The ‘84 catchphrase was Frankie says Relax, Frankie Goes to Hollywood burst onto the scene at the tail end of ‘83, their first 3 singles getting to no.1 , the first artist to achieve this since since Gerry & Pacemakers in 1963. Relax and Two Tribes were no.1 and no.2 for 2 weeks and both songs were in top 3 for 6 weeks at the same time. The Power of love was their 3rd no.1 in 1984.

 

Madonna was the other big star of 1984, with hits like Holiday, Lucky star, Borderline and Like a virgin. She would dominate the charts for many years to come.

 

Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet had now been joined by George Michael & Wham as the main artists. Duran with New Moon on Monday, The reflex, Wild boys. The Spans - Only when you leave, I’ll fly for you & Highly strung. Wham - Wake me up before you go go, Freedom, Last Christmas and George Michael sang Careless whisper.

 

Queen were back with Radio Ga Ga, I want to break free & It’s a hard life.

 

Other songs I liked this year were:

 

Bananarama - Robert De Niro’s waiting, Rough justice

The Cars - Drive

China Crisis - Wishful Thinking :cheer:

Depeche Mode - People are people, Master & servant

Echo & Bunnymen - The killing moon :cheer:

Eurythmics - Here comes the rain again, Sex Crime(1984)

Human League - The Lebanon, Life on your own, Louise

Howard Jones - What is love, Pearl in the shell, Like to get to know you well

Madness - Michael Caine

Alison Moyet - Love resurrection, All cried out, Invisible

New Order - Thieves like us

OMD - Locomotion, Tesla girls

Prince - When doves cry, Purple rain

U2 - Pride, Unforgettable fire :)

Style Council - Shout to the top, My ever changing moods

Scritti Politti - Wood beez, Absolute

Tears for Fears - Mothers talk, Shout

Thompson Twins - Doctor Doctor, You take me up, Sister of mercy

Tina Turner - What’s love got to do with it, Private Dancer

Ultravox - Dancing with tears in my eyes, Loves great adventure, Lament

Billy Idol - Eyes without a face

Smiths - Heaven knows I’m miserable now :D

 

 

New Artists this year were :

 

Fiction Factory - Feels like heaven

Icicle works - Love is a wonderful colour

Nik Kershaw - Wouldn’t it be good, I won’t let the sun go down on me, The riddle

Art of Noise - Close to the edit

Bluebells - Young at heart

Cindi Lauper - Girls just want to have fun, Time after time

Laura Branigan - Self control

Hazel Dean - Searchin, Whatever I do

Bronski Beat - Smalltown boy, Why

Lloyd Cole & Commotions - Perfect skin :rolleyes:

Strawberry Switchblade - Since yesterday

ZZ Top - Gimme all you lovin

 

And lets all try and forget the years worse records, Black Lace with Agadoo & Do the conga. :puke2:

 

pretty much go with most of your choices there bri..

 

id add

 

carmel...................... more more more.

I would have to add

The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make

The Alarm - Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke

The Sisters of Mercy - Walk Away

Slade - Run Runaway

Pretenders - Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Adam Ant - Apollo 9

Duran Duran - The Reflex

Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok

Some of my faves from '84

 

Nena - 99 Red Balloons

Duran Duran - The Reflex

Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Freedom

Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes, Relax and The Power Of Love

George Michael - Careless Whisper

Jim Diamond - I Should Have Known Better

Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark

Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time

U2 – Pride(In The Name Of Love)

Queen – I Want To Break Free and Hammer To Fall

Style Council – My Ever Changing Moods, Shout To The Top and You’re The Best Thing

Ultravox - Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

Prince - Purple Rain

Alison Moyet - All Cried Out

Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again

Bananarama - Robert De Niro’s Waiting

The Cars – Drive

 

And of course 1984 was the year of Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

 

One of the best years ever for music...Just take a look at the Xmas UK Chart of that year...only stone cold classics.

One of the best years ever for music...Just take a look at the Xmas UK Chart of that year...only stone cold classics.

 

 

i dont agree... 84 was/is never seen as a classic year for music, its another 'also ran' , there was no new strong trend, nothing exciting and fresh, just more of the same.... which wasnt bad, it was good, but hardly 'classic'.

 

but if you were mid-teen in that year then it will be good for you! (we tend to think that the best year for music was when we were about 16!)

i dont agree... 84 was/is never seen as a classic year for music, its another 'also ran' , there was no new strong trend, nothing exciting and fresh, just more of the same.... which wasnt bad, it was good, but hardly 'classic'.

 

but if you were mid-teen in that year then it will be good for you! (we tend to think that the best year for music was when we were about 16!)

 

I disagree.

 

1984 was in my opinion the best year in the history of popular music except for 1967. Just look at the quality of songs that appeared on the early Now & Hits compilation albums. Plus how many years had seven million selling UK singles in them?

