1984 was a great year for music. In searching the net for all things '80s, I discovered this podcast from Slate Magazine's Mike Pesca and Chris Molanphy who talked about the greatest songs of 1984.
They do a pretty good job of encapsulating 1984 in music, but here's a brief overview.
The very '80s rockers Van Halen were riding high in 1984 with their album, appropriately named "1984", and their biggest hit off that, "Jump." How can anyone have gone through 1984 without remembering that memorable, and now classic, rock hit.
1984 was a great year for comebacks from classic musicians. Tina Turner, the soulful diva of the '60s and '70s, returned in a big way with "What's Love Got to Do with It," one of many hits off of her album Private Dancer.
The '70s progressive rock group Yes fine tuned its style for New Wave '80s, and had a major hit with "Owner of a Lonely Heart," off of the album 90125. The song was actually released the year before, but it was still pervading the airwaves in 1984 with its infectious and catchy style.
1984 was the year for Madonna's breakthrough hit "Like a Virgin," from the album of the same name.
And equally unforgettable, it was the year of Footloose, both the movie and the namesake song by Kenny Loggins.
One of my strongest elementary school memories was jumping rope to the song "Jump" in the gym class headed by Mr. Hudson. He held up the album cover, pointed at it, and said, "It's a baby....a baby smoking." As 6th graders we thought that was hilarious. I suppose it was his attempt to be one of the cool teachers. And "Owner of A Lonely Heart" is one of my favorite '80s rockers ever...even if the music video did creep me out.
ReplyDeleteHI Pam. I remember 1984 fondly. Lots of Purple Rain music, Cyndi Lauper, etc. Ironically, I actually didn't "get" Van Halen's "Jump," initially. I kept thinking that the lyrics made no sense, but then the song grew on me and I got to like it. I like the comment in the podcast about 1984 being kind-of a weird and quirky year for music, having all sorts of odds and ends. I'd like to think the the '80s in general were like that: a quirky decade with all sorts of odds and ends music wise.
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