Classically Rewound - 1983

On Memorial Day weekend, Sirius XM’s Classic Rewind ran a great special called “The Top 30 Cassettes of 1983.” Here's their list:

30 Modern Romans - The Call
29 Speaking In Tongues - Talking Heads
28 Keep It Up - Loverboy
27 Money & Cigarettes - Eric Clapton
26 Bent Out of Shape - Rainbow
25 In Heat - The Romantics
24 Tour de Force - 38 Special
23 State Of Confusion-The Kinks
22 Kihnspiracy - Greg Kihn Band
21 Lick It Up - KISS
20 Midnight Madness - Night Ranger
19 Album - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
18 Mental Health - Quiet Riot
17 Cuts Like a Knife - Brayn Adams
16 Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan
15 Let's Dance - David Bowie
14 Sports - Huey Lewis & The News
13 The Wild Heart - Stevie Nicks
12 The Distance - Bob Seger
11 Undercover - The Rolling Stones
10 Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
9 The Principle of Moments - Robert Plant
8 90125 - Yes
7 Frontiers - Journey
6 Genesis - Genesis
5 Uh-Huh - John Mellencamp
4 Synchronicity - The Police
3 Pyromania - Def Leppard
2 War - U2
1 Elimintator – ZZ Top

A solid list, no doubt. But as I looked it over a few things started to bother me.

First off, The Call? Talking Heads? Thinking back to 1983, I don’t remember either being all that popular on radio or even MTV. I think both caught on “after the fact.”

Second, the albums that didn’t make the list were shocking (most notably Asia’s “Alpha”).

So like any OCD chart geek, I dipped into my trusty “Joel Whitburn’s Rock Tracks” to determine what really were the “30” rock albums that were on everyone’s mind that year. With way too much free time on my hands, using the peak position of every song that charted on the Billboard Rock tracks, I calculated a points system for each album. Compared to the original list, exactly half still made the cut.

So here is my “Top 30 Rock Albums of 1983” (with the charted rock songs from each album along with their peak position as well as the chart position of the album if it made the Classic Rewind chart):

30 Duran Duran - Duran Duran
3 Is There Something I Should Know
19 Girls On Film

29 INXS - Shabooh Shoobah
2 The One Thing
17 Don’t Change

28 The Motels - Little Robbers
1 Suddenly Last Summer
18 Little Robbers

27 The Tubes - Outside Inside
1 She’s A Beauty
16 The Monkey Time

26 The Pretenders - Learning To Crawl
4 Back On The Chain Gang
11 My City Was Gone

25 Quiet Riot - Metal Health (18)
7 Cum On Feel The Noize
32 Slick Black Cadillac
37 Bang Your Head (Metal Health)

24 The Fixx - Reach The Beach
2 One Thing Leads To Another
9 Saved By Zero
13 Red Skies

23 Huey Lewis and the News - Sports (14)
1 Heart & Soul
7 I Want A New Drug

22 Neil Young - Trans
12 Little Thing Called Love
14 Mr. Soul
42 We R In Control

21 Duran Duran - Rio
1 Hungry Like The Wolf
5 Rio

20 Red Rider - Neruda
11 Human Race
13 Power (Strength In Numbers)
39 Crack The Sky (Breakaway)

19 The Kinks - State Of Confusion (23)
16 Don’t Forget To Dance
17 Come Dancing
26 State Of Confusion

18 The Rolling Stones - Undercover (11)
2 Undercover Of The Night
14 Too Tough
38 Too Much Blood

17 Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
7 Not Now John
8 Your Possible Pasts
31 The Hero’s Return

16 Loverboy - Keep It Up (28)
2 Hot Girls In Love
11 Queen Of The Broken Hearts
23 Strike Zone

15 Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box
3 Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy
6 Remember The Heroes
24 I Don’t Need Love

14 Genesis - Genesis (6)
5 Mama
10 Just A Job To Do
16 It’s Gonna Get Better

13 Triumph - Never Surrender
2 All The Way
3 A World Of Fantasy
23 Never Surrender

12 Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - The Distance (12)
2 Even Now
11 Boomtown Blues
13 Roll Me Away

11 Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love
4 Lawyers In Love
7 For A Rocker
18 Tender Is The Night
37 Cut Away

10 ZZ Top - Eliminator (1)
2 Gimme All Your Lovin’
8 Sharp Dressed Man
18 Got Me Under Pressure
38 TV Dinners

9 Men At Work - Cargo
3 Overkill
12 Dr. Heckyll And Mr. Jive
23 High Wire
27 It’s A Mistake

8 U2 - War (2)
2 New Year’s Day
7 Sunday Bloody Sunday
12 Two Hearts Beat As One
27 Surrender

7 Bryan Adams - Cuts Like A Knife (17)
6 Cuts Like A Knife
21 Take Me Back
21 This Time
26 I’m Ready
32 Straight From The Heart
44 The Only One

6 The Police - Synchronicity (4)
1 Every Breath You Take
1 King Of Pain
9 Synchronicity II
9 Wrapped Around Your Finger

5 Stevie Nicks - The Wild Heart (13)
2 Stand Back
8 If Anyone Falls
12 Enchanted
19 Nothing Ever Changes
35 I Will Run To You

4 Asia - Alpha
1 Don’t Cry
5 The Heat Goes On
20 True Colors
24 Daylight
25 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

3 Robert Plant - The Principle Of Moments (9)
1 Other Arms
4 In The Mood
6 Big Log
12 Far Post
44 Horizontal Departure

2 David Bowie - Let's Dance (15)
3 China Girl
6 Modern Love
8 Let’s Dance
11 Cat People
31 Criminal World

1 Def Leppard - Pyromania (3)
1 Photograph
1 Rock Of Ages
9 Foolin’
24 Comin’ Under Fire
33 Bill’s Got A Gun
42 Action! Not Words




Some things to note:
 - Certain obvious albums, like “Uh - Huh” from John Mellencamp or “90125” from Yes, did not chart because most of their singles peaked in 1984. It also explains how some albums from 1982, like Sammy Hagar’s “Three Lock Box,” made the list.

 - Such was the power of Michael Jackson, that had I dived deep enough, “Thriller” would have placed at #91 for the year. The residual effect of his popularity allowed acts like Lionel Richie, Rockwell and Shalamar to also hit the rock charts over 1983 and 1984.

 - Yes, “Pyromania” was THAT big. I remember that in High School, no other album came close to matching its popularity at the time. They had 6 singles chart over 1983. The only other album with that kind of release power that year was Bryan Adams’ “Cuts Like A Knife.”

 - Asia’s “Alpha” and Men At Work’s “Cargo” both placed in my Top 10 yet didn’t make Classic Rewind’s Top 30.

 - What was the lowest charted album of 1983? With one single, “Don’t It Make You Feel Good,” peaking at #48 that album would be “Opus - X” from Chiliwack.

 - And finally, for you fellow chart junkies, here are the top 10 Rock Singles of 1983:

1 Every Breath You Take - The Police
2 Photograph - Def Leppard
3 King Of Pain - The Police
4 She’s A Beauty - The Tubes
5 Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey
6 Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes
7 Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
8 If I’d Been The One - .38 Special
9 Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran
10 Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels

I hope Sirius XM does this every year. It will give me something new to obsess over every Memorial Day.