1984 in music

1 Events
2 Albums released
3 Top hits
4 Published popular music
5 Classical music
6 Opera
7 Musical theater
8 Musical films
9 Births
10 Deaths
11 Awards
12 Charts
- 12.1 List of No. 1 Hits
- 12.2 KROQ

Events

January 28 – singer Michael Jackson's hair catches fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.
February 14 – Elton John marries studio engineer Renate Blauel.
February 16 – Jerry Lee Lewis surrenders to federal authorities on charges of income tax evasion. Lewis is later acquitted.
February 29 – KMFDM's first live performance.
March 1 – Sting plays his last concerts with The Police at the end of the Synchronicity tour; the band takes a "pause" after the tour and only play a few special events together after this.
April 1 – In Los Angeles, California, Marvin Gaye is shot and killed during an argument with his father.
May 1 – Mick Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Mac, files for bankruptcy in the United States.
May 1 – Tipper Gore forms the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) in response to the "filth" she hears on her daughter's Prince album Purple Rain.
May 2 – Lionel Richie's hit "Hello" becomes Motown's first ever UK million selling single.
May 5 – The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde marries Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr.
June 16-August 11 – Frankie Goes To Hollywood spend nine weeks at the top of the UK singles chart with "Two Tribes".
July 1 – During his performance at the first ever Cornerstone Festival in Grayslake, Illinois, Steve Taylor falls from the stage, breaking his ankle. Taylor hopped back on stage and finished his show. The next few shows on Taylor's tour were performed from a wheel chair.
August 31 – Canadian music video channel MuchMusic debuts. The first video played is Rush's "The Enemy Within".
October 1 – The Jesus & Mary Chain release their first single, "Upside Down".
October 19 – A-Ha's career begins with the release of the "Take On Me" single in the UK.
December 1 – Frankie Goes To Hollywood become the first act to take their first three singles to the UK #1 position since Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963, when "The Power Of Love" tops the chart.
December 3 – Bob Geldof and Band Aid release the single "Do They Know It's Christmas".
December 8 – Mötley Crüe member Vince Neil is involved in a serious car accident. He was drunk at the time, and Razzle (Nicholas Dingley) of Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident.
December 31 – Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car wreck. He was in the hospital until the next year (1985).
Menudo and Menudomania reach Asia. Ricky Martin substitutes Ricky Melendez in the group.
UK singles sales this year are the second highest ever, after 1978.

