Tag Archives: Electric Light Orchestra

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 9/9/20

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Can you name the artist and song:

I like your style, it makes me wild
You take it to me good, you like it, know, you should
You get me on my knees, well, please, baby, please

Last Song: “Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John from the Xanadu Soundtrack (1980)

Great job Adora (@Adora2000) and Lynne (@LynneAshton2)!!!

A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star
An everlasting world and you’re here with me, eternally

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

1983, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week (UK Edition) – 19 June 1983: Songs 30-21

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Logo: Tops of the popsWelcome 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

the-truth-confusion-hits-us-every-time-wea-sThere 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.

1986, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – April 5, 1986: Songs 20-11

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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. The hits are getting bigger and bigger. However, there are still two songs on today’s list that I was unfamiliar with. That’s always exciting for me. Now, let’s Return to the week ending and move on with the countdown. And as usual, if you’d like to listen to the song on YouTube, click on the song title. And if you want to listen or buy this song on Amazon, you can click on the album cover.

20. “King for a Day” by Thompson Twins

If I were king for just one day, I would make sure this song gets played just as much as “Hold Me Now”.

 

 

 

19. “I Can’t Wait” by Stevie Nicks

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.

 

 

18. “Calling America” by Electric Light Orchestra

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.

 

 

17. “Beats So Lonely” by Charlie Sexton

Here is another pleasant surprise for me! And you would never know that this was a 16 year old that recorded this!

 

 

16. “Why Can’t This Be Love” by Van Halen

This was our introduction to the Van Hagar years. Great way to start them!

 

 

 

15. “Sara” by Starship

Awesome 80s power ballad. It was the band’s second number-one hit after the song “We Built This City”.

14. “Harlem Shuffle” by the Rolling Stones

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.

13. “This Could Be the Night” by Loverboy

Another awesome power ballad. They don’t make ’em like they used to.

12. “West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys

Classic ’80s tune that became a #q hit in both the U.S. and U.K.

11. “Tender Love” by Force M.D.’s

Very cool R&B song just before New Jack Swing music became big.

That wraps up today’s list of songs. Come back Friday as we wrap up this weeks awesome countdown!

 

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1981, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – October 17, 1981: Songs 20-11

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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 and 30-21. At this point in time, MTV was still in its infancy, as it just debuted 2 1/2 months ago. Some artists already threw their hat in the ring, and filmed music videos. Others were not yet ready to embrace this medium. So, this is a very interesting and transitional time. Now, let’s Return to the week ending October 17, 1981, and continue the countdown.

20. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” by Billy Joel

As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with Billy Joel. This song was originally released in 1976 on his Turnstiles album. But, it didn’t have success until it was released on Joel’s live album, Songs in the Attic.
Another fun fact: Billy Joel confirmed that he wrote the song with Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes song “Be My Baby” in mind. Because of this, Ronnie Spector recorded her own cover version of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” in 1977 with the E Street Band, soon after Joel released his first recording of the song on Turnstiles.

19. “We’re In This Love Together” by Al Jarreau

downloadDuring this part of the decade, there were a lot of country-crossover hits. But, now we have a jazz-crossover hit! This is a song I would never have listened to back when it was released, but absolutely love it now. This song came off of Al Jarreau’s Breakin’ Away album, which was his most popular album, spending two years on the Billboard 200. it also won Jarreau the Grammy Award in 1982 Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

18. “I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)” by Lulu

This was the fourth and final US Top 40 hit for the Scottish songstress. Lulu is best known for her title track songs for the movies To Sir With Love, and The Man with the Golden Gun.

17. “Super Freak (Part 1)” by Rick James

U can’t touch this Rick James smash hit (unless you’re M.C. Hammer), which topped the pop, R&B and dance charts in the US.

16. “When She Was My Girl” by The Four Tops

This was the Mowtown legends’ return to the Top 40. It was the first song released from their new record label Casablanca Records. The song also became an international hit.

15. “Share Your Love With Me” by Kenny Rogers

This isn’t exactly one of Kenny Rogers’ most well known songs. But, it did reach number 14 on the Hot 100 and 5 in the US Country charts. It was off of his album Share Your Love, which was produced by Lionel Richie.

14. “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You” by Bob Seger

This song was originally performed by Otis Clay in 1973. Bob Seger’s cover of this song is the most successful version of the song, reaching number five on the pop singles charts.

13. “Hold On Tight” by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

This was the first single released off of ELO’s 1981 album, Time, and became an international hit. I’m not sure if I would have heard of this song if it wasn’t featured in The Coffee Achievers TV commercials….

12. “I’ve Done Everything For You” BY Rick Springfield

Well, if you’re gonna follow-up “Jessie’s Girl”, this is the way to do it. Rick Springfield proved he was here to stay with this Sammy Hagar penned tune. Just like “Jessie’s Girl”, this rocker came off of Rick Springfield’s 1981 international breakout album Working Class Dog, and would reach up to #9 on the charts.

11. “Urgent” by Foreigner

I’m not sure what the U.S. presidential debate fact-checkers would say, but I believe that this is where the rage of the ’80s sax solo began. This was the first single released from Foreigner’s classic 4 album. The album was produced by “Mutt” Lange. The then-unknown Thomas Dolby played synthesizer on some tracks on the album, including this song. And the aforementioned sax solo was performed by by Motown great Junior Walker.

That wraps up today’s list of songs. So far, this has been a pretty solid week. And the best is yet to come! So come back Friday to see what the Top 10 was this week in 1981. And as usual, I would love to hear your thoughts on this countdown. See ya Friday!

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