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Post by 80sat40fan on Apr 8, 2013 19:43:18 GMT -5
I compiled a list of songs that should have made the Top 40 but didn't, and these are listed by peak position on the Hot 100... one song for every number between 41 and 90. All of these songs peaked in the 1980s. Here is my list:
#41 - "Workin' for a Livin'" by Huey Lewis & The News (1982) #42 - "Words" by Missing Persons (1982) #43 - "As Long As You Follow" by Fleetwood Mac (1989) #44 - "Love My Way" by The Psychadelic Furs (1983) #45 - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now" by The Clash (1982) #46 - "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nik Kershaw (1984) #47 - "I'll Be Good" by Rene & Angela (1985) #48 - "Stranger" by Jefferson Starship (1981) #49 - "Tempted" by Squeeze (1981) #50 - "Wrap It Up" by The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1986)
#51 - "Oh Yeah" by Yello (1987) #52 - "Can We Still Be Friends" by Robert Palmer (1980) #53 - "Peek-A-Boo" by Siouxie & The Banshees (1988) #54 - "And She Was" by The Talking Heads (1985) #55 - "And The Cradle Will Rock" by Van Halen (1980) #56 - "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top (1983) #57 - "Talking Back To The Night" by Steve Winwood (1988) #58 - "Joy & Pain" by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock (1989) #59 - "Love's Got A Line On You" by Scandal (1983) #60 - "Through The Fire" by Chaka Khan (1985)
#61 - "Bringing On The Heartbreak" by Def Leppard (1984) #62 - "The Rumour" by Olivia Newton John (1988) #63 - "Shakin'" by Eddie Money (1982) #64 - "Still Loving You" by The Scorpions (1984) #65 - "Weapons Of Love" by The Truth (1987) #66 - "I Eat Cannibals" by Toto Coelo (1983) #67 - "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by Prince (1987) #68 - "Eminence Front" by The Who (1983) #69 - "Got It Made" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1989) #70 - "Fashion" by David Bowie (1981)
#71 - "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock (1983) #72 - "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush (1987) #73 - "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats (1980) #74 - "Private Idaho" by The B-52's (1980) #75 - "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk (1982) #76 - "Stand Or Fall" by The Fixx (1982) #77 - "Time For Me To Fly" by REO Speedwagon (1980) #78 - "I Melt With You" by Modern English (1983) #79 - "No Promises" by Icehouse (1986) #80 - "Don't Change" by INXS (1983)
#81 - "I Will Follow" by U2 (1984) #82 - "Fools Game" by Michael Bolton (1983) #83 - "Thin Love Between Love & Hate" by The Pretenders (1984) #84 - "World Shut Your Mouth" by Julian Cope (1987) #85 - "South Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" by R.E.M. (1984) #86 - "Boy In The Bubble" by Paul Simon (1987) #87 - "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp (1980) #88 - "777-9311" by The Time (1982) #89 - "Rough Boys" by Pete Townsend (1980) #90 - "Family Man" by Fleetwood Mac (1988)
Given how few songs debuted in the 90s part of the chart, it was hard finding at least one songs for each position between 91 and 100 so I held this list to the "Top 90" of Billboard. It was fun putting this list together... who knows, maybe I will change up the list and add some 70s songs to it later on, but I kept it to the 1980s as I grew up listening to 80's Top 40 music. I hope you enjoyed this list.
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Post by lasvegaskid on Apr 8, 2013 20:42:14 GMT -5
Orsa Lia- I Never Said I Love You, #84, 1979
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Post by coldcardinal on Apr 17, 2013 22:29:43 GMT -5
Anything from Split Enz. Why they weren't stars here is one of pop music's great enduring mysteries. Also,
A Trick of the Night - Bananarama Nothing in Common - Thompson Twins Should I See - Frozen Ghost
And I'll give another shout out to "Wouldn't it Be Good." A perfect pop song.
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Post by Ponderous Man on Apr 24, 2013 5:23:56 GMT -5
Since a certain poster likes to talk about a certain band all the time, I would like to talk about my favorite band of all time (a band that's a lot better than ELO ): Chicago! Here are some of their songs that should've made the top 40: "I'm A Man" (#49 in 1971) "Brand New Love Affair" (#61 in 1975) "You Are On My Mind" (#49 in 1977) "Little One" (#44 in 1978) "Take Me Back To Chicago" (#63 in 1978) "Gone Long Gone" (#73 in 1979) "Must Have Been Crazy" (#83 in 1979) "Street Player" (never charted in 1979) "Thunder & Lightning" (#56 in 1980) "Song For You" (never charted in 1980) "What You're Missing" (#81 in 1983) "25 Or 6 To 4" remake (#48 in 1986) "Niagara Falls" (#91 in 1987) "We Can Last Forever" (#55 in 1989) "Hearts In Trouble" (#75 in 1990) "Explain It To My Heart" (never charted in 1991) "You Come To My Senses" (never charted in 1991) Just for kicks, here are some Peter Cetera songs that I thought should've been in the top 40: "Living In The Limelight" (never charted in 1982) "Big Mistake" (#61 in 1987) "I Wasn't The One Who Said Goodbye" (he was the featured vocalist on this Agnetha Faltskog song) (#93 in 1987) "Best Of Times" (#59 in 1988)
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on May 6, 2013 11:04:06 GMT -5
I think there is one song that was pretty good and upbeat and didn't make the top 40, probably wasn't even close:
"Hey DJ" by The World's Famous Supreme Team.
That was a song from 1984 that was one of the few rap songs that was very clean, unlike today's (c)rap by Flo Rida, 50 Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z, and other rap artists who sing about nothing but drugs, sex, and even use bad language. At least The World's Famous Supreme Team got it right - their focus in "Hey DJ" was more about dancing and music in general. Plus, "Hey DJ" would later be sampled on Mariah Carey's "Honey" - the latter of which would become her last top ten hit until 2005, I think.
Rap music was at its best during most of the 1980s. Sad that it went downhill after 1988. "Hey DJ" was "old school" rap at its finest - I could take that over anything by 50 Cent any day.
BTW, what was the peak position for "Hey DJ", if it even made the Hot 100?
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on May 6, 2013 11:10:47 GMT -5
I also think "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was a pretty good song, despite the full song (as heard in the music video) having controversial lyrics. It should have at least peaked at #40, IMO - at least, the edited version.
"The Message" was intended to address a multiude of problems going on in 1983 in many U.S. cities by way of rap, including poverty, homelessness, problems in school, abuse and drugs. The video ended with the gang being nabbed by the cops and stuffing the police car with the gang of people. That sure sent a bad message in the end.
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Post by matt on May 6, 2013 14:43:31 GMT -5
Anything from Split Enz. Why they weren't stars here is one of pop music's great enduring mysteries. Also, A Trick of the Night - Bananarama Nothing in Common - Thompson Twins Should I See - Frozen Ghost And I'll give another shout out to "Wouldn't it Be Good." A perfect pop song. Amen to Split Enz--it is a crime that they never reached the Top 40 here. "I Got You" is worth mentioning (peaked at #52 in October 1980), as is "Six Months In a Leaky Boat" (bubbled under in 1982), "Hard Act to Follow" (released in 1981 but did not chart), and my personal favorite of theirs, "Dirty Creature", which did not chart despite getting a decent amount of airplay on MTV in the Summer of '82. You also mentioned Bananarama, which had a few great songs before Stock, Aiken, and Waterman took them over starting with "Venus". They too had an early MTV hit in 1983 called "Really Saying Something", on which they collaborated with Specials spin-off group Fun Boy Three--great song.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on May 6, 2013 16:23:19 GMT -5
Bananarama also had a great song at the beginning of 1988 that didn't make the top 40. It was a song called "I Can't Help It", and it contains a line that was copied from "Fascinated" by Company B. It was from the album WOW. "WOW" is all I can say about that song being a good song and not making the top 40.
I am not sure if "Shy Boy" from 1983 ever made it to AT40.
I am also surprised that Bananarama are still recording albums to this day, even if only as a duo.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on May 6, 2013 16:28:39 GMT -5
Some other good songs that falls into the category "Should've been a top 40 hit":
"I'd Rather Go Blind" by Sydney Youngblood. It made it to CT40 and Rick Dees' countdown in the fall of 1990 and got as high as #33 on both shows (since they both shared the R&R chart). I read somewhere that it only peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 - had it made it to AT40, it would have only peaked at #40, IMO.
