American Top 40: The 80s - December 31, 2011
This week’s presentation: December 31, 1983
Glad they chose this one, as 1983 was chock full of great music. There were a few songs that I wasn’t too fond of, but the good and great songs easily outnumber those. In my commentary, you’ll notice a bunch of numbers after each song. The first one refers to peak position. If a song spent more than one week at its peak, that is indicated by the number in parentheses. The number after that refers to weeks in the Top Ten, then weeks in the Top 40, and finally, weeks on the Hot 100. I decided to do it that way to make it a little more interesting.
100: FAR FROM OVER - FRANK STALLONE - 10(2)/2/10/16 - Great song to kick off the year-end special! I was, however, surprised that it was only one of four movie songs on the survey. I thought 1983 had lots of big movie hits, but I guess not.
99: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE - TALKING HEADS - 9/1/11/20 - No. Just no.
98: IT'S RAINING AGAIN - SUPERTRAMP - 11(4)/-/11/13 - Great song! One of my favorites from the winter of 1982/83! Too bad they cut out the second verse (though they played the Talking Heads song in full - whatever...)
97: HOT GIRLS IN LOVE - LOVERBOY - 11/-/11/16 - Good song, but I prefer several others by them, especially “This Could Be The Night”, which I heard just missed making the Top 100 of 1986.
96: LAWYERS IN LOVE - JACKSON BROWNE - 13(2)/-/12/15 - Good song, but far from being his best.
95: CHINA GIRL - DAVID BOWIE - 10/1/11/18 - Another song that’s pretty good, but there are a few other Bowie songs that I prefer, especially his two 1987 hits.
94: YOUR LOVE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY - SAMMY HAGAR - 13(2)/-/13/19 - Great song! Possibly my favorite song from him (solo or with Van Halen).
93: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU - LAURA BRANIGAN - 12/-/12/20 - Great song. My favorite of her three songs on the countdown, though I did prefer the version by Michael Bolton (who, of course, was the one who wrote it).
92: SHE'S A BEAUTY - THE TUBES - 10/1/12/20 - Meh, this was OK, but my favorite song by them was the AOR hit “Talk To Ya Later” from 1981.
91: I'M STILL STANDING - ELTON JOHN - 12(2)/-/12/16 - Great song! One of his best songs of the 1980s. Surprised that this one ranked so low, as I heard it all the time back in 1983.
90: FAITHFULLY - JOURNEY - 12(3)/-/11/16 - Another song that I’m surprised peaked so low, given how much recurrent airplay it receives today. As for the song, it’s OK, but I prefer many others by them, including their other song on the countdown.
89: DON'T CRY - ASIA - 10(2)/2/11/13 - Good song, but my least favorite of their Top 40 hits.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: IF ANYONE FALLS - STEVIE NICKS - 14/-/9/14 - Great song! My favorite of her two hits from 1983 - glad they chose this as an Extra!
88: I WON'T HOLD YOU BACK - TOTO - 10/1/12/17 - Great song! Definitely one of my favorite songs from them!
87: MUSCLES - DIANA ROSS - 10(6)/6/10/17 - Meh, not one of her best hits by any means.
86: CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE - QUIET RIOT - 5(2)/5/14/21 - Ah, looks like this one was affected by the cutoff rule! Not sure if they were giving projected points at this point or not, but it doesn’t look like it.
85: PROMISES, PROMISES - NAKED EYES - 11/-/12/20 - Great song! My favorite of their two big 1983 hits.
84: I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA - CULTURE CLUB - 9(2)/4/12/16 - I like this song a lot better than I used to (as, for awhile, it got a “No. Just no”, IIRC). Still, I prefer several others by them.
83: I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON - FRIDA - 13(2)/-/12/29 - Good song, but I preferred most of her songs with Abba.
82: THE LOOK OF LOVE - ABC - 18(3)/-/13/25 - Great song! Possibly my favorite song from them. Even though Casey didn’t mention it, this was the lowest peaking song to make the survey.
