SOURCE:JOEL WHITBURN PRESENTS THE BILLBOARD® HOT 100® CHARTS—THE EIGHTIESThirty-three years ago this week in pop history, balloons were lufted, karma went
chameleon, and Van Halen Van-hurdled to the top of the Hot 100.BY LEAH GREENBLATT1984
( Clockwise
from left )
Eurythmics’
David A.
Stewart
and Annie
Lennox;
Cyndi
Lauper;
Van Halen’s
David
Lee Roth;
Michael
Jackson CHART FLASHBACK1
VAN HALEN
“J u m p ”
If you can name a moment more
quintessentially ’80s than this
spandexed rhapsody of synths,
split kicks, and bitchin’ guitar
solos—and a human Fraggle more
joyfully bendy than David Lee
Roth—then there are so many
other secrets on your Commodore
64 that I want to know, friend.A–2
CYNDI LAUPER
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
Some boys just want songwriting
royalties: Back in 1979, a man
named Robert Hazard wrote and
recorded what would become
Lauper’s career-making single. His
take is a great little no-wave fuzz-
bomb, but Cyndi made it magic.A3 NENA
“99 Luftballons”
If you don’t speak German, it’s just a
supercool Casio jam. If you do, it’s
a terrifying allegory about a bloody,
futile 99-year war, and red balloons
haunt your dreams. Nighty night!A–4 MICHAEL JACKSON
“Thriller”
Offering a fresh take on “Thriller” is
like critiquing the Mona Lisa’s brush
strokes or second-guessing the
camera work inCitizen Kane. Just
sit down and shut up and say:A+5
ROCKWELL
“Somebody’s Watching Me”
Why so paranoid, Rockwell? You’re
at least 30 years out from laptop
spy cams and Amazon drones.B+6
JOHN LENNON
“Nobody Told Me”
Most peculiar, Mama: More than
three years after his death, the
immortal Beatle’s surreal ditty
about Kathmandu and bathroom
Nazis and UFOs over New York
would be his Hot 100 swan song.A–7
HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS
“I Want a New Drug”
Huey’s not anaddict, you guys. He
just wants a fix that makes him feel
as good as a pretty girl does! So,
like, an over-the-counter Viagra/
MDMA supplement with a smidge
of angel dust should do it.B8 EURYTHMICS
“Here Comes the Rain Again”
Sleek, gorgeously moody
metaphor for unrequited love or
world’s most subtextual weather
report? Your call, raindrop.A9 KENNY LOGGINS
“Footloose”
Oh, to return to a time when beefs
got settled after school in tractor
drag races, Sunday had its
own designated shoes, and there
were still maybe only two degrees
of Kevin Bacon—three, tops. No
wonder everybody cut loose.A10 CULTURE CLUB
“Karma Chameleon”
Schooling MTV kids in the Sanskrit
principle of cause and effect? Very
cool. The syllables Boy George
gets out of “red, gold, and green”?
There should be a Nobel for that,
or at least an honorary EGOT.A+$921 %22.6In some hands,
LOVE
is a deadly
weapon.
An ancient enemy
possessed of a dark
magic threatens to
tear Vlad and Leila
apart forever.
“A s t ay- u p -
until-sunrise read...
There are many Draculas out
there but only one Vlad.”
—ILONA ANDREWS ON
ONCE BURNED“I always open a
Frost book with
happy anticipation!”
—CHARLAINE HARRISEncounter the Dark Prince at
JeanieneFrost.comDiscover great authors,
exclusive offers, and
more at hc.com.K
EURYTHMICS: ROBIN PLATZER/IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES; JACKSON: PAUL NATKIN/GETTY IMAGES; LAUPER, ROTH: EBET ROBERTS/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES (2)