Unlucky For Some: the 13 most underrated songs from 1983
Punk was dying, and commerciality was on the rise—it was 1983, and the decade was finally beginning to take shape. With amazing new wave releases like the Talking Heads masterpiece Speaking in Tongues and David Bowie finally finding himself a mainstream hit with the poppy ‘Let’s Dance’, the ’80s own identity was firmly fleeing the shadow of the ’70s. Moog sales were flying through the roof, shares were skyrocketing in perming equipment, and this glossy outlook had a futurist impact on the music.
These days, most of 1983 looks like living 24/7 in CandyLand. With the new innovations in technology, there was also the advent of MTV, which was starting to rear its head, bringing new sounds and trends that no one had ever heard before. The ’70s were now looking ancient, and the new school had to look a little more photogenic.
Even for the beginning of the decade, 1983 is fairly stacked in terms of classics. While there were the beginnings of hair metal rearing its head, this was also the year when Madonna first hit it big. The Police closed out their career with ‘Every Breath You Take,’ and Michael Jackson was still riding the colossal wave of Thriller that would sustain him for the rest of the decade.
So, as the times adjusted to the new age of culture, timeless gems and avant-garde progenitors fell out of vogue in favour of establishing a solid musical theme for the decade ahead. Amid this transition period, a lot of excellent tracks escaped the spotlight as the rules for ’80s success were being finalised. We’ve resurrected those underrated crackers in the list below and wrapped them up in a playlist to boot.
The 13 most underrated songs from 1983:
13. ‘Perfect Circle’ – R.E.M.
Everyone’s memory of the ‘80s tends to be larger than life. Although the biggest bands on MTV were known to be fashionable, there was something else coming out of the rock scene in Athens, Georgia. Right alongside Madonna, R.E.M. cut their teeth and struck gold on Murmur.
While it’s hard to understand what Michael Stipe is trying to say half the time, ‘Perfect Circle’ is one of the purest songs that the band would ever write. Even though the lyrics tend to just be non-sequiturs from one line to the next, Stipe made the intentional decision to leave those spaces open to let the listener fill out what the melody means to them.
Since this was before R.E.M. took off, their knack for creating slow burns was much more nuanced than most, even at this stage. Considering their beginnings, it’s not hard to connect the dots to songs like ‘Losing My Religion’ a bit later.
12. ‘Colour Me Impressed’ – The Replacements
The ‘80s were a booming time for the world of indie rock. Although The Smiths may have had success overseas on The Queen is Dead, The Replacements found their calling in making some of the most tuneful punk rock of all time.
Hailing from Minnesota, Paul Westerberg’s voice is one of the most sincere punk drawls you will come across. Although the album Hootenanny is a fairly mixed bag from start to finish, ‘Colour Me Impressed’ is a letter-perfect pop tune that never saw the light of day. While Westerberg’s voice is rough around the edges, it adds to the mystery behind the entire song.
The song might be good enough to be a Cheap Trick song, but chances are Westerberg could be sarcastic, genuine, or both depending on what part of the song you’re listening to.
11. ‘Stagefright’ – Def Leppard
It’s a question that’s followed the band around for years: are Def Leppard metal? Although they came up around the same time as acts like Iron Maiden, Leppard was firmly in the hard rock category for most of their career. That is, until ‘Stagefright’.
While Pyromania marks the moment when Leppard transitioned into pop-flavoured rock and roll, ‘Stagefright’ is the best blend of those two worlds. Opening with Joe Elliott’s scream, the verses sound like they are ripped straight out of an old AC/DC song before the chorus comes in, sounding like the band just listened to power pop.
What really gives the song some teeth is Phil Collen’s lead work, bringing a certain degree of flash that no other band member could. ‘Photograph’ may have gotten more love, but you’re in for a ride when the band’s also-rans are this good.
10. ‘Memories Fade’ – Tears for Fears
Towards the mid-80s, Tears For Fears were ready to take over the world on the back of songs like ‘Shout’ and ‘Head Over Heels’. Before any of those classics arrived, though, they were still pop hopefuls trying to figure things out on The Hurting.
While this record is known more these days for the original version of ‘Mad World,’ ‘Memories Fade’ taps into loneliness much better. As opposed to the melodramatic ’80s synths, the backing track is very sparse here, making you feel like you’re isolated from reality when listening on headphones.
Tears for Fears weren’t the only ones to capitalise on this melody. When making his own heartbreak opus, Kanye West flipped the sample of this song for ‘Coldest Winter’ as a goodbye letter to his mother. Memories might fade, but the sting is still going to be there.
9. ‘Change of Heart’ – Tom Petty
Not many ‘70s artists could make the big jump into MTV. In a world where most of his contemporaries sank, Tom Petty held his own with the TV generation on ‘Change of Heart’.
While this kiss-off song to an ex is perfect for Petty, he actually took the idea from Electric Light Orchestra. Being inspired by the way Jeff Lynne used chords on ‘Do Ya’, this was Petty’s retort, making his guitar riffs sound huge with a wall of sound behind it.
Even though this is technically a breakup song, Petty seems sure of himself here, looking to see the silver lining of his girl leaving him and carrying on to new pastures. The heart can play tricks on you, but Petty is willing to roll with the punches.
8. ‘Evil’ – Mercyful Fate
By the start of the ‘80s, metal had already started to come into its own. Although hair metal reigned supreme, there were just as many bands laying the groundwork for thrash in the San Francisco underground. Many copied Metallica, but Metallica were copying Mercyful Fate.
Right around the same time as Metallica were making their first steps, King Diamond’s demented souls crafted one of metal’s most underrated anthems. While Diamond dips into his falsetto a la Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, he sounds like a banshee slowly pulling you down further into Hell.
