8 of the 80s: 4/25/13 (1984)...

The 80s are back, and it's time to take a trip back to 1984, the year Linda Hunt won an Oscar for best actress for playing a male character in The Year Of Living Dangerously (a first)...This week's crop is a whole heaping portion of soul.

O'Bryan - "Lovelite"
from the album Be My Lover (1984)
Billboard peak: #101
Songwriters: O'Bryan Burnett, Don Cornelius

The singer's chart-topping R&B hit from his third album was co-written by the Soul Train guru who mentored the artist.

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Rufus & Chaka Khan - "One Million Kisses"
from the album Stompin' At The Savoy - Live (1983)
Billboard peak: #102
Songwriters: Kevin Murphy, Jeffrey Osborne

I featured their classic "Ain't Nobody" this past week, and the followup was pretty damn good in its own right.

Con Funk Shun - "Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold"
from the album Fever (1983)
Billboard peak: #103
Songwriters: Melvin Carter, Felton Pilate

An ultra-smooth offering from the California funk band that was an underground fave of mine.

The Spinners - "Right Or Wrong"
from the album Cross Fire (1984)
Billboard peak: #104
Songwriters: Kamau Peterson, Dorie Pride

 The vocal group's final R&B top-40 as a lead artist was this non-Spinners-sounding lite-funk record. Former lead singer Phillipe Wynne died soon after this was released (he had left the band long before)...

Herbie Hancock - "Mega-Mix"
from the album Future Shock (1983)
Billboard peak: #105
Songwriters: Herbie Hancock, Michael Beinhorn, Paul Jackson, Bill Laswell, Harvey Mason, Bennie Maupin, Curtis Mayfield

One of the first "official" hip-hop mix tracks, jazz-fusion pioneer Hancock enlisted 'Grandmaster D St" to mix tracks from his hit album together for this frantic collage.

The Time - "Ice Cream Castles"
from the album Ice Cream Castles (1984)
Billboard peak: #106
Songwriter: Morris Day

Besides Jesse Johnson's guitar, all the instruments on this record belong to the Purple One himself, Prince, who wrote the track though Day was credited on the record.

Juicy - "Beat Street Strut"
from the album Beat Street (Original Soundtrack) (1984)
Billboard peak: #107
Songwriters: Katreese Barnes, Milton Barnes, Alan Palanker, Eumir Deodato

Ahh, Beat Street, you need to come back to my DVD player pronto. To take your place in the high trilogy of breakdancing that was this, Breakin', and Disorderlies.

Melba Moore - "Livin' For Your Love"
from the album Never Say Never (1983)
Billboard peak: #108
Songwriter: LaForrest Cope (La La)

When I lived in Chicago I was all about Melba, with or without her duets with Freddie Jackson. Here she's so silky I'll fall off the damn bed.

That's it for tonight...thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back tomorrow with another Song of the Day, and my top-100 tunes for the week. Good night!