The Hottest of the Hot 100's - January 22, 1983
Jan 27, 2015 16:33:38 GMT -5
Post by Gary on Jan 27, 2015 16:33:38 GMT -5
www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6451044/hot-100s-hottest-weeks-january-82-with-michael-jackson-marvin-gaye-the-clash
With Billboard's Hot 100 closing in on its 2,950th week since its August 4, 1958 debut, it seemed the right time to spotlight the strongest individual weeks in the Hot 100's close-to-57-year history. We've examined every Hot 100 looking for standout weeks in each decade or era, those where a larger-than-usual number of songs listed made a lasting impact, where music and chart history was made.
Kicking it off is this week from 32 years ago. January 22, 1983's Hot 100 saw the beginnings of a British invasion nearly as powerful as that which brought the Beatles to America, the transformation of one of pop's youngest superstars into a bona fide "Thriller," and an exciting mix of pop, rock, R&B and dance songs now widely regarded as classics, making for a wild ride on the Hot 100.
Return with us to when President Ronald Reagan was bargaining with the then-Soviet Union about missiles in Europe, gas was weeks away from falling to below $1 a gallon (could history repeat itself?), nighttime soaps like Dallas and Dynasty dominated TV viewing, Dustin Hoffman was anything but a drag in box office champ Tootsie, and no one cared about the Washington Redskins' name as they were headed to a Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins.
As for the week's Hot 100, we'll cover the play-by-play, making stops at the chart positions and songs that made a difference: the firsts and lasts (not to mention a few "only's"), the biggest and best, with color commentary from one of top 40's top programmers that week, one of MTV's original VJs, even a few of the charted artists themselves.
1. Down Under - Men at Work (second of four weeks at No. 1)
"Being number one around the world, including the U.S., was truly like driving down the highway of your dreams, and all the lights ahead turning green," Men at Work's Colin Hay says.
While the idea of an Australian act topping the Hot 100 was nothing new, even in 1983 - three acts from the land down under had reached the summit within weeks of each other in 1981 (Air Supply, Rick Springfield and Olivia Newton-John) - Men at Work was no ordinary Australian act. Not only were they the first Aussie rock band to hit those heights, but the first to see their first two charting songs reach the top rung, as "Under" followed "Who Can It Be Now?" to No.1. While "Down Under" was up over all other chart entries this week in 1983, the album it came from, Business As Usual, was also No. 1, its 15 weeks at the top the most for a debut release since the Monkees' bow in 1966.
And the song? An irresistible piece of reggae-influenced continental pride, it taught us Americans what a "vegemite sandwich" was (and you're still eating them... right?). Hay, whose latest release, Next Year People, arrives Feb. 17, says, "When we were in the studio recording 'Down Under,' we knew it was a big song -- a really big song."
2. The Girl Is Mine - Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney (peak postion)
The superstar duo began and ended the year with hits at the No. 1 or No. 2 position. Mac 'n Jack's "Girl" collaboration was the first of seven singles taken from Jackson's Thriller album, which had entered the Billboard 200 album chart just a month earlier. While we never did find out who got the girl (not unlike Brandy and Monica's 1998 teaming for the gender-flipped "The Boy Is Mine), we do know neither was able to add the song to their tally of chart-toppers, as both "Down Under" and Daryl Hall and John Oates' "Maneater" (see No. 6) kept "Girl" out of the No. 1 spot (although it did reach the top of the R&B singles chart). No songs on the Hot 100 stood in the pair's way at the close of 1983, though, when "Say Say Say," the kickoff single from McCartney's Pipes Of Peace album, camped out at the top for six weeks.
3. Dirty Laundry - Don Henley (peak position)
The Eagle had landed. After "Johnny Can't Read," Henley's first single from I Can't Stand Still - his debut solo album following the Eagles' 1981 disbanding - stopped at a disappointing No. 42, "Laundry," his bashing of TV news reporting, really cleaned up on the Hot 100. Henley wasn't flying entirely solo: fellow Eagles Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit also played on the track. With a chorus ("Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down"), sound effects (such as that ringing phone) and production far removed from the Eagles' country-inflected rock, "Laundry" helped give Henley a distinct sound and image from the band.
4. Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye (eventual peak: 3)
If anyone could bring sex's stock even further up, it was Marvin Gaye. After a five-year dry spell following his 1977 No. 1 "Got To Give It Up" (yes, the song that inspired Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and its resulting lawsuit), Gaye's first post-Motown single (for Columbia Records) won him a Grammy, critical praise and 10 weeks atop the R&B singles chart. With "Healing," anyone thinking Gaye's first paean to the pleasures of the flesh, 1973's "Let's Get It On," couldn't be topped, had to think again.
5. Africa - Toto (eventual peak: 1, 1 week)
Exactly one month later, Toto would win the Album of the Year Grammy for Toto IV, which included this haunting kalimba-and marimba-driven musical travelogue. Unlike the Record of the Year winner and No. 2-peaking "Rosanna," "Africa" became the group's only Hot 100 No. 1 directly after Men At Work's "Down Under," marking the first and only instance of back-to-back chart-toppers about continents. Had 80s bands Asia and Europe only had better timing…
6. Maneater - Daryl Hall and John Oates (peak: 1, 4 weeks)
"We knew 'Maneater' was a strong track, and [we were] proud of the fact that it didn't sound like any of our previous top ten and number one hits," Oates says about the song that became the duo's fourth to make it all the way in less than two years. While 'Maneater's' opening and backbeat resembled that of another No. 1, the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" (see No. 13), that's where the resemblance stopped, with the song's killer chorus ("Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up") as riveting as they come.
Oates, whose Another Good Road "docu-concert" DVD was released Jan. 20, adds, "We didn't really think about what other acts were doing. It felt like the production sound we were putting out set a standard for what was happening at the time."
7. Baby, Come To Me - Patti Austin (A Duet with James Ingram) (peak: 1, 2 weeks)
Legendary producer Quincy Jones was responsible for both of the week's top ten hits pairing up two separate artists: "The Girl Is Mine" (see No. 2) and "Baby," which gave veteran R&B and jazz singer Austin her only No. 1 and top 40 hit. The ballad had actually fallen off the Hot 100 when it was used on an episode of TV daytime drama General Hospital, which turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
8. Rock the Casbah - The Clash (peak position)
The only top ten single for "the only band that matters" (as they were commonly referred to in 1983), "Casbah's" success paved the way for a re-release of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," the kickoff hit from their Combat Rock album which made it as far as No. 45. The second time? No. 50.
9. Mickey - Toni Basil (peak: 1, 1 week)
"Because I was a cheerleader all my life, I thought a chant opening a song might be interesting," Basil says about her one major U.S hit. "The record company thought it was a terrible idea."
The most-of-the-time choreographer and director shot the chock-full-of-cheerleaders video for "Mickey" after her performance of it on a BBC special generated interest in the song. The rest was Hot 100 history. "My timing was perfect. The moment it was released in America, I had MTV to back it up."
Basil, currently working with longtime client and Hot 100 chart-topper herself Bette Midler, notes the influence both song and video have had on later No. 1 hits. "I heard Pharrell [Williams] say 'Mickey' was the whole inspiration for [Gwen Stefani's] 'Hollaback Girl.'" What about a more recent No. 1 by Taylor Swift? "Her video [for 'Shake It Off'] looks like I did it! It had everything I ever created."
So where was Basil when "Mickey' took over the world? "I was working in the editing room, doing more videos. I really didn't get to enjoy the monster it was."
10. Heartbreaker - Dionne Warwick (peak position)
While the Bee Gees' own hit streak had long passed, their influence continued to be felt. "Heartbreaker," written by all three Gibb brothers and co-produced by Barry, was Warwick's last of her 10 solo top 10 hits (although she'd later reach No. 1 with "That's What Friends Are For," her collaboration with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder). Later in 1983, the Bee Gees would perform a similar favor for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, as their duet "Islands in the Stream" went all the way to No. 1.
13. You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins (eventual peak: 10)
Until Collins' re-working of the 1966 Supremes hit, neither he nor his group Genesis were able to crack the top ten in America. After "Hurry" became the first of 14 trips there for Collins, his good fortune rubbed off on his band when "That's All" became Genesis' first top 10 entry a year later.
15. Gloria - Laura Branigan (peak: 2)
On the Hot 100 dated December 11, 1982, the producing-writing team of Greg Matheison and Trevor Veitch was involved with both of the week's top two singles, both of which were named for their lead characters. Right behind Toni Basil's "Mickey" (see No. 9) was "Gloria," the first and biggest top 40 hit for Branigan. In the 29th of its 36 weeks on the Hot 100, "Gloria" set what was then a record for most weeks on the chart by a female artist.
17. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant (eventual peak: 12)
"I'd been told top 40 in America didn't play songs with brass [sections]," the artist responsible for "Antmania" in his native England says. "When 'Goody Two Shoes' broke there, I couldn't believe it. In every way, it was a bit of a risk."
The British rocker's first Hot 100 hit in the U.S., following a string of seven top ten singles in the U.K. with former group Adam and the Ants, was indeed inspired by press interviews ("Don't drink, don't smoke - what do you do?"). "It was somewhat of a playful manifesto," Adam says. "It had that intention without being preachy."