81: ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME - NAKED EYES - 8(2)/2/13/22 - Good song, but, as I mentioned above, I preferred “Promises, Promises”.
80: HUMAN NATURE - MICHAEL JACKSON - 7(2)/4/11/14 - Great song! One of my favorite songs from the Thriller album!
79: DELIRIOUS - PRINCE - 8(4)/4/11/18 - Meh, don’t like this one. One of my least favorites by him.
78: ALL RIGHT - CHRISTOPHER CROSS - 12(3)/-/13/16 - Great song! This one had a promising start, debuting on the entire Hot 100 at #29. Sounds like a sure-fire Top Five hit, yet it didn’t even hit the Top Ten, though it did hit #3 on the R&R chart - I guess, since it was from a long-awaited album, people bought it instead of the single.
77: OUR HOUSE - MADNESS - 7/4/13/19 - Great song! An 80s mix show essential, especially one that spotlights British acts.
76: COME DANCING - THE KINKS - 6(2)/3/12/27 - Great song! I always found it odd that, even though they’re more famous for their hits from the ‘60s and ‘70s, their biggest hit came in the 1980s.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: CUTS LIKE A KNIFE - BRYAN ADAMS 15/-/8/14 - Good song, but not quite his best. I find it weird that his other 1983 hit, “Straight From The Heart”, missed the Top 83, especially since it was in the Hot 100 for longer than several of the other songs that peaked at #10. I have a feeling that it didn’t miss by much, though. This one, however, probably didn’t come very close, based on its stats.
75: FAMILY MAN - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES - 6/3/12/16 - This was OK, but one of my least favorite songs by them.
74: HEART TO HEART - KENNY LOGGINS 13(5)/-13/17 - Great song! One of his best, and my favorite of his two 1983 hits.
73: MY LOVE - LIONEL RICHIE - 5/5/12/16 - Good song - sounds a lot like his 1977 hit with the Commodores, “Easy”.
72: SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER - THE MOTELS - 9/2/13/20 - Great song! I liked all four of their Top 40 hits - too bad they didn’t have more.
71: TONIGHT I CELEBRATE MY LOVE - PEABO BRYSON/ROBERTA FLACK - 16(2)/-/15/29 - Great song, although I preferred their next hit, “You’re Looking Like Love To Me”. Too bad that one didn’t hit the Top 40.70: (SHE'S) SEXY + 17 - STRAY CATS - 5(2)/4/12/15 - This song was OK, but my least favorite of their Top 40 hits.
69: AFFAIR OF THE HEART - RICK SPRINGFIELD - 9(2)/3/13/18 - Good song, but I preferred most of his other hits. 1983 was kind of a weak year for him, IMO.
68: IT'S A MISTAKE - MEN AT WORK - 6(2)/4/12/15 - Great song! My second favorite of their hits, behind “Overkill” (which is coming up later).
67: THE OTHER GUY - THE LITTLE RIVER BAND - 11(3)/-/13/18 - Wow, three Aussie acts in a row! This was a great song, like most of their Top 40 hits.
66: SOLITAIRE - LAURA BRANIGAN - 7(2)/4/13/17 - Great song, although my least favorite of her three songs on this countdown. 1983 was indeed a great year for her!
65: TOO SHY - KAJAGOOGOO - 5/4/12/19 - Well, you all know what I think about this song, but the good thing about it was that they cut out the second verse ;D
64: ROCK THIS TOWN - STRAY CATS - 9(5)/5/13/21 - Good song, though this was actually my second least favorite by them. My favorite of theirs doesn’t appear on this countdown, as it peaked too late in the year and besides, didn’t even hit the Top 30. That song is called “I Won’t Stand In Your Way”.
