Big Country, In The Big Country Written by Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, and Bruce Watson Produced by Steve Lillywhite Label: Mercury Peaked at #3 - October 22, 1983 ^7 weeks in top 10 #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 Album: The Crossing (1983)
In a Big Country - Big Country Absolutely loved it when it came out and still adore it today. In my Top 20 songs of all time. Great energy and fun. 5/5
"Heart and Soul" started a run of Huey Lewis top 10 pop singles. Good-time, tuneful songs. My friend always thought Lewis looked like a sports coach, probably based on Lewis' later role in Back to the Future. "In a Big Country" is a superb track which evokes its title ("big country") in such an exciting way you want to go to it and become a warrior defending it on a battlefield!
Lots of goodies mentioned here. I will just comment on a few recent ones that were posted. Mama - Genesis I still really like this one quite a bit even if it is angry in tone. I heard it a lot on AOR station. In the Mood - Robert Plant Favorite. I thought this song would do better on the charts than Big Log. Still solid after all this time. In a Big Country - Big Country This one holds up well for me anyway. I wish Big Country made more of a splash in the states.
John Cougar Mellencamp, Crumblin' Down Written by John Cougar Mellencamp and George Green Produced by John Cougar Mellencamp and Don Gehman Mastered by Bob Ludwig Label: Riva Week of top 10 entry: October 22, 1983 Peaked at #2 - December 3, 1983 ^8 weeks in top 10 #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Album: Uh-Huh (1983) This was the first single released by John that included his real last name, which was excluded on previous releases because Mellencamp was apparently too "foreign." The same thing happened with John Denver and presumably many others, but Van Halen is also a "foreign" name and that didn't keep them from having hits back then. I assume John Mellencamp noticed that too. So after the success of 1982's American Fool scored him some hits and a Grammy, John started using his real name. Also on the subject of John's name, when I went on Discogs to look for the mastering engineer, I found that John was credited as "Little Bastard." That got a chuckle out of me.
Quiet Riot, Cum On Feel The Noize Written by Jim Lea and Neville "Noddy" Holder Produced by Spencer Proffer Label: Pasha Peaked at #7 - November 5, 1983 ^2 weeks in top 10 #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 #68 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: Metal Health (1983) This cover of Cum On Feel The Noize by Slade has a kind of hilarious backstory. Covering the song was producer Spencer Proffer's idea, but the members of Quiet Riot were not in favor. Lead singer Kevin Dubrow outright hated the original song. However, they apparently didn't have a choice, so DuBrow and drummer Frankie Banali tried their best to ruin the recording. The band didn't rehearse at all, Banali made things up on the drums as he went along, and DuBrow sang off-key. If you asked production engineer Duane Baron, who was in on the whole thing, he'd probably say he hit the record button "ironically." But the song became a hit anyway. DuBrow later admitted covering the song was a good move for the band.
Crumblin' Down - This single did nothing to put me in the Mellencamp camp. His next single, "Pink Houses", is much better. Cum On Feel the Noize - Hoo boy, this was inescapable during the autumn of '83. Dumb, but catchy. Probably paved the way for Slade themselves having two American top 40 hits in 1984.
If Anyone Falls-Stevie carries this with her vocals. In A Big Country-For some reason I thought this came out later in the 80s, but I was wrong. Not a huge fan, but an iconic song nonetheless. Crumblin Down-Good hard rocking number. John was still using the John Cougar name here, just adding Mellencamp at the end of it. Cum On Fell the Noize-I've heard the whole "we played it badly on purpose" story, but the song still has too much gloss to have been deliberately played bad. Still memorable and a big part of metal's 1980s rise.
Peter Schilling, Major Tom (Coming Home) Written by Peter Schilling and David Lodge Produced by Peter Schilling and Armin Sabol Label: WEA (Germany)/Elektra (US) Peaked at #8 - November 5, 1983 ^1 week in top 10 #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 #96 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: Error in the System (1983) To quote Wikipedia, the title character in this song is "unofficially related" to David Bowie's 1969 song Space Oddity. I assume the relation is "unofficial" for legal reasons. It's not like Peter Schilling could have feigned ignorance. I can picture it now. "No, no," he would tell Bowie's lawyers, "it's a total coincidence that we both have songs about an astronaut named Major Tom who loses contact with ground control and drifting off into space. I've never even heard of David Bowie. What's that? Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was a huge commercial success in my native Germany? It must have slipped past me." Setting Bowie aside, Peter Schilling's song is still very good. Peter is a member of a surprisingly well-populated group of German speakers who had hits in the US back in the 1980s, along with Nena, Falco, and Scorpions. Error in the System was Peter's first album in English, and was more or less a full English translation of his 1982 album Fehler im System, including the original version of Major Tom. The English version of the album still ends with a German-language rendition of Silent Night, Holy Night, but with or without the language barrier, Major Tom (Coming Home) was too much of an earworm to not be a hit.
