3/20/14

HERC's Favorite Albums Of 1983

This post was inspired by this Martin's View post.
How was your 1983?  
HERC's was awesome!  Thanks for asking.
    HERC in 1983


  • He turned seventeen
  • He finally got his driver's license
  • He had his braces removed in time for yearbook photos
  • (Or did he?  Looks like he may be wearing braces in the pic)
  • He landed his first job
  • He met the woman he would eventually marry




And when his Junior Year yearbook was returned to him after being passed around for signings during the last two days of school in 1983 (do kids still do that?), he opened it from the back to find this:
Out of respect for her privacy, HERC has obscured her personal info including her name.  (She used HERC's real name, so he obscured those instances as well.)  She got her requested hug and they went on their first date within 48 hours of HERC reading the above.  They had written a lot of letters and notes to each other as friends as she mentioned and during their Senior Year, they started passing those fat five subject spiral bound notebooks back and forth, so that they were in constant communication.  The relationship lasted eight or nine months, including two concerts (below) and one sobering pregnancy scare. HERC eventually and cowardly bailed on her in early 1984 as she spiraled down into drug addiction.  HERC hasn't talked to her since Graduation Night, June 7, 1984, when he gave her one last hug.  (He didn't check but he's pretty sure she didn't sign his Senior Year yearbook.) 


Fortunately, as regular readers of The Hideaway know, HERC's mind is a jumble of music and memories and while most of the albums below should probably remind him of the girl who admitted her secret crush in the back pages of his yearbook in the Summer of 1983, they do not.  Instead, they ALL remind him of a beautiful brown-eyed co-worker at that first job, where a radio was constantly on in the back room and then moved out front with the volume turned up after closing.  That co-worker was the smiling, curvy girl in the brown polyester uniform who handed him the application that fateful day he walked in to apply; that girl is now the woman asleep in the next room as HERC stands here typing.  These albums are imprinted upon his memory along with her smiling eyes and those oh so dangerous curves.

  click on album title to listen on Spotify - not all albums available
HERC's rankingalbum titleartistTop 200 peak
100Faster Than the Speed of NightBonnie Tyler4
99"Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic139
98Points On The CurveWang Chung30
97The Politics of DancingRe-Flex53
96Good as GoldRed Rockers71
95The Closer You Get...Alabama10
94Candy GirlNew Edition90
93Quick Step & Side KickThompson Twins34
92Lost In SpaceJonzun Crew66
91Cold BloodedRick James16
90Come Away With ESGESG
89Chart Action '83 [K-tel]various artists
88Little RobbersThe Motels22
87Modern RomansThe Call84
86With SympathyMinistry96
85The Principle of MomentsRobert Plant8
84Now That's What I Call Music [UK]various artists
83Naked EyesNaked Eyes32
82Outside InsideThe Tubes18
81Under a Blood Red Sky [EP]U228
80Branigan 2Laura Branigan29
79The Big Chill(soundtrack)17
78Texas FloodStevie Ray Vaughan38
77Midnight MadnessNight Ranger15
76No Parking on the Dance FloorMidnight Star27
75Whammy!The B-52's29
74Take Another PictureQuarterflash34
73Bark at the MoonOzzy Osbourne19
72FastwayFastway31
71ListenA Flock Of Seagulls16
70Keep It UpLoverboy7
69Never SurrenderTriumph26
68National Lampoon’s Vacation(soundtrack)
6790125Yes5
66When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get GoingBow Wow Wow82
65StripAdam Ant65
64GenesisGenesis9
63The LookShalamar38
62Rant N' Rave With the Stray CatsStray Cats14
61The HurtingTears For Fears73
60Punch the ClockElvis Costello24
59Introducing the Style CouncilThe Style Council172
58Kilroy Was HereStyx3
57Body WishesRod Stewart30
56Seven and the Ragged TigerDuran Duran8
55You Broke My Heart In Seventeen PlacesTracey Ullman34
54The Wild HeartStevie Nicks5
53Lawyers In LoveJackson Browne8
52Can't Slow DownLionel Richie1
51Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)Eurythmics15
50She’s So UnusualCyndi Lauper4
49Flick of the SwitchAC/DC15
48Somewhere in AfrikaManfred Mann's Earth Band40
47Survivin' in the 80'sAndré Cymone185
46If You Leave Me NowChicago
45Holy DiverDio56
44Future ShockHerbie Hancock43
43Reach the BeachThe Fixx8
42Living in OzRick Springfield12
41CargoMen At Work3
40FrontiersJourney2
39SportsHuey Lewis & the New1
38NerudaRed Rider66
37An Innocent ManBilly Joel4
36Break OutPointer Sisters8
35Cuts Like a KnifeBryan Adams8
34You And Me BothYaz69
33Risky Business(soundtrack)
32Breaking the ChainsDokken136
31Dreamboy (EP)Dreamboy
30The CrossingBig Country18
29Stay With Me TonightJeffrey Osborne25
28What A Feelin'Irene Cara77
27Planet PPlanet P42
26Too Low for ZeroElton John25
25TouchEurythmics7
24The Final CutPink Floyd6
23Metal HealthQuiet Riot1
22FantasticWham! U.K.83
21Duck RockMalcolm McLaren
20Eddie and the Cruisers(soundtrack)47
19Shout at the DevilMötley Crüe17
18Uh-Huh!John Cougar Mellencamp9
17NonaNona Hendryx83
16Into Battle with the Art of NoiseArt Of Noise
15MadonnaMadonna8
14UndercoverThe Rolling Stones4
13Blinded By ScienceThomas Dolby20
12EliminatorZZ Top9
11Rebel YellBilly Idol6
10Colour by NumbersCulture Club2
9WarU212
8AlbumJoan Jett and the Blackhearts20
7Let's DanceDavid Bowie4
6The Luxury GapHeaven 1772
5Flashdance (soundtrack)(soundtrack)1
4Power, Corruption & LiesNew Order
3Speaking in TonguesTalking Heads15
2SynchronicityThe Police1
1PyromaniaDef Leppard2

3 comments:

  1. Not sure where this post ranks among your favorites here at the Hideaway, Herc, but I can tell you where it ranks among mine... TOP OF THE LIST!! – Thanks for sharing such a fascinating part of your Herculean past!
    On a side note, it's good to see you've put Def Leppard's "Pyromania" in its rightful place at #1... I, personally, wouldn't have it any other way!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Gunter glieben glauten globen" evidently translates as "Stone. Cold. Ladykiller."

    Rock on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Herc, loved the list and the personal story. I am glad my post helped inspire this one from you.

    ReplyDelete