1984 Survey Mix

This is the sixth in my series of 1980s survey mixes, which are moving backwards in time from 1989 to the start of the decade. These compilations are designed to give more context to the music of the ‘80s, and give a sense of how various niches and trends overlapped in this cultural moment.

1984 is a pretty huge year for music, with a lot of major releases that changed the course of pop, rock, and rap history. It’s also a transitional year that bridges the gap between the more artsy new wave of the early ’80s and the sort of schlock pop that ends up dominating the next few years. As with 1985 and 1986, there’s a major aesthetic divide between mainstream and underground aesthetics, to the point that it’s surprising to realize that, say, Minor Threat was happening at the same time as Foreigner and REO Speedwagon. But that’s kinda the point of these surveys, right?

Thanks to Paul Cox and Chris Conroy for their help in compiling this survey. All of the previous 1980s surveys are still available: 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985. The 1983 survey should be ready at the end of April.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Prince and the Revolution “When Doves Cry” / Madonna “Material Girl” / Pointer Sisters “Jump (For My Love)” / Van Halen “Jump” / Wham! “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” / Huey Lewis and the News “If This Is It” / Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band “Dancing in the Dark” / Kenny Loggins “Footloose” / Billy Ocean “Carribean Queen” / Chaka Khan “I Feel For You” / Tina Turner “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” / Bananarama “Cruel Summer” / Deniece Williams “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” / New Edition “Cool It Now” / Cristina “What’s A Girl To Do?” / Sheena Easton “Strut” / ZZ Top “Legs” / Don Henley “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” / Dan Hartman “I Can Dream About You” / Cyndi Lauper “Time After Time” / Pat Benetar “We Belong”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

U2 “Pride (In the Name of Love)” / The Smiths “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” / The Replacements “I Will Dare” / Game Theory “Shark Pretty” / R.E.M. “So. Central Rain” / Echo and the Bunnymen “The Killing Moon” / Billy Idol “Eyes Without A Face” / Thompson Twins “Hold Me Now” / Wang Chung “Dance Hall Days” / The Go-Go’s “Head Over Heels” / The Cars “You Might Think” / Michael Jackson “Thriller” / Metallica “Creeping Death” / Killing Joke “Eighties” / Paul Oakley and Giorgio Moroder “Together in Electric Dreams” / Nena “99 Luftballons” / Aztec Camera “Still On Fire” / Shannon “Let the Music Play” / Queen “Radio Ga Ga” / Steve Perry “Oh Sherrie” / Phil Collins “Against All Odds”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” / INXS “Original Sin” / Run-D.M.C. “It’s Like That” / Six Sed Red “Beat ‘em Right” / Eurythmics “Sex Crime (1984)” / Art of Noise “Close (To the Edit)” / Bronski Beat “Smalltown Boy” / T-La Rock featuring Jazzy Jay “It’s Yours” / Whodini “Freaks Come Out At Night” / Egyptian Lover “I Cry (Night After Night)” / Depeche Mode “People Are People” / The Human League “The Lebanon” / Sonic Youth “Brother James” / The Minutemen “Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” / Minor Threat “Straight Edge” / G.G. Allin “Drink, Fight, and Fuck” / Frightwig “My Crotch Does Not Say Go” / Yellowman “Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt” / Stevie Wonder “I Just Called to Say I Love You” / King Crimson “Three of a Perfect Pair” / The Pretenders “Thin Line Between Love and Hate” / Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

Duran Duran “The Reflex” / Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins “Easy Lover” / Rod Stewart “Some Guys Have All the Luck” / The Fall “C.R.E.E.P.” / New Order “Thieves Like Us” / Man Parrish “Boogie Down Bronx” / Doug E Fresh “The Original Human Beat Box” / Davy DMX “One for the Treble” / Jah Screechy “Walk and Skank” / Special AKA “Free Nelson Mandela” / Konk “Your Life” / Grandmaster Flash, The Furious Five & Grandmaster Melle Mel “Step Off” / Herbie Hancock “Mega-Mix” / Missing Brazillians “Gentle Killers” / Skinny Puppy “Glass Houses” / Laurie Anderson “Sharkey’s Day” / Talking Heads “Burning Down the House (Stop Making Sense live version)”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Glenn Frey “The Heat Is On” / Hank Williams Jr. “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” / Dolly Parton “Tennessee Homesick Blues” / Los Lobos “A Matter of Time” / Miracle Legion “The Backyard” / The Dream Syndicate “The Medicine Show” / The Del Fuegos “Longest Day” / The Nails “88 Lines About 44 Women” / Talk Talk “It’s My Life” / The Psychedelic Furs “The Ghost in You” / Elton John “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” / Spandeau Ballet “Only When You Leave” / Chicago “Hard Habit to Break” / Paul McCartney “No More Lonely Nights” / Night Ranger “Sister Christian” / The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger “State of Shock” / The Jesus and Mary Chain “Upside Down” / Malcolm McLaren “Madam Butterfly” / Madness “Michael Caine” / Lee Greenwood “God Bless the U.S.A.” / Felt “The Stagnant Pool”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

Hüsker Dü “Something I Learned Today” / The Gun Club “Moonlight Model” / The Bangles “Going Down to Liverpool” / Barrington Levy “Under Me Sensi” / Sade “Your Love Is King” / George Michael “Careless Whisper” / Lindsey Buckingham “Go Insane” / Let’s Active “Blue Line” / Cocteau Twins “Lorelei” / The Cure “The Caterpillar” / Linton Kwesi Johnson “Making History” / LL Cool J “I Need A Beat” / The Fat Boys “Can You Feel It?” / Ray Parker Jr. “Ghostbusters” / Daryl Hall & John Oates “Out of Touch” / Rush “Distant Early Warning” / Black Flag “Can’t Decide” / Comsat Angels “Day One” / Meat Puppets “Plateau” / Yngwie Malmsteen “Black Star” / Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “From Her to Eternity”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

Corey Hart “Sunglasses At Night” / Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” / David Bowie “Blue Jean” / Billy Joel “The Longest Time” / Wynton Marsalis “Lazy Afternoon” / Miles Davis “Code M.D.” / Jandek “Ha Ha” / Siouxsie and the Banshees “Swimming Horses” / Laura Branigan “Self-Control” / Sheila E. “The Glamorous Life” / Krootchey “Qu’Est-Ce Qu’Il A (D’Plus Que Moi Ce Négro Là?)” / JYL “Positions” / Billy Squire “Rock Me Tonight” / Rockwell “Somebody’s Watching Me” / Janet Jackson “Don’t Stand Another Chance” / Captain Rock “Cosmic Blast” / Dhuo “Walkin’” / Marillion “Assassing” / XTC “All You Pretty Girls” / Midnight Oil “When the Generals Talk” / Ultravox “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” / The Honeydrippers “Sea of Love”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Band Aid “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” / John Waite “Missing You” / Howard Jones “New Song” / REO Speedwagon “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” / The Go-Betweens “Bachelor Kisses” / Cabaret Voltaire “Blue Heat” / Alphaville “Big In Japan” / Anne Murray “Just Another Woman In Love” / Alabama “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” / Bryan Adams “Heaven” / Spinal Tap “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” / Split Enz “I Walk Away” / Lloyd Cole and the Comotions “Rattlesnakes” / Newcleus “Jam On It” / Broken Glass “Style of the Street” / Blancmange “Don’t Tell Me” / The Stranglers “No Mercy” / UB40 “Cherry Oh Baby” / The Pogues “Dark Streets of London” / The Alarm “Sixty Eight Guns” / X “Wild Thing” / Foreigner “I Want To Know What Love Is”