The year 1983 was a vibrant musical landscape, a moment when pop culture was exploding with creativity and technological advancement. It was a year when Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” dominated the airwaves, its infectious rhythm and groundbreaking music video revolutionizing how we experienced music. The single was more than just a song; it was a cultural phenomenon that captured the zeitgeist of an era when music was becoming increasingly visual and dynamic.
This was also the year when Prince’s “1999” prophetically danced with apocalyptic themes, and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” became an anthem of complex emotional surveillance. The diversity of musical styles was remarkable, with artists like Dexys Midnight Runners bringing an unconventional folk-pop energy with “Come on Eileen,” while New Order’s “Blue Monday” pushed the boundaries of electronic music, creating a sound that would influence dance music for decades to come. David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” marked a vibrant shift in his musical journey, infusing his signature artistic sensibility with an irresistible pop-funk groove.
The single was king in 1983, with an unprecedented number of memorable tracks that seemed to burst from radios and dance floors everywhere. Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” introduced Annie Lennox’s haunting vocals to the world, while Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” offered a smooth, sensual counterpoint to the era’s more uptempo sounds. Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” exemplified the period’s sunny, celebratory pop, and Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” challenged musical and social conventions with its charismatic lead singer, Boy George.
The year wasn’t just about pop, however. Rock and new wave were thriving, with bands like The Smiths (“This Charming Man”), The Clash (“Rock the Casbah”), and Duran Duran (“Hungry Like The Wolf”) pushing musical boundaries. Hip-hop and early rap were also emerging, with tracks like Melle Mel’s “White Lines” and Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking “Rockit” signaling a musical revolution that would transform popular culture in the coming decades.
What made 1983 truly special was how it represented a moment of musical transition—a year when synthesizers and drum machines were becoming more prevalent, when music videos were transforming how artists communicated, and when genres were blending in unprecedented ways. From the new romantic sounds of Heaven 17’s “Temptation” to the quirky charm of Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance,” the music of 1983 was a testament to creativity, innovation, and the pure joy of sound. It was a year that didn’t just produce hit songs, but created a sonic landscape that would influence musicians for generations to come.
As the calendar turned to 1980, the music world stood at a fascinating crossroads. The year marked not just the dawn of a new decade, but also a pivotal moment in popular music, where established genres evolved and new sounds emerged to captivate listeners.
The influence of disco could still be felt, though its dominance was waning. Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” showcased his exceptional vocal talents and danceable rhythms, while Diana Ross’s “Upside Down” demonstrated the sophisticated production techniques that defined the era. These tracks, along with hits like Lipps, Inc.’s “Funkytown” and The Brothers Johnson’s “Stomp!”, proved that disco’s infectious energy still had the power to fill dance floors.
Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” further exemplified how established artists were adapting to the changing musical landscape, infusing reggae influences into his signature soulful sound.
However, 1980 also heralded the rise of new wave and synth-pop, genres that would come to define much of the decade’s sound. Gary Numan’s “Cars” introduced many listeners to the futuristic possibilities of synthesizer-driven music, creating an atmospheric soundscape that was both innovative and influential. Blondie’s “Call Me” further exemplified the genre’s versatility, blending punk aesthetics with disco beats to create a chart-topping hit that appealed to a broad audience. Pretenders established themselves with “Brass in Pocket,” a song that showcased Chrissie Hynde’s distinctive vocals and the band’s unique blend of punk energy and pop sensibility.
Rock and punk maintained a strong presence throughout the year. Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” dominated charts worldwide, its memorable chorus and biting social commentary resonating with listeners. The Clash’s “London Calling” and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” brought raw energy and rebellious spirit to the airwaves. These tracks, along with Motörhead’s aggressive “Ace of Spades,” spoke to listeners seeking music that channeled their frustrations and aspirations. In contrast, Joy Division’s haunting “Love Will Tear Us Apart” showcased a more introspective side of post-punk, its emotional depth influencing countless artists in the years to come. The Cure’s “A Forest” further expanded the boundaries of post-punk, its atmospheric sound and introspective lyrics pointing towards the gothic rock movement that would flourish in the coming years.
The year was also marked by significant releases that left an indelible mark on popular culture. John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” served as a poignant reminder of his enduring legacy, released shortly before his untimely death. Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” demonstrated the band’s ability to blend rock with funk, creating an anthem that remains popular decades later. David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” continued his tradition of pushing musical boundaries, seamlessly merging art rock with electronic elements.
Oh, a guy named Prince had his breakthrough hit “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” We’d hear more from him throughout the 1980s.
