“Yearbook” is our survey of a particular year in music — in this case, 1984. In this two-part series, we delve into some of our favorite songs from this year. As there was a wealth of great releases from ’84, in Part 1 we focus on the first half of the alphabet (artists filed under A–L). The Chills observed a pink frost, the Bunnymen sang of crystal days, Alien Sex Fiend wanted to shake our bones, and Robyn Hitchcock wished he was a pretty girl. The Go-Betweens drained the pool, the Lyres wanted to lend a helping hand, Hüsker Dü sang of broken homes, and Depeche Mode thought that God had a sick sense of humor. Dig in!

Playlist

1. Alien Sex Fiend — Bone Shaker Baby
2. Husker Du — Broken Home, Broken Heart
3. Get Smart! — Berlin On The Plains
4. Guadalcanal Diary — Watusi Rodeo
5. Echo & The Bunnymen — Crystal Days
6. The Colourfield — Pushing Up The Daisies
7. Lyres — Help You Ann
8. The Lords Of The New Church — Pretty Baby Scream
9. Fad Gadget — Collapsing New People
10. Chris & Cosey — Driving Blind
11. Die Kreuzen — Mannequin
12. The Celibate Rifles — Wild Desire
13. The Chills — Pink Frost
14. The Cure — Dressing Up
15. The Alarm — Marching On
16. Hoodoo Gurus — Tojo
17. The Go-Betweens — Draining The Pool For You
18. The Jasmine Minks — Somers Town
19. The Jazz Butcher — Girlfriend
20. The Fall — 2 By 4
21. Killdozer — A Man’s Gotta Be A Man
22. Government Issue — Hall Of Fame
23. Butthole Surfers — Dum Dum
24. The Lime Spiders — Slave Girl
25. The Del Fuegos — Call My Name
26. The Danse Society — Heaven Is Waiting
27. Depeche Mode — Blasphemous Rumours
28. Christian Death — Deathwish
29. Flesh For Lulu — Subterraneans
30. Julian Cope — Elegant Chaos
31. Tommy Keene — Nothing Happened Yesterday
32. Beat Rodeo — Mimi
33. Billy Bragg — Strange Things Happen
34. Robyn Hitchcock — Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl
35. Felt — Crystal Ball
36. Let’s Active — Blue Line
37. Lloyd Cole And The Commotions — Four Flights Up
38. Gang Green — Sold Out