Chart Critiques

[mga707]

Jul 13, 2024 15:00:30 GMT -5 mrjukebox said:

The Fat Boys rendition of "The Twist" is nothing to write home about-I wonder what Chubby Checker thought of it.

Don't know about Chubby, but I'm sure Hank Ballard, who lived until 2003, was happy to receive some unexpected additional songwriting royalties.

[1finemrg]

Jul 13, 2024 16:06:19 GMT -5 mga707 said:

Jul 13, 2024 15:00:30 GMT -5 mrjukebox said:

The Fat Boys rendition of "The Twist" is nothing to write home about-I wonder what Chubby Checker thought of it.

Don't know about Chubby, but I'm sure Hank Ballard, who lived until 2003, was happy to receive some unexpected additional songwriting royalties.

Speaking of Chubby Checker, he's still out there performing at 82 years old. Doing a concert at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, Illinois tomorrow night.

[mrjukebox]

The female voice on "Get Closer" belonged to Carolyn Willis who was a member of the female trio Honey Cone best known for their # 1 hit "Want Ads" in 1971.

[mga707]

Jul 14, 2024 12:54:35 GMT -5 mrjukebox said:

The female voice on "Get Closer" belonged to Carolyn Willis who was a member of the female trio Honey Cone best known for their # 1 hit "Want Ads" in 1971.

...and for one of the all-time great song titles two singles later, "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show".

[chrislc]

>1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE (2) - And this was the most overplayed song of them all. It still is, too. I'm not sure how a song about stalking managed to spend two months at #1, but whatever.<

It occurred to me the other day that this song might have been inspired by EYE IN THE SKY. Has anyone here ever made that connection?

[dukelightning]

Jul 16, 2024 16:06:11 GMT -5 chrislc said:

>1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE (2) - And this was the most overplayed song of them all. It still is, too. I'm not sure how a song about stalking managed to spend two months at #1, but whatever.<

It occurred to me the other day that this song might have been inspired by EYE IN THE SKY. Has anyone here ever made that connection?

Having just heard that song as I hear next week's 80s show in which that is the highest debut, I can see why you would think that. Interesting to note that Casey says that Alan Parsons albums are always a concept. In this case the Eye in the Sky album is about society in the future. Not sure how this title track fits into that concept. Maybe Parsons had some dark visions about the future. FYI, both of these 'watching over you' hits are the artists biggest.

[chrislc]

Jul 17, 2024 14:32:34 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

Jul 16, 2024 16:06:11 GMT -5 chrislc said:

>1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE (2) - And this was the most overplayed song of them all. It still is, too. I'm not sure how a song about stalking managed to spend two months at #1, but whatever.<

It occurred to me the other day that this song might have been inspired by EYE IN THE SKY. Has anyone here ever made that connection?

Having just heard that song as I hear next week's 80s show in which that is the highest debut, I can see why you would think that. Interesting to note that Casey says that Alan Parsons albums are always a concept. In this case the Eye in the Sky album is about society in the future. Not sure how this title track fits into that concept. Maybe Parsons had some dark visions about the future. FYI, both of these 'watching over you' hits are the artists biggest.

FWIW I just found this - no other mashups which is a little surprising but that surprise is recency bias since I just thought of it a few days ago

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjgloHHZ300

It seems SO OBVIOUS now. The two songs are very similar in multiple ways.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - July 20, 2024

This week's presentation - July 22, 1978

WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW - DAVE MASON (39) - A cover of the Shirelle's classic, and a good one at that.
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG - BILLY JOEL (37) - This song might have been a Top Ten hit if not for its lyrical content. Many radio stations refused to play this song, which impeded its climb - the song only got as high as #24. It was a great song - one of his best, IMO.
LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN - SWEET (34) - They had five Top 40 hits, all reaching the upper half of the chart. This one was their final Top 40 hit. It wasn't bad - reminded me of something that ELO would do.
HOT LOVE, COLD WORLD - BOB WELCH (31) - The third of three Top 40 hits that charted for Welch in 1978, though it didn't quite match up to the success of the first two, as #31 is where the song peaked.
YOU BELONG TO ME - CARLY SIMON (27) - I imagine that JessieLou was disappointed that this one dropped out. This was a great song - one of Simon's best hits. I liked it as well as the Doobie Brothers' version, which was on their Livin' on the Fault Line album from the year before.
I CAN’T STAND THE RAIN - ERUPTION (18) - Wow, songs were falling off the AT40 chart from inside the Top 20, like 1982 (only difference is, they tended to land just outside the Top 40 rather than way down in the 60-80 zone). This was sort of a faceless disco song, but, considering my general opinion on that kind of music, this song was actually pretty good.

40: AN EVERLASTING LOVE - ANDY GIBB (debut) - His first three songs hit #1 and it looked like this song could be his fourth, but that was not to be. Once it hit the Top Ten, it moved up no more than one spot at a time, peaking at #5, which is still great. This would be a close second to "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" as my favorite song from Gibb. Too bad they chopped this song down, cutting out the first chorus and second verse.
39: RIVERS OF BABYLON - BONEY M (debut) - A song written in 1970 and adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. Melodically, I find it somewhat annoying, since it can stick in my mind.
38: STUFF LIKE THAT - QUINCY JONES f/ASHFORD & SIMPSON and CHAKA KHAN (debut) - Meh, nothing special - sounds like most of the disco material from the late-70s.
37: SHAME - EVELYN "CHAMPAGNE" KING (debut) - This was a disco song that I thought was pretty good. Still doesn't hold a candle to "Love Come Down", which charted four years later.
36: BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE - A TASTE OF HONEY (debut) - Their first of two Top Ten hits, and this was the most successful, spending three weeks at #1 in September! It's also my favorite of their two hits.
35: HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (debut) - this was a special song between my former girlfriend and myself - it took awhile to be able to enjoy this song once again after we broke up, but that all changed back two years ago, when our paths crossed and she and I actually recently had a brief conversation, letting me know that we were at least back on speaking terms again.
34: LOVE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT - KENNY ROGERS (38) - This song sure didn't last long on AT40, but fared much better at AC, where it peaked at #12, and especially at country, where it was this week's #1. I thought this song was pretty good, but definitely nowhere near being his best.
33: PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (35) - This was his second Top 40 hit and this was all the further it got, but, of course, the best was yet to come. The 1980s was clearly Springsteen's decade, especially with the Born In The USA album.
32: CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS - TODD RUNDGREN (36) - More famous for his earlier-70s hits like "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw The Light", "Runt" had a pair of hits in the latter half of the 70s, like this one, which turned out to be his final Top 40 entry. It's so/so, but it can stick in my mind, especially the bridge. Still, I'd rather hear it than that annoying "Bang The Drum All Day" song!
31: YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT - JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (33) - Wow, kind of unusual that this song would be moving back up, especially after such a hard fall the week before. I wonder if any listeners thought Casey had made a mistake after saying that this song was coming up later in the show as he was introing #35, especially after they got past #33? Anyway, this was the first of two duets from Grease that they charted with, as well as one of two #1 hits from the soundtrack (the title track, coming up later, was the other). I like both duets about the same - it depends on my mood at the time. Regardless, both are great songs
30: I'VE HAD ENOUGH - WINGS (40) - The second of three singles from their London Town album. It was OK, but it didn't hold a candle to "With A Little Luck".
29: WONDERFUL TONIGHT - ERIC CLAPTON (16) - One of Clapton's songs that receive the most recurrent airplay today (given that, I'm surprised it did not make an appearance on the R&R chart). It was a good song. Anyone remember this Yahoo Internet commercial from 2005 that features this song?
28: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD - MEATLOAF (13) - He had a handful of Top 40 hits, with this being my favorite - as well as one of my favorites on this week's chart. I do, however, prefer the full album version over the single, which was what AT40 usually, if not always, played.
27: STAY - JACKSON BROWNE (32) - Interesting how Browne changed the lyrics around to be addressing his audience instead of a loved one, like in the original. As for the song, it's not bad, but I preferred "The Load Out", which some radio stations play right before this song, as that's how Browne usually does this song in his concerts.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE - EARTH, WIND & FIRE - Of course, the best version of this one was the one by the Beatles (which we heard on a 1976 show last month), but this one was actually a good version too.
26: KING TUT - STEVE MARTIN (30) - Glad he didn't quit his acting job - just saying.
25: SONGBIRD - BARBARA STREISAND (29) - I remember singing this in choir as part of our spring concert back in my sophomore year in High School (hard to believe that was 30 years ago!) I got a little sick of rehearsing it every day back then, but it's good to hear the original version every now and then.
24: IF I EVER NEEDED YOU AGAIN - ROBERTA FLACK (25) - This song reminded me a lot of "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone, especially in the bridge. But there's a good reason for that, as Joe Brooks wrote both songs. I thought this was a great song - not sure if I prefer this or her recent Top Five duet with Donny Hathaway, which dropped out this week.
23: FM (NO STATIC AT ALL) - STEELY DAN (23) - This song, the title track from the John A. Alonzo directed film, appeared to be already peaking in just its third week on the chart. It did, however, manage to climb one more notch before dropping off. I like most of Steely Dan's hits and this is no exception.
22: THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY - LOVE AND KISSES (24) - A movie title song hat trick here, as this is the third in a row. This song has sort of a Philly feel to it - in fact, it reminded me a little of "TSOP" by MFSB, from four years prior.
21: I'M NOT GONNA LET IT BOTHER ME TONIGHT - ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION (28) - I thought most of their songs were good, but this one was somewhat mediocre. Definitely nowhere near as good as "So In To You" or "Imaginary Lover".
20: MAGNET AND STEEL - WALTER EGAN (26) - Stevie Nicks, who this song was said to be about, was heard singing back-up on this song, which somehow, I associate more with the fall of 1978 instead of the summer (probably because that was when WLS played the song; it peaked on their survey in late October). Though I preferred "Fool Moon Fire", from 1983, this was a good one too.
19: BLUER THAN BLUE - MICHAEL JOHNSON (12) - This Colorado native had three Top 40 hits and this was the biggest of them, peaking at #12. It was a great one, but I still prefer "This Night Won't Last Forever", which got as high as #19 in 1979.
18: MY ANGEL BABY - TOBY BEAU (22) - It was a group, not a solo male, like many people thought (such was the case with Pablo Cruise, coming up laterTop Ten). The song was pretty good.
17: LIFE'S BEEN GOOD - JOE WALSH (19) - The second of two hits from the movie FM on this week's chart. Not sure why, but this song never really did anything for me. I wasn't a huge Joe Walsh fan anyway.
16: DANCE WITH ME - PETER BROWN (8) - Meh, I preferred the Orleans song of the same title from three years before. This one just didn't do anything for me.
15: COPACABANA - BARRY MANILOW (17) - Definitely a departure from his usual ballad style. In fact, the rush release of this song while "Even Now" was still on its way up the chart caused the latter to tank (which wasn't really a bad thing, as "Even Now" wasn't one of his better hits anyway, IMO). This was a good one.
14: HOT BLOODED - FOREIGNER (20) - Of course, this song's intro is very similar to "Love Will Find A Way" by Pablo Cruise, coming up a few songs later. Of their three singles from Double Vision, this would be my least favorite, but it's a great song nevertheless.
13: RUNAWAY - JEFFERSON STARSHIP (15) - I believe this was their final Top 40 hit featuring Marty Balin on lead vocals. I liked this song, but slightly preferred "Count On Me", which had charted earlier in the year.
12: IT'S A HEARTACHE - BONNIE TYLER (9) - Some people call her a "female Rod Stewart", since both have similarly raspy voices. This was a really good song, though I preferred “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”.
11: LOVE WILL FIND A WAY - PABLO CRUISE (14) - Here is that song I mentioned earlier. I remember this one quite well from back in the day. A great song, though I slightly preferred "What'cha Gonna Do", from the previous summer.
10: THREE TIMES A LADY - COMMODORES (21) - Wow, what a big jump! This one was definitely on its way to the top! The song spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 (and spent four weeks at #2 after falling out) - all of which they spent at #1 on R&R, for a total of six weeks there. I loved this song - so did a lot of other people, as it became a very popular LDD song (and was played at many wedding receptions as well).
9: TAKE A CHANCE ON ME - ABBA (3) - I like many, if not most, of their Top 40 hits. This song was pretty good - one that I've learned to like over the past year or so. I definitely prefer it over their other 1978 hit "The Name Of The Game", but it doesn't hold a candle to "Dancing Queen" or "The Winner Takes It All".
8: USE TA BE MY GIRL - O'JAYS (4) - Their last of six Top Ten hits. It was actually a great song - possibly my favorite of their hits!
7: THE GROOVE LINE - HEATWAVE (7) - aka "Boogie Nights Part 2". I wasn't a huge fan of either song, but their ballad "Always And Forever", which charted between those two songs, was a great one.
6: GREASE - FRANKIE VALLI (11) - The title track to one of the biggest movie soundtracks ever was on its way to the top. It's OK, but I prefer several other songs - both from the soundtrack as well as Valli himself, both solo and with the Four Seasons.
5: LAST DANCE - DONNA SUMMER (10) - She was indeed on a roll, but the best was yet to come, as her next hit would hit #1 and she'd have three more #1 songs, all in 1979! This was a good one, like many of her big hits.
4: STILL THE SAME - BOB SEGER (5) - The first MOR type song in this week's Top Ten (as the last five songs were R&B and/or disco, and the Commodores song was a slow number. This song was looking like it might be his first #1, but this is where the song ran out of gas. Don't get me wrong; a #4 peak is great, but it should have gone to #1 IMO. But in 1978, topping the chart was nearly impossible if you weren't on the RSO label.
3: MISS YOU - THE ROLLING STONES (6) - Back to disco songs, by one of the last bands that you'd expect to have a disco hit, but in fact, they did have one more, two years later. That song, of course, was "Emotional Rescue", which I prefer over this one by a fair margin.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: KISS YOU ALL OVER - EXILE - 1978 was definitely a good year for producer Mike Chapman, as he had at least two songs that topped the chart that fall. This was the first of them. Of the two, I preferred the other one (which was "Hot Child In The City" by Nick Gilder).
2: BAKER STREET - GERRY RAFFERTY (2) - This song wanted the top spot like anything, but couldn't seem to dislodge the artist at #1. I tell you what, I used to really like this song, but not so much anymore. Perhaps overplay on oldies stations. I generally switch the station when this comes on.
1: SHADOW DANCING - ANDY GIBB (1) - As you might expect, this song was on the RSO label. Casey mentioned that, out of the past 32 weeks, 29 of those weeks were songs on RSO. The only period that RSO was not represented at #1 were in early summer, when "With A Little Luck" by Wings and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" by Johnny Mathis/Deniece Williams, topped the chart back-to-back for a total of three weeks. This song was on its way to becoming the top song of the entire year. However, it is possibly my least favorite of his hits (but at least my favorite won out for the year before, so it's all good).

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - July 20, 2024

This week's presentation - July 21, 1984

Dropped:
MODERN DAY DELILAH – VAN STEPHENSON (34) - The only Top 40 hit for this Hamilton, Ohio native (and, sadly, it will stay that way, as he passed away back in 2001). Too bad, as this was a good song.
STAY THE NIGHT - CHICAGO (32) - Based on the way that this song, their first song from the Chicago 17 album, peaked at #16, it looked like it might not be a very big singrfles album, but the next two hits proved that wrong, as they both hit the Top Five - in fact, on the R&R chart, they were both #1s. I preferred those two songs, (especially "Hard Habit To Break") but this was a good one as well.
DON’T WALK AWAY – RICK SPRINGFIELD (26) - The second of three hits he charted with from the soundtrack of Hard To Hold. This was probably my favorite of the three, but his first one, "Love Somebody", which had hit the Top Ten earlier in the year would be a close second.
LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY – DENIECE WILLIAMS (22) - As far as the biggest hit from the Footloose soundtrack goes, this song was a very close second to the title track. I hated this song when it was on the chart, due to all the overplay, but now, it's good to hear it every once in awhile instead of everytime I turn on the radio.

LW#2: DANCING IN THE DARK – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
LW#1: WHEN DOVES CRY - PRINCE
40: THE WARRIOR – SCANDAL FEATURING PATTY SMITH (debut) - Even though this was their first Top 40 hit, they'd had a few previous songs that hit the Hot 100 (and a few after this one just narrowly missed the Top 40). This song was a good one, but I preferred "Goodbye To You" and "Love's Got A Line On You", from 1982 and 1983, respectively.
39: THE GLAMOROUS LIFE – SHEILA E. (debut) - The first Top 40 hit for this California native whose last name is Escoveto. It was so/so in my opinion, but not quite my cup of tea. I did like her next hit, "The Belle Of St. Mark".
38: 10-9-8 - FACE TO FACE (debut) - I remember hearing this song on "Countdown America" back in 1984. It sounds sort of like a late-80s dance hit instead of something from the mid-80s. It’s pretty good.
37: BOYS DO FALL IN LOVE – ROBIN GIBB (38) - His second Top 40 solo hit. I preferred this one over the other ("Oh! Darling) by a sizeable margin, as it was a great song! This was indeed quite different from his material with his brothers.
36: MISSING YOU – JOHN WAITE (debut) - Very depressing song, partly because of the subject matter and partly because it was becoming popular at the beginning of Hell On Earth (a.k.a. my seventh grade year in middle school). I do sort of like the version that begins with the "Missing You" chants in the intro, but I'm not sure if AT40 ever played that one (which was strange, because it was the version that I usually heard on the radio).
35: TURN TO YOU – THE GO-GO’S (40) - This one reminded me a little of "We Got The Beat", only it was nowhere near as annoying. It was a good song, IMO.
34: ROCK ME TONITE – BILLY SQUIER (39) - Meh, this one wasn't exactly my favorite from Squier. I preferred songs like "In The Dark" and "Everybody Wants You".
33: THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER – TONY CAREY (36) - This was the second Top 40 hit for this man from California. It was a pretty good song, though it doesn't hold a candle to "A Fine Fine Day".
LDD: SEASONS IN THE SUN – TERRY JACKS - This was a song that became more of a joke than anything. Definitely a major cheesefest!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LEAVE A TENDER MOMENT ALONE - BILLY JOEL - For awhile, this looked like it would be the final Top 40 hit from An Innocent Man, but Joel would surprise us in early 1985 with a sixth song. As for this song, it might have fallen into obscurity if not for the fact that it was a #1 AC song and received much airplay at that format.
32: SEXY GIRL – GLENN FREY (37) - Following the break-up of the Eagles, Glenn had a decent solo career going, though he had yet to hit the Top Ten on his own. He would do that with his next hit, but this one did well too. It was a great song and sort of appropriate for me at the time, because the guy who moved into the house next door to me in the summer of 1984 had a daughter that I found quite attractive (only thing is, she didn't live with him).
31: ALIBIS – SERGIO MENDES (35) - This was definitely one of my favorite songs on the countdown this week! The song would peak at #29, which I felt was a shame. I guess if you weren't Prince or Madonna, back in 1984, you were pretty much S.O.L. Oh well, this song did do well on my Personal Top 40 chart, peaking at #3 for four weeks, behind "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)" and "No Way Out", both of which are coming up later in the countdown.
30: BORDERLINE - MADONNA (19) - Another great song! I think this is one of Madonna's best songs and one of my favorite songs from 1984. It sure showed tenacity on the charts, as it spent 15 weeks in the Top 40 which, back then, was unusually long for a song that peaked at #10.
29: SHE’S MINE – STEVE PERRY (31) - This one didn't quite measure up to the success of Perry's initial solo single "Oh Sherrie", which was too bad, because this was one of his best songs ever. Sounds somewhat like one of his other songs, possibly one with Journey, but I can’t think of which one right off the top of my head.
28: ROUND AND ROUND - RATT (33) - As big as hard rock bands were in the mid- and late 1980s, it's a surprise that Ratt only had two Top 40 hits, one of which barely made it. That was "Lay It Down", which would hit the Top 40 the following summer, at #40. I preferred that one, but this was a good one as well.
27: TIME AFTER TIME – CYNDI LAUPER (14) - Possibly THE most successful newcomer of 1984, with four Top Five hits from her debut album. This was the second of them, and my least favorite, since it's somewhat depressing. It's still not bad, though.
26: ROMANCING THE STONE – EDDY GRANT (30) - Eddy Grant had two Top 40 hits - his #2 hit "Electric Avenue" from the summer of 1983 and this one, intended as the theme song to the film of the same name, which was peaking at #26 this week. I preferred the first one, as overplayed as it was. This one wasn't bad, but nothing I'd go out of my way to hear.
25: SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT – COREY HART (29) - The first Top 40 hit for this Montreal, Canada native, and one of his biggest. I like it, but I preferred most of his other hits.
24: I’M FREE (HEAVEN HELPS THE MAN) – KENNY LOGGINS (28) - Here is that Kenny Loggins song I mentioned earlier. He had one of the biggest hits of 1984 with the title track to the Footloose soundtrack and was hoping to duplicate that success with this song, but, in fact, this song only got as high as #22, as Footloose mania began to fade away. That's too bad, as I actually preferred this one over his bigger Footloose hit. Definitely one of my favorite of Kenny's big movie hits.
23: NO WAY OUT – JEFFERSON STARSHIP (24) - And, what do you know - right after the first song responsible for holding "Alibis" out of the top spot on my personal chart, here is the other one! This was a landmark hit for the band, as it was their final Top 40 hit with Jefferson in the name. On their next Top 40 hit "We Built This City", of course, they were billed simply as Starship. Anyway, this has always been one of my favorite songs from the band in any of their three incarnations. The guitar riffs heard throughout the song remind me of "Separate Ways" by Journey. Too bad they butchered this song by cutting out the second verse, like they generally did.
22: IF EVER YOU’RE IN MY ARMS AGAIN – PEABO BRYSON (25) - His first Top 40 entry was his duet with Roberta Flack, "Tonight I Celebrate My Love", which hit the Top 20 the previous fall. His second and last Top 40 hit was on his own and it went on to hit the Top Ten (and did even better at AC radio, where it spent a month at #1). It is definitely one of his best hits ever!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LIGHTS OUT - PETER WOLF - I liked this song, but preferred a few songs from his J. Geils Band, especially "Centerfold". This song was originally supposed to be entitled "Dancing In The Dark", but Wolf changed it to "Lights Out" so as not to confuse it with Springsteen's song.
21: PANAMA – VAN HALEN (27) - The third song from their huge album whose title just might have been inspired by George Orwell But seriously, this would be my second favorite of their three Top 40 singles from the 1984 album, behind "I'll Wait".
20: DANCE HALL DAYS – WANG CHUNG (18) - One of many newcomers to the chart in 1984. This was actually their second hit, and one of theirs that gets the most recurrent airplay (along with "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"). This song was OK, but I preferred most of their other hits.
19: THE HEART OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (9) - They seemed to like the #6 spot on the countdown, as three of their five hits from Sports peaked there. This one was even spent a month at that position. I used to really like this song, but overplay tarnished my fascination for this song somewhat, though it's still a pretty good song. My favorite Sports single would be the next one, "If This Is It", which charted later that summer.
18: STUCK ON YOU – LIONEL RICHIE (21) - This was his second county-flavored song (the first was his hit "Sail On" with the Commodores). Not sure if that song ever crossed over to the Country chart, but this one sure did, peaking at #24. Very few songs had ever hit the Top 30 on four different Billboard singles charts.
17: I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU – DAN HARTMAN (20) - He'd hit #1 as a part of the Edgar Winter Group in 1973 with "Frankenstein", and returned to the Top Ten on his own with this song. It's another song I hated back in the day, but think it's a pretty good one now, but still, I preferred his next two hits "We Are The Young" and "Second Nature".
16: WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT – TINA TURNER (23) - I tell you what, I disliked this song with a passion back in the day, but it's one of those songs that gets better with age. This song would become Turner's first #1 hit a little less than two months later. The song fell short on the R&R chart (two years later, the tables would be turned with her song "Typical Male").
15: SELF CONTROL – LAURA BRANIGAN (6) - his was a song that, back in the day, I did not like at all, but now I think it's pretty decent. Still, I prefer a few others from her.
14: THE REFLEX – DURAN DURAN (5) - I tell you what, I liked many songs from them, but never really got into this one. 1984 just wasn't their best year, IMO (though I did like "New Moon On Monday" - by far my favorite of their songs that charted that year).
13: BREAKIN’…THERE’S NO STOPPING US – OLLIE AND JERRY (17) - Breakdancing was indeed all the rage back in 1984! Two songs about it even made the Top 40, including the Irene Cara song that dropped out. I liked this song a little better, but still, I wasn't too crazy about it or the movie it was from. My Dad and I went to see it a few weeks before and both agreed that was two hours of our lives that we'd never get back, LOL!
12: MAGIC – THE CARS (12) - The second of five Top 40 singles from Heartbeat City, and my favorite of the five by a fair margin. Definitely released at the right time of year, as it had that summertime sound to it (I seem to remember the video was very summerlike as well).
11: DOCTOR! DOCTOR! – THE THOMPSON TWINS (13) - They had just come off of their second and, as it turned out, most successful hit ever "Hold Me Now" and, though it didn't quite measure up to the success of that song, it did well on the chart, just barely missing the Top Ten. Both this song, as well as "Hold Me Now" are among my favorite songs by the "twins".
10: INFATUATION – ROD STEWART (11) - This song has been compared to his Top Five hit from early 1981, "Passion", since both songs sound alike. I preferred the latter of the two songs - this one never really did much for me.
9: SAD SONGS (SAY SO MUCH) – ELTON JOHN (16) - The first of three top 40 hits from Breaking Hearts, and the only Top Ten from that album, as well as my favorite of the three (though "Who Wears These Shoes" would be a close second).
8: LEGS – ZZ TOP (10) - They'd had several chart singles, which Casey mentioned (though I couldn't help but notice that he left out "La Grange", although it did technically chart on AT40 for a week due to a chart error), but this one put them in the Top Ten. It was a pretty good song, but I preferred their Afterburner singles.
7/LDD: ALMOST PARADISE – MIKE RENO AND ANN WILSON (8) - This, of course, was the love theme from Footloose. One of my favorite singles from the soundtrack!
6: STATE OF SHOCK – THE JACKSONS (15) - This song was credited to the Jacksons even though Michael was pretty much the only one of them doing the singing (I imagine the rest were singing backup, though). Anyway, I never really liked this song. It was a good summertime hit, however.
5: JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) – THE POINTER SISTERS (3) - I have never liked the title of this song - it's like she's treating her man like a dog, making him do tricks for her to love him. If I was dating someone like that, I'd pack my bags and be outta there!
4: EYES WITHOUT A FACE – BILLY IDOL (4) - Be truthful now - how many of you, like me, thought he was asking the object of his affection to dinner or a movie? (as in "Hows About A Date"). Definitely a common misheard lyric. This was a good song, though my favorite song by him would probably be "Sweet Sixteen".
3: GHOSTBUSTERS – RAY PARKER JR. (8) - This was the theme to one of the most successful movies of 1984. The scandal involving a lawsuit from Huey Lewis & The News is pretty much common knowledge. As for the song, it wasn't bad, but I preferred many other songs from him, both as a solo artist and with his band Raydio.
2: DANCING IN THE DARK – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (2) - This was the first of an incredible seven singles from Springsteen's album Born In The USA, all of which made the Top Ten. This one looked like it might hit #1, but it was leapfrogged by a song that would have a long stay at #1. It did hit #1 in R&R and Cash Box, though, so that was good. I liked this song, but preferred a few others, including songs on Born In The USA.
1: WHEN DOVES CRY - PRINCE (1) - THIS is the song responsible for blocking Springsteen from the top spot of the Hot 100. I think that I disliked this song even more than "Self-Conrol" back during its chart run. And guess what - I still dislike it even more. Not sure why, this one just didn't do much for me (though I did like his other Purple Rain singles).

[mrjukebox]

Not a huge fan of "Seasons In The Sun"-It's too depressing.

[mrjukebox]

One of the featured songs on this week's countdown from 7/21/84 was "Round & Round" by Ratt-Legendary comedian Milton Berle appeared in the video-It turns out that Milton's nephew,Marshall,was managing the group at that time.

[mrjukebox]

Earth,Wind,& Fire's remake of "Got To Get You Into My Life" appeared on the soundtrack of the movie "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" which tanked at the box office in the summer of 1978.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 70s - July 27, 2024

This week's presentation - July 23, 1977

Droppers:
I'M YOUR BOOGIE MAN - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (38) - One of two Top Five hits from them in 1977. I preferred the other one, which just narrowly missed hitting #1 several months later.
DEVIL'S GUN - CJ & CO (36) - This song may have only gotten two weeks in the Top 40, but, due to its yo-yo style chart run, it was on the Hot 100 for an amazing 29 weeks. I forget how it goes, but I seem to remember it wasn't anything special.
LUCILLE - KENNY ROGERS (35) - 400 children and crap in the field? Oh wait, that's something else... Anyway, this was pretty good, but I prefer many others from him.
LOVE'S GROWN DEEP - KENNY NOLAN (28) - A two-hit wonder, although I imagine that most people don't remember this one, as it has fallen into obscurity. Not sure if I prefer this or "I Like Dreamin'", though the latter tends to get stuck in my mind.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME - FOREIGNER (27) - The first of many hits for this legendary band, and a great one at that - both the song and the band!
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE - THE EAGLES (24) - This song just barely missed the Top Ten, ending the streak that they had going (though the streak would have been broken anyway in early 1979, as "Please Come Home For Christmas" wasn't on the chart long enough to hit the Top Ten, as it was a seasonal hit). As for this song, I liked it, but preferred their two other "Hotel California" hits.

40: (REMEMBER THE DAYS OF) THE OLD SCHOOL YARD – CAT STEVENS (debut) - Stevens had clearly already had his day in the sun back in the early half of the 1970s, so that would explain why this song didn't do as well as his earlier hits. That's too bad, as it was a great song, IMO.
39: SLIDE - SLAVE (debut) - The only Top 40 entry from this funk band from Dayton, Ohio. It was OK, but nothing exceptional.
38: BLACK BETTY – RAM JAM (debut) - Meh, not a fan of this one. Way too repetitive and besides, I don't really like southern rock.
37: ON AND ON – STEPHEN BISHOP (debut) - This was his second chart entry and clearly my favorite of his two 1977 hits, as well as one of my favorites from him of all time.
36: WAY DOWN – ELVIS PRESLEY (40) - This was pretty good, but I preferred his other 1977 hit, his rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic "My Way".
35: SMOKE FROM A DISTANT FIRE - THE SANFORD-TOWNSEND BAND (39) - I just vaguely remember hearing this song on the radio back in the day, but Sunny 101.5 used to play this song occasionally back in 1990 and it became one of my favorite songs. Still sounds great today.
34: HOW MUCH LOVE – LEO SAYER (debut) - The first two hits from Leo's Endless Flight album hit #1 and it looked like this one could do the same but, as a matter of fact, it didn't even hit the Top Ten. That's too bad, as it was my favorite song from the album.
33: ARIEL – DEAN FRIEDMAN (37) - This song appeared to be getting a second wind, as it had peaked at #26 several weeks before and had fallen out of the Top 40, but the previous week, it returned to the chart and was moving up this week. It would hit #32 two weeks later before disappearing for good. The song ranked at #69 on Billboard's Top 100 of 1977; kind of a surprise that it didn't make an appearance on the AT40 version of the chart. Anyway, this was a great song - too bad it didn't do any better than it did.
32: DREAMS – FLEETWOOD MAC (22) - Not a bad song, but its melody was a little repetitive - throughout the song, only two chords were used intermittently.
31: DON’T STOP – FLEETWOOD MAC (debut) - The third of four hit singles from their Rumors album. Possibly my least favorite from the album as well, since it is so overplayed. My favorite single from the album would be their next one,. "You Make Lovin' Fun".
30: THE KILLING OF GEORGIE – ROD STEWART (32) - This song was kind of depressing. I can see why it only got as high as #30.
29: TELEPHONE LINE – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (33) - They had four songs that charted in 1977, and this was my favorite of those songs. It turned out to be their biggest as well!
28: TELEPHONE MAN – MERI WILSON (30) - Let's just say that I'm glad that this goofy song's playing time was only two minutes long.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: DEAD MAN'S CURVE - JAN & DEAN - Casey told the story about how this song became prophecy as Jan was seriously injured and in a coma for a year from wiping out on that same stretch of road. The song was pretty good, but nothing exceptional, IMO.
27: GIVE A LITTLE BIT - SUPERTRAMP (31) - This song was heavily edited at the beginning and near the end, but the main part of the song was left intact, which is good, since it's one of my favorite Supertramp songs ever!
26: HANDY MAN – JAMES TAYLOR (34) - I actually associate this more with 1978, since that’s when my Mom played his JT album a lot (plus, she was really good at playing this song on her guitar). Definitely one of his best and I prefer this over the original by a fairly wide margin.
25: LUCKENBACH, TEXAS (BACK TO THE BASICS OF LOVE) – WAYLON JENNINGS & WILLIE NELSON (25) - This was Jennings' second of three Top 40 hits. I seem to recall that it was a good song, but not quite as good as his "Theme From Dukes Of Hazzard".
24: JUST A SONG BEFORE I GO – CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (29) - After being absent from the chart for nearly seven years, this was their comeback hit, and it turned out to be their biggest, peaking at #7 a month later. It was a great one - one of their all-time best hits, IMO.
23: BARRACUDA - HEART (26) - This is a song that I used to think was just OK, but I've recently gotten to like it a lot recently (sort of like "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen, which was on this week's 1985 show).
22: HIGH SCHOOL DANCE – THE SYLVERS (17) - Interesting high school dance story leading into this song, which was pretty good, but I preferred "Boogie Fever" from the year before.
21: IT’S SAD TO BELONG – ENGLAND DAN & JOHN FORD COLEY (23) - A song about a guy who is bored with his marriage and meets someone that he feels is his soul mate. The lyric that doesn't make sense to me is how, if he had a time machine, he'd go back to the day he was born. How about just going back as far as the day you met the girl who you'd end up marrying? Anyway, I actually liked this song and felt this should have gotten higher than #21.
20: GOT TO GIVE IT UP PART 1 – MARVIN GAYE (19) - I'm generally not a huge fan of Marvin Gaye, but for some reason, I like this one. Kind of a surprise, as this one has been compared to "Blurred Lines", which I hate with a passion.
19: GONNA FLY NOW (THEME FROM “ROCKY”) – BILL CONTI (11) - This song actually charted twice in 1977 - besides this one, there was the Maynard Ferguson version, which I actually preferred over this one, which was a good song as well.
18: YOU’RE MY WORLD – HELEN REDDY (20) - This song reminds me a little of Joni James' 1955 hit "How Important Can It Be". The song is quite cheesy, like most of Reddy's songs, but still pretty good.
17: EASY – THE COMMODORES (21) - This was when their musical quality began to improve, as their first few hits were mediocre. This remains one of my favorite Commodores songs of all time!
16: YOU MADE ME BELIEVE IN MAGIC – THE BAY CITY ROLLERS (18) - Their third and final Top Ten hit (in fact, after this, they'd have one last Top 40 hit before fading into obscurity). Anyway, the only songs by them that I like would be this and "I Only Want To Be With You".
15: JET AIRLINER – THE STEVE MILLER BAND (8) - Another act that had four hits during 1977, like ELO. This, however, was my second favorite of the four - my favorite was the one that was actually the last release from their previous album, the title track from Fly Like An Eagle.
14: KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU - ABBA (16) - Their second of two hits from 1977 ("The Name Of The Game" doesn't count, as it wasn't even heard on AT40 until 1978). Though I preferred "Dancing Queen", this one was a great song as well!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: A TASTE OF HONEY - HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS - A tribute to Hal Blaine, whom played drums on this song, was tied in with this song, which I thought was pretty good.
13: YOU AND ME – ALICE COOPER (15) - He was more famous for his loud, hard-rocking songs, but he had a few slow ones as well, which I preferred. My favorite song from him is "Only Women", but this one would be a close second - it's a great song!
12: WHATCHA GONNA DO – PABLO CRUISE (14) - This was their very first hit, and it became their biggest ever, peaking at #6 and lasting a half a year on the Hot 100! Very deservedly so, as it was a great song - one of their best IMO.
11: (YOUR LOVE HAS LIFTED ME) HIGHER AND HIGHER – RITA COOLIDGE (13) - This was an interesting disco rendition of the Jackie Wilson classic. It is also my favorite version, and possibly my favorite of Rita Coolidge's six Top 40 hits (though I'm not sure I've ever heard her early 1980 hit "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love").
10: BEST OF MY LOVE – THE EMOTIONS (12) - Casey mentioned how this song had recently dropped out of #1 on the Soul chart, but returned this week. Little did anyone know that the song would do the same here on AT40. Anyway, I thought it was a great song! Mariah Carey apparently thought so as well, as the bass line for her song "Emotions" was very similar to this.
9: DO YOU WANNA MAKE LOVE – PETER MCCANN (10) - Of course, I have mentioned how this song sounds a lot like "Goodbye Girl" by David Gates (and that I prefer the latter). There is also a similarity between the piano intro to this song and that of the "Greatest American Hero Theme" by Joey Scarbury (which, hopefully, we'll be hearing on the next 1981 show - whenever that might be).
8: MARGARITAVILLE – JIMMY BUFFETT (9) - This song's not bad, but quite overplayed. I preferred other songs from him, such as "Cheeseburger In Paradise" and "Fins". They usually butchered this one, cutting out the instrumental bridge, as well as the ending (when he repeats the last two lines of the chorus) and this week was no exception. Did they ever play this song intact during its chart run?
7: UNDERCOVER ANGEL – ALAN O’DAY (3) - This was O'Day's only Top 40 entry, but a great song it was! One of my favorite of 1977's #1 songs!
6: ANGEL IN YOUR ARMS - HOT (6) - A case where someone in a similar situation as "It's Sad To Belong" actually caved into temptation. I'm not as crazy about this song as I used to be.
5: MY HEART BELONGS TO ME – BARBRA STREISAND (7) - Casey mentioned that this was the first time that she had consecutive Top Ten hits. Not true; "The Way We Were" was her last Top 40 before "Evergreen" and, of course, that song hit #1. Well anyway, of her two 1977 hits, I'm not sure which one I prefer, as both are great!
4: I’M IN YOU – PETER FRAMPTON (5) - This song hit #1 on the R&R chart this week, and looked like it could do the same on Billboard, but didn't quite make it. It still became his biggest hit ever, and deservedly so, since it's my favorite song of his.
3: DA DO RON RON – SHAUN CASSIDY (1) - Here's an interesting number configuration. This week's #3 song was a remake of a song by the Crystals, which hit #3 in 1963, when Cassidy was only three (and a half) years old. It's also the first of three Top Ten hits by Cassidy - and the Crystals also had three Top Tens - how about that? Anyway, of the two versions of this song, I definitely prefer this one.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BOOGIE NIGHTS - HEATWAVE - Meh, I was never a big fan of this one, or part 2 of this song, which would chart the following summer (I did like "Always And Forever", though).
2: I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING – ANDY GIBB (4) - This was the song that kept Frampton from having his first Billboard #1. But that's all good, because this song was just as good, if not better. It was my favorite song from him (although "An Everlasting Love" was a close second).
1: LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT – BARRY MANILOW (2) - This was his third and final #1 hit. No matter; he'd have many more big hits. This was by far my favorite of his #1 songs.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - July 27, 2024

This week's presentation - July 31, 1982

Droppers:
PLAY THE GAME TONIGHT - KANSAS (28) - Their very first song with John Elefante as the lead singer, as former lead singer Steve Walsh had left the group to start a solo career. This was a pretty good song, but I generally preferred their earlier material.
TAKE ME DOWN - ALABAMA (18) - Wow, two bands named after states drop out of the countdown the same week! This was one of four songs by Alabama that crossed over to Pop. It wasn't bad, but didn't hold a candle to "Love In The First Degree".
ANY DAY NOW - RONNIE MILSAP (17) - It was definitely 1982, with songs dropping out of the survey from way up in the Top 20! Anyway, like Alabama, Ronnie was one of several country crossover artists that hit during 1982. This was one of my favorite songs from Milsap - a great song indeed!

LW#3: HURTS SO GOOD – JOHN COUGAR
LW#2: ROSANNA - TOTO
LW#1: EYE OF THE TIGER - SURVIVOR
40: ROUTE 101 - HERB ALPERT (debut) - Ah, the only artist at the time that hit #1 with both an instrumental and a vocal song. Unless that's happened since then, but somehow, I doubt it. Anyway, this was a pretty good song, though not quite as good as "Rise".
39: AND I'M TELLING YOU I'M NOT GOING - JENNIFER HOLLIDAY (debut) - Sort of an operatic song here. I kind of liked it, though it definitely sounded out of place on this show. The song was OK, except for the parts near the end, where she growls the words instead of singing.
38: LOVE PLUS ONE - HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED (38) - The only Top 40 hit by this British new wave band that reminded me a little of the Psychedelic Furs. The song was not bad, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.
37: NICE GIRLS - EYE TO EYE (37) - Another one-hit wonder here, in this case, a duo from Seattle consisting of Deborah Berg and Julian Marshall. This was a pretty good song - had that typical early-80s sound to it.
36: YOUR IMAGINATION - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (39) - One of the "dynamic duo's" lesser known hits. I myself preferred most of their other hits.
35: EYE IN THE SKY - THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT (debut) - Here is a song that was overplayed back in the day, but now, I seldom hear it outside of countdown shows anymore. Definitely one of my favorite songs from them. Many of the stations I listened to back in 1982 played the "Sirius" intro along with this song.
34: PAPERLATE - GENESIS (36) - A few years back, I learned the meaning of the title - it's the British equivalent of "Extra, Extra!". This song, one of several songs from them that uses the horn section from Earth Wind & Fire, was a good one, though not quite their best.
33: I FOUND SOMEBODY - GLENN FREY (35) - Wow, lots of songs in the lower reaches of the chart that never hit the Top 30! This was the first solo hit for one of the main lead singers of the recently disbanded Eagles. It was also one of his most underrated solo hits IMO.
32: IF THE LOVE FITS WEAR IT - LESLIE PEARL (32) - She had written hits for many country and AC artists and, now charted with a single hit of her own. It was a great song - one I've heard many times on my Barry Scott's Lost 45s CD.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SOMEBODY’S BABY – JACKSON BROWNE - This one always reminded me of a girl I had a crush on back in fifth grade for some reason. The only Top 40 hit from the 1982 comedy film Fast Times At Ridgemont High, this was one of Jackson Browne's more successful hits - as well as one of my favorites from him.
31: HOOKED ON SWING - LARRY ELGART & HIS MANHATTAN SWING ORCHESTRA (31) - As we all know, there was a medley fad on the charts in the early 1980s, and this was a big band one. It was actually pretty good.
30: KIDS IN AMERICA - KIM WILDE (34) - This was the first of two Top 40 hits for Wilde. Her other hit, from five years later, was, of course, her biggest hit ever, hitting #1. This song was OK, but I preferred said #1, as well as her 1988 song "You Came", which just barely missed becoming her third Top 40 hit, peaking at #41. At least that song was a Top Ten dance hit, so it's all good.
29: AMERICAN MUSIC - THE POINTER SISTERS (33) - Earlier in the year, they charted with "Should I Do It", which had sort of a sixties sound to it. This one also had such a sound and, like the first one, it made the Top 20. I preferred the one from earlier in 1982.
LDD: BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME – DR. HOOK - This song may have only got as high as #12, but it placed respectably high on the 1980 year-ender (#53, to be exact). And, I think we all know it's my all-time favorite song from them.
28: THINK I'M IN LOVE - EDDIE MONEY (40) - The Money Man's first Top 40 hit in a little over three years. This was the first of two singles from his album No Control (the other one, "Shakin'" didn't quite make it into the Top 40). It was a good song, though I preferred several others from him (such as "Maybe I'm A Fool", "Endless Nights" and "After This Love Is Gone", among others.
27: OUT OF WORK - GARY U.S. BONDS (30) - You can definitely tell that this one is a Springsteen song (even has Clarence Clemons wailing away on the sax). It's a great song, and one with a very timely message, what with the high unemployment rate nowadays.
26: LOVE WILL TURN YOU AROUND - KENNY ROGERS (29) - This one was on its way to a peak of #13, a position it held for five weeks, which was somewhat unusual even by 1982 standards, before falling out of the Top 40 from that peak (which, on the other hand, was a very common occurrence for 1982). The song did manage to hit the Top Ten on the R&R chart, which is good, since this is one of my favorite songs from Kenny Rogers!
25: GOING TO A GO-GO - THE ROLLING STONES (25) - Recorded live in 1981, this was a remake of the Miracles #11 hit from 1966. With its good-sized debut at #30 several weeks before, it would seem that it stood a chance to best that peak, but this is actually where the song peaked! The song was OK, but definitely not one of their best.
24: EARLY IN THE MORNING - THE GAP BAND (24) - Mainly an R&B act, they did have two crossover hits, both in 1982. They sounded very similar, so I'm not sure which of them I prefer, though neither of them are anything exceptional.
23: LOVE IS IN CONTROL - DONNA SUMMER (27) - Now this song had an odd run on the chart, even for 1982. The song looked like it was peaking at #12, since it held there for three weeks (and we all know the story about songs spending forever at their peak in 1982), then it surprised everyone by moving up to #11 the following week, and then #10 the week after, before falling clean out of the Top 40, defying the "more than one week at its peak" rule. I'm wondering if they fudged around with the chart somewhat so this song wouldn't just miss the Top Ten. As for my opinion of this song, I wasn't a big fan of it - sounded a little like something the Jacksons would do - in fact, when I first heard this song, I thought that's who it was.
22: YOU SHOULD HEAR HOW SHE TALKS ABOUT YOU - MELISSA MANCHESTER (26) - She definitely nailed the fives with this song - aside from peaking at #5, it spent five weeks in the Top Ten, fifteen weeks in the Top 40, and 25 weeks on the Hot 100 - and, had one of her lower charters not made the Top 40, this would have been her fifth Top 40 hit. Anyway, this was a good song, although sounds a little like a note you’d find in a middle school girls’ notebook.
EXTRA: CAN’T BUY ME LOVE – THE BEATLES
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WHO CAN IT BE NOW - MEN AT WORK - This one, along with their other Business As Usual #1 hit, "Down Under" are both way overplayed. Yet radio stations pretty much ignore any of the Cargo singles, which IMO are superior to the two #1s.
21: WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I - RICK SPRINGFIELD (21) - Here's another song that spent an unusually long time at a peak outside the Top Ten. This week, it was in the midst of a six-week stay at #21 - possibly the longest peak ever for a song that never made the Top 20. Like the Kenny Rogers song, this managed to hit the Top Ten on the R&R chart. It was a great song - one of Springfield's best songs, though I don't remember ever hearing it back in the day.
20: PERSONALLY - KARLA BONOFF (20) - Here is a song that looked like it had peaked on two occasions, since it held at #22 for two weeks now, the song was at #20 for a second week. The song would climb to #19 the following week, and that was all the higher it got, but its tenacity helped to place it at #93 for the entire year. It was a great song, as was the case with every song on her Wild Heart Of The Young album, which I bought back in the summer of 1994 after hearing the title track playing over a scene in The Wonder Years, and it obviously turned out to be a worthy purchase!
19: STILL THEY RIDE - JOURNEY (19) - The fourth single from what is IMO one of their best albums ever, ESC4P3. Several other songs from the album were not released as singles, but were popular album cuts (i.e. "Stone In Love" and "Keep On Runnin'"). This song was by far my favorite song from the album.
18: TAKE IT AWAY - PAUL McCARTNEY (23) - Earlier, I mentioned how I suspected that "Love Is In Control" was artificially moved up into the Top Ten. The fact that this song, which peaked at #10 for five weeks, dropped back only one spot might back that up. I'm thinking that, with the rule that was in place, it would have spend another week at #10. But who knows - that's just speculation and nothing more. Anyway, I really liked this song - one of my favorite of Sir Paul's solo hits.
17: CAUGHT UP IN YOU - .38 SPECIAL (17) - Note that this is the first song in the show moving downward. This was definitely one of my absolute favorites from this Jacksonville band! This was their first of two Top Ten hits (you thought they had more, didn't you?)
16: DO I DO - STEVIE WONDER (13) - This was one of several songs on this week's chart that were sampled in future Top 40 hits, in this case, "Livin' It Up" by Cookie Monster - er, I mean Ja Rule. Of course, I preferred this song.
15: VACATION - THE GO-GO'S (22) - I seem to recall that this was the first cassette single released in the States. Of their three 1982 hits, this would be my second favorite behind "Alex The Seal" "Our Lips Are Sealed".
14: LOVE'S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME - JUICE NEWTON (12) - Of course, this was one of my favorite songs from her, as it was one of her 1982 hits. I preferred the other two, but this is still a great one nonetheless!
13: WASTED ON THE WAY - CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH (16) - The comeback hit for the trio, who had been absent from the Top 40 for five years. This was one of two hits that they placed on the charts during 1982. Of those songs, I preferred this one (though "Southern Cross" was also a great one).
12: TAINTED LOVE - SOFT CELL (8) - This song, which had debuted way back in mid-January (more than six months before) finally reached its peak two weeks before. This was definitely one of the most overplayed songs of the 1980s (still is, on oldies stations). Of course, we all know that this song held the record for the longest consecutive run on the Hot 100 - in fact, I believe that the song has such a record for the pre-Soundscan era (remember - "What About Me" by Moving Pictures doesn't count, as that song had two chart-runs).
11: LET IT WHIP - THE DAZZ BAND (5) - This song had recently spent five non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the soul chart, and it had spent the past two weeks at its Hot 100 peak of #5. I wasn't a big fan of the song, however.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GLORIA - LAURA BRANIGAN - Here's a song that got quite a lot of mileage on the chart! Spent 22 weeks in the Top 40, and 36 weeks on the Hot 100. It was a great song - one that has aged quite well.
10: KEEP THE FIRE BURNIN' - REO SPEEDWAGON (10) - This was their only upbeat song that hit the Top Ten. It was pretty good, but I generally preferred their power ballads.
9: ONLY THE LONELY - THE MOTELS (9) - This was one of the first of four Top 40 hits from this band from Los Angeles. I liked all four of those hits, my favorite being "Remember The Nights", from early 1984. This was their biggest hit overall, and the only one that gets any kind of recurrent airplay nowadays.
8: EVEN THE NIGHTS ARE BETTER - AIR SUPPLY (14) - This is the song that holds the undesirable record for the song that took the longest fall out of the Top 40. Two months later, it would fall from #6 to #42 (but you already knew that, right?) Anyway, this was one of their best songs, IMO.
LDD: AMERICA – NEIL DIAMOND - The third and final Top 40 hit from the Jazz Singer. I liked all three songs about the same, depending on my mood at the time - they're all great songs!
7: DON'T YOU WANT ME - THE HUMAN LEAGUE (7) - Despite its hefty drop from #1 the previous week, the song actually holds in place this week (then again, there was very heavy competition in the Top Five last week, which would account for its odd chart action). This is one of the songs I most associate with the summer of 1982, as that was when it was #1 and played a lot on the stations I listened to (and it still receives quite a lot of recurrent airplay). A great song indeed!
6: HARD TO SAY I'M SORRY - CHICAGO (11) - They had been absent from the chart for over three years, but more than made up for lost time with this song, which would go all the way to #1 by late summer. Of course, at one time, it was my favorite song in the world, but now, I'm pretty much burned out on the song (Az Yet's 1997 cover, which sounded much like the original, was instrumental in that), so much that I usually change the station when it comes on the radio.
5: ABRACADABRA - THE STEVE MILLER BAND (6) - Remember this band's big 1977 hit "Jet Airliner"? (Of course you do!) That would be their last Top Ten for five years. This was the song that broke that dry spell - this week, no less. But the song didn't stop there - it went all the way to #1 in September. I was getting tired of the song near the end of its chart run, but now I think it's a good song, since it's not overplayed as a recurrent. They actually played the album version of the song this week - possibly the only week they ever did that on AT40.
4: HOLD ME - FLEETWOOD MAC (4) - This song was peaking at #4 for its second of seven incredible weeks - a record for the longest peak at #4 that, as far as I know, could still be standing today (though, of course, I stopped believing in the Hot 100 soon after 11/30/1991). It was one of my favorites from them back in the day, but I have since grown tired of the song (though it's good to hear it every now and again).
3: HURTS SO GOOD - JOHN COUGAR (3) - Here's one of the biggest songs of the decade that fell short of the #1 spot. Chart performance-wise, it was his biggest hit ever. This was, IMO, a good song that has aged quite well.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I RAN (SO FAR AWAY) - A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS - The first (and biggest) of three hits by this English new wave and synthpop band. I liked all three songs, but I'm not sure which one I liked best.
2: ROSANNA - TOTO (2) - This song couldn't get any higher than #2, but it became their biggest hit overall (especially on the R&R chart, where it spent a month on top). It was a good song that still gets quite a lot of recurrent airplay.
1: EYE OF THE TIGER – SURVIVOR (1) - This song made a huge debut in the Top 40 at #19 a little over a month before and wasted absolutely no time hitting #1, where it stayed for six weeks. It was a good song - has held up pretty well despite overplay. I do prefer a few others from them, though.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - July 27, 2024

This week's presentation - July 26, 1986

Droppers:
MOUNTAINS - PRINCE (37) - This used to be the "theme song" for the "radio show" I used to do (I'd do a variety of stuff, like playing my favorite songs, reading stories that I had written, and so forth). The song did not match up to the success of the first single from Parade, the #1 "Kiss", however, peaking at #23. But I guess I can see why it didn't get any higher - definitely not one of Prince's biggest hits, but the beginning and end did indeed sound like good theme song music. Not sure why I liked this song (as I generally don't like his upbeat songs like this), but there was just something about it...
LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT - .38 SPECIAL (26) - As this was one of my favorite songs from them, I was quite disappointed that this one did not become their second Top Ten, though it certainly looked like it might just three weeks before, as it was making steady progress up the chart. Looks like this song might have been victim of a vacuum effect immediately followed by a barrage of new songs.

40: YANKEE ROSE – DAVID LEE ROTH (debut) - This was a song that I didn't care much for back in the day (though I did like David's conversation with his guitar at the beginning of the song. Other than that...) The song's OK, but I generally preferred him with Van Halen.
39: ON MY OWN – PATTI LaBELLE & MICHAEL McDONALD (23) - Both artists had previous solo hits, but their one-time duet became the biggest hit of both of theirs - both in terms of solo hits and with their respective bands (LaBelle and the Doobie Brothers), as their other number one songs spent no more than a single week at #1 while this song had recently spent three weeks at the top. This is another song that I couldn't stand back in the day but now, I think is a great song - the kind that gets better with age, like fine wine!
38: DREAMS – VAN HALEN (22) - Well speak of the devil! We heard the former lead singer of this band back at #40 and now they appear just two spots above. This was the second hit from the Van Hagar era, although this and the next hit from 5150 couldn't seem to push into the Top 20 (though they did peak in the teens on the R&R chart, so they were apparently low sellers, which went to show how huge the album was).
37: WORDS GET IN THE WAY – MIAMI SOUND MACHINE (debut) - Their third hit and, like the first two, it hit the Top Ten. I’ve said that I prefer their ballads to their upbeat songs, but this is actually one of least favorite of their slow songs - I prefer a few of their upbeat songs, such as "Bad Boy" and "Betcha Say That" over this one.
36: CRUSH ON YOU – THE JETS (24) - Their breakthrough hit on the Pop chart, though I was less than impressed with it. Their next two singles, one of which failed to hit the Top 40, were much better, IMO. Not sure; this one just didn't do anything for me.
35: HYPERACTIVE – ROBERT PALMER (33) - This one was definitely underrated. I'm not a big Robert Palmer fan, as you probably know all too well, but this is possibly my favorite song from him. It's too bad it didn't do any better than it did. The two songs that bookended it, especially "Addicted To Love" were big hits and played ad nauseum; how did this one get virtually ignored? Inquiring minds want to know!
34: BABY LOVE - REGINA (39) - This one sounds like a Madonna song (which is no coincidence, as this was co-written by Stephen Bray, who collaborated with Madonna during the 1980s, co-writing and co-producing many of her big hits in the 1980s).
33: DANCING ON THE CEILING – LIONEL RICHIE (40) - Of course, this is only possible if the building your in has been flipped over. But seriously, the song was pretty good, and it had a great video. I did, however, get sick of hearing kids at school saying, "Hey, look at that footprint on the ceiling!"
32: TAKE MY BREATH AWAY (LOVE THEME FROM “TOP GUN”) - BERLIN (38) - The second hit from one of the biggest movie soundtracks of '86! The soundtrack yielded three Top 40 hits, and one that didn't make the Top 40. Plus, I believe that several other songs, like Mighty Wings by Cheap Trick, received airplay as album cuts on a few radio stations. I liked this song - definitely not as annoying as their first Top 40 hit "No More Words".
31: ONE STEP CLOSER TO YOU – GAVIN CHRISTOPHER (36) - This week, it's five steps closer. This was definitely one of my favorite songs from 1986! I heard this one quite often during its chart run, but then never again. I felt this one was way underrated.
30: ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD – THE OUTFIELD (35) - Here is another song I associate most with the summer of '86, since I don't think that I've heard it (outside of countdown shows) since it fell off the chart. This one wasn't quite as big as their first song, "Your Love", but it did hit the Top 20.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: FRIENDS AND LOVERS - GLORIA LORING & CARL ANDERSON - This song was right outside the Top 40, at #41 this week and would enter the survey the following week. For some odd reason I found the sudden crescendo in the first chorus (where they sing, “We don’t have to be one...OR THE OTHER) quite disturbing. But I eventually came to really like this song - that is, until the radio stations that I listened to played it ad nauseum and I was getting quite tired of it (by that time, Eddie Rabbitt & Juice Newton were charting at country with a cover of the song which I preferred over the original).
29: TUFF ENUFF – THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS (20) - Though I'm not a huge fan of southern rock, this one was actually pretty good.
28: LIKE A ROCK – BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND (16) - Ah, the Chevy Trucks song! I liked this song, though I slightly preferred Seger's other 1986 hit, "American Storm".
LDD: GREATEST LOVE OF ALL – WHITNEY HOUSTON - One of the more popular songs in the LDD department (some of those were tear-inducing). I was starting to fall asleep at this point, so I'm not sure if this was one of them. Fortunately, this show is available in scoped form on YouTube, so I can catch it there.
27: SUZANNE - JOURNEY (30) - Ah, I can smell the cool night air as I sat with my then-girlfriend in her backyard (even though her name was not Suzanne, some of the lyrics fit, like "those summer nights with me"). This great song was my second favorite of the four Top 40 hits from Raised On Radio, behind "I'll Be Alright Without You".
26: TAKE IT EASY – ANDY TAYLOR (29) - It was beginning to look like all of the Taylors from Duran Duran would have solo Top 40 hits (as John had already hit earlier in the year), but Roger Taylor was the odd man out. This is definitely a song that I associate with the summer of 1986, as U93 played this song regularly (in fact, it kicked off their Top 93 of 1986). A great song indeed!
25: NO ONE IS TO BLAME – HOWARD JONES (19) - One of a handful of hits during 1986 that hit #1 on the R&R chart, but not Billboard, and this was the #1 song with the biggest peak difference, as it peaked at #4 the others peaked at #2, I believe). Well, anyway, it was a great song - possibly my favorite Hojo song of all time!
24: SWEET FREEDOM (THEME FROM “RUNNING SCARED”) – MICHAEL McDONALD (32) - The second song on this week's chart that McDonald was involved with. He indeed did quite well on the charts as a solo artist - I'm sure that the fact that he was the former lead singer of the Doobie Brothers was somehat instrumental in that. This was one of his Top Ten hits and it was a good one.
23: VENUS - BANANARAMA (34) - I wasn't a big fan of this song. I preferred their two other Top 40 hits, especially "I Heard A Rumour".
22: THE EDGE OF HEAVEN – WHAM! (31) - This was a bittersweet song for Wham! fans - their final Top 40 hit. But at least it was one of their best, IMO, anyway. George Michael, who was pretty much the voice of Wham! anyway, went on to have an even more successful career, so it really didn't make much of a difference.
21: YOU SHOULD BE MINE (THE WOO WOO SONG) – JEFFREY OSBORNE (25) - This would have been a great song if not for the dumb title, and the "Can you woo woo woo" choruses. I preferred many other songs from him, like "On The Wings Of Love" and "Don't You Get So Mad". This is a pleasant slow jam, nevertheless.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: TAKEN IN - MIKE + THE MECHANICS - Definitely one of their most underrated songs! This one deserved a much higher peak than #32, IMO - it should have been a Top Ten hit just like their other two hits from 1986! At least it did do well on the AC chart, peaking at #7. I seem to remember that there was a noticeable edit around the midpoint of the song.
20: RUMORS – TIMEX SOCIAL CLUB (25) - I remember that this song was one of the Top Ten requests of the year according to U93's nightly Top Ten at 10 countdown. Also making that list was the parody of the song, "Roaches" by Bobby Jimmy & The Critters. Back in the day, I liked that song a lot better, since this song was played to death during its chart run. Now I think it's a good one, though I wouldn't want to heat it all the time.
19: SECRET SEPARATION – THE FIXX (21) - The fifth of six Top 40 hits for this band from London. I liked this and "Saved By Zero", my two favorite songs from them, about the same.
18: HIGHER LOVE – STEVE WINWOOD (27) - He seemed destined to be a one-hit wonder (as a solo artist, anyway), but over six years after his first Top 40 hit, he hit the chart again, and in a major way, as this song went all the way to #1. It still remains one of the most overplayed hits of 1986 today, and I'm still burned out on it (not that it was one of my favorite songs in the first place).
17: WHEN THE HEART RULES THE MIND - GTR (14) - A supergroup of sorts, consisting of members of several rock bands, including Asia, Genesis and Yes. This was their only hit, however, but a great song it was!
16: THERE’LL BE SAD SONGS (TO MAKE YOU HAPPY) – BILLY OCEAN (8) - Yes, I know that the subtitle of this song is "To Make You Cry", but I decided to leave this oldradishows typo as is, since I found it amusing. Anyway, most of us know that this song was inspired by an incident connected with one of Ocean's former hits "Suddenly". This was Ocean's second #1 hit, and a great song it was! One of his best songs (and, like the Jets, I liked his slow songs, like this one, best).
15: DIGGING YOUR SCENE – THE BLOW MONKEYS (18) - Yet another song that especially reminds me of the summer of 1986, since I liked it a lot (still do) and it received virtually no airplay after it fell off the chart. I always thought that this song should have hit the Top Ten, but I'm thinking that maybe that some of the Top 40 audience didn't like the voice of the lead singer.
14: WHO’S JOHNNY (“SHORT CIRCUIT” THEME) – EL DeBARGE (6) - His first solo hit away from his family band - it was a great song! His brother, Chico, also charted with a solo hit at the very end of that year called "Talk To Me".
13: YOUR WILDEST DREAMS – THE MOODY BLUES (9) - They played the version of the song with the long intro as Casey told the story about the band having three Top Ten hits in three different decades. As big as this legendary band was, it's a surprise that they did not have more Top Ten hits. I'm glad that this was one of them, as it is one of my all-time faves from them!
12: WE DON’T HAVE TO TAKE OUR CLOTHES OFF – JERMAINE STEWART (17) - I always got this song confused with "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston, as the drum intros sounded alike (of course, both songs were Narada Michael Walden productions), I never knew what song it was until the instruments kicked in. This was a good song with a good message.
11: OPPORTUNITIES (LET’S MAKE LOTS OF MONEY) – PET SHOP BOYS (13) - This was their second hit, though it doesn't get much in the way of recurrent airplay. They just assume we want to hear "West End Girls" for the millionth time. That's too bad, as this was a great song - one of their best, IMO.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WALK THIS WAY - RUN D.M.C. - Ah, those were the days, when rap was halfway decent. Of course, since this was a remake of a familiar song, that could have had something to do with how I like it, but back when this was on the charts, I did not like it, but in retrospect, it doesn't sound so bad now - in fact, I actually prefer it over the original by Aerosmith.
10: MODERN WOMAN (FROM “RUTHLESS PEOPLE”) – BILLY JOEL (15) - Here's one you don't hear much anymore! It was a good one, but definitely not one of my favorites from him.
9: HOLDING BACK THE YEARS – SIMPLY RED (5) - When I first heard this song, in mid-May, 1986, it was my favorite song in the world. However, the song was quite overplayed and I got tired of it, actually quite fast. It's still one of my least favorites from them - the only ones I really like are the ones that weren't quite as popular, such as "Money$ Too Tight To Mention", "The Right Thing", and "You've Got It".
LDD: I’LL BE THERE – THE JACKSON 5 - Their last of four #1 songs in a row. I thought it was pretty good (definitely fit the LDD), but I preferred a few others from them (as well as solo hits from some of the members).
8: MAD ABOUT YOU – BELINDA CARLISLE (11) - One of two songs on the chart with which Andy Taylor was involved (as he played guitar in this song). It was not bad, though I sure had different sentiments about it back during its chart run!
7: LOVE TOUCH (THEME FROM “LEGAL EAGLES”) – ROD STEWART (10) - Holly Knight, of the band Device, which would debut on the countdown a few weeks later with their own hit "Hanging On A Heart Attack", wrote this one, and it definitely showed, given the similarity between this and HOAHA. I did slightly prefer the latter. Both were good songs, though,
6: PAPA DON’T PREACH - MADONNA (12) - Here is another song that I hated with a passion when it was on the charts. It's not bad now that I don't hear it every single time I turn on the radio, but still, I prefer many other songs by Madonna.
5: GLORY OF LOVE (THEME FROM “THE KARATE KID PART II”) – PETER CETERA (7) - Cetera indeed made a worthwhile decision to leave the group Chicago (or be dismissed, whichever way you’d like to look at it), as he had many great solo hits afterward - in fact, he'd had two #1s before his former band even returned to the Top 40 with their new line-up. This is indeed one of his best!
4: NASTY – JANET JACKSON (3) - Here's a song that I detested back in the day and used to switch the station when it came on the radio! It's still not her best song ever, but there are several songs of hers that I dislike more.
3: INVISIBLE TOUCH - GENESIS (1) - Their lead-off hit from the album of the same title, and to #1 it went! Good thing, as it's my favorite song from the album (as well as the fact that they'd been hitting the chart for nearly ten years).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LOVE ZONE - BILLY OCEAN - Your typical mid-80s slow jam. I preferred the song that preceded this as well as the follow-up - both tender love ballads. This was a good song as well.
2: DANGER ZONE – KENNY LOGGINS (4) - This was the first Top Gun single released - and the king of movie soundtrack hits, Kenny Loggins, was the one singing it. He was also the artist of said single that did not hit the Top 40 ("Playing With The Boys"). I preferred this one and the Top 40 audience apparently did as well, since it practically made it to #1.
1: SLEDGEHAMMER – PETER GABRIEL (2) - The week before, he and his former band held down the top two positions on the chart, making for a chart first. This week, the former member of the band dethroned them, which was another chart first. As for the song - like "Higher Love", it is still quite overplayed today. I usually change the station when it comes on, as I am still quite burned out on it. I do like "Shock The Monkey" and "Big Time", though.