard band to really get excited about as a critic, and yet I've found their output across the mid-80s to be thoroughly enjoyable and well-constructed. To just dismiss them as a boring, unchallenging pop-rock band would be to ignore their consistently appealing production, their rhythm section’s ability to punch above their weight class with bouncy, melodic grooves, and their keen sense of how to lean into their uncoolness without coming off too smug about it.
“The Heart of Rock & Roll” hinges on a narrator who isn’t young or cool enough to actually identify with any sort of cutting-edge musical movement, but who’s still open-minded and amiable enough to appreciate those movements from afar, and Lewis is the perfect guy to give voice to such a narrator. (1/2) | | 4 | | Huey Lewis and the News
Sports
(2/2) The flashy outfits and musical aggression may leave him more puzzled and bemused than anything else, but he’s smart enough to see that the crowds are embracing these new bands for the same reason he embraced stuff like The Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival- at the end of the day, it’s the same irresistible rhythms and the same rebellious spirit reinvented for a new generation. The music complements this idea perfectly with a savvy blend of old-school rock and polished, catchy new-wave.
Saxophonist Johnny Colla’s bright, bluesy solo is a particularly standout moment, but Sean Hopper’s keyboards prove just as crucial to the track’s aesthetic, balancing warmer organ tones with more choppy synths to drive home the old-is-new message at the core of the song. All in all, it’s a lesson in how to play it safe without watering yourself down, a fun, agreeable little number that manages to make a bit of a point in the process. | | 5 |  | Tina Turner
Private Dancer
#8: TINA TURNER- WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
The 80s was a great time to be a pop star two decades past your prime. For all the young new wavers and hair metallers the decade spawned, you could make a solid case that its biggest beneficiary wound up being 60s legacy acts whose fanbases were around this time starting to settle into a financially-stable middle age. Most of these comeback singles hover between mildly-annoying and perfectly serviceable- the 60s aren’t far enough in the rearview yet that folks like Aretha Franklin and George Harrison can’t still capture some of that old spark, but it’s also usually apparent that they’re coasting on nostalgia a bit, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s all just the tiniest bit pandering. Not so with Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. (1/3) | | 6 | | Tina Turner
Private Dancer
(2/3) Turner had a longer road back to the top 10 than most of her contemporaries did: her career had stalled following a long, arduous divorce with her husband and musical partner Ike, and she had spent the six or so years prior to this song’s success surviving mostly off of opening slots for younger artists and minor chart hits in Europe. She was about as close to “washed-up” as a 60s pop star could get, but after an unexpectedly successful cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” in ‘83, Turner’s label rushed to capitalize on it with a full album, and picked up a stray number a UK songwriting duo had been shopping around for a while as the follow-up single.
There are plenty of timelines out there where one of the half-dozen other artists Terry Britten and Graham Lyle offered this song to ended up making it a hit, and I’m certain that almost all those versions are lesser than Tina Turner’s; “What’s Love Got to Do With It” is nothing without her. | | 7 | | Tina Turner
Private Dancer
(3/3) Actually, that’s a little unfair, since the song itself is still very nice, offering a tastefully arranged bed of atmospheric synths to contrast with Turner’s visceral performance. But lyrically, it’s cagey and standoffish, and a voice that sounds like it has truly loved and lost is absolutely crucial to its success. I’m sorry, but “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken” just would not hit as hard if it wasn’t coming from this woman specifically.
In her hands, this song becomes about so much more than just denying your own feelings- it’s about what it means to be hurt by someone, about moving past trauma, about the ways our pain stays with us. It’s an all-time great pop performance, rendering the broad and universal deeply, powerfully intimate and honest. Yeah, the production has aged a bit here and there, but the raw force and emotion of Tina Turner’s voice shines through as brightly as ever. | | 8 |  | Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A.
#7: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN- DANCING IN THE DARK
‘84 saw its fair share of enormous blockbuster releases, and of the albums that dominated the charts over the course of the year, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. was perhaps the most surprising. After 1982’s Nebraska found The Boss more reflective and uncommercial than ever before, I don’t think anyone’s money was on a pop pivot replete with big stadium choruses and more synths than you could shake a keytar at. Seemingly all the pieces were in place for an instantly-dated swing at selloutery, but though the hooks got bigger and the tunes got slicker, Bruce kept his focus on the emotional lyricism and socially-conscious edge that had always been his biggest selling points. (1/3) | | 9 | | Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A.
(2/3) Lead single “Dancing in the Dark” is actually the last song Springsteen wrote for the album, and specifically deals with his creative burnout at the time. He had basically been writing and recording music for over two years straight and at the very tail end he was tasked with writing not just one more song, but a hit single. Who could blame him for feeling he had nothing left to say?
But the brilliant trick of “Dancing in the Dark” is how it connects that mental state to a universal truth about working under capitalism: You don’t stop working once you’re exhausted. You stop working when your masters decide you’ve generated them enough profit. Here, Springsteen runs headlong into a startling insight: The way it stands, music and dance and painting can and will be turned into the same soul-sucking grind as steelworking or fixing cars or anything else. | | 10 | | Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A.
(3/3) It shows through so perfectly in the music: the relentless chug of the keyboards and drums offer up the cinematic sparkle all the best 80s pop does, but Bruce doesn’t seem to feel the good mojo in the slightest. His performance here rings as worn-out, beleaguered- for a brief moment, he’s both an iconic rockstar and a working stiff on the edge of collapse. Really listen, and you realize that even self-expression can leave a person tired and bored with himself. All there is left to do is share the moment, and hope the fleeting magic sees us through. And hey, while we’re on the subject of magic… | | 11 |  | The Cars
Heartbeat City
#6: THE CARS- MAGIC
After Shake it Up launched them to pop stardom, The Cars were poised for genuine chart dominance with their 1984 follow-up Heartbeat City. Ric Ocasek and co. seemingly realized that they’d only get this chance once, and they delivered with absolute aplomb: Heartbeat City displayed the band’s poppiest and most tightly-focused work yet, sacrificing rock cred wherever necessary to deliver the best hooks humanly possible. The chorus of “Magic” is as shiny and sleek as they come, and although the verse leans a bit more into new-wave angularity, crack open the hood and you can see it’s still built on hammering home a simple, sturdy melody (Play any one line on a piano and see how simple-yet-emphatic it really is). (1/2) | | 12 | | The Cars
Heartbeat City
(2/2) Ocasek’s ever-ungainly vocal styling are here supported by a backing choir and the most forceful synth tones of his career; the effect is that of an everyman narrator being nearly swallowed whole by the song’s surging energy. As the song’s music video alludes to, it’s music to make you feel like you can walk on water, and with pop music this immaculate and uplifting, maybe for a moment you really can. | | 13 |  | Scandal
The Warrior
#5: SCANDAL- THE WARRIOR
80s pop is, before anything else, big. Whatever else you want to say about the hit songs of this time, they carry an oversized sense of zeal and confidence that makes them stand out from the pop of any other era, and one of the best examples of 80s bigness this year was “The Warrior”. It’s not a perfect song by any means: the lyrics sidle right up to the line between fun-ridiculous and ridiculous-ridiculous, going to some pretty awkward lengths to stretch the core concept across the entire runtime. The melody and arrangement aren’t terribly interesting, mostly casseroling late-70s glam leftovers in with some flashy synth-pop and modern AOR (thank co-writer and former worst-list entrant Nick Gilder for that). (1/2) | | 14 | | Scandal
The Warrior
(2/2) And yet, it all comes together, because it sounds so damn big. Frontwoman Patty Smyth immediately makes her mark here as a powerhouse belter. Even when she reels it in for the quieter verse sections, her performance simmers with frustration and drama; it would be delightfully campy if she wasn’t selling it so hard. Her unrestrained earnestness, combined with some deft guitar work from bandmate Zack Smith, elevates the song into something genuinely kind of epic-sounding.
It’s fitting that her iconic getup in the song’s music video includes a electrified shock of saiyan-esque hair- If Dragonball Z AMVs had been a thing in the mid-80s, this would have doubtlessly soundtracked more than its fair share of them. “The Warrior” is 80s cheese at its very cheesiest, tossing aside every conceivable limit of good taste, and doing it so energetically that you can’t help but go along for the ride. | | 15 | | The Cars
Heartbeat City
#4: THE CARS- YOU MIGHT THINK
If there’s one thing Ric Ocasek knew, it was how to recognize a great melody, and more so than any other song he ever made, “You Might Think” is bursting at the seams with ‘em. That opening keyboard riff is wonderfully, essentially 80s- it’s only five notes, but it comes at you with so much energy and spunk that you just can’t help bobbing your head along to it (thanks in large part to Mutt Lange’s massive-sounding production).
