Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Friday, December 27, 2024
Thursday, December 26, 2024
CashBox's First Top Compact Discs Chart (1984)
Beginning with the September 15, 1984 issue, CashBox magazine began charting Compact Disc sales. Here's a look at that very first CD chart:
 |
| click image to enlarge |
Check out those suggested list prices of $15.98 - $21.98. In today's dollar, that's $48 - $66.
Months later, Billboard would publish 2 Compact Disc charts starting on June 1, 1985, separating the pop and classical genres.
The final CashBox Compact Disc chart appeared in the June 25, 1988 issue with Van Halen's OU812 in the top slot.
How close is that initial CD chart to the CashBox Top 200 album chart for the week of September 15, 1984? I'm glad you asked:
| Album | CD Chart | Album Chart |
| Purple Rain | 1 | 1 |
| What's New | 2 | 89 |
| Thriller | 3 | 49 |
| Synchronicity | 4 | 142 |
| Dark Side of the Moon | 5 | - |
| Born in the U.S.A. | 6 | 4 |
| 90125 | 7 | 127 |
| 1984 | 8 | 29 |
| Heartbeat City | 9 | 5 |
| Eliminator | 10 | 22 |
| Can't Slow Down | 11 | 6 |
| Footloose | 12 | 40 |
| An Innocent Man | 13 | 26 |
| Meddle | 14 | - |
| Star Tracks | 15 | - |
| In the Digital Mood | 16 | - |
| Trumpet Concertos | 17 | - |
| Avalon | 18 | - |
| Future Shock | 19 | 139 |
| Digital Domain | 20 | - |
| Rock 'N Soul Part 1 | 21 | 29 |
| Brandenburg Concertos Vol. 1 | 22 | - |
| Brandenburg Concertos Vol. 2 | 23 | - |
| Windham Hill Sampler Vol. 1 | 24 | - |
| Chariots of Fire | 25 | - |
| Beethoven: Sym. 9 | 26 | - |
| Autumn | 27 | * |
| Greatest Hits Vol 2 | 28 | - |
| Best of Alan Parsons Project | 29 | - |
| Rumours | 30 | - |
*Autumn was #27 on the jazz chart on that date
Monday, December 23, 2024
Smash Hits 1984 Readers' Poll Results
Smash Hits was a British teen music magazine that was issued fortnightly. Here's their readers' choices for the best of 1984, taken directly from the December 20, 1984 issue:
BEST GROUP
BEST FEMALE SINGER
BEST MALE SINGER
BEST SINGLES
BEST ALBUMS
MOST PROMISING NEW ACT FOR 1985
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Taken from "The Back Page" - Radio & Records #1's of 1984
 |  |
|---|
| Week | Contemporary Hit Radio | Adult/Contemporary | AOR/Hot Tracks | Black/Urban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6 | "Owner of a Lonely Heart" Yes |
"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" Elton John |
"That's All" Genesis |
"If Only You Knew" Patti LaBelle |
| Jan 13 | "Jump" Van Halen | |||
| Jan 20 | "Karma Chameleon" Culture Club | "Joanna" Kool & The Gang | ||
| Jan 27 | ||||
| Feb 3 | "An Innocent Man" Billy Joel |
"Yah Mo Be There" James Ingram with Michael McDonald |
||
| Feb 10 | "Thriller" Michael Jackson | "Encore" Cheryl Lynn |
||
| Feb 17 | "Jump" Van Halen |
"This Woman" Kenny Rogers | "Somebody's Watching Me" Rockwell |
|
| Feb 24 | ||||
| Mar 2 | "Got a Hold on Me" Christine McVie | "Footloose" Kenny Loggins |
||
| Mar 9 | "Runner" Manfred Mann's Earth Band |
|||
| Mar 16 | "You Might Think" The Cars |
|||
| Mar 23 | "Footloose" Kenny Loggins | "Hello" Lionel Richie | "She's Strange" Cameo |
|
| Mar 30 | ||||
| Apr 6 | ||||
| Apr 13 | "Against All Odds" Phil Collins |
|||
| Apr 20 | "Hello" Lionel Richie |
|||
| Apr 27 | "Oh Sherrie" Steve Perry |
|||
| May 4 | "The Longest Time" Billy Joel |
|||
| May 11 | "Let's Hear it for the Boy" Deniece Williams | "Magic" The Cars | "Let's Hear it for the Boy" Deniece Williams |
|
