In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.
"I Will Follow" by U2 (1983, Island) I'm treated to the live version from the Under A Blood Red Sky mini-LP. It was released as a single and peaked at #81. So much energy and passion. I really dig these live cuts and they remind me what a great band these guys were in the early '80s, hungry for success and striving to get there. For many years, I thought the lyrics were, like many early U2 tunes, based in Christian teachings and this was a call to follow Christ. I've since discovered I was wrong about that. Nevertheless, that opening riff is so powerful, simple, and aggressive that you can't help but pay attention.
"Follow Me" by Chicago (1982, Full Moon/Warner Bros.) Two "follow" songs shuffle around consecutively! What are the odds? This tune is immediately recognizable to me as the opening track to side 2 of my old Chicago 16 cassette. An obvious David Foster composition with soulful vocals from Bill Champlin. The icing on the cake are the horn parts from James Pankow, et. al. Then there's the guitar solo coda - that's gotta be Lukather, right?
"Tanque-Ray" by Nick Lowe (1983, Columbia) Filler track from the 1983 album, The Abominable Showman. Goes to show even great musicians can have an off day just like the rest of us.
"I Zimbra" by Talking Heads (1982, Sire) Another live track, this time from the brilliant The Name of this Band is Talking Heads. Eno and Byrne were in their African ripoff phase so the chanting is kinda obvious and kinda awesome. The extra percussion in the expanded ten-piece group is perfect and Adrian Belew tears off a tasty solo. I'll take this as a sign to spin the entire album today.
"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by Culture Club (1982, Epic) Pseudo-reggae meets pseudo-soul and dadgummit this thing is still as catchy as it is disposable. I hate it, I love it, I love to hate it, I hate to love it, I hate that I love it, etc. I got issues. Maybe The Name of this Band... will fix 'em.
In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.
"Miss Me Blind" by Culture Club (1984, Epic) The song that made me a Culture Club fan and still my favorite CC tune. Tasty vocal harmonies, easy to dance to, fuzzy guitar solo that has a nice shape followed by that hooky break about 3:15 in.
"Soft Touch" by Doc Severinsen (1977, Columbia) I wrote about Severinsen's 1977 Brand New Thing album back in 2014. Here's what I wrote about this tune then: "A beautiful ballad played flawlessly by Severinsen. Richard Tee's accompaniment is perfect: adding stuff where he should, laying back when he should. Doc's solos focus on melody over technique and that's just what is called for here."
"Carrie" by Cliff Richard (1980, EMI) A minor US hit for Richard (it peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100). This minor key pop-rocker doesn't do much for me.
"I Told U So" by David Sanborn (1982, Warner Bros.) And my day just got better tenfold. This lead track from the excellent Backstreet album immediately relaxes me and puts me in a better mood. How good is it? Well, after this shuffle is finished, I'll probably spin the whole album at least once (well, maybe not track 3).
"Windpower" by Thomas Dolby (1982, EMI) Great song from a favorite album. Released as a single in Europe, this thing is definitely unique synthpop - Morse code intro, relentless synth toms, atypical song structure, out-of-place horn licks, flute obligato, and hooks a'plenty. The album mix shuffled around today, but there's also a 6 minute "Extended Play" version which is wonderful jumble to the above song elements.
JB and I are in complete agreement. But his tweet got me thinking about other albums with that kind of longevity, then I heard my 80 year old high school campus is mercifully scheduled for demolition, and because brains work in strange ways, I put those two seemingly unrelated thoughts together and came up with this question:
Were there any albums that had singles in Billboard's Hot 100 for the entirety of my senior year in high school, August 1983-May 1984?
Well, I found one album that met the criteria (a personal favorite at that!) and four others that came dang close. Granted, a lot of this success is due to timing and luck, but that's the music biz. This may or may not have any interest to you, but I did the research and compulsively created a timeline graphic, so here it is:
#20: "It's a Miracle" by Culture Club. Guest host Charlie Van Dyke quotes Boy George as saying that Roy Hay is really the leader of the group. (Odd, because when I saw the group a few months ago, they were billed as "Boy George and Culture Club" and yes, they played this song.) This is one of the group's better singles; it peaked at #13 in only 8 weeks in the Top 40.
"A listener wants to know: what male artist and what female artist who started out on the country chart went on to have the greatest success on the pop chart? Well, the top man was a star from Tupelo, Mississippi and the top woman is a superstar from Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Details coming up."
#19: "Self Control" by Laura Branigan. Branigan's music never did much for me, but I seem to be in minority as this tune would work its way up to #4 by the end of June.
Charlie gives us the answers to the above listener questions: Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.
#18: "Borderline" by Madonna. Charlie introduces this song by mentioning there are 7 solo female artists in today's countdown: Christine McVie, Tracey UIlman, Laura Branigan, Irene Cara, Cyndi Lauper, Deniece Williams, and Madonna. And there ain't no Madonna like '80s Madonna. Great tune - my favorite from Madonna's self-titled debut album. It peaked at #10.
#17: "Dancing in the Sheets" by Shalamar. The third song in today's countdown taken from the Footloose soundtrack album. This is a catchy tune that sounds terribly dated with its synths and drum machine. But it's not as if I'm going to let that keep from dancing right now. It's almost like I'm at the High Spot Drive-In:
This single is peaking here at #17.
Charlie teases that an upcoming song is recorded by an artist that lives in "a certain part of Los Angeles" then plays an excerpt from Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl."
"Every week, American Top 40 is heard in the 50 states and around the world on great radio stations like:"
#16: "I'll Wait" by Van Halen. Of the four singles released from the 1984 album, this is my least favorite. I like my VH with more guitar riffs. Nonetheless, this tune spent ten weeks on AT40, peaking slightly higher at #13.
#15: "Love Somebody" by Rick Springfield. Springfield lives in the San Fernando Valley and they need show content, so Charlie offers up information about the area and we treated to an excerpt from Bing Crosby's 1944 song, "San Fernando Valley." "Love Somebody" is one of Springfield's better singles, but one we rarely hear these days. It had peaked at #5 a few weeks earlier. #14: "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel. At #14 for the third week in a row. This doo-wop tribute is one of the top four or five cuts on An Innocent Man and I still know every word and am egotistical enough to mistakenly believe I know all the vocal harmonies as well. I had seen Joel perform the song live the previous month.
and bought one of the ugliest sleeveless concert tees ever produced (yes, I wore it in public):
Anyhoo, "The Longest Time" would peak here at #14.
Charlie states: "Music historians usually identify 'New Wave' as having originated in England, but the first New Wave act to hit our Top 40 weren't British at all - they were Americans: a band out of Boston. Details, and their current hit, are coming up."
#13: "The Heart of Rock 'N' Roll" by Huey Lewis & The News. "The whole album has a clear, crisp sound and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost." -Patrick Bateman. I like it just fine, but the video hasn't aged well:
"The cheese is strong with this one." That may be, but this single would be one of 12 Top 10 hits for Huey and the boys.
Guest host Charlie Van Dyke claims The Cars are the first New Wave act to hit the Top 40 and plays an excerpt from "Just What I Needed" (#27, 1978). And I'm OK with The Cars getting that designation.
#12: "You Might Think" by The Cars. I wasn't a fan of this single nor its award-winning stalker video. But I dubbed a friend's copy of the LP, loved "Hello Again" and "Magic" and would just listen to those two tracks over and over; they're still two of my favorite Cars songs. But this tune would become one of the band's bigger hits; it had peaked at #7 earlier in May.
#11: "Head Over Heels" by The Go-Go's. While Beauty and the Beat is my favorite Go-Go's album, this is easily my favorite Go-Go's single and it's not even close (and the whole Talk Show album tends to be underrated).
