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Note: I'm resurrecting this post in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the release of "Purple Rain" (June 25, 1984). Prince has captured many new fans since this was first discussed. Hopefully this information will give them a better understanding of the pop culture impact of "Purple Rain" in preparation for the numerous discussion about the album that are sure to come over the next few days.
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Prince achieved a level of commercial success in 1984 that few artists ever attain. Although we talk about this fact regularly on the Org, it's mostly discussed in general terms.

The purpose of this thread is to be a bit more specific about Prince's commercial peak by putting it back into the context of the Billboard Top 40 singles chart, Top 10 album chart and Year-End chart -- where it all took place.

To accomplish this, I've gone back to the July 7 singles chart ("When Doves Cry" hits #1), the August 4 album chart (Purple Rain hits #1) and the year-end ranking to present a wide angle view of the musical landscape of the time.

The commentary following each chart is not limited to Prince because to put his importance into context means to understand the importance of his contemporaries.

I hope this thread is as enlightening to read as it was to assemble. (And if you're old enough to recall this period, enjoy a bit of nostalgia on me.)

(Special Note: This information could not have been compiled without the invaluable assistance of a few folks in the alt.culture.us.1980s newsgroup -- especially member and chart guru MCT who wrote most of the trivia. I thank you all wholeheartedly.)

Without further ado:

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Billboard Top 40 singles for July 7, 1984:

First number is this week’s position; second number is last week’s position; number in parentheses denotes eventual or former peak position.

01 03 When Doves Cry - Prince (1)
02 02 Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen (2)
03 05 Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters (3)
04 04 Self Control - Laura Branigan (4)
05 01 The Reflex - Duran Duran (1)
06 08 Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol (4)
07 07 Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper (1)
08 10 Almost Paradise - Mike Reno & Ann Wilson (7)
09 06 The Heart Of Rock ‘N’ Roll - Huey Lewis & The News (6)
10 13 Legs - ZZ Top (8)
11 09 Let’s Hear It For The Boy - Deniece Williams (1)
12 15 Magic - The Cars (12)
13 17 Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins (11)
14 18 Infatuation - Rod Stewart (6)
15 12 Borderline - Madonna (10)
16 19 Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung (16)
17 20 Sad Songs (Say So Much) - Elton John (5)
18 11 Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry (3)
19 29 Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr. (1)
20 25 Breakin’...There’s No Stoppin’ Us - Ollie & Jerry (9)
21 30 State Of Shock - Jacksons & Mick Jagger (3)
22 22 Modern Day Delilah - Van Stephenson (22)
23 16 Stay The Night - Chicago (16)
24 28 I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman (6)
25 26 No Way Out - Jefferson Starship (23)
26 27 Don’t Walk Away - Rick Springfield (26)
27 31 What’s Love Got To Do With It - Tina Turner (1)
28 32 I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man) - Kenny Loggins (22)
29 23 Sister Christian - Night Ranger (5)
30 33 Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart (7)
31 39 Panama - Van Halen (13)
32 37 If Ever You’re In My Arms Again - Peabo Bryson (10)
33 -- Stuck On You - Lionel Richie (3)
34 36 Romancing The Stone - Eddy Grant (26)
35 14 It’s A Miracle - Culture Club (13)
36 -- She’s Mine - Steve Perry (21)
37 -- Alibis - Sergio Mendes (29)
38 38 Farewell My Summer Love - Michael Jackson (38)
39 34 Prime Time - Alan Parsons Project
40 -- Boys Do Fall In Love - Robin Gibb

Dropping out of the Top 40 this week:
Eurythmics – Who’s That Girl
Joe Jackson - You Can’t Get What You Want
Rockwell - Obscene Phone Caller
Lionel Richie - Hello

One week away from entering the Top 40:
Ratt - Round And Round
Tony Carey - The First Day Of Summer
Glenn Frey - Sexy Girl
Billy Squier - Rock Me Tonite
The Go-Gos - Turn To You

Some trivia from this week’s Top 40:
This was the first of 5 weeks at #1 for "When Doves Cry," Prince’s first chart-topping single on the Billboard Top 40.

Duran Duran’s "The Reflex," Cyndi Lauper’s "Time After Time" and Deniece Williams’ "Let’s Hear It For The Boy" were all former #1s on their way down (as was Lionel Richie’s "Hello," one of the songs that fell out of the Top 40 this week). "The Reflex" took a big drop from #1 to #5 this week.

Ray Parker Jr.’s "Ghostbusters" and Tina Turner’s "What’s Love Got To Do With It" were future #1s on their way up the chart. "Ghostbusters" actually replaced "When Doves Cry" at #1 on August 11.

Bruce Springsteen’s "Dancing In The Dark" never got to #1; #2 was its peak. It had been #2 behind "The Reflex" the previous week, but "When Doves Cry" leapfrogged over it into the #1 spot and it could never get past "When Doves Cry" again. Bruce has never had a #1 single; this was the closest he ever came.

Steve Perry had two songs in the Top 40 this week, "Oh Sherrie" at #18 and "She’s Mine" at #36. This would be a one-week thing, as "She’s Mine" was debuting in the Top 40 this week and "Oh Sherrie" fell out after this week.

The most unusual Top 40 hit this week was probably Michael Jackson’s "Farewell My Summer Love." This song came from an album of "lost" tracks that Motown Records had released to cash in on the "Thriller" phenomenon. The songs were recorded while Michael was under contract to Motown in the early 1970s. "Farewell My Summer Love" had probably been rejected for release when it was new, but Michael’s popularity was such that it managed to crack the Top 40.

Culture Club was dropping down the chart at #35 with "It's A Miracle." The song fell out of the Top 40 after this week ending a streak of 37 consecutive weeks in which the group had a song in the Top 40, going back to October 1983. In fact, since they had broken into the US charts in January 1983, there had only been three weeks when Culture Club hadn't had a song in the US Top 40. This week also broke a (sort-of) streak in which they had a song in the Top 20 for 32 weeks of a 33-week period (the one week that interrupted the streak, they had two songs in the Top 40 but neither was in the Top 20). This week basically marked the end of an era for Culture Club, as they would never return to this level of chart success.

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Billboard Top 10 albums for August 4, 1984:

01 Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain
02 Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA
03 Huey Lewis & The News - Sports
04 The Jacksons – Victory
05 Lionel Richie – Can't Slow Down
06 The Cars - Heartbeat City
07 Ratt - Out Of The Cellar
08 Soundtrack - Ghostbusters
09 Soundtrack – Breakin’
10 Van Halen - MCMLXXXIV (1984)

Dropping out of the Top 10 this week:
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (it would make a one-week return next week)
Soundtrack - Footloose

One week away from entering the Top 10:
Tina Turner - Private Dancer

Some trivia from this week’s Top 10:
Prince & The Revolution’s blockbuster "Purple Rain" album was released on June 25. It debuted on the Top 200 album chart at #11 on July 14, then climbed to #3 (July 21), then #2 (July 28). "Purple Rain" moved into the top spot this week for the first of 24 consecutive weeks at #1. This was the longest continuous run at #1 for any album in the 1980s. ("Thriller" spent more weeks at #1 overall, but did so in a series of nonconsecutive runs.) This was the first #1 album for Prince and his second to make the Top 10 (following "1999" the previous year).

"Born In The USA" dropped to #2 after 4 weeks on top. It would be stuck at #2 behind "Purple Rain" for 21 of its 24 weeks at #1. "Born In The USA" returned to #1 in January 1985 for three more weeks.

During the first 21 weeks that "Purple Rain" was #1, only three different albums were ever #2 or #3: "Sports," "Born In The U.S.A." and Tina Turner's "Private Dancer". At one point, the Top 3 remained unchanged for 10 weeks in a row (Prince at #1, Bruce at #2, Tina at #3).

"Ghostbusters" and "Out Of The Cellar" were new entries in the Top 10 this week.

"Sports" was the oldest album among the Top 10, having debuted on the album chart on October 8, 1983. Since Huey Lewis & The News didn't have much of a national following when the album was released, it took a while to climb the chart and didn't reach the Top 10 until March 1984. Between June ’84 and September ’84, "Sports" was in the top three for 18 straight weeks, but was only #1 for one week (June 30, immediately before "Born In The USA"). The rest of the time, "Sports" was stuck behind powerful albums like "Born In The USA" and "Purple Rain."

