History of the Grammys, Part 3: A Decade Study

Enter Part 3 of our Grammys Decade Study! Like with the first two decades, the third set of ten years for the Grammy Awards were full of extremely worthy contestants and winners. We're going to be exploring the '80s in this post, and if you've been around this blog a while you'll probably recognize a couple of songs from our first decade study when we looked at the #1 songs on the Billboard Year End Hot 100 Chart for each year leading up to 2019. Just like the previous posts, I'll only be highlighting the winners of the awards for Record of the Year (which is awarded to the performer and production team of a single song if other than the performer) and Song of the Year (which is awarded to the songwriter or songwriters of a single song). So with that intro out of the way, so let's jump in and start listening.

1979

The 21st Annual Grammy Awards were held February 15th, 1979 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by music legend John Denver, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1978.

Record & Song of the Year - Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel (written by W. Joel)

I know it's silly, but I can't hear this song without thinking about Mike Myers singing it on the American Idol inspired special feature of the Shrek DVD. Featured on his 1977 album The Stranger, this song ended up becoming Joel's first single to hit Gold in the US. The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also charted well in the UK. As you probably could've guessed if you've read the other posts, this song has been covered multiple times throughout the years by the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Barry White, Frank Sinatra, and Willie Nelson.

Don’t go changing to try and please me/You never let me down before/Don’t imagine you’re too familiar/And I don’t see you anymore/I wouldn’t leave you in times of trouble/We never could have come this far/I took the good times, I’ll take the bad times/I’ll take you just the way you are

1980

The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held February 27th, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by music legend Kenny Rogers, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1979.

Record & Song of the Year - What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers (written by K. Loggins, M. McDonald)

This is another one of those songs that I never knew the name of until I had to go and look it up - you know the ones, where you know the tune because you've heard it a million times but have no idea what it's called or who sings it? Featured on The Doobie Brothers' 1978 album Minute by Minute, this song has the distinction of being one of the only non-disco #1 hit singles of 1979. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US. As for popular cover versions, Kenny Loggins (who helped take home that Song of the Year Grammy for this song), Aretha Franklin, and George Michael are counted amongst those who have recorded their own version of this song.

He came from somewhere back in her long ago/The sentimental fool don’t see/Trying hard to recreate what had yet to be created once in her life/She musters a smile for his nostalgic tale/Never coming near what he wanted to say/Only to realize it never really was/She had a place in his life, he never made her think twice/As he rises to her apology/Anybody else would surely know, he’s watching her go/But what a fool believes, he sees/No wise man has the power to reason away/What seems to be is always better than nothing/And nothing at all keeps sending him

1981

The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards were held February 25th, 1981 in New York City, New York. Hosted by music legend Paul Simon, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1980.

Record & Song of the Year - Sailing by Christopher Cross (written by C. Burwell)

Similar to What a Fool Believes, this is a song I didn't realize that I knew, but that's because I got this song completely confused with another song by the same name. Featured on Cross's 1980 self-titled album, the American singer revealed during his Grammy acceptance speech that Sailing was never intended to be a single but it had always been his favorite song on the album. Not only did Cross take home Record and songwriter Carter Burwell take home Song, Cross also received the Grammys for Arrangement of the Year and Best New Artist in 1980. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and VH1 named it their #1 Most Softsational Soft Rock Song of all time. In terms of covers, this song has been recorded by artists such as Barry Manilow, NSYNC, and Puff Daddy when he sampled part of it for his song Best Friend in 1999.

Well, it’s not far down to paradise, at least it’s not for me/And if the wind is right, you can sail away and find tranquility/Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see/Believe me/It’s not far to Never-Never Land, no reason to pretend/And if the wind is right, you can find the joy of innocence again/Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see/Believe me/Sailing takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be/Just a dream and the wind to carry me/And soon, I will be free

1982

The 24th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 24th, 1982 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by music legend Quincy Jones, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1981.