"Goody's" music video turned out to be as outlandish as the recording itself. "I wanted it to be a miniature movie, instead of just a band standing in front of a window," Adam says. That strategy turned out to be a game-changer. "Before 'Goody Two Shoes,' few [radio] stations were playing Adam Ant," says Nina Blackwood, at the time one of MTV's original VJs, and currently on SiriusXM's "80s on 8" and host of syndicated shows Absolutely 80s and New Wave Nation. "His unique look and percussion-heavy sound would not have gone over to the degree it did without that video."
Adam, whose latest album drops later this year, adds: "The four things I like in a great pop record - and this goes back to Elvis - are sex, subversion, style and humor." On his breakout American hit, clearly he went four for four.
20. Allentown - Billy Joel (eventual peak: 17)
Joel's tale of the Pennsylvania steel town's economic woes represented a sharp departure from his hit-making norm of love songs ("Just the Way You Are") and straight-ahead rockers ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"). That gamble paid off for Joel: "Allentown" ranked at No. 43 on Billboard's year-end top 100, and perhaps more importantly, was praised by the city itself, when its mayor awarded Joel with the key to Allentown.
23. Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats (eventual peak: 3)
"There was a lot of wimpy pop on the radio before 1983," Scott Walker, then program director of WCAU-FM, Philadelphia's mainstream top 40 station, says. "You had a whole new music culture starting around this time."
That culture was represented by acts of mostly British origin (such as Adam Ant, The Clash and Duran Duran) or American artists whose careers were jump-started in the U.K., such as the punk-rockabilly hybrid Stray Cats, represented twice on this week's Hot 100. The Long Island, N.Y. trio found success on the British charts with their first two singles, "Rock This Town" (at No. 49 this week) and "Strut," but had to wait two years for both songs to catch fire back home.
"These artists were suddenly getting more exposure as top 40's popularity exploded again," Walker says. "This new sound fueled the fire, and we were off and running."
25. Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy - Sammy Hagar (eventual peak: 13)
While it would be another year until David Lee Roth left Van Halen to try his luck as a solo performer, his successor did it the other way around: Hagar scored his biggest solo hit with "Crazy."
27. Pass The Dutchie - Musical Youth (eventual peak: 10)
The reggae boy band was a one hit wonder in the U.S., but what a hit: "Dutchie" had reached No. 1 in eight countries, including the group's native England, before it hit American shores. Although the song's title and recurring choral response ("How does it feel when you got no food?") were cleaned up from the drug-advocating original version by the Mighty Diamonds, "Dutchie" eventually became itself a drug reference (as in a hollowed and marijuana-filled Dutch Masters cigar wrapper), evidenced by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's top 40 hit of 20 years later, "Pass That Dutch."
31. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club (eventual peak: 2)
"1983 was really when MTV started catching on," Blackwood says, making reference to the arrival of British bands like Culture Club. "Europe was actually ahead of the U.S. in using videos as promotional tools within the industry. That's how they first came about. They had a jump on the American artists."
Three months after "Do You…" had hit No. 1 in the U.K., it was on its way to No. 2 on the Hot 100, fueled by a video featuring androgynous, dreadlocked lead singer Boy George. "George had such a beautiful voice, and the music was so great that maybe they would have crossed over without video," Blackwood says. "But the fact that he looked like he did was just barnbusting."
34. Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran (eventual peak: 3)
Another British band that took two years to cross the pond, Simon LeBon and company had just landed their first American hit, also with a much-talked-about music video. "Middle America wasn't playing Duran Duran, but MTV was, and kids were running to stores asking for their albums," Blackwood says. "That was the turning point where the labels realized videos were important for selling records and getting exposure."
The success of Duran Duran and "Hungry" wasn't just about its video. "Top 40 is all about the music, and at that time the music was hot," Walker says. "It just happened that all these great artists, like Duran Duran, came on the scene at once. It was like a new shot of energy."
46. Back On The Chain Gang - The Pretenders (eventual peak: 5)
Originally a group, the Pretenders were down to two members when "Chain Gang," at that time one of the few Hot 100 entries available only on a commercial single, became their highest charter. Drug abuse had taken its toll on the band: guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, to whom Chryssie Hynde dedicated "Chain Gang," had died of an overdose, while bassist Pete Farndon was kicked out of the band because of his drug problem.
While not listed on the Hot 100, "My City Was Gone," on the other side of the single, became a hit in its own right, reaching No. 11 on Rock Songs and later serving as the theme for Rush Limbaugh's radio show.
47. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson (eventual peak: 1, 7 weeks)
"Michael obviously liked my videos, because I got a call to meet him," Adam Ant says. "After that he hired a Hollywood director, MTV became very expensive, and the rest of us couldn't compete."
"Billie Jean," debuting on the Hot 100 this week in 1983, went on to become more than just Jackson's biggest solo hit ever: it defined him as a singer, writer and of course dancer, especially after his "moonwalking" performance of the song on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special. Jackson also set the bar high for music video with the clips for both "Billie Jean" and the single from Thriller that followed, "Beat It" - so high that the MTV Video Music Awards' Video Vanguard Award is named for him.
