1983: the year it all went wrong?

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As I've pretty much been saying on and off since ILM started, but it's good that everyone else has caught up (xp).

Except that from June '82 onwards it was already going downhill.

also, I think you can make a case for technology making things sound dull in the mid eighties. As synthesizer technology improved, so the sounds they produced became less interesting as records became neater and cleaner in sound. It took other musical developments towards the end of the eighties: hip-hop entering the mainstream, the suidgy acid sound and sampling, for example, to make things sound interesting again.

Although I'm in sympathy with the idea of a creative slump from 83 to 86 or so, that article doesn't argue the case too well. OMD as the mavericks, possibly (although how maverick is Souvenir?), but ABC?

I liked 1983.

1984 it was all going Sade, then things perked up w/ Frankie, and then the JMC came and saved us all...

i think the whole thing is total bollocks, really. it's based on a sample group of about 10-15 recording artists active in the early 80s. the more i read about the post-punk/new pop crowd the less interesting it becomes that they read about dada or knew who moholy-nagy was. feels like an alibi for liking pop.

Quitney's P&J '83 singles poll:

1. Rat Rapping (Brilliant Isn't It) - Roland Rat Superstar
2. What Are We Gonna Get 'Er Indoors - George Cole & Dennis Waterman
3. Shiny Shiny - Hayzi Fantayzee
4. Dr Heckyll And Mr Jive - Men At Work
5. Can't Stop Running - Space Monkey
6. Big Log - Robert Plant
7. Superman (Gioca Jouer) - Black Lace
8. What Is Love Anyway Anybody Anyway - Howard Jones
9. Words - FR David
10. Lagartija Nick - Bauhaus

Some Good things From 1983
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c558/c55814cif68.jpg http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c495/c49530a5ngu.jpg http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f574/f57431vp28f.jpg

hmmm...there was more there originally, including Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order.

Ah Alex, and you were doing so well...

25 years ago today = new order - blue monday

The ol' 3 pics limit per post.

Dr Heckyl was Pigbag, wasn't it?

That was the title of Pigbag's album but Men At Work appropriated it for one of their many #33 hit singles of 1983. They might have used the "Heckyl" spelling though.

good things from 1983:

vvvvvvvvvvvv

top albums of 1983 on rateyourmusic.com
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/1983

We mustn't forget one of Peter Powell's big tips for stardom in 1983, Seona Dancing.

haha, Ricky Gervais was in that band.

1983 was the year of Let's Dance. While not an egregiously bad album, it kind of symbolises the idea of a blanding out in 83.

whereas every record released in 1982 was mind-shattering genius, of course.

That Circle Jerks album is pretty shit, really.

top albums of 1983 on rateyourmusic.com
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/1983

aztec camera - high land, hard rain
the dickies - stukas over disneyland
afrika bambaataa & soul sonic force - PLANET ROCK

Planet Rock was 1982, no?

It didn't just STOP then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SabbathBorn.jpg

we've discussed this before elsewhere, but it should be pointed out that there's a big diff between the u.s. and the u.k. in 1983

in america, for instance, you had:

"she works hard for the money" - donna summer
"sweet dreams (are made of this)" - eurythmics
"twilight zone" - golden earring
"billie jean" - michael jackson
"lucky star" - madonna
"maneater" - hall & oates
"maniac" - michael sembello
"total eclipse of the heart" - bonnie tyler
"come on eileen" - dexy's midnight runners
"electric avenue" - eddie grant
"der kommissar" - after the fire
"back on the chain gang" - pretenders
"puttin on the ritz" - taco
"1999" - prince
"(keep feeling) fascination" - human league
"stray cat strut" - stray cats
"stand back" - stevie nicks
"rock the casbah" - the clash
"is there something i should know" - duran duran
"pass the dutchie" - musical youth
"photograph" - def leppard

i mean.. best year for pop music ever?? i'm biased though - 1983 was the year i started listening to casey kasem's top 40 religiously..

Was that before or after his Fucking Dead Dog outburst?

Tracer Hand OTM: 1983 in the US was fantastic, as we've talked about many times on here. It's funny for me, because that was the year I was old enough to be aware of pop music, so my whole sensibility is shaped by 1983 and 1984. I call nonsense on those who say it's the music you love at age 20 that shapes you; age 10 more like.

I'm confused, almost half of those songs are by British acts!

And half of them were hits in Britain in 1982.

About a quarter, more like. Unless yr counting US acts that hit in the UK first (Stray Cats, Pretenders) or even Falco....