Record & Song of the Year - Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes (written by D. Weiss, J. DeShannon)

1982 is where we see our first cross-over from the #1 song of the year according to Billboard and a Grammy winner for this decade. Featured on Carnes' 1981 album Mistaken Identity, this song spent a total of 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Billboard has since ranked it #12 on their Top 100 Songs in the First 50 years list. The single has also been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US. There haven't been as many covers of this song as there have been of other Grammy winners, but the most notable cover at this time was recorded by Gwyneth Paltrow for the 2000 film Duets (starring Paltrow and Huey Lewis).

She’ll let you take her home, it whets her appetite/She’ll lay you on a throne, she got Bette Davis eyes/She’ll take a tumble on you, roll you like you were dice/Until you come out blue, she’s got Bette Davis eyes/She’ll expose you when she snows you/Off your feet with the crumbs, she throws you/She’s ferocious and she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush/All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes

1983

The 25th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 23rd, 1983 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by music legend John Denver, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1982.

Record of the Year - Rosanna by Toto (written by D. Paich)

While it's not Africa, Rosanna definitely holds a bit of weight in terms of being a recognizable 80's song. Featured on Toto's 1982 album Toto IV, this song gets a lot of respect from musicians for drummer Jeff Porcaro's "Rosanna Shuffle," and members of Toto themselves refer to this song as the "ultimate Toto track." The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, and the RIAA has certified the track Platinum for selling over one million copies in the US. Like with Bette Davis Eyes, there's not a huge amount of well known cover versions of Rosanna out there, but the most popular one was done as a troll by Weezer back in 2018 when everyone was begging them to cover Africa.

All want to do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes, Rosanna, Rosanna/Never thought that a girl like you could ever care for me, Rosanna/All I want to do in the middle of the evening is hold you tight, Rosanna, Rosanna/I didn’t know you were looking for more than I could ever be/Not quite a year since she went away, Rosanna/Now she’s gone, and I have to say/Meet you all the way, meet you all the way/Meet you all the way, meet you all the way, Rosanna, yeah/Meet you all the way, meet you all the way/Meet you all the way, meet you all the way, Rosanna, yeah

Song of the Year - Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson (written by J. Christopher, M. James, W. Thompson)

This week I learned that this song was not Willie Nelson's originally, but rather a cover, and my world turned upside down. Featured on his 1982 album Always on My Mind, Nelson is actually like the 5th or so person to record this song, but it wasn't until his version that songwriters Johnny Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Thompson saw two Grammy Awards for their work: Song of the Year and Best Country Song. Nelson's cover of this song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart, as well as winning him Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the 1983 Grammys. This version has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US. Other notable covers of this song include Elvis Presley (probably the most well-known version besides Willie's), The Pet Shop Boys, John Wesley Rhys, Fantasia Barrino, and Julio Iglesias.

Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could have/And maybe I didn’t treat you quite as good as I should have/If I made you feel second best/Girl, I’m sorry I was blind/You were always on my mind/You were always on my mind

1984

The 26th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 28th, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted again by music legend John Denver, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1983.

Record of the Year - Beat It by Michael Jackson (written by M. Jackson)

Who doesn't walk around singing the chorus to Beat It in reference to something or another at least once a week? Just me? Ok, keep telling yourself that. Featured on Jackson's iconic 1982 album Thriller, Beat It was one of the King of Pop's first forays into rock music and includes the now legendary guitar solo by one Eddie Van Halen (may they both Rest In Peace). This song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA for selling over five million copies in the United States alone - it is actually one of the best selling singles of all time, currently standing at around seven million copies worldwide. In addition to Record of the Year, Jackson also won the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance as well as two American Music Awards that year. Notable cover versions include will.i.am and Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas (for Beat It 2008), Fall Out Boy (whose version is actually really good), and Weird Al Yankovic's 1984 parody Eat It.

