1001 Song You Must Hear Before You Die - 1984

Very hard to pick between "Wood Beez" and "It's My Life", but going for the latter as I expect the former to have more supporters here.

Also love "I Feel For You", "The Killing Moon", "How Soon Is Now?" and "I Want You Back". Prince and The Boss both represented by the wrong tracks ("Born In The USA" is OK, but far from as good as "Dancing In The Dark", "My Hometown" or "Cover Me")
Tina Turner, on the other hand, is represented with her only great solo song ever. :)

voted for prince

How Soon Is Now?, easily.

many good songs here, but the only other song on the list that gives me pause is purple rain, but that's not the strongest cut from that album.

would have preferred 'when doves cry' though

prince but what prego said too

Many people consider 1984 as good as 1965. I don't, but I love "I Will Dare" and "Tenderness"--the Replacements get my vote--and like the Chaka Khan, Scritti Politti, and (true!) Hoodoo Gurus songs too. Obvious omission: Cyndi Lauper (late '83 release, but most of the hits are '84), for me "Time After Time." Others: Bananarama's "Cruel Summer," the Cheepskates' "Run Better Run," Husker Du's "Eight Miles High" or "Newest Industry," Manuel Göttsching "Quiet Nervousness," and something from Reckoning.

I don't think I would actually have gone for "When Doves Cry", but it would have been a much better pick than the title track.

"Cruel Summer" is from 1983 btw.

And, well.. "Time After Time" too, but should have been in the 1983 list.

You're right about "Cruel Summer"--the album, and the second and third hits (which I also love) were '84. Should have mentioned the Meat Puppet's "Lost," too, which I'd take over his pick. (We've had this disagreement before: "Time After Time" was a hit in '84, so I say it belongs on the '84 list.)

What a year. I'm going for Boys Of Summer, which has held up about as good as anything from that era.

Another year where I'm missing a lot of goodies:

Howard Jones: Hide & Seek
Depeche Mode: Blasphemous Rumours
Phil Collins: Against All Odds
Bluebells: I'm Falling
George Michael: Careless Whisper
The Cars: Drive
Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder: Together In Electric Dreams
Duran Duran: The Wild Boys
Thompson Twins: Doctor! Doctor!
Madness: Michael Caine
Nik Kershaw: Wouldn't It Be Good
Billy Ocean: Carribean Queen
Blancmange: Don't Tell Me
U2: Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Van Halen: Jump
Queen: Radio Ga Ga
David Bowie: Loving The Alien
Bananarama: Robert De Niro's Waiting
Alphaville: Sounds Like a Melody

I Will Dare. And I Will Vote.

It's My Life just ahead of Two Tribes, both amazing songs but Frankie got my vote for 1983.

General Public over Talk Talk and the Hoodoo Gurus.

Voted Chaka Khan. But I could have just as easily voted FGTH or Prince. Cripes, even the Don Henley record was great. BITUSA gets points for Max Weinberg's best Keith Moon tribute; it also gets points off because Moon tributes do not lend themselves to fucking gated drums.

I think I might vote for world destruction

tenderness

where is it

it's hard to argue that that's the 'best' song on this list, but it's the song that I would be most psyched to have come on if I were listening to the radio

Appendix: Songs You Must Hear Before You Die 1984 (Non-featured)

A-ha - Take On Me
Barrington Levy - Here I Come
Beat Happening - Our Secret
Bocal 5 - Moska
The Chills - Pink Frost
David Sylvian - Red Guitar
Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High
Les Rita Mitsouko - Marcia Baïla
Felt - Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow
John Lennon - Nobody Told Me
Meat Puppets - Lake of Fire
Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls
Miami Sound Machine - Dr Beat
Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder - Together In Electric Dreams
Prince - When Doves Cry
Sheila E - The Glamorous Life
The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Sonic Youth - Death Valley '69
Tears for Fears - Shout
Tones on Tail - Lions
VanHalen - Jump

Very poor list that encapsulates much of what I hate about the 80s. Voted "Rattlesnakes".

Moka: The hit version of "Take On Me" wasn't released until 1985. They did have a rather sizeable hit in Norway with the original version, but it sounds very different from the version the world knows.

Two Tribes vs Wham

im going with Two Tribes under the assumption that there's much more Wham & George Michael to come

Pretty certain there isn't any more Wham! Most of their biggest hits were from 1984.

well clearly solo George Michael then

Talk Talk vs. 'Mats for me. Tough choice.

If there were anything like "objectivity" in these matters, I think I'd have to go with Sade, but I've never cared much for Sade even though she's amazing. Voted for "How Soon is Now?" which was a big deal to me at the time (or more like a year later, probably).

I also remember thinking "Time Zone" was some kind of very ground-breaking, advanced stuff at the time, but it didn't hold up well for me at all. (I think I even owned the EP at one point? Or bought it for a friend?)

Plateau vs. It's My Life vs. I Feel for You. I'll probably vote for the Pupps.

I <3 the Pupps.

(Like A Record)

Talk Talk edged out Don Henley for my vote....

Man did the '80s suck....

Can't wait for 1991+.

Killing Moon vs Two Tribes

voted I Will Dare over Tenderness, State Of Shock, Henley and that N'Dour track.

I Feel For You might be the best of the bunch, but I never get the urge to hear it.

3 of these bands are from Liverpool

It's My Life vs Im Nin'Alu.

Voting for the latter, so Ofra Haza gets at least one vote.

this is list is fucking garbage

voting "The Killing Moon" over quite a few others.

http://s1.directupload.net/images/110904/hr7vudkr.jpg

Voted for "Im Nin'Alu", though I think this must be some earlier Ofra Haza version of the song (the song itself is a traditional, IIRC). The most famous version by her (with the electronic sound) is from 1987.

killing moon

X-Post: I am actually not certain if the 1984 version is different. I am sure most of those who vote for her are voting for the hit version that was a worldwide hit in 1988.

Found the 1984 version, and yes, it's quite different:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkr1V9RZpi8

Meh, I don't love any of these songs.

you don't have to love them, you merely must hear them before you die

how soon is now, anyway

about ten minutes.

two tribes.
bought a new stereo thingymabob last week and played one of the remixes to test things out.
still love it.

because really, nothing says "dance mix" like an a capella section

(yes I realize it's for mixing purposes, it's still funny when listening to the song by itself)

Jermaine Jackson's "Dynamite" > Jacksons' "Torture"

(Not sure if they're really linked in anyway; I always just had them aligned growing up.)

Is this an attempt at humor? There is no title track on "Victory".

Oops I meant "Torture". Which was indeed a great song.

Crap year-Killing moon

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i am surprised

Don't know it, is it that good?

No! Jesus!

Surprised, surprised, and very gratified.

Sucks.

So, this could kill the franchise?

Very surprised indeed. Biggest surprise since this series started for me, I think.

the sockpuppets: i will vote

You're questioning the legitimacy of "I Will Dare" winning? It's not obscure, and critics did gush over it at the time (and continue to, to the best of my knowledge).

i love the replacements, but that isn't even the second best song on the album, much less the best song of that year.

I have a slight preference for "Answering Machine" myself, but I think it's been pretty well established these polls are not for the best song of any given year; they're for the best songs on lists that reflect one guy's sometimes very puzzling version of what the best songs for any given year were. And 16 people thought "I Will Dare" was better than everything else on the list. That seems reasonable (and heartening) to me--pretty sure it's still generally viewed as the signature song on Let It Be, or at least tied with "Unsatisfied."

one guy's personal lists inspired this series of 2,741 polls?

http://www.sydney-australia.biz/chinatown/graphics/sydney-chinatown.jpg

I like the polls

As far as I know, I've only ever liked one Replacements song (and it wasn't "I Will Dare"), so I am not pleased.

Doesn't it give you all thrills when Noodle Vague injects surrealism into our lives the way it does for me?

What would we all do without people injecting surrealism into our pitiful lives?

I like these polls, since I've accepted that the starting point lists are ridiculous.

I've accepted that the starting point lists are ridiculous.

This is key

Sorry, I majorly goofed. Looking at 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which I do have, Robert Dimery (whose book I thought it was) is just the editor; it's "selected and written by leading international critics." There are about 100 contributors listed inside. I only recognize maybe five of the names myself, but I'm pretty out of touch with rock criticism these days, so that doesn't mean anything.

Man I'm doing rebuses not surrealism get it straight

your noodle is too vague

it feels like a sin to unpack yr own gag imo

I've never even heard the 4 tunes that got most votes... I guess I'll have to listen to them before I die?

Really you must

just realised that the picture in the OG post is from Beat Street! What an amazing film!

Never knowingly heard "I Will Dare", or anything by the Replacements for that matter. I should rectify this.

The odd Melody Maker cover aside, they've never had that much of a profile in the UK.

Scorps and "Private Dance" are the big losers here.

er "Dancer"

lol this is ILM in a nutshell; everyone posts about pop & RnB but voted indie

Would surprise me more if people keep voting indie in the 90s polla. (Which is when I will start voting indie)

polls, not polla

clemenza- not questioning the legitimacy, tbh, it was a 'pun' on a 'messageboard'.

Also, ilm is predictable in its fierce desire to be unpredictable so rly not a shock result

yeah i can never predict which indie classic is gonna win

lol this is ILM in a nutshell; everyone posts about pop & RnB but voted indie

Lurker tastes skew more indie than regular posters.

something about "not defending the indefensible"

lurkers can sb too

their SBs don't count iirc

democracy of the loudest, as advocated for by yr lobbyer-loving friend NV

participatory democracy, sunshine

participa tory

translation

to be involved as a tory

All I know is, that to me, you look like you're lots of fun.