SXM's "40 Cassettes Turning 40" - Part Two

So the Classic Rewind (Ch 25) channel on SiriusXM recently ran a listener's poll to determine the best album rock album releases of 1981. Poll results were played in a countdown around Labor Day weekend. I'm not saying their list is wrong, but here's what I would have broadcast if they'd bothered to ask me. Included below is the album's peak position on the Billboard Rock Albums Chart.

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
40	X	Wild Gift	-	"White Girl"
39	Blue Oyster Cult	Fire of Unknown Origin	6	"Burnin' for You"
38	Jefferson Starship	Modern Times	3	"Find Your Way Back"
37	38 Special	Wild-Eyed Southern Boys	8	"Hold On Loosely"
36	Def Leppard	High 'n' Dry	18	"Bringin' on the Heartache"
35	Stevie Nicks	Bella Donna	3	"Edge of Seventeen"
34	Duran Duran	Duran Duran	-	"Girls on Film"
33	Adam and The Ants	Prince Charming	-	"Stand and Deliver"
32	Loverboy	Get Lucky	3	"Working for the Weekend"
31	Sammy Hagar	Standing Hampton	1	"There's Only One Way to Rock"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
30	AC/DC	For Those About to Rock...	3	"For Those About to Rock..."
29	Tom Petty	Hard Promises	1	"The Waiting"
28	Psychedelic Furs	Talk Talk Talk	-	"Pretty in Pink"
27	Pretenders	Pretenders II	11	"Message of Love"
26	U2	October	28	"Gloria"
25	Electric Light Orchestra	Time	10	"Hold On Tight"
24	Todd Rundgren	Healing	15	"Compassion"
23	Joan Jett	I Love Rock 'n Roll	2	"I Love Rock 'n Roll"
22	Rush	Moving Pictures	4	"Tom Sawyer"
21	Split Enz	Waiata	33	"One Step Ahead"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
20	The Moody Blues	Long Distance Voyager	1	"Gemini Dream"
19	Phil Collins	Face Value	2	"In the Air Tonight"
18	Rick Springfield	Working Class Dog	16	"Love is Alright Tonight"
17	Billy Squier	Don't Say No	3	"In the Dark"
16	Genesis	Abacab	1	"No Reply at All"
15	Elvis Costello	Trust	16	"From a Whisper to a Scream"
14	Van Halen	Fair Warning	2	"Unchained"
13	Journey	Escape	1	"Stone in Love"
12	The Tubes	The Completion Backward Principle	11	"Talk to Ya Later"
11	Kim Wilde	Kim Wilde	44	"Kids in America"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
10	Styx	Paradise Theatre	1	"Rockin' the Paradise"
9	The Who	Face Dances	1	"Don't Let Go the Coat"
8	Daryl Hall & John Oates	Private Eyes	19	"Private Eyes"
7	The J. Geils Band	Freeze-Frame	1	"Centerfold"
6	Squeeze	East Side Story	10	"Tempted"
5	The Go-Go's	Beauty and the Beat	10	"Our Lips are Sealed"
4	The Rolling Stones	Tattoo You	1	"Start Me Up" & "Waiting on a Friend"
3	The Cars	Shake It Up	2	"Since You're Gone" & "Shake It Up"
2	Foreigner	4	1	"Juke Box Hero" & "Urgent"
1	The Police	Ghost in the Machine	2	"Spirits in the Material World" & "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"

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SXM's "40 Cassettes Turning 40" - Part One

So the Classic Rewind (Ch 25) channel on SiriusXM recently ran a listener's poll to determine the best rock album releases of 1981. Poll results were played in a countdown around Labor Day weekend. Here are the results and yes I have beef. Included below is the album's peak position on the Billboard Rock Albums Chart.

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played	Notes
40	The Kinks	Give the People What They Want	5	"Destroyer"
39	Triumph	Allied Forces	5	"Fight the Good Fight"
38	The Who	Face Dances	1	"You Better You Bet"
37	Santana	Zebop!	3	"Winning"
36	Eric Clapton	Another Ticket	1	"I Can't Stand It"
35	Pretenders	Pretenders II	11	"Talk of the Town"
34	Sammy Hagar	Standing Hampton	1	"There's Only One Way to Rock"
33	The Moody Blues	Long Distance Voyager	1	"The Voice"
32	Joe Walsh	There Goes the Neighborhood	2	"A Life of Illusion"
31	Rush	Exit...Stage Left	13	"Closer to the Heart"	live album, band also placed at #3

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played	Notes
30	Blondie	Best of Blondie	-	"Dreaming"	greatest hits
29	Blue Oyster Cult	Fire of Unknown Origin	6	"Burnin' for You"
28	ZZ Top	El Loco	6	"Pearl Necklace"
27	U2	October	28	"Gloria"
26	Billy Squier	Don't Say No	3	"My Kinda Lover"
25	Journey	Captured	5	"Just the Same Way"	live album, band also placed at #1
24	Billy Joel	Songs in the Attic	15	"Ballad of Billy the Kid"	live album
23	Pat Benatar	Precious Time	2	"Promises in the Dark"
22	Bob Seger	Nine Tonight	4	"Hollywood Nights"	live album
21	Men at Work	Business as Usual	2	"Down Under"	released in US in 1982

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played	Notes
20	Tom Petty	Hard Promises	1	"Woman in Love (It's Not Me)"
19	38 Special	Wild-Eyed Southern Boys	8	"Hold On Loosely"
18	Def Leppard	High 'n' Dry	18	"Bringin' on the Heartache"
17	Stevie Nicks	Bella Donna	3	"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
16	Ozzy Osborne	Diary of a Madman	8	"Over the Mountain"
15	Phil Collins	Face Value	2	"I Missed Again"	Genesis at #9
14	Van Halen	Fair Warning	2	"Mean Street"
13	J. Geils Band	Freeze-Frame	1	"Centerfold"
12	Loverboy	Get Lucky	3	"When It's Over"
11	The Police	Ghost in the Machine	2	"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played	Notes
10	Joan Jett	I Love Rock 'n Roll	2	"Crimson and Clover"
9	Genesis	Abacab	1	"No Reply at All"	Phil Collins at #15
8	The Rolling Stones	Tattoo You	1	"Hang Fire"
7	Styx	Paradise Theatre	1	"Rockin' the Paradise"
6	Queen	Greatest Hits	11	"Don't Stop Me Now"	greatest hits, track not on US release
5	AC/DC	For Those About to Rock...	3	"Let's Get It Up"
4	The Cars	Shake It Up	2	"Shake It Up" & "Since You're Gone"
3	Rush	Moving Pictures	4	"Limelight" & "YYZ"	band also placed at #31
2	Foreigner	4	1	"Juke Box Hero" & "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
1	Journey	Escape	1	"Don't Stop Believin'" & "Who's Cryin' Now"	band also placed at #25

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So what would the countdown look like if I was in charge? Well, as much as I like Songs in the Attic, I don't think live albums should be on such a chart. And even though I absolutely adore Queen's Greatest Hits album, I don't believe 'best of' compilations have any place here, either. Tune in later this week for my version of the list. 

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Top Albums of August 22, 1981

Let's take a look at what was topping the various album charts on August 22, 1981.

	Billboard	CashBox	Rolling Stone	Record World
1	4 Foreigner	Precious Time Pat Benatar	Long Distance Voyager The Moody Blues	4 Foreigner
2	Precious Time Pat Benatar	4 Foreigner	Mistaken Identity Kim Carnes	Escape Journey
3	Bella Donna Stevie Nicks	Escape Journey	Hard Promises Tom Petty	Precious Time Pat Benatar
4	Escape Journey	Hi Infidelity REO Speedwagon	Hi Infidelity REO Speedwagon	Hi Infidelity REO Speedwagon
5	Long Distance Voyager The Moody Blues	Long Distance Voyager The Moody Blues	Face Value Phil Collins	Long Distance Voyager The Moody Blues
6	Share Your Love Kenny Rogers	Share Your Love Kenny Rogers	Zebop Santana	Endless Love Soundtrack
7	Don't Say No Billy Squier	Street Songs Rick James	Paradise Theater Styx	Bella Donna Stevie Nicks
8	Street Songs Rick James	Don't Say No Billy Squier	Don't Say No Billy Squier	Don't Say No Billy Squier
9	Working Class Dog Rick Springfield	Endless Love Soundtrack	Share Your Love Kenny Rogers	Street Songs Rick James
10	The One That You Love Air Supply	Bella Donna Stevie Nicks	Moving Pictures Rush	Share Your Love Kenny Rogers

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Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:

1. 4 (29 points)
2. Long Distance Voyager (28 pts)
3. Precious Time (27 pts)
4. Escape (24 pts)
5. Hi Infidelity (21 pts)
6. (tie) Bella Donna, Don't Say No, and Share Your Love (13 pts)
9. (tie) Street Songs and Mistaken Identity (9 pts)
11. Hard Promises (8 pts)
12. Endless Love (7 pts)
13. Face Value (6 pts)
14. Zebop (5 pts)
15. Paradise Theater (4 pts)
16. Working Class Dog (2 pts)
17. (tie) The One That You Love and Moving Pictures (1 pt)

Music ads for 1981 releases

Music ads for 1985 releases

Smash Hits Album Ratings - 1981 [part 2 of 2]

Smash Hits was a British teen music magazine that was issued fortnightly. On a scale of 1-10, here's how the magazine's reviewers rated albums released in the second half of 1981. Hope you find something new that you missed back in '81.

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July 9 issue
The Models	Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf	6
Pointer Sisters	Black & White	7
Joe Jackson	Jumpin' Jive	6
Wah!	Nah = Poo - The Art of Bluff	8
Kiki Dee	Perfect Timing	6
Polecats	Polecats Are Go	7½
Henry Badowski	Life is a Grand...	8

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July 23 issue
Jon and Vangelis	The Friends of Mr. Cairo	8
The Equators	Hot	6
Odyssey	I Got the Melody	5
Angelic Upstarts	2,000,000 Voices	5
The Brothers Johnson	Winners	7
Was (Not Was)	Was (Not Was)	7
The Ramones	Pleasant Dreams	5
Kim Wilde	Kim Wilde	6½

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August 6 issue
Icehouse	Icehouse	8
Pat Benatar	Precious Time	4
Evelyn King	I'm in Love	7
Delta 5	See the Whirl	8
Stevie Nicks	Bella Donna	6
Foreigner	4	8
Kirsty MacColl	Desperate Character	4
The Pretenders	II	7

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August 20 issue
ELO	Time	5
The Go-Go's	Beauty and the Beat	5
Philip Rambow	Jungle Law	5½
Dennis Bovell	Brain Damage	9
Rickie Lee Jones	Pirates	6½
Any Trouble	Wheels in Motion	8
Ian Hunter	Short Back N' Sides	5
David Johansen	Here Comes the Night	3

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September 3 issue
The Korgis	Sticky George	3
Blank Slate	Sirens in the City	5
Hazel O'Connor	Cover Plus	3
Simple Minds	Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call	8
Desmond Dekker	Compass Point	8
Cabaret Voltaire	Red Mecca	7½
Funkadelic	The Electric Spanking of War Babies	7½
Devo	New Traditionalists	7

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September 17 issue
Heaven 17	Penthouse and Pavement	8
Ian Dury	Lord Upminster	8
Gary Numan	Dance	9
Shakin' Stevens	Shaky	8
Ultravox	Rage in Eden	5
Crusaders	Standing Tall	8
Altered Images	Happy Birthday	6
The Comsat Angels	Sleep No More	8
Meat Loaf	Dead Ringer	9

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October 1 issue
The Police	Ghost in the Machine	6
Cliff Richard	Wired for Sound	7
Bette Bright	Rhythm Breaks the Ice	6½
Tom Tom Club	Tom Tom Club	6½
Saxon	Denim & Leather	4
Pete Shelley	Homosapien	7
Genesis	Abacab	6½
Godley & Creme	Ismism	4
Sheena Easton	You Could Have Been With Me	5
Madness	7	8
The Passions	Thirty Thousand Feet Over China	8½
John Foxx	The Garden	5

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October 15 issue
The Human League	Dare	8
U2	October	9
The Slits	Return of the Giant Slits	6½
Bow Wow Wow	See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!	8½
Eurythmics	In the Garden	7½
Rose Royce	Jump Street	7
The Cuban Heels	Work Our Way to Heaven	6
Bob Marley	Chances Are	5
Fingerprintz	Beat Noir	7½
Blondie	The Best of Blondie	9½
Carlene Carter	Blue Nun	5
UB40	Present Arms in Dub	8

