4 Excellent 1984 Songs Found Way Down at the Bottom of the Pop Charts

Pop music enjoyed one of the greatest years in its history in 1984. The charts were filled with songs that would become part of the culture’s fabric, both right after they were released and in years to come.

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Even way down at the bottom of the pop charts, you could find songs of outstanding quality. If you don’t believe us, check out these tracks that should have been bigger hits.

“Too Young To Fall In Love” by Mötley Crüe

They’d eventually get slick and polished and would turn out hits with a regularity that few other glam metal bands could even hope to approach. (Only Bon Jovi could hang with them in that department.) But Mötley Crüe was a much more unruly beast in 1984, at least in terms of their musical approach. “Too Young To Fall In Love” features a sledgehammer rhythm and a potent call-and-response approach in the chorus, while Vince Neil squeals out the lyrics with abandon. The song manages to feature both Nikki Sixx’s songwriting smarts and the punkish energy of the band back then. But it only reached No. 90 before fading.

“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” by R.E.M.

Had this song arrived in the second half of the 80s, a time during which R.E.M. had ascended to the mainstream elite, the chart results might have been different. But back in ’84, they were still the darlings of college radio and a national obscurity. Featured on Reckoning, their second studio album, “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” showed that the band’s knack for rhythmic propulsion didn’t depart from them even on what’s essentially a ballad. Michael Stipe deviates from the somewhat mumbled, wordy verses to deliver the refrain of “I’m Sorry” in his most tortured voice. One of the band’s all-time classics, and yet it only topped out at No. 85.

“Thin Line Between Love And Hate” by The Pretenders

The album title Learning To Crawl was quite apropos for The Pretenders. Two of the band’s former guitarists died of overdoses in the interim between their second and third albums. But Chrissie Hynde never wavered. She built momentum for the record with the stunning single “Back On The Chain Gang”, which addressed the tragedy they’d faced. She then found some new members and delivered her strongest ever set of songs. And the new-look group showed great taste in cover song material. “Thin Line Between Love And Hate”, first done by The Persuaders, let Hynde show off her soul chops. But it was an extremely minor hit at No. 83.

“I Lost On Jeopardy” by Weird Al Yankovic

Jeopardy has become a cultural institution in America over the last 40 years, reaching a level of popularity that it didn’t quite achieve in its first stint on the air from 1964 to 1975. In other words, Weird Al Yankovic seemed to anticipate the sensation that the Alex Trebek-hosted version would become when he did this takeoff of “Jeopardy” by The Greg Kihn Band. The revised version of the game show had only just made it to the air when Yankovic’s song started to catch fire. Al does an amazing job, as is typical of his parodies, of scoring all the necessary comedic points while also keeping the lyrics flowing. Funny and familiar, yet only No. 83 on the charts.

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