Chart Critiques

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - October 26, 2024

This week's presentation - October 29, 1983

Droppers:
MIRACLES - STACY LATTISAW (40) - This was the last of her three Top 40 hits - just barely, too, as it only spent a single week on the chart, which I thought was a shame, as it was a good song.
EVERYDAY PEOPLE – JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS (37) - Of course, we all know that this song was originally done by Sly & The Family Stone. I may be in the minority here, but I actually prefer this updated version. Of course, that's not saying much, since I'm not a huge fan of either version. The chorus sounds too much like the familiar playground chant (i.e. "Johnny’s got a girlfriend, Johnny’s got a girlfriend...")
EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK – ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS (36) - Meh, for some reason, this song never really did anything for me.
PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ - TACO (35) - The man is Dutch and he named himself after a Mexican food - go figure! Anyway, this song, originally a hit over 50 years before, was updated so as not to sound out of place by 1983 standards. It was a good song. I must say, it's #4 peak was quite a far cry from its run on the R&R chart, where it only got as high as #17. I wonder if it would have been #1 on the Sales chart, had it existed back then. Moreover, I'm quite surprised that it didn't hit the Top Ten on the R&R chart, as the radio stations I listened to all played this song regularly.
SITTING AT THE WHEEL – THE MOODY BLUES (30) - "Running On Empty" meets "Sister Goldenhair", as I hear elements of both songs in this song, which was the Moody Blues' comeback hit after two years off. Because of that, many people thought it would do better than it did but, unfortunately, it didn't even make the Top 20.
FAR FROM OVER – FRANK STALLONE (24) - Older brother Sylvester was a big movie star and it looked like Frankie was starting a singing career. However, this ended up being his only Top 40 hit, but a great song it was!

40: CHURCH OF THE POISONED MIND – CULTURE CLUB (debut) - As Casey mentioned, this one had sort of a 60s Motown feel to it. The song's OK, but this is about when their musical quality began taking a dive.
39: MIRROR MAN – THE HUMAN LEAGUE (debut) - Casey also compared this to the Motown sound of the 60s, but I don't really hear it - not as much as the Culture Club song, at any rate. As for my opinion on the song (which sounds much like their last hit, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", it is my second favorite song from Human League, behind "Don't You Want Me".
38: HOW MANY TIMES CAN WE SAY GOODBYE – DIONNE WARWICK & LUTHER VANDROSS (debut) - These two great R&B artists should have done more duets, since they sounded great together on this one. One of my favorites by both artists involved!
37: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU – LAURA BRANIGAN (27) - Of course, it's pretty common knowledge that Michael Bolton wrote this one (and later on recorded his own version). This is my favorite of Laura's 1983 hits (including "Gloria", which ranked on 1983's year-end list), but I slightly prefer Bolton's version.
36: AUTOMATIC MAN – MICHAEL SEMBELLO (debut) - This one sure didn’t match up to the success of “Maniac”, as it only climbed two spots the following week and then fell out of the survey the week after that. It’s a shame too, because this was a great song - I actually preferred it to the overrated “Maniac” by a sizeable margin.
35: QUEEN OF THE BROKEN HEARTS - LOVERBOY (debut) - I heard this from time to time on WLS back in the day, but that's pretty much it, as the song just barely missed the Countdown America chart, peaking at #31. It was a good song, but not quite their best.
34: TENDER IS THE NIGHT – JACKSON BROWNE (39) - This was the follow-up to his Top 20 hit "Lawyers In Love" and his tenth Top 40 hit overall. It was so/so, but one of my least favorite of his hits.
33: SEND HER MY LOVE – JOURNEY (38) - The fourth Top 40 hit from Frontiers. I remember WLS played this as an album cut in the early spring of 1983, around the time "Separate Ways" was climbing the chart
EXTRA: MONEY – PINK FLOYD - This was played in honor of the album "Dark Side Of The Moon", from which it was released, breaking the record for most weeks on the album chart, established by Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits album, in 1968. It was currently in its 491st week on the chart, and there was a lot more where that came from! It would end up spending a total of 950 weeks on!
32: PROMISES, PROMISES – NAKED EYES (22) - 1983 was definitely their heyday, as they had their two biggest hits that year (along with a minor hit at the very end). This was my favorite of their two Top 20 hits (I forget how "When The Lights Go Out" goes at the moment).
31: CAN’T SHAKE LOOSE – AGNETHA FALTSKOG (33) - Back in the early spring, Abba member Frida charted with her solo hit "I Know There's Something Going On" - now another member of the Swedish group tried her luck. This one didn't quite match up to the success of the Frida song, however. I thought it was a good song - I like both songs about the same, but prefer several other songs by Abba.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MAJOR TOM (COMING HOME) - PETER SCHILLING - They played an English/German hybrid version of this song, sort of like AT40 did with "99 Luftballons" by Nena every once in awhile in 1984. Of course, I prefer the English version. It's a pretty good song - sounded a little like the Moody Blues, especially at the end.
30: SAY IT ISN’T SO – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (debut) - One of two new songs on their first Greatest Hits album. The song wasn't bad, but definitely far from their best.
29: FOOLIN’ - DEF LEPPARD (31) - After two rockers, they decided to release a power ballad. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as successful as the predecessors, but Def Leppard would end up having more success with power ballads in the future, including one that went to #1 almost exactly five years later (That, of course, was "Love Bites"). As for this song, it was a pretty good one.
28: DR. HECKYLL & MR. JIVE – MEN AT WORK (28) - This was very different sounding for Men At Work. It seems to border on being a novelty song, which might have something to do with how it tanked so fast (that, along with the fact that Men At Work had already had their day in the sun. It seems that the popularity of Aussie bands had faded away, because this was also around the time that Air Supply and the Little River Band had their last big hits (although Air Supply would have a minor resurgence a few years later).
27: CRUMBLIN’ DOWN – JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (34) - This was his first hit with his real last name tacked on the end. I thought it was mediocre at best. I honestly thought at first, now that he added his real last name, that his musical quality was going to start going down. Fortunately, that wasn’t true, as his next few hits were good ones.
26: BIG LOG – ROBERT PLANT (20) - This was the first solo hit by the lead singer of the legendary band Led Zeppelin. It was a good one, but I generally prefer his Led Zeppelin singles.
25: LOVE IS A STRANGER – EURYTHMICS (29) - They hit #1 almost two months before with their first hit "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", and they were shooting for two. However, this song did not even make the Top 20 and I, along with others, I'm sure, figured this song was riding on the coattails of the first song and they would never chart again, but they recovered nicely in early 1984 and ended up having a decent string of hits. This song was not bad, but definitely not one of my favorites from them.
LDD: BEN – MICHAEL JACKSON - Not a big fan of this song, due to the cheese factor, but the LDD connected it was very sweet and kind of sad, as the song was dedicated in the memory of the grandfather of the LDD writer. They were really good friends, so the song definitely fit their friendship.
24: THIS TIME – BRYAN ADAMS (25) - Adams' third and final Top 40 hit from Cuts Like A Knife. It is my favorite of those three hits, though I preferred a few of his later hits.
23: P.Y.T. (PRETTY YOUNG THING) – MICHAEL JACKSON (32) - The sixth hit from his smash Thriller album. The week before, Casey mentioned that this song put Jackson's Thriller album in a tie with the soundtrack to Urban Cowboy as the album that generated the most hit singles, with six so far. The following February, Michael would have that record all to himself, when the title cut from Thriller debuted on the chart, giving him seven hits from Thriller - and all of them hit the Top Ten to boot. This one just barely made it, peaking at #10 for a single week (which some people have mentioned sounds suspicious). As for the song, I was never a big fan of it - my least favorite of the Thriller singles.
22: (SHE’S) SEXY + 17 – THE STRAY CATS (14) - Their final Top Ten hit (although the lead singer did have a hit with his new band in 1998 called "Jump, Jive An' Wail"). This song wasn't bad, but I preferred the Stray Cats' three other Top 40 hits.
21: TELL HER ABOUT IT – BILLY JOEL (13) - Just a few songs back, I mentioned that Michael Jackson's Thriller was tied with Urban Cowboy as the biggest hit generator. Little did anyone know that this album would eventually pull into a tie for second place with Urban Cowboy - especially since there was such a long gap before the sixth single. Anyway, this album was just getting started - and a good start at that, with the first single hitting #1. However, it was one of my least favorites, due to overplay (and I wasn't too crazy about it to begin with).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES - ELTON JOHN - A song that might be credited as "Elton John featuring Stevie Wonder", as the latter does an awesome harmonica solo in this song! Too bad it was edited out of the song
20: LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD – PAT BENATAR (26) - Well what is it - a stranger or a battlefield? Those are two completely different things! But seriously, this song was on its way to becoming her second Top Ten hit (yes, I also thought she'd had more Top Ten hits up to this point). It was OK, but one of my least favorite songs by her.
19: HEART AND SOUL – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (23) - His/their third of many Top 40 hits and the first release from Sports, definitely one of their best singles albums. This was a good song, but far from being my favorite from them.
18: THE SAFETY DANCE – MEN WITHOUT HATS (11) - As usual, they played the single version of the song, which of course is my favorite. The other one just doesn't cut it, IMO.
17: TONIGHT I CELEBRATE MY LOVE – PEABO BRYSON & ROBERTA FLACK (17) - This was one of several duets from them, though it was the only one that charted on AT40 (the second, "You're Looking Like Love To Me" just missed, in early 1983). I preferred that song, though this one was a great one as well.
16: MODERN LOVE – DAVID BOWIE (18) - Somehow, I never really cared for this song. I preferred his two other big 1983 hits, but I think we all know that my two favorites from him are his two 1987 hits.
15: IF ANYONE FALLS – STEVIE NICKS (16) - The second hit from The Wild Heart. Strange that none of the singles from that album, even the biggest one, "Stand Back", get much recurrent airplay. This would be my favorite single from the album.
14: CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE – QUIET RIOT (21) - I was never a huge heavy metal fan, but for some reason, I loved this song! I would crank it up whenever it came on the radio.
13: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE – TALKING HEADS (9) - OH HELL NO!! If you're gonna burn down the house, make sure that as many copies of this song are inside said house!
12: SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER – THE MOTELS (12) - They had four Top 40 hits, and I liked all of them. This one would peak at #9, like their first hit "Only The Lonely". I think that we all know that my favorite song from them was "Remember The Nights.
11: SAY SAY SAY – PAUL McCARTNEY & MICHAEL JACKSON (19) - This is the song that prevented the Hall & Oates song back at #30 from hitting #1. This song had a lock on the top spot that nobody could loosen for six weeks. IMO, the song is pretty good, but kinda cheesy.
10: UPTOWN GIRL – BILLY JOEL (15) - Joel's salute to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. It was a good song (I did prefer it over "Tell Her About It"), but I preferred a few other songs from "An Innocent Man", including album cuts.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BREAK MY STRIDE - MATTHEW WILDER - I used to hate this song with a passion, but it's one of those songs that gets better with age. Now, I think it's a great one.
9: TELEFORE (LONG DISTANCE LOVE AFFAIR) – SHEENA EASTON (10) - This song was somewhat of a departure from her more "innocent" songs like "Morning Train", "Modern Girl" and "For Your Eyes Only" (but her naughtiest song yet was about a year away from being released). As for this song, it was a great one - possibly my favorite of her upbeat hits.
8: DELIRIOUS - PRINCE (8) - Meh, I'm not a fan of this one. Give me "Little Red Corvette" any day!
7: KING OF PAIN – THE POLICE (3) - The follow-up to their ad nauseum played song that came before. This song had just recently spent a pair of weeks at #1 on the Radio & Records chart, but stopped at #3 on the Hot 100, which was an indication that more fans were buying the Synchronicity album than the singles at this point.
6: MAKING LOVE OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL – AIR SUPPLY (2) - One of two songs composed by Jim Steinman in the Top Ten this week - and a great one at that. Not sure which one I prefer (although a third song written and composed by Steinman that charted later that year ("Read 'Em And Weep" by Barry Manilow) tops both of them).
LDD: STEP BY STEP – EDDIE RABBITT - 1981 was definitely his best year on the Pop charts, as he had two Top Five hits, including a #1 hit, "I Love A Rainy Night" from earlier in the year. While I prefer that song, I really like this one as well. It definitely fit the LDD which was from Jim from Canada to all the guys in the world who are too shy to ask girls out.
5: ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER – THE FIXX (6) - Here's a song that overplay sort of ruined (as I do remember liking this one at first). I preferred "Save By Zero" by a fairly wide margin.
4: TRUE – SPANDAU BALLET (4) - PM Dawn and Nelly apparently like this song, as both artists sampled it in their songs. I think the song's pretty good, too, though I didn't like it too much during its chart run.
3: ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT) – LIONEL RICHIE (5) - This may have been his biggest hit, but not in my book it wasn't! Of course, the overplay may have had something to do with it, but I don't know; I never really liked it in the first place.
2: TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART – BONNIE TYLER (1) - he other Steinman-composed song on the chart this week, coming off of a four-week run at the top (in fact, it was the song to block the other Steinman song from the #1 spot!) As I've mentioned before, I liked both songs about the same - both are great ones!
1: ISLANDS IN THE STREAM – KENNY ROGERS DUET WITH DOLLY PARTON (1) - Interesting story about how Kenny Rogers' predictions about his chart success came true! Would have been even weirder if he'd predicted that he'd hit #1 on the country and pop chart the same week, as that is exactly what happened this week! I wasn't too much for this song back in the day, but I've grown to like this song a lot better than I have over the past few years. The title of this song made for a very funny joke about Dolly Parton taking a bath.

[Hervard]

Just a heads up - as of January 1, 2025, I will no longer be posting weekly commentaries on the retro American Top 40 shows. Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the random comments that I get about my critiques, but posting them has become somewhat tedious and, lately, I haven't even been listening to many of the shows anymore. Once you have heard every single show (not counting the guest-hosted ones), they just don't have the same appeal that they once did. Perhaps I'll chime in every once in awhile if the featured show doesn't have a "new and improved" format, but I'm not sure that's even necessary, since, from my past commentaries, you pretty much know what I think of each song.

I will be posting the weekly commentaries for the remainder of 2024, however.

[mrjukebox]

Hervard,I'm going to miss your critiques-I found them a pleasure to read.

[torcan]

Oct 25, 2024 13:30:16 GMT -5 Hervard said:

American Top 40: The 80s - October 26, 2024


EXTRA: MONEY – PINK FLOYD - This was played in honor of the album "Dark Side Of The Moon", from which it was released, breaking the record for most weeks on the album chart, established by Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits album, in 1968. It was currently in its 491st week on the chart, and there was a lot more where that came from! It would end up spending a total of 950 weeks on!

I guess that's the total weeks it currently has. I remember that it finally dropped off in October 1988 after 741 weeks. It was off for quite a while, but ever since the chart methodology changed and they allowed catalog albums back onto the chart, it's weeks have climbed again.

[torcan]

Oct 25, 2024 13:43:39 GMT -5 Hervard said:

Just a heads up - as of January 1, 2025, I will no longer be posting weekly commentaries on the retro American Top 40 shows. Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the random comments that I get about my critiques, but posting them has become somewhat tedious and, lately, I haven't even been listening to many of the shows anymore. Once you have heard every single show (not counting the guest-hosted ones), they just don't have the same appeal that they once did. Perhaps I'll chime in every once in awhile if the featured show doesn't have a "new and improved" format, but I'm not sure that's even necessary, since, from my past commentaries, you pretty much know what I think of each song.

I will be posting the weekly commentaries for the remainder of 2024, however.

Too bad. I really look forward to these every week.

[Hervard]

Hey, how about that - only one show this weekend!

American Top 40: The 80s - November 2, 2024

This week's presentation - November 2, 1985

40: WRAP HER UP - ELTON JOHN (debut) - As he was moving up the chart with his own song, a song that featured him on guest vocals (of course, the Dionne & Friends song) was on the verge of debuting on the Hot 100 the following week and would hit the chart two months later. Whether or not that affected this song's chart run is not known, but whatever the case, I preferred that song; this one never really did anything for me.
39: SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES - EURYTHMICS AND ARETHA FRANKLIN (debut) - This song, a modern feminist anthem, was included on two albums in 1985 - Aretha's Who's Zoomin' Who and the Eurythmics' Be Yourself Tonight. I have a feeling that its original release was from the latter album, since it had been awhile since the last single from it, while Aretha was on her way up the chart with the title track from her current album. Regardless of that, this was a one-time pairing between the two acts, making for a great, energetic song!
38: CHERISH - KOOL & THE GANG (26) - This one was number one for six weeks on the AC chart (and I believe was the top song of the year). It also was a huge pop smash, peaking at #2 for three weeks, becoming their second biggest hit behind "Celebration". I liked it, but prefer several others from them.
37: GIRLS ARE MORE FUN - RAY PARKER JR. (39) - He was definitely a has-been at this point, as this was his final Top 40 hit of his own. The song is okies, but I generally preferred his earlier hits, including the ones with Raydio.
36: I MISS YOU - KLYMAXX (40) - This song definitely got a lot of chart mileage - so much that it ranked on 1986's year-end Top 100 higher than it peaked on the weekly charts. It's a great song, though I preferred their other two Top 40 hits.
35: ELECTION DAY - ARCADIA (debut) - Oddly enough, this song hit the charts just days before Election Day. As for the song - pretty much watered-down Duran Duran. I can see why they didn't last very long.
34: THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG - BILLY JOEL (37) - This was one of two new tracks on Joel's Greatest Hits - Volume I & Volume II album. The first song, "You're Only Human" was a Top Ten hit, but this was all the higher the follow-up got. The song was OK, but definitely not his best. I can see why this peaked so low.
LDD: AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH – DIANA ROSS - Wow, what a powerful LDD! I sure hope that the girl talked about in this letter, whom had fallen into teenage prostitution, was able to get help!
33: ALIVE AND KICKING - SIMPLE MINDS (38) - I preferred this song over the overplayed "Don't You (Forget About Me)", but the follow-up to this, "Sanctify Yourself" was my favorite song in the world for quite awhile the following spring. This was a good song, too IMO. Given how big it was, I'm surprised it doesn't get much in the way of recurrent airplay.
32: SLEEPING BAG - ZZ TOP (36) - Their Afterburner album seemed to have more of a pop sound than their traditional southern rock. Perhaps that's why it generated more Top 40 singles than any of their other albums. This was the first of three hits from Afterburner, and the most successful. I liked it, but preferred the other two.
31: PERFECT WAY - SCRITTI POLITTI (35) - One of a handful of one-hit wonders on this week's chart. This song does get a decent amount of recurrent airplay on 80s stations. I thought it was a pretty good song.
30: SOUL KISS - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (34) - This was the song that kept alive her streak of at least one Top 40 hit a year. Casey mentioned this a few weeks later and it might have been a jinx, as this turned out to be Olivia's last Top 40 hit ("Grease Megamix" doesn't count)
29: DANCING IN THE STREET - MICK JAGGER AND DAVID BOWIE (15) - This song, a remake of the old Martha & the Vandella’s classic wasn't bad, but I prefer other songs by both artists.
28: SO IN LOVE - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVERS IN THE DARK (30) - The first of four Top 40 hits for this band from northwest England. Though the follow-up bears a resemblance to this song, I prefer this one by a sizeable margin.
27: ONE OF THE LIVING - TINA TURNER (31) - The second of two of her hits from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It was pretty good, but I preferred the other Thunderdome song.
26: BOY IN THE BOX - COREY HART (29) - Hmm, I wonder how such a song title would fly today? Anyway, this wasn't bad, but I generally preferred Hart's slower songs, like his last his before this, "Never Surrender", which, to date, is his biggest hit.
25: SUNSET GRILL - DON HENLEY (22) - The last of four singles from "Building The Perfect Beast", and my favorite from the album (though "Not Enough Love In The World" is a close second). This song peaked at #14 on the R&R chart, but didn't even hit the Top 20 on the Hot 100 (1982, anyone?)
24: MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS (12) - I mentioned earlier that "Cherish" by Kool & The Gang had recently peaked at #2. This was the very song that kept "Cherish" out of the top spot. It was one of two songs on this week's Top Ten that Sting's involved with (of course, he's the one who wants his MTV). The song was OK, but it was very overplayed. I preferred their three other Top 40 hits, as well as a few album cuts from their first, self-titled album.
23: AND WE DANCED - THE HOOTERS (21) - A band whose name I had a misconception about - at first, I thought they were talking about owls. But it was actually the nickname for the keyboard harmonica (melodica) that band member Rob Hyman played. For the record, I never thought they named themselves after a certain body part. Anyway, this was a good song - my favorite of their three Top 40 hits.
22: LOVE THEME FROM ST. ELMO'S FIRE (INSTRUMENTAL) - DAVID FOSTER (24) - The last of three instrumentals to chart on AT40 in 1985. This was actually my favorite of the three, since the other two were rather overplayed (but both are good; don't get me wrong). This song, however, tends to bring tears to my eyes (long story, but it was featured in an episode of Highway To Heaven that can sometimes make me cry). Moreover, there was a vocal version of this song, which was played the first few weeks the song was on the Countdown America chart. Not sure if AT40 ever played that one. That's OK; I prefer this one.
21: WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO - ARETHA FRANKLIN (25) - The title track from Franklin's big comeback album - and my favorite of the three singles released from that album, as one of my favorites from Franklin overall.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PARTY ALL THE TIME - EDDIE MURPHY w/RICK JAMES - At least that's how it would be credited today, as the latter sang back-up on the song. Anyway, Eddie was a great comedian, but singing wasn't exactly his best talent. This wasn't a bad song, though.
20: BROKEN WINGS - MR. MISTER (27) - The first of four Top 40 hits for this band from Phoenix. Three of those songs hit the Top Ten and two of those hit #1, including this one. Of their Top Ten hits, I prefer this one, which has held up quite well despite overplay.
19: I'M GOIN' DOWN - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (9) - He was indeed goin' down, in more ways than one, as this song had peaked at #9 and was starting its downslide, having peaked at #9 a few weeks back. This was a good song, but not quite my favorite of the seven Born In The USA singles.
18: LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME - THE THOMPSON TWINS (19) - For years, I had no idea where they got this name, since they're a trio (and not even related) nor is anyone named Thompson (I have since found out from a fellow poster (thanks, bestmusicexpert), that they were named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé's comic strip The Adventures of Tintin). Anyhoo, I'm not a big fan of this song - my least favorite of their charted hits.
17: NEVER - HEART (23) - They were enjoying their biggest chart success yet with their mid-80s comeback, as this would become their second Top Five hit (and they'd have two more after this). Anyway, it would be a toss-up between this and "These Dreams" as my favorite song from their self-titled album - both are great songs!
16: YOU ARE MY LADY - FREDDIE JACKSON (18) - Jackson had the most success on the R&B chart, but he did have a few pop crossovers, like this one. I liked it, though it was a little cheesy. My favorite song from him would probably be his Christmas song "One Wish".
LDD: AMERICA – NEIL DIAMOND
15: SEPARATE LIVES (THEME FROM WHITE NIGHTS)- PHIL COLLINS AND MARILYN MARTIN (20) - The first of two #1 hits from the movie White Nights, which I never saw, but I heard the songs many, many times in the fall of 1985. Of those two, this was by far my favorite - it was a great one!
14: ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR - BRYAN ADAMS (17) - The fifth of six hits from Reckless, all of which hit the Top 20, which is definitely impressive. It was a good song, but my favorite song from the album would be "Heaven" (and that, of course, was the most successful of the six).
13: I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN - PAUL YOUNG (14) - He seemed to do best with remakes, as both of his Top Ten hits were previously done by other acts. But this one didn't miss the Top Ten by much, peaking at #13. It was pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Everytime You Go Away", my favorite song from him!
12: LONELY OL' NIGHT - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (7) - The first of five Top 40 hits from Mellencamp's album Scarecrow and possibly my favorite song from the album (although "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Rain On The Scarecrow" were good ones as well).
11: OH SHEILA - READY FOR THE WORLD (6) - The first of three Top 40 hits from this R&B band from Flint, Michigan, as well as the biggest. It wasn't bad, but I preferred "Love You Down".
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BURNING HEART - SURVIVOR - This song had an unusually long run on the R&R chart - it was the first song since the fall of 1984 to spend more than fifteen weeks on the chart. It spent 16 weeks on both R&R and AT40. Of their Rocky soundtrack hits, it would be my favorite.
10: BE NEAR ME - ABC (16) - This was the first of two Top Ten hits for this English group. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their two earlier hits.
9: LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT - LOVERBOY (11) - This song somewhat defies the general rule that the lower their songs peak, the less obscure they are, as this one was one of two Top Ten hits from them and still gets occasional recurrent airplay. Their other Top Ten hit, "This Could Be The Night" receives virtually no recurrent airplay, which is a shame IMO, as it was a great song (as was this one).
8: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (8) - The second solo hit by Sting, and my favorite of the four hits from the Dream Of The Blue Turtles album.
7: WE BUILT THIS CITY - STARSHIP (13) - Their first hit under their name without Jefferson attached to it. It was a great song - one of their best, under any of their names.
6: YOU BELONG TO THE CITY - GLENN FREY (10) - His second of two contributions to Miami Vice (that charted, anyway). My favorite would probably be the other one, "Smuggler's Blues", which charted earlier in the year.
5: TAKE ON ME - A-HA (3) - The first hit for this Norwegian act, who's often known as a one-hit wonder, because of this song (as not everyone is familiar with "The Sun Always Shines On TV"). This was a great song, and I'm glad it hit #1!
4: HEAD OVER HEELS - TEARS FOR FEARS (5) - No case of Third Single Syndrome here! Though it didn't hit #1 like the last two, it did get as high as #3. This is by far my favorite of the three four Top 40 hits from Songs From The Big Chair.
3: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU - WHITNEY HOUSTON (1) - This was Whitney's first of many #1 songs. It was a good one, but I preferred many, many others from her.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SAY YOU SAY ME - LIONEL RICHIE - This song, which would debut on the Hot 100 way up at #40 the following week, was the first of two hits from the film White Nights on this week's chart - both of which would hit #1. In fact, the songs would have been at the top consecutively if not for an injured bird. The song was pretty good, but definitely not one of my favorite songs from him.
2: MIAMI VICE THEME - JAN HAMMER (4) - The second of two instrumentals on this week's survey, which hadn't happened since the summer of 1982. Anyway, I liked this song, but, as stated earlier, I preferred the other instrumental.
1: PART-TIME LOVER - STEVIE WONDER (2) - The first of three Top 40 hits from Wonder's In Square Circle album, and his ninth and final #1 hit (unless you count his role in "That's What Friends Are For")

[mrjukebox]

"Dancing In The Street" also reached the top forty in the 80's in a version by Van Halen-It peaked at # 38 in the summer of 1982.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 70s - November 9, 2024

This week's presentation - November 10, 1979

LW#3: DIM ALL THE LIGHTS - DONNA SUMMER
LW#2: HEARTACHE TONIGHT - THE EAGLES
LW#1: POP MUZIK - M
40: ESCAPE (THE PINA COLADA SONG) - RUPERT HOLMES (debut) - Wow, this song makes the biggest move on the chart two weeks in a row! It was pretty clear where this song was going! This was one of two of his two Top Ten hits. Of course, I preferred the other one, but this one wasn't too bad. Has sort of a cheese factor, but it's not as annoying as the other pina colada song from the guy in the hat.
39: I NEED A LOVER - JOHN COUGAR (debut) - One of several acts around this time whose chart success in the 1970 was mediocre at best, but excelled in the 1980s. This was Cougar's breakthrough hit, and it fell just short of hitting the Top 30, but by 1982, he was knocking them dead, with two of the biggest hits of that year. This song was pretty good, though - I'm kind of surprised this one didn't peak higher.
38: DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME - THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE (debut) - As we probably already know all too well, this is far and away my favorite song from them! Glad that it was as big a hit as it was!
37: COOL CHANGE - LITTLE RIVER BAND (debut) - They were really on a roll, with the fourth of six Top Ten hits in a row. Of those, this is possibly my second favorite from LRB, behind "Lady", from earlier in 1979.
36: STREET LIFE - THE CRUSADERS (38) - Pretty much your typical late-70s dance/disco, but I did rather like it.
35: I WANT YOU TONIGHT - PABLO CRUISE (debut) - I liked most of their Top 40 hits, including this song, which would go on to become the third of the band's Top 20 hits.
34: BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME - DR. HOOK (40) - 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.
33: DREAMING - BLONDIE (37) - Their debut single, "Heart Of Glass" may have hit #1, but they seemed to have a little trouble matching that success, as the next two songs failed to even hit the Top 20. This song was pretty good; I preferred it over the annoying "One Way Or Another", but the song was not quite as much as their next Top 40 after this song, "Call Me".
ARCHIVES: 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER - PAUL SIMON - This was Simon's first #1 hit after parting ways with Art Garfunkel (who, sadly, never hit #1 on his own). I liked this song, but preferred his next hit, the title track from his album Still Crazy After All These Years.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HIGHWAY TO HELL - AC/DC - Surprisingly, this song only got as high as #47 on the Hot 100. That is hard to believe, as this was one of their signature songs! I myself was never a big AC/DC fan, however - they were a little loud for my liking.
32: VICTIM OF LOVE - ELTON JOHN (36) - One of several disco songs of Elton's that hit the Top 40. It was pretty good, but definitely not one of his best.
31: HALF THE WAY - CRYSTAL GAYLE (39) - This song went a little further than its title suggested, peaking at #15. It's a good song, like most of the songs I've heard from her, including Country and AC only hits.
30: SO GOOD SO RIGHT - BRENDA RUSSELL (30) - This song definitely had that autumn sound to it, didn't it? Anyway, I had never heard of Brenda Russell (needless to say, we're not related) until “Piano In The Dark” was released about eight years later. Both songs are great – I liked them about the same.
LDD: RUN FOR HOME - LINDISFARNE - The only Top 40 hit for this English folk rock band. It was a pretty decent song and it definitely fit the dedication, about the author's runaway brother.
29: DREAM POLICE - CHEAP TRICK (33) - The first single from the album of the same title, which was on its way up the album chart, en route to #6. It was a pretty good song, IMO, but I preferred others from them, including the follow-up to this song.
28: PLEASE DON'T LEAVE - LAUREN WOOD (32) - Michael McDonald is clearly heard on backup vocals on this song, as he had done on many others around this time while the Doobie Brothers were between albums. As for this song, it was your typical MOR song from the late-70s, but, as you already know all too well, I liked that kind of music!
27: RAINBOW CONNECTION - KERMIT THE FROG (29) - This song, of course, was from the Muppet Movie (which remains my favorite of their movies, though somewhat by default, as the only other one I saw was "The Great Muppet Caper", and even that one was ruined by a screaming kid, but that's another story for another time). Anyway, I remember this song both from its movie, as well as choir class, where this was usually part of our spring concerts. It was a pretty good song.
26: SEND ONE YOUR LOVE - STEVIE WONDER (debut) - The first of two hits from Wonder's album Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants, and the only one to make the Top 40 (I guess he mainly concentrated on album sales instead of singles for this one). I liked this song a lot - has sort of a hypnotic effect to it.
25: LADIES NIGHT - KOOL & THE GANG (debut) - Of course, my favorite Kool & The Gang song was the follow-up, but this one wasn't bad either. The beginning reminds me a little of "Car Wash" by Rose Royce.
24: GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY - BOB DYLAN (24) - I've never been a huge fan of Bob Dylan at all - I find his voice kind of annoying. This song, however, was tolerable.
23: TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME - SUPERTRAMP (31) - I liked pretty much the whole Breakfast In America album, except for one or two songs. This was one of the better ones, IMO.
ARCHIVES/OPTIONAL EXTRA: THEME FROM "S.W.A.T." - RHYTHM HERITAGE - 1976 was definitely the year for TV show themes on the chart, and this was indeed one of the biggest, topping the chart in late February of that year. A great song it was!
22: IF YOU REMEMBER ME - CHRIS THOMPSON & NIGHT (25) - The theme from the movie "The Champ", which contains possibly THE most heartbreaking scene ever in film-dom (and if you've ever seen the movie, I'm sure you know which scene I speak of!). As for the song, it's a great one - possibly my favorite song from Barry Scott's Lost 45's.
21: YOU'RE ONLY LONELY - J.D. SOUTHER (27) - This was his only solo Top 40 hit (his other entry was his duet with James Taylor, a little over a year later). Anyway, that's too bad, because both songs were great. I preferred this one.
20: THIS NIGHT WON'T LAST FOREVER - MICHAEL JOHNSON (22) - Originally written and performed by Bill LaBounty in 1978, the late Michael Johnson, with a few lyrical revisions from the original, did a great remake! This was easily my favorite of his three Top 40 hits, as well as one of my favorite songs of 1979!
19: I KNOW A HEARTACHE WHEN I SEE ONE - JENNIFER WARNES (20) - This song was apparently inspired by “Rhythm Of The Rain”. I also noted a little similarity between the choruses of this and “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys.
18: BROKEN HEARTED ME - ANNE MURRAY (21) - This song was on its was to #1 on the country chart Even though this song's chart run was mainly in 1979 (and its Top 40 run didn't even last into 1980), this one, along with many others that peaked in late 1979, ranked on the 1980 year-ender - in fact, this was the song that kicked it off. Anyway, this was one of my favorite Anne Murray songs of all-time, along with her two other 1979 hits.
17: LOVIN' TOUCHIN' SQUEEZIN' - JOURNEY (16) - Remember, they say "na" exactly 154 times in the song. Yes, there was a time that I was so bored that I actually counted them. There are seven sets of na's, each containing that word 22 times, so do the math from there. Anyway, the song is a good one - one of my favorites from them.
16: COME TO ME - FRANCE JOLI (17) - This song sounded like something that Donna Summer would record, especially the way that it starts off slow and then picks up the pace. It's a good song.
15: DIRTY WHITE BOY - FOREIGNER (12) - This was the first single from Foreigner's 1979 album Head Games. This wasn't bad, but I preferred the title track, which would chart two weeks later.
14: I'LL NEVER LOVE THIS WAY AGAIN - DIONNE WARWICK (13) - This was Warwick's comeback hit (since she'd been absent from the chart since late 1974), and it became one of her biggest hits, and deservedly so, as it was one of her best songs ever, IMO.
13: SHIPS - BARRY MANILOW (15) - Interesting how this song, written by Ian Hunter, depicted the reunion between Barry and his father, who came back into his life after thirty years. Like most of Manilow's hits, I thought this was a great one - my favorite of his two 1979 hits.
LDD: HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE - BEE GEES - This, as you probably know all too well, was my favorite of the Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever hits. The song, I believe, set the record for most weeks in the Top Ten, and deservedly so, as it was indeed a great song!
12: DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU GET ENOUGH - MICHAEL JACKSON (6) - This was the first of four Top Ten hits from Michael's Off The Wall. Alas, I'm not a big fan of this one at all – definitely my least favorite single from the album, as well as one of my least favorites from him overall. At least his next song, “Rock With You”, my second favorite from the album, also hit #1 (and spent much longer up there to boot!).
ARCHIVES: LOVE MACHINE - THE MIRACLES - This song was on its way to becoming the slowest rising #1 song - up to that point, that is - it has since been beaten by several other songs (the most recent being "Sad Eyes" by Robert John, about a month back). I thought this song was pretty good, but I preferred a few others from them.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: ROCK WITH YOU - MICHAEL JACKSON - Well, speak of the devil! I mentioned this song just two songs back! As mentioned earlier, this song was on top for quite awhile - four weeks, to be exact (compared to the single-week run of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"). This one used to be mediocre IMO, but now I think it's a great one - my second favorite hit from Off The Wall behind "She's Out Of My Life".
11: GOOD GIRLS DON'T - THE KNACK (14) - Well, they never quite equalled the success of "My Sharona" (then again, given how massive that song was, that would be very tough). This song was definitely my favorite of the two, as it was nowhere near as overplayed - in fact, I don't even remember hearing it on the radio back in the day.
10: PLEASE DON'T GO - K.C. & THE SUNSHINE BAND (11) - Ugh! Please DO go and take this annoying whinefest with you! Thanks in advance!
9: YOU DECORATED MY LIFE - KENNY ROGERS (9) - I liked most of Rogers' Top 40 hits, but this one, which was this week's Country #1 song, wasn't one my favorites by any means. Don't get me wrong; it is indeed tolerable, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.
8: TUSK - FLEETWOOD MAC f/THE USC TROJAN MARCHING BAND (8) - That would be how the song would be credited on today's charts, anyway. Ah yes, those were the good old days where you had to do more than cut a fart to have your name featured on a song's credits. Anyway, this song wasted absolutely no time hitting the Top Ten and it looked like they were number one bound, but oddly enough, this was all the higher the song got. Probably because it was such a weird song. I myself wasn't a huge fan of it, due to how odd, as well as repetitive as it was. I preferred the next release from the album of the same name.
7: NO MORE TEARS (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH) - BARBRA STERISAND & DONNA SUMMER (10) - This was the first duet between two women to hit the top of the chart, which happened two weeks later. Oddly enough, the two women singing on this song were in a tie for second place with the most #1 hits, so it did not break the tie when it hit #1. Anyway, I used to hate this song with a passion, but now, I don't mind it quite as much. Still, I could take it or leave it.
6: BABE - STYX (7) - Since they were from Chicago, they got tons of airplay on WLS, so I heard this song many, many times back in the day, and the song hasn't lost its luster at all. One of my favorites from them!
5: POP MUZIK - M (1) - Yes, I know that I'm in the minority here, but I'm sorry - this song just doesn't do anything for me.
4: RISE - HERB ALPERT (4) - Instrumental songs were becoming fewer and further between at this point, but there were still a few of them charting – and this one went all the way to the top. I'm glad it did, because it was a great one! The week this song hit #1, Alpert became the first artist to hit #1 with both a vocal track and an instrumental! To my best of knowledge, that feat has yet to be repeated.
3: STILL - THE COMMODORES (5) - This song would probably get a better review from me if not for the depressing subject matter (Larry said, when this song was an Optional Extra one time, that the song was about a couple going through a divorce). I do, however, like it when they play the album version of the song, but, as far as I know, they only did that when this song was featured as a Long Distance Dedication in early 1983. I wonder if their other song on the countdown,“Sail On” would have hit #1 on the Hot 100 had this song not been rush-released?
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HEAD GAMES - FOREIGNER - Here is the title-track from Foreigner's current album that I mentioned earlier. The song was making the highest debut on the Hot 100 at #65 and, two weeks later, the song would debut at #30 on AT40 (also the highest debut). As I mentioned earlier, this was my favorite of the singles from the Head Games album.
2: DIM ALL THE LIGHTS - DONNA SUMMER (3) - Disco was burning out, but Donna Summer, an established artist, was still going strong. I did prefer this over her duet with Barbra Streisand, but still, it wasn't one of my favorite songs from her.
1: HEARTACHE TONIGHT - THE EAGLES (2) - This was the first of three singles from their sixth studio album The Long Run. I wasn't a huge fan of the song, though, since it was too loud and obnoxious sounding. Definitely my least favorite of their chart toppers.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - November 9, 2024

This week's presentation - November 17, 1984

Droppers:
COVER ME - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (39) - The second of an incredible seven Top Ten singles from Born In The USA. This one is possibly the one of those songs that gets the least amount of recurrent airplay, but is still a good one.
DRIVE - THE CARS (34) - Meh, no big loss. I found this one quite depressing. I did like the song before this one, "Magic" - by far, my favorite of the five Heartbeat City singles.
LET'S GO CRAZY - PRINCE (32) - The second of five Top 40 hits from the Purple Rain soundtrack (and the second of two #1's). This is my third favorite song from the Purple Rain soundtrack, behind the title cut and "Take Me With U".
SWEPT AWAY - DIANA ROSS (23) - This song was OK, but the back-up singers sounded a little robotic.

40: CENTIPEDE – REBBIE JACKSON (debut) - The first of two of the Jackson siblings on this week's chart. I preferred the other one, as I was never a huge fan of this song at all.
39: I NEED YOU TONIGHT – PETER WOLF (debut) - The former lead singer of the J. Geils Band tried a solo career and got three hits out of it. I liked all three of them about the same.
38: TEARS – JOHN WAITE (40) - Well, he definitely wasn't a one-hit wonder as a solo artist after leaving the Babys, but he certainly never measured up to the success of his first hit. Anyway, I definitely preferred this over his depressing first hit, but generally preferred him with the Babys and Bad English.
37: I DO’WANNA KNOW – REO SPEEDWAGON (debut) - I generally preferred their power ballads, as did many other people, as their three biggest hits were power ballads. This, however, would definitely be one of my favorite of their upbeat hits.
36: SUGAR DON’T BITE – SAM HARRIS (36) - Meh, I can see why this one tanked so fast. His voice was sort of annoying. The tune itself wasn't bad, though.
35: WHO WEARS THESE SHOES – ELTON JOHN (21) - The second single from Breaking Hearts, and, though not quite as successful as the first, it did peak at #16, just two weeks prior (and it did sneak in a Top Ten week on the R&R chart). I didn't like the song very much during its chart run, but now, I think it's a great one.
34: WE ARE THE YOUNG – DAN HARTMAN (37) - After hitting big with the frankly overplayed "I Can Dream About You", this one didn't even hit the Top 20, which was a shame, as I really liked this song - reminded me of Ollie & Jerry's "There's No Stopping Us" from earlier in the year (which was actually not really a coincidence.)
33: GIRLS WITH GUNS – TOMMY SHAW (35) - As Casey mentioned, Styx was on hiatus and the band members were doing their own thing. One of their lead singers was featured here with his lone Top 40 hit. It was a good one, but I preferred two of his follow-ups, "Lonely School" (his next release), and "Ever Since The World Began".
32: DO WHAT YOU DO – JERMAINE JACKSON (debut) - According to Casey, this was the first time that a brother and sister were on the chart at the same time, and the two songs debut the same week, to boot. As mentioned before, this is my favorite of the two on this week's chart - also one of my favorite Jermaine Jackson songs of all time!
31: HELLO AGAIN – THE CARS (38) - A somewhat obscure song by the Cars (although, I say "somewhat" only because the song was used as a promo for Nick At Nite's "Revenge Of The 80s" sitcom marathon back in 2001). Anyway, this would be my second least favorite of the Heartbeat City singles (my least favorite was one of this week's droppers)
30: LUCKY STAR - MADONNA (17) - The final of her three singles from her self-titled album, as she had released her follow-up Like A Virgin the week before. The song was OK, but definitely not one of her best, IMO.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HOT FOR TEACHER - VAN HALEN - Interesting choice for an Extra, since it never made the chart, and doesn't receive much in the way of recurrent airplay. The song was OK, but not one of my favorite of their hits by any means.
29: VALOTTE – JULIAN LENNON (33) - He definitely had his father's voice. When I first heard this song, I thought it was another posthumous hit from the late John Lennon (since he'd had a Top Ten hit earlier in the year). This was my favorite song from Julian's album of the same name
28: TEACHER TEACHER - .38 SPECIAL (29) - Wow, two songs about teachers played almost back-to-back. Anyway, this song, the theme song from the movie Teachers, wasn't bad, but was one of my least favorite songs by 38 Special.
27: I CAN’T DRIVE 55 – SAMMY HAGAR (30) - This song had gone totally forgotten by me until I heard it in Back To The Future II, in early 1990, in the scene where Marty was trying to make sense of the altered 1985, brought on by his buying the Grey's Sports Almanac in 2015. Anyway, this is a pretty good song, though my least favorite of his four Top 40 hits
LDD: THROUGH THE YEARS – KENNY ROGERS - Of course, this was possibly THE most requested LDD of the 1980s, and rightfully so, as it was fitting for many LDDs, including this one.
26: SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK – ROD STEWART (16) - The story of my life! The song itself is a good one.
25: WE BELONG – PAT BENATAR (31) - She never quite made it to #1, but this was one of her biggest hits ever. I like it, but prefer several others from her.
24: I’M SO EXCITED – POINTER SISTERS (15) - I liked this song back in the day, since it was sort of a teenybopper song. It's still a pretty good song - better than their other 1984 hits (though the fact that this song was recorded back in the early-80s might have something to do with that).
23: WALKING ON A THIN LINE – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (27) - The fifth and final single from Sports, his/their biggest singles album ever. While "If This Is It" is by far my favorite song from the album, I'm not quite sure where to rank this song.
22: IT AIN’T ENOUGH – COREY HART (26) - The second Top 40 hit for this man from Canada. It didn't quite match the success of his first hit "Sunglasses At Night", but it did peak at #17, which ain't half bad. As for the song, it's one of my favorites from Mr. Hart.
21: ON THE DARK SIDE – JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (14) - A song I remember from both of its chart runs (as, when it was credited to Eddie & The Cruisers the year before, B96 played it in medium rotation). It was a good one, though I preferred "Tough All Over", which charted in the summer of 1985.
20: I CAN’T HOLD BACK - SURVIVOR (24) - This was my favorite song in the world for quite a long time, from about this time to the beginning of 1985. I heard it many times on the radio (especially WLS, from Survivor's hometown Chicago), but I never got tired of it. It still remains one of my favorite songs from Survivor!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) - U2 - They had been hitting the rock charts for several years, but they were gearing up for a decent Top 40 chart career as well. This song was OK, but nothing exceptional Given how much recurrent airplay this song receives, it's hard to believe that this song didn't even hit the Top 30.
19: THE WILD BOYS – DURAN DURAN (28) - Meh, I was not a fan of this song. 1984 was definitely not their best year, IMO (though "New Moon On Monday" was a good one).
18: SEA OF LOVE – THE HONEYDRIPPERS (25) - Del Shannon did an awesome cover of this song back in early 1982. This version was pretty good, but it certainly was overplayed back in the day!
17: THE WAR SONG – CULTURE CLUB (20) - They definitely were on their way out, as this, the first hit from their new album, only got as high as #17, and it was downhill from there. The song wasn't bad (it definitely had a great message), but melodically, it was kind of dull, IMO.
16: COOL IT NOW – NEW EDITION (22) - This song could be heard every single day in the small gym at the middle school I went to, as the girls did aerobics to the song. So glad I didn't have to do that, as I never liked this song, but hearing it several times every day would have driven me nuts (actually, we didn't have gym class every day, but that's beside the point). Anyway, I preferred their next two hits, which hit the AT40 chart in 1985.
15: WHAT ABOUT ME – KENNY ROGERS WITH KIM CARNES & JAMES INGRAM (18) - Definitely a great superstar trio! Possibly my favorite song on the entire chart this week, and one of my favorite songs of the entire year!
14: NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS – PAUL MCCARTNEY (19) - This song is from the movie "Give My Regards To Broad Street", which wasn't a box office smash, but the album sold quite well, especially in the UK, where it hit #1. As for the song, it was a good one.
13: HARD HABIT TO BREAK - CHICAGO (9) - Peter Cetera generally handled the lead vocals on their songs at this point, but on this one, he shared them with Bill Champlin, who would eventually become their lead singer after Cetera left the band. This was my favorite song from their Chicago 17 album! Kind of weird that this song was still high up the chart, seeing that it was spending its final week on the R&R chart.
12: DESERT MOON – DENNIS DeYOUNG (10) - We heard Styx member back at #33 with his solo hit, and here, we have their other lead singer, Dennis DeYoung with his sole Top 40 hit "Desert Moon", which was by far my favorite of the two songs. Sounds very much like his material with Styx, who would return to the charts a little over six years later.
11: BLUE JEAN – DAVID BOWIE (8) - Even though I'm generally not a huge fan of his (and we all know my favorite songs from him were his two 1987 Top 40 hits), this one was actually pretty good.
10: PENNY LOVER – LIONEL RICHIE (13) - This song put Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down album in second place for most Top Ten hits from an album. This was the fifth (and, as it turned out, final) Top Ten hit from Can't Slow Down. It was looking like Huey Lewis might come along and tie the second place record, but "Walking On A Thin Line" ran out of gas at #18. As for this song, it's a fairly close race between it and "Hello" as my favorite song from the album.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: RUN TO YOU - BRYAN ADAMS - Here's another artist who almost tied second place record for most Top Ten singles from an album. Bryan actually released six singles from Reckless, which kept him on the chart for most of 1985, but only three of them hit the Top Ten. This was the first of them. I liked it, but preferred a few others from Adams.
9: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT – CYNDI LAUPER (12) - This was the fourth release from She's So Unusual. The first and third songs were upbeat songs, while #2 and #4 were ballads. And, of couse, the fifth was an upbeat song, but it didn't do anywhere near as well as the others. Anyway, this was my favorite of the She's So Unusual singles.
8: STRUT – SHEENA EASTON (11) - This was the second of two hits during 1984 for Ms. Easton (though both were from different albums). I preferred the more obscure other hit, "Almost Over You" by a fair margin.
7: BETTER BE GOOD TO ME – TINA TURNER (7) - Her comeback was in full swing, with her second of three consecutive Top Ten hits. I like this song about the same as "What's Love Got To Do With It".
LDD: THE WAY WE WERE – BARBRA STREISAND - Hmm, I'm wondering if the author of the LDD, who requested the song "Memories" meant this song or Barbra's version of "Memory", from the musical Cats?
6: OUT OF TOUCH – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (6) - This must have been a somewhat tight spot in the chart, as this song, in holding pattern, definitely wasn't done yet, as it went all the way to #1.
5: I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU – STEVIE WONDER (1) - A question about this song - did AT40 ever play the long version of the song, with the voice alternator repeating a few lines from the first verse? I seem to remember hearing that on the radio every now and then, but nowadays, stations go with the single version - which isn't bad either.
4: I FEEL FOR YOU – CHAKA KHAN (5) - I was never crazy about this song. I preferred her follow-up, "Through The Fire", which was a Top 20 AC hit (and I seem to remember it being an Optional Extra a few years back, since it spent 19 weeks on the Hot 100 despite never having even cracked the Top 40)
3: CARIBBEAN QUEEN – BILLY OCEAN (1) - He seemed destined to be a one-hit wonder, as "Love Really Hurts Without You" was his only hit for over eight years. But Billy came back with a vengeance in 1984 and there was a lot more where that came from. As for the song, it wasn't bad, but I preferred many others from him.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: LIKE A VIRGIN - MADONNA - This song was making the highest debut on the Hot 100 that week (at #48) and no surprise, as it was by possibly THE best new artist of 1984 (although technically, she'd debuted in 1983, but let's not nitpick...) This was on the way to becoming one of her biggest hits ever! A great song indeed!
2: PURPLE RAIN - PRINCE (3) - The title track to the blockbuster movie, whose soundtrack was just as successful. This song, oddly enough, did not hit #1 on the Hot 100 (though it did sneak in two weeks at the top spot of the R&R chart).
1: WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO - WHAM (4) - Their first of six hits, all of them Top Tens. This song was OK, but not my favorite by them. I preferred "Everything She Wants". But I'd rather listen to this than "Careless Whisper", on account of the school dance incident, which happened several months later, as that song was on its way down the chart.

[Hervard]

Oct 26, 2024 13:35:30 GMT -5 torcan said:

Oct 25, 2024 13:43:39 GMT -5 Hervard said:

Just a heads up - as of January 1, 2025, I will no longer be posting weekly commentaries on the retro American Top 40 shows. Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the random comments that I get about my critiques, but posting them has become somewhat tedious and, lately, I haven't even been listening to many of the shows anymore. Once you have heard every single show (not counting the guest-hosted ones), they just don't have the same appeal that they once did. Perhaps I'll chime in every once in awhile if the featured show doesn't have a "new and improved" format, but I'm not sure that's even necessary, since, from my past commentaries, you pretty much know what I think of each song.

I will be posting the weekly commentaries for the remainder of 2024, however.

Too bad. I really look forward to these every week.

Do like I do when I post a recycled commentary; just look up the last time that the week's show was broadcast, go to that date in this thread, and you'll most likely see my commentary on it. The only exception to this is the spring of 2017. Something happened around that time and many posts were lost somehow. Of course, since then, many of the shows that were broadcast then have been repeated and I have posted new commentaries for them.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 70s - November 16, 2024

This week's presentation - November 11, 1978

SHE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN - BILLY JOEL (39) - He had many great singles albums and The Stranger was definitely one of them, and all four releases were great, but this one would be my favorite.
SUMMER NIGHTS - JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (37) - This was the second of two top 40 duets for the stars of the movie Grease. Of those two songs, it would be my favorite (though "You're The One That I Want" is a great one as well).
THEME FROM "THE WIZARD OF OZ" - MECO (35) - Interesting disco renditon of the movie's theme, as well as "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". It was a good one - sounded a lot like the Star Wars theme.
TOOK THE LAST TRAIN - DAVID GATES (30) - This definitely does not sound much like Gates. It's a good song, but I preferred other hits by him, solo and with his band Bread.
PRISONER OF YOUR LOVE - PLAYER (28) - At first, this song looked like it was going to be another Top Ten hit like their first two singles, but the song hit a brick wall - the song fell clean off the AT40 chart after peaking at #27 the previous week. It was OK, but nothing exceptional.


