Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Top 40 Hits, January 22, 1984

Recently, there was a request to post a list from 1984, so here 'tis.

After going through my 1984s, I chose this chart because of the song at Number One. Yes is not a band known for its hit singles, yet, in late 1983, they burst back onto the scene two years after they'd broken up with this quasi-mystical, quasi-pop, quasi-self-help, quasi-hard rock number. I heard it in a coffee shop earlier today, and it still sounds good.

A lot of other goodies appear on this chart, as well, which I'll discuss in a later post.

40. UPTOWN GIRL, Billy Joel
39. IN THE MOOD, Robert Plant
38. SEND ME AN ANGEL, Real Life
37. REMEMBER THE NIGHTS, The Motels
36. NOBODY TOLD ME, John Lennon
35. NIGHT BIRD, Stevie Nicks
34. JUMP, Van Halen
33. 99 LUFTBALLONS, Nena
32. THE SIGN OF FIRE, The Fixx
31. WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER, The Police

30. STAY WITH ME TONIGHT, Jeffrey Osborne
29. GOLD, Spandau Ballet
28. SO BAD, Paul McCartney
27. YAH MO B THERE, James Ingram/Michael McDonald
26. BABY I LIED, Deborah Allen
25. MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, The Pretenders
24. AN INNOCENT MAN, Billy Joel
23. ALL NIGHT LONG, Lionel Richie
22. LET THE MUSIC PLAY, Shannon
21. READ 'EM AND WEEP, Barry Manilow

20. UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT, The Rolling Stones
19. IF I'D BEEN THE ONE, .38 Special
18. TIME WILL REVEAL, DeBarge
17. HOLIDAY, Madonna
16. I STILL CAN'T GET OVER LOVING YOU, Ray Parker Jr.
15. THE CURLY SHUFFLE, Jump 'N the Saddle Band
14. THINK OF LAURA, Christopher Cross
13. PINK HOUSES, John "Cougar" Mellencamp
12. THAT'S ALL, Genesis
11. UNION OF THE SNAKE, Duran Duran

10. SAY IT ISN'T SO, Daryl Hall & John Oates
9. RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT, Lionel Richie
8. JOANNA, Kool & the Gang
7. TWIST OF FATE, Olivia Newton-John
6. I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES, Elton John
5. BREAK MY STRIDE, Matthew Wilder
4. TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP, The Romantics
3. KARMA CHAMELEON, Culture Club
2. SAY SAY SAY, Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson
1. OWNER OF A LONELY HEART, Yes

Not as much punk or heavy metal as I would have liked, but I love these three tracks a lot.

1984 was an interesting year for heavy metal (punk or New Wave, as it was called in the US, was pretty much passe). Some HM songs entered the top 40, such as "Round and Round" by Ratt and "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot. But most HM did not, even though it seemed quite popular on MTV.

In addition to "Owner," Number One songs that year included "Say Say Say," "Karma Chameleon," "Jump" (Van Halen), "Footloose" (Kenny Loggins), "When Doves Cry" (Prince), and "Ghostbusters" (Ray Parker Jr.), so it was pretty much pop music as usual.

Punk rock did seem to be fading into the background in the 80's, though bands like the Descendents and the Clash were still putting out kickass albums till around 1982.

'84 had some great songs. I was a junior in high school, but due to premature facial hair, was mistaken by the ladies where I worked for a junior *in college.* Not a bad year for me, in other words.

Jump by Van Halen, Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes, Against All Odd (Take a Look at Me Now) by Phil Collins and What's Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner, all made for a lot of great stuff on the radio (or on MTV).

Time After Time, Dancing in the Dark, Self-Control, Eyes Without a Face, Here Comes the Rain Again, lots of classics.

Ooh, Scandal, The Warrior was this year, too!

1984 = delicious pop songs.

Billboard's Top 40 of 1984

I was 20 when these songs were hits. I had enrolled in college for the second time as a "self-enrichment student" (meaning I did not intend to pursue a degree then) and took an English course. I remember writing a parody of "Owner" for the course, but I don't think I ever used it for an assignment. (The professor likely had never heard the song.)

I was at that age where I had finished high school (or what passed for high school in my education) and was unclear on what to do next. I was still convinced that writing comic books or being a rock star lay in my future, and MTV provided me with plenty of fantasy role models. However, the pop charts of the time reflected a different musical reality. I felt a sense of restlessness: I wanted the HM bands to be more popular than they were (and, by extension, validate the direction in which I wanted to go). However, even the legendary Deep Purple reunited later that year but couldn't get a Top 40 hit. I was starting to come to the slow realization that much of what I thought life (and music) should be wasn't the way it actually was. I was resisting this growing up/changing stage with all of my might.

Still, there are a number of songs on this list that were great songs, whether I admitted it or not. How can you not like "Uptown Girl," "In the Mood," or "That's All"? Infectious melodies comprise the best pop music.

There is a good mix of old and new performers on this list, with Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Robert Plant, and the Stones sharing space with MTV darlings such as The Fixx, Spandau Ballet, and the ubiquitous Duran Duran. The mid-80s were a transition period where the "new" music hadn't quite pushed out the old but seemed comfortable sharing the same stage (and airwaves) with it.

