- Jan 2 "Camelot" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 48 performances
Music History
Jan 20 Heavy metal musician Ozzy Osbourne allegedly bites the head off a bat on stage in Des Moines, Iowa
- Jan 21 "Little Me" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 36 performances
Music Awards
Jan 25 9th American Music Awards: Pat Benatar & Kenny Rogers win
Music History
Feb 13 Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon" marks 402 weeks in the album charts
- Feb 14 "Night of 100 Stars" takes place at NY's Radio City Music Hall
Musical Finale
Feb 21 Musical review of Fats Waller songs "Ain't Misbehavin'", starring Nell Carter and Irene Cara, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 1604 performances, winning 3 Tony and 4 Drama Desk Awrds
Film and TV Awards
Mar 10 8th People's Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field & Jane Fonda win (Motion Picture) and Alan Alda & Barbara Mandrell win (TV)
Music Single
Mar 26 Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder release the single "Ebony & Ivory" in the UK
- Mar 27 "Best Little Whorehouse..." closes at 46th St NYC after 1577 performances
- Mar 31 American rock group The Doobie Brothers split up
- Apr 12 American composer Roger Sessions receives Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his "Concerto for Orchestra"
- Apr 24 27th Eurovision Song Contest: Nicole for Germany wins singing "Ein bißchen Frieden" in Harrogate
Music History
Apr 26 Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
Music Awards
Apr 29 17th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Merle Haggard, and Barbara Mandrell win
Radio History
May 10 WABC radio (NYC) plays its last record - John Lennon's "Imagine" - and switches to all-talk format
- May 16 "Barnum" closes at St James Theater NYC after 854 performances
- May 16 "Is There Life After High School?" closes at Barrymore after 12 performances
- May 27 Musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?", after successful runs in Chicago and Philadelphia, opens at Alvin Theatre, NYC; runs for 5 performances
- May 29 "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses hits #62
- May 30 Musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?", after successful runs in Chicago and Philadelphia, closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC, after 5 performances
- May 31 "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 63 performances
- Jun 2 "Blues in the Night" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for 53 performances
- Jun 5 "Murphy's Law" by Cheri hits #39
Music City News Awards
Jun 7 16th Music City News Country Awards: Barbara Mandrell wins
Album Release
Jun 16 Columbia Records releases "Somewhere in the Stars", the fourth studio album by Rosanne Cash; produced by husband Rodney Crowell, and featuring her father Johnny Cash on one track
- Jun 18 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Van Morrison and Jackson Browne headline; other performers include: Osibisa, Judie Tzuke, Richie Havens, Aswad, Steel Pulse, Thompson Twins, Climax Blues Band, Talisman, and Incubus
Music Single
Jun 21 Paul McCartney releases single "Take It Away"
- Jun 27 "Dancin'" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 1,774 performances
- Jun 30 "Lena Horne: Lady, Music" closes at Nederlander NYC after 333 performances
- Jul 1 ABC national music radio network scheduled premiere (never happened)
- Jul 3 Riot at building Stopera Amsterdam (damages Ÿ1 million)
- Jul 8 "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 5 performances
- Jul 11 "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 5 performances
- Jul 18 "Blues in the Night" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 53 performances
- Jul 20 T Macauly & D Vosburghs musical "Windy City," premieres in London
- Jul 24 "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" closes at E O'Neill NYC after 63 performances
Music Premiere
Jul 27 Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's musical "Little Shop of Horrors" opens Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in NYC
- Aug 28 "Sugar Babies" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 1208 performances
- Aug 29 Steve Miller's single "Abracadabra" hits #1
- Sep 2 Rolling Stone Keith Richard's house burns down
- Sep 6 Paul McCartney releases "Tug of War" album
- Sep 9 "Your Arm's Are Too Short To Box With God" opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 69 performances
- Sep 10 Decca releases Beatles audition on "Complete Silver Beatles" album, 20 years after label executives rejected them feeling that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business"
Music Single
Sep 17 "Bad to the Bone" single by George Thorogood and the Destroyers first released
- Sep 23 "Doll's Life" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 5 performances
Album Release
Sep 23 Columbia Records releases "The Nylon Curtain", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's eighth studio album
- Sep 26 "Doll's Life" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 5 performances
Album Release
Sep 30 Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen's sixth studio album "Nebraska", a solo record, made without a backing band
Album Release
Oct 1 Marvin Gaye releases his last studio album "Midnight Love" featuring single "Sexual Healing"
- Oct 7 Musical "Cats" opens at Winter Garden Theater on Broadway, NYC; runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000, wins 7 Tony and 1 Grammy Award
Music Awards
Oct 11 16th Country Music Association Award: Willie Nelson & Ricky Skagg
Music Single
Oct 29 Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson release single "The Girl is Mine"; peaks at # 2 in US, and #8 in UK
- Oct 31 "Rock 'n Roll!: The 1st..." closes at St James NYC after 9 performances
Album Release
Nov 5 George Harrison releases "Gone Troppo", his tenth solo album
- Nov 7 "Your Arms are Too Short to Box" closes at Alvin NYC after 69 performances
- Nov 11 Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn's stage drama with songs "Foxfire", strring Jesica Tandy, Keith Carradine, and Cronyn, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 213 performances and wins a Tony Award for Tandy
- Nov 28 "Pirates of Penzance" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 772 performances
- Nov 30 "Thriller", 6th studio album by Michael Jackson is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1984, best-selling album of all time, Billboard Album of the Year 1983)
- Dec 8 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" opens at Ambassador NYC for 6 performances
- Dec 12 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" closes at Ambassador NYC after 6 performances
Music History
Dec 29 Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica
