1984 in music - Definition and Overview

See also: 1983 in music, other events of 1984, 1985 in music, 1980s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 28 - singer Michael Jackson's hair catches fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.
• February 14 - Elton John marries studio engineer Renate Blauel.
• February 16 - Jerry Lee Lewis surrenders to federal authorities on charges of income tax evasion. Lewis is later acquitted.
• February 29 - KMFDM's first live performance.
• March 1 - Sting plays his last concerts with The Police at the end of the Synchronicity tour; the band takes a "pause" after the tour and only play a few special events together after this.
• April 1 - In Los Angeles, California, Marvin Gaye is shot and killed during an argument with his father.
• May 1 - Mick Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Mac, files for bankruptcy in the United States.
• May 1 - Tipper Gore forms the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) in response to the "filth" she hears on her daughter's Prince album Purple Rain.
• May 2 - Lionel Richie's hit "Hello" becomes Motown's first ever UK million selling single.
• May 5 - The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde marries Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr.
• June 16-August 11 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood spend nine weeks at the top of the UK singles chart with "Two Tribes".
• July 1 - During his performance at the first ever Cornerstone Festival in Grayslake, Illinois, Steve Taylor falls from the stage, breaking his ankle. Taylor hopped back on stage and finished his show. The next few shows on Taylor's tour were performed from a wheel chair.
• August 31 - Canadian music video channel MuchMusic debuts. The first video played is Rush's "The Enemy Within".
• October 1 - The Jesus & Mary Chain release their first single, "Upside Down".
• October 19 - A-Ha's career begins with the release of the "Take On Me" single in the UK.
• December 1 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood become the first act to take their first three singles to the UK #1 position since Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963, when "The Power Of Love" tops the chart.
• December 3 - Bob Geldof and Band Aid release the single "Do They Know It's Christmas".
• December 8 - Mötley Crüe member Vince Neil is involved in a serious car accident. He was drunk at the time, and Razzle (Nicholas Dingley) of Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident.
• December 31 - Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car wreck. He was in the hospital until the next year (1985).
• Menudo and Menudomania reach Asia. Ricky Martin substitutes Ricky Melendez in the group.
• UK singles sales this year are the second highest ever, after 1978.

Albums released

• Balls to The Wall - Accept
• 74 Jailbreak EP - AC/DC
• Live Sentence - Alcatrazz
• Forever Young - Alphaville
• Fistful of Metal - Anthrax (debut)
• March Of the Saint - Armored Saint (debut ALBUM)
• All Over the Place - The Bangles
• Black N' Blue - Black N' Blue
• Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi
• Box of Frogs - Box of Frogs
• Heartbeat City - The Cars
• 17 - Chicago
• Tonight - David Bowie
• Dreamtime EP - Death Cult (Band name was later changed to The Cult)
• Perfect Strangers - Deep Purple
• First strike EP - Def Leppard
• High 'N' Dry - Def Leppard (re-Release)
• The Last In Line - Dio
• Tooth And Nail - Dokken
• Arena (live album) - Duran Duran
• Wings of Tomorrow - Europe
• The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall - The Fall
• All Fired Up - Fastway
• Dancing on the Edge - Lita Ford
• Agent Provocateur - Foreigner
• Great White - Great White
• See You In Hell - Grim Reaper
• Big Bam Boom - Hall & Oates
• VOA - Sammy Hagar
• All those Wasted Years - Hanoi Rocks (live album)
• Two Steps From The Move - Hanoi Rocks
• Walkin' The Razor's Edge - Helix
• The Art of Defense - Nona Hendryx
• Building the Perfect Beast - Don Henley
• I Often Dream of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
• Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü
• Icon - Icon (debut album)
• Powerslave - Iron Maiden
• Dream Street - Janet Jackson
• Heart Don't Lie - LaToya Jackson
• Centipede - Rebbie Jackson
• Under Wraps - Jethro Tull
• Breaking Hearts - Elton John
• Defenders of the Faith - Judas Priest
• Lay Down the Law - Keel (debut album)
• Animalize - KISS
• The Blitz - Krokus
• She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper
• Give Em' The Axe EP - Lizzy Borden
• How Will the Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos
• Like a Virgin - Madonna
• Yngwie J. Malmsteen/Rising Force - Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (debut)
• - Bob Marley & the Wailers
• Give My Regards to Broad Street - Paul McCartney
• Meat Puppets II - Meat Puppets
• Revolution - Menudo
• Ride the Lightning - Metallica
• Out of Step - Minor Threat
• Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
• No Remorse - Motörhead
• From Her to Eternity - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Penetrator - Ted Nugent
• The Honeydrippers: Volume One - Robert Plant
• Learning to Crawl - The Pretenders
• Purple Rain - Prince
• The Works - Queen
• The Warning - Queensryche (first full length album release)
• Condition Critical - Quiet Riot
• Out of the Cellar - Ratt
• Breaking Curfew - Red Rider
• Reckoning - R.E.M.
• Grace Under Pressure - Rush
• Love At First Sting - Scorpions
• Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths
• Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
• Haunting The Chapel EP - Slayer
• The Yellow and Black Attack EP - Stryper
• Soul Mining - The The
• Isolation - Toto
• Private Dancer - Tina Turner
  • her breakthrough solo album
• Thunder Seven - Triumph
• Stay Hungry - Twisted Sister
• The Unforgettable Fire - U2
• 1984 - Van Halen
• When In Rome Do As The Vandals - The Vandals
• Couldn't Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
• Hallowed Ground - Violent Femmes
• Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (debut)
• No Brakes - John Waite
• Burning The Witches - Warlock (debut album)
• W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. (debut album)
• The Woman in Red - (cinematic soundtrack by Stevie Wonder)
• Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D - "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. - Dwight Yoakam (debut)
• In Rock We Trust - Y&T
• No Tellin' Lies - Zebra

Top hits

• "Against All Odds" - Phil Collins
• "All Cried Out" - Alison Moyet
• "Automatic" - Pointer Sisters
• "Be My Number Two" - Joe Jackson
• "Better Be Good To Me" - Tina Turner
• "Blue Jean" - David Bowie
• "Careless Whisper" - George Michael
• "Cover Me" - Bruce Springsteen
• "Cruel Summer" - Bananarama
• "Dancing In The Dark" - Bruce Springsteen
• "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" - Ultravox
• "Do They Know It's Christmas" - Band Aid
• "Don't Tell Me" - Blancmange
• "Drive" - Cars
• "Eyes Without A Face" - Billy Idol
• "Flesh For Fantasy" - Billy Idol
• "Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
• "Forest Fire" - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
• "Freedom" - Wham!

• "Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker Jr.
• "Hammer To Fall" - Queen
• "High on Emotion" - Chris De Burgh
• "I Want A New Drug" Huey Lewis and the News
• "I Want To Break Free" - Queen
• "I Want To Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
• "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" - Wizzard

