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.
If you remember a few weeks back, I commented that I thought it was odd that they would broadccast a 1983 countdown so soon after a 1982 countdown. See, a late-December countdown for one year is nearly indentical to an early-January countdown of the following year.
Things can and do change, however, and interestingly enough, three weeks after the 1982 countdown aired there were three different songs on the 1983 countdown. I love the three songs that take over in the top 5 so I decided to write about it.
Without further ado, let’s kick off the 80s Countdown for the week of January 9, 1983, when 48 Hours and The Verdict were popular at the box office. Here are the top 5 songs from that week!
Number Five: A life of healing
“Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye. This Song is IT, from the “Get Up, get up, get up, get up and “Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up to “I can’t wait for you to operate”, the whole song is brilliant singing, and I was 12 loving this song. I love to sing this on full blast.
Not so FUN FACT: Marvin Gaye died at the age of 44 in 1984. I will keep this the way it is, but I would google how he died. Two songs hit the Top 40 dedicated to him. “Missing You” by Diana Ross and “Nightshift” by the Commodores.
It peaked at #3. Rolling Stone has a top 500 songs of all time, and this song is #198. This song is from the album Midnight Blue, and this song is about exactly what you think.
Number Four: What is a Vegemite sandwich?
A vege-what? “Down Under” by Australian group Men At Work delivered this #1 smash! I love this band and have both albums Business as Usual and Cargo.
The song features a love it or hate it Australian snack: the Vegemite sandwich (Australian snack). The song isn’t all happiness on a slice of bread, as the chorus is about the selling of Australia and the overdevelopment of the country.
When you have the time, check out the video on YouTube. These guys are a hoot!
Number Three: Leftover Laundry
“Dirty Laundry” by Don Henley. Kick ’em when they’re up. Kick ’em when they’re down. Love that repeated over and over.
The song is about the callousness of the network news back in the day, hence “Dirty Laundry”. Henley sings from the standpoint of a news anchorman. It was inspired by the way the press intruded on the lives of John Belushi and Natalie Wood.
It peaked at #3.
FUN FACT: Don Henley was a member of The Eagles and became a successful solo artist.
Number two: Duet
“The Girl is Mine” by Michael Jackson and Sir Paul McCartney. LEGENDS! These two make sweet music. First was “Say, Say, Say” and now this huge smash. There was no video for this song, though there was one for “Say, Say, Say.”
This song was overshadowed by the album’s second release, “Billie Jean.” I did not know that this was the first release from the Thriller album, and I suspect a lot of other people didn’t either.
This song is so good! I love when they talk/converse in this song.
Produced by Quincy Jones, this duet peaked at #2. He produced this huge monster of an album as well.
In 2018, the 35th anniversary of the Thriller album, Will.I.Am from the Black-Eyed Peas remixed the song.
… and the number one song this week in 1983
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.
AND NOW here are some hints to the top song as explained by Dan J Kroll himself.
DRUMROLL PLEASE
If you guessed “Maneater,” by Daryl Hall and John Oates, you got it! It held on to #1 for 4 weeks!
I love Hall and Oates. They have so many amazing songs. I have 3 of their albums and still listen as I love vinyl. If you do not have any songs, check them out. “Out of Touch” is my favorite.
Until the next record spins
Thanks for learning and reading about songs from January 1983.
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! Next week I will be on Vacation until Sunday, so I will be back the following week.
Nick
