Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the first 10 songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Today’s list has a lot of songs that were not big in the U.S., so they are new to a lot of us. And these are really good songs. It is always fun to discover new old music.
Again, you can click on the song title to get the YouTube video, and you can click on the album cover to get the song from Amazon. Now, let’s continue the countdown.
30. “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)” by Paul Young
This cover of the 1962 Marvin Gaye song was a huge hit for Paul Young in the U.K. It was a breakthrough song for him, and would go on to top the U.K. charts for 3 weeks. However, it did not fare well in the U.S., only peaking at #70. A few years later, this song was on the Ruthless People soundtrack.
29. “Looking At Midnight” by Imagination
Imagination is one of those bands that did not cross over well to the U.S., but were huge in the U.K. The English three piece band had a huge run in the early ’80s, scoring 9 Top 40 hits between 1981 and 1984. This song was one of them, peaking at 29.
28. “Can’t Get Used to Losing You” by The Beat
This song is a cover of the 1963 Andy Williams song. U.S. audiences know The Beat as The English Beat. This was done to avoid confusion with an American band called The Beat, which was active at the same time. This song was on The Beat’s 1980 album, I Just Can’t Stop It. It wasn’t released until 1983. This was at the same time that the band was breaking up. It was their fifth and final top ten UK hit, and their highest charting single release ever.
27. “Pills and Soap” by The Imposter
Mark this one under “You learn something new everyday.” I learned that The Imposter is a pseudonym that Elvis Costello used. This song was on Costello’s 1983 album, Punch the Clock which also featured “Everyday I Write the Book”.
26. “In a Big Country” by Big Country
The U.K. and the U.S. were on the same page with this one. The Scottish band would peak at #17, with this song, in both the U.K. and U.S. This song received heavy airplay in the early days of MTV.
25. “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” by Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra (or ELO) moved back to their old-school rock roots with this song, after their progressive pop phase with Xanadu. This was another song that was a hit in both the U.S. and U.K. It peaked at #13 in the U.K. and #19 in the U.S.
24. “Confusion (Hits Us Every Time)” by Truth
There is almost no information out there about this song, and it is not available on Amazon. But, I really like this one a lot. The Truth released several singles before their debut album in 1985. And this was one of those songs. This actually sounds like a 1979/80 ELO song.
23. “I.O.U.” by Freeez
This synthpop dance song was the biggest hit for Freeez. It would land at #2 on the U.K. charts. It did not chart on the mainstream chart in the U.S., but it did top the U.S. Club chart.
22. “Just Got Lucky” by JoBoxers
I had never heard of this song or band before. But, they did crack the Top 40 in the U.S. with this song, landing at #36. It would be a Top 10 hit in the U.K. peaking at #7.
21. “Take That Situation” by Nick Heyward
This is a fun little song by the Haircut 100 frontman. This song was on Heyward’s debut solo album, and was his biggest non-Haircut 100 song, peaking at #11 here.
That wraps up today’s list of songs. We are halfway through this week’s countdown. What do you think so far? We will be back to continue the countdown tomorrow.
If I were king for just one day, I would make sure this song gets played just as much as “Hold Me Now”.
This is the second song, on this countdown, with this name. This is defintely the superiour song. I love Stevie Nicks, and this is one of my favorites by her.
I didn’t realize that ELO was still around at this point. This would be their last U.S. hit, peaking right here at #18. I like this one.
Here is another pleasant surprise for me! And you would never know that this was a 16 year old that recorded this!
This was our introduction to the Van Hagar years. Great way to start them!
Awesome 80s power ballad. It was the band’s second number-one hit after the song “We Built This City”.
This cover of the 1963 Bob & Earl song would go on to be a #5 hit. The animation, in the video, was directed by John Kricfalusi, who would go on to create The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Another awesome power ballad. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
Classic ’80s tune that became a #q hit in both the U.S. and U.K.
Very cool R&B song just before New Jack Swing music became big.
