Tag Archives: Culture Club

1984, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – November 10, 1984: Songs 20-11

November 9, 2016 Paul Stroessner 2 Comments

Welcome back as we continue the countdown. If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31 and 30-21. In my opinion, this week’s songs just keep getting better and better. Sometimes, there is a little lull, where there are songs that are just meh. But every day has been solid so far, and it will continue. So, lets Return to the week ending November 10, 1984, and continue the countdown.

20. “The War Song” by Culture Club

This song does not get as much attention in the U.S. as much as a lot of Culture Clubs hits. I like this. I don’t know if it’s because of the quality of the song, or because it does not get played to death on radio. This was the lead single from the band’s third album Waking Up with the House on Fire, and peak at #17 in the U.S. It cracked the top 10 in several other countries.

19. “No More Lonely Nights” by Paul McCartney

This is one of my favorite McCartney tunes that I still love to this day. This was from the soundtrack of Give My Regards to Broad Street. I still haven’t seen that movie yet.

18. “What About Me?” by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes & James Ingram

I have no idea how this song got by me. I love it! And I love all three singers. What a great combination. Then add in the fact that this song was written by David Foster and Richard Marx, and this is pure gold.

17. “Lucky Star” by Madonna

This was the beginning of Madonna becoming an ’80s icon. She would be cemented in with that status with her next album, Like a Virgin. But, the songs from her self-titled debut album, including this song, laid the groundwork. This was Madonna’s fourth single released from that album, and her first Top 5 hit, peaking at #4.

16. “Some Guys Have All the Luck” by Rod Stewart

“Some Guys Have All the Luck” was written by Jeff Fortgang, and originally performed by The Persuaders in 1973, and became a Top 40 hit. Rod Stewart’s version here was more successful, peaking at #10.
Jeff Fortgang was only in the music industry for three years. He went on to become a doctor in Psychology, and still practices in the Boston area today.

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

I always get excited when I get to play some Pointer Sisters! This song was originally released in 1982, from their album So Excited! and was a Top 40 hit, peaking at #30. It was re-released, after being slightly remixed, on their 1984 album, Break Out, and hit the charts once again, peaking at #9 this time.

14. “On the Dark Side” by Eddie & The Cruisers / John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band

Rhode Island in the house!! John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (who are from my home state of Rhode Island) performed this song for the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack. This is a fun Springsteenesque rocker. They have a lot of other great songs, but this is their signature song.

13. “Penny Lover” by Lionel Richie

This was the fifth and final single released from Lionel Richie’s classic, Grammy winning, Can’t Slow Down album. As with all the other singles taken from Can’t Slow Down (“All Night Long (All Night)”, “Running with the Night”, “Hello” and “Stuck on You”), “Penny Lover” was a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending two weeks at #8 in December 1984.

12. “All Through the Night” by Cyndi Lauper

I’m starting to see a pattern this week. This is yet another favorite song of mine by an artist. This was Cyndi’s fourth Top 5 hit in the U.S. It was off her classic She’s So Unusual album. It was originally written and performed by Jules Shear in 1983. In an article in the Chicago Tribune, Jules Shear said, “[it’s] like a big bonus really. Cyndi Lauper does a song (‘All Through the Night’) that’s on a solo record of mine. I just thought, ‘No one’s really going to hear this.’ Then she does it, and it becomes a Top 5 song.”

11. “Strut” by Sheena Easton

Sheena Easton was very popular in the early-to-mid ’80s, and this song was no exception to that success. This would be a Top 10 hit, peaking at #7.

That wraps up today’s list of songs. This week is moving right along! We will wrap up the countdown tomorrow. As the numbers get smaller, the hits get bigger.

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Artists, General, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 6/23/16

June 23, 2016 Paul Stroessner 3 Comments

Can you name the artist and song:

Without love, we won’t survive
Run together, we rule the night

Last Song: “Church of the Poison Mind” by Culture Club from Colour by Numbers (1983)

Who would be the fool to take you
Be more that just kind
Step into a life of maybe
Love is hard to find in the

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Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 3/24/16

March 24, 2016 Paul Stroessner 16 Comments

Can you name the artist and song:

I’ve been down the streets of desire
Sometimes I was so uninspired

Last Song: “Time (Clock of the Heart)” by Culture Club from Kissing to Be Clever (1982)

Great job DJ Tommy (@DJTommyRocks)

In time we could’ve been so much more
But time is precious I know

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1983, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – May 28, 1983: Songs 10-1

December 4, 2015 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

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.

10. “Straight From the Heart” by Bryan Adams

This is a great way to start the Top 10! Bryan Adams’ big breakthrough single is still one of my favorites by him.

9. “My Love” by Lionel Richie

This awesome ballad was the third single released off Richie’s self-titled debut solo album. Kenny Rogers also provided backing vocals on this track.

8. “Time (Clock Of the Heart)” by Culture Club

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.

7. “Solitaire” by Laura Branigan

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.

6. “Little Red Corvette” by Prince

And the hits keep on rolling! This single off of Prince’s 1999 album was his first to break the top 10. This is one of my favorite Prince songs.

5. “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby

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!

4. “Overkill” by Men At Work

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.

3. “Beat It” by Michael Jackson

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:

Topping the Country charts was the legendary Merle Haggard with “You Take Me For Granted”

The #1 Rock song was “She’s a Beauty” by The Tubes

The best R&B song was “Save the Overtime (For Me)” by Gladys Knight and the Pips

The #1 Adult Contemporary song was “My Love” by Lionel Richie

The #1 album was (yep, you guessed it) Thriller

And the #1 Dance song is also our #2 song

2. “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie

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.

1. “Flashdance…What a Feeling” by Irene Cara

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.

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1983, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – June 18, 1983: Songs 10-1

June 19, 2015 Paul Stroessner 2 Comments

Welcome back as we wrap up this week’s Top 40 Countdown. There have been some flat-out classics so far this week, and today is no different. You can go back and check out songs 40-31 30-21, and 20-11. Well, I think this has been one of the better Top 40 weeks, so let’s Return to the week ending June 18, 1983, and finish the countdown.

10. “Family Man” by Hall & Oates

Well, here’s a blast from the past. Hall & Oates were a staple of the ’80s music scene. But, this song is often overlooked. This song is actually a cover, originally done by Mike Oldfield (with Maggie Reilly on vocals) in 1982. Hall & Oates made it their own, and made it a big hit, topping out at #6 on the charts.

9. “Affair of the Heart” by Rick Springfield

Just like Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield had a great hot streak in the early-to-mid ’80s. This song, Springfield’s first single from his Living in Oz album, would be his fourth top 10 hit, peaking right here at #9. It was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1984, but lost to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

8. “There’s Always Something There to Remind Me” by Naked Eyes

This synthpop song just screams ’80s! But, did you know that this was a cover? It was originally written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in the ’60s. The original recorded version was released by Lou Johnson in 1964. Sandie Shaw also released a version of this song that same year, and it was a #1 hit in the U.K., Canada, and South Africa.
The 1964 versions and this ’80s version were each a product of their time. I like all the versions, but of course, I prefer Naked Eyes.

7. “Don’t Let It End” by Styx

This is a nice ballad by one of my favorite bands – Styx. This song is from their divisive album, Kilroy Was Here. This was the beginning of the end of the original run of Styx, but you wouldn’t know it here.

6. “My Love” by Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie immediately proved that he could have a successful career post-Commodores, with his incredible self-titled debut album. This ballad was the third single released from that album, and was his third top 10 hit in a row. Kenny Rogers, who often collaborated with Richie, provided the backing vocals on this song.

5. “Overkill” by Men At Work

Men At Work is just pure ’80s. They were on a hot streak at this time. The combination of Colin Hay’s voice and Greg Ham on sax, gave Men At Work a very unique sound. Everyone knows “Down Under“, but this is one of their better songs as well.

4. “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant

Speaking of unique sounding, this song was a worldwide smash hit. The song’s title refers to Electric Avenue, a market street in the Brixton area of London. You could not escape this song when it was first released, but man was it fun!

3. “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie

All week we have been hearing from artists who had been around for a while, but were introduced to me with the ’80s tunes in the countdown this week. This is another one. I remember first hearing this song on the radio while eating breakfast before school. This song was from the album of the same name, and was part of many of David Bowie’s reinventions. This is a great song from a great album.

2. “Time (Clock Of the Heart)” by Culture Club

Culture Club followed their world-wide smash hit debut, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, with this song. I like this one better. Culture Club was one of those bands that I didn’t care much for back then, but enjoy much more now.

Before we uncover this week’s #1 song, lets see what was topping some of the other charts this week:

The number one country song this week was – “You Can’t Run From Love” by the gone too soon Eddie Rabbitt

Topping the R&B charts was “Juicy Fruit” by Mtume. I never heard of the song or the band.

Sitting on top of the rock charts was this week’s #14 song, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police

The number one adult contemporary song was our #13 song this week – “Never Gonna Let You Go” by Sergio Mendes

For the 17th, and final consecutive week, the #1 album was the legendary Thriller by Micahel Jackson

The #1 dance song brings us to our Hot 100 number one song this week:

1. “Flashdance…What a Feeling” by Irene Cara

What a Feeling! and what a way to end the countdown! A few years earlier, Irene Cara hit it big with the theme song for Fame. Somehow, she outdid herself with this classic from the movie, Flashdance. This song won all kinds of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. This is a well deserved #1 hit.

Well, that wraps up this week’s countdown. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. This has got to be one of the best countdowns we’ve covered so far. 1983 was such an incredible and pivotal year of music. Do you agree? We’ll be back with another countdown in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

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1984, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – April 14, 1984: Songs 10-1

April 17, 2015 Paul Stroessner 2 Comments

Welcome back as we wrap up 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. Well, I think this has been a great week of classic ’80s music. And as you will see, there are going to be no surprises in this top 10 today. They are all songs and artists that helped define the decade. So, let’s Return to the week ending April 14, 1984, and finish the Countdown.

10. “Jump” by Van Halen

Van Halen had been known for their hard driving guitar rock, led by Eddie Van Halen. But, it was this synthesizer based song that really brought Van Halen into the mainstream and gave them their only #1 single. “Jump” dominated the airwaves for a very long time, and the video was an MTV staple,

9. “Adult Education” by Hall & Oates

There’s nothing like Hall & Oates to transport you back to the ’80s. This classic song was recorded for their greatest hits album Rock ‘n Soul Part 1.

8. “Hold Me Now” by The Thompson Twins

Here is another song that there could be no mistake as to which decade this was from. I do have to admit that The Thompson Twins did drive me and my minor OCD slightly insane in that they were not only NOT related, but there were THREE of them! Ugh!! But, that does not take away from the greatness of this song.

7. “Here Comes the Rain Again” by The Eurythmics

This is one of my favorite Eurythmics songs. This is yet another song with that classic ’80s sound. Annie Lennox just has such an incredible voice.

6. “Miss Me Blind” by Culture Club

This was a time when Boy George and Culture Club were among the top artists of the music landscape. This was their third single released from the classic Colour by Numbers album. This is another song and video that could come from no other decade than the ’80s.

5. “Automatic” by The Pointer Sisters

I love The Pointers. This song, led by Ruth Pointer’s deep vocals, is one of their several signature tunes. It was the second single released from their legendary Break Out album.

Now, we have reached the part of the countdown where we find out was topping some of the other charts this week.

The #1 Country song this week in 1984 was “Thank God for the Radio” by The Kendalls.

Topping the R&B charts was “She’s Strange” by Cameo.

The best Rock song in the country this week was our #15 song on the Hot 100 – “You Might Think” by The Cars.

The #1 Dance tune was our #16 song on the Hot 100 – “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News.

For the 17th and final consecutive week, the #1 Album in the country was Thriller by Michael Jackson. Next week it will be taken over by the Footloose soundtrack.

And the best Adult Contemporary song is also our #4 song on the Hot 100 this week:

4. “Hello” by Lionel Richie

Well, this is not one of my favorite Lionel Richie songs at all. But, it is good to hear once in a while. And now I can say that I’m not as creeped out at seeing this Lionel Richie sculpture from the video:

as I was after I saw this recent I Love Lucy sculpture:

3. “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell

Speaking of creepy, this video was aired on MTV all the time. There is no way this song would be this high up the countdown if it wasn’t for Michael Jackson singing the chorus.

2. “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins

This iconic Phil Collins ballad came from the movie soundtrack of the same name. I still haven’t seen the movie yet, but love the song. The vocals and drums in this song are incredible.

1. “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins

Let’s dance!!! The king of ’80s soundtracks scored big time with this smash hit song. It is one of Kenny Loggins’ most identifiable songs, and won a Grammy for Song of the Year. Great way to end a countdown!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week’s Countdown. I feel like I used the workd “classic” quite a bit. But, it was a appropriate. There were so many signature ’80s songs this week. What a great year of music! We’ll be back with a new countdown soon. In the meantime, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

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Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 1/28/15

January 28, 2015 Paul Stroessner 2 Comments

Can you name the artist and song:

I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies

Last Song: “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club from Colour by Numbers (1983)

I’m so happy that there was a of responses yesterday!
Great job to Robert’s AP English class (@mishouenglish), Sophia (@sophiegrant1980), Andy (@andytorah), Penny (@pennyelaines), and Candy (@candyissodandy)!!!

Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams