Thursday, December 12, 2019

Hindsight: Billboard Album Predictions, December 1983


Billboard's own description of its Album Reviews page:
SPOTLIGHT - Predicted to hit top ten on Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart or to earn platinum certification.
POP - Picks in [this category] predicted to hit the top half of the chart...
RECOMMENDED - Other releases predicted to chart in the respective format; also, other albums of superior quality.
Could cash and/or cocaine incentives have also influenced which albums were featured? Probably, but let's not nitpick. Instead, let's see how the prognosticators fared during the month of December 1983:



SPOTLIGHT (Top Ten or RIAA platinum status prediction) with eventual chart peak and RIAA status

Title Artist PeakRIAA
Seven and the Ragged Tiger Duran Duran8Platinum


POP category (Top 100 prediction) with eventual chart peak

Title Artist Peak
What a Feelin' Irene Cara77
Strip Adam Ant65
Play Dirty Girlschool207
Beauty Stab ABC69
Speeding Time Carole King-
Cold Spring Harbor (reissue) Billy Joel158
Track Record Joan Armatrading113
Break Out Pointer Sisters8
Christine Soundtrack177
Different Style! Musical Youth144


RECOMMENDED category (Top 200 prediction) with eventual chart peak.

Title Artist Peak
Kissing the Pink (EP) Kissing the Pink-
Where Angels Fear to Tread Mink DeVille208
Call of the Wild Ellen Shipley-
Digney Fignus (EP) Digney Fignus-
It's Only a Movie! The Raybeats-
Dialogue Rocket Kirchner-
Live Trax James Montgomery-
Best of Tim Buckley-
Solid Gold Marilyn McCoo-
Give a Little Bit More Cliff Richard-
The Dorsey/Sinatra Radio Years 1940-42 and The Historic Stordahl Session Tommy Dorsey/Frank Sinatra-
The New Acoustic Music SamplerVarious Artists-
This Are Two Tone Various Artists-
Attitudes Stevie Woods-
Lifetime Guarantee Michael Johnson-
Yello (EP) Yello-
The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records Various Artists-
Revenge of the Budgie Nick Reynolds/John Stewart-
By the Hush Andy M. Stewart-
Popular Songs Of Christmas & New Year's John Fahey-
The Line Alethia-
Rhino Teen Magazine, Vol. I Various Artists-
Rhino Teen Magazine, Vol. II Various Artists-
The Unclaimed (EP) The Unclaimed-
No Parole From Rock'N'Roll Alcatrazz128
Mirror of the World Firefall-
Journeys Holly Near-
The Neats The Neats-
Tsunami Tsunami-
Arrival Rail-
Greatest Science Fiction Hits Vol 3 Neil Norman-
Over the Edge Wipers-
Olas De Sexo Vinny-
Computer Music for the Microchip Mind Flagyll-
Balance (EP) Chameleon-
Extended Play (EP) Krank-
Critical Seconds Norman Allan-
Butthole Surfers (EP) Butthole Surfers-
Heading for a Storm Vandenberg169
10-5-60 (EP) The Long Ryders-
Fearless Nina Hagen151
Leave My Heart The Accelerators-




Final tally for December, 1983: 8 of 53 for a .151 batting average.



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