Way Back Wednesday: The Top Music of August 26, 1983

This Week In 1983: The Top Music of August 26, 1983

Billy Joel and Bonnie Tyler both jump ten spots this week (to #12 and #20, respectively) while Spandau Ballet (a phrase the band saw in some graffiti on a Berlin night club wall when they were just starting out) also jumps ten spots to land “True” in the Top 40 at #32. The biggest tumble of the week belongs to Eddy Grant who falls eleven spots to #31. Duran Duran and Irene Cara start their decent down the chart after peaking at #4 and #1. The new single from The Police, “King of Pain” debuts on the Hot 100 this week all the way up at #37 while their current single “Every Breath You Take” spends it’s eighth and final week in the top spot.

Song Story: “Every Breath You Take” by The Police

One of the most misinterpreted songs ever, front-man Sting wrote it when he was suffering a self-described “mental breakdown” during the disintegration of his first marriage. He calls it a “nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.” Sting knew that it would be the band’s biggest hit when he wrote it and indeed it was a huge success. It was the song of year for 1983 and won two Grammy’s and an award at the first MTV Music Awards ceremony in 1984. Sting has also said that due to the dark nature and content of the some, he was compelled to write it’s “antidote” so to speak. That song was “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”.