I'm breaking down the AT40 show of February 16, 1980 track by track. For an a look at #40-31, click here, for #30-21 click here.
#20: "Second Time Around" by Shalamar. #1 on the Soul/R&B chart on this date, this is easily my favorite Shalamar tune. It's so dang easy to listen to. I don't recognize the names in the backing group but they sure could lay down a groove. It also hit #1 on the disco/dance chart.
Long Distance Dedication: "(You're) Having My Baby" by Paul Anka (#1, 1974). You know where this is headed, but here we go any way:
Dear Casey, I'm a lieutenant in the United States Army Engineers currently serving in Korea. I'm here without my wife and am currently on the early side of a twelve month tour. I miss her tremendously. We were married four years ago when I first came into the service. There was no honeymoon and she traveled with me across the country to Fort Stewart, Georgia where she assumed her role as an army wife.Sheesh. Moving right along...
During that first year of marriage, we were constantly separated as I went to Panama, field exercises, and school. She quietly accepted her role of being dragging around the country, uprooted from the home she cherished, and being left alone. There was never any doubt or questioning, but, rather, support, sympathy, encouragement, and, most of all, love. I've always felt guilty about leaving her behind to maintain a home while I was elsewhere. And I haven't always been supportive of her needs or been there when she needed me most. And that's what this letter is for.
Gigi is home in San Antonio, seven months pregnant with our first child. As my job dictates, I won't be home for the birth of our child, but I need to tell my wife how I feel about her. Much the same as Paul Anka put it in "(You're) Having My Baby." I dedicate this to you, Gigi. Loving you from so far away. Signed, Kirk.
#19: "September Morn" by Neil Diamond. I never fully appreciated Diamond at the time, but that's on me. This isn't his best ballad, but it's pleasant enough. Love the Floyd Cramer-esque piano. This single was Diamond's 30th Top 40 hit; it would eventually peak at #17.
#18: "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd. "The biggest climber of the week!" The second of Pink Floyd's two Top 40 singles ("Money" hit #13 in 1973), this smash would later spend 4 weeks at #1. School kids loved the lyrics; school administrators hated them. Some schools went to the ridiculous lengths of banning the song as if they could. To be honest, other than the truthful lyrics, this isn't that great a tune when compared to the rest of PF's canon. The best part is David Gilmour's guitar solo, which is first-rate. And remember kids, if you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
#17: "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl" by The Spinners. A great disco cover of a 1966 Four Seasons tune. There really wasn't any need to add a second song for a medley, but they didn't consult me. The song would spend 16 weeks on Casey's show, spending two weeks in the #2 spot. I always liked The Spinners and enjoyed seeing them hang around into the '80s.
Casey teases a story with "the co-leader of the supergroup, The Eagles, earned his first set of drums when he was 15 by blowing up his mother's washtub with cherry bombs."
#16: "An American Dream" by The Dirt Band. I liked this one when it was released, particularly the Linda Ronstadt harmonies. It blends country with tropical with great success and I can sing all the harmonies if ya need it.
Casey shares the story of Don Henley blowing up his mom's wash tub with a cherry bomb so his father would be forced to buy her a washing machine. And she bought Don a drum kit as a thank you. It's not a great story, but Casey milks it for all it's worth.
#15: "The Long Run" by Eagles. Around this time, anything by Eagles was welcome to these ears. I preferred their previous single "Heartache Tonight" but I liked this So-Cal rock tune with country harmonies, too.
#14: "Romeo's Tune" by Steve Forbert. This was Forbert's only single to crack the Top 40, but I remember singing along with this one when it was on the radio. I don't think it has a catchy melody, but I like the way the alliterative "meet me in the middle of the day" rolls out of my mouth. The single would peak the following week at #11.
#13: "Daydream Believer" by Anne Murray. This John Stewart tune is so happy and uplifting that I can't help but love it. This single would top the adult contemporary chart, peak at #3 on the country chart (it doesn't sound much country to me but I can plead ignorance on that), and eventually reach #12 n the Top 40.
AT40 Archives: "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac. Casey's counting down the #1 songs of the 1970's' this tune is the last of three in this show. If this isn't my favorite Fleetwood Mac tune, it's certainly in the discussion.
--end of hour three--
Casey welcomes three new stations to the American Top 40 family:
#12: "Don't Do Me Like That" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Petty's second tune in this week's Top 40 ("Refugee" was back at #26). It had peaked at #10 the previous week. I dig everything about this tune from the Hammond organ to the middle 8, to the imminently singable, catchy-as-hell chorus.
"Several months ago, a listener in Minnesota made a Long Distance Dedication that resulted in his getting a long distance phone call from a famous and beautiful woman - one of Charlie's Angels. That story is coming up."
#11: "This is It" by Kenny Loggins. This smooth classic won the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and deservedly so. It takes the best parts of the previous two chart tunes (uplifting lyrics and a catchy chorus) and takes it all up a notch. It also marks Michael McDonald's second appearance on this week's chart (he also duetted with Nicolette Larson back at #39). There's some good tunes in the Top 10 this week, but in my book, none can top "This is It."
LDD dedication follow-up: A high school kid sent a LDD to Cheryl Ladd in hopes that she would go to prom with him. She didn't accept his invitation, but she did call to decline, which would have been enough to me. Heck, she could call me right now and I'd be a bumbling idiot.
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| Billboard, February 16, 1980, p. 94 |
More to come...
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