Directly from my all-time favorite songs list at billgraper dot com (it won't let me type the address): "Total Eclipse Of The Heart"- Bonnie Tyler "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes"- Asia "Love Is A Battlefield"- Pat Benatar "I Won't Hold You Back"- Toto "Goody Two Shoes"- Adam Ant "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy"- Sammy Hagar "Hold Me 'Til The Mornin' Comes"- Paul Anka (feat. Peter Cetera) "Baby Come To Me"- Patti Austin & James Ingram "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me"- Culture Club "Stray Cat Strut"- The Stray Cats "Never Gonna Let You Go"- Sergio Mendes "You Got Lucky"- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "Billie Jean"- Michael Jackson "Beat It"- MIchael Jackson "Der Kommissar"- After The Fire "Africa"- Toto "My Love"- Lionel Richie "Major Tom (Coming Home)"- Peter Schilling "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All"- Air Supply
1978-1983 was one of the most prolific periods in music. When you actually stop and look up how many hits that people still love came out in those years it's insane.
And they just happen to be the same years I worked clubs as a DJ before walking across the street from the first club I started in 1978 to get an on-air job at the local (long gone but not forgotten) radio station in 1984. I just have to hear the first note or two of a song and a memories flood back. I might have the year wrong but in 1982 I remember needing a band to fill in our schedule but I wanted something new. I heard rumours of a young guy whose rock band was tearing up school proms locally. I had someone track him down and got him to Whispers, the club in North Vancouver where I was working at the time, in order to meet him. I was immediately struck by him. And, when he and his band hit the stage, so were the rest of the staff and clientele. They crushed it. We knew we were looking at a superstar in the making. He really made my summer of '82 although you probably better remember him for his "Summer of '69."
I remember years ago certain friends of mine we would just out of nowhere sing the word “True” in the same manner as the song. It would just crack us up.
I grew up in the 80's and remember all these songs and the many memories they invoke... I frequently get a feeling of sadness when I think of how those days are gone in music. Thankfully these songs will live forever.
Aside from the music then, it was a time when kids weren't looking for ways to be depressed and there was a positive "spirit" in the air. 1984 I was 11 and it was fantastic I judged/diagnosed times
I was just thinking that tonight. I'm so sad that those days are gone. Guys looked amazing, dressed great, used hair spray...no underwear showing. The music was incredible. It was truly a magical time.
Even in the strongest calendar years for music, there has always been good music and bad music. I was born in the year 1980, but I routinely listen to music from the birth of rock-and-roll in the mid-1950s all the way through music of today. Case in point -- I'm likely to listen to "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" from the 50s in the same day as I request "As It Was" from Harry Styles (2022) and "Let the Music Play" from Shannon in the 80s. My point is, don't ever give up on music, because in every year, there is good music to celebrate. Even in a strong year such as 1983 or 1984, you still have to go find good music -- it doesn't just come to us.
Total Casey Kasem vibes when you said "It's Bonnie Tyler with Total Eclipse of the Heart". My late husband used to absolutely love Total Eclipse of the Heart. We got married in 2005, by no means the 80s, but he would get ready for work every morning listening to that song (and Celine Dion 😁) until the cancer got bad and he couldn't work anymore. Thank you, I loved this list.
Hey Adam, thank you for this episode. My beautiful bride and I were married on Oct.1st 1983. We're 38 years into this love affair and could not be more satisfied. All these tunes just bring back nothing but great memories. You do a fantastic job in all of your content and we are all blessed because of that. THANK YOU much. Jim
I turned 21 at the end of 1983. I didn't appreciate this music back then as much as I should have, but OMG, do I ever appreciate this music now. It's sad what the music industry has become (as well as Hollywood).
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" was my high school's Class of '84 graduation song. I heard "Maniac" in a local supermarket earlier this week-and for some unknown reason I slid my shirt partly off a shoulder.
For my high school it was Take My Breath Away from the Top Gun movie. Oh yeah, when that song got played, you grabbed your girl and headed out to the dance floor
So many Sunday nights I spent in my room, finishing my weekend homework, listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown! Waiting for that number ONE! It was magical!! I have a teenager now, and I feel bad that she will never know the sound of Kasey’s voice as he tells us the stories of the songs ,or the dedications to loved ones with heartfelt sentiments. He was an unsung hero of our youth. He was there for us week after week, playing our songs and building our memories, while we made plans for our futures. Thanks Kasey, for giving some of us the best times of our lives!
