Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles of 1984 - # 97

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/peter-wolf-lights-out-20140917

Here's the first act so far where my knowledge of the act/musician predates the year. Like many, I "discovered" the J. Geils Band when they hit big huge in 1981 with "Centerfold" and the Freeze Frame album. But I didn't stop there; I went back, becoming a fan of their earlier material, especially Love Stinks, Sanctuary and one of my all-time favorite albums, Monkey Island (God, I could do a whole long post just about "Wreckage" and now that I've teased you, I certainly will. You're welcome.) I would have gone forward, too, past Showtime!, a great live album that proves you don't need a double/triple/quadruple album to show what a great act you are onstage, if Wolf hadn't left. I actually knew so much about the band that when I heard that he was leaving, I correctly predicted that drummer Stephen Jo Bladd and keyboardist Seth Justman would take over vocal duty being that they sang vocals on the other albums. (Yes, kids, when you're a nerd with ton of useless knowledge in high school, you just grow up to be an older version. And then, someone invents the Internet. And here we are.)

Great song and a great album end to end.  

But that video - oof! Those kinds of moves may look good onstage with a mike stand in your hand when you're doing all that breathless rapping mumbo jumbo he was known for but alone in a video? Thank God Billy Squier got crucified a month earlier for what really wasn't much worse and no one dragged Wolf to the streets, leaving him alone for the sake of the goodwill he'd cultured for over 15 years. Cause, man, that's some bad dancing. 

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles of 1984 - # 98

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/dead-or-alive-you-spin-me-round-like-a-record-20140917

I am not a dancer; I try, but it's not happening. And it's not pretty. But I do like dance music - more than I thought I would. Something about the precision of the beats syncs with my math-loving brain, which is the problem; I get so tuned into listening, I can go into a trance and lose my feet. 

This is really good one, too, but I much prefer "Brand New Lover", which hit in late 1986, almost two years later. Which makes these guys' chart reign longer than Boy George's and Culture Club (remember, for all of the Club's hits - and there were many - they hit hard and were almost washed up in less time.) Odd, that.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles of 1984 - # 99

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/scandal-feat-patty-smyth-the-warrior-20140916

Okay, here's a good one. You never don't hear this one; every weekend, some radio station is playing a "Best of the 1980s" weekend and this one surely belongs. It's a shame that she didn't have the hit parade that her voice deserved. But, The Warrior did become The Survivor; I saw her last December, doing a Christmas show in NYC. Still cute and spunky, she led her band (half of whom weren't even born when she first broke out, it seemed) through a warm and intimate show mixed with old, new and holiday songs. The voice hadn't aged as well as the songs, but the spirit was still there.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles of 1984 - # 100

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917/corey-hart-sunglasses-at-night-20140916

Oh, God, doubling up won't be difficult with songs like this. But, you have to start somewhere, I guess and here it is. 

Actually, the song's not bad and it did sound great coming off the radio back then. However, the video is like an encyclopedia of video cliches and bad ones, at that. Also, way, way too many people actually walked around wearing sunglasses at night, and I still can't decide if it was more stupid than dangerous or vice versa. Topping that was that most of those people were teenaged girls and when a 17 year old boy complains about what teenaged girls are wearing, someone should take notice.

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles of 1984

Last week, Rolling Stone's online component posted their list of the Top 100 singles of 1984, a year that they are (finally) calling "the year that pop stood tallest." Well, Musician magazine said basically the same thing - in 1989 - and I said it in 1985. Since I lived through this incredible year, which was not only a great year for pop but also for Amerindie/punk as well (sidebar post to come), I thought I'd do a post a day, offering my own perspectives on each song/video. If I double up a few days at first, I should post the number one on New Year's Eve 2014. Along the way, I'll supplement with other thoughts on the music of 1984 as experienced by a 17 year old boy, just shaking off comic books (bad move in retrospect) and embracing the fairer sex (questionable move in retrospect) and wholly dedicating his head, heart and wallet to music of every stripe. 

Rolling Stone's criteria in choosing songs needs to be explained - a song had to be released in 1984 (well, duh) or have significant chart impact in 1984 (to allow songs by Michael Jackson that were almost two years old to be on the list) and have charted on the Billboard Top 100 (to continue a 30 year streak of ignoring/undervaluing The Smiths and Morrissey.) 

Full disclosure - I read Rolling Stone RELIGIOUSLY from June 1983 to 1997 and then again with alternating  annoyance/surprise for the last 8 years. Those interested in better consistency and depth, please, please try Paste.com, Pitchfork.com, Stereogum.com, TheQuetus.com and Spin.com (for starters.)

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-singles-of-1984-pops-greatest-year-20140917