3 Songs That Prove 1984 Was the Defining Year for 80s Pop

The 80s redefined pop music as we know it. Here are a few songs that prove 1984 was a game-changing year for pop music, but especially 80s music.

“What’s Love Got To Do With It?” by Tina Turner

This one was released as a single for Tina Turner‘s iconic comeback album, Private Dancer. “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” also made Turner the oldest woman to top Billboard‘s biggest chart. However, regarding the song’s theme, the singer doesn’t necessarily agree.

“In my case, love has a lot to do with it, I’m sorry,” Turner once shared, laughing in an interview with CBS. “But, I mean with the world today, I mean, everything is very fast and women have changed. And men have changed as well. So I think the song sort of really fit a lot of liberated girls. They’re feeling like ‘Yeah, that’s right, Tina! What does love have to do with it anyway?’…”

“When Doves Cry” by Prince

Created for a specific scene in Prince’s film Purple Rain, “When Doves Cry” was all about quality over quantity musically. In this song, Prince opted not to use bass, which turned out to be one of his best decisions. This changed the game for pop music from that point on. 

“It was just sounding too conventional, like every other song with drums and bass and keyboards,” Prince told Bass Player Magazine of “When Doves Cry.”

When one of his background singers, Jill Jones, asked him what was wrong, he decided to remove the bass from the track.

He continued, “So I said, ‘If I could have it my way, it would sound like this,’ and I pulled the bass out of the mix. She said, ‘Why don’t you have it your way?’”

“Like A Virgin” by Madonna

Released ahead of her iconic album of the same name, “Like A Virgin” ended up becoming one of Madonna’s quintessential tracks. This one was written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, the latter of which swears that the word “virgin” wasn’t just put in the song to turn heads.

“I wasn’t just trying to get that racy word virgin in a lyric,” Steinberg explained to Fred Bronson. “…I’ve been battered romantically and emotionally like many people— but I’m starting a new relationship and it just feels so good, it’s healing all the wounds and making me feel like I’ve never done this before.”

Photo by: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns

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