1983 in music

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Years in music: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Centuries: 19th Century · 20th century · 21st century
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Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986

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Contents

[edit] Events

The most long-term influential release of 1983 is probably Head over Heels by the Cocteau Twins, which sold poorly upon its initial release. In the ensuing years, the album's eclectic assortment of alternative rock, New Wave and synth pop influences became a cornerstone of later alternative rock groups, most especially in the United Kingdom, where the Cocteau Twins' mix of airy textures and breathless vocals (dream pop) mutated into genres like twee pop, space rock and shoegazing, and eventually hit mainstream success with a psychedelic-influenced form, Britpop.

The most successful album of 1983 and of all time in fact was Michael Jackon's "Thriller". The album spawned 5 hit singles and stayed in the US and UK national charts for over three years.

Quiet Riot's Metal Health was enormously popular in 1983, and was the first heavy metal album to go to #1 on the pop charts. The lead single, "Cum on Feel the Noize" (cover of Slade) was also a huge hit, and set the stage for the mainstream crossover of later hair metal bands like Guns N' Roses and Def Leppard. Other landmark rock/metal albums released in this year include Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind", Metallica's "Kill 'em all", Def Leppard's "Pyromania" and Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil".


The country music legend Kenny Rogers records his 23rd studio album "We've Got Tonight," which is his last album for Liberty records. He signs to RCA for a guaranteed sum of no less than $20 million for 6 albums, the biggest record deal of all-time up to that point. His earnings for those recordings will amount to even more, but no details have ever been made public. Rogers' RCA debut included his duet with Dolly Parton, "Islands in the Stream", which would become one of the biggest records of the year.

Some releases from 1983 deserve special mention:

  • The Police's Synchronicity was their final release together before breaking up, and was enormously popular, including one of their more popular songs, "Every Breath You Take"
  • Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) was also their breakthrough success, and included their signature tune, the title track
  • Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil was their breakthrough, and included "Looks That Kill", though they would go on to greater popular and critical success in the later part of the decade after recovering from the shock of member Vince Neil's near-fatal car accident
  • Nena releases 99 Luftballons and its English version, 99 Red Balloons, generating her fame in the English-speaking world.
  • Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones was his first album for Island Records, and the first in a series of three thematically and stylistically linked albums that established him as a critical darling and cult favorite
  • New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies released. In some countries, it included the best-selling 12" record of all time, "Blue Monday"; the album was the second since forming from the ashes of Joy Division (after the suicide of Ian Curtis) and the first to achieve critical or popular success, as it was a stylistically innovative mix of synth vocals and dance-heavy beats
  • Duran Duran scored hits from three separate albums in this year (Rio, the reissue of Duran Duran, and Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
  • Merle Haggard began a run of chart success in this year, which continued for about two years. His duet album with Willie Nelson, Pancho & Lefty, was an enormous critical and popular success and did much to revitalize the careers of both entertainers, especially the hit title track
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood was more popular than any blues album since the late 1960s, and did much to establish country-blues as a commercially viable genre
  • George Strait's Right or Wrong sold extremely well, and is a pivotal album in the development of the honky tonk revival during the rest of the decade.

[edit] Albums released

  • "Country (music group) Atlanta releases 'Atlanta Burned Again Last Night'on independednt MDJ Records. Song breaks into the top ten in Billboard's Country Charts.

[edit] Top hits on record


See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1983

[edit] Published popular music

[edit] Classical music

[edit] Opera

[edit] Musical theater

[edit] Musical films

[edit] Musical television

[edit] Births

[edit] Deaths

[edit] Awards

[edit] Grammy Awards

[edit] Country Music Association Awards

[edit] Eurovision Song Contest

[edit] Charts

[edit] List of No. 1 Hits

[edit] KROQ

  • KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1983

[edit] External Charts

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