Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. This has been an exciting week for ’80s music! Today, there may be a few songs we haven’t heard much of. However, this list is covered with very familiar songs, and legendary artists. Let’s conclude this week’s countdown, and check them out!
10. “When We Were Young” by Bucks Fizz
9. “Nobody’s Diary” by Yazoo
8. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” by Michael Jackson
7. “Waiting for a Train” by Flash and the Pan
6. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” by Elton John
5. “Bad Boys” by Wham!
4. “Flashdance…..What a Feeling” by Irene Cara
3. “China Girl” by David Bowie
2. “Baby Jane” by Rod Stewart
1. “Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Well, that wraps up this week’s countdown. What a great week of music! I hope you enjoyed it. What were some of your favorite songs? The next Top 40 will be back in the U.S. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
The Midge Ure-led New Wave band never charted high in the U.S. However, this is a different story in the U.K. where they scored seven Top 10 albums and seventeen Top 40 singles. This song, from their 6th album Quartet, would peak at #18.
Mike Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist and composer. Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had collaborated with Mike Oldfield since 1980, performed the vocals on this song. While it did not chart in the U.S., this song was a smash hit all over the rest of the world, topping the charts in many countries. It would peak at #4 here. In the U.S., Mike Oldfield may be best known for his 1973 song, “
Kajagoogoo was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. with their smash, “Too Shy”. But, they had a few more hits in the U.K., including this one. This was the third single released from their debut album White Feathers. It would peak at #13 here.
This is the first of two Top 40 hits for the Scottish band H2O. It was released just ahead of their debut album, Faith. It would peak right here at #17. Their follow-up single “
Marillion is a very cool Prog-Rock band from England. Unfortunately, they were never able to get a break in the States. But, they did have many hits in the U.K.
Long before Shaquille O’Neal came out with his Shaq Attaq sneaker line (which you would need to take out a second mortgage in order to afford), this jazz-funk band, Shakatak, went on a string of hits in the U.K. This song would peak right here at #15.
The legendary Bob Marley recorded this song in 1978. It was released on his posthumous 1983 album Confrontation. According to Wikipedia, the title and lyrics refer to the black U.S. cavalry regiments, known as “Buffalo Soldiers”, that fought in the Indian Wars after 1866. Marley linked their fight to a fight for survival, and recasts it as a symbol of black resistance.
The soulful Youngstown, Ohio native didn’t score very big in his home country. But, he had a big hit with this song in the U.K., where it peaked at #6. I like this song a lot. It has a “
Shalamar had limited success in the States, unfortunately. They should have been way bigger. But, our friends in the U.K. appreciated them! This song did do pretty well in the U.S., peaking at #22. But, it landed all the way up to #8 in the U.K. This was off of Shalamar’s album, The Look, which would be the final album with Jody Watley as part of the group as she would embark on a successful solo career.
Here is another song that was moderately successful in the States (charting at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, #21 on the Soul singles chart and #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart), but shot up the charts in the U.K., peaking right here at #11.
There is almost no information out there about this song, and it is not available on Amazon. But, I really like this one a lot. The Truth released several singles before their debut album in 1985. And this was one of those songs. This actually sounds like a 1979/80 ELO song.
While this British Jamaican reggae band had only 1 hit in the U.S. (“Pass the Dutchie”), they had several hits in the U.K. between 1982 and 1984. This was their second biggest hit, peaking at #6 on this U.K. chart.
Unlike Musical Youth, the Thompson Twins had several big hits in the U.S. But, this was not one of them. It did come close, peaking at #45. However, this was a top 10 hit in several other countries, including here in the U.K. where it peaked right here at #9.
Here is another group that did not make it big in the U.S., with only two Top 40 hits. In the U.K., Madness was huge! And so was the group Madness. (my Brit friends get it) I wish this song made it over here in the U.S. I love it! “Our House” can really get stuck in your head, and this could have done the same.
We should all know this song, at least from the original version by Steam. And any sports fan knows this song when their team is about to beat their opponent at home. This is a girl band version of it. I love everything Bananarama does. This was yet another song that did not hit big in the U.S., peaking at #101. But, it was a top 10 hit here, peaking at #5. This was the fifth single released from Bananarama’s debut album, Deep Sea Skiving.
We all know this one, as it was a worldwide smash hit. It reached #1 in many countries, including the U.K. for 2 weeks. Not bad for a debut single from a debut album.
Another worldwide smash hit we all know. This is one of my favorites of the ’80s, and I still love it.
Forrest is not known in the States. But we all know this song from the 1974 original by The Hues Corporation. Forrest does a great job with this. I wish it would have made it in the U.S. so I could hear it more often on 80s stations and shows.
OK, no more surprises as we go down the home stretch. This was the Eurythmics breakthrough song all over the world.
Maybe it’s possible that some of you may know this song. It was only a top 10 hit in every country in the world that has music charts, and was #1 in almost all of them. Not only was this a worldwide smash in 1983, but it became a huge hit all over the world once again when Jackson died in 2009. It wasn’t reaching the top spot again in most places. But, it was a top 10 hit just about everywhere.
And here we are at the #1 spot! This song was written by Jim Steinman, who is best known for being Meat Loaf’s producer. This was Bonnie Tyler’s biggest hit, topping the charts in several countries. I love this song, and most Steinman produced songs.
This song peaked right here at #20, ending the band’s run of four consecutive Top 10 hits in the UK. If the synthesized talking sounds familiar to you, it is taken from a Speak & Spell. Even though this is totally different from “If You Leave”, I like this.
This song, from the film An Officer and a Gentleman, was a world wide smash hit. With this song, Cocker and Warnes were awarded the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. This song won also both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
This song makes me want to party on a tropical vacation.
This song by the Australian group, Icehouse, peaked right here at #17. It was also a top 40 hit in the U.S. peaking at #31. I was not into New Wave back then, so this never crossed my radar.
This was the band’s fourth single. It would eventually become the second hit from their debut LP The Hurting and second UK Top 5 chart hit. This is one of those songs that I didn’t think I knew, but remembered it when I just played it now.
This was the seventh single released by new wave legends, Depeche Mode. This is another song that I would not have cared for back in the day, but I love it now.
Cool song by two old school legends.The late Phil Everly was one of The Everly Brothers, and Cliff Richard was having a great career until The Beatles exploded on the scene. But he had a strong comeback later on. Cliff Richard is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Very cool song! Fun Boy Three never made it big in the U.S., and were only around for a few years. But, they sound really good.
I totally forgot about this one! I guess that can happen when the only song radio stations have been playing for the past 35 years is “True”. This was a top 20 hit in the U.S. as well. and it is way better than “True”!
Here’s one we all know! Upon it’s initial release, this song topped out at #73 on the U.S. charts. Then the song became the love theme for the character Luke Spencer on the popular daytime soap General Hospital. The song then became a #1 hit in the U.S., as well as a worldwide hit. It peaked right here at #11 in the U.K.
This single from the Mirage album, was a big hit in the U.K., but did not chart in the U.S. This Linsdsey Buckingham tune sounds like a ’50s song. It’s not bad. It can’t touch anything from Rumours, but it’s not bad.
I never heard of Joan Armatrading before. She had 3 Top 40 songs in the U.K., and none in the U.S. This is actually her highest charting single in the U.S. topping out at #78. I love this song! I need to listen to more of her music, and see why she didn’t hit it big. This definitely should have been a bigger hit in the U.S.
Here is a familiar tune. It was a big hit in 1978 for Bob Seger, who also wrote the tune. But, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton crushed it, making it a #1 hit in the U.S., and making it a world wide hit, including here in the U.K.
While this is considered to be The Belle Stars’ signature hit (according to Wikipedia anyway), I only knew them from their cover of “Iko Iko”. I like this one. It is a good pop song.
OK, I’ll admit that I was a little nervous bringing this video up on YouTube, thinking that with a name like Haysi Fantayzee, that I would have a stripper dancing on my work computer. Luckily, Haysi Fantayzee is a group and not a person. This is a good New Wave song, with a totally ’80s sound.
While Soft Cell is basically know for “Tainted Love” in the U.S., they had a string of hits in the U.K. The double A-sided single “Numbers” / “Barriers” failed to reach the Top 20, breaking the duo’s run of five consecutive Top 5 singles in the UK. But, it’s still not too shabby, peaking right here at #25.
This is a very cool Funk song. But, I cannot find any information about this song or artist anywhere.
Here is a song that made it over to the U.S. This is an awesome song, best known for being Wham!’s debut single.
Not to be confused with Oran “Juice” Jones, Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band. This would be their only Top 40 hit in the U.K.
I’m liking this song by this English synth-pop band. I feel like this could have been in a John Hughes film.
Right off the bat, we a get a song like I have never heard on a U.S. top 40 countdown. The closest may be Kenny G. Mezzoforte is an instrumental jazz-funk fusion band from Iceland. This would actually be the band’s biggest hit, and would chart all the way up to #17 on the U.K. charts. I am loving this song, and it’s a great way to kick off this countdown.
Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. This definitely has an Irish feel to it. But, it also sounds like an old school country song.
Despite this band being from Los Angeles, I had never heard of them. This is little disco/funk tune.
This is the first band I know of so far. However, I have never heard this song. If you like the song, “In a Big Country”, then you will like this one. It has a very similar sound.
This is another U.S. based group (out of New York) that I had not heard of. This is a cool disco/funk song. Now I can see why I never heard of this song. While it would land all the way up to #13 on the U.K. charts, it topped out at #103 on the U.S. charts.
When I saw the band name, I was hoping this was a punk rock band. I was correct. However, at this time, The Stranglers decided to change direction, so this is more of a new wavey sound. The music itself sounds like it could come from a Tarentino film. But, the “singer” talks through the entire song. Then almost 5 minutes in somebody is singing the same lyrics in the background as the narrator who is speaking. No thanks.
This song brought this new wave band into prominence in the U.K. as it went up to #12 on the charts. This is good if you like slow new wave music. I would have hated it back in the day, but I’m liking it now.
I’m kind of digging this song. I never heard of Malcolm McLaren, but he sounded like quite the character. He was a visual artist, performer, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner. He was best known for being the promoter and manager of bands such as the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols. This song sounds like it has an upbeat reggae beat.
The first song I know! Do I really need to say anything about this? I’ll just smile and give you a Vegemite sandwich.
Great way to end today’s list! I thought this was going to be a cover of the Beatles classic. But, it’s a different song. It sounds like Abba covering an ELO song. Very cool! I may need to look more into this group.
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