These 4 Odd Rock Songs All Hit No. 1 in 1983

1983 was quite the year for rock music. The now-revered 80s rock sound was emerging, along with theunique sounds from acts like The Culture Club, The Human League, Prince, and more.

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These are three rock songs that were big hits in 1983, which all happen to be very odd.

“Africa” by Toto

“Africa” remains one of Toto’s. biggest hits. Released in the United States in the fall of 1982, the song appears on Toto’s Toto IV album. “Africa”, which follows their first big hit, “Rosanna”, is written by band members David Paich and Jeff Porcaro.

“Africa” says, “It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / There’s nothin’ that a hundred men or more could ever do / I bless the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.”

The song was inspired by Paich’s love of Africa. He wrote the melody and the lyrics to the chorus in just ten minutes.

“I sang the chorus out as you hear it,” Paich tells Smooth Radio. “It was like God channeling it. I thought, ‘I’m talented, but I’m not that talented. Something just happened here!”

“Let’s Dance” by David Bowie

The title track of David Bowie’s album, also out in 1983, Bowie is the sole writer of “Let’s Dance”. The song became a multi-platinum hit for Bowie

“Let’s Dance” begins with, “(Let’s dance) Put on your red shoes and dance the blues / (Let’s dance) To the song they’re playing on the radio / (Let’s sway) While colour lights up your face / (Let’s sway) Sway through the crowd to an empty space.“

Although it seems “Let’s Dance” is about dancing with someone, Bowie says it’s really about the dance of life.

“I tried to produce something that was warmer and more humanistic than anything I’ve done for a long time,” Bowie explains (via Songfacts). “Less emphasis on the nihilistic kind of statement.”

“Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant

On Eddy Grant’s Killer On The Rampage record is “Electric Avenue“. Written by Grant, the song is Grant’s biggest hit in the United States.

“Electric Avenue” says, “Down in the street there is violence / And a lots of work to be done / No place to hang out our washing / And I can’t blame all on the sun, oh no / We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue / And then we’ll take it higher / Oh we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue / And then we’ll take it higher.”

Grant had the idea for “Electric Avenue” while he was walking in London.

“On the way home one night from working in the Black Theatre of Brixton, I saw ‘Electric Avenue’ on a street sign,” he tells The Guardian. “And thought, ‘What a fantastic song title.’”

Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns