Now hear this: Elvis Costello, like the Police, arrived in the New Wave of the late ’70s but quickly pushed beyond its confines to explore more challenging, eclectic music. It made them the biggest band in the world for a year or two, and then they were done. Here singer-bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland expanded the use of synthesizers, sequencers and influences such as world music to make a record that sounded more perfect than anything they’d done before. 1, and the single “Every Breath You Take” was the overall No. “Synchronicity,” the Police: The fifth and final record by the Police spent 17 weeks at No.

The Police released “Synchronicity” on June 17, 1983. Now hear this: Violent Femmes released its self-titled debut one day after “Murmur” and while the words and music on “Violent Femmes” have their own distinct style there’s definitely common ground in the sometimes folk-infused rock of both bands. If I could pick one band from 1983 to get back together today, R.E.M. The songs enthralled listeners with moody mysteries and Southern rock far from that of the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd. “Murmur,” R.E.M.: The quartet from Athens, Georgia released its debut album in April 1983 to rave reviews – it ended up Rolling Stone’s album of the year – for singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. Now hear this: With “An Innocent Man,” Billy Joel also found success with a makeover of his musical style, mining the doo-wop and soul of his adolescence to write hits such as the title track, “Uptown Girl,” “Tell Her About It,” and “The Longest Time.” R.E.M.’s debut album “Murmur” was released on April 12, 1983. Others had a slower burn, overlooked until their power to inspire was revealed. Some were massive hits from the jump, flying out of record stores on the day of release. By any measure, “Thriller” transcended pop music, becoming a cultural artifact worthy of its place on lists of the best albums of all time.īut 1983 as a whole was a particularly rich year for influential albums. (Pretty Young Thing),” and “Human Nature” – all were hits, setting a record for most singles in the Top 10 from a single album that stood until 2021. Its seven singles – the title track, “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “The Girl Is Mine,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” P.Y.T. With 32 million copies sold by the time 1984 arrived, it became the top-selling album of all time, a record it still holds though the tally is now estimated at 70 million. But just look at what Michael Jackson and “Thriller” did by the end of 1983: 29, 1982, so technically it got a head start on the new year in music.

Yes, we know that it was released on Nov. If your time traveler didn’t return with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” well, you’d just have to send them back to get it right. Imagine you sent a time traveler back to 1983 to bring back the biggest, most influential album of the year.

Huey lewis stuck with you