Ray Parker Jr. claimed #1 on the Hot 100 the week of August 11, 1984, with ‘Ghostbusters.’ Prince sat at #2 with ‘When Doves Cry,’ relinquishing the top spot after five weeks.
At #3 was The Jacksons with ‘State of Shock,’ the first single from their album Victory. This was the only Jacksons album to include all six brothers. It was released on the heels of Michael’s record-shattering Thriller.
I recently wrote about the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of July 21, 1984, today’s Throwback Weekend focus.
This was one of the weeks that Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry‘ topped the chart, relegating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark‘ to #2 and depriving The Boss of what would have been his only #1 hit.
The week of June 30, 1984, belonged to New Wave band Duran Duran, whose ‘The Reflex’ gave them their first #1 hit in the U.S. I would have guessed that honor belonged to ‘Hungry Like the Wolf,’ but that song peaked at #3 a couple of years earlier.
Fans have speculated about the meaning of ‘The Reflex’ since it was released, with popular theories suggesting it is about gambling, addiction, or ejaculation. Simon Le Bon has never clarified one way or the other.
The week of June 9, 1984, saw Cyndi Lauper atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Time After Time,’ a song I have already featured on the blog.
Falling to #2 after owning the top spot the week before was Deniece Williams’ ‘Let’s Hear it for the Boy’ from the Footloose soundtrack. This was the fourth single from that soundtrack and the second to reach #1, following Kenny Loggins’ title track.
Throwing back to the week of May 19, 1984, we find Lionel Richie’s cheesy ballad ‘Hello,’ which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.
This was the second song from the hit album Can’t Slow Down to reach the top spot, following ‘All Night Long (All Night).’ The album’s three other singles all reached the top ten, on the way to making this one of the top-selling albums of the 80s.
