July 1983 -- almost a re-run

Last year they played the countdown immediately following this one, so not a lot of profound observations.  I noticed this time how many number ones were represented, despite the Police holding for 8 weeks -- "Let's Dance," Eurythmics, Beat It, Maniac, Flashdance...

The DJs noted that Prince had an uncredited hand in writing "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks, my favorite of the week.

Little River Band fell off this week with their last top 40 hit, "We Two," thus retiring another Yacht Rock artist -- no match for the Eurythmics.  Ditto for the Bee Gees who took a chart hiatus for 6 years after such an incredible run through the 70's.  Sadly, it was also the last top 40 hit for Quarterflash & (especially) Flock of Seagulls, who were among my favorites of the era despite only 3 hits each (2 more than Kajagoogoo).

"1999" was barreling up the chart -- but it stopped short of the top 10 somehow and missed the year-end top 100 on Casey Kasem.  But it did much better on the Billboard official year-end chart since this run in July was actually a re-release from December, and combined it charted for a LONG time.  It then re-charted in December 1998, again in December 1999, and then after Prince's death in 2016.

Looking backwards in time, I'm especially surprised Elton John didn't do better with "I"m Still Standing" and I'm sure Michael Jackson would've done better (#1?) if this had been released in the same high-turnover chart environment as "Bad."  At the time, it was an extraordinary feat being the 4th top 5 from the same album, but by the end of the 80's this was commonplace.

And starting it's 8-week run at #1, locking out Eddy Grant, was the Police.

1 3 EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE –•– The Police (A&M)-6 (1 week at #1) (1)
2 2 ELECTRIC AVENUE –•– Eddy Grant (Portrait)-13 (2)
3 1 FLASHDANCE…WHAT A FEELING –•– Irene Cara (Casablanca)-15 (1)
4 5 NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO –•– Sergio Mendes (with Joe Pizzulo & Leza Miller) (A&M)-13 (4)
5 7 TOO SHY –•– Kajagoogoo (EMI-America)-12 (5)
6 9 WANNA BE STARTIN’ SOMETHIN’ –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-7 (6)
7 4 TIME (Clock Of the Heart) –•– Culture Club (Virgin)-13 (2)
8 11 COME DANCING –•– The Kinks (Arista)-10 (8)
9 6 DON’T LET IT END –•– Styx (A&M)-11 (6)
10 13 OUR HOUSE –•– Madness (Geffen)-10 (10)

11 8 FAMILY MAN –•– Daryl Hall & John Oates (RCA)-11 (6)
12 14 I’M STILL STANDING –•– Elton John (Geffen)-10 (12)
13 17 IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-6 (13)
14 19 STAND BACK –•– Stevie Nicks (Modern)-6 (14)
15 23 **1999** –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-18 (15)
16 10 SHE’S A BEAUTY –•– The Tubes (Capitol)-14 (10)
17 18 ALL THIS LOVE –•– DeBarge (Gordy)-12 (17)
18 25 SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY –•– Donna Summer (Mercury)-7 (18)
19 21 BABY JANE –•– Rod Stewart (Warner Brothers)-7 (19)
20 26 SWEET DREAMS (Are Made Of This) –•– The Eurythmics (RCA)-9 (20)

21 12 AFFAIR OF THE HEART –•– Rick Springfield (RCA)-13 (9)
22 33 CUTS LIKE A KNIFE –•– Bryan Adams (A&M)-5 (22)
23 35 HOT GIRLS IN LOVE –•– Loverboy (Columbia)-5 (23)
24 16 BEAT IT –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-20 (1)
25 39 MANIAC –•– Michael Sembello (Casablanca)-6 (25)
26 28 WISHING (If I Had a Photograph Of You) –•– A Flock Of Seagulls (Jive)-9 (26)
27 27 ROLL ME AWAY –•– Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (Capitol)-7 (27)
28 32 (Keep Feeling) FASCINATION –•– The Human League (A&M)-7 (28)
29 38 TAKE ME TO HEART –•– Quarterflash (Geffen)-4 (29)
30 41 SAVED BY ZERO –•– The Fixx (MCA)-7 (30)

31 15 LET’S DANCE –•– David Bowie (EMI-America)-16 (1)
32 42 IT’S A MISTAKE –•– Men At Work (Columbia)-2 (32)
33 20 ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME –•– Naked Eyes (EMI-America)-18 (8)
34 43 ROCK OF AGES –•– Def Leppard (Mercury)-5 (34)
35 40 STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE –•– The Hollies (Atlantic)-6 (35)
36 36 WHITE WEDDING –•– Billy Idol (Chrysalis)-8 (36)
37 22 FAITHFULLY –•– Journey (Columbia)-13 (12)
38 45 CHINA GIRL –•– David Bowie (EMI-America)-6 (38)
39 44 ROCK ‘N’ ROLL IS KING –•– ELO (Jet)-3 (39)
40 30 TRY AGAIN –•– Champaign (Columbia)-15 (23)

OFF THE CHARTS

41 24 THE WOMAN IN YOU –•– The Bee Gees (RSO)-8 (24)
42 34 DON’T PAY THE FERRYMAN –•– Chris DeBurgh (A&M)-11 (34)
47 29 WE TWO –•– The Little River Band (Capitol)-10 (22)
49 31 OVERKILL –•– Men At Work (Columbia)-14 (3)
63 37 MY LOVE –•– Lionel Richie (Motown)-14 (5)