Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Counting down my Top 81 of '81: Singles #40 - 1

A breakdown of my top singles from 1981





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock*
R&B
Dance
40
"Burnin' for You"
Blue Öyster Cult
40

1


39
"Suddenly"
Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard
20
4



38
"All Those Years Ago"
George Harrison
2
1
6


37
"No Reply at All"
Genesis
29

2


36
"Don't Want to Wait Anymore"
The Tubes
35

22


35
"You Better You Bet"
The Who
18

1


34
"A Little in Love"
Cliff Richard
17
6



33
"In the Air Tonight"
Phil Collins
19

2


32
"Arc of a Diver"
Steve Winwood
48

11


31
"Bette Davis Eyes"
Kim Carnes
1
15
5

26



Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
30
"I've Done Everything for You"
Rick Springfield
8



29
"Nicole"
Point Blank
39

20


28
"Sweetheart"
Franke & The Knockouts
10
40
27


27
"Love You Like I've Never Loved Before"
John O'Banion
24




26
"Miss Sun"
Boz Scaggs
14
13



25
"Working in the Coal Mine"
Devo
43

53

30
24
"Draw of the Cards"
Kim Carnes
28




23
"Tom Sawyer"
Rush
44

8


22
"You Make My Dreams"
Daryl Hall & John Oates
5

35


21
"Hey Nineteen"
Steely Dan
10
11






Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
20
"Can You Feel It"
The Jacksons
77


30
1
19
"One Step Closer"
The Doobie Brothers
24
21



18
"Urgent"
Foreigner
4

1

32
17
"Watching the Wheels"
John Lennon
10
6
25


16
"Gemini Dream"
The Moody Blues
12

13

36
15
"How 'Bout Us"
Champaign
12
1

4

14
"Ah! Leah!"
Donnie Iris
29

19


13
"We're in This Love Together"
Al Jarreau
15
6

6

12
"Start Me Up"
The Rolling Stones
2

1

14
11
"Kiss On My List"
Daryl Hall & John Oates
1
16
54





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
10
"My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)"
Chilliwack
22

16


9
"Fashion"
David Bowie
70



21
8
"Time Out of Mind"
Steely Dan
22
13
13


7
"Is It You"
Lee Ritenour
15
15

27

6
"Tempted"
Squeeze
49

8


5
"Our Lips are Sealed"
The Go-Go's
20

15

10
4
"While You See a Chance"
Steve Winwood
7
17
2


3
"Living Inside Myself"
Gino Vannelli
6
5



2
"Just the Two of Us"
Grover Washington, Jr.
2
2

3

1
"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"
The Police
3

1







All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1981. These are my personal top 81 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1981. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 408 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1981. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 94 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 81 are presented this week, in order.


*Billboard started producing a Rock chart beginning with their March 21, 1981 edition.




Other lists of singles from My Favorite Decade:

Monday, November 18, 2024

Counting down my Top 81 of '81: Singles #81 - 41

A breakdown of my top singles from 1981





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock*
R&B
Dance
81
"For Your Eyes Only"
Sheena Easton
4
6



80
"Celebration"
Kool & The Gang
1
34

1
1
79
"Hearts"
Marty Balin
8
9
20


78
"I Made It Through the Rain"
Barry Manilow
10
4



77
"I Love a Rainy Night"
Eddie Rabbitt
1
1



76
"Oh No"
Commodores
4
5

5

75
"Physical"
Olivia Newton-John
1
29

28
22
74
"Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
Christopher Cross
1
1
13


73
"Hold On Tight"
ELO
10

2





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
72
"Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
Billy Joel
17
35
11


71
"Turn Me Loose"
Loverboy
35

6


70
"I Missed Again"
Phil Collins
19

8


69
"Sweet Baby"
Stanley Clarke & George Duke
19
16

6

68
"Her Town Too"
James Taylor & J.D. Souther
11
5
21


67
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"
The Police
10




66
"The Old Songs"
Barry Manilow
15
1



65
"Hold On Loosely"
.38 Special
27

3


64
"Let's Groove"
Earth, Wind & Fire
3


1
3
63
"Ai No Corrida"
Quincy Jones
28


10
3
62
"Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)"
Joey Scarbury
2
3






Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
61
"Cafe Amore"
Spyro Gyra
77
14



60
"Fantasy Girl"
.38 Special
52

30


59
"WKRP in Cincinnati"
Steve Carlisle
65
29



58
"And Love Goes On"
Earth, Wind & Fire
59


15
57
57
"Guilty"
Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb
3
5



56
"Winning"
Santana
17

2


55
"Find Your Way Back"
Jefferson Starship
29

3


54
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty
3

2


53
"Being with You"
Smokey Robinson
2
4

1

52
"The Kid is Hot Tonite"
Loverboy
55

42


51
"Back in Black"
AC/DC
37

51





Title
Artist
Pop
AC
Rock
R&B
Dance
50
"Take My Heart You Can Have It If You Want It)"
Kool & The Gang
17


1
16
49
"Private Eyes"
Daryl Hall & John Oates
1
33
33


48
"She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)"
Carl Carlton
22


2
20
47
"The Voice"
The Moody Blues
15
16
1


46
"Don't Stand So Close to Me"
The Police
10

11


45
"Just Once"
Quincy Jones with James Ingram
17
7

11

44
"Destroyer"
The Kinks
85

3


43
"The Stroke"
Billy Squier
17

3


42
"Jesse's Girl"
Rick Springfield
1

10


41
"Lady (You Bring Me Up)"
Commodores
8
13

5
53





All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts for 1981. These are my personal top 81 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1981. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-2005, I started with the 408 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1981. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 94 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 81 are presented this week, in order.


*Billboard started producing a Rock chart beginning with their March 21, 1981 edition.

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #95


Albums: Todd Rundgren - Healing (Bearsville, 1981), The Clash - Black Market Clash (Epic, 1980), Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver (Island, 1980), Rod Stewart - Foolish Behavior (1980, Warner Bros.)
Episode: Season 3, Episode 16, "I Am Woman"
Original air date: Sunday, February 21, 1981


Click here for more WKRP posters!

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #94


Albums: Ultravox - Vienna (Chrysalis, 1980), Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire (Asylum, 1980)
Episode: Season 3, Episode 16, "I Am Woman"
Original air date: Sunday, February 21, 1981


Click here for more WKRP posters!

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s series - RANKED!


One day in the late summer of 1994, I was browsing through CDs at the Sound Warehouse location at the corner of Hwy 281 & Bitters in San Antonio (that space is currently a Mexican restaurant, El Jarro de Arturo).

I had recently attended my ten-year high school reunion and music from the early '80s was running through my head a lot. So when the teenage kids behind the counter played "867-5309/Jenny" followed by "Vacation" by the Go-Go's and Zappa's "Valley Girl," it naturally caught my ear, so I walked over and asked what they were playing. After a heavy sigh and an eyeroll, the salesgirl smacked her gum and directed me to this series, of which the first five volumes had recently been released. I bought Volume 5 and that started my love affair with this series. I eventually picked up all the discs and even though you didn't ask, here's how I rank the 15 volumes, in countdown fashion. Included with each selection is a link to my track-by-track breakdown of that volume plus what I consider to be the top three tracks on the compilation, in alphabetical order:




"Close (To the Edit)" - The Art of Noise
"Tenderness" - General Public
"Voices Carry" - 'Til Tuesday



CD cover

"Generals and Majors" - XTC
"Tainted Love" - Soft Cell
"Up All Night" - Boomtown Rats




"Head Over Heels" - The Go-Go's
"It's a Mistake" - Men at Work
"Perfect Way" - Scritti Politti




"Change" - Tears for Fears
"In a Big Country" - Big Country
"True" - Spandau Ballet




"I Got You" - Split Enz
"Pop Muzik" - M
"Vienna" - Ultravox




"Cruel to be Kind" - Nick Lowe
"My Sharona" - The Knack
"Video Killed the Radio Star" - Buggles




"Oblivious" - Aztec Camera
"Our Lips are Sealed" - Fun Boy Three
"They Don't Know" - Tracey Ullman




"Never Say Never" - Romeo Void
"Talk Talk" - Talk Talk
"Who Can It Be Now" - Men at Work




"Love Plus One" - Haircut 100
"Someday, Someway" - Marshall Crenshaw
"A Town Called Malice" - The Jam




"Rio" - Duran Duran
"Save It for Later" - The English Beat
"Too Shy" - Kajagoogoo




"Looking for Clues" - Robert Palmer
"New Toy" - Lene Lovich
"Tempted" - Squeeze




"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" - Haircut 100
"Flaming Desire" - Bill Nelson
"O Superman (For Massenet)" - Laurie Anderson




"(Keep Feeling) Fascination" - Human League
"Promises, Promises" - Naked Eyes
"Whistle Down the Wind" - Nick Heyward




"Dance Hall Days" - Wang Chung
"Hero Takes a Fall" - The Bangles
"Wouldn't It Be Good" - Nik Kershaw



CD cover

"Kiss Me" - Tintin
"She Blinded Me with Science" - Thomas Dolby
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" - Heaven 17



Note: the series also included three auxiliary compilations: New Wave Women, New Wave Dance Hits, and New Wave Halloween.