American Top 40: The 80s - Top 100 of 1984
I already posted a critique for this show when Premiere ran it in 2007, but I'll post a brand-new one so I can add chart stats.
POS) SONG - ARTIST (PEAK(WEEKS AT PEAK)/TOP 10 WEEKS/TOP 40 WEEKS/HOT 100 WEEKS100: LIGHTS OUT - PETER WOLF (12(2)/-/10/14) - I liked this song, but preferred a few songs from his J. Geils Band, especially "Centerfold". This song was originally supposed to be entitled "Dancing In The Dark", but Wolf changed it to "Lights Out" so as not to confuse it with Springsteen's song.
99: SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK - ROD STEWART (10/1/10/17) - I just heard this song on Sunny 101.5 earlier today. This song wasn't bad, but I preferred other songs from him, especially in the 1990s.
98: NEW MOON ON MONDAY - DURAN DURAN (10/1/10/16) - I liked this song - by far my favorite of their 1984 hits. I found the video sort of funny, since I always thought the instrumental parts after the chorus reminded me of trotting horses and, sure enough, there were horses in the video.
97: MAJOR TOM (COMING HOME) - PETER SCHILLING (14(3)/-/10/22) - This is a song you don't hear very often anymore! I didn't really like it much when it was popular, but I think it's a pretty good song now.
96: ROUND AND ROUND - RATT (12(2)/-/10/18) - The first of two Top 40 hits by this band from this American heavy metal band. It was a great song, but I preferred their other Top 40 hit "Lay It Down" from the following year. Too bad that song was a "one-week wonder".
95: BREAKIN'… THERE'S NO STOPPING US - OLLIE AND JERRY (9/1/11/18) - This song was OK. The movie from which it came was rather lame-o.
94: I STILL CAN'T GET OVER LOVING YOU - RAY PAYKER, JR (12/-/11/19) - Not bad, but I preferred most of his material with Raydio. This is one of many songs on the countdown that we heard on the 1983 show two weeks before.
93: HEAD OVER HEELS - THE GO-GO'S (11(2)/-/10/16) - This song was worlds better than "We Got The Beat", which, naturally, was their biggest hit. This one did pretty well, too, peaking at #11 in May. I liked it.
92: MAGIC - THE CARS (12(3)/-/11/17) - The first of three songs from them on the big list - and my favorite, by a fairly wide margin.
91: CRUMBLIN' DOWN - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (9(3)/3/11/16) - Meh, I never liked this song. The video was one of the most boring ones I've ever seen. Too bad it didn't have walls that came tumblin', tumblin' - do-o-owwwn!
90: UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT - THE ROLLING STONES (9(3)/3/10/14) - The guitar riff near the end of the song reminds me of that of "Start Me Up". This song wasn't bad, but I prefer their songs from the 60s and 70s. Their 80s songs sound a little watered down.
89: THINK OF LAURA - CHRISTOPHER CROSS (9(2)/2/11/17) - This song always reminds me of a friend from my church who died six years ago at the age of 36. But I still like the song, though it tends to bring tears to my eyes.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: DON'T ANSWER ME - ALAN PARSONS PROJECT (15/-/8/15) - I sort of expected this song to do a little better, but "Eye In The Sky" was their only Top Ten hit. Not sure which of the two above songs I prefer. Given its stats, I somewhat doubt that this song "just missed the Top 100 of the year", as Larry put it.
88: BLUE JEAN - DAVID BOWIE (8(2)/2/10/18) - I think we all know what David Bowie songs I like, but this one's pretty good too.
87: GOT A HOLD ON ME - CHRISTINE MCVIE (10/1/11/16) - I liked this song when it first came out, but got tired of it as it approached the Top Ten. I like it now.
86: WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER - THE POLICE (8/2/10/16) - Well, it's not one of my favorites from him, but it's still worlds better than "Every Breath You Take", which you can count on hearing on any AC or oldies station every single hour.
85: PINK HOUSES - JOHN COUGAR MELLANKAMP (8/2/11/16) - This song's a good one. Better than his overplayed stuff (like "Jackass & Diane")
84: DESERT MOON - DENNIS DEYOUNG (10/1/12/22) - When I first heard this song, I thought it was the new song by Styx (since they had charted earlier in the year with "Music Time".) But they wouldn't have another chart hit for another six years. As for my opinion of the song, it's a great one!
