1984: The Greatest Year in Music? Here are 10 songs that defined the year in question.

In a study commissioned by Greatest Hits Radio in 2019, the best year in music according to the Brits was 1984. Greatest Hits Radio presenter Mark Goodier said: “The results prove how defining the 80s were as a decade for music, artists such as Queen, Wham! and Madonna were at their peak and of course the Band Aid release bought together some of the biggest acts. Songs released in the crucial year of 1984 are still recognised and celebrated today, as many respondents stated, the eighties was a time for classics.”

The study took into account the views of almost 1,500 surveyors. And while it’s not actually rocket science, publications like Rolling Stone and Billboard in 2014 were already ahead of the game sprucing up 1984’s credentials as pop music’s greatest year ever. More recently in 2020, respected music journalist, Michelangelo Matos, also weighted in on the debate publishing a book overview on how 1984 was a pivotal year in pop history. Interestingly, not everyone is impressed with 1984. Kyle Smith, of the National Review, said 1984 was: “All in all, a lot of okay albums and a couple of classics.” He went on to remind us that: “Now, 1983 — that was a spectacular year for pop.” 

Maybe Mr. Smith is right and 1983 was a bigger year than 1984. Fortunately, I’m old enough to remember how incredible the year 1984 was. So let’s look at this question through my eyes and we can debate the virtue of my argument later. Here below are ten songs that just might prove why 1984 is the greatest year in music.

‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ by U2.

I wrote about U2’s The Unforgettable Fire in my classic song series recently. I’ll try not to repeat myself here. The title track like the rest of their fourth studio album The Unforgettable Fire was recorded in Slane Castle in Dublin. Taking full advantage of its huge echoing ballroom, the sessions produced some of their most enduring songs. It was a deliberate departure to the harder-hitting rock of their previous album War. The band released Pride (In the Name of Love) as their lead single to announce their new ambient sound. The Edge’s iconic ringing, delay-heavy guitar riff along with Bono’s famous opening lyrics “Early morning, April 4” is often most remembered and sung verbatim by even the most casual fan of U2. At the time of its release Pride was received with mixed reviews critically despite being a huge hit in the UK, Australia and the US. Decades later, Pride has been re-evaluated as one of the greatest pop-rock songs of all time. Originally earmarked as a protest song about Ronald Reagan, it soon transformed into a great rock sing-a-long and tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. As a homage to the late Dr. King, Pride grew into a culture phenomenon. Civil rights groups in the US were in particular inspired by Bono’s lyrics. Controversially, Bono was targeted with an alleged death threat against him in Arizona in 1987, if U2 performed the key verse: ‘Shot rings out in the Memphis sky/ Free at last, they took your life/ They could not take your pride.’ Bono survived the public death threat (and many others), not only honouring Dr. King but reaffirming his fight for social justice.  

‘Dancing in the Dark’ by Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen’s hit Dancing in the Dark, peaked at #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1984. During its four week stay at #2, it was criminally denied from reaching #1 by artists Duran Duran and Prince with The Reflex and When Doves Cry. The story behind Springsteen’s brush with pop fame has its roots in an argument with his manager Jon Landau, who believed Bruce’s forthcoming album Born in the USA lacked a killer hit single. Out of sheer frustration Springsteen snapped at Landau recoiling at the idea of writing another song for his new album to please his manager. Those who appreciate Springsteen would know he isn’t someone who craves pop heights. But later after taking on board Landau’s criticism “The Boss” retreated behind closed doors, exhausted and defiant and wrote the lyrics to Dancing In The Dark, channeling his own feelings of isolation, fatigue and about being trapped in his own head. “I ain’t nothing but tired / Man, I’m just tired and bored with myself.” The darker tone of self-loathing in Springsteen’s lyrics are deliberately paired with a jaunty upbeat pop-rock sound. It’s pure genius. The phrase “this gun’s for hire” in the lyrics brilliantly works into play Springsteen’s feelings of being used and expected to deliver a product or a smash hit single. With Dancing in the Dark, Springsteen proved he could venture into pop-rock territory if asked. He would rarely do it again.    

