Hey Everybody! 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, 30-21 and 20-11. When I began this week, I had no idea that this would be one of the best, if not THE best countdown I’ve covered so far. Let’s see if this streak continues today. Let’s Return to the week ending January 19, 1985, and wrap up the countdown.
We start the top 10 with one of the most iconic sax riffs of the ’80s. This is one of the few Wham! songs co-written by Andrew Ridgeley (the other member of Wham!, kids).
One of the most patriotic songs ever. Right President Reagan. Only if you consider a song about how Vietnam veterans were mistreated, to be patriotic. Oops.
One of my favorite Pat Benatar songs. It was the lead single off of her Tropico album and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Madonna was at the top of her game here as one of the biggest ’80s icons.
Well that wraps up this week’s countdown. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Until next time, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
Welcome back as the countdown continues. If you missed the first 10 songs, you can go back and check them out. In the early ’80s, radio was quite diverse. Disco was still winding down, and there were a lot of singer/songwriter, rock, and pop tunes. In the late ’80s, the Top 40 countdowns were still diverse. There was a good combination of pop, rock, and R&B. And today’s list is no exception. So, let’s go back to the good ole days, and Return to the week ending August 8, 1987, and go on with the countdown.
Often imitated, but never duplicated! This pioneering female freestyle group had an incredible start, landing four top 10 hits from their debut album, Exposure. And this was one of them.
Often, the question comes up, Can you name a song with the same name as its artist? This, Night Ranger, and Danger Danger are always my go-to’s. This song has that classic ’80s pop sound.
We wrap up today with a classy song. This song was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. I love both Dionne Warwick’s and Jeffrey Osborne’s voices. And together, they sound great.
Well, we’re halfway through the countdown. What do you think so far? Do you have any favorites, or are there any surprises that you had forgotten about? Let me know.
I see you on the street and you walk on by
You make me want to hang my head down and cry
If you gave me half a chance you’d see
My desire burning inside of me
Last Song: “This Time” by Bryan Adams from Cuts Like a Knife (1983)
Great job Jim (@JimVilk)!!! I think about her all the time
She’s my fantasy
An image burnin’ in my mind
Callin’ out to me
Welcome back as we continue the countdown! If you missed the previous articles, you can check out songs 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. Well, this has been an incredible week of music – especially the previous 10 songs. And now we have reached the top 10, which has some more classic music I think you’ll enjoy. So, let’s Return to the week ending May 28, 1983, and find out what were the biggest hits that week.
Next up is another song from a debut album of an ’80s powerhouse. This song was the second single released from Culture Club’s Kissing to Be Clever album (after “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me“). This song is one of my favorite Culture Club songs.
Easily my favorite Branigan tune! I love all her music, but this is #1 for me. What an incredible talent she was. I was so upset when she died on August 26, 2004. This song was the lead single from the Branigan 2 album. This debuted on the charts the same week her breakthrough hit, “Gloria“, dropped off the charts.
Once again, we have another classic ’80s tune. This was Thomas Dolby’s only top 40 hit in the U.S. It peaked right here at #5. One more thing before we move on to the next song. Science!
Men At Work were extremely hot in the early ’80s. This was in the heart of their big run. The second single from their second album, Cargo, would peak at #3.
I think everybody here may have possibly heard of this song, maybe. We all know that Eddie Van Halen famously plays the guitar solo here. But, you may not know this fun fact: there were a few members of Toto who played on this song – Steve Lukather (guitar, bass guitar), Steve Porcaro (synthesizer), and Jeff Porcaro (drums).
Now it’s the part of the countdown where we see what was topping the other charts this week:
This song was my introduction to David Bowie. Bowie has always reinvented himself. This was during his pop period. I liked this song a lot, and there are so many great songs on the Let’s Dance album, that I like even more.
We have now arrived at the #1 song this week. And what a way to end! My big ’80s crush – Irene Cara. This is her signature song, but she has so many other great ones that get overlooked. I love her voice and music. Even though this song gets all the airplay, I still love it.
Well that wraps up this week’s countdown. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. I’m going to try to keep this going next week by Returning to the year that The Empire Strikes Back came out. Then the following week – the week the new Star Wars movie is coming out – we are going to Return to (yes we’re going there) 1977! So, that’s something to look forward to. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
Follow @returntothe80s
If you were alive 30 years ago today, then you were glued to MTV right now. This was our generation’s Woodstock. Or was Woodstock the hippie generation’s bong-watered down version of Live Aid? In any case, just about every great artist from ’80s, for all genres, performed today in either England or Philadelphia. There was also somebody who played live in both places. Here are some great quotes from that day, that I found on imdb. And we will close out with one of the greatest performances of all-time. I’m sure you already know what it is before you even scroll down.
Richard Skinner: It’s 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia, and around the world it’s time for Live Aid. Wembley welcomes their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Adam Ant: There are many of my heroes here. People I’ve worshiped from afar.
Ozzy Osbourne: I came here to play music, and I didn’t really realize the full extent and magnitude of what it is all about. Now I’m here, it’s the greatest event ever.
Tina Turner: It was the most electrifying feeling, being there – no other reason than the cause. I wish I could do even more.
Mike Jagger: I came to play in Philadelphia because of the cause, because of Live Aid, of course. But I also came to have myself a good time. And I’ve sure as hell done that.
Dionne Warwick: They say the entertainment industry can never get together. Fooled them again, didn’t we?
Sting: This is what rock and roll is all about. It’s an event as much as its music.
Bryan Adams: I’m just proud to be here. I’m a Canadian and tears are not enough. Let’s all do what we can for Live Aid.
Tom Petty: Two minutes before we came on stage, we decided to play “American Girl”, since this is, after all, JFK stadium.
Phil Collins: I was in England this afternoon… funny old world, innit?
Bob Geldof: I’ve just realized that today is the best day of my life. Now I’m going home to sleep.
And we’ll close out with one of the best performances by one of the best bands ever. There is no current artist alive today that can hold the world in the palm of his or her hand like Freddie did that day. Here is the full performance. Enjoy!
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:
“Another 80’s Rock Song (The Party Never Ends!)” by Madam X
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).
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.
Hey Everybody! 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, 30-21 and 20-11. When I began this week, I had no idea that this would be one of the best, if not THE best countdown I’ve covered so far. Let’s see if this streak continues today. Let’s Return to the week ending January 19, 1985, and wrap up the countdown.
” by Bryan Adams from the album 
(1984)
Welcome back as the countdown continues. If you missed the first 10 songs, 
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