Well, here we go again. Today, I'm going to start my summation of the year 1983, beginning with my 100 top songs based on data from Radio & Records Magazine. Now it's important to note that beginning the week ending Jume 10, 1983, Radio & Records went from a thirty-place chart to forty. Doesn't matter a whole lot in the entire scheme of things (except for two songs I'll talk about below) as positions 31-40 only had point totals of ten to one, with a maximum bonus point allotment of ten (for songs that went above 15 weeks on the chart). The point totals are explained here, in case you needed a refresher. Here now are my top 100 from R/R for calendar year 1983.
100. Rock & Roll Is King by ELO--219 points
99. Why Me by Irene Cara--221 points
98. Twist Of Fate by Olivia Newton-John--230 points
97. Modern Love by David Bowie--234 points
96. Human Touch by Rick Springfield--245 points (peaked at #12)
95. China Girl by David Bowie--245 points (peaked at #10)
94. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You by Laura Branigan--246 pts (peaked at #12)
93. Owner Of A Lonely Heart by Yes--246 points (peaked at #4)
92. PYT (Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson--249 points
91. Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye--252 points
90. Hot Girls In Love by Loverboy--254 points
89. Cum On Feel The Noize by Quiet Riot--263 points
88. I've Got A Rock & Roll Heart by Eric Clapton--270 points (peaked at #11)
87. She's A Beauty by The Tubes--270 points (peaked at #9)
86. We've Got Tonight by Kenny Rogers with Sheena Easton--272 points
85. Always Something There To Remind Me by Naked Eyes--274 points (peaked at #10)
84. She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby--274 points (peaked at #5)
83. I Know There's Something Going On by Frida--280 points (two weeks in Top 10)
82. If Anyone Falls by Stevie Nicks--280 points (three weeks in Top 10)
81. She's Sexy + 17 by The Stray Cats--282 points
80. Even Now by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band--296 points
79. I'll Tumble 4 Ya by Culture Club--298 points
78. Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair) by Sheena Easton--301 points
77. Breaking Us In Two by Joe Jackson--305 points
76. The Other Guy by Little River Band--306 points
75. Promises Promises by Naked Eyes--312 points
74. Baby Jane by Rod Stewart--317 points
73. My Love by Lionel Richie--325 points
72. Union Of The Snake by Duran Duran--334 points
71. Crumblin' Down by John Mellencamp--346 points (peaked at #6)
70. Church Of The Poison Mind by Culture Club--346 points (peaked at #5)
69. Far From Over by Frank Stallone--348 points
68. Solitaire by Laura Branigan--352 points
67. You Can't Hurry Love by Phil Collins--366 points
66. Come Dancing by The Kinks--368 points
65. (Keep Feeling) Fascination by The Human League--374 points
64. Family Man by Hall & Oates--377 points
63. Delirious by Prince--388 points
62. Back On The Chain Gang by The Pretenders--389 points
61. Lawyers In Love by Jackson Browne--394 points
60. Heat And Soul by Huey Lewis & The News--397 points
59. Never Gonna Let You Go by Sergio Mendes--399 points
58. Take Me To Heart by Quarterflash--412 points
57. Straight From The Heart by Bryan Adams--413 points (peaked at #6)
56. Suddenly Last Summer by The Motels--413 points (peaked at #5)
55. Stray Cat Strut by The Stray Cats--416 points
54. I'm Still Standing by Elton John--427 points
53. Is There Something I Should Know by Duran Duran--442 points
52. Too Shy by Kajagoogoo--445 points
51. Little Red Corvette by Prince--452 points
50. Heart To Heart by Kenny Loggins--455 points
49. Our House by Madness--467 points
48. Allentown by Billy Joel--475 points
47. Africa by Toto--485 points
46. Don't Cry by Asia--487 points (peaked at #4)
45. Baby Come To Me by Patti Austin & James Ingram--487 points (peaked at #3)
44. Affair Of The Heart by Rick Springfield--494 points
43. Faithfully by Journey--512 points
42. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply--523 points
41. Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran--526 points
40. I Won't Hold You Back by Toto--533 points
39. Der Komissar by After The Fire--551 points
38. Say It Isn't So by Hall & Oates--555 points
37. She Works Hard For The Money by Donna Summer--559 points
36. Human Nature by Michael Jackson--575 points
35. Don't Let It End by Styx--590 points
34. All Right by Christopher Cross--591 points
33. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson--593 points
32. It's A Mistake by Men At Work--604 points
31. One Thing Leads To Another by The Fixx--621 points
30. Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar--624 points
29. Mr. Roboto by Styx--625 points
28. The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats--644 points
27. Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton--659 points
26. Stand Back by Stevie Nicks--660 points
25. True by Spandau Ballet--672 points
24. One On One by Hall & Oates--689 points
23. Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners--694 points
22. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant--715 points
21. Let's Dance by David Bowie--731 points
20. Time (Clock Of The Heart) by Culture Club--744 points
19. Shame On The Moon by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band--778 points
18. Uptown Girl by Billy Joel--782 points
17. Tell Her About It by Billy Joel--817 points
16. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me by Culture Club--819 points*
15. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey--819 points*
14. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurythmics--825 points
13. King Of Pain by The Police--841 points
12. You Are by Lionel Richie--888 points
11. Jeopardy by Greg Kihn Band--896 points
10. Beat It by Michael Jackson--921 points
9. Down Under by Men At Work--929 points
8. Say Say Say by Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson--953 points
7. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson--957 points
6. Maniac by Michael Sembello--976 points
5. All Night Long (All Night) by Lionel Richie--980 points
4. Overkill by Men At Work--1015 points
3. Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler--1055 points
2. Flashdance (What A Feeling) by Irene Cara--1260 points
...and my number one song based on date from Radio & Records Magazine was...
1. Every Breath You Take by The Police--1551 points
There were nine ties on this chart, but none more convoluted than at 15/16. Both "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" and "Separate Ways" had 819 points, so we went to the first tiebreaker for songs that reached the Top 20, which was peak position. Both songs reached #1, so the next tiebreaker was weeks at number one. Both songs stayed at #1 for two weeks. Next tiebreaker was weeks in the top 10. Both had seven. Next was weeks in the top 20. Both had 11 weeks. Next tiebreaker was total weeks on the chart, and incredibly, both had 12 weeks. So, to break the tie, I finally had to go to weeks within the top three, and "Separate Ways" spent four weeks in the Top 3 while "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" spent three. So Journey wound up at #15. Remember in m opening paragraph about the chart going from 30 to 40? Since both songs debuted in the first half of 1983, I think if the chart back then had 40 positions instead of 30, it would have helped a lot.
Remarkably, this is probably the only time in the forty years of data that I use from Radio & Records/Mediabase (1980-2019) that a tiebreaker had gone THAT far. I'm still working on data from Billboard, and as what we found out this week, that will be something altogether weird as I go later in the years. Next up will be my top 100 based off Billboards data, then the combined chart. Until then have a wonderful Thursday, and Happy Hannukah to all who celebrate.
Bonyscribe
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