Post by Hervard on Sept 5, 2015 20:10:00 GMT -5
Here is my recycled commentary for this weekend's 1985 show:
American Top 40: The 80s - September 5, 2015
This week's presentation: September 7, 1985
Droppers:
LIVE EVERY MOMENT - REO SPEEDWAGON (36) - This one was OK, but not one of my favorites. I can see why it didn't do any better than it did.
WHEN YOUR HEART IS WEAK - COCK ROBIN (35) - This was OK, but somewht lame. Like the above song, I can see why it tanked not long after hitting the Top 40.
STATE OF THE HEART - RICK SPRINGFIELD (34) - Great song! I wonder if the melody of this inspired Def Leppard for the title track of their monster album Hysteria?
ROCK ME TONIGHT (FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE) - FREDDIE JACKSON (33) - Your typical old school slow jam. Not bad, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.
GLORY DAYS - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (32) - Wow, the droppers were all in a row on the preceding weeks' countdown... Anyway, this was a great song! Possibly my second favorite song from Born In The USA, behind "My Hometown".
40: SPANISH EDDIE – LAURA BRANIGAN (debut) - Great song! Definitely one of her most underrated!
39: I WONDER IF I TAKE YOU HOME – LISA LISA & CULT JAM WITH FULL FORCE (38) - This was pretty good - sounded like your typical mid-80s dance music. Based on its somewhat weird chart run, it must have had sporadic airplay, but did well where played.
38: I GOT YOU BABE – UB40 WITH CHRISSIE HYNDE (debut) - Very interesting remake of the old Sonny & Cher classic, using the reggae sound that they're famous for.
37: DO YOU WANT CRYING – KATRINA AND THE WAVES (debut) - Good song, but I preferred "Walking On Sunshine".
36: NO LOOKIN’ BACK – MICHAEL McDONALD (40) - Good song - not sure whether I prefer this or Kenny Loggins' version on the Vox Humana album.
35: YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) – DEAD OR ALIVE (22) - Good song, though I preferred their other Top 40 hit from about a year and a half later.
34: C-I-T-Y – JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (39) - Great song! My second favorite song from them, behind "Tough All Over".
33: DANCING IN THE STREET – MICK JAGGER & DAVID BOWIE (debut) - Good song - I actually prefer this one to the original.
32: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (debut) - Good song - my favorite of his two songs on the chart this week.
31: WHO’S HOLDING DONNA NOW – DEBARGE (21) - Great song! One of my favorites. As I recall, this mirrors its chart movement on the last 1985 show. Will it drop to #33 and #34 the next week? No - it actually fell out on September 14.
30: EVERY STEP OF THE WAY – JOHN WAITE (37) - Great song! Much better than his solo song that was charting around this time the year before (and from which he took a line to use as the opening line for this one).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PART TIME LOVER - STEVIE WONDER - Wow, this was definitely one of the most popular songs of the year, especially since it topped three other charts besides the Hot 100! Anyway, it was OK, but I preferred most of his other songs, since this one was quite overplayed.
29: EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY – PAUL YOUNG (19) - Great song! This one has held up quite well despite overplay.
28: IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY SET THEM FREE - STING (18) - Good song, though, as stated earlier, I preferred his other song in the countdown this week.
LDD: I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU – DOLLY PARTON - Good song - kind of weird to hear this one on AT40, since I don't believe that it ever hit the AT40 chart (but I could be wrong). Had the letter been written ten years later, I doubt it would be this version of the song that would be played.
27: MYSTERY LADY – BILLY OCEAN (24) - Good song, though not quite his best. This one has more of an R&B sound than most of his other songs.
26: THERE MUST BE AN ANGEL – EURYTHMICS (27) - Great song! Of course, we all know that this is my favorite song by them. This one should have at least hit the Top Ten! It sure fared better on my personal Top 30 chart, spending three weeks at #2, behind "Pop Life" by Prince, which, of course, is coming up later.
25: LONELY ‘OL NIGHT – JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (30) - Great song - one of my favorite songs from the Scarecrow album.
