Strongest Top Ten Of Casey Era

[chrislc]

What do you think was the strongest Top Ten 1970-1988?

And by this I mean the Top Ten that contained songs that got the most cumulative airplay or otherwise-play over the following 31 years? July 1970- July 2001 to August 1988-August 2019.

I thought of this listening to the Top Ten from October 1966. Wow some "timeless classics" there. Just about all ten of them. Certainly a lot of play up through 1997 for those songs.

But maybe there were others in the 60s and 70s that were even stronger. Most disco songs acquired a stigma, so I don't imagine any Top Tens from 1975-1979 would qualify, but maybe there were exceptions even then. And I guess we probably can rule out 1981 and 1982 - despite some classics also a lot of "I haven't heard that song since then" type of hits. Actually, though, late 1982 is very strong in this respect.

And the thing is, there is a definite correct answer to this question, but I don't know how to obtain it. It would mean accessing the ASCAP or BMI or whatever stats, I guess.

[matt]

I would probably nominate this one -- not one bad song in the bunch (in fact most are downright fantastic) and one I could listen to several times over -- from 8/20/83:
10: I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA - CULTURE CLUB
9: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ - TACO
8: FASCINATION - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
7: IS THEIR SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW - DURAN DURAN
6: IT'S A MISTAKE - MEN AT WORKS
5: STAND BACK - STEVIE NICKS
4: MANIAC - MICHAEL SEMBELLO
3: SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY - DONNA SUMMER
2: SWEET DREAMS - THE EURYTHMICS
1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE

This one is pretty tough to beat as well (other than "Almost Paradise") - from 7/14/84:
10: LEGS – ZZ TOP
9: THE HEART OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
8: GHOSTBUSTERS – RAY PARKER JR.
7: ALMOST PARADISE…LOVE THEME FROM “FOOTLOOSE” – MIKE RENO AND ANN WILSON
6: SELF CONTROL – LAURA BRANIGAN
5: THE REFLEX – DURAN DURAN
4: EYES WITHOUT A FACE – BILLY IDOL
3: JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) – THE POINTER SISTERS
2: DANCING IN THE DARK - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
1: WHEN DOVES CRY – PRINCE

[mrjukebox]

In my opinion,the best top ten of the Casey era was the one for 7/11/70-That week,you had Elvis Presley & The Beatles with "The Wonder Of You" & "The Long & Winding Road".

[chrislc]

Aug 2, 2019 9:50:38 GMT -5 matt said:

I would probably nominate this one -- not one bad song in the bunch (in fact most are downright fantastic) and one I could listen to several times over -- from 8/20/83:
10: I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA - CULTURE CLUB
9: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ - TACO
8: FASCINATION - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
7: IS THEIR SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW - DURAN DURAN
6: IT'S A MISTAKE - MEN AT WORKS
5: STAND BACK - STEVIE NICKS
4: MANIAC - MICHAEL SEMBELLO
3: SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY - DONNA SUMMER
2: SWEET DREAMS - THE EURYTHMICS
1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE

This one is pretty tough to beat as well (other than "Almost Paradise") - from 7/14/84:
10: LEGS – ZZ TOP
9: THE HEART OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
8: GHOSTBUSTERS – RAY PARKER JR.
7: ALMOST PARADISE…LOVE THEME FROM “FOOTLOOSE” – MIKE RENO AND ANN WILSON
6: SELF CONTROL – LAURA BRANIGAN
5: THE REFLEX – DURAN DURAN
4: EYES WITHOUT A FACE – BILLY IDOL
3: JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) – THE POINTER SISTERS
2: DANCING IN THE DARK - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
1: WHEN DOVES CRY – PRINCE

Wow that July 1984 Top Ten has seven or eight songs that have been played TO DEATH since 1984. That is a tough Top Ten to beat!

And again this is not about Top Tens that we like, especially. In a way it's almost the opposite - songs that we may be absolutely sick of hearing at this point.

[cstolliver]

All 10 of these get (non-AT40) airplay on our market's oldies station 34 years later ... The top 10 of 9/28/85

10. Lonely Ol' Night -- John Cougar Mellencamp
9. Saving All My Love for You -- Whitney Houston
8. St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) -- John Parr
7. Take on Me -- a-ha
6. Dress You Up -- Madonna
5. Oh Sheila -- Ready for the World
4. Don't Lose My Number -- Phil Collins
3. Freedom -- Wham!
2. Cherish -- Kool & the Gang
1. Money for Nothing -- Dire Straits

In our market, I'd rank the songs from least airplay today to highest as Lonely Ol' Night, Freedom, Dress You Up, Saving All My Love for You, Don't Lose My Number, Oh Sheila, Money for Nothing, Cherish, St. Elmo's Fire and Take on Me.