Thursday, July 31, 2014

Best of 1984 - Top 50 Singles List

The growing popularity of Michael Jackson which started in 1983 also set foot in 1984 especially after the video for "Thriller" was released. Even though the content of the video was controversial at that time, it was also groundbreaking and it revolutionized the music industry and the world of pop by breaking down the racial barriers and transforming the music video into a work of art.
Even at the other end of the Atlantic the 1983 started with a small scandal which involved Frankie Goes To Hollywood who got banned by BBC for almost a year due to the explicit lyrics in the and provocative video for their biggest hit "Relax". Despite this fact, the band managed  to have major success around the world with their debut album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". This was also the first big success for ZTT Records and three times platinum in the UK. Towards the end of the year the Frankie Goes to Hollywood ban was slowly lifted and "Relax" was the ultimate anthem of 1984 introducing the Frankie Says Relax trend. 
With the growing popularity of MTV, in 1984 the first MTV Music Awards were given away at the  Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the winners were Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Herbie Hancock. Madonna has not been up for awards, but manged to make prominence and shake the pop world with her performance at the VMA's. 
Just ahead of Christmas when 1984 was in the fade out, a group of musicians headed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure got together for a good cause forming Band Aid. This was a group of musicians who recorded a song to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. It included more than 40 musicians and it sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than $24 million. 
 Towards the end of the year New Gold Dream which could easily be translated as the golden era of new Wave slowly began to vanish and became clear that the new musical term was Pop.

 The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1984 - The Album list' from 2014 together with our in-house votes.
 
Updated: 08/2020


01. Bronski Beat- Small Town Boy 
02. Echo & The Bunnymen- The Killing Moon 
03. Talk Talk- It’s My Life 
04. Prince- When Doves Cry 
05. Billy Idol- Eyes Without a Face 
06. Cyndi Lauper- Time After Time  
07. Leonard Cohen- Dance Me to the End of Love  
08. Dead or Alive- You Spin Me Around 
09. Duran Duran- New Moon on Monday 
10. Alphaville - Big in Japan 
11. A-ha- Take on Me
12. Prince and the Revolution- Purple Rain
13. Madonna - Borderline
14. Pet Shop Boys- West End Girls '84
15. Gary Numan- Berserker
16. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Dazzle
17. Eurythmics- Here Comes the Rain Again 
18. Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Two Tribes
19. The Smiths- What Difference Does it Make  
20. The Style Council- Shout to the Top

21. New Order- Thieves Like Us 
22. Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
23. Laura Branigan- Self Control 
24. Alphaville - Forever Young 
25. Limahl - Neverending Story 
26. George Michael- Careless Whisper
27. Prefab Sprout- When Love Breaks Down
28. Talk Talk- Such A Shame 
29. The Chills- Pink Frost
30. Cocteau Twins- Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops
31. This Mortal Coil- Kangaroo 
32. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Swimming Horses 
33. Alphaville- Sounds Like a Melody
34. Propaganda- Dr Mabuse 
35. Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly
36. Ultravox- Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
37. Depeche Mode- People are People 
38. Fad Gadget- Collapsing New People 
39. Eurythmics- Sexcrime 
40. Les Rita Mitsuoko- Marcia Baila
41. The Killing Joke- Eighties
42. The Pretenders- Middle of the Road
43. Simple Minds- Speed Your Love to Me 
44. Nik Kershaw- Wouldn’t it be Good 
45. Wham! - Everything She Wants
46. Scritti Politti- Hypnotize 
47. Section 25- Looking from the Hilltop
48. The Human League - The Lebanon
49. Depeche Mode- Blasphemous Rumours 
50. Lloyd Cole and The Commotions- Forest Fire 
 

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