Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:
- Hi Infidelity
- Paradise Theater
- Double Fantasy
- Crimes of Passion
- Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits
- Moving Pictures
- The Jazz Singer
- 4
- Long Distance Voyager
- Arc of a Diver
Showing posts with label Kenny Rogers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenny Rogers. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2021
1981 Year-End Album Charts
Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:
Monday, May 4, 2020
MFD Random Five #52
In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.
- "Alone-6 AM" by George Duke (1979, Epic)
A brief piano interlude from the classic A Brazilian Love Affair album. Sounds like a pianist messing around on a piano at 6 AM after a long night of recording, then there's about 10 seconds of upbeat stuff before someone shuts the tape turns off. - "Puppet Life" by Punishment of Luxury (1978, Small Wonder)
From the 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979 box set, this odd tune is a cross between punk, Franz Ferdinand (the aughts band, not the Austrian archduke), and Karl King's "Barnum & Bailey's Favorite." I find it to be fascinating, just not very good. - "Marsha's Car" by David Bean (1983, Wasted Talent)
David Bean is the singer/songwriter/leader of The Judy's, a local favorite from the Houston area when I was in high school and college. This was the lead song from his solo EP, Modomusic. Bean's voice is an acquired taste, but this thing is 4 minutes of pop perfection. The 7-song mini-album was available in three different colors - yellow, blue and pink. I opted for blue.
In the mid-1990's when e-mail was a newfangled thing to me, I wrote a fanboy email to David Bean, who had become a science teacher by that time, I believe. Turns out that the email address belonged to David's father, also named David. The elder Bean was quite kind and gracious in his response and didn't seem to mind responding to such emails, which had become a regular occurrence in his life at that time.
from the MFD archives - "The Rowe" by Thompson Twins (1982, T Records)
Sounding more like Talking Heads wannabes than later pop-styled Thompson Twins, this is a 2 chord album cut that holds your attention for about 3½ minutes, so it's a shame that the track is 6½ minutes long. - "She Believes In Me" by Kenny Rogers (1979, United Artists)
This song was huge in my little world, ca. 7th grade. In an earlier post on this blog, I wrote: "This reminds me a little of Bread's 'Lost Without Your Love' but not enough to distract from its soft rock crossover goodness. This topped both the country and AC charts while peaking at #5 in the Top 40." Rogers once stated that he looked for ballads "that say what every man wants to say and what every woman wants to hear." Check and check.
KR crossover songs from 1979-80 always remind me of a girl named Melinda, until we get to "Lady" which reminds me of Danette. No, these ladies weren't my girlfriends, but not for lack of trying on my part. More on my geekiness around that time here.
Monday, February 17, 2020
Top Albums of February 16, 1980
A look at the top ten albums in music industry magazines the week of February 16, 1980. Something for everyone here: prog rock, disco, R&B, soft rock, country, and plain ol' rock 'n' roll:
Billboard
|
CashBox
|
Record World
|
|
1
|
The Wall
Pink Floyd |
The Wall
Pink Floyd |
The Wall
Pink Floyd |
2
|
Damn the Torpedoes
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers |
Damn the Torpedoes
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers |
Off the Wall
Michael Jackson |
3
|
Off the Wall
Michael Jackson |
Off the Wall
Michael Jackson |
The Long Run
Eagles |
4
|
The Long Run
Eagles |
The Long Run
Eagles |
On the Radio
Greatest Hits Vols 1 & 2 Donna Summer |
5
|
Phoenix
Dan Fogelberg |
Phoenix
Dan Fogelberg |
Damn the Torpedoes
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers |
6
|
Kenny
Kenny Rogers |
On the Radio
Greatest Hits Vols 1 & 2 Donna Summer |
Phoenix
Dan Fogelberg |
7
|
On the Radio
Greatest Hits Vols 1 & 2 Donna Summer |
Kenny
Kenny Rogers |
Kenny
Kenny Rogers |
8
|
Tusk
Fleetwood Mac |
Cornerstone
Styx |
Cornerstone
Styx |
9
|
Cornerstone
Styx |
Tusk
Fleetwood Mac |
In Through the Out Door
Led Zeppelin |
10
|
September Morn
Neil Diamond |
Freedom at Point Zero
Jefferson Starship |
Freedom at Point Zero
Jefferson Starship |
Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:
- The Wall(30 pts)
- Off the Wall (25 pts)
- Damn the Torpedoes (24 pts)
- The Long Run (23 pts)
- Phoenix (17 pts)
- On the Radio (16 pts)
- Kenny (13 pts)
- Cornerstone (8 pts)
- Tusk (5 pts)
- (tie) Freedom at Point Zero and In Through the Out Door (2 pts)
- September Morn (1 pt)
Monday, December 23, 2019
Album ad #74
RCA Christmas Ad (1983)
- Kenny Rogers - Eyes That See in the Dark
- Daryl Hall & John Oates - Rock 'N' Soul, Part 1
- Eurythmics - Touch
- Lionel Richie - Running with the Night
- Daryl Hall & John Oates - H2O
- David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture
- Elvis Costello - Punch the Clock
- JoBoxers - Like Gangbusters
- Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
- Bucks Fizz - Greatest Hits
- Lionel Richie - Lionel Richie
Monday, April 8, 2019
Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #79 - 62
A breakdown of my top singles from 1979
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
R&B
|
Disco
|
|
79
|
"Lady"
|
Little River Band
|
10
|
7
| ||
78
|
"Highway to Hell"
|
AC/DC
|
47
| |||
77
|
"Dance the Night Away"
|
Van Halen
|
15
| |||
76
|
"Hot Stuff"
|
Donna Summer
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
|
75
|
"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)"
|
Rupert Holmes
|
1
|
8
| ||
74
|
"Let's Go"
|
The Cars
|
14
| |||
73
|
"Heaven Knows"
|
Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
|
4
|
17
|
10
| |
72
|
"Suspicions"
|
Eddie Rabbitt
|
13
|
9
| ||
71
|
"In the Stone"
|
Earth, Wind & Fire
|
58
|
23
|
Title
|
Artist
|
Pop
|
AC
|
R&B
|
Disco
|
|
70
|
"I Will Survive"
|
Gloria Gaynor
|
1
|
9
|
4
|
1
|
69
|
"(not just) Knee Deep"
|
Funkadelic
|
77
|
1
|
43
|
|
68
|
"Driver's Seat"
|
Sniff 'n' The Tears
| 15 | |||
67
|
"Sad Eyes"
|
Robert John
|
1
|
10
| ||
66
|
"Still"
|
The Commodores
|
1
|
6
|
1
| |
65
|
"You Can't Change That"
| Raydio |
9
|
25
|
3
| |
64
|
"Ships"
|
Barry Manilow
|
9
|
4
| ||
63
|
"The Gambler"
|
Kenny Rogers
|
16
|
3
| ||
62
|
"One Way or Another"
|
Blondie
|
24
|
All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts. These are my personal top 79 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1979. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-1999, I started with the 475 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1979. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 105 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 79 are presented here, in order.
