American Top 40: The 80s - October 12, 2019
This week's presentation - October 12, 1985
INVINCIBLE - PAT BENATAR (35) - Her fourth and final Top Ten hit (I know, right; I thought she had more than that as well!) Anyway, this wasn't quite my favorite song from her, but it was pretty good.
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY - JOHN WAITE (25) - His first solo hit, "Missing You" went to #1, but he couldn't seem to match that success with any of his follow-ups. This song, which uses a line from that song as the opening lyrics, was somewhat underrated, IMO.
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO (THUNDERDOME) - TINA TURNER (22) - Tina Turner was definitely most successful on the charts during her 1980s comeback, and this is one of her biggest hits, just missing the top spot, peaking at #2. I thought it was a good song, though I preferred a few of her others.
POP LIFE - PRINCE (21) - This was one of my favorite songs by Prince, but it sure seemed to come and go pretty quickly. It didn't even make the Top 100 of the year, which I thought was a shame. It did a lot better on my Personal Top 30, though, hitting #1 and ranking #4 on the year-ender.
LW#1: MONEY FOR NOTHING – DIRE STRAITS
40: ONE OF THE LIVING – TINA TURNER (debut) - She replaces herself on the chart this week with the second of two of her hits from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It was pretty good, but I preferred the other Thunderdome song.
39: SO IN LOVE – ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK (debut) - The first of four Top 40 hits for this band from northwest England. Though the follow-up bears a resemblance to this song, I prefer this one by a sizeable margin.
38: THE POWER OF LOVE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (26) - A song from one of the best movies ever, Back To The Future. Definitely one of the songs I associate the most with the summer of 1985!
37: SEPARATE LIVES (THEME FROM “WHITE NIGHTS”) – PHIL COLLINS AND MARILYN MARTIN (debut) - The first of two #1 hits from the movie White Nights, which I never saw, but I heard the songs many, many times in the fall of 1985. Of those two, this was by far my favorite - it was a great one!
36: BOY IN THE BOX – COREY HART (40) - Hmm, I wonder how such a song title would fly today? Anyway, this wasn't bad, but I generally preferred Hart's slower songs, like his last his before this, "Never Surrender", which, to date, is his biggest hit.
35: WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO – ARETHA FRANKLIN (debut) - The title track from Franklin's big comeback album - and my favorite of the three singles released from that album, as one of my favorites from Franklin overall.
34: COMMUNICATION – THE POWER STATION (37) - Meh, their first two hits weren't too bad, but this one just didn't do anything for me.
33: NEVER - HEART (38) - They were enjoying their biggest chart success yet with their mid-80s comeback, as this would become their second Top Five hit (and they'd have two more after this). Anyway, it would be a toss-up between this and "These Dreams" as my favorite song from their self-titled album - both are great songs!
32: LOVE THEME FROM ST. ELMO’S FIRE (INSTRUMENTAL) – DAVID FOSTER (39) - The last of three instrumentals to chart on AT40 in 1985. This was actually my favorite of the three, since the other two were rather overplayed (but both are good; don't get me wrong). This song, however, tends to bring tears to my eyes (long story, but it was featured in an episode of Highway To Heaven, which could sometimes make me cry). Moreover, there was a vocal version of this song, which was played the first few weeks the song was on the Countdown America chart. Not sure if AT40 ever played that one.
31: DARE ME – THE POINTER SISTERS (17) - Ah, it's the song that fueled Casey's rage for the Dead Dog Dedication song! I’ve said many times that the Pointer Sisters’ music quality started going down as of 1984, but this was an exception, as I thought this was pretty good.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BROKEN WINGS - MR. MISTER - This song was poised to hit the chart the following week as the only debut - the fourth time in AT40 history that happened (of course, that eventually became more and more commonplace, especially once the PPW era began). Of the band's two #1 hits, this was definitely my favorite.
30: LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME – THE THOMPSON TWINS (34) - For years, I had no idea where they got this name, since they're a trio (and not even related) nor is anyone named Thompson (I have since found out from a fellow poster (thanks,
bestmusicexpert), that they were named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé's comic strip The Adventures of Tintin). Anyhoo, I'm not a big fan of this song - my least favorite of their charted hits.
29: YOU ARE MY LADY – FREDDIE JACKSON (36) - Jackson had the most success on the R&B chart, but he did have a few pop crossovers, like this one. I liked it, though it was a little cheesy. My favorite song from him would probably be his Christmas song "One Wish".
28: AND WE DANCED – THE HOOTERS (33) - I'm assuming that they mean owls, correct? I thought so.
Anyway, this was a good song - my favorite of their three Top 40 hits.
27/LDD: ST. ELMO’S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) – JOHN PARR (15) - The second of two songs on this week's chart from the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack. I liked this song, but it was quite overplayed. I preferred the love theme from the movie.
26: SUNSET GRILL – DON HENLEY (29) - The last of four singles from "Building The Perfect Beast", and my favorite from the album (though "Not Enough Love In The World" is a close second). This song peaked at #14 on the R&R chart, but didn't even hit the Top 20 on the Hot 100 (1982, anyone?)
25: WE BUILT THIS CITY - STARSHIP (31) - Their first hit under their name without Jefferson attached to it. It was a great song - one of their best, under any of their names.
24: YOU BELONG TO THE CITY – GLENN FREY (32) - His second of two contributions to Miami Vice (that charted, anyway). My favorite would probably be the other one, "Smuggler's Blues", which charted earlier in the year.
23: BE NEAR ME - ABC (28) - This was the first of two Top Ten hits for this English group. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their two earlier hits.
22: C-I-T-Y - JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (18) - They had a nice little string of hits over the past year. This would probably be my second favorite of them behind "Tough All Over".
21: ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR – BRYAN ADAMS (30) - The fifth of six hits from Reckless, all of which hit the Top 20, which is definitely impressive. It was a good song, but my favorite song from the album would be "Heaven" (and that, of course, was the most successful of the six).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I MISS YOU - KLYMAXX - This song definitely got a lot of chart mileage - so much that it ranked on 1986's year-end Top 100 higher than it peaked on the weekly charts. It's a great song, though I preferred their other two Top 40 hits.
20: THE WAY YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO/MY GIRL – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (24) - This was a great rendition of these two classics by the Temptations - very energetic, as many live hits are.
19: FOUR IN THE MORNING (I CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE) – NIGHT RANGER (23) - As I've said many times, I loved most of their Top 40 hits, this one included. Not really sure what my favorite song from them is - I like everything (except for "Don't Tell Me You Love Me") about the same.
LDD: AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW) – PHIL COLLINS -
18: I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN – PAUL YOUNG (27) - He seemed to do best with remakes, as both of his Top Ten hits were previously done by other acts. But this one didn't miss the Top Ten by much, peaking at #13. It was pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Everytime You Go Away", my favorite song from him!
17: CRY – GODLEY & CREME (16) - ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!! ~Beavis. But seriously, I liked the song, but I preferred the two Top Ten hits by 10cc (which, of course, Godley & Creme had been part of).
16: DON’T LOSE MY NUMBER – PHIL COLLINS (11) - The second of two songs by him played in the second hour (but I can see why they placed the LDD where they did, as the other two LDD's were songs in the countdown). As for the song, I liked it and was surprised that it was omitted from Collins' HITS album.
15: LOVIN’ EVERY MINUTE OF IT - LOVERBOY (19) - This song somewhat defies the general rule that the lower their songs peak, the less obscure they are, as this one was one of two Top Ten hits from them and still gets occasional recurrent airplay. Their other Top Ten hit, "This Could Be The Night" receives virtually no recurrent airplay, which is a shame IMO, as it was a great song (as was this one).
14: FREEDOM – WHAM! (7) - Well, Wham didn't have four #1s in a row, but George Michael as a solo artist would achieve that feat in 1988. This was my favorite song in the world in the summer of 1985, but I played it quite a lot and got a little tired of it, but it's still a great one! Glad they played the song intact (as it seems to me that they generally edit it).
13: HEAD OVER HEELS – TEARS FOR FEARS (20) - No case of Third Single Syndrome here! Though it didn't hit #1 like the last two, it did get as high as #3. This is by far my favorite of the three four Top 40 hits from Songs From The Big Chair.
12: I’M GOIN’ DOWN – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (14) - He may have been goin' down, but the song was on its way up, en route to #9. It was a good song, but not quite my favorite of the seven Born In The USA singles.
11: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (16) - The second solo hit by Sting, and my favorite of the four hits from the Dream Of The Blue Turtles album.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PERFECT WAY - SCRITTI POLITTI - One of a handful of one-hit wonders on this week's chart. This song does get a decent amount of recurrent airplay on 80s stations. I thought it was a pretty good song.
10: DRESS YOU UP - MADONNA (5) - Madonna was definitely on a roll at this point, with six Top Fives in a row, and there was a lot more where that came from! This was one of my favorite of her upbeat songs.
9: MIAMI VICE THEME – JAN HAMMER (13) - One of two instrumentals on this week's survey, which hadn't happened since the summer of 1982. Anyway, I liked this song, but, as stated earlier, I preferred the other instrumental.
LDD/8: CHERISH – KOOL & THE GANG (2) - Sort of unusual that two of the week's LDDs were countdown songs. With this song, they just barely missed hitting #1, but the song at the top was just too strong for it. Anyway, I liked this song - my second favorite single from Emergency behind "Fresh".
7: DANCING IN THE STREET – MICK JAGGER & DAVID BOWIE (9) - This song, a remake of the old Martha & the Vandella’s classic wasn't bad, but I prefer other songs by both artists.
6: LONELY OL’ NIGHT – JOHN COUGAR MELLANCAMP (8) - The first of five Top 40 hits from Mellencamp's album Scarecrow and possibly my favorite song from the album (although "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Rain On The Scarecrow" were good ones as well).
5: PART-TIME LOVER – STEVIE WONDER (10) - The first of three Top 40 hits from Wonder's In Square Circle album, and his ninth and final #1 hit (unless you count his role in "That's What Friends Are For")
4: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU – WHITNEY HOUSTON (6) - This would be her first of many #1 songs. It was a good one, but I preferred many, many others from her.
3: TAKE ON ME – A-HA (4) - The first hit for this Norwegian act, who's often known as a one-hit wonder, because of this song (as not everyone is familiar with "The Sun Always Shines On TV"). This was a great song, and I'm glad it hit #1!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PARTY ALL THE TIME - EDDIE MURPHY - Eddie was a great comedian, but singing wasn't exactly his best talent. This wasn't a bad song, though.
2: MONEY FOR NOTHING – DIRE STRAITS (1) - Of course, this was the song that kept "Cherish" out of the top spot. It was one of two songs on this week's chart that Sting's involved with (of course, he's the one who wants his MTV). The song was OK, but it was very overplayed. I preferred their three other Top 40 hits, as well as a few album cuts from their first, self-titled album.
1: OH SHEILA – READY FOR THE WORLD (3) - The first of three Top 40 hits from this R&B band from Flint, Michigan, as well as the biggest. It wasn't bad, but I preferred "Love You Down".
Coming up next week: I guess we get another show from 1986. Whatever...