Albums released

Balls to the Wall – Accept
'74 Jailbreak EP – AC/DC
Live Sentence – Alcatrazz
Forever Young – Alphaville
Fistful of Metal – Anthrax (debut)
March of the Saint – Armored Saint (debut album)
All Over the Place – The Bangles
Tropico – Pat Benatar
Black N' Blue – Black N' Blue
Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi
Box of Frogs – Box of Frogs
Heartbeat City – The Cars
Chicago 17 – Chicago
Tonight – David Bowie
Dreamtime – Death Cult (Band name was later changed to The Cult)
Waking Up With the House on Fire – Culture Club
The Top – The Cure
Dali – Dalida
Perfect Strangers – Deep Purple
First strike EP – Def Leppard
High 'N' Dry – Def Leppard (re-Release)
The Last in Line – Dio
Tooth and Nail – Dokken
Lady of the Stars – Donovan
Arena (live album) – Duran Duran
Wings of Tomorrow – Europe
The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall – The Fall
All Fired Up – Fastway
Dancing on the Edge – Lita Ford
Agent Provocateur – Foreigner
Straight Ahead – Amy Grant
Great White – Great White
See You In Hell – Grim Reaper
Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man – Guadalcanal Diary (debut)
Big Bam Boom – Hall & Oates
VOA – Sammy Hagar
All Those Wasted Years – Hanoi Rocks (live album)
Two Steps From The Move – Hanoi Rocks
Walkin' The Razor's Edge – Helix
The Art of Defense – Nona Hendryx
Building the Perfect Beast – Don Henley
I Often Dream of Trains – Robyn Hitchcock
Zen Arcade – Hüsker Dü
Icon – Icon (debut album)
Powerslave – Iron Maiden
Dream Street – Janet Jackson
Heart Don't Lie – LaToya Jackson
Centipede – Rebbie Jackson
Under Wraps – Jethro Tull
Breaking Hearts – Elton John
Defenders of the Faith – Judas Priest
Lay Down the Law – Keel (debut album)
Animalize – KISS
The Blitz – Krokus
She's So Unusual – Cyndi Lauper
Give Em' The Axe EP – Lizzy Borden
How Will the Wolf Survive? – Los Lobos
Like a Virgin – Madonna
Yngwie J. Malmsteen/Rising Force – Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (debut)
Legend: Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers – Bob Marley & the Wailers
Give My Regards to Broad Street – Paul McCartney
Meat Puppets II – Meat Puppets
Revolution – Menudo
Ride the Lightning – Metallica
Out of Step – Minor Threat
Double Nickels on the Dime – The Minutemen
No Remorse – Motörhead
From Her to Eternity – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Penetrator – Ted Nugent
The Honeydrippers: Volume One – Robert Plant
Learning to Crawl – The Pretenders
Purple Rain – Prince
The Works – Queen
The Warning – Queensrÿche (first full length album release)
Condition Critical – Quiet Riot
Out of the Cellar – Ratt
Breaking Curfew – Red Rider
Reckoning – R.E.M.
What About Me? – Kenny Rogers
Grace Under Pressure – Rush
Love At First Sting – Scorpions
Hyaena – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Hatful of Hollow – The Smiths
Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen
Haunting The Chapel EP – Slayer
The Yellow and Black Attack EP – Stryper
Cats Without Claws – Donna Summer
Soul Mining – The The
Into The Gap – Thompson Twins
Isolation – Toto
Private Dancer – Tina Turner
- her breakthrough solo album
Thunder Seven – Triumph
Stay Hungry – Twisted Sister
The Unforgettable Fire – U2
1984 – Van Halen
When In Rome Do As The Vandals – The Vandals
Beverly Hills Cop (soundtrack) – Various Artists
Couldn't Stand The Weather – Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking – Roger Waters
No Brakes – John Waite
Burning The Witches – Warlock (debut album)
W.A.S.P. – W.A.S.P. (debut album)
The Woman in Red – (cinematic soundtrack by Stevie Wonder)
"Weird Al" Yankovic In 3-D – "Weird Al" Yankovic
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. – Dwight Yoakam (debut)
In Rock We Trust – Y&T
No Tellin' Lies – Zebra

