Tag Archives: Chicago

Spinning on that dizzy edge
Kissed her face and kissed her head
Dreamed of all the different ways, I had to make her glow
Why are you so far away she said

Last Song: “Look Away” by Chicago from the album Chicago 19 (1988)

Great job Todd (@ToddShriver)!!!

And from what you said
I know you’ve gotten over me
It’ll never be the way it used to be
So if it’s gotta be this way
Don’t worry baby, I can take the news, okay

If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below

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1987, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – February 28, 1987: Songs 10-1

March 1, 2018 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. This has been a great week of music so far, and it continues today. It was so good, that we will be coming back with another countdown next week, with a twist! We will Return to the top 40 countdown for the week of March 6-12, from the UK! I know there is a huge following here of folks from the U.K. So they will get to relive their past, and 80s fans from the U.S. may discover music that did not make it over here for one reason or another. But first thing’s first. Let’s Return to the week ending February 28, 1987, and check out the top 10 songs of this week.

10. “Ballerina Girl” by Lionel Richie

This was the end of Lionel Richie’s run in the ’80s. A sweet song to end it. Supposedly, it was written for Lionel’s daughter, Nicole.

9. “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel had some groundbreaking videos in the late ’80s. Which means that they were on MTV every other song. Which also means that I couldn’t stand it! I was dreading listening to this again, but now I’m liking it a little more.

8. “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party!)” by the Beastie Boys

You got my rock in your rap! You got your rap in my rock! What?! Mmmm, delicious. Two great genres that go great together.

7. “Respect Yourself” by Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis hopped on that actors-turned-singers bandwagon. And he did a very respectful job of it, in my opinion.

6. “Somewhere Out There” by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram

At this time, I was too cool to watch cartoon movies. So, I’ve never seen An American Tail. But, I do love this song. Such a perfect duet with two incredible voices.

5. “You Got It All” by The Jets

Nice ballad from The Jets, written by Rupert Holmes (“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”), and sung by 13-year-old Elizabeth Wolfgramm.

4. “Will You Still Love Me?” by Chicago

If Chicago is asking us if we will still love them after the departure of Peter Cetera, the answer is Yes!

3. “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” by Georgia Satellites

Between this, and Janet Jackson’s “Let’s Wait Awhile” earlier in the countdown, all we need to do is substitute Samantha Fox’s “Touch Me” with Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”, and we would have a perfect countdown for a Catholic school dance.

2. “Jacob’s Ladder” by Huey Lewis & The News

Hands down, this is my favorite Huey Lewis and the News song. “All I want from tomorrow is to get it better than today.” That’s all anybody can ask.

1. “Livin’ On a Prayer” by Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi had a huge hit with “You Give Love a Bad Name”. But, this ’80s anthem is the one that changed them forever. When you say the words “’80s music” to somebody, this is one of a handful of songs that would immediately come to mind. This is totally deserving of the #1 spot, and a great way to end the countdown.

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this countdown. Please let me know your thoughts. And as I mentioned earlier, we will be coming right back next week with the UK Top 40 from 1983. Until then, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

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1985, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week: January 19, 1985 – Songs 10-1

January 26, 2018 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

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.

10. “Careless Whisper” by Wham! Featuring George Michael

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).

9. “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen

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.

8. “We Belong” by Pat Benatar

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.

7. “The Wild Boys” by Duran Duran

Awesome song. Crazy-ass video.

6. “Run to You” by Bryan Adams

Lead single from one of my favorite albums, Reckless.

5. “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins

What do you get when you combine one of the most successful musicians of the ’80s with a lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire? Pure perfection.

4. “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner

Great ballad that would be one of Foreigner’s signature songs.

3. “You’re the Inspiration” by Chicago

Classic Chicago ballad, made memorable by the fake Madonna and fake Billy Idol in the video.

2. “All I Need” by Jack Wagner

General Hospital knew how to churn out the musicians!Landing at #2 isn’t too shabby for a soap opera actor!

1. “Like a Virgin” by Madonna

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.

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1982, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – November 27, 1982: Songs 30-21

November 28, 2017 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown!!! If you missed the first installment, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31. With the help of MTV, there are a lot of classic songs from this time. And today’s selection has plenty of classics, and even some lost hits. So, let’s Return to the week ending November 27, 1982, and continue the countdown!

30. “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters

Awesome Pointer Sisters jam that does as advertises, and gets you excited. This is also a go-to for caffeine pill junkies everywhere.

29. “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash

This was the first of 2 Top 40 hits by The Clash. According to Songfacts, when this became a hit, Joe Strummer considered leaving The Clash. He couldn’t justify singing rebellious songs when the band was rich and successful. In their early years, when they were struggling, their music was sincere, but he felt they were becoming a joke.

When the band broke up in 1985, it was speculated that their plan all along was to break up once they had conquered America, a feat that was achieved by “Rock the Casbah” becoming such a huge hit along with “Should I Stay or Should I Go?.”

28. “You and I” by Eddie Rabbitt with Crystal Gayle

This classic country crossover hit ranked number 7 on CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets in Country Music. Rabbitt had several crossover hits in the early ’80s. Sadly, he passed away in 1998 of lung cancer.

27. “Missing You” by Dan Fogelberg

Previously unreleased, producers just assumed this would be a hit, and included it on Fogelberg’s Greatest Hits album. Luckily, they were right, and it peaked at #23 on the U.S. charts, and #29 in Canada.

26. “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)” by Donald Fagen

This was the first single as a solo artist for the former Steely Dan frontman. His album, The Nightfly, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

25. “The Look of Love (Part 1)” by ABC

as the band’s highest charting hit in the UK, peaking at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. It would peak at #18 on the U.S. charts. On the album, this song is listed as “The Look Of Love (Part One),” with the last track being a short version of the song called “The Look Of Love (Part Four).” What happened to parts two and three? They appear on the 12″ single along with the others. Part Two is an instrumental, and Part Three is a remix.

24. “Love Me Tomorrow” by Chicago

Chicago was fading away after having incredible success in the ’70s. Then producer David Foster came along, and kicked them back into high gear, giving them a huge comeback with Chicago 16. This was the second single released from the album. Most of their hits in the ’80s were ballads, including this one. However, I would highly recommend listening to any of their full albums. They have so much more great music that you may not know about.

23. “You Don’t Want Me Anymore” by Steel Breeze

Forgotten hit of the ’80s. This was released from their self-titled debut album. It would be the first of 2 hits for the band (“Dreamin’ Is Easy” was the other). This was a staple on MTV in the early days. Then again, in those early days, any music video was a staple.

22. “Jack & Diane” by John Cougar

This little ditty would be John Cougar/John Cougar Mellencamp/John Mellencamp’s signature song. It was at the top of the charts for 4 weeks.

21. “Who Can It Be Now” by Men At Work

This Men At Work song was first released as a single in Australia in June 1981. After it was more than a year old, it found it’s way to the U.S. and became a #1 hit in October of 1982.

That concludes today’s list. Come back tomorrow as we check out songs 20-11.

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Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 10/2/17

October 2, 2017 Paul Stroessner 1 Comment

Can you name the artist and song:

Our so called leaders speak
With words they try to jail you
They subjugate the meek
But it’s the rhetoric of failure

Last Song: “Love Me Tomorrow” by Chicago from the album Chicago 16 (1982)

Great job Drew (@ChristiedDrew)!!!

You know it’s always cold at night
It’s always lonely until the dawn

If you’d like to purchase this song from Amazon, click on the album cover below:

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Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 1/13/17

January 13, 2017 Paul Stroessner 5 Comments

Can you name the artist and song:

Sister’s sighing in her sleep
Brother’s got a date to keep
He can’t hang around

Last Song: “Look Away” by Chicago from the album Chicago 19 (1988)

Great job Todd (@ToddShriver) and Andy (@andytorah)!!!

When we both agreed as lovers
We were better off as friends
That’s how it had to be

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1984, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – November 10, 1984: Songs 10-1

November 10, 2016 Paul Stroessner 4 Comments

Welcome back as we wrap up this week’s countdown. If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. If you are in the U.S., I hope this countdown has provided a little escape from the election day craziness. This has been a great week of music. For those of us who grew up around the time of this countdown, we were so lucky to enjoy some great music. Now let’s Return to the week ending November 10, 1984, and wrap up this countdown.

10. “Desert Moon” by Dennis DeYoung

Earlier in the countdown, we had a song by Tommy Shaw in the wake of the band Styx falling apart. Now we have the former Styx frontman, Dennis DeYoung with his solo effort. This is an outstanding song, that would peak right here at #10.

9. “Hard Habit to Break” by Chicago

Thanks to producer, David Foster, we were right in the middle of Chicago’s renaissance. I do get slightly annoyed that most people only know of Chicago from their power ballads, even though they have some incredible rock songs. But, with a song like this, I can totally see why. This is one of my favorites by them. I love that both Peter Cetera and Bill Champlin sing on this. I love both of their voices. Great combination!

8. “Blue Jean” by David Bowie

David Bowie (still can’t believe he is gone) was still making an impact on the music world at this point. This song was off of his Tonight album, which was his follow-up to the mega-successful Let’s Dance album. This song was launched with a 21-minute short film, Jazzin’ for Blue Jean. The film won the 1985 Grammy Award for “Best Video, Short form” (Later renamed “Best Music Video”), which would be Bowie’s only competitive Grammy Award during his career. He was nominated for several, but this was his only win, in addition to his Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

7. “Better Be Good to Me” by Tina Turner

This song is from Tina Turner’s huge comeback album, Private Dancer. This song was originally recorded and released in 1981 by Spider, a band from New York City with one of the co-writers, Holly Knight, as a member. Of course Tina had the most successful version. The song won Tina Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female, one of four Grammys awarded to Turner in that ceremony.

6. “Out of Touch” by Daryl Hall & John Oates

There weren’t too many acts as big in the ’80s as Hall & Oates.This was their lead single from their 1984 album Big Bam Boom. It would be their last #1 hit. The song was also their 14th straight top 40 hit since 1980.

Before we continue, let’s see what was topping some of the other charts this week in 1984:

The number one country song was “I’ve Been Around Enough to Know” by John Schneider (Yes, that John Schneider from The Dukes of Hazzard)

Topping the Rock charts was “I Can’t Hold Back” by Survivor

Number one on the Adult Contemporary charts was “What About Me?” by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and James Ingram

The Number 1 album was Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

And topping both the R&B and the Dance charts is our #5 song on the Hot 100 this week:

5. “I Feel For You” by Chaka Kahn

While Prince was a megastar performer himself, he also wrote music covered by other artists. This was one of them. Prince wrote this song, and it was on his debut album. It was also covered by The Pointer Sisters on their 1982 album, So Excited!.
Then Chaka Kahn took over, and this song would start a big comeback for her. Melle Mel (from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) did the rapping. And Stevie Wonder is on the harmonica.

4. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!

This was Wham!’s big breakthrough hit. It became their first American and UK number-one hit. To be honest, I really hated this song when it first came out. I like it now because of its nostalgic value. It should also be noted that while it was at the top of the charts for two weeks, it prevented the next song from becoming a #1 hit…

3. “Purple Rain” by Prince

Yes, perhaps Prince’s signature song, this never hit #1 (still can’t believe he is gone). That doesn’t change anything though. This is an iconic song of the decade. For a lot of people, when you mention the ’80s, one of the first images that come to mind is the cover of the Purple Rain soundtrack and movie poster. And if you listened to our Prince episode of the Return to the ’80s podcast, you would know that there is a Journey connection here. After recording the song, Prince phoned Jonathan Cain from Journey asking him to hear it, worried it might be too similar to “Faithfully“, a Journey single composed by Cain which had recently been in the charts. Cain reassured Prince telling him the songs only shared the same four chords. Prince was extremely sensitive to Copyright infringement. It’s good to see he put his money where his mouth was, and was careful himself.

2. “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder

This was one of Stevie Wonder’s most commercially successful hits. It was featured in the Gene Wilder (still can’t believe he’s gone) movie The Woman in Red. The ballad won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year and Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards.

1. “Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)” by Billy Ocean

I always loved Billy Ocean’s voice. This is a good one. It won Ocean the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, making him the first British artist to win in that category.

Well that wraps up this week’s Countdown. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Did you have any favorites or least favorites? Let’s do another one of these in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

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