Post by Hervard on Sept 27, 2024 13:03:51 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - September 28, 2024
This week's presentation - September 28, 1985
Droppers:
NO LOOKIN' BACK - MICHAEL McDONALD (36) - Co-written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins (along with Ed Sanford, of "Smoke From A Distant Fire" fame), this song appeared on both Loggins' 1985 album Vox Humana and Michael McDonald's album to which this was the title track. Both versions sound very much alike, so I'm not sure which one I prefer. Either way, it's a great song!
LIFE IN ONE DAY - HOWARD JONES (34) - Well, he did finally hit the Top Ten earlier in the year with "Things Can Only Get Better". This one did well too, peaking in the teens. It was my favorite of his hits up to this point (my absolute favorite would chart a little less thana year later).
NEVER SURRENDER - COREY HART (33) - This was a rare case where the biggest hit by an artist (with at least five hits) was my favorite by them. This one peaked at #3 in August, and overplay hasn't tarnished it at all.
SHOUT - TEARS FOR FEARS (32) - Meh, I never cared for this one at all. I guess you could say this is a song I can do without.
SHAME - THE MOTELS (27) - Their fourth and final Top 40 hit. It was my least favorite of their hits, but was still a great one - that said, it's too bad they didn't have more Top 40 hits.
LW#1: MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS - I WANT MY MTV, DAMMIT!
40: WE BUILT THIS CITY - STARSHIP (debut) - Their first hit under their name without Jefferson attached to it. It was a great song - one of their best, under any of their names.
39: YOU BELONG TO THE CITY - GLENN FREY (debut) - His second of two contributions to Miami Vice (that charted, anyway). My favorite would probably be the other one, "Smuggler's Blues", which charted earlier in the year, but this one was pretty good, too.
38: AND WE DANCED - HOOTERS (debut) - I'm assuming that they mean owls, correct? No? Oh, after Eric Bazilian's keyboard harmonica, heard prominently in the song. Well, as long as they weren't talking about, well, you know... Anyway, this was a good song - my favorite of their three Top 40 hits.
37: ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR - BRYAN ADAMS (debut) - The fifth of six hits from Reckless, all of which hit the Top 20, which is definitely impressive. It was a good song, but my favorite song from the album would be "Heaven" (and that, of course, was the most successful of the six).
36: BE NEAR ME - ABC (debut) - This was the first of two Top Ten hits (both of which sounded somewhat similar) for this English group. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their two earlier hits.
35: SUMMER OF '69 - BRYAN ADAMS (21) - Wow, he was almost back-to-back with his fourth and fifth singles from Reckless. This was one of the more successful songs from the album, having peaked at #5 the previous month.
LDD: IN MY ROOM - THE BEACH BOYS - I remember singing this song as part of a "Beach Boys" medley in 8th grade choir class (the other songs were "I Get Around", "California Girls" and "Fun, Fun, Fun"). Needless to say, it was not the same "Beach Boys Medley" that charted on AT40 four years prior.
34: SUNSET GRILL - DON HENLEY (40) - The last of four singles from "Building The Perfect Beast", and my favorite from the album (though "Not Enough Love In The World" is a close second). This song peaked at #14 on the R&R chart, but didn't even hit the Top 20 on the Hot 100 (1982, anyone?)
33: THERE MUST BE AN ANGEL - EURYTHMICS (22) - Of course, we know full well that this is my favorite of their Top 40 hits! Lennox's vocals are somewhat theatrical sounding, and Stevie Wonder does a killer harmonica solo in the bridge of the song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WEIRD SCIENCE - OINGO BOINGO - The theme song to the film, as well as the TV series, of the same title. The song was OK, but nothing that I'd go out of my way to listen to.
32: I GOT YOU BABE - UB40 f/CHRISSIE HYNDE (28) - A very interesting reggae version of the Sonny & Cher classic. Too bad they didn't re-release it later on like they did "Red Red Wine", since it may have done a little better on the charts.
31: I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN - PAUL YOUNG (38) - He seemed to do best with remakes, as both of his Top Ten hits were previously done by other acts. But this one didn't miss the Top Ten by much, peaking at #13. It was pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Everytime You Go Away", my favorite song from him!
30: FOUR IN THE MORNING (I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE) - NIGHT RANGER (35) - I always say that "Sister Christian" is my favorite song from them, but I always forget about how much I like their more obscure songs, including this great song. Really, I'm not really sure what my favorite song from them is - I like all of their Top 40 hits (except for "Don't Tell Me You Love Me") about the same.
29: THE WAY YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO/MY GIRL (LIVE AT THE APOLLO) - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES w/DAVID RUFFIN & EDDIE KENDRICKS (31) - This was a great rendition of these two classics by the Temptations - very energetic, as many live hits are.
28: HEAD OVER HEELS - TEARS FOR FEARS (39) - No case of Third Single Syndrome here! Though it didn't hit #1 like the last two, it did get as high as #3. This is by far my favorite of the three Top Ten hits from Songs From The Big Chair.
27: YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN - BILLY JOEL (18) - I liked the way that Joel decided not to go back and correct the goof in this song (when he flubbed a line near the end and laughed) in order to prove the point he was making in this song, which I thought was a good one, but it wasn't his best.
26: SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM - MOTLEY CRUE (20) - Something I got caught doing once back in my sophomore year. Fortunately, the teacher just scoffed and walked off - didn't want to waste his time apparently, so I dodged a bullet there! As for the song, it was a pretty good song, considering I wasn't a huge fan of them.
25: EVERY STEP OF THE WAY - JOHN WAITE (26) - His first solo hit, "Missing You" went to #1, but he couldn't seem to match that success with any of his follow-ups. This song, which uses a line from that song as the opening lyrics, was underrated, IMO.
24: LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT - LOVERBOY (30) - This song somewhat defies the general rule that the lower their songs peak, the less obscure they are, as this one was one of two Top Ten hits from them (yes, I thought they had more as well) and gets occasional recurrent airplay. Their other Top Ten hit, "This Could Be The Night" receives virtually no recurrent airplay, which is a shame IMO.
23: FREEWAY OF LOVE - ARETHA FRANKLIN (16) - With none other than Clarence Clemons playing sax, this was Aretha's comeback hit - that put her back into the Top Ten, that is. It was definitely a comeback over on the R&R chart, from where she'd been absent for over eleven years. Anyway, this song was pretty good, but I preferred her next hit, the title track of her Who's Zoomin' Who album, as well as a few of her songs after that.
22: "MIAMI VICE" THEME - JAN HAMMER (37) - One of three instrumentals that charted in the Top 40 during 1985, as well as the most successful, as this song would go all the way to the top! I liked this song, but I preferred the other two 1985 instrumentals.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: NEVER - HEART - They were enjoying their biggest chart success yet with their mid-80s comeback, as this would become their second Top Five hit (and they'd have two more after this). Anyway, it would be a toss-up between this and "These Dreams" as my favorite song from their self-titled album - both are great songs!
21: INVINCIBLE - PAT BENATAR (12) - Her fourth and final Top Ten hit (you thought she had more, didn't you?) Anyway, this wasn't quite my favorite song from her, but it was pretty good.
20: I'M GOIN' DOWN - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (29) - He may have been goin' down, but the song was on its way up, en route to #9. It was a good song, but one of my least favorites of the seven Born In The USA singles.
19: C-I-T-Y - JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (25) - They had a nice little string of hits over the past year. This song, their fourth, would probably be my third favorite of them behind "Tough All Over" and "Tender Years" (and "On The Dark Side" wouldn't be too far behind - all of them are great songs)!
18: CRY - GODLEY AND CREME (19) "Huh huh - he's faking. He's not really taking a dump!" Yeah, when I saw the episode of Beavis & Butthead with the video to this song, I never saw it the same way again!
17: POWER OF LOVE - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (8) - A song from one of the best movies ever, IMO. I loved the Back To The Future trilogy! This was played in the first one as Marty McFly rode his skateboard to school after finding out he was 20 minutes late, hoping to dodge his principal, but no such luck. This is possibly the song by Lewis that gets the most recurrent airplay anymore. I like it, but wish that radio stations would occasionally play a few of their big hits that are all but ignored nowadays
16: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (23) - As his first solo hit left the chart, his second solo hit was heading up the chart, en route to a peak at #8. This would be my favorite of the four hits from the Dream Of The Blue Turtles album.
LDD: IMAGINE - JOHN LENNON - One of many LDD's received by AT40 to Samantha Smith, a girl who, three years before, at the age of ten, wrote a letter to the leader of Russia, asking for peace. The following year, she was invited to the Soviet Union, a trip that became a worldwide event that made Samantha a hero. Unfortunately, she and her dad were both killed in a plane crash about a month before this show. The song was very fitting for the dedication.
15: PART-TIME LOVER - STEVIE WONDER (24) - The first of three Top 40 hits from Wonder's In Square Circle album, and his ninth and final #1 hit (unless you count his role in "That's What Friends Are For")
14: DARE ME - THE POINTER SISTERS (11) - Ah, the infamous “uptempo g**d**ned number”, as Casey Kasem put it in the infamous Dead Dog Dedication the week before. It’s a good song. I’ve said many times that the Pointer Sisters’ music quality started going down as of 1984, but this was an exception.
13: POP LIFE - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (7) - This was one of my favorite songs by Prince, but it sure seemed to come and go pretty quickly. It didn't even make the Top 100 of the year, which I thought was a shame. It did a lot better on my Personal Top 30, though, hitting #1 and ranking #4 on the year-ender.
12: WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO - TINA TURNER (4) - Like Heart, Tina Turner was definitely most successful on the charts during her 1980s comeback, and this is one of her biggest hits, just missing the top spot, peaking at #2. I thought it was a good song, though I preferred a few of her others.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SO IN LOVE - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - The first of four Top 40 hits for this band from northwest England. Though the follow-up, "If You Leave" bears a significant resemblance to this song, I prefer this one by a sizeable margin.
11: DANCING IN THE STREET - MICK JAGGER & DAVID BOWIE (17) - This remake of the old Martha & the Vandella’s classic was the biggest mover of the week. It was a good song - I liked it about the same as the original.
10: LONELY 'OL NIGHT - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (15) - The first of five Top 40 hits from Mellencamp's album Scarecrow and possibly my favorite song from the album (although "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Rain On The Scarecrow" were good ones as well).
9: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU - WHITNEY HOUSTON (14) - This would be her first of many #1 songs. It was a good one, but I preferred many, many others from her.
8: ST. ELMO'S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) - JOHN PARR (3) - The first of two songs from the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack to hit the Top 40. I liked this song, but it was quite overplayed. I preferred the love theme from the movie, which would debut on the countdown two weeks later.
7: TAKE ON ME - A-HA (13) - The first hit for this Norwegian act, who's often known as a one-hit wonder, because of this song (as not everyone is familiar with "The Sun Always Shines On TV"). This was a great song, and I'm glad it hit #1!
6: DRESS YOU UP - MADONNA (10) - Madonna was on a roll at this point, with five Top Fives in a row (this one would follow suit), and there was a lot more where that came from! This was one of my favorite of her upbeat songs.
5: OH SHEILA - READY FOR THE WORLD (9) - The first of three Top 40 hits from this R&B band from Flint, Michigan, as well as the biggest (would hit #1 in October). It wasn't bad, but I preferred "Love You Down".
4: DON'T LOSE MY NUMBER - PHIL COLLINS (5) - Anyone notice that the video of this seemed to be a ripoff of the video for "You Might Think" by the Cars? As for the song, I liked it and was surprised that it was omitted from Collins' HITS album.
3: FREEDOM - WHAM (6) - I had always found it weird that this song, the fourth song from a multi-million selling album, was a bigger sales hit than it was on the airplay chart (as, on the corresponding R&R chart, it was stuck at #6 for a second week). I'm assuming that the fact that the single version was slightly different than the album version (the former, which was what AT40 generally played at this point, had a horn solo at the end) might have been instrumental in that. And, of course, the song's early action on a few radio stations played a role, as those stations were likely dropping the song from their playlists before it peaked might have impeded the song's progress on the R&R chart, as it moved up like lightning at first, but then more or less hit a brick wall as soon as it hit the Top Ten.
2: CHERISH - KOOL & THE GANG (2) - Interesting that they pulled ahead of Michael Jackson as the act with the most #1 Soul Hits during the 1980s with this song. I'm thinking that Michael reclaimed the crown about two years later, correct? Well, anyway, this song just barely missed hitting #1 on the Hot 100, but the song at the top was just too strong for it. Anyway, I liked this song - it was my second favorite single from Emergency behind "Fresh".
1: MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS (1) - This was the very song that kept "Cherish" out of the top spot. It was one of two songs in this week's Top 20 that Sting's involved with (of course, he's the one who wants his MTV). The song was OK, but it was very overplayed. I preferred their three other Top 40 hits, as well as a few album cuts from their first, self-titled album.
This week's presentation - September 28, 1985
Droppers:
NO LOOKIN' BACK - MICHAEL McDONALD (36) - Co-written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins (along with Ed Sanford, of "Smoke From A Distant Fire" fame), this song appeared on both Loggins' 1985 album Vox Humana and Michael McDonald's album to which this was the title track. Both versions sound very much alike, so I'm not sure which one I prefer. Either way, it's a great song!
LIFE IN ONE DAY - HOWARD JONES (34) - Well, he did finally hit the Top Ten earlier in the year with "Things Can Only Get Better". This one did well too, peaking in the teens. It was my favorite of his hits up to this point (my absolute favorite would chart a little less thana year later).
NEVER SURRENDER - COREY HART (33) - This was a rare case where the biggest hit by an artist (with at least five hits) was my favorite by them. This one peaked at #3 in August, and overplay hasn't tarnished it at all.
SHOUT - TEARS FOR FEARS (32) - Meh, I never cared for this one at all. I guess you could say this is a song I can do without.
SHAME - THE MOTELS (27) - Their fourth and final Top 40 hit. It was my least favorite of their hits, but was still a great one - that said, it's too bad they didn't have more Top 40 hits.
LW#1: MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS - I WANT MY MTV, DAMMIT!
40: WE BUILT THIS CITY - STARSHIP (debut) - Their first hit under their name without Jefferson attached to it. It was a great song - one of their best, under any of their names.
39: YOU BELONG TO THE CITY - GLENN FREY (debut) - His second of two contributions to Miami Vice (that charted, anyway). My favorite would probably be the other one, "Smuggler's Blues", which charted earlier in the year, but this one was pretty good, too.
38: AND WE DANCED - HOOTERS (debut) - I'm assuming that they mean owls, correct? No? Oh, after Eric Bazilian's keyboard harmonica, heard prominently in the song. Well, as long as they weren't talking about, well, you know... Anyway, this was a good song - my favorite of their three Top 40 hits.
37: ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR - BRYAN ADAMS (debut) - The fifth of six hits from Reckless, all of which hit the Top 20, which is definitely impressive. It was a good song, but my favorite song from the album would be "Heaven" (and that, of course, was the most successful of the six).
36: BE NEAR ME - ABC (debut) - This was the first of two Top Ten hits (both of which sounded somewhat similar) for this English group. It wasn't bad, but I preferred their two earlier hits.
35: SUMMER OF '69 - BRYAN ADAMS (21) - Wow, he was almost back-to-back with his fourth and fifth singles from Reckless. This was one of the more successful songs from the album, having peaked at #5 the previous month.
LDD: IN MY ROOM - THE BEACH BOYS - I remember singing this song as part of a "Beach Boys" medley in 8th grade choir class (the other songs were "I Get Around", "California Girls" and "Fun, Fun, Fun"). Needless to say, it was not the same "Beach Boys Medley" that charted on AT40 four years prior.
34: SUNSET GRILL - DON HENLEY (40) - The last of four singles from "Building The Perfect Beast", and my favorite from the album (though "Not Enough Love In The World" is a close second). This song peaked at #14 on the R&R chart, but didn't even hit the Top 20 on the Hot 100 (1982, anyone?)
33: THERE MUST BE AN ANGEL - EURYTHMICS (22) - Of course, we know full well that this is my favorite of their Top 40 hits! Lennox's vocals are somewhat theatrical sounding, and Stevie Wonder does a killer harmonica solo in the bridge of the song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: WEIRD SCIENCE - OINGO BOINGO - The theme song to the film, as well as the TV series, of the same title. The song was OK, but nothing that I'd go out of my way to listen to.
32: I GOT YOU BABE - UB40 f/CHRISSIE HYNDE (28) - A very interesting reggae version of the Sonny & Cher classic. Too bad they didn't re-release it later on like they did "Red Red Wine", since it may have done a little better on the charts.
31: I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN - PAUL YOUNG (38) - He seemed to do best with remakes, as both of his Top Ten hits were previously done by other acts. But this one didn't miss the Top Ten by much, peaking at #13. It was pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Everytime You Go Away", my favorite song from him!
30: FOUR IN THE MORNING (I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE) - NIGHT RANGER (35) - I always say that "Sister Christian" is my favorite song from them, but I always forget about how much I like their more obscure songs, including this great song. Really, I'm not really sure what my favorite song from them is - I like all of their Top 40 hits (except for "Don't Tell Me You Love Me") about the same.
29: THE WAY YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO/MY GIRL (LIVE AT THE APOLLO) - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES w/DAVID RUFFIN & EDDIE KENDRICKS (31) - This was a great rendition of these two classics by the Temptations - very energetic, as many live hits are.
28: HEAD OVER HEELS - TEARS FOR FEARS (39) - No case of Third Single Syndrome here! Though it didn't hit #1 like the last two, it did get as high as #3. This is by far my favorite of the three Top Ten hits from Songs From The Big Chair.
27: YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN - BILLY JOEL (18) - I liked the way that Joel decided not to go back and correct the goof in this song (when he flubbed a line near the end and laughed) in order to prove the point he was making in this song, which I thought was a good one, but it wasn't his best.
26: SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM - MOTLEY CRUE (20) - Something I got caught doing once back in my sophomore year. Fortunately, the teacher just scoffed and walked off - didn't want to waste his time apparently, so I dodged a bullet there! As for the song, it was a pretty good song, considering I wasn't a huge fan of them.
25: EVERY STEP OF THE WAY - JOHN WAITE (26) - His first solo hit, "Missing You" went to #1, but he couldn't seem to match that success with any of his follow-ups. This song, which uses a line from that song as the opening lyrics, was underrated, IMO.
24: LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT - LOVERBOY (30) - This song somewhat defies the general rule that the lower their songs peak, the less obscure they are, as this one was one of two Top Ten hits from them (yes, I thought they had more as well) and gets occasional recurrent airplay. Their other Top Ten hit, "This Could Be The Night" receives virtually no recurrent airplay, which is a shame IMO.
23: FREEWAY OF LOVE - ARETHA FRANKLIN (16) - With none other than Clarence Clemons playing sax, this was Aretha's comeback hit - that put her back into the Top Ten, that is. It was definitely a comeback over on the R&R chart, from where she'd been absent for over eleven years. Anyway, this song was pretty good, but I preferred her next hit, the title track of her Who's Zoomin' Who album, as well as a few of her songs after that.
22: "MIAMI VICE" THEME - JAN HAMMER (37) - One of three instrumentals that charted in the Top 40 during 1985, as well as the most successful, as this song would go all the way to the top! I liked this song, but I preferred the other two 1985 instrumentals.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: NEVER - HEART - They were enjoying their biggest chart success yet with their mid-80s comeback, as this would become their second Top Five hit (and they'd have two more after this). Anyway, it would be a toss-up between this and "These Dreams" as my favorite song from their self-titled album - both are great songs!
21: INVINCIBLE - PAT BENATAR (12) - Her fourth and final Top Ten hit (you thought she had more, didn't you?) Anyway, this wasn't quite my favorite song from her, but it was pretty good.
20: I'M GOIN' DOWN - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (29) - He may have been goin' down, but the song was on its way up, en route to #9. It was a good song, but one of my least favorites of the seven Born In The USA singles.
19: C-I-T-Y - JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND (25) - They had a nice little string of hits over the past year. This song, their fourth, would probably be my third favorite of them behind "Tough All Over" and "Tender Years" (and "On The Dark Side" wouldn't be too far behind - all of them are great songs)!
18: CRY - GODLEY AND CREME (19) "Huh huh - he's faking. He's not really taking a dump!" Yeah, when I saw the episode of Beavis & Butthead with the video to this song, I never saw it the same way again!
17: POWER OF LOVE - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS (8) - A song from one of the best movies ever, IMO. I loved the Back To The Future trilogy! This was played in the first one as Marty McFly rode his skateboard to school after finding out he was 20 minutes late, hoping to dodge his principal, but no such luck. This is possibly the song by Lewis that gets the most recurrent airplay anymore. I like it, but wish that radio stations would occasionally play a few of their big hits that are all but ignored nowadays
16: FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART - STING (23) - As his first solo hit left the chart, his second solo hit was heading up the chart, en route to a peak at #8. This would be my favorite of the four hits from the Dream Of The Blue Turtles album.
LDD: IMAGINE - JOHN LENNON - One of many LDD's received by AT40 to Samantha Smith, a girl who, three years before, at the age of ten, wrote a letter to the leader of Russia, asking for peace. The following year, she was invited to the Soviet Union, a trip that became a worldwide event that made Samantha a hero. Unfortunately, she and her dad were both killed in a plane crash about a month before this show. The song was very fitting for the dedication.
15: PART-TIME LOVER - STEVIE WONDER (24) - The first of three Top 40 hits from Wonder's In Square Circle album, and his ninth and final #1 hit (unless you count his role in "That's What Friends Are For")
14: DARE ME - THE POINTER SISTERS (11) - Ah, the infamous “uptempo g**d**ned number”, as Casey Kasem put it in the infamous Dead Dog Dedication the week before. It’s a good song. I’ve said many times that the Pointer Sisters’ music quality started going down as of 1984, but this was an exception.
13: POP LIFE - PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (7) - This was one of my favorite songs by Prince, but it sure seemed to come and go pretty quickly. It didn't even make the Top 100 of the year, which I thought was a shame. It did a lot better on my Personal Top 30, though, hitting #1 and ranking #4 on the year-ender.
12: WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO - TINA TURNER (4) - Like Heart, Tina Turner was definitely most successful on the charts during her 1980s comeback, and this is one of her biggest hits, just missing the top spot, peaking at #2. I thought it was a good song, though I preferred a few of her others.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: SO IN LOVE - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - The first of four Top 40 hits for this band from northwest England. Though the follow-up, "If You Leave" bears a significant resemblance to this song, I prefer this one by a sizeable margin.
11: DANCING IN THE STREET - MICK JAGGER & DAVID BOWIE (17) - This remake of the old Martha & the Vandella’s classic was the biggest mover of the week. It was a good song - I liked it about the same as the original.
10: LONELY 'OL NIGHT - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP (15) - The first of five Top 40 hits from Mellencamp's album Scarecrow and possibly my favorite song from the album (although "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Rain On The Scarecrow" were good ones as well).
9: SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU - WHITNEY HOUSTON (14) - This would be her first of many #1 songs. It was a good one, but I preferred many, many others from her.
8: ST. ELMO'S FIRE (MAN IN MOTION) - JOHN PARR (3) - The first of two songs from the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack to hit the Top 40. I liked this song, but it was quite overplayed. I preferred the love theme from the movie, which would debut on the countdown two weeks later.
7: TAKE ON ME - A-HA (13) - The first hit for this Norwegian act, who's often known as a one-hit wonder, because of this song (as not everyone is familiar with "The Sun Always Shines On TV"). This was a great song, and I'm glad it hit #1!
6: DRESS YOU UP - MADONNA (10) - Madonna was on a roll at this point, with five Top Fives in a row (this one would follow suit), and there was a lot more where that came from! This was one of my favorite of her upbeat songs.
5: OH SHEILA - READY FOR THE WORLD (9) - The first of three Top 40 hits from this R&B band from Flint, Michigan, as well as the biggest (would hit #1 in October). It wasn't bad, but I preferred "Love You Down".
4: DON'T LOSE MY NUMBER - PHIL COLLINS (5) - Anyone notice that the video of this seemed to be a ripoff of the video for "You Might Think" by the Cars? As for the song, I liked it and was surprised that it was omitted from Collins' HITS album.
3: FREEDOM - WHAM (6) - I had always found it weird that this song, the fourth song from a multi-million selling album, was a bigger sales hit than it was on the airplay chart (as, on the corresponding R&R chart, it was stuck at #6 for a second week). I'm assuming that the fact that the single version was slightly different than the album version (the former, which was what AT40 generally played at this point, had a horn solo at the end) might have been instrumental in that. And, of course, the song's early action on a few radio stations played a role, as those stations were likely dropping the song from their playlists before it peaked might have impeded the song's progress on the R&R chart, as it moved up like lightning at first, but then more or less hit a brick wall as soon as it hit the Top Ten.
2: CHERISH - KOOL & THE GANG (2) - Interesting that they pulled ahead of Michael Jackson as the act with the most #1 Soul Hits during the 1980s with this song. I'm thinking that Michael reclaimed the crown about two years later, correct? Well, anyway, this song just barely missed hitting #1 on the Hot 100, but the song at the top was just too strong for it. Anyway, I liked this song - it was my second favorite single from Emergency behind "Fresh".
1: MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS (1) - This was the very song that kept "Cherish" out of the top spot. It was one of two songs in this week's Top 20 that Sting's involved with (of course, he's the one who wants his MTV). The song was OK, but it was very overplayed. I preferred their three other Top 40 hits, as well as a few album cuts from their first, self-titled album.