40: LIKE A SUNDAY IN SALEM - GENE COTTON (debut) - This was originally the B-side of his #23 song from earlier in the year, "Before My Heart Finds Out", my favorite song from him. This song was not bad, either.
39: MY LIFE - BILLY JOEL (debut) - Joel literally replaced himself this week, as "She's Always A Woman" was #39 the previous week. This was definitely my favorite single from 52nd Street - by a fairly wide margin, as well as one of my favorites from him of all-time. I was pleasantly surprised that they played the full album version (as, more often than not, they went with the single version, which was way too abrupt, IMO). I believe that it was like that in the original broadcast, too.
38: FLYING HIGH - COMMODORES (38) - I wonder if it had caught on yet with them that they were more successful with ballads than with upbeat songs? Their last hit, "Three Times A Lady" was a perfect example, as it was their first #1. This song wasn't bad, but definitely not their best.
EXTRA: I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE - MARVIN GAYE - This was the biggest selling Motown single, with a total of five million copies sold worldwide (up to late 1978, that is). The song was pretty good, considering I'm not a huge Marvin Gaye fan.
37: HOLD THE LINE - TOTO (debut) - This was the song that started off a very successful chart career for this band from Los Angeles. It was pretty good, but definitely not their best.
36: TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP - CRYSTAL GAYLE (18) - Her second of four Top 40 crossovers (as, of course, she was mainly a country artist). This was my favorite of her pop hits.
35: HOW YOU GONNA SEE ME NOW - ALICE COOPER (debut) - One of his slower numbers that I generally prefer over his heavy metal songs. However, this possibly my least favorite of his ballads, though it was still pretty good.
34: EVERYBODY NEEDS LOVE - STEVEN BISHOP (36) - This one sounded a little like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross, didn't it? It was a good song, but I preferred "On And On".
33: IT'S A LAUGH - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (20) - The verses to this had an interesting melody. I wasn't too crazy about the choruses, however (since it sounds like music that would stick in my head all day).
32: THE POWER OF GOLD - DAN FOGELBERG w/TIM WEISBERG (40) - You would never guess that he was a balladeer, as his first two hits were upbeat songs (though this was more MOR, but still not his style that would become a trademark in the 1980s). Anyway, I think he did just as well with any style of music that he did - I liked this one.
31: Y.M.C.A. - VILLAGE PEOPLE (debut) - As I've said before, I used to like this song, but it, along with the popular dance to it, got run into the ground big time. Now I generally reach for the station tuner when it comes on - except for on countdown shows, of course.
ARCHIVES: AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH - DIANA ROSS - Well speak of the devil! I mentioned that Stephen Bishop's song on the countdown reminded me of this song, and here it is three songs later! Anyway, this was a good song, but I preferred the other arrangement of this song (the one popularized by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell in 1968 and remade by Michael McDonald in 2004).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: NEW YORK GROOVE - ACE FREHLEY - I heard somewhere that he has a brother who's an author, whose all time best-seller is "The Yellow River". As for this song, it was so/so, but nothing special.
30: ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE - FUNKADELIC (34) - Meh, typical roof-raising R&B - you know my opinion on this kind of music...
29: CHANGE OF HEART - ERIC CARMEN (33) - This was his final hit of the 70s. It wasn't bad, but I preferred his first two singles, as well as "Make Me Lose Control", from nearly ten years later.
28: DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT IT - PABLO CRUISE (32) - The follow-up to their big hit "Love Will Find A Way" (which has to be the song of theirs that receives the most recurrent airplay). It was a pretty good song, but I preferred that other song, along with a few others by them, such as "Whatcha Gonna Do" and "Cool Love".
LDD: THE RIGHT THING TO DO - CARLY SIMON - This was her fourth Top 40 hit. I seem to remember hearing this as a recurrent from time to time, usually on the AC/Lite Rock stations that I listened to back in the early 1990s. It was a great song and it fit the LDD.
27: BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE - A TASTE OF HONEY (17) - Their first hit, and the biggest, having recently spent three weeks on top. It was also my favorite of their two big hits.
26: SWEET LIFE - PAUL DAVIS (28) - A beautiful song about a couple who just had a baby and it reminds them of what a great life they have, regardless of the fact that their fantasies of being rich and living in a castle have not become reality. One of my favorite Paul Davis songs.
25: STRAIGHT ON - HEART (29) - One of two Top 40 hits from their album Dog And Butterfly. It was a good one, but I preferred the title track, which I felt was way underrated.
24: LOVE IS IN THE AIR - JOHN PAUL YOUNG (11) - As we all know, I'm not a disco fan, but this song was actually a pretty good song - one I remember from back in the day.
23: BLUE COLLAR MAN (LONG NIGHTS) - STYX (25) - The first of two Top 40 singles from their album Pieces Of Eight, and my favorite of the two, both with Tommy Shaw on lead vocals (the other one was "Renegade", from the following spring).
22: DANCE, DISCO HEAT - SYLVESTER (24) - This song spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard's Disco chart, and didn't do too bad on the Hot 100 either, peaking at #19. It was OK, but not quite my cup of tea.
21: SHARING THE NIGHT TOGETHER - DR HOOK (23) - They seemed to have a thing about peaking at #6, as this was the third of four consecutive Top Ten hits by them to peak there. The streak was broken in 1980, when "Sexy Eyes" climbed to #5, just like their first hit. As for this song, it was pretty good, but it didn't hold a candle to "Better Love Next Time", my favorite song from them of all time.
ARCHIVES: CRACKLIN' ROSIE - NEIL DIAMOND - His first of three number one songs (yes, I thought he had more than that as well). I wasn't a huge fan of this song, but I do prefer it over his third #1 song, which is coming up later in this show.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: OOH BABY BABY - LINDA RONSTADT - One of many covers that Linda charted with, in this case, the classic by the Miracles. It was pretty good - I liked both versions about the same.
20: STRANGE WAY - FIREFALL (22) - After making a healthy jump of thirteen spots the previous week, this song makes a more modest move this week. The song, as well as their hit from the year before, both narrowly missed the Top Ten, peaking at #11. This wasn't bad, but I preferred most of their other singles.
19: ALIVE AGAIN - CHICAGO (21) - Another song that made a huge move the week before, but slows its climb this week. This was from the Chicago 12 (Hot Streets) era, which was their last album to generate any Top 40 hits for several more years; they'd have to wait for Chicago 16 to put them back on the charts (at least they got a #1 hit out of that deal). This, along with the next hit, "No Tell Lover" both peaked at #14. I liked both songs, but preferred this one.
18: OUR LOVE (DON'T THROW IT ALL AWAY) - ANDY GIBB (26) - While the Bee Gees were gearing up for another round of #1 hits, their younger brother had a great solo career going as well. He had yet to miss the Top Ten with any of his hits and this one would keep the streak alive. I liked this song, but preferred several other songs by Gibb.
EXTRA: SLOOP JOHN B - BEACH BOYS - This song was played as the third Optional Extra. The story to tie in with it was how the Beach Boys was the band that has hit the Top 40 with the most lead vocalists - five in all. Brian Wilson and Mike Love shared the lead on this song, which was a good song, but I preferred many other songs by the Boys.
17: TIME PASSAGES - AL STEWART (19) - I liked most of his songs, but this one was my favorite. They played the short version, but I remember a few times, they went with the album version, which was over six minutes long. Sort of off-topic - Many years ago (circa 1993), I had a very strange dream with that song playing (on the radio, which I often fell asleep to back then) that I was in a house and the doors all led to rooms that, in real life, couldn't be connected the way they were.
16: YOU DON'T BRING ME FLOWERS - BARBRA STREISAND & NEIL DIAMOND (31) - I never understood how this song became as big a hit as it was. Really - who wants to hear these two geezers whining and sniveling about not receiving a few flowers. So the neighbors got tired of them prowling around in their garden - who could blame them?
15: REMINISCING - LITTLE RIVER BAND (3) - The first of six consecutive Top Ten songs from them (and after that, they would never again hit the Top Ten). It was a good one, but I preferred a few of the other Top Tens, especially their next Top Ten, "Lady", from the same album as this one.
14: WHO ARE YOU - THE WHO (14) - What I really want to know is who is the person whose idea it was to include the falsetto for the chorus of this song? It is supremely annoying and negates any redeeming qualities the song might have. But that's just me; the song did hit the Top 20 and still gets a lot of recurrent airplay on classic rock stations today, so it's all good. I just don't care for the song, that's all.
13: I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE - ALICIA BRIDGES (15) - Interesting that for nearly two months, this song and "Talking In Your Sleep" were back-to-back on the chart. Last week, the song, which had always been a step above Crystal Gayle ever since it debuted, pulled further ahead (and it would stay that way, as TIYS took a nosedive this week). Now, since this song is disco, you might think I don't care much for it, but, as a matter of fact, it is one of my favorite disco songs of all time!
12: READY TO TAKE A CHANCE AGAIN - BARRY MANILOW (13) - Well, he indeed took a chance earlier in the year with an upbeat song, which proved to be worthwhile, as it hit the Top Ten. This time around, he returned to his usual ballad style with a song that came close to hitting the Top Ten, but only got as high as #11. Such a shame, as it's a great song - one of his best 70s hits.
11: YOU NEVER DONE IT LIKE THAT - THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE (12) - Of course, love didn't keep them together and they got divorced several years back. As for this song, it definitely wasn't their best, but it's still better than the barf-inducing "Muskrat Love" (which I imagine we'll hear on a fall, 1976 show in the next month or so).
ARCHIVES: I'LL BE THERE - JACKSON FIVE - They were definitely the most popular act of 1970, with four number one songs, including this one that brought up the rear. It was a great song, which might sound weird coming from me, seeing that I'm not a big fan of early-70s music, but, in fact, I prefer their early-70s songs over their later songs.
10: I JUST WANNA STOP - GINO VANELLI (16) - Hard to believe that he only had two Top Ten hits here in the states (but I believe he was more successful in his native Canada). I liked this song, but preferred "Livin' Inside Myself".
9: GET OFF - FOXY (10) - Not a huge fan of this one, since it's the roof-raising R&B that isn't quite my cup of tea (but you already know that, right?)
8: BEAST OF BURDEN - ROLLING STONES (9) - Well you better never leave my pizza burning, especially if I'm paying for it! But seriously, this song wasn't bad - I definitely prefer it over their recent #1 hit.
7: WHENEVER I CALL YOU "FRIEND" - KENNY LOGGINS W/ STEVIE NICKS (5) - YES!! This is possibly my favorite song on this week's chart - definitely one of my favorites from both artists involved!
6: KISS YOU ALL OVER - EXILE (7) - Looks like a case of vacuum effect here, as this song, which recently spent four weeks on top, actually moves back up this week. This was the first of two Top 40 hits from Exile - one that always reminds me of a funny scene from Happy Gilmore when he somehow ends up sleeping with an older woman.
LDD: EASY - COMMODORES - As stated earlier, I preferred their ballads over their upbeat material, although their first few slow songs that charted were mediocre at best, but this song, which was a Top Five hit in 1977, was when their musical quality began to improve. This remains one of my favorite Commodores songs of all time!
5: HOT CHILD IN THE CITY - NICK GILDER (6) - Another former #1 song moving back up. Oddly enough, both songs were produced by Mike Chapman. This song, of course, set the record for the longest climb to #1 - a record it held by itself until a little less than a year later. It was a good song - had that summertime feel to it. Had Gilder known how long it was going to take to reach the top, I wonder if he would have released it several months earlier.
4: HOW MUCH I FEEL - AMBROSIA (8) - The first of two Top Ten hits from them. Both are my two favorite songs from them - and, as you may have guessed, I'm not sure which of the two I prefer.
3: DOUBLE VISION - FOREIGNER (4) - My second favorite from the album of the same name, behind "Blue Morning, Blue Day", which would be their next single after this one.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: TOO MUCH HEAVEN - THE BEE GEES - I liked most of their slow songs (from 1975 on, that is), but this is possibly my least favorite of them. Not sure why, but I just have never gotten into this song.
2: YOU NEEDED ME - ANNE MURRAY (1) - Her first hit in over four years, but it was worth the wait, as this song made it all the way to the top. This was one of her all-time best, ranking right up there with her three 1979 Top 40 hits, as well as her two from 1980. Indeed, 1978- 1980 was her heyday, especially on my Personal Top 30 chart.
1: MAC ARTHUR PARK - DONNA SUMMER (2) - Here's a song that formerly got "No. Just no" status, and not because of the fact that it was disco - that was actually the saving grace of the song (though I certainly don't know why Summer screams like a witch at the end of each chorus). Hard to believe that this was only the third time that a female solo artist replaced another female artist at #1. I imagine it happened more often later on down the line, as female solo singers became more and more common.

[Hervard]

American Top 40: The 80s - November 15, 2024

This week's presentation - November 22, 1980

Droppers:
SOMETIMES A FANTASY - BILLY JOEL (36) - Well, his first three releases from Glass Houses hit the Top 20, but this one didn't get any higher than #36. Too bad, as it was a great one, IMO.
JESSE - CARLY SIMON (33) - A song about an old flame who comes back and wins back her heart, despite her best attempts to resist. It's a great song - one that I regularly played on the jukebox at Pizza Hut.
REAL LOVE - THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (27) - Wow, people sure got tired of this song fast, as it was in the Top Ten just two weeks before. This was a good song, though not quite as good as “What A Fool Believes”.
SHE'S SO COLD - THE ROLLING STONES (26) - The second and last release from Emotional Rescue. Both songs are great - I'm not sure which of them I prefer.
THAT GIRL COULD SING - JACKSON BROWNE (22) - Wow, this song sure didn't last long on the charts, did it? Just five weeks! I felt this song was way underrated. I’m surprised it didn’t do better than it did, since I heard this song quite often on the radio stations I listened to back in 1980.

LW#3: THE WANDERER – DONNA SUMMER
LW#2: WOMAN IN LOVE – BARBRA STREISAND
LW#1: LADY – KENNY ROGERS
40: ONE TRICK PONY - PAUL SIMON (debut) - The second hit from Paul's movie of the same name. However, it definitely did not live up to the success of the first song, "Late In The Evening", which peaked at #6. This song, on the other hand, didn't get any higher than the bottom rung on the AT40 chart. The song was a good one, but I preferred the other song from the film.
39: SUDDENLY - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN AND CLIFF RICHARD (debut) - Xanadu fever was beginning to wind down at this point, but one last hit from the soundtrack was still heading up the chart, en route to #20. It was a great song, though I prefer a few others from both artists.
38: IF YOU SHOULD SAIL - NIELSON/PEARSON BAND (39) - Pretty much typical MOR music from this era. This was all the higher it got, which was too bad, because I thought it was a neat song.
37: TURNING JAPANESE - THE VAPORS (38) - Kind of surprised that this song didn't get past #36, given the recurrent airplay it receives today, as well as the fact that I heard it on WLS all the time back around this time.
36: SEQUEL - HARRY CHAPIN (debut) - Interesting story about the original "Taxi", to which, of course, this is said sequel. I liked both songs about the same - both are good ones!
35: CELEBRATION - KOOL & THE GANG (debut) - 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.
34: ON THE ROAD AGAIN - WILLIE NELSON (20) - I'm generally not a huge Willie Nelson fan, but I actually thought this was a great song - possibly my favorite song from him!
33: I BELIEVE IN YOU - DON WILLIAMS (40) - He was chiefly a country artist, but he did have one pop crossover hit. This one is a guilty pleasure of mine!
ARCHIVES: TELSTAR – THE TORNADOES - Very interesting instrumental song using what sounds like an organ and an acoustic guitar.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: TELL IT LIKE IT IS - HEART
32: THIS TIME - JOHN COUGAR (34) - This song had sort of a sixties feel to it. It was a good one, but not quite his best.
31: IT'S MY TURN - DIANA ROSS (37) - Now this by far was my favorite of her three songs on the chart this week. It's a great one - very theatrical sounding.
30: DE DO DO DO, DE DA DA DA DA - THE POLICE (debut) - Wow, they outpeaked their first Top 40 hit "Roxanne" in the song's first week on the chart! I'm not a huge fan of this song, however - if this was all that someone had to say to me, I'd be saying "Ba-bye bye bye". I actually prefer their grossly overplayed 1983 hit over this one.
29: DEEP INSIDE MY HEART - RANDY MEISNER (31) - This was one of three solo hits by former Eagles member Meisner. I preferred the other two, but this one, which featured Kim Carnes on back-up vocals, was good too.
28: THEME FROM "THE DUKES OF HAZZARD" - WAYLON JENNINGS (30) - My brother used to watch this show every single week it was on. I'd watch it with him sometimes, so I recognized this song quite well.
27: I'M HAPPY THAT LOVE HAS FOUND YOU - JIMMY HALL (28) - Another typical MOR song, like the Nielson/Pearson band earlier. This one, however, was a tad more successful, peaking at #27. I still felt this song was underrated - it was a great one, IMO.
26: EVERYBODY'S GOT TO LEARN SOMETIME - THE KORGIS (32) - I love this song - very eerie sounding! Imagine listening to this while walking through a graveyard on a foggy night!
LDD: I HONESTLY LOVE YOU – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - Wow, I could definitely relate to this LDD, as my parents had separated earlier that year! Fortunately, even though my brother and I continued to live with our mother, our dad still lived in town, so we saw him twice a week. Anyway, as for the song, it was a good one, but I slightly preferred her next #1, a few months later.
25: UPSIDE DOWN - DIANA ROSS (25) - Wow, this song must have still been selling well, even though she had two other songs in the Top 40, as it stayed in place despite its hard fall from the Top Ten the previous week. This would be my second favorite of her songs in the chart this week.
24: EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD - AIR SUPPLY (35) - They were really on a roll at this point - it was their third hit, and would hit the Top Five like the first two (and the next four).
23: DREAMER - SUPERTRAMP (15) - Interesting story about the woman on the cover of Breakfast In America, Kate Murtagh. Speaking of which, a live version of the title track was being released as the second hit from Paris as this song, originally on Supertramp's 1974 album Crime Of The Century, was on its way down. I preferred this live version over that one by far.
22: WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - ROGER DALTREY (24) - The lead singer of the Who tried it on his own, and did quite well, peaking at #20 with his only solo hit. It was a great song, though I associate it more with early 1981 (probably because that was when WLS played it - they actually did not add the song to their list until January).
ARCHIVES: GO AWAY LITTLE GIRL – STEVE LAWRENCE - The first of two versions of this song that hit #1 (the next one, of course, was by Donny Osmond, which would top the chart in 1971). Neither song is among my favorite songs in the world - nor am I sure which of the two I prefer).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: I MADE IT THROUGH THE RAIN - BARRY MANILOW
21: LET ME BE YOUR ANGEL - STACY LATTISAW (23) - *YAWN* No, seriously, this song was OK, but a little dull.
20: GUILTY - BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB (29) - This was the first of two duets with which the two charted, both of which made the Top Ten. I preferred the other one, "What Kind Of Fool", which would chart a few months later. This one wasn't bad, but my least favorite of Streisand's three singles from the album of the same name.
19: OUT HERE ON MY OWN - IRENE CARA (19) - Anyone who has ever heard the obscure "How Do You Keep The Music Playing", Patti Austin's other duet with James Ingram, might notice the similarity between the two songs. This is definitely one of my favorite Irene Cara songs, and one of her most underrated.
18: HUNGRY HEART - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (21) - Like The Police, this song outpeaked Springsteen's previous hits. It didn't stop there, either - the song made it all the way to #5 about a month later. This is one of my favorite songs from him - even better than my favorites from Born In The USA.
17: HE'S SO SHY - THE POINTER SISTERS (8) - This was one of their biggest hits, as well as one of my all-time faves from them!
16: NEVER BE THE SAME - CHRISTOPHER CROSS (18) - One of two songs by Christopher Cross that hit the Top Three on R&R, yet only reached Top 20 status on the Hot 100. And, you know what, both songs sound a little alike. But I'm sure that's only coincidence. Anyway, I liked this song a lot - for a song with such a depressing subject matter, it's unusually upbeat.
15: HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT - PAT BENATAR (16) - Her first Top Ten hit, and her signature song. I liked it, despite its overplay.
14: WHIP IT - DEVO (14) - Meh, this one wasn't my cup of tea.
13: YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELING - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (13) - They really worked on this one to make it sound like the original by the Righteous Brothers, didn't they? I actually preferred this one, because it doesn't sound as dated as the original.
12: LOVELY ONE - THE JACKSONS (12) - Interesting that the Jackson 5/Jacksons hit #1 with their first four hits and then never again. Anyway, this song was OK, but I generally preferred the Jackson 5 era (which might sound odd coming from me, given that I'm not a fan of early-70s shows).
11: LOVE ON THE ROCKS - NEIL DIAMOND (17) - Had it not been for the death of John Lennon, this song just might have hit #1. It did, however, sneak in a week on top of the R&R chart, though, which is good, because it was a great song - my favorite of Neil's three Top Ten songs from The Jazz Singer.
ARCHIVES: WALK RIGHT IN - THE ROOFTOP SINGERS - Here's one I remember hearing when I was a young 'un, since my Dad had the Rooftop Singers' album of the same name and played it quite a lot. The rest of the album has many good songs on it.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: THE TIDE IS HIGH - BLONDIE -
10: DREAMING - CLIFF RICHARD (11) - 1980 was definitely his best year on the US charts, as he had two Top Ten hits that year (as well as two other Top 40 hits). This song was good, though I preferred his other Top Ten hit, "We Don't Talk Anymore", from early in the year.
9: STARTING OVER - JOHN LENNON (10) - Wow, this song had a weird chart run - three weeks earlier, it had debuted on the entire Hot 100 at #38, made a modest jump to #32, then catapulted to #10 last week and this week, only moved up one. This song would hit #1 at the end of December, but we wouldn't hear it announce as the #1 song until two weeks later, since the Top 100 of 1980 was broadcast over the next two weeks. It was a great song - the first of four posthumous Top Ten hits by John Lennon, and my favorite of the four (well, technically, it wouldn't count as a posthumous song, as Lennon was still alive when the song was released, but the song did peak posthumously).
8: MORE THAN I CAN SAY - LEO SAYER (9) - This song almost made it all the way to the top, but was shut out by the song that was currently at #1, and then the above John Lennon song would leapfrog over it. I liked this song, though I preferred two of his 1977 songs (I still prefer this over "When I Need You").
7: MASTER BLASTER - STEVIE WONDER (7) - This song sounded a lot like something that the late Bob Marley would do. I like it, but prefer many others from Wonder.
6: NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE - STEPHANIE MILLS (6) - Her only Top Ten hit, but a great one it was!
LDD: DO IT OR DIE – THE ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION - Very inspirational story from the LDD, about following your dreams. The song was very fitting!
5: I'M COMING OUT - DIANA ROSS (5) - I wonder how many people took this title wrong? Anyway, I was never a big fan of this song. Easily my least favorite of her three songs on the chart this week.
4: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST - QUEEN (4) - For the 1980 year-end countdown, which would be starting a little over a month later, this song was shortchanged - had its full chart run been considered, it would be way up in the Top Five - possibly even #1. Not that I'm complaining, since I'm not a huge fan of this song - another song that was played on the Pizza Hut juke box all the time.
3: THE WANDERER - DONNA SUMMER (3) - I actually used to think that this song was a slightly altered remake of Dion's song of the same title but, in fact, it's a completely different song altogether. This was a great song, IMO.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PASSION - ROD STEWART -
2: WOMAN IN LOVE - BARBRA STREISAND (2) - Definitely one of the biggest hits of 1980, and one I remember quite well! It's my second favorite of her three Top 40 hits from Guilty, behind "What Kind Of Fool".
1: LADY - KENNY ROGERS (1) - This was the song's second of six weeks at the top. Since it had been deferred to 1981, it looked to be in a great position to snag the top spot of that year with such awesome stats, but who knew that two other songs had even stronger staying power at the top. As for this song, I guess you could call it a guilty pleasure, since I liked it a lot.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

11/30/1985 won't be aired this year. It was confirmed in the 80s thread. The three regular weekends in December are 1981, 1983, and 1987, though the order is unknown. 11/27/1982 is airing the weekend of 11/23, and 11/29/1986 is confirmed for the weekend of 11/30.

ETA: Was that last part "recycled"? Otherwise trying to figure out where 11/21/1987 came from.

[Hervard]

Nov 15, 2024 16:52:54 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

11/30/1985 won't be aired this year. It was confirmed in the 80s thread. The three regular weekends in December are 1981, 1983, and 1987, though the order is unknown. 11/27/1982 is airing the weekend of 11/23, and 11/29/1986 is confirmed for the weekend of 11/30.

ETA: Was that last part "recycled"? Otherwise trying to figure out where 11/21/1987 came from.

That was indeed from my recycled commentary of this show from its 2016 airing and was mistakenly pasted along with the main part. I have since removed the last paragraph (since I no longer post predictions anyway, especially now that we know the next show about two weeks ahead of time).

[mrjukebox]

"Sequel" was the last time that Harry Chapin would reach the top forty-In the summer of 1981,he was killed in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway in New York.