After having done R&B and funk for a while, this track finally made this artist earn the title of King of Pop.  Out of nowhere comes this huge rock riff (done by TOTO if you can believe it), followed by what some call the greatest guitar solo of all time by Eddie Van Halen, and it’s a song that Michael Jackson basically wrote with his voice.  One of the greatest rock/pop songs ever lands at #3 in this 1983 countdown – it’s Beat It by Michael Jackson.

The next 3 songs in this countdown were the toughest for me to place.  At one point, this was my #1, but it ultimately slipped down due to how important/impactful the other two tracks were.  That’s not to say this is not an important track.  It’s one of the most covered songs by rock bands (I played it a lot), it was a new track on a greatest hits LP that helped it sell 10 million copies, and it is considered to be one of this band’s ultimate staples.  Locking in at #3 in the top 1993 songs countdown is …..more →

I never knew of this artist when this song came out; knew none of what he did before, what he sang, etc.  And yet, this song and album represented what many called one of the greatest rock and roll comebacks ever.  Even when heard this for the first time, I sensed something special about this track, and it has remained a rock opera classic to this day.  Coming in at #4 is I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) by Meatloaf.

From this point on in the 1983 countdown, the question should be what could possibly have beaten the previous song?  This next track edged out the previous one, and with good reason.  It is one of the most iconic ballads of all time, with an undeniably powerful vocal track.  It is almost uncoverable given how good this track is, and it plants itself at #4.  It is Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

Now we come to the top 5 songs that were released in 1983, and any of these next songs, if released in another year, would have likely been #1.  Instead, they all had to fight for the top 1983 prize, and this entry is one of the best pop R&B dance songs of all time, making this man a huge megastar if he wasn’t one already by then.  The #5 song in this countdown is All Night Long (All Night) by Lionel Richie.

We had recently talked in this countdown about tough subject matter in songs.  This song is the highest ranking song involving content that is some pretty deep stuff.  Whatever you make it about – drug addiction, teen runaways – this song is considered by some to be an anthem for this types of subjects and the song still carries a lot of punch to this day.  We break into the top 5 with the #5 song in the countdown – Runaway Train by Soul Asylum.