The whole song plays out in a similar fashion- one hooky, satisfying melodic idea after another, each one so perfectly simple you’ll smack yourself for not having thought of it before yourself. The lyrics could be the weak spot here, since some lines do read a little awkwardly (especially in the prechoruses), but even those get enough mileage out of the core conceit that the song’s lovestruck tone comes across all the same. (1/2) | | 16 | | The Cars
Heartbeat City
(2/2) “You might think I’m crazy / But all I want is you” is a strong enough phrase that everything else can kind of circle it rather than actually expanding on it, and since it feels like such a great fit for the upbeat music, Ocasek manages to tie the whole thing neatly together. I think my favorite part is the lead-in to the third verse, where every repetition of the main keyboard riff is accompanied by a delightful little guitar fill- it both raises the intensity for the final go-round and stuffs even more catchiness into the track right at the eleventh hour.
“You Might Think” is the sparkling pop gem Ocasek was always destined to create, packing a metric ton of ear-pleasing songwriting into a pint-sized single. Thank goodness The Cars went out on a high note with this and “Magic” and didn’t try to cash in on Heartbeat City’s success with an album of lame soft rock crap! | | 17 |  | Michael Jackson
Thriller
#3: MICHAEL JACKSON- THRILLER
I’ll admit it: I’ve been avoiding this.
Michael Jackson was a very talented man. He also was, and remains, extremely controversial, leaving behind one of the most tarnished legacies in the history of modern music through a procession of criminal allegations and scandals across the last 2 decades of his life and beyond. He had the raw skill and charisma to completely reshape pop in his own image, even as the industry upbringing that allowed him to do so crippled him mentally, and more likely than not drove him to some truly unforgivable actions.
I’d be lying if said all that baggage didn’t make it harder to enjoy Jackson’s songs for the well-made pop tunes they undeniably are. I liked “Rock With You” and “Off the Wall” and “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. I really liked “Beat It”. But… I dunno, something about all the drama surrounding Jackson turned me off them a bit, just enough so that none made it onto any previous best lists. (1/3) | | 18 | | Michael Jackson
Thriller
(2/3) I’m not even saying he was definitely guilty of all the things he was accused of, it’s just the controversy itself. It feels like I can’t fully, unreservedly enjoy those songs without “taking a side”, so to speak, and it’s just more weight than I want music this simple and direct to carry. But something about “Thriller” feels bigger than MJ. Maybe it’s just that this is one of the few songs of his I knew before I knew anything else about the guy, but from where I stand, “Thriller” has taken on a life of its own in a way few of Jackson’s other megahits have… and as a side bonus, it’s one of the best songs he ever made.
Partially it’s because its success feels so indebted to other creatives. Of course, Jackson’s vocal performance here is an undeniable career highlight, but Vincent Price’s ghoulish narration, Quincy Jones’ gleaming synth-funk production and Rod Temperton’s masterful build-release songwriting are all absolutely critical to this song being the juggernaut it is. | | 19 | | Michael Jackson
Thriller
(3/3) Hell, even John Landis’ music video (and especially Deborah Nadoolman’s costume design) deserve a share of the credit for “Thriller”. Though I don’t much care for the way the video shuffles all the verses and choruses to be back-to-back-to-back, the sheer number of indelible images and scenes it offers places it in the rarified ranks of music videos that have meaningfully expanded what the artform is capable of.
I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for feeling the same conflict over “Thriller” that I do over most of Jackson’s other songs, but there’s just no way for me to moralize myself out of being blown away by this song’s stellar craftsmanship and enormous cultural impact. I guess I really can’t resist the evil of… THE THRILLER!!! | | 20 |  | Nena
Nena
#2: NENA- 99 LUFTBALLONS
“99 Luftballons” was seemingly the last gasp of New Wave’s punk origins before it was swallowed whole by cheesy pop. A truly bleak fable of nuclear apocalypse set off by power-hungry generals desperate to flex their nations’ military might- no wonder everyone preferred the version they couldn’t understand! It’s a pretty biting satire for a band with seemingly little interest in political statements, highlighting both the potential human cost of the war games being played by the governments of the time, and how pointless the bloodlust fueling them truly was. It’s an anti-war anthem for a world that had become angrier and more cynical since the idealistic 60s, a bitter recounting of an armageddon that at the time must have felt more inevitable with every day, all due to something as innocuous as a bundle of balloons. (1/3) | | 21 | | Nena
Nena
(2/3) In the Vietnam era, the youth were naive enough to believe that they really could protest their way out of the global north's imperial death march. By ‘83, most had seemingly accepted how powerless they really were. It would have been easy to simply give up and wallow in nihilism, but Nena refuse to make it that simple.
