Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #63

Albums: Shalamar - Three for Love (1980, Solar)
Episode: Season 4, Episode 15, "I'll Take Romance"
Original air date: Wednesday, February 17, 1982

AT40, May 26, 1984 [Part 3 of 4]

 

I'm breaking down the AT40 show of May 26, 1984 track by track.  For an a look at #40-31, click here, for #30-21 click here.

#20:  "It's a Miracle" by Culture Club. Guest host Charlie Van Dyke quotes Boy George as saying that Roy Hay is really the leader of the group. (Odd, because when I saw the group a few months ago, they were billed as "Boy George and Culture Club" and yes, they played this song.) This is one of the group's better singles; it peaked at #13 in only 8 weeks in the Top 40.

"A listener wants to know: what male artist and what female artist who started out on the country chart went on to have the greatest success on the pop chart? Well, the top man was a star from Tupelo, Mississippi and the top woman is a superstar from Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Details coming up."

#19:  "Self Control" by Laura Branigan. Branigan's music never did much for me, but I seem to be in minority as this tune would work its way up to #4 by the end of June.

Charlie gives us the answers to the above listener questions: Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.

#18:  "Borderline" by Madonna. Charlie introduces this song by mentioning there are 7 solo female artists in today's countdown: Christine McVie, Tracey UIlman, Laura Branigan, Irene Cara, Cyndi Lauper, Deniece Williams, and Madonna. And there ain't no Madonna like '80s Madonna. Great tune - my favorite from Madonna's self-titled debut album. It peaked at #10.

#17:  "Dancing in the Sheets" by Shalamar. The third song in today's countdown taken from the Footloose soundtrack album. This is a catchy tune that sounds terribly dated with its synths and drum machine. But it's not as if I'm going to let that keep from dancing right now. It's almost like I'm at the High Spot Drive-In:

This single is peaking here at #17.

Charlie teases that an upcoming song is recorded by an artist that lives in "a certain part of Los Angeles" then plays an excerpt from Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl."

"Every week, American Top 40 is heard in the 50 states and around the world on great radio stations like:"

• WQTC - Two Rivers, Wisconsin
• WNBX - Keane, New Hampshire
• WPLJ - New York City

#16:  "I'll Wait" by Van Halen. Of the four singles released from the 1984 album, this is my least favorite. I like my VH with more guitar riffs. Nonetheless, this tune spent ten weeks on AT40, peaking slightly higher at #13.

#15:  "Love Somebody" by Rick Springfield. Springfield lives in the San Fernando Valley and they need show content, so Charlie offers up information about the area and we treated to an excerpt from Bing Crosby's 1944 song, "San Fernando Valley."  "Love Somebody" is one of Springfield's better singles, but one we rarely hear these days. It had peaked at #5 a few weeks earlier.

#14:  "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel. At #14 for the third week in a row. This doo-wop tribute is one of the top four or five cuts on An Innocent Man and I still know every word and am egotistical enough to mistakenly believe I know all the vocal harmonies as well. I had seen Joel perform the song live the previous month.



and bought one of the ugliest sleeveless concert tees ever produced (yes, I wore it in public):

Anyhoo, "The Longest Time" would peak here at #14.

Charlie states: "Music historians usually identify 'New Wave' as having originated in England, but the first New Wave act to hit our Top 40 weren't British at all - they were Americans: a band out of Boston. Details, and their current hit, are coming up."

#13:  "The Heart of Rock 'N' Roll" by Huey Lewis & The News. "The whole album has a clear, crisp sound and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost." -Patrick Bateman. I like it just fine, but the video hasn't aged well:

"The cheese is strong with this one." That may be, but this single would be one of 12 Top 10 hits for Huey and the boys.

Guest host Charlie Van Dyke claims The Cars are the first New Wave act to hit the Top 40 and plays an excerpt from "Just What I Needed" (#27, 1978). And I'm OK with The Cars getting that designation.

