Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Best Singles of 1984: Pop's Greatest Year" (Part 1 of 3)

I don't mind when Rolling Stone magazine comes out with a new list, in fact I rather enjoy it.  So here we go again with a list they're calling the "100 Best Singles of 1984: Pop's Greatest Year."  The fact they call 1984 "pop's greatest year" is laughable because we all know that honor goes to 1982.  Still, they've turned out a pretty good list and one of the few Rolling Stones lists that doesn't have Bob Dylan in the top spot.  "A" for effort, "B" for the list itself.

The byline lists thirteen contributors and I'd be surprised if more than half of those were alive in 1984.  I can't imagine the inherent difficulties of putting together such a list such as a cooperative exercise, but they kept the guidelines simple: "To be considered, the song had to be released in 1984 or have significant chart impact in 1984, and charted somewhere on the Billboard Hot 100."  Sure, I don't agree with quite a few of the staff's picks, but isn't that the point?

Below is the bottom half of that list, complete with the song's peak on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and it's year-end rank according to Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual.  If a song peaked in a year other than 1984, that is notated by the year in superscript next to the year-end rank (ex. 98⁸³ means that song peaked on the Hot 100 in 1983). A pointless exercise for sure, but I was curious and thought I'd share the results with you.  To add a personal touch, I've picked a favorite from each group of ten below and marked that title with an asterisk.

You can find the entire annotated list, complete with videos, here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917

RS	Title	Artist	Hot 100	Year
100	Sunglasses at Night	Corey Hart	7	67
99	The Warrior	Scandal feat. Patty Smyth	7	62
98	You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)	Dead or Alive	11	11185
97	Lights Out*	Peter Wolf	12	94
96	Mother's Talk	Tears for Fears	27	17986
95	People are People	Depeche Mode	13	12085
94	Runaway	Bon Jovi	39	214
93	State of Shock	The Jacksons feat. Mick Jagger	3	31
92	Girls with Guns	Tommy Shaw	33	188
91	White Horse	Laid Back	26	163

RS	Title	Artist	Hot 100	Year
90	Cover Me	Bruce Springsteen	7	68
89	Oh Sherrie*	Steve Perry	3	36
88	Stuck on You	Lionel Richie	3	34
87	Jump (for My Love)	The Pointer Sisters	3	32
86	Wrapped Around Your Finger	The Police	8	78
85	Run to You	Bryan Adams	6	7785
84	So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)	R.E.M.	85	409
83	Swept Away	Diana Ross	19	130
82	Nobody Told Me	John Lennon	5	53
81	Somebody Else's Guy	Jocelyn Brown	75	350

RS	Title	Artist	Hot 100	Year
80	Boys Do Fall in Love	Robin Gibb	37	206
79	That's All	Genesis	6	58
78	You Might Think	The Cars	7	61
77	Out of Touch*	Hall & Oates	1	13
76	Tenderness	General Public	27	17785
75	Uptown Girl	Billy Joel	3	2583
74	Taxi	J. Blackfoot	90	430
73	Bringin' on the Heartbreak	Def Leppard	61	291
72	We're Not Gonna Take It	Twisted Sister	21	140
71	Sidewalk Talk	Jellybean	18	14086

RS	Title	Artist	Hot 100	Year
70	No Parking (on the Dance Floor)	Midnight Star	81	385
69	Ghostbusters	Ray Parker, Jr.	1	8
68	Hot for Teacher	Van Halen	56	275
67	Like a Virgin	Madonna	1	1
66	I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues	Elton John	4	41
65	Self Control	Laura Branigan	4	38
64	Break My Stride	Matthew Wilder	5	43
63	Legs	ZZ Top	8	71
62	Obsession	Animotion	6	7685
61	Owner of a Lonely Heart*	Yes	1	12

RS	Title	Artist	Hot 100	Year
60	Pink Houses	John Cougar Mellencamp	8	77
59	Love is a Battlefield	Pat Benatar	5	4883
58	Centipede	Rebbie Jackson	24	153
57	Rock You Like a Hurricane	Scorpions	25	158
56	Smalltown Boy	Bronski Beat	48	24685
55	Rebel Yell*	Billy Idol	46	236
54	Say, Say, Say	Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson	1	483
53	Eat It	"Weird Al" Yankovic	12	96
52	I Didn't Mean to Turn You On	Cherrelle	79	372
51	I Can Dream About You	Dan Hartman	6	57

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