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.
We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1983, the year I wrapped up third grade, moved to fourth grade, saw my beloved White Sox make the postseason for the first time in my life, and turned 9. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which placed five tracks on the year-end Hot 100, was the first pop album I ever owned. At 39 songs, nearly 40% of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with only 16 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#93: Frank Stallone – Far from Over
iTunes stats: N/A
A top ten single in September 1983, this lone hit from Sylvester’s brother is more familiar to me as a song I played on the organ.
#92: Spandau Ballet – True
iTunes stats: 18 plays
Peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song was sampled for the #1 hit Set Adrift on Memory Bliss by PM Dawn in 1991.
#90: Def Leppard – Photograph
iTunes stats: 24 plays
Written about Marilyn Monroe, this first single from the band’s third album reached #12 on the charts.
#89: Michael Jackson – Human Nature
iTunes stats: N/A
The fifth single from Jackson’s smash Thriller album, it became the album’s fifth top ten hit, reaching #7.
#81: Journey – Faithfully
iTunes stats: 10 plays
Considered one of the greatest power ballads of all time, it peaked at #12 on the Hot 100.
#68: Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
iTunes stats: N/A
Hitting #5, this fourth single from Jackson’s Thriller, originally written in 1978, was the first without a video.
#56: Laura Branigan – Gloria
iTunes stats: 13 plays
Setting a new record for female solo acts with 36 weeks on the Hot 100, it made the year-end charts for both 1982 and 1983.
#53: Madness – Our House
iTunes stats: 10 plays
The first single from the group’s fourth album, it reached #7 on the charts, becoming the band’s biggest hit.
#52: The Clash – Rock the Casbah
iTunes stats: N/A
Becoming the group’s first and only top ten hit in the US, it peaked at #8 on the Hot 100.
#50: Kajagoogoo – Too Shy
iTunes stats: 10 plays
Thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, the song, the group’s only US hit, peaked at #5.
#49: Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney – The Girl Is Mine
iTunes stats: N/A
Written by Jackson while watching cartoons with McCartney, the song, the lead single from Thriller, stalled out at #2.
#46: Naked Eyes – Always Something There to Remind Me
iTunes stats: 29 plays
Originally recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1963, this cover became the group’s only US top ten, reaching #8 in June.
#41: Prince – 1999
iTunes stats: 7 plays
Peaking at #12 in 1983, the song charted on the Hot 100 four times across three decades.
#37: Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love
iTunes stats: N/A
Collins notched his first top ten solo hit in the US with this cover of the Supremes hit from 1966.
#36: Toni Basil – Mickey
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally titled Kitty, Basill re-titled it for her cover and added the cheerleading-inspired chant.
#35: Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
iTunes stats: N/A
Written by the group’s singer after he had been ejected from a club for pogo dancing, the song spent four weeks at #3 across September and October of 1983.
#32: Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
iTunes stats: 17 plays
The 18th and final top ten hit from Gaye before his 1984 death, it peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.
#31: Taco – Puttin’ on the Ritz
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally written by Irving Berlin in 1927, Taco’s only hit in the United States was ranked #53 by VH1 in their 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.
#30: After the Fire – Der Kommissar
iTunes stats: N/A
Thanks to extensive airplay on MTV, the song entered the Top 40 in March of 1983, spending fourteen weeks on the charts and peaking at #5.
#28: Styx – Mr. Roboto
iTunes stats: 21 plays
The lead single from their eleventh studio album, it peaked at #3, becoming the band’s last top five hit of the decade.
#27: Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes – Up Where We Belong
iTunes stats: N/A
Spending a total of 23 weeks on the Hot 100, the love theme from An Officer and a Gentleman lasted three of those weeks at #1.
#25: Prince – Little Red Corvette
iTunes stats: 6 plays
Peaking at #6 in 1983, the song charted again in 2016, reaching #20 following Prince’s death.
#24: Toto – Africa
iTunes stats: N/A
Never intended to be a single, the song was released after it started getting played in New York dance clubs.
#23: Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me with Science
iTunes stats: 17 plays
Ranked #20 on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders in 2002, the track reached #5 on the Hot 100.
#22: Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue
iTunes stats: 15 plays
Spending five weeks at #2 on the Hot 100, the track earned Grant a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.
#18: David Bowie – Let’s Dance
iTunes stats: N/A
Featuring a then-unknown Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar, the song became the biggest selling single of Bowie’s career, reaching the top of the charts.
#17: Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally released as a single in the US in June of 1982, the song failed to chart until a remix was re-released in December, which spent 23 weeks on the chart, peaking at #3 in March of 1983.
#15: Donna Summer – She Works Hard for the Money
iTunes stats: N/A
Nominated for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy in 1984, the song reached #3 on the Hot 100 while giving Summer her first #1 on the R&B singles chart since 1979.
#13: Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
iTunes stats: 20 plays
The track spent a single week at #1 in April of 1983, between Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, which spent the previous seven weeks atop the charts, and Beat It, which dominated the next three.
#11: Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
iTunes stats: N/A
The first hit for the band spent three weeks at #2 in the spring of 1983.
#10: Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
iTunes stats: N/A
The first single by the duo to be released in the US, it spent a week at #1 in September.
#9: Michael Sembello – Maniac
iTunes stats: N/A
The hit from the Flashdance soundtrack spent two weeks atop the Hot 100.
#7: Hall & Oates – Maneater
iTunes stats: N/A
Spending four weeks at the top of the charts, it became the duo’s biggest hit.
#6: Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart
iTunes stats: 23 plays
Written and produced by Jim Steinman, the song spent four weeks at #1 and earned Tyler a Grammy nomination.
#5: Michael Jackson – Beat It
iTunes stats: N/A
Featuring a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen, the third single from Thriller spent three weeks on top of the charts.
#4: Men at Work – Down Under
iTunes stats: N/A
Originally released as a B-side in Australia in 1980, the track made it to the US at the tail end of 1982 and hit #1 in January of 1983.
#3: Irene Cara – Flashdance… What a Feeling
iTunes stats: N/A
Spurred on by the unexpected success of the film, the song spent six weeks atop the Hot 100 and earned Cara both a Grammy and an Oscar.
#2: Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
iTunes stats: N/A
Jackson’s best-selling solo single, it spent seven weeks at #1 in the spring of 1983.
#1: The Police – Every Breath You Take
iTunes stats: 12 plays
The band’s only track to top the charts, it spent eight weeks on top of the Hot 100 and took home two Grammy awards.