I enjoyed the long distance dedications particularly. I never missed American top 40 as a teen in the 80s. I would record songs off the radio on the cassette deck from my parent's stereo. Great memories.
iHeart radio has a station dedicated to just Casey Kasem's American Top 40. All they play are reruns of the countdowns, as they were aired, back in the 70's and 80's. I'll listen to them now and then, and still wonder which song was #1!
HI KIMBERELY,YES I REMEMBER KASEY’S RADIO SHOW VERY WELL.I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING KASEY BACKSTAGE IN THE LATE 60’S WHEN HE WAS THE MC FOR SOME OF OUR CONCERTS.I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS A VERY NICE MAN AND A GREAT DJ! STAY SAFE,AND BE WELL. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😎 RON ROMAN
What I personally loved about the 80s synth pop movement was the birth of so many movements, house , club house , electro , break beats 🎧, all these dance 💃 movements were birthed in the 80s … so special for those who loved to dance . It’s so easy to hear the appeal of police and of course the love ballads of the time highlighted in this section . What a treat
I have kids who are 12 to 16. They are constantly trying get their “tone deaf daddy “ to listen to their music. My musical tastes developed in the 70s and 80s. Boston, Aerosmith and Pink Floyd. They cannot come close to matching that
"Total Eclipse Of The Heart" is still one of my biggest GOOSEBUMPS songs. When she comes out of the solo & gives out a raspy "Every now and then I fall apart..." combined with the backup vocals & music... then into the last chorus... It still gets me every time! It's one of my favorite moments in pop music history!
I had no idea the song was about a cougar and her much younger lover until I read the lyrics in Smash HIts magazine. That never played extra verse explains the meaning of the song.
It’s a “big” production track for sure. Steinman’s style is virtually defined by its over the top quality. There is an operatic theatricality to it. Meatloaf was his main muse, but obviously his songs can work with other “big” singers like Tyler. It’s dramatic - melodramatic for those who don’t care for the style. Steinman’s style is recognizable enough that there are definitely similarities between Total Eclipse and making Love … I think Eclipse is the better song -More original lyrically and with a perfect fit for Tyler’s vocal. The repeated “turn around bright eyes” (actually sung by a male singer despite that they sound Rather androgynous) works as an engaging counterpoint to Tyler’s raspy but definitely Female lead vocal. It’s a special song and a lot of good work went into making it. Not a song that goes by easily unnoticed. ✌️
Air Supply… one of my favorites. I was 10 years old and completely in love with them and the rest of these songs. Great year for music when melody was king.
Brian Setzer and Stray Cats strove to revive Rock-a-Billy for a new generation in the midst of the emergence of re-branded disco (which continues to dominate air-play to this day). SO much respect for him! SO much love for his music.
Hope Brian loves the rock-a-billy look, because man, he's had to sport that look his whole life. Sorta like Kiss and the makeup. I don't know Brian, maybe he is rock-a-billy to the core and it's just who he is. Whatever the case, the 80's were so damn diverse.
I got to see the Stray Cats live at the Sacramento civic center with back stage passes because the girl I was dating had a brother in Pegasus the local band that opened for the Stray Cats lol. It was wild in there! lol I remember the drummer standing on the base drum with a bottle of Jack Daniels! lol And yes I remember her by name all these years/decades later lol. Beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes and a body built for speed lol
@@prepperjonpnw6482 I so appreciate my younger-self treating me to so many concerts in the 70's and 80's. I didn't realize it at the time but I was seeding some mighty terrific memories. From Abba to Zappa I like to say. Stray Cats, unfortunately, isn't one of them, so I'm envious.
@@ProfessorofRock Cool shirt. That Wang Chung album was one of my free Columbia tapes. _Don't Let Go_ became my all time favorite song on that album and it is on my car's USB stick. The actual song Dance Hall Days is such a classy classic. It brings back memories of sitting on the deck by our above ground pool (that I did most of the yard prep work and helped install) and enjoying this song on my Sharp dual-cassette jam box. Ah, the summer of 1984!
1983 was probably my favorite year in music. Because of its when I started my music collecting. And hearing everyone’s memories that you, Professor share. Is the reason I explain to my ten year old son, how great a decade the 80’s was growing up. The way he is, I wish he could enjoy those same things I did. Just hearing everyone else’s memories sparks even more memories for me. I might be bias but I think being able to live through the 80’s was definitely a blessing.