Thursday, August 2, 2018
AT40, August 4, 1979 [Part 2 of 4]
I'm breaking down the AT40 show of August 4, 1979 track by track. For a look at #40-31, click here.
#30: "Does Your Mother Know" by ABBA. I'm an ABBA fan and I don't care who knows it. Those Swedes could write some hooks. This song would spend 10 weeks in the top 40, peaking at #19. I have considered doing an ABBA bracketology series, but we all know that "Dancing Queen" would be the winner, so what's the point?
#29: "I'll Never Love This Way Again" by Dionne Warwick. The 25th (of an eventual 31) Top 40 record for Warwick. Produced by Barry Manilow and written by his songwriting team of Richard Kerr and Will Jennings, this sounds just like a Manilow record, right down to the key change at the end. (I'm not sure Manilow has the vocal chops to pull off the octave leaps in the chorus, so maybe that's why it was given to Warwick). This single was on its very slow ascent on this chart; it would peak at #5 on October 20th, more than two months later.
#28: "She Believes in Me" by Kenny Rogers. What should have been a Bread song (and maybe it was originally?) recorded by The Gambler. This tune had all sorts of crossover appeal: #1 Country, #1 Adult Contemporary, and would peak at #5 on the pop chart.
Before a commercial break, Casey teases a story about Arthur Fiedler by playing a snippet of his only pop chart appearance, an arrangement of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which peaked at #55 in 1964. "Special tribute" coming up.
Casey offers up a very brief tribute to Arthur Fiedler, who had passed away on July 10, 1979. I can't think of Fiedler and the Boston Pops without thinking of my father, who may be their biggest fan. The number one artist in his CD collection is the Boston Pops and its not even close. Sadly, Dad doesn't have the last album Fiedler recorded with the orchestra, Saturday Night Fiedler.
#26: "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band. Three country tunes in a row, such was Top 40 music in 1979. Loved this tune much more in '79 than I do now. I always thought the devil was the winner of the contest and enjoy the "band of demons" guitar riff that leads into his solo, which is butchered in this AT40 edit. #1 country, #30 Adult Contemporary, and would peak on the Hot 100 in the #3 spot on September 15.
Listener question: "A listener in Idaho wants to know if any number one song has ever fallen right off the chart from the number one position. Well, that did happen - once - to a singing cowboy who owns the pennant-chasing California Angels baseball team. Details coming up."
#25: "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" by Joe Jackson. "One of eight British acts in the countdown." I love this tune and have absolutely no memory of hearing it on the radio in 1979, so a hearty "screw you" to the Houston station program director of 1979. Shame. This song only spent 8 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #21.
Answer to listener question: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry in December, 1949.
#24: "One Way or Another" by Blondie. Tomorrow may be different, but today, this is my favorite Blondie tune. I'm sure 13 year old me would listen to these lyrics and think, "Please come and get me, use me, and lose me, Debbie." This single would peak here at #24.
Casey returns from the break by telling us that American Top 40 is heard in the 50 states and around the world every week on great radio stations like:
#23: "People of the Southwind" by Kansas. This song has already been featured here on MFD. It spent 8 weeks on AT40, peaking here at #23.
AT40 Archives: "Angie Baby" by Helen Reddy. Casey's counting down the #1 songs of the 1970's, this is the second of three in this show. This tune was #1 for one week, December 28, 1974.
--end of hour two--
#22: "After the Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind & Fire. ♥ EWF is one of my all-time favorite groups and this is my fifth favorite song by the group. Of course I've given that some thought, why do you ask? What are the other four, you say?My top 5 EWF songs:
- September
- Got To Get You Into My Life
- Shining Star
- Fantasy
- After The Love Has Gone
Casey mentions that seven different countries are represented in this week's countdown: England, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, and the U.S. He goes on to say that's the most since July, 1978.
#21: "I Can't Stand It No More" by Peter Frampton. While I like the chorus, the rest of the song doesn't do much for me. The verse chord progression reminds me of AC/DC's "Big Balls" (a favorite of mine as a teenager). This isn't a song I'd seek out to listen to. Frampton's final Top 40 single, it had peaked at #14 in late July.
"There's a drummer in our survey who says he never wanted to be anything but a musician, but his father didn't approve. So in order to play his first professional gigs, he had to sneak out of his bedroom window four nights a week for two years. That story, and his band's latest single, are coming up."
 |
| Billboard, August 4, 1979, p. 56 |
More to come...
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