American Top 40: The 80s - December 7, 2013
This week's presentation - December 6, 1980
Droppers
ONE TRICK PONY - PAUL SIMON (40) - Good song. Surprised that it tanked so fast, given how big a hit "Late In The Evening" was.
TURNING JAPANESE - THE VAPORS (36) - Good song - one that still receives recurrent airplay!
ON THE ROAD AGAIN - WILLIE NELSON (34) - Great song! Shame that it fell off!
UPSIDE DOWN - DIANA ROSS (28) - Good song, but not quite her best.
LW#3: THE WANDERER - DONNA SUMMER
LW#2: WOMAN IN LOVE - BARBRA STREISAND
LW#1: LADY - KENNY ROGERS
40: I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT - EDDIE RABBITT (debut) - Great song! I did slightly prefer his recent Top 40 hit, "Drivin' My Life Away".
39: I MADE IT THROUGH THE RAIN - BARRY MANILOW (debut) - Ah, two rain songs in a row! This was a great one - one of Manilow's best! Glad that they didn't cut out the second verse!
38: TIME IS TIME - ANDY GIBB (debut) - This wasn't bad, but I preferred several others by him, especially "I Just Want To Be Your Everything". We'll also be hearing this song in a few weeks, as it's the one that kicks off the Top 100 of 1981.
37: LET ME BE YOUR ANGEL - STACY LATTISAW (21) - This was OK, but somewhat sleep inducing.
36: GIRLS CAN GET IT - DR. HOOK (39) - Good song, but not quite as good as "Better Love Next Time".
35: LOVELY ONE - THE JACKSONS (22) - Meh, this was OK, but nothing special.
34: ONE STEP CLOSER - DOOBIE BROTHERS (debut) - Great song! Great sax work on this song!
LDD: A PLACE IN THE SUN - STEVIE WONDER - Good song, and indeed fitting for the dedication (which was dedicated to Stevie himself).
33: NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE - STEPHANIE MILLS (18) - Great song! The only song by her that I know.
ARCHIVE: HE'S SO FINE - THE CHIFFONS - This was OK. I can see why they would sue George Harrison for plagiarism, since his song "My Sweet Lord" indeed sounded a lot like this song
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HEY NINETEEN - STEELY DAN - This song was pretty good, but I preferred others by them.
32: THE TIDE IS HIGH - BLONDIE (38) - It's okies, but definitely not my favorite from them.
31: PASSION - ROD STEWART (37) - Good song, but not quite his best. He pretty much remade this one about three years later.
30: SUDDENLY - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN AND CLIFF RICHARD (35) - Great song! Possibly my favorite of Olivia's Xanadu singles (though I liked all three about the same).
29: I BELIEVE IN YOU - DON WILLIAMS (31) - Great song! Interesting story about how he always wears his hat.
28: CELEBRATION - KOOL & THE GANG (32) - Great song! Definitely their signature hit!
27: THIS TIME - JOHN COUGAR (30) - Good song. I did slightly prefer "Ain't Even Done With The Night", though.
EXTRA: CROCODILE ROCK - ELTON JOHN - Interesting story about the hit streak (and Elton's would last much longer). Didn't care much for the dong they chose, however.
26: HE'S SO SHY - THE POINTER SISTERS (17) - Great song! Definitely one of my favorites from them!
25: SEQUEL - HARRY CHAPIN (29) - Great song! Definitely the sequel to his first hit.
24: THEME FROM "THE DUKES OF HAZZARD" - WAYLON JENNINGS (26) - Great song! I don't even know whether or not the show is still shown in reruns.
ARCHIVE: I WILL FOLLOW HIM - LITTLE PEGGY MARCH - This song was OK. Bonnie Tyler's "It's A Heartache" sort of reminds me of this one.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: KEEP ON LOVING YOU - REO SPEEDWAGON - Great song! Definitely one of their best!
23: IT'S MY TURN - DIANA ROSS (27) - Great song! Easily my favorite of her two hits on the chart this week.
22: DEEP INSIDE MY HEART - RANDY MEISNER (25) - This was my least favorite of his three Top 40 hits, but it was a good one nevertheless.
21: EVERYBODY'S GOT TO LEARN SOMETIME - THE KORGIS (23) - Great song! I like the eerie sound to this one!
20: WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - ROGER DALTRY (20) - Great song! One of my favorites by him, with or without the Who.
19: DE DO DO DO DE DA DA DA - THE POLICE (24) - Blegh! Very annoying! I'd actually rather listen to "Every Breath You Take" than this!
18: TELL IT LIKE IT IS - HEART (33) - Really good rendition of the Aaron Neville classic - and with a jump like that, one would guess it was on its way to #1 but, in fact, it didn't even hit the Top Five.
17: WHIP IT - DEVO (14) - Meh, not a fan of this one at all.
16: EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD - AIR SUPPLY (19) - Good song, but one of my least favorites from them.
15: NEVER BE THE SAME - CHRISTOPHER CROSS (15) - While this song was sitting at its peak of #3 on the R&R chart, it couldn't seem to get past #15 on the Hot 100. I liked this one - despite the depressing subject matter, it's nevertheless upbeat.
14: GUILTY - BARBRA STREISAND AND BARRY GIBB (16) - Good song, though I preferred their other duet.
13: THE WANDERER - DONNA SUMMER (3) - Not quite as good as her other big 1980 hit, or her not so big hit from about a month earlier, but still a great one nevertheless.
ARCHIVE: IF YOU WANNA BE HAPPY - JIMMY SOUL - This one was OK. Wasn't this used in the ending credits for a movie?
OPTIONAL EXTRA: THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL - ABBA - Great song! Definitely one of my favorites from them!
12: YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELING - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (12) - Another Top Three R&R hit that didn't quite make the Top Ten on the Hot 100. This song was pretty good (I prefer it over the original), but not my favorite song by Hall & Oates by any means.
11: HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT - PAT BENATAR (13) - Great song! One of her best!
10: DREAMING - CLIFF RICHARD (10) - Great song, though I preferred his song from earlier in 1980.
9: I'M COMING OUT - DIANA ROSS (5) - Meh, definitely my least favorite of her three late 1980 hits.
8: HUNGRY HEART - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (11) - Great song! Definitely one of his best!
7: LOVE ON THE ROCKS - NEIL DIAMOND (9) - Great song! One of my favorites from him - definitely my favorite from "Jazz Singer"!
6: (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER - JOHN LENNON (8) - Great song! Little did anyone know what would happen two days later
LDD: READY TO TAKE A CHANCE AGAIN - BARRY MANILOW - Great song, and definitely fitting for the dedication!
5: MASTER BLASTER - STEVIE WONDER (7) - Good song, but my favorite 1980 song by him would probably be "Send One Your Love".
4: WOMAN IN LOVE - BARBRA STREISAND (2) - Great song! I wonder if the Bee Gees' involvement with this song was instrumental in its success?
3: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST - QUEEN (4) - I think you all know how I feel about this song (and how in the world did it move back up?)
2: MORE THAN I CAN SAY - LEO SAYER (6) - Great song! Definitely one of my favorites from him!
1: LADY - KENNY ROGERS (1) - I never used to like this song, but it's one of those songs that gets better with age, like expensive wine. Now I think it's a great one.
Next week, we have another early-80s show!