Most of what was going on in pop culture in 1983 can be summed up with one word: Michael.
However, it was also the year that Prince cemented his legend, MTV cemented its legend (in good and bad ways), a young New York transplant named Madonna began making her mark, 5 kids from Boston named New Edition reset the template for boy bands (although the term “boy bands” wouldn’t become part of the vernacular for a decade and a half), and the seeds of modern-day hip hop were sown via Run-D.M.C.’s launch. So, even without all of the Thriller craziness, 1983 would’ve been a standout year for pop culture.
Five ’83 memories.
-My folks bought Thriller at some point in the first quarter of the year. I was in the second grade back then, and I remember coming home from school and hearing Michael’s voice blasting from the speakers (pretty sure it was “Baby Be Mine”). I was so excited to listen to the rest of the album (and to see the cover) that I tripped and fell going up the stairs.
-We got our first VCR the same week Motown 25 aired. What was supposed to happen was that I would go to bed, attend school the day after Motown 25, and watch the show (or more specifically, Michael’s performance, because it was all I really cared about) the next day. My aunts were nice enough to hide me in their room until the Jacksons performance, so I got to watch it live and on video the next day. Eventually, my grandmother found out and I kinda got in trouble. It was worth it, though, to see the moonwalk.
-This was a weird period when Soul Train was on at, like, 1 or 2 in the morning in New York. I would actually stay up and watch. Thinking back on it, maybe my grandparents allowed me to stay up so late because it would guarantee them peace the next morning. Also, New York Hot Tracks and Friday Night Videos debuted in the summer of 1983. We were a non-cable household, so these shows were our only opportunities to watch videos at night. Hot Tracks had a more dance/R&B thrust than Friday Night Videos, and almost always filmed their live segments from some hot NYC club. The first time I saw videos by New Edition, Madonna, and Wham! (then billed as Wham! U.K.) was on Hot Tracks.
-Rap was still pretty much a novelty at this time, and I didn’t really know anyone who was super into hip-hop as a culture when I was a little kid. “Sucker MCs” came out in early-mid ’83, and I remember a relative coming to visit, and being so excited that he stood in front of our house and rapped the song from beginning to end repeatedly. I remember being caught up in his excitement. “Sucker” was still a bad word in my house, so maybe I was also excited that he was getting away with “cursing”, but still…that moment was an early indication of the hold that rap music was beginning to have on people.
-1983 was the year I became a 45-buying fool, thanks to my uncle. While most of the songs on this playlist made their way into the house in some way, shape or form, I also remember buying 7 songs on this list with my own money-“Billie Jean”, “King Of Pain”, “Is This The End?”, “Time Will Reveal”, “Say Say Say” (which I may have gotten as a Christmas gift that year, so scratch that), “Time (Clock Of The Heart)” and “Tell Her About It”, which was the first 12″ single that I bought with my “own” money (remember, at this point, I was still-possibly illegally, as my grandparents either didn’t know or turned a blind eye-digging into my piggy bank for the money to buy these.)
The playlist is below, but I realized that for those of you that don’t have Spotify, a list of the songs included would be very helpful. So, here goes:
“Billie Jean”-Michael Jackson
“It’s Like That”-Run D.M.C.
“I.O.U.”-Freeez
“Maniac”-Michael Sembello
“Heart And Soul”-Huey Lewis & The News
“Say, Say, Say”-Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
“Love Is A Battlefield”-Pat Benatar
“Too Tough”-Angela Bofill
“Cold Blooded”-Rick James
“I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)”-Kashif
“Rock The Casbah”-The Clash
“Running With The Night”-Lionel Richie
“Twist Of Fate”-Olivia Newton-John
“Tell Her About It”-Billy Joel
“Joanna”-Kool & The Gang
“Just Be Good To Me”-The S.O.S. Band
“Juicy Fruit”-Mtume
“Outstanding”-The Gap Band
“Flashdance…What A Feeling”-Irene Cara
“Far From Over”-Frank Stallone
“Say It Isn’t So”-Daryl Hall & John Oates
“Time (Clock Of The Heart)”-Culture Club
“Baby, Come To Me”-Patti Austin & James Ingram
“Jeopardy”-Greg Kihn Band
“Everybody”-Madonna
“Candy Man”-The Mary Jane Girls
“Promises Promises”-Naked Eyes
“Over & Over”-Shalamar
“Livin’ For Your Love”-Melba Moore
“Time Will Reveal”-DeBarge
“Unconditional Love”-Donna Summer featuring Musical Youth
“Down Under”-Men At Work
“King Of Pain”-The Police
“Come Give Your Love To Me”-Janet Jackson
“Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)”-Sheena Easton
“You Are In My System”-The System
“Save The Overtime (For Me)”-Gladys Knight & The Pips
“Choosey Lover”-The Isley Brothers
“Is This The End?”-New Edition
“Miracles”-Stacy Lattisaw