The last verse here is by far the darkest, but also the only place where a flicker of hope emerges: after civilization has seemingly been destroyed, the narrator wanders the wreckage, and comes across- what else?- a balloon. She lets it up into the sky; there are no war ministers to shoot it down anymore. In combination with that last mournful, rising guitar note, it’s an incredibly potent yet ambiguous ending: even if we can’t stop the world’s destruction, perhaps we can find something beautiful and true amongst the rubble. | | 22 | | Nena
Nena
(3/3) Though we no longer live quite so close to the precipice of nuclear annihilation, that’s a sentiment that I think can be rallied behind to this very day. It helps, of course, that the band rocks out here with a tenacity the charts hadn’t seen since the early days of Blondie. Even the slightly jankly bridge slowdown packs a strutting melody you’ll get stuck in your head all the same, before revving back up into another bombshell verse. “99 Luftballons” brought back the wit and social awareness new wave originally built its name on, without sacrificing an ounce of the hard-hitting pop songwriting the genre abandoned those things in favor of, a best-of-both-worlds that could have only been possible in this particular cultural moment. | | 23 |  | Prince
Purple Rain
#1: PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION- LET’S GO CRAZY
1999 was the album that made Prince a superstar; Purple Rain was the album that made him a god. The album and the film of the same name dominated the charts and the box office simultaneously over the summer of ‘84, and the four top-ten singles they spawned found Prince’s artistic ambition and pop instincts both growing at an exponential rate- every song was bolder, weirder, catchier and more elaborately produced than anything he had released before. If an annoying technicality hadn’t kept Purple Rain’s monolithic title track from the ‘84 year-end, Prince may well have ended up the first-ever artist to claim both the number-one AND number-two spots on a PGTY best list. (1/3) | | 24 | | Prince
Purple Rain
(2/3) But alas, “Let’s Go Crazy” winds up topping the best list alone here, and though it is a shame we can’t discuss one of the best pop songs of the 80s here, we at least have the considerable consolation of being able to discuss one of the other best pop songs of the 80s, a smashing uptempo rager calling for us all to live in the moment and celebrate life while we have the chance to live it. This is one of the flat-out funnest songs of the entire decade. The song by itself is a blast, with Prince bringing a fierce, headstrong charisma to his vocal performance and the Linn LM-1 drum machine augmenting the live drums for a beat that’s as forceful and expressive as it is modern-sounding. | | 25 | | Prince
Purple Rain
(3/3) Still, it’s the intro and outro that really put it over the top. The intro is the perfect lead-up to the explosive first verse: Prince puts nearly every prior spoken section in a pop song completely to shame, delivering a gloriously hammy soliloquy that still has enough of an emotional core to get a listener genuinely invested.
And that outro? Pure guitar-hero nirvana, seamlessly bringing together the unhinged shredding of Eddie Van Halen and the nasty psychedelic funk of Eddie Hazel. If there was ever a doubt that Prince deserved a place amongst the greatest rock guitarists of all time, here he lays it permanently to rest in less than 60 seconds. “Let’s Go Crazy” is, true to its name, the sound of one of the most talented pop stars of the decade going absolutely crazy, overflowing with ideas and knocking each and every one out of the park. | |
Kompys2000
03.16.22 | Read in a more streamlined format here:
https://popgoestheyear.com/2022/03/16/the-top-10-best-hit-songs-of-1984/
Follow the PGTY best of the 80s playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0HRALpJ4W1s2CdXDDSV9Rk
whew some depressingly timely discourse on both problematic faves and imperial nuclear brinksmanship, anyway please feel free to make fun of me for liking Huey Lewis instead of turning this into another "separating art/artist" thread | normaloctagon
03.16.22 | agree about Huey tbh, the whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost | normaloctagon
03.16.22 | great MJ and Prince writeups my friend | ArsMoriendi
03.16.22 | Lol Quiet Riot sucks and Springsteen is boring
I agree with What’s Love Got to Do with It and 99 Luftballoons being top though
Secretly a weak year though tbh | Kompys2000
03.16.22 | Literally the only reason I didn't mention that American Psycho scene is that I'm probably going to write about hip to be square and don't want to use up all my meme references here lmao | Kompys2000
03.16.22 | I have checked a few other Quiet Riot songs and tbh you're probably right ars, cum on feel the noize still be hittin tho
And boy if you think 84 is weak take a look at those late 80s lists, it's all downhill from here baby | ArsMoriendi
03.16.22 | 1985 has Raspberry Beret, Walking on Sunshine, and Smooth Operator
ALSO WHAT JULIAN LENNON HAD HUGE HITS?
