50 Fun Facts About 1984 Music

Which Prince single, recorded with no bass line, did Billboard rank as the number one song of 1984?

When Doves Cry spent five weeks at number one that summer, and Prince said he stripped out the bass because the track sounded too conventional with it.

Michael Jackson's hair caught fire in January 1984 while he filmed a commercial for which soft drink brand?

Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson gave the $1.5 million to a California hospital that named its burn centre after him.

Who became, at 44, the oldest solo woman yet to top the Hot 100 with What's Love Got to Do with It?

Tina Turner got the song only after Cliff Richard turned it down, and it won her the Grammy for Record of the Year.

Which 1984 comedy's theme song gave Ray Parker Jr. three weeks at number one and a plagiarism lawsuit?

Ghostbusters brought a claim from Huey Lewis, who said its melody copied his hit I Want a New Drug, and he received a settlement.

The 1984 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas raised money for famine relief in which African country?

Ethiopia received £8 million from the record within a year, after it sold a million copies in its first week in the UK.

Which album won a record eight Grammys at a single ceremony in February 1984?

Thriller also spent a record 37 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, a run that only ended in April 1984.

Which future sitcom star did Bruce Springsteen pull on stage to dance in his 1984 Dancing in the Dark video?

Courteney Cox played the fan in a video directed by Brian De Palma, a decade before she became Monica in Friends.

Which Leonard Cohen song first appeared in 1984 on Various Positions, an album his American label declined to release?

Hallelujah was barely noticed until John Cale covered it in 1991, and Cohen's own version reached the Billboard charts only after he died in 2016.

Which 1984 film about a town that bans dancing gave Kenny Loggins his only number one with its title song?

Footloose kept its title song at number one for three weeks that spring, then sent a second single from its soundtrack to the top in May.

Which hard rock band scored its only US number one in early 1984 with the synthesizer-led single Jump?

Van Halen got there with a keyboard line that guitarist Eddie had written around 1981, only for his bandmates to reject it at first.

Which singer scored the first of his seven solo US number ones in 1984 with the ballad Against All Odds?

Phil Collins was not asked to sing it at the Oscars, so he watched from his seat while dancer Ann Reinking performed it.

Which Lionel Richie ballad topped the Hot 100 in 1984 with a video about a blind sculpture student?

Hello also spent six weeks at number one in Britain, and its video shows the student sculpting a clay likeness of the singer's head.

Which singer earned her first US number one in 1984 with Time After Time, from the album She's So Unusual?

Cyndi Lauper went on to become the first woman with four top-five Hot 100 singles from one album, and won the Grammy for Best New Artist.

Which Madonna single became her first US number one in December 1984 and stayed on top for six weeks?

Like a Virgin got a famous airing at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, where Madonna rolled across the stage in a wedding dress.

Which Motown star won an Oscar for I Just Called to Say I Love You, a number one in October 1984?

Stevie Wonder wrote it for the comedy The Woman in Red, and it remains his only solo number one in the UK.

Which British duo scored a first UK and US number one in 1984 with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go?

Wham! built the song on a note Andrew Ridgeley left for his parents, in which he had accidentally written one word twice.

Which progressive rock veterans scored their only US number one in 1984 with Owner of a Lonely Heart?

Yes owed the hit to guitarist Trevor Rabin, who first wrote the song in 1979 and taped his early ideas on a home four-track machine.

Which singer's 1984 number one Caribbean Queen was re-recorded under other titles for Europe and Africa?

Billy Ocean first released it in Britain as European Queen, where it flopped, before the renamed version climbed to number one in America.

Which former singer of The Babys topped the Hot 100 in 1984 with the break-up ballad Missing You?

John Waite later fronted the supergroup Bad English, who went to number one again in 1989 with When I See You Smile.

Which singer topped the Hot 100 in May 1984 with Let's Hear It for the Boy, from a hit dance film?

Deniece Williams had been to number one once before, duetting with Johnny Mathis on Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.

Which Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson duet held number one for six weeks, a run that carried into January 1984?

Say Say Say was even named the top song of 1984 on radio's American Top 40 countdown, which tallied its year differently from Billboard.

Let's Go Crazy, a US number one in the autumn of 1984, was credited to Prince and which backing band?

The Revolution shared the billing as Prince became the only act to reach number one more than once that year.

Which Culture Club single spent three weeks at number one in America in February 1984, the band's only US chart-topper?

Karma Chameleon had already been Britain's biggest-selling single of 1983, and it went to number one in 20 countries.

Which British band reached number one in America for the first time in June 1984 with The Reflex?

Duran Duran had the album track heavily remixed by Nile Rodgers for its single release, and it also gave them a second UK number one.

Which Hall & Oates single became the duo's sixth and final US number one in December 1984?

Out of Touch led off the album Big Bam Boom, and its video shows the pair dwarfed by a gigantic drum kit.

