Bronski Beat - "Smalltown Boy"

(Debuted December 22, 1984, Peaked #48, 15 Weeks on the Chart)

I remember watching the video for "Smalltown Boy" on MTV twice during 1985, but never even heard it once on the radio. At the same time, the song was part of a promo featuring "new music" that MTV ran which featured the synthesized opening line. As a result, that melody stayed with me for a long time.

At the time, that was all that I knew about the song. I had guessed the "smalltown boy" in the song was running away from his life because he felt trapped. I was 12 then, and living in a small town myself, and probably projected my own feelings onto the words I heard in a way I could relate. Of course, I turned out to be very wrong about it. Bronski Beat's members were homosexuals and their songs often addressed problems they faced because of their orientation. The video shows that as well (with the protagonist getting the snot beat out of him by a gang because of who he was), but I never would have picked up on it at that age...I still had a lot to learn about the topic of homosexuality.

"Smalltown Boy" would be Bronski Beat's only chart hit in the U.S., but they enjoyed more hits in their native U.K. and across Europe. Lead singer Jimmy Somervile would resurface later in the decade as part of The Communards on a pair of songs that remade 1970s disco classics.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - "Runner"

(Debuted January 21, 1984, Peaked #22, 15 Weeks on the Chart)

One of the biggest stories of 1984 was the Olympic games in Los Angeles. With that in mind, several recordings took advantage of the coming games, including "Runner," which featured images of a torch bearer in its video and a synthesized intro that might have reminded some listeners of the theme to Chariots of Fire. It was an undeniably radio-ready single and was definitely timely. but received less interest than it eventually deserved.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band was formed in 1971 and is still an active band today. As a group that tended to lean to the progressive side, they were always a better album act than a hit-making one. As it turned out, "Runner" would be their only listing on the Hot 100 for the 1980s. Mick Rogers takes on the vocals; he was returning to the band after leaving in 1976.

"Runner" was added to the American version of the group's Somewhere in Afrika LP, but had not yet been recorded when that album was ready to issue in other countries. The album had been recorded as a celebration of South Africa, the nation where Mann had been born. It was also recorded in the face of Mann being banned from entering the country because of his anti-apartheid work.

Culture Club - "Miss Me Blind"

(Debuted February 3, 1984, Peaked #5, 16 Weeks on the Chart)

By 1984, it was hard to follow music and not at least be aware of Culture Club. For some, the focus was entirely on the group's very flamboyant singer Boy George. For others, the music was seen as an unusual blending of New Wave, reggae and calypso with a healthy dash of Blue-Eyed Soul. As you can see from the video below, they were all over the place stylistically, but that is one of the hallmarks of 1980s fashion.  In my case, I really didn't care for the group on a personal level -- I lived in a small town where Boy George would have been viewed in a very negative light -- but some of their songs really seemed interesting to me. "Miss Me Blind" was one of those.

I distinctly recall hearing the song on a radio station during the Spring of '84 and realizing that it could stand on its own without the accompanying video. Before that song, I largely saw Boy George as something of a cartoon character (this was the follow-up to "Karma Chameleon," after all); afterward, I paid more attention to the fact that he was part of a group. Perhaps that's a result of the video after all, since the three other group members play a larger part in it.

"Miss Me Blind" was a #5 hit in the U.S. and a big hit around the world, but oddly wasn't issued as a single in the band's native U.K.

Peter Schilling - "Major Tom (Coming Home)"

(Debuted September 24, 1983, Peaked #14, 21 Weeks on the Chart)

In the early 1970s, there was a David Bowie song called "Space Oddity" that told the story of Major Tom, and astronaut who cuts off his communication with Earth and floats off into space. More than a decade later, Peter Schilling revisited the concept, although it appears this time Major Tom appeared to be the victim of an accident. However, for those of us who were too young to know about the Bowie song, "Major Tom" was an interesting concept for a generation who was enthralled by the original Star Wars trilogy.

Science fiction was an interest to German-born Peter Schilling, who included the topic in many of his songs. Originally sung and recorded in his native language, the song was rewritten with English lyrics for its international chart runs.

Joe Jackson - "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)"

(Debuted April 24, 1984, Peaked #15, 16 Weeks on the Chart)

One of Joe Jackson's hallmarks was his ability to switch between different styles of music and do so seamlessly. Lumped in with New Wave artists after his 1979 hit "Is She Really Going Out With Him," he quickly showed his versatility on his next several LPs. In 1982, he returned to the Top 40 with "Steppin' Out" and later "Breaking Us in Two," both of which showed a more complex songwriting style. By the time his 1984 album Body and Soul arrived, Jackson had moved on to jazz and big band influences, both of which can be heard in "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)."

After that, Joe Jackson continued to explore his own influences, even composing classical compositions. This willingness to chase his own muse and follow the beat of his own drummer (so to speak) is what has always made Joe Jackson unique.

Newcleus - "Jam On It"

(Debuted June 2, 1984, Peaked #56, 15 Weeks on the Chart)

Rap music -- for better or worse -- arrived during the 1980s. While the early stuff is great, it really didn't get heard in my neighborhood until much later. For those of us who lived in the suburbs, our first taste of the style came with Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," which we picked up through its video. The first rap tune I ever heard on a friend's boombox was "Jam On It."

Newcleus was a group that came out of Brooklyn in the late 1970s, just as "house parties" were shaping the early development of hip hop music. The core of the group eventually centered around two cousins and their future spouses, and the family connection led to the group's name. While "Jam On it" was their only pop hit, it was actually a sequel to the group's song "Jam-On's Revenge," which also features the sped-up voices and the "wikki wikki" refrain.

While much of the criticism leveled at rap music focuses on its glorification of violence and the "thug life," the fact that many of the early songs were purely fun is overlooked. "Jam On it" has an irresistible rhythm, goofy lyrics about space aliens and is still recognizable to those who heard it when it was still "fresh." Although the style would soon pass the group by, they still need to be remembered for helping bring it to the suburban white kids who helped fuel its phenomenal growth.

B.J. Thomas - "Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love"

(Debuted May 21, 1983, Peaked #93, 2 Weeks on the Chart)

I noticed at some point in the 1980s that there were several "oldies" acts that had moved over to singing country as opposed to simply crossing over. Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, Billy Joe Royal, Bobby Goldsboro, Brenda Lee and Paul Davis were all hitting on the format after starting out as pop-oriented acts. This is probably a factor of country being a more "adult" genre -- at least it was then -- and more appealing as a singer moves past the wilder says of youth. Paradoxically, the country influence had been there all along for these artists, and the move was also a return to their roots.

That was certainly the case for B.J. Thomas. The Oklahoma native had his first hit in 1966 with a Hank Williams song called "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." He didn't focus on country music for another decade, when his pop hits had begun to dry up. His first country chart single was "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" and hit #1 on both formats. After that, he made the transition from being a crossover artist to focusing on both country and gospel. By 1983, when "Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love" was released, it was a #1 country hit but managed only two weeks at the lower rungs of the pop chart.

Club House - "Do it Again/Billie Jean"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted August 20, 1983, Peaked #75, 5 Weeks on the Chart)

In 1983, there wasn't a star in the world that was bigger than Michael Jackson. It was the year of Thriller, the album that quickly surpassed what any other album had done in the past. It sent seven singles into the Top 40, scored two #1 hits and introduced more R&B artists to MTV's video rotation. For its efforts, Billboard named it the top album for all of 1983 and 1984 as well. At the same time, Jackson introduced the Moonwalk, while the single sequined glove and red jacket became iconic.

At the same time, an Italian studio dance group called Club House took his #1 hit "Billie Jean" and mashed it up with Steely Dan's 1972 hit single "Do it Again." Incredibly, the two songs worked well together as a medley. Though it was not a big hit on the American pop chart, it did manage to get to #11 in the U.K. A different group named Slingshot would also release their own version of the medley, called "Do it Again With Billie Jean." That version didn't chart on the Hot 100 but went to #1 on the dance chart.

Air Supply - "Two Less Lonely People in the World"

(Debuted November 13, 1982, Peaked #38, 13 Weeks on the Chart)

Laugh if you want when you see the group name, but Air Supply was a chart machine in the early 1980s. From 1980-'82, they sent seven straight singles into the Top 5 in the U.S. That streak was broken by the single "Young Love," and its followup "Two Less Lonely People in the World" was unable to better the #38 peak of that record.

Despite the big hits, the duo was definitely cooling down. The LP Now & Forever would be their last platinum album (not including the Greatest Hits compilation that contained their next hit single  "Making Love Out of Nothing at All") and it was similar to their other early 80s albums in that the most interesting songs were also the singles. But "Two Less Lonely People in the World" may have been negatively impacted by the material that hit earlier. It's a shame it's been forgotten under the psychological weight of "Lost in Love," "All Out of Love" and "Even the Nights Are Better."

If you're not familiar with it and don't immediately have to reach for the radio dial whenever one of their big hits starts playing, check it out. You may be surprised.

Liquid Gold - "What's She Got"

(Debuted September 3, 1983, Peaked #86, 4 Weeks on the Chart)

Liquid Gold had been a One-Hit Wonder in the disco era when they took the song "My Baby's Baby" to # 45 on the Hot 100 in 1979. When disco fell from grace that year, most acts associated with the genre were barely heard from again, especially those that were merely made up of studio musicians working under a producer's direction (as Adrian Baker did for Liquid Gold). "Disco," on the other hand, didn't really die out as much as it went "underground" and evolved into the dance/club music of the 1980s. While Liquid Gold remained on the charts in their native Great Britain, they wouldn't return to the U.S. pop chart until four years later.

"What's She Got" was a great 1980s dance song that should have been given a better chance than it did. After four short weeks, the song was gone from the pop chart. Soon after that, so was Liquid Gold. The group splintered apart and never got a chance to return.