The Go-Gos - "Head Over Heels"

(Debuted March 17, 1984, Peaked #11, 16 Weeks on the Chart)

The Go-Gos are labeled as pioneers today, vanguards of a New Wave sound that saw them become one of the first all-female acts (who played their own instruments as opposed to a vocal combo) to make regular inroads into the Top 40. I was too young to appreciate that when I was a kid. Back then, their music was just fun.

In 1984, they came out with a new LP called Talk Show, which skewed more pop than the two previous albums that made them stars. While that might have otherwise led to more hits, it sold poorly when compared to their earlier work. There was also some internal dissention between group members and personal problems that eventually led to their breakup. That said, the new album managed to contain two Top 40 hits including "Head Over Heels," which was a bright spot on a record that many of the bandmates really want to forget. It was the perfect marriage of pop music and solid production, and the video for the song was fun to watch. For a band that was about to fracture, they didn't look like it from afar.

Barry Manilow - "Read 'em and Weep"

(Debuted November 19, 1983, Peaked #18, 13 Weeks on the Chart)

At the end of 1983, Jim Steinman must have seemed like one of the most importatnt writers and producers in the music business besides Michael Jackson. At one point in October, he held down the top two spots as writer and producer with Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All." As both of those songs were making their way down the chart, another song written and produced by Steinman appeard on the Top 40: Barry Manilow's "Read 'em and Weep."

Unlike the other two hits, "Read 'em and Weep" was a song that had already been done. It was originally recorded and released in 1981 as part of an album by Steinman's most famous partner: Meat Loaf. On the Dead Ringer LP, the song had a slightly different second verse and had been given his over-the-top vocal treatment. It was a hit in the U.K., but American listeners had grown tired of Meat Loaf's music and largely ignored it. So, in 1983 it was given new life by a similarly over-the-top performer, Barry Manilow, who included it as one of the three new songs in his Greatest Hits, Vol. II compliation. It would be a Top 40 pop hit and a #1 adult contemporary hit, marking the last time Manilow would ever reach those marks.

Barry Manilow gets a lot of greif about many of his 1970s hits and is often seen as something on an anachronism in the 1980s, but too many of his songs are too well-known to dismiss his effect. In fact, his style is almost perfect for Steinman's often bombastic production. The lyrics are typically (for Steinman, that is) obtuse and borrow heavily from the theater, and the video shown below appropritely features Manilow in the makeup of a clown. His rendition of "Read 'em and Weep" was well-suited for the early 1980s, even if few wanted to realize it at the time.

The Scorpions - "Still Loving You"

(Debuted July 7, 1984, Peaked #64, 6 Weeks on the Chart)

Here's another song that was played a lot more often on MTV than its peak position would indicate. The Scorpions were a band from Hannover in what was then West Germany, a band that had become synonomous with German hard rock since the 1970s and had gained success as a album act in the U.S. as the 1980s started.

"Still Loving You" was a power ballad that finished the group's LP Love at First Sting. Though largely seen as a love song that has a couple trying to figure out whether to go on together or separately, it's interesting to point out that a band from West Germany had a line like "only love can bring down a wall someday" when there was still a literal wall dividing their country in two parts.

While failing to reach the pop Top 40 as its predecessor "Rock You Like a Hurricane," "Still Loving You" is one of the band's best-known ballads and was a frequent resident of mix tapes of the era. Written by singer Klaus Meine with the band's guitarist and founder Rudolf Schenker, it epitomizes the 1980s proto-metal power ballad. Even today, it still brings down the house when performed in concert.

The Weather Girls - "It's Raining Men"

(Debuted January 22, 1983, Peaked #46, 11 Weeks on the Chart)

Revisionist history is interesting. If you didn't live through the 1980s, you might have thought that "It's Raining Men" would have been a Top 10 hit because it's been given a lot of exposure over the years. However, it failed to even reach the Top 40 and only reached #34 on the R&B chart. The dance clubs were hip to it, though, and it was really popular there, as well as a #2 hit in the U.K. Fortunately, its potential was realized over the years and it has come to be seen as a camp classic as well as an anthem for both the gay and female audiences.

The Weather Girls were Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. They were both backup singers for the Disco singer Sylvester and eventually struck out on their own, originally with the name Two Tons o' Fun. "It's Raining Men" was their biggest hit, and they parted ways in late in the decade. Wash became an in-demand session singer who was the "real" voice behind Black Box and the C+C Music Factory, and Armstead managed a new version of The Weather Girls consisting of her daughters Ingrid Arthur and Dynelle Rhodes before passing away in 2004.

"It's Raining Men" was written by producer and former Disco artist Paul Jabara and current David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer. Before The Weather Girls recorded it, it was turned down by Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Donna Summer (all of whom could have given it an interesting sound). Judging from that list, it appears to have been targeted for the gay audience right from the beginning. I'm beginning to wonder if Dionne Warwick would have been offered it as well.

Madness - "It Must Be Love"

(Debuted August 20, 1983, Peaked #33, 12 Weeks on the Chart)

Madness are best-known here in the U.S. for their hit single "Our House," a #7 hit in the Summer of 1983. Since they often get labeled as One-Hit Wonders, it's safe to say that many have forgotten that they did score a follow-up Top 40 hit in America that same year with "It Must Be Love." What even fewer realize is that the song had been a hit two years earlier in the band's native U.K.

Madness had been part of the Ska scene that followed the fury of Punk in Great Britain. From 1979-'86 they were the best-selling group in the country, racking up several hit singles. In the States, however, they weren't known at all outside of those who followed the U.K. music scene. When their music was introduced to the U.S., their record company chose to put out a compliation LP that drew from several of the band's English recordings instead of simply issuing a version of their latest LP. As a result, "It Must Be Love" (a single-only release from '81) was one of the songs on the LP Madness.

Ironically, the group's U.S. breakthrough came just as their success at home began flagging. The Top 10 hits stopped arriving in 1984, and internal strife caused them to split for the first time in 1986.

Taco - "Puttin' On the Ritz"

(Debuted June 25, 1983, Peaked #4, 21 Weeks on the Chart)

The first time I remember hearing Taco's "Puttin' On the Ritz," I was close to 11 years old and riding in my grandmother's car. Grandma wasn't normally "with it" when it came to current pop music, so I was a little surprised that she knew the words to the song. Then, she told me that it was a song that had been popular when she was a lot younger. At the time, I thought she was putting me on.

A little while later, I did some research in my school library and discovered that -- sure enough -- it was written in 1929 by Irving Berlin and was a parody of the high-class socialites of the Roaring Twenties, just before the Great Depression. It had been recorded several times over the years and had been part of several films, including one where Fred Astaire leads his own line of dancers. It also appeared in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein. Since Astaire is identified with the song, there is a tap-dance routine in the instrumental bridge of Taco's version the song (as well as a "Gotta dance!" refrain near the end). The instrumental bridge also includes passages from other Berlin songs like "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Always."

Taco (that's his real first name, his last name is Ockerse) is Dutch, but was born in Indonesia and based in Germany. "Puttin' On the Ritz" would be his only American hit, as his follow up "Singin' in the Rain" stiffed and further releases failed to chart. He has continued his musical career, focusing on Europe, as well as acting.

Earth, Wind and Fire - "Fall in Love With Me"

(Debuted January 22, 1983, Peaked #17, 16 Weeks on the Chart)

By 1983, Earth Wind & Fire had long jettisoned the full brass sound that was their hallmark in the 1970s for a more electronic one. The reason wasn't because of personnel issues or internal strife; as the new decade rolled around, music fans were showing different tastes and funk was evolving. The group was forced to evolve with it or end up joining the other groups who were steamrolled by changing times. This may have been a lesson they learned during the Disco era. They weren't really a Disco group despite recording some danceable tunes, and weren't overly affected by the decline of the sound.

"Fall in Love With Me" is a perfect example of the new direction of the band's sound. The first single from their LP Powerlight, it showed that even though the instruments had changed on their singles, their positive, uplifting message was fully intact. Maurice White handles the lead vocals here, singing the lyrics written by Emotions member Wanda Vaughn and her husband Wayne. It's not one of their better-known tunes, but it's still definitely worth listening to.

Linda Ronstadt - "I Knew You When"

(Debuted December 11, 1982, Peaked #37, 11 Weeks on the Chart)

At the time "I Knew You When" came out, it was yet another song in a very long string of songs that had been hits by other artists to which Linda Ronstadt would lend her distinctive voice. It was originally written by Joe South and had been a hit in 1965 for Billy Joe Royal and again as part of a two-sided 1972 Donny Osmond single. Ronstadt's version restored the opening "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain that Royal did but Osmond left to his backup singers. It scratched the lower reaches of the Top 40 early in 1983 and quickly dropped from memory.

After that, Ronstadt did something that might have been seen as a risky career move. She grew tired of being the queen of cover songs and began exploring other areas of her musical interests. A trio of big band LPs with Nelson Riddle's orchestra followed, which really kick-started the "Great American Songbook" concept that other artists have followed. She also explored her own personal heritage, recording traditional Mexican songs. She also finished a collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris that was planned as early as 1978 but was sidetracked because all three were extrememly busy. The pure country concept LP that followed appeared just as the genre was embracing more traditional styles over the slicker, poppier "Countrypolitan" sound.

Despite the temptation to stick with what was successful, Ronstadt decided it was time to take her career in her own chosen direction, without regard for the consequences. That's an admirable thing from an artist who had been a multi-platinum seller for more than a decade.

Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force - "Planet Rock"

(Debuted July 17, 1982, Peaked #48, 11 Weeks on the Chart)

"Planet Rock" is one of the songs that is credited as a trailblazing work in the Hip Hop world. And like many Hip Hop and Rap compositions, it heavily borrows from earlier material to create an entirely new sound. The main sythesizer riff is borrowed from Kraftwerk's 1977 song "Trans-Europe Express" and the beat is borrowed from the same group's 1981 song "Numbers." A song from Yellow Magic Orchestra called "Riot in Lagos" is also interpolated into the body of the song. Like many of the early pioneers of the new sound, it wasn't much of a hit immediately, and would remain underground (but most importantly, in the minds and on the turntables of the DJs who provided the backing music for the rappers) for several years before its effect was fully realized.

In short, it was one of the indicators that a new sound was creeping out from the underground, and listeners could let the beat move them. Otherwise, they needed to get out of the way because it wasn't going to be stopped once it built up.

Lionel Richie - "Truly"

(Debuted October 9, 1982, Peaked #1, 17 Weeks on the Chart)

It's easy to forget just how big Lionel Richie was in the music world of the 1980s. After leaving The Commodores in 1981, his first 13 singles (not counting "We Are the World," which he co-wrote and sang on) all went top 10 on the pop, R&B and contemporary charts. The 14th single was "Deep River Woman," which missed those heights but still went Top 10 on the country chart. For a five-year period, it was hard to find a performer with more crossover success.

His first non-duet solo single was called "Truly," a song that started the new phase of his career on the right note. It went to #1 for multiple weeks on both the pop and AC charts, was #2 on the R&B survey and even went Top 10 in the U.K. Despite sounding a lot like The Commodores' song "Still," which he also wrote and sang, it was a tender ballad of devotion that ranked among the year's top songs at a time when the "old" ways of the 1970s weren't supposed to be in vogue anymore. However, all bets and conventions are off when the subject concerns matters of the heart.