Which Prince album spent 24 straight weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 from August 1984?

Purple Rain was also the soundtrack to his first film, making Prince only the third act, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles, to hold the number one album, single and movie at once.

Which 1984 album, whose seven singles all reached the US top ten, was the first CD manufactured in America?

Born in the U.S.A., by Bruce Springsteen, was pressed at a newly opened plant in Terre Haute, Indiana; until then Columbia's discs had been made in Japan.

Which soul singer was shot dead by his own father in Los Angeles on the eve of his 45th birthday in 1984?

Marvin Gaye had recently staged a comeback with Sexual Healing, the hit that won him two Grammys.

Which band's You Might Think beat Michael Jackson to Video of the Year at the first MTV Video Music Awards?

The Cars won with one of the first videos to use computer graphics, in which singer Ric Ocasek turns up as a fly and as King Kong.

Which broadcaster banned Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood in January 1984, only to see it reach number one?

The BBC acted after Radio 1 DJ Mike Read voiced his distaste for the record on air, and the ban ran for most of the 37 weeks it spent in the UK Top 40.

Which trio from Hollis, Queens, released a 1984 debut that became the first rap album certified gold?

Run-DMC packed the record with firsts: Rock Box is regarded as the first rap rock song, and Sucker M.C.'s as one of the first diss tracks.

Sony's D-50, launched in November 1984, was the first model in which line of portable music players?

Discman stayed Sony's name for its portable CD players until 2000, when the line was folded into the older cassette brand.

Which 1984 mock documentary, Rob Reiner's first film as director, follows a fading British heavy metal band on tour?

This Is Spinal Tap is credited with launching the mockumentary genre, yet it did only modest business in cinemas.

Which band's 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense shows its singer performing in an absurdly oversized business suit?

Talking Heads were filmed by director Jonathan Demme across four shows at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

Which West German band reached number two in America in 1984 with a song about 99 balloons?

Nena had the hit with the original recording in the band's own language, while the English rewrite never charted in the United States.

Which son of Motown founder Berry Gordy had a 1984 hit with Somebody's Watching Me, backed by Michael Jackson?

Rockwell was estranged from his father when he made the record, and Gordy warmed to it only on hearing the superstar guest on the chorus.

Which singer won a Grammy for her 1984 cover of I Feel for You, a song Prince wrote and recorded in 1979?

Chaka Khan got the song second-hand twice over: Prince had first written it for Patrice Rushen, who turned it down.

Which saxophone-led ballad of 1984 was credited in Britain to George Michael alone as he moved toward a solo career?

Careless Whisper began on a bus: Michael wrote it at 17 while travelling to his job as a DJ in a restaurant.

Which reggae star's hits collection Legend, released in May 1984, became the best-selling album in the genre's history?

Bob Marley had died three years earlier, and the compilation has since logged more than 900 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Which band's first US top 40 hit, Pride (In the Name of Love), honoured Martin Luther King Jr. in 1984?

U2 reached only number 33 in America with the single, yet it has since become one of the band's most popular songs.

Which Weird Al Yankovic parody of a Michael Jackson hit reached number twelve in America in 1984 and won a Grammy?

Eat It went all the way to number one in Australia, where it outperformed the very song it sends up.

Which country star joined Julio Iglesias on To All the Girls I've Loved Before, a US top five hit in 1984?

Willie Nelson and Iglesias took the song to number one on the country chart, and the Country Music Association named them duo of the year.

Which thrash metal band released its second album, Ride the Lightning, on an independent label in July 1984?

Metallica could not rely on its independent label Megaforce to pay for the sessions, so the band's European label covered the recording costs.

Which New Jersey rock band released its self-titled debut album in January 1984, led by the single Runaway?

Bon Jovi owed its break to a radio DJ who loved the demo of Runaway and put it on a compilation of local talent.

Which singer gave her name to the band behind Diamond Life, the 1984 debut album featuring Smooth Operator?

Sade Adu studied fashion design and worked as a model before the album went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.

Bananarama's Cruel Summer became a US top ten hit in 1984 after it featured in which hit film?

The Karate Kid made the song a hit a year after its British release, even though the group kept it off the soundtrack album.

Which hip-hop label, co-founded by Rick Rubin in his university dorm room, put out its first numbered singles in 1984?

Def Jam opened its catalogue with singles by LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys, with Russell Simmons joining Rubin as his partner.

Which son of a Beatle released his debut album Valotte in October 1984 and scored two US top ten hits from it?

Julian Lennon cut the record between February and August that year, and its second US single, Too Late for Goodbyes, climbed to number five.

Lionel Richie closed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by performing which of his number one hits?

All Night Long had topped Billboard's pop, R&B and adult contemporary charts before Richie sang it at the Games' closing ceremony.

Which country won the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg with the group Herreys singing Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley?

Sweden took its second Eurovision title exactly ten years after ABBA had delivered the first.