# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1981 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977 "2014-10-10T15:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/41 "2014-10-11T03:13:34Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Considering their stature, the Stones have had remarkably few #1s in their long career. “Miss You” was the last one. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Start Me Up” are especially eyebrow-raising, and “It’s Only Rock & Roll” didn’t even come _close_. #1 is very hard to get to. Quite a few acts with long, iconic careers that never pulled it off. Journey comes to mind. You would have thought that just one of their dozen or so songs that every single person who has ever listened to rock music knows would have hit #1, but nope, never happened. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/42 "2014-10-11T03:37:24Z")
_Rapture_ is great, not so much for the rap part (although that is fun) but for the melodic intro. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/43 "2014-10-11T06:07:28Z")
I kinda like Blondie rappin’ about the aliens but I just had to go with Dolly this time. She’s such a sweetheart. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/44 "2014-10-11T08:03:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > No contest: Kim Carnes. > > Lennon and Cross come in second, but Carnes is outstanding! I hated “Bette Davis Eyes” in 1981 and it, along with the huge success of “Endless Love” and “Physical”, cemented my belief I was living in a the Dark Ages of Popular Music during the early 80s. Since then, my opinion of the song has changed considerably but not enough for me to pick it. I haven’t changed my opinion about “Endless Love” and “Physical” though. Incidentally, Carnes (of all people) did a gender-flipped cover of the Stones’ “Under My Thumb”. Has anybody else heard it? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/45 "2014-10-11T08:18:59Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > #1 is very hard to get to. Quite a few acts with long, iconic careers that never pulled it off. Journey comes to mind. You would have thought that just one of their dozen or so songs that every single person who has ever listened to rock music knows would have hit #1, but nope, never happened. Bear in mind that it’s 1982, 7 years since \*Born to Run, \*and Springsteen hasn’t appeared on these lists yet. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/46 "2014-10-11T09:01:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Bear in mind that it’s 1982, 7 years since \*Born to Run, \*and Springsteen hasn’t appeared on these lists yet. And he won’t ever. Bruce Springsteen has never had a #1 single (unless you count his participation in “We Are the World” in 1985). Don’t feel too bad about it. Bob Dylan never had a #1 single. Neither did CCR. Nor The Who. Nor Led Zeppelin. Nor The Velvet Underground. Nor James Brown. Nor The Ramones. Nor Elvis Costello. Nor R.E.M. Nor Public Enemy. Nor Nirvana. Nor Pearl Jam. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/47 "2014-10-11T10:25:58Z")
So, I voted for **Kim Carnes**. But I would have loved to vote for **Blondie** ’s _Rapture_. IMHO, it’s the best thing they’ve written. A melody that’s comparable but even better than _Heart of Glass_. Great production again. Wonderful song. Until she starts rapping. Kudos to them for being one of the first mainstream bands to introduce it in a song but it just doesn’t work. The flow sounds contrived and artificial and all the magic of the first half evaporates. Cardboard rap. _The Tide is High_ however is clearly wretched. Blondie were always at their best with that mixture of sleek rock and proto-New Wave. When they tried to be exotic (like here) or hip (see above), the results were… not good. **Olivia Newton-John** ’s _Physical_ is such a fun song that I considered voting for it. But no, there are better entries on the list. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/48 "2014-10-11T10:41:07Z")
Ahh, a breath of fresh air, when the world was finally waking up from the long nightmare of disco. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/49 "2014-10-11T17:16:14Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > And he won’t ever. Bruce Springsteen has never had a #1 single (unless you count his participation in “We Are the World” in 1985). _Really?_ I mean, \*\*Born in the USA \*\*was the biggest album of the mid-80’s - and none of its songs hit no. 1? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/50 "2014-10-11T17:31:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _Really?_ I mean, \*\*Born in the USA \*\*was the biggest album of the mid-80’s - and none of its songs hit no. 1? The title track and “I’m Going Down” peaked at #9, “Cover Me” went to #7, “I’m On Fire” and “My Hometown” made it to #6, “Glory Days” made #5, and “Dancing In The Dark” made it all the way to #2, losing out to “The Reflex” by Duran Duran and “When Doves Cry” by Prince. “Dancing in the Dark” _did_ make it to #1 on the Cashbox chart, which was one of Billboard’s competitors at the time (and still publishes airplay charts online) and used a different methodology for calculating chart positions. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/51 "2014-10-11T17:32:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I mean, \*\*Born in the USA \*\*was the biggest album of the mid-80’s Not by a long, long shot. Not even the biggest album of 1984, where _Purple Rain_ utterly crushed any competition. On a list of the top albums of the 80s, calculated by most weeks at #1, _Born in the USA_ is tied for #23 (with _No Jacket Required_ and _The Raw and the Cooked_). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/52 "2014-10-11T18:00:08Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Not by a long, long shot. Not even the biggest album of 1984, where _Purple Rain_ utterly crushed any competition. On a list of the top albums of the 80s, calculated by most weeks at #1, _Born in the USA_ is tied for #23 (with _No Jacket Required_ and _The Raw and the Cooked_). Calculated by total copies sold, however, \*Born in the USA \*was the biggest seller between \*Thriller \*in 1982 and \*Bad _in 1987. Despite the fact that_ Purple Rain \*held the No. 1 slot longer, _Born in the USA_ shipped more copies. That’s all that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/53 "2014-10-11T18:23:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Calculated by total copies sold, however, \*Born in the USA \*was the biggest seller between \*Thriller \*in 1982 and \*Bad _in 1987. Despite the fact that_ Purple Rain \*held the No. 1 slot longer, _Born in the USA_ shipped more copies. That’s all that counts. And **Purple Rain** is a superior album in every imaginable way. And I say this as a fan of the the Boss and **Born in the U.S.A.**. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/54 "2014-10-11T18:36:22Z")
> [@Eddie\_F](#): > > And **Purple Rain** is a superior album in every imaginable way. And I say this as a fan of the the Boss and **Born in the U.S.A.**. On a side note - either Prince is currently undergoing a major critical reevaluation or his record label is promoting the hell out of his back catalog for some reason, because I’ve noticed a _lot_ more Prince songs playing on the classic rock/soft rock/contemporary adult stations I listen to on my daily commute. Up until around six months ago I don’t think I’d heard a Prince song besides “1999” on the radio, but lately “When Doves Cry” and “Little Red Corvette” and “Raspberry Beret” have been in rotation enough to the point that I heard the latter twice in a half hour the other day. Or maybe his music has just reached the point in its life cycle where it’s gone from being chic, to being campy and kitsch, to being old enough for people from the '80s to be nostalgic for. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/55 "2014-10-12T03:58:28Z")
> [@Eddie\_F](#): > > And **Purple Rain** is a superior album in every imaginable way. And every unimaginable way. > [@Eddie\_F](#): > > And I say this as a fan of the the Boss and **Born in the U.S.A.**. Well, I’m not a fan at all, so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/56 "2014-10-12T09:17:56Z")
A pox on both your houses! 😉 For me, different as they are, Prince and Bruce are in similar categories: I honor their importance, and admire their creative range and longevity, but only really enjoy a handful of their songs. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/57 "2014-10-12T15:06:27Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > On a side note - either Prince is currently undergoing a major critical reevaluation or his record label is promoting the hell out of his back catalog for some reason, because I’ve noticed a _lot_ more Prince songs playing on the classic rock/soft rock/contemporary adult stations I listen to on my daily commute. This is because Prince recently returned to Warner Bros. If you’ll remember, Prince was originally with them, and their split was the mother of all divorces that gave us “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” It seems, that in the process of their getting back together, Prince regained control of some of his back catalogue that had been gathering cobwebs. He’s re-released Purple Rain, and has a new album out, so there’s undoubtedly a big effort to get him back in the spotlight. Oh, and I voted for Kim Carnes because even though I had actually never heard the song, it epitomises the sound of the early 1980s. Also, I already voted for Starting Over, and there wasn’t much else I really cared for. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/58 "2014-10-12T16:40:26Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > This is because Prince recently returned to Warner Bros. If you’ll remember, Prince was originally with them, and their split was the mother of all divorces that gave us “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” It seems, that in the process of their getting back together, Prince regained control of some of his back catalogue that had been gathering cobwebs. He’s re-released Purple Rain, and has a new album out, so there’s undoubtedly a big effort to get him back in the spotlight. That explains it - I can add “I Would Die 4 U” to the list since that was on the radio this morning, and I was starting to think Prince had been in heavy rotation all along and somehow I’d just changed the channel right before every time they played him. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/59 "2014-10-12T21:03:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > _Rapture_ is great, not so much for the rap part (although that is fun) but for the melodic intro. Indeed. The tubular bells on top of the synths give it an ethereal sound. (But I’ve always been a sucker for tubular bells. When I was a kid I loved the [closing credits](http://youtu.be/dDA9SzbHsNo?t=1m56s) to sesame street because of the tubular bells.) ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977/60 "2014-10-14T17:59:19Z")
Since “Tainted Love” (whomp-whomp!) didn’t make it to #1 I’ll have to vote for “The Tide is High.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1981/700977.md?page=4)