Tag Archives: Luther Vandross

Song of the Day: “There’s Nothing Better Than Love” by Luther Vandross and Gregory Hines

February 14, 2022 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

Today’s song is “There’s Nothing Better Than Love” by Luther Vandross and Gregory Hines. I made this selection, not only is this a great Valentine’s Day song, but the late, great Gregory Hines was born on this day in 1946. Sadly, both of these men are gone too soon. Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) not only has some singing chops, but he was an incredible dancer and choreographer, and he was also a great actor, starring in the films Wolfen (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), Running Scared (1986) – one of my favorite buddy-cop flicks of the ’80s, and Tap (1989). Hines died of liver cancer on August 9, 2003 after being diagnosed for just over a year.

And who can resist the sweet, soulful voice of Luther Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005)? Luther is an R&B legend, being nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Male R&B Vocal Performance 16 times, and winning 4. Sadly, Luther died on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, at the age of 54 due to a heart attack.
Now on to this incredible, and underplayed tune! “There’s Nothing Better Than Love” is on Luther’s 1986 album, Give Me the Reason. The album earned Vandross an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and a nomination for “Favorite Soul/R&B Album” in 1988, while the title track was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male at the 29th Grammy Awards.

This single peaked at number one on the Billboard R&B chart, for one week, and peaked at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “There’s Nothing Better Than Love” was Luther Vandross’ follow up to his previous number one R&B hit, “Stop to Love”, becoming his third number one on the chart.

Luther and Gregory sound great together. It’s too bad they didn’t do more songs together. But, at least we have this gem to enjoy.

1987, Artists, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – February 28, 1987: Songs 20-11

February 28, 2018 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out 40-31 and 30-21. Here are some fun facts about 1987:

– Average Cost of new house $92,000
– Average Income per year $24,350.00
– Average Price for new car $10,3055.00
– 1 gallon of gas 89 cents
– The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
– The First Criminal convicted using DNA Evidence Robert Melias in England
– Work on the Channel Tunnel joining UK and France begins
– Clive Sinclair launches the Z88 Portable Computer weighing under 2 LBS
– 1987 is shortened by 1 second to adjust to the Gregorian calender
– Disposable Contact Lenses became available for commercial distribution

Now, let’s Return to the week ending February 28, 1987, and continue the countdown.

20. “Brand New Lover” by Dead or Alive

You better spin me right round, baby, right round, or I’m gonna find a brand new lover. I know “You Spin Me Round” gets all the attention, but I like this song better. Very underrated New Wave song.

19. “Open Your Heart” by Madonna

Good song. Madonna never looked better. Creepy-ass video.

18. “Stop to Love” by Luther Vandross

The R&B legend crossed over to the mainstream charts with this awesome, upbeat song.

17. “I Wanna Go Back” by Eddie Money

This is a poignant song for us ’80s kids. But, no worries. Anytime you want to go back to the ’80s, you can come over here.

16. “Nobody’s Fool” by Cinderella

Speaking of going back, nothing brings me back more than a “hair band” power ballad!

15. “Let’s Wait Awhile” by Janet Jackson

Beautiful ballad, especially important amidst the AIDS crisis back then.

14. “I’ll Be Alright Without You” by Journey

The ballads continue. A lot of people gave Journey crap for their Raised on Radio album. But, I loved that album, and this was a great ballad off of it. I also liked the concert videos they released at the time, including this one.

13. “Love You Down” by Ready For The World

Once again, we have a song that I had forgotten about. We were in a really mellow mood at this time, as this is yet another ballad. Another awesome one, I may add.

12. “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby & The Range

Eh boy. I can’t explain it, but for some reason I just can’t take this music. Although, back in 1987 I would have rated this a 1 out of 5, but now I give it a 2.

11. “Touch Me (I Want Your Body)” by Samantha Fox

Right back at ya, Samantha. Right back at ya. Although I was a huge rock fan back then, I did love all of Samantha Fox’s songs. There wasn’t a bad song on her first three albums. So, let’s sum things up:
Samantha Fox > Bruce Hornsby. There, I said it!

That wraps up today’s list of songs. I hope you’re still enjoying this countdown. Tomorrow we will find out what the biggest hits on the Billboard 100 were this week, 31 years ago. As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts on this music, and what you were doing at this time.

Follow @returntothe80s

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song: 5/2/17

May 2, 2017 Paul Stroessner Leave a comment

Can you name the artist and song:

I heard you’re asking how I’m feeling
I guess I’ll play it day by day
I’m still around now, my heart is healing
But something’s never gonna change

Last Song: “There’s Nothing Better Than Love” by Luther Vandross and Gregory Hines from the album Give Me the Reason (1986)

It’s better by far
So let yourself reach for that star
And go no matter how far
To the one you love

If you like this song, and would like to buy it, click on the album cover below:

Follow @returntothe80s

1989, Music, Top 40

Top 40 Songs This Week – March 25, 1989: Songs 40-31

March 23, 2015 Paul Stroessner 2 Comments

Hi Everybody! Back by popular demand is the Top 40 Countdown!!! The last countdown – from 1985 – was classic. Personally, I think this is going to be an outstanding week as well. This week, we are Returning to 1989. At the time of this countdown, I was cut off from pop culture civilization as I was in the middle of Navy boot camp. There are some songs on this countdown that I had heard before boot camp, and there are some that were new to me after boot camp. But, there are also some that had come and gone in the 9 week period that I was away. This should be interesting! Now, let’s get started, and Return to the week ending March 25, 1989, and begin the countdown!

40. “One” by Metallica

Earlier in the decade, who would have thought that Metallica would have a Top 40 hit on the pop charts? This was Metallica’s first Top 40 hit, and it was the third and final song released from their album …And Justice for All. In a couple of years later the band would release their controversial album Metallica (aka The Black Album). It wasn’t the material that was controversial. The controversy was that they changed their sound, causing them to lose a lot of fans. But, they would gain plenty of new fans. So, I suppose this was the beginning of the end of Metallica’s true heavy metal sound.

39. “Feels So Good” by Van Halen

This is my favorite song from the second Van Halen album to feature Sammy Hagar – OU812. I didn’t think this album was as good as 5150 (although, it would have been almost impossible to top that one), but OU812 was a pretty solid album. And this song came as advertised – it made me feel good.

38. “Wild Thing” by Tone Lōc

Is it bad that I like this “Wild Thing” better than the Trogg’s “Wild Thing”? Tone Lōc’s song was not a remake, and had nothing to do with the Troggs, except for the title.

37. “The Love In Your Eyes” by Eddie Money

I could not find this song anywhere on the internet at all. So I linked up to his hit, “Walk On Water”, which also came off of his album, Nothing to Lose.

36. “Orinoco Flow” by Enya

I wish I could “sail away, sail away, sail away” from this new-agey song. This song was a world wide hit for the Irish singer, Enya. But this song is not for me.

35. “She Won’t Talk to Me” by Luther Vandross

I love Luther! This song was a huge R&B hit. It was nominated for a Grammy for “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male”.

34. “The Lover in Me” by Sheena Easton

This is one of those songs that I didn’t remember until I just listened to it again. I hadn’t realized that Sheena Easton lasted this late into the ’80s. But, this was her biggest hit in the U.S. since “Morning Train”, topping out at #2. This song was produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface, who were hitting their stride at this point.

33. “Sincerely Yours” by Sweet Sensation & Romeo J.D

Time for some freestyle from Sweet Sensation, the latin trio from New York! This was off of their debut album, Take It While It’s Hot. Although I was still heavy into rock music at that time, I loved Sweet Sensation.

32. “Thinking of You” by Sa-Fire

I loved this nice ballad by Sa-Fire. I bought this cassingle when I got out of boot camp, and went to my Navy schooling in San Diego. It was a perfect song for being very far away from home for the first time.

31. “Rocket” by Def Leppard

Two years after the release of the legendary Hysteria album, Def Leppard were still hitting the charts with songs from that album! This was the final single released from that album. I still love it, and it is still one of the kost popular songs they play in concert.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m loving this countdown already. What a variety! There was only one stinker for me. We’ll be back to continue the countdown tomorrow.

Follow @returntothe80s