Music History

Chicago reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”.

Survivor spent their fifth week at No. 1 with “Eye Of The Tiger”. John Cougar (Mellencamp) spent three weeks at No. 2 with “Hurts So Good”, while Steve Miller Band and Fleetwood Mac remained at No. 3 and No. 4. Chicago was at No. 5 with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”, Air Supply at No. 6 with “Even the Nights Are Better”, REO Speedwagon at No. 7 with “Keep The Fire Burnin'”, The Go-Go's at No. 8 with “Vacation”, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 9 with “Wasted On The Way”, and Paul McCartney entered the Top 10 with “Take It Away”.

Blue Öyster Cult performed at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.

King Crimson and Roxy Music performed at the Velodrome in San Sebastián, Spain.

Alice Cooper's album “Zipper Catches Skin” was released.

English DJ, musician, songwriter and producer Adam George Dyment, known as Duke Dumont, was born in London. He became known for the singles “Need U (100%)” and “I Got U”, both of which reached No. 1 on the UK chart.

George Strait made his film debut in “The Soldier”, where he sang his song “Fool Hearted Memory” in a honky-tonk during the outbreak of a fight. The song later became the first of his 44 country No. 1 hits.

Queen performed at the Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during their North American tour.

Robert Plant's solo album “Pictures at Eleven” was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies. It was his first recording following the breakup of Led Zeppelin after the death of drummer John Bonham.

The Clash released the single “Should I Stay or Should I Go” in the UK.

George Strait scored his first No. 1 country hit with “Fool Hearted Memory” from his second album “Strait From The Heart”, which also contained his famous cover of “Amarillo By Morning”. He quickly became one of country music’s most successful hitmakers and had 17 No. 1 hits by the end of the decade.

Country singer LeAnn Rimes, whose full name is Margaret LeAnn Rimes, was born in Jackson, Mississippi. At the age of eight, she became known as the winner of the original version of “Star Search” with Ed McMahon, followed at age 13 by the release of Bill Mack’s song “Blue”. She later recorded the single “How Do I Live”, which reached No. 3 in the US in 1997 and No. 7 in the UK in 1998.

Actress and singer Ingrid Bergman died at the age of 67.

The Charlie Daniels Band performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

Judas Priest released the album “Screaming for Vengeance” in the United States.

Queen performed at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, during their North American tour.

Fleetwood Mac played the second concert of their 33-date Mirage Tour at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. Men at Work were the opening act, and their debut album Business as Usual was rapidly climbing the US charts. Two weeks after the tour ended in October, Men At Work embarked on their own tour as the headlining act.

Culture Club released the single “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” in the United Kingdom. Critics were not particularly favorable; Smash Hits magazine described it as “fourth-rate reggae”.

Steve Wozniak financed and organized the three-day US Festival in San Bernardino, California, featuring Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, The Cars, Talking Heads, The Kinks, Jackson Browne, Santana, B-52’s and others. According to the source, more than 400,000 people attended; the festival grossed approximately $10 million but ended with a loss of more than $12 million.

Frank Zappa's single “Valley Girl” reached number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the only time Zappa placed a song in the US Top 40.

Glenn Frey's solo single “The One You Love” moved from number 75 to number 53.

Pat Benatar, The Cars, Santana, The Kinks, Eddie Money and Dave Edmunds performed during an all-day music program at the US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park near San Bernardino, California.

Steve Miller Band began a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Abracadabra,” their third US number-one hit, which reached number two in the UK. The song was reportedly inspired by Diana Ross, whom Miller met while they were both appearing on Hullabaloo in the 1960s. Another source states that the song began a two-week run at number two in the US, so the sources disagree on this detail. It was later certified gold by the RIAA and subsequently double platinum.

Survivor were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Eye of the Tiger,” the title song from the film Rocky III, beginning a four-week run at the top. After spending six weeks at number one in the US, the song reached the top of the UK chart. It was their only UK number-one hit. The song won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance.

Paul McCartney released the single "Tug Of War".

Peter Gabriel released the album "Security", also known as "Peter Gabriel 4".

Van Halen performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.

The first compact disc was released in the United States; it was a German-made reissue of Billy Joel’s 1978 album “52nd Street”.

John Cougar Mellencamp simultaneously topped the US album and singles charts with the album “American Fool” and the song “Jack and Diane”. He released the album under the name John Cougar, and “Jack and Diane” became his biggest hit.

Sony launched the first commercially available compact disc player, the CDP-101, in Tokyo. The device cost 168,000 yen, equivalent according to different source variants to approximately $650–$730.

Accept released their fourth studio album, “Restless and Wild.” The album was self-produced by the band and included, among other songs, “Fast as a Shark,” which many consider one of the recordings that helped give rise to speed metal.

Dire Straits began a four-week run at No. 1 on the British album chart with Love Over Gold.

Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett reunited with their former Genesis bandmates for a one-off benefit concert at the Bowl in Milton Keynes, England. The concert raised funds for Gabriel's financially troubled World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) project.

The word “jobsworth” first appeared in the London Times. The expression was popularized, or according to the source possibly coined, by singer-songwriter Jeremy Taylor.

Jethro Tull performed at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.

John Cougar reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Jack & Diane.” “Hurts So Good” remained at No. 10, while the album “American Fool” was at No. 1 on the album chart. According to the source, this combination made him the first male solo artist to have an album at No. 1 and two songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.

Musical Youth reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with “Pass The Dutchie.” The group consisted of boys from Birmingham aged 11 to 16. The song was a cover of “Pass The Kutchie” by The Mighty Diamonds, with the reference to a cannabis pipe changed so that the group could avoid a ban because of the drug reference.

Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett reunited with their former Genesis bandmates for a one-off benefit concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England. Gabriel performed with Genesis for the first time since leaving the group in 1975 and, according to the source, this was the only occasion on which he sang Genesis songs on stage after his departure. The concert was intended to raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) project, or to repay debts incurred during his WOMAD tour.

James Jamerson, the influential Motown bassist and member of The Funk Brothers, died on August 2, 1983, in Los Angeles at the age of 47 from complications related to cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure, and pneumonia. He played on numerous landmark Motown recordings and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

American singer Dawn Richard, known in part for her work with Danity Kane, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

David Crosby was sentenced in Texas to five years in prison for possession of cocaine and an illegal firearm. After unsuccessful appeals, he began serving his sentence at Huntsville State Prison on March 6, 1986, and was released on parole five months later. In November 1987, a Texas appeals court overturned the original conviction because of an illegal search during his arrest.

Avant-garde German singer and musician and former David Bowie backing vocalist Klaus Nomi died in New York at the age of 39 from complications related to AIDS.

The Beach Boys reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with the compilation album “The Very Best of the Beach Boys.”

Black Sabbath vydali album „Born Again“, jediné album skupiny s Ianem Gillanem jako hlavním zpěvákem.

Billy Joel released his ninth studio album "An Innocent Man". The album reached No. 4 in the U.S. and contained three Billboard Top 10 singles: "Tell Her About It" at No. 1, "Uptown Girl" at No. 3 and "An Innocent Man" at No. 10. It was later certified eight-times platinum.

Metallica released the single “Whiplash”. It was their first single.

The Police released the single “King Of Pain”.