Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #75

Albums: The Doors - Greatest Hits (1980, Elektra), The Tubes - The Completion Backward Principle (1981, Capitol), Mink DeVille - Coup De Grâce (1981, Atlantic), and The Police - Ghost in the Machine (A&M, 1981).
Episode: Season 4, Episode 10,"Love, Exciting and New"
Original air date: Wednesday, January 6, 1982

Rolling Stone magazine's 1981 Reader's & Critic's Polls

Taken from issue #364, March 4, 1982. Click images to enlarge.

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #69

Albums: Elvis Costello - Trust (Columbia, 1981), Gary Myrick - Living in a Movie (Epic, 1981), The Police - Ghost in the Machine (A&M, 1981), George Benson - The George Benson Collection (Warner Bros., 1981), Midnight Star - Standing Together (Solar, 1981).
Episode: Season 4, Episode 13, "Changes"
Original air date: Wednesday, January 27, 1982

SXM's "40 Cassettes Turning 40" - Part Two

So the Classic Rewind (Ch 25) channel on SiriusXM recently ran a listener's poll to determine the best album rock album releases of 1981. Poll results were played in a countdown around Labor Day weekend. I'm not saying their list is wrong, but here's what I would have broadcast if they'd bothered to ask me. Included below is the album's peak position on the Billboard Rock Albums Chart.

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
40	X	Wild Gift	-	"White Girl"
39	Blue Oyster Cult	Fire of Unknown Origin	6	"Burnin' for You"
38	Jefferson Starship	Modern Times	3	"Find Your Way Back"
37	38 Special	Wild-Eyed Southern Boys	8	"Hold On Loosely"
36	Def Leppard	High 'n' Dry	18	"Bringin' on the Heartache"
35	Stevie Nicks	Bella Donna	3	"Edge of Seventeen"
34	Duran Duran	Duran Duran	-	"Girls on Film"
33	Adam and The Ants	Prince Charming	-	"Stand and Deliver"
32	Loverboy	Get Lucky	3	"Working for the Weekend"
31	Sammy Hagar	Standing Hampton	1	"There's Only One Way to Rock"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
30	AC/DC	For Those About to Rock...	3	"For Those About to Rock..."
29	Tom Petty	Hard Promises	1	"The Waiting"
28	Psychedelic Furs	Talk Talk Talk	-	"Pretty in Pink"
27	Pretenders	Pretenders II	11	"Message of Love"
26	U2	October	28	"Gloria"
25	Electric Light Orchestra	Time	10	"Hold On Tight"
24	Todd Rundgren	Healing	15	"Compassion"
23	Joan Jett	I Love Rock 'n Roll	2	"I Love Rock 'n Roll"
22	Rush	Moving Pictures	4	"Tom Sawyer"
21	Split Enz	Waiata	33	"One Step Ahead"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
20	The Moody Blues	Long Distance Voyager	1	"Gemini Dream"
19	Phil Collins	Face Value	2	"In the Air Tonight"
18	Rick Springfield	Working Class Dog	16	"Love is Alright Tonight"
17	Billy Squier	Don't Say No	3	"In the Dark"
16	Genesis	Abacab	1	"No Reply at All"
15	Elvis Costello	Trust	16	"From a Whisper to a Scream"
14	Van Halen	Fair Warning	2	"Unchained"
13	Journey	Escape	1	"Stone in Love"
12	The Tubes	The Completion Backward Principle	11	"Talk to Ya Later"
11	Kim Wilde	Kim Wilde	44	"Kids in America"

Rank	Artist	Album	Chart	Song Played
10	Styx	Paradise Theatre	1	"Rockin' the Paradise"
9	The Who	Face Dances	1	"Don't Let Go the Coat"
8	Daryl Hall & John Oates	Private Eyes	19	"Private Eyes"
7	The J. Geils Band	Freeze-Frame	1	"Centerfold"
6	Squeeze	East Side Story	10	"Tempted"
5	The Go-Go's	Beauty and the Beat	10	"Our Lips are Sealed"
4	The Rolling Stones	Tattoo You	1	"Start Me Up" & "Waiting on a Friend"
3	The Cars	Shake It Up	2	"Since You're Gone" & "Shake It Up"
2	Foreigner	4	1	"Juke Box Hero" & "Urgent"
1	The Police	Ghost in the Machine	2	"Spirits in the Material World" & "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"

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Music ads for 1980 releases

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.

MFD Random Five #41

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "It's All In Your Hands" by Nile Rodgers (1983, Mirage)
   As you might suspect, this would have been a wonderfully beautiful Chic song, circa 1979. However, as a Rodgers solo joint, we realize what's missing rather quickly: Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson. Oddly, Rodgers decides to be a picker, not a scratcher on this track. Nonetheless, it's a well-written song and we're left wondering what might have been.


2. "Let's Pretend" by Al Jarreau (1984, Warner Bros.)
   Not the best song on the High Crime album, I dig the writing, especially on the chorus and bridge. Lemme check who wrote it: Jay Graydon, Richard Page, Steve George, & John Lang. Hey! Isn't that Pages? No wonder it's got hooks.


3. "Not Enough Love in the World" by Don Henley (1984, Geffen)
   Like much of Henley's music, I'm indifferent to this song. It's pleasant enough and has a killer organ line (courtesy of Heartbreaker Benmont Tench), but I much prefer "All She Wants to Do is Dance" or "Sunset Grill" from the Building the Perfect Beast album.


4. "Demolition Man" by The Police (1981, A&M)
   I think Ghost in the Machine is the best Police album and even Sting's sax playing can't harsh this groove and the wicked guitar solo from Andy Summers. Originally recorded and released by Grace Jones, it would later be covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. I prefer this version and now I feel the need to listen to the entire album.


5. "Der Kommissar" by After the Fire  (1982, Epic)
   Didn't I just post about this one and call it the worst song on a compilation album? And I believe I've previously called this song a knock-off of Rick James' "Superfreak." Yeah, I don't care much for this one. Bad way to end a post. Sorry.

Smash Hits Album Ratings - 1981 [part 2 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 second half of 1981. Hope you find something new that you missed back in '81.

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July 9 issue
The Models	Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf	6
Pointer Sisters	Black & White	7
Joe Jackson	Jumpin' Jive	6
Wah!	Nah = Poo - The Art of Bluff	8
Kiki Dee	Perfect Timing	6
Polecats	Polecats Are Go	7½
Henry Badowski	Life is a Grand...	8

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July 23 issue
Jon and Vangelis	The Friends of Mr. Cairo	8
The Equators	Hot	6
Odyssey	I Got the Melody	5
Angelic Upstarts	2,000,000 Voices	5
The Brothers Johnson	Winners	7
Was (Not Was)	Was (Not Was)	7
The Ramones	Pleasant Dreams	5
Kim Wilde	Kim Wilde	6½

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August 6 issue
Icehouse	Icehouse	8
Pat Benatar	Precious Time	4
Evelyn King	I'm in Love	7
Delta 5	See the Whirl	8
Stevie Nicks	Bella Donna	6
Foreigner	4	8
Kirsty MacColl	Desperate Character	4
The Pretenders	II	7

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August 20 issue
ELO	Time	5
The Go-Go's	Beauty and the Beat	5
Philip Rambow	Jungle Law	5½
Dennis Bovell	Brain Damage	9
Rickie Lee Jones	Pirates	6½
Any Trouble	Wheels in Motion	8
Ian Hunter	Short Back N' Sides	5
David Johansen	Here Comes the Night	3

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September 3 issue
The Korgis	Sticky George	3
Blank Slate	Sirens in the City	5
Hazel O'Connor	Cover Plus	3
Simple Minds	Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call	8
Desmond Dekker	Compass Point	8
Cabaret Voltaire	Red Mecca	7½
Funkadelic	The Electric Spanking of War Babies	7½
Devo	New Traditionalists	7

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September 17 issue
Heaven 17	Penthouse and Pavement	8
Ian Dury	Lord Upminster	8
Gary Numan	Dance	9
Shakin' Stevens	Shaky	8
Ultravox	Rage in Eden	5
Crusaders	Standing Tall	8
Altered Images	Happy Birthday	6
The Comsat Angels	Sleep No More	8
Meat Loaf	Dead Ringer	9

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October 1 issue
The Police	Ghost in the Machine	6
Cliff Richard	Wired for Sound	7
Bette Bright	Rhythm Breaks the Ice	6½
Tom Tom Club	Tom Tom Club	6½
Saxon	Denim & Leather	4
Pete Shelley	Homosapien	7
Genesis	Abacab	6½
Godley & Creme	Ismism	4
Sheena Easton	You Could Have Been With Me	5
Madness	7	8
The Passions	Thirty Thousand Feet Over China	8½
John Foxx	The Garden	5

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October 15 issue
The Human League	Dare	8
U2	October	9
The Slits	Return of the Giant Slits	6½
Bow Wow Wow	See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!	8½
Eurythmics	In the Garden	7½
Rose Royce	Jump Street	7
The Cuban Heels	Work Our Way to Heaven	6
Bob Marley	Chances Are	5
Fingerprintz	Beat Noir	7½
Blondie	The Best of Blondie	9½
Carlene Carter	Blue Nun	5
UB40	Present Arms in Dub	8

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October 29 issue
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	Architecture and Morality	9
Linx	Go Ahead	6
Gillan	Double Trouble	7½
Elvis Costello	Almost Blue	9
Martha and The Muffins	This is the Ice Age	7½
Vice Squad	No Cause for Concern	0
Bauhaus	Mask	4
Rex Smith	Everlasting Love	2
Rachel Sweet	And Then He Kissed Me	5
Imagination	Body Talk	8
Joy Division	Still	9
The Meteors	In Heaven	7
Bad Manners	Gosh Its's...	8

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November 12 issue
Adam and The Ants	Prince Charming	5
The Bee Gees	Living Eyes	5
Japan	Tin Drum	8
Prince	Controversy	4
Depeche Mode	Speak and Spell	7
Rush	Exit...Stage Left	2
Diana Ross	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	8½
TV21	A Thin Red Line	5
Earth, Wind & Fire	Raise!	7
Fad Gadget	Incontinent	9
The Sound	From the Lion's Mouth	5
Stray Cats	Gonna Ball	7

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November 26 issue
Soft Cell	Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret	8½
Ian Dury & The Blockheads	Jukebox Dury	9
The Teardrop Explodes	Wilder	8½
The Four Seasons	Tonight!	8
Rainbow	The Best of Rainbow	5
Skids	Joy	5
David Bowie	Changestwobowie	10
The Stranglers	La Folie	8
Kool & The Gang	Something Special	6
New Order	Movement	8
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft	Gold und Liebe	5½
Jacksons	Live	8

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December 10 issue
AC/DC	For Those About to Rock	3
Modern Romance	Adventures in Clubland	6
Durutti Column	LC	8
Boney M	Boonoonoonoos	4
10cc	10 Out Of 10	4
Chas Jankel	Chasanova	7
Various Artists	A Christmas Record	8
Jools Holland	Jools Holland And His Millionaires	3
David Byrne	Catherine Wheel	6½
Tenpole Tudor	Let the Four Winds Blow	6
Jerry Harrison	The Red and the Black	7½
Poison Girls	Total Exposure	4

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December 24 issue
No Album Reviews

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

Random album ad #62 (not-so-random Christmas edition)

The Police - Ghost in the Machine (1981)

Albums of My Senior Year in High School (1983-84)

Your humble blogger's high school campus, ca. 1984.

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A few months back, friend o' the blog JB offered up this rant:

JB and I are in complete agreement. But his tweet got me thinking about other albums with that kind of longevity, then I heard my 80 year old high school campus is mercifully scheduled for demolition, and because brains work in strange ways, I put those two seemingly unrelated thoughts together and came up with this question:

Were there any albums that had singles in Billboard's Hot 100 for the entirety of my senior year in high school, August 1983-May 1984?

Well, I found one album that met the criteria (a personal favorite at that!) and four others that came dang close. Granted, a lot of this success is due to timing and luck, but that's the music biz. This may or may not have any interest to you, but I did the research and compulsively created a timeline graphic, so here it is:

click to enlarge

Top Singles of July '83

Let's take a look at what was topping the various singles charts July 8 & 9, 1983.

	Billboard	CashBox	Radio & Records
1	"Every Breath You Take" The Police	"Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant	"Every Breath You Take" The Police
2	"Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant	"Every Breath You Take" The Police	"Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant
3	"Flashdance...What a Feeling" Irene Cara	"Flashdance...What a Feeling" Irene Cara	"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" Michael Jackson
4	"Never Gonna Let You Go" Sergio Mendes	"Time (Clock of the Heart)" Culture Club	"Flashdance...What a Feeling" Irene Cara
5	"Too Shy" Kajagoogoo	"Let's Dance" David Bowie	"Our House" Madness
6	"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" Michael Jackson	"Never Gonna Let You Go" Sergio Mendes	"Come Dancing" The Kinks
7	"Time (Clock of the Heart)" Culture Club	"Too Shy" Kajagoogoo	"Stand Back" Stevie Nicks
8	"Come Dancing" The Kinks	"Always Something There to Remind Me" Naked Eyes	"I'm Still Standing" Elton John
9	"Don't Let It End" Styx	"She's a Beauty" The Tubes	"Never Gonna Let You Go" Sergio Mendes
10	"Our House" Madness	"Beat It" Michael Jackson	"Is There Something I Should Know?" Duran Duran

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Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:

1. "Every Breath You Take" (29 pts)
2. "Electric Avenue" (28 pts)
3. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" (23 pts)
4. "Never Gonna Let You Go" (14 pts)
5. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (13 pts)
6. "Time (Clock of the Heart)" (11 pts)
7. "Too Shy" (10 pts)
8. "Come Dancing" (8 pts)
9. "Our House" (7 pts)
10. "Let's Dance" (6 pts)
11. "Stand Back" (4 pts)
12. "Always Something There to Remind Me" (3 pts)
13. "I'm Still Standing" (3 pts)
14. "Don't Let It End" (2 pts)
15. "She's a Beauty" (2 pts)
16. "Beat It" (1 pt)
17. "Is There Something I Should Know?" (1 pt)

Vintage Music Pinbacks #8

Eighth in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the '70s and '80s:

1.  1.25" Berlin, "Sex (I'm a...)" 1982
2.  1" Spandau Ballet, ca. 1980
3.  1.25" Rolling Stones "In Concert" ca. 1981
4.  1.25" Thompson Twins logo, ca. 1983
5.  1.25" The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta, 1980
6.  1" Crass, "Nagasaki Nightmare" 1981
7.  1.25" David Bowie, Let's Dance, 1983
8.  1" The Human League, ca. 1981

Vintage Music Pinbacks #7

Seventh in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the 1980s:

1.  1.25" The Police (pinback dated 1983)
2.  1.5" (pinback dated 1982)
3.  1.25" Men at Work, Business as Usual, 1982
4.  1" Roger C. Reale Band, 1981
5.  1" Soft Cell, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, 1981
6.  1.25" The Pretenders (pinback dated 1984)
7.  1.25" Joe Jackson, Night and Day, 1982
8.  1.25" Haircut 100, "Nobody's Fool" 1982

Vintage Music Pinbacks #6

Sixth in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the '70s and '80s:

1.  1" KTSA "Gold & Silver Button" 1981
2.  1.25" Police, Ghost in the Machine, 1981
3.  1.25" Rockpile, Seconds of Pleasure, 1980
4.  1" Shooting Star, ca. 1979
5.  1.75" Chuck Mangione, Feels So Good, 1977
6.  1.25" Ric Ocasek, Beatitude, 1982
7.  1" U2, War, 1983
8.  1" AC/DC, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, 1981
9.  1" Ultravox, ca. 1980
10.  1.25" Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense, 1984

Vintage Music Pinbacks #4

Fourth in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the '70s and '80s:

1.  1.25" The Boomtown Rats, ca. 1977
2.  1.25" Ian Dury, ca. 1981
3.  1.25" Joe Jackson, Body and Soul, 1984
4.  1.25" Eurythmics (pinback dated 1984)
5.  1" Depeche Mode, "A Question of Lust" 1986*
6.  1" Adam and The Ants, "Dirk Wears White Sox" 1979
7.  1" Thompson Twins, Into the Gap, 1984
8.  1.25" Record Breaker, Manchester CT, ca. 1980
9.  1.25" The Human League, Dare!, 1981
10.  1.25" The Police, Synchronicity, 1983
11.  1.25" Asia, Asia, 1982

*I realize that 1986 is beyond the scope of this blog, but I like the pinback so I'm bending the rules.

Vintage Music Pinbacks #3

Third in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the late '70s and early '80s:

1.  1x2" The Atlantics, Big City Rock, 1979
2.  1.25" Bow Wow Wow, "Do You Wanna Hold Me?" 1983
3.  3 cm. MTV  (pinback dated 1984)
4.  1.25" Haircut One Hundred, ca. 1982
5.  2" Adam Ant, Friend or Foe, 1982
6.  2.25" Miles Davis, Dr Pepper Music Festival, WPLJ, 1982
7.  1" Police, ca. 1979
8.  1.25" Joe Jackson, Night and Day, 1982

Vintage Music Pinbacks #2

Second in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the early '80s:

1.  1.75" Rolling Stones 1981 Tour
2.  1.5" The Police (pinback dated 1983)
3.  1.25" The Milkshakes, ca. 1981
4.  1" The Motels, All Four One, 1982
5.  1.25" The Kinks, State of Confusion, 1983
6.  1.25" Asia logo 1982
7.  1" Adam Ant, "Antmusic" 1980
8.  2" David Bowie, "Fashion" 1980

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #19

Albums: The Doors - Greatest Hits (Elektra, 1980), The Tubes - The Completion Backward Principle (Capitol, 1981), Lena Horne - The Lady and Her Music (Qwest, 1981) and The Police - Ghost in the Machine (A&M, 1981)
Episode:  Season 4, Episode 11, "You Can't Go Out of Town Again"
Original air date: Wednesday, January 13, 1982

CD Longbox #3

The Police - Synchronicity (1983)

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Exclusive photo courtesy of the Hambonian Archives.

Random album ad #19

The Police - Ghost In the