New acts of 1983

[BROWNJB1]

Lately, I have been to the AT40 shows from 1983 in my collection, and I noticed very interesting. I noticed that in the spring of 1983, acts like: Culture Club, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams all had their first Top 40 hits at the same time. What is amazing is that, they were 4 of the acts that came to define the music of the 1980's.

[Scott Lakefield]

This supports my feeling ("unofficial") that 1983 was one of the most-defining years of the 1980s.

[coldcardinal]

I'm always amazed at the difference in dominant musical styles between, say, January and May 1983. The second British invasion came very suddenly (though the seeds were planted in '82 with the Human League and A Flock of Seagulls), and immediately changed the face of pop music.

And since '83-'86 are my favorite years ever for music -- I'd say it was a positive change

[CountEmUp]

coldcardinal, I'm with you on the 83-86 thing, and I would go as far as to say that 1985 (my personal favorite year) is by far the most underrated and/or overlooked year of all.

When you talk about the 80s with someone, they typically recall the standard early-80s tracks you always hear at parties on those "hits of the 80s" compilation CDs, like Whip It, Mickey, Safety Dance, etc. If you refer to the later 80s, they think you're talking about hair bands, Tiffany and the New Kids.

Even XM's little bumpers in between AT40 segments play on those two ideas.

But in between those mini-eras was 1985, which, if you like plain old "pop" music, was the year that just kept on giving. That was the year Tears for Fears had their hits, and movie songs like Don't You Forget About Me, St. Elmo's Fire, and The Heat Is On were hits. Lots of artists had their best years: Phil Collins (Easy Lover, One More Night, Sussudio, Don't Lose My Number, Separate Lives), Bruce Springsteen (Born In The USA, Glory Days, I'm On Fire, etc) Bryan Adams (Run To You, Somebody, Heaven, Summer of 69, One Night Love Affair) were all from 1985. So were Madonna's Like A Virgin, Into The Groove (though not on AT40), and Crazy For You.

Many "forgotten" songs like Loverboy, Some Like It Hot, and One Night In Bangkok are from 1985. So was Voices Carry.

In true pop form, there were not-too-hard, not-too-soft rock hits like Only The Young and That Was Yesterday. There were not-too-drippy and not-too-powery ballads like Can't Fight This Feeling and I Want To Know What Love Is. Careless Whisper is from 1985. It was just one of those "in between" years where radio was just looking purely for pop hits, and nothing defined to any particular demographic or trying to promote any particular genre.

1986 made for a pretty good follow-up, though overall I don't think the big hits were quite as strong. I like 1987 too, though that's where you start to see the segmentation (more "hard" rock, R&B/rap, and "teeny" music).

Anyway, just some thoughts on an overlooked year in AT40 history.

[tacomalo]

While I still believe the golden age of rock and pop was from about 1963-77, I'll agree that things were getting incredibly stale in the post disco era of the early 1980s. Much of the lite rock dribble we get stuck with now started in the early 80s.

However, I believe it was the advent of MTV in 1982-83 that really brought back the music industry. I still remember the day our cable system debuted MTV in August 1982. I tuned in MTV and I don't think I moved for the next 5 hours. It was fresh, different and we got to see groups like Squeeze and Men at Work instead of hearing "Endless Love" and "Bette Davis Eyes" played over and over and over again.

Without MTV, I'm not sure we would have had a Men at Work or a Madonna or many of the other fresh acts that defined the 80s and beyond.

[BROWNJB1]

As I mentioned about the new acts of 1983, I forgot to mention some other new acts that came out that defined the 80's: DeBarge, New Edition, and the Eurythmics. Although New Edition didn't have their first Top 40 hit until late 1984, they did have their first chart single in 1983 with "Candy Girl". I have to say that 1983 was also a watershed year in the music business. That year you had Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album which went on to become the biggest selling album of all-time. Lionel Richie's solo career was taken off at that time, The Police's "Synchroncity" album became a huge smash. The second British Invasion was happening. Other 80's mainstays like Hall & Oates, Billy Joel, Journey, Pat Benatar and Men At Work were still riding high on the charts. We also had the emergence of MTV, and also one of my all-time favorite songs, "Flashdance...What A Feeling" by Irene Cara was a huge No. 1 hit, and also many of the R&B hits that were big that year. By the end of 1983, a then unknown female singer from Rochester, MI scored her first hit and would eventually rewrite the record books and became the biggest selling female artist of all-time, and she once said that the wanted to rule the world. That artist name was Madonna. And that is a look back at the music of 1983.

[80sfreak]

my personal fav years was late 1982 and 1983. I didn't fall for the fan favorite artists but had a connection with what turned out to be bands that became 1 hit wonders. Bands/artists such as After the Fire, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Musical Youth, Re-Flex, Taco, Madness, and other bands who made a bigger impact like Toto & Men At Work.