A breakdown of my top singles from 1983
Human Nature
Michael Jackson
Weeks in Hot 100: 14
Peaked: September 17
Album:
Thriller (Epic)
| U.S. Billboard charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 7 |
| Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| R&B | 27 |
The best tune on the
Thriller album. Yeah, I said it.
The New York Times agreed with me, calling this tune the "most striking" song on the album. Written by Steve Pocaro, this sounds a lot like a Toto tune, but MJ's pleading vocals take it to another level.
Always Something There to Remind Me
Naked Eyes
Weeks in Hot 100: 22
Peaked: June 11
Album:
Naked Eyes (EMI)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 8 |
| Adult Contemporary | 31 |
| Rock | 20 |
| Dance | 37 |
Synth-pop Bacharach? Count me in! I never tire of hearing the thing. Back in '83, I bought a copy of the group's self-titled debut LP on the strength of this one song (and, let's be honest,
the video on MTV). And I just listened to this cover version twice this morning.
Mornin'
Al Jarreau
Weeks in Hot 100: 15
Peaked: May 14
Album:
Jarreau (Warner Bros.)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 21 |
| Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| R&B | 6 |
Man, this is one the best feel-good songs ever. Songwriter/producer Jay Graydon deserves a lot of the credit, but it wouldn’t be the same song without Jarreau. It's making this 1983 list even though I didn't fall in love with it until 1984 when I dubbed a copy of this album from a teacher's LP and was immediately a Jarreau fan. The tape got a lot of playing time in my car and my neighbors were often treated to my vocal stylings as I sang along (very loudly) with Jarreau. On a good day, I'd attempt the A at the end of the bridge of "Mornin'". When I saw Jarreau in concert in 1985, I couldn't wait for him to sing "Mornin'." He did and I wasn't disappointed.
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 5 |
| Rock | 6 |
| Dance | 3 |
SCIENCE! The still-ubiquitous centerpiece of an album
Musician magazine once called "the best damned record to come out of Europe's current fascination with synth-pop."
New Frontier
Donald Fagen
Weeks in Hot 100: 6
Peaked: February 19
Album:
The Nightfly (Warner Bros.)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 70 |
| Adult Contemporary | 34 |
Before "New Frontier," I was a casual Steely Dan fan at best. I always enjoyed the songs "Peg" and "Time Out Of Mind" when I heard them on the radio, but I didn't own any SD records. So what led me to this little slice of pop/soft rock perfection by SD's Donald Fagen? Marketing, plain and simple. Being a radio and records guy, I was attracted to the cover photo of
The Nightfly album and after I saw
the video for "New Frontier," I was hooked. I soon had
The Nightfly LP and anyone who rode with me in my car in 1983 was subjected to this song (it was for their own good, really).
Musically, this is a great piece with tight vocal harmonies, exotic chords (B9, F#6, C9+11, etc.), and great solos from Larry Carlton on guitar and Hugh McCracken on harmonica. The album version is 6'22", the single edit clocks in at 3'50" while the video is 4'44". Lyrically, the song takes us back to the Kennedy years and the beginnings of the Cold War. Not political at all, it simply uses that era as a backdrop as the lyrics tell the story of a teenage boy trying to lure his date down into a backyard fallout shelter for a night (or at least a few minutes) of passion. If I'd had a fallout shelter in my backyard in 1983, I'd have tried the same move.
Too Shy
Kajagoogoo
Weeks in Hot 100: 19
Peaked: July 9
Album: White Feathers (EMI)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 5 |
| Rock | 23 |
| Dance | 25 |
I liked this danceable New Romantic song from the get-go. Plus it was produced by Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes and that band's producer Colin Thurston? Sold! I had an import version of the full Kajagoogoo LP
White Feathers back in high school. Guess what the best song on the album was.
Overkill
Men at Work
Weeks in Hot 100: 16
Peaked: June 4
Album:
Cargo (Columbia)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 3 |
| Adult Contemporary | 6 |
| Rock | 3 |
Easily my favorite song from the exceptional
Cargo album. Another great song that got a lot of playing time in my car in 1983. Of course, I would sing along and when Colin Hay sings the last verse up an octave, I would try to keep up with often hilarious results. Love the guitar solo.
Modern Love
David Bowie
Weeks in Hot 100: 13
Peaked: November 12
Album:
Let's Dance (EMI)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 14 |
| Rock | 6 |
I've always thought of "Modern Love" and "Let's Dance" as being at the same level of awesomeness, but as I was making this list, "Modern Love" just kept creeping up so its appearance here at #3 surprises even me. But it ended up exactly where it needed to be. As Billboard wrote in its September 17, 1983 edition, "it's hard not to get swept away by Bowie's closest approximation yet to exhilarating joy. Also, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it."
Never Gonna Let You Go
Sergio Mendes
Weeks in Hot 100: 23
Peaked: July 9
Album:
Sergio Mendes (A&M)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 4 |
| Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| R&B | 28 |
Heck, I could listen to this one all day and just might. I can't sing the high notes along with Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller but that don't keep me from trying. Every time. For me, the whole self-titled 1983 album is one of those albums that is just okay, but if you first heard it at just the right time and place in your life that makes it a life-long favorite.
When I was teaching a group of undergraduates during the spring semester of 2010, a cell phone rang in class one day. The student's ringtone? "Never Gonna Let You Go." My reaction to this class interruption: "Oh my God, is that a Sergio Mendes ringtone?!?!"
Rio
Duran Duran
Weeks in Hot 100: 13
Peaked: May 14
Album:
Rio (Capitol)
| U.S. charts: |
|
| Hot 100 | 14 |
| Rock | 5 |
The top track on a
seminal New Wave album and the
best thing Duran Duran ever released. Period.
All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1983. These are my personal top 83 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1983. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 452 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1983. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 120 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 83 are presented this week, in order.
Other lists of singles from My Favorite Decade:
