Post by Hervard on Apr 8, 2022 12:51:03 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - April 9, 2022
This week's presentation - April 11, 1981
Droppers: (Building list at the time)
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLIN' - DONNA SUMMER (40) - Wow, was this one ever underrated! This is all the further it got on the chart. I'm thinking its underperformance was due to the fact that it was a slightly different musical style - had more of a MOR sound to it than her usual dance/disco beat. I thought it was a great song!
HEARTS ON FIRE - RANDY MEISNER (34) - After leaving the Eagles in 1977 and trying to have fun in retirement for several months, Randy got a solo career going. His first solo album didn't fare well at all, but his second one yielded two Top 40 hits. This one was the second and slightly more successful of those, peaking at #19 in March. It was a great song, IMO, and one I've heard many a time on my Barry Scott's Lost 45s CD, though I still haven't figured out who that is singing back-up in the choruses.
TREAT ME RIGHT - PAT BENATAR (30) - The third single from Crimes Of Passion, and, though it did not hit the Top Ten like the second one, it did hit the Top 20, peaking at #18. This was a great song - one of my favorite Pat Benatar songs ever!
A LITTLE IN LOVE - CLIFF RICHARD (24) - Cliff had charted in two forms earlier in the year - in a duet with Olivia Newton-John and on this song as a solo artist. The song, which peaked at #17 a few weeks back, fared much better on the R&R chart, peaking at #5. This was definitely one of my favorite songs from Cliff Richard.
I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT - EDDIE RABBITT (23) - This was Rabbitt's biggest hit ever, having recently spent a pair of weeks at the top, and deservedly so, as it was one of his best songs IMO.
PRECIOUS TO ME - PHIL SEYMOUR (22) - He first appeared in the Top 40 as part of the Dwight Twilley Band in 1975, and six years later, he made the Top 40 with his first and only solo hit. I first heard this song on American Top 40 Flashback in March, 2001 and instantly loved it. IMO, the song was quite underrated, as it only got as high as #22. Nevertheless, I have heard this song many times, as it is on my Barry Scott's Lost 45s CD that I got for Christmas in 2002 and have listened to so much that I'm surprised I haven't worn it out, LOL!
LW#1: RAPTURE - BLONDIE
40: ME WITHOUT YOU - ANDY GIBB (debut) - He was unstoppable in the late-70s, but he wore out pretty quickly in the 1980s. This was his last Top 40 hit, and it just barely made it, peaking in the anchor position. Too bad, as it was a good song with a nice melody.
39: MR. SANDMAN - EMMYLOU HARRIS (debut) - Interesting remake of the old Chordettes hit. I slightly prefer the original, but this one was good too.
38: WATCHING THE WHEELS - JOHN LENNON (debut) - This one reminds me of his 1971 hit "Imagine". I like both songs about the same, but my favorite song from John's Double Fantasy album would have to be "(Just Like) Starting Over"
37: THE PARTY'S OVER (HOPELESSLY IN LOVE) - JOURNEY (39) - Casey mentioned that this was a live recording, but, in fact, it was not; it was a studio recording on an otherwise live album. This was one of their songs where the (main) title isn't heard until near the end, like "Don't Stop Believin'", which hit the chart at the end of that year. As for the song, it wasn't bad, but it was one of my least favorite songs from them.
36: TURN ME LOOSE- LOVERBOY (37) - This song was pretty good, but definitely not one of my favorites from them. It is, however, one of their songs that gets the most recurrent airplay nowadays, despite the fact that it never even hit the Top 30.
35: I MISSED AGAIN - PHIL COLLINS (debut) - Phil's first solo hit, which, to this day, I just can't believe he didn't include on his HITS album, as it was his very first solo hit. It was a great one, too - one of my favorite of his solo hits.
34: SUKIYAKI - A TASTE OF HONEY (debut) - Their second and final Top 40 hit. I liked this, but preferred the 1994 remake by 4PM - that one had more interesting chord progressions.
33: BETTE DAVIS EYES - KIM CARNES (debut) - Her first two hits made the Top Ten back in 1980, but this one would really take the cake, spending the better half of the summer at #1, becoming the top song of the year in the process! It was definitely worthy - one of the best #1 hits of 1981!
32: I LOVE YOU - CLIMAX BLUES BAND (38) - Here's one I remember quite well, as I was taking swimming lessons during the summer of 1981 and I heard this song almost every day at the pool. It is one of the songs I associate most with that summer! A great song indeed - easily my favorite of their two Top 40 hits.
31: HOW 'BOUT US - CHAMPAIGN (36) - As I’ve said before, it’s pretty much a toss-up between their two hits as to which one is my favorite. Both are great songs, IMO.
EXTRA: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - BEATLES - Many Beatles songs were played as Archive songs in 1981, and that just might have been instrumental in AT40's decision to count down the Top 40 songs of the Beatles about three months later. This was among that countdown, coming in at #25. I thought it was a great song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WINNING - SANTANA - Santana had three Top 40 hits in the 80s, and they were the best three of their career, IMO. I like all of them so much that I'm not sure what my favorite is.
30: CELEBRATION - KOOL & THE GANG (17) - I remember this song quite well - aside from radio airplay, it got a lot of play on juke boxes, such as the one at Pizza Hut, a place that my dad would take my brother and me to every Sunday for dinner back in 1981.
29: IT'S A LOVE THING - WHISPERS (33) - They had six songs that peaked in the lower half of the Hot 100 before finally hitting the Top 40 the year before. This was their third song and this is where it peaked. Their next Top 40 hit, "Rock Steady", would be their biggest, getting as high as #7 in the late summer of 1987.
LDD: FREE BIRD - LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Definitely a classic rock staple here! Although I'm not a huge fan of them, this one was actually pretty good.
28: YOU BETTER YOU BET - WHO (35) - Here's one I remember quite well! It sounds a lot like Pete Townshend's solo hit from the previous year, "Let My Love Open The Door", and I always thought it was Townshend singing lead, but, in fact, it was Roger Daltrey. This was one of my favorite songs by the Who.
27: SWEETHEART - FRANKIE & THE KNOCKOUTS (31) - They had a trio of Top 40 hits in the early-80s. All three were great hits, but this was by far my favorite!
26: TOO MUCH TIME ON MY HANDS - STYX (29) - Their second Top Ten hit from Styx's Paradise Theater album (which was #1 on the album chart this week). Even though I prefer the first of those, "The Best Of Times", this is also a good one - a song I learned to like a little better over the years (since I used to think it was mediocre).
25: TIME OUT OF MIND - STEELY DAN (28) - This was this jazz/rock band's final Top 40 hit. This one had their trademark jazz/rock sound heard in most of their Top 40 hits. I preferred this song over "Hey Nineteen", but I generally preferred the songs from Aja.
24: TAKE IT ON THE RUN - REO SPEEDWAGON (27) - Their second Top 40 hit and, like the first one, it was a power ballad. I love both songs but slightly prefer this one.
23: AIN'T EVEN DONE WITH THE NIGHT - JOHN COUGAR (26) - This one had fallen into obscurity until about twenty years ago, when it began being played on 80s stations. It's a good song, though not quite his best.
22: JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME - APRIL WINE (25) - This band from Montreal charted with a pair of hits in the 1970s, both of which peaked in the 30s. This was their biggest hit in the States, peaking at #21 (in April, no less). I remember hearing this one on the radio many times back in the day. It was a great song, IMO.
EXTRA: STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE - SUPREMES - One of an incredible twelve songs that this Motown band took to #1 in the 1960s. This was a great song, though I preferred the Hollies cover of this song, which was a Top 30 hit in the summer of 1983.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: JESSIE'S GIRL - RICK SPRINGFIELD - Possibly THE song from 1981 that receives the most recurrent airplay (but "Bette Davis Eyes" would be giving it a run for its money). Despite the overplay, it has held up quite well!
21: LIVING INSIDE MYSELF - GINO VANELLI (32) - A good way to save money on rent! But seriously, this was probably my favorite of his two Top Ten hits.
20: THE WINNER TAKES ALL - ABBA (14) - This, sadly, would be their final Top Ten hit. It, along with "Dancing Queen" were my two favorites from them.