And then there was "The Curly Shuffle" which reminded us that there was a time when novelty songs could be popular just because they were fun. This was one of the last novelty hits, if not the last, I can recall reaching the Top 40. It was a shame to see the silly side of the Top 40, along with instrumentals, die out.

1984 was probably not one of my favorite years in music, as I was at that age when I was still trying to discover who I was, and I felt that music (and life) was moving on without me. In hindsight, though, it was fun to watch this partial transition in music taking place. MTV had introduced a lot of new styles and fads, but catchy songs remained eternally popular.

I've been to less than a handful of arena concerts and this was a memorable one. Camping out got us great tickets. Rotating stage made better that we had a round arena. Wakeman on keyboards. One of my best college memories.


84: there's almost nothing here I detest but not tons I'd go out of my way for. Looks like the beginning of some music that I enjoyed a lot, Culture Club, Cougar. 99 lol, I've no idea what the lyrics are but I love that song. Break My Stride, Talking in Your Sleep a couple others that just had a fun vibe I like.

Thank you, He Who.



My sentiments exactly.

At the time, I was a lonely 4th grader with problems at school. A lot of my happiest memories are of being able to escape into most of the songs on this list. There's a lot I love here, a lot I like, and even the few that don't thrill me I can tolerate.

On "99 Luftballons," here is a line-by-line translation with the original German lyrics available by positioning the cursor on each line.

The English lyrics were somewhat different.

I heard the English version first, but quickly found that I liked the German version way more. The lyrics seem much more profound in the original language.

I agree. Stalgie. I later minored in German in college and then looked up the lyrics online to see if I could translate them. I didn't do too bad a job, if I do say so.

That last verse really struck me: The war lasts 99 years and (it is implied) obliterates everything: the war ministers and jet fighters, alike. It's also ambiguous if the narrator is thinking of a lost friend or if she herself is a ghost ("Are you perhaps thinking of me?"). Profound indeed.

Ones I've listened to a fair bit...
40. UPTOWN GIRL, Billy Joel - not recently. I only have vinyl Joel albums I got second hand.
36. NOBODY TOLD ME, John Lennon
34. JUMP, Van Halen
33. 99 LUFTBALLONS, Nena
2. SAY SAY SAY, Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson - not for ages though.
1. OWNER OF A LONELY HEART, Yes - just as likely to listen to the remix these days.

Quite decent
12. THAT'S ALL, Genesis
6. I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES, Elton John

Although I like the groups/them, not my favs...
24. AN INNOCENT MAN, Billy Joel
11. UNION OF THE SNAKE, Duran Duran
31. WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER, The Police

Pet Hates
29. GOLD, Spandau Ballet
3. KARMA CHAMELEON, Culture Club

29 is worse.

I was going to post it but couldn't stand to listen the whole way though. Did you know that Spandau Ballet's Best of album was a 45?

There's a curious dearth of rock ballads in that list now that I think about it.

Or was that a trend of the late 1980's? Anyone alive back then want to confirm this?

Is that 45 as in .45 ammunition to put listeners out of their misery?

oh, maybe you guys didn't have them or they were before your time. Singles records spun at 45rpm, give or take depending upon the quality of the close and play we could afford.

I'm not sure 1984 qualifies as the "late" '80s, but that's an interesting question.

I think ballads were always popular and ubiquitous (which was annoying to me, as I couldn't stand them). But there may have been periods where fewer ballads seemed as popular as other types of music.

A quick check of Teed's Top 40 of 1984 list suggested that there were only four or five ballads on that list, depending on how one defines "ballad" (Is "Drive" by the Cars a ballad?), so maybe '84 was one of those off-periods.

I always think of the "power ballad" as particularly associated with hair metal bands (as they all had their obligatory one as a single).

?????
37. REMEMBER THE NIGHTS, The Motels
35. NIGHT BIRD, Stevie Nicks
32. THE SIGN OF FIRE, The Fixx
30. STAY WITH ME TONIGHT, Jeffrey Osborne
28. SO BAD, Paul McCartney
26. BABY I LIED, Deborah Allen
19. IF I'D BEEN THE ONE, .38 Special
16. I STILL CAN'T GET OVER LOVING YOU, Ray Parker Jr.
15. THE CURLY SHUFFLE, Jump 'N the Saddle Band


HOW DOES THAT GO AGAIN?
36. NOBODY TOLD ME, John Lennon
20. UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT, The Rolling Stones



That's a pretty good Top 10. Can't remember the last time I heard #7 on the radio -- maybe it's a little too rockin' for the soft-hits circuit and eclipsed by Physical on the retro stations. Can't remember the last time I heard Heart Attack, either.

Me & that Lash guy recently has some discussing re: #12. When he finally gets hisself here, I expect there'll be more.



1. OWNER OF A LONELY HEART, Yes

AWESOME.

I love both those songs, I know the former from their Best of CD and the latter as a deep cut from a wonderful album.



Agreed 100%.

We used to come up with various (often naughty) lyrics for songs in college, and Owner of a Lonely Heart usually had refrains like 'Owner of a Smelly Fart' and 'Boner in a Shopping Cart.'

That was much funnier when I was closer to twelve, and drunk much of the time.

I may be "of a certain age", but I still write childish, tasteless parodies of pop songs:

Your bowels are movin'
Your, your bowels are movin'
Makin' ca-ca-ca-ca
Ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca