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Post by dukelightning on Jul 7, 2012 8:43:08 GMT -5
Thanks for info atruefan. IIRC, Casey during the chart run of "Dance, Dance, Dance" mentioned how its 8 weeks at #1 were the most at the time. Obviously "Bad Luck" amassed its total on other charts. A song that is conspicuously missing from this survey is Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye". In researching the beginning of the disco chart, I read that it was #1 for a few weeks prior to the chart's inception giving it 8 weeks total IIRC. Of course, other than "Rock the Boat" which was an extra anyway, no songs from 1974 were included in this show. So the survey period for this special was really mid 1975 to mid 1979.
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Post by Hervard on Jul 7, 2012 9:05:30 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 70s - July 7, 2012 This week’s presentation: Top 40 Songs of the Disco Era (originally run July 7, 1979) I decided to do my commentary a little differently this time. Instead of writing my opinions on most of these songs, I wrote comments/factoids about the songs - since, if I had done it the regular way, it would be very monotonous, since I’m not a huge disco fan. I just listened to the show because it was a special. And, as you’ll note, I do like a few disco songs (for which I did include my personal opinion) - several of them in this week’s Top Ten! Here goes: EXTRA: ROCK THE BOAT - THE HUES CORPORATION (FIRST #1 DISCO SONG - 1974) - Wow, kind of odd for a show to start off with an extra, but since this was the first disco song, I guess it was appropriate enough. 40: LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY - DONNA SUMMER (#2 - 1976) - The first of many songs by her on the countdown. 39: SHAKE YOUR GROOVE THING - PEACHES AND HERB (#5 - 1979) - They were pretty diverse with their songs - did just as well with ballads as they did with upbeat numbers like this one. 38: (EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND) BACK IN LOVE AGAIN - L.T.D. (#4 - 1977) - Of course, we all know that the lead singer of this group, Jeffrey Osbourne, had a pretty successful solo career after L.T.D. disbanded 37: LAST DANCE - DONNA SUMMER (#3 - 1978) - Hmm, this one should have been the one to close out the show 36: TURN THE BEAT AROUND - VICKI SUE ROBINSON (#10 - 1976) - Gloria Estefan remade this song in 1994 and sounded almost exactly like the original. 35: KEEP IT COMIN' LOVE - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#2 - 1977) - My favorite of their songs on the countdown this week. 34: SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND) - THE JACKSONS (#7 - 1979) - Their only song to make the countdown, as their heyday was before the disco era started. 33: DANCE WITH ME - PETER BROWN WITH BETTY WRIGHT (#8 - 1978) - Don’t really remember this one. EXTRA: HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE - BEE GEES (#3 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1977) - Probably my favorite of their songs on the countdown (since it was a slow song) 32: THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1975) - Uh-huh! Uh-huh! 31: I FEEL LOVE - DONNA SUMMER (#6 - 1977) - Odd that most of her hits to make the survey are in the lower portion of the chart. EXTRA: NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE - GLORIA GAYNOR (#9 - 1975) - Good song originally done by the Jackson 5 (or perhaps Isaac Hayes, who charted with it around the same time as the Jackson 5 in 1971) 30: DAZZ - BRICK (#3 - 1977) - I wonder if the title of this song inspired the Dazz Band for their group name. 29: DISCO INFERNO - THE TRAMMPS (#11 - 1978) - This is where I noticed that the list was not put together by chart performance (obviously, I listened to the three-hour version of the show - haven't heard any stations running the four-hour version of the show at the time I posted this commentary). 28: KNOCK ON WOOD - AMII STEWART (#1 - 1979) - Third time was a charm, as this was the third version of this song to hit the Top 40 and it went all the way to #1. EXTRA: THE TWIST - CHUBBY CHECKER (ALL TIME BEST SELLING DANCE RECORD/#1 - 1960 & 1962) - And the only song ever to top the chart twice. 27: YOU SHOULD BE DANCING - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1976) - Ah, their very first #1 disco record! 26: GET UP AND BOOGIE (THAT'S RIGHT) - SILVER CONVENTION (#2 - 1976) - (Keeps comment to self about how it’s hard to memorize this song’s lyrics...) 25: IN THE NAVY - VILLAGE PEOPLE (#3 - 1979) - I actually like this song. Surprising, considering how much I detested their other Top Ten hit - which I’m sure is coming up... 24: YOU SEXY THING - HOT CHOCOLATE (#3 - 1976) - This song was used in several commercials, the most recent being for the Swiffer Duster. 23: GOT TO GIVE IT UP - MARVIN GAYE (#1 - 1977) - This song was number one on last week’s edition of American Top 40: The 70s. EXTRA: THREE TIMES A LADY - COMMODORES (#2 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1978) - I know for a fact that this one was not played in this show for some reason. 22: FLY, ROBIN, FLY - SILVER CONVENTION (#1 - 1975) - They sure weren’t much for lyrics, as both of their Top 40 hits were mainly instrumental. 21: HOT STUFF - DONNA SUMMER (#1 - 1979) - The most recent song on the countdown. OPTIONAL EXTRA: COPACABANA (AT THE COPA) - BARRY MANILOW - Unusual upbeat song by the man known best for his slow songs. 20: STAR WARS THEME/CANTINA BAND (MEDLEY) - MECO (#1 - 1977) - Discofied version of the theme from one of the biggest selling movies of the 20th Century. 19: MORE, MORE, MORE (PART #1) - THE ANDREA TRUE CONNECTION (#4 - 1976) - Sampled in “Steal My Sunshine” by Len twenty years later. 18: MISS YOU - THE ROLLING STONES (#1 - 1978) - One of two disco songs that they charted with (their other one, “Emotional Rescue”, didn’t chart until the following year). EXTRA: DISCO DUCK (PART #1) - RICK DEES AND HIS CAST OF IDIOTS (#1 DISCO NOVELTY SONG/#1 - 1977) - I believe this song was moved to the spot where “Three Times A Lady” was in the original broadcast. 17: CAR WASH - ROSE ROYCE (#1 - 1977) - Definitely need one of these to wash my car, since my area has been devoid of rain of late! 16: IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU - YVONNE ELLIMAN (#1 - 1978) - This is actually one of my favorite disco hits. 15: (SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE) SHAKE YOUR BOOTY - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1976) - One of four songs that they charted with on this show (“Get Down Tonight” didn’t make it, but I have a feeling that it didn’t miss by much though). EXTRA: REUNITED - PEACHES AND HERB (#1 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1979) - Definitely worthy of being the top slow dance song - my favorite song from them! 14: I'M YOUR BOOGIE MAN/WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND ME - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1977) - 13: DANCE, DANCE, DANCE (YOWSAH, YOWSAH, YOWSAH) - CHIC (#6 - 1978) - What does “yowsah” mean, anyway?12: MAC ARTHUR PARK - DONNA SUMMER (#1 - 1978) - This almost became a song that hit #1 twice, but the original by Richard Harris just missed the top spot. 11: DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY - THELMA HOUSTON (#1 - 1977) - This song was one of the slowest climbs to the top of the chart of the 1970s. OPTIONAL EXTRA: HEART OF GLASS - BLONDIE - I remember hearing this song playing on the Himalaya at the fair back in the day. 10: Y.M.C.A. - VILLAGE PEOPLE (#2 - 1979) - I tell you what, I used to rather like this song, but then it quickly became a joke when I found out about the goofy dance people did to this song, forming the letters with their bodies (I’m sure they’ve been doing this all along, but, oddly enough, I first found out about it when I saw “Wayne’s World 2" back in early 1994). 9: BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE - A TASTE OF HONEY (#1 - 1978) - Another one of my favorite disco songs. 8: I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE (DISCO 'ROUND) - ALICIA BRIDGES (#5 - 1978) - Possibly my favorite disco song of all-time! EXTRA: THE HUSTLE - VAN MCCOY AND THE SOUL CITY SYMPHONY (FAVORITE DANCE STEP/#1 - 1975) - Good song, too. 7: DA YA THINK I'M SEXY - ROD STEWART (#1 - 1979) - Anti-disco radio DJ Steve Dahl did a parody of this song called “Do Ya Think I’m Disco”. 6: I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR (#1 - 1979) - The anthem for victims of domestic abuse. Another disco song that I really like. 5: A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN - WALTER MURPHY AND THE BIG APPLE BAND (#1 - 1976) - Technically, the oldest song on the survey. EXTRA: SAN FRANCISCO (YOU'VE GOT ME) - THE VILLAGE PEOPLE (#1 DISCO RECORD NEVER TO CHART ON THE HOT 100/#102 - 1977) - So a song could chart on the Bubbling Under chart without being released as a single? 4: BEST OF MY LOVE - THE EMOTIONS (#1 - 1977) - Another one of my favorite disco songs. This song, of course, inspired Mariah Carey’s song from the fall of 1991, “Emotions”. 3: STAYIN' ALIVE - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1978) - John Travolta’s famous walk to this song in the movie was parodied somewhat on Sesame Street a few years later by David (Maria’s main squeeze during the first ten years of the series). Not sure if it’s on YouTube, since I only saw it once. OPTIONAL EXTRA: LOVE HANGOVER - DIANA ROSS - I’m kind of surprised that she was absent from the survey. Of course, she didn’t really have many big hits at all during the disco era. 2: NIGHT FEVER - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1978) - The biggest song from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. 1: LE FREAK - CHIC (#1 - 1978) - This song holds the record for the largest chart jump in American Top 40 history, moving 37-6 in November, 1978. And, since it was #1 over the greatest span of time (its run at the top was interrupted twice), it wound up on top on this special disco countdown Predictions for next week: As we return to the weekly shows next week, I’m thinking that we’ll probably hear an early-70s show. I doubt that we’ll hear the first-ever show, since that was last presented two years ago. But possibly the show after that, which used the chart for July 18 (I forget - for the very early 1970s, do they place the show date or chart date close to the weekend of rebroadcast)? Well, if not 1970, then my back-up prediction is July 15, 1972.
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Post by dukelightning on Jul 7, 2012 12:04:39 GMT -5
I can make some comments. That was a good critique BTW. Bee Gees first #1 disco song was "Jivetalkin" in 1975. That Village People song that bubbled under WAS released as a single. (Casablanca 896). That Diana Ross song WAS a big hit itself. But other than "Love Hangover", no she had no other big disco hits in the disco era. Finally, your mention of the AT40 for 7/18/70 is the second show and that cannot be played because the third hour is missing.
BTW, what did Larry Morgan say about "Never Can Say Goodbye"? (A song I am listening to as I type this but by Isaac Hayes on the SXM show).
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Post by Hervard on Jul 7, 2012 12:57:35 GMT -5
I can make some comments. That was a good critique BTW. Bee Gees first #1 disco song was "Jivetalkin" in 1975. That Village People song that bubbled under WAS released as a single. (Casablanca 896). That Diana Ross song WAS a big hit itself. But other than "Love Hangover", no she had no other big disco hits in the disco era. Finally, your mention of the AT40 for 7/18/70 is the second show and that cannot be played because the third hour is missing. BTW, what did Larry Morgan say about "Never Can Say Goodbye"? (A song I am listening to as I type this but by Isaac Hayes on the SXM show). He said that "Never Can Say Goodbye" was the #1 song on the very first disco chart, which Billboard started publishing in October, 1974. I actually changed my predictions for next week - posted it in a different thread, and my main prediction is July 15, 1972. Looks like I'll have to change my back-up prediction. Right; Diana Ross' "Love Hangover" was her only disco song that would have a chance to make the countdown, since her other big hit during the disco era was Theme From Mahogany, which, of course, was far from being disco. I could have sworn that Casey said that the Village People song wasn't released as a single. Maybe it was after the fact; not really sure.' I had forgotten about "Jive Talkin'" being the Bee Gees first disco song. That said, I'm kind of surprised it didn't make the countdown. Probably didn't miss by much, though. I'm also surprised that none of Andy Gibb's songs made the cut. Lastly, thanks for the compliment on my critique.
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Post by Hervard on Jul 7, 2012 21:08:34 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - July 7, 2012 This week’s presentation: July 3, 1982 Well, the bad news is that American Top 40 opted not to do a special show this weekend. The good news, however, is that they went with a show from one of the best years in music, 1982. For some reason, there wasn’t a special on Independence Day weekend that year. Dropped: I’VE NEVER BEEN TO ME - CHARLENE (32) - Great song! A true guilty pleasure, since several people I know hate this song with a passion, especially with the spoken part in the bridge. 867-5309 - TOMMY TUTONE (31) - Great song! Too bad it fell out, but at least it was heard on the last 1982 show - such was the case with all five droppers. The rest of the droppers are from up in the Top 20 (Hey, this was 1982, remember?) DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS - RICK SPRINGFIELD (17) - Great song! Shame that it fell out, especially from such a high position. IT’S GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE - DENIECE WILLIAMS (15) - Good song, but it definitely has that “rainy day” sound to it, as I’ve mentioned several times before. MAKING LOVE - ROBERTA FLACK (13) - Aww, this was such a great song! (Although, like the Charlene song, I know several people that detest this song). LW#3: ROSANNA - TOTO LW#2: DON’T YOU WANT ME – THE HUMAN LEAGUE LW#1: EBONY & IVORY – PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER As always, I’ll comment on those songs later on in the show - and I’ll bet they’re all still in the Top Three! 40: ANGEL IN BLUE – THE J. GEILS BAND (debut) - Good song, though it doesn’t hold a candle to “Centerfold”. I like it better than “Freeze Frame”, though. 39: HOOKED ON SWING – LARRY ELGART & HIS MANHATTEN SWING ORCHESTRA (debut) - Wow, the medley craze, which was winding down at this point, inspired a few instrumental ones. This was an interesting one, with a good selection of songs. 38: DANCING IN THE STREET – VAN HALEN (40) - Good song - not sure if I prefer this, the original by Martha & Vandellas or the 1985 version by Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Interesting that Van Halen’s biggest chart success up to that point had been with remakes. That would all change a little less than two years later...37: ISLAND OF LOST SOULS - BLONDIE (39) - Good song. This one had a tropical sound to it, sort of like “The Tide Is High”. 36: HOPE YOU LOVE ME LIKE YOU SAY YOU DO – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (36) - Great song! Definitely one of their most underrated songs ever, as this is where the song peaked. 35: BE MINE TONIGHT – NEIL DIAMOND (37) - This song wasn’t bad, but I prefer many others by him. 34: HARD TO SAY I’M SORRY - CHICAGO (38) - Ah, the song that ended a three-year dry spell for them! This was once my favorite song in the world, but overplay definitely changed that (including the 1997 remake by Az Yet, which sounded so much like the original). It’s still good to hear every now and then, though. 33: THIS MAN IS MINE - HEART (35) - Good song, though not their best. 32: AFTER THE GLITTER FADES – STEVIE NICKS (33) - Great song! This was another underrated song - not only did it peak at this position, but it actually fell off the following week, defying the 1982 rule about songs sitting at their peak positions for two or more weeks before falling. OPTIONAL EXTRA: KIDS IN AMERICA - KIM WILDE - This song was pretty good, but I preferred her remake of the Supremes “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, along with her song from 1988 that barely missed the Top 40 “You Came”. 31: EARLY IN THE MORNING – THE GAP BAND (debut) - Great song! Robert Palmer’s remake from six years later didn’t sound all that much different than this one. Not sure which of those I prefer. 30: GOING TO A GO GO – THE ROLLING STONES (debut) - This song was OK 29: WASTED ON THE WAY – CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH (debut) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by them! 28: BODY LANGUAGE - QUEEN (11) - Ordinarily, this is a “No. Just no” song. But since it takes the biggest fall of this week (and would be gone the next week), it’s all cool. This song is also the only descending song in the lower half of the Top 40. Indeed, you can tell that this was 1982! 27: EVEN THE NIGHTS ARE BETTER – AIR SUPPLY (34) - Great song! One of their best! And, of course, this would end up making AT40 history by making the longest fall out of the Top 40. 26: BREAK IT UP - FOREIGNER (26) - Good song - reminds me of “Blue Morning, Blue Day”. 25: PERSONALLY – KARLA BONOFF (29) - Great song! Back in the summer of 1994, I bought Karla’s Wild Heart Of The Young album, after hearing the title track playing over a scene in The Wonder Years, and it turned out to be a worthy purchase, as I liked each and every song on the album! 24: STILL THEY RIDE – JOURNEY (27) - Great song! My favorite of the Escape singles. LDD: I BELIEVE IN YOU – DON WILLIAMS - Great song, and very fitting for the dedication - to a guy who convinced her to have a risky facial operation. 23: FORGET ME NOTS – PATRICE RUSHEN (25) - Good song. I like this song a lot better than the overplayed Will Smith song “Men In Black”, which sampled it. 22: HOLD ME – FLEETWOOD MAC (30) - Good song - another one I really liked back in the day, but I eventually grew tired of it. OPTIONAL EXTRA: VACATION - THE GO-GOS - Good song. I had forgotten that this was the first cassette single released in the States. 21: WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I – RICK SPRINGFIELD (24) - Great song! This was its first of six straight weeks peaking at #21 - the longest peak at a spot outside the Top Ten, I believe. 20: KEEP THE FIRE BURNIN’ – REO SPEEDWAGON (28) - Good song - one of very few Top Tens they had (presumably because they were mainly an album group and most people bought their albums in favor of their singles). 19: ABRACADABRA – THE STEVE MILLER BAND (22) - Great song! One of their best songs from the 1980s. They played the album version of the song, with the cold ending (I believe the single version faded up with the repeat of “I heat up, I can’t cool down...”) 18: TAKE ME DOWN - ALABAMA (20) - Good song, but I prefer several others by them. 17: PLAY THE GAME TONIGHT - KANSAS (21) - Great song! I still prefer a few others by them, though, as well as a few of John Elefante’s solo hits. 16: DO I DO – STEVIE WONDER (23) - Good song - this one was sampled in “Livin’ It Up” by Ja Rule twenty years later. 15: ANY DAY NOW – RONNIE MILSAP (18) - Great song! One of his best! Casey mentioned that this was the #1 country song this week. 14: THE OTHER WOMAN – RAY PARKER JR. (10) - This song was OK, but one of my least favorite songs by him, with or without Raydio. 13: ONLY THE LONELY – THE MOTELS (16) - Great song! As I’ve mentioned before, I liked all four of their Top 40 hits. 12: CRIMSON AND CLOVER – JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS (7) - This song was pretty good. Much better than the original by Tommy James & The Shondells, especially that vibrating part, which was absent from the Joan Jett version, when she sang “Crimson and clover, over and over...”. I still prefer “I Love Rock & Roll”, however. 11: TAINTED LOVE – SOFT CELL (14) - Meh, this one’s mediocre at best. It was quite overplayed. OPTIONAL EXTRA: HOT IN THE CITY - BILLY IDOL - Good song, but my favorite song by him would be “Sweet Sixteen”, which we heard a few weeks back. 10: CAUGHT IN YOU - .38 SPECIAL (12) - Great song! This would probably be my favorite song by them - and it was their biggest hit ever (that is with Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes on vocals - as I said in another thread, when Max Carl became lead singer in 1989, they just weren’t .38 Special anymore). 9: EYE OF THE TIGER - SURVIVOR (19) - Wow, this song hit the Top Ten in just its second week in the Top 40. It was clear where this song was headed. It was a great song, but I prefer several others by them. 8: LOVE’S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME – JUICE NEWTON (9) - Huh huh - she said hard-on! No, seriously, this is one of my favorite songs from her. 7: LET IT WHIP – THE DAZZ BAND (8) - This song is pretty good, but nothing exceptional. 6: ALWAYS ON MY MIND – WILLIE NELSON (5) - Great song! However, I prefer the Pet Shop Boys’ techno dance version of the song from 1988. 5: HURTS SO GOOD – JOHN COUGAR (6) - Great song! One that has held up well despite overplay. 4: HEAT OF THE MOMENT - ASIA (4) - Great song! One of their best! 3: EBONY & IVORY – PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER (1) - As cheesy as this song is, it does have a great message and I’ve learned to like it better than I did previously. OPTIONAL EXTRA: EYE IN THE SKY - ALAN PARSONS PROJECT - Great song. R.I.P. Eric Woolfson 2: ROSANNA - TOTO (3) - Great song, though I prefer several other of their songs. 1: DON’T YOU WANT ME – THE HUMAN LEAGUE (2) - Great song! This is indeed my favorite song by them and am glad that it made it all the way to the top! Predictions for next week: Well, since there are so many AT40 shows the week after the fourth that were guest hosted, it’s kind of easy to narrow it down. I would say that next weekend’s show will be the July 12, 1986 show. My backup prediction is July 16, 1983.
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Post by Josh Joel's Top 40 on Jul 10, 2012 0:49:21 GMT -5
July 7, 1979 The Top 40 Hits of the Disco Era. I had just finished kindergarten, well that's the way it should've been. Apparently none of the "experts" agreed they suggested that I'd repeat it and so I did. Anyway this was the period that I do definitely remember some kick a** tunes from way back when. Here's something else that I was way too young to realise - five days later on a Thursday night to be exact was when this whole faze came to a screeching end. It was on July 12, 1979 the night that was supposed to be a "doubleheader" baseball between the White Sox and the Tigers, but no Steve Dahl (DJ for WDAI before the format change and WLUP) had other plans. Before that fateful night here's what the chart looked like as you may know and what I think as I approach another milestone! EXTRA: ROCK THE BOAT - THE HUES CORPORATION (FIRST #1 DISCO SONG - 1974) - One of my all time favourite records ever. I didn't really get into this song until David Cassidy played this on VH1 back in 1996 on the short-lived TV series called "8 Track Flashback". 40: LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY - DONNA SUMMER (#2 - 1976) - Besides all of the moaning I do "love" this song for it's orchestral discotheque feel used by many German and European producers. 39: SHAKE YOUR GROOVE THING - PEACHES AND HERB (#5 - 1979) - Catchy record there, definitely hard to forget, it was bangin' and it still is. 38: (EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND) BACK IN LOVE AGAIN - L.T.D. (#4 - 1977) - My dad had this song on one of their LPs from the time that we first moved to Glendale, AZ. Anyway I still love this song - it's one of their best. You know, my parents some years ago heard the 12" extended version on an old school radio mix show one night and my mom seemed puzzled. She thought that it would automatically be on an album because I guess a lot of folks assume that the longer/extended versions would appear on an LP. Not so. I needed to explain to her that this was the 12" single version and the whole 12" promoting process, it was sort of funny but that's my mom y'know LOL. 37: LAST DANCE - DONNA SUMMER (#3 - 1978) - Great song and there are more hot ones from her on the way. I freaking miss her already - I feel so cheated (well millions may feel the same) because she hid her illness from the public. We could've at least been prepared like we were with Robin Gibb. Selena also released a posthumous hit back in 1997 with her medley recorded live at a concert remixed for single release called "The Disco Medley" which includes "On The Radio" and "The Hustle (Van McCoy)". 36: TURN THE BEAT AROUND - VICKI SUE ROBINSON (#10 - 1976) - This woman knew how to sing! Yes she did, she also left us too soon following her battle with cancer. I didn't remember hearing this song until 1992 as part of their mini-mix show on Chicago's B96. I only heard a few seconds of it. But thanks to Gloria Estefan - I heard the song itself in full back in 1995. 35: KEEP IT COMIN' LOVE - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#2 - 1977) - 5th single from the LP "Part 3" spent 3 frustrating weeks at #2 on the Hot 100. Decent song. 34: SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND) - THE JACKSONS (#7 - 1979) - Two notable acts sampled this record, Rob Base on the 80s dance smash "Get On The Dancefloor" and by Shaggy on his 2000 smash "Dance and Shout". Great record. 33: DANCE WITH ME - PETER BROWN WITH BETTY WRIGHT (#8 - 1978) - The short-lived late 90s R&B boyband Imajin sampled this song on "Shorty (You Keep Playing with My Mind)". Great song. EXTRA: HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE - BEE GEES (#3 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1977) - RIP Robin Gibb thank you for allowing us to support you during your battle, you were not alone, we were there with you pulling for you. Thank you for helping your brothers put out such fantastic gems like this one. This same song was later covered by the 90s R&B group Portrait. 32: THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1975) - Unforgettable song - it's a song my sister and I share so much growing up when it was just us a siblings y'know. We were close friends! Each time this record would come we'd look at one another with joy and start singing along! Now that's family, man! 31: I FEEL LOVE - DONNA SUMMER (#6 - 1977) - Possibly my favourite number from her because of it's timing which was very much ahead. I wasn't even sure if it was remixed in the 80s, but yeah it's definitely the original 1977 single version! 30: DAZZ - BRICK (#3 - 1977) - Madea grind to this during her front yard BBQ in the movie "Madea's Family Reunion" as of course played by Tyler Perry. Brilliant song that was reportedly *not* inspired by the Dazz Band to use for their name. 29: DISCO INFERNO - THE TRAMMPS (#11 - 1978) - The lead singer for this group also recently passed on named Jimmy Ellis. He was 74 living with Alzheimer's disease, sadly, which affects millions of Americans in their golden years. On the lighter note - this one of my favourite disco records ever! 28: KNOCK ON WOOD - AMII STEWART (#1 - 1979) - This was remixed in 1985 making the UK Top 20. Great song. EXTRA: THE TWIST - CHUBBY CHECKER (ALL TIME BEST SELLING DANCE RECORD/#1 - 1960 & 1962) - The Fat Boys later covered this with this artist back in 1988 subtitled "Yo Twist". Yo? Really? 27: YOU SHOULD BE DANCING - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1976) - Classic disco record still moving the dance crowd today in some clubs. Decent song. 26: GET UP AND BOOGIE (THAT'S RIGHT) - SILVER CONVENTION (#2 - 1976) - My dad has the LP, but I didn't like for quite a while because of it's lack of vocals. Nowadays I find this to be a compelling classic that many people in this generation also enjoy as well. 25: IN THE NAVY - VILLAGE PEOPLE (#3 - 1979) - Guilty pleasure there - you can't help but sing along. Just don't tell any of your peers, co-workers, or strangers that it's on your playlist. If it's on your playlist - you may not want to share it. LOL 24: YOU SEXY THING - HOT CHOCOLATE (#3 - 1976) - My dad has the 45 in his collection. This was also remixed in 1987 for UK single release. I prefer the remix partly because it was the 80s and I love 80s music including new wave, pop, rock and soul. 23: GOT TO GIVE IT UP (PART 1) - MARVIN GAYE (#1 - 1977) - Classic upbeat Marvin Gaye tune. Great return to the top of the pop charts after 4 years. This would be his final pop number one song. EXTRA: THREE TIMES A LADY - COMMODORES (#2 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1978) - (not played on the 2012 Premiere edition) Great song.22: FLY, ROBIN, FLY - SILVER CONVENTION (#1 - 1975) - Great song - in past I wasn't fond of this either for the same reason I noted in their other hit. 21: HOT STUFF - DONNA SUMMER (#1 - 1979) - Nice party record there! One of her many brilliant records. 20: STAR WARS THEME/CANTINA BAND (MEDLEY) - MECO (#1 - 1977) - I remember hearing this daily on the local morning kid TV series in Phoenix, AZ called "Wallace & Ladmo" played during one their segments. 19: MORE, MORE, MORE (PART #1) - THE ANDREA TRUE CONNECTION (#4 - 1976) - May she RIP - almost hard to believe this woman done passed on, but she has. Great song that was also sampled in Len's "Steal My Sunshine" (1999). The latter is brilliant, but the rest of album basically sucked. Now you know why they were one-hit wonders. 18: MISS YOU - THE ROLLING STONES (#1 - 1978) - This one of four their songs to enter the R&B charts, on there it hit #33. But it's not their biggest, it's their other #1 in 1965 which hit #19 R&B "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". EXTRA: DISCO DUCK (PART #1) - RICK DEES AND HIS CAST OF IDIOTS (#1 DISCO NOVELTY SONG/#1 - 1977) - Silly but decent novelty song there. I prefer "Get Nakked" from 1984 which received a considerable amount of airplay on BET. 17: CAR WASH - ROSE ROYCE (#1 - 1977) - Great song which was also covered by Christina Aguilera & Missy Elliot for the flick "Shark Tale" in 2004. 16: IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU - YVONNE ELLIMAN (#1 - 1978) - Classic record there! Kim Wilde later covered this in 1993. 15: (SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE) SHAKE YOUR BOOTY - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1976) - I finally owned this song on my own back in the summer of 1982 when Urban radio would occasionally give some disco songs recurrent airplay. Yes, I was a "C30, C60, C90" kid having my first cassette recorder it was great! One of my neighbourhood friends had the 45, so I wanted it and when the time came I finally got mine! Ha! EXTRA: REUNITED - PEACHES AND HERB (#1 SLOW DANCE SONG/#1 - 1979) - Groovy slow number there - love it! 14: I'M YOUR BOOGIE MAN/WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND ME - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (#1 - 1977) - Another floor filler which helped propel this record to #1 status. Good song. 13: DANCE, DANCE, DANCE (YOWSAH, YOWSAH, YOWSAH) - CHIC (#6 - 1978) - I loved this song from day one even before I turned 6. Little did I know that this had a long run at #1 on the Club charts for 8 incredible weeks. 12: MAC ARTHUR PARK - DONNA SUMMER (#1 - 1978) - Classic dance song of my of her pop #1s. 11: DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY - THELMA HOUSTON (#1 - 1977) - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes recorded this first for their "Wake Up Everybody" LP back in 1975 not released as a commercial single in the US but made the top ten in the UK. This version made it to the dance charts twice, once in it's original version and then in 1995 remixed. Yeah, it's a definitely an anthem in select club venues serving different audiences. In 1986 it would become a hit again for the Hi-NRG group called the Communards (sort of a spin off of Bronski Beat) lead by Jimmy Sommerville reaching #1 in their native land the UK. 10: Y.M.C.A. - VILLAGE PEOPLE (#2 - 1979) - Shhh! Let's keep it between us - it's catchy infectious song. And it's not a secret that this became a platinum single and yet it spent 3 frustrating weeks at #2. 9: BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE - A TASTE OF HONEY (#1 - 1978) - Great song about getting their failing audience into a "lively mode" during a concert. And it worked so much that it became their one and only #1. One other note is that when I was a kid I have always associated this song with "Burger King" for some reason and to learn that it was later used in a commercial for them is quite odd. 8: I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE (DISCO 'ROUND) - ALICIA BRIDGES (#5 - 1978) - "Loving the nightlife" don't many of us? I know I do..occasionally . Great song! EXTRA: THE HUSTLE - VAN MCCOY AND THE SOUL CITY SYMPHONY (FAVORITE DANCE STEP/#1 - 1975) - Love this song - I didn't dig instrumental as a kid but I loved it anyway from day one. I was a toddler when this was out! 7: DA YA THINK I'M SEXY - ROD STEWART (#1 - 1979) - Another great song! I love this song because of the infectious beat and production it's absolutely soulful. 6: I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR (#1 - 1979) - I love this song because it's quite uplifting. I can go through some hard times, get physically ill on occasions and it just lifts me off the ground to recovery! 5: A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN - WALTER MURPHY AND THE BIG APPLE BAND (#1 - 1976) - Thicke (only known by this name back in 2002, now records under Robin Thicke) sampled this on his minor hit "When I Get You Alone". Great song that I really didn't like back in the day but my dad owned on 45. EXTRA: SAN FRANCISCO (YOU'VE GOT ME) - THE VILLAGE PEOPLE (#1 DISCO RECORD NEVER TO CHART ON THE HOT 100/#102 - 1977) - It almost became their first chart single and it was indeed issued as a US commercial single clocking out at 3:21. The B side of the record is simply titled "Village People". 4: BEST OF MY LOVE - THE EMOTIONS (#1 - 1977) - Brilliant song. This song was later covered in 1987 by Dee Lewis from the UK. 3: STAYIN' ALIVE - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1978) - Possibly my favourite song from these guys! I still love this song to this day! 2: NIGHT FEVER - THE BEE GEES (#1 - 1978) - Both #3 and this one are on the jukeboxes at the hamburger joint at the Mall of America called "Johnny Rockets". Another great song from the movie "Saturday Night Fever". 1: LE FREAK - CHIC (#1 - 1978) - Great song, but I prefer their other #1 pop and soul smash "Good Times" which peaked at #3 on the disco charts surprisingly. It was a great show, so much that I gladly decided to share this with my workers!
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Post by mrjukebox on Jul 11, 2012 8:32:27 GMT -5
Here's my critique of the countdown from 7/15/72 which is airing on terrestrial radio this weekend: #40-"Amazing Grace"-Royal Scot Dragoon Guards-This well-known hymn was a top twenty hit for Judy Collins in early 1971-A year later,it became the only charted single for this cavalry regiment of the British army & the senior Scottish regiment-Decent rendition. #39-"Motorcycle Mama"-Sailcat-The only charted hit for the duo of Court Pickett & John Wyker-Great song that radio has chosen to ignore. #38-"I'll Take You There"-Staple Singers-A former #1 hit & a bonafide classic. #37-"Gone"-Joey Heatherton-The only top forty hit for this native of Rockville Centre,NY-Decent rendition of a song that was a pop & country hit for Ferlin Husky in 1957-FYI:Joey's brother Dick was an air personality on New York's WCBS-FM from 1972-1986. #36-"Oh Girl"-Chi-Lites-See critique for "I'll Take You There". #35-"Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)"-Stevie Wonder-Great song that should've been a much bigger hit. #34-"Hold Your Head Up"-Argent-In late 1964,a British group called The Zombies made the US charts for the first time with a #2 hit called "She's Not There"-That group was led by Rod Argent & Colin Blunstone-After two more top ten hits "Tell Her No" (1965) & "Time Of The Season" (1969),The Zombies disbanded-Three years later Rod Argent formed a new group called Argent-"Hold You Head Up" was their only charted single-A bonafide classic. #33-"Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All"-Fifth Dimension-Great song. #32-"Sealed With A Kiss"-Bobby Vinton-Great rendition of a song that was originally a hit for Brian Hyland ten years earlier. #31-"I've Been Lonely For So Long"-Frederick Knight-The only top forty hit for this native of Birmingham,AL-Great song-Seven years later,Knight returned to the top forty as the writer of Anita Ward's #1 hit "Ring My Bell". #30-"I'm Still In Love With You"-Al Green-One of his best songs. #29-"Mary Had A Little Lamb"-Wings-Interesting rendition of a well-known nursery rhyme. #28-"Coconut"-Nilsson-Classic novelty record. #27-"People Make The World Go Around"-Stylistics-One of their lesser known hits-Great song. #26-"All The King's Horses"-Aretha Franklin-One of her lesser known hits-Great song. #25-"The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA"-Donna Fargo-The first of two top forty hits for this native of Mt.Airy,NC-Great song. #24-"Hold Her Tight"-The Osmonds-Great song that could've been a hit on FM radio. #23-"Day By Day"-Godspell-Great song that was featured in the Broadway musical of the same name. #22-"Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)"-The Hollies-Their biggest hit overall & a bonafide classic. #21-"Nice To Be With You"-Gallery-A timeless classic. #20-"I Need You"-America-Great song. #19-"Conquistador"-Procol Harum featuring The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra-Great song that radio has chosen to ignore. #18-"Troglodyte"-Jimmy Castor Bunch-Another classic novelty record. #17-"Candy Man"-Sammy Davis Jr-A bonafide guilty pleasure. #16-"I Wanna Be Where You Are"-Michael Jackson-One of his lesser known solo hits-Great song. #15-"Layla"-Derek & The Dominos-Great song that was written about Patti Boyd who was married to former Beatle George Harrison at the time-It turns out that founding member Eric Clapton had a crush on her-"Layla" featured some great guitar playing by Duane Allman. #14-"Take It Easy"-Eagles-The breakthrough hit for this legendary group-A bonafide classic that was written by Jackson Browne & founding member Glenn Frey. #13-"Too Young"-Donny Osmond-Decent rendition of a song that Nat King Cole took to #1 in 1951. #12-"School's Out"-Alice Cooper-A bonafide classic. #11-"How Do You Do"-Mouth & Mc Neal-The only charted single for this Netherlands based duo-Another bonafide guilty pleasure. #10-"Where Is The Love"-Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway-A timeless classic. #9-"If Loving You Is Wrong"-Luther Ingram-The first of two top forty hits for this native of Jackson,TN-Great song that was also a pop & country hit for Barbara Mandrell in 1979. #8-"Alone Again Naturally"-Gilbert O'Sullivan-The first & biggest hit for this native of Waterford,Ireland whose full name is Raymond Edward O'Sullivan-This one has timeless classic written all over it. #7-"Daddy,Don't You Walk So Fast"-Wayne Newton-The biggest hit overall for the one time king of Las Vegas-Another bonafide guilty pleasure. #6-"Rocket Man"-Elton John-One of his best songs. #5-"Brandy"-Looking Glass-The first of two top forty hits for this New Jersey based group that featured Elliott Lurie on lead vocals-Great song. #4-"Song Sung Blue"-Neil Diamond-A former #1 & another timeless classic. #3-"Outa Space"-Billy Preston-The breakthrough smash for this native of Houston,TX-A classic instrumental. #2-"Too Late To Turn Back Now"-Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose-Great song. #1-"Lean On Me"-Bill Withers-A timeless classic about friendship.
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Post by Hervard on Jul 13, 2012 17:12:44 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - July 14, 2012
This week’s presentation: July 19, 1986
Seems like it would have made more sense for them to run the show from July 12, seeing that it wasn’t a repeat while this one was. Oh well, it’s not so bad; at least two of this week’s droppers are crap songs (IMO, anyway). As this was a repeat from 2009, I could post a recycled commentary, but I’m not too busy this weekend (hey, I got a Friday off - that’s not a bad deal there!) So I’ll be posting a new commentary on this week’s show:
Droppers: I CAN’T WAIT (TO SAY GOODBYE TO THIS ANNOYING SONG) - NU SHOOZ (32) - My improvised subtitle for this song pretty much says it all! LIVE TO TELL - MADONNA (30) - Great song! One of her best movie songs! IF SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WANTS - THE BANGLES (29) - Great song! This was one of the reasons I kinda wish they’d done the show from the week before, but oh well, such is life. I’m disappointed that this song peaked so low, yet their next song went all the way to the top (come on, you KNOW the title!) A DIFFERENT CORNER - GEORGE MICHAEL (28) - Hey, at least I didn’t have to hear this day-darkening song. No big loss whatsoever! I WANNA BE A COWBOY - BOYS DON’T CRY (27) - I liked this song; it was a fun novelty song.
40: DANCING ON THE CEILING - LIONEL RICHIE (debut) - This song jumped onto the Hot 100 all the way up at #40. I guess everyone was looking forward to Richie’s first new album in nearly three years. This was the title track, and it went all the way to #2 about two months later. As for my opinion of it, I think it’s a good one - one of my favorite of his upbeat songs. 39: BABY LOVE - REGINA (debut) - Great song! She sounded a lot like Madonna (which, I guess, is appropriate, since producer Steven Bray worked with both of them). 38: TAKE ME BREATH AWAY - BERLIN (debut) - Good song, but I preferred Jessica Simpson’s remake from about 18 years later (I still prefer this to “No More Words”). 37: MOUNTAINS - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (25) - Great song! I remember using this as the theme music for the radio shows that I used to record myself doing back when I was fifteen. 36: ONE STEP CLOSER TO YOU - GAVIN CHRISTOPHER (38) - Great song! This one was definitely one of 1986's most underrated songs, and one of my favorites from that year! 35: ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD - THE OUTFIELD (40) - Great song! This one sounds a lot like “Your Love”, only I like it better. 34: VENUS - BANANARAMA (debut) - Meh, not a big fan of this one. 33: HYPERACTIVE - ROBERT PALMER (36) - Great song! By far my favorite of his three 1986 releases. 32: SWEET FREEDOM - MICHAEL McDONALD (39) - Great song! One of my favorite of McDonald’s solo hits. 31: THE EDGE OF HEAVEN - WHAM (debut) - Casey must have known that they weren’t going to release many songs from their last album, since he said that this song would likely be their last Top 40 hit. I wonder if he also knew that “Where Did Your Heart Go” would run out of gas before it hit the Top 40? Anyway, this was a great song - possibly my favorite song from them. OPTIONAL EXTRA: THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL - WHITNEY HOUSTON - Great song! Apparently chosen because she passed away earlier this year (I fell asleep around this point of the show, so I didn’t hear the intro). 30: SUZANNE - JOURNEY (37) - Good song - one of my favorite of their “Raised On Radio” singles. LDD: CHERISH - KOOL & THE GANG - Good song. I forget exactly what the dedication was about, but I seem to remember that all three LDDs on this week’s show focused on families. 29: TAKE IT EASY - ANDY TAYLOR (35) - Great song! I remember hearing this song a lot back in 1986, since U93 played it regularly - it even showed up on their year-end wrap-up, kicking off the countdown at #93. 28: RUMORS - TIMEX SOCIAL CLUB (33) - Great song! Back in the day, I disliked this because of overplay, but now it’s great to hear every once in awhile. 27: HIGHER LOVE - STEVE WINWOOD (34) - This song, on the other hand, I’m still burned out on, because of overplay back then as well as now. I prefer many other songs by him. 26: LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT - .38 SPECIAL (20) - Great song! One of my three favorite songs from them! 25: YOU SHOULD BE MINE (THE WOO WOO SONG) - JEFFREY OSBORNE (30) - This song’s OK, but I prefer several other songs by him. The subtitle - No. Just no. 24: CRUSH ON YOU - THE JETS (15) - Meh, I didn’t care for this one at all. One of my least favorite of their Top 40 hits - I generally preferred their slow songs, especially “You Got It All” and “The Same Love”. 23: ON MY OWN - PATTI LaBELLE & MICHAEL McDONALD (13) - Great song! I used to hate this song back in the day (due to overplay), but now I love it! 22: DREAMS - VAN HALEN (23) - Great song! I definitely preferred the Van Hagar era over when David Lee Roth was the singer (although the song “Dance The Night Away” is an exception). I also liked Casey’s story about the four most common dreams and their meaning. I’ve heard that, when you’re having the second most common dream, the one about falling, if you don’t wake up before hitting the ground, that you die. I’m sure that’s nothing but a superstition. OPTIONAL EXTRA: MONEY$ TOO TIGHT (TO MENTION) - SIMPLY RED - Great song, with a message that’s very timely these days. I prefer this over their song in the countdown this week. 21: SECRET SEPARATION - THE FIXX (26) - Great song! One of their best! 20: TUFF ENUFF - THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS (10) - I’m not a huge fan of southern rock, but this one was pretty good. 19: NO ONE IS TO BLAME - HOWARD JONES (8) - Great song! One of my favorite songs by him, and turned out to be one of his biggest hits! 18: DIGGING YOUR SCENE - THE BLOW MONKEYS (21) - Great song! I felt this one should have at least hit the Top Ten, but it didn’t quite make it. 17: WE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE OUR CLOTHES OFF - JERMAINE STEWART (22) - Good song, with a good message. 16: LIKE A ROCK - BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND (12) - Great song! I do, however, prefer “American Storm”. LDD: WE ARE FAMILY - SISTER SLEDGE - Good song and it was very fitting for the dedication. 15: MODERN WOMAN - BILLY JOEL (19) - Good song, but I prefer many others by him. 14: WHEN THE HEART RULES THE MIND - GTR (14) - Great song! Too bad it was their only hit. 13: OPPORTUNITIES (LET'S MAKE LOTS OF MONEY) - PET SHOP BOYS (16) - Great song! One of their best! 12: PAPA DON'T PREACH - MADONNA (24) - This song was OK, but far from being her best. OPTIONAL EXTRA: THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW - THE MONKEES - Great song! I actually like this one more than most of their hits from the 1960s. I didn’t know that Davy Jones died earlier this year. 11: MAD ABOUT YOU - BELINDA CARLISLE (18) - Good song, but I preferred most of her other solo hits. 10: LOVE TOUCH - ROD STEWART (17) - Good song, but I prefer many others by him. LDD/9: YOUR WILDEST DREAMS - THE MOODY BLUES (9) - Great song! One of their best, and indeed appropriate for the dedication. 8: THERE'LL BE SAD SONGS (TO MAKE YOU CRY) - BILLY OCEAN (3) - Great song! One of his best songs! 7: GLORY OF LOVE - PETER CETERA (11) - Great song! 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. This is indeed one of his best! 6: WHO'S JOHNNY - EL DeBARGE (5) - Great song! I loved the video to this one, too! 5: HOLDING BACK THE YEARS - SIMPLY RED (1) - I loved this song when it first came out, but overplay changed all that. It’s still good to hear every now and again, but I prefer most of their other hits (including their songs that only made the AC chart, such as “It’s Only Love” and “You’ve Got It”). 4: DANGER ZONE - KENNY LOGGINS (7) - Good song, but I prefer many of his other movie hits. 3: NASTY - JANET JACKSON (4) - Another song that I used to hate back in the day, but has gotten better with age. OPTIONAL EXTRA: THE CAPTAIN OF HER HEART - DOUBLE - Great song, and interesting choice for an extra, since the song is pretty much obscure anymore. Larry, however, mispronounced their name - it’s actually prounounced “doo-BLAY”. 2: SLEDGEHAMMER - PETER GABRIEL (6) - This song was OK, but is quite overplayed, even to this day. My favorite of his solo hits would probably be “Shock The Monkey”. 1: INVISIBLE TOUCH - GENESIS (2) - Great song! Definitely one of their best, and my favorite song from the album of the same name! Glad this song made it to #1, because it sure deserved it!
Predictions for next week: Well, it’s been longest since we’ve heard a show from 1984, but I don’t think Premiere will be playing that year until August. So my prediction for next week is July 23, 1988 with July 25, 1981 being my back-up prediction. I kind of have a feeling we won’t be hearing that elusive July 25, 1987 show that many of us have been hoping for, but stranger things have happened. We’ll have to see what they decide in a few days.
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Post by atruefan on Jul 15, 2012 7:22:39 GMT -5
Here is my critique of the 7/14/79 American Top 40 show. This critique is based solely on the original broadcast.
Recap of previous week’s top 3:
3. Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
2. Bad Girls – Donna Summer
1. Ring My Bell – Anita Ward These are all songs which I will discuss later. I will say however, I hated that they wasted the first 10-15 minutes of these late 70s shows with these recaps. Why expand the show an extra hour when 15 minutes of it is stuff you’ll just be hearing again later?
40. Married Men – Bette Midler – A great song that thankfully got to be heard on one regular countdown. While I’m sure many people were surprised by different acts doing disco, it wasn’t that big of a surprise for Midler to jump on the bandwagon. Her vocal prowess seemed to transcend all genres. The song was written by two songwriters most people have never heard of -Dominic Bugatti and Frank Musker. They wrote dozens of songs together, many of which were top 40 hits. These included: “Heaven On The 7th Floor” for Paul Nicholas, “Back On My Feet Again” (along with John Waite) for The Babys, “Every Woman In The World” for Air Supply, and “Modern Girl” for Sheena Easton. Two of my favorite hits of theirs got on the Hot 100, but failed to hit the top 40: “On The Strip” by Paul Nicholas (his follow up to “Heaven” and a fun summer single), and “Every Home Should Have One” by Patti Austin. This exuberant song, produced by Quincy Jones, actually bookended her big hit “Baby, Come To Me.” It debuted at the end of 1981 and got to number 62, then in 1983 it was re-released, and got to 69.
39. If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me – The Bellamy Brothers. This song has Jimmy Buffett written all over it; from the title of the song, to the sound of it. This song debuted and peaked at 39, while it went to #1 on the country chart. Surprisingly, their #1 pop hit “Let Your Love Flow” only got to 21 on the country chart. On some show, a listener asked Casey what the longest title to hit the top 40 was. At that time, Casey said it was “Jeremiah Peabody’s……Pills” which had 14 words. I always disagreed with that because two of the words in the title “poly unsaturated” are always combined into one word. Regardless, this song ties that record. I have no idea if there are other songs with longer titles since this Bellamy Brothers hit.
38. Suspicions – Eddie Rabbitt – Yet another country song, but one that really didn’t sound like one to me. This was far more pop than country, and I suspect it would not have been as big a hit on the country chart (it hit #1) if it hadn’t been recorded by an established country star.
LDD – Always And Forever – Heatwave – I’ll confess I found most of the LDDs cheesy and tedious, and this one certainly fit in that category. This is one of those songs whose legacy belies its initial chart run.
37. Minute By Minute – The Doobie Brothers – One of the rare pop songs written in 6/8 time. I always found the tempo of this song annoying. My least favorite of their three hits from the “Minute By Minute” album.
36. You Take My Breath Away – Rex Smith – I can distinctly remember coming to school on the Monday after the TV Movie this song came from (“Sooner Or Later”) aired. The girls could talk of nothing else but how gorgeous “that guy was.” I also remember when one of these girls showed me his picture I replied, “Who is she?” This is a rather blah song which would never have been a hit if it hadn’t been in that movie. Smith also had another tame/lame top 40 hit in 1982 when he hit #31 with his remake of “Everlasting Love” (a duet with Rachel Sweet). He also spent some time hosting Solid Gold.
35. Is She Really Going Out With Him – Joe Jackson – Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Jackson’s lyrics bemoan the fact that pretty woman are going out with unattractive men. And yet Mr. Jackson was by no means a looker. Maybe I just missed the subtle jealousy. This song was all right, but I enjoyed his three 80s top 40 hits much better.
34. Sad Eyes – Robert John – A great song that really took its time going to the top. This song was produced by George Tobin who would go on to produce Kim Carnes’ first solo hit “More Love” and Smokey Robinson’s “Being With You.” He also is responsible for discovering Tiffany and producing all of her hits.
AT40 Archives – Rock Me Gently – Andy Kim – Pleasant song that I still hear occasionally on oldies stations. Kim also wrote and provided vocals on some of the Archies’ hits.
33. Weekends – Wet Willie – Another case of a band jumping on the disco bandwagon. They’d previously hit the top 40 with the southern rock sounding “Keep On Smiling” and the doo-wop “Street Corner Serenade.” I always loved this song, and was excited when I actually found a promo 12” single which ran over 7 minutes.
32. Just When I Needed You Most – Randy Vanwarmer – Despite its almost lethargic quality, I actually did enjoy this song. I did however, like his other Hot 100 hits much better. I especially liked “Suzi” which had a rock/new wave feel to it. Sadly, Vanwarmer died of leukemia at age 48.
31. Lead Me On – Maxine Nightingale – Despite releasing many singles, Nightingale only had 2 top 40 hits, but they were both classics. While I liked “Right Back…” more, this was a beautifully produced and sung song that still sounds great today.
30. Up On The Roof – James Taylor – A pleasantly produced and sung song; although it paled in comparison to his earlier hits.
29. Love You Inside Out – Bee Gees – As close to a “no, just no” as I’ll get on this week’s countdown. I’ve previously written on this site that Bill Wardlow, who was the director of Billboard’s charts, was notorious for taking bribes to help songs get to the top. RSO must have paid him a fortune to get this tripe to #1.
28. People Of The South Wind – Kansas – While their biggest hit was the ballad “Dust In The Wind,” I always liked their upbeat songs more. This and “Point Of Know Return” (although I did hate the spelling of that title) are my favorites. Steve Walsh really gave Kansas a distinctive sound that was lost when he left in 1981.
27. Shadows In The Moonlight – Anne Murray – After “You Needed Me,” three of her next four singles peaked at #12. This was the odd-song out, it peaked at 25. Another pleasant, if not entirely memorable, entry.
26. The Main Event/Fight – Barbra Streisand – Like Midler, Streisand’s foray into disco surprised very few. This was a great song (although the two titles seemed a bit superfluous). One thing on YouTube that I found was the actual recording session for the song (just search for “main event recording session”). It’s a two-part audio that runs about 21 minutes. It’s a little repetitive, but it’s fascinating to hear how the song originally sounded and how it transformed into its ultimate version.
25. Getting Closer – Wings – Another example of McCartney following up a big hit song, with a rather blah one. It happened with “Listen To What The Man Said” and its follow up “Letting Go.” It happened with “With A Little Luck” and its follow up “I’ve Had Enough.” And it happened with “Goodnight Tonight” and this one. It did get up to 20, but in the list of classic McCartney/Wings songs, this one is nowhere in sight.
24. Do It Or Die – Atlanta Rhythm Section – This song and their remake of “Spooky” were both from their “Underdog” album. I was never an album fan but I always loved ARS and had purchased their previous two albums and loved them. This album was kind of a letdown in that there really wasn’t anything memorable like “So In To You” or “Imaginary Lover”.
23. Mama Can’t Buy You Love – Elton John – A fantastic song and a great performance. Thom Bell really went all out on this one. It’s unfortunate that in 1979 Bell and John only released a 3 song E.P. They definitely should have worked together a lot more.
AT40 Archives - “I Honestly Love You” – Olivia Newton-John – This was Olivia’s biggest hit of the 1970s. It also won a Grammy for Record of the Year, and one for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female. And with all that, I still didn’t like it.
22. I Was Made For Lovin’ You – Kiss – This was yet another example of jumping on the disco bandwagon. In this case, there was some backlash as I can recall many people who loved Kiss hated this song – they thought they were selling out. The song is actually pretty good, even though I thought the production was a little overwrought.
21. Heart Of The Night – Poco – Yet another blah single. I wonder if people were just looking for anything that wasn’t disco, and when they found it, they latched onto it?
20. Does Your Mother Know – Abba – Yet another different sound for the Swedish super group. I initially wasn’t really interested in this song, but have come to like it. I think this was their only top 40 U.S. hit where one of the guys (in this case Bjorn) sang lead instead of the ladies.
LDD – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder – Nice song, and I actually didn’t mind the dedication.
19. You Can’t Change That – Raydio – A perfect pop confection. Ray Parker, Jr. was a great songwriter and a good singer. Unfortunately he sullied his songwriting credentials by listening to “I Want A New Drug” one too many times.
18. Days Gone Down (Still Got That Light In Your Eyes) – Gerry Rafferty – I liked all of his top 40 hits, but this is my least favorite of them. Points deducted for yet another example of an unnecessary parenthetical subtitle.
17. I Can’t Stand It No More – Peter Frampton – Talk about a quick reversal of fortune. Just three years earlier “Frampton Comes Alive” sold millions and its singles were all over the radio. Now, for his last top 40 single, we have this forgettable number that was soon to peak at 14.
16. Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – McFadden & Whitehead – A great disco song that still gets played occasionally. Gene McFadden and John Whitehead had a far more lucrative writing career than a singing one. They wrote “Back Stabbers” for the O’Jays, “Wake Up Everybody” for Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes, “I’ll Always Love My Mama” for the Intruders, and my favorite composition from them, “Bad Luck” by Harold Melvin et al.
15. Dance The Night Away – Van Halen – A great song that I still like hearing today. Even this early in their career, they had a distinctive sound that really made it easy to identify their songs.
14. When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman – Dr. Hook – For my money, this was a group that improved with age. I was never a big fan of their earlier hits like “Sylvia’s Mother,” but by this time their songs had an infectious pop sound that became quite popular. I even enjoyed their 80s hits “Girls Can Get It” and “Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk.” Of course “Sylvia’s Mother” was “American Pie” compared to the heinous single “(One More Year Of) Daddy’s Little Girl,” that co-lead singer Ray “Eye Patch” Sawyer released in 1976.
13. Good Times – Chic – Sadly, this was the last hurrah for this pivotal disco group. Certainly Rodgers and Edwards would go on to continued success both as a writing/producing duo and with any number of solo ventures, but this was their last top 40 hit as Chic. Two other songs from the “Risque” album (the excellent “My Forbidden Lover” and the fun “My Feet Keep Dancing”) were released but did not make the 40. This song of course did sort of make the 40 again at the end of 79 via “Rapper’s Delight.” “Good Times” was a great summer single that had one of the most mysterious openings ever. The opening second of the song features a “whooshing” sound that I’ve never been able to identify. I’ve actually read several online articles about the song, and no one can seem to agree how it was done.
12. We Are Family – Sister Sledge – The aforementioned Rodgers and Edwards wrote and produced the “We Are Family” album. There were so many great songs on that album (“Thinking Of You” and “Lost In Music” to name two) that should have been hits, but by the end of summer it was pretty much over for disco. This was one of the rare cases where I actually didn’t like the fdv (full disco version). The 8 minute version was very repetitive and annoying – which I’m sure are words many disco haters used to describe the entire genre. AT40 Archives – Nothing From Nothing – Billy Preston – A great song by a man who was in that rare pantheon of having both vocal and instrumental hits.
11. The Logical Song – Supertramp – This song got very old, very fast. It definitely hit a chord with listeners though. I remember there was even a parody of it called “The Topical Song” where the group Barron Knights bemoaned the oil crisis. As bad as “The Logical Song” was, “The Topical Song” was far worse.
10. Gold – John Stewart – All three of his singles from “Bombs Away Dream Babies” had a similar sound, but it was a good one. Stewart worked with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and they came up with a great album.
9. Shine A Little Love – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO had 20 top 40 hits and I loved them all (well I liked “Telephone Line”). Jeff Lynne seemingly threw everything but the kitchen sink into this song and it shows. The “Discovery” album that this song was on had the distinction of having the most top 40s of all their albums (4).
8. I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick – For some reason, there were two versions of this song out at the same time. The live version recorded in Budakon, and a lame studio version. Thankfully, I didn’t hear the studio version that often, although I did buy a K-Tel album that did have the studio version on it. If you’ve never heard the studio version, you should hear it – the difference between the two is night and day.
7. Makin’ It – David Naughton – Oftentimes when people call someone a “one hit wonder,” I get annoyed because they did have other (albeit sometimes minor) hits. Naughton, however, is absolutely a one hit wonder. Not only, as far as I can tell, did he never record an album tied to this single (nor could I find evidence of him recording anything else after this), he didn’t even record a b-side to the single (the b-side was just an instrument version of the hit). So, other than his Dr. Pepper ads, we never really go to hear Naughton sing anything else. The song itself is fantastic. Producer Freddie Perren was on a roll in 1979, not only co-writing and producing this smash, but classics for Gloria Gaynor and Peaches & Herb as well.
6. Boogie Wonderland – Earth, Wind & Fire With The Emotions – Like Jeff Lynne with “Shine A Little Love,” Maurice White threw everything he could into this song. It was almost exhausting listening to the song, it was so high energy. Once again, White provided the Hutchinson sisters another top 40 hit.
5. She Believes In Me – Kenny Rogers – Rogers blend of country and pop took the country by storm in the late 70s and early 80s. I, however, was not a fan of the sound, and was continually amazed at how many hits the gravelly-voiced singer had.
4. Chuck E’s In Love – Rickie Lee Jones – Another song I never particularly liked, although I thought the title was clever (Chuck E. vs. Chucky). In fact, I thought I was similarly cool and clever when I changed the pun title for a friend of mine who was enamored with a girl. It became “Mike L’s in Love”.
3. Hot Stuff – Donna Summer – One of my favorite songs by the late queen. I remember people making a big deal about the fact that Summer was getting into rock when this came out. To me, it was just a disco song with an electric guitar. I was clearly in the minority as Summer won a Grammy for Rock Vocal Performance. Whatever you classify the song, it is a classic that still gets quite a bit of airplay.
2. Ring My Bell – Anita Ward – I remember this song flying up the chart 39-19-6. I also remember by the time it got to #1, I was sick of it. I’ve read several articles over the years where they say that this song is where people finally got fed up with disco. I can certainly understand the sentiment. I did like the synthesized drum effect (my friends and I would mimic the sound whenever the song came on), but Ward’s vocals were so high, it was almost ear-splitting. Amazingly, on her follow up single “Don’t Drop My Love,” she sang even higher. I swear dogs in the neighborhood began to howl whenever that song was played.
1. Bad Girls – Donna Summer – I never liked this song. There I said it. As much as I love disco, and love Donna Summer, this song was just awful. Between the “toots” and the “beeps” and the ladies of the evening lyrics, I thought it was just way too cheesy.
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Post by Hervard on Jul 15, 2012 14:22:23 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 70s - July 14, 2012
This week’s presentation - July 14, 1979
LW#3: HOT STUFF - DONNA SUMMER LW#2: BAD GIRLS - DONNA SUMMER LW#1: RING MY BELL - ANITA WARD Of course, we’ll hear those songs later on in the broadcast.
Dropped: REUNITED - PEACHES & HERB (38) - Great song! Shame that it fell off. ONE WAY OR ANOTHER - BLONDIE (34) - Whew! Glad they chose the show for this song’s week off! (It would re-enter the chart the following week at #29 and would be the last song to drop off, then return to the chart in the same chart run for over ten years). Although this song was played as an Optional Extra (fortunately, the station on which I caught this show played their own set of random extras).
40: MARRIED MEN - BETTE MIDLER (40) - This song was OK, but I preferred several others by her. 39: IF I SAID YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL BODY WOULD YOU HOLD IT AGAINST ME - THE BELLAMY BROTHERS (debut) - Great song, though my personal fave by them is still “Let Your Love Flow”. 38: SUSPICIONS - EDDIE RABBITT (debut) - Good song, though I prefer several others by him. LDD: ALWAYS & FOREVER - HEAT WAVE - Great song! This song became a popular LDD choice, usually for two people romantically in love with one another, but this one was to a girl in Okinowa, Japan to her friend in Germany, whom she’d grown close to during the time they lived in the same country (one or both of their fathers were in the military which, of course, requires a lot of moving around). 37: MINUTE BY MINUTE - DOOBIE BROTHERS (28) - This song was OK, but I preferred “What A Fool Believes”. 36: YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY - REX SMITH (15) - Wow, what a huge drop. Oddly enough, it was about this time that the song was reaching its peak on the station that I listened to. This was indeed one of my favorite songs of all of 1979. 35: IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM - JOE JACKSON (39) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by him. This was one of the Optional Extras when this show aired last year in three-hour-only mode. 34: SAD EYES - ROBERT JOHN (36) - Great song! This was also played as an optional extra on the show last year. Sounds like they played the album version of the song AT40 ARCHIVE: ROCK ME GENTLY - ANDY KIM - Good song. His voice reminds me of Jim Croce. 33: WEEKEND - WET WILLIE (35) - Great song. Definitely a great Friday listen! 32: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST - RANDY VAN WARMER (14) - Another big drop! Anyway, this one is depressing, but if you can get past the lyrics, the melody is great! 31: LEAD ME ON - MAXINE NIGHTINGALE (37) - Great song! My favorite of her two Top 40 hits. 30: UP ON THE ROOF - JAMES TAYLOR (32) - Great song! I actually prefer this version to the original by the Drifters. 29: LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT - BEE GEES (12) - Good song, but far from being their best. 28: PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH WIND - KANSAS (30) - This song was OK, but I prefer several others by them. 27: SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT - ANNE MURRAY (29) - Great song! One of my three favorite songs from her - and, of course, the other two came from the same year! 26: THE MAIN EVENT/FIGHT - BARBRA STREISAND (33) - Good song - interesting departure from her usual sappy love songs. 25: GETTING CLOSER - WINGS (31) - My salamander?? No. Just no. 24: DO IT OR DIE - ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION (26) - Great song, like most of their hits. 23: MAMA CAN'T BUY YOU LOVE - ELTON JOHN (27) - Great song! Too bad it’s all but ignored by radio stations nowadays. AT40 ARCHIVE: I HONESTLY LOVE YOU - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - Cheesy, but a good song nonetheless. 22: I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU - KISS (24) - Not bad, but definitely not their best. 21: HEART OF THE NIGHT - POCO (23) - Good song, but I preferred “Nothin’ To Hide”, which charted in early 1990. 20: DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW - ABBA (22) - Great song, but it doesn’t hold a candle to “Dancing Queen”. LDD: YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - STEVIE WONDER - Good song and indeed fitting for the dedication. 19: YOU CAN'T CHANGE THAT - RAYDIO (21) - Great song! One of my favorite songs from them! 18: DAYS GONE DOWN - GERRY RAFFERTY (20) - This one was good - better than the grossly overplayed “Baker Street”! 17: I CAN'T STAND IT NO MORE - PETER FRAMPTON (19) - Good song, but I preferred “I’m In You” and “Show Me The Way”. 16: AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW - McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD (18) - Surprisingly, I really like this song, which is surprising, considering I’m not a huge fan of this kind of music. 15: DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY - VAN HALEN (16) - Great song! My favorite of the pre-Van Hagar era. 14: WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - DR. HOOK (17) - Good song, though their best is still “Better Love Next Time”. 13: GOOD TIMES - CHIC (25) - This is OK, but not my favorite on this week’s chart. 12: WE ARE FAMILY - SISTER SLEDGE (8) - Surprisingly, even though this song was produced by Rodgers and Edwards, like the Chic song, I actually like this one better. We got a double-shot of this one this week (as it was a Long Distance Dedication on the 1986 show).AT40 ARCHIVE: NOTHIN' FROM NOTHIN' - BILLY PRESTON - Good song. This song was used at the second optional extra (though I sure don’t know why). OPTIONAL EXTRA: BORN TO BE ALIVE - PATRICK HERNANDEZ - This is OK, but nothing I’d go out of my way to listen to. 11: THE LOGICAL SONG - SUPERTRAMP (6) - Great song! I heard this song lots of times back in the summer of 1979! 10: GOLD - JOHN STEWART (11) - See my opinion for #11. 9: SHINE A LITTLE LOVE - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (13) - Great song! I liked the intro, with outer-space sound effects. 8: I WANT YOU TO WANT ME - CHEAP TRICK (10) - Great song! I remember hearing this one on the jukebox at the beach house back in the day! 7: MAKIN' IT - DAVID NAUGHTON (9) - Good song. 6: BOOGIE WONDERLAND - EARTH, WIND & FIRE w/THE EMOTIONS (7) - This was OK, but I prefer several others by both artists (i.e. “September” and “Best Of My Love”). 5: SHE BELIEVES IN ME - KENNY ROGERS (5) - Great song! Indeed one of my favorite songs by him! 4: CHUCK E'S IN LOVE - RICKY LEE JONES (4) - Great song! This one had sort of a retro feel to it. 3: HOT STUFF - DONNA SUMMER (3) - Great song! Definitely one of her biggest hits! OPTIONAL EXTRA: ONE WAY OR ANOTHER - BLONDIE - No. Just no. 2: RING MY BELL - ANITA WARD (1) - This song was OK. I heard that her high-pitched voice can cause dogs to start howling, lol! 1: BAD GIRLS - DONNA SUMMER (2) - Great song! Not sure if I prefer this or “Hot Stuff”.
Predictions for next week: 7/24/71. My back-up prediction is 7/22/78. I’m kinda hoping for the latter, since, even though it would be a repeat, I never heard it during its first two plays (in 2007 and 2008), since I wasn’t yet listening to the 70s version of the show back then.
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Jul 15, 2012 18:37:12 GMT -5
Just to mention, the Thom Bell EP by Elton John WAS 3 songs in 1979, but the CD reissue adds 3 more songs from the sessions.
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Post by mrjukebox on Jul 17, 2012 22:04:30 GMT -5
Here's my critique of the countfown from 7/22/78 which is airing this weekend on terrestrial radio-I remember listening to this particular show on New York's WXLO (99X)-They carried "AT40" until 1980-Anyway,here goes: #40-"An Everlasting Love"-Andy Gibb-Great follow up to "Shadow Dancing". #39-"Rivers Of Babylon"-Boney M-The only top forty hit for this vocal group asembled by German record producer Frank Farian-Decent song. #38-"Stuff Like That"-Quincy Jones-The first top forty hit for this award winning producer & composer-Great example of old school R&B. #37-"Shame"-Evelyn "Champagne" King-The first & biggest hit for this singer who was born in The Bronx,NY & raised in Philadelphia-An all-time dance floor classic. #36-"Boogie Oogie Oogie"-A Taste Of Honey-The first of two top forty hits for this Los Angeles based group-Another all-time dance floor classic. #35-"Hopelessly Devoted To You"-Olivia Newton-John-Great song that was featured in the movie "Grease". #34-"Love Or Something Like It"-Kenny Rogers-One of his lesser known hits-Great song. #33-"Prove It All night"-Bruce Springsteen-From the album "Darkness On The Edge Of Town"-One of his best songs. #32-"Can We Still Be Friends"-Todd Rundgren-Great song that radio has chosen to ignore. #31-"You're The One That I Want"-John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John-The initial release from the "Grease" soundtrack & a bonafide classic. #30-"I've Had Enough"-Wings-Great follow up to "With A Little Luck". #29-"Wonderful Tonight"-Eric Clapton-Great song that still receives recurrent airplay. #28-"Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad"-Meatloaf-Another timeless classic. #27-"Stay"-Jackson Browne-Great rendition of a song that was previously a hit for Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (1960) & The Four Seasons (1964). #26-"King Tut"-Steve Martin-The only top forty hit for this actor & comedian from Waco,TX-A certifiable comedy classic. #25-"Songbird"-Barbra Streisand-One of her lesser known hits-Great song. #24-"If Ever I See You Again"-Roberta Flack-See above critique of "Songbird". #23-"FM"-Steely Dan-Great song that was featured in the movie of the same name. #22-"Thank God It's Friday"-Love & Kisses-The only top forty hit for this disco group that was assembled by producer Alec Constandinas-Great song that was featured in the movie of the same name. #21-"I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight"-Atlanta Rhythm Section-Great song. #20-"Magnet & Steel"-Walter Egan-The only top forty hit for this native of Queens,NY-A timeless classic that featured Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. #19-"Bluer Than blue"-Michael Johnson-The first & biggest hit for this native of Alamosa.CO-A timeless classic. #18-"My Angel Baby"-Toby Beau-The only top forty hit for this Texas group who took their name from a shrimp boat-Another timeless classic. #17-"Life's Been Good"-Joe Walsh-From his album "But Seriously....Folks"-A bonafide classic. #16-"Dance With Me"-Peter Brown-The second of his two top forty hits-Great song. #15-"Copacabana"-Barry Manilow-Great song that was featured on the soundtrack of the movie "Foul Play". #14-"Hot Blooded"-Foreigner-The initial release from their second album "Double Vision"-Another bonafide classic. #13-"Runaway"-Jefferson Starship-Great song. #12-"It's A Heartache"-Bonnie Tyler-The first top forty hit for this Welsh based singer-Another timeless classic. #11-"Love Will Find A Way"-Pablo Cruise-Another great song. #10-"Three Times A Lady"-Commodores-This one has got timeless classic written all over it. #9-"Take A Chance On Me"-Abba-One of their best songs. #8-"Use Ta Be My Girl"-O'Jays-One of their best songs. #7-"The Groove Line"-Heatwave-Their third & final top forty hit & another all-time dance floor classic. #6-"Grease"-Frankie Valli-Great song that was featured in the movie of the same name. #5-"Last Dance"-Donna Summer-A timeless classic that was featured in the movie "Thank God It's Friday". #4-"Still The Same"-Bob Seger-From the album "Stranger In Town"-Great song. #3-"Miss You"-Rolling Stones-From the album "Some Girls"-Great song that eventually became their 8th #1 hit. #2-"Baker Street"-Gerry Rafferty-Another timeless classic. #1-"Shadow Dancing"-Andy Gibb-See above critique of "Baker Street".
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Post by Hervard on Jul 21, 2012 10:54:44 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 70s - July 21, 2012
This week’s presentation: July 22, 1978
Droppers: WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW - DAVE MASON (39) - Great song, but I preferred the original by the Shirelles. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG - BILLY JOEL (37) - Great song! Shame that it fell off! This song would probably have been a Top Ten hit had it not been for the fact that many radio stations received flak for playing it because of the lyrical content. LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN - SWEET (34) - This song was OK, but I was not generally a huge fan of theirs. They sounded a little like ELO on this one. HOT LOVE, COLD WORLD - BOB WELCH (31) - This would have been a perfect chance for them to have played a tribute to the late Bob Welch if not for the fact that this song is so obscure, so they went with the more familiar “Ebony Eyes”. YOU BELONG TO ME - CARLY SIMON (27) - Great song! Shame that it fell off, and at such a fast rate - it had been in the Top Ten just two weeks before. Anyone ever heard the Doobie Brothers version of this (which charted briefly back in the summer of 1983)? It’s almost as good as Carly Simon’s version, IMO. 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). Anyway, this song was OK, but nothing exceptional.
40: AN EVERLASTING LOVE - ANDY GIBB (debut) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by him in the whole world - I easily prefer this over his other song on the countdown this week. 39: RIVERS OF BABYLON - BONEY M (debut) - No. Just no. 38: STUFF LIKE THAT - QUINCY JONES featuring ASHFORD & SIMPSON & CHAKA KHAN (debut) - This was OK - pretty much your typical late-70s disco. 37: SHAME - EVELYN "CHAMPAGNE" KING (debut) - Pretty good song, but I preferred “Love Come Down”. 36: BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE - A TASTE OF HONEY (debut) - Great song. Did they ever play the second verse of this song during the three-hour version of the show? I seem to remember that on all the three-hour shows on which I’ve heard this, that verse was edited out. 35: HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (debut) - Great song! Good that by now I’ve risen above the memories once before associated with this song so I can enjoy it again. 34: LOVE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT - KENNY ROGERS (38) - Good song, but definitely not my favorites by him. 33: PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (35) - See my opinion for #34.32: CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS - TODD RUNDGREN (36) - Good song - I prefer it over the two other songs by him that I’ve heard. 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? 30: I'VE HAD ENOUGH - WINGS (40) - This song wasn’t bad, but it doesn’t hold a candle to their #1 song that preceded this one. 29: WONDERFUL TONIGHT - ERIC CLAPTON (16) - Great song. This one always reminds me of the commercial (I forget what it was for) with that girl getting dressed and her husband (or boyfriend or whatever) is playing that song on his CD player and keeps repeating the line “she’s wondering what clothes to wear...” over and over again until she comes into the room and says, “Honey, knock it off.” 28: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD - MEATLOAF (13) - Great song! Easily my favorite from him! OPTIONAL EXTRA: EBONY EYES - BOB WELCH - Good song. It was cool to see two tribute songs to recently deceased artists as extras this week. 27: STAY - JACKSON BROWNE (32) - This song was OK, but a little annoying. I much prefer the flipside, “The Load-Out”, which Casey mentioned in the intro. I’m assuming that he never played that song during the song’s chart run (I’m wondering if he would have if the song had lasted into the four-hour era). 26: KING TUT - STEVE MARTIN (30) - Not one of my favorites. I much prefer Martin as an actor. 25: SONGBIRD - BARBARA STREISAND (29) - Great song! I remember singing this in choir as part of our spring concert when I was a sophomore. 24: IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN - ROBERTA FLACK (25) - Great song! This song sounded a lot like “You Light Up My Life” during the bridge. 23: FM - STEELY DAN (23) - Good song, but my favorite of theirs was “Peg”, from earlier in 1978. 22: THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY - LOVE AND KISSES (24) - I was starting to doze off at this point, but I seem to remember this one was pretty good. 21: I'M NOT GONNA LET IT BOTHER ME TONIGHT - ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION (28) - I was still awake enough at this point to remember hearing this song. It was a good one, but possibly my least favorite song by them. 20: MAGNET AND STEEL - WALTER EGAN (26) - This song wasn’t bad, but I preferred his 1983 hit “Fool Moon Fire”, which never quite made the Top 40 but, strangely enough, spent two weeks on Countdown America (what’s so strange about that was that the CA chart only went down to 30 back then). 19: BLUER THAN BLUE - MICHAEL JOHNSON (12) - Great song, but I preferred “This Night Won’t Last Forever”, which hit the Top 20 the following year. 18: MY ANGEL BABY - TOBY BEAU (22) - Good song, but nothing I’d go out of my way to hear. 17: LIFE'S BEEN GOOD - JOE WALSH (19) - For some reason, I’ve never liked this song. Is it me, or did they play the album version of this (I was asleep, but hearing the song in my dream - sometimes your mind can play tricks on you when that happens).16: DANCE WITH ME - PETER BROWN (8) - This was a pretty good song - the “you gotta keep on making me high” refrain is kinda catchy. 15: COPACABANA - BARRY MANILOW (17) - Great song! This one totally cancelled out the airplay of “Even Now” - as soon as this one hit the charts, “Even Now” fell like a rock. 14: HOT BLOODED - FOREIGNER (20) - Great song! I do, however, prefer their next two hits. OPTIONAL EXTRA: OH! DARLING - ROBIN GIBB - Good song, but I prefer "Boys Do Fall In Love". This was the second of two tribute extras on this week's show. 13: RUNAWAY - JEFFERSON STARSHIP (15) - Great song! Not sure whether I prefer this or “Count On Me”. 12: IT'S A HEARTACHE - BONNIE TYLER (9) - Great song! I do prefer “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, but I like this song better than “Holding Out For A Hero”. 11: LOVE WILL FIND A WAY - PABLO CRUISE (14) - Great song! One I remember quite well from the summer of 1978! 10: THREE TIMES A LADY - COMMODORES (21) - Wow, what a big jump! This one was definitely on its way to the top! Anyway, even though I prefer several other songs by the Commodores, I think this is a good one - became a very popular wedding hit. 9: TAKE A CHANCE ON ME - ABBA (3) - This song’s OK, but far from being their best. 8: USE TA BE MY GIRL - O'JAYS (4) - Great song! Possibly their very best! 7: THE GROOVE LINE - HEATWAVE (7) - This was OK, but it was basically “Boogie Nights Part 2". 6: GREASE - FRANKIE VALLI (11) - Meh, I didn’t really like this one. 5: LAST DANCE - DONNA SUMMER (10) - Good song, but a little on the melancholy side. 4: STILL THE SAME - BOB SEGER (5) - Great song! Easily one of my favorite songs by him! 3: MISS YOU - THE ROLLING STONES (6) - No. Just no. OPTIONAL EXTRA: KISS YOU ALL OVER - EXILE - Good song, though somewhat overplayed. 2: BAKER STREET - GERRY RAFFERTY (2) - I used to really like this one, but overplay has dimmed my fascination for it significantly. Casey mentioned that this song was spending its fifth week at the top, both in the intro and outro. Was it for this chart that the song was said to be #1 for a few hours until changes were made at the last minute? 1: SHADOW DANCING - ANDY GIBB (1) - Gibb bookended the AT40 chart this week - his new hit was debuting as his not-as-new hit was still riding high at #1. As I said before, I much prefer this one.
Predictions for next week: Well, we were given a clue in the 70s thread as to what’s coming up next week. Looks like it’s either July 27, 1974 (my main prediction) or July 26, 1975, which is my back-up.
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Jul 21, 2012 11:54:12 GMT -5
Hervard, you only mention one Optional Extra but said there was another for a recently deceased artist... What gives?
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Post by Hervard on Jul 21, 2012 12:53:34 GMT -5
Sorry about that - the station on which I listened to the show (CKUL) played their own set of extras, so I forgot to list all three of them. I just amended my critique.
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