For the actual story:

The UK Top 50 of 1983 Poll

eurythmics
bonnie tyler
dexy's midnight runners
eddie grant
human league
the clash
duran duran
musical youth
def leppard

9 out of 22 seems like almost half to me. YMMV.

the real question is, why did british audiences prefer those pisspoor acts instead of the dynamic and eclectic songs found in the united states?

No problems with Bonnie, Dexy's, Eddy Grant, the League, Musical Youth or Def Leppard.

Casbah has been battered to death by Virgin Radio.

Eurythmics and Duran are suckers of Satan's cock.

getting all aspie up in this bitch

Short answer to Tracer's query: Radio 1 policy at the time exemplified by Andy Peebles who often wondered how hard the unemployed really tried to find work and Derek Chinnery who said only dolescum and criminals listened to John Peel.

Plenty of good, interesting stuff around in 1983, but a definite feeling that the lunatics who'd taken over the asylum were being reined in and it was getting back to business as usual for the record companies.

Back to having to dig a little deeper to find it, instead of it being showcased on totp every week.

I'm with Tracer here -- down to the Kasey part, though I first heard his show the year before. Obv. it's also to do with youthful memories etc. but 1983 (and 1984!) were both stellar years. In contrast 1986 into 1987 for the most part felt *really* flat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:75954310fca08c89d17a7010.L.jpg

Is that a case for the defence or the prosecution?

NME's very curious Top 50 singles list of 1983:

1. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
2. Bring It On - James Brown
3. Pills & Soap - The Imposter
4. The Bad Seed (EP) - The Birthday Party
5. Blue Monday - New Order
6. Lean On Me - The Redskins
7. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
8. Church Of The Poison Mind - Culture Club
9. This Charming Man - The Smiths
10. Gimme All Your Lovin' - Zz Top
11. 1999 - Prince
12. Everyday I Write The Book - Elvis Costello & the Attractions
13. Looking For The Perfect Beat - Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force
14. The Cutter - Echo And The Bunnymen
15. Juicy Fruit - M'tume
16. Hand In Glove - The Smiths
17. I Love You - Yello
18. Who's That Girl - Eurythmics
19. Soweto - Malcolm Mclaren
20. A Paris (EP) - The Style Council
21. Let's Dance - David Bowie
22. Right By Your Side - Eurythmics
23. Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) - Paul Young
24. Men Like Monkeys - Three Johns
25. I'm Still Standing - Elton John
26. Synchro System - King Sunny Ade & his African Beats
27. Every Breath You Take - The Police
28. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - Michael Jackson
29. Bad Day - Carmel
30. Oblivious - Aztec Camera
31. Go Deh Yaka (Go To The Top) - Monyaka
32. Cold Steel Gang - High Five
33. Tour De France - Kraftwerk
34. One More Shot - C-Bank
35. It's Raining Men - Weather Girls
36. Mutiny EP - Birthday Party
37. Between The Sheets - Lsley Brothers
38. Little Red Corvette - Prince
39. Money-Go-Round - Style Council
40. You Brought The Sunshine Into My Life - Clark Sisters
41. Lost Again - Yello
42. Dark Is The Night - Shakatak
43. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
44. Hot Hot Hot - Arrow
45. Never Stop - Echo And The Bunnymen
46. Alice - Sisters Of Mercy
47. New Year's Day - U2
48. Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
49. Racist Friend - Special AKA
50. This Is Not A Love Song - PiL

Bubbling Under
Cutty Sark - John Barry Seven
Walkin' The Line - Brass Construction
Revolution - Dennis Brown
The Crown - Gary Byrd & the GB Experience
Time (Clock Of The Heart) - Culture Club (1982!)
Kicker Conspiracy/Wings - The Fall
Man O' Sand To Child O' Sea - Go-Betweens
White Lines - Grandmaster & Melle Mel
Rockit - Herbie Hancock
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Just Got Lucky - JoBoxers
Let's Stay Together - Bobby M & Jean Carn
Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop) - Man Parrish
Calling Your Name - Marilyn
Buffalo Soldier - Bob Marley And The Wailers
Rip It Up - Orange Juice
Lions In My Garden (Exit Someone) - Prefab Sprout
Revolution Times - Red London
War Baby - Tom Robinson
Soul Inside - Soft Cell

"Is that a case for the defence or the prosecution?"

Defense. '83 kicked ass

Never heard these three records, guess they're soul/hip-hop?

32. Cold Steel Gang - High Five
34. One More Shot - C-Bank
40. You Brought The Sunshine Into My Life - Clark Sisters

What a daft thread title. Summer and fall '83 were GREAT radio periods in the US.

High Five were a Liverpool indie group, a bit like the early Farm.

