My Favourite 45s of the Year: 1984 Quiz

Answer: Scritti Politti

All of a sudden in 1984 Scritti Politti reappeared in the limelight. Firstly they released an excellent track, "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)", a piece of pure synth pop with a great dance rhythm that broke into the UK Top Ten. Following that came the classic "Absolute", one of the best dance records ever with shifting synthesizer chords, excellent drumming and Green's light voice floating over the top of it all.

The instrumental break is gorgeous, rising notes followed by a reversion to the wonderful solid drumming. All-in-all, a great record.

It went to number 17 in the UK Singles Chart but was not released in the US.

Answer: Prince and the Revolution

The movie and associated album by Prince and the Revolution, "Purple Rain" swept all before it in 1984. The album and the four singles released from it sold in millions, with the title track and "When Doves Cry" leading the way. My favourite single from the album, however, was this vocal gem by Prince, "I Would Die 4 U". It's an electrifying track, full of excitement.
It went to number 58 in the UK Singles Chart and to number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Kirsty MacColl

The very wonderful Kirsty MacColl was a Londoner, the child of the famous folk singer Ewan MacColl, composer of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". She signed for Stiff Records in 1979 and released "They Don't Know", which failed to chart due to a record distributors' strike. Four years later, however, Tracey Ullman's cover version got to number two in UK Singles Chart and to number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
She moved to Polydor Records in 1981, but they dropped her just as she'd finished recording the songs for a second album, so she went back to Stiff Records. Here she picked up this wonderful song, "A New England", by punk/folk/protest singer Billy Bragg which she recorded with her husband Steve Lilywhite producing. Bragg wrote extra lyrics for her, and it would be hard to match the pithiness of a girl singing to a boy "I put you on a pedestal, you put me on the pill". It went to number three in the UK Singles Chart and to number 97 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Later of course MacColl sang on the huge 1987 Christmas record "Fairy Tale of New York" with Shane MacGowan and the Pogues. She later said that touring with them had helped cure her previously crippling stage fright. She looked set for a great career but she was involved in an accident while diving on a coral reef at Cozumel, Mexico. Seeing a speedboat coming towards her she managed to push her young son out of the way, but the boat struck and killed her. In 2001 a wooden bench was placed in Soho Square in London as a memorial to her; this refers to the lyrics of one of her songs: "One day I'll be waiting there, no empty bench in Soho Square". At the time of writing this Shane MacGowan has just died, but I hope that perhaps there can be a bench dedicated to him placed next to hers.

Answer: Billy Joel

I was starting to really like Billy Joel's work, and when the album "An Innocent Man" came out in 1983 I rushed to buy it. I wasn't disappointed! Basically the songs on the album were written in a variety of styles, but for me by far the best song on the album was the a capella doo-wop song "The Longest Time". I just loved this, with its soaring harmonies and great rhythm; it's also wonderfully romantic! The video is good too, with the group portrayed both as young men at school and as older men 25 years later.

It went to number 25 in the UK Singles Chart and to number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

Part of the explosion of brilliant pop from Scotland in the early 1980s (see Orange Juice and "Rip it Up" from 1983), Lloyd Cole and the Commotions made their mark in 1984 with an excellent first album, "Rattlesnake". Its stand-out track was "Perfect Skin"; its lyrics are vague but the guitar sound is amazing! Sadly the band folded in 1989. "Perfect Skin" went to number 26 in the UK Singles Chart but was not released in the US.

Answer: Cyndi Lauper

In 1983 Cyndi Lauper had impressed with her version of the Robert Hazard song, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which got to number two in both the UK and US charts. The follow-up, "Time after Time", was a truly memorable and beautiful love song, with great lyrics sung to a background of simple chords and jangly guitars.

The rawness of the vocals, clearly derived from real-life experience, add to the song's impact. It went to number three in the UK Singles Chart and to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It was also ranked at number 494 in the 2021 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Answer: Don Henley

I've never been a fan of West Coast/MOR rock and I really didn't like the Eagles, but this particular track, Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer", blew me away on first hearing and I still love it. The song is built around an up-tempo succession of three descending guitar notes with some urgent synthesizer and drumming backing this.

But what hit me was the lyrics - I could write an essay about them! The song is all about nostalgia, and I make no excuse for quoting the last verse: "Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.

A little voice inside my head said "Don't look back, you can never look back"". Now I think this is just genius - there's all sorts of themes there to do with aging and selling out. It went to number 12 in the UK Singles Chart and to number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It was also ranked at number 416 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Answer: Joe Jackson

A typical great Joe Jackson love song, "Be My Number Two" has a wonderful piano background and absolutely heartbreaking words - I was in tears when I saw him play this live at a gig in Belfast some years ago. Very simple but very effective - and a wonderful climax when the rest of the band comes in at the end.
It went to number 70 in the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.

Answer: Chaka Khan

Prince wrote "I Feel for You" in 1979 for his second album, but this 1984 cover by Chaka Khan was excellent, winning two Grammys and selling more than a million copies. A great supporting cast of musicians, including Melle Mel and Stevie Wonder, helped construct this excellent slice of R&B.

There's all sorts of sampling and synthesizer sounds going on, and it's just tremendously exciting from the rapping intro all the way through. The video is notable for the early 1980s pop cultural things going on, such as day-glo fashion, rapping, hip-hop and break dancing, but I have to say that it all looks rather dated now! It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart and to number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: The Pointer Sisters

With "Automatic" the Pointer Sisters went sexy! This is a great record, nicely sleazy with slow-paced R&B. Now this may sound a bit naff, but the first time I heard it I was convinced that it was a man singing the lead vocal - it was only when I saw them on "Top of the Pops" that I realised it was Ruth's beautiful contralto voice up front. It went to number two in the UK Singles Chart and to number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Sadly Ruth is the only one of the three still with us.