1984 in music

Events

January 21 - "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart: it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.
January 27 - Michael Jackson's hair catches fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.
February 14 - Elton John marries studio engineer Renate Blauel.
February 16 - Jerry Lee Lewis surrenders to federal authorities on charges of income tax evasion. Lewis is later acquitted.
February 29 - KMFDM's first live performance.
March 1 - Sting plays his last concerts with The Police at the end of the Synchronicity tour; the band takes a "pause" after the tour and only play a few special events together after this.
April 1 - In Los Angeles, California, Marvin Gaye is shot and killed during an argument with his father.
May 1 - Mick Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Mac, files for bankruptcy in the United States.
May 1 - Tipper Gore forms the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) in response to the "filth" she hears on her daughter's Prince album Purple Rain.
May 2 - Lionel Richie's hit "Hello" becomes Motown's first ever UK million selling single.
May 5 - The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde marries Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr.
June 16-August 11 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood spend nine weeks at the top of the UK singles chart with "Two Tribes".
July 1 - During his performance at the first ever Cornerstone Festival in Grayslake, Illinois, Steve Taylor falls from the stage, breaking his ankle. Taylor hopped back on stage and finished his show. The next few shows on Taylor's tour were performed from a wheel chair.
August 31 - Canadian music video channel MuchMusic debuts. The first video played is Rush's "The Enemy Within".
October 1 - The Jesus & Mary Chain release their first single, "Upside Down".
October 19 - A-Ha's career begins with the release of the "Take On Me" single in the UK.
December 1 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood become the first act to take their first three singles to the UK #1 position since Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963, when "The Power Of Love" tops the chart.
December 3 - Bob Geldof and Band Aid release the single "Do They Know It's Christmas".
December 8 - Mötley Crüe member Vince Neil is involved in a serious car accident. He was drunk at the time, and Razzle (Nicholas Dingley) of Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident.
December 31 - Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car wreck. He was in the hospital until the next year (1985).
Menudo and Menudomania reach Asia. Ricky Martin substitutes Ricky Melendez in the group.
UK singles sales this year are the second highest ever, after 1978.

Albums released

Balls to the Wall - Accept
'74 Jailbreak EP - AC/DC
Live Sentence - Alcatrazz
Mast Nazren -Ecstatic Glances Live in London, 1984 - Ghulam Ali
Forever Young - Alphaville
Fistful of Metal - Anthrax (debut)
March of the Saint - Armored Saint (debut album)
''Who´s Afraid?(Of the Art Of Noise!) - Art Of Noise
All Over the Place - The Bangles
Tropico - Pat Benatar
Steeltown - Big Country
Black N' Blue - Black N' Blue
Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi
Tonight - David Bowie
Box of Frogs - Box of Frogs
Self Control - Laura Branigan
Heartbeat City - The Cars
Chicago 17 - Chicago
Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Dreamtime - Death Cult (Band name was later changed to The Cult)
Waking Up With the House on Fire - Culture Club
The Top - The Cure
Dali - Dalida
Perfect Strangers - Deep Purple
First strike EP - Def Leppard
High 'N' Dry - Def Leppard (re-Release)
Some Great Reward - Depeche Mode
Desert Moon - Dennis DeYoung
The Last in Line - Dio
Seasons - Dion DiMucci
Tooth and Nail - Dokken
Lady of the Stars - Donovan
Arena (live album) - Duran Duran
Wings of Tomorrow - Europe
Eden - Everything But The Girl
The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall - The Fall
All Fired Up - Fastway
Goan Crazy! - Remo Fernandez
Dancing on the Edge - Lita Ford
Agent Provocateur - Foreigner
Welcome To The Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
About Face - David Gilmour
Spring Hill Fair - The Go-Betweens
Straight Ahead - Amy Grant
Great White (band) - Great White (band)
See You In Hell - Grim Reaper
Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man - Guadalcanal Diary (debut)
Big Bam Boom - Hall & Oates
VOA - Sammy Hagar
All Those Wasted Years - Hanoi Rocks (live album)
Two Steps From The Move - Hanoi Rocks
Walkin' The Razor's Edge - Helix
The Art of Defense - Nona Hendryx
Building the Perfect Beast - Don Henley
I Often Dream of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü
Icon - Icon (debut album)
Powerslave - Iron Maiden
Dream Street - Janet Jackson
Heart Don't Lie - LaToya Jackson
Centipede - Rebbie Jackson
Victory - Jacksons
Under Wraps - Jethro Tull
Breaking Hearts - Elton John
Defenders of the Faith - Judas Priest
Lay Down the Law - Keel (debut album)
No Kinda Dancer - Robert Earl Keen
Intellectuals Are The Shoeshine Boys Of The Ruling Elite - Killdozer
Animalize - KISS
The Blitz - Krokus
She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper
Give Em' The Axe EP - Lizzy Borden
How Will the Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos
Like a Virgin - Madonna
Yngwie J. Malmsteen/Rising Force - Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (debut)
Legend: Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers - Bob Marley & the Wailers
Give My Regards to Broad Street - Paul McCartney
Meat Puppets II - Meat Puppets
Revolution - Menudo
Ride the Lightning - Metallica
Out of Step - Minor Threat
Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
No Remorse - Motörhead
Hajimemashite (How Do You Do) - Miyuki Nakajima
From Her To Eternity - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Penetrator - Ted Nugent
Suddenly - Billy Ocean
Volume One - Robert Plant
From The Promised Land - Play Dead
From The Promised Land (remix) - Play Dead
Learning to Crawl - The Pretenders
Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution
The Works - Queen
The Warning - Queensrÿche (first full length album release)
Condition Critical - Quiet Riot
Out of the Cellar - Ratt
Volume 1 - Reagan Youth
Breaking Curfew - Red Rider
Reckoning - R.E.M.
Let It Be - The Replacements
What About Me? - Kenny Rogers
Grace Under Pressure - Rush
A Dancing Foot and a Praying Knee Don't Belong on the Same Leg - Scattered Order
Love At First Sting - Scorpions
Like A Virgin - Madonna
L.A. Is My Lady - Frank Sinatra
Hyaena - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Burning Oil - Skeletal Family
Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths
The Smiths - The Smiths
Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Haunting The Chapel EP - Slayer
The Yellow and Black Attack EP - Stryper
Caught In The Act - Styx
Cats Without Claws - Donna Summer
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Soul Mining - The The
Into The Gap - Thompson Twins
Isolation - Toto
Private Dancer - Tina Turner
- her breakthrough solo album
Thunder Seven - Triumph
Stay Hungry - Twisted Sister
The Unforgettable Fire - U2
1984 - Van Halen
When In Rome Do As The Vandals - The Vandals
Beverly Hills Cop (soundtrack) - Various Artists
Couldn't Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking - Roger Waters
No Brakes - John Waite
Burning The Witches - Warlock (debut album)
W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. (debut album)
Pagan Place - The Waterboys
Lights Out - Peter Wolf
The Woman in Red - (cinematic soundtrack by Stevie Wonder)
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D - "Weird Al" Yankovic
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. - Dwight Yoakam (debut)
In Rock We Trust - Y&T
Nave Maria - Tom Zé
No Tellin' Lies - Zebra

Top hits

"Against All Odds" - Phil Collins
"All Cried Out" - Alison Moyet
"All Through the Night" - Cyndi Lauper
"An Innocent Man" - Billy Joel
"Automatic" - Pointer Sisters
"Be My Number Two" - Joe Jackson
"Better Be Good To Me" - Tina Turner
"Big City Nights" - The Scorpions
"Blue Jean" - David Bowie
"Careless Whisper" - Wham! Featuring George Michael
"Caribbean Queen (No More Love On the Run)" - Billy Ocean
"Centipede" - Rebbie Jackson
"Cherry Oh Baby" - UB40
"Cover Me" - Bruce Springsteen
"Crazy" - Kenny Rogers
"Cruel Summer" - Bananarama
"Cry and Be Free" - Marilyn
"Dance Hall Days" - Wang Chung
"Dancing In The Dark" - Bruce Springsteen
"Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" - Ultravox
"Distant Early Warning" - Rush
"Doctor! Doctor!" - Thompson Twins
"Don't Tell Me" - Blancmange
"Drive" - Cars
"Easy Lover" - Phillip Bailey duet with Phil Collins
"Eyes Without A Face" - Billy Idol
"Flame Trees" - Cold Chisel
"Flesh For Fantasy" - Billy Idol
"Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
"Forest Fire" - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
"Freedom" - Wham!
"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
"Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker Jr.
"Half A Boy Half A Man" - Nick Lowe
"Hammer To Fall" - Queen
"Heaven's On Fire" - Kiss
"Here Comes The Rain Again" - The Eurythmics
"High on Emotion" - Chris De Burgh
"Heaven (Must Be There) Eurogliders #1 (a)
"Hold On To Love" - Gary Moore
"Hot Water" - Level 42
"I Scare Myself" - Thomas Dolby
"I Want A New Drug" Huey Lewis and the News
"I Want To Break Free" - Queen
"I Want To Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
"I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Nik Kershaw
"Invisible" - Alison Moyet
"If This Is It" - Huey Lewis and the News
"It's A Hard Life" - Queen
"It's a Miracle" - Culture Club
"Jokerman" - Bob Dylan
"Jump" - Van Halen
"Kalimba De Luna" - Dalida
"L'Innamorata" - Dalida
"Let's Go Crazy" - Prince and the Revolution
"Lights Out" - Peter Wolf
"Locomotion" - OMD
"Madam Butterfly" - Malcolm McLaren
"Message To The Girl" - Split Enz
"Michael Caine" - Madness
"Missing You" - John Waite
"Mistake No. 3" - Culture Club
"My Ever Changing Moods" - Style Council
"No Mercy" - The Stranglers
"No More Lonely Nights" - Paul McCartney
"One Love/People Get Ready" - Bob Marley and the Wailers
"One Night In Bangkok" - Murray Head
"Original Sin" - INXS
"Panama" - Van Halen
"Pearl In The Shell" - Howard Jones
"Pearly Dewdrops' Drops" - Cocteau Twins
"People Are People" - Depeche Mode
"Perfect Skin" - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
"Pour te dire je t'aime" - Dalida
"Pride(In The Name Of Love)" - U2
"Purple Rain" - Prince and the Revolution
"Radio Ga Ga" - Queen
"Rattlesnakes" - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
"Relax" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"Robert De Niro's Waiting" - Bananarama
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" - The Scorpions
"Runaway" - Bon Jovi
"Saturday Night" - Cold Chisel
"Self Control" - Laura Branigan
"Seven Seas" - Echo and the Bunnymen
"She Bop" - Cyndi Lauper
"She Was Hot" - Rolling Stones
"Shout" - Tears For Fears
"Shout To The Top" - Style Council
"Silver" - Echo and the Bunnymen
"Skin Deep" - Stranglers
"Soul Kind Of Feeling - Dynamic Hepnotics
"Smooth Operator" - Sade
"So Tired" - Ozzy Osbourne
"Soleil" - Dalida
"Somebody's Watching Me" - Rockwell
"Some Guys Have All The Luck" - Rod Stewart
"Standing In The Shadows" - Whitesnake
"That's All" - Genesis
"The Killing Moon" - Echo and the Bunnymen
"The Heart of Rock and Roll" - Huey Lewis and the News
"The Longest Time" - Billy Joel
"The Lucky One" - Laura Branigan
"The More You Live The More You Love" - A Flock of Seagulls
"The Never Ending Story" - Limahl
"The Power Of Love" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"The Reflex" - Duran Duran
"The War Song" - Culture Club
"The Wild Boys" - Duran Duran
"Thin Line Between Love And Hate" - Pretenders
"Ti Amo" - Laura Branigan
"Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper
"Tinseltown In The Rain" - Blue Nile
"To France" - Mike Oldfield
"Together In Electric Dreams" - Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder
"Torture" - Jacksons
"TV Dinners" - ZZ Top
"Two Tribes" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"Up On The Catwalk" - Simple Minds
"Very Personal" - Ian Dury
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" - Wham!
"We Rock" - Dio
"What About Me?" - Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and James Ingram
"What Difference Does It Make" - The Smiths
"What's Love Got to Do with It" - Tina Turner
"When Am I Gonna Make A Living" - Sade
"When Doves Cry" - Prince
"When Love Breaks Down" - Prefab Sprout
"Where The Rose Is Sown" - Big Country
"William It Was Really Nothing" - The Smiths
"Wood Beez" - Scritti Politti
"Wouldn't It Be Good" - Nik Kershaw
"You Don't Love Me" - Marilyn
"You Might Think" - The Cars
"You Think You're a Man" - Divine
"You're The Best Thing" - Style Council
"Young At Heart" - The Bluebells
"Your Love Is King" - Sade

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1984

Christmas songs

"Do They Know It's Christmas" - Band Aid
"Last Christmas" - Wham!
"Thank God It's Christmas" - Queen

Published popular music

"After All These Years" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander from the musical The Rink
"The Cosby Show theme song" m. Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby
"Cover Me" w.m. Bruce Springsteen
"Every Time I Turn Around" w.m. Judy Hart Angelo & Gary Portnoy, theme from the TV series Punky Brewster
"Friends" m. John Leffler, theme from the TV series Kate and Allie
"Ghostbusters" w.m. Ray Parker Jr.
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" w.m. Stevie Wonder
"Let's Go Crazy" w.m. Prince and the Revolution
"Like A Virgin" w.m. Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly
"Lights Out" w.m. Peter Wolf & Don Covay
"Missing You" w.m. John Waite, Chaz Sanford & Mark Leonard
"Murder. She Wrote theme song" m. John Addison
"No More Lonely Nights" w.m. Paul McCartney
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" w.m. Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine & Herman Rarebell
"Time After Time" w.m. Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman
"To All The Girls I've Loved Before" w. Hal David m. Albert Hammond
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" w.m. George Michael
"What's Love Got To Do With It" w.m. Terry Britten & Graham Lyle
"When Doves Cry" w.m. Prince