Flashback: Top 10 singles this week in 1982
1982 was a transition year for pop music. ’70s style soft-rock artists were still hanging around on the charts, but MTV was already starting to change the face of pop music forever. That transition is reflected in the Top 10 from the Billboard Hot 100 published on October 30, 1982 — 31 years ago this week. By the time 1983 rolled around, the pop charts would be dominated by a wave of new artists largely introduced to the masses by the increasingly important influence of MTV. Also notable this week on the Billboard Hot 100 were the debuts of a number of classic songs: Prince “1999” (#81), Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing (#78), Toto “Africa” (#75), and Don Henly “Dirty Laundry” (#73). Other iconic ’80s singles ascending the charts this week on their way to the Top 10 included The Clash “Rock the Casbah” (#55), Daryl Hall & John Oates “Maneater” (#42), ABC “The Look of Love” (#39), The Stray Cats “Rock This Town” (#35), Toni Basil “Mickey” (#30), and Laura Branigan “Gloria” (#12), among others. And in just one more week, on the chart published November 6, 1982, the first single from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album — “The Girl is Mine,” his first duet with Paul McCartney — would debut on the Billboard Hot 100 all the way up at #45. The world of pop music, and popular culture overall, was about to change dramatically. This list below is a snapshot of that change just as it is starting to take shape.
10. “Heartlight” – Neil Diamond
9. “I Ran (So Far Away)” – A Flock of Seagulls
8. “You Can Do Magic” – America
7. “Somebody’s Baby” – Jackson Browne
6. “Heart Attack” – Olivia Newton-John
5. “Up Where We Belong” – Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
4. “I Keep Forgettin'” – Michael McDonald
3. “Eye in the Sky” – Alan Parsons Project
2. “Jack and Diane” – John Cougar Mellencamp
1. “Who Can It Be Now?” – Men At Work
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