1983: the year it all went wrong?

otm.

yeah, to go along with all the other incredible american songs we had

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.

-- Zelda Zonk, Friday, March 7, 2008 3:52 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

even if this is true -- i don't think it is -- how long did this supposed drought last? and how long had been the good times before it? the whole thing is nonsense.

I remember the b-side, "Writing's on the wall" or "Nights in white satin as rewroter by Bruce Foxton"

It probably was different in America since, with the aid of MTV, they essentially got our 1982 a year late.

Yes, agreed. Weirdly for a Brit, 1983 was also the year that *I* started regularly listening to Casey Kasem - courtesy of AFN radio in Berlin, whose weekly R&B chart countdown show was just awesome: Mtume, SOS Band etc. And it was also the peak of that whole open-minded electro/funk/soul/new wave/hi-energy melting pot culture, that I loved so much. My single of the year was C-Bank's "One More Shot", which I bought on white label before they'd even finished playing it in the shop - a rare case of a record grabbing me by the balls from the first listen and never, ever letting go.

American R&B was shit-hot in '82 and part of '83.

too many great pop singles from this year (not inc the ones originally released in '82 but inc. the ones that were more successful in '84 etc.) to take the thread question at all seriously

On the bright side, Bruce Foxton did ascend to #23 with his first solo outing, the heartrending "Freak."

Nothing about this sentence makes any sense.

The 1983 Disconet Top Tune Medley
17:30 104 BPM to 172 BPM

Mix by Mike Arato & John Matarazzo
Produced by Raul A. Rodriguez

Men Without Hats — The Safety Dance
The S.O.S. Band — Just Be Good To Me
Yaz — State Farm
Herbie Hancock — Rockit
Madonna — Holiday
Michael Jackson — Billie Jean
Freeez — I.O.U.
Shannon — Let The Music Play
Lime — Angel Eyes
Irene Cara — Flashdance… What A Feeling
Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Thomas Dolby — She Blinded Me With Science
Thompson Twins — Lies
Donna Summer — She Works Hard For The Money
Michael Jackson — Beat It
Michael Sembello — Maniac
Pointer Sisters — I'm so Excited
Michael Jackson — Thriller

even if this is true -- i don't think it is -- how long did this supposed drought last? and how long had been the good times before it? the whole thing is nonsense.

Well I'm not sure if it's true - having lived through the period it feels true to me. It feels to me that 83, 84, 85 were semi-drought years, and then things started to be interesting again: hip-hop, house, etc.

It feels to me that in those early eighties, some slightly off the wall things could get in the top 20. A Joy Division or a Japan could not just get records released, but could also get top 20 hits.

yeah that one top twenty joy division single totally made all the difference. blergh -- this is entirely academic, rly. "the kind of music i like was marginally more popular for a two-year period a quarter of a century ago, therefore it was a golden age and the subsequent two-year period was terrible!" lol criticism.

Maybe you're right.

there was hip-hop in 83/84/85. i believe some of it may even have been interesting.

the dickies - stukas over disneyland

OTM OTM OTM !!!!

there was hip-hop in 83/84/85. i believe some of it may even have been interesting.

-- blueski, Friday, March 7, 2008 4:36 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

yeah. not much of it in the UK or US charts tho.

"i'm so excited"!
"holiday"!
"let the music play"!
"rockit"!

christ almighty! i suppose someone will come along and say these were actually WRITTEN in 1982 and so don't count?

they were handed down to Moses in triplicate

Jesus was singing "I'm so excited" when he came down from the mountain with the commandments!

I thought that the drought period for hip-hop was Autumn 84 to Autumn 85: post-electro, pre-Def Jam.

xpost OR WHOEVER IT WAS! ach.

1983 had 'into battle with the art of noise'

RUN DMC

It seems I'm trying to only post pedantries on this thread.

Tell you what I didn't get in 1983, right: The Smiths. Dour, retrograde, boringly conservative, Red Guitars meets Orange Juice. Just couldn't see what the fuss was about. It actually took the Francois Kevorkian remix of "This Charming Man" to show me I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Well, that's two singles in, so it's not exactly after the bus had left.

Nothing wrong with establishing the truth, as opposed to the terrible wrongs involved in establishing soulful, passionate and honest 1983 band the Truth who certainly gave pop a blandness washout with their stirring "Confusion (Hits Us Every Time)" followed by the uplifting, honest, passionate and soulful "A Step In The Right Direction."