Metallica were paying attention right back, turning this song into a medley with other Mercyful Fate classics on their covers album Garage Inc. This is far from black metal, but this is about as evil as mainstream metal gets.
7. ‘Drowning Man’ – U2
Around 1983, U2 were on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. While The Joshua Tree was just around the corner, War was the band’s most militant album, tackling topics that most other acts were afraid to touch on songs like ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’. The band had their own sound, but ‘Drowning Man’ doesn’t sound like it’s from this world.
Made up mostly of The Edge playing bell-like chimes on his guitar, ‘Drowning Man’ feels removed from rock altogether as Bono sings anything that comes off the top of his head. Although this is a rock song, Bono’s melody sounds closer to something you’d hear out of a seedy jazz club until he takes it up the octave and puts a lot more passion into his voice.
The lyrics also paint a dark picture, telling the story of a man who is lost in the world and the narrator desperately trying to save him from himself. Bono might be doing everything he can to help his friend, but it’s not his choice to save him or not. Anyone can try to help, but Bono sounds like he’s fighting a lost cause.
6. ‘Kiss Off’ – Violent Femmes
The main outlook of 1983 was for everything to appear much more glossy. If you look at the ground floor of indie rock, Violent Femmes brought something new to the table by going back to the bare essentials.
Although most fans know the Femmes for ‘Blister in the Sun’’s iconic guitar riff, ‘Kiss Off’ is more indicative of their sound around this time, taking the barebones acoustic guitars and playing a more snide version of punk rock.
Even though the song is constructed like a folk tune, the lyrics are still as cynical as ever, having more in common with the likes of R.E.M. than anything you were seeing out of Madonna. Compared to other punk rockers that like to make a lot of noise, these guys made their point by turning things down. As much as fans may have liked big, brash bands, this is what punk rock would have sounded like without amplifiers.
5. ‘I Love L.A.’ – Randy Newman
There’s a good portion of millennials who probably only know Randy Newman as the guy who soundtracks Pixar movies sometimes. Before he had gotten into the Monster Inc.’s of the world, Newman was already one of the kings of singer-songwriters.
Although Newman had his time in the spotlight with songs like ‘Short People’ in the ‘70s, his influence carried on into the next decade with ‘I Love LA’. While the song sounds like the perfect soundtrack to the posh lifestyle, there’s something a bit more cynical about Newman’s delivery.
Despite talking about the sunshine and cranking up the Beach Boys on the stereo, most of this song is written as a takedown of Los Angeles, thinking that the whole city is superficial. LA might be the City of Angels, but if you remove one layer off the top, you can already see the black hole of Hollywood.
4. ‘She’s in Parties’ – Bauhaus
The early ‘80s was the prime time for goth rock. Although MTV may have been in fine technicolour, people like Robert Smith were painting sonic pictures with a pitch-black brush. Although acts like the Cure may have been given prime time spots, Bauhaus is where we started to dig a little deeper.
While ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ remains Bauhaus’s crowned jewel, ‘She’s In Parties’ is more in line with what they are all about. Painting the picture of a girl lost in the graveyard scene, Peter Murphy is channelling Morrissey in some of these lines, being so distraught with emotions that it sounds painful for him to get every word out.
The real unsung hero of this song is Daniel Ash, who layers different overdubs of guitars to create a wall of sound behind the main lyric. You don’t hear a lot of guitar chops in goth too often, and this is a song that budding guitarists might want to pay attention to.
3. ‘Mutiny in Heaven’ – The Birthday Party
There’s traditional gothic music… and then there’s Nick Cave. While Cave has been a staple of the macabre side of rock and roll, everyone has to start somewhere, and The Birthday Party was still pretty kickass when it was around.
Although Cave had been brewing something more spooky for his solo career, ‘Mutiny In Heaven’ feels like a test run for what was to come, having a more new wave approach to rock and roll underneath Cave’s smooth baritone. While there had been brooding music before, the pop crowd didn’t know what to make of songs that were this dour.
This might have been one of the most depressing new wave songs out at the time, but The Birthday Party wasn’t looking to be Devo. This was the sound of post-punk and Boris Karloff slamming into each other and creating the darkest beauty rock and roll could offer.
2. ‘A Place in the Sun’ – Marine Girls
The Marine Girls might be the greatest untold story in the world of indie pop. Even though the name doesn’t ring a bell, you will recognise the singer the minute ‘A Place in the Sun’ comes on.
This was originally the first outfit of Tracy Thorn, who would go on to form Everything But the Girl and become massive in the ‘90s with ‘Missing’. Even before prime time, Thorn’s knack for songwriting is already intact, taking this image of a place in the sun and crafting a melody that could rip your heart out of your chest.
While there are a few rough edges, this more commercial brand of post-punk would have worked wonders if it had stuck around until the shoegaze movement. ‘A Place in the Sun’ is worthy of legendary status…its only crime was it came out a few years too early.
1. ‘The First Picture of You’ – The Lotus Eaters
Having only formed in 1982, Liverpool band The Lotus Eaters found themselves in the strange position of having a hit before they had even played a gig. In its own way, this is indicative of the era of live distortion and rock ‘n’ roll energy was shunned for polished studio products. The anthemic ‘The First Picture of You’ is a pristine example of how that can, in fact, work beautifully.
This gem is far from a classic crowd-pleaser, offering more of a voyeuristic feel instead. This spring-like wonder on display provides a near-spiritual experience. And true to the ’80s central tenet, it punctuates that hillside picnic with a joyous, catchy chorus. In truth, it almost seems fitting that the band failed to make it past 1985. They were always far too sunny for the long haul of autumn in the aftermath of a truly innocent hit.
Peter Coyle wrote the track during a cold winter when he had no central heating. That sense of summer dreaming will forever be a resonant force, even at the height of July.