 

My Top 30 of 1984 - One Song per Act

 

1. Duran Duran - The Reflex

2. George Michael - Careless Whisper

3. Prince - When Doves Cry

4. Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time

5. U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)

6. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes

7. Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights

8. Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good

9. The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make

10. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

11. Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven

12. Phil Collins - Against All Odds

13. Style Council - You're The Best Thing

14. Queen - I Want To Break Free

15. Wham! - Last Christmas/Everything She Wants

16. The Cure - Caterpillar

17. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Perfect Skin

18. Shannon - Let The Music Play

19. SOS Band - Just Be Good To Me

20. The Specials AKA - Free Nelson Mandela

21. Human League - Louise

22. Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It

23. Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin

24. Pointer Sisters - Automatic

25. Depeche Mode - People Are People

26. David Bowie - Blue Jean

27. Billy Idol - Eyes Without A Face

28. David Sylvian - Red Guitar

29. Ultravox - Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

30. Band Aid - Do They Know Its Christmas?

you could look at it as the culmination of what punk started, after which it went steadily downhill. but what was the legacy of '84?.... it wasnt a year noted for inovation. record sales equate to popularity and not to musical creativity. nope... i stand by what i said... the culmination of what punk started with many good pop tracks, but from a creative/fashion perspective it was an also ran.

i dont agree... 84 was/is never seen as a classic year for music, its another 'also ran' , there was no new strong trend, nothing exciting and fresh, just more of the same.... which wasnt bad, it was good, but hardly 'classic'.

 

you could look at it as the culmination of what punk started, after which it went steadily downhill. but what was the legacy of '84?.... it wasnt a year noted for inovation. record sales equate to popularity and not to musical creativity. nope... i stand by what i said... the culmination of what punk started with many good pop tracks, but from a creative/fashion perspective it was an also ran.

 

well 1984 is the end date that 'Rip It Up and Start Again' by Simon Reynolds so theres probs still some intersting things happening in music, but these are probs happening underground and maybe outside of the UK charts??? in electronica perhaps? or indie? or Rap? in Europe? or world? is there anyone one here who would know? Scott perhaps???

 

http://www.cerysmaticfactory.info/images/rip_it_up_and_start_again_1_450.jpg

 

 

Scritti Politti - Wood beez, Absolute

23. Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Run-D.M.C..jpg

 

This Run DMC album was released on March 27, 1984 it must have had been of some importance!!! :lol:

 

seeing as the tracks are "Hard Times", "Rock Box","Jam-Master Jay", "Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2)" ,"Sucker M.C.s (Krush-Groove 1), "It's Like That", "Wake Up","30 Days", "Jay's Game"

 

 

 

28. David Sylvian - Red Guitar

 

btw no Propaganda???

 

but if you were mid-teen in that year then it will be good for you! (we tend to think that the best year for music was when we were about 16!)

 

I was a mid-teen in '87/'88 though mate.... Atrocious years for decent Pop Music.... Charts were full of Kylie and Jason and loads of other Pete Waterman sh!te..... <_< I was listening to Goth and Thrash Metal dude..... :lol:

 

I was a mid-teen in '87/'88 though mate.... Atrocious years for decent Pop Music.... Charts were full of Kylie and Jason and loads of other Pete Waterman sh!te..... <_< I was listening to Goth and Thrash Metal dude..... :lol:

 

 

you are the exception! lol, most people rate the best era in music as the one where they got into music, around 16... (probably lower these days)

Ah, Frankie goes to Hollywood, loved the song but didn't realise for ages that 'Relax' was sexual. O the innocence :P

Ah, Frankie goes to Hollywood, loved the song but didn't realise for ages that 'Relax' was sexual. O the innocence :P

 

erm... what did you think the line 'when you want to come' mean?...lol..

I was a mid-teen in '87/'88 though mate.... Atrocious years for decent Pop Music.... Charts were full of Kylie and Jason and loads of other Pete Waterman sh!te..... <_< I was listening to Goth and Thrash Metal dude..... :lol:

 

I was a mid-teen during the same period. I stopped buying Smash Hits in 1987 for the above reasons SAW, dreadful Charity Records, Euro-Dance Cheese & Soap Stars turning into Pop Stars & don't get me started on Bros & Brother Beyond ........ & I started buying Q Magazine.

 

It was around this time that I started listening to John Peel & songs that werent going to make the Top 40. I was the first person I knew at college who got into the Pixies. While I got into older music than 1980 for the first time and started discovering the wonders of David Bowie, The Beatles (other than the Red & Blue Best Of albums), Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed/Velvet Underground, The Doors, T-Rex, etc.

you know... i find it rather odd that whilst i lived through the 60's 70's and beyond, most of you didnt, and have a different perspective on what i took for granted. the (late) 60's and 70's pre punk were very polarised. you could only like 1 style of music, dressed and acted within that fashion and you couldnt cross the boundaries. you couldnt like led zep and slade... status quo and the beatles, barry white (:puke2:) and cockney rebel..

 

the post punk generation look back and their perspective is post punk, but in reality it wasnt like that.

 

times like this i feel really old....

1984 was, for me, the year of Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, New Order, Sisters of Mercy....

 

Chartwise, though, it was Alison Moyet's year - a hugely commercial album, Alf, and 3 sterling solid pop singles. Sade, too, was huge if I remember rightly.

erm... what did you think the line 'when you want to come' mean?...lol..

Well, didn't listen to the lyrics - not consciously anyway, just thought the song sounded great!

I was a mid-teen in '87/'88 though mate.... Atrocious years for decent Pop Music.... Charts were full of Kylie and Jason and loads of other Pete Waterman sh!te..... <_< I was listening to Goth and Thrash Metal dude..... :lol:

you are the exception! lol, most people rate the best era in music as the one where they got into music, around 16... (probably lower these days)

 

Scott, whats your idea of good pop music then? and have you done a countsown in the pop area of your 60 best pop hits yet??

My fave songs from 1984 :dance:

 

1.The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make

2. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

3. New Order - Thieves Like us

4. Depeche Mode - People are People

5. Tears for Fears - Shout

6. Scritti Politti - Wood Beez