In 1983, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. The chart, which in 1983 was published under the title Adult Contemporary, has undergone various name changes during its history but has again been published as Adult Contemporary since 1996. [1] In 1983, 18 songs topped the chart based on playlists submitted by radio stations. [1]
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In the January 1 issue of Billboard the number one position was held by "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, which retained its position from the last chart of 1982. [2] It held the top spot for three weeks in 1983 before being displaced by "Baby, Come to Me" by Patti Austin and James Ingram. The duet had originally been released the previous year and achieved little success. It was re-released, however, after it was featured on the soap opera General Hospital , sparking renewed interest in the song which sent it to the top of both the AC listing and Billboard's pop chart, the Hot 100. [3] [4] Three other songs topped both charts in 1983, including Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It" and Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's duet "Islands in the Stream", [3] the latter of which also reached number one on the Hot Country Singles listing. [5] [6] In 2005 "Islands in the Stream" topped a poll organized by the country music television channel CMT of the best country duets of all time. [7]
The third song to be both a pop and AC number one in 1983 was "All Night Long (All Night)" by Lionel Richie, which also topped the Black Singles listing. [8] Richie was the most successful act on the AC chart in 1983; he had three number ones and spent a total of fourteen weeks in the top spot. He was the only act to have more than one AC chart-topper during the year and also claimed the longest-running number one of 1983, spending six consecutive weeks atop the chart with "You Are". No other act spent more than four weeks at number one in total during the year. Richie, the lead singer of the Commodores, had launched his solo career the previous year and quickly reached superstar status. [9] The final AC number one of 1983 was Barry Manilow's version of "Read 'Em and Weep", a song originally recorded by the hard rock singer Meat Loaf. [10]
