American Top 40 - March 30, 2012
This week's presentation - March 31, 1984
Droppers:
DON'T LET GO - WANG CHUNG (35) - Great song! Definitely their most underrated song ever!
LET THE MUSIC PLAY - SHANNON (32) - This song wasn't bad, but not one of my favorite songs either.
LIVIN' IN DESPERATE TIMES - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (31) - Great song! Shame that it dropped off and an even bigger shame that it didn't get any higher than #31.
KARMA CHAMELEON - CULTURE CLUB (24) - No big loss, as I was not a fan of this song at all.
WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER - THE POLICE (23) - Great song! Too bad it dropped off, but at least we heard it on the last 1984 show.
LW#1: JUMP - VAN HALEN
40: ONE IN A MILLION - THE ROMANTICS (debut) - Great song! Possibly my favorite of their three, well, Top 50 hits (as "What I Like About You" didn't quite make it, despite its regular recurrent airplay.
39: TO ALL THE GIRLS I'VE LOVED BEFORE - JULIO IGLESIAS AND WILLIE NELSON (debut) - This wasn;t bad, although several people I know hate this one with a passion.
38: A FINE FINE DAY - TONY CAREY (debut) - Great song! Definitely my favorite of his two Top 40 hits.
37: THE KID'S AMERICAN - MATTHEW WILDER (40) - This was OK, but not quite as good as "Break My Stride".
36: HEAD OVER HEELS - THE GO-GO'S (debut) - Good song.
35: THE AUTHORITY SONG - JOHN COUGAR MELLANCAMP (debut) - Great song - possibly my favorite of his Uh-Huh singles.
34: RED RED WINE - UB40 (36) - Not bad, though it was quite overplayed when it was re-released in 1988. At least the version that was released in 1984 didn't contain the annoying bridge.
33: NOBODY TOLD ME - JOHN LENNON (19) - It's okies, but doesn't hold a candle to the Double Fantasy era.
32: LEAVE IT - YES (37) - I'm not generally a huge fan of them, but I actually like this song somewhat.
31: LET'S STAY TOGETHER - TINA TURNER (26) - Good song, but I preferred her later material.
30: TONIGHT - KOOL & THE GANG (34) - Good song, but far from being their best.
29: DON'T ANSWER ME - THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT (35) - Good song, but not quite their best.
28: YOU MIGHT THINK - THE CARS (39) - This song was OK, but I prefer several others from them (such as their next hit, "Magic", my favorite song from Heartbeat City.
LDD: YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND - CAROLE KING - Good song - I definitely prefer this to James Taylor's version. This was the first of two Carole King songs used as LDDs on this week's show.
27: NEW SONG - HOWARD JONES (28) - Great song! Too bad this song didn't do better than it did.
26: LOVE SOMEBODY- RICK SPRINGFIELD (33) - Great song! Unfortunately, this was his last Top Ten hit
25: THEY DON'T KNOW - TRQACEY ULLMAN (30) - Good song - her only Top 40 hit.
24: COME BACK AND STAY - PAUL YOUNG (27) - This was OK, but I preferred most of his other Top 40 hits.
23: RUNNER - MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND (22) - Great song! Not sure if I prefer this or "Blinded By The Light".
22: GIVE IT UP - K.C. (21) - Good song. I prefer a few of his hits with the Sunshine Band, though.
21: GIRLS - DWIGHT TWILLEY (29) - Good song!
20: BACK WHERE YOU BELONG - .38 SPECIAL (20) - Great song! I think we all know what my three favorite 38 Special songs are, but this would likely be my fourth favorite.
19: RADIO GA-GA - QUEEN (25) - Meh, the title of this song is pretty much my opinion of it.
18: NEW MOON ON MONDAY - DURAN DURAN (16) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song from Seven And The Ragged Tiger.
17: THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE - DAN FOGELBERG (13) - Great song! This one was unusually upbeat for Fogelberg, who was most known for his slow songs.
16: GOT A HOLD ON ME - CHRISTINE McVIE (10) - Great song! This one sounded much like her material with Fleetwood Mac on which she sang lead.
15: THRILLER - MICHAEL JACKSON (11) - Great song! Too bad they delayed the release of the single, as it might have gone to #1 on AT40, like it did on R&R.
14: EAT IT - "WEIRD" AL YANKOVIC (18) - Great parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It". Casey also played drop pieces of other parodies that Weird Al did.
13: HELLO - LIONEL RICHIE (17) - Great song! One of his best, as well as one of his biggest hits ever.
12: HOLD ME NOW - THOMPSON TWINS (15) - Ah, the "loving fart" song as my Mom calls it. As for me, of course, it's my favorite song by the "Twins".
11: 99 LUFTBALLONS - NENA (7) - Great song! I actually prefer the English version of the song, "99 Red Balloons", which Casey played a few times on the show.
10: MISS ME BLIND - CULTURE CLUB (14) - Good song. This was when Culture Club was beginning to sort of burn out as, while this song did hit the Top Ten, it had sort of a fast-rise, fast-fall run, as did their next hit, "It's A Miracle", (on R&R, anyway) which would turn out to be their last Top Ten hit.
9: ADULT EDUCATION - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (9) - Good song, but definitely not their best.
8: AUTOMATIC - THE POINTER SISTERS (8) - This was OK, but far from being their best.
7: AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW) - PHIL COLLINS (12) - Great song! Definitely one of my favorite songs by him!
LDD: SO FAR AWAY - CAROLE KING - Great song. Not sure if I prefer this or her other LDD song on this week's show.
6: I WANT A NEW DRUG -
RAY PARKER, JR. HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (6) - Good song, though not his best by any means.
5: GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN - CYNDI LAUPER (3) - Great song! One of three big songs in 1984, definitely making her one of the biggest new artists of the year.
4: HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN - EURYTHMICS (5) - Good song, but it doesn't hold a candle to "There Must Be An Angel".
3: JUMP - VAN HALEN (1) - This was OK, but it irked me that it beat out "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins as the #1 song of the year (on R&R). It doesn't even sound like a song, IMO.
2: SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME - ROCKWELL (2) - Good song - featured Michael Jackson in the chorus.
1: FOOTLOOSE - KENNY LOGGINS (4) - Good song, but I preferred his other song on the Footloose soundtrack.
Predictions for next week: Well, we know that 1981 is coming up next week, which was indeed my prediction. My back-up prediction would have been April 2, 1983. Maybe they'll do 1983 the following week.t