American Top 40: The 80s - May 24, 2014
This week's presentation - May 22, 1982
Dropped:
MAN ON THE CORNER - GENESIS (40) - Great song! Shame that it fell off, and an even bigger shame that it didn't get any higher than #40. I was surprised, because I heard the song all the time on Chicago's WLS back in the spring of 1980.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (36) - Great song! The one that started it all off for one of the biggest acts of the 1980s!
STARS ON 45 III (A TRIBUTE TO STEVIE WONDER) - STARS ON (28) - Good song, with a good selection of some of Wonder's best known hits.
THEME FROM MAGNUM PI - MIKE POST (28) - As I've said many times before, I've never watched the TV show, but the theme song is great!
HANG FIRE - ROLLING STONES (20) - No huge loss, as I seem to remember, this was mediocre.
LW#3: DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS – RICK SPRINGFIELD
LW#2: CHARIOTS OF FIRE - VANGELIS
LW#1: EBONY AND IVORY – PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER
40: I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START – EDDIE RABBITT (debut) - Great song! I do, however, prefer a few others from him.
39: TAINTED LOVE – SOFT CELL (debut) - This song debuted on the chart back in January, but definitely took its sweet time to hit the Top 40. Then, of course, it went on to spend 43 weeks on the chart, a record at the time. Anyway, this song's not bad, but quite overplayed.
38: CIRCLES – ATLANTIC STARR (39) - Ah, their obscure first hit, before they hit the big time. This song was pretty good, but I preferred their three other Top 40 hits, all of which were ballads.
37: HURTS SO GOOD – JOHN COUGAR (debut) - Great song! Another song that demonstrated longevity, in this case, in the Top Ten (16 weeks) and in the Top 40 (22 weeks). That enabled it to become his biggest hits (even bigger than his #1 hit).
36: GOIN’ DOWN – GREG GUIDRY (17) - Great song! This one was slightly underrated IMO (although it did hit the Top Ten on the R&R chart).
35: CAUGHT UP IN YOU - .38 SPECIAL (debut) - Great song! Possibly my favorite of their Top 40 hits - and one of their biggest!
34: WHEN IT’S OVER - LOVERBOY (38) - This was OK, but one of my least favorites from them.
33: WHEN HE SHINES – SHEENA EASTON (35) - Good song, but I preferred several others from her.
32: LOVE’S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME – JUICE NEWTON (debut) - Great song! As I've said before, 1982 was definitely her best year (Keeps comment about the sixth and seventh words in the song title to self...)
OPTIONAL EXTRA: FORGET ME NOTS - PATRICE RUSHEN - Ah yes, the "Blinker Song". This one was pretty good - sampled in at least two hits from the 1990s.
31: SHANGHAI BREEZES – JOHN DENVER (32) - Great song! One of my favorite of his post-1976 hits.
30: WITHOUT YOU – FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS (34) - Great song! I do slightly prefer "Sweetheart", however (which we did hear on a 1981 show a month back).
29: WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE – SIMON & GARFUNKEL (31) - Great song! I actually prefer this one over the original by the Everly Brothers.
LDD: MAKE A MOVE ON ME – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - Great song! One of her best, and one that just recently left the chart. I forgot what the LDD was about, however, so I can't say how fitting it was.
28: LET IT WHIP – THE DAZZ BAND (37) - This one was OK, but nothing I'd go out of my way to hear.
27: MY GIRL – DONNIE IRIS (29) - Good song - obviously inspired by "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly & The Family Stone.
26: WE GOT THE BEAT – THE GO-GO’s (13) - Meh, not a fan of this one.
25: BODY LANGUAGE - QUEEN (33) - No. Just no.
24: FANTASY – ALDO NOVA (26) - Great song!
23: STILL IN SAIGON – THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND (23) - Great song! Definitely an underrated song, as #23 was all the higher it got.
22: MAKING LOVE – ROBERTA FLACK (24) - Great song! I guess I could call this a guilty pleasure (as several people I know hate this one with a passion).
21: CRIMSON & CLOVER – JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS (30) - Not bad, but I preferred her other song on the chart this week.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: DANCING IN THE STREET - VAN HALEN - Good song. Of the three versions I've heard, this just might be my favorite.
20: ROSANNA - TOTO (27) - Great song! They played the album version (with the drum beats at the beginning and the piano/guitar solo at the end) this week.
19: RUN FOR THE ROSES – DAN FOGELBERG (21) - Great song! This one can make me cry, since it reminds me of the day that racehorse Eight Belles died - especially since I heard this song the same day it happened.
18: IT’S GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE – DENIECE WILLIAMS (22) - This song's pretty good, but I preferred "Let's Hear It For The Boys", which hit the top exactly two years later.
17: FREEZE-FRAME – J. GEILS BAND (8) - This song was OK, but nowhere near as good as "Centerfold".
16: MAN ON YOUR MIND – THE LITTLE RIVER BAND (19) - Great song! One of their best 80s hits!
15: EMPTY GARDEN - ELTON JOHN (18) - Great song! This is also one of HIS best 80s hits!
14: I LOVE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS (4) - Great song! Definitely one of the biggest hits of 1982!
13: HEAT OF THE MOMENT - ASIA (15) - Despite the song's impressive debut at #20 three weeks before, the song was now taking baby steps up the chart. It did manage to hit the Top Five, however, which is good, because it was a great song!
12: THE BEATLES MOVIE MEDLEY – THE BEATLES (12) - Good song - my favorite of the two Beatles medleys that charted during the medley craze.
11: ALWAYS ON MY MIND – WILLIE NELSON (14) - Good song, but I preferred the Pet Shop Boys cover that we heard on the show last week!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: KIDS IN AMERICA - KIM WILDE - Good song, but not quite as good as her remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On".
10: GET DOWN ON IT – KOOL & THE GANG (11) - It's okies, but I prefer many others from them.
9: DID IT IN A MINUTE – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES (10) - Great song! One of my favorites from them!
8: DON’T YOU WANT ME – THE HUMAN LEAGUE (15) - Great song! My favorite of their Top 40 hits, and their most successful - that combination doesn't happen too often, does it?
7: CHARIOTS OF FIRE - VANGELIS (2) - Great song! One of the best instumental hits of the 1980s!
6: ’65 LOVE AFFAIR – PAUL DAVIS (7) - Great song! One of my favorites from him!
LDD: WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER - Good song. Wf*gLY was definitely an appropriate song for the dedication.
5: THE OTHER WOMAN – RAY PARKER, JR. (9) - This was OK, but one of my least favorites from him.
4: 867-5309/JENNY – TOMMY TUTONE (5) - Great song! I actually tried to call this number back when this song was popular, but got a recorded message that my call could not be completed as dialed (since the 867 prefix was not within my city).
3: I’VE NEVER BEEN TO ME - CHARLENE (6) - Great song! Another guilty pleasure, like the Roberta Flack song.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: EARLY IN THE MORNING - THE GAP BAND - Good song. Not sure if I preferred this or Robert Palmer's 1988 remake.
2: DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS – RICK SPRINGFIELD (3) - Great song! Strange that this song was moving up still on the Hot 100, as it had just come off a five-week stay atop the R&R chart and was now on its way down.
1: EBONY AND IVORY – PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER (1) - I used to think this one was cheesy, but now I like it, because it has a good message.
Predictions for next week: It's pretty much an across-the-board prediction for May 30, 1987 for next week, and really, it's the only one that makes sense, as all of the shows from June, 1987 have all been done, meaning they'd have to wait until July (and there's not a really big selection there). So I'll predict May 30, 1987, with May 30, 1981 as my back-up prediction.