Year In Music: 1983

While released in November of 1982, Michael Jackson's Thriller was, no doubt, the chart story of 1983 (and 1984). Upon release, it became the first album in history to simultaneously top the charts in the US and UK. It spent 37 weeks at #1 in the US and spent 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. It also produced seven Top 10 singles, "The Girl Is Mine" (#2), "Beat It" (#1), "Billie Jean" (#1), "Human Nature" (#7), "P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)" (#10), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (#5), and the title cut (#4).

Additionally, although released in the fall of '82, Prince's album, 1999, enjoys huge success throughout 1983. The title track, for starters, reaches #12 in the US. "Little Red Corvette" climbs to #6, while third single "Delirious" also makes an appearance in the Top 10, peaking at #8.

JANUARY

Eurythmics release their breakthrough album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). With the title track becoming a #1 hit single (with the video getting heavy MTV rotation prior to radio getting in on the action), the album peaks at #15 and is certified platinum.


Def Leppard release their third album, Pyromania, and, in doing so, jump to the front of the hard rock scene. Singles "Photograph" (#12), "Rock Of Ages" (#16) and "Foolin'" (#28), all garner heavy rock and Top 40 radio airplay, propelling the album to #2. The album would go on to sell over ten million copies in the US.

FEBRUARY


U2 release their third album, War, and, in doing so, knock Michael Jackson's Thriller from the #1 spot in the UK. The album reached #12 in the US, with singles "New Years Day", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Two Hearts Beat As One" getting widespread radio airplay.


Styx release the concept album Kilroy Was Here, which is best-known for the hit single "Mr. Roboto". That single would reach #3, while follow-up single "Dont Let It End" would reach #6. The album itself would peak at #3 and the band would take their conceptual show to the stadiums of America, where the band's attempts at acting out portions of the album would not be well-received by audiences.


Journey release Frontiers, their second album since Jonathan Cain's addition to the line-up. The album would rocket to #2 on the charts while four singles would enjoy Top 40 success: "After The Fall" (#23), "Send Her My Love" (#23), "Faithfully" (#12), and "Separate Ways" (#8). The band's tour is one of the year's biggest undertakings and also one of the most successful. During said tour, they would hire NFL Films to film a documentary on the band's travels called Frontiers And Beyond.

MARCH

Quiet Riot rocket out of obscurity with their third album, Metal Health and the Top 5 mega-hit single "Cum On Feel The Noize". Propelled by the success of the single, as well as radio hits "Metal Health" and "Slick Black Cadillac", the album hits #1 in the US and goes on to sell over 6 million copies.

Laura Branigan returns with the aptly-titled album Branigan 2, scoring a Top 10 hit with "Solitaire" and hitting #12 with "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You". Strangely enough, the album also includes a re-working of Falco's "Der Kommisar" that is re-titled "Deep In The Dark".

Pink Floyd release the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to The Wall. The new album, entitled The Final Cut, would reach #1 in the UK and much of Europe, but would rise only as high as #6 in the US. Singles "Not Now John", "Your Possible Pasts" and "The Hero's Return" were all non-factors on the charts. Behind the scenes, the band is in shambles, as Rick Wright is no longer a part of the band and David Gilmour sings but one song. It would be Water's last album with the band. To date, the band has never performed a song from this album in concert, although Roger Waters has done so during his solo shows.

APRIL

R.E.M. release their first full-length album, Murmur, and take the alternative scene by storm, scoring heavy critical acclaim and widespread college radio airplay. It peaks at #36 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and is named Best Album of The Year by Rolling Stone, beating out Michael Jackson's Thriller. [Check out "We Walk/Behind Closed Doors" (live)]


Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer runs the London Marathon, finishing in four hours, thirty minutes. Said Strummer beforehand, "The biggest temptation will be to run into a pub along the route."


Former Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon is found dead on April 14 of a heroin overdose.


David Bowie re-invents himself yet again and enjoys the greatest commercial success of his career with the album Let's Dance, which rises to #4 on the US charts (and #1 in the UK) as singles "Let's Dance" and "China Girl" both break the Top 10 and garner heavy MTV airplay.

Michael Bolton releases his first solo album under his new last name (he had released two albums in the 70's under his real name Michael Bolotin) for his new label, Columbia. The self-titled album, which is comprised of hard rock would-be anthems, manages a lowly chart position of #89.

MAY


The second US Festival kicks off on May 28 with a line-up of new wave acts headlined by The Clash. The next night features heavy metal acts (featuring Van Halen), and the third night is more mainstream fare (David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, John Cougar, and U2. While a great success, the event is a ridiculously expensive undertaking (a $15 million budget, with most bands rumored to have made in the area of six figures for their performances) and, thus, festival founder Steve Wozniak (best known for co-founding Apple Computer) puts the idea of future US festivals to rest for good. [Check out Stray Cats "Lonely Summer Nights" (live"]

Rick Springfield releases Living In Oz, an album intended to showcase his serious side as an artist in the wake of the teen idol success that followed the release of Working Class Dog. This album features two Top 20 singles in "Human Touch" and "Affair of The Heart and manages to make it to #12 on the charts, selling well over two million copies. By year's end, Springfield is at work on his big-screen debut, Hard To Hold. [Check out "Living In Oz" (live)]


Talking Heads release their fifth studio album, Speaking In Tongues, which is best known for the band's signature tune, "Burning Down The House", which reached #9 on the US singles charts. The album itself would rise to #15 and reach platinum status. The band had initially commissioned artist to Robert Rauschenberg to design the cover. His creation, a mix of blue plastic encasing a clear vinyl album, proved to costly to manufacture in large quantities. 50,000 copies are manufactured and sold at a list price of $12.98. David Byrne's alternate design, which he painted himself, replaces it.

Meatloaf, having committed career suicide by not only parting ways with, but also suing, writer/producer Jim Steinman, releases a new album called Midnight At The Lost And Found. Most notably absent from the album are two songs Steinman had written for the project, "Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)" and "Total Eclipse of The Heart". The songs, of course, went on to both be huge hits for Air Supply and Bonnie Tyler, respectively. "Total Eclipse" went to #1 on the US charts, while "Making Love" would only rise as high as #2. Oddly enough, it was kept from the #1 spot by "Total Eclipse", as both were released as singles within weeks of one another. Meanwhile, Meatloaf's album fails to chart.

Air Supply - Making Love Out of Nothing At All (live)
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of The Heart (live)

JUNE

The Police release their sixth album, Synchronicity. Easily their most accessible work to date, the album is preceded by the release of the single "Every Breath You Take", which dominates radio and MTV playlists, becoming the band's first US #1 single. The band tours the US through the summer and fall, playing large stadiums to sold-out crowds every step of the way. Subsequent singles "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger land in the Top 10 with "Synchronicity II" peaking at #16. For diehard fans of the band, there are actually thirty-six different variations of the album artwork.


Hall & Oates reach #6 on the pop charts with their cover of a Mike Oldfield (of Tubular Bells fame) song, "Family Man". It is included on their mega-platinum album, H2O, which also includes Top 10 hits "Maneater" and "One On One".

Mere months after being plucked out of relative obscurity to play on David Bowie's Let's Dance album, Stevie Ray Vaughan releases his debut major label effort, Texas Flood. His arrival on the national scene totally revitalizes the blues genre as his playing draws raves from the likes of Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. The album breaks the Top 40 and the single "Pride And Joy" enjoys heavy AOR format radio airplay. [Check out "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (live)]

JULY


Madonna releases her self-titled debut album and quickly enjoys success on the disco/dance scene. She quickly turns that momentum into mainstream success with singles "Lucky Star" (#4) and "Borderline" (#10) both becoming huge pop singles. The album itself reaches #8 in the US.

Robert Plant scores his second Top 10 solo album with the release of The Principle Of Moments. It featurs Top 20 single "Big Log", while "In The Mood" rises to #39. The album features Phil Collins on drums for six tracks. Collins is also part of Plant's touring band.


John Travolta appears in the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, entitled Staying Alive. In this film, he is now a struggling Broadway dancer looking for his big break. The movie was directed by Sylvester Stallone. The soundtrack album features a majority of Bee Gees tunes, as well as a song by Frank Stallone (no way!), and Cynthia Rhodes (who would go on to join Animotion and marry Richard Marx).

SEPTEMBER

Almost two years after the original release of their debut LP, Too Fast For Love, Motley Crue release their follow-up album, Shout At The Devil. With metal acts such as Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Quiet Riot, and Scorpions enjoying mainstream success, Motley Crue's reputation as "bad boys" makes for great press and helps propel the album into the Top 20, even as singles "Too Young To Fall In Love" and "Looks That Kill" fail to break the Top 40. [Check out "Helter Skelter" (live)]

Detroit's The Romantics bounce back from a two-album slump to achieve the highest chart success of their career with their fourth album, In Heat (#14). The album's lead-off single, "Talking In Your Sleep", generates plenty of heat in its own right on Top 40 radio and quickly hits the Top 5. Follow-up single "One In A Million" also breaks the Top 40.

KISS announce the release of their new album Lick It Up by appearing on MTV on the day of its release sans make-up. Aside from being the first album to show the group without their trademark facepaint, it is the first album since the official departure of guitarist Ace Frehley. The album would reach a peak position of #24 and go gold on the strength of public interest in the band's new look, while the single "Lick It Up" would only rise as high as #66 on the singles charts.

After five straight Top 40 albums, Cheap Trick's aplty-named album, Next Position Please, fails to break the Top 40. "I Can't Take It" and "Dancing The Night Away" (a cover of a song by UK band The Motors) are released as singles; both fail to chart.

J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf is suddenly kicked out of the band.

OCTOBER

Following the break-up of her band (Blue Angel), bankruptcy, and a stint as a waitress in a Japanese piano bar, Cyndi Lauper returns with her first solo album, She's So Unusual. First single "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" goes #1 in over ten countries, but stalls at #2 in both the US and UK. The video gains almost non-stop rotation on MTV and makes Cyndi one of the most recognizable new faces on the music scene. Follow-up single "Time After Time" becomes her first US #1 single. Other singles from the album include "She Bop (#3), "All Through The Night" (#5) and "Money Changes Everything" (#27). The album has sold just shy of ten million copies in the US to date.


Paul McCartney releases Pipes Of Peace, an album that, like the album before it (Tug Of War), features two Michael Jackson collaborations (The #1 US hit "Say Say Say" and "The Man"). The album itself manages only a #15 showing in the US, going Top 5 in the UK.

Saying "this album is either gonna make me famous or ruin my career", John Cougar Mellencamp releases Uh-Huh, the follow-up to the wildly successful American Fool. Most notably, it is his first album to carry his legal surname, Mellencamp. It features collaborations with John Prine ("Jackie O") and, even stranger, Mellencamp's hair dresser, Dan Ross (Play Guitar"). The album goes to #9 on the US charts, with three hit singles; "Crumblin' Down" (#9), "Pink Houses" (#8), and "Authority Song (#15).

Paul Simon releases a new solo album, entitled Hearts And Bones. What makes this album most notable was that, up until the last moment, it had been a Simon & Garfunkel album (to be called Think Too Much), but Simon wiped Garfunkel's vocals off the tracks, much to the chagrin of Warner Brothers Records, who'd been banking on the chiming of cash registers that a new Simon & Garfunkel album would most surely bring. The album is a commercial underachiever, barely denting the Top 40, with lead-off single "Allergies" peaking at a lackluster #44. Second single "Think Too Much" (a song that had been issued as the B-side to "Allergies") fails to chart. [Check out "Hearts And Bones" (live)]

Huey Lewis & The News release Sports and immediately take the charts by storm. It is also reported that sales of vanilla-flavored ice cream go through the roof - just kidding. First single "Heart And Soul" builds upon the momentum of the band's last album, Picture Thus, and climbs to #8 on the charts. A steady string of heavily-played radio hits is to follow, including ""I Want A New Drug" (#6), "If This Is It" (#6), and "Walking On A Thin Line" (#18). It would go on to be the 2nd best selling album of 1984, behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Culture Club release their second album, Colour By Numbers, and score their second straight UK #1 album (the album peaks at #2 in the US). The album is also a huge success in the US, reaching #2 and spawning massive MTV hits "Karma Chameleon" (#1), "Miss Me Blind" #5), "Church Of The Poison Mind" (#10), and "It's A Miracle" (#13). The album is certified 10x Platinum in Canada; the first album to achieve the Diamond certification in that country.

