CD Longbox #39

Queen - The Game (1980)

---

Exclusive photo courtesy of Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

To view other longboxes, please click here.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox, go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

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

---

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. 

---

Music ads for 1980 releases

KILT Radio Survey - January 16, 1980

---

Throughout 1979 and 1980, I would hop on my blue Sears 10-speed bicycle every Saturday morning and pedal down to Collins Music Center on 7th Street and pick up a copy of the KILT 40. If memory serves, I kept them for a while, but most likely trashed them as I transitioned to a listener of the FM stations. Here's a sample survey from January 16, 1980 (click any image to enlarge):

Did I gather up this particular survey? I can't say for sure, but more likely than not. I can't speak to DJ Sheila Mayhew or opening act Max Webster as I don't recall either. Plus, I probably hadn't heard Rush by 1980, for that matter. But I was peripherally aware of the Sam Houston Coliseum (1937 - 1998) in downtown Houston.

---

KILT	Song	Billboard 1/19/80	CashBox 1/19/80	Record World 1/19/80
1	Cruisin'	6	7	8
2	Do That to Me One More Time	2	2	4
3	Escape (The Piña Colada Song)	3	3	5
4	Coward of the County	4	4	3
5	Crazy Little Thing Called Love	18	22	21
6	I Call Your Name	86	88	-
7	Rock with You	1	1	1
8	We Don't Talk Anymore	7	6	10
9	Deja Vu	21	17	20
10	Yes I'm Ready	24	19	16
11	Romeo's Tune	25	25	26
12	The Long Run	11	13	7
13	Sara	15	14	14
14	Forever Mine	33	30	34
15	You Know That I Love You	36	35	36
16	Under My Thumb	-	-	100
17	Don't Do Me Like That	17	10	13
18	Rapper's Delight	95	-	60
19	Better Love Next Time	12	21	17
20	I Wanna Be Your Lover	13	15	19

KILT	Song	Billboard	CashBox	RW
21	99	55	56	53
22	Third Time Lucky	26	20	23
23	Ladies Night	8	5	9
24	Working My Way Back to You	48	42	42
25	Longer	35	32	32
26	Fool in the Rain	31	46	51
27	Wonderland	42	71	89
28	September Morn	39	49	52
29	It's My House	-	-	116
30	An American Dream	29	37	38
31	Why Me	32	27	29
32	Second Time Around	-	-	-
33	Daydream Believer	28	45	49
34	Voices	37	33	31
35	On the Radio	49	60	43
36	Jane	14	9	22
37	Lonely Eyes	46	43	46
38	Refugee	-	-	-
39	Him	72	68	63
40	Wait for Me	19	26	35

KILT	Song	Billboard	CashBox	RW
-	Too Hot	76	81	71
-	Kiss Me in the Rain	79	-	-
-	I Thank You	-	-	99
-	Back on My Feet Again	87	84	-

That would make a pretty good playlist, huh? I count at least five tunes that appear in Rhino's fantastic Radio Daze CD compilation series and a couple of tunes from Rubert Holmes and Kool & The Gang. Of the above tunes, the only 45 I purchased at the time was "Why Me" to which I still have an inexplicable attraction.

KILT	Album	Billboard 1/19/80	CashBox 1/19/80	RW 1/19/80
1	Damn the Torpedoes	5	6	14
2	The Wall	1	2	6
3	No Nukes	25	17	39
4	Kenny	7	8	5
5	Off the Wall	8	10	10
6	Bee Gees Greatest	4	5	3
7	The Long Run	3	1	1
8	Phoenix	11	11	15
9	Cornerstone	9	4	4
10	Deguello	33	28	41

---

Survey scans from manfrommars.com

Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #26 - 11

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

---

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
26	"Is She Really Going Out with Him"	Joe Jackson	21
25	"I Do Love You"	GQ	20		5
24	"Blow Away"	George Harrison	16	2
23	"Born to Be Alive"	Patrick Hernandez	16			1
22	"Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"	Journey	16
21	"Shine a Little Love"	Electric Light Orchestra	8	40
20	"A Little More Love"	Olivia Newton-John	3	4
19	"Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls"	Queen	24

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
18	"My Life"	Billy Joel	3	2
17	"Arrow Through Me"	Wings	29	29
16	"Heartache Tonight"	Eagles	1	38
15	"Boogie Wonderland"	Earth, Wind & Fire	6		2	14
14	"Cruel to be Kind"	Nick Lowe	12	36
13	"What You Won't Do for Love"	Bobby Caldwell	9	10	6
12	"After the Love has Gone"	Earth, Wind & Fire	2	3	2
11	"Morning Dance"	Spyro Gyra	24	1	60

---

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.