"One More Shot" would have been in my personal EOY '83 top ten; fantastic record, produced by John Robie, vocals by Jenny Burton, like a hardcore variant on Robie's more popist "IOU" by Freeez.

"You Brought The Sunshine Into My Life" - gospel-ish American nu-soul, very fine single.

Here's the Peel Festive 50 for 1983:

New Order - Blue Monday
Smiths - This Charming Man
New Order - Age Of Consent
This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
Cocteau Twins - Musette and Drums
Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain (Peel Session version)
Billy Bragg - A New England
The Fall - Eat Y'self Fitter
Smiths - Hand In Glove
Naturalites and Realistics - Picture On The Wall
Red Guitars - Good Technology
P.I.L - This Is Not A Love Song
X-Mal Deutchland - Incubus Succubus
Cocteau Twins - Sugar Hiccup
Cure - Lovecats
Cocteau Twins - From the Flagstones
Echo and the Bunnymen - Never Stop
New Order - Your Silent Face
Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love
Siouxie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence
The Fall - The Man Whose Head Expanded
Echo and the Bunnymen - The Cutter
The Assembly - Never Never
The Imposter - Pills and Soap
New Order - Leave Me Alone
10000 Maniacs - My Mother The War
Sisters of Mercy - Alice
Cocteau Twins - Peppermint Pig
Aztec Camera - Oblivious
Redskins - Lean on Me
Chameleons - Second Skin
X-Mal Deutchland - Qual
Smiths - Handsome Devil (Peel Session version)
Tools You Can Trust - Working and Shopping
The Fall - Kicker Conspiracy
Luddites - Doppleganger
Sophie and Peter Johnston - Television
Cocteau Twins - Hithertoo
SPK - Metal Dance
The Fall - Wings
U2 - New Year's Day
Danse Society - Somewhere
Birthday Party - Deep in the Woods
Caberet Voltaire - Fascination
New Order - The Village
Birthday Party - Sonny's Burning
Strawberry Switchblade - Trees and Flowers
Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding
Cure - The Walk
Tom Robinson - War Baby

'83 was very different in America.

I guess the argument - which I partially subscribe to - was that in the UK in the early eighties it was possible to be a little bit experimental and yet still ride to the top of the charts. But by '83 or thereabouts it was a bit more difficult.

I think the article was covering a narrow segment of UK music - basically smash hits / daytime radio one. And it was spot on.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, in 1983, most weeks I had to listen to a Saturday afternoon radio one show by Adrian Juste. I did feel that pop charts had become safe. Obviously having to listen to Adrian Juste would make anyone bitter about music (and, their own existence)..

But the article is right, the "mainstream" was mainly terrible. And there were fewer mavericks stirring things up. You weren't going to hear 9/10ths of what has been listed in this thread as good (even the popular ones). Billy Mackenzie wasn't going to be on top of the pops either.

In general, yes, 1983 was the beginning of the downslide. The suits had taken over the asylum by then.

But the strange this is when you look at the Peel Festive 50 from that year, you almost shut up, don't you?

I listened to Radio Lux for most of 1983 and I loved the mainstream UK pop. I still see it as one of the best years ever for mainstream hitlist pop.

The UK Top 50 of 1983 Poll

Curiously, I spent most of 1983 listening to Radio Luxembourg too, and discovered a lot of great music through it which never got played on Radio One. What was that dreadful "What a wally!" record sung by that shrill girl? I can still hear it in my head to this day.

1983 was the year I stopped sitting around listening to the radio and actively bought records, inspired by hearing "Genetic Engineering" and "Doot-doot" played on the Futurist chart (Thursday nights, IIRC). But whilst the start of the year was good, by the autumn it was definitely in decline, and the likes of Howard Jones and Nik Kershaw coming into the scene was a final nail in the coffin, and around that time I discovered the Peel show and never looked back. But 1983 was a turnaround year musically for me and will always hold a place in my heart, for that spring was truly wonderful.

this is the year that I was born

also the year Bob Stanley was born I'd wager. either that or he's the most gullible journalist currently working. that Guardian article is a perfect storm of revisionist history.

bob stanley was 19 in 1983 -- about the age you grow out of blind fandom, maybe.

I can remember a time, shortly after Wham hit big in the UK, when chart pop seemed to lose it's weirdness and sense of otherness for a while, everyone seemed to be scared to appear uncool, I think? And things seemed less fun and less inventive and less thrilling in some way. Obviously it didn't stay like that but it seemed to be like that for a while.

I can't remembert if this was in '83 or not, but it was some time around then. I still hate Wham because of this (and because of george michael's horrible smarmy voice as well)

By definition anything on this list that was really good/odd wasn't played nearly as much as the obv. big hits:

http://www.spiritofradio.ca/Charts.asp#1983

OK it's not totally awful, but there were so many better hardcore/punk albums released that year than that record!

Completely true, but again -- it only let me put up three covers.

But whilst the start of the year was good, by the autumn it was definitely in decline, and the likes of Howard Jones and Nik Kershaw coming into the scene was a final nail in the coffin

Your loss. Both were brilliant!
(Kershaw didn't have any sizeable hits until 1984 though)

The most important point made in the article is the public school comment by Kevin Rowland. That was precisely when and where everything that is wrong with both British pop and British politics today began.

It's arguable that 1983 is when the sort of people who'd previously have ignored pop altogether began listening to it in the UK (and, yes, I am thinking of a certain current political leader who'd have done O-levels that year at Eton): Jones/Kershaw/T Twins invented a sort of "light pop" to appeal to people who in a different political universe would still have listened to light classical. Then Hucknall turned it into a perverse kind of minor artform that could be vaguely admired, dispassionately.

Was about time then. The entire idea of music as rebellion against older generations was pathetic from the very beginning.

Ulmer didn't actually go anywhere near the charts, did he? (Hope I'm wrong!)

I can remember a time, shortly after Wham hit big in the UK, when chart pop seemed to lose it's weirdness and sense of otherness for a while, everyone seemed to be scared to appear uncool, I think? And things seemed less fun and less inventive and less thrilling in some way.

I would say you are thinking of 1986-87, when everyone started having mullets. And not inventive mullets with personality, like Mike Score, Limahl and even Howard Jones had. No, just the same boring standard mullet, looking alike on everyone.

1986 was about the year I stopped loving chart music. (I was 13)

The most important point made in the article is the public school comment by Kevin Rowland. That was precisely when and where everything that is wrong with both British pop and British politics today began.

It's arguable that 1983 is when the sort of people who'd previously have ignored pop altogether began listening to it in the UK (and, yes, I am thinking of a certain current political leader who'd have done O-levels that year at Eton): Jones/Kershaw/T Twins invented a sort of "light pop" to appeal to people who in a different political universe would still have listened to light classical. Then Hucknall turned it into a perverse kind of minor artform that could be vaguely admired, dispassionately.

-- February Callendar, Saturday, March 8, 2008 10:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

is what rowland said verifiable, though? was there really a social sea-change in the music business in the early 80s? i wouldn't have thought so.

any thoughts on the 'jam generation', RC?

There was a sea-change in politics and business in the 90s. When the generations who grew up listening to rock would actually start getting the top jobs. And that is why you suddenly had pop/rock fans among the people in power. Not because anything actually happened to the music.

10.00pm Now That's What I Call 1983

Denise Van Outen presents a nostalgic trip through the musical highlights of 1983. Heaven 17, Howard Jones, Nick Heywood, Paul Young, Ali Campbell, Kajagoogoo, Nik Kershaw and Tony Hadley perform their greatest hits in the studio, and there is a glance at the year's big events, including the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, the arrival of the compact disc and the advent of morning television.

Wow, quite some cultural diversity on that line-up!

Tony Denton must be rubbing his hands in glee.

I would start a different thread out of this question, but I'm too lazy.. which years (or time periods) were the most different between America and the UK? I'm guessing 1983 was one of those years.

David Van Day would be on this, but a) Dollar didn't release any records in 1983, and b) he's too busy being a wanker in Ant & Dec's jungle.

I've no recall of starting this thread, which is a bit disturbing since it was only earlier this year. Still, I think the argument kind of works, if you stick solely to UK chart music. In 80-82, postpunk had loosened things up a little, some unlikely things might make the charts, but by 1983 that was less likely. Can't be arsed to look through old charts to see if my hunch is correct though.

good songs from the top 40 25 years ago:

MaccaJacko - Say Say Say
The Cure - The Love Cats
Jacko - Thriller
Adam Ant - Puss N' Boots
Tina Turner - Let's Stay Together
Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance
Rocksteady Crew - Hey You
Yes - Owner Of A Lovely Heart
The Smiths - This Charming Man
Rogers & Partonstein - Islands In The Stream
Tracey Ullman - They Don't Know

but that's just out of the 25 i knew plus being harsh on 'That's All', 'Waterfront', 'Union Of The Snake' and one or two others (not including the re-release of 'Oblivious')

Back in 1983 Channel 4 had a show called Unforgettable in which old pre-Beatles Britpop stars came back for a lap of honour (I won't say bus pass lap of honour since most of them would only have been in their forties then), mostly singing their hits from 25 years earlier.

So nothing changes really; I'm assuming this is a tie-in with 25 Years of the Now! series and watching it is going to be for rubberneckers only.

Other things I like from the Top 40 of 19/11/83:

Cry Just A Little Bit - one of Shaky's best; his Rock 'n' Roll Part 2.
Never Never - Vince Clarke and Feargal Sharkey, both near their peak.
Calling Your Name - brilliant New Pop/Northern Soul forgery; fantastic Langer & Winstanley production. Even if Marilyn didn't necessarily sing it.
Undercover Of The Night - ludicrous in a lot of ways but about the last time the Stones showed any signs of real life.

A lot of these "good" songs are people past their peak though: Stones, Adam Ant, The Cure, Tina Turner, Macca. Only the Smiths are really brand new here. I guess Jacko is arguably at his peak, although personally I much prefer the Off The Wall period.

If you look up the chart in question the 41-100 section is much more interesting.

It seems a bit harsh to say the Cure were past their peak in 1983!

I must admit I liked them better when they were miserable bastards and did go off them a bit after Pornography (and their current album is the first one I've really liked since Pornography).

Owner Of A Lovely Heart

lol my brane

Maybe the Cure weren't past their prime in 1983, but they became a different band with The Love Cats. For the postpunk generation, I guess 1983 was the transitional period from rock miserabilism to pop hedonism. Best exemplified by New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies.

Because nothing's more pop hedonist than an album with that name!

And a final song called "Leave Me Alone!"

"You've caught me at a bad time...
...so why don't you piss off."

"Transitional" is what I said! It's got some of the miserabilism of "Movement" and some of the hedonism of later New Order. "Our love is like the flowers" is not a line Ian Curtis was ever going to come up with! Age Of Consent is upbeat! etc.

yeah, upbeat with that extended fadeout of "I've lost you"...

x-post -- Fair enough, but for a sec I'm all, "Wait, WHAT?"

Because nothing's more pop hedonist than an album with that name!

'Hedon the Door'?

Blueski's list of good songs is impressive!

I really like 'owner of a lonely heart'.

thread is total bullshit. I mean, yeah interesting things weren't on the radio and a small group of bands in the UK started putting out crap, but so what? albums I still listen to from '83, some of 'em all-time favorites:

butthole surfers - a brown reason to live
sonic youth - confusion is sex
the fall - perverted by language
the fall - in a hole
glenn branca - symphony no 1
birthday party - mutiny / the bad seed
swans - filth
rem - murmur
einsturzende neubauten - drawing of patient o.t.
rudimentary peni - death church
the cramps - smell of female
misfits - earth ad
suicidal tendencies - s/t
minutemen - what makes a man start fires?
husker du - everything falls apart
creatures - feast
big black - bulldozer
the comes - no side

also stuff by jandek, the ex, daniel johnston, harmonic choir, etc etc

and this happened
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s365578.jpg

You're missing the point. The point was that there were some quirky things getting into the UK charts in the early eighties, but then by 1983 or thereabouts that didn't happen so much. Which may or may not be true, but there is no parallel universe in which Jandek or Daniel Johnston were storming the charts in 1983.

In other words, none of the above was happening VISIBLY, whereas a year earlier they might have done.

In the US, I think the decline started a bit later - around 1985.

(I mean the decline in Top 40 radio - not talking about small, independent releases.)

A song like Ashes To Ashes is a good example I think. A number one in 1980. Could a song like that - with its Kafka-quoting lyrics, its ghostly, treated piano sound - have got to number one a few years later? Bowie obviously didn't think so when he released Let's Dance.

there is no parallel universe in which Jandek or Daniel Johnston were storming the charts in 1983

it's right here inside my head. also in this universe stan brakhage's the garden of earthly delights outgrosses return of the jedi.

When I look at the overall number of great releases, it was a slump for sure. But I certainly didn't think it at the time. As a tweener kid, I was was just discovering how much there was beyond Queen and Rush, but was enjoying a wide spectrum, from Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Accept, Dio, The Fixx and Cheap Trick on one end to R.E.M., Tom Waits, Bad Brains, U2, Violent Femmes, Social Distortion, Minutemen, Husker Du, X, The Fall, The Wipers, Big Black, Talking Heads, Kid Creole, Lou Reed, Suburbs, Pretenders, Shriekback, Big Country, Minor Threat, Birthday Party, James Blood Ulmer, King Sunny Ade, etc. on the other.

Boring Pazz & Jop results imo.