How Good Was The Year (in music) - 1983?

In the last thread in this series, 2015 ended up 25th on the table, and thanks to a democratic selection (from a limited ballot) we are now turning our rose-tinted attention to the music of 1983.

A reminder of the premise of the thread

After a number of days of posting and reminiscing, we’ll be rating the music of the year out of ten, based on the albums, singles, gigs, whatever that stand out for you that year, and voting for our favourite nominated albums and songs.

Everyone can nominate one album and one song from the year which will then be collated into side-polls two days before the thread closes - please make it clear when you post a nomination for the poll (as opposed to just posting clips or lists of songs and albums you like, which are very welcome).

Leaderboard
Rank Year Rating Top Album Top Song
1 1991 8.98 Slint - Spiderland Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
2 1988 8.93 Pixies - Surfer Rosa Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Mercy Street
3 1997 8.6 Radiohead - OK Computer The Beta Band - Dry The Rain
4 1967 8.48 Love - Forever Changes Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning
5 1995 8.45 Radiohead - The Bends The Smashing Pumpkins - 1975
6 1977 8.41 Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express Donna Summer - I Feel Love
7 1969 8.35 The Velvet Underground The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
8 2013 8.29 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Jubilee Street
8 1992 8.29 Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted Pulp - Babies
10 2019 8.14 Self Esteem - Compliments Please Big Thief - Not
11 2007 8.13 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver / Radiohead - In Rainbows LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends / M.I.A. - Paper Planes
11 1975 8.13 Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night / Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Cortez the Killer
13 2004 8.1 Madvillain - Madvillainy / Arcade Fire - Funeral The Walkmen - The Rat
13 2001 8.1 The Strokes - Is This It Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) / Mogwai - My Father My King
15 2002 8.06 Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
15 1981 8.06 The Cure - Faith New Order - Ceremony
17 1979 7.96 Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures Joy Division - Transmission
18 1982 7.76 The Cure - Pornography / Kate Bush - The Dreaming Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding / The Associates - Party Fears Two
19 2014 7.69 FKA Twigs - LP1 FKA Twigs - Two Weeks
20 2010 7.66 Kanye West - MBDTF / Joanna Newsom - Have One One Me / Beach House - Teen Dream Robyn - Dancing On My Own
21 1970 7.61 Neil Young - After the Goldrush Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up
22 1972 7.53 Can - Ebe Gamyasi Stevie Wonder - Superstition
23 1976 7.47 David Bowie - Station to Station Bob Dylan - Hurricane
23 1990 7.47 Sonic Youth - Goo The Cure - Pictures of You
** 25 2015 7.44 Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
26 1986 7.42 Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
27 2005 7.39 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois Amerie - 1 Thing
28 1965 7.38 The Beatles - Rubber Soul Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
29 2017 7.36 Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent Kendrick Lamar - Humble
30 1987 7.32 Sonic Youth - Sister The Cure - Just Like Heaven
31 1999 7.3 Mogwai - Come On Die Young Björk - All Is Full Of Love
32 2006 7.28 J Dilla - Donuts TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
33 2009 7.1 Fever Ray - Fever Ray Animal Collective - My Girls
34 1974 6.95 Neil Young - On The Beach Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - The Bottle
35 1963 6.57 Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan The Ronettes -Be My Baby
36 1985 6.53 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs Prince and the Revolution - Raspberry Beret
37 1962 6 Howlin’ Wolf - Howlin’ Wolf Dick Dale - Misirlou
38 1961 5.16 John Coltrane - My Favourite Things Roy Orbison - Crying

1983 was the year the US invaded Grenada after Cuban military group overthrew the government, Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defensive Initiative (SDI) missile defense system dubbed the “Star Wars” initiative, the Mario Bros game debuted in Japanese arcades, Space Shuttle Challenger launched it’s maiden flight, 38 Provisional IRA prisoners escaped from Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in the largest prison escape in UK history and the first version of Microsoft Word was released.

We said goodbye to Karen Carpenter, Muddy Waters, Dennis Wilson, Tennessee Williams, David Niven, Joan Miró and Garrincha, and hello to Amy Winehouse, Adam Driver, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Lupita Nyong’o, Donald Glover, Mo Farah, Robin van Persie and Greta Gerwig.

But how good was the music?

You have roughly one week to nominate one album and/or one song which will then go into polls along with a number rating poll for year overall out of 10, which will close a few days later. Please state when something you share is a nomination so I can catch it for the poll, but feel free to share as much as you wish during the thread!

Some lists for inspiration:

Best Albums of 1983 : Best Ever Albums

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/1983/

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/ratings/6-highest-rated/1983/1

1983 Best Albums And Tracks Of The Year - NME

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-1983-1234681014/

https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/bg_hits/bg_hits_1983.html

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/single/1983/

Nominations will be tallied here as the week goes on:

Album Nominations

Song Nominations

2 Likes

Nominate Album: R.E.M - Murmur

Nominate Song: Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding

15 Likes

Nominate album

Minutemen - What makes a man start fires?

Nominate song

Kraftwerk - Tour de France

5 Likes

Being as ‘Murmur’ has already been nominated, I’ll
Nominate album Violent Femmes - s/t

4 Likes

Nominate album The Fall - Perverted by Language

Nominate song Rain Parade - ‘What’s She Done to Your Mind?’

6 Likes

Nominate album.
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge

Nominate song.
Metallica - Seek and destroy.

5 Likes

Nominate album Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

7 Likes

Nominate album:

Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain

Nominate song:

Madonna - Borderline

7 Likes

Nominate song The Go-Betweens - Cattle and cane

7 Likes

I’m off to see Rain Parade next month, are you going?

money’s a bit Mick Hucknall atm but I would love to, dearly

1 Like

Some stone-cold classic singles released this year, going to be a tough choice

8 Likes

In the spirit of what I was listening to at the time:

and very much:

1 Like

Lots of great songs from 1983, but not so many albums for me.

Nominate album: The Church — Seance

Song… hmmm, song could be one of a number of songs from that album, or any one of a number of songs already mentioned (Blue Monday, Relax, Cattle and Cane), or any one of so many classics that I might come back and post later, but for now…

Nominate song: Cyndi Lauper — Time After Time

4 Likes

The very first Now That’s What I Call Music compilation was released in 1983 and, from then on, Christmas presents for that family member who ‘likes music’ would never be a problem again.

6 Likes

Nominate song
New Order - Your silent face

5 Likes

Nominate album
The Cramps - Smell of female

3 Likes

Song Nomination: U2 - New Year’s Day

Don’t care what anyone says, it’s a perfect song.

If New Order hadn’t been picked already I’d also have been tempted to pick Leave Me Alone.

5 Likes

Nominate album: Duran Duran - Seven and the Ragged Tiger

Nominate song: Depeche Mode - Everything Counts

7 Likes

Bangin year!