# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1982 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114 "2014-10-12T16:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/61 "2014-10-14T11:47:57Z")
Joan Jett in a heartbeat, with second and third choices being Mellencamp and J. Geils. The Hall and Oates years of medicority continue. And I confess I don’t understand the love for “Don’t You Want Me Baby, Don’t You Want Me Now.” Just sounds so whiny to my ear. And yeah, there was plenty of good stuff in 1982 that didn’t result in a #1 hit. The Go-Gos’ _Beauty and the Beat_ was my favorite album from 1982. Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks had a nice duet that obviously didn’t make #1 because it’s not on this list. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/62 "2014-10-14T11:58:27Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks had a nice duet that obviously didn’t make #1 because it’s not on this list. And so on. Meant to say, “_Don Henley_ and Stevie Nicks…” - the Petty/Nicks duet was a year or two before, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/63 "2014-10-14T15:49:13Z")
\*\* goes to YouTube, cues up “Don’t You Want Me” \*\* oh, OK, that song. \*\* nods \*\* yeah, I’ve heard that. Kind of background noise, never really noticed it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/64 "2014-10-14T16:09:38Z")
It was between Joan Jett and the Human League for me, and I went with the Human League. ---
**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 14, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/65 "2014-10-14T17:02:45Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Meant to say, “_Don Henley_ and Stevie Nicks…” - the Petty/Nicks duet was a year or two before, IIRC. To be precise, “Leather and Lace” (the Henley/Nicks song) and Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around" (the Petty/Nicks song) _both_ came out in 1981; the former peaked at #6, the latter at #3. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/66 "2014-10-14T17:46:35Z")
I cheated. My first pick was “Don’t You Want Me Baby” but first I looked at the votes and saw it was pretty well covered, and shifted my vote to “Up Where We Belong”. I scoffed at this one when it was new, as I scoffed at any tune that both 15 and 50 year old women liked. But 3 decades later, it holds up, and deserves a little respect. I bet it’s the one my wife would pick. All in all, I tend to agree with the way the voting has turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/67 "2014-10-14T18:20:50Z")
I was listening to the radio this morning and “Jack & Diane” came on. I thought, “I wonder if this was a #1 single? If so, I’m going to vote for it because the guitar in this song is spectacular.” And so I did. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/68 "2014-10-14T21:11:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > To be precise, “Leather and Lace” (the Henley/Nicks song) and Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around" (the Petty/Nicks song) _both_ came out in 1981; the former peaked at #6, the latter at #3. That may be so, but “Leather and Lace” got most of its airplay (and peaked on the charts) in 1982, while “Stop Draggin’ My Car Around” was definitely 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114/69 "2014-10-14T22:31:57Z")
Wow. Music is really starting to suck at this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1982/701114.md?page=3)