Bubbling Under 1981

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The following songs didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 list in 1981, peaking at positions 101-110. Nevertheless, there's some good tunes here that deserve a second listen and at least one that has had some real staying power over the last 40+ years.

Below is a Mixcloud show containing 14 of the Bubbling Under tunes followed by an annotated playlist:

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"Look Up!"
Patrice Rushen
From the album Posh
Written by Patrice Rushen, Charles Mims, Jr., Sheree Brown
Produced by Charles Mims, Jr & Patrice Rushen

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102
Dance	2
R & B	13

Patrice Rushen put out a series of wonderful singles on Elektra from about 1977-87 yet only one song became a Top 40 pop hit. This fact absolutely baffles me. However, her singles did much better on Billboard's Dance and R&B charts. As this single illustrates, Rushen had a fantastic blend of R&B, pop, disco, and jazz in her music.

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"Goodbye Elenore"
Toto
From the album Turn Back
Written by David Paich
Produced by Toto & Geoff Workman

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	107

For the guitar-heavy, arena-rock Turn Back album, the band seems to have come up with some great, aggressive riffs and then didn't do much with them. But the classic Toto chops are on full display, so it's got that going for it. The shuffle groove here reminds me a little of Boston's "Smokin'" so maybe that's what they were going for.

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"Once in a Lifetime"
Talking Heads
From the album Remain in Light
Written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Produced by Brian Eno

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	103
Dance	20

The band's signature tune wasn't the most successful on the charts, but even after 40+ years, I never tire of hearing it. Classic. A live version of the tune later peaked in the Hot 100 at #91 in 1985.

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"Send a Little Love My Way (As Always)"
Stephen Bishop
From the album Red Cab to Manhattan
Written by Stephen Bishop
Produced by Mike Mainieri & Tommy LiPuma

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108
Adult Contemporary	31

With a supporting cast that includes Steve Gadd, Dean Parks, and Mainieri, this single is a little piece of soft rock heaven yet it only hit #31 on the AC chart. Go figure.

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"Generals and Majors"
XTC
From the album Black Sea
Written by Colin Moulding
Produced by Steve Lillywhite

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104
Rock	28

I can't explain why XTC wasn't bigger in the US. Maybe they were a bit too quirky. The band's pop songwriting was always top-notch and this anti-war song is no exception. It did better in the band's native UK, peaking at #32.

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"Time Heals"
Todd Rundgren
From the album Healing
Written by Todd Rundgren
Produced by Todd Rundgren

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	107
Rock	18

Daryl Hall once said, "I think [Todd Rundgren] writes great religious music. He just doesn't have very many members of his church." Well, I'm a member. This upbeat tune is typical Rundgren with all his familiar chord progressions and cadences. This tune sometimes gets a mention in the annals of pop culture as its video was the eighth music video to air on MTV during its launch on August 1, 1981.

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"Two Lonely Nights"
Nielsen Pearson
From the album Nielsen/Pearson
Written by Reed Nielsen and Mark Pearson
Produced by Richard Landis

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	110

From the album that spawned the duo's only Top 40 hit, "If You Should Sail," this single doesn't quite meet that song's standard, but its a decent, smooth westcoast joint. Odd choice for single release - it's good album filler, but it's still filler. Is that Tom Scott on a lyricon solo?

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"Second Choice"
Any Trouble
From the album Where Are All the Nice Girls?
Written by Clive Gregson
Produced by John Wood

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108

The entire Where Are All the Nice Girls? is full of hook-laden power pop and is highly recommended for fans of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Marshall Crenshaw, early Joe Jackson, etc.

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"Summer Strut"
Spyro Gyra
From the album Freetime
Written by Jeremy Wall
Produced by Jay Beckenstein & Richard Calandra

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108

Spyro Gyra hit the Top 40 in 1979 with "Morning Dance" and the MCA label spent the next few years releasing singles in an attempt to duplicate that success. Top 40 success never came again for the band, but they earned a lifelong fan in me, if that helps them any. If you watched the Weather Channel back in the '80s and '90s, you might have caught this tune in a "Local on the 8's" segment.

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"One Step Ahead"
Split Enz
From the album Waiata
Written by Neil Finn
Produced by David Tickle

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104

The best cut on the Waiata album (pronounced why-arter), this song's hook isn't immediate, but once it grabs hold, it's in my ears for days. Another early MTV participant, the video for this song was the 28th aired on the network.

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"Talk to Ya Later"
The Tubes
From the album The Completion Backward Principle
Written by The Tubes, David Foster & Steve Lukather
Produced by David Foster

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	101
Rock	7

Reportedly, the album was lacking a clear cut single. So, producer David Foster, well known for bringing in session musicians if the band isn't meeting his standards, brought in Toto guitarist Steve Lukather was brought in to co-write and do the guitar work here. Nevertheless, it's the lead track on the album and, as such, grabbed my attention immediately when Jim, a high school buddy, loaned me his cassette of The Completion Backward Principle, a tasty collection of catchy, high gloss power pop. I wore that tape out. And then returned it. Sorry, Jim.

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"Beautiful World"
Devo
From the album New Traditionalists
Written by Gerald Casale & Mark Mothersbaugh
Produced by Devo

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

The lyrics of this song start off as positive and upbeat then turn cynical and darker in short order. But I dig the simplistic music. Along with "Through Being Cool," this single is certainly one of the top two tunes on New Traditionalists.

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"Tube Snake Boogie"
ZZ Top
From the album El Loco

Written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill & Frank Beard

Produced by Bill Ham

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102
Rock	4

I grew up in the Houston area, so I heard a lot of ZZ Top on the radio and friend's tape decks. I was 14 years old when this song was released and, because of the sexual innuendo or double entendres throughout, me and my friends knew all the lyrics. Typical sex-crazed teenage mindset - it amused me much more as a teenager than it does now as a grandfather who is recently retired. But I guess that's to be expected.

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"Going Back to Miami"
The Blues Brothers
From the album Made in America
Written by Wayne Cochran
Produced by Bob Tischler

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108

The Blues Brothers weren't actually brothers, didn't play much actual blues music, and weren't particularly funny other than in their 1980 movie, which is fantastic. However, they were able to put together a stellar band (the likes of which hasn't been seen since) and that made all the difference. The band constantly steals the show and in this piece, Tom Scott rips off a reed-melting tenor solo that should have placed this live single in the Hot 100 all on its own. 

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SEE ALSO:

Bubbling Under 1982

Bubbling Under 1983

MFD Random Five #51

In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.

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1. "Lay It Down" by Ratt (1985, Atlantic)
   I always considered Ratt to be a poor man's Van Halen even though they're more hair metal, but man-oh-man that's a sweet opening riff. If only the chorus could keep pace. Peaking at #40 for one week in August of 1985, was the band's second and final Top 40 hit.


2. "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg (1979, Epic)
   I disliked this song when it was on the charts because I thought it was 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." Shout out to the incomparable Jerry Hey for the flugelhorn solo.


3. "Stand By" by Roman Holliday (1983, Jive)
   I almost hate myself for liking this Stray Cats-meets-Sha Na Na rockabilly number. I like it now, but if I had heard it in 1983, I would have hated it. Discovered this tune in the late 90's via Rhino's spectacular CD series Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s.


4. "It Might Be You" by Stephen Bishop (1983, Warner Bros.)
   From the 1982 movie Tootsie, this single peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. We love the soft rock goodness of Bish around here and this song fits right in that category. I only recently discovered Bishops's 1980 album, Red Cab To Manhattan, which I recommend. Anyway, this song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1983, losing to Up Where We Belong.


5. "Birdland" by Freddie Hubbard (1982, Elektra/Musician)
   Birdland was first released by Weather Report in 1977 and quickly became a standard. Maynard Ferguson and The Manhattan Transfer, among others, quickly released versions of their own. Heck, by the early '80s, high school bands all over the country were playing arrangements. The stellar, melodic material actually lends itself to any sort of jazz group (combo, big band, etc); this direct-to-digital big band version isn't the best I've heard, but it's certainly not the worst.

Bubbling Under 1982 [Part 1 of 5]

A few years back, I posted about all the great songs that didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 1983 (you can find that post here). Around these parts, we have long avowed that the greatest year for pop music is 1982, so I thought I'd do a similar post for the Bubbling Under charts of that year. And that became a problem. For the 1983 list, I simply used the 1983 Music Yearbook from the folks over at Record Research, but that was the first of its kind meaning no such yearbook exists for 1982.

I figured I could craft my own yearbook by using the actual Billboard charts in the 1982 issues, but couldn't find Bubbling Under charts in the four issues of March 13 & 27 and July 24 & 31. However, the Record Research people did print a 54 page 1982 supplement to their Pop Annual book that included the bubbling under charts for that year, including the info from the four issues mentioned above.

The supplement makes no mention of the four missing charts, but I'm sure Record Research had exclusive access to all the charts regardless of publication and I guess it really doesn't matter 36 years after the fact. Anyway, because I just spent $6 for a copy of the above book and since it's easier than constructing my own list from the actual charts, we'll go with that book (I'm not lazy, just efficient 😉).  Below is an annotated list of the songs listed in the supplement, 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
Mountain Music	Alabama	Mountain Music	101					1
Rock 'N' Roll Party in the Streets	Axe	Offering	109	23
He was Really Sayin' Somethin'	Bananarama	Deep Sea Skiving	108				16
If Love Takes You Away	Stephen Bishop	Summer Lovers	108		22
Baby, Oh No	Bow Wow Wow	I Want Candy	103				58
It Was I	Lindsey Buckingham	Law and Order	110
Do the Donkey Kong	Buckner & Garcia	Pac-Man Fever	103
Jamaica	Bobby Caldwell	Carry On	105			54
Just Be Yourself	Cameo	Alligator Woman	101			12
Baby I Need Your Loving	Carl Carlton	The Bad C.C.	103			17	35
Blue Moon with Heartache	Roseanne Cash	Seven Year Ache	104		37			1
It Ain't Easy Comin' Down	Charlene	I've Never Been to Me	109		23*
Harder than Diamond	Chubby Checker	The Change has Come	104	33
Stage Fright	Chic	Take It Off	105			34
Take a Lickin' and Keep On Kickin'	William "Bootsy" Collins	The One Giveth, The Count Taketh Away	103			29
One Hello	Randy Crawford	Windsong	110			50
There She Goes Again	Marshall Crenshaw	Marshall Crenshaw	110
Slow Down	Lacy J. Dalton	16th Avenue	106					13
Ragin' Cajun	Charlie Daniels Band	Windows	109					76
Through Being Cool	Devo	New Traditionalists	107				32
Peek-A-Boo!	Devo	Oh, No! It's Devo	106				13

*Charlene's single "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" was originally released in 1977 and the #23 peak on the Adult Contemporary chart is from that year, not 1982.

Bubbling Under 1982

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The following songs didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 list in 1982, peaking at positions 101-110.  I'm incredulous these fine singles didn't manage to crack the Hot 100 as this is quality stuff that gets a lot of playing time 'round here:

Below is a Mixcloud show containing 14 of the Bubbling Under tunes followed by an annotated playlist:

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"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" Haircut 100 From the album Pelican West Written by Nick Heyward Produced by Bob Sargeant

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	101
Dance	41
Rock	50

I'm an unabashed fan of Nick Heyward and Haircut 100 and this song was part of my introduction to that group. The label promoted this song as "pop-funk-rock" - I'd go with "soul-dance-pop" but that's splitting hairs. I was surprised to see it chart on the rock charts. It peaked at #4 in the UK and probably ranked that high in my personal ranking around August 1982 (if I'd had personal rankings in August 1982). Do yourself a favor and listen to the whole album.

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"There She Goes Again" Marshall Crenshaw From the album Marshall Crenshaw Written by Marshall Crenshaw Produced by Richard Gottehrer & Marshall Crenshaw

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	110

Typical pop brilliance from Crenshaw, who seems to be able to write a hook as easily as pouring a cup of coffee. The bridge to this loping shuffle is sublime. I was late to the Crenshaw party ("discovering" him around 1994) but better late than never. Again, seek out the entire debut album and give it a listen.

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"Your Precious Love" Al Jarreau & Randy Crawford From the album Casino Lights Written by Nicholas Ashford & Valerie Simpson Produced by Tommy LiPuma

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102

From the #1 jazz album Casino Lights, this cover of a Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit is one of three Jarreau/Crawford duets on this live album and the first of five covers in this mix. I prefer "Who's Right, Who's Wrong" but this is excellent, too. In addition to that vocal power, check out the backing band: Larry Carlton (who delivers a smoky solo), Marcus Miller and the Yellowjackets, You know what you should do? Check out the whole album.

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"He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" Bananarama From the album Deep Sea Skiving Written by Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson & Edward Holland, Jr. Produced by Dave Jordan & Fun Boy Three

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108
Dance	16

A bouncy cover of a 1964 Velvelettes tune. This has Fun Boy Three on backing vocals and Terry Hall's fingerprints all over it. Not surprisingly, it peaked at #5 in the UK. I haven't heard the whole album, so I can't legitimately make a recommendation on this one.

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"Nobody's Business" Maxus From the album Maxus Written by Jay Gruska & Lisa Dal Bello Produced by Michael Omartian

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

I was hipped to the goodness of Maxus a few years back and I'm glad I was cuz you know we love West Coast/AOR around here. This is the second track from their first and only album, which didn't chart but certainly should have.  I'm gonna blame Warner Bros. for not giving it the promotion it deserved. Underrated and unappreciated. If you like Toto and such and haven't yet heard Maxus, go listen to the entire album.

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"If Love Takes You Away" Stephen Bishop From the Summer Lovers soundtrack Written by Stephen Bishop Produced by Russ Titelman

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108
Adult Contemporary	22

Bish consistently put out good soft rock tunes like this midtempo soundtrack contribution. I'm digging the bridge on this one but it doesn't go to a Jay Graydon guitar solo like I expect it to. Never seen the movie or heard the full soundtrack but if this track listing is accurate, the album seems like something I'd enjoy.

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"So Fine" Howard Johnson From the album Keepin' Love New Written by Kashif Produced by Kashif, Morrie Brown & Paul Lawrence Jones

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	105
Dance	1
R&B	6

I'm all in as soon as I hear the first a capella notes of the introduction. The groove reminds me a bit of Carl Carlton's "She's a Bad Mama Jama" which was on the charts at the same time. #1 on the dance chart doesn't surprise me a bit cuz I can't sit still.

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"Me and The Boys" Bonnie Raitt From the album Green Light Written by Terry Adams Produced by Rob Fraboni

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

I like this one so much, I wrote a whole post about it and gave it a B+.

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"Jamaica" Bobby Caldwell From the album Carry On Written by Bobby Caldwell Produced by Bobby Caldwell

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	105
R&B	54

The smoothest vocal track in this mix. Caldwell is in fine voice, as always. Bonus points for the simple but effective arrangement of synths and Latin percussion.

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"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" Split Enz From the album Time and Tide Written by Tim Finn & Split Enz Produced by Hugh Padgham & Split Enz

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104

I first heard this fun track on the MTV and quickly became a fan of the Finn brothers. It wasn't a hit here in the US, but reached #7 in the group's native New Zealand.

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"As" Jean-Luc Ponty From the album Mystical Adventures Written by Stevie Wonder Produced by Jean-Luc Ponty

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	108

I got this #1 jazz album in 1983 as part of a Columbia house 10-for-a-penny deal. Admittedly, electric jazz violin is an acquired taste, but Stevie Wonder tunes are not so I was quickly drawn to this track on side two of the album. I once made an odd mixtape that led off with Donald Fagen's "New Frontier" then segued into this cut. I'm not surprised this didn't make the Top 40, but I'm still digging it all these years later. Today's trivia: that's American Idol's Randy Jackson on bass, dawg. (I hate that he overused the nonsense word "pitchy" on that show, but I gotta admit that he plays a great bass on this tune.)

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"My Old Piano" Diana Ross From the album Diana Written by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards Produced by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	109

The Chic-written and produced Diana was released in 1980, but apparently the record label was trying to milk one more single out of the thing two years later. Can't say I blame 'em because it's Chic and Diana Ross ferchrissakes. Listen to the whole album and, if possible, find the deluxe version that includes the original Chic mix.

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"Jamming" Grover Washington, Jr. From the album Come Morning Written by Bob Marley Produced by Grover Washington Jr. & Ralph MacDonald

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	102

The third tune on this list taken from #1 jazz albums. A smooth jazz cover of a Bob Marley tune. Typical Grover goodness. This relaxing cut is highly recommended as is the entire album.

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"Take a Chance with Me" Roxy Music From the album Avalon Written by Bryan Ferry & Phil Manzanera Produced by Rhett Davies & Roxy Music

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Bubbling Under	104

The entire Avalon album is exquisite and I'll leave it at that.

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"Bubbling Under" chart information taken from Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1982 supplement, pp. 49-54, the accuracy of which will be discussed in a later post.