It's the year I started too... but didn't buy much from that year as I thought it was disappointing to the stuff I'd been listening to from 79-82. The records I bought in 83 were mostly a couple of years old.
1983-I was 13 and saw the Police, Air Supply and Kenny Rogers that year! What a blast! My own kids have been raised on all of this music and these are the songs they choose for road trips! The best decade of music!
Hey, I got a "driving way out of the way to buy a record" story: When Blondie released "Call Me," I begged my dad to drive me to a record store about a half hour away to buy the 45. Begrudgingly, dad obliged. I had a HUGE crush on Debbie Harry at the time (hell, who didn't?) so I was super stoked! There I was in the back seat of dad's '68 Impala station wagon, ogling my new 45. In a disappointing turn of events, I ended up accidentally sitting on the 45, snapping it in two. Dad was pissed. I cried. I did eventually replace it (and still have it in my collection), but I'll never forget the sound of it breaking underneath the weight of me.
@@RetroDawn Guess I didn't make that part clear enough. I was sitting in the back seat and leaning my chin on the front seat. My dad hated when I did that, so he told me to sit back. I didn't realize that while i was leaning forward, the 45 had slid behind me (the station wagon had long bench-style seats both front and back), so when I scooted my butt back in the seat, the record snapped it half. I would have been about 12 at the time.
Although I find new music now and again that really grabs me, there is nothing like that period of 1979 to about 1985 when punk turned into post-punk and then what they called "New Wave." I was a massive fan of British music and in my early teens lived just close enough to Athens, Georgia to be able to receive the transmission of their college radio station WUOG. I later moved to Atlanta and saw bands like R.E.M., Ministry, the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees in small theaters and clubs before they blew up big and became part of what they started calling Alternative Rock. Great times, good music, fantastic memories.
In the 90's I was in a deep depression after having to drop out of college and I was sitting at a stoplight by myself in my car when Total Eclipse of the Heart came on the radio. When he sang "turn around bright eyes", the vibrations of his voice hit my soul so deeply. I just know that voice was not human, but angelic. I was reduced to sobs and tears. I knew right then I was loved.
November would see Yes drop "90125" bringing them back from the dead and, thanks to Trevor Rabin, would usher in a whole new sound and direction for the band. 90125 remains one of the most important albums of the 1980s for me.
@@jimclark1374 well that's not a very progressive rock thing to say. But yeah I agree, Trevor horn was the fly in the ointment.I Love Rabin's guitar over Howe tho and his background vocals were stronger than squire but yeah I did see Anderson Rabin and wakeman show ARW it was good
A few songs from this timeframe that I would love a redux on: 1) Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes; 2) That’s All - Genesis; Give it up - KC and the Sunshine Band; 4) 99 Red Balloons - Nena
My 14 year old son, his spotify playlist is mainly music from the 70’s & 80’s, Al Green, Bobby Caldwel, Toto, Spandeau Ballet etc, etc. he discovered a new era where he admits todays music to doesn’t compare.
@@kathleenking47 funny you mentioned that, I only recently bought him a retro vinyl turntable, does both 33 rpm & 45rpm and he know is slowly building an impressive record collection.
That is awesome to hear about young people having an old soul. My children are into that 60s - 80s time portal. From pop to rock to jazz to funk music.
Professor: Thank You for a trip into a far less complicated time! This era (1980s) was a great time for music! Your videos take me right back to a period ( & music) that was far more influential and meaningful in my life than I ever realized! Even songs and groups that weren't necessarily my favorites (that we still heard constantly), you bring new & interesting perspectives that are heard with different perspectives [ x +40 years ]. We're not 'immature kids' anymore! (Now we're immature 'adults' !!) 😆😅🤣 THANKS!
Total eclipse of the heart has always been a bitter sweet song for me. It was a favorite song of mine at the time. I seemed to hear it whenever I turned on the radio. It definitely is a song that brings back memories of a time. I had graduated high school in 1982, and I was trying to find my way in life. In 1983 right in the height of this song's popularity my best friend was killed in a car accident. He was hit head on by a drunk driver. So, this song always takes me back to that time immediately after high school with all the typical things one thinks of at that time (youth, hope, and such). But, it also brings back memories of my friend James. As I said, bitter sweet.
