Old Music Friday: 6/14/84
Looking back at the new singles that debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1984
Well, it finally happened — this week's New Music Friday playlist was so bereft of stuff I liked that I simply wouldn't feel right trying to make a post out of it, so I'm shifting gears and cooking up an Old Music Friday for you instead. Let's buckle our seat belts, strap on our time machine visors, and take a loving look back at the 12 songs that debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1984!
"Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me)," Red Rider
Don't feel bad if the name Red Rider doesn't ring a bell, but rest assured you're extremely familiar with the work of one of its members. Real ones know I'm talking about frontman Tom Cochrane, who rose to one-hit infamy in the early '90s with his hellish earworm "Life Is a Highway," which rose from the dead many years later when Rascal Flatts covered it for one of the Cars soundtracks. Fortunately for me (but not for Red Rider), this single is nowhere near as catchy as "Life Is a Highway," which accounts for why it petered out at No. 71 on the Hot 100 — not far from where it entered the chart this week at No. 94. Spelunking through old charts has a way of turning up hidden gems; this song is not one of them.