Old Music Friday: 10/4/84

Counting down the songs that debuted on the Hot 100 this week in 1984

Old Music Friday: 10/4/84

Once again, the current New Music Friday has left me with slim pickings, so I'm going back to the past and bringing you the tracks that debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1984 — ten in all!

90 - "Wanted Man," Ratt
Ratt's first (and only real) hit, "Round and Round," was on its way down the chart this week, dropping to No. 75. That meant it was time for the suits at Atlantic to try and make magic happen again, which is always easier said than done when you're talking about a metal band on pop radio. Although they'd brush the outer rim of the Top 40 again, it didn't happen until '85 — "Wanted Man" crapped out at No. 87, and it isn't hard to hear why. It's perfectly fine for what it is, and it does a fine job of setting the tone for Out of the Cellar as the album's opening track, but it lacks the pop flash required for loud longhairs to make it past the heavy rotation gate.