#12:  "You Might Think" by The Cars. I wasn't a fan of this single nor its award-winning stalker video.  But I dubbed a friend's copy of the LP, loved "Hello Again" and "Magic" and would just listen to those two tracks over and over; they're still two of my favorite Cars songs. But this tune would become one of the band's bigger hits; it had peaked at #7 earlier in May.

#11:  "Head Over Heels" by The Go-Go's. While Beauty and the Beat is my favorite Go-Go's album, this is easily my favorite Go-Go's single and it's not even close (and the whole Talk Show album tends to be underrated).

--end of hour three--

Billboard, May 26, 1984, p. 60

More to come...

AT40, February 16, 1980 [Part 3 of 4]

 

I'm breaking down the AT40 show of February 16, 1980 track by track.  For an a look at #40-31, click here, for #30-21 click here.

#20:  "Second Time Around" by Shalamar.  #1 on the Soul/R&B chart on this date, this is easily my favorite Shalamar tune. It's so dang easy to listen to. I don't recognize the names in the backing group but they sure could lay down a groove. It also hit #1 on the disco/dance chart.

Long Distance Dedication: "(You're) Having My Baby" by Paul Anka (#1, 1974). You know where this is headed, but here we go any way:

Dear Casey, I'm a lieutenant in the United States Army Engineers currently serving in Korea. I'm here without my wife and am currently on the early side of a twelve month tour. I miss her tremendously. We were married four years ago when I first came into the service. There was no honeymoon and she traveled with me across the country to Fort Stewart, Georgia where she assumed her role as an army wife.

During that first year of marriage, we were constantly separated as I went to Panama, field exercises, and school. She quietly accepted her role of being dragging around the country, uprooted from the home she cherished, and being left alone. There was never any doubt or questioning, but, rather, support, sympathy, encouragement, and, most of all, love. I've always felt guilty about leaving her behind to maintain a home while I was elsewhere. And I haven't always been supportive of her needs or been there when she needed me most. And that's what this letter is for.

Gigi is home in San Antonio, seven months pregnant with our first child. As my job dictates, I won't be home for the birth of our child, but I need to tell my wife how I feel about her. Much the same as Paul Anka put it in "(You're) Having My Baby." I dedicate this to you, Gigi. Loving you from so far away. Signed, Kirk.

Sheesh. Moving right along...

#19: "September Morn" by Neil Diamond. I never fully appreciated Diamond at the time, but that's on me. This isn't his best ballad, but it's pleasant enough. Love the Floyd Cramer-esque piano. This single was Diamond's 30th Top 40 hit; it would eventually peak at #17.

#18: "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd. "The biggest climber of the week!" The second of Pink Floyd's two Top 40 singles ("Money" hit #13 in 1973), this smash would later spend 4 weeks at #1. School kids loved the lyrics; school administrators hated them. Some schools went to the ridiculous lengths of banning the song as if they could. To be honest, other than the truthful lyrics, this isn't that great a tune when compared to the rest of PF's canon. The best part is David Gilmour's guitar solo, which is first-rate. And remember kids, if you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.

#17: "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl" by The Spinners. A great disco cover of a 1966 Four Seasons tune. There really wasn't any need to add a second song for a medley, but they didn't consult me.  The song would spend 16 weeks on Casey's show, spending two weeks in the #2 spot. I always liked The Spinners and enjoyed seeing them hang around into the '80s.

Casey teases a story with "the co-leader of the supergroup, The Eagles, earned his first set of drums when he was 15 by blowing up his mother's washtub with cherry bombs."

#16:  "An American Dream" by The Dirt Band. I liked this one when it was released, particularly the Linda Ronstadt harmonies.  It blends country with tropical with great success and I can sing all the harmonies if ya need it.

Casey shares the story of Don Henley blowing up his mom's wash tub with a cherry bomb so his father would be forced to buy her a washing machine. And she bought Don a drum kit as a thank you. It's not a great story, but Casey milks it for all it's worth.

#15:  "The Long Run" by Eagles. Around this time, anything by Eagles was welcome to these ears. I preferred their previous single "Heartache Tonight" but I liked this So-Cal rock tune with country harmonies, too.