Rock Short Takes, March 1981

Click on the image below to open a pdf file of the "Rock Short Takes" album reviews from Musician magazine's March, 1981 issue. Artists include The Damned, Whitesnake, and Queen.

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #42 (Christmas Edition)

Albums: Queen - The Game (Elektra, 1980), Average White Band - Shine (Arista, 1980)
Episode:  Season 3, Episode 7, "Bah, Humbug"
Original air date: Saturday, December 20, 1980

Smash Hits Album Ratings - 1981 [part 1 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 first half of 1981. Hope you find something new that you missed back in '81.

---

January 8 issue
Rocky Sharpe & The Replays	Rock-It to Mars	6
Dollar	The Paris Collection	6
Jermaine Jackson	Jermaine	6
Showaddywaddy	Bright Lights	5
Black Slate	Amigo	5
Queen	Flash Gordon	2
The Clash	Sandinista!	5½
Linton Kwesi Johnson	LKJ in Dub	7

---

January 22 issue
Boomtown Rats	Mondo Bondo	7½
Elvis Costello	Trust	9
The Runaways	Flaming Schoolgirls	2
Steve Winwood	Arc of a Diver	5
UFO	The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent	5
Basement 5	1965-1980	6
Gen X	Kiss Me Deadly	2
Mtume	In Search of the Rainbow Seekers	8
Rose Royce	Golden Touch	6

---

February 5 issue
Sheena Easton	Take My Time	7
Pearl Harbour	Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too	6
Phil Collins	Face Value	5
Heatwave	Candles	8
The Stranglers	The Meninblack	6
Mike Batt	Waves	3
Splodgenessabounds	Splodgenessabounds	3
Styx	Paradise Theatre	2
The dB's	Stands for Decibels	8

---

February 19 issue
UK Subs	Diminished Responsibility	2
The Barracudas	Drop Out with The Barracudas	5½
Moon Martin	Street Fever	6
Jets	Jets	5
Nash the Slash	Children of the Night	4
Walkie Talkies	Surveillance	6
Joe Sample	Voices in the Rain	7
The Boys	Boys Only	6½
The Selecter	Celebrate the Bullet	5½
Nine Below Zero	Don't Point Your Finger	5

---

March 5 issue
Sister Sledge	All American Girls	6
Stray Cats	Stray Cats	5
Rainbow	Difficult to Cure	7
Gang of Four	Solid Gold	7½
Eric Clapton	Another Ticket	3
Marvin Gaye	In Our Lifetime	7½
Todd Rundgren	Healing	6
Brian Briggs	Brian Damage	7
Defunkt	Defunkt	8½
Spandau Ballet	Journeys to Glory	7

---

March 19 issue
New Musik	Anywhere	6½
Russ Ballard	Into the Fire	3
James Brown	Rapp Payback	6½
Detroit Spinners	Labour of Love	6
The Spizzles	Spikey Dream	6
Tata Vega	Giving All My Love	4
Shona Laing	Tied to the Tracks	3
The Vapors	Magnets	4
Wilko Johnson	Ice on the Motorway	4
Linx	Intuition	8

---

April 2 issue
The Shakin' Pyramids	Skin 'Em Up	5
Rico	That Man is Forward	8
Change	Miracles	5
Landscape	From the Tea Rooms of Mars to the Hell Holes of Uranus	8
Chas'N'Dave	Mustn't Grumble	4
Slade	We'll Bring the House Down	6
The Who	Face Dances	4
British Electronic Foundation	Music for Stowaways	9
Diana Ross	To Love Again	6
Status Quo	Never Too Late	7

---

April 16 issue
Dave Edmunds	Twangin	7½
Incognito	Jazz Funk	8
Public Image, Ltd.	Flowers of Romance	8
Stiff Little Fingers	Go for It	7
The Cure	Faith	7
Whitesnake	Come An' Get It	4½
The Jags	No Tie Like a Present	4
Cockney Rejects	Greatest Hits, Vol 3	11
Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor's Fun in Space	3
B.A. Robertson	Bully for You	6

---

April 30 issue
Gillan	Future Shock	4
Girlschool	Hit and Run	5
Tenpole Tudor	The Swords of a Thousand Men	7
REO Speedwagon	Hi Infidelity	4
The Keys	The Keys Album	5
Quincy Jones	The Dude	7½
Sharon Redd	Sharon Redd	8
Snips	La Rocca	6
The Isley Brothers	Grand Slam	5
The Scars	Author! Author!	8

---

May 14 issue
The Undertones	Positive Touch	9
Holly and The Italians	The Right to be Italian	4
The Plastics	Welcome Back	7½
Split Enz	Waiata	7
The Lambrettas	Ambience	7
The Tubes	The Completion Backward Principle	4
Ruts DC	Animal Now	8
Albania	Are You All Mine	7
Kraftwerk	Computer World	4
The Beat	Wha'ppen?	7
Squeeze	East Side Story	9
The Cramps	Psychedelic Jungle	8
The Searchers	Play for Today	5

---

May 28 issue
Original Mirrors	Heart-twango and Raw-beat	7
Richard Strange	The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange	6½
Joe Walsh	There Goes the Neighborhood	5
Shakatak	Drivin' Hard	7
Grace Jones	Nightclubbing	8
Bill Nelson	Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam	8
Classic Nouveaux	Night People	6
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	Hard Promises	7
Wild Horses	Stand Your Ground	4
The Psychedelic Furs	Talk, Talk, Talk	8
Sparks	Whomp That Sucker	6
Positive Noise	Heart of Darkness	5
Toyah	Anthem	3

---

June 11 issue
Elton John	The Fox	5
Echo and The Bunnymen	Heaven Up Here	9
Doll by Doll	Doll by Doll	8
Jean-Michel Jarre	Magnetic Fields	7
UB40	Present Arms	7½
Ken Lockie	The Impossible	6
Phil Seymour	Phil Seymour	4
Black Uhuru	Red	7½
Eddy Grant	Can't Get Enough	9

---

June 25 issue
Killing Joke	What's This For	7½
Third World	Rock the World	5
TV Smith's Explorers	The Last Words of the Great Explorer	5
Duran Duran	Duran Duran	4
Magazine	Magic, Murder, and the Weather	7
Siouxsie and The Banshees	Juju	5
Thompson Twins	A Product of...	6
Peter Tosh	Wanted Dread & Alive	4
Yoko Ono	Season of Glass	3
Modern Eon	Fiction Tales	8
Barbara Dickson	You Know It's Me	4

---

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

Top Albums of April 1978

Let's take a look at what was topping the various album charts on April 8, 1978.

	Billboard	CashBox	Record World
1	Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack	Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack	Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
2	Slowhand Eric Clapton	Even Now Barry Manilow	Even Now Barry Manilow
3	Even Now Barry Manilow	Slowhand Eric Clapton	Running on Empty Jackson Browne
4	The Stranger Billy Joel	The Stranger Billy Joel	Slowhand Eric Clapton
5	Aja Steely Dan	Running on Empty Jackson Browne	Point of Know Return Kansas
6	Weekend in L.A. George Benson	Weekend in L.A. George Benson	The Stranger Billy Joel
7	Point of Know Return Kansas	Aja Steely Dan	Aja Steely Dan
8	Running on Empty Jackson Browne	Point of Know Return Kansas	News of the World Queen
9	Earth Jefferson Starship	Earth Jefferson Starship	Rumours Fleetwood Mac
10	The Grand Illusion Styx	News of the World Queen	Weekend in L.A. George Benson

---

Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:

1. Saturday Night Fever (30 pts)
2. Even Now (26 pts)
3. Slowhand (24 pts)
4. The Stranger (17 pts)
5. Running on Empty (17 pts)
6. Aja (14 pts)
7. Point of Know Return (13 pts)
8. Weekend in L.A. (11 pts)
9. Earth (4 pts)
10. News of the World (4 pts)

AT40, February 16, 1980 [Part 4 of 4]

I'm breaking down the AT40 show of February 16, 1980 track by track. 

So what was I doing around the time of this AT40 episode's broadcast?  My brace-faced, cowlick-headed, 95-pound-soaking-wet self was smack dab in the middle of 8th grade. I was involved in several school activities including band, speech and drama club, tennis team, plus I was more than a little girl crazy. Being a preacher's kid, I also had church activities to attend. Did I mention girls? And the Winter Olympics were going on, so I'm sure I was watching that, as well (anything to avoid homework.)

Now, on with the countdown:

#10: "Desire" by Andy Gibb. Before he was host of TV's "Solid Gold," Andy Gibb was steadily hitting the Top 40 singing songs written and produced by big brother Barry. This song must not have been played much on the radio station in the Houston market because I have very little memory of it, especially since it was a #4 hit. Go figure. Sounds more like a Bee Gees tune than an Andy Gibb single, but that's splitting hairs, isn't it?

#9:  "On the Radio" by Donna Summer. This followed a familiar formula for Donna's tunes at the time in that it starts slow then goes double time (see also: "Last Dance," "Dim All the Lights," and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)"). A new Summer tune was always welcome in my neck of the woods. Around this time, we learned how to disco dance in PE class. I always danced with a girl named Tiffany and, I must say, we were awesome disco dancers (for 13 year olds).

#8:  "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg. I disliked this song when it was on the charts because I thought it was girly and schmaltzy. Now that I'm a lot older and slightly more mature, I think it is one of the most beautiful ballads this side of The Beatles' "Yesterday." Casey gives a mention to Jerry Hey for the flugelhorn solo (pronouncing his name "hī" when I always assumed it was pronounced "hā).

