Bracketology: 1980 Adult Contemporary singles, Champion

Normally, I'd pick Stevie Wonder in almost any contest, but there's just something about "Lead Me On" and I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but I'm guessing just nostalgia - it takes me back and that's good enough for me.

CashBox, March 24, 1979, p. 18

Bracketology: 1980 Adult Contemporary singles, Finals

So today's picks will leave many of you disappointed in me and it wouldn't be the first time.

• Semifinal #1: While I enjoy "All Things Are Possible," it doesn't immediately take me back to 8th grade memories at McAllister Middle School like "Lead Me On" does. Hooks a'plenty. I didn't really understand the lyrics then, but that didn't keep me from singing them at the top of lungs, much to my mother's dismay. To her credit, she never told me stop singing.
• Semifinal #2:  Elsewhere on this blog, I once wrote the following about "Where Were You When I Was Falling in Love:" "This one doesn't float my boat.  I find it boring, but it's harmless enough." That means another upset victory for Stevie, setting up an unprecedented 7 seed vs. 8 seed match-up in the final round.

Check back as we crown the champion.

Bracketology: 1980 Adult Contemporary singles, Semifinals

Let's see how the quarterfinal match-ups panned out - bracket-busting-upset-alert!:

• Quarterfinal #1: We start with upset number one - an eight over one, at that! There's nothing particularly wrong with the Air Supply tune - I like the thing, but Lead Me On is soooo freakin' smooth.
• Quarterfinal #2: The Dan Peek tune didn't crack the Top 40, but the former voice of the group America gets the edge here with this CCM tune, if only for the Brain Wilson-esque bridge.
• Quarterfinal #3: I've been hating "The Rose" for 40 years now.
• Quarterfinal #4:  Tough choice here. The Souther tune is a great homage to Roy Orbison (complete with falsetto) with help from Jackson Browne and members of The Eagles.  The song is so true in style that I originally thought it was from the '60s. Elsewhere on this very blog,  I gave "Send One Your Love" a grade of B+ and wrote "it's Wonder writing a memorable ascending melody over descending chords beautifully provided by electric piano and background vocals.  Love that contrary motion.  Plus, I love a sweet Stevie Wonder harmonica solo." Advantage Wonder simply because he's Stevie Effin' Wonder. Seven seed over a two.

Check back for the final round match-up.

Bracketology: 1980 Adult Contemporary singles, Quarterfinals

I've created this bracket of the top eight Adult Contemporary singles from 1980 and we'll match them against each other, round by round, until a winner emerges. I hope you'll play along as I'm sure your bracket will turn out differently from mine. Singles and seedings taken directly from the December 20, 1980 issue of Billboard magazine:

• Quarterfinal #1: "Lost in Love" by Air Supply (#1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts for 6 weeks) vs. "Lead Me On" by Maxine Nightingale (#1 for 7 weeks)
• Quarterfinal #2: "Broken Hearted Me" by Anne Murray (#1 for 5 weeks) vs. "All Things Are Possible" by Dan Peek (#6)
• Quarterfinal #3: "The Rose" by Bette Midler (#1 for 5 weeks) vs. "Where Were You When  I Was Falling in Love" by Lobo (#1 for 3 weeks)
• Quarterfinal #4: "You're Only Lonely" by J.D. Souther (#1 for 5 weeks) vs. "Send One Your Love" by Stevie Wonder  (#1 for 4 weeks)

I'll stipulate the majority of these tunes are from 1979 --

Title	AC chart debut
Lost in Love	2/16/1980
You're Only Lonely	2/29/1979
The Rose	3/29/1980
Broken Hearted Me	9/22/1979
All Things are Possible	6/30/1979
Where Were You...	7/21/1979
Send One Your Love	11/10/1979
Lead Me On	5/12/1979

-- but I'm going to keep the same seeding methodology that I've used for other bracketology appearances on this blog. ("A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Emerson 😉).

Fill out your bracket with your personal favorites and check back for the semifinal round.

Two Hit Wonders 1976-85 [7 of 16]

*to qualify as a MFD two hit wonder, the artist or group can have placed only two singles in the Billboard Top 40 and those two singles must have entered the Top 40 during the years 1976-85.  Many of these artists are occasionally mistaken for a one hit wonder or have hit other charts in Billboard, but each hit the Top 40 only twice. In no particular order, here's four of the 64 that I found:

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PETER BROWN
Born on 7/11/53 in Blue Island, Illinois. Disco singer/keyboardist.

Title	Top 40 Debut	Chart Peak
Do Ya Wanna Get Funky with Me	10/8/77	18
Dance With Me (w/Betty Wright)	5/6/78	8

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EDDY GRANT
Born Edmond Grant on 3/5/48 in Plaisance, Guyana; raised in London. Rock-reggae singer. Member of The Equals.

Title	Top 40 Debut	Chart Peak
Electric Avenue	5/21/83	2
Romancing the Stone	6/30/84	26

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MAXINE NIGHTINGALE
Born on 11/2/52 in Wembly, England. Acted in productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell and Savages.

Title	Top 40 Debut	Chart Peak
Right Back Where We Started From	3/13/76	2
Lead Me On	7/7/79	5

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PETE TOWNSHEND
Born on 5/19/45 in London. Lead guitarist/songwriter of The Who.

Title	Top 40 Debut	Chart Peak
Let My Love Open the Door	7/5/80	9
Face the Face	12/21/85	26

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Data and artist descriptions taken from The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 7th edition (2000).

Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #61 - 44

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

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	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
61	"The Devil Went Down to Georgia"	Charlie Daniels Band	3	30
60	"I Want Your Love"	Chic	7	9	5	1
59	"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"	McFadden & Whitehead	13		1	10
58	"Pop Muzik"	M	1			4
57	"Somewhere in the Night"	Barry Manilow	9	4
56	"Don't Bring Me Down"	Electric Light Orchestra	4
55	"Bad Girls"	Donna Summer	1		1	1
54	"Every Time I Think of You"	The Babys	13	36
53	"Spooky"	Atlanta Rhythm Section	17	23

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
52	"Reunited"	Peaches & Herb	1	4	1
51	"Take the Long Way Home"	Supertramp	10	28
50	"Lead Me On"	Maxine Nightingale	5	1	37
49	"Roxanne"	The Police	32
48	"Chase"	Giorgio Moroder	33	42		31
47	"He's the Greatest Dancer"	Sister Sledge	9		1	1
46	"Children of the Sun"	Billy Thorpe	41
45	"Shattered"	The Rolling Stones	31
44	"Up on the Roof"	James Taylor	28	7

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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.