KROQ top 50 1982

81 was good but this is amazing

primary or never say never or stand and deliver

"Shock the Monkey" was the scariest video I'd seen to date (one of the only ones too).

Definitely in the early MTV creepy video hall of fame along with Golden Earring Twilight Zone and Owner Of a Lonely Heart

Voting Human League

voted for romeo void, but strongly considered "space age love song."

I have a feeling I'll be voting for Peter Gabriel a lot in these polls.

"Elephant Talk" #2 of course. "Frame by Frame" would win if it had been the 'hit'.

Lots of great songs here; in a way this list encapsulates what I first understood the words "rock music" to mean and I would happily listen to it top to bottom. But when I hear "Destination Unknown," that's when I really hear the past, a world that's gone, that was gone almost before I knew it existed. "Tainted Love" and "Back on the Chain Gang" and "Should I Stay..." are in some sense better songs but they STILL EXIST in a way that "Destination Unknown" doesn't. I don't know if that's an acceptable rationale for voting, but it's mine.

yeah it kinda befuddled me that w/ all the missing persons love kroq had that 'destination unknown' is the relatively lowest charting of their hits. the others i enjoy well enough, they're perfectly adequate new wave, but 'destination unknown' is something else, 'a world that's gone' is a nice way to phrase it, there's a specific mystery and sublimity there that i'm not sure even any of the other great new wave songs get in the neighborhood of, the song works like a misunderstanding of johnny rotten's 'no future', taking his certainty as a statement of uncertainty. it's not angry, it's not happy, it's not sad, it's not scared, it's just uncertain, with the refrain repeated at the end basically amounting to a declaration of 'huh' over and over (for once the kind of l.a. dumb at the heart of missing persons - what are words for derp derp - works in their favor) and the tiny element of nihilism coming off as a shrug - "i have nowhere to go/i don't know what to do/and i don't even know the time of day/i guess it doesn't matter anyway". ten years earlier and those lyrics are hippie smugness in a chicago song, by 82 the kids have figured out their parents may not have a clue but that's only cuz nobody does. i joked 'hey remember the 80s' up top cuz there's so many iconic and maybe overplayed 80s weekend tracks here (a flock of seagulls, soft cell, human league, toni basil, billy idol, wall of voodoo, etc) but i can remember the first time i heard 'destination unknown' again after not hearing it for forever clearly, maybe ten years ago i'm listening to wfmu in the middle of the night and then those bubbling synths chirped up and it was like looking at a photo of some childhood memory you had forgotten. it was like seeing a ghost.

Senses Working Overtime. The rest of my top 5 would be Don't You Want Me, Mexican Radio, Town Called Malice, and Elephant Talk

"i ran" vs "talk talk" vs "white wedding" vs "stand and deliver" vs "shock the monkey" vs all damn three missing persons tracks vs "space age love song" vs "back on the chain gang" and i can't even

Tough, because I greatly prefer A Flock of Seagulls 'Wishing' to 'I Ran'.
I guess it's another 'Tainted Love'.

yeah, wishing is great and might make this poll easier.

but probably not it's pretty impossible.

Tough choice, lots of great songs, but I think I would vote for "Back on the Chain Gang" over almost any song ever.

Stand and Deliver vs. Space Age Love Song vs. Senses Working Overtime

balls put it better than i did, cosign.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ha is any song cooler or more badass than never say never? i didn't vote for it though.

isn't it nice
luring disco dollies to a life of vice

really not a lot of "stand and deliver" love it seems. don't have any feeling for whether Adam Ant was as celebrated a figure elsewhere in the US as he was in SoCal/at my high school for about two years - MTV hadn't come to southern California - the networks successfully blocked cable for a long time iirc so everybody in the country had MTV and we had daily shows on local TV like MV3, and even that came pretty late, but it was a daily thing at one point and everybody I knew watched: Adam videos were your reward for sitting through the JoBoxers. Adam was huge with the theater crew, Prince Charming was considered the end of something by most people I know, it just didn't seem as good, title track aside - but anyhow during that two-year?? period from Dirk and "Car Trouble" through the S&D 12" & video, Adam was a major player among the people I hung out with, his records were scrutinized and quoted and talked-over, and "Stand and Deliver" was the final salvo from that era

Voted for Roxy, because not only is the song gorgeous, but Avalon is clearly an influence on so much of my subsequent musical history. But "Promised You A. Miracle" was a close second - I still attest it's the most unlikely Simple Minds single, and their best by furlongs.

Well I've narrowed this down to 16 choices...

1. the clash - rock the casbah
2. a flock of seagulls - i ran (so far away)
5. the human league - don't you want me
8. the go-go's - vacation
15. toni basil - mickey
17. adam & the ants - stand and deliver
23. xtc - senses working overtime
27. duran duran - hungry like the wolf
31. the clash - should i stay or should i go?
33. a flock of seagulls - space age love song
34. duran duran - girls on film
37. thomas dolby - europa and the pirate twins
38. soft cell - tainted love
40. missing persons - destination unknown
41. the cure - primary
43. the pretenders - back on the chain gang

This year was probably the height of my radio-listening and chart-obsessing and staying up late because NYC stations came in clearer at night, and these songs are so deep in the psyche of 11 year old me I can't even begin to choose. If it were Planet Earth instead of Girls On Film or One Of Our Submarines instead of Europa (though I love Europa so much I'm tempted to vote for it on principle, because no one else will) it'd be slightly easier, but... argh. Daddy or chips.

I voted for "Primary" because I think it's underrated

eh i already voted for europa on principle, so you're free there. i was thinking of hungry like the wolf is probly the song that had the biggest overall impact at the time given its mtv presence.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

KROQ top 50 1983

In the end, I didn't vote, but it's not like one solitary vote for Girls On Film or Hungry Like The Wolf would have made a difference. :-/