American Top 40: The 80s - December 8, 2012
This week's presentation - December 12, 1981
Wow, is it me or are they doing lots of 1981 shows lately? Since early September, this is the third show from that year. Not that it's a bad thing, as 1981 was a great year in music!
Droppers:
TWILIGHT - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (38) - I forget how this goes, but I remember that I thought it was really good and a shame that it didn't get very high on the charts.
THEME FROM "HILL STREET BLUES" - MIKE POST (37) - Great song! Shame that it dropped off! (Especially since none of the debuts this week are my favorite songs - except I do really like the #40 song).
THE NIGHT OWLS - LITTLE RIVER BAND (35) - Good song, but I preferred their song that was one of the Optional Extras this week.
NEVER TOO MUCH - LUTHER VANDROSS (33) - Although I generally prefer his slower songs, I really liked this one.
LW#3: EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC – THE POLICE
LW#2: WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER
LW#1: PHYSICAL – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
40: CASTLES IN THE AIR – DON McLEAN (debut) - Great song! I did, however, prefer "Vincent".
39: TRYIN’ TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU – BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND (31) - Great song! The first of two live songs on the countdown (and the second one is just a few songs later).
38: WRACK MY BRAIN – RINGO STARR (39) - Wow, I'd never heard this song before! No surprise, however, as it lasted only two weeks on the chart. It was a pretty good one.
37: SHE’S GOT A WAY – BILLY JOEL (debut) - The second live song on the show. Not bad, but not my favorite song by him by any means.
36: WAITING ON A FRIEND – THE ROLLING STONES (debut) - Good song. I like this much better than their overplayed hit that came before.
35: UNDER PRESSURE – QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE (40) - No. Just no.
34: NO REPLY AT ALL- GENESIS (29) - Good song. The horn section from Earth Wind & Fire played on this one.
33: POOR MAN’S SON - SURVIVOR (34) - Great song! One that's pretty much fallen into obscurity.
32: SHAKE IT UP – THE CARS (debut) - I don't know why, but I just never really got into this song. It's passable, but one of my least favorite songs by them.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WKRP IN CINCINNATI - STEVE CARLISLE - Wow, what a curveball extra! I never would have guessed this one. Anyway, it's a good song, and the TV show isn't bad either.
31: ARTHUR’S THEME – CHRISTOPHER CROSS (17) - Great song! One of my all-time favorites!
30: I WOULDN’T HAVE MISSED IT FOR THE WORLD – RONNIE MILSAP (36) - Great song! One of his best!
29: THE OLD SONGS – BARRY MANILOW (15) - Great song!
LDD: I’M COMING OUT – DIANA ROSS - This song was indeed appropriate for the dedication, but I'm not a big fan of the song itself.
28: START ME UP – THE ROLLING STONES (10) - This is the overplayed song I mentioned earlier. I guess, since the new one took a huge boost in popularity, that's why this one dropped so fast. Anyway, I'm still burned out on this one due to excessive airplay.
27: SOMEONE COULD LOSE A HEART TONIGHT – EDDIE RABBITT (32) - Good song, but I preferred his other 1980-1981 hits.
26: STEAL THE NIGHT – STEVIE WOODS (28) - Great song! Has a smooth jazz feel to it.
25: CENTERFOLD – THE J. GEILS BAND (30) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by them!
24: HEART LIKE A WHEEL- THE STEVE MILLER BAND (26) - This was a pretty good song, but far from being their best.
23: HOOKED ON CLASSICS – THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (27) - Interesting song, with a great selection of classical music pieces.
22: MY GIRL (GONE, GONE, GONE) - CHILLIWACK (24) - Great song! Definitely one of the best songs on the chart this week. Casey mentioned that this was the #1 song in Canada this week.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH - DEPECHE MODE - Wow, another extra I never would have guessed! This one was OK - better than the annoying "People Are People", but I preferred their two Top 20 hits from 1990.
21: COOL NIGHT – PAUL DAVIS (25) - Great song! I like this and his song on this week's 1978 show about the same.
20: OUR LIPS ARE SEALED – THE GO-GO’S (21) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by them!
19: TAKE MY HEART – KOOL & THE GANG (22) - Great song! "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani reminds me a little of this song.
18: PRIVATE EYES – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (6) - Great song, though I prefer many others by them.
17: THE SWEETEST THING – JUICE NEWTON (20) - Great song! My second favorite song from her, behind "Break It To Me Gently".
EXTRA: HIGHER AND HIGHER – JACKIE WILSON - Good song, and interesting story about Jackie Wilson's current condition (too bad he passed away two years later).
16: TURN YOUR LOVE AROUND – GEORGE BENSON (23) - Good song, though I prefer a few others by him. Kinda weird that this is the biggest move of the week within the Top 40, seeing that there are two other huge moves on the Hot 100 ("Waiting On A Friend" by the Rolling Stones moved 70-46 and "Take It Easy On Me" by the Little River Band moved 82-49).
15: COMIN’ IN AND OUT OF YOUR LIFE – BARBRA STREISAND (19) - Great song! One of my favorites from her!
14: YESTERDAY’S SONGS – NEIL DIAMOND (16) - Great song! One of his best!
13: I CAN’T GO FOR THAT – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (18) - Good song, but far from being their best.
12: TROUBLE – LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM (13) - Great song! Possibly my favorite of his solo hits.
11: LEATHER AND LACE – STEVIE NICKS WITH DON HENLEY (12) - And, right above a Fleetwood Mac member singing solo is another (although this one is actually a duet - with a member of another legendary group, no less). This is definitely one of my favorite songs from both artists involved.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: TAKE IT EASY ON ME - LITTLE RIVER BAND - Great song! One of their best! Larry said that this song was two weeks away from hitting the countdown. Technically, it was four weeks away from hitting the COUNTDOWN. While it's true that it did hit the Top 40 on 12/26, AT40 started their Top 100 of 1981 that week, so in terms of AT40, the first time it would be heard on the countdown was the week of January 9.
10: DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ - JOURNEY (11) - Great song! One of my favorite songs by them, and one of their songs that gets the most recurrent airplay.
9: HARDEN MY HEART - QUARTERFLASH (14) - Good song, but I preferred "Take Me To Heart", from the summer of 1983.
8: WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE – DIANA ROSS (9) - Good song. Too bad that the singer of the original, Frankie Lyman, died at such a young age
7: HERE I AM (JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OVER YOU) – AIR SUPPLY (5) - Great song! A true guilty pleasure (as several people I know hate this song with a passion).
LDD: THIS MAGIC MOMENT – THE DRIFTERS - Good song, and definitely appropriate for the dedication.
6: YOUNG TURKS – ROD STEWART (8) - Great song! Although I always wondered why they didn't call this song "Young Hearts", since that's what he's singing.
5: LET’S GROOVE – EARTH, WIND & FIRE (7) - Great song! Disco might have been dead for the most part, but this song was one of the exceptions.
4: OH NO – THE COMMODORES (4) - Great song! The Commodores' last Top Ten hit with Lionel Richie on lead.
3: EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC – THE POLICE (3) - Great song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND - LOVERBOY - Great song! This is probably their song that gets the most recurrent airplay despite just barely hitting the Top 30.
2: WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER (2) - Ah yes, good old Wf*gLY. At this point, I have a feeling that many people felt sure that this was going to hit #1 in the next week or so. But we all know the story about that...
1: PHYSICAL – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (1) - Good song, though quite overplayed. Throughout the show, Casey promoted the upcoming Top 100 of 1981 countdown, and in one of those promos, he mentioned that "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Endless Love" (one of the other which would "for sure" be #1) were two of the biggest hits of the rock era. Little did anyone know that this song would beat those out (though its chart run would be deferred to 1982).
Predictions for next week: Speaking of 1982, I'm thinking that's what's coming up next week - most likely December 18. My back-up prediction is December 17, 1983.