1984, a year that many consider to be the all-time best for pop music, is up next. It’s probably too much work for my brain to assign a specific year with the designation of being the greatest ever for anything, but there’s no denying that ’84 had a higher than normal amount of pop pleasures. Most artists reacted to Thriller‘s omnipresence and MTV’s growing dominance and brought their “A” games to the art they produced during this time.

-We lost Marvin Gaye in 1984, and his was the first musician death to affect me viscerally. After all, when he passed, “Sexual Healing” was barely 18 months old. The circumstances of his murder were obviously quite odd, and the fact that it happened on April Fool’s Day and the day before his birthday made things even weirder.

-Michael Jackson owned 1983, and he also owned the first half of the following year. There was the launch of the “Thriller” video, the Pepsi commercials, the accident on the set of one of those commercials, the hoopla regarding the launch of the Victory Tour, and an endless parade of honors and awards. I was so hyped up over his sweep of the AMAs that I couldn’t sleep following the show. This playlist contains more than its fair share of songs that bear the KOP’s influence, and now I’m regretting the exclusion of Rebbie’s “Centipede” and Janet’s “Don’t Stand Another Chance” (both of which featured input from MJ).  My 3rd grade class went on a field trip to the Museum of Natural History the day MJ was honored by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the best selling album of all time. Alas, I didn’t get to magically bump into him the way Alfonso Ribiero did in the Pepsi commercial. Damn it, Carlton.

-1984’s new pop culture juggernaut was, of course, Prince. I didn’t see Purple Rain until the following year, but the songs from the soundtrack were omnipresent, as were Prince-adjacent songs from The Time, Sheila E., and Sheena Easton. The last two records I bought in 1984 (due to circumstances mentioned below) were “When Doves Cry” and The Jacksons’ “State Of Shock”. Of course, almost no Prince-related material is available on Spotify, so we’re gonna have to make do with “Ice Cream Castles” here.

-Shortly after those two 45s found their way into my expanding record collection, I migrated from Brooklyn to Michigan, where I’d stay for the next three years. Things were a lot different there-no record player for personal use, no Sunday mornings sitting in front of the radio listening to American Top 40. I did, however, discover The Scene (a locally produced, public-access alternative to Soul Train) and Radioscope, a sort of newsmagazine-type show that focused on R&B stars. My time there was enlightening for several reasons. It definitely marked my first real exposure to cultures different from mine, and offered a suburban Midwestern alternative to my very urban existence. Going to the corner store and hanging out on the stoop turned into swimming lessons and Sunday school (which, strangely, was held on Saturday).

-The music played on urban radio in the Detroit area was pretty exciting at the time, a somewhat more experimental version of black music than you’d hear from most urban epicenters (barring, of course, New York). I’d likely not have fallen in love with songs like “Egypt, Egypt” (and maybe “Jam On It”, although I recall that song being hugely popular everywhere) if not for living in Michigan at the time.

Here are the songs featured on the 1984 playlist.

Eat It (“Weird Al” Yankovic)
Somebody’s Watching Me (Rockwell)
Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin’ (Too Good To Be True) (Jermaine Jackson w/Michael Jackson)
Cool It Now (New Edition)
Yah Mo B There (James Ingram feat. Michael McDonald)
I Can Dream About You (Dan Hartman)
Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics)
The Warrior (Scandal)
If This Is It (Huey Lewis & The News)
Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)
Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Phil Collins)
Stronger Than Before (Chaka Khan)
I Still Can’t Get Over Loving You (Ray Parker Jr.)
Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins)
Borderline (Madonna)
Automatic (The Pointer Sisters)
Cruel Simmer (Bananarama)
Give Me Tonight (Shannon)
17 (Rick James)
The Word Is Out (Jermaine Stewart)
Jam On It (Newcleus)
Egypt, Egypt (Egyptian Lover)
Here Comes The Rain Again (Eurythmics)
Method Of Modern Love (Daryl Hall & John Oates)
Let’s Stay Together (Tina Turner)
Feels So Real (Won’t Let Go) (Patrice Rushen)
Don’t Look Any Further (Dennis Edwards feat. Siedah Garrett)
Somebody Else’s Guy (Jocelyn Brown)
Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes)
Why Me? (Irene Cara)
Ice Cream Castles (The Time)
Look The Other Way (Isley/Jasper/Isley)
Friends (Whodini)
Stay With Me Tonight (Jeffrey Osborne)
Love Light In Flight (Stevie Wonder)
The Longest Time (Billy Joel)
One More Chance (The Jacksons)
If You’re Not Here (By My Side) (Menudo)
No More Lonely Nights (Paul McCartney)
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (Wham!)