#14:  "Romeo's Tune" by Steve Forbert. This was Forbert's only single to crack the Top 40, but I remember singing along with this one when it was on the radio.  I don't think it has a catchy melody, but I like the way the alliterative "meet me in the middle of the day" rolls out of my mouth. The single would peak the following week at #11.

#13: "Daydream Believer" by Anne Murray. This John Stewart tune is so happy and uplifting that I can't help but love it. This single would top the adult contemporary chart, peak at #3 on the country chart (it doesn't sound much country to me but I can plead ignorance on that), and eventually reach #12 n the Top 40.

AT40 Archives: "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac.  Casey's counting down the #1 songs of the 1970's' this tune is the last of three in this show. If this isn't my favorite Fleetwood Mac tune, it's certainly in the discussion.

--end of hour three--

Casey welcomes three new stations to the American Top 40 family:

• KIOC - Vidor, Texas
• WCCY - Houghton, Michigan
• WCIT - Lima, Ohio

#12:  "Don't Do Me Like That" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Petty's second tune in this week's Top 40 ("Refugee" was back at #26).  It had peaked at #10 the previous week. I dig everything about this tune from the Hammond organ to the middle 8, to the imminently singable, catchy-as-hell chorus.

"Several months ago, a listener in Minnesota made a Long Distance Dedication that resulted in his getting a long distance phone call from a famous and beautiful woman - one of Charlie's Angels. That story is coming up."

#11:  "This is It" by Kenny Loggins. This smooth classic won the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and deservedly so. It takes the best parts of the previous two chart tunes (uplifting lyrics and a catchy chorus) and takes it all up a notch. It also marks Michael McDonald's second appearance on this week's chart (he also duetted with Nicolette Larson back at #39). There's some good tunes in the Top 10 this week, but in my book, none can top "This is It."

LDD dedication follow-up: A high school kid sent a LDD to Cheryl Ladd in hopes that she would go to prom with him. She didn't accept his invitation, but she did call to decline, which would have been enough to me. Heck, she could call me right now and I'd be a bumbling idiot.

Billboard, February 16, 1980, p. 94

More to come...

Bubbling Under 1982 [Part 4 of 5]

Using information found in the above supplement, below is an annotated list of songs that didn't quite crack the Billboard Hot 100, provided with links in hopes of helping you find some vintage tunes that are new to you. Click on the title to hear the tune or see the video, click on the artist for a Wikipedia entry, and click on the album for the Discogs entry. In all, there were 105 tracks that "bubbled under" the Hot 100 in 1982, here's 21 of those.

Title	Artist	Album	BU	Rock	AC	RB	Dance	Country
It's Our Own Affair	Ray Parker, Jr.	The Other Woman	106			44
Brown Eyed Girl	Henry Paul Band	Anytime	105
Song on the Radio	Pinups	The Pinups	110
Sea of Heartbreak	Poco	Cowboys & Englishmen	109		35
Ghost Town	Poco	Ghost Town	108
Let Her Go	Point Blank	On a Roll	109
As	Jean-Luc Ponty	Mystical Adventures	108
Let's Work	Prince	Controversy	104			9	1
Keep This Heart in Mind	Bonnie Raitt	Green Light	104	39
Me and the Boys	Bonnie Raitt	Green Light	109
Yes It's You Lady	Smokey Robinson	Yes It's You Lady	107
My Old Piano	Diana Ross	Diana	109
Take a Chance with Me	Roxy Music	Avalon	104
Can't Get You Out of My Mind	Dan Seals	Harbinger	110
I Can Make You Feel Good	Shalamar	Friends	102			33
Wait for Me	Slave	Show Time	103			20	21
It's Alright	Gino Soccio	Face to Face	108				2
What	Soft Cell	Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing	101				31
Love Connection (Raise the Window Down)	Spinners	Can't Shake This Feelin'	107			68
Six Months in a Leaky Boat	Split Enz	Time and Tide	104
Black Coffee in Bed	Squeeze	Sweets from a Stranger	103	26

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Shalamar - Big Fun (1979)