| May 18 | "Time After Time" Cyndi Lauper |
|||
| May 25 | "Dancing in the Dark" Bruce Springsteen |
|||
| June 1 | "Time After Time" Cyndi Lauper |
|||
| June 8 | "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" Jermaine Jackson |
|||
| June 15 | ||||
| June 22 | "The Reflex" Duran Duran | "Almost Paradise" Mike Reno & Ann Wilson | "When Doves Cry" Prince |
|
| June 29 | "Dancing in the Dark" Bruce Springsteen |
|||
| July 6 | "When Doves Cry" Prince | "If Ever You're in My Arms Again" Peabo Bryson |
||
| July 13 | "Rock Me Tonite" Billy Squier |
|||
| July 20 | "Stuck on You" Lionel Richie | "Missing You" John Waite |
||
| July 27 | ||||
| Aug 3 | "Ghostbusters" Ray Parker, Jr. |
|||
| Aug 10 | "Ghostbusters" Ray Parker, Jr. |
|||
| Aug 17 | "You Me and He" Mtume |
|||
| Aug 24 | "Stuck on You" Lionel Richie | "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" Billy Joel |
||
| Aug 31 | "Missing You" John Waite | "Cover Me" Bruce Springsteen | "Just the Way You Like It" S.O.S. Band |
|
| Sept 7 | "Drive" The Cars |
|||
| Sept 14 | "Let's Go Crazy" Prince | "Let's Go Crazy" Prince |
||
| Sept 23 | "Are We Ourselves?" The Fixx |
|||
| Sept 28 | "I Just Called to Say I Love You" Stevie Wonder | "Blue Jean" David Bowie | "I Feel for You" Chaka Khan |
|
| Oct 5 | ||||
| Oct 12 | "Hard Habit to Break" Chicago |
|||
| Oct 19 | "I Just Called to Say I Love You" Stevie Wonder |
|||
| Oct 26 | "What About Me?" Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes & James Ingram | "Pride (In the Name of Love)" U2 |
||
| Nov 2 | "Purple Rain" Prince | "Penny Lover" Lionel Richie |
||
| Nov 9 | "Run to You" Bryan Adams | "Cool It Now" New Edition |
||
| Nov 16 | "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" Wham! | "Solid" Ashford & Simpson |
||
| Nov 23 | ||||
| Nov 30 | "Out of Touch" Daryl Hall & John Oates | "No More Lonely Nights" Paul McCartney | "Operator" Midnight Star |
|
| Dec 7 | "The Wild Boys" Duran Duran | "The Boys of Summer" Don Henley |
||
| Dec 14 | "Like a Virgin" Madonna | "All I Need" Jack Wagner |
||
| Dec 21 | ||||
| Week | Contemporary Hit Radio | Adult/Contemporary | AOR/Hot Tracks | Black/Urban |
Painstakingly compiled from primary sources and presented here for purposes of comparison (and because I was curious and am mildly addicted to chart data).
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 albums of 1984
Friday, August 16, 2024
Counting down my Top 84 of '84: Singles #10 - 1
A breakdown of my top singles from 1984
Miss Me Blind
Culture Club
Weeks in Hot 100: 16
Peaked: April 21
Album: Colour by Numbers (Virgin/Epic)
Culture Club
Weeks in Hot 100: 16
Peaked: April 21
Album: Colour by Numbers (Virgin/Epic)
| U.S. Billboard charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 5 |
| Adult Contemporary | 12 |
| R&B | 8 |
| Dance | 10 |
The song that made me a Culture Club fan and still my favorite CC tune. Tasty vocal harmonies, easy to dance to, fuzzy guitar solo that has a nice shape followed by that hooky break about 3:15 in.
Duran Duran
Weeks in Hot 100: 16
Peaked: March 17
Album: Seven and the Ragged Tiger (Capitol)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 10 |
| Rock | 4 |
On my first listen to Seven and the Ragged Tiger, this was the only song I liked. (Let's be honest, "The Reflex" was kinda boring until Nile Rodgers got a hold of it.). This one doesn't get much play anymore and that's a shame because that chorus has at least three hooks that I can count.
Magic
The Cars
Weeks in Hot 100: 17
Peaked: July 7
Album: Heartbeat City (Elektra)
The Cars
Weeks in Hot 100: 17
Peaked: July 7
Album: Heartbeat City (Elektra)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 12 |
| Rock | 1 |
I only like two songs from the Heartbeat City album - "Hello Again" and this song. It's a great tune for driving around with the windows down, stereo blasting. To be honest, in 1984 I was driving a 1973 Ford Maverick with no A/C at the time, so windows up wasn't really an option.
Let's Go Crazy
Prince
Weeks in Hot 100: 19
Peaked: September 29
Album: Purple Rain (Warner Bros.)
Prince
Weeks in Hot 100: 19
Peaked: September 29
Album: Purple Rain (Warner Bros.)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 1 |
| Rock | 19 |
| R&B | 1 |
| Dance | 1 |
What a fantastic album opener. The synth organ builds under Prince's pseudo-intellectual rambling, then the drums kick in and you start to move, then that guitar riff comes through your speakers and you're all in. That synth lick is every bit as good and memorable as what he wrote for "1999." And the sweet guitar solos just give you a taste of what's to come. I distinctly remember a trip down Interstate 45 on a hot afternoon in October 1984 where all I listened to was "Let's Go Crazy" for two hours straight, singing at the top of lungs. I hope the other travelers appreciated the marathon performance, because my voice was shredded by the time I reached my destination.
The Reflex
Duran Duran
Weeks in Hot 100: 21
Peaked: June 23
Album: Seven and the Ragged Tiger (Capitol)
Duran Duran
Weeks in Hot 100: 21
Peaked: June 23
Album: Seven and the Ragged Tiger (Capitol)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 1 |
| Rock | 35 |
| Dance | 15 |
This thing is fantastic and it's all due to Nile Rodgers' remixing skills. If there is one song that immediately takes me back to high school graduation, it is this one. In May 1984, this song was just about all I played in my car, had the 12" single, waited for the manic concert video on MTV, etc. I specifically remember dancing to this song at a post-graduation party in the park about 1 AM after spending a few hours at the beach.
Pride (In the Name of Love)
U2
Weeks in Hot 100: 15
Peaked: December 15
Album: The Unforgettable Fire (Island)
U2
Weeks in Hot 100: 15
Peaked: December 15
Album: The Unforgettable Fire (Island)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 33 |
| Rock | 2 |
Easily my all-time favorite U2 track and has been since the get-go. The lyrics aren't historically accurate and that doesn't even bother me. Such passion.
I Feel for You
Chaka Khan
Weeks in Hot 100: 26
Peaked: November 24
Album: i Feel for You (Warner Bros.)
Chaka Khan
Weeks in Hot 100: 26
Peaked: November 24
Album: i Feel for You (Warner Bros.)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 3 |
| R&B | 1 |
| Dance | 1 |
You betcha! Written by Prince, rap by Melle Mel, harmonica solo by Stevie Freakin' Wonder. And Chaka delivers as usual. Amazing. Dancing now as I attempt to type.
Head Over Heels
The Go-Go's
Weeks in Hot 100: 10
Peaked: May 19
Album: Talk Show (I.R.S.)
The Go-Go's
Weeks in Hot 100: 10
Peaked: May 19
Album: Talk Show (I.R.S.)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 11 |
| Rock | 33 |
| Dance | 49 |
While Beauty and the Beat is my favorite Go-Go's album, this is easily my favorite Go-Go's single and it's not even close (and the whole Talk Show album tends to be underrated). I don't know what I like more, the bass licks, the piano pounding, or Belinda's vocals.
Hold Me Now
Thompson Twins
Weeks in Hot 100: 21
Peaked: May 5
Album: Into the Gap (Arista)
Thompson Twins
Weeks in Hot 100: 21
Peaked: May 5
Album: Into the Gap (Arista)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 2 |
| Adult Contemporary | 8 |
| Rock | 9 |
| Dance | 1 |
Reminds me of driving in my car listening to the Into The Gap cassette during the spring of my senior year in high school. When I listen now, I still try (and usually fail) to hit the high falsetto notes during the last chorus - "Oh, will you stay with me?" - just like I did all those years ago.
It's My Life
Talk Talk
Weeks in Hot 100: 14
Peaked: May 19
Album: It's My Life (EMI)
Talk Talk
Weeks in Hot 100: 14
Peaked: May 19
Album: It's My Life (EMI)
| U.S. charts: | |
| Hot 100 | 31 |
| Rock | 23 |
| Dance | 1 |
Not only my favorite Talk Talk song, it's one of my favorite eighties songs (it's also the group's only US Top 40 single). I had a cassette dub of the group's debut album, The Party's Over, and I bought the LP of It's My Life. Not long after I had purchased the album, I was at a high school pool party near graduation. They had a Houston rock radio station playing (probably 101 KLOL) and I was stopped in my tracks when I heard the single "It's My Life" played alongside Ozzy and AC/DC. Never heard it again on that station, but I was pleasantly surprised that afternoon. The single peaked at #31 in only 6 weeks in the Top 40. You know what I going to say about that: too low and too few.
All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1984. These are my personal top 84 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1984. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 434 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1984. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 106 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 84 are presented this week, in order.
Other lists of singles from My Favorite Decade:
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Counting down my Top 84 of '84: Singles #40 - 11
A breakdown of my top singles from 1984
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
40
| "No More Lonely Nights"
| Paul McCartney |
6 |
2 |
16 |
||
39 |
"Borderline" |
Madonna |
10 |
23 |
4 |
||
38 |
"Automatic" |
Pointer Sisters |
5 |
36 |
2 |
2 |
|
37 |
"Got A Hold On Me" |
Christine McVie |
10 |
1 |
1 |
||
36 |
"Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)" |
Icicle Works |
37 |
18 |
13 |
||
35 |
"Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)" |
Eurythmics |
81 |
2 |
|||
34 |
"Original Sin" |
INXS |
58 |
43 |
13 |
||
33 |
"The Lebanon" |
Human League |
64 |
19 |
|||
32 |
"Turn to You" |
The Go-Go's |
32 |
||||
31 |
"Talking in Your Sleep" |
The Romantics |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
30 |
"After All" |
Al Jarreau |
69 |
6 |
26 |
||
29 |
"They Don't Know" |
Tracey Ullman |
8 |
11 |
|||
28 |
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" |
Yes |
1 |
1 |
3 |
||
27 |
"Out of Touch" |
Daryl Hall & John Oates |
1 |
8 |
18 |
24 |
1 |
26 |
"Jump (For My Love)" |
Pointer Sisters |
3 |
11 |
3 |
8 |
|
25 |
"Time Will Reveal" |
DeBarge |
18 |
12 |
1 |
||
24 |
"Footloose" |
Kenny Loggins |
1 |
2 |
|||
23 |
"Communication" |
Spandau Ballet |
59 |
58 |
|||
22 |
"Hello Again" |
The Cars |
20 |
22 |
8 |
||
21 |
"New Song" |
Howard Jones |
27 |
58 |
4 |
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
20 |
"Oh Sherrie" |
Steve Perry |
3 |
33 |
1 |
||
19 |
"Doctor Doctor" |
Thompson Twins |
11 |
35 |
12 |
18 |
|
18 |
"Wouldn't It be Good" |
Nik Kershaw |
46 |
58 |
|||
17 |
"If This is It" |
Huey Lewis & The News |
6 |
5 |
3 |
||
16 |
"Thriller" |
Michael Jackson |
4 |
24 |
42 |
3 |
44 |
15 |
"(You Can Still) Rock in America" |
Night Ranger |
51 |
15 |
|||
14 |
"Middle of the Road" |
Pretenders |
19 |
2 |
43 |
||
13 |
"Alibis" |
Sergio Mendes |
29 |
5 |
|||
12 |
"Panama" |
Van Halen |
13 |
2 |
|||
11 |
"Hello" |
Lionel Richie |
1 |
1 |
1 |
