Welcome back as we continue the countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31. This has been a good countdown so far. So let’s Return to the week ending April 5, 1986, and continue the countdown.
This is one of my favorite Bob Seger songs. This is one of those misunderstood songs. It is not a patriotic song. It is about cocaine abuse. In an interview with the New York Times, Seger said, “I wrote it after reading ‘Wired,’ Bob Woodward’s biography of John Belushi. That was two and a half years ago, when there was a lot of publicity about cocaine abuse in show business. At the time, I thought that it was just a trend that would quickly die out and that the song would be out of date when it came time to record. But the situation has gotten worse. Maybe cocaine isn’t quite as fashionable on the East and West Coasts these days, but the plague has spread into the heartland — into the Middle West and the South. The key line in ‘American Storm’ is ‘You never feel the need.’ You never feel anything when you’re on drugs. You’re numb. You’re afraid to feel for one reason or another, and that’s why you turn to drugs. I want to see people not do that.”
On the other hand, I loved Whitney. She could do no wrong with me in the ’80s. I wish that she did know that crack is indeed wack. One of our great artists gone way too soon.
Mr. Mister’s follow-up to the smash hit, “Broken Wings”, was another #1 smash hit. They did have two other U.S. top 40 hits after this, but nobody remembers those.
The Outfield has other great songs that rarely get played. However, despite the fact that I’ve heard this song a few million times in my life, I still love it.
I loved Janet Jackson. But, whenever I hear this song, this is the first thing that comes to mind [keep in mind that this is Eddie Murphy. So if you’re listening at work, make sure your headphones don’t pop out]:
That wraps up today’s list of songs. I’m really liking this countdown so far! What do you think. Do you have any favorite songs so far. Any surprises you forgot about? Come back tomorrow as we continue the countdown!
Hi Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31. At this time in 1985, I was in the middle of the 2nd quarter of my Freshman year of high school. Indoor track was in high gear. This also means I was doing horrible in school. For some reason, the 2nd quarter was always the time when I got my worst grades. Maybe it’s because the freshness wore off by now. Then the last 2 quarters I had to buckle down to get my grades back up. Why the hell am I talking about school?!? Let’s get to some music! Now, let’s Return to the week ending January 19, 1985, and continue the countdown.
Do I have to spell it out for you? Hall & Oates are so soulful that T-H-E-Y C-A-N S-P-E-L-L T-H-R-O-U-G-H T-H-E E-N-T-I-R-E S-O-N-G A-N-D I-T W-I-L-L S-T-I-L-L S-O-U-N-D G-O-O-D.
That wraps up today’s list of songs. What do you think so far, now that we are halfway done? Come back tomorrow as we continue the countdown.
Welcome back everybody! If you missed the previous songs, you can check out songs 40-31, 30-21 and 20-11. Today we wrap up this week’s countdown. What a great week of music! Let’s get right to it, Return to the week ending August 8, 1987, and conclude the countdown.
Robbie Nevil burst onto the music scene with “C’est La Vie”, and had a short string of hits, including this one. In the early ’90s he turned to producing.
I feel like this took over “Barracuda” as Heart’s signature song. As often as it get’s played, I still love it. Ann Wilson has one of the greatest voices in rock history, and it really shows with this song.
The Jets had a huge run from the mid to late ’80s. This is a fun song, featured on the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack. The original band consisted of eight brothers and sisters (out of 17!). The band name is named after the Elton John song, “Bennie and the Jets.”
O eh, o eh, o eh, oo aah O eh, o eh, o eh, oo aah
The rhythm got me! I’m still liking Gloria Estefan. I also love that she now does the theme song for the One Day at a Time reboot – a show that I can’t recommend enough. You should be interested in just the fact alone that the show has an actual theme song. If you miss the late ’70s/early ’80s sitcoms, check it out.
Outstanding song, despite the depressing subject matter. Suzanne Vega paved the way for the big wave of female singer/songwriters from the late ’80s through mid ’90s.
I love this song. The geek in me makes me kind of partial as this band is named after a vulcan from an episode of the original Star Trek series. This band is still around, and just released a new album in 2015, called Pleasure & Pain.
This is my favorite Bob Seger song! This Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack was flat-out awesome! This is the second song, from the soundtrack, in this top 10. And we aren’t done yet! This is a great song for that movie, and goes hand-in-hand with “The Heat is On” from the original movie.
This is the third song from the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack. It was also off of George Michael’s legendary Faith album. This is another artist we lost too soon. I was really hoping for a comeback from him.
This was the second song released from U2’s successful album, The Joshua Tree. This song is a critical darling, for sure. A lot of people had fallen off the U2 bandwagon by this point, but I would stay on board a while longer.
Well, that wraps up this week’s countdown. I hope you enjoyed it. I’d love to hear what you think. I plan on doing more of these in the near future. Until next time, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 countdown. If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31 and 30-21. At this point in time, MTV was still in its infancy, as it just debuted 2 1/2 months ago. Some artists already threw their hat in the ring, and filmed music videos. Others were not yet ready to embrace this medium. So, this is a very interesting and transitional time. Now, let’s Return to the week ending October 17, 1981, and continue the countdown.
As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with Billy Joel. This song was originally released in 1976 on his Turnstiles album. But, it didn’t have success until it was released on Joel’s live album, Songs in the Attic.
Another fun fact: Billy Joel confirmed that he wrote the song with Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes song “Be My Baby” in mind. Because of this, Ronnie Spector recorded her own cover version of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” in 1977 with the E Street Band, soon after Joel released his first recording of the song on Turnstiles.
During this part of the decade, there were a lot of country-crossover hits. But, now we have a jazz-crossover hit! This is a song I would never have listened to back when it was released, but absolutely love it now. This song came off of Al Jarreau’s Breakin’ Away album, which was his most popular album, spending two years on the Billboard 200. it also won Jarreau the Grammy Award in 1982 Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.
This was the fourth and final US Top 40 hit for the Scottish songstress. Lulu is best known for her title track songs for the movies To Sir With Love, and The Man with the Golden Gun.
This was the Mowtown legends’ return to the Top 40. It was the first song released from their new record label Casablanca Records. The song also became an international hit.
This isn’t exactly one of Kenny Rogers’ most well known songs. But, it did reach number 14 on the Hot 100 and 5 in the US Country charts. It was off of his album Share Your Love, which was produced by Lionel Richie.
This song was originally performed by Otis Clay in 1973. Bob Seger’s cover of this song is the most successful version of the song, reaching number five on the pop singles charts.
This was the first single released off of ELO’s 1981 album, Time, and became an international hit. I’m not sure if I would have heard of this song if it wasn’t featured in The Coffee Achievers TV commercials….
Well, if you’re gonna follow-up “Jessie’s Girl”, this is the way to do it. Rick Springfield proved he was here to stay with this Sammy Hagar penned tune. Just like “Jessie’s Girl”, this rocker came off of Rick Springfield’s 1981 international breakout album Working Class Dog, and would reach up to #9 on the charts.
I’m not sure what the U.S. presidential debate fact-checkers would say, but I believe that this is where the rage of the ’80s sax solo began. This was the first single released from Foreigner’s classic 4 album. The album was produced by “Mutt” Lange. The then-unknown Thomas Dolby played synthesizer on some tracks on the album, including this song. And the aforementioned sax solo was performed by by Motown great Junior Walker.
That wraps up today’s list of songs. So far, this has been a pretty solid week. And the best is yet to come! So come back Friday to see what the Top 10 was this week in 1981. And as usual, I would love to hear your thoughts on this countdown. See ya Friday!
Hi Everybody, welcome back to the Top 40 Countdown! If you missed yesterday’s list of songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Today should be interesting, as I only knew four of the songs before today. There is definitely one on here that I think just about everybody on the planet knows. So, let’s go into hyperspace this Star Wars week, take a trip in the way back machine, and Return to the week ending May 28, 1977, and continue the countdown.
We’ll begin today with an interesting song that I like. To me, the verses sound like an easy listening late ’70s/early ’80s song that you may hear on the soundtrack of a comedy-drama film. Then the chorus sounds like a country-crossover type of song. This song would be a huge hit, peaking all the way up at #5.
Here is another interesting song. This may sound really strange, but this sounds like a mashup of The Beatles and the Jackson 5. It starts off sounding like a Paul McCartney led Beatles tune. Then the rest of the family joins in singing, and it the style and sound kind of reminded me of the Jackson 5. I could see how this could have been a fun dance song back in the Disco era ’70s.
