Post by Hervard on Jan 22, 2015 22:32:53 GMT -5
This coming week's show is yet another repeat show (which I have a feeling is all we'll be hearing in January this year), so here is another recycled commentary:
AT40: The 80s - January 24, 2015
This week’s presentation: January 21, 1984
Droppers:
SYNCHRONICITY II - The Police (37) - Good song, but they’ve had better.
CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE - QUIET RIOT (33) - Great song - shame that it fell off.
CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND - CULTURE CLUB (27) - Meh, not quite my favorite song by them, though I’d rather listen to it than the one that was on the chart.
MAJOR TOM (COMING HOME) - PETER SCHILLING (19) - Wow, a drop from way up in the Top 20! Reminds me a little of 1982, except this song was actually right outside the Top 40 (at #43) rather than way down in lower half of the chart.
LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD - PAT BENATAR (15) - Yikes! This could be the highest post-1982 dropper! Tell you what, our friend JessieLou isn’t going to like this! As for me my opinion of the song, it's good, but I prefer others by her.
40: UPTOWN GIRL – BILLY JOEL (14) - Wow! We almost had THREE Top 20 droppers! Almost reminiscent of 1982 (except songs dropped way off the chart back then!) Anyway, this song’s pretty good, but far from being my favorite from him
39: IN THE MOOD – ROBERT PLANT (39) - Good song, but I generally prefer songs by him with Led Zeppelin.
38: SEND ME AN ANGEL – REAL LIFE (40) - Good song
37: REMEMBER THE NIGHTS – THE MOTELS (38) - Great song! Easily favorite song from them!
36: NOBODY TOLD ME – JOHN LENNON (debut) - Ah, I knew it would be only a matter of time before they got to the first debut song on the countdown. Though this song isn’t really anything special, it was great to hear Lennon on the countdown one more time.
35: NIGHTBIRD – STEVIE NICKS W/SANDY STEWART (debut) - Good song. This song has fallen into obscurity, but U93 played this song regularly in early 1984 - added it before it even hit the charts.
34: JUMP – VAN HALEN (debut) - Casey mentioned that this sounds a cross between heavy metal and techno-rock. Sounds more like a sporting event theme to me and, IMO, wasn’t worthy of five weeks at #1. I generally preferred the Van Hagar era.
33: 99 LUFTBALLONS - NENA (debut) - Good song, though I prefer the English version “99 Red Balloons”, which is the version that the radio stations I listened to generally played. I think AT40 played the German version intermittently with the German/English mix (and I think he played the full English version once or twice).
32: THE SIGN OF FIRE – THE FIXX (32) - Good song, but I prefer “Saved By Zero”.
31: WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER – THE POLICE (debut) - Good song - possibly my favorite song from Synchronicity.
30: STAY WITH ME TONIGHT – JEFFREY OSBORNE (30) - Good song, but I preferred songs like “On The Wings Of Love” and the follow-up to this song “We’re Going All The Way”.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: NEW MOON ON MONDAY - DURAN DURAN - Great song! This song was #48 this week and would debut on American Top 40 the following week.
29: GOLD – SPANDAU BALLET (29) - Wow, I’d forgotten how good of a song this was! Too bad they edited it down.
28: SO BAD – PAUL McCARTNEY (31) - Good song, but I’m not sure why he decided to sing falsetto on this one.
27: YAH MO B THERE – JAMES INGRAM WITH MICHAEL McDONALD (35) - Great song, but weird title.
26: BABY I LIED – DEBORAH ALLEN (36) - The biggest mover in the countdown - and, interestingly enough, this is where the song would peak! Anyway, I liked this - your typical mid-80s country song.
25: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD – THE PRETENDERS (34) - This was tied for the second biggest jumper and, unlike the above song, this song would go further. Great song, though I preferred “Back On The Chain Gang”.
24: AN INNOCENT MAN – BILLY JOEL (28) - Great song - one of my favorite tracks from the “Innocent Man” LP.
