(August 17, 2024). This week, the music world lost one of its most resilient rockers in Greg Kihn, who died on August 13 at age 75 from Alzheimer’s disease, according to his website.
The sad news of Kihn’s passing spread quickly throughout the music world and was another stark reminder to some of us of a certain age that we’re not so young anymore (as if our natural grays hadn’t already convinced us of that fact) with many of our music heroes rapidly becoming the subject of posthumous tributes like this one.
Kihn, who was born Gregory Stanley Kihn in Baltimore on July 10, 1949, wasn’t a “superstar” by ‘80s standards, but his songs were iconic, particularly his two biggest hits, “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981, and the No. 2 pop smash “Jeopardy,” whose video was an early MTV staple in 1983.
How many of us can remember banging out air drums to those crazy filler riffs on Kihn’s “The Breakup Song”? Or getting our “cool-dance” on in our later teen years to the synth-rock groove that was “Jeopardy”?
Those were indeed Kihn’s most enduring tunes. “The Breakup Song,” Kihn’s most-streamed song on Spotify with 60 million clicks and counting, had been a breath of fresh air in the post-disco doldrums of 1981, a year where anything that wasn’t country, adult contemporary or a power-rock ballad was shunned by pop radio, with rare exception.
Indeed Kihn’s “Breakup Song” — deceptive title aside — wasn’t your typical lost-love lament. It clocked in at a rollicking 147 beats per minute, exceeded in tempo by only one other concurrent top-40 hit during its run: Manhattan Transfer’s decidedly MOR “Boy From New York City” (at 155 bpms).
Not many songs with a groove as kick-ass as that of “The Breakup Song” made their way into the Billboard top 20 that year. Indeed, Kihn’s song, with its popular “uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh” refrain, had injected a bit of excitement into pop music at a time when the 1980s hadn’t yet defined its sound. It simply jammed!
But it was his next big chart hit — the more disco-ey “Jeopardy” in 1983 — that would permanently remove Kihn and his band from one-hit-wonder status and give him a unique place in history, one where he literally “out-danced” the late King of Pop on the nation’s dance floors, at least for one glorious fortnight.
It was early spring 1983, a time when Michael Jackson’s Thriller album and its two biggest singles — “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” — ruled the charts with an iron sequined glove.
At one point in April, Jackson’s album and single (“Billie Jean”) simultaneously reigned on the pop and R&B albums and singles charts, the American dance/disco chart, and the UK charts, something that had never been accomplished before. What’s more, the followup single, “Beat It,” was quickly ascending the charts in its quest to join “Billie Jean” in the top ten and eventually match its No. 1 status.
Jackson’s Thriller album was indeed an unstoppable force, selling globs of copies and holding off strong contenders on all those charts, that is, until Greg Kihn Band’s “Jeopardy” came along.
“Jeopardy” was released on Beserkley Records as a single in January 1983, making its debut on the Hot 100 during the week ending January 29 — one week after Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” entered the same list. The beat-heavy “Jeopardy” entered the Billboard Dance/Disco Top 80 chart the following month and began a slow and steady climb up both the pop and dance surveys, helped no doubt by its popular music video featuring Kihn experiencing regrets about pending nuptials with a bride-to-be before both ride off into the sunset in a funny “leave them at the alter” vignette.
Bolstered by a 12” single mix that turned up the drums, added handclaps, inserted reverb and extended the instrumental breaks, “Jeopardy” became a dance floor favorite in clubs that had increasingly turned from traditional disco fare to pop-dance tunes by acts like Duran Duran, Heaven 17, Yaz, Thompson Twins, Berlin and ABC, among others.
Then, on April 9, the unimaginable happened: “Jeopardy” — in its eighth week on the list — knocked the Thriller album from the top of the dance/disco chart. Jointly billed as “All Cuts,” the Thriller album’s nine tracks, including classics like the aforementioned “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” plus “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and the title track, had ruled the dance list for eleven consecutive weeks, longer than any other entry in the dance chart’s short seven-year history.
Yes, one could say that Kihn had beaten Jackson at his own game—on the dance floor, no less. For a guy who looked more like your neighborhood record store owner than a disco king, this was no small feat.
“Jeopardy” remained at No. 1 dance/disco for two weeks before relinquishing the top spot to an obscure tune called “Angel Man” by Rhetta Hughes. “Jeopardy” also peaked at No. 5 on the rock chart and No. 48 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list (known as Black Singles in 1983), making it a true crossover hit.
Meanwhile, the Greg Kihn Band were trying to accomplish on the Hot 100 what it had just done on the dance chart: dethrone MJ.
On April 16, “Billie Jean” was still in the last of its seven weeks atop the pop ranking when “Jeopardy” climbed from No. 9 to 4 — a big move no doubt — seemingly having the edge over Jackson’s follow-up “Beat It,” which had moved 10-5. But the following week, Jackson’s newer hit overtook “Jeopardy” and the Greg Kihn Band ultimately had to settle for runner-up status to the King of Pop’s anti-violence rocker, with “Jeopardy” peaking at No. 2 on the pop tally in early May.
If there was any consolation for Kihn and his group, it was that for all the hype associated with getting a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s marquee singles ranking, Kihn had dethroned the King of Pop on the very niche but still important dance/disco survey, ending Jackson’s record-breaking run there and making it the first of the many charts from which the Thriller album and artist eventually released their tight grip. In subsequent weeks, Jackson would relinquish the soul chart to George Clinton, the pop chart to Dexy’s Midnight Runners and David Bowie, and the album tally to The Police.
Another unique honor for Kihn: when “Weird Al” Yankovic included parodies of both “Beat It” and “Jeopardy” on his Weird Al in 3-D album a year later, it marked the first — and to my knowledge only — time in history where songs that had been No. 1 and No. 2 simultaneously were parodied by the curly-haired king of send-offs.
Of course, Al’s “Eat It” and “I Lost on Jeopardy” would both have videos mocking the originals, with Kihn actually appearing at the end of the delightfully nerdy “Lost” clip, riding off into the sunset with his “bride” (and Yankovic in tow) just as he had with the original “Jeopardy” video.
Greg Kihn’s legacy, which included one more top-40 pop and dance track with the solo 1984 tune “Lucky,” is more than just a series of clever songs and unexpected chart triumphs. He was the epitome of the underdog rock star—modest, hardworking, and apparently always ready to laugh at himself.
His victory over Thriller on the dance charts is proof that sometimes, in the world of rock and roll, even the Davids get their day. And if there’s any justice in the universe, Kihn is now somewhere looking down and cracking a grin, knowing that his place in pop culture is secured—not just by his music, or the fact that he temporarily beat MJ at his own dance-chart game, but by the fact that he was cool enough to be Weird Al’d on the same album that parodied his Hot 100 Goliath.
So, here’s to Greg Kihn (1949-2024). He may have lost on “Jeopardy,” but he won in rock history.
May he rest peacefully in Rock and Roll Heaven.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog and on Meta’s Threads.
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