19: DON'T STOP THE MUSIC - YARBOUROUGH & PEOPLES (21) - Meh, don’t really like this one. Those high-pitched voices that say “You don’t really wanna stop...” remind me of the Salvage Crew out on the sea in the Zelda: Wind Waker game.
18: WHAT KIND OF FOOL - BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB (10) - As I've mentioned many times, this was by far my favorite of their two duets. I liked how the other Bee Gees sing back-up throughout the song, especially during the final choruses.
17: SOMEBODY'S KNOCKIN' - TERRI GIBBS (19) - One of many country artists who crossed over to the Pop charts in 1981, though this ended up being her only Top 40 hit, which was a great one, IMO - has a very haunting melody. Too bad it didn’t hit the Top Ten.
16: 9 TO 5 - DOLLY PARTON (16) - Another country crossover smash here. Dolly Parton's first pop hit, "Here You Come Again" peaked at #3, and after four songs that missed the Top Ten, she had her very first #1 hit. It was a great song, IMO - one of my favorites from her.
15: HER TOWN TOO - JAMES TAYLOR & J.D. SOUTHER (18) - A one-time collaboration that saved the second artist from the dreaded "one hit wonder" title. It was a great song - too bad it just barely missed the Top Ten.
14: BEING WITH YOU - SMOKEY ROBINSON (20) - This song was mediocre at best. I preferred much of his earlier material, including hits with the Miracles.
13: HELLO AGAIN - NEIL DIAMOND (6) - This song was Neil's second of three hits from the Jazz Singer. I liked all three of Diamond's singles from that film, but my favorite was "Love On The Rocks", which charted several months before.
12: ANGEL OF THE MORNING - JUICE NEWTON (15) - This successful country artist crossed over to Pop with this one. I like it, but preferred most of her other Top 40 hits.
11: I CAN'T STAND IT - ERIC CLAPTON & HIS BAND (13) - I believe this was his only Top 40 hit that credited "his band". The song is not quite my favorite from him, but there are several songs that I prefer this over ("Tears In Heaven" comes to mind).
EXTRA: I'M TELLING YOU NOW - FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS - The first and most successful of four Top 40 hits by this English band, who looked to be challenging the Beatles, as they had four hits on the chart at the same time. However, these turned out to be their only four Top 40 hits and, after another release that peaked around the mid-chart area, they never hit the Hot 100 again. The song wasn't bad, but nothing exceptional either.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HOLD ON LOOSELY - .38 SPECIAL - Like the Loverboy song we heard earlier, this is one of those mid-charters that now receives more radio airplay than ever. Of course, I prefer many others from them, but this is still a good song.
10: DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME - THE POLICE (12) - They had their first Top Ten hit ever earlier in the year and this song would matched its peak position about a month later. Of their three big 1981 hits, this one was definitely my favorite.
9: KEEP ON LOVIN' YOU - REO SPEEDWAGON (8) - I believe this song, which hit #1 two weeks before, would be considered their biggest hit ever. "Can't Fight This Feeling" (which we'll be hearing on this week's "B" show) may have spent two more weeks on top, but this song had more staying power - it spent two more weeks in the Top 40 than that song spent on the Hot 100. This was a song I definitely remember from its chart run, and I never got tired of it - a great power ballad indeed!
8: WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE - STEVE WINWOOD (9) - He was the lead singer of the Spencer Davis group back in the 1960s, but would have much more chart success as a solo artist in the 1980s. This was his first solo hit and it peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 (and even managed a week at #1 on the R&R chart, the following week). This was possibly my all-time favorite song from him. They played a weird edit of the song this week, though, including the full organ/synth intro, then played the first verse, first chorus, and cut right to the end, where he repeats “While you see a chance take it, find romance” (right after the last chorus). So we didn’t hear the “your way-eee” bridge at all.
LDD: TIME IN A BOTTLE - JIM CROCE - I'm not a big fan of this song (though I did used to like it - but after hearing his You Don't Mess Around With Jim so many times when I was real little, I became burned out on the songs from it). The athlete whom this song was dedicated to, Terry Fox, was reported to be doing well at the time, but unfortunately, he succumbed to his cancer - on his 23rd birthday
7: CRYING - DON McLEAN (5) - You could definitely tell that this was a Roy Orbison song (as it sounded a great deal like "Blue Bayou"). This was definitely one of my favorite songs by McLean, right up there with "American Pie" and "Vincent".
6: MORNING TRAIN (NINE TO FIVE) - SHEENA EASTON (11) - I used to like this song a lot, but now it is, in fact, one of my least favorite songs from her.
5: JUST THE TWO OF US - GROVER WASHINGTON JR. (7) - This song was on its way to spending a pair of weeks atop the R&R chart later in the month. It almost made it here on the Hot 100, but just barely fell short. It was a great song - kind of reminds me of "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon.
4: WOMAN - JOHN LENNON (2) - This was technically Lennon's first posthumous hit, as "Starting Over" had been released before Lennon's untimely death. This song came very close to hitting #1, but couldn't quite get past REO Speedwagon or Blondie. It did, however, spend a month at the top on the R&R chart. Anyway, this has always been one of my favorite John Lennon songs.
3: THE BEST OF TIMES - STYX (3) - Here's another song that hit #1 on the R&R chart (in fact, it was the song that dethroned "Woman"), but fell short here on the Hot 100. This was Styx's first of two Top 40 hits from their Paradise Theater album, as well as my favorite of those two (though, as I mentioned earlier, I do like the other one more than I had previously). Both are great songs!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MEDLEY - STARS ON 45 - This song kicked off a medley craze that lasted for about a year (but became a little tedious near the end). I did like this one, though; a great selection of Beatles songs.
2: RAPTURE - BLONDIE (1) - As I've mentioned before, they had three number ones in the 1980s and that all three of them, as well as their first #1 in 1979, were musically diverse, covering genres like disco, new wave, reggae, and even rap, which was the case with this song. This was possibly my favorite of the four, as this was well before rap became obnoxious sounding.
1: KISS ON MY LIST - HALL & OATES (4) - 1981 was definitely a great year for this successful duo, as they had two #1 hits (including this one), as well as two Top Five hits, one of which went on to hit #1 in early 1982. Of those four songs, this was definitely my favorite.
This week's presentation - April 11, 1981
Droppers: (Building list at the time)
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLIN' - DONNA SUMMER (40) - Wow, was this one ever underrated! This is all the further it got on the chart. I'm thinking its underperformance was due to the fact that it was a slightly different musical style - had more of a MOR sound to it than her usual dance/disco beat. I thought it was a great song!
HEARTS ON FIRE - RANDY MEISNER (34) - After leaving the Eagles in 1977 and trying to have fun in retirement for several months, Randy got a solo career going. His first solo album didn't fare well at all, but his second one yielded two Top 40 hits. This one was the second and slightly more successful of those, peaking at #19 in March. It was a great song, IMO, and one I've heard many a time on my Barry Scott's Lost 45s CD, though I still haven't figured out who that is singing back-up in the choruses.
TREAT ME RIGHT - PAT BENATAR (30) - The third single from Crimes Of Passion, and, though it did not hit the Top Ten like the second one, it did hit the Top 20, peaking at #18. This was a great song - one of my favorite Pat Benatar songs ever!
A LITTLE IN LOVE - CLIFF RICHARD (24) - Cliff had charted in two forms earlier in the year - in a duet with Olivia Newton-John and on this song as a solo artist. The song, which peaked at #17 a few weeks back, fared much better on the R&R chart, peaking at #5. This was definitely one of my favorite songs from Cliff Richard.
I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT - EDDIE RABBITT (23) - This was Rabbitt's biggest hit ever, having recently spent a pair of weeks at the top, and deservedly so, as it was one of his best songs IMO.
PRECIOUS TO ME - PHIL SEYMOUR (22) - He first appeared in the Top 40 as part of the Dwight Twilley Band in 1975, and six years later, he made the Top 40 with his first and only solo hit. I first heard this song on American Top 40 Flashback in March, 2001 and instantly loved it. IMO, the song was quite underrated, as it only got as high as #22. Nevertheless, I have heard this song many times, as it is on my Barry Scott's Lost 45s CD that I got for Christmas in 2002 and have listened to so much that I'm surprised I haven't worn it out, LOL!
LW#1: RAPTURE - BLONDIE
40: ME WITHOUT YOU - ANDY GIBB (debut) - He was unstoppable in the late-70s, but he wore out pretty quickly in the 1980s. This was his last Top 40 hit, and it just barely made it, peaking in the anchor position. Too bad, as it was a good song with a nice melody.
39: MR. SANDMAN - EMMYLOU HARRIS (debut) - Interesting remake of the old Chordettes hit. I slightly prefer the original, but this one was good too.
38: WATCHING THE WHEELS - JOHN LENNON (debut) - This one reminds me of his 1971 hit "Imagine". I like both songs about the same, but my favorite song from John's Double Fantasy album would have to be "(Just Like) Starting Over"
37: THE PARTY'S OVER (HOPELESSLY IN LOVE) - JOURNEY (39) - Casey mentioned that this was a live recording, but, in fact, it was not; it was a studio recording on an otherwise live album. This was one of their songs where the (main) title isn't heard until near the end, like "Don't Stop Believin'", which hit the chart at the end of that year. As for the song, it wasn't bad, but it was one of my least favorite songs from them.
36: TURN ME LOOSE- LOVERBOY (37) - This song was pretty good, but definitely not one of my favorites from them. It is, however, one of their songs that gets the most recurrent airplay nowadays, despite the fact that it never even hit the Top 30.
35: I MISSED AGAIN - PHIL COLLINS (debut) - Phil's first solo hit, which, to this day, I just can't believe he didn't include on his HITS album, as it was his very first solo hit. It was a great one, too - one of my favorite of his solo hits.
34: SUKIYAKI - A TASTE OF HONEY (debut) - Their second and final Top 40 hit. I liked this, but preferred the 1994 remake by 4PM - that one had more interesting chord progressions.
33: BETTE DAVIS EYES - KIM CARNES (debut) - Her first two hits made the Top Ten back in 1980, but this one would really take the cake, spending the better half of the summer at #1, becoming the top song of the year in the process! It was definitely worthy - one of the best #1 hits of 1981!
32: I LOVE YOU - CLIMAX BLUES BAND (38) - Here's one I remember quite well, as I was taking swimming lessons during the summer of 1981 and I heard this song almost every day at the pool. It is one of the songs I associate most with that summer! A great song indeed - easily my favorite of their two Top 40 hits.
31: HOW 'BOUT US - CHAMPAIGN (36) - As I’ve said before, it’s pretty much a toss-up between their two hits as to which one is my favorite. Both are great songs, IMO.
EXTRA: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - BEATLES - Many Beatles songs were played as Archive songs in 1981, and that just might have been instrumental in AT40's decision to count down the Top 40 songs of the Beatles about three months later. This was among that countdown, coming in at #25. I thought it was a great song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WINNING - SANTANA - Santana had three Top 40 hits in the 80s, and they were the best three of their career, IMO. I like all of them so much that I'm not sure what my favorite is.
30: CELEBRATION - KOOL & THE GANG (17) - I remember this song quite well - aside from radio airplay, it got a lot of play on juke boxes, such as the one at Pizza Hut, a place that my dad would take my brother and me to every Sunday for dinner back in 1981.
29: IT'S A LOVE THING - WHISPERS (33) - They had six songs that peaked in the lower half of the Hot 100 before finally hitting the Top 40 the year before. This was their third song and this is where it peaked. Their next Top 40 hit, "Rock Steady", would be their biggest, getting as high as #7 in the late summer of 1987.
LDD: FREE BIRD - LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Definitely a classic rock staple here! Although I'm not a huge fan of them, this one was actually pretty good.
28: YOU BETTER YOU BET - WHO (35) - Here's one I remember quite well! It sounds a lot like Pete Townshend's solo hit from the previous year, "Let My Love Open The Door", and I always thought it was Townshend singing lead, but, in fact, it was Roger Daltrey. This was one of my favorite songs by the Who.
27: SWEETHEART - FRANKIE & THE KNOCKOUTS (31) - They had a trio of Top 40 hits in the early-80s. All three were great hits, but this was by far my favorite!
26: TOO MUCH TIME ON MY HANDS - STYX (29) - Their second Top Ten hit from Styx's Paradise Theater album (which was #1 on the album chart this week). Even though I prefer the first of those, "The Best Of Times", this is also a good one - a song I learned to like a little better over the years (since I used to think it was mediocre).
25: TIME OUT OF MIND - STEELY DAN (28) - This was this jazz/rock band's final Top 40 hit. This one had their trademark jazz/rock sound heard in most of their Top 40 hits. I preferred this song over "Hey Nineteen", but I generally preferred the songs from Aja.
24: TAKE IT ON THE RUN - REO SPEEDWAGON (27) - Their second Top 40 hit and, like the first one, it was a power ballad. I love both songs but slightly prefer this one.
23: AIN'T EVEN DONE WITH THE NIGHT - JOHN COUGAR (26) - This one had fallen into obscurity until about twenty years ago, when it began being played on 80s stations. It's a good song, though not quite his best.
22: JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME - APRIL WINE (25) - This band from Montreal charted with a pair of hits in the 1970s, both of which peaked in the 30s. This was their biggest hit in the States, peaking at #21 (in April, no less). I remember hearing this one on the radio many times back in the day. It was a great song, IMO.
EXTRA: STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE - SUPREMES - One of an incredible twelve songs that this Motown band took to #1 in the 1960s. This was a great song, though I preferred the Hollies cover of this song, which was a Top 30 hit in the summer of 1983.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: JESSIE'S GIRL - RICK SPRINGFIELD - Possibly THE song from 1981 that receives the most recurrent airplay (but "Bette Davis Eyes" would be giving it a run for its money). Despite the overplay, it has held up quite well!
21: LIVING INSIDE MYSELF - GINO VANELLI (32) - A good way to save money on rent! But seriously, this was probably my favorite of his two Top Ten hits.
20: THE WINNER TAKES ALL - ABBA (14) - This, sadly, would be their final Top Ten hit. It, along with "Dancing Queen" were my two favorites from them.
19: DON'T STOP THE MUSIC - YARBOUROUGH & PEOPLES (21) - Meh, don’t really like this one. Those high-pitched voices that say “You don’t really wanna stop...” remind me of the Salvage Crew out on the sea in the Zelda: Wind Waker game.
18: WHAT KIND OF FOOL - BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB (10) - As I've mentioned many times, this was by far my favorite of their two duets. I liked how the other Bee Gees sing back-up throughout the song, especially during the final choruses.
17: SOMEBODY'S KNOCKIN' - TERRI GIBBS (19) - One of many country artists who crossed over to the Pop charts in 1981, though this ended up being her only Top 40 hit, which was a great one, IMO - has a very haunting melody. Too bad it didn’t hit the Top Ten.
16: 9 TO 5 - DOLLY PARTON (16) - Another country crossover smash here. Dolly Parton's first pop hit, "Here You Come Again" peaked at #3, and after four songs that missed the Top Ten, she had her very first #1 hit. It was a great song, IMO - one of my favorites from her.
15: HER TOWN TOO - JAMES TAYLOR & J.D. SOUTHER (18) - A one-time collaboration that saved the second artist from the dreaded "one hit wonder" title. It was a great song - too bad it just barely missed the Top Ten.
14: BEING WITH YOU - SMOKEY ROBINSON (20) - This song was mediocre at best. I preferred much of his earlier material, including hits with the Miracles.
13: HELLO AGAIN - NEIL DIAMOND (6) - This song was Neil's second of three hits from the Jazz Singer. I liked all three of Diamond's singles from that film, but my favorite was "Love On The Rocks", which charted several months before.
12: ANGEL OF THE MORNING - JUICE NEWTON (15) - This successful country artist crossed over to Pop with this one. I like it, but preferred most of her other Top 40 hits.
11: I CAN'T STAND IT - ERIC CLAPTON & HIS BAND (13) - I believe this was his only Top 40 hit that credited "his band". The song is not quite my favorite from him, but there are several songs that I prefer this over ("Tears In Heaven" comes to mind).