Oh man, I called that one! I just looked up information on the band. It is a The Sylvers were a band of 10 siblings (there was one family member that was not in the band). The lead singer, Edmund, was the voice of Marlon Jackson in the 1971-1973 Jackson 5ive cartoon series.
Since I have the heart of a rocker, this was always one of my favorite Eagles songs. I love the hard driving guitar, Don Henley’s vocals, and the song’s story, which is about the excessive lifestyle of a couple – which is perfect for the ’80s. So I suppose the theme was ahead of it’s time.
Here is another song that I had never heard before today. I had never heard of the Addrisi Brothers either, and they were somewhat local to me, as they came from my neighboring Winthrop, Massachusetts. When they were young, the two brothers, Don and Dick, were in their family’s acrobatic group, The Flying Addrisis. Then in the ’50s they got in touch with Lenny Bruce about starting a singing career and moved to California. They auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club, but did not get in. They would go on to be songwriters. Their most successful song was “Never My Love” which was performed by The Association.
“Slow Dancin’ Don’t Turn Me On” isn’t bad, and isn’t great. It’s pretty much a song of its time.
Shalamar was a disco group created by Soul Train creator/producer Don Cornelius.
“Uptown Festival” was Shalamar’s first single. It is a medley of Motown hits set to disco music. Here is the song list for this part of the song, which would peak at #22:
“Going to a Go-Go” / “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” / “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” / “Stop! In the Name of Love” / “It’s the Same Old Song”
Next up is the classic rock radio staple by Bob Seger. This was the fourth single released from his Night Moves album, and would peak at #24. This is one of those songs that I don’t hate, but I really need to be in the mood for it to listen to it all the way through.
This is Jimmy Buffett’s signature hit, and the go-to song for anybody going on a tropical vacation. Not only does everybody know this song, but almost everybody probably knows all the lyrics. If I’m wrong about that, then it’s my own damn fault.
Alright! Another rock song! You know what Kiss’ problem is? They are just so subtle. Anyway, I usually prefer Paul’s songs to Gene’s. But this is one Gene Simmons song (along with “I Love It Loud“) that I absolutely love.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section is a southern rock band. They weren’t as popular as Lynyrd Skynyrd or The Allman Brothers, but they are pretty good (well at least this song anyway). This was their biggest hit, peaking at #7.
Well, that wraps up today’s list of songs. I enjoyed it. I hope you’re enjoying this trip back to the ’70s. We’ll be back to continue the countdown tomorrow.
Hey Gang! Welcome to a new week of some Top 40 music! This week we will be checking out a Top 40 from 1983. At this time in 1983, I was just finishing up 7th grade, and getting ready for my last year of junior high school. A month from now, I would be going on one of my best childhood vacations. We went to Colorado to go see my grandparents for their 50th anniversary. That side of my family is scattered all over the country, so it’s always a great time when we all get together. We stayed with my aunt and uncle and 2 cousins. We had a blast! In addition to visiting my grandparents, we took several day trips, and hung out at a pool with a giant diving board. In between, when we were hanging out at the house, if Rocky III wasn’t on, then it was Six Pack, or The Who’s “final” concert. Those three shows seemed to be in heavy rotation on HBO at that time. We were constantly quoting Rocky III. Then the main event of the trip was my grandparents’ 50th anniversary party. All of my aunts and uncles, and most of my cousins were there, and it’s a time that I will always remember fondly.
As far as the music goes, that last remnants of ’70s music was gone, and we were beginning to start the classic ’80s sound. So, I personally think this is going to be a fun week of music. Now, let’s Return to the week ending June 18, 1983, and begin the countdown.
I did not remember this song at all. But, there is no mistaking which decade this song is from. The keyboards at the beginning, and a sax solo in the middle give it that classic ’80s sound.
Christopher Cross had an incredible debut in 1980. He followed that up with 1983’s Another Page. That album included his smash hit “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)“. It also had the song, “Think of Laura“, which was for the daytime soap opera General Hospital. I really enjoyed this song, “No Time for Talk”. It was a pleasant surprise for me, and a great way to begin the countdown.
I’m so glad I’ve been able to finally find some Prince videos! This isn’t on YouTube, and it’s a little slower to load, but it’s worth it! I really enjoy Prince’s early work. This song was originally released in 1982. But, it did not crack the top 40. Then after “Little Red Corvette” came out, he gained many fans. So, “1999” was re-released and finally became a big hit, peaking at #12.
Alabama was my gateway into country music. Throughout the ’80s, I hated country music – with the exceptions of Alabama and Kenny Rogers, and maybe a handful of songs. When I was in the Navy, almost everybody seemed to be a country music fan. It drove me crazy, and everybody was trying to get me to like it. But, we did find some common ground in the form of Alabama. The music is great, and their harmonies are just incredible. I eventually became a country music fan in the ’90s when rock and pop music were really sucking.
In the country music world, it seems like every song Alabama released became a number hit. “The Closer You Get” was no exception. I still like this one a lot.
I do like The Eurythmics, but I did get sick of this song. It was always on MTV in those early days. This is not one of my favorites by them, but it is one of their signature songs.
This was the first time I had seen Stevie Nicks, and I’ve been hooked ever since! Stevie Nicks was hugely successful with Fleetwood Mac, and helped send them into the stratosphere of success. But, she has had just as successful solo career. In the early days of MTV, this is one of the songs that helped launch that career.
This is the second surprise of the day. Due to his smash hit, “Lady in Red“, I always that of Chris DeBurgh as an easy listening/lite rock staple. But, this song rocks! I mean there’s no confusing this with Metallica, but this song still rocks pretty good.
This is really good soulful song by Bob Seger. And one thing it has going for it is that it’s not the heavily overplayed “Old Time Rock and Roll” or “Like a Rock.”
Fans of the podcast, Stuck in the ’80s, are very familiar with this song as it is the theme for their PPTMN segment (Please Please Tell Me Now). “Is There Something I Should Know?” was Duran Duran’s first #1 hit in the U.K. It was also a big hit in the U.S., peaking at #4. Duran Duran is just a flat-out classic ’80s band. And this song has that classic, unique Duran Duran ’80s sound.
I cannot give Laura Branigan enough praise. I love all of her music, and she has an incredible voice. I think she is so underrated. This song was always one of my favorites by her. This song was the follow-up to “Gloria“, and became Branigan’s second consecutive Top Ten hit. I love these songs that start off low, and build up as the song goes on until the singer is really belting it out. It is done so well in this song.
Well, that wraps up today’s list of songs. What do you think so far? Where were you at this time in 1983?
We’ll be back to continue the countdown tomorrow.
10. I’ve Had the Time of My Life – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
9. Songbird – Kenny G
8. I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany
7. With or Without You – U2
6. Head to Toe – Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
5. Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi
4. Respect Yourself – Bruce Willis
3. La Isla Bonita – Madonna
2. Always – Atlantic Starr
1. Heaven is a Place on Earth
I had a lot of great music memories from this year. But, there were also so many bad songs, that I couldn’t just whittle it down to 5 like I have done for all my other Horrible lists. So here are my 10 Horrible Hits of 1987:
The very first time I heard this song was at a dance/mixer. I got there early to set up, and the DJ played this song first, before the rest of the people showed up. I thought it sounded pretty good when it was being blasted on the big speakers. But upon further listening on normal radio, it slowly drove me crazy. “Everybody Have Fun Tonight! Everybody Wang Chung tonight?” Really?!? It seemed a bit desperate (or arrogant) to try to make their band name a part of our vocabulary. Well, it didn’t work, and they didn’t have too many hits after this song.
I was really sick of George Michael by the time this came out. The only song I really liked by him was “Faith”. Remember when this song was the most controversial thing that George Michael did? We all long for those days again!
I love Lionel. But after an extremely long sting of successful hits, this stinker was kind of a jump-the-shark moment for him in my eyes. I even liked “Hello” better than this. I couldn’t listen to the whole song back then, and I can’t do it now.
This song is just meh to me. It might not have made my horrible list if it didn’t make the top 10. But, not only was this a top 10 song, it was a #1 hit! Not my cup of tea.
This was kind of boring for a dance song. I’ll take anything by Janet Jackson over this any day!
5. Hip to Be Square – Huey Lewis and the News
I don’t know why, but this song just rubs me the wrong way.
4. Mandolin Rain – Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Bruce Hornsby has a unique sound on his piano. Unfortunately, every song I’ve heard by him sounds exactly the same. And they are all horrible. I can’t turn this song off fast enough as soon as I hear it.
I love Madonna’s early music, and I even liked her music through the ’90s. But, this crappy boring song was the valley between her coned mountains of hits.
2. The Lady In Red – Chris DeBurgh
Let me know if there is anybody out there that hasn’t danced with a girl/woman in a red dress that actually still likes this song. This is too boring and whiny for me. I don’t care much for male singers that have wussy voices. However, I must admit that I do like DeBurgh’s “Carry Me (Like a Fire in Your Heart)“.
1. Songbird – Kenny G
This was the death of the sax in pop/rock songs, until Lady Ga Ga and the late, great Clarence Clemons brought it back last month. I don’t like the thought of elevator music appearing in the top 100, never mind topping at #4! I have a suggestion if you are planning a wedding. Do as I did, and tell the DJ: “NO KENNY G!!!”
“You Give Love a Bad Name” sent Bon Jovi into the stratosphere, and their follow-up song. “Livin’ on a Prayer” kept them there. I get sick of hearing the same song over and over again, but I could not get enough of this song when it came out. It was inspiring hearing about Tommy and Gina, who would go on to reappear in Bon Jovi’s 2000 smash hit “It’s My Life”.
Georgia Satellites were a one-hit wonder with this song. I think this song might irritate some people, but I really like it. It’s a great Southern Rock song that makes you want to move to the beat.
This is one of my favorite Huey Lewis songs, if not my favorite. Unfortunately, this song was overshadowed by the other songs from the Fore! album, such as “Stuck With You”, “Doing It All for My Baby”, and “Hip to Be Square”. This song was actually written by Bruce Hornsby and his brother John Hornsby. If Hornsby did this song instead of Huey Lewis, I would either hate this song, or I would like Bruce Hornsby.
This song was originally released in 1981, and topped out at #79. But, thanks to Family Ties, “At This Moment” made the charts again, and skyrocketed to #1. “At This Moment” will now forever be linked with Family Ties – which is not a bad thing.
5. Shakedown – Bob Seger
Kenny Loggins may be the king of ’80s movie soundtracks, but Bob Seger made a pretty good mark on movie soundtracks himself. He scored big time with “Old Time Rock and Roll” in an iconic scene in Risky Business. Then he had “Shakedown” for the Beverly Hills Cop II. I like Bob Seger alot, and this is one of my favorite songs by him.
4. Alone – Heart
In my opinion, Ann and Nancy Wilson are among the greatest females in Rock history. This is one of my favorite Heart songs. Ann sings this song with so much power and passion.
Here is an awesome acoustic version:
3. With or Without You – U2
U2 had some great rockin’ songs that I love. But this slower song is probably my favorite U2 tune. I love songs that starts slow, and becomes more and more powerful as it goes on.
2. Will You Still Love Me? – Chicago
Chicago, one of my favorite bands, proved that they could move on without Peter Cetera. Their rock songs are underrated. But, when they do great ballads like this, you can see why these are the ones that get the radio air play.
1. Here I Go Again – Whitesnake
This is a great song without the video. But, much like “At This Moment” is linked with Family Ties, “Here I Go Again” will forever be linked with the video and Tawny Kitaen. How many of us guys wished that we were that car?!? 24 years later I still love this song. It stands the test of time for me.
Welcome back as we continue the countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31. This has been a good countdown so far. So let’s Return to the week ending April 5, 1986, and continue the countdown.
Hi Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 
Oh-we-oh-we-oh! Great start today, as we get our funk on, riding high with Morris Day and The Time from Purple Rain.
One of my favorite starts of any song. Chaka, Chaka, Chaka, Chaka Khan
Great song by one of the greatest singers of all time. Boring video.
Back to some Funk to get us moving! This was Midnight Star’s only top 40 hit.
Power ballad and big hair. Perfect ’80s combination!
Solid. Solid as a rock. That’s what this song is.
If you like Bob Seger, you’ll like this song. If you don’t like Bob Seger, it’s understandable that you don’t like this song.
This song from The Woman in Red may have flown by you as the airwaves were being flooded with “I Just Called to Say I Love You”.
Classic song by the best duo of the ’80s.
Do I have to spell it out for you? Hall & Oates are so soulful that T-H-E-Y C-A-N S-P-E-L-L T-H-R-O-U-G-H T-H-E E-N-T-I-R-E S-O-N-G A-N-D I-T W-I-L-L S-T-I-L-L S-O-U-N-D G-O-O-D.
Welcome back everybody! If you missed the previous songs, you can check out songs 
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Return to the 80s 