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October 29 issue
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	Architecture and Morality	9
Linx	Go Ahead	6
Gillan	Double Trouble	7½
Elvis Costello	Almost Blue	9
Martha and The Muffins	This is the Ice Age	7½
Vice Squad	No Cause for Concern	0
Bauhaus	Mask	4
Rex Smith	Everlasting Love	2
Rachel Sweet	And Then He Kissed Me	5
Imagination	Body Talk	8
Joy Division	Still	9
The Meteors	In Heaven	7
Bad Manners	Gosh Its's...	8

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November 12 issue
Adam and The Ants	Prince Charming	5
The Bee Gees	Living Eyes	5
Japan	Tin Drum	8
Prince	Controversy	4
Depeche Mode	Speak and Spell	7
Rush	Exit...Stage Left	2
Diana Ross	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	8½
TV21	A Thin Red Line	5
Earth, Wind & Fire	Raise!	7
Fad Gadget	Incontinent	9
The Sound	From the Lion's Mouth	5
Stray Cats	Gonna Ball	7

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November 26 issue
Soft Cell	Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret	8½
Ian Dury & The Blockheads	Jukebox Dury	9
The Teardrop Explodes	Wilder	8½
The Four Seasons	Tonight!	8
Rainbow	The Best of Rainbow	5
Skids	Joy	5
David Bowie	Changestwobowie	10
The Stranglers	La Folie	8
Kool & The Gang	Something Special	6
New Order	Movement	8
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft	Gold und Liebe	5½
Jacksons	Live	8

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December 10 issue
AC/DC	For Those About to Rock	3
Modern Romance	Adventures in Clubland	6
Durutti Column	LC	8
Boney M	Boonoonoonoos	4
10cc	10 Out Of 10	4
Chas Jankel	Chasanova	7
Various Artists	A Christmas Record	8
Jools Holland	Jools Holland And His Millionaires	3
David Byrne	Catherine Wheel	6½
Tenpole Tudor	Let the Four Winds Blow	6
Jerry Harrison	The Red and the Black	7½
Poison Girls	Total Exposure	4

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December 24 issue
No Album Reviews

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h/t to Brian McCloskey over at Like Punk Never Happened

Top Albums of September '78

Let's take a look at what was topping the various album charts on September 16, 1978.

	Billboard	CashBox	Record World
1	Don't Look Back Boston	Grease Soundtrack	Grease Soundtrack
2	Some Girls Rolling Stones	Don't Look Back Boston	Don't Look Back Boston
3	Double Vision Foreigner	Some Girls Rolling Stones	Double Vision Foreigner
4	Grease Soundtrack	Double Vision Foreigner	Some Girls Rolling Stones
5	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack
6	Natural High Commodores	Natural High Commodores	Natural High Commodores
7	Blam! Brothers Johnson	Worlds Away Pablo Cruise	Worlds Away Pablo Cruise
8	Who Are You The Who	Who Are You The Who	Who Are You The Who
9	A Taste of Honey A Taste of Honey	Blam! Brothers Johnson	Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
10	The Stranger Billy Joel	Shadow Dancing Andy Gibb	Stranger in Town Bob Seger

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Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:

1. Don't Look Back (28 pts)
2. Grease (27 pts)
3. Some Girls (24 pts)
4. Double Vision (23 pts)
5. Sgt. Pepper (18 pts)
6. Natural High (15 pts)
7. Who Are You (9 pts)
8. Worlds Away (8 pts)
9. Blam! (6 pts)
10. A Taste of Honey (2 pts)
11. Saturday Night Fever (2 pts)
12. (Tie) The Stranger, Shadow Dancing, Stranger in Town (1 pt)

Vintage Music Pinbacks #9

Ninth in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the '70s and '80s:

1.  1.125" Men at Work, Cargo, 1983
2.  1.25" Duran Duran, ca. 1982
3.  1" Buzzcocks ca. 1979
4.  1.25" Foreigner, ca. 1982
5.  1" Bauhaus, "Spirit" 1982
6.  1.75" Nick Heyward, North of a Miracle, (Dr. Pepper Music Festival?), 1983-4
7.  1" David Bowie, "Ashes to Ashes" 1980

Random album ad #38

Foreigner - 4 (1981)

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #16

Albums: Peter Tosh - Wanted: Dread or Alive (EMI, 1981) and Foreigner - 4 (Atlantic, 1981)
Episode:  Season 4, Episode 6, "Who's on First"
Original air date: Wednesday, November 11, 1981

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #9

Albums: Herb Alpert - Rise (A&M, 1979), Foreigner - Head Games (Atlantic, 1979)
Episode:  Season 2, Episode 21/22, "Filthy Pictures"
Original air date: Monday, March 3, 1980

Foreigner - I Want to Know What Love Is (1984)

 I Want to Know What Love Is
b/w Street Thunder (Marathon Theme)

Released: November 1984 (Atlantic) Written by: Mick Jones Produced by: Mick Jones, Alex Sadkin Album: Agent Provocateur

U. S. Billboard Charts:
Hot 100	1
Adult Contemporary	3
Mainstream Rock	1
R&B	85

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While I count 1976-85 as my favorite decade, that doesn't mean I like everything produced during that time.  Case in point: this song which will make me run to a radio to change the station ASAP.  I can't stand this song.  It just plods along with a too heavy synth in a minor key.  Even the background gospel choir is singing a poor vocal arrangement with a flat, bored sound that says to me, "We're just doing this for the money."  Even though I was a Foreigner fan and, for three years, looked forward to a follow-up to 4, I couldn't bring myself to even try this album (the poorly titled Agent Provocateur).  It may be a good album, but I'll never know; this single ruined it for me.  I disliked it from the get-go.  It's just plain boring.  This band should rock.

I hear this called a power balled, but I'm not hearing that.  I realize that it was a huge hit and the band's only #1 song, but that only means it still gets played on the oldies stations with regularity.  When it does, I've changed the station before the DJ finishes talking over the intro.

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Top Selling Albums of 1982

My personal Top Ten Albums of 1982:

• Asia - Asia
• The Golden Age of Wireless - Thomas Dolby
• Rio - Duran Duran
• Special Beat Service - The English Beat
• The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
• Pelican West - Haircut 100
• Night and Day - Joe Jackson
• The Nylon Curtain - Billy Joel
• Incognito - Spyro Gyra
• IV - Toto

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare my personal list to the top ten selling albums of that year.  Not so, it turns out.  Why?  Of the best selling albums of 1982, only two were released during that calendar year.  Seven others were released in July and October of the previous year.  I shoulda seen that coming. But since I did the research, I thought I'd post the results anyway.  Turns out the only record the two lists have in common is the Asia album.  In order, here's how Billboard magazine ranked the top ten sellers of 1982.

		Title: Asia Artist: Asia Released: March 1982 (Geffen) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 64 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 9
		Title: Beauty and the Beat Artist: The Go-Go's Released: July 1981 (I.R.S.) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 72 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 6
		Title: 4 Artist: Foreigner Released: July 1981 (Atlantic) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 81 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 10
		Title: American Fool Artist: John Cougar Released: July 1982 (Riva) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 106 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 9
		Title: Freeze-Frame Artist: The J. Geils Band Released: October 1981 (EMI) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 70 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 4
		Title: Escape Artist: Journey Released: July 1981 (Columbia) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 146 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 1
		Title: Get Lucky Artist: Loverboy Released: October 1981 (Columbia) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 122 Peak position: #7 Number of weeks at #1: n/a
		Title: Bella Donna Artist: Stevie Nicks Released: July 1981 (Atco) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 143 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 1
		Title: Chariots of Fire Artist: Vangelis Released: April 1981 (Polydor) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 57 Peak position: #1 Number of weeks at #1: 4
		Title: Ghost in the Machine Artist: The Police Released: October 1981 (A&M) Number of weeks in the Billboard 200: 109 Peak position: #2 Number of weeks at #1: n/a

I bought the Asia and Vangelis albums on vinyl and the albums by The Go-Go's, Foreigner, The J. Geils Band, Journey, and The Police on cassette. I've since bought CD copies of the albums on this list by Asia, The Go-Go's, The J. Geils Band, Vangelis, and The Police.  No current plans to buy the others, but I'm a fickle guy when it comes to things like that.

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