hmmm | BarbiePop
03.16.22 | Patty Smyth was a great vocalist. She's fun to listen to! | ItsTheSquirrel
03.17.22 | Plus 85 has Hounds of Love which is probably the best pop album ever made | ArsMoriendi
03.17.22 | Unfortunately even Running Up That Hill doesn't quality as a year-end hit because Pop Radio Fans suck | Titan
03.17.22 | I absolutely love Magic, amazing song Kompys | BarbiePop
03.17.22 | "Plus 85 has Hounds of Love which is probably the best pop album ever made"
hmm let's talk about that sometime lol | EoinCofa
03.17.22 | Kaleida’s version of 99 Luftballons is outstanding | ReturnToRock
03.17.22 | 'It’s my firm belief that every hair metal band gets one and ONLY one true classic.'
Bon Jovi: Livin' on a Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name, Bad Medicine, Wanted Dead or Alive, Blaze of Glory, Keep the Faith, Always, I'll Be There For You
KISS: Rock'n'Roll All Night, Detroit Rock City, Love Gun, Strutter, God of Thunder
Poison: Talk Dirty To Me, Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Motley Crue: Shout At The Devil, Girls Girls Girls, Dr. Feelgood, Kickstart My Heart
Cinderella: Shake Me, Gypsy Road, Don't Know What You Got 'Till It's Gone
Ratt: Round and Round, You're In Love
Winger: Seventeen, Headed for a Heartbreak, Miles Away
Survivor: Eye of the Tiger, Burning Heart
Europe: The Final Countdown, Carrie
That's without even going into personal preference - just sticking to songs that were objective hits for their respective bands. | ArsMoriendi
03.17.22 | Every song you just listed (okay like most cuz there’s a handful I don’t know) minus Eye of the Tiger is godawful
Especially Every Rose Has It’s Thorn | IsisScript80
03.17.22 | Kompys2000: “It’s my firm belief that every hair metal band gets one and ONLY one true classic.“
If that holds true, then I’d say that Whitesnake are definitely an exception. | ReturnToRock
03.17.22 | Oh yeah, I didn't even remember to include Whitesnake!
@Ars I like most of them, including Rose, but then I like hair metal so I'm biased. | dedex
03.17.22 | bro am hyped to jam and read while gettin' blazed after work | Kompys2000
03.17.22 | @rtr if we are stretching to include proto hair metal like KISS and edge cases like Survivor then the point is moot, lots of broadly worthwhile hair-adjacent bands (esp in the dying days of the genre when bands like Living Colour started adding more thrash and funk influence)
Anyway "classic" =/= "hit"- by PGTY standards Crüe only has one hit and it's "Without You", if that tells you anything. | dedex
03.17.22 | I know I'm repeating myself every two weeks, but this is a stellar series. Love reading and jamming these on Thursday evenings, and this week was no exception! | ArsMoriendi
03.17.22 | Twisted Sister’s hits are okay I guess because they’re pure goof
People really underrated how much goofy can enchance things | Kompys2000
03.17.22 | Twisted Sister's one classic is we're not gonna take it, I wanna rock is fun but I wouldn't exactly call it "good". Their 12 days of Christmas parody is also incredible tbh
Thanks a mil for the kind words dedex, I do it all for the people ;] | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | Purple Rain is #1 of that year btw. I cannot think of anything that year that topped that considering the amount of work he put into the film as well. It's a masterpiece and should be realized as such. | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | Bruce Springsteen? No offense hun I hate that song you mentioned, it's the epitome of manufactured pop by a musician who can't function properly without overly tight blue jeans...but damn what a sweet ass.
HOW CAN YOU REALLY LEAVE OUT CRUEL SUMMER! Bananarama omg, here are some more you missed.