Top hits

"Against All Odds" – Phil Collins
"All Cried Out" – Alison Moyet
"Automatic" – Pointer Sisters
"Be My Number Two" – Joe Jackson
"Better Be Good To Me" – Tina Turner
"Blue Jean" – David Bowie
"Careless Whisper" – George Michael
"Come Said The Boy" – Mondo Rock
"Cover Me" – Bruce Springsteen
"Crazy" – Kenny Rogers
"Cruel Summer" – Bananarama
"Cry and Be Free" – Marilyn
"Dancing In The Dark" – Bruce Springsteen
"Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" – Ultravox
"Do They Know It's Christmas" – Band Aid
"Don't Tell Me" – Blancmange
"Drive" – Cars
"Eyes Without A Face" – Billy Idol
"Flesh For Fantasy" – Billy Idol
"Footloose" – Kenny Loggins
"Forest Fire" – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
"Freedom" – Wham!
"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" – Cyndi Lauper
"Ghostbusters" – Ray Parker Jr.
"Hammer To Fall" – Queen
"High on Emotion" – Chris De Burgh
"Heaven (Must Be There) Eurogliders #1 (a)
"Hold Me Now" – Thompson Twins
"I'm So Beautiful" – Divine
"I Want A New Drug" Huey Lewis and the News
"I Want To Break Free" – Queen
"I Want To Know What Love Is" – Foreigner
"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" – Wizzard
"Just An Illusion" – Imagination
"I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" – Nik Kershaw
"Invisible" – Alison Moyet
"It's A Hard Life" – Queen
"It's a Miracle" – Culture Club
"Jump" – Van Halen
"Kalimba De Luna" – Dalida
"L'Innamorata" – Dalida
"Last Christmas" – Wham!
"Madam Butterfly" – Malcolm McLaren
"Michael Caine" – Madness
"Miss Me Blind" – Culture Club
"Mistake No. 3" – Culture Club
"My Ever Changing Moods" – Style Council
"No More Lonely Nights" – Paul McCartney
"One Night In Bangkok" – Murray Head
"Original Sin" – INXS #1
"Panama" – Van Halen
"Pearl In The Shell" – Howard Jones
"People Are People" – Depeche Mode
"Perfect Skin" – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
"Pour te dire je t'aime" – Dalida
"Pride(In The Name Of Love)" – U2
"Purple Rain" – Prince
"Radio Ga Ga" – Queen
"Robert De Niro's Waiting" – Bananarama
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" – Scorpions
"Runaway" – Bon Jovi
"Seven Seas" – Echo and the Bunnymen
"Shout" – Tears For Fears
"Shout To The Top" – Style Council
"Silver" – Echo and the Bunnymen
"Skin Deep" – Stranglers
"Smooth Operator" – Sade
"So Tired" – Ozzy Osbourne
"Soleil" – Dalida
"Somebody's Watching Me" – Rockwell
"T Shirts and Tight Blue Jeans" – Divine
"Thank God It's Christmas" – Queen
"That's All" – Genesis
"The Killing Moon" – Echo and the Bunnymen
"The Never Ending Story" – Limahl
"The Power Of Love" – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"The Reflex" – Duran Duran
"The War Song" – Culture Club
"The Wild Boys" – Duran Duran
"Thin Line Between Love And Hate" – Pretenders
"Time After Time" – Cyndi Lauper
"To France" – Mike Oldfield
"Together In Electric Dreams" – Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey
"TV Dinners" – ZZ Top
"Two Tribes" – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"Up On The Catwalk" – Simple Minds
"Very Personal" – Ian Dury
"What About Me?" – Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and James Ingram
"What Difference Does It Make" – Smiths
"When Am I Gonna Make A Living" – Sade
"When Doves Cry" – Prince
"Where The Rose Is Sown" – Big Country
"William It Was Really Nothing" – Smiths
"Wood Beez" – Scritti Politti
"Wouldn't It Be Good" – Nik Kershaw
"You Don't Love Me" – Marilyn
"You Think You're a Man" – Divine
"You're The Best Thing" – Style Council
"Young At Heart" – Bluebells

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1984

Published popular music

"After All These Years" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander from the musical The Rink
"The Cosby Show theme song" m. Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby
"Cover Me" w.m. Bruce Springsteen
"Every Time I Turn Around" w.m. Judy Hart Angelo & Gary Portnoy, theme from the TV series Punky Brewster
"Friends" m. John Leffler, theme from the TV series Kate and Allie
"Ghostbusters" w.m. Ray Parker Jr.
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" w.m. Stevie Wonder
"Let's Go Crazy" w.m. Prince
"Like A Virgin" w.m. Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly
"Lights Out" w.m. Peter Wolf & Don Covay
"Missing You" w.m. John Waite, Chaz Sanford & Mark Leonard
"Murder. She Wrote theme song" m. John Addison
"No More Lonely Nights" w.m. Paul McCartney
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" w.m. Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine & Herman Rarebell
"Time After Time" w.m. Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman
"To All The Girls I've Loved Before" w. Hal David m. Albert Hammond
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" w.m. George Michael
"What's Love Got To Do With It" w.m. Terry Britten & Graham Lyle
"When Doves Cry" w.m. Prince

Classical music

Samuel Adler – Sonata for Viola and Piano
Brian Cherney – Into the Distant Stillness
Mario Davidovsky – Divertimento for cello and orchestra
Ludovico Einaudi – Altissimo
Ian McDougall – Concerto for Clarinet
Ingram Marshall – Voces Resonae
Steve Reich – The Desert Music
Tōru Takemitsu – riverrun for piano and orchestra
Robert Ward – Saxophone Concerto

Opera

Harrison Birtwistle – The Mask of Orpheus
Philip Glass – Akhnaten
Krzysztof Penderecki – The Black Mask

Musical theater

Starlight Express – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe
Forty-Second Street London production
The Rink Broadway production opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on February 9 and ran for 233 performances
Sunday in the Park with George (Stephen Sondheim) – Broadway production opened at the Booth Theatre on May 2 and ran for 604 performances.