"Can’t Slow Down" was another former #1 album – it had been #1 for three weeks back in December 1983, shortly after its release. Like "Sports," it had spent a lot of time near the top of the chart, but relatively few weeks at #1 (it had totaled 13 weeks at #2). At this point, "Can’t Slow Down" hadn't been out of the Top 5 since its second week on the chart (in November 1983) and would remain in the Top 10 right through the end of 1984.

The Jacksons’ "Victory" looked like a good bet to be the next #1 album. It was only in its third week on the Top 200 and was already up to #4. Interest was high in the wake of Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" (which had been in the Top 10 as recently as five weeks before, and had actually been #1 as recently as April). However, "Victory" never got higher than this week’s position. A combination of poor media reviews, a growing Michael Jackson backlash and the coronation of Prince as the newest musical superstar took its toll on the album. Despite The Jackson’s much-hyped Victory tour, by the end of September the album was out of the Top 10 never to return.

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Billboard Top 100 Songs of 1984:

This information is taken from the book "Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits" by Fred Bronson.

100. Some Guys Have All The Luck - Rod Stewart
99. An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
98. Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins
97. Desert Moon - Dennis DeYoung
96. Blue Jean - David Bowie
95. Read ’Em and Weep - Barry Manilow
94. On The Dark Side - John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
93. Dancing In The Sheets - Shalamar
92. I Still Can’t Get Over Loving You - Ray Parker, Jr.
91. The Language Of Love - Dan Fogelberg
90. The Longest Time - Billy Joel
89. Round And Round - Ratt
88. Lights Out - Peter Wolf
87. New Moon On Monday - Duran Duran
86. Breakin’...There’s No Stoppin’ Us - Ollie & Jerry
85. Magic - The Cars
84. Think Of Laura - Christopher Cross
83. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
82. Head Over Heels - The Go-Go's
81. Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police
80. Let The Music Play - Shannon
79. Nobody Told Me - John Lennon
78. Thriller - Michael Jackson
77. Pink Houses - John Cougar Mellencamp
76. Got A Hold On Me - Christine McVie
75. I’m So Excited - Pointer Sisters
74. They Don’t Know - Tracey Ullman
73. Breakdance - Irene Cara
72. Adult Education - Daryl Hall & John Oates
71. You Might Think - The Cars
70. Love Somebody - Rick Springfield
69. To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before - Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson
68. I Can’t Hold Back - Survivor
67. If Ever You’re In My Arms Again - Peabo Bryson
66. Strut - Sheena Easton
65. Legs - ZZ Top
64. Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
63. Almost Paradise - Mike Reno & Ann Wilson
62. Lucky Star - Madonna
61. Sad Songs (Say So Much) - Elton John
60. Miss Me Blind - Culture Club
59. If This Is It - Huey Lewis & The News
58. I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis & The News
57. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
56. The Warrior - Scandal featuring Patty Smyth
55. State Of Shock - The Jacksons
54. Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol
53. Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution
52. Borderline - Madonna
51. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
50. I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman
49. Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart
48. Better Be Good Me - Tina Turner
47. Infatuation - Rod Stewart
46. No More Lonely Nights - Paul McCartney
45. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
44. Automatic - Pointer Sisters
43. The Heart Of Rock & Roll - Huey Lewis & the News
42. Twist Of Fate - Olivia Newton-John
41. I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John
40. Here Comes The Rain Again - Eurythmics
39. Drive - The Cars
38. 99 Luftballons - Nena
37. Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
36. She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
35. Stuck On You - Lionel Richie
34. That’s All! - Genesis
33. Penny Lover - Lionel Richie
32. Running With The Night - Lionel Richie
31. Somebody’s Watching Me - Rockwell
30. The Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
29. Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder
28. Joanna - Kool & the Gang
27. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
26. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
25. The Wild Boys - Duran Duran
24. Self Control - Laura Branigan
23. Let’s Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
22. Hard Habit To Break - Chicago
21. Talking In Your Sleep - The Romantics
20. Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) - Billy Ocean
19. Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen
18. The Reflex - Duran Duran
17. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
16. Let’s Hear It For The Boy - Deneice Williams
15. Missing You - John Waite
14. I Feel For You - Chaka Khan
13. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
12. Out Of Touch - Daryl Hall & John Oates
11. I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder
10. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
9. Footloose - Kenny Loggins
8. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) - Phil Collins
7. Owner of A Lonely Heart - Yes
6. Hello - Lionel Richie
5. Like A Virgin - Madonna
4. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
3. Jump - Van Halen
2. What’s Love Got to Do With It - Tina Turner
1. When Doves Cry – Prince

Some Prince trivia from this chart:

Prince is solely credited for the #1 song of the year, "When Doves Cry," but he appears with The Revolution at #23 with "Let’s Go Crazy" and #53 with "Purple Rain." (A fourth single,"I Would Die 4 U," was released on November 28, too late to appear on the 1984 chart.)

"When Doves Cry" went to #1 on the Billboard Top 40 on July 7. It spent 5 weeks in its peak position, 11 weeks in the Top 10 and 16 weeks in the Top 40.

"Let’s Go Crazy" went to #1 on the Billboard Top 40 on September 29. It spent 2 weeks in its peak position, 9 weeks in the Top 10 and 14 weeks in the Top 40.

"Purple Rain" went to #2 on the Billboard Top 40 on November 17. It spent 2 weeks in its peak position, 7 weeks in the Top 10 and 11 weeks in the Top 40.

In addition to his self-penned singles, two other songs written by Prince appear on the list. Chaka Khan’s cover of "I Feel For You" is #14 while new Prince protégé Sheila E. comes in at #30 with her debut single "The Glamorous Life."

"I Feel For You" went to #3 on the Billboard Top 40 on November 24. It spent 3 weeks in its peak position, 9 weeks in the Top 10 and 17 weeks in the Top 40.

"The Glamorous Life" went to #7 on the Billboard Top 40 on October 6. It spent 1 week in its peak position, 5 weeks in the Top 10 and 16 weeks in the Top 40.
[This message was edited Wed Jun 23 9:38:59 2004 by livewire]

1984 was a great year for top 40 pop music. This year clearly belonged to The Little Dude.Also, he had the number one pop single,R&B single and album simultaneously on the Billbaord charts for a few weeks{much the same way MJ did the previous year with Thriller}. There was a time around late 1984 in which I actually thought Mike's record for best selling album of all time was gonna be eclisped by Purple Rain. Good thread livewire.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 12 5:46:47 PDT 2003 by BRO915]

very cool.

Did you have this already written down? Damn!

wow, man!

Are you a member of Billboard.com? I've always wanted to join, but didn't know if it was worth it.

Interesting info. It takes me back to 1984.
Thanks

Moonbeam said:

I've always wanted to subscribe too, but it costs $200 a year!!

I was 13 in 1984, and I remember EVERY SINGLE SONG on that chart!!! WOW what memories!

Glad you folks are enjoying this thread!

I'm not a member of Billboard.com and I didn't write up all the info provided. My post is the result of a meticulous and time-consuming sifting through the chart info posted to alt.culture.us.1980s over the years. Two members of that group, MCT and Mort, should get the lion's share of the credit for documenting the Billboard charts of the '80s. I used their work as the basis for this post, editing and rewriting to create what you find here.

I hope that more of you will share memories about these songs and albums and Prince's place among them. Not to be selfish, but honestly one of my goals for starting this thread was to create the kind of discussion I love to read here at the Org. (Providing a resource for fans searching the site for chart information was my other main objective.)

Now, c'mon, let's hear from more of you. I'll be back with some of my memories after my hands have recovered.

Peace, David

Great recap of my favorite year in music 1984.

No album has spent longer at number one since Purple Rain. MC Hammer spent 21 weeks and the Bodyguard was 19 weeks. I seriously doubt any album ever will spend that long on top again.

The charts felt like they actually meant something then. They are practically worthless now.

LiveWire,this is a GREAT thread!!! It takes me right back to that magical summer of 1984,when there was so much good music to enjoy.Some of those songs I had totally forgotten about (Eddy Grant's "Romancing The Stone","Obscene Phone Caller" by Rockwell) but I remember most of them.And yes,the latter half of 1984 really belonged to Prince.His 'Purple Rain' album and singles dominated the fall and winter.Sometimes I wonder if Prince ever misses this time period? Does he ever miss the excitement,the critical acclaim,topping the charts,etc? It was such a thrilling time!



I have a funny memory about this summer.I was hanging out with some friends one day and one of them had a boombox.We were all listening to tapes that were hot at the time (Duran Duran,Culture Club,etc).But then my friend put on his Madonna tape.It was her first album,and he was in love with her.I wasn't very impressed though.I thought songs like "Lucky Star" and "Borderline" were cool,but who would have known that she would soon blow up the way she did?

mynameisnotsusan said:

Absolutely! Back in those days,albums would come out and just DOMINATE for months on end.Albums would produce hit after hit,video after video.Remember how long MJ's 'Thriller' stayed at the top of the charts in 1983? Prince's 'Purple Rain' album stayed at Number One for over 6 months!! Nowadays,artists release CDs,they debut at Number One,then a few weeks later,they're already out of the Top 10 (with few exceptions,of course).It's kinda like the thrill is gone.Pop music has become like fast food.Kids buy a CD,then quickly move on the next thing.


...
[This message was edited Tue Aug 12 0:54:41 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

WOWOWOW!!!

Great thread - so many memories!

Gone are the days of albums being #1 for months on end - really puts Britney and Eminem in their place!

Great thread
1984 was the best year ever for music and Prince
Remember, he also wrote songs for The Time, Sheena Easton and Appollonia 6.

I remember the exact moment it became apparent that Prince was going to be huge in 1984.

I was in my bedroom waiting for the "Top 10 at 10" call-in countdown to come on the local Top 40 station. Before the show started, the deejay announced that everyone should stay tuned because there would finally be a new song in the top spot. This was a big deal because a super-devoted group of girls at NC State University called every night to vote for Duran Duran's "The Reflex" and it had held the number one slot for months.

I was excited to hear what had at last trumped the fanatical Durannies. Imagine my surprise to find out it was a new song by Prince called "When Doves Cry."

I was a major Michael Jackson fan and only liked Prince okay. Also, this new song was so...odd. I wasn't even sure if I liked it. But there definitely was something that made it stand out from everything else on the radio.

Like everyone in the country, I came to the song and it really marked the beginning of my love affair with Prince.

When the album was released, my mom gave me the money to buy it and my dad drove me to Tape City, a local music store in town. A sweet, older couple owned the shop and I loved spending time there. I walked up to the counter and asked for Purple Rain. While the man was getting it for me, I asked his wife how it was selling. "It's been non-stop," she said. "We don't even have time to put them out on the shelf before we're sold out. It's the best seller we've had since Thriller."

As I walked back to our car, staring at the perfect glam-pop cover, I kept thinking about the woman's comment: "...best seller since Thriller." It seemed fitting -- because I knew that I was now also post-Thriller. I would be a life-long Prince fan from that moment on.

After that, I listened to Casey Kasem on "American Top 40" every Saturday night to hear how the Purple Rain singles and album were doing. The charts were full of great songs and Prince was right there in the thick of things week after week. It was an amazing time to be a fan!

Peace, David

Terrific thread, livewire. I think this belongs in Anji's "Hall of Fame" from a few months ago -- what a fantastic resource.

Thanks for the memories, livewire!

wow, thanks for this - it's great reading.

From a British perspective, it's also quite sad - this was at the peak of the 'british invasion' of the mid-80s, with 9 of the top 40 singles by British acts, and 21 of the year's top 100.

Fast forward 20 years, and there's not a single british act in the top 40 of the singles chart (Daniel Bedingfield is the highest, and he's at no. 54)

Why do the americans on here think that is?

what a year this was for music , every track on that list is an absolute stonker , and there were even better tracks in the u.k at the time , and it goes to show the quality of prince's work at the time for him to sell more records than the rest , which in fairness is extremely good competition at the time , look at the classics compared to the rubbish in the charts now and unfortunately prince's output mow is on par with the rest of the rubbish in the charts now.

livewire said:

It sure was

next year will be the 20 year anniversary, wow! It should really be updated with bonus tracks

If Purple Rain wasn't such a massive hit, it would have gone ignored by bored Senator's wife Tipper Gore. Because of Tipper's push to make things right in the world, we now have Parental Advisory stickers on our discs.

Little did she know that it would only boost sales to those that she wanted to protect.