LDD: ENDLESS LOVE – DIANA ROSS AND LIONEL RICHIE - This was a dedication from G.I. Joe (not the superhero) to his wife Sherry. This song was very appropriate for the dedication.
23: ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT) – LIONEL RICHIE (11) - I hate this song. Next one please...
22: LET THE MUSIC PLAY - SHANNON (26) - This song’s OK, but nothing special.
21: READ ‘EM AND WEEP – BARRY MANILOW (18) - Great song! One of my favorites from him (as well as this week’s show)!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GIVE IT UP - KC - Great song! This is another song that U93 gave early action, like it did the Stevie Nicks song. And this song fared much better - ranked #5 on their Top 93 of 1984 countdown.
20: UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT – THE ROLLING STONES (12) - This was OK, but I prefer many others by the Stones.
19: IF I’D BEEN THE ONE – .38 SPECIAL (23) - Great song! Easily one of my favorites by them!
18: TIME WILL REVEAL - DeBARGE (24) - Another great song! And it’s one of my favorites by DeBarge (I generally like their slow songs).
17: HOLIDAY - MADONNA (25) - Good song, but far from being my favorite from her.
16: I STILL CAN’T GET OVER LOVING YOU – RAY PARKER JR (20) - Good song, and a very interesting story about how he broke his leg in three places by showing off with his bike for a girl he had a crush on. He somehow forged a career out of that mishap.
15: THE CURLY SHUFFLE – JUMP ‘N THE SADDLE (16) - As a big Three Stooges fan, I liked this funny song.
14: THINK OF LAURA – CHRISTOPHER CROSS (21) - Great song, but it reminds me of a friend of mine who died this past summer - especially the line “taken away so young”.
13: PINK HOUSES – JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (22) - Good song, but not one of my favorites from Mellencamp.
12: THAT’S ALL – GENESIS (17) - Good song. This was when their Top 40 career was really starting to take off, since this was their first Top Ten hit (on Billboard, anyway). And every single one of their hits afterward (well, until the Broadcast Data System era, anyway) hit the Top Ten (at least the rest of their Top 40 songs did hit the Top Ten on Billboard).
11: UNION OF THE SNAKE – DURAN DURAN (4) - Good song, but I like many other songs by them better.
10: SAY IT ISN’T SO – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (3) - I didn’t like this song when it was on the chart (mainly due to overplay), but now I think it’s pretty good. Still, it’s not quite my favorite song by the duo.
9: RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT – LIONEL RICHIE (10) - This is easily my favorite of his two songs on the chart this week. I preferred his next hit after this, though.
8: JOANNA – KOOL & THE GANG (13) - Great song! One of my favorites by them!
7: TWIST OF FATE – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (5) - Good song. I wonder why you don’t hear much of her on the radio anymore? She had plenty of Top Ten hits in the 80s, like this one.
6: I GUESS THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES – ELTON JOHN (8) - Good song
5: BREAK MY STRIDE - MATTHEW WILDER (7) - I like this song, but I thought it was quite annoying when it was on the charts.
LDD: HELLO GOODBYE - THE BEATLES - Great song, and appropriate for the dedication, to someone who was a big Beatles fan (and someone who was a total opposite from the author, who was her roommate in college).
4: TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP – THE ROMANTICS (6) - Good song - an 80s mix show essential.
3: KARMA CHAMELEON – CULTURE CLUB (9) - No. Just no.
2: SAY SAY SAY – PAUL McCARTNEY AND MICHAEL JACKSON (1) - This song is very cheesy, but I can stomach a listen to it every now and then.
1: OWNER OF A LONELY HEART - YES (2) - I’m generally not a big Yes fan, but I like this one. An 80s mix show essential.
Predictions for next week: I have a feeling that we'll be hearing a late-80s show next week. My primary prediction is January 30, 1988, with January 31, 1987 as my backup. I kinda hope the latter is the case, but at least if we get the 1988 show, it'll be the one where they played the original studio version of "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John, which, IMO, is superior to the overplayed live version.
