1984: The Year In Top 40 Hits (Week 13: March 31, 1984)
Weird Al, The Cars, John Cougar Mellencamp, Berlin, and why Spandau Ballet released a single a year and a half late
(Note: If you’re new here, you might want to read an introduction to this series to get caught up on what we’re doing. Glad you could make it.)
You gotta love the lunar calendar. We may be eating ourselves sick on chocolate bunnies and deviled eggs this week, but in 1984, Easter wasn’t until April 22. There were five new entries this week, the highest being “Give Me Tonight” by Shannon at 71. Yes, she had a second Top 100 single.
At #14, “Eat It” by Weird Al Yankovic
“Eat It” was where Weird Al Yankovic proved that he was really going to be around for the long haul. By 1984, the former Cal Poly undergrad had been knocking around Top 40 stations for nearly five years, ever since 1979’s “My Bologna,” and he’d been a staple on The Dr. Demento Show longer than that. But early tracks like “Another One Rides The Bus” had been quickie lo-fi affairs given one-off single releases. By 1983, Al had a stable recording contract, a full band held down by his longtime pal Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz (still Al’s drummer and official historian to this day), and even an actual former…