"Michael was like a sponge: he was always asking lots of questions and was very focused," Adam says. "The word 'genius' certainly applied to him."
48. I Know There's Something Going On - Frida (eventual peak: 13)
One year after internationally successful pop group ABBA's final Hot 100 appearance, both female members released their biggest solo hits, starting with this tour de force produced with larger-than-life drums by Phil Collins (see No. 13) for Anni-Frid Lyngstad, shortened to just Frida. Before 1983 was over, the foursome's Agnetha Faltskog would take "Can't Shake Loose" to No. 29.
51. Truly - Lionel Richie (peak: 1, 2 weeks)
Fresh from leaving the Commodores, it wasn't yet clear whether Richie could surpass his former group's track record of nine top 10 hits and a pair of No. 1s. Following "Endless Love," his 1981 duet with Diana Ross which dug in at No. 1 for nine weeks, "Truly" became the second of his five chart-toppers and 13 consecutive top 10 entries. Achievements Richie himself might call - especially when accepting any of his four Grammys - outrageous.
59. I'm Alive - Neil Diamond (eventual peak: 35)
Diamond placed at least one gem of a hit inside the Hot 100's top 40 every calendar year from 1969 until 1983. Ironically, it was "I'm Alive" that ended that streak, marking his final top 40 appearance as an artist, anyway: Diamond compositions later became hits for UB40 ("Red Red Wine") and Smash Mouth ("I'm A Believer").
63. Forever - Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (peak position)
It's easy to see why Steven Van Zandt, member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1975 and now host of the syndicated radio show Little Steven's Underground Garage, has such an affinity for 1960s pop rock. If you didn't know better, you'd swear that this, his sole Hot 100 entry, came from two decades earlier.
68. Eminence Front - The Who (peak position)
After 17 years of bending the rock 'n roll rules, The Who went out with a bang on the last of their 26 charting singles in the U.S. While "Eminence" made it only one-third of the way up the Hot 100, it's since been heard in movies and on TV (not just series, but also The Weather Channel), video games, and stadiums, and as introduction music for baseball and basketball players and UFC fighters.
79. Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners (eventual peak: 1, 1 week)
The Celtic rhythms, fiddles and variation on the traditional Irish song "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral" may have made "Eileen" a perfect fit once St. Patrick's Day 1983 came around, but like so many acts impacting pop music this chart week, Dexys came not from Ireland but England.
"There was a great deal of competitiveness between these bands," Adam Ant says. "For all of us, America was the big challenge. In England you could be a big fish in a little pond, but in America, it's like every state is another country."
Unlike other British acts listed this week, Dexys made it just once, but with a song that certainly stood out at top 40. "A variety of music is what the format's always been about," Walker says.
85. Shadows Of The Night - Pat Benatar (peak: 13)
"MTV totally affected how recognized these artists were," Blackwood says. "Pat once told me that it wasn't until MTV started that she'd show up at an airport and get mobbed." With the eighth of 17 charting hits, all during the 1980s, Benatar was, at least at that moment, the most successful solo female rocker to date on the Hot 100.
88. It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls (eventual peak: 46)
Even before it debuted on the Hot 100 this week, "Men" had already conquered dance clubs and been declared an anthem of the gay community. Co-written by David Letterman's longtime bandleader Paul Shaffer and featuring the vocals of Martha Wash (who later did the honors on C+C Music Factory's 1991 No. 1 single "Gonna Make You Sweat"), the song became a bigger hit overseas, while here it made it little more than halfway up the chart. One can only wonder how it might have fared had any of the other acts offered the song - among them Cher, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross - said yes to "Men."
91. Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (peak: 1, 3 weeks)
Fourteen years after he'd scored his only No. 1 single in his native England -- with his version of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" -- Cocker was finally lifted you-know-where on the Hot 100 with a little help from Warnes, who he'd never met until the day of the recording session. In its 23rd and final week on the chart, the love theme from the box office hit An Officer and a Gentleman would be Cocker's only No. 1 in the U.S. and the biggest hit of a career that sadly ended with the rocker's death last Dec. 22.
94. Young Love - Janet Jackson (peak: 64)
While all the attention was then on her "Thriller" of a big brother, Janet was quietly making the first of what would be 48 Hot 100 appearances. Michael's total as a solo act? 50.
98. Goodbye To You - Scandal (peak: 65)
A fitting close to our look at this week in 1983: the first (although its title would suggest otherwise) chart appearance for Scandal and Patty Smyth, the rocker who before Sammy Hagar (see No. 25) was offered the lead vocalist job in Van Halen, replacing Roth. Although it only climbed a third of the way up the chart, spending 11 weeks on the Hot 100 - not a long "Goodbye" by any means - Smyth fought like "The Warrior" she is to take Scandal's biggest-ever single to No. 7 a year later.
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With Billboard's Hot 100 closing in on its 2,950th week since its August 4, 1958 debut, it seemed the right time to spotlight the strongest individual weeks in the Hot 100's close-to-57-year history. We've examined every Hot 100 looking for standout weeks in each decade or era, those where a larger-than-usual number of songs listed made a lasting impact, where music and chart history was made.
Kicking it off is this week from 32 years ago. January 22, 1983's Hot 100 saw the beginnings of a British invasion nearly as powerful as that which brought the Beatles to America, the transformation of one of pop's youngest superstars into a bona fide "Thriller," and an exciting mix of pop, rock, R&B and dance songs now widely regarded as classics, making for a wild ride on the Hot 100.
Return with us to when President Ronald Reagan was bargaining with the then-Soviet Union about missiles in Europe, gas was weeks away from falling to below $1 a gallon (could history repeat itself?), nighttime soaps like Dallas and Dynasty dominated TV viewing, Dustin Hoffman was anything but a drag in box office champ Tootsie, and no one cared about the Washington Redskins' name as they were headed to a Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins.
As for the week's Hot 100, we'll cover the play-by-play, making stops at the chart positions and songs that made a difference: the firsts and lasts (not to mention a few "only's"), the biggest and best, with color commentary from one of top 40's top programmers that week, one of MTV's original VJs, even a few of the charted artists themselves.
1. Down Under - Men at Work (second of four weeks at No. 1)
"Being number one around the world, including the U.S., was truly like driving down the highway of your dreams, and all the lights ahead turning green," Men at Work's Colin Hay says.
While the idea of an Australian act topping the Hot 100 was nothing new, even in 1983 - three acts from the land down under had reached the summit within weeks of each other in 1981 (Air Supply, Rick Springfield and Olivia Newton-John) - Men at Work was no ordinary Australian act. Not only were they the first Aussie rock band to hit those heights, but the first to see their first two charting songs reach the top rung, as "Under" followed "Who Can It Be Now?" to No.1. While "Down Under" was up over all other chart entries this week in 1983, the album it came from, Business As Usual, was also No. 1, its 15 weeks at the top the most for a debut release since the Monkees' bow in 1966.
And the song? An irresistible piece of reggae-influenced continental pride, it taught us Americans what a "vegemite sandwich" was (and you're still eating them... right?). Hay, whose latest release, Next Year People, arrives Feb. 17, says, "When we were in the studio recording 'Down Under,' we knew it was a big song -- a really big song."
2. The Girl Is Mine - Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney (peak postion)
The superstar duo began and ended the year with hits at the No. 1 or No. 2 position. Mac 'n Jack's "Girl" collaboration was the first of seven singles taken from Jackson's Thriller album, which had entered the Billboard 200 album chart just a month earlier. While we never did find out who got the girl (not unlike Brandy and Monica's 1998 teaming for the gender-flipped "The Boy Is Mine), we do know neither was able to add the song to their tally of chart-toppers, as both "Down Under" and Daryl Hall and John Oates' "Maneater" (see No. 6) kept "Girl" out of the No. 1 spot (although it did reach the top of the R&B singles chart). No songs on the Hot 100 stood in the pair's way at the close of 1983, though, when "Say Say Say," the kickoff single from McCartney's Pipes Of Peace album, camped out at the top for six weeks.
3. Dirty Laundry - Don Henley (peak position)
The Eagle had landed. After "Johnny Can't Read," Henley's first single from I Can't Stand Still - his debut solo album following the Eagles' 1981 disbanding - stopped at a disappointing No. 42, "Laundry," his bashing of TV news reporting, really cleaned up on the Hot 100. Henley wasn't flying entirely solo: fellow Eagles Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit also played on the track. With a chorus ("Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down"), sound effects (such as that ringing phone) and production far removed from the Eagles' country-inflected rock, "Laundry" helped give Henley a distinct sound and image from the band.
4. Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye (eventual peak: 3)
If anyone could bring sex's stock even further up, it was Marvin Gaye. After a five-year dry spell following his 1977 No. 1 "Got To Give It Up" (yes, the song that inspired Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and its resulting lawsuit), Gaye's first post-Motown single (for Columbia Records) won him a Grammy, critical praise and 10 weeks atop the R&B singles chart. With "Healing," anyone thinking Gaye's first paean to the pleasures of the flesh, 1973's "Let's Get It On," couldn't be topped, had to think again.