As the year closed, it was clear that 1980 had set the stage for the decade to come. The eclectic mix of sounds reflected a world in transition. It was a year where artists embraced both the past and the future, creating music that was as much a reflection of its time as it was a precursor to the trends that would define the 1980s.
Today’s playlist celebrates the August 17 birthdays of Dexys Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland, The Go-Go’s’ Belinda Carlisle, Phoebe Bridgers, Mark Dining, Luscious Jackson’s Jill Cunniff, The Revolution/Wendy & Lisa’s Lisa Coleman, Maria McKee, The Pack’s Lil B, and Robert DeNiro; and the August 18 birthdays of Arcade Fire’s Régine Chassagne, Aphex Twin, the xx’s Romy, Wu-Tang Clan’s Masta Killa, The Orioles’ Sonny Til, Clairo, House of Pain’s Everlast, The Primitives’ Tracy Tracy, The Move’s Carl Wayne, Mika, The Toys’ Barbara Harris, Johnny Preston, Maxine Brown, The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Martin Mull, and Denis Leary.
Happy 2021 Pride! Though LGBTQ+ Pride should be celebrated every month, June is the month officially designated to celebrating one’s identity, orientation and possible otherness.
To celebrate Pride this year I’m going to create thirty-song playlists broken out by decade, kicking off today with two decades combined – the 1950s and the 1960s. I’ll post these lists sporadically throughout the month.
Here is what you’ll hear on today’s playlist and what makes it queer:
“Cry” – Johnnie Ray
Poor old Johnnie Ray, as he was referred in Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen,” was a closeted gay man, arrested for soliciting male undercover officers on more than one occasion. “Cry” was a humongous hit, spending more than two months at #1.
“Hound Dog” – Big Mama Thornton
Chances are you’re familiar with Elvis Presley’s hugely successful version of this song from 1956. Three years earlier, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, who preferred to dress in what would be considered men’s clothing, sold a half million copies of her version, from which she made $500.
“Too Much” – Bernard Hardison
Another song covered by Elvis, Bernard Hardison released his version two years prior to The King. The song was played on the web radio series Queer Music Heritage, though I cannot find any other indication anywhere about Hardison’s sexual orientation.
“Don’t You Want a Man Like Me” – Billy Wright
As a youth, Billy Wright sang the gospel in church and worked as a female impersonator. The openly gay Wright was an influence on young Little Richard, suggesting he wear his hair in the pompadour style. Speaking of…
“Tutti Frutti” – Little Richard
No matter that the hit version altered the original lyrics “Tutti frutti, good booty / If it don’t fit, don’t force it / You can grease it, make it easy,” the song and the performer are oh so queer.
“Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” – Huey “Piano” Smith and the Clowns
As his nickname might indicate, Huey Smith was a piano player. The singer in his band was an openly gay man named Bobby Marchan.
“Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis never covered up his sexual orientation, though he didn’t come out as gay until 1982, when a reporter printed his off the record acknowledgment.
“Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
“Number 47 said to number 3, ‘You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see. I sure would be delighted with your company. Come on and do the jailhouse rock with me.” Nothing queer about that, right?
“Secretly” – Jimmie Rodgers
“Wish we didn’t have to meet, secretly / Wish we didn’t have to kiss, secretly / Wish we didn’t have to be afraid to show the world that we’re in love / ‘Til we have the right to meet openly / ‘Til we have the right to kiss openly / We’ll just have to be content to be in love secretly.” Make of those lyrics what you will.
“Rockin’ the Joint” – Esquerita
Though Little Richard released records prior to Esquerita, it was Black flamboyant Esquerita who taught Little Richard his style of piano playing and perhaps introduced the high-pitched “whoo”s in his singing.
“Frances and Her Friends” – Frances Faye
Frances Faye was openly embracing of bisexuality in her stage shows, as the lyrics of this tune will attest. In the late 1950s she met a woman named Teri Shepherd who became her life partner.
“My Baby Likes Western Guys” – Brenda Lee
Oh, does he now?
“He Don’t Care About Me” – The Miracles
Yes, those Miracles. Written by Smokey Robinson with lead vocals by his wife Claudette, you wonder why he don’t care about her. When she sings “Don’t he know that I could make him gay?,” you just have to respond “Girrrrrrrl!”
“Up on the Roof” – The Drifters
Rudy Lewis, who sang lead on this Drifters hit as well as “On Broadway” and others, was a closeted gay man who sadly died of a drug overdose when he was just 27 years old.
“Any Other Way” – Jackie Shane
Though she didn’t call herself trans, Jackie Shane presented and sang in a way typically associated with women. She considered herself to be a gay man, and my use of pronouns here is not intended to disrespect that.
“You Don’t Own Me” – Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore came out as a lesbian in 2005, revealing that she knew she was attracted to women since age 20 and never sought to hide out, though didn’t announce it before then.
“You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” – The Beatles
Many believe that The Beatles’ John Lennon wrote this song about the group’s gay manager, Brian Epstein. It wasn’t until 1967, two years after this song’s release, that England decriminalized sex between two men over the age of 21, and Epstein would no longer have to hide his love away. Sadly, he died in August of that year.
“See My Friends” – The Kinks
The Kinks’ Ray Davies wrote this song about a young man who is unsure of his sexual orientation, a feeling Davies said he experienced.
“To Try for the Sun” – Donovan
The song’s teenage narrator and his “gypsy boy” friend have an obvious affection for each other. “And who’s going to be the one to say it was no good what we done?”
“You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” – Dusty Springfield
“I know that I’m as perfectly capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don’t see why I shouldn’t. There was someone on television the other night who admitted that he swings either way. I suppose he could afford to say it, but I, being a pop singer, shouldn’t even admit that I might think that way. But if the occasion arose I don’t see why I shouldn’t.” – Dusty Springfield, 1970, in an interview with The Evening Standard
“Do You Come Here Often?” – The Tornados
Produced by legendary gay producer Joe Meek, “Do You Come Here Often?” has to be heard to be believed. The song was the b-side of a forgotten 45, released on a major record label.
“I’m a Boy” – The Who
The story of a boy whose parents wanted a girl, so his mother raises him as a girl.
“Willkommen” – Joel Grey
From the Tony Award winning musical Cabaret, written by openly gay lyricist Fred Ebb and openly gay composer John Kander, based on a book by openly gay writer Christopher Isherwood, comes this number, performed by Joel Grey, who publicly came out in 2015 at age 82.
“Sweet Soul Music” – Arthur Conley
Arthur Conley was living as a closeted gay man in the United States when “Sweet Soul Music” became a smash. He later moved to the Netherlands, changed his name to Lee Roberts, met a man who became his life partner, and then lived as an openly gay man.
“Arnold Layne” – Pink Floyd
“Arnold Layne” became Pink Floyd’s first hit single, despite Radio London eventually banning it from airplay as its subject matter of a transvestite stealing women’s clothing off clothes lines was considered by them to be too distasteful for “normal” society.
“Let the Heartaches Begin” – Long John Baldry
Reginald Dwight changed his name to Elton John after Elton Dean, a fellow musician in the backing band of Long John Baldry, the gay vocalist from where the John comes.
“Save the Country” – Laura Nyro
The late Laura Nyro was bisexual, enjoying romantic relationships with men and women, the longest one being with painter Maria Desiderio.
“Triad” – The Byrds
Written by The Byrds’ David Crosby, this 1967 recording of a song about a throuple went unreleased until 1987.
“Candy Says” – The Velvet Underground
Inspired by Candy Darling, a transgender actress in Andy Warhol films, “Candy Says” tells of a trans woman who has “come to hate her body.”
“That’s the Way God Planned It” – Billy Preston
A brilliant musician whose friends and collaborators knew he was gay, Billy Preston didn’t publicly come out until shortly before his passing in 2006.
Inspired by the August 17 birthdays of Go-Go’s’ Belinda Carlisle, Lone Justice’s Maria McKee, Lisa Coleman, Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland, Luscious Jackson’s Jill Cunniff, The Pack’s Lil B, and Robert De Niro.
My friend and fellow improviser Josh asked me to compile a playlist consisting of my thirty favorite new wave songs. This proved challenging, for what is new wave? As a genre there is no clear definition of the term. For some it’s any musical act from England that emerged between 1977 and 1985. For some it includes any band that wasn’t punk that played at CBGBs. For some new wave was defined by the way the synths or guitars were played. For others it was a look.
I decided to not get too caught up on a precise definition; otherwise, I’d make myself crazy. For example, initially I was hesitant to include songs by Cheap Trick, Cyndi Lauper, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and even Pet Shop Boys (the latter because the song I chose was a poppy number that hit in 1988), but then I decided a case could be made for each to be considered new wave.
I limited myself to one song per artist. The limitation imposed by using Spotify to create the playlist proved to not be so bad – only one song I would put in my top thirty is not on the service, that being Yoko Ono’s “Kiss Kiss Kiss.” I see some people writing Spotify thank you notes already.
Herewith are my thirty favorite new wave songs. Did I leave out any of your all-time favorites? Tell me in the Comments.
