Hello! Welcome back to 80s countdown top 5 recap. Every week SiriusXM’s 80s on 8 channel broadcasts a countdown from the “decade of excess” hosted by the original MTV VJs. (Remember music videos?)
The 80s countdown is based on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for a given week somewhere between 1980 and 1989. Every week, it’s a different year and I will be providing fun feedback about the song and trivia tidbits about songs on the countdown. We’re calling it Nick’s Mix as a nod to the mixtapes we all made back in the day.
And we’re, like, totally back…
After a brief break for vacation, I am back! This week we flip the calendar back 41 years to when I was almost 14. For my 14th birthday on March 5, my mom and dad told me I could go to the record store (my favorite place to hang and browse and the first place my best friend and I went to) and pick out an album. I browsed and browsed and ended up with the album name matching the year: Van Halen’s 1984. The album’s biggest hit — “Jump” — hit #1 and is currently sitting at #11.
In 1984, there were some really good tunes that didn’t hit the top 20. Look them up for me and see what you think. I know Dan may not like them because we all have different tastes, but here are a few: “Go Insane” by Lindsey Buckingham, “Don’t Pay the Ferryman” by Chris DeBurgh, “Stranger in Town” by Toto, “Morden Day Delilah” by Van Stephanson, and “Holding out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler!
Without further ado, let’s kick off the 80s Countdown for the week of February 4, 1984, when Footloose, Terms of Endearment , and Unfaithfully Yours were popular at the box office. Here are the top 5 songs from that week!
Number Five: Don’t break Matthew’s stride
“Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder. This song is just so fun! The lyrics are cheesy but that is why it is so fun to sing: “I sailed away to China, in a little rowboat to find ya.” Despite the lyrics, the song is interpreted as a song about feeling hindered or held back and often referring to a personal situation.
It peaked at #5 and Wilder is not a one hit wonder, since he had another song (“The Kid’s American”) that hit the top 40.
Have you heard of No Doubt? Their breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom was produced by you guessed it, Matthew Wilder! I love this piece of trivia.
Number Four: Who is Joanna?
“Joanna” by Kool and The Gang! One of many top 40 hits from this band with one word title; “Fresh,” “Emergency,” “Celebration,” “Cherish,” “Victory,” and “Misled,” to name a few. “Celebration” has become something of a staple at any big celebratory event — like when the Eagles won the Super Bowl on Sunday. My favorite is “Emergency.”
This band is from New Jersey and this song is from their 15th — yes, f-i-f-t-e-e-n-t-h — album.
The song is just really a song about a girl he likes, Joanna.
Number Three: Sleep talking
“Talking in Your Sleep” by The Romantics.
This song is the biggest hit the band had and peaked at #3 for 3 weeks. The video was huge on MTV and was what is known as a “concept” video. It included sleeping women in the background. They were dressed in lingerie and pajamas. It was a different time back then.
I won’t post video here, but you can find it on YouTube.
Number Two: Was that a Yes or no?
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes. A #1 smash by the group from their 11th album. The writer of the song thought of it while using the restroom (I am not sure I want to know all the details on that) and put his ideas on a 4-track tape machine. The band is British, like the artist coming up in the top spot.
Despite being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Yes had just a single top ten song. I do, however, like another song of theirs called, “Leave It.” You can check it out on Spotify.
… and the number one song this week in 1984.
If you follow along with our weekly 80s Countdown tweets on Twitter/X, you’ll know that Dan J Kroll never reveals the top song. “I give away all the other 39 songs on the countdown. I don’t want to spoil the entire listening experience,” Dan has joked.
So here is the clue that Dan gave this week:
DRUMROLL PLEASE
If you guessed “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club, you got it! It held on to #1 for 3 weeks! When I was a wee lad, I thought the lyric was “Comma Comma” not “Karma Karma.”
According to Boy George, the song is about the fear of alienation and the fear of standing up for one thing. It’s about trying sucking up. If you aren’t true, if you don’t act like you feel, then you have karma justice.
Culture Club was my favorite group when I was growing up. At one point I tried to dance like Boy George. Thankfully, there was no TikTok or YouTube back then.
One of my favorite Culture Club song is “The War Song.”
Until the next record spins
Thanks for learning and reading about songs from February 1984. You can catch up on previous countdown articles by checking out my Author Page.
In the meantime, let me know what you think of this and ideas for a topic! And if you are on Twitter/X, be sure to join our live tweets every Friday night at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific using the hashtag #80sCountdown to be part of the fun!
Nick
Love these memories. My favorites from that time period were I Eat Cannibals by Toto Cuelo and Walking in LA by Missing Persons.