What a great year for music 1983 was! It seems that every time I discover a hidden 80s gem, it was released in 1982 or 1983. There must have been something in the water! With 2 awesome Eurythmics albums, Madonna's kickass debut, The Cure going psycho with Japanese Whispers, Mtume and Indeep bringing some great synth funk, Talking Heads bringing some mind-blowing funk and Tom Waits producing a timeless classic in Swordfishtrombones, there is a long, LONG list of goodies to discover.

So let's celebrate 1983! Post your favorite albums, songs or videos from this glorious year here!

I'll start with this weird synth/dance/funk track I've heard in Australia. It's called "I Hear Motion" by The Models. This song makes me ridiculously happy!

I ran their whole CD in the ground... my favorites are 'Every Breath You Take' (83') 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' (but this video didnt drop til 84') and 'King of Pain'




[Edited 9/10/08 16:51pm]

1983 was one of the most amazing years for pop music! It was such an exciting time with so many things going on at the same time....the MTV video era was at its highest point...Michael Jackson was riding high with 'Thriller'....Prince was finally enjoying crossover success with his brilliant '1999' album...innovative new artists like Culture Club and Eurythmics popped out of nowhere with some truly great singles...Duran Duran were doing their thing....in the R&B world,groups like Midnight Star,Mtume,and a group of young guys called New Edition were kicking ass....and by year's end,Michael Jackson released one of the most impressive music videos of all time (the mini-movie "Thriller") and Madonna burst onto the scene with her first album.

I'm making a list of albums I own from 1983. Does the Ziggy Stardust Motion Picture count?

Marvin Gaye

http://www.youtube.com/wa...VTN5o9Kgu8



[Edited 9/10/08 16:30pm]

although this album dropped in 82'.. this single was big in 83'

I think these are all the albums I own from 1983 and the order in which I like them. I'll double check when I go home later in case I forgot any.







1. Culture Club - Colour By Numbers
2. Specimen - Batastrophe
3. Xmal Deutschland - Fetisch
4. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Nocturne
5. Tracey Ullman - You Broke My Heart in 17 Places
6. Madonna - Madonna
7. Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
8. Mary Jane Girls - Mary Jane Girls
9. The Creatures - Feast
10. Bauhaus - Burning From The Inside
11. The B-52's - Whammy
12. New Edition - Candy Girl
13. André Cymone - Survivin' in the 80's
14. 45 Grave - Sleep In Safety
15. The Human League - Fascination!

edit: I knew I'd forget some.
[Edited 9/10/08 21:53pm]

sextonseven said:

That's from 1982. I love it, too!

Moonbeam said:

I read that on Wiki, but the Geffen release says 1983. I'm gonna leave it in.

sextonseven said:

My CD says 1982! So does rateyourmusic and allmusic! Whatever year it's from, it's excellent.

Moonbeam said:

I concede! I'm taking it off my list.

[Edited 9/10/08 18:14pm]

Moonbeam said:

Now my new #2 album of that year is by Specimen!



That's Jon Klein on guitar before he joined the Banshees.

SoulAlive said:

You know what's so funny, people keep talking about how huge MTV was in the 80s, truth be told MTV wasn't all that. There was so many other outlets for music videos, before I moved to Texas I lived in Oakland near Lake Merritt and they had an all black music network called Soulbeat and they played music videos and concert footage (I saw the 1999 tour on Soulbeat, I have some of that footage on tape). Plus there was Friday Night Videos, Top 10 with Casey Kasem, Hot Tracks, and another show I can't think of the name.

Some of my favorites from '83

It was an amazing time for pretty much all genres concerned.. I think some of it had to do with new technology.. people either going overboard with it (electro) or just adding it to the mix (new wave), but yeah.

My sister and I get on this same topic about 1983 sometimes!

Some favorites of mine that haven't been listed:

thatruth said:

I'm in the Bay Area and I remember Soul Beat! I also remember another local show called "Magic Number Videos"...the host was one of the former DJs at KSOL,if I'm not mistaken.This was the place to see R&B music videos which weren't shown on MTV.Truth be told,MTV didn't really start showing black artists until 1983.Before that,you had to watch these local video shows to see those artists.

Songs like this make me really miss 1983...

"Just Got Lucky" by JoBoxers


I miss the days when pop songs were FUN,catchy and hard to resist!!!! Listen to this song....it's so insanely catchy!! What the hell happened to pop music?!

"Promises,Promises" by Naked Eyes

"Space Age Whiz Kids" by Joe Walsh

"Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran

"Million Dollar Babe" by Stacy Lattisaw

I like these kind of threads as they force me to evaluate my collection bit by bit. I plan on one day having a best of list for every year.

Did nobody else get depressed about what we used to call "teenybopper" music that predominated in the 80s from '83 onwards. I could never stand Duran Duran, or the Tears for Fears one with "Shout" plus all the fluff like Bros, Howard Jones etc.

I hate 80s nostalgia!!!!!

wasitgood4u said:

Nope. I loved them then and I love them now. Duran Duran and Tears for Fears were two of the most consistently good acts of the decade.

sextonseven said:

Yeah, I keep meaning to tackle that project as well.

I've been listening to this on MP3 but I wish I could have a CD or record: