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1983 Was How Long Ago? Some Incredible Songs That Somehow Turn 40 in 2023
A “My God, I’m Old” Rate-A-Record
Last month I did a Rate-A-Record looking some at songs that turned 50 this year, “Fabulous at Fifty: Three Awesome Songs from 1973 You Either Forgot or Never Knew.” That one was a lot of fun; I was seven years old in ’73, so my memories of those three songs comes for a little bit later in life. The songs from this installment are not nearly as forgiving.
In 1983, I was 17 years old and well into the “good” part of my high school years. That means that I experiences the songs from that year at one of the most influential periods of my life, musically and otherwise. The downside to looking back at these songs as they turn 40 years old is that they are turning 40 freaking years old. How is that even possible? Wasn’t 1990 only 10 years ago? If these are 40, that means I’m…damn it.
My existential crisis, however, in no way diminishes the greatness of these tunes, a few of which were actually the artists’ debut effort. They were great then and they’re great now (though who knew back when we were blasting these on a cassette tape that they would someday be played on classic rock radio stations?).
The songs I’ve chosen are a little different than one you’ll find at the top of the list if you…
