The 25 best Indie songs of 1984
3 May 2024, 17:16 | Updated: 3 May 2024, 18:27
Take a trip back to the year that indie began in earnest with huge songs from New Order, The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Smiths and more...
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Talk Talk - It's My Life: release date 3rd January 1984
The title track from Mark Hollis and co's second album, this tune went to Number 20 in the UK charts and was later covered by No Doubt.
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Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon: release date 20th January 1984
This evocative track later appeared in the film Donnie Darko and was taken from the Liverpool band's acclaimed fourth album Ocean Rain.
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The Pretenders - Middle Of The Road: release date 30th January 1984
This single appeared alongside its parent album Learning To Crawl in January 1984, which was the first Pretenders album with the new line up of Chrissie Hynde, Martin Chambers, Robbie McIntosh and Malcolm Foster.
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Simple Minds - Up On The Catwalk: release date 12th March 1984
The third single from the Scottish band's album Sparkle In The Rain made Number 27 in the UK charts.
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Depeche Mode - People Are People: release date 12th March 1984
The electronica band embraced sampling on their fourth album Some Great Reward and this single was a Top 5 hit in the Spring of 1984.
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The Cure - The Caterpillar: release date 30th March 1984
The follow-up to the hit single The Love Cats, this was a taster of Robert Smith's psychedelic Cure album The Top, released on 4th May 1984.
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Killing Joke - Eighties: released 30th March 1984
Jaz Coleman's post punk outfit issued one of their most enduring songs, taken from the album Night Time. They later had a legal beef with Nirvana over their track Come As You Are which shares a similar riff, but dropped any action after Kurt Cobain's death.
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New Order - Thieves Like Us: released 20th April 1984
A one-off single between the albums Power Corruption And Lies and Low-Life, which made Number 18. The title is taken from a 1974 album by Robert Altman, which was listed on a poster that hung in the band's rehearsal room.
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Blancmange - Don't Tell Me: release date 6th April 1984
The fifth Top 40 hit in a row for the synth-pop duo of Stephen Luscombe and Laurence Stevens, following the popular Living On The Ceiling.
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Sandie Shaw & The Smiths - Hand In Glove: release date 9th April 1984
The 60s pop star and the 80s Manchester indie band joined forces for a cover of the group's debut single. It became Shaw's first hit in over a decade, making Number 27.
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The Human League - The Lebanon: release date 24th April 1984
Three years after their ground-breaking album Dare, the Sheffield band put down the synths and picked up the guitars. It reached Number 11 in the UK charts which was incredibly seen as something of a failure for the band at that stage!
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Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Perfect Skin: release date 11th May 1984
The first single to be taken from th acclaimed debut album Rattlesnakes have Cole a Top 30 hit first time out.
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R.E.M. - So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry): release date 15th May 1984
Still a relatively obscure indie band from the US at this stage, this was the lead single from R.E.M.'s second album Reckoning and failed to chart in Britain.
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The Style Council - You're The Best Thing: release date 18th May 1984
Taken from Paul Weller's first post-Jam album Cafe Bleu, this slick production went all the way to Number 5 in the UK charts.
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The Cult - Spiritwalker: release date 18th May 1984
Having finally changed their name from Death Cult, this was the first glimpse of Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy's new incarnation via their Dreamtime album, an key entry in the gothic rock discography.
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The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now: release date 21st May 1984
One of three hits for the Manchester band in 1984, alongside What Difference Does It Make and William It Was Really Nothing, this was Morrissey and Marr's first Top 10 single.
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Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy: release date 25th May 1984
One of the few mainstream pop records of the era to disuss homophobia, this song featured a moving vocal from singer Jimmy Somerville and broke the UK Top 3 in the Spring of '84.
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Siouxsie & The Banshees - Dazzle: release date 25th May 1984
From Siouxsie's sixth album Hyaena, which featured Robert Smith on guitar - recorded while he was also holding down a job with his own band The Cure. This was the Banshees' 11th Top 40 hit in the UK.
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Alphaville - Big In Japan: released May 1984
A huge European hit from this German synth-rock band, named after the 1965 sci-fi film by Jean-Luc Godard.
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Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Talking Loud & Clear: release date 4th June 1984
Taken from the band's fifth album Junk Culture, this was one of three Top 40 hits in 1984 from Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys - the others being Locomotion and Tesla Girls.
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The Bluebells - Young At Heart: release date 11th June 1984
Written and originally recorded by the female trio Bananarama, Scottish band The Bluebells took the song into the Top 10 in 1984 and again in 1993, when the track was used in a TV car ad.
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U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love): release date 3rd September 1984
After the huge success of 1983's War, U2 consolidated their success with the follow-up, The Unforgettable Fire. This massive hit was a tribute to the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
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Prefab Sprout - When Love Breaks Down: release date 22nd October 1984
A classic ballad from Paddy McAloon and taken from the band's second album Steve McQueen.
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The Jesus and Mary Chain - Upside Down: release date 9th November 1984
The debut single from William and Jim Reid, issued on Alan McGee's Creation label. It was accompanied by a series of raucous live shows that often ended in chaos.
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Art Of Noise - Close (To The Edit): release date 9th November 1984
Trevor Horn's label ZTT had huge success in 1984 with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, but Art Of Noise were his own collabroation with engineers JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan, arranger Anne Dudley and writer and promo man Paul Morley. This startling single crashed the Top 10 in late 1984.