Dennis Greaves was the New Messiah and it's all our fault that we didn't adhere to his cocktail-crushing teachings.

am i the only one who likes gary byrd's 'the crown'? it's ridic pompous/self-righteous and often cheesy and stilted lyrically but still glorious - esp. the chorus and when stevie chimes in. i'd put it up there with 'stand on the word' in a way.

xpost no very true exactly. Been sold the second comin' so much I got a headache.

Hmm, that could make a good opening line. Apart from the headache bit. ANYWAY!!!

Yeah, the Truth. Nice t-shirt with the 12" but then mass exodus!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZ0su_Jzj4
but you want a version over 7 mins (think the 12" clocks in at just over 10)

Perhaps I ought to start a 1983 singles freebie poll - the "Baby Jane" beach ball slugs it out with the Annabel Lamb video.

xpost to Mark G re The Smiths: But in 1983, two singles was a whole lifetime! No, Orange Juice felt like my fellow travellers: from pasty-faced lovesick fey boys not getting any sex in 1980-81, to shiny new pop party boys with nice new haircuts getting plenty of sex in 1982-3. So the last thing I wanted to do was put my cardigan back on and retreat back to the bedsit...

Yeah, right there with you on that one.

I think I decided when I heard a feature on Radio 1, they were testing guitars out in some instrument expo, and they handed Johnny Marr a sitar/guitar, and he played the riff from "Charming Man" totally unselfconsciouly, because he wanted to know what it would sound like on *this*.

At this point I decided, whatever, JMarr was the cool dude.

xpost to d: Baby Jane was the Adidas t-shirt, but there are some things you don't do even for a decent quality t-shirt and putting Rod at no 1 was one of them. "Don't blame me I didn't buy it" badges to the fore!

Reposting this to Popular in how many years time...

was thrilled to find the vocal version of Shirley Lites 'Heat You Up (Melt You Down)' on itunes plus the other week. not a hit obv but superb italo.

The 1983 Disconet Top Tune Medley (1983) Part 1
The 1983 Disconet Top Tune Medley (1983) Part 2

1983 was an ace year. Stuff didn't really go wrong until 1986-87, as a result of a combination of digital synths, rap, house, hair metal and Stock/Aitken/Waterman. Pop music has never fully recovered since and become as good again as it was before the mid 80s.

If there's music outside of house, rap, hair metal, and SAW, I don't want to know about it.

I don't understand why the article uses ABC's 'Beauty Stab' as an example. It wasn't "challenging"...it was bland and unmemorable. And I really tried to like it because it has Alan Spenner (of late-era Roxy Music--see "Manifesto" and "Stronger through the Years"!) on bass.

Quoting Roddy Frame in a 1983 interview is kind of interesting as his next album might well have been used as an example in the article.

CDRGO! 700MB 1983 : Eve-Eve-Everybody Get On Board Board B-B-B-Board

I fucking LOVED 1983!

But it kinda sucked in the UK.

MM is right -- 1983 was good. Other records people are forgetting: Trio, Was (Not Was), James Blood Ulmer.

B-52's, Waitresses.

I fucking LOVED 1983!

But it kinda sucked in the UK.

-- Mackro Mackro, Friday, March 7, 2008 9:55 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

aye, thatcher winning a second term sucked ass.

luckily someone invented transatlantic transport prior to that date, though, so we got to enjoy a fair amount of american records.

That Circle Jerks album is pretty shit, really.

You = dead to me. Sure, it's no Group Sex, but "Coup D'etat", "When The Shit Hits The Fan" and "Under The Gun" and "Jerks On 45" are all fucking fantastic.

Thatcher and the Falkland war obviously sucked, but UK music was fantastic in the UK in 1983. Acts such as Howard Jones, Paul Young and Thompson Twins are very underrated.

1985 Was When It All Started To Turn To Shit

You = dead to me. Sure, it's no Group Sex, but "Coup D'etat", "When The Shit Hits The Fan" and "Under The Gun" and "Jerks On 45" are all fucking fantastic.

this is the year that I was born

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/890/41pggvyc68laa240sv4.jpg

dearest Mackro,

can you please make or send me that cdr go?

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.