Juno Awards of 1984

The Juno Awards of 1984, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 December 1984 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Joe Flaherty and Andrea Martin of SCTV at Exhibition Place Automotive Building.^[1] The ceremonies were broadcast on CBC Television from 8pm Eastern Time.

1984 was a pioneering year for music video in Canada as MuchMusic began broadcasting in September, and a new Juno award for "Best Video" was presented for the first time.

As it had been 20 months since the last Juno show, a number of new artist nominees debuted this year including Corey Hart, Honeymoon Suite, Platinum Blonde, The Parachute Club and Zappacosta.

The Juno Award itself was revised from 18-inches high to a 15-inch statuette, retaining the metronome shape.^[1]

In October 1983, Juno organizers CARAS decided to move the awards date later in the year, tentatively to 3 December 1984 at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Ontario. A stated reason for this move was to promote Canadian artists during the Christmas shopping season.^[1] CARAS also wanted to assume more control over the awards broadcast from CBC. Eventually, it was determined that CBC would continue to televise the Junos, but for 1984 would work with major music promoter Concert Productions International on the broadcast.

In August 1984, it was confirmed that the awards would take place at Exhibition Place two days later than planned. At the same time, a preliminary selection of "semi-finalist" artists and albums was also announced. The final set of nominations were determined in late October.

Bryan Adams was the heavy favorite of the evening with nominations in five categories of which he would take home four awards including "Male Vocalist of the Year" and "Album of the Year" for the hit Cuts Like a Knife album which had sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S. and over 300,000 copies in Canada.^[2] When Adams and his co-writing partner Jim Vallance won the "Composer of the Year" award, Adams excitedly accepted it on behalf of the absent Vallance: "This is the one I really wanted to win. Jim and I have been writing for six years together. Jimmy we did it! Right on!"^[2]

Performances during the show included the three "Canadian Music Hall of Fame" inductees: The Crew-Cuts, The Four Lads and The Diamonds, and also Jane Siberry.^[3]

The ratings for the television broadcast were far down from the previous year with an estimated 1,443,000 viewers.^[2]

This was the last year that the "Comedy Album of the Year" was awarded.

Bryan Adams was nominated twice in the same category for "Composer of the Year" award for two different songs both from the Cuts Like a Knife album.

The Good Brothers were given their final "Country Group of the Year" award after a record eight years in a row, while Loverboy claimed the "Group of the Year" award for the third year in a row, as did Liona Boyd for the "Instrumental Artist of the Year" award.

Director Rob Quartly received four of the five nominations for the nascent "Best Video" award category, and also took the win for the "Sunglasses at Night" music video.

Winner: Carole Pope

Other nominees:

• Dalbello
• Anne Murray
• Shari Ulrich
• Holly Woods

Winner: Bryan Adams

Other nominees:

• Bruce Cockburn
• Corey Hart
• Gordon Lightfoot
• Stan Rogers

Winner: Sherry Kean

Other nominees:

• Véronique Béliveau
• Ann Mortifee
• Jane Siberry
• Diane Tell

Winner: Zappacosta

Other nominees:

• LaBarge
• Johnnie Lovesin
• Nash the Slash
• Tim Ryan

Winner: Loverboy

Other nominees:

• Chilliwack
• Payola$
• Red Rider
• Rush

Winner: The Parachute Club

Other nominees:

• Honeymoon Suite
• Men Without Hats
• The Nylons
• Platinum Blonde

Winner: Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, "Cuts Like a Knife" by Bryan Adams

Other nominees:

• Bryan Adams and Eric Kagna, "Straight from the Heart"
• Billy Bryans, Laurie Conger, Lynne Fernie, Lorraine Segato, "Rise Up"
• Ivan Doroschuk, "Safety Dance"
• Corey Hart, "Sunglasses at Night"

Winner: Anne Murray

Other nominees:

• Carroll Baker
• Marie Bottrell
• Kelita Haverland
• Susan Jacks

Winner: Murray McLauchlan

Other nominees:

• Terry Carisse
• Dick Damron
• Ian Tyson
• Diamond Joe White

Winner: The Good Brothers

Other nominees:

• Family Brown
• The Mercey Brothers
• Prairie Oyster
• Chris Whiteley and Caitlin Hanford

Winner: Liona Boyd

Other nominees:

• Canadian Brass
• Hagood Hardy
• Frank Mills
• The Spitfire Band

Winner: Bryan Adams, Cuts Like a Knife by Bryan Adams

Other nominees:

• Kerry Crawford and Jon Goldsmith, Stealing Fire by Bruce Cockburn
• Dalbello, whomanfoursays by Dalbello
• Daniel Lanois, The Parachute Club by The Parachute Club
• David Tyson, Stand Back by The Arrows

Winner: John Naslen, Stealing Fire by Bruce Cockburn

Other nominees:

• Gary Gray, Weapons by Rough Trade
• John Naslen, No Borders Here by Jane Siberry
• John Naslen, On Purpose by Tim Ryan
• Lenny De Rose, whomanfoursays by Dalbello

Winner: The Crewcuts, The Diamonds, The Four Lads

Winner: J. Lyman Potts

Winner: Cuts Like a Knife, Bryan Adams

Other nominees:

• Grace Under Pressure, Rush
• Hammer on a Drum, Payola$
• Keep It Up, Loverboy
• Neruda, Red Rider

Winner: Dean Motter, Jeff Jackson and Deborah Samuel, Seamless by The Nylons

Other nominees:

• Heather Brown and Deborah Samuel, whomanfoursays by Dalbello
• Dean Motter, Visions of Our Future by The Tenants
• Dean Motter and Pat Harbron, Honeymoon Suite by Honeymoon Suite
• Bart Schoales, Stealing Fire by Bruce Cockburn

Winner: Rugrat Rock, The Rugrats

Other nominees:

• I Can Do Anything, Sphere Clown Band
• Music Builders, Music Builders
• Reflections on Crooked Walking, Ann Mortifee
• Special Delivery, Fred Penner

Winner: Brahms: Ballades Op. 10, Rhapsodies Op. 79, Glenn Gould

Other nominees:

• Andrew Davis Plays the Organ at Roy Thomson Hall, Andrew Davis
• Brass in Berlin, Canadian Brass
• Sibelius: Symphony #2, Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Andrew Davis
• Viola Nouveau, Rivka Golani-Erdesz

Winner: Synchronicity, The Police

Other nominees:

• Can't Slow Down, Lionel Richie
• Colour by Numbers, Culture Club
• Eliminator, ZZ Top
• Let's Dance, David Bowie

Winner: All in Good Time, Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass

Other nominees:

• A New Look, Doug Hamilton and The Brass Connection
• Bye Bye Baby, Ed Bickert
• Indian Summer, Fraser MacPherson
• The Lion's Eyes, Steve Holt

Winner: Strange Brew, Bob & Doug McKenzie

Other nominees:

• Air Farce Live, Royal Canadian Air Farce
• Go to Hell, Maclean and Maclean
• Laugh to Your Heart's Delight, Al Clouston

Winner: "Rise Up", The Parachute Club

Other nominees:

• "Cuts Like a Knife", Bryan Adams
• "Safety Dance", Men Without Hats
• "Straight from the Heart", Bryan Adams
• "Sunglasses at Night", Corey Hart

Winner: "Billie Jean", Michael Jackson

Other nominees:

• "Every Breath You Take", The Police
• "Islands in the Stream", Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
• "Let's Dance", David Bowie
• "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", Cyndi Lauper

Winner: Rob Quartly, "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart

Other nominees:

• Robert Fresco, "Rise Up" by The Parachute Club
• Rob Quartly, "Doesn't Really Matter" by Platinum Blonde
• Rob Quartly, "Standing in the Dark" by Platinum Blonde
• Rob Quartly, "I Want You Back" by Sherry Kean

• Canadian Press (18 October 1983). "1984 Juno Awards moved to December". The Globe and Mail. pp. E2.
• Canadian Press (29 August 1984). "Adams has seven chances as leading Juno contender". The Globe and Mail. pp. M7.
• "Final Juno nominees announced". The Globe and Mail. 22 October 1984. pp. M11.
• Lacey, Liam (6 December 1984). "Adams the big winner as Junos polish up act". The Globe and Mail. pp. E1.

• Krewen, Nick. (2010). Music from far and wide: Celebrating 40 years of the Juno Awards. Key Porter Books Limited, Toronto. ISBN 978-1-55470-339-5

• Juno Awards site