American Top 40: The 80s - June 29, 2013
This week's presentation - June 29, 1985
OK, could someone please explain to me what all this love for 1985 is all about? I mean, don't get me wrong; it was a great year, but come on - four times in as many months? And we've heard it three times since the last 1981 show (well, unless you count the Beatles show, which I do not, since that show predated 1981, and besides, few 80s stations aired that one). Anyway, we definitely won't be hearing 1981 until the latter half of July, since the Beatles show was July 4, and July 11 was hosted by Charlie VanDyke. But we'll cross that bridge when we we come to it. Meanwhile, here is my commentary on this week's show:
Droppers:
SMOOTH OPERATOR - SADE (40) - Great song! Shame that it fell off.
JUST A GIGOLO/I AIN'T GOT NOBODY - DAVID LEE ROTH (37) - Good song - we heard it on the last two 1985 shows - such is the case with the Sade song.
DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME) - SIMPLE MINDS (27) - This song was also heard on the last two 1985 shows and was very close to being heard on three of them - but it debuted the week after the March 16 show, which was the first show of this 1985 madness.
40: WAKE UP (NEXT TO YOU) – GRAHAM PARKER AND THE SHOT (39) - Great song! I thought this one was quite underrated.
39: WHAT ABOUT LOVE - HEART (debut) - Good song, but definitely not their best.
38: YOU SPIN ME AROUND (LIKE A RECORD) – DEAD OR ALIVE (debut) - Good song - not sure if I prefer this or "Brand New Lover".
37: LITTLE BY LITTLE – ROBERT PLANT (38) - Good song, though I preferred "Big Log".
36: NEVER ENDING STORY - LIMAHL (22) - Great song! Much better than song by Kajagoogoo, a band he was the lead singer of two years before.
35: SHOUT – TEARS FOR FEARS (debut) - Meh, never cared for this song. I much preferred their other two 1985 hits.
34: NEVER SURRENDER – COREY HART (36) - Wow, that's a pretty weak move for a song that hit the Top Five. Anyway, this was a great song - possibly my favorite song by them.
33: WHO’S HOLDING DONNA NOW - DeBARGE (34) - Wow, this must have been a tight spot in the chart, as this song also made a baby step up the chart (and yet another the following week), yet it managed to make the Top Ten.
LDD: SOLID – ASHFORD & SIMPSON - Good song, though when this was popular, I did not like it one bit. This song was very fitting for the dedication.
32: PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE – DePECHE MODE (33) - Meh, even though the message in this song is good, I just don't like the song itself. I prefer their 1990 hits.
31: POSSESSION OBSESSION – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (31) - This song was OK, but definitely not their best.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: ALL YOU ZOMBIES - THE HOOTERS - This song was OK, but I preferred their Top 40 hits.
30: BANG A GONG (GET IT ON) – THE POWER STATION (35) - Wow, this song actually managed to rise above the competition in this area of the chart. Ironically, it peaked lower than the Corey Hart and DeBarge songs. This song was a good one - made the T. Rex version one sound weak by comparison.
29: CANNONBALL - SUPERTRAMP (30) - Good song, but I generally prefer their late-70s/early 80s stuff.
28: JUST AS I AM – AIR SUPPLY (29) - Great song! This one was definitely underrated IMO, but Air Supply had indeed had their day in the sun back in 1980-82. This was their final Top 40 hit.
27: 19 – PAUL HARDCASTLE (32) - Another song that was able to make a nice move despite the chart congestion, but this one didn't even hit the Top Ten. Anyway, this song was pretty good, but not something I'd want to hear all the time.
26: GETCHA BACK – THE BEACH BOYS (28) - Great song! This was another song that was quite underrated (though it did hit the Top Five on the AC chart).
25: FRESH – KOOL & THE GANG (18) - Great song! Definitely my favorite song from the Emergency album.
24: AXEL F – HAROLD FALTERMEYER (15) - Great song! 1985 had three instrumentals that hit the Top 40 and I liked all of them.
23: TOUGH ALL OVER – JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (23) - Great song! This one always sounded to me like something Jackson Browne would sing.
22: CRAZY IN THE NIGHT (BARKING AT AIRPLANES) – KIM CARNES (24) - Great song, but not quite as good as "More Love" and "Bette Davis Eyes".
21: EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - WHAM! (13) - Great song! My favorite from "Make It Big" (my favorite used to be "Freedom" until I played it to death in the summer of 1985).
20: SENTIMENTAL STREET – NIGHT RANGER (25) - Great song! This one reminded me a lot of their other Top Ten hit - my "namesake", if you will.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SUMMER OF '69 - BRYAN ADAMS - Good song. However - Bryan Adams was really in a band when he was nine years old?
19: IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY SET THEM FREE – STING (26) - Good song, but I preferred several others by him, both solo and with his squad.
18: SUDDENLY – BILLY OCEAN (11) - Great song! One that indirectly led to his song from exactly a year later, which turned out to be one of his biggest ever!
17: GLORY DAYS – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (21) - Great song! One of my favorites from Born In The USA!
16: SMUGGLER’S BLUES – GLENN FREY (12) - Good song - not sure if I prefer this or his other Miami Vice theme.
15: THE GOONIES ‘R’ GOOD TONIGHT – CYNDI LAUPER (19) - Great song! One of my favorite songs by her - an electronic instrumental version of this song is heard in the NES game "Goonies 2" (as well as the arcade game).
14: EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY – PAUL YOUNG (20) - Great song! This one has held up extremely well despite overplay (was the most played AC song for that entire summer!)
13: YOU GIVE GOOD LOVE – WHITNEY HOUSTON (17) - Ah, her breakthrough hit! (Well, unless you count "Hold Me" her duet with Teddy Pendergrass, which I do not, since that didn't even hit the Top 40. This is definitely the one that put her on the map. It's a good one, but I prefer many others by her.
12: VOICES CARRY – ‘TIL TUESDAY (16) - This song wasn't bad but, of course, I preferred their lesser known hit "What About Love"
11: WALKING ON SUNSHINE – KATRINA AND THE WAVES (9) - Great song! Definitely my favorite song of their three Top 40 hits.
10: IN MY HOUSE – MARY JANE GIRLS (7) - And this was their only Top 40 hit, but what a great one it was!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: THE POWER OF LOVE - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS - Great song from a great movie!
9: THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER – HOWARD JONES (8) - Unfortunately, this saying isn't always true - but it's a good song nonetheless.
8: WOULD I LIE TO YOU – THE EURYTHMICS (14) - Good song, but not their best (I don't think I need to tell you that my favorite song by them was their next hit, right?)
LDD: LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY – DENIECE WILLIAMS - Great song! Very inspiring LDD, too!
7: EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD – TEARS FOR FEARS (3) - Great song! Easily my favorite of their two hits on the countdown this week!
6: THE SEARCH IS OVER - SURVIVOR (10) - Great song! One that became somewhat popular in the LDD department.
5: ANGEL - MADONNA (6) - Great song! This was her only song on the chart this week, although on the R&R chart, the album cut "Into The Groove" was scaling the chart. I actually preferred that song over this one.
4: RASPBERRY BERET – PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION (4) - This used to be one of my favorite songs by Prince (was delighted when it hit #1 on the R&R chart), but eventually, I got tired of it (and the falsetto part at the end became annoying to me).
3: A VIEW TO A KILL – DURAN DURAN (5) - Great song! One of my favorites from them - glad this one made it to #1!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: ST. ELMO'S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) - Good song, but this one was quite overplayed.
2: SUSSUDIO – PHIL COLLINS (2) - This wasn't bad, but definitely not Phil's best.
1: HEAVEN – BRYAN ADAMS (1) - Great song! His decision to re-release this one definitely proved worthwhile, as it was his biggest hit - for six more years, anyway.
Predictions for next week: OK, let's see here. We all know that there is some Book Of Records show coming up next week and, based on what I've read, it'll most likely be the 1980 Book Of Records show. There is said to be a regular weekly show accompanying the special (and I have a feeling that most stations will go with the regular show, due to all of the oldies on the special). My prediction for the weekly show is July 9, 1983, with July 7, 1984 as my back-up (if it's the latter, then I'll be posting a recycled commentary, as I have that show, and it's a repeat - from 2010).