Year-end consensus · Hard Rock & Metal · one countdowns combined
The best hard rock songs of 1983
One radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 1983: KISW. Combining every list, the top hard rock song of 1983 is “Photograph” by Def Leppard, which appeared on one of the one countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Def Leppard was the year’s most-charted artist, with two different songs placing 2 times across the countdowns.
Top 100 songs of 1983
Ranked by combined points across every 1983 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photograph Def Leppard | 1 | #1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sharp Dressed Man ZZ Top | 1 | #2 | – | |
| 3 | Rebel Yell Billy Idol | 1 | #3 | – | |
| 4 | Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Journey | 1 | #4 | – | |
| 5 | New Year's Day U2 | 1 | #5 | – | |
| 6 | Cum on Feel the Noize Quiet Riot | 1 | #6 | – | |
| 7 | Owner of a Lonely Heart Yes | 1 | #7 | – | |
| 8 | Bark at the Moon Ozzy Osbourne | 1 | #8 | – | |
| 9 | Let's Dance David Bowie | 1 | #9 | – | |
| 10 | Holy Diver Dio | 1 | #10 | – | |
| 11 | Pink Houses John Mellencamp | 1 | #11 | – | |
| 12 | Seek and Destroy Metallica | 1 | #12 | – | |
| 13 | Every Breath You Take The Police | 1 | #13 | – | |
| 14 | Foolin Def Leppard | 1 | #14 | – | |
| 15 | Gimme All Your Lovin' ZZ Top | 1 | #15 | – | |
| 16 | Mr. Roboto Styx | 1 | #16 | – | |
| 17 | Big Log Robert Plant | 1 | #17 | – | |
| 18 | Lick It Up Kiss | 1 | #18 | – | |
| 19 | Shout at the Devil Motley Crue | 1 | #19 | – | |
| 20 | Sunday Bloody Sunday U2 | 1 | #20 | – | |
| 21 | Sister Christian Night Ranger | 1 | #21 | – | |
| 22 | Rainbow in the Dark Dio | 1 | #22 | – | |
| 23 | Love Is A Battlefield Pat Benatar | 1 | #23 | – | |
| 24 | Pride and Joy Stevie Ray Vaughan | 1 | #24 | – | |
| 25 | Middle of the Road The Pretenders | 1 | #25 | – |
Every station’s number one of 1983
| Station | Number one song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| KISW | Middle of the Road The Pretenders | KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1983 |
All 1983 countdowns in this ranking
About the 1983 ranking
Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 1983 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all one qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the hard rock results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.