• "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Nik Kershaw
• "Invisible" - Alison Moyet
• "It's A Hard Life" - Queen
• "Jump" - Van Halen
• "Last Christmas" - Wham!
• "Madam Butterfly" - Malcolm McLaren
• "Michael Caine" - Madness
• "My Ever Changing Moods" - Style Council
• "No More Lonely Nights" - Paul McCartney
• "One Night In Bangkok" - Murray Head
• "Panama" - Van Halen
• "Pearl In The Shell" - Howard Jones
• "People Are People" - Depeche Mode
• "Perfect Skin" - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
• "Pride(In The Name Of Love)" - U2
• "Purple Rain" - Prince
• "Radio Ga Ga" - Queen
• "Robert De Niro's Waiting" - Bananarama
• "Rock You Like A Hurricane" - Scorpions
• "Runaway" - Bon Jovi
• "Seven Seas" - Echo and the Bunnymen
• "Shout" - Tears For Fears
• "Shout To The Top" - Style Council
• "Silver" - Echo and the Bunnymen
• "Skin Deep" - Stranglers
• "Smooth Operator" - Sade
• "So Tired" - Ozzy Osbourne
• "Somebody's Watching Me" - Rockwell
• "Thank God It's Christmas" - Queen
• "That's All" - Genesis
• "The Killing Moon" - Echo and the Bunnymen
• "The Never Ending Story" - Limahl
• "The Power Of Love" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
• "The Reflex" - Duran Duran
• "The Wild Boys" - Duran Duran
• "Thin Line Between Love And Hate" - Pretenders
• "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper
• "To France" - Mike Oldfield
• "Together In Electric Dreams" - Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey
• "TV Dinners" - ZZ Top
• "Two Tribes" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
• "Up On The Catwalk" - Simple Minds
• "Very Personal" - Ian Dury
• "What Difference Does It Make" - Smiths
• "When Am I Gonna Make A Living" - Sade
• "When Doves Cry" - Prince
• "Where The Rose Is Sown" - Big Country
• "William It Was Really Nothing" - Smiths
• "Wood Beez" - Scritti Politti
• "Wouldn't It Be Good" - Nik Kershaw
• "You Take Me Up" - Thompson Twins
• "You're The Best Thing" - Style Council
• "Young At Heart" - Bluebells

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1984

Published popular music

• "After All These Years" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander from the musical The Rink
• "Cover Me" w.m. Bruce Springsteen
• "Ghostbusters"     w.m. Ray Parker Jr.
• "I Just Called To Say I Love You"     w.m. Stevie Wonder
• "Let's Go Crazy" w.m. Prince
• "Like A Virgin" w.m. Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly
• "Lights Out" w.m. Peter Wolf & Don Covay
• "Missing You" w.m. John Waite, Chaz Sanford & Mark Leonard
• "No More Lonely Nights" w.m. Paul McCartney
• "Rock You Like A Hurricane" w.m. Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine & Herman Rarebell
• "Time After Time" w.m. Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman
• "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" w. Hal David m. Albert Hammond
• "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" w.m. George Michael
• "What's Love Got To Do With It" w.m. Terry Britten & Graham Lyle
• "When Doves Cry" w.m. Prince

Classical music

• Mario Davidovsky - Divertimento for cello and orchestra
• Ludovico Einaudi - Altissimo
• Ingram Marshall - Voces Resonae
• Steve Reich - The Desert Music
• Tōru Takemitsu - riverrun for piano and orchestra
• Robert Ward - Saxophone Concerto

Opera

• Harrison Birtwistle - The Mask of Orpheus
• Philip Glass - Akhnaten
• Krzysztof Penderecki - The Black Mask

Musical theater

• Starlight Express - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe
• Forty-Second Street     London production
• The Rink     Broadway production opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on February 9 and ran for 233 performances
• Sunday in the Park with George (Stephen Sondheim) - Broadway production opened at the Booth Theatre on May 2 and ran for 604 performances.

Musical films

• The Cotton Club
• The Muppets Take Manhattan

Births

• March 20 - Winta
• April 10 - Mandy Moore
• July 24 - Dhani Lennevald, tallest of A-Teens
• July 26 - Alex Parks, singer
• August 21 - Alizee, singer
• October 3 - Ashlee Simpson, singer
• October 10 - Stephanie Cheng, singer
• October 25 - Sara Helena Lumholdt, youngest of A-Teens
• October 27 - Kelly Osbourne, singer
• November 9 - Delta Goodrem, Australian singer and actress

Deaths

• February 15 - Ethel Merman
• April 1 - Marvin Gaye
• April 6 - Jimmy Kennedy, Irish-born British songwriter
• April 26 - Count Basie, jazz musician
• May 1 - Gordon Jenkins, US conductor, songwriter and pianist
• June 15 - Meredith Willson, US songwriter
• September 6 - Ernest Tubb country western musician
• December 9 - Razzle (Nicholas Dingley), drummer of Hanoi Rocks

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1984

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1984