‘The Reflex’ by Duran Duran.

It’s said that the synth-pop single Don’t You Want Me by Human League first ushered in what would become known as the second British New Wave in 1982. However, it all really took off in the following year in 1983. Notably midway through July 1983, no less than seven British acts were featured on the U.S Top 10. Leading the charge were the likes of The Police with Every Breath You Take and Duran Duran with Is There Something I Should Know? In ’84, the second British New Wave continued to infiltrate US charts with songs like Karma Chameleon by Culture Club, Here Comes the Rain Again by Eurythmics, Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins and Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham to name a few. However, no British song is more memorable than The Reflex by Duran Duran in 1984. It peaked at #1 on the UK charts for four consecutive weeks in May 1984. Elsewhere it had a welcomed stay at the top of the charts in the US, Belgium and Netherlands and did reasonably well cementing a top ten spot in France, New Zealand and Australia. What is it about The Reflex that makes it an enduring 80s hit? Most of the credit lies in Nile Rodgers innovative remix of the original album track. He used then-groundbreaking sampling technology for instance to splice vocal backing refrains like the “Na-na-na-na”, “Why-eye-eye-eye-eye” and “flex-flex-flex-flex” chants. Moreover Simon Le Bon’s abstract nonsensical lyrics made the song one of the decade’s most surreal pop hits. Debate about what it all means is still discussed on Internet forums. Le Bon sings about The Reflex being a lonely child, dancing on the Valentine and watching over lucky clover with that signature, energetic gusto he was famous for in the 80s. If you believe those lyrics aren’t cryptic enough, honestly what should we make of the line “I sold the Renior and the TV set, don’t wanna be around when this gets out!”??!!??

‘We Belong’ by Pat Benatar.

The four time Grammy Award winner, Pat Benatar, repeatedly produced some of the 80s most popular hits. Between 1980 and 1988 she was an unstoppable force, arguably only eclipsed by Madonna. Earlier this year I wrote about the song that launched her career in 1979. That song was the bawdy belter Heartbreaker taken from her debut album In the Heat of the Night. Interestingly what followed Heartbreaker were songs like You Better Run and Treat Me Right, both taken from her follow up album Crimes of Passion (1980), as wonderful examples of Benatar’s “get out of my face” stance. Often songs like these were in response to her label trying to objectify her. It’s safe to say Benatar built her early career as a fiery rocker. (She always wanted to front her own band as a lead singer in the vein of Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin or Lou Gramm of Foreigner.) On the agenda were fierce rock anthems like 1988’s All Fired Up. Her source of strength as a singer also came from tackling themes about heartache, emotional resilience and the volatile nature of relationships. Love Is a Battlefield and Hit Me With Your Best Shot are often singled out as two of her signature tracks which tackle these subjects. However there were also rare exceptions, like her anthemic love song We Belong, which stood out against her tougher ballsy catalogue.

Written by the songwriting duo of Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro while lamenting an old relationship, We Belong found its way to Benatar. The decision making process behind the shift from rock to a more pop friendly sound for We Belong has never been fully explained. I even reread the appropriate chapters in her memoir to see what I could unearth. The most popular theory about Benatar’s evolution I’ve read was arguably influenced by the expected birth of her daughter Haley. Though I suspect Benatar naturally shifted her sound to capitalise on the New Wave aesthetic dominating the charts. This evolution of course began a year earlier for Benatar in 1983 with the success of Love Is a Battlefield and its synth-driven rock sound. Without losing her signature intensity We Belong doubles down on effortlessly reinventing Benatar’s status as a rock goddess. From the strength and range of Benatar’s vocals, the brilliance of the acoustic-electric chorus and the anthemic chorus of children in the final outro, We Belong is nothing short of a brilliant pop-rock triumph. Moreover, the melodrama and emotional intensity of the lyrics without a doubt reinforces the song’s themes of interdependence and belonging. This is of course bolstered by the children’s choir in a emotional crescendo of shrieks built around Benatar’s soaring lead vocals. 

‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner.

Foreigner’s reputation as the early 1980s ‘kings of love ballads” hinged on two incredible, genre-defining smash hit singles. First up their synth-heavy ballad Waiting for a Girl Like You in 1981 rocked the charts by spending an incredible ten weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Just to prove it wasn’t an outlier in their growing catalogue, Foreigner went one better on the charts three years later with one of the greatest power ballads of all time, I Want to Know What Love Is. The driving force behind the song was Mick Jones with his own romantic struggles and frontman Lou Gramm, who deliveries one of the finest emotionally-charged vocal performance ever. In 1984, when I was turning thirteen my favourite Foreigner song was Cold as Ice. Don’t ask me why, it just was. (I can still hear that famous piano intro.) Then late that year Foreigner released I Want to Know What Love Is and I just cringed. It was all over the radio that Australian summer reaching #1. Honestly, I didn’t care for it. I actively hated it by switching radio stations to avoid it. Years later I came to understand it, not only as a love song but as a song about grace and finding your way along life’s road. Today, it stands tall as my favourite Foreigner song with its spiritualism and gospel infused influence.

I Want To Know What Love Is is a song that has changed how I feel about many things. Lyrically, it is littered with inspirational phrases from “I’ve gotta take a little time/ A little time to think things over” to “Now this mountain I must climb/ Feels like the world upon my shoulders.” Vocally, Lou Gramm works this song like no other. You can feel his vulnerability in the verses only to find his voice swell next with soaring emotion in the chorus. While the chorus is what most people remember best, my favourite lyrics come thick and fast in the pre-chorus, where an overwrought Gramm sings, “In my life, there’s been heartache and pain/ I don’t know if I can face it again/ Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far/ To change this lonely life.” Multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of Foreigner, Mick Jones wrote I Want to Know What Love Is as an emotional plea. It moved millions of listeners worldwide upon first hearing it. As for me I was a rather naive young man at the time. But I came around to appreciating its greatness. 

‘Creeping Death’ by Metallica.

The birth of thrash metal is often associated with bands like Motorhead and Venon. In part, thrash metal evolved out of an adverse reaction or strong dislike to the rise and popularity of glam metal. It was Metallica, Megadeath, Slayer and Anthrax who helped popularise and further define thrash metal in the early 1980s. Two key figures had a lot to say about it – Megadeath’s Dave Mustaine and Metallica’s James Hetfield.

Metallica’s story began in 1981, Los Angeles, California, when vocalist/ guitarist Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich were brought together after Ulrich placed an ad in a local newspaper looking to join a band. (Interestingly, Mustaine was Metallica’s first lead guitarist before being fired from the band in 1983.) By 1983, Metallica’s released their impressive debut album Kill ‘Em All (1983). It was a defining year for Metallica and trash metal as a genre. However, 1984 was an even bigger year for Metallica and heavy metal in general as it exploded into mainstream consciousness. Van Halen in particular successfully blurred the lines between mainstream singles chart success and album sales with their album 1984 and their hit synth-driven song Jump, which spent five weeks at #1 on the billboard Hot 100. While Metallica rarely got radio play, it still manage to move impressive numbers of album sales with their thrash metal masterpiece Ride the Lightning (1984), highlighted by songs like Creeping Death, Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Metallica fans will tell you, they don’t buy singles, they would rather buy and listen to their favourite band’s albums in their entirety. But if we were to single out just one song and depending on who you ask, Creeping Death would arguably be Metallica’s best song of 1984. Released late in November ’84, as the band’s only single from the album, it barely charted. The strange thing is that Metallica didn’t even need to release it as single because their album was already gaining notable traction by late ’84. Anyway, putting aside its lack of chart success, Creeping Death’s influence was still nonetheless immediately felt in metal and industry circles because of its kinetic energy. It is without a doubt a thrash metal masterpiece at some six minutes with its fast tempo, harsh lyrics, shredding guitars and solos. Lyrically, Creeping Death takes its cues heavily from the Book of Exodus and is based on the tenth plague of Egypt. The song’s title was inspired by a comment made by Metallica’s bassist Cliff Burton while watching Charlton Heston’s The Ten Commandments. In the scene where an ominous fog rolls out of the night sky to kill every firstborn son of Egypt, Burton described it as a “creeping death”. The band subsequently used this inspiration to write their epic biblical thrash metal anthem.  

