Tag Archives: Kool and the Gang

Remember That Song – 3/24/21

***Deep Track***

Can you name the artist and song:

I know it seems like I’m a million miles away
At times you feel like you don’t even know me
But in this world the pressure’s building everyday
And I need time to work things out


Last Song: “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang from Celebrate! (1981)
Great job sweetpurplejune, Craig (@cdennis0130), Erwin (@erwin_green), and Lori (@ThreezkyMusic)!!!

It’s time to come together
It’s up to you
What’s your pleasure


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

Remember That Song – 3/27/19

Can you name the artist and song:

I guess I should of closed my eyes
When you drove me to the place
Where your horses run free


Last Song: “Get Down On It” by Kool & The Gang from the album Something Special (1982)

Great job Roy (@rbutt14), 80s Classics and Cocktails (@80s_podcast), and blonde as a bat (@blondasabat)!!!

I say people, what? What you gonna do?
You’ve gotta get on the groove
If you want your body to move, tell me, baby

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

Episode 23: 1981 Year in Review

On this episode of Return to the ’80s, Robert and Paul welcome Ty Ray, from the Beats and Eats podcast, to the show. The guys Return to 1981, and count down the year’s top songs, movies, and television shows. Also, find out what the biggest selling toys were in 1981, and reminisce on the big news stories of the year.

As this current decade comes to a close, come join us to Return to the greatest decade ever, and check out the awesome year of 1981!


10. “Keep On Loving You” by REO Speedwagon

9. “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton


Top 10 Movies of 1981

10. Time Bandits

9. The Four Seasons

8. For Your Eyes Only

7. Chariots of Fire

6. The Cannonball Run

5. Stripes

4. Arthur

3. Superman II

2. On Golden Pond

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark


8. “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbit

7. “Kiss On My List” by Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates March Madness


Top 10 Television Shows of 1981

10. One Day At a Time
9. M*A*S*H
8. ABC Monday Night Movie
7/6 tie Too Close for Comfort and The Dukes of Hazzard
5. Alice
4. Three’s Company
3. The Jeffersons
2. 60 Minutes
1. Dallas


6. “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang

5. “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield


Toys

Barbie Perfume Maker
Star Wars figures
Rubik’s Cube

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


4. “(Just Like) Starting Over” by John Lennon

 

3. “Lady” by Kenny Rogers


Sports

NFL
Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 – January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome

NBA

Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets 4-2

NHL
New York Islanders defeat the Minnesota North Stars 4-1

MLB
LA Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 4-1

News Events

January 20 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed

March 6 Walter Cronkite signs off of CBS Evening News

March 30 Reagan Assassination attempt

April 18 The Longest Game – Pawtucket Red Sox tie Rochester Red Wings 2-2 in 32 innings (game resumed 23rd June)

May 11 Cats premieres in London

May 13 Assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II

Jun 2 Barbara Walters asks Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would be

Jun 5 AIDS Epidemic officially begins when US Centers for Disease Control reports on pneumonia affecting five homosexual men in Los Angeles

Jun 12 Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike

July 29 Royal Wedding

Aug 1 MTV premieres at 12:01 AM

Aug 3 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike; US President Ronald Reagan offers an ultimatum to workers: ‘if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated’

Sep 12 “The Smurfs” animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America

Sep 25 Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in as 1st female supreme court justice

Dec 11 Muhammad Ali’s 61st & last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick

Dec 28 1st American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr is born in Norfolk, Virginia

Dec 31 CNN Headline News debuts


2. “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie

1. “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes


Contact

Ty Ray
Twitter – @BeatnEats

Check out Ty Ray and Nick Gelso’s awesome Beats and Eats podcast on:

iTunes (aka Apple Podcasts)
Stitcher
TuneIn
PlayerFM

 

Return to the ’80s

rtt80s.com
Find Return to the ’80s on Facebook
Twitter: @returntothe80s and Robert can be contacted at @mishouenglish
Email: returntothe80s@gmail.com

Also, you can subscribe to the Return to the ’80s podcast on

Apple Podcasts
Stitcher
Podbean
PlayerFM

Top 40 Songs This Week (UK Edition) – January 12, 1985: Songs 20-11

Welcome back to the Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the previous posts, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31, and 30-21. Once again, this has been a great week of discovering music, for me. Today is another great mix of songs. So, let’s Return to the week ending January 12, 1985, and move on with the countdown.


20. “Round and Round” by Spandau Ballet

Wow, Spandau Ballet did songs other than “True”?! I actually like this one better.

 

 

19. “It Ain’t Necessarily So” by Bronski Beat

This is a cover of George and Ira Gershwin’s popular song from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. It has been covered many times, including this version, from Bronski Beat’s debut album, which reached up to #16 on this chart.

 

18. “Do the Conga” by Black Lace

The novelty act, Black Lace, is back with another hit! This is similar to Buster Poindexter’s “Hot, Hot, Hot“. I guess Black Lace was really trying to get the Wedding Reception circuit.

 

17. “San Damiano (Heart and Soul)” by Sal Solo

Sal Solo had been the lead vocalist of Classix Nouveaux, as part of the New Romantic movement. He embraced the Roman Catholic faith after a pilgrimage to San Damiano, a small village in Italy near Piacenza. He began a solo career, scoring a hit with this song, which would peak at #15. After 1987, Solo stopped recording music commercially, and became active in youth ministry in the Catholic Church in the UK.

16. “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head

Here is the song from Chess that I did know about already, and love! Murray Head raps the verses and the chorus is sung by Anders Glenmark, a Swedish singer, songwriter and producer. For fans of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show, Murray Head is the brother of Anthony Stewart Head, who played Giles.

15. “Police Officer” by Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture was a reggae rapper. We did not hear this style music in the U.S. at this point. This was the supposedly autobiographical tale of how Smiley Culture was arrested for the possession of cannabis, but then let off in return for an autograph when the policeman recognized him as a famous reggae artist. In a cruel twist of irony, Smiley Culture died at the age of 48 in 2011 during a police raid on his home.

14. “The Riddle” by Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw was huge in the U.K. through the mid-80s. He did not break through in the U.S. Most likely, U.S. audiences would mainly have seen him from his Live Aid performance in Wembley.

 

13. “Lay Your Hands On Me” by The Thompson Twins

This was the first song released from the album Here’s to Future Days. It peaked right here at #13 in the U.K., and reached #14 on the U.S. charts. This song and “King for a Day” are my favorite songs by The Thompson Twins. And both songs are from the same album.

12. “Fresh” by Kool and the Gang

Great song from the Emergency album! I owned the cassette, and the whole first side is flawless, in my opinion. I love the funky R&B sound of this song. It peaked at #11 here, and cracked the Top 10 in the U.S., peaking at #9 there.

 

11. “Step Off (Part 1)” by Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five

My long-time readers and podcast listeners know of my love of rap, and how I loved to break out the cardboard and boom box, throw on my parachute pants, and throw down some break dance moves. Well, this is right in my wheelhouse! I love how the Chaka Khan/I Feel For You rap got mixed in here too.


That wraps up today’s list of songs. I think this is the best list so far! Come back Friday as we see what the Top 10 songs were this week in the U.K. in 1985.

Remember That Song – 10/19/18

Can you name the artist and song:

Hey man bet you can treat me right
You just don’t know what you was missin’ last night
I wanna see your face and say forget it just from spite


Last Song: “Cherish” by Kool & The Gang from the album Emergency (1985)

Great job Jim (@JimVilk) and Chris (@ChrisLe85924059)!!!

Let’s take a walk together near the ocean shore
Hand in hand you and I

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

Top 40 Songs This Week – September 25, 1982: Songs 30-21

Hi Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown. Today, we will cover songs 30-21. If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31.
Ah, 1982! What a great time for music! These 10 songs alone have such diversity that we definitely don’t see in today’s countdowns, and may never see again. Today, there is some rock, country, pop, funk, R&B, and flat-out classic ’80s.
Now, let’s Return to the week ending September 25, 1982, and continue the countdown.

30. “Make Believe” by Toto

Make Believe by TotoThis was the second single from the multi-platinum album Toto IV, which also contained the smash hits “Africa” and “Rosanna“. There are a few different theories of where the band name originated. In the early ’80s, band members told the press that the band was named after the dog in The Wizard of Oz. There was also a joke that the name came from Bobby Kimball’s “true” last name, Toteaux. The last theory is that after the completion of the first album, the band and record were still unnamed. David Hungate, after seeing the name Toto on the demo tapes (which Jeff Porcaro wrote in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands’ in the studio), explained to the group that the words “In Toto” in Latin translated to “all-encompassing.” Because the band members played on so many different records and many different musical genres, they adopted the name “Toto” as their own.

29. “Voyeur” by Kim Carnes

The title track from Kim Carnes’ 1982 album received a nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 1983 Grammy Awards. To me, this sounds a lot like Carnes’ smash hit, “Bette Davis Eyes“.

28. “Never Been in Love” by Randy Meisner

Randy Meisner was a founding member of the Eagles, who sang backup on “Take It to the Limit“.

27. “Break It To Me Gently” by Juice Newton

indexNow, we’ll get to some country music. If a country song were to enter the Top 40 today, it would be a re-recorded pop version of the original version. But, back in the good ole days, the songs made it on the countdown in its original version. This song earned Juice Newton the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

26. “Gloria” by Laura Branigan

This smash hit by Laura Branigan, which I still love, is actually a cover. The original version was an international hit, performed in Italian, by Umberto Tozzi. I’m actually digging his version as well!

25. “Jump To It” by Aretha Franklin

This fun song was produced by Luther Vandross, and features Vandross and Cissy Houston (yes, Whitney’s mom) on backing vocals.

24. “Big Fun” by Kool and the Gang

Time to get funky! I love the horns and the vocals and harmonies in this song.

23. “Hot in the City” by Billy Idol

This song peaked right here at #23. But, if you remember this song from later in the decade, you are either from the U.K., where this song was re-released in 1987, or you are one of the few people that watched the 21 Jump Street spinoff, Booker. This song was the theme song for Booker, which was supposed to launch Richard Grieco into super-stardom. Oh well. We’ll always have If Looks Could Kill anyway.

22. “What’s Forever For” by Michael Martin Murphey

And now we go back to Country music. This song was Murphey’s first of two number ones on the country chart.

21. “I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock Of Seagulls

Today, we close out with some classic ’80s New Wave. I was never really much of a New Wave fan back then. However, I am embracing it now. Unfortunately, now that I’m older, I don’t think I can quite pull of the Mike Score hairdo from back in the day:


Well, that wraps up today’s list of songs. We’ll continue the countdown tomorrow. Have you had any favorite songs, pleasant surprises, or “I never want to hear that song again” moments? Please let me know.