Teena Marie - Lovergirl (one of my favs)
Bryan Adams - Run To You
Diana Ross - Swept Away
Bon Jovi - Runaway
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
Steve Perry - Oh Sherry
Hall And Oates - Out Of Touch
Def Leppard - Bringing On The Heartache
Madonna - Like A Virgin
Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield
Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
The Go-Go's - Head Over Heels
Ratt - Round and Round
The Pointer Sisters - Automatic
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
a-ha - Take On Me
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
thanks to the help of Rolling Stone I cherry picked my favorites. They also had Prince as #1, it's a no brainer!
| Kompys2000
03.18.22 | A few of those wound up on the '85 year end iirc, and I actually don't think Rebel Yell made the cut for either year
But also lol Bryan Adams | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | Hey! That is a good song! It's way better than Bruce sweating on the mic teasing me with his tight blue jeans...smh | Kompys2000
03.18.22 | Bruce was kinda nice with it in 84 its true | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | Very true. yummy. But anyways....that Bryan Adams song is a good one, that video with the leaves falling down while he's gripping his guitar, i mean he at least plays it! | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | When Doves Cry is my easily #1 for that year, have you seen Purple Rain? | Kompys2000
03.18.22 | Yeah I think they marathoned it on some TV channel when he died
The parts where people are performing music are a ton of fun, the other parts are pleasant but lightly embarrassing 80s nonsense | BarbiePop
03.18.22 | I haven't seen the marathon, I just remember the film was pretty decent, considering he recorded an album by himself, directed a movie, and played his heart out all that same year. Pretty impressive huh? | rellik009
03.18.22 | hell
yes
m/ | ReturnToRock
03.21.22 | I also forgot Leppard in my earlier comment. THEY have:
Pour Some Sugar On Me, Love Bites, Let's Get Rocked, Photograph, Animal | ReturnToRock
03.21.22 | Having now actually read the list:
- 'The Warrior' and '99 Luftballons' are BANGERS, even though I do prefer the English version of the latter, because how many other songs have Star Trek references in their lyrics? Also, fun fact: in the German version, the balloons aren't red. Their colour is never specified. They're just 'air balloons' (the literal translation of 'luftballons'.)
- 'Though we no longer live quite so close to the precipice of nuclear annihilation...' Are you still so sure?
- At the very start of the Prince write-up, I don't think you meant 1999... | Kompys2000
03.21.22 | Lmfao I wrote most of these back in late jan/early feb, wish to hell that line hadn't aged so badly
Re: Prince uhh, yes I did mean 1999? That was absolutely a breakthrough release for him, he was successful before that but not like a household name | ReturnToRock
03.21.22 | Ohhh, you meant the ALBUM. I read that as referring to the YEAR 1999, and was like 'wtf'? xD | SitarHero
03.21.22 | The Warrior is such a great song. If only Patty Smyth had joined Van Halen like EVH wanted...
Also, this video deserves to be watched by everyone, especially because of the lead guitarist xD
https://youtu.be/Qzl_bUasVIo | ReturnToRock
03.21.22 | Okay, that sounds nothing like The Warrior, and...HOLY CRAP, IS THAT JON BON JOVI?!? | rockarollacola
03.21.22 | Every song featured is great. 10, 9, 6 and 4 are my favorites. Probably would have swapped Thriller for Billy Jean tho. | SitarHero
03.21.22 | "HOLY CRAP, IS THAT JON BON JOVI?!?"
Bwahahaha!
| ReturnToRock
03.21.22 | Wtf is Jon Bon Jovi doing with Warrior? Is this before Bon Jovi the band? | SitarHero
03.21.22 | Yeah this was back when he was still Jon Bongiovi. And as far as I know he was never actually in Scandal. He just randomly showed up in that promo video pretending to be the lead guitarist, and not even all that well tbh. This is what Patty Smyth said about it in an interview.
"He wasn't a member of the group, but he was in The Power Station and we knew him 'cause he was living above The Power Station 'cause his cousin owned it. So he was in that video I told you about. We didn't have a guitar player yet. We hadn't found Keith Mack yet. So, he pretended to play guitar in that video, "Lyin' On You", which actually got us the record deal. So, he's in that. (Laughs)"
http://www.classicbands.com/PattySmythInterview.html | SitarHero
03.21.22 | But it's also funny to me how it's obvious that he's not actually in the band. Like, "here's Scandal, a bunch of unremarkable dudes who probably play in a Cars tribute band to make ends meet. And here's an obvious future global rockstar/heartthrob who's totally playing this guitar solo we promise!" xD | ReturnToRock
03.22.22 | I just called them Warrior up there xD
Also, they seem to be going for the Blondie demographic there, as opposed to the glam rock demo they hit with The Warrior. Gotta love how inconsistent mainstream 80s bands were with their sound.
Also also, The Warrior (the album) is actually billed to 'Scandal with Patti Smyth', for some reason... | Kompys2000
03.22.22 | Gotta love all of Jon Bon Jovi's pre-Bon Jovi odd jobs. Wasn't he on some star wars TV special in the early 80s? |
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