63: ALLENTOWN - BILLY JOEL - 17(6)/-/16/22 - Great song! This song was sure tenacious, but just couldn’t manage to push past #17. But it spent 16 weeks in the Top 40, an unusually long term for a song that peaked so low. Heck, later in the 1980s, even the #1 songs didn’t spend that long in the Top 40!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: IN A BIG COUNTRY - BIG COUNTRY - 17(3)/-/9/15 Meh, not a fan of this one.
62: TELEFONE (LONG DISTANCE LOVE AFFAIR) - SHEENA EASTON - 9(2)/3/14/22 - Great song! Possibly my favorite of her upbeat songs.
61: GOODY TWO SHOES - ADAM ANT - 11(3)/-/14/21 - Good song, though my favorite song by them was “Wonderful”, which charted in the spring of 1995.
60: HEARTBREAKER - DIONNE WARWICK - 10(2)/2/13/22 - Great song! One of her all-time best!
59: HEARTLIGHT - NEIL DIAMOND - 5(4)/6/11/19 - Good song, but not quite my favorite song by him.
58: (KEEP FEELING) FASCINATION - THE HUMAN LEAGUE - 8(2)/3/13/20 - Good song, but it doesn’t hold a candle to “Don’t You Want Me”.
57: TWILIGHT ZONE - GOLDEN EARRING 10(2)/2/15/27 - Great song! I’ve only heard a few songs by them, but this one is my favorite.
56: DON'T LET IT END - STYX 6/5/13/16 - Great song, although kind of depressing (although if you can get past the lyrics, the music is somewhat upbeat).
55: WANNA' BE STARTIN' SOMETHING - MICHAEL JACKSON 5(2)/6/11/15 - Meh, not one of my favorite songs from him. One of my least favorite releases from “Thriller”.
54: KING OF PAIN - THE POLICE - 3(2)/5/13/16 - Great song! My favorite of their two songs on this chart.
53: IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW - DURAN DURAN - 4/6/12/17 - Meh, one of my least favorite of their singles.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MODERN LOVE - DAVID BOWIE - 14/-/9/13 - This was OK, but my least favorite of his 1983 hits.
52: YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE - PHIL COLLINS - 10(3)/3/16/21 - Great remake of the old Supremes classic! I actually like this better than the original!
51: ROCK THE CASBAH - THE CLASH - 8(4)/5/15/24 - Great song! Probably my favorite from them (then again, I’m only familiar with about four of their songs, including the flipside of this, called “Long Time Jerk”).
50: STAND BACK - STEVIE NICKS - 5-6/14/19 - Great song! She definitely sounded just as good solo as she did with Fleetwood Mac.
49: ONE ON ONE - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES - 7(3)/6/15/18 - Great song! This song came very close to topping the R&R chart, but was edged out by “Billie Jean”. I’m kinda surprised it only got as high as #7 on Billboard (then again, it wasn’t as far removed as several songs that peaked at #3 on R&R yet failed to hit the Top Ten on Billboard).
48: BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG - THE PRETENDERS - 5(3)/5/14/24 - Great song! One of their best (then again, I liked most of their Top 40 songs).
47: ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER - THE FIXX - 4/7/13/19 - Well, this breaks the great song streak, as I’m not a fan of this one, due to overplay. I preferred “Saved By Zero”.
46: LITTLE RED CORVETTE - PRINCE - 6(2)/6/15/22 - Great song! I never knew how dirty it was until about ten years ago, when I looked at the lyrics (since there are times that I couldn’t understand what he was saying).
45: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ - TACO - 4(2)/6/14/21 - Great song and, although it was a remake from about 50 years before, it didn’t sound too out of place on the radio back in 1983.
44: DER KOMMISAR - AFTER THE FIRE - 5(2)/5/14/21 - Good song - an 80s mix show essential. BTW, did Casey say that the song peaked at #5 last winter? I beg to differ - winter had ended over a month before this song peaked.
43: TRUE - SPANDAU BALLET - 4(4)/6/13/18 - Great song! This one was sampled in at least two Top 40 hits.
