This week's show is a repeat show from 2011 so it's recycled commentary time...
Here is my commentary on last weekend's American Top 40: The 80s.
This week’s presentation: January 16, 1982
Wow, kind of odd that they'd do 1982 so soon after the last 1982 show, but seeing as it's the other end of the year and all...
Anyway, the first time Premiere ran this show, I was sort of foiled twice in hearing the show, since WUEZ messed up and kept playing the same segments twice, then when I went to listen to the show on WRVF, they were replaying Part 2 of the Top 100 of 1985. I was wondering if they just didn’t get the new show or they were in an anti-1982 mood that week, but they were a week behind for most of January, until a 1980 show came along and they skipped over that one. And, of course, that station no longer runs the show. Well, anyhoo, I finally got to listen to it later on that night on WINC. Here is my commentary on this week’s show:
Droppers:
HEART LIKE A WHEEL - STEVE MILLER BAND (39) - I don’t remember how this one goes, but as I recall, it wasn’t anything special.
MY GIRL (GONE GONE GONE) - CHILLIWACK (38) - Great song! Shame that it dropped off.
CASTLES IN THE AIR - DON McLEAN (36) - wtf did this sound like again?
HERE I AM (JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OVER YOU) - AIR SUPPLY (34) - Great song! Too bad it dropped off.
LW#3: LET’S GROOVE - EARTH, WIND & FIRE
LW#2: WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER
LW#1: PHYSICAL - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
I’ll comment on those later, but I’ll tell you right now, that entire segment was one of the ones repeated on WUEZ.
40) ALL OUR TOMORROWS - EDDIE SCHWARTZ (debut) - Good song. Has sort of a jazzy feel to it.
39) KEY LARGO - BERTIE HIGGINS (debut) - Good song. This may have been his only Top 40 hit, but it sure got a lot of mileage on the charts - 17 weeks in the Top 40 alone, which even back then, was unusually long for a song that peaked at #8.
38) WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND - LOVERBOY (40) - Great song. I can’t believe this song only got as high as #29, what with all the airplay that it still gets today.
37) LOVE IN THE FIRST DEGREE - ALABAMA (debut) - Great song! Possibly my favorite song by them!
36) MORE THAN JUST THE TWO OF US - SNEAKER (37) - Meh, I used to like this song a lot, but when I heard it as a LDD about a month ago, the song kept going through my mind all day (especially the chorus) and was getting a tad annoying, so my opinion of this song has since changed.
35) THROUGH THE YEARS - KENNY ROGERS (debut) - Good song, but I sure didn’t need to hear it twice within ten minutes (Yes, this was another segment that WUEZ ran twice and at that point, I was fed up and decided to just catch the show later on. I still had a touch of the stomach flu that I caught on Thursday, so maybe it was just as well).
34) EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC - THE POLICE (33) - Hey, this is 1982, isn’t it? Why is this only falling one place, then?
No, seriously, this was a good song. I liked it much better than their late-70s album rock hits, not to mention their other song that begins with the word “Every”.
33) OH NO - THE COMMODORES (31) - Great song! This was a landmark chart for the Commodores, as it was the last week they’d be on the countdown with Lionel Richie as lead singer. (They, of course, would be on the show every now and then in the Long Distance Dedication department, especially with “Three Times A Lady” and “Still”.)
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PAC MAN FEVER - BUCKNER & GARCIA - Meh, kind of a corny song, although back in the day, I played the heck out of my Pac Man Fever record and drove my family nuts in the process, lol!
32) STEAL THE NIGHT - STEVIE WOODS (25) - Nice, mellow song. Rather underrated, IMO.
31) OUR LIPS ARE SEALED - THE GO-GO’S (27) - Good song - one of their best, and much better than their next hit.
30) LOVE IS ALRIGHT TONITE - RICK SPRINGFIELD (35) - Great song, although it’s pretty much Part 2 of “I’ve Done Everything For You”.
29) UNDER PRESSURE - QUEEN w/DAVID BOWIE (29) - No. Just no.
28) TAKE MY HEART - KOOL & THE GANG (17) - Great song! I like the slight jazz flavor to this one.
27) DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ - JOURNEY (18) - Great song! One of their most played hits nowadays.
26) SWEET DREAMS - AIR SUPPLY (32) - Good song, though not quite my favorite song from them.
25) WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE - DIANA ROSS (15) - Good song, though far from being her best.
24) SHE’S GOT A WAY - BILLY JOEL (26) - This was OK, but one of my least favorite of his ballads.
23) YOU COULD HAVE BEEN WITH ME - SHEENA EASTON (28) - Great song! One of her best!
22) TAKE IT EASY ON ME - LITTLE RIVER BAND (30) - Another great song! Definitely one of their best songs of the 1980s.
LONG DISTANCE DEDICATION: MY GUY - MARY WELLS - Good song. A true Motown classic!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: TAINTED LOVE - SOFT CELL - Ah, the “song that wouldn’t die”. It’s OK, but quite overplayed.
21) COME GO WITH ME - THE BEACH BOYS (24) - Interesting remake of the old Dell-Vikings classic.
20) I WOULDN’T HAVE MISSED IT FOR THE WORLD - RONNIE MILSAP (22) - Great song, though not my favorite song by him.
19) LEADER OF THE BAND - DAN FOGELBERG (23) - Great song! Very touching tribute to his late father.
18) SHAKE IT UP - THE CARS (21) - It’s okies, but kinda overplayed. Still, I’d rather listen to this than their depressing song “Drive”.
17) WAITING ON A FRIEND - THE ROLLING STONES (20) - Great song! I like this much better than their previous hit.
16) SOMEONE COULD LOSE A HEART TONIGHT - EDDIE RABBITT (19) - This song is OK, but possibly one of my least favorite songs by him.
15) YOUNG TURKS - ROD STEWART (5) - Great song! One of his best songs from the 1980s.
14) COOL NIGHT - PAUL DAVIS (16) - Another great song! And one of my favorites from him.
13) HOOKED ON CLASSICS - ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (14) - Interesting medley of discofied classic hits.
EXTRA: YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT - JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - Great song! Not sure if I prefer this or “Summer Nights”.
12) COMIN’ IN AND OUT OF YOUR LIFE - BARBRA STREISAND (12) - Great song! I guess you could call this one a guilty pleasure.
11) YESTERDAY’S SONGS - NEIL DIAMOND (11) - Great song! One of his best songs from the ‘80s!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SPIRITS IN THE MATERIAL WORLD - THE POLICE - Great song! Larry said that it was the first release from their album Ghost In The Machine. Um, no, that would be the song that was at #34 on this week’s show.
10) THE SWEETEST THING (I’VE EVER KNOWN) - JUICE NEWTON (13) - I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is yet another great song! 1982 was definitely her best year, as my three favorite songs from her were her three big hits from that year!
9) TROUBLE - LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM (10) - Yet another great song! One of his best hits, solo or with Fleetwood Mac.
8) TURN YOUR LOVE AROUND - GEORGE BENSON (9) - Well, this breaks the streak. It’s a good song, but he’s had a few better.
7) LEATHER AND LACE - STEVIE NICKS & DON HENLEY (7) - Great song! One of my favorites from both artists.
6) HARDEN MY HEART - QUARTERFLASH (6) - Good song, but I preferred “Take Me To Heart” from the following year.
LONG DISTANCE DEDICATION: JUST ONCE - QUINCY JONES featuring JAMES INGRAM - Good song, but I preferred their other collaboration, which was at #69 on that week’s Hot 100. “Just Once” was still hanging around, too, at #94, spending a 23rd and final week on.
5) CENTERFOLD - J. GEILS BAND (8) - Great song! One of their best, and very deserving of being #1 a few weeks later.
4) I CAN’T GO FOR THAT (NO CAN DO) - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (4) - Another future #1 hit, although, being stuck at #4 for the fourth week, I’m sure people were starting to have their doubts about that. This song was pretty good, but I prefer many others by them.
3) LET’S GROOVE - EARTH, WIND & FIRE (3) - Wow, this song was #1 on the Soul chart for its eighth week! This one was pretty good, but I prefer others by them such as “That’s The Way Of The World” and “September”.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: OPEN ARMS - JOURNEY - This was the week’s highest debut on the Hot 100, and would debut on AT40 the following week. This used to be one of my favorite songs by them, but airplay has since changed my mind about the song.
2) WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER (2) - Wow, waiting is right! This song was spending its eighth of ten frustrating weeks at the runner-up position. But the #1 was just too strong for it.
1) PHYSICAL - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (1) - And this was that very #1 song I speak of. It was a pretty good song, but I prefer many others by her.
Predictions for next week: My main prediction is January 18, 1986 (if that's the case, look for another recycled commentary). My back-up prediction: January 17, 1987.