I was 17. I was close to getting my driver's license and had my own car. I was a junior in high school. BTW, 1983 is when we bought our second color TV, a 1982 Zenith System 3, I'm still using it to this day.
Love is a battlefield-Pat Benetar; She's a beauty-The Tubes; Promises Promises-Naked Eyes; Big Log-Rober Plant and the best of the best: New Year's Day-U2!!!
One of my mixtapes from 1983: y'know back when you had to time everything to fit on two 45 minute sides of your TDK or Maxell cassette... Safety Dance - Men Without Hats Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band I Know There's Something Going On - Frida Is There Something In Should Know - Duran Duran Calling All Boys - The Flirts Words - Missing Persons Whirly Girl - Oxo Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Eurythmics Our House - Madness Come Dancing - The Kinks Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran New Year's Day - U2 Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling Union Of The Snake - Duran Duran Der Kommissar - After The Fire Sex (I'm A...) - Berlin Situation - Yaz Little Red Corvette - Prince
This is definitely SA-X 90-worthy, haha...I miss the sort of artistry it took to make the perfect mixed tape (or later on mixed CD). I think the single greatest achievement of my life is when I made 30 ninety minute tapes for a longgg road trip to Lollapalooza 1992 at the most epic venue I've ever experienced, Alpine Valley WI from a little town in Saskatchewan...while not in the 80s most of the music was from the 80s (spiced with classics from the 60s and 70s as well). I really agonized over every single song, but it paid off; my 3 buddies I went with didn't want to listen to anything else, not even the albums of the acts we were going to see that of course we had with us as well (sorry Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, RHCP, etc., haha, no listens for you!). I'm not a huge Duran Duran fan so the *only* small changes I'd make are switching "Hungry Like The Wolf" out for "Rio" (I love that video, and the driving guitar and percussion really get my blood pumping still ever now listening to it...Duran Duran on that racing yacht was the first "real" music video I really remember that was more than just a band performing basically, ground breaking!), and also swap "Union of the Snake" for either Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry", The Clash's "Rock the Casbah", or Dire Straits' "Industrial Disease"...but this really is a great mix despite what I'd sub out and in!
I watched this because I was born in 1983. Thanks for sharing the amazing stories that make these songs so personal and powerful. I would love to see you do my birth week, I was born Dec 16. Thanks!
These songs were magical to me when I was young. Still amazing of course, but only now do I realize how lucky we were to have songs like these during our childhood.
What I love about this channel is you bring up song I forget about, then after these videos I go and revisit the song then memories come back which is great for me as I battle leukemia but unfortunately I'm on the losing end but it's OK. I really enjoy the memories... Thank You Professor (Adam)..
My biggest musical memories of 1983 was a K-tel collection record I got that had several great songs. I took the record to school the last day and the teacher stopped it during 'I Know what Boys Like'.
Jim Steinman’s accomplishment of multiple songs in the top ten is amazing! The only other person that I personally know of that has done that was Tommy James ( of Tommy James and the Shondells fame ). I think he did it twice ( but I might be wrong ). Great show👍🤙
Total Eclipse of the Heart. Loved it then. Love it more now. It speaks more to me now having experienced it. Pained yet also defiant. Love Bonnie's voice. The rasp and all.
Another fantastic video Professor! I can’t believe how much quality content you put out with incredible interviews. Every day there’s another great video released. Love your channel.
Oh my, these songs were my life savers…. My Mother moved me from a very small town in Wyoming , Cokeville, to a very much larger community In Wisconsin. I was way out of my comfort zone …. Thank you for the memories….
I remember listening to WCIL 101.5 in Carbondale, IL for their year end countdown. I had a tape cassette loaded, record and pause pressed, ready to unpause when the #1 song came on. My sister and I were happy but not surprised when it was Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Listening to your countdown reminds me of those musically fun days. Thank you for the nostalgia.
You know, it doesn't surprise me that the top five streamed of this list are the more passionate belters. The current state of music seems so sterile and passionless compared to songs like these. Love it. Thanks for reminding us. :)
1983 was my birth year... but I know all or most of these songs well enough to sing them from memory...Glad to know I was born in one the best years in music.
The shirt rocks! Dance Hall Days is an all time favorite. It still sounds fresh after all these years. It’s a perfect pop song. That beat still gets me.