John Cougar Mellencamp, Pink Houses Written by John Cougar Mellencamp Produced by John Cougar Mellencamp and Don Gehman Mastered by Bob Ludwig Label: Riva Week of top 10 entry: November 12, 1983 Peaked at #3 - January 7, 1984 ^14 weeks in top 10 #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 #86 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: Uh-Huh (1983)
Yes, Owner Of A Lonely Heart Written by Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Trevor Horn Produced by Trevor Horn Mastered by Bob Ludwig Label: Atco Debuted at #6 - November 12, 1983 Peaked at #1 - November 26, 1983 ^4 weeks at #1 ^12 weeks in top 10 #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 #8 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: 90125 (1983)
Wow, every song on this page #21 of this thread is just an incredible example of '83's brilliance. I totally love this stuff. I play all of them to this day.
I know this video got played a ton, but I don't remember ever seeing the full video, but we didn't have MTV until '86 so any of my video viewing came from hanging out at friends houses or the syndicated video programs. I assume most cut the beginning and the full video rarely got broadcast?
Major Tom - A good, imaginative, melodic song. "Unofficial" or not, this is now widely considered part of the "Major Tom" trilogy along with "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes." Pink Houses - Having been a confirmed Cougar enemy up to this point, I surprised myself by liking this track. Owner of the Lonely Heart - I was highly predisposed to not like this single as I had never liked Yes even during my AOR days in 1982. It didn't help that early in '83 a bunch of us from drama class found ourselves waking up in a house one school morning the night after an after-play party, needing to get to classes, and for some bizarre reason the only one of us half-dozen or so who had a car to drive us there was this guy who was a big Yes fan. He was sitting around, dazed from a hangover, and refused to even give us his car keys. Eventually we all got to school, all unwashed and late, but I'll never forget the group of us standing around helpless as this Yes fan refused to cooperate! Nor did it help that the sound of the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" track itself bugged me. And it went to #1 on the pop Top 40. This is what the singles of the coming 1984 would be like? Happily, now I actually like it.
The Rolling Stones, Undercover Of The Night Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Produced by Chris Kimsey and The Glimmer Twins (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards) Mastered by Nick Webb Label: Rolling Stones Debuted at #7 - November 12, 1983 Peaked at #2 - November 26, 1983 ^9 weeks in top 10 #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 #93 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: Undercover (1983) This was a Year-End Hot 100 hit? I'd never heard it before and no one talks about it. I'm aware that the band's output in the Eighties isn't exactly their most celebrated, so it makes sense that people would want to forget about it. Especially not Mick Jagger and Keith Richards themselves, knowing they were not getting along throughout most of the decade. But still, I would expect to have at least heard of this song in a discussion about the worst Rolling Stones tracks or the most dated hits from the Eighties or something. And I say that despite ultimately not really minding the song.
Undercover of the Night - The Rolling Stones Here's an unpopular opinion for you: This is my favorite Rolling Stones song. Over the years I've had to explain this by giving it a very high "nostalgia factor" score as the '82-'85 period is my favorite period of music and I feel like I loved everything, justifiably or not. I just love the driving beat and energy of it. With all of the great songs this band has, I know it's blasphemous to suggest such a thing but......mea culpa. 5/5
Genesis, Just A Job To Do Written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford Produced by Hugh Padgham and Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford) Mastered by Geoff Pesche Label: Charisma/Virgin (UK)/Atlantic (US) Peaked at #10 - November 12, 1983 ^2 weeks in top 10 Album: Genesis (1983)
Yeah, I dig it too, but I can understand the "hate" it gets as it's not your typical Stones song but that's a good thing! It was one of the highlights when I saws the Steel Wheels tour in '89.
The Romantics, Talking In Your Sleep Written by Coz Canler, Jimmy Marinos, Willy Palmar, Mike Skill, and Peter Solley Produced by Peter Solley Mastered by Mike Fuller Label: Nemperor Week of top 10 entry: November 19, 1983 Peaked at #2 - December 24, 1983 ^7 weeks in top 10 #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 #19 on the 1984 Year-End Hot 100 Album: In Heat (1983)
Unlike Mama, this one remained in the local FM rotation for several years, but personally not a fan of this one as much as Mama.
Nothing super pithy to say, but this song, along with 1999, Cum On Feel the Noize, Who Can It Be Now?, Let the Music Play, and Break My Stride are some of those I consider my earliest favorite songs -- as a 10 year old.
Undercover of the Night - I wasn't into the Stones as much in 1983 as I had been the previous year, but this is a good track with an interesting rhythm. Mick Jagger's later solo single, "Just Another Night" would also be in this vein. "Undercover of the Night" was also notorious for its violent and poltical music video. Talking In Your Sleep - The singles by the Romantics in this time period were always a welcome sound - catchy and well-produced. Although I'm quite certain that these singles won't make the Mainstream Rock chart, I concur with theholygoof's above mention of the Shannon and Matthew Wilder singles - two great tracks from the end of '83.
Major Tom-Interesting tune, has a more techno-feel than the dreamy Bowie song about the same character. Pink House-Good, upbeat Heartland Rock with a chorus that's impossible not to sing along to. Owner of a Lonely Heart-Love the intro to this song, but thats about it. Undercover of the Night-I think this song has been eclipsed more by the video. Just A Job to Do-Seems kind of disjointed, the chorus is ok, but even that isnt as good as it could be. Talking In Your Sleep-Now we're talking (no pun intended). Love this tune, much better than What I Like About You (and their other songs arent bad either)