All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1984. These are my personal top 84 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1984. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 434 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1984. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 106 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 84 are presented this week, in order.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Counting down my Top 84 of '84: Singles #84 - 41
A breakdown of my top singles from 1984
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
84
| "Legs"
| ZZ Top |
8 |
3 |
13 |
||
83 |
"What About Me" |
Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes & James Ingram |
15 |
1 |
|||
82 |
"Flesh for Fantasy" |
Billy Idol |
29 |
8 |
21 |
||
81 |
"Yah Mo B There" |
James Ingram and Michael McDonald |
19 |
10 |
5 |
||
80 |
"If Ever You're In My Arms Again" |
Peabo Bryson |
10 |
1 |
6 |
||
79 |
"Strut" |
Sheena Easton |
7 |
6 |
|||
78 |
"Are We Ourselves" |
The Fixx |
15 |
1 |
|||
77 |
"Dance Hall Days" |
Wang Chung |
16 |
24 |
1 |
||
76 |
"The Politics Of Dancing" |
Re-Flex |
24 |
19 |
8 |
||
75 |
"Jump" |
Van Halen |
1 |
1 |
17 |
||
74 |
"The Longest Time" |
Billy Joel |
14 |
1 |
|||
73 |
"I'm So Excited" |
Pointer Sisters |
9 |
25 |
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
72 | "Leave It" |
Yes |
24 |
3 |
29 |
||
71 |
"Blue Jean" |
David Bowie |
8 |
2 |
2 |
||
70 |
"My Ever-Changing Moods" |
The Style Council |
29 |
34 |
52 |
||
69 |
"It's a Miracle" |
Culture Club |
13 |
8 |
10 |
||
68 |
"Only When You Leave" |
Spandau Ballet |
34 |
35 |
40 |
||
67 |
"Love Somebody" |
Rick Springfield |
5 |
13 |
|||
66 |
"Holiday" |
Madonna |
16 |
25 |
1 |
||
65 |
"Lucky Star" |
Madonna |
4 |
19 |
1 |
||
64 |
"Stay the Night" |
Chicago |
16 |
7 |
|||
63 |
"Fields of Fire" |
Big Country |
52 |
||||
62 |
"Eyes Without a Face" |
Billy Idol |
4 |
5 |
63 |
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
61 |
"So Bad" |
Paul McCartney |
23 |
3 |
|||
60 |
"The Heart of Rock & Roll" |
Huey Lewis & The News |
6 |
5 |
|||
59 |
"Joanna" |
Kool & The Gang |
2 |
2 |
1 |
||
58 |
"Missing You" |
John Waite |
1 |
7 |
1 |
27 |
|
57 |
"Gold" |
Spandau Ballet |
29 |
17 |
|||
56 |
"I Will Follow" |
U2 |
81 |
||||
55 |
"Twist of Fate" |
Olivia Newton-John |
5 |
51 |
|||
54 |
"It Can Happen" |
Yes |
51 |
5 |
|||
53 |
"Like a Virgin" |
Madonna |
1 |
29 |
9 |
1 |
|
52 |
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" |
Wham! |
1 |
27 |
|||
51 |
"I Can't Drive 55" |
Sammy Hagar |
26 |
9 |
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
Rock
|
R&B
|
Dance
|
|
50 |
"Let's Hear It for the Boy" |
Deniece Williams |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
49 |
"Lights Out" |
Peter Wolf |
12 |
6 |
11 |
||
48 |
"Hard Habit to Break" |
Chicago |
3 |
3 |
|||
47 |
"I Want a New Drug" |
Huey Lewis & The News |
6 |
7 |
1 |
||
46 |
"Sister Christian" |
Night Ranger |
5 |
2 |
|||
45 |
"Hot for Teacher" |
Van Halen |
56 |
24 |
|||
44 |
"Go Insane" |
Lindsey Buckingham |
23 |
4 |
|||
43 |
"What Is Love?" |
Howard Jones |
33 |
20 |
|||
42 |
"Hyperactive" |
Thomas Dolby |
62 |
39 |
37 |
||
41 |
"Rebel Yell" |
Billy Idol |
46 |
9 |
50 |
All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1984. These are my personal top 84 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1984. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 434 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1984. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 106 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 84 are presented this week, in order.
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