Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth. In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.
Today, we enter my second decade on the planet and look back at the music of my lifetime with 1984. I am starting to become more familiar with the songs of the day, either from that time period or from later exposure. 38 of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with fourteen of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#89: Billy Joel – The Longest Time
iTunes stats: N/A
Written and recorded as a tribute to the music the influenced Joel as a child, the track peaked at #14 on the Hot 100.
#87: Ratt – Round and Round
iTunes stats: 25 plays
Reaching #12, the song is the band’s biggest hit and was ranked as the 20th greatest heavy metal song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023.
#86: John Cougar Mellencamp – Pink Houses
iTunes stats: N/A
Inspired by a trip Mellencamp took from the airport in Indianapolis to his home in the godforsaken town of Bloomington, the song cracked the top ten, reaching #8 in early 1984.
#79: Madonna – Holiday
iTunes stats: N/A
Entering the Hot 100 in October of 1983, Madonna’s first big hit rose to #16, spending a total of 21 weeks on the charts.
#78: Michael Jackson – Thriller
iTunes stats: N/A
Peaking at #4 in 1984, the track re-enters the charts regularly around Halloween, giving Jackson a top 20 hit in seven straight decades.
#76: The Pointer Sisters – I’m So Excited
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally stalling out at #30 in 1982, this re-mix re-released in 1984 cracked the top ten, reaching #9.
#74: Wang Chung – Dance Hall Days
iTunes stats: 21 plays
A #1 smash on the Dance Club Songs chart, it hit #16 on the Hot 100.
#73: Bananarama – Cruel Summer
iTunes stats: N/A
Featured in The Karate Kid, the second most popular song with this name peaked at #9 in 1984.
#68: Quiet Riot – Cum on Feel the Noize
iTunes stats: 15 plays
Helping to bring national attention to LA’s burgeoning metal scene, this cover of an old Slade tune became the band’s biggest hit, reaching #5.
#66: Madonna – Lucky Star
iTunes stats: N/A
Madonna’s first top five hit, it peaked at #4 in the fall of 1984.
#64: Huey Lewis and the News – If This Is It
iTunes stats: N/A
The group’s fifth top ten hit, this throwback to the doo-wop of the 50s hit #6.
#60: ZZ Top – Legs
iTunes stats: N/A
Cracking the top ten and reaching #8, it remains the band’s highest charting single.
#55: Huey Lewis and the News – I Want a New Drug
iTunes stats: N/A
Peaking at #6, the song earned Lewis a second payday when he sued Ray Parker Jr. for plagiarizing it for his theme to Ghostbusters.
#51: Billy Ocean – Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)
iTunes stats: 13 plays
Ocean took home the 1985 Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal performance for this track, making him the first British artist to win in that category.
#44: Huey Lewis and the News – The Heart of Rock & Roll
iTunes stats: N/A
The track hit #6, both on the Hot 100 and on Blender magazine’s 2009 list of the 50 Worst Songs Ever.
#40: Night Ranger – Sister Christian
iTunes stats: N/A
The band’s biggest hit, it peaked at #5 on the Hot 100, spending a total of 24 weeks on the charts.
#39: Billy Joel – Uptown Girl
iTunes stats: N/A
Written about his then-girlfriend Elle Macpherson and his soon-to-be wife Christie Brinkley, Joel broke back into the top ten with this track, spending five consecutive weeks at #3 in late 1983.
#37: Billy Idol – Eyes Without a Face
iTunes stats: 14 plays
Idol’s first top ten hit, the song peaked at #4.
#35: Madonna – Borderline
iTunes stats: N/A
The first of Madonna’s eventual 17 consecutive top ten hits, it peaked at #10 in June while spending 30 total weeks on the chart.
#28: Nena – 99 Luftballons
iTunes stats: 14 plays
Nena’s only US hit, the German language song topped out at #2, while the English version failed to chart.
#26: Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me
iTunes stats: 8 plays
When you are the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy, you get to have Michael Jackson sing the chorus on your debut single, which pushed it into the top five, peaking at #2.
#25: Stevie Wonder – I Just Called to Say I Love You
iTunes stats: N/A
The best-selling single of Wonder’s long career, it was the lead single from The Woman in Red soundtrack and spent three weeks atop the Hot 100.
#19: The Romantics – Talking in Your Sleep
iTunes stats: 16 plays
The band’s highest charting single, it reached #3 in early 1984.
#17: Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
iTunes stats: 16 plays
Spending three weeks at the top of the charts, Lauper’s second single was her first #1.
#15: Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun
iTunes stats: N/A
Entering the charts in December of 1983, Lauper’s debut single spent two weeks at #2 the following March.
#14: Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark
iTunes stats: 11 plays
Thanks, in part, to a video featuring future Friend Courtney Cox, this first single from Born In The USA spent four weeks at #2.
#13: Deniece Williams – Let’s Hear It for the Boy
iTunes stats: N/A
Featured on the Footloose soundtrack, it became the second #1 single for Williams.
#12: Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)
iTunes stats: N/A
From Richie’s second solo album, the track reached #1 on three different Billboard charts, including the Hot 100.
#11: John Waite – Missing You
iTunes stats: N/A
The lone single to spend only a single week at #1 in 1984, the song was nominated for the 1985 Best Pop Vocal Performance Male Grammy.
#10: Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
iTunes stats: 17 plays
Spending three weeks atop the charts in early 1984, it was the group’s only #1 hit.
#9: Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters
iTunes stats: 21 plays
The theme from the hit movie of the same name spent three weeks at #1 in August, becoming Parker’s sole chart-topper.
#8: Yes – Owner of a Lonely Heart
iTunes stats: N/A
The first single from the band’s eleventh album, it remains their only #1 hit.
#7: Lionel Richie – Hello
iTunes stats: N/A
Richie’s hit topped three Billboard charts, spending two weeks atop the Hot 100, three weeks heading the R&B chart, and six weeks on top of the Adult Contemporary chart.
#6: Van Halen – Jump
iTunes stats: 59 plays
The only single from the band’s long career to hit the top of the charts, it was long used by the Cubs to run out onto the field at the beginning of every game.
#4: Kenny Loggins – Footloose
iTunes stats: N/A
The first of two #1 hits from the film of the same name, it spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 in the spring of 1984, becoming Loggins’ sole #1 hit.
#3: Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson – Say, Say, Say
iTunes stats: N/A
Released at the tail end of 1983, it spent six weeks at the top of the charts, becoming Jackson’s seventh top ten hit of the year, breaking a record held by Elvis and, ironically, the Beatles, and was McCartney’s final #1 single.
#2: Tina Turner – What’s Love Got to Do with It
iTunes stats: N/A
The best-selling single of Turner’s long career, it spent three weeks on top of the Hot 100, making Turner, then 44, the oldest female solo artist to notch a #1 hit.
#1: Prince – When Doves Cry
iTunes stats: 7 plays
Spending five weeks on top of the charts, Prince’s first #1 hit was the lead single from Purple Rain.