83: AN INNOCENT MAN - BILLY JOEL (10/1/11/18) - I liked this song - possibly my favorite song from the album of the same title. The intro reminds me of "Blue Bayou" by Linda Ronstadt.
82: CRUEL SUMMER - BANANARAMA (9/2/11/18) - I was never a big Bananarama fan, though I did like "I Heard A Rumour", since it reminds me of my high school days. This one is just OK, but I frickin' hated "Venus".
81: ON THE DARK SIDE - JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (7(2)/3/11/18) - This is a little overplayed on 80s-based AC stations, but it's still pretty good.
80: HEART AND SOUL - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (8(2)/2/13/21) - The first of many hit singles from their album Sports. It's a good one, but I prefer many others from him/them.
79: PENNY LOVER - LIONEL RICHIE (8(2)/4/13/18) - This was one of a handful of songs that made both the 1984 and 1985 list, due to AT40 switching to Billboard after using their own chart for the past few years.
78: I'M SO EXCITED - POINTER SISTERS (9/2/12/24) - I liked this song when it was on the chart, but now I think it's kinda cheesy. Definitely a song that more teenyboppers liked than adults.
77: THEY DON'T KNOW - TRACEY ULLMAN (8(2)/3/11/17) - I like this song. Sounds kinda like a TV show theme.
76: NOBODY TOLD ME - JOHN LENNON (5/4/11/14) - While not as good as his songs from Double Fantasy, this one was still pretty good.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: A FINE FINE DAY - TONY CAREY - (22/-/8/15) - Wow, what a pleasant surprise, as this song didn't even hit the Top 20 (but it was a #1 Rock hit, so that might be why they picked it). Anyway, this was one of my favorite songs from 1984.
75: CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND - CULTURE CLUB (10(3)/3/12/17) - This song's OK, but this is about when their musical quality began taking a dive.
74: THRILLER - MICHAEL JACKSON (4(2)/5/9/14) - I remember watching the video to this in sixth grade. It was awesome! As for the song, I prefer the full album version; the single version is too butchered.
73: BREAKDANCE - IRENE CARA (8/1/11/19) - Barf time! Her other hits are worlds better than this one, even "Fame", which I don't like that well.
72: ADULT EDUCATION - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (8/4/11/17) - I rather like this song. They had many better, which shows how strong their overall output is, as they were the top act of the decade so far, which Casey mentioned.
71: YOU MIGHT THINK - THE CARS (7(3)/4/11/17) - This song wasn't bad. I don't like it as much as "Magic", but I prefer it over "Drive".
70: STRUT - SHEENA EASTON (7/3/15/25) - Meh, I preferred her earlier stuff, especially "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)".
69: IF EVER YOU'RE IN MY ARMS AGAIN - PEABO BRYSON (10(3)/3/13/25) - Great song here! I like most of his stuff, even the unreleased tracks.
68: LEGS - ZZ TOP (8(2)/4/12/19) - This song's OK, but the video - WOO-HOO, sexy!
67: BETTER BE GOOD TO ME - TINA TURNER (5(2)/5/13/21) - This is pretty good. They sure don't play it much anymore (because they think we want to hear "What's Love Got To Do With It" every hour.)
66: COVER ME - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (7/4/13/18) - This song is possibly the most obscure song from the Born In The USA album (as I don't hear it on the radio as much as the others). I like it, but my favorite song from the album would probably be the seventh and last release "My Hometown".
65: LET THE MUSIC PLAY - SHANNON (8/3/12/24) - Not a bad song, but nothing exceptional either.
64: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT - CYNDI LAUPER (5/5/14/19) - Another song that made both the 1984 and 1985 Top 100. I loved this song when it first came out and still think it's pretty good - my favorite song from her debut album She's So Unusual.
63: LOVE SOMEBODY - RICK SPRINGFIELD (5(2)/5/12/16) - The first of three Top 40 hits from the movie Hard To Hold. It's a great song, IMO - reminds me a little of "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy" by Sammy Hagar.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GO INSANE - LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM (23/-/9/16) - Wow, they seem to be choosing somewhat obscure songs for extras. Not that it's a bad thing, though, since it's better than hearing overplayed stuff that would be played within two hours of the broadcast anyway.
