New Year’s Day by U2 was released on January 1, 1983, with Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop) as the B side. It was the lead single from the Irish rock band’s third studio album War. Continue reading
80s Song of the Day
80s Song of the Day: Just Like Paradise by David Lee Roth
Just Like Paradise by David Lee Roth was released on December 30, 1987, with The Bottom Line as the B side. It was the lead single from Roth’s second solo album Skyscraper.
The song was Roth’s second-highest charting single of his solo career, after his cover of The Beach Boys’ California Girls, released in 1984. California Girls peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Just Like Paradise reached No. 6. Just Like Paradise was also a Top 10 hit in Canada, peaking there at No. 8. It reached No. 27 on the UK Singles chart.
The music video featured stage performance footage interspersed with footage of Roth climbing the famous Half Dome of Yosemite mountain. A photo of Roth climbing the mountain appeared on the picture sleeve of the single’s release.
80s Song of the Day: Jump by Van Halen
Jump by Van Halen was released on December 21, 1983, with House of Pain as the B side. It was the lead single from the band’s sixth studio album 1984 – their last with David Lee Roth as lead singer.
The song was Van Halen’s first to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and their only No. 1 hit with Roth as lead singer. It was also a No. 1 hit in Canada and Italy. It reached No. 7 on the UK Singles chart.
The music video for Jump, considered ground-breaking at the time, won an MTV Video Music Award in 1984 for Best Stage Performance.
80s Song of the Day: Black Velvet by Alannah Myles
Black Velvet by Alannah Myles was released in the United States on December 17, 1989, with If You Want To as the B side. It was a single from the Canadian singer’s self-titled debut album.
The song, about Elvis Presley, was a No. 1 hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached No. 2 on the UK Singles chart and No. 10 in Myles’ native Canada.
Myles won a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Performance for Black Velvet.
80s Song of the Day: Only in My Dreams by Debbie Gibson
Only in My Dreams by Debbie Gibson was released on December 16, 1986, with Only in My Dreams (Dub) as the B side. It was Gibson’s debut single. It later appeared on her debut album Out of the Blue, released on August 18, 1987.
The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1987. It peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles chart.
80s Song of the Day: Last Christmas by Wham!
Last Christmas by Wham! was released on December 10, 1984, on a double-A side with the single Everything She Wants, from the Make It Big album. Two years after its release as a single, Last Christmas appeared on two Wham! album releases – The Final, a compilation album released in the United Kingdom; and Music from the Edge of Heaven, considered the duo’s third studio album, released in North America and Japan.
In the United Kingdom, Last Christmas reached No. 2 on the UK Singles chart, behind Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? to which George Michael contributed vocals. Wham! donated all of their Last Christmas/Everything She Wants royalties to famine in Ethiopia, which sales of Do They Know It’s Christmas? benefited as well.
Last Christmas is the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach No. 1.
80s Song of the Day: Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer
Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer was released in the United States on December 5, 1984, with Shoot Out as the B side. The instrumental song appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Beverly Hills Cop and was named after the movie’s title character, Axel Foley, played by Eddie Murphy. 
It also appears as a bonus track on Faltermeyer’s album Harold F. Faltermeyer was the musical director for Beverly Hills Cop.
The song was an international success. It was a Top 5 hit around the world, reaching No. 1 in several countries, including Canada, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 3 in the United States and the UK Singles chart at No. 2.
The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack won a Grammy for Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special.
80s Song of the Day: 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton
9 to 5 by Dolly Parton was released on November 29, 1980, with Sing for the Common Man as the B side. The song appeared on the soundtrack album for the film of the same name, which starred Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin. It also appeared on Parton’s album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs.
The song was a No. 1 hit in the United States, reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Adult Contemporary charts. It was also nominated for an Academy Award and four Grammy Awards, winning for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. Continue reading
80s Song of the Day: I Would Die 4 U by Prince and the Revolution
I Would Die 4 U by Prince and the Revolution was released November 28, 1984, with Another Lonely Christmas as the B side. It was the fourth single from the album Purple Rain.
The song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, the last Top 10 single from Purple Rain. It re-charted after Prince’s death, reaching No. 39 on the Hot 100 the week of May 14, 2016.
Picture sleeve for the US 7″ release
80s Song of the Day: Don’t You Want Me by The Human League
Don’t You Want Me by The Human League was released November 27, 1981, with Seconds as the B side. It was the fourth single from the band’s fourth studio album Dare.
In the United Kingdom, the song was the 1981 Christmas number one. The Human League’s first single released in the United States, Don’t You Want Me topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in July 1982. Continue reading
Eighties Grooves 