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!
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?.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Welcome to a new year of the Top 40 Countdown! We’ll begin the first week of this year with the first top 40 countdown of the ’80s. This should be an interesting week as these songs were released in 1979. At this point in my life, I was still listening to whatever my parents were listening to. There are several songs, in each list this week, that I was unfamiliar with. If you’re anything like me, get ready to redeem any iTunes gift cards you may have gotten over the holiday season. There may be some good songs that you will discover this week, and will want to download. So, let’s Return to the week ending January 5, 1980, and begin the countdown!
We’ll begin the countdown with a nice, soulful song. I mainly know The O’Jays from their ’70s hit “Love Train“.
This R&B ballad would be The O’Jays last single to reach the top 40 on the pop charts as a group.
Rita Coolidge had a string of hits in the mid-’70s. This song was a big comeback single in 1979 for Coolidge. She would go on to sing one of my favorite James Bond themes – “All Time High” from Octopussy. I like this song a lot too.
I had never heard of this song before. It is a very cool Southern Rock tune. That is Blackfoot frontman Ricky Medlocke’s grandfather, Shorty, playing the harmonica in the introduction.
The first countdown of the ’80s has music all over the map. We go from Southern Rock to Rap. This iconic song by the Sugarhill Gang pretty much kickstarted the rap craze. One incredible fact about this song is that it was recorded in a single take.
Next up is an instrumental jazz song from Herb Alpert’s 1979 album, Rise. This song makes me feel like I’m on hold with my health insurance company. While listening to this, I’m waiting for the song to be interrupted with: “Your call is very important to us. Please continue to hold, and the next available operator will take your call.”
This is one of my favorite Eagles songs. The songwriters were just a bit talented: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bob Seger and J. D. Souther. This song reached the #1 spot on the Hot 100 for one week in November of ’79. It would be the Eagles’ last chart topper.
This is a song I had forgotten about from Country crossover queen, Crystal Gayle. As soon as I heard the chorus, I remembered it. This would be Crystal Gayle’s final solo top 20 pop hit.
This song may have been released in 1979, but it totally has a classic ’80s sound. I love it!
Fun Fact: The baby on the cover of the single is M founder, Robin Scott’s daughter Berenice. She is currently a singer and piano/keyboard player and composer.
This is a cover of Barbara Mason’s 1965 R&B hit.
Teri DeSario is a singer from Miami, and was a high school classmate of Casey (the lead singer and songwriter or KC and the Sunshine Band). Casey produced DeSario’s second studio album, Moonlight Madness. He liked Barbara Mason’s “Yes, I’m Ready,” and the record label president of Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart, had the idea to record the song as a duet. It would go on to be a #2 hit on the Hot 100.
That wraps up the first 10 songs of the countdown. I get a little nervous when I go early into the decade because I may be unfamiliar with a lot of the songs. But so far, there is no reason to fear. I think this was a good start to the countdown. There were even a couple of songs, “Rapper’s Delight” and “Pop Muzik”, that would be a huge influence on a lot of the music that was to come in the ’80s. We’ll be back tomorrow to continue the countdown. I hope to see you then!
(1982)
Return to the 80s 