In my opinion, the 80s were not kind to R&B music overall. That decade is usually thought of as the year of new wave: totally bitchin', Valley-speak, like, grody to the max! Word up, MC! But, while there was some great R&B in that decade, not to mention some of the heaviest funk of our time, it seems the majority of it came out before 1983. 1983 was a pivotal year in music. MTV, and music videos became the way a generation listened to music, the second wave of the Brits invaded the U.S. shores, "hair metal" was gaining popularity, veteran R&B artists were still reeling from the fallout of the disco backlash, and, hip-hop had become the new music of the urban youth, even though the mainstream R&B world was not yet ready to adopt the new sounds. The reggae world was stunned by the death of Bob Marley. As a result, a lot of R&B was "watered down" in the effort to gain mainstream commercial success. Even jazz artists felt the pressure to go more mainstream.

So, as R&B fans, what were you listening to in 1983?

I like all kinds of music, so I listened to, and bought a LOT of music that year from almost all genres. I bought almost 70 albums and over 100 45s, and even a few pre-recorded cassettes. I taped hundreds of my own!