MGK’s Top 10 rock albums from April 27, 1984 dominated the charts at the same time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time NBA scoring list, the Dead played at the old Civic Center and this week’s #1 rock album ended Thriller‘s 37-week stay at the top spot!

• 10. 90125 - Yes

  Our #10 rock album is by a band that, coincidentally, played a show at The Spectrum just three days after the date of today’s countdown. I know because I was there – what a show! And it was in the round, too! It’s Yes, with 90125, and here’s the opening track.

• 9. Uh-Huh - John Mellencamp

  John Mellencamp followed up the huge success of American Fool with Uh-Huh, his third album in just 18 months!  It’s #9 on the countdown this week.

• 8. Synchronicity - The Police

  In their short time together, The Police released just five studio albums, every one of them platinum.  Their only #1, though, was their fifth and final album called Synchronicity.  On April 27, 1984 it was #8.

• 7. An Innocent Man - Billy Joel

  Billy Joel’s homage to his musical influences, An Innocent Man, was another big hit for him, and even got him two Grammy nominations!  On this week’s Thursday Top 10 Countdown, it’s the #7 rock album and here’s his tribute to Motown with “Tell Her About It.”

• 6. Learning To Crawl - Pretenders

  After losing two members to drug abuse, Chrissie Hynde assembled a new band and returned with the biggest album of her career with the Pretenders, Learning To Crawl.  On April 27, 1984, the album was #6.

• 5. Heartbeat City - The Cars

  It was on the set of the Timothy Hutton-directed music video for this song that The Cars’ Ric Ocasek met 19 year old model Paulina Porizkova.  They’d be married five years later.  The song was “Drive,” and it’s from the #5 rock album on the countdown, Heartbeat City.

• 4. Love At First Sting - Scorpions

  Since forming in 1965 in Hanover, Germany, the Scorpions have released 19 studio albums.  This was their biggest, Love At First Sting, which peaked here at #4 on April 27, 1984.

• 3. Sports - Huey Lewis And The News

  We are coming up on eight million copies of this monster album sold in the U.S. – Sports by Huey Lewis And The News, which is #3 on MGK’s Thursday Top 10 Countdown.

• 2. 1984 - Van Halen

  As Rolling Stone so perfectly put it, Van Halen found a larger audience with 1984 after “Eddie discovered the synthesizer.” It made the already huge band a worldwide success and, though it didn’t peak at the top spot, hanging here at #2, it has sold more than 10 million copies!

• 1. Footloose - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

  At the top of the charts this week is the soundtrack to one of the biggest grossing films of 1984 – a film that starred one of our Philly acting heroes.  Not only was the movie a blockbuster, but this soundtrack, which spawned two #1 singles, was so big it was the album that knocked Michael Jackson’s Thriller out of the #1 position after an incredible 37 week run.  #1 on April 27, 1984 was the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Footloose.

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