‘Like A Virgin’ by Madonna.

In 1984, Madonna was the hottest female music artist around, with her hit singles Borderline and Like A Virgin racing up the charts. While the music video for Borderline helped break taboos by centring on an interracial relationship, it wasn’t as controversial as Madonna provocatively dancing and writhing on a Venetian gondola for her Like A Virgin music video. In doing so, she created a storm amongst conservatives and religious groups. “But wait! There’s more!” Thanks to a shoe mishap Madonna later in the year outdid herself at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards by performing a scandalous rendition of Like a Virgin in a traditional white wedding dress with a “Boy Toy” belt buckle on stage. Moreover, it really is impossible for us to divorce Madonna from her wedding album cover and her song Like A Virgin. Both are enduring symbols of the 1980s. With the song’s pulsating, upbeat disco-funk baseline, exploitative lyrics “Oh, like a virgin/ Touched for the every first time…” and Madonna’s exuberance, no one came close to emulating her.

‘Original Sin’ by INXS.

When we talk about the best Australian songs of 1984, Original Sin by INXS, Come Said the Boy by Mondo Rock, Heaven (Must Be There) by Eurogliders and Flame Trees by Cold Chisel are always mentioned with affection. They left a deep mark on our national consciousness. With the exception of Cold Chisel’s swan song, the said mentioned songs all hit there mark on the nation’s biggest charts. Internationally, only INXS’s Original Sin and Eurogliders Heaven (Must Be There) with their new wave influences gained favourable recognition. And if we break this down further, Original Sin helped set the stage for INXS’s international stardom in the mid-to-late 80s.

Original Sin was released ahead of their fourth studio album The Swing (1984) in December 1983. By early ’84 it gave the band its first #1 single on Australian charts. The song was recorded in New York City with maverick record producer Nile Rodgers (of Chic fame). During the recording sessions, Rodgers took the helm to steer INXS towards a more funkier sound. Moreover, he made a bold suggestion lyrically which would have a profound effect on the song and its break down of racial prejudice. Rogers argued with frontman and songwriter, Michael Hutchence, that the phrase Dream on white boy / Dream on White girl should be changed to Dream on white boy / Dream on black girl. The shift in the chorus to “black girl” gave the song a bigger psychological impact. So controversial was the change that some radio stations in the US banned it, which might explain why it stalled on several US charts. Interestingly, Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates was asked by Rodgers to contribute backing vocals in the chorus. In an interview with Donnie Sutherland, the host of the popular Australian TV music programme Sounds in 1984, Hall recalled how he was asked by Rodgers to “come down to the studio because they wanted me to sing on it for some reason. I don’t know why because their good singers, they didn’t need me but I did it anyway.”   

‘Eyes Without A Face’ by Billy Idol.

The snarling, handsome ladies’ man, Billy Idol, is often accused of being more style over substance when it comes to his image and music. This argument doesn’t quite explain how tracks like Rebel Yell and White Wedding still remain defining anthems of the 1980s. Moreover, Billy Idol is among the 2026 Rock & Rock Hall of Fame inductees, proving what a seminal figure he is, with his signature punk rock attitude, new wave pop hooks and hard rock power chords. Having first established himself in the late 1970s, Billy Idol blazed a new path as a solo artist in the 1980s. He became a permanent fixture early on MTV and a popular choice on the airwaves with his radio-friendly rock. He undoubtedly benefitted from being aligned with the second British New Wave capturing the hearts of American listeners. The year 1984 was a huge milestone in Billy Idol’s rise. That year saw the release of Eyes Without a Face taken from his second studio album Rebel Yell (1983). Interestingly, today we still debate which is Billy Idol’s best song. Often it comes down to Eyes Without a Face and White Wedding. For many fans it really is a toss of the coin as to which it is. In my mind there is no argument. The hauntingly beautiful Eyes Without a Face is not only his best song but his most mature and deeply reflective ballad from his catalogue.

On Eyes Without a Face, Billy Idol manages to check his punk attitude and snarl at the door for a softer more emotional, atmospheric track about heartache and disillusionment. The song’s title was inspired by the 1960 French horror/fantasy movie Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face), while the lyrics of the song in part reflect upon Billy Idol’s life in New York and his struggle to keep his waning relationship from imploding with his partner at the time, Perri Lister. Sonically, when I listen to this song I’m reminded of Vangelis’s iconic 1982 Blade Runner movie score. The sonic drone in particular at the beginning of the song captures the dystopian feel of sci fi noir. The specific sonic guitar/synth sound created by Billy Idol and guitarist Steve Stevens which weaves its way through the song is perfect in execution, as is Perri Lister’s melancholic background chant (Les yeux sans visage) in the chorus. The unexpected guitar solo by Stevens in the song’s bridge also feels schizophrenic jolting listeners with it’s mood change. In short, Eyes Without a Face might feel more 80s dark pop than we like, but it’s a welcomed interruption to the same old. 

‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.

“Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to talk about…” the undisputed three best songs of Prince’s epic 1984 album Purple Rain. And no, Darling Nikki isn’t one of them. The three songs I agonised over, as a representation of what was so good about the soundtrack album, all really should have ended up on this list. But out of respect to the many great songs that would have missed the cut, I’ll instead give an honourable mention to both When Doves Cry and Let’s Go Crazy briefly here below. That said, 1984 was a landmark year in Prince’s career which saw him release and kick off proceedings with When Doves Cry. With its instantly recognisable guitar intro, minimalistic drum and synth beat and Prince’s famous wail it is simply the defining song of the summer of 1984. In fact, one could argue it is one of the defining songs of the decade of decadence. The Guardian’s Alex Petridis once referred to Let’s Go Crazy as ‘the emotional flip side of the eerie, troubled When Doves Cry…” Indeed Mr. Petridis, it is definitely “a joy from start to finish” with its famous spoken word, church-organ sermon intro – “Dear Beloved…” – through to its pumped-up, steroid infused, rock guitar outro which has seldomly been outdone.

This brings me to the epic, nearly nine-minute, power ballad Purple Rain, arguably Prince’s signature masterpiece and best song ever. Like Let’s Go Crazy, Purple Rain features one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. Far from the apocalyptic solo of Let’s Go Crazy, Prince uses his virtuoso as guitarist to evoke an emotional connection with his audience. When it rains, it pours on Purple Rain with its apocalyptic vision and powerful metaphors pertaining to love, spiritual cleansing and rebirth.

Prince had two #1 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 – When Doves Cry and Let’s Go Crazy. He was deprived of a third #1 for Purple Rain, having to settle instead for #2 in late 1984, behind Wham!’s cringeworthy hit Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Despite this Prince would see out 1984 having reigned supreme on MTV and music charts around world. With his sixth studio album Purple Rain and its title track, Prince truly announced himself as the pre-eminent musician and songwriter of the 1980s. Only Bruce Springsteen came close with his soaring anthems and deep lyricism on Born in the USA (1984) and Tunnel of Love (1987).

Honourable mentions: 

‘What’s Love Got To Do With It‘ by Tina Turner.

‘The Glamorous Life’ by Sheila E.

‘The Boys of Summer‘ by Don Henley.

‘I Feel For You’ by Chaka Khan.

’99 Luftballons’ by Nena.

‘Jump‘ by Van Halen.