5. Africa - Toto (eventual peak: 1, 1 week)
Exactly one month later, Toto would win the Album of the Year Grammy for Toto IV, which included this haunting kalimba-and marimba-driven musical travelogue. Unlike the Record of the Year winner and No. 2-peaking "Rosanna," "Africa" became the group's only Hot 100 No. 1 directly after Men At Work's "Down Under," marking the first and only instance of back-to-back chart-toppers about continents. Had 80s bands Asia and Europe only had better timing…
6. Maneater - Daryl Hall and John Oates (peak: 1, 4 weeks)
"We knew 'Maneater' was a strong track, and [we were] proud of the fact that it didn't sound like any of our previous top ten and number one hits," Oates says about the song that became the duo's fourth to make it all the way in less than two years. While 'Maneater's' opening and backbeat resembled that of another No. 1, the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" (see No. 13), that's where the resemblance stopped, with the song's killer chorus ("Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up") as riveting as they come.
Oates, whose Another Good Road "docu-concert" DVD was released Jan. 20, adds, "We didn't really think about what other acts were doing. It felt like the production sound we were putting out set a standard for what was happening at the time."
7. Baby, Come To Me - Patti Austin (A Duet with James Ingram) (peak: 1, 2 weeks)
Legendary producer Quincy Jones was responsible for both of the week's top ten hits pairing up two separate artists: "The Girl Is Mine" (see No. 2) and "Baby," which gave veteran R&B and jazz singer Austin her only No. 1 and top 40 hit. The ballad had actually fallen off the Hot 100 when it was used on an episode of TV daytime drama General Hospital, which turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
8. Rock the Casbah - The Clash (peak position)
The only top ten single for "the only band that matters" (as they were commonly referred to in 1983), "Casbah's" success paved the way for a re-release of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," the kickoff hit from their Combat Rock album which made it as far as No. 45. The second time? No. 50.
9. Mickey - Toni Basil (peak: 1, 1 week)
"Because I was a cheerleader all my life, I thought a chant opening a song might be interesting," Basil says about her one major U.S hit. "The record company thought it was a terrible idea."
The most-of-the-time choreographer and director shot the chock-full-of-cheerleaders video for "Mickey" after her performance of it on a BBC special generated interest in the song. The rest was Hot 100 history. "My timing was perfect. The moment it was released in America, I had MTV to back it up."
Basil, currently working with longtime client and Hot 100 chart-topper herself Bette Midler, notes the influence both song and video have had on later No. 1 hits. "I heard Pharrell [Williams] say 'Mickey' was the whole inspiration for [Gwen Stefani's] 'Hollaback Girl.'" What about a more recent No. 1 by Taylor Swift? "Her video [for 'Shake It Off'] looks like I did it! It had everything I ever created."
So where was Basil when "Mickey' took over the world? "I was working in the editing room, doing more videos. I really didn't get to enjoy the monster it was."
10. Heartbreaker - Dionne Warwick (peak position)
While the Bee Gees' own hit streak had long passed, their influence continued to be felt. "Heartbreaker," written by all three Gibb brothers and co-produced by Barry, was Warwick's last of her 10 solo top 10 hits (although she'd later reach No. 1 with "That's What Friends Are For," her collaboration with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder). Later in 1983, the Bee Gees would perform a similar favor for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, as their duet "Islands in the Stream" went all the way to No. 1.
13. You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins (eventual peak: 10)
Until Collins' re-working of the 1966 Supremes hit, neither he nor his group Genesis were able to crack the top ten in America. After "Hurry" became the first of 14 trips there for Collins, his good fortune rubbed off on his band when "That's All" became Genesis' first top 10 entry a year later.
15. Gloria - Laura Branigan (peak: 2)
On the Hot 100 dated December 11, 1982, the producing-writing team of Greg Matheison and Trevor Veitch was involved with both of the week's top two singles, both of which were named for their lead characters. Right behind Toni Basil's "Mickey" (see No. 9) was "Gloria," the first and biggest top 40 hit for Branigan. In the 29th of its 36 weeks on the Hot 100, "Gloria" set what was then a record for most weeks on the chart by a female artist.
17. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant (eventual peak: 12)
"I'd been told top 40 in America didn't play songs with brass [sections]," the artist responsible for "Antmania" in his native England says. "When 'Goody Two Shoes' broke there, I couldn't believe it. In every way, it was a bit of a risk."
The British rocker's first Hot 100 hit in the U.S., following a string of seven top ten singles in the U.K. with former group Adam and the Ants, was indeed inspired by press interviews ("Don't drink, don't smoke - what do you do?"). "It was somewhat of a playful manifesto," Adam says. "It had that intention without being preachy."
"Goody's" music video turned out to be as outlandish as the recording itself. "I wanted it to be a miniature movie, instead of just a band standing in front of a window," Adam says. That strategy turned out to be a game-changer. "Before 'Goody Two Shoes,' few [radio] stations were playing Adam Ant," says Nina Blackwood, at the time one of MTV's original VJs, and currently on SiriusXM's "80s on 8" and host of syndicated shows Absolutely 80s and New Wave Nation. "His unique look and percussion-heavy sound would not have gone over to the degree it did without that video."