42: STRAY CAT STRUT - THE STRAY CATS - 3(3)/5/14/19 - Great song! My favorite of their Top Ten hits.
41: WE'VE GOT TONIGHT - KENNY ROGERS & SHEENA EASTON - 6(3)/7/15/18 - I wasn’t a huge fan of this, but the saving grace is that it was a tad better than Bob Seger’s original version.
40: SEPARATE WAYS (WORLDS APART) - JOURNEY - 8(6)/7/16/17 - Great song! This had to be the record (at the time anyway) for the longest peak at #8 (and what a surprise - it didn’t happen in 1982!)
39: OVERKILL - MEN AT WORK -3/8/13/16 - Great song! My favorite song from them on the big list!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SAY SAY SAY - PAUL McCARTNEY & MICHAEL JACKSON - This was OK, but kinda cheesy. I did like the video, though. I was listening to the show on WRVF, so they didn’t play this - instead, they went with “Heaven Knows” by Donna Summer & Brooklyn Dreams. Good song, but they should have gone with another 1983 song instead.
EDIT: I take that back; they did play “Say Say Say”, right after “Heaven Knows”, which was apparently played as a “filler” song, since the show was running a little ahead of schedule.
38: YOU ARE - LIONEL RICHIE - 4(2)/4/16/18 - Great song! I liked all three of his hits from his first solo album.
37: SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE - THOMAS DOLBY - 5(4)/8/15/22 - Great song! As usual, they played the album version, which IMO is superior to the single version.
36: STEPPIN' OUT - JOE JACKSON - 6(4)/8/15/27 - This was OK, but far from being his best.
35: TIME (CLOCK OF THE HEART) - CULTURE CLUB - 2(2)/9/13/18 - Good song - my favorite of their three hits on the list.
34: UPTOWN GIRL - BILLY JOEL - 3(5)/10/16/22 - Great song! Definitely reminiscent of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.
33: JEOPARDY - GREG KIHN BAND - 2(1)/7/14/22 - Great song! My favorite of their three Top 40 hits.
32: TELL HER ABOUT IT - BILLY JOEL - 1/7/15/18 - Meh, I was never crazy about this one. This is the first of eighteen number one songs on the countdown.
31: MR ROBOTO - STYX - 3(2)/8/16/18 - It’s okies, but one of my least favorites by them.
30: TRULY - LIONEL RICHIE - 1(2)/10/13/18 - Great song! His best song on the survey!
WRVF Filler Extra: I’LL HAVE TO SAY I LOVE YOU IN A SONG - JIM CROCE - Another 70s hit, but at least it was a good one - one of my favorite of Croce’s charted hits.
29: THE SAFETY DANCE - MEN WITHOUT HATS - 3(4)/7/16/24 - Great song, since, as always, it was the single version.
28: COME ON EILEEN - DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - 1(1)/6/14/23 - This is OK, but quite overplayed, even today (I was going to insert a joke having to do with Olivia Newton-John and Grease, but thought better of it
)
27: DIRTY LAUNDRY - DON HENLEY - 3(3)/10/14/19 - Great song! One of his best solo hits!
26: AFRICA - TOTO - 1(1)/6/16/21 - Great song! This was the last song on AT40 (for quite awhile, anyway) that interrupted a streak at #1 of another song.
25: NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO - SERGIO MENDES - 4(4)/8/16/23 - Great song, but kind of a sloppy editing job near the end.
24: THE GIRL IS MINE - MICHAEL JACKSON & PAUL McCARTNEY - 2(3)/10/14/18 - Great song! My favorite of their two big duets.
23: ELECTRIC AVENUE - EDDY GRANT - 2(5)/8/15/22 - Good song. Came close to hitting #1, but not quite.
22: SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY - DONNA SUMMER - 3(3)/8/17/21 - Meh, not a big fan of this one, such is the case with a few of her other hits (come on, you know what they are!)