62: ALMOST PARADISE - MIKE RENO AND ANN WILSON (7(2)/4/13/20) - One of many singles from the Footloose soundtrack - and my favorite of the three that made the Top 100.
61: BORDERLINE - MADONNA (10/1/15/30) - I think this is one of her best songs and one of my favorite songs from 1984. It sure showed tenacity on the charts, as it spent 15 weeks on the chart which, back then, was unusually long for a song that peaked at #10.
60: LUCKY STAR - MADONNA (4/5/12/16) - This song, however, was one of my least favorites from Madonna. I just never got into this one.
59: MISS ME BLIND - CULTURE CLUB (5(2)/6/12/16) - This one kinda zipped up and down the charts pretty fast, as I recall. The Culture Club had definitely had their day in the sun, as they didn't have anymore Top Ten hits ("It's A Miracle" did hit #9 on R&R, but it also had a quick chart run).
58: SISTER CHRISTIAN - NIGHT RANGER (5(2)/4/12/24) - One of my favorite songs from them, even if I did become the butt of many jokes when this song was out.
57: TO ALL THE
GIRLS I'VE LOVED BEFORE GEEZERS WHO SING THIS SONG - JULIO IGLESIAS & WILLIE NELSON (5/6/12/21) - I don't hate this song as much as several people that I know, but it's not my favorite by either artist involved. I preferred many of Willie Nelson's songs, as well as Julio's other duet in 1984 ("All Of You", with Diana Ross).
56: STATE OF
SHOCK FUNGUS - THE JACKSONS (3(3)/6/11/15) - Meh, I never really liked this song. It was a good summertime hit, though.
55: INFATUATION - ROD STEWART (6(2)/4/13/18) - Really - we all know that this is "Passion, Part 2".
54: IF THIS IS IT - HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS (6(2)/4/13/17) - His prerequisite doo-wop song from the Sports album. One of my favorite Huey Lewis songs of all time!
53: I WANT A NEW DRUG - HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS (6(2)/5/13/19) - Wow, he/they appeared back to back on the chart. Anyway, this song was a good one, too, though not quite as good as the one above.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LEAVE IT - YES - (24(2)/-/7/15) - Wow, if I had missed the preceding "extra", I would have assumed it was a song from mid-spring, 1984, since that's the time period of the other three extras. Are three of next week's extras going to be from fall and one from spring? We'll have to wait and see. Anyway, I liked this song - didn't get anywhere near as much airplay as "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" (which, of course, will be heard on Part 2 of the show).
52: SAD SONGS (SAY SO MUCH) - ELTON JOHN (5/5/13/19) - I can't say that I remember the jeans commercial that Casey referred to, but I definitely remember hearing this song all the time in the summer of 1984! It was a great one!
51: THE WARRIOR - SCANDAL FEATURING PATTY SMYTH (7(2)/5/15/21) - Even though this was their first Top 40 hit, they'd had a few previous songs that hit the Hot 100 (and a few after this one just narrowly missed the Top 40). This song was a good one, but I preferred "Goodbye To You" and "Love's Got A Line On You", from 1982 and 1983, respectively.
50: SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT - COREY HART (7/5/15/23) - This one was OK, but I prefer his slower songs like "It Ain't Enough" and "Never Surrender" (as well as the obscure "Everything In My Heart").
49: THAT'S ALL! - GENESIS (6(2)/4/14/20) - This is far from being my favorite Genesis song, but it's still good. I preferred "Taking It All Too Hard" from the same album, a song that I'm surprised didn't even crack the Top 40.
48: RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT - LIONEL RICHIE (7(2)/5/14/19) - One of five huge hits from Lionel's most successful album ever Can't Slow Down. I like the song, but I preferred other songs from the album, like "Hello" and "Penny Lover" and the album cut "Love Will Find A Way".
47: I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU - DAN HARTMAN (6(2)/4/16/25) - I preferred his two follow-ups over this overplayed song.
46: AUTOMATIC - POINTER SISTERS (4/6/14/20) - Well, I must say I prefer this over their song coming up on the countdown, but still, I generally preferred their early-80s material.
45: PURPLE RAIN - PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION (2(2)/7/11/16) - This is a nice, mellow song, a welcome departure from his loud, upbeat stuff. Had this one been released earlier than it was, it might have gone to #1 (like it did on the R&R chart).
44: THE HEART OF ROCK 'N' ROLL - HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS (6(4)/7/14/20) - Did you notice that all three of Huey Lewis' Top Ten hits that peaked within the year 1984 peaked at #6? That's practically half of the songs that peaked at that position during the year! Anyway, this song had many different versions recorded, with Lewis giving shout-outs to different cities not mentioned in the single version (the one that WLS in Chicago played featured Lewis mentioning Chicago and Kansas City). The song is a good one, but not quite my favorite song from him/them.
43: EYES WITHOUT A FACE - BILLY IDOL (4(2)/6/14/22) - When this song first came out, I swore that he was saying "Hows About A Date". As a person who's not a huge Billy Idol fan, I actually thought this one was really good (it still isn't as good as "Sweet Sixteen", though).
42: HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN - EURYTHMICS (4(2)/7/14/20) - As I've stated several times before, my favorite song by them would have to be "There Must Be An Angel", probably because that song didn't get overplayed like most of their other stuff, like this one.
41: THE GLAMOROUS LIFE - SHEILA E. (7/5/16/26) - At the time of this show, her song "The Belle Of St. Mark" was peaking at #34 on the chart. I much preferred that song over this one, which I just never really got into, for some reason.
40: TWIST OF FATE - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (5(2)/7/14/18) - The movie Two Of A Kind may have been a commercial disappointment, but the soundtrack managed to yield two Top 40 hits (as well as an AC hit). This, of course, was the biggest. I preferred the follow-up, "Livin' In Desperate Times", but this one was a great one as well.
39: UNION OF THE SNAKE - DURAN DURAN (3(3)/6/12/17) - As I mentioned earlier, "New Moon On Monday" was their only 1984 song that I liked. This song was mediocre at best.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: COME BACK AND STAY = PAUL YOUNG (22/-/8/15) - Wow, Paul Young only had four Top 40 hits? Why did I think he had more? Anyway, this one wasn't bad, but this and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" are in a close race for my least favorite from him. My favorite of his charted hits would be his biggest, "Every Time You Go Away", from the following summer.
38: OH SHERRIE - STEVE PERRY (3/7/13/20) - The first solo hit for who was then the lead singer of Journey. It was a good song, and I liked his three follow-ups from the album "Street Talk" as well - not sure which one I prefer.
37: I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES - ELTON JOHN (4/6/15/23) - Elton seemed to be on an upswing after a dry spell of about seven years, during which his Top Ten hits were few and far between. This was his first song to reach the Top Ten in three and a half years, and I'm glad it made it, because it was one of his best 1980s hits. The song was edited, but at least they left in the pretty harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder - possibly the best part of the song IMO.
36: DRIVE - THE CARS (3(3)/7/14/19) - Very depressing song, partly because of the subject matter and partly because it was becoming popular at the beginning of Hell On Earth (a.k.a. my seventh grade year).
35: 99 LUFTBALLONS - NENA (2/6/13/23) - They played the German/English hybrid version of the song. During its chart run, I generally heard the English version ("99 Red Balloons") on the radio. I believe Countdown America with John Leader usually, if not always, played the German version. Since it's been nearly 32(!) years, I don't really remember. Anyway, my favorite version is the English version.
34: SHE BOP - CYNDI LAUPER (3(3)/8/14/18) - Cyndi, you naughty girl! But seriously, this was a great song - not sure if I prefer this or "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".
33: LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD - PAT BENATAR (5/7/14/22) - This was when her music quality began slipping. There are very few post-1983 Pat Benatar songs that I liked.
32: BREAK MY STRIDE - MATTHEW WILDER (5(3)/7/14/29) - His only really big hit. I never liked this when it was on the charts, but about ten years later, I started liking it better. This song held the record for the longest running song on the Hot 100 during the year.
31: STUCK ON YOU - LIONEL RICHIE (3(2)/7/14/19) - This was sort of an unusual style for him, with a country flavor to this (and Casey mentioned that this did chart on the Country charts).
30: SELF CONTROL - LAURA BRANNIGAN (4(2)/6/15/25) - I found this song royally annoying during its chart run, especially with the "oh oh" refrains. It's not bad now, but still, I preferred many other songs from her.
29: JOANNA - KOOL & THE GANG (2/6/16/24) - This song returned them to the Top Ten after an absence of nearly two years. It was a great song, too - one of my personal faves from them.
28: JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) - THE POINTER SISTERS (3(2)/8/15/24) - Ugh, I hate the title of this song. Sounds like she's treating her man like a dog. He has to perform for you to love him? I see him heading for the door, saying "ABC ya!"
27: SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME - ROCKWELL (2(3)/8/14/19) - I'm sure that, had Michael Jackson not been singing the chorus on this, this song would have been nowhere near as big as it was. It was indeed a great song, with Michael's voice prominently heard throughout.
26: HOLD ME NOW - THOMPSON TWINS (3(2)/7/15/21) - This song has indeed aged well - still sounds as great as it did back in 1984 - and it is my favorite of their Top 40 hits!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: RADIO GA-GA - QUEEN - (16/-/8/13) - The title pretty much says it all. This song never did anything for me - I preferred their 1970s hits.
25: I FEEL FOR YOU - CHAKA KHAN (3(3)/9/17/26) - Meh, not a fan of this one at all. Give me "Through The Fire" any day! This song also just missed being deferred to 1985's list. Well, actually, it also made 1985's list, since they switched to using Billboard's Top 100 list for their shows that year. IMO, they should have used BB's chart, but booted off the songs that had made the 1984 chart (since their entire chart run, along with projected points, was used in ranking the 1984 list.
24: GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN - CYNDI LAUPER (2(2)/8/14/25) - Remember her campy reggae version of this song from 1995? I much prefer this one - as I said, pretty much in a tie for my second favorite song from She's So Unusual.
23: HARD HABIT TO BREAK - CHICAGO (3(2)/6/15/25) - Peter Cetera generally sang lead by himself on Chicago's songs from the mid-70s up until his departure from Chicago in 1985, but he actually shared lead vocals with Bill Champlin on this one. It was a great one - far and away my favorite song from the Chicago 17 album!
22: TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP - THE ROMANTICS (3(3)/7/15/26) - Another song I didn't like during its heyday, but now I do like it. I do prefer their two other songs that, well, made the top half of the chart, anyway (as "What I Like About You" didn't quite hit the top 40, which is odd, given all the airplay it receives nowadays).
21: TIME AFTER TIME - CYNDI LAUPER (1(2)/9/16/24) - You knew it was only a matter of time before we got to the first number one song! For the most part, the #1s make up the top 20 of the big list - there are only two more songs that didn't quite make it to the top left, so I'm thinking that they used a system that gave extra points to the number one songs.
20: CARIBBEAN QUEEN - BILLY OCEAN (1(2)/7/15/26) - His comeback hit, and was there ever a lot more where that came from! This song was so/so, but one of my least favorite songs from him. I preferred his other hits from Suddenly.
19: LET'S GO CRAZY - PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION (1(2)/9/14/19) - As usual, they played the single version with the very badly edited spoken intro. Other than that, the song was a pretty good one - my favorite of his two Purple Rain #1s.
18: SAY IT ISN'T SO - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (2(4)/10/15/18) - This was one of only two #2 songs in the Top 20. The song was locked out of #1 by what would end up being the top song of the year. More on that later. As for the song, it was pretty good, but definitely far from being one of my favorites from them.
17: DANCING IN THE DARK - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (2(4)/9/15/21) - The other non-#1 in the Top Twenty of 1984. Like the other song, it did make a valiant effort, but the #1 song, which also spent multiple weeks at the top, was just too strong (only this song WAS able to hit the top of the R&R chart for a week before the same #1 song cut short his run. I much preferred this song, the very first single from the monster album Born In The USA, though I preferred a few other Springsteen songs over this. And, yes, Casey mentioned that there was nothing but #1 hits from here on out.
16: THE REFLEX - DURAN DURAN (1(2)/8/15/21) - Meh, one of my least favorites from them. Not sure why, but I never liked this song. Overplay would be a logical reason, but I never liked it in the first place.
15: LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY - DENIECE WILLAMS (1(2)/9/14/19) - One of three hits from the Footloose soundtrack to make the survey. As mentioned earlier, "Almost Paradise" was my favorite of the three, but this would be a close second.
