Hi Everybody, the Top 40 is back this week! We will Return to one of my favorite years in music – 1983. I feel that this is the year where the ’80s started getting its own music personality. The Disco sound was just about dead. Pop and Rock ruled the landscape, and MTV had become well established at this point. Let’s get into it now, and Return to the week ending July 30, 1983, and begin the countdown.

40. “Fake Friends” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Here is a rarely played Joan Jett song. This was from Joan Jett’s third studio album called Album. Did it really take until 1983 for somebody to name an album Album? Genius!

39. “Slipping Away” by Dave Edmunds

This song was written and produced by Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra). If you wanted to know what it would sound like if Ozzy Osbourne went pop, then listen to this Dave Edmunds song. Very good.

38. “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel

This is the first single released off of the legendary smash album, An Innocent Man. On that album, Billy Joel paid tribute to all different styles of music. This song was the Motown sound of the album.

37. “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats

An ultimate ’80s song. Any video that features a Maypole is alright with me.

36. “The Salt in My Tears” by Martin Briley

Martin Briley was mainly known as a session guitarist and songwriter. He did release three solo albums, and this song was his only hit. And this was the highest it made it up the charts. So join Martin Briley at the high point of his singing career, and listen to “The Salt in My Tears”.

35. “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson

And the hits keep coming from the Thriller album. I always liked this song a lot.

34. “The Border” by America

America was a popular band in the ’70s. They had several hits such as “A Horse with No Name“, “Ventura Highway“, and “Sister Golden Hair“. They kind of faded away by the time the ’80s arrived. But they had a nice hit with this song. They sound like Kansas or The Little River Band in this song.

33. “Pieces of Ice” by Diana Ross

Boring. If a lesser known artist performed this song, there is no way it would crack the top 40.

32. “Human Touch” by Rick Springfield

This is my favorite Rick Springfield song.

31. “After the Fall” by Journey

Journey is one of my all time favorite bands. I love this song from their Frontiers album.

Well, that wraps up the countdown today. Do you have a favorite music year? What were you doing in 1983? We’ll continue the countdown tomorrow.

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