"All True Man" by Alexander O'Neal was another great song that falls into the same category. Made it to CT40 and Rick Dees' countdown, but missed AT40 by 3 points (peaked at #43 on the Hot 100). It was probably Alexander O'Neal's last great hit ever existed - this was a sure sign that his popularity was falling out of favor.
"American Dream" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. That song marked their reunion hit in 1988, and got heavy airplay in Canada, but it wasn't that popular in the U.S. apparently. Great song for a comeback, though.
"Black Sweat" by Prince. I think it was Prince's only good hit after 1989, IMO. I read somewhere that it was Prince's highest-debuting single on the Hot 100 in a long, long time. I highly doubt it made it to Ryan Seacrest's AT40, and if it did, it was most likely short-lived. It's kind of surprising that Madonna at least hit #11 with "Hung Up" in 2006 - that's pretty impressive for a singer who first started in 1983 whose popularity was in decline in the 21st century.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Jun 10, 2013 7:43:32 GMT -5
Another 80s classic that was pretty popular in Canada - peaking at #3 in Canada in December 1982, but should have made it to AT40:
"Da Da Da" by Trio
That song was also featured in a series of Volkswagen commercials back in the late 1990s, if I recall. I am not sure if it made it to the Hot 100 or even "bubbling under", though it was a pretty catchy song. Includes a familiar 6-note sequence using a hand-held Casio keyboard that I remember getting for Christmas in 1982.
Another 80s song that didn't appear on AT40 but I did hear on BackTrax USA as early as 1998:
"Burning Up" by Madonna, from 1983.
I am not sure where on the Hot 100 it peaked at (if it ever did make it to the Hot 100, that is), but it certainly didn't make the top 40. This song might have been during her early stages of her career (the song that was deemed her "kickoff" song was "Everybody" which was a huge club hit, played in numerous discos and clubs, but also didn't make it to AT40), and like "Burning Up", it occurred during a time that Madonna was considered a "nobody" to an average listener.
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Post by alann on Jun 10, 2013 9:48:52 GMT -5
A very good thread & very interesting to see lists of songs that people remember hearing on the radio that failed to hit the American Top 40.
As a UK listener to AT40, i get lots of surprises & some of the songs on this list are a surpise to.
Boomtown Rats-I don't like Mondays, David Soul-Silver Lady, Eddy Grant-I don't wanna dance & Feargal Sharkey-A good heart all hit #1 in the UK
Nik Kershaw-Wouldn't it be good-Hit #2 in the UK & a few posters mentioned Split Enz-I got you-That hit #12 in the UK
It works the other way as well of course.
Some huge American hits have never hit the UK Top 40 including the 10 week 1977 #1 by Debby Boone-You light up my life, also Vicky Lawrence-The night the lights went out in Georgia & Air Supply...well all of them failed to hit the UK Top 40 except All out of love.
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Post by canat40fan on Jun 11, 2013 20:25:03 GMT -5
.........As a UK listener to AT40, i get lots of surprises & some of the songs on this list are a surpise to. Boomtown Rats-I don't like Mondays,.... Bob Geldof's anthem was top 5 north of the border and actually hit #1 in my city. Agree that it is surprising that this significant song by the architect of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 never caught on in America.
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Post by adam31 on Jul 11, 2015 13:58:41 GMT -5
"Knocked Out" - #41 Paula Abdul (1988) - Not much different than "Straight Up"
"Gypsy Road" - #51 Cinderella (1991) - Thought it was much better than "Coming Home" or "Shelter Me" which did make the Top 40
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Post by retroguy on Jul 11, 2015 15:57:13 GMT -5
How about these Great songs from Rush: #76 Closer to The Heart #51 Spirit of the Radio #55 Limelight #44 Tom Sawyer #45 The Big Money & Time Stand Still which didn't even make the Hot 100 but was probably their best POP effort.
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Post by purplerush on Jul 31, 2015 8:49:57 GMT -5
How about these Great songs from Rush: #76 Closer to The Heart #51 Spirit of the Radio #55 Limelight #44 Tom Sawyer #45 The Big Money & Time Stand Still which didn't even make the Hot 100 but was probably their best POP effort. I own all those 45s. Limelight and Tom Sawyer should have for sure. They got lots of airplay at the time. Time Stand Still even had a (repeated) 3 word guest appearance by Aimee Mann of Til Tuesday.
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