With the release of their self-titled album, the transformation of Genesis into a full-fledged pop band is complete. While previous efforts Duke and Abacab had only hinted at their pop side among the prog, the reverse is true for this effort. While first single "Mama" is a dark, atmospheric track that does prog-era Genesis justice, "That's All" (which reaches #6 on the pop charts) more accurately reflects the album's direction. "Illegal Alien" and "Taking It All Too Hard" both fall short of Top 40 status, but enjoy moderate MTV rotation. The album, meanwhile hits #9 and sells over

NOVEMBER


Not wishing to rest on the laurels of their platinum success with the album and single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" earlier in the year, Eurythmics release Touch and continue their winning ways. With the album rising to a peak position of #7, the band scores a Top 5 single with "Here Comes The Rain Again". Two additional singles also break the Top 40; "Who's That Girl" (#21)and "Right By Your Side" (#29).


Duran Duran enjoy hits from three albums during the calendar year 1983, including their latest album, Seven And The Ragged Tiger. First single "Union Of The Snake" lands at #3, with "The Reflex" going #1, and "New Moon On Monday peaking at #10. Despite their songs being all over MTV, the album manages a meager #8 showing on the charts.


Yes do a masterful job of retooling themselves for the 80's following the less-than-successful attempt that was Drama (1980). Marking the introduction of new guitarist Trevor Rabin and the return of original singer Jon Anderson, 90125. The lead-off single "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" becomes the band's first US #1 hit single. The album itself peaks at #5.


The Rolling Stones release their new album, Undercover, and see their streak of eight consecutive #1 studio albums in the US come to an end. The album, while peaking at #4, receives lukewarm critical reviews (save for a glowing review in Rolling Stone, which should come as no surprise considering Jann Wenner himself would go on to give Mick Jagger's quickly-forgotten 2004 solo album, Goddess In The Doorway, a five-star rating). "Undercover of The Night" is the album's sole Top 10 single. Subsequent singles "She Was Hot" and "Too Much Blood" fail to break the Top 40.


U2 release Under A Blood Red Sky, a live album culled from a pivotal perfomance at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside of Denver, CO. The album, released mere months after their breakthrough studio album, War, peaks at #28 on the charts and solidifies their status as a premier live act.

In a November issue of Rolling Stone magazine, ten largely-unknown UK acts are hailed as the future of UK rock. The ten bands mentioned are The Chameleons, Specimen, Big Country, The Smiths, The Alarm, The Bluebells, Aztec Camera, Virginia Astley, The Death Cult, and Jimmy The Hoover.

DECEMBER


By year's end, the impact of MTV on the music scene is undeniable. A Rolling Stone article entitled "Ad Nauseum: How MTV Sells Out Rock & Roll" only hints at the potential backlash as record companies begin to feel the pressure to cater to the channel's whims. While making stars of VJ's like Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and J.J. Jackson, the list of artists the video channel has singlehandedly turned into stars also continues to grow. Well, maybe not so much black artists, which the channel is widely criticized for ignoring. After Mark Goodman interviewed David Bowie in his hotel room for an MTV segment, with cameras no longer rolling (but a reporter taking notes), Bowie turned the tables on Goodman:

Bowie: I'm distraught by the fact that there are so few black artists featured on MTV. Why is that?
Goodman: I think we're trying to move in that direction. We seem to be doing music that fits into what we want to play on MTV. The company is thinking in terms of narrow-casting...
Bowie: There seem to be a lot of black artists making very good videos that I'm surprised aren't used on MTV.
Goodman: Of course, also we have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie and the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest that would be scared to death by Prince, which we're playing, or a string of other black faces, or black music...
Bowie: Isn't that interesting...
Goodman: We have to play music we think an entire country is going to like, and certainly we're a rock & roll station. We grew up in an era where the Isley Brothers meant something to me. But what does it mean to a 17-year-old?
Bowie: I'll tell you what the Isley Brothers or Marvin Gaye means to a black 17-year-old, and surely he's part of America.
Goodman: No question, no question. That's why we're seeing those things.
Bowie: Don't you think it's a frightening predicament for MTV to be in?
Goodman: Yeah, but less so here than in radio.

In March, in fact, the station finds itself in a showdown with CBS Records when the label delivers the video for Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". If MTV, which had not shown much attention to Jackson's previous videos, does not agree to play the video, CBS threatens to yank all of their videos from the channel. MTV airs the video.