I was in 9th grade in October '83, and it was a great year! Safety Dance was one of my favorite songs, and everytime I hear True, it makes me think of think of the dance scene in Sixteen Candles! 💕
Billy Joel was a listening staple in the car stereo tape deck back throughout the ‘80s, thanks to Mom! I’ll never be able to hear Steinman’s sound from Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Air Supply are awesome. The collaboration with Steinman for Making love was beautiful. One of my favourite weeks in music. Billy Joel, Bonnie Tyler, Spandau ballet, the Bee gees with Kenny and Dolly, it doesn’t get much better
We had a Record Bar in Knoxville too, at West Town Mall. About 30 seconds after I walked in a certain song came on and everyone in the store (including me) busted out with Safety Dance. It even spilled into the mall a ways, made our day!
Just started following you and commenting only for a short time, You Sir are FABULOUS! Thank you for taking the time to research and put the video out for all to see and re-live memories. Thank you.
Oh how I miss the 80's. I remember all of these songs and I still listen to most of them Today. I was a freshman in high school in 1983. What a fun time to be alive. Today.....not so much. 🙄
*"...today's music sucks." LOL That's what I've always liked about you Adam - you tell it like it is. And if anyone gets triggered by the TRUTH... well, honestly... that's just life.* *It's just yet another solid reason that I honestly that think you'll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one fine day. Of course, it'll likely be several years from now (and nope, I'm not being sarcastic whatsoever, in writing this sentence).* *You, as well as youtuber Rick Beato, continue to be my personal top 2 'music-related RU-vid guys'. Both of your channels have proven to be quite valuable, (historically speaking), as well as surprisingly engaging & entertaining... and both feature a focus/special emphasis on Rock/Alt Rock music from the 1950s up to the present.* *Anyway... thanks, as always.👍*
I'm an old guy and I don't think today's music sucks. Some of it I like, some of it I don't, but that has been true for every year, including 1983. I don't mean to pick a fight here but it seems a bit lazy to declare that all music of any time sucks. Have you tried ... looking for good music to listen to? Doing a bit of a deeper dive than one listen to some radio hit? I asked a college kid for some recommendations and I'm still working through some great stuff. But, to each his own.
@@qqw743 Therein lies the problem and it's always the response to 'today's music sucks': "There's still good music today, you just have to dig for it". Well, back then you didn't have to dig for it or look for it. That's the issue. It was on the radio and more mainstream. I'm sure there's good music out there today, but it isn't on the radio or in the mainstream from what I hear. Good music is not popular and that's what's sad about it and I don't really want to dig for it.
@@colossusforbin5484 I disagree. We always had to dig for good music. This video is exactly the proof. A bunch of terrible songs and if you listened to top 40 at the time, this is the crap you'd have heard. If you want to stand by this music that's your call, but I find it annoying treacle. And if you had listened to this top 40 stuff back then, you would have heard a ton of bad music -- and you would have never known that the Talking Heads existed, that bands like U2, Public Image, Bow Wow Wow, Cyndi Lauper were making great music. You had to dig a little. Which to me is really fun, not some chore I do for work.
@@qqw743Sure there was good music to dig for and there was bad music on the radio back then, but you didn't HAVE TO dig to find good music like now. It's not that it's a chore, it's you shouldn't have to. All those bands/singers you mention are not great examples because I don't remember having to dig to hear about them. I just remember hearing a lot of good music on the radio and MTV back then without trying and I don't now. To me, music back then was just all around better, so we'll just have to disagree about that.
i GROW UP DANCING EVERYTIME HEARING MUSIC - born in 9/5/74 - And when we heard music my dad told us to listen to the words and get out and dance it out!!!
The lead vocal on “The Safety Dance” always reminded me of a band you’ve most likely never heard of - The U.K.’s Bonzo Dog Band (formerly the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band… at one point they did a tour of the USA and apparently lost their Doo Dah somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean). They were a smash hit in the UK, but went mostly unnoticed in the USA. The lead vocalist of The Bonzo Dog Band, a man named Vivian Stanshall, sounded a lot like the lead singer of Men Without Hats. Their album ”Gorilla” was “Dedicated to Kong, who must have been.a great bloke.” They were the house band on the UK TV show, “Please Do Not Adjust Your Set”, and their keyboardist/guitarist, the late, great Neil Innes scored several Monty Python movies as well as the immortal film about The Rutles, “All You Need Is Cash”, starring several members of Monty Python, a couple of the Bonzos, and it even features a cameo by George Harrison! The Bonzos were close personal friends of The Beatles, and back in the day, they could often be seen driving around London with John Lennon in his psychedelic Rolls Royce!