They told him don’t you ever come around here/Don’t want to see your face, you better disappear/The fire’s in their eyes and their words are really clear/So beat it, just beat it/You better run, you better do what you can/Don’t want to see no blood, don’t be a macho man/You want to be tough, better do what you can/So beat it, but you want to be bad/Just beat it, beat it, no one wants to be defeated/Showing how funky and strong is your fight/It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right/Just beat it, beat it/Just beat it, beat it/Just beat it, beat it/Just beat it, beat it

Song of the Year - Every Breath You Take by The Police (written by G. Sumner)

Yes, the stalker song strikes again! The #1 song of 1983 was featured on The Police's album Synchronicity and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight weeks. Not only did Sting win Song of the Year for this single, The Police also took home the Grammy that year for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Thirty-eight years later, this song is still considered the quintessential Sting/The Police song and has been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US. The two most well-known covers of this song were recorded by Rich Landers and Mason Dixon, and Puff Daddy famously sampled parts of it in his 1997 song I'll Be Missing You.

Every move you make/And every vow you break/Every smile you fake, every claim you stake/I’ll be watching you/Since you’ve been gone I’ve been lost without a trace/I dream at night, I can only see your face/I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace/I feel so cold and I long for your embrace/I keep crying baby, baby, please

1985

The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 26th, 1985 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted for the third time in a row by music legend John Denver, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1984.

Record & Song of the Year - What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner (written by G. Lyle, T. Britten)

I have a vivid memory of being in high school with my two youth pastors at church trying to ease the tension of having to do the traditional Love/Sex/Dating series that happens almost every February by very goofily singing the chorus to this song as their intro that night - it still makes me laugh every time I think about it. Featured on Turner's 1984 album Private Dancer, this song became her first and only single to peak at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as making her the oldest solo female artist to peak at #1 at the time at age 44. The song won three Grammys in 1985 - Record & Song of course, as well as Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - as well as being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012. The song has been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US, and the most recent cover version was released just last year in 2020 by Norwegian DJ Kygo featuring Tina herself.

You must understand though the touch of your hand makes my pulse react/That it’s only the thrill of boy meeting girl, opposites attract/It’s physical, only logical/You must try to ignore that it means more than that, ooh/What’s love got to do, got to do with it/What’s love but a secondhand emotion/What’s love got to do, got to do with it/Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken

1986

The 28th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 25th, 1986 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by music legend Kenny Rogers, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1985.

Record & Song of the Year - We Are the World by USA for Africa (written by M. Jackson, L. Richie)

The fact that this song was America's answer to the UK's Do They Know It's Christmas really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Featured on the 1985 album We Are the World, the vocal soloists for supergroup USA for Africa included Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall, James Ingram, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Willie Nelson, Steve Perry, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, & Stevie Wonder. This song has become the 8th best selling single of all time with over twenty million copies being sold, and was also the first single to ever receive a Multi-Platinum rating from the RIAA at 4x Platinum. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won four Grammys in 1986 - Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Music Video (Short Form). The most well known "cover" of this song is definitely 25 for Haiti, which was released in 2010 as a response to the devastating earthquake in that island nation, and featured vocals from Akon, Swizz Beatz, Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Kid Cudi, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Snoop Dogg, Fergie, Jamie Foxx, Josh Groban, Jennifer Hudson, Nipsey Hussle, Enrique Iglesias, IYAZ, LL Cool J, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson (vocals from the original), Wyclef Jean, Nick Jonas, Adam Levine, Mann, Mary Mary, Jennifer Nettles, P!nk, Busta Rhymes, Nicole Scherzinger, Isaac Slade, Barbra Streisand, T-Pain, Usher, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, will.i.am, & BeBe Winans.

There comes a time when we heed a certain call/When the world must come together as one/There are people dying, oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life/The greatest gift of all/We can’t go on pretending day to day/That someone, somewhere soon make a change/We’re all a part of God’s great big family/And the truth, you know, love is all we need/We are the world, we are the children/We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving/There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives/It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me

1987

The 29th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 24th, 1987 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by comedic legend Billy Crystal, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1986.

Record of the Year - Higher Love by Steve Winwood (written by S. Winwood, W. Jennings)

Seriously, what a banger. Featured on Winwood's 1986 album Back in the High Life and featuring female vocals from Chaka Khan, this song peaked for one week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Winwood got to take home two Grammys for this song, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Well-known covers of this song include those by Whitney Houston, James Vincent McMorrow, and Kygo.

Think about it, there must be a higher love/Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above/Without it, life is wasted time/Look inside your heart, and I’ll look inside mine/Things look so bad everywhere/In this whole world, what is fair/We walk the line and try to see/Falling behind in what could be, oh/Bring me a higher love/Bring me a higher love, oh/Bring me a higher love/Where’s that higher love I keep thinking of/That love, that love, bring me higher love, love/That love, that love, bring me higher love, oh/That love, that love, bring me higher love, love/That love, that love, bring me a higher love

Song of the Year - That's What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, & Stevie Wonder (written by B. Bacharach, C. Sagar)

Some time in the last year I forgot that 1986's #1 song of the year was also a cover, with the original having been recorded by Rod Stewart. Featured on Warwick's 1985 album Friends, this song has a classic Bacharach feel to it and makes a lot of sense why he and Sagar walked home with that Song of the Year Grammy. Warwick, John, Knight, and Wonder also received the Grammy that year for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies in the US.

Well, you came in loving me, and now there’s so much more I see/And so by the way, I thank you/Oh, and then for the times when we’re apart, well, then close your eyes and know/The words are coming from my heart, and then, if you can remember/Keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me for sure/That’s what friends are for/In good times and bad times, I’ll be on your side forever more/That’s what friends are for

1988

The 30th Annual Grammy Awards were held March 2nd, 1988 in New York City, New York. Hosted again by comedic legend Billy Crystal, the televised awards honored musical achievements from the year 1987.

Record of the Year - Graceland by Paul Simon (written by P. Simon)

I really did not know this song at all until this week, but just like the rest of Simon's music I found it to be extremely pleasant and chill to listen to. Featured on his 1986 album Graceland, Simon's ex-wife Carrie Fisher (RIP) has said the song references parts of their relationship. In an interesting turn of events, Graceland held the record for lowest-charting song to win Record of the Year until 2009 - the song never peaked above #81 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its highest charting spot anywhere in the world was #14 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. There aren't a huge amount of covers of this song out there either, but the most notable one was recorded by Willie Nelson in 1993.

The Mississippi Delta/Was shining like a national guitar/I am following the river down the highway/Through the cradle of the Civil War/I’m going to Graceland, Graceland/Memphis, Tennessee/I’m going to Graceland/Poor boys and pilgrims with families/And wee are going to Graceland

Song of the Year - Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram (written by J. Horner, C. Weil, B. Mann)

This song will always hold a special place in my heart because the film it was written for was such a huge part of my childhood. Featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 film An American Tail (starring Phillip Glasser and John Finnegan), Ronstadt and Ingram provided the vocals for the credit role version of the song and both versions are equally beautiful. James Horner, Cynthia Weil, and Barry Mann received Song of the Year and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television Grammys in 1988, and the song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It has been certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies in the US, and notable cover versions include those by Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, Susan Boyle ft. Michael Bolton, and the version from Community by Donald Glover and Danny Pudi.

Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight/Someone’s thinking of me and loving me tonight/Somewhere out there, someone’s saying a prayer/That we’ll find one another in that great somewhere out there/And even though I know how very far apart we are/It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star/And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby/It helps to think we’re sleeping underneath the same big sky

Whether this was a trip down memory lane for you or if you are hearing these songs for the first time this week, I hope as always that you find yourself listening to a great soundtrack. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!