Summer of '84: We totally loved these three albums

In the summer of 1984, Prince began his superstar reign with the release of Purple Rain, Bruce Springsteen became the face — or, technically, derriere — of America with the iconic cover of Born in the USA and Tina Turner enjoyed a roaring comeback with Private Dancer.

The albums were made that much more potent by their music videos. In 1984, MTV was in its heyday and videos became inextricably intertwined with the music itself.

"Remember that other than concerts, music videos were the only way to see these pop stars, to actually see them move," says Keith Caulfield, Billboard's associate director of charts/sales. "MTV was so instrumental in turning stars into superstars."

A closer look at the summer's big three albums:

Bruce Springsteen,Born in the USA (released June 4, 1984)

Although Springsteen was already a thriving musician and critical darling, Born in the U.S.A. put him over the top. The album spent seven weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's album chart and is one of three in history to have charted seven top 10 singles on the Hot 100, the others being Michael Jackson's Thriller and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation. Also interesting: "Bruce has never had a No. 1 single, although he's had a zillion top 10 hits," says Caulfield.

Springsteen wasn't the only star to have come out of the album: The music video for Dancing in the Dark also launched Courteney Cox's career. "It's the ultimate girl's fantasy, getting plucked out of the crowd and dancing with The Boss," Caulfield says. "He was able to combine the visuals of the music video with a pop sound that was really able to drive home the Bruce Springsteen experience."

Prince,Purple Rain (released June 25, 1984)

"(The movie) Purple Rain is basically a long-form music video, a bunch of performances strung together by a romance on the side," Caulfield says. The album spent 23 weeks at No. 1, and "Prince became a megastar. It was a hit movie, a hit album and had a zillion hit singles," he says. "It was like killing 17 birds with one stone."

Tina Turner,Private Dancer (released May 29, 1984)

Talk about the sweetest revenge. After years of suffering at the hands of abusive husband Ike, Tina walked away with nothing and came back with everything.

"Private Dancer (which peaked at No. 3) brought her back from playing supper clubs to becoming a rock goddess, and she did it on her own," Caulfield says. "You will always remember her standing on the other side of that chain-link fence watching those kids play basketball (in the What's Love Got to Do With It music video). It's a great comeback story around an album that had amazing music."