***Deep Track Alert***
Can you name the artist and song:
I call my baby on the phone
Got to leave a message
Just to let her know
That if she ever feels alone
Last Song: “Space Age Love Song” by A Flock of Seagulls from the album A Flock of Seagulls (1983)
Great job Adora (@Adora2000) and Roy (@rbutt14)!!!
I saw your eyes
And you made me smile
For a little while
I was falling in love
If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, click on the album cover below:
Can you name the artist and song:
Everybody’s always talkin’ ’bout who’s on top
Don’t cross our path ’cause you’re gonna get stomped
Last Song: “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls from the album A Flock of Seagulls (1982)
Great job Melanie (@melanieofoz)!!!
A cloud appears above your head
A beam of light comes shining down on you
If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below
Can you name the artist and song:
Another long and sleepless night
You need someone to hold you tight
Sometimes love don’t know wrong from right
Last Song: “Space Age Love Song” by A Flock of Seagulls from the album A Flock of Seagulls (1982)
I saw your eyes
And you touched my mind
Although it took a while
I was falling in love
Hi Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown. Today, we will cover songs 30-21. If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31.
Ah, 1982! What a great time for music! These 10 songs alone have such diversity that we definitely don’t see in today’s countdowns, and may never see again. Today, there is some rock, country, pop, funk, R&B, and flat-out classic ’80s.
Now, let’s Return to the week ending September 25, 1982, and continue the countdown.
This was the second single from the multi-platinum album Toto IV, which also contained the smash hits “Africa” and “Rosanna“. There are a few different theories of where the band name originated. In the early ’80s, band members told the press that the band was named after the dog in The Wizard of Oz. There was also a joke that the name came from Bobby Kimball’s “true” last name, Toteaux. The last theory is that after the completion of the first album, the band and record were still unnamed. David Hungate, after seeing the name Toto on the demo tapes (which Jeff Porcaro wrote in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands’ in the studio), explained to the group that the words “In Toto” in Latin translated to “all-encompassing.” Because the band members played on so many different records and many different musical genres, they adopted the name “Toto” as their own.
The title track from Kim Carnes’ 1982 album received a nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 1983 Grammy Awards. To me, this sounds a lot like Carnes’ smash hit, “Bette Davis Eyes“.
Randy Meisner was a founding member of the Eagles, who sang backup on “Take It to the Limit“.
Now, we’ll get to some country music. If a country song were to enter the Top 40 today, it would be a re-recorded pop version of the original version. But, back in the good ole days, the songs made it on the countdown in its original version. This song earned Juice Newton the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
This smash hit by Laura Branigan, which I still love, is actually a cover. The original version was an international hit, performed in Italian, by Umberto Tozzi. I’m actually digging his version as well!
This fun song was produced by Luther Vandross, and features Vandross and Cissy Houston (yes, Whitney’s mom) on backing vocals.
Time to get funky! I love the horns and the vocals and harmonies in this song.
This song peaked right here at #23. But, if you remember this song from later in the decade, you are either from the U.K., where this song was re-released in 1987, or you are one of the few people that watched the 21 Jump Street spinoff, Booker. This song was the theme song for Booker, which was supposed to launch Richard Grieco into super-stardom. Oh well. We’ll always have If Looks Could Kill anyway.
And now we go back to Country music. This song was Murphey’s first of two number ones on the country chart.
Today, we close out with some classic ’80s New Wave. I was never really much of a New Wave fan back then. However, I am embracing it now. Unfortunately, now that I’m older, I don’t think I can quite pull of the Mike Score hairdo from back in the day:
Well, that wraps up today’s list of songs. We’ll continue the countdown tomorrow. Have you had any favorite songs, pleasant surprises, or “I never want to hear that song again” moments? Please let me know.
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Welcome back to this week’s Top 40! If you missed the first 10 songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Today we have a good mix of classic ’80s music and songs that are rarely, if ever, heard today on the ’80s stations. Let’s jump right into it now, Return to the week ending June 18, 1983, and continue the countdown.
We’ll begin today with some synth-pop New Wave music. I was not a fan back in the day. I do like A Flock of Seagulls more now. This isn’t one of their better songs, but it’s ok. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it. But, if I heard it come on the radio, I would enjoy my trip back to the ’80s.
This was the lead single from Bryan Adams’ third studio album, Cuts Like a Knife. It was his big breakthrough song in the U.S. I have always loved this song. It is so great, and it takes me back. Bryan wrote this song in the late ’70s. Before he released it himself, it was covered by several people including Ian Lloyd and Rosetta Stone. And one month before Adams released it, Bonnie Tyler released it, and was featured on her album Faster Than the Speed of Night.
This is a pretty generic soft rock tune. However, one thing that stands out with this song is that Steve and Nicole Winwood performed the backing vocals, and Steve also played all the synthesizers, including the solo.
I love me some classic Rod Stewart! I can’t stand that big band crap he’s been doing for the past couple of decades. Geez, has it been that long since he’s done anything good? Man, time flies! This was Stewart’s final #1 hit in the UK. That kind of surprises me because he had some great songs throughout the ’80s, and into the early ’90s.
Here is an extra song that I would like to share. I came across it on the most recent episode of The Classic Rock and Metal Podcast. When you see the title, you’ll know why I’m sharing it (and the song lives up to it’s name:
Wow, Prince two days in a row! I’m glad I was able to find the videos. This is one of my favorites by him, and I still love it today.
I had never heard of this song before. I would have never listened to it back in the ’80s anyway. But, I really like it now. This is a nice R&B slow jam.
In the ’80s, the Bee Gees were mainly either doing solo projects or writing songs for other people. But, they
did get together to record five songs for Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Their music was about as successful as the movie. I actually didn’t even know they recorded songs for that soundtrack. I was guessing that “Stayin’ Alive” was on there (it was). Other than that, all I knew was “Far From Over” by Frank Stallone.
Here is another R&B ballad. I like this one more than the DeBarge song. Before I started doing these countdowns, I never even heard of Champaign. After their 1991 album Champaign IV, they did not release another album until 2008. Since then, they’ve released 4 albums, with the most recent being last year – Eyes of the Spirit (2014).
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The Little River Band was big in the late ’70s. This was one of the band’s last singles to reach the top 40. This was a transitional time for the band. This is from their seventh studio album, The Net. This album featured a new lead vocalist and new guitarist. This song isn’t too bad. It’s kind of middle-of-the-road. It’s not bad at all, but nothing really stands out either.
This is the signature hit for Madness in the U.S. This one really brings me back to the early days of MTV.
Well that wraps up today’s list of songs. I hope you’re enjoying this so far. Tomorrow, we’ll be back to continue the countdown, which will feature another Long Distance Dedication.
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