Monday, 14 May 2018

May 1983 -- peak MTV cool

It was late April 1983 for this week's Sirius XM countdown, and the trends from just a few months ago were also coming to full fruition -- I started listening at #27 on up and there were zero country records.  Barry Manilow and Stephen Bishop were in the 20's, with late additions to 70's-style adult contemporary.

But check out the list of cool new MTV artists... After the Fire, Thomas Dolby, Men at Work, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Dexy's Midnight Runners...

Big hair metal began its assault with Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams began a decade-long run of hits this week.

Yet, by 1985, we'd swung to veterans completely, so what changed... The VJs mentioned it when playing #1...by adding Michael Jackson to the playlist, it opened up a new world of artists to the station, including Prince, and the quirky one-offs of 1982-1983 began to fade to make room for superstars, the biggest of whom was due up in a few months.

1 1 BEAT IT –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-11 (2 weeks at #1) (1)
2 3 JEOPARDY –•– The Greg Kihn Band (Beserkley)-15 (2)
3 6 LET’S DANCE –•– David Bowie (EMI-America)-7 (3)
4 2 COME ON EILEEN –•– Dexys Midnight Runners (Mercury)-16 (1)
5 5 DER KOMMISSAR –•– After The Fire (Epic)-13 (5)
6 9 OVERKILL –•– Men At Work (Columbia)-5 (6)
7 8 SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE –•– Thomas Dolby (Capitol)-12 (7)
8 4 MR. ROBOTO –•– Styx (A&M)-13 (3)
9 10 LITTLE RED CORVETTE –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-11 (9)
10 11 I WON’T HOLD YOU BACK –•– Toto (Columbia)-9 (10)
11 14 SOLITAIRE –•– Laura Branigan (Atlantic)-8 (11)
12 13 EVEN NOW –•– Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (Capitol)-9 (12)
13 23 FLASHDANCE…WHAT A FEELING –•– Irene Cara (Casablanca)-6 (13)
14 7 BILLIE JEAN –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-16 (1)
15 19 PHOTOGRAPH –•– Def Leppard (Mercury)-9 (15)
16 17 RIO –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-6 (16)
17 22 MY LOVE –•– Lionel Richie (Motown)-5 (17)
18 21 STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART –•– Bryan Adams (A&M)-9 (18)
19 30 TIME (Clock Of the Heart) –•– Culture Club (Virgin)-4 (19)
20 29 AFFAIR OF THE HEART –•– Rick Springfield (RCA)-4 (20)

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