Adam, whose latest album drops later this year, adds: "The four things I like in a great pop record - and this goes back to Elvis - are sex, subversion, style and humor." On his breakout American hit, clearly he went four for four.
20. Allentown - Billy Joel (eventual peak: 17)
Joel's tale of the Pennsylvania steel town's economic woes represented a sharp departure from his hit-making norm of love songs ("Just the Way You Are") and straight-ahead rockers ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"). That gamble paid off for Joel: "Allentown" ranked at No. 43 on Billboard's year-end top 100, and perhaps more importantly, was praised by the city itself, when its mayor awarded Joel with the key to Allentown.
23. Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats (eventual peak: 3)
"There was a lot of wimpy pop on the radio before 1983," Scott Walker, then program director of WCAU-FM, Philadelphia's mainstream top 40 station, says. "You had a whole new music culture starting around this time."
That culture was represented by acts of mostly British origin (such as Adam Ant, The Clash and Duran Duran) or American artists whose careers were jump-started in the U.K., such as the punk-rockabilly hybrid Stray Cats, represented twice on this week's Hot 100. The Long Island, N.Y. trio found success on the British charts with their first two singles, "Rock This Town" (at No. 49 this week) and "Strut," but had to wait two years for both songs to catch fire back home.
"These artists were suddenly getting more exposure as top 40's popularity exploded again," Walker says. "This new sound fueled the fire, and we were off and running."
25. Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy - Sammy Hagar (eventual peak: 13)
While it would be another year until David Lee Roth left Van Halen to try his luck as a solo performer, his successor did it the other way around: Hagar scored his biggest solo hit with "Crazy."
27. Pass The Dutchie - Musical Youth (eventual peak: 10)
The reggae boy band was a one hit wonder in the U.S., but what a hit: "Dutchie" had reached No. 1 in eight countries, including the group's native England, before it hit American shores. Although the song's title and recurring choral response ("How does it feel when you got no food?") were cleaned up from the drug-advocating original version by the Mighty Diamonds, "Dutchie" eventually became itself a drug reference (as in a hollowed and marijuana-filled Dutch Masters cigar wrapper), evidenced by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's top 40 hit of 20 years later, "Pass That Dutch."
31. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club (eventual peak: 2)
"1983 was really when MTV started catching on," Blackwood says, making reference to the arrival of British bands like Culture Club. "Europe was actually ahead of the U.S. in using videos as promotional tools within the industry. That's how they first came about. They had a jump on the American artists."
Three months after "Do You…" had hit No. 1 in the U.K., it was on its way to No. 2 on the Hot 100, fueled by a video featuring androgynous, dreadlocked lead singer Boy George. "George had such a beautiful voice, and the music was so great that maybe they would have crossed over without video," Blackwood says. "But the fact that he looked like he did was just barnbusting."
34. Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran (eventual peak: 3)
Another British band that took two years to cross the pond, Simon LeBon and company had just landed their first American hit, also with a much-talked-about music video. "Middle America wasn't playing Duran Duran, but MTV was, and kids were running to stores asking for their albums," Blackwood says. "That was the turning point where the labels realized videos were important for selling records and getting exposure."
The success of Duran Duran and "Hungry" wasn't just about its video. "Top 40 is all about the music, and at that time the music was hot," Walker says. "It just happened that all these great artists, like Duran Duran, came on the scene at once. It was like a new shot of energy."
46. Back On The Chain Gang - The Pretenders (eventual peak: 5)
Originally a group, the Pretenders were down to two members when "Chain Gang," at that time one of the few Hot 100 entries available only on a commercial single, became their highest charter. Drug abuse had taken its toll on the band: guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, to whom Chryssie Hynde dedicated "Chain Gang," had died of an overdose, while bassist Pete Farndon was kicked out of the band because of his drug problem.
While not listed on the Hot 100, "My City Was Gone," on the other side of the single, became a hit in its own right, reaching No. 11 on Rock Songs and later serving as the theme for Rush Limbaugh's radio show.
47. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson (eventual peak: 1, 7 weeks)
"Michael obviously liked my videos, because I got a call to meet him," Adam Ant says. "After that he hired a Hollywood director, MTV became very expensive, and the rest of us couldn't compete."
"Billie Jean," debuting on the Hot 100 this week in 1983, went on to become more than just Jackson's biggest solo hit ever: it defined him as a singer, writer and of course dancer, especially after his "moonwalking" performance of the song on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special. Jackson also set the bar high for music video with the clips for both "Billie Jean" and the single from Thriller that followed, "Beat It" - so high that the MTV Video Music Awards' Video Vanguard Award is named for him.
