MFD Random Five #54

In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.

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1. "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson (1983, Columbia)
   A smash that spent 6 weeks atop the Billboard charts, most likely because Jackson had the Midas touch at the time. It's not a bad tune, but I've heard it enough for one lifetime.  Also, when I was a high school senior, my jazz band played a cheesy arrangement of Say Say Say which the world could have done without.


2. "Happy Music" by Linda Williams (1979, Arista)
   A fun little disco tune. It would be totally generic if it weren't for the outstanding synth soling all over the thing.


3. "Love's a Heartache" by Leslie Smith (1982, Elektra)
   Smooth ballad with spot on vocals from Smith. The album from which this comes is fantastic and has already been given a turn on this blog, where it earned a grade of A-.


4. "Come to Me" by Bobby Caldwell (1978, Clouds)
   Another smooth ballad. This one from Caldwell's debut album featuring his stellar vocals atop soaring orchestration. Reminds me a lot of what Boz was doing at the time.


5. "The Lone Ranger" by Dan Siegel (1982, Elektra)
   A straight-up Dave Grusin smooth-jazz-meets-movie-soundtrack knock-off, complete with orchestration. However, Larry Carlton gets the spotlight, so it's not half-bad. (I hope blogger doesn't fine me for overuse of hyphens)

Bubbling Under 1982 [Part 1 of 5]

A few years back, I posted about all the great songs that didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 1983 (you can find that post here). Around these parts, we have long avowed that the greatest year for pop music is 1982, so I thought I'd do a similar post for the Bubbling Under charts of that year. And that became a problem. For the 1983 list, I simply used the 1983 Music Yearbook from the folks over at Record Research, but that was the first of its kind meaning no such yearbook exists for 1982.

I figured I could craft my own yearbook by using the actual Billboard charts in the 1982 issues, but couldn't find Bubbling Under charts in the four issues of March 13 & 27 and July 24 & 31. However, the Record Research people did print a 54 page 1982 supplement to their Pop Annual book that included the bubbling under charts for that year, including the info from the four issues mentioned above.

The supplement makes no mention of the four missing charts, but I'm sure Record Research had exclusive access to all the charts regardless of publication and I guess it really doesn't matter 36 years after the fact. Anyway, because I just spent $6 for a copy of the above book and since it's easier than constructing my own list from the actual charts, we'll go with that book (I'm not lazy, just efficient 😉).  Below is an annotated list of the songs listed in the supplement, provided with links in hopes of helping you find some vintage tunes that are new to you. Click on the title to hear the tune or see the video, click on the artist for a Wikipedia entry, and click on the album for the Discogs entry. In all, there were 105 tracks that "bubbled under" the Hot 100 in 1982, here's 21 of those.

Title	Artist	Album	BU	Rock	AC	RB	Dance	Country
Mountain Music	Alabama	Mountain Music	101					1
Rock 'N' Roll Party in the Streets	Axe	Offering	109	23
He was Really Sayin' Somethin'	Bananarama	Deep Sea Skiving	108				16
If Love Takes You Away	Stephen Bishop	Summer Lovers	108		22
Baby, Oh No	Bow Wow Wow	I Want Candy	103				58
It Was I	Lindsey Buckingham	Law and Order	110
Do the Donkey Kong	Buckner & Garcia	Pac-Man Fever	103
Jamaica	Bobby Caldwell	Carry On	105			54
Just Be Yourself	Cameo	Alligator Woman	101			12
Baby I Need Your Loving	Carl Carlton	The Bad C.C.	103			17	35
Blue Moon with Heartache	Roseanne Cash	Seven Year Ache	104		37			1
It Ain't Easy Comin' Down	Charlene	I've Never Been to Me	109		23*
Harder than Diamond	Chubby Checker	The Change has Come	104	33
Stage Fright	Chic	Take It Off	105			34
Take a Lickin' and Keep On Kickin'	William "Bootsy" Collins	The One Giveth, The Count Taketh Away	103			29
One Hello	Randy Crawford	Windsong	110			50
There She Goes Again	Marshall Crenshaw	Marshall Crenshaw	110
Slow Down	Lacy J. Dalton	16th Avenue	106					13
Ragin' Cajun	Charlie Daniels Band	Windows	109					76
Through Being Cool	Devo	New Traditionalists	107				32
Peek-A-Boo!	Devo	Oh, No! It's Devo	106				13

*Charlene's single "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" was originally released in 1977 and the #23 peak on the Adult Contemporary chart is from that year, not 1982.

Bubbling Under 1982

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The following songs didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 list in 1982, peaking at positions 101-110.  I'm incredulous these fine singles didn't manage to crack the Hot 100 as this is quality stuff that gets a lot of playing time 'round here:

Below is a Mixcloud show containing 14 of the Bubbling Under tunes followed by an annotated playlist:

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"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" Haircut 100 From the album Pelican West Written by Nick Heyward Produced by Bob Sargeant

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	101
Dance	41
Rock	50

I'm an unabashed fan of Nick Heyward and Haircut 100 and this song was part of my introduction to that group. The label promoted this song as "pop-funk-rock" - I'd go with "soul-dance-pop" but that's splitting hairs. I was surprised to see it chart on the rock charts. It peaked at #4 in the UK and probably ranked that high in my personal ranking around August 1982 (if I'd had personal rankings in August 1982). Do yourself a favor and listen to the whole album.

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"There She Goes Again" Marshall Crenshaw From the album Marshall Crenshaw Written by Marshall Crenshaw Produced by Richard Gottehrer & Marshall Crenshaw

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	110

Typical pop brilliance from Crenshaw, who seems to be able to write a hook as easily as pouring a cup of coffee. The bridge to this loping shuffle is sublime. I was late to the Crenshaw party ("discovering" him around 1994) but better late than never. Again, seek out the entire debut album and give it a listen.

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"Your Precious Love" Al Jarreau & Randy Crawford From the album Casino Lights Written by Nicholas Ashford & Valerie Simpson Produced by Tommy LiPuma

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102

From the #1 jazz album Casino Lights, this cover of a Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit is one of three Jarreau/Crawford duets on this live album and the first of five covers in this mix. I prefer "Who's Right, Who's Wrong" but this is excellent, too. In addition to that vocal power, check out the backing band: Larry Carlton (who delivers a smoky solo), Marcus Miller and the Yellowjackets, You know what you should do? Check out the whole album.

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"He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" Bananarama From the album Deep Sea Skiving Written by Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson & Edward Holland, Jr. Produced by Dave Jordan & Fun Boy Three

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108
Dance	16

A bouncy cover of a 1964 Velvelettes tune. This has Fun Boy Three on backing vocals and Terry Hall's fingerprints all over it. Not surprisingly, it peaked at #5 in the UK. I haven't heard the whole album, so I can't legitimately make a recommendation on this one.

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"Nobody's Business" Maxus From the album Maxus Written by Jay Gruska & Lisa Dal Bello Produced by Michael Omartian

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

I was hipped to the goodness of Maxus a few years back and I'm glad I was cuz you know we love West Coast/AOR around here. This is the second track from their first and only album, which didn't chart but certainly should have.  I'm gonna blame Warner Bros. for not giving it the promotion it deserved. Underrated and unappreciated. If you like Toto and such and haven't yet heard Maxus, go listen to the entire album.

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"If Love Takes You Away" Stephen Bishop From the Summer Lovers soundtrack Written by Stephen Bishop Produced by Russ Titelman

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108
Adult Contemporary	22

Bish consistently put out good soft rock tunes like this midtempo soundtrack contribution. I'm digging the bridge on this one but it doesn't go to a Jay Graydon guitar solo like I expect it to. Never seen the movie or heard the full soundtrack but if this track listing is accurate, the album seems like something I'd enjoy.

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"So Fine" Howard Johnson From the album Keepin' Love New Written by Kashif Produced by Kashif, Morrie Brown & Paul Lawrence Jones

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	105
Dance	1
R&B	6

I'm all in as soon as I hear the first a capella notes of the introduction. The groove reminds me a bit of Carl Carlton's "She's a Bad Mama Jama" which was on the charts at the same time. #1 on the dance chart doesn't surprise me a bit cuz I can't sit still.

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"Me and The Boys" Bonnie Raitt From the album Green Light Written by Terry Adams Produced by Rob Fraboni

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

I like this one so much, I wrote a whole post about it and gave it a B+.

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"Jamaica" Bobby Caldwell From the album Carry On Written by Bobby Caldwell Produced by Bobby Caldwell

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	105
R&B	54

The smoothest vocal track in this mix. Caldwell is in fine voice, as always. Bonus points for the simple but effective arrangement of synths and Latin percussion.

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"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" Split Enz From the album Time and Tide Written by Tim Finn & Split Enz Produced by Hugh Padgham & Split Enz

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104

I first heard this fun track on the MTV and quickly became a fan of the Finn brothers. It wasn't a hit here in the US, but reached #7 in the group's native New Zealand.

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"As" Jean-Luc Ponty From the album Mystical Adventures Written by Stevie Wonder Produced by Jean-Luc Ponty

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108

I got this #1 jazz album in 1983 as part of a Columbia house 10-for-a-penny deal. Admittedly, electric jazz violin is an acquired taste, but Stevie Wonder tunes are not so I was quickly drawn to this track on side two of the album. I once made an odd mixtape that led off with Donald Fagen's "New Frontier" then segued into this cut. I'm not surprised this didn't make the Top 40, but I'm still digging it all these years later. Today's trivia: that's American Idol's Randy Jackson on bass, dawg. (I hate that he overused the nonsense word "pitchy" on that show, but I gotta admit that he plays a great bass on this tune.)

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"My Old Piano" Diana Ross From the album Diana Written by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards Produced by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

The Chic-written and produced Diana was released in 1980, but apparently the record label was trying to milk one more single out of the thing two years later. Can't say I blame 'em because it's Chic and Diana Ross ferchrissakes. Listen to the whole album and, if possible, find the deluxe version that includes the original Chic mix.

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"Jamming" Grover Washington, Jr. From the album Come Morning Written by Bob Marley Produced by Grover Washington Jr. & Ralph MacDonald

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102

The third tune on this list taken from #1 jazz albums. A smooth jazz cover of a Bob Marley tune. Typical Grover goodness. This relaxing cut is highly recommended as is the entire album.

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"Take a Chance with Me" Roxy Music From the album Avalon Written by Bryan Ferry & Phil Manzanera Produced by Rhett Davies & Roxy Music

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104

The entire Avalon album is exquisite and I'll leave it at that.

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"Bubbling Under" chart information taken from Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1982 supplement, pp. 49-54, the accuracy of which will be discussed in a later post.