21: HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF - DURAN DURAN - 3(3)/9/16/23 - Great song! Their breakthrough hit here in the States!
20: SEXUAL HEALING - MARVIN GAYE - 3(3)/10/15/21 - This was OK, but I was generally not a big Marvin Gaye fan.
19: MAKING LOVE OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL - AIR SUPPLY - 2(3)/9/17/25 - Great song! One of my favorites by them!
18: YOU AND I - EDDIE RABBIT WITH CRYSTAL GAYLE - 7(4)/6/21/29 - Another great song! This song was the only song that didn’t hit the Top Five to make both the Top 20 and Top 30 of the year.
17: LET'S DANCE - DAVID BOWIE - 1(1)/10/14/20 - Good song. One of his best Top Ten hits.
16: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME - CULTURE CLUB - 2(3)/9/18/25 - Good song, especially since they cut the intro in half and didn’t include the annoying bridge.15: MICKEY - TONI BASIL - 1(1)/10/18/27 - I liked this song back in the day, but not quite as much now.
14: MANIAC - MICHAEL SEMBELLO - 1(2)/9/16/22 - Great song, though I preferred his underrated follow-up, “Automatic Man”.
13: SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS) - EURYTHMICS - 1/9/17/26 - Good song, but not quite my favorite from them.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: 1999 - PRINCE - 12(2)/-/10/27 - Not bad. I wonder how close this came to making the list?
12: SHAME ON THE MOON - BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND - 2(4)/8/19/21 - Great song! Sounds kind of like a slower version of “Fire Lake”.
11: BABY, COME TO ME - PATTI AUSTIN with JAMES INGRAM - 1(2)/9/18/32 - Great song! One of my favorite songs from both artists involved.
10: ISLANDS IN THE STREAN - KENNY ROGERS WITH DOLLY PARTON - 1(2)/12/18/25 - Meh, this is OK, but far from being my favorite by either artist.
9: GLORIA - LAURA BRANNIGAN - 2(3)/10/22/36 - Great song! Earlier, I mentioned that “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” was my favorite song by her on the list. This, however, is a close second.
8: BEAT IT - MICHAEL JACKSON - 1(3)/10/18/25 - Great song! My favorite of the five songs he has on the survey!
7: ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT) - LIONEL RICHIE - 1(4)/13/17/24 - I think you all know what I think about this song. But at least they cut out the second verse.
6: MANEATER - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES - 1(4)/13/17/23 - Great song! Has sort of a Motown sound to it.
5: TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART - BONNIE TYLER - 1(4)/11/18/29 - Great song! One of two songs produced by Jim Steinman on the survey (and both are in the Top 20!)
4: DOWN UNDER - MEN AT WORK - 1(4)/10/19/25 - This is OK, but was quite overplayed.
3: BILLIE JEAN - MICHAEL JACKSON - 1(7)/11/17/24 - Good song - one that has held up quite well despite excessive airplay.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: RIO - DURAN DURAN - 14(2)/-/9/13 - This used to be my favorite song in the world by them, but, for some reason, my fascination for this song has since dimmed significantly. It’s still better than their song at #53 on the countdown!
2: FLASDHDANCE…WHAT A FEELING - IRENE CARA - 1(6)/14/20/25 - Great song! This is another song that overplay didn’t really hurt - in fact, I suddenly found myself really liking the song around the time it was #1, after hating it for weeks. How about that?
1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE - 1(8)/13/20/22 - This is indeed THE most overplayed song of 1983, as well as all of the 1980s. And you know what, looking at the stats of this and “Flashdance”, I’m wondering just how far apart were they pointwise?
All in all, a great show, with many great songs on it.
Predictions for next week: Based on the clue given to us on the American Top 40 boards by Scott Lakefield, I’m thinking that next week’s show is going to be a repeat of the January 10, 1981 show. My back-up prediction is January 14, 1984.