He’s baaaack, this time with the title track of the album that became – for the longest time – the biggest selling album ever. This track also redefined what it meant to do a music video, where it could be a mini-movie and tell a full story. Also, the song (while likely not intended) is still one of the best Halloween songs ever. Dropping in at #7 is Thriller by Michael Jackson.
We now arrive at the second of two songs I rediscovered after combing back through the tracks, and boy!, was I positively stunned that I missed this one. This pop goddess indicated she wanted to rule the world when this track first dropped, and she didn’t stop for years. When I found the track, I weighed it against all other tracks as I reviewed the countdown, and it kept climbing and climbing until it finally rested at #8 – it’s Holiday by Madonna.
I hope you got your running shoes on. Songs tend to conjure up different images, and this next song in this 1983 countdown is going to make you want to run in place really fast. It is the second of two songs spawned from a movie that have managed to stay atop on their own, and it is just a really good song as well. The song is instantly recognizable and fun. Coming in at #9 is Maniac by Michael Sembello.
We’ve reached the top 10 of what was an incredibly tough year of choices, and our next entry shows just why it was (this could have been #1 another year). Starting at the bottom of the top half is the first of two songs that belonged to a movie and have since stood atop on their own. A list of most recognizable 80s songs would almost certanly have this one, and it enters in at #10 in the top 20 1983 songs countdown. It’s Flashdance (What a Feeling) by Irene Cara.
As I do these countdowns, I always try to comb back over tracks that I might have missed, and this is one of 2 songs I could not believe I initially missed. I mean, this song remains a major summer anthem, and once you hear that classic marimba you know what it is. A perfect song for those heatwave days, I reiterate – I can’t believe I almost forgot this song. Wrapping up the bottom half of the top 20 songs turning 40 years old countdown, coming in at #11, it’s Cruel Summer by Bananarama.
If you are familiar with what 1983 brought, then you knew at some point this man was going to make an appearance here, and it won’t be the last. It’s also fitting that the first track off the album that changed the course of pop music is his first entry, and I dare you to not be grooving and smiling when this track is done. And if you have a problem with that, well as the title of the #12 1983 song by Michael Jackson says – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’?