EXTRA: I'M TELLING YOU NOW - FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS - The first and most successful of four Top 40 hits by this English band, who looked to be challenging the Beatles, as they had four hits on the chart at the same time. However, these turned out to be their only four Top 40 hits and, after another release that peaked around the mid-chart area, they never hit the Hot 100 again. The song wasn't bad, but nothing exceptional either.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HOLD ON LOOSELY - .38 SPECIAL - Like the Loverboy song we heard earlier, this is one of those mid-charters that now receives more radio airplay than ever. Of course, I prefer many others from them, but this is still a good song.
10: DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME - THE POLICE (12) - They had their first Top Ten hit ever earlier in the year and this song would matched its peak position about a month later. Of their three big 1981 hits, this one was definitely my favorite.
9: KEEP ON LOVIN' YOU - REO SPEEDWAGON (8) - I believe this song, which hit #1 two weeks before, would be considered their biggest hit ever. "Can't Fight This Feeling" (which we'll be hearing on this week's "B" show) may have spent two more weeks on top, but this song had more staying power - it spent two more weeks in the Top 40 than that song spent on the Hot 100. This was a song I definitely remember from its chart run, and I never got tired of it - a great power ballad indeed!
8: WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE - STEVE WINWOOD (9) - He was the lead singer of the Spencer Davis group back in the 1960s, but would have much more chart success as a solo artist in the 1980s. This was his first solo hit and it peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 (and even managed a week at #1 on the R&R chart, the following week). This was possibly my all-time favorite song from him. They played a weird edit of the song this week, though, including the full organ/synth intro, then played the first verse, first chorus, and cut right to the end, where he repeats “While you see a chance take it, find romance” (right after the last chorus). So we didn’t hear the “your way-eee” bridge at all.
LDD: TIME IN A BOTTLE - JIM CROCE - I'm not a big fan of this song (though I did used to like it - but after hearing his You Don't Mess Around With Jim so many times when I was real little, I became burned out on the songs from it). The athlete whom this song was dedicated to, Terry Fox, was reported to be doing well at the time, but unfortunately, he succumbed to his cancer - on his 23rd birthday
7: CRYING - DON McLEAN (5) - You could definitely tell that this was a Roy Orbison song (as it sounded a great deal like "Blue Bayou"). This was definitely one of my favorite songs by McLean, right up there with "American Pie" and "Vincent".
6: MORNING TRAIN (NINE TO FIVE) - SHEENA EASTON (11) - I used to like this song a lot, but now it is, in fact, one of my least favorite songs from her.
5: JUST THE TWO OF US - GROVER WASHINGTON JR. (7) - This song was on its way to spending a pair of weeks atop the R&R chart later in the month. It almost made it here on the Hot 100, but just barely fell short. It was a great song - kind of reminds me of "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon.
4: WOMAN - JOHN LENNON (2) - This was technically Lennon's first posthumous hit, as "Starting Over" had been released before Lennon's untimely death. This song came very close to hitting #1, but couldn't quite get past REO Speedwagon or Blondie. It did, however, spend a month at the top on the R&R chart. Anyway, this has always been one of my favorite John Lennon songs.
3: THE BEST OF TIMES - STYX (3) - Here's another song that hit #1 on the R&R chart (in fact, it was the song that dethroned "Woman"), but fell short here on the Hot 100. This was Styx's first of two Top 40 hits from their Paradise Theater album, as well as my favorite of those two (though, as I mentioned earlier, I do like the other one more than I had previously). Both are great songs!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MEDLEY - STARS ON 45 - This song kicked off a medley craze that lasted for about a year (but became a little tedious near the end). I did like this one, though; a great selection of Beatles songs.
2: RAPTURE - BLONDIE (1) - As I've mentioned before, they had three number ones in the 1980s and that all three of them, as well as their first #1 in 1979, were musically diverse, covering genres like disco, new wave, reggae, and even rap, which was the case with this song. This was possibly my favorite of the four, as this was well before rap became obnoxious sounding.
1: KISS ON MY LIST - HALL & OATES (4) - 1981 was definitely a great year for this successful duo, as they had two #1 hits (including this one), as well as two Top Five hits, one of which went on to hit #1 in early 1982. Of those four songs, this was definitely my favorite.