R.E.M.'s Murmur won 1983. Let's see who wins 1984. Billboard chart-topping albums of 1984: Michael Jackson - Thriller (cont. from '82) Soundtrack - Footloose Huey Lewis and the News - Sports Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. Prince - Purple Rain Billboard chart-topping singles of 1984: Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson - Say Say Say (cont. from '83) Yes - Owner of a Lonely Hear Culture Club - Karma Chameleon Van Halen - Jump Kenny Loggins - Footloose Against All Odds - Phil Collins Lionel Richie - Hello Deniece Williams - Let's Heart it For the Boys Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time Duran Duran - The Reflex Prince - When Doves Cry Ray Parker - Ghostbusters Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do With It John Waite - Missing You Prince - Let's Go Crazy Stevie Wonder - I Just Called to Say I Love You Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Hall and Oates - Out of Touch Madonna - Like a Virgin What are your top three albums for 1984? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. The Replacements - Let it Be 2. Metallica - Ride the Lightning 3. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
rest of the top 10: 4. u2 - the unforgettable fire 5. rem - reckoning 6. black flag - my war 7. husker du - zen arcade 8. nick cave - from her to eternity 9. the smiths - the smiths 10. roger waters - the pros and cons of hitch hiking honorable mentions: black flag - slip it in bruce springsteen - born in the usa dio - the last in line echo and the bunnymen - ocean rain inxs - the swing iron maiden - powerslave marginal man - identity meat puppets - ii psychedelic furs - mirror moves queen - the works ramones - too tough to die rush - grace under pressure stuff to check out: billy bragg - brewing up with billy bragg the blue nile - a walk across rooftops the cars - heartbeat city cocteau twins - treasure don henley - building the perfect beast huey lewis and the news - sports judas priest - defenders of the faith lou reed - new sensations madonna - like a virgin prefab sprout - swoon prince - purple rain sade - diamond life the scorpions - love at first sting siouxsie and the banshees - hyaena talk talk - it’s my life van halen - 1984 violent femmes - hallowed ground voivod - war and pain the waterboys - a pagan place
1. Prince and The Revolution - Purple Rain 2. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. 3. Don Henley - Building the Perfect Beast Excruciating cuts: The Replacements - Let It Be Metallica - Ride the Lightning Others I love: Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual Various Artists - Footloose Soundtrack Pretenders - Learning to Crawl Pat Benatar - Tropico Good ones: Cocteau Twins - Treasure The Blue Nile - A Walk Across Rooftops The Cars - Heartbeat City The Temptations - Truly for You Tina Turner - Private Dancer Van Halen - 1984 Bryan Adams - Reckless Dan Fogelberg - Windows and Walls George Strait - Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind? Steve Perry - Street Talk Philip Bailey - Chinese Wall R.E.M. - Reckoning Wham! - Make It Big Madonna - Like a Virgin Sheila E. - The Glamorous Life Dio - The Last in Line U2 - The Unforgettable Fire The Smiths - The Smiths Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C. Rush - Grace Under Pressure Billy Ocean - Suddenly Iron Maiden - Powerslave John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Milk and Honey Sheena Easton - A Private Heaven Sade - Diamond Life Various Artists - Ghostbusters Soundtrack Jefferson Starship - Nuclear Furniture Glen Frey - The Allnighter Christine McVie - Christine McVie John Waite - No Brakes AC/DC - 74 Jailbreak EP Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Couldn't Stand the Weather Shannon - Let the Music Play Teddy Pendergrass - Love Language The Bangles - All Over the Place Not a fan: Jermaine Jackson - Jermaine Jackson James Blood Ulmer - Odyssey Targets for Listening David Bowie - Tonight Howard Jones - Human's Lib Rickie Lee Jones - The Magazine Chaka Khan - I Feel for You Kool & the Gang - Emergency Naked Eyes - Fuel for the Fire Simple Minds - Sparkle in the Rain Talk Talk - It's My Life Lloyd Cole and The Commotions - Rattlesnakes Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime Youssou N'dour - Immigres Style Council - Cafe Bleu Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense Los Lobos - How Will the Wolf Survive? Sammy Hagar - VOA Scorpions - Love at First Sting Chris DeBurgh - Man on the Line Scandal - The Warrior Foreigner - Agent Provocateur Husker Du - Zen Arcade Ruben Blades and Seis de Solar - Buscando America Let's Active - Cypress Del-Lords - Frontier Days Linton Kewsi Johnson - Making History Peter Wolf - Lights Out Lyres - On Fire The Everly Brothers - EB84 Del Fuegoes - The Longest Day Ratt - Out of the Cellar Survivor - Vital Signs The Time - Ice Cream Castle Nanci Griffith - Once in a Very Blue Moon Psychedelic Furs - Mirror Moves
Blue Nile have really grown into a recent favorite band over the last few years. Hats initially didn't grab me, but once it clicked it really clicked. A Walk Across Rooftops might even top it, depending on the day.
1. Price and the Revolution - Purple Rain 2. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. 3. Queen - The Works 4. John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Milk & Honey 5. The Cure - The Top 6. The Replacements - Let It Be first listens that I dug, could eventually make the list Bryan Adams - Reckless Los Lobos - How Will The Wolf Survive? R.E.M. - Reckoning Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense Wham! - Make It Big Art of Noise - Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
i can’t believe i hadn’t heard purple rain in full before (obviously knew the singles). what the fuck man. fixed that today. it’s so good!!
Prince has such a deep and vast catalog that I can't fully fault you, hard to dive in to such overwhelming catalogs sometimes. Purple Rain is so damn good front to back though
I have thought the same thing about Prince for several years now - especially when he wasn't on streaming, even if I wanted to do a deep dive, it would require more effort than most are often willing to put forth. But y'all are right - Purple Rain has to be the undeniable classic. I hope to spend some time with it this week as well.
There is some ineffable, magic quality in “I Would Die 4 U” that not a single other synth pop song has ever captured.
I think I’ve said a version of this before, but the amazing thing about Purple Rain is the same as the amazing thing about Born to Run: it’s a called shot. He wanted to make an all-timer that would make him one of the biggest stars in the world, and then he just…did it.
bruce still needed the rest of the band to do it though. prince just needed himself. a real auteur. damn.
I can’t believe those two albums came out in the same year. What’s the closest modern corollary to that?
Ha, misread Chris's post. My question still stands, though: when's the last time you had two albums that were as culturally dominant as Purple Rain and Born in the USA in the same year?
Side note: my favorite bit of musical trivia for 1984 is that there were only five chart-topping albums for the entire year. Purple Rain, Born in the USA, Thriller. the Footloose soundtrack, and Sports by Huey Lewis and the News.
i feel like it happens a lot but nothing is coming to mind. luckily i will be looking at every year to point out when it happens haha re: two albums the size of BUSA and PR
Actually there WERE albums where Prince did everything, but in that prime Revolution period, he really did collaborate with Wendy and Lisa a ton. They were much more of a working band than people realize, and you can hear it if you listen because Sign O the Times after he dismissed them has a very different sound.
Yes. Yes they do. Another fun fact: Thriller was the top selling album in both ‘83 and ‘84. The next album to win two years like that? Adele, 21.