Top Records from the Year 1984 by Alexis Andrews - December 13, 2008 Memorable Records from 1984 I was born in 1984, and I have been wondering more seriously than warranted what the top songs were during that year. That prompted me to look up music resources, and try to find out what records, and by whom, had been released exactly twenty-four years ago, when I had just come out of my mother’s womb. While there were some popular 1984 songs that I didn’t recognize, there were more that I did. Here are some of them. When Doves Cry. This is the lead single from the hugely successful Prince album, Purple Rain. Prince composed it after he had completed all the other tracks for the aforementioned album, and thus followed the general spiritual theme of Christianity that was recurrent in Purple Rain. The song was the top-selling single of 1984 according to Billboard Magazine, and is ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #52 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Oh, how I wish I knew Prince before I ever did Michael Jackson. Pride (In the Name of Love). This U2 record comes from the U2 album The Unforgettable Fire, released by the record label Island. It showcases the band’s initial political college rock phase, what with lyrics that were intertwined with Bono’s civil rights campaigns, and has since come to be considered by many as one of the best ever U2 records. It was also a commercial success in the UK, reaching as high up as #3 on the singles charts. Jump. Released by WarnerBros, this is the only Van Halen record to have reached #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is also among the most popular, embodying the band’s transition from being predominantly hard rock to becoming synth-driven, radio-oriented pop. Since then, Jump has been covered by Paul Anka, Aztec Camera, Mary Lou Lord, and David Lee Roth. Better Be Good to Me. Long before the pop and R&B princesses of today, there was Tina Turner. Her 1984 record, Better Be Good to Me, is a classic that showcases her unique vocal prowess as well as explosive, guitar-driven rock grooves. The record came from the breakthrough Tina Turner album, Private Dancer, which was released by Capitol and featured Turner’s emergence as one of the world’s brightest music stars. The album also featured What’s Love Got to Do With It, which is arguably the most popular and recognizable of all Tina Turner records. I Just Called to Say I Love You. This Stevie Wonder record was written, produced and performed by Wonder for the soundtrack to the film, The Woman In Red. It sounds like a jingle, which was why critics didn’t give it many positive reviews, but I Just Called to Say I Love You remains to this day as one of the most popular hits of Stevie Wonder. It was #1 on singles charts in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, and other parts of the world; it also won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song.  Subscribe to Latest Articles

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Dash December 14, 2008 8:43 AM Two years for me stand out in the world of music:1979 and 1984. I was 19 in '84, and went through the summer of that year with some of the best records ever released: it was the year of "Frankie Says:", "Relax", then 9 weeks at Number One with "Two Tribes". George Michael's "Careless Whisper", Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called..", and they were just the Number Ones! Fantastic year that I Will never forget...

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