Welcome back as we continue this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can check out songs 40-31 and 30-21. I’m liking these next 10 songs, so let’s Return to the week ending July 30, 1983 and check them out!

20. “China Girl” by David Bowie

David Bowie had a very successful reinvention in the ’80s with his classic album, Let’s Dance. This was one of the hits off of that album, reaching all the way to #2.

19. “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard

Gunter glieben glauten globen
With those four words began my love of rock. The first time I heard this song, it just blew my mind. The guitars, the drums, the vocals. They just rocked my world. The whole Pyromania album was incredible. And how do they follow that album up? Oh, just this little album called Hysteria! Def Leppard is still packing in crowds at all of their concerts today. If you see them in concert, you will see that there are a lot of young fans as well as us old fogies. This just proves that Def Leppard music stands the test of time.

“High n’ Dry”

18. “Hot Girls In Love” by Loverboy

Typical awesome rocker from Loverboy.

17. “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” by The Human League

I love The Human League. They just have a flat-out classic ’80s sound.

16. “Cuts Like a Knife” by Bryan Adams

This is a very good song, early in Bryan Adams’ great string of hits.

15. “It’s a Mistake” by Men At Work

Men At Work had an incredible run in the early ’80s. Unfortunately after this song was released, the band would not have any more hits that would chart as high.

14. “Baby Jane” by Rod Stewart

This was when Rod Stewart was still good. Rod, please let the Big Band music go, and get back to your own original music!

13. “Come Dancing” by The Kinks

This was my introduction to The Kinks. I had no idea that Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me” was a cover of a Kinks song. And I had never heard of “Lola” until Nick said that he wanted it to be his wedding song with Mallory on Family Ties.
I remember getting sick of “Come Dancing” after a while. But years later, I like it again. It reminds me of vacationing in the Carribean.

12. “1999” by Prince

Prince doesn’t want you to hear any of his music unless you pay for it. Instead, I’ll play this (much better) song by another band that has a royal name.

11. “Maniac” by Michael Sembello

This was another song that I got sick of when it was first released. This was recorded for the 1983 movie, Flashdance. It would be nominated for an Academy Award. But, it would lose out to another song from the same movie – “Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Irene Cara.
However, this song still would go on to become a #1 hit for two weeks.

That wraps up today’s list. I hope you’re all enjoying this so far.
By the way, yesterday on the Facebook page, a reader informed me that there is a station on iHeart Radio called Casey Kasem’s 70s & 80s American Top 40. I did not have iHeart radio, but now I downloaded it to my phone. As I type this, I am listening to it. Right now it is wrapping up a year-end countdown. Guess which year? 1983!!! So check it out if yuo want to get your Casey Kasem fix.
We will finish up our countdown tomorrow. See you then!

Welcome back as we continue this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous 10 songs, you can check them out. There were quite a few songs from yesterday and today that I did not know or remember. One of the best parts of the early part of these countdowns is discovering music that you don’t remember, or hearing songs that don’t get much airplay. Now, let’s Return to the week ending July 30, 1983, and continue the countdown.

30. “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John

There are a lot of Elton John songs from the ’80s that I don’t like. But, this is one of my favorites. This is the song that introduced me to Elton John’s music. I may have heard some of his early stuff on the radio station that my parents listened to, but I wouldn’t have known it was him. This was when I was really discovering my own music. Of course, MTV was a huge contributor to my music education. And this song was played often in those early days of MTV.

29. “Stop in the Name of Love” by The Hollies

I never knew that The Hollies covered this Supremes hit. And I did not know that they were around after the ’70s. I was more familiar with their songs “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother“, “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” and “The Air That I Breathe“. But, this song was a pleasant surprise.

28. “Lawyers in Love” by Jackson Browne

I like a lot of Jackson Browne’s music. This is a good song.

27. “All This Love” by DeBarge

This isn’t a bad R&B song.

26. “Puttin’ On the Ritz” by Taco

This was Taco’s cover of the Irving Berlin song, which was from the 1930 movie, Puttin’ On the Ritz. Taco made it a hit again over 50 years after that movie. What a long time! But, now that I think about it, that would be like somebody covering a Beatles song these days. Maybe that’s not too long ago after all. Now, let’s put on the ritz while I’m feeling old.
But first, even though this was from the ’70s, many of us remember the song from this part of the Mel Brooks classic, Young Frankenstein:

And of course, here is our ’80s version by Taco:

25. “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” by Culture Club

This is a good song from Culture Club’s debut album, Kissing to be Clever.

24. “Rock ‘N’ Roll is King” by Electric Light Orchestra

This song by ELO is a throwback to ’50s music.

23. “Take Me to Heart” by Quarterflash

Back in March, when I covered the countdown from 1982, I was surprised that Quarterflash had another song besides “Harden My Heart“, when I discovered their hit “Find Another Fool“. I really like that song a lot.
And here is another winner! I used to cringe when I heard the name Quarterflash. But, now that I am discovering that they had other songs besides “Harden My Heart” which are way better than that way overplayed earworm, I am really liking this band a lot.

22. “Saved By Zero” by The Fixx

This was the lead single from The Fixx’s second album, Reach the Beach. This was a big hit for the band, but it would be overshadowed by the follow-up single, “One Thing Leads to Another.”

21. “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo

What a splash Kajagoogoo made! This was the first single released from their debut album White Feathers. This is a signature song of the ’80s.

I hope you guys are enjoying this countdown so far. We’ll be getting into more familiar territory for the rest of the countdown. There are some really awesome songs to come.

Hi Everybody, the Top 40 is back this week! We will Return to one of my favorite years in music – 1983. I feel that this is the year where the ’80s started getting its own music personality. The Disco sound was just about dead. Pop and Rock ruled the landscape, and MTV had become well established at this point. Let’s get into it now, and Return to the week ending July 30, 1983, and begin the countdown.

40. “Fake Friends” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Here is a rarely played Joan Jett song. This was from Joan Jett’s third studio album called Album. Did it really take until 1983 for somebody to name an album Album? Genius!

39. “Slipping Away” by Dave Edmunds

This song was written and produced by Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra). If you wanted to know what it would sound like if Ozzy Osbourne went pop, then listen to this Dave Edmunds song. Very good.

38. “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel

This is the first single released off of the legendary smash album, An Innocent Man. On that album, Billy Joel paid tribute to all different styles of music. This song was the Motown sound of the album.

37. “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats

An ultimate ’80s song. Any video that features a Maypole is alright with me.

36. “The Salt in My Tears” by Martin Briley

Martin Briley was mainly known as a session guitarist and songwriter. He did release three solo albums, and this song was his only hit. And this was the highest it made it up the charts. So join Martin Briley at the high point of his singing career, and listen to “The Salt in My Tears”.

35. “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson

And the hits keep coming from the Thriller album. I always liked this song a lot.

34. “The Border” by America

America was a popular band in the ’70s. They had several hits such as “A Horse with No Name“, “Ventura Highway“, and “Sister Golden Hair“. They kind of faded away by the time the ’80s arrived. But they had a nice hit with this song. They sound like Kansas or The Little River Band in this song.

33. “Pieces of Ice” by Diana Ross

Boring. If a lesser known artist performed this song, there is no way it would crack the top 40.

32. “Human Touch” by Rick Springfield

This is my favorite Rick Springfield song.

31. “After the Fall” by Journey

Journey is one of my all time favorite bands. I love this song from their Frontiers album.

Well, that wraps up the countdown today. Do you have a favorite music year? What were you doing in 1983? We’ll continue the countdown tomorrow.