This Month in... 1983
By Victoria Keane | Nov 1 2018
On 2nd November, Irene Cara releases her album What A Feeling. The album is a departure from her previous R&B focused debut and contains a primarily euro-pop sound. It included her hit single of the same name that was previously featured in the film Flashdance, and later has colloquially come to be known by much of the Irish public as ‘that song from the Gaviscon ad’. On 6th November, Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” peaks at no.1 on the Irish and UK charts, respectively. The single remains at the top for the entirety of the month; whilst in the US, Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” also peaks at no.1 for the month. Both songs are now considered 80s zeitgeists that have since been heard on many Film and Television soundtracks. On 14th November, the 14-minute long music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” premieres in select theatres in LA, the screenings ran for three weeks and were sold out each night. The video cost the production company $500,000 to produce (roughly $1.2 million when adjusted for inflation in 2018) and was theatrically released in order to qualify for an Oscar. Sadly, it failed to secure a nomination. Despite this, the short-film became a cultural phenomenon that set a standard for higher quality, narrative-driven music-videos. That same day, British new-wave band Eurythmics release Touch, their first no.1 UK chart album and top-ten hit in the US. A critical and commercial success, the album was later certified platinum in both countries and the single “Here Comes the Rain Again” also became a top-ten hit in Ireland. On 26th November, Quiet Riot’s Metal Health becomes the first metal album to reach no. 1 on the US charts where it spends one week. The album heralded the emergence of the metal-genre in mainstream culture. It also spawned their Top 40 hit, ‘Metal Health (Bang Your Head)’, which is featured the following year in the box-office hit Footloose. Despite their initial success, none of the band’s follow-up albums managed to break into the Top Ten again.