AT40: The 80s - January 24, 2015
This week’s presentation: January 21, 1984
Droppers:
SYNCHRONICITY II - The Police (37) - Good song, but they’ve had better.
CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE - QUIET RIOT (33) - Great song - shame that it fell off.
CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND - CULTURE CLUB (27) - Meh, not quite my favorite song by them, though I’d rather listen to it than the one that was on the chart.
MAJOR TOM (COMING HOME) - PETER SCHILLING (19) - Wow, a drop from way up in the Top 20! Reminds me a little of 1982, except this song was actually right outside the Top 40 (at #43) rather than way down in lower half of the chart.
LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD - PAT BENATAR (15) - Yikes! This could be the highest post-1982 dropper! Tell you what, our friend JessieLou isn’t going to like this! As for me my opinion of the song, it's good, but I prefer others by her.
40: UPTOWN GIRL – BILLY JOEL (14) - Wow! We almost had THREE Top 20 droppers! Almost reminiscent of 1982 (except songs dropped way off the chart back then!) Anyway, this song’s pretty good, but far from being my favorite from him
39: IN THE MOOD – ROBERT PLANT (39) - Good song, but I generally prefer songs by him with Led Zeppelin.
38: SEND ME AN ANGEL – REAL LIFE (40) - Good song
37: REMEMBER THE NIGHTS – THE MOTELS (38) - Great song! Easily favorite song from them!
36: NOBODY TOLD ME – JOHN LENNON (debut) - Ah, I knew it would be only a matter of time before they got to the first debut song on the countdown. Though this song isn’t really anything special, it was great to hear Lennon on the countdown one more time.
35: NIGHTBIRD – STEVIE NICKS W/SANDY STEWART (debut) - Good song. This song has fallen into obscurity, but U93 played this song regularly in early 1984 - added it before it even hit the charts.
34: JUMP – VAN HALEN (debut) - Casey mentioned that this sounds a cross between heavy metal and techno-rock. Sounds more like a sporting event theme to me and, IMO, wasn’t worthy of five weeks at #1. I generally preferred the Van Hagar era.
33: 99 LUFTBALLONS - NENA (debut) - Good song, though I prefer the English version “99 Red Balloons”, which is the version that the radio stations I listened to generally played. I think AT40 played the German version intermittently with the German/English mix (and I think he played the full English version once or twice).
32: THE SIGN OF FIRE – THE FIXX (32) - Good song, but I prefer “Saved By Zero”.
31: WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER – THE POLICE (debut) - Good song - possibly my favorite song from Synchronicity.
30: STAY WITH ME TONIGHT – JEFFREY OSBORNE (30) - Good song, but I preferred songs like “On The Wings Of Love” and the follow-up to this song “We’re Going All The Way”.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: NEW MOON ON MONDAY - DURAN DURAN - Great song! This song was #48 this week and would debut on American Top 40 the following week.
29: GOLD – SPANDAU BALLET (29) - Wow, I’d forgotten how good of a song this was! Too bad they edited it down.
28: SO BAD – PAUL McCARTNEY (31) - Good song, but I’m not sure why he decided to sing falsetto on this one.
27: YAH MO B THERE – JAMES INGRAM WITH MICHAEL McDONALD (35) - Great song, but weird title.
26: BABY I LIED – DEBORAH ALLEN (36) - The biggest mover in the countdown - and, interestingly enough, this is where the song would peak! Anyway, I liked this - your typical mid-80s country song.
25: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD – THE PRETENDERS (34) - This was tied for the second biggest jumper and, unlike the above song, this song would go further. Great song, though I preferred “Back On The Chain Gang”.
24: AN INNOCENT MAN – BILLY JOEL (28) - Great song - one of my favorite tracks from the “Innocent Man” LP.
LDD: ENDLESS LOVE – DIANA ROSS AND LIONEL RICHIE - This was a dedication from G.I. Joe (not the superhero) to his wife Sherry. This song was very appropriate for the dedication.
23: ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT) – LIONEL RICHIE (11) - I hate this song. Next one please...
22: LET THE MUSIC PLAY - SHANNON (26) - This song’s OK, but nothing special.
21: READ ‘EM AND WEEP – BARRY MANILOW (18) - Great song! One of my favorites from him (as well as this week’s show)!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GIVE IT UP - KC - Great song! This is another song that U93 gave early action, like it did the Stevie Nicks song. And this song fared much better - ranked #5 on their Top 93 of 1984 countdown.
20: UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT – THE ROLLING STONES (12) - This was OK, but I prefer many others by the Stones.
19: IF I’D BEEN THE ONE – .38 SPECIAL (23) - Great song! Easily one of my favorites by them!
18: TIME WILL REVEAL - DeBARGE (24) - Another great song! And it’s one of my favorites by DeBarge (I generally like their slow songs).
17: HOLIDAY - MADONNA (25) - Good song, but far from being my favorite from her.
16: I STILL CAN’T GET OVER LOVING YOU – RAY PARKER JR (20) - Good song, and a very interesting story about how he broke his leg in three places by showing off with his bike for a girl he had a crush on. He somehow forged a career out of that mishap.
15: THE CURLY SHUFFLE – JUMP ‘N THE SADDLE (16) - As a big Three Stooges fan, I liked this funny song.
14: THINK OF LAURA – CHRISTOPHER CROSS (21) - Great song, but it reminds me of a friend of mine who died this past summer - especially the line “taken away so young”.
13: PINK HOUSES – JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (22) - Good song, but not one of my favorites from Mellencamp.
12: THAT’S ALL – GENESIS (17) - Good song. This was when their Top 40 career was really starting to take off, since this was their first Top Ten hit (on Billboard, anyway). And every single one of their hits afterward (well, until the Broadcast Data System era, anyway) hit the Top Ten (at least the rest of their Top 40 songs did hit the Top Ten on Billboard).
11: UNION OF THE SNAKE – DURAN DURAN (4) - Good song, but I like many other songs by them better.
10: SAY IT ISN’T SO – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (3) - I didn’t like this song when it was on the chart (mainly due to overplay), but now I think it’s pretty good. Still, it’s not quite my favorite song by the duo.
9: RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT – LIONEL RICHIE (10) - This is easily my favorite of his two songs on the chart this week. I preferred his next hit after this, though.
8: JOANNA – KOOL & THE GANG (13) - Great song! One of my favorites by them!
7: TWIST OF FATE – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (5) - Good song. I wonder why you don’t hear much of her on the radio anymore? She had plenty of Top Ten hits in the 80s, like this one.
6: I GUESS THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES – ELTON JOHN (8) - Good song
5: BREAK MY STRIDE - MATTHEW WILDER (7) - I like this song, but I thought it was quite annoying when it was on the charts.
LDD: HELLO GOODBYE - THE BEATLES - Great song, and appropriate for the dedication, to someone who was a big Beatles fan (and someone who was a total opposite from the author, who was her roommate in college).
4: TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP – THE ROMANTICS (6) - Good song - an 80s mix show essential.
3: KARMA CHAMELEON – CULTURE CLUB (9) - No. Just no.
2: SAY SAY SAY – PAUL McCARTNEY AND MICHAEL JACKSON (1) - This song is very cheesy, but I can stomach a listen to it every now and then.
1: OWNER OF A LONELY HEART - YES (2) - I’m generally not a big Yes fan, but I like this one. An 80s mix show essential.
Predictions for next week: I have a feeling that we'll be hearing a late-80s show next week. My primary prediction is January 30, 1988, with January 31, 1987 as my backup. I kinda hope the latter is the case, but at least if we get the 1988 show, it'll be the one where they played the original studio version of "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John, which, IMO, is superior to the overplayed live version.