24: CRY – GODLEY & CREME (29) - Good song, although the high voices at the end kinda freak me out.
23: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU – WHITNEY HOUSTON (31) - Good song, but I preferred a few other songs by her such as "Greatest Love Of All" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go".
22: SHAME – THE MOTELS (25) - Good song, but I preferred their other three Top 40 hits.
21: TAKE ON ME – A-HA (28) - Great song! Glad this one made it to #1!
AMERICAN TOP 40 HALL OF FAME: RAY CHARLES
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MIAMI VICE THEME - JAN HAMMER - Great song, though I don't believe I've ever watched a single episode of Miami Vice.
20: WHAT ABOUT LOVE - HEART (15) - Good song. Roxette's "Listen To Your Heart" reminded me a lot of this song.
19: LIFE IN ONE DAY – HOWARD JONES (20) - Great song! One that you never hear on the radio anymore, outside of countdown shows.
18: OH SHEILA – READY FOR THE WORLD (26) - This song was so/so, but I sure hated the hell out of it back in the day!
17: DRESS YOU UP - MADONNA (23) - Great song! One of my favorites from her!
16: SMOKIN’ IN THE BOYS ROOM – MOTLEY CRUE (17) - Great song, and very interesting story about a bad choice made by Motley Crue's drummer.
15: DARE ME – THE POINTER SISTERS (16) - Ah, this song would make AT40 history the following week! It's a pretty good song (one of their better post-1982 songs).
14: NEVER SURRENDER – COREY HART (7) - Great song! One of his best (and most successful on the Hot 100).
13: SHOUT – TEARS FOR FEARS (6) - Meh, next song, please...
12: FREEDOM – WHAM! (14) - Great song! At this point, I had not yet gotten tired of the song, and I'd been hearing it for three months, as it got early action on a few stations, such as B96, which had been playing it since mid-June. I think other stations did this and that could have had something to do with how it started out so fast on the radio airplay chart and hit a brick wall once it hit the Top Ten. Oddly enough, it peaked higher on Billboard - possibly because the single was a slightly different version than the album version. The following week, they would start playing that single version, which featured a horn solo at the end.
11: INVINCIBLE (THEME FROM “THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN”) – PAT BENATAR (12) - Good song, but not quite my favorite from her.
10: POP LIFE - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (13) - But this is definitely one of my favorite Prince songs. As stated earlier, this song was #1 on my Personal Top 30 chart - stayed there for seven weeks. One might think that it was the top song for that entire year but, in fact, it ranked at #4 (for the record, the Eurythmics song that it kept out of #1 was the #17 song of 1985).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I'M GOIN' DOWN - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Good song, though I preferred his song that fell out of the countdown this week.
9: YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN (SECOND WIND) – BILLY JOEL (9) - Good song, with a great message (Billy even proves his point near the end of the song).
8: DON’T LOSE MY NUMBER – PHIL COLLINS (11) - Good song, though it's far beyond me why this wasn't included on his HITS album.
LDD: ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) - GILBERT O'SULLIVAN - No. Just no. (Although the dedication itself was very inspiring).
7: CHERISH – KOOL & THE GANG (8) - Great song! One of their best ballads (which they sure didn't do that many of).
6: MONEY FOR NOTHING – DIRE STRAITS (10) - Good song, but I preferred their other Top 40 hits.
5: SUMMER OF ‘69 – BRYAN ADAMS (5) - This was pretty good, although I preferred many others by him.
4: FREEWAY OF LOVE – ARETHA FRANKLIN (3) - Another pretty good song, but there are others that I prefer from her as well, such as her follow-up to this - the title track from her album Who's Zoomin' Who.
3: WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO (THUNDERDOME) – TINA TURNER (4) - Great song! My favorite of the movie hits that make up this week's Top Three.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: AND SHE WAS - TALKING HEADS - Great song! Much, much better than that repulsive dreck that is "Burning Down The House".
2: THE POWER OF LOVE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (1) - And this would be a close second, as it's a great one, too from a great movie. Like the Paul Young song we heard earlier, this one has held up quite well despite overplay.
1: ST. ELMO’S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) – JOHN PARR (2) - Good song. Another one that has withstood excessive airplay.
American Top 40: The 80s - September 5, 2015
This week's presentation: September 7, 1985
Droppers:
LIVE EVERY MOMENT - REO SPEEDWAGON (36) - This one was OK, but not one of my favorites. I can see why it didn't do any better than it did.
WHEN YOUR HEART IS WEAK - COCK ROBIN (35) - This was OK, but somewht lame. Like the above song, I can see why it tanked not long after hitting the Top 40.
STATE OF THE HEART - RICK SPRINGFIELD (34) - Great song! I wonder if the melody of this inspired Def Leppard for the title track of their monster album Hysteria?
ROCK ME TONIGHT (FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE) - FREDDIE JACKSON (33) - Your typical old school slow jam. Not bad, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.
GLORY DAYS - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (32) - Wow, the droppers were all in a row on the preceding weeks' countdown... Anyway, this was a great song! Possibly my second favorite song from Born In The USA, behind "My Hometown".
40: SPANISH EDDIE – LAURA BRANIGAN (debut) - Great song! Definitely one of her most underrated!
39: I WONDER IF I TAKE YOU HOME – LISA LISA & CULT JAM WITH FULL FORCE (38) - This was pretty good - sounded like your typical mid-80s dance music. Based on its somewhat weird chart run, it must have had sporadic airplay, but did well where played.
38: I GOT YOU BABE – UB40 WITH CHRISSIE HYNDE (debut) - Very interesting remake of the old Sonny & Cher classic, using the reggae sound that they're famous for.
37: DO YOU WANT CRYING – KATRINA AND THE WAVES (debut) - Good song, but I preferred "Walking On Sunshine".
36: NO LOOKIN’ BACK – MICHAEL McDONALD (40) - Good song - not sure whether I prefer this or Kenny Loggins' version on the Vox Humana album.
35: YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) – DEAD OR ALIVE (22) - Good song, though I preferred their other Top 40 hit from about a year and a half later.
34: C-I-T-Y – JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (39) - Great song! My second favorite song from them, behind "Tough All Over".
33: DANCING IN THE STREET – MICK JAGGER & DAVID BOWIE (debut) - Good song - I actually prefer this one to the original.
32: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (debut) - Good song - my favorite of his two songs on the chart this week.
31: WHO’S HOLDING DONNA NOW – DEBARGE (21) - Great song! One of my favorites. As I recall, this mirrors its chart movement on the last 1985 show. Will it drop to #33 and #34 the next week? No - it actually fell out on September 14.
30: EVERY STEP OF THE WAY – JOHN WAITE (37) - Great song! Much better than his solo song that was charting around this time the year before (and from which he took a line to use as the opening line for this one).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PART TIME LOVER - STEVIE WONDER - Wow, this was definitely one of the most popular songs of the year, especially since it topped three other charts besides the Hot 100! Anyway, it was OK, but I preferred most of his other songs, since this one was quite overplayed.
29: EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY – PAUL YOUNG (19) - Great song! This one has held up quite well despite overplay.
28: IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY SET THEM FREE - STING (18) - Good song, though, as stated earlier, I preferred his other song in the countdown this week.
LDD: I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU – DOLLY PARTON - Good song - kind of weird to hear this one on AT40, since I don't believe that it ever hit the AT40 chart (but I could be wrong). Had the letter been written ten years later, I doubt it would be this version of the song that would be played.
27: MYSTERY LADY – BILLY OCEAN (24) - Good song, though not quite his best. This one has more of an R&B sound than most of his other songs.
26: THERE MUST BE AN ANGEL – EURYTHMICS (27) - Great song! Of course, we all know that this is my favorite song by them. This one should have at least hit the Top Ten! It sure fared better on my personal Top 30 chart, spending three weeks at #2, behind "Pop Life" by Prince, which, of course, is coming up later.
25: LONELY ‘OL NIGHT – JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (30) - Great song - one of my favorite songs from the Scarecrow album.
24: CRY – GODLEY & CREME (29) - Good song, although the high voices at the end kinda freak me out.
23: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU – WHITNEY HOUSTON (31) - Good song, but I preferred a few other songs by her such as "Greatest Love Of All" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go".
22: SHAME – THE MOTELS (25) - Good song, but I preferred their other three Top 40 hits.
21: TAKE ON ME – A-HA (28) - Great song! Glad this one made it to #1!
AMERICAN TOP 40 HALL OF FAME: RAY CHARLES
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MIAMI VICE THEME - JAN HAMMER - Great song, though I don't believe I've ever watched a single episode of Miami Vice.
20: WHAT ABOUT LOVE - HEART (15) - Good song. Roxette's "Listen To Your Heart" reminded me a lot of this song.
19: LIFE IN ONE DAY – HOWARD JONES (20) - Great song! One that you never hear on the radio anymore, outside of countdown shows.
18: OH SHEILA – READY FOR THE WORLD (26) - This song was so/so, but I sure hated the hell out of it back in the day!
17: DRESS YOU UP - MADONNA (23) - Great song! One of my favorites from her!
16: SMOKIN’ IN THE BOYS ROOM – MOTLEY CRUE (17) - Great song, and very interesting story about a bad choice made by Motley Crue's drummer.
15: DARE ME – THE POINTER SISTERS (16) - Ah, this song would make AT40 history the following week! It's a pretty good song (one of their better post-1982 songs).
14: NEVER SURRENDER – COREY HART (7) - Great song! One of his best (and most successful on the Hot 100).
13: SHOUT – TEARS FOR FEARS (6) - Meh, next song, please...
12: FREEDOM – WHAM! (14) - Great song! At this point, I had not yet gotten tired of the song, and I'd been hearing it for three months, as it got early action on a few stations, such as B96, which had been playing it since mid-June. I think other stations did this and that could have had something to do with how it started out so fast on the radio airplay chart and hit a brick wall once it hit the Top Ten. Oddly enough, it peaked higher on Billboard - possibly because the single was a slightly different version than the album version. The following week, they would start playing that single version, which featured a horn solo at the end.
11: INVINCIBLE (THEME FROM “THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN”) – PAT BENATAR (12) - Good song, but not quite my favorite from her.
10: POP LIFE - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (13) - But this is definitely one of my favorite Prince songs. As stated earlier, this song was #1 on my Personal Top 30 chart - stayed there for seven weeks. One might think that it was the top song for that entire year but, in fact, it ranked at #4 (for the record, the Eurythmics song that it kept out of #1 was the #17 song of 1985).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I'M GOIN' DOWN - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Good song, though I preferred his song that fell out of the countdown this week.
9: YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN (SECOND WIND) – BILLY JOEL (9) - Good song, with a great message (Billy even proves his point near the end of the song).
8: DON’T LOSE MY NUMBER – PHIL COLLINS (11) - Good song, though it's far beyond me why this wasn't included on his HITS album.
LDD: ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) - GILBERT O'SULLIVAN - No. Just no. (Although the dedication itself was very inspiring).
7: CHERISH – KOOL & THE GANG (8) - Great song! One of their best ballads (which they sure didn't do that many of).
6: MONEY FOR NOTHING – DIRE STRAITS (10) - Good song, but I preferred their other Top 40 hits.
5: SUMMER OF ‘69 – BRYAN ADAMS (5) - This was pretty good, although I preferred many others by him.
4: FREEWAY OF LOVE – ARETHA FRANKLIN (3) - Another pretty good song, but there are others that I prefer from her as well, such as her follow-up to this - the title track from her album Who's Zoomin' Who.
3: WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO (THUNDERDOME) – TINA TURNER (4) - Great song! My favorite of the movie hits that make up this week's Top Three.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: AND SHE WAS - TALKING HEADS - Great song! Much, much better than that repulsive dreck that is "Burning Down The House".
2: THE POWER OF LOVE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (1) - And this would be a close second, as it's a great one, too from a great movie. Like the Paul Young song we heard earlier, this one has held up quite well despite overplay.
1: ST. ELMO’S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) – JOHN PARR (2) - Good song. Another one that has withstood excessive airplay.