My picks for 1983, my favorite year of music, is anything off the David Bowie album "Let's Dance." People disparage it now (even Bowie did years later), but that album was GREAT. Still sounds amazing.
@@Zoetropeification Off topic of Bowie, I saw SRV and Double Trouble when they opened for Huey Lewis and the News. Stevie was absolutely fantastic, but Huey's audience was NOT ready for him just yet. They were very rude, and Stevie left the stage really p.o.'d. Didn't blame him a bit, either. It reminded me of hearing about when Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees in the 60s. A very odd combo of acts!
My daughter was born in 83 and she remembers me rocking out to Journey & other bands I stood in line when I was 8 months pregnant to get Journey tickets to see them a few months later after she was born ! Those were great times ! 💜🎶 LOVED MTV ! watched it all the time!
Only King of Pain from this list is in my personal 80s playlist. I was in my early 20s and was (and still am) underwhelmed by the rest. Growing up with the innovations in music of the 60s and 70s, the bar was set high for me.
Agree, although my early music years were in the late 70’s-80’s. I knew the top 40 was garbage (not the Police of course) as a kid. I found punk rock as a teen and that broke me out of the radio mode. Opened up fusion, progressive and Zappa for me. I missed the early 70’s when record companies were still taking chances, before disco. The 80’s was really embarrassing for top 40, but so much better than today. The music has declined to a pop singer and a drum machine.
The 80's collection should always include Daryl Hall & John Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do). Should look into who sampled it and how many times it was sampled years since.
@Professor of rock. I wish you had a radio gig. The way feel a connection with this wonderful music is relatable to so many of us. What you do for music is so valuable. #BornIn1970
Wow. That just proves to me how vast and amazing all music was in the early 80s! I was waiting for bands like journey, toto, styx, huey and Bryan Adams. But you just have to understand through just this small batch how completely authentic and talented these artists were. I can think of dozens more making an impact back then. Never forget! we will never get back there again.
Apparently my mom went to school same time as Adams but they never crossed paths. Adams is another Good Old Kingston Boy that made it. Adams, The Entire Tragically Hip, Dan A, Don Cherry. I know two aren't music but they're still Kingston. Dan A is the SNL/Ghostbuster Alumni I just can't spell his last name half the time.
Can't believe I just heard someone talk about the record store at Pineridge Mall in Pocatello. Canadian here who lived for 1 year in Pocatello, ID in 1986...many memories of Irving Jr High and buying my weight in 80s music at Pineridge Mall.
Karma Chameleon is the song that reminds me of 1983. First term at boarding school, getting changed for the football. Everytime I hear it it takes me back.
There were really only 3 decades worth listening to. When they wrote the songs and played the instruments. The 60s, 70s and 80s. The 50s and 90s had the rise and fall of good music.
The 90s had something going poetically until the Spice Girls showed up. But it was Backstreet and later Britney that turned the sound and put Alanis and Jewel out to the pasture. And without the formers R&B and hip-hop would not have gotten the traction they did which those genres took over the top 40 and destroyed it.
I love your countdowns Professor! It reminds me of Saturday mornings in the 80’s listening to Casey Kasem’s top 40 & the stories behind the music & especially the long distance dedications to listeners. ❤️👊
I heard this song as a kid entering puberty and I fell in love with her voice. Especially knowing at the time she had throat surgery. I was infatuated.
1983; the year I graduated high school. All these songs are engrained in memory. Those were heady times for me. "Come dancing" by the Kinks. "Mr Roboto" by Styx. "Our house" by Madness. There was also some good leftovers still playing the hot summer of '83 like "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller and "Come on Eileen" by Dexys midnight runners. '83 lives forever in music history to me.
That week, I was a junior in high school and I would listen to Casey Kasem every week. But my latest memory of Total Eclipse was a few months ago. My Mom's dementia was getting so bad she couldn't process how to turn around so I could help her get in and out of the chair or bed. She would get so angry and frustrated with not knowing what to do, I would try to lighten the situation by breaking out in song, "turn around..." She would laugh and we would finally get her moving. She passed away at the end of September.
While Michael Jackson did rule 83 with "Thriller" , and yes "Synchronicity" was huge, I would say that Def Leppard edged The Police that year with "Pyromania". Everyone I knew had that album and loved it.