"Michael was like a sponge: he was always asking lots of questions and was very focused," Adam says. "The word 'genius' certainly applied to him."
48. I Know There's Something Going On - Frida (eventual peak: 13)
One year after internationally successful pop group ABBA's final Hot 100 appearance, both female members released their biggest solo hits, starting with this tour de force produced with larger-than-life drums by Phil Collins (see No. 13) for Anni-Frid Lyngstad, shortened to just Frida. Before 1983 was over, the foursome's Agnetha Faltskog would take "Can't Shake Loose" to No. 29.
51. Truly - Lionel Richie (peak: 1, 2 weeks)
Fresh from leaving the Commodores, it wasn't yet clear whether Richie could surpass his former group's track record of nine top 10 hits and a pair of No. 1s. Following "Endless Love," his 1981 duet with Diana Ross which dug in at No. 1 for nine weeks, "Truly" became the second of his five chart-toppers and 13 consecutive top 10 entries. Achievements Richie himself might call - especially when accepting any of his four Grammys - outrageous.
59. I'm Alive - Neil Diamond (eventual peak: 35)
Diamond placed at least one gem of a hit inside the Hot 100's top 40 every calendar year from 1969 until 1983. Ironically, it was "I'm Alive" that ended that streak, marking his final top 40 appearance as an artist, anyway: Diamond compositions later became hits for UB40 ("Red Red Wine") and Smash Mouth ("I'm A Believer").
63. Forever - Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (peak position)
It's easy to see why Steven Van Zandt, member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1975 and now host of the syndicated radio show Little Steven's Underground Garage, has such an affinity for 1960s pop rock. If you didn't know better, you'd swear that this, his sole Hot 100 entry, came from two decades earlier.
68. Eminence Front - The Who (peak position)
After 17 years of bending the rock 'n roll rules, The Who went out with a bang on the last of their 26 charting singles in the U.S. While "Eminence" made it only one-third of the way up the Hot 100, it's since been heard in movies and on TV (not just series, but also The Weather Channel), video games, and stadiums, and as introduction music for baseball and basketball players and UFC fighters.
79. Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners (eventual peak: 1, 1 week)
The Celtic rhythms, fiddles and variation on the traditional Irish song "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral" may have made "Eileen" a perfect fit once St. Patrick's Day 1983 came around, but like so many acts impacting pop music this chart week, Dexys came not from Ireland but England.
"There was a great deal of competitiveness between these bands," Adam Ant says. "For all of us, America was the big challenge. In England you could be a big fish in a little pond, but in America, it's like every state is another country."
Unlike other British acts listed this week, Dexys made it just once, but with a song that certainly stood out at top 40. "A variety of music is what the format's always been about," Walker says.
85. Shadows Of The Night - Pat Benatar (peak: 13)
"MTV totally affected how recognized these artists were," Blackwood says. "Pat once told me that it wasn't until MTV started that she'd show up at an airport and get mobbed." With the eighth of 17 charting hits, all during the 1980s, Benatar was, at least at that moment, the most successful solo female rocker to date on the Hot 100.
88. It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls (eventual peak: 46)
Even before it debuted on the Hot 100 this week, "Men" had already conquered dance clubs and been declared an anthem of the gay community. Co-written by David Letterman's longtime bandleader Paul Shaffer and featuring the vocals of Martha Wash (who later did the honors on C+C Music Factory's 1991 No. 1 single "Gonna Make You Sweat"), the song became a bigger hit overseas, while here it made it little more than halfway up the chart. One can only wonder how it might have fared had any of the other acts offered the song - among them Cher, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross - said yes to "Men."
91. Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (peak: 1, 3 weeks)
Fourteen years after he'd scored his only No. 1 single in his native England -- with his version of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" -- Cocker was finally lifted you-know-where on the Hot 100 with a little help from Warnes, who he'd never met until the day of the recording session. In its 23rd and final week on the chart, the love theme from the box office hit An Officer and a Gentleman would be Cocker's only No. 1 in the U.S. and the biggest hit of a career that sadly ended with the rocker's death last Dec. 22.
94. Young Love - Janet Jackson (peak: 64)
While all the attention was then on her "Thriller" of a big brother, Janet was quietly making the first of what would be 48 Hot 100 appearances. Michael's total as a solo act? 50.
98. Goodbye To You - Scandal (peak: 65)
A fitting close to our look at this week in 1983: the first (although its title would suggest otherwise) chart appearance for Scandal and Patty Smyth, the rocker who before Sammy Hagar (see No. 25) was offered the lead vocalist job in Van Halen, replacing Roth. Although it only climbed a third of the way up the chart, spending 11 weeks on the Hot 100 - not a long "Goodbye" by any means - Smyth fought like "The Warrior" she is to take Scandal's biggest-ever single to No. 7 a year later.
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