Flashback…October 15, 1984
97.9 FM in Detroit has long been home to WJLB, one of the finer R&B/’urban contemporary’ radio stations in the country. While kicking around on the excellent Detroit Radio Flashbacks I found the website featured weekly charts, “hip pocket surveys,” for much of 1984-85. These were the final years legendary DJ The Electrifying Mojo was at the station, so I thought it might be fun to take a look at what was getting played just about 25 years ago. I mostly missed the Mojo era, but JLB was a hugely influential radio station for me; it played loads of local records and was one of my first exposures to live turntablism, with a party/booty show every Friday night. So, I hope you enjoy these tunes. There are some hometown favorites here, stuff that stayed pretty local, and things from the last throes of Motown. Not surprisingly, Rochester Hills’ own Madonna is the only white performer on the list. Also not surprisingly, Prince, a Mojo favorite, appears a few times, both in his own work and through Apollonia 6 and Vanity. Pardon the dodgy embeds, Most of the record companies don’t like it enabled on their YouTube offerings…
24. You Get The Best From Me – Alicia Myers
23. We Don’t Work For Free – Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five
No video…but here’s a taste of the song.
22. The Jacksons – Torture
21. Tonight – Ready For The World
20. The Last Time I Made Love – Joyce Kennedy & Jeffrey Osborne
19. Solid – Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson – Solid
Uploaded by trashfan. – Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
18. Sex Shooter – Apollonia 6
17. Set It Out – Midway
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Midway – Set It Out |  |
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Found at Set It Out on KOhit.net |  |
16. Pretty Mess – Vanity
15. Lucky Star – Madonna
14. Look The Other Way – Isley Jasper & Isley
Isley Jasper Isley – Look The Other Way (Official Music Video) – Funny videos are here
13. Let It All Blow – Dazz Band
12. Jungle Love – The Time
11. I’ve Been Watching You (Jamie’s Girl) – Randy Hall
10. I Promise (I Do Love You) – Dreamboy
I Promise (I Do Love You) – Dreamboy
9. I Owe It To Myself – Prime Time
8. I Feel For You – Chaka Khan
7. Friends b/w Five Minutes of Funk – Whodini
6. Fast Life – Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
5. Erotic City b/w Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
Prince doesn’t like his songs living free on the web. I’m sure you know these by heart anyway, right?
4. Cool It Now – New Edition
3. Computer Age (Push the Button) – Newcleus
2. Centipede – Rebbie Jackson
What do you think, there are six more charts to close out ‘84, should we count ‘em down? Let me know in the comments.
