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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KILT Radio Survey - January 16, 1980

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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.

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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

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Survey scans from manfrommars.com

MFD Not-So-Random Five #4

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, a different exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Songs that have the word "radio" in their title.

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1. "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M. (1983, I.R.S.)
   The first R.E.M. song I ever heard and still one of my favorites.


2. "Radio Silence" by Thomas Dolby (1982, EMI)
   There are actually two versions of this tune: the one I had on my LP and the "guitar version" that my buddy Scott had on his LP. (I actually prefer the guitar version, mainly because of the spoken lyric about 3 minutes in: "Trytothinkofnothing. Trytothinkofnothing. Trytothinkofnothing...") Anyway, I'm listening to what I consider to be the original version because it was on my copy of the LP. It's actually a duet with Lene Lovich who adds a lot to the thing. Man-oh-man can Dolby write. I've listened to this song since 1982 and I'm still not tired of it. And that goes for the Golden Age of Wireless album.


3. "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush (1980, Mercury)
   I'm not much for Rush because of Geddy Lee's voice, but even he can't distract from what the other two guys are doing here. A pastiche of about four different grooves are here, including a section in 7 and a reggae-lite-ish vibe. And, God help me, I dig the thing. But don't take my word for it:
   
   
   
   When (free, illegal) Napster was big in the very early 2000's, me and a colleague at work (we were public school band directors at the time, although neither of us are in that line anymore) would download old favorites and listen to them at work. He downloaded this tune and when the intro guitar-lick started playing, he grabbed a nearby trumpet and started playing the guitar part by ear with incredible technique and accuracy. I'm still amazed at that impromptu feat almost 20 years later.


4. "On Your Radio" by Joe Jackson (1979, A&M)
   Sez Jackson himself (Musician, February 1983):

   “On Your Radio" is not a revenge song – it’s a triumph song. It’s supposed to be inspiring, saying, “Hey! You there in the back of the class with the big ears! You can do whatever you want if you just try hard enough.” It’s not vindictive; it’s much more a song about hope.

   Listen here, Joey. You can hear it that way if you want, but I'm gonna stick with an interpretation that's slightly more petty. Because I was the guy in the back of the class with big ears who now wants to give double rods to half my graduating class. (See also: Ben Folds Five - One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces)


5. "Song on the Radio" by Al Stewart (1979, Arista)
   Sez Stewart himself:

   There’s no justification for it, but the record company asked for a mid-tempo ballad with a saxophone on it, and I was kind of making fun of Arista Records. They wanted a song that could be played on the radio, and very tongue-in-cheek I wrote a song called ‘Song on the Radio.’ I thought they’d be smart enough to see I was actually joking, but of course they didn’t, and they put it out as a single and it made the Top 30, and the joke was on me...

   I love everything about it, from the slap-in-the-face start to the sax work to Stewart's distinctive voice to the Alan Parsons production to the understated chorus. I wish I was talented enough to write a song this good as a joke to stick it to the record company. Almost a decade later, Nick Heyward (a former Arista artist, ironically) recorded some music that sounds a lot like this tune. A lot.