14: MISSING YOU - JOHN WAITE (1(1)/9/16/24) - This was the only song during the year that spent just a single week at the top, but it had a good, long chart run, which helped rank it above many of the two-week #1s. Anyway, for my opinion on this song, see #36.
13: WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO - WHAM (1(3)/8/14/24) - I loved the song during its chart run, but not so much anymore - a very teenybopper sounding song.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LOVE WILL SHOW US HOW - CHRISTINE McVIE (30/-/6/10) - Wow, this was a real curveball - the song barely touched the Top 30 and doesn't receive much in the way of recurrent airplay. Anyway, I liked this song, but it wasn't quite as good as her first Top 40 hit, which we heard last week in the first half of the show.
12: OUT OF TOUCH - DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES (1(2)/9/16/23) - This was the most recent #1 hit to make the list. The song that dethroned this song from the top, "Like A Virgin", was still #1 at the time of this show and was deferred to 1985. My opinion on this song - see my last sentence in my comment for song #18.
11: GHOSTBUSTERS - RAY PARKER JR. (1(3)/10/14/21) - The second time we heard this song on the countdown - the first was back at #53
10: I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - STEVIE WONDER (1(3)/10/15/26) - This was a pretty good song. I like the version of this song where he synthesizes his voice to repeat part of the first verse of the song, but, to my best of knowledge, they never played that version on AT40. It was starting to sound like they would play that version, but it skipped to the end.
9: OWNER OF A LONELY HEART - YES (1(2)/10/17/23) - This was their comeback hit, and what a comeback it was - they had what was by far their biggest hit ever! I wasn't a big fan of this song back in the day, but now I think it's a pretty good one.
8: HELLO - LIONEL RICHIE (1(2)/10/17/23) - This was his biggest hit on the Top 100 of 1984, and it is my favorite of the bunch, as well as one of my all-time favorites from him!
7: KARMA CHAMELEON - CULTURE CLUB (1(3)/9/16/22) - However, this, the biggest song by the Culture Club on the list, is one of my least favorites from them - pure cheese, IMO. Glad that they edited this song, chopping out the second verse.
6: FOOTLOOSE - KENNY LOGGINS (1(3)/11/16/23) - The biggest hit from the Footloose soundtrack. This one was OK, but quite overplayed, both then and today. I preferred Loggins' other contribution to the Footloose soundtrack,
"Should've Known Better" "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)", which only got as high as #22, so I'm fairly sure that it came nowhere near making the Top 100.
5: AGAINST ALL ODDS - PHIL COLLINS (1(3)/10/16/24) - Another one of six #1 movie hits on the countdown. This was a great song - one of Phil's best songs ever. I still think this song should have been R&R's #1 song of 1984 instead of the one that really won out on that list.
4: WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT - TINA TURNER (1(3)/10/18/28) - I didn't like this one during its chart run, but it's one of those song that gets better with age, like fine wine.
3: JUMP - VAN HALEN (1(5)/10/15/21) - This was that song that beat out Phil Collins on said R&R year-ender. It's one of three Top 40 hits from their album named after the year that it was released and spawned all the hits. This, however, was the only song from that album to make the list (the other two, which peaked at #13, were probably not too far off.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LIKE A VIRGIN - MADONNA - Since this was the only #1 song in 1984 that was not on the list (it was deferred to 1985, as stated earlier), that's probably why they decided to play it. It was a great song, as overplayed as it was back in the day.
2: WHEN DOVES CRY - PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION (1(5)/11/16/21) - Not a fan of this one at all - not sure why it was as big a hit as it was.
1: SAY SAY SAY - PAUL MCCARTNEY AND MICHAEL JACKSON (1(6)/13/18/22) - Well, even though this isn't my favorite song in the world (it's pretty good, though), I'm glad that it beat out that awful Prince song for the #1 song of the year. Had it not been for AT40 using a song's entire chart run, this one wouldn't have had enough points.
Predictions for next week: Surprisingly, nobody has posted next week's show on "the other message board". My first guess for next week is 1/16/1982, with my back-up prediction being 1/19/1985. 1/14/1984 isn't exactly out of the question either, such is the case with 1/18/1986 or 1/17/1987. I just hope it's not 1/10/81, since they've run that show twice already.