1983 Survey Mix

Here’s the seventh 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.

I can’t tell you how nice it is to get out of the mid-’80s after spending months focused on that period for the past few surveys. The early ’80s have a very different vibe, and are much more rooted in elements of disco, new wave, and punk that have aged better than the cheesy extremes of the mid-80s. There’s a lot of great stuff going on in this set, and I think when this project is complete, this will end up being one of the most listenable surveys.

Thanks to Paul Cox, Chris Conroy, Chris Ott, and Rob Sheffield for their help in compiling this survey. All of the previous 1980s surveys are still available: 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984. The 1982 survey should be ready sometime in the middle of June.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Michael Jackson “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” / New Order “Blue Monday” / David Bowie “Let’s Dance” / Human League “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” / Eddie Grant “Electric Avenue” / Stevie Nicks “Stand Back” / Loose Joints “Tell You (Today)” / ESG “My Love for You” / Liquid Liquid “Cavern” / Herbie Hancock “Rockit” / Run-D.M.C. “It’s Like That” / Donna Summer “She Works Hard for the Money” / Prince “Little Red Corvette” / R.E.M. “Pilgrimage” / U2 “New Year’s Day” / Echo and the Bunnymen “The Cutter” / The Smiths “This Charming Man” / Spandau Ballet “True”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

Madonna “Borderline” / Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream” / The Isley Brothers “Between the Sheets” / Mtume “Juicy Fruit” / Talking Heads “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” / Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson “Say Say Say” / Huey Lewis and the News “Heart and Soul” / Billy Joel “Uptown Girl” / John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band “On the Dark Side” / New Edition “Candy Girl” / Naked Eyes “Always Something There to Remind Me” / Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” / “Irene Cara “Flashdance…What A Feeling” / Yazoo “Nobody’s Diary” / Cybotron “Clear” / The Cure “The Lovecats” / Culture Club “Karma Chameleon” / Ludus “Breaking the Rules” / Cocteau Twins “Sugar Hiccup” / Siouxsie and the Banshees “Dear Prudence” / Sonic Youth “Making the Nature Scene”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

Styx “Mr. Roboto” / Yes “Owner of a Lonely Heart” / The Police “Every Breath You Take” / Elton John “I’m Still Standing” / Genesis “That’s All” / Miles Davis “U n I” / Bob Marley “Buffalo Soldier” / X-Visitors “The Planet Doesn’t Mind” / G.L.O.B.E. & Whiz Kid “Play That Beat Mr. DJ” / Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force “Renegades of Funk” / Gwen Guthrie “Padlock (Larry Levan mix)” / Beastie Boys “Cooky Puss” / Vanity 6 “Nasty Girl” / Pat Benetar “Love Is A Battlefield” / ZZ Top “Sharp Dressed Man” / Suicidal Tendencies “Institionalized” / Circle Jerks “Parade of the Horribles” / Bad Brains “Big Takeoever” / Minor Threat “Out of Step” / The Minutemen “Sell Or Be Sold” / The Verlaines “Death and the Maiden” / Bauhaus “She’s In Parties” / Einstuerzende Neubauten “Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T.”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

Lionel Richie “All Night Long (All Night)” / Cyndi Lauper “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” / Def Leppard “Photograph” / John Cougar Mellencamp “Pink Houses” / Elvis Costello “Shipbuilding” / Tears for Fears “Mad World” / Depeche Mode “Everything Counts” / Laid Back “White Horse” / Shriekback “Lined Up” / The Fall “Eat Y’self Fitter” / Weird Al Yankovic “I Love Rocky Road” / The Replacements “Color Me Impressed” / The B Boys “Rock the House” / Kurtis Blow “Got to Dance” / King Sunny Ade “Synchro System” / Steps Ahead “Pools” / Shalamar “The Look” / UB40 “Many Rivers to Cross” / Bob Dylan “Jokerman” / Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, and The Edge “Snake Charmer” / Jandek “If Your Fortune Fails You”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “Scorpio” / Rammellzee Vs K-Rob “Beat Bop” / Orange Juice “Rip It Up” / The Fixx “One Thing Leads to Another” / Fun Boy Three “Our Lips Are Sealed” / Kajagoogoo “Too Shy” / Grace Jones “My Jamaican Guy” / Don Carlos “Spread Out” / Black Uhuru “Big Spliff” / Daryl Hall and John Oates “One On One” / Marianne Faithful “Blue Millionaire” / Oingo Boingo “Good For Your Soul” / Jeffrey Osborne “Stay With Me Tonight” / James Ingram & Michael McDonald “Yah Mo Be There” / The Motels “Suddenly Last Summer” / The Kinks “Come Dancing” / Stray Cats “(She’s) Sexy + 17” / Tracey Ullman “They Don’t Know”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

Quiet Riot “Cum On Feel the Noize” / Mötley Crüe “Looks That Kill” / Big Country “In A Big Country” / The B-52’s “Legal Tender” / Public Image Ltd “(This Is Not A) Love Song” / The Glove “Punish Me With Kisses” / Laura Branigan “Deep in the Dark” / Killing Joke “Let’s All Go (To The Fire Dances)” / Sparks “Lucky Me, Lucky You” / Air Supply “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” / Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” / Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton “We’ve Got Tonight” / Emmylou Harris “Like An Old Fashioned Waltz” / Bryan Adams “Cuts Like A Knife” / Red Rockers “China” / X “The New World” / Jonathan Richman “That Summer Feeling” / Paul Simon “Train in the Distance” / Randy Newman “I Love L.A.” / This Mortal Coil “Song to the Siren”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

Metallica “Hit the Lights” / Dio “Rainbow in the Dark” / Billy Idol “Rebel Yell” / Greg Kihn Band “Jeopardy” / Class Action “Weekend” / Malcolm McLaren “Double Dutch” / Lex “Fourteen Days” / Olivia Newton-John “Twist of Faith” / Rufus & Chaka Khan “Ain’t Nobody” / David Joseph “You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me) (Larry Levan mix)” / Chaz Jankel featuring Laura Weymouth “Whisper” / Whodini “Magic’s Wind” / William Onyeabor “Good Name” / Robin Gibb “I Believe In Miracles” / Shakin’ Stevens “Cry Just A Little Bit” / The Call “The Walls Come Down” / Pink Floyd “Two Suns in the Sunset”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Kraftwerk “Tour de France” / Duran Duran “Union of the Snake” / Wham! “Club Tropicana” / Michael Sambello “Maniac” / Peter Schilling “Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst)” / Heaven 17 “Temptation” / XTC “Wonderland” / Liliput “Yours Is Mine” / Dub Syndicate “Drainpipe Rats” / Ministry “Work for Love” / Lou Reed “Legendary Hearts” / Pulp “My Lighthouse” / Tom Waits “In the Neighborhood” / Journey “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” / Jonzun Crew “Pack Jam” / The Rake “Street Justice” / African Head Charge “Timbuktu Express” / Marshall Crenshaw “Whenever You’re On My Mind” / Madness “Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day)” / Violent Femmes “Blister in the Sun” / Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart”