Post by Hervard on May 19, 2018 10:10:04 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - May 19, 2018
This week's presentation - May 16, 1987
Droppers:
LEAN ON ME - CLUB NOUVEAU (38) - This was probably my least favorite song on the countdown back in the day, and naturally, it wasted no time getting to #1! It's still not one of my favorite songs, but its saving grace is that it's better than the insomnia-curing original by Bill Withers - definitely a "No. Just no" song in my book!
MIDNIGHT BLUE - LOU GRAMM (37) - After a decade of heading up Foreigner, he decided to give a solo career a try. This was his first solo hit to make the charts. It was a good one, but I preferred the other two, both from his second solo album Long Hard Look.
DOMINOES - ROBBIE NEVIL (30) - He'd charted early in the year with a hit that peaked in the runner-up position and at first, it looked like he might collect his second Top Ten hit, but this song ran out of steam at #14. Too bad, as this was my favorite of his 1987 hits.
WALKING DOWN YOUR STREET - THE BANGLES (26) - The band that had a thing about walking back in 1987, as illustrated by the titles of their two hits from that year. Anyway, you know that I prefer this over the other one, though I did prefer their first two hits from the Different Light album, but this one’s still a great song!
40: COME AS YOU ARE – PETER WOLF (27) - The former lead singer of the J. Geils Band had two solo hits in 1984 and was back with his second album, to which this was the title track. It was a great song!
39: DON’T DISTURB THIS GROOVE – THE SYSTEM (debut) - This was their only big hit on the pop chart. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their next release "Nighttime Lover", which, sadly, wasn't released to pop radio (and if it was, it didn't go far).
38: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) – WHITNEY HOUSTON (debut) - The first hit from her upcoming second album Whitney, which would be released in late June, debuted on the Hot 100 way up in the Top 40. It was clear where this song was headed! This song ended up as R&R's #1 song, which was great, though at the time this song was charting, I was sick of hearing it every time I turned on the radio.
37: LESSONS IN LOVE – LEVEL 42 (debut) - This British band was a two-hit wonder (as far as Top 40 hits go), and both songs hit the Top 20. Both songs were great - I liked them about the same.
36: FASCINATED – COMPANY B (39) - I'm surprised this one didn't go Top Ten; it was definitely representative of the dance/pop music of the mid-late 80s. It's a great song and a shame it didn't get any higher on the chart that it did.
35: SONGBIRD – KENNY G (debut) - His first song to hit the chart - and it turned out to be his biggest. I liked it, but generally preferred his songs that featured a vocalist, like his next hit, "Don't Make Me Wait For Love", as well as an album cut from Duotones called "You Make Me Believe".
34: NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW - STARSHIP (20) - The theme to the comedy movie "Mannequin", which I saw in the theater a few weeks back. This was one of my favorite songs by Starship, though it wasn't quite as good as "It's Not Enough".
33: JUST TO SEE HER – SMOKEY ROBINSON (40) - Earlier, I mentioned how Kenny G sometimes records songs with a guest vocalist. In early, 1989, one of those songs, "We've Saved The Best For Last" almost hit the Top 40, but fell short. Anyway, that song sounds a lot like this song. Not sure which of them I prefer because of that, but both are good songs.
32: STONE LOVE – KOOL & THE GANG (19) - This song had peaked at #10 just two weeks before, and, unfortunately, it turned out to be their last Top 40 hit. I liked this song, but my favorite of the Forever singles was "Special Way", which was a Top Ten AC hit in December of that year.
31: GET THAT LOVE – THOMPSON TWINS (32) - The only Top 40 hit from their sixth studio album "Close To The Bone". The "Twins" had clearly had their day in the sun, as this song only got to #31.
30: HEARTBREAK BEAT – PSYCHEDELIC FURS (35) - Interesting how their 1981 song became the title to the Molly Ringwald movie Pretty In Pink. The song just narrowly missed hitting the Top 40, but this song definitely made it. This was a great song, though I preferred their 1983 hit "Love My Way", which did not hit the Top 40 but still receives a decent amount of recurrent airplay on 1980s stations.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: JAMMIN' ME - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS - Larry did a Casey-style reading of #1 songs on other Billboard charts going into this song, which was #1 on the Rock chart and would debut on the AT40 chart a week later. In this song, Petty was venting about his frustration with media misinformation. The song wasn't bad, but I prefer several others from him/them.
29: YOU CAN CALL ME AL – PAUL SIMON (36) - One of several 1987 songs that charted twice. This song barely fell short of the Top 40 during its original release in the fall of 1986. After Simon's current album, Graceland, won a Grammy for Album of the Year, Paul decided to re-release the song and this time around it got as high as #23. It was a good song IMO
28: SERIOUS – DONNA ALLEN (21) - ARGH, how many times does she have to say, “TALK, talk about serious”? Enough is enough! Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan of this song.
27: THE RIGHT THING – SIMPLY RED (28) - Their first hit from their sophomore album, Men And Women, which did not fare quite as well as their debut album Picture Book. This song did not get any higher than #27, which I thought was a shame, as it's a great song!
LDD: WITH YOU I’M BORN AGAIN – BILLY PRESTON & SYREETA - Several people I know hate this song with a passion, so I guess you could call it another guilty pleasure of mine (like the Chuck Mangione song earlier). I just like the hypnotic effect of this song
26: MEET ME HALF WAY – KENNY LOGGINS (31) - One of many movie songs that Loggins charted with. This song would peak at #11 the following week and managed to place on the Top 100 of 1987 (which was a significant feat, given how fast the charts moved in 1987!)
25: DAY-IN DAY-OUT – DAVID BOWIE (25) - Of course, we all know that this, along with his hit from later on that year, "Never Let Me Down" are my two favorite songs from him. This song was looking like it might have peaked, as it was in its second week at #25, but the song did manage to move ahead more spots the following week.
24: IN TOO DEEP - GENESIS (34) - This was the fifth and final single from their most successful album Invisible Touch. It is my second favorite of those singles behind the title track (but you already knew that, right?)
23: DIAMONDS – HERB ALPERT f/JANET JACKSON & LISA KEITH (33) - Not sure whether or not the success of this song, which was never one of my favorites, affected the chart performance of "The Pleasure Principle" (whose release I heard was delayed so as not to cause competition with this song.
22: I KNEW YOU WERE WAITING (FOR ME) – ARETHA FRANKLIN & GEORGE MICHAEL (10) - A one time pairing of the Queen Of Soul and the former lead singer of Wham! - and a great pairing at that, since it hit #1 the following week. Definitely one of my favorites from both artists!
21: IF SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL - CHICAGO (24) - The third release from the Chicago 18 album maintained a steady climb up the chart, en route to #17. I thought this song was somewhat underrated; it should have hit the Top Ten just like their other 1987 hit "Will You Still Love Me".
OPTIONAL EXTRA: EVERY LITTLE KISS - BRUCE HORNSBY & THE RANGE - Another song that charted twice, like the Paul Simon song back at #29. This one originally charted a year before, but only got as high as #72. After the success of "The Way It Is" and "Mandolin Rain", they decided to give it another chance, which proved to be worthwhile, as the song made it to #14 the second time around. Definitely one of the songs I associate most with the summer of 1987!
20: SE LA – LIONEL RICHIE (23) - This was Lionel's last Top 40 hit before taking a five-year break from the charts. It was a pretty good song, with a reggae feel to it, but definitely not his best.
19: HEAD TO TOE – LISA LISA AND CULT JAM (29) - They dropped Full Force, Paul Anthony and Bowlegged Lou for this one (but they were still featured on at least another song on the same album), and to number one this song went. It was OK, but I was never too crazy about it. I preferred the next release "Lost In Emotion", which, of course, also went to #1.
18: THE FINER THINGS – STEVE WINWOOD (13) - Back In The High Life was definitely Winwood's most successful album as far as singles go, as there were four of them that hit the Top 40. This was the third and there was no "Third Single Syndrome" here, as this was the second most successful song from the album behind the #1 "Higher Love". This was very possibly my favorite song from the album, though there are several other songs by him that I prefer.
17: SIGN ‘O’ THE TIMES - PRINCE (6) - Interesting story about how Prince taught himself how to play the piano. This song was OK, but it was rather monotonous. Definitely not his best song by any means.
16: WHAT’S GOING ON – CYNDI LAUPER (12) - This was a cover version of Marvin Gaye's classic Top Ten hit from 1971, when Lauper was still in high school. I remember hating this song when it was on the charts. Now, I like it, even better than the original.
15/LDD: DON’T DREAM IT’S OVER – CROWDED HOUSE (5) - Two members of the band Split Enz (which had a minor hit in 1980 called "I Got You") helped to form this band who had two Top Ten hits in 1987. I thought both were great songs, though I preferred their follow-up, "Something So Strong", which sounded sort of like a more upbeat version of this song.
14: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE – BON JOVI (23) - This song demonstrated the band's country/western side, a format that they would switch to a decade later. This was a good song, but I preferred "Never Say Goodbye", an album cut from Slippery When Wet that was getting moderate radio airplay around this time.
13: NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE MY LOVE FOR YOU – GLENN MEDEIROS (16) - The first Top 40 hit for this high school student from Kaui. As mentioned earlier, due to how fast the charts moved in 1987, there were very few songs that made the year-end survey that did not quite make the Top 20 - two to be exact. We already heard one of them, "Meet Me Halfway" back at #26. This was the more successful of those, peaking at #12 in June. A great song, IMO, and one of my favorite songs of the whole year.
12: I KNOW WHAT I LIKE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (18) - This song just barely kept their Top Ten streak going, as it peaked at #9 and spent but a single week in the Top Ten. It was a good song, but definitely not his best.
11: RIGHT ON TRACK – BREAKFAST CLUB (15) - The only Top 40 song for John, Claire, Andy, Brian, and Allison, written on March 24, 1984 as they served a Saturday detention. Unfortunately, due to legal technicalities, Principal Vernon received all the royalties.
10: ALWAYS – ATLANTIC STARR (17) - This song became a very popular wedding song and was a far cry from their last Top Ten hit, which was about infidelity. This was my favorite of their Top 40 hits.
OPTIONAL: ALONE - HEART - This song was debuting on the Hot 100 at #53 and would debut on AT40 the following week. The song was definitely on its way to #1, where it held for three weeks in July. It was almost the top song of the entire year, but that d@mn Bangles song grabbed the gold instead
9: TALK DIRTY TO ME - POISON (11) - The breakthrough hit from this glam rock band from Pennsylvania did pretty well, hitting the Top Ten this week. I liked it, but wasn't quite my favorite song from them. I generally preferred their power ballads.
8: YOU KEEP ME HANGIN’ ON – KIM WILDE (14) - This song ended up breaking the record for the longest span of time between the original version of the song hitting #1 and a remake hitting #1 - a record that had been broken several times over the past year and had been held for over a decade by "Please Mr. Postman". As I've said several times before, I prefer this version over the Supremes and Vanilla Fudge versions, though my all-time favorite Kim Wilde song would be her near-miss song "You Came", from 1988.
7: BIG LOVE – FLEETWOOD MAC (9) - Their first of five singles from "Tango In The Night", with Lindsey Buckingham handling the lead vocals. It was OK, but my favorite song from the album was the next single, "Seven Wonders", featuring Stevie Nicks singing lead.
6: HEAT OF THE NIGHT – BRYAN ADAMS (7) - I liked this song, though my least favorite single from Into The Fire (probably because the other two didn't get anywhere near as much airplay - in fact, I don't think I ever heard either of them outside of countdown shows - or radio station "late night fights" (Victim Of Love was a winner on the latter of the two on U93).
EXTRA: THEME FROM HILL STREET BLUES – MIKE POST FEATURING LARRY CARLTON - This was the theme from a TV show that had wrapped up its seven-season run the previous Tuesday. I don't believe I've ever watched a single episode of the show (since I was never into cop drama shows), but I heard the theme song many times. It's a great song IMO!
5: THE LADY IN RED – CHRIS DeBURGH (8) - Chris had charted a few times earlier in the 80s, but this is the song that put him on the map. I loved this song when it was on the chart, but the stations I listened to back in the day all but played it out and I became quite tired of it. It's good to hear every now and then, but I wouldn't want to hear it every day.
4: LA ISLA BONITA - MADONNA (4) - The fifth hit from True Blue was peaking at #4 for a third and final week. It was the final song from the album, but Madonna was at work on her next project, the movie "Who's That Girl", which would spawn two Top Ten hits later in the year. This was a good song; indeed had a tropical island feel.
3: (I JUST) DIED IN YOUR ARMS – CUTTING CREW (1) - The first of three Top 40 hits for this band from London - all from their debut album Broadcast. This one was OK, but quite overplayed, both back in 1987 and nowadays on oldies stations. I preferred their other two hits.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: FUNKYTOWN - PSEUDO-ECHO - I'm thinking that this song was only recorded twice because both acts who had chart success with it were one-hit wonders. Originally a techno-dance hit for Lipps Inc., this version rocked out a little more. I preferred it over the original.
2: LOOKING FOR A NEW LOVE – JODY WATLEY (2) - Fans of Watley were probably expecting this song to be the song that bumped the Cutting Crew out of #1, but that was not the case, as this song was stuck at #2 for a third week. This song was OK, but I preferred a few of her other songs, including ones that she did as part of Shalamar.
1: WITH OR WITHOUT YOU – U2 (1) - The first of three hits from one of the biggest albums of the 80s, The Joshua Tree. It wasn't bad, but quite overplayed. I preferred the other two singles.
Coming up next week: See my 1980 commentary.
This week's presentation - May 16, 1987
Droppers:
LEAN ON ME - CLUB NOUVEAU (38) - This was probably my least favorite song on the countdown back in the day, and naturally, it wasted no time getting to #1! It's still not one of my favorite songs, but its saving grace is that it's better than the insomnia-curing original by Bill Withers - definitely a "No. Just no" song in my book!
MIDNIGHT BLUE - LOU GRAMM (37) - After a decade of heading up Foreigner, he decided to give a solo career a try. This was his first solo hit to make the charts. It was a good one, but I preferred the other two, both from his second solo album Long Hard Look.
DOMINOES - ROBBIE NEVIL (30) - He'd charted early in the year with a hit that peaked in the runner-up position and at first, it looked like he might collect his second Top Ten hit, but this song ran out of steam at #14. Too bad, as this was my favorite of his 1987 hits.
WALKING DOWN YOUR STREET - THE BANGLES (26) - The band that had a thing about walking back in 1987, as illustrated by the titles of their two hits from that year. Anyway, you know that I prefer this over the other one, though I did prefer their first two hits from the Different Light album, but this one’s still a great song!
40: COME AS YOU ARE – PETER WOLF (27) - The former lead singer of the J. Geils Band had two solo hits in 1984 and was back with his second album, to which this was the title track. It was a great song!
39: DON’T DISTURB THIS GROOVE – THE SYSTEM (debut) - This was their only big hit on the pop chart. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their next release "Nighttime Lover", which, sadly, wasn't released to pop radio (and if it was, it didn't go far).
38: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) – WHITNEY HOUSTON (debut) - The first hit from her upcoming second album Whitney, which would be released in late June, debuted on the Hot 100 way up in the Top 40. It was clear where this song was headed! This song ended up as R&R's #1 song, which was great, though at the time this song was charting, I was sick of hearing it every time I turned on the radio.
37: LESSONS IN LOVE – LEVEL 42 (debut) - This British band was a two-hit wonder (as far as Top 40 hits go), and both songs hit the Top 20. Both songs were great - I liked them about the same.
36: FASCINATED – COMPANY B (39) - I'm surprised this one didn't go Top Ten; it was definitely representative of the dance/pop music of the mid-late 80s. It's a great song and a shame it didn't get any higher on the chart that it did.
35: SONGBIRD – KENNY G (debut) - His first song to hit the chart - and it turned out to be his biggest. I liked it, but generally preferred his songs that featured a vocalist, like his next hit, "Don't Make Me Wait For Love", as well as an album cut from Duotones called "You Make Me Believe".
34: NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW - STARSHIP (20) - The theme to the comedy movie "Mannequin", which I saw in the theater a few weeks back. This was one of my favorite songs by Starship, though it wasn't quite as good as "It's Not Enough".
33: JUST TO SEE HER – SMOKEY ROBINSON (40) - Earlier, I mentioned how Kenny G sometimes records songs with a guest vocalist. In early, 1989, one of those songs, "We've Saved The Best For Last" almost hit the Top 40, but fell short. Anyway, that song sounds a lot like this song. Not sure which of them I prefer because of that, but both are good songs.
32: STONE LOVE – KOOL & THE GANG (19) - This song had peaked at #10 just two weeks before, and, unfortunately, it turned out to be their last Top 40 hit. I liked this song, but my favorite of the Forever singles was "Special Way", which was a Top Ten AC hit in December of that year.
31: GET THAT LOVE – THOMPSON TWINS (32) - The only Top 40 hit from their sixth studio album "Close To The Bone". The "Twins" had clearly had their day in the sun, as this song only got to #31.
30: HEARTBREAK BEAT – PSYCHEDELIC FURS (35) - Interesting how their 1981 song became the title to the Molly Ringwald movie Pretty In Pink. The song just narrowly missed hitting the Top 40, but this song definitely made it. This was a great song, though I preferred their 1983 hit "Love My Way", which did not hit the Top 40 but still receives a decent amount of recurrent airplay on 1980s stations.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: JAMMIN' ME - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS - Larry did a Casey-style reading of #1 songs on other Billboard charts going into this song, which was #1 on the Rock chart and would debut on the AT40 chart a week later. In this song, Petty was venting about his frustration with media misinformation. The song wasn't bad, but I prefer several others from him/them.
29: YOU CAN CALL ME AL – PAUL SIMON (36) - One of several 1987 songs that charted twice. This song barely fell short of the Top 40 during its original release in the fall of 1986. After Simon's current album, Graceland, won a Grammy for Album of the Year, Paul decided to re-release the song and this time around it got as high as #23. It was a good song IMO
28: SERIOUS – DONNA ALLEN (21) - ARGH, how many times does she have to say, “TALK, talk about serious”? Enough is enough! Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan of this song.
27: THE RIGHT THING – SIMPLY RED (28) - Their first hit from their sophomore album, Men And Women, which did not fare quite as well as their debut album Picture Book. This song did not get any higher than #27, which I thought was a shame, as it's a great song!
LDD: WITH YOU I’M BORN AGAIN – BILLY PRESTON & SYREETA - Several people I know hate this song with a passion, so I guess you could call it another guilty pleasure of mine (like the Chuck Mangione song earlier). I just like the hypnotic effect of this song
26: MEET ME HALF WAY – KENNY LOGGINS (31) - One of many movie songs that Loggins charted with. This song would peak at #11 the following week and managed to place on the Top 100 of 1987 (which was a significant feat, given how fast the charts moved in 1987!)
25: DAY-IN DAY-OUT – DAVID BOWIE (25) - Of course, we all know that this, along with his hit from later on that year, "Never Let Me Down" are my two favorite songs from him. This song was looking like it might have peaked, as it was in its second week at #25, but the song did manage to move ahead more spots the following week.
24: IN TOO DEEP - GENESIS (34) - This was the fifth and final single from their most successful album Invisible Touch. It is my second favorite of those singles behind the title track (but you already knew that, right?)
23: DIAMONDS – HERB ALPERT f/JANET JACKSON & LISA KEITH (33) - Not sure whether or not the success of this song, which was never one of my favorites, affected the chart performance of "The Pleasure Principle" (whose release I heard was delayed so as not to cause competition with this song.
22: I KNEW YOU WERE WAITING (FOR ME) – ARETHA FRANKLIN & GEORGE MICHAEL (10) - A one time pairing of the Queen Of Soul and the former lead singer of Wham! - and a great pairing at that, since it hit #1 the following week. Definitely one of my favorites from both artists!
21: IF SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL - CHICAGO (24) - The third release from the Chicago 18 album maintained a steady climb up the chart, en route to #17. I thought this song was somewhat underrated; it should have hit the Top Ten just like their other 1987 hit "Will You Still Love Me".
OPTIONAL EXTRA: EVERY LITTLE KISS - BRUCE HORNSBY & THE RANGE - Another song that charted twice, like the Paul Simon song back at #29. This one originally charted a year before, but only got as high as #72. After the success of "The Way It Is" and "Mandolin Rain", they decided to give it another chance, which proved to be worthwhile, as the song made it to #14 the second time around. Definitely one of the songs I associate most with the summer of 1987!
20: SE LA – LIONEL RICHIE (23) - This was Lionel's last Top 40 hit before taking a five-year break from the charts. It was a pretty good song, with a reggae feel to it, but definitely not his best.
19: HEAD TO TOE – LISA LISA AND CULT JAM (29) - They dropped Full Force, Paul Anthony and Bowlegged Lou for this one (but they were still featured on at least another song on the same album), and to number one this song went. It was OK, but I was never too crazy about it. I preferred the next release "Lost In Emotion", which, of course, also went to #1.
18: THE FINER THINGS – STEVE WINWOOD (13) - Back In The High Life was definitely Winwood's most successful album as far as singles go, as there were four of them that hit the Top 40. This was the third and there was no "Third Single Syndrome" here, as this was the second most successful song from the album behind the #1 "Higher Love". This was very possibly my favorite song from the album, though there are several other songs by him that I prefer.
17: SIGN ‘O’ THE TIMES - PRINCE (6) - Interesting story about how Prince taught himself how to play the piano. This song was OK, but it was rather monotonous. Definitely not his best song by any means.
16: WHAT’S GOING ON – CYNDI LAUPER (12) - This was a cover version of Marvin Gaye's classic Top Ten hit from 1971, when Lauper was still in high school. I remember hating this song when it was on the charts. Now, I like it, even better than the original.
15/LDD: DON’T DREAM IT’S OVER – CROWDED HOUSE (5) - Two members of the band Split Enz (which had a minor hit in 1980 called "I Got You") helped to form this band who had two Top Ten hits in 1987. I thought both were great songs, though I preferred their follow-up, "Something So Strong", which sounded sort of like a more upbeat version of this song.
14: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE – BON JOVI (23) - This song demonstrated the band's country/western side, a format that they would switch to a decade later. This was a good song, but I preferred "Never Say Goodbye", an album cut from Slippery When Wet that was getting moderate radio airplay around this time.
13: NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE MY LOVE FOR YOU – GLENN MEDEIROS (16) - The first Top 40 hit for this high school student from Kaui. As mentioned earlier, due to how fast the charts moved in 1987, there were very few songs that made the year-end survey that did not quite make the Top 20 - two to be exact. We already heard one of them, "Meet Me Halfway" back at #26. This was the more successful of those, peaking at #12 in June. A great song, IMO, and one of my favorite songs of the whole year.
12: I KNOW WHAT I LIKE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (18) - This song just barely kept their Top Ten streak going, as it peaked at #9 and spent but a single week in the Top Ten. It was a good song, but definitely not his best.
11: RIGHT ON TRACK – BREAKFAST CLUB (15) - The only Top 40 song for John, Claire, Andy, Brian, and Allison, written on March 24, 1984 as they served a Saturday detention. Unfortunately, due to legal technicalities, Principal Vernon received all the royalties.
10: ALWAYS – ATLANTIC STARR (17) - This song became a very popular wedding song and was a far cry from their last Top Ten hit, which was about infidelity. This was my favorite of their Top 40 hits.
OPTIONAL: ALONE - HEART - This song was debuting on the Hot 100 at #53 and would debut on AT40 the following week. The song was definitely on its way to #1, where it held for three weeks in July. It was almost the top song of the entire year, but that d@mn Bangles song grabbed the gold instead
9: TALK DIRTY TO ME - POISON (11) - The breakthrough hit from this glam rock band from Pennsylvania did pretty well, hitting the Top Ten this week. I liked it, but wasn't quite my favorite song from them. I generally preferred their power ballads.
8: YOU KEEP ME HANGIN’ ON – KIM WILDE (14) - This song ended up breaking the record for the longest span of time between the original version of the song hitting #1 and a remake hitting #1 - a record that had been broken several times over the past year and had been held for over a decade by "Please Mr. Postman". As I've said several times before, I prefer this version over the Supremes and Vanilla Fudge versions, though my all-time favorite Kim Wilde song would be her near-miss song "You Came", from 1988.
7: BIG LOVE – FLEETWOOD MAC (9) - Their first of five singles from "Tango In The Night", with Lindsey Buckingham handling the lead vocals. It was OK, but my favorite song from the album was the next single, "Seven Wonders", featuring Stevie Nicks singing lead.
6: HEAT OF THE NIGHT – BRYAN ADAMS (7) - I liked this song, though my least favorite single from Into The Fire (probably because the other two didn't get anywhere near as much airplay - in fact, I don't think I ever heard either of them outside of countdown shows - or radio station "late night fights" (Victim Of Love was a winner on the latter of the two on U93).
EXTRA: THEME FROM HILL STREET BLUES – MIKE POST FEATURING LARRY CARLTON - This was the theme from a TV show that had wrapped up its seven-season run the previous Tuesday. I don't believe I've ever watched a single episode of the show (since I was never into cop drama shows), but I heard the theme song many times. It's a great song IMO!
5: THE LADY IN RED – CHRIS DeBURGH (8) - Chris had charted a few times earlier in the 80s, but this is the song that put him on the map. I loved this song when it was on the chart, but the stations I listened to back in the day all but played it out and I became quite tired of it. It's good to hear every now and then, but I wouldn't want to hear it every day.
4: LA ISLA BONITA - MADONNA (4) - The fifth hit from True Blue was peaking at #4 for a third and final week. It was the final song from the album, but Madonna was at work on her next project, the movie "Who's That Girl", which would spawn two Top Ten hits later in the year. This was a good song; indeed had a tropical island feel.
3: (I JUST) DIED IN YOUR ARMS – CUTTING CREW (1) - The first of three Top 40 hits for this band from London - all from their debut album Broadcast. This one was OK, but quite overplayed, both back in 1987 and nowadays on oldies stations. I preferred their other two hits.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: FUNKYTOWN - PSEUDO-ECHO - I'm thinking that this song was only recorded twice because both acts who had chart success with it were one-hit wonders. Originally a techno-dance hit for Lipps Inc., this version rocked out a little more. I preferred it over the original.
2: LOOKING FOR A NEW LOVE – JODY WATLEY (2) - Fans of Watley were probably expecting this song to be the song that bumped the Cutting Crew out of #1, but that was not the case, as this song was stuck at #2 for a third week. This song was OK, but I preferred a few of her other songs, including ones that she did as part of Shalamar.
1: WITH OR WITHOUT YOU – U2 (1) - The first of three hits from one of the biggest albums of the 80s, The Joshua Tree. It wasn't bad, but quite overplayed. I preferred the other two singles.
Coming up next week: See my 1980 commentary.