American Top 40 is heard in the 50 states and around the world every week on great radio stations like

• WGOW - Chattanooga, Tennessee
• KJOY - Stockton, California
• 3DB - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

#7:  "Sara" by Fleetwood Mac. When I reviewed a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits album back in 2011 over at The CD Project, I said I wasn't a fan of this song. Just last year, I put that same CD in my truck and listened to "Sara" on repeat for at least a week. So, I'm exercising my right to change my mind. This is top-notch Stevie Nicks. This single would peak here at #7, where it held for 3 weeks.

#6:  "Yes, I'm Ready" by Teri DeSario with K.C. I didn't know it at the time, but this is a cover of a 1965 Barbara Mason tune. Despite a fairly catchy chorus, I can't muster up more than a "meh" for this remake. It was popular at the time, peaking at #2 and spending 2 weeks atop the Adult Contemporary chart.

Before playing the next tune, Casey shares the story of Quincy Jones' life-threatening brain aneurysm in 1974. Of course, Q lived on to become one of the biggest record producers of all-time, including...

#5:  "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson. After four weeks at #1, this single fell to the #5 spot. A fantastic dance cut, but then again I like the entire Off the Wall album. In 8th grade, I had a crush on a brunette that loved this song so of course I had to love it as well.

#4:  "Cruisin'" by Smokey Robinson. Peaked here at #4. So smooth, so soulful, so good. As disco began to fade away, we were treated to quite a few soul ballads in the early '70s tradition.  This might be the best of them.  Maybe Smokey's strongest vocal ever?

Before we continue, Casey tells us what's atop the other charts:

• R&B: "Second Time Around" by Shalamar
• Country: "Love Me Over Again" by Don Williams (Casey announces it as "Love Me Again")
• Album: The Wall by Pink Floyd
• Disco: "Vertigo/Relight My Fire/Free Ride" by Dan Hartman

#3:  "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. I'll admit knowing all the words to this story song because it was all over the radio. Now I view it as more of a novelty tune and grates on me as such.

#2:  "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. I liked this when it was released because there was nothing else like it on the radio (which you can say about most Queen tunes now that I think about it). But when The Stray Cats brought back rockabilly full-time, I couldn't stand it. Fickle much, Mark? Dr. Brian May was usually only afforded short 2 or 4 measure solos, but he gets a full 8 on this one. After this week at #2, it would spend the following 4 weeks at #1 before being unseated by Pink Floyd.

#1:  "Do That to Me One More Time" by The Captain & Tennille. My sister was a huge C&T fan and, because she was older than me, she got to choose what LPs we listened to.  As a result, I know the words to every C&T song released between 1975-1980, including this one.  I'm not wild about this song, but man-oh-man did Toni T. have some golden pipes.

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

---

Previously, I've looked at these AT40 episodes track by track:
September 18, 1982
October 24, 1981
July 19, 1980
June 9, 1979
April 23, 1977

---

CD Longbox #19

Queen - A Day at the Races (1976)

---

Exclusive photo courtesy of Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox, go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

---

MFD Random Five #17

In which I click the shuffle icon on the increasingly frustrating iTunes app (no, Apple, I don't want to "connect," I simply want to listen to my files) and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

---

1. "Rip It Up" by Orange Juice (1983, Polydor)
   I've tried to like this band, but all their songs sound like discarded Haircut 100 demos. I won't skip this one, but I never seek it out, either.


2. "Save Me" by Queen (1980, Elektra)
   Freddie Mercury owning a Brian May tune - just another day at the office for these guys. I've always considered Queen to be a singles band rather than an album band, but The Game is their one album I can enjoy from top-to-bottom and this fantastic cut is a great way to close out the album.


3. "Love Ballad" by George Benson (1979, Warner Bros.)
   In which Benson takes a recently charted ballad, puts an up-tempo groove on it and takes the thing to #18 on the pop chart (the LTD original peaked at #20 in 1976). Great tune but I'm blown away by Benson's soloing on this one. Remarkable. I recently read Maurice White's autobiography and he claims Earth, Wind & Fire were offered this song but passed.


4. "Copacabana (At the Copa)" by Barry Manilow (1978, Arista)
   If I can trust my memory, Even Now was the first LP I ever purchased. And it was because of this song. I had seen Barry perform it on a TV variety show and was hooked even though his current hit was either "Can't Smile Without You" of "Even Now."


5. "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" by The Power Station (1985, Capitol/EMI)
   I usually don't carry for straight-ahead cover tunes, but there's something about Tony Thompson's drumming and Robert Palmer's vocals that make this cover work. Bernard Edwards created a very aggressive sound for the time which Palmer would successfully co-opt for a few years.