I graduated high school in 1984. We were the George Orwell class. It was the end of the world, we had Bowie belting out the year and we had a top 5 that sucked so bad its no wonder we survived.
In 1984 the top 5 were
1. “When Doves Cry” Prince
2. “What’s Love Got To Do With It” .Tina Turner
3. “Jump” Van Halen
4. “Karma Chameleon” Culture Club
5. “Like A Virgin”Madonna
Could there possibly have been a worse selection? It was because of this that I found myself so far out on the fringe of ‘pop music’ that I nearly fell off the planet. For the love of Jesus “Jump”? What the hell in a hand basket crap was that?
So I shoved a safety pin through my nose shaved my head into a sassy mohawk, and proceeded to find my own top ten.
1- Please Don’t be Gentle with Me- The Minutemen
2- Look Back and Laugh- Minor Threat ( I loved them)
3- Truckin- Pop O Pies (I ran away to San Francisco, they were huge there and I would hang out @ sing this to the hippies in a mocking tone.. I was an asshole, still am I guess)
4- No Survivors – GBH, they played the iBeam in SF that summer. I passed out drunk in the parking lot. Good times there. dammit…
5- 7 Seconds I’m listing the band cuz I totally loved them- all of it.
So as you can see its a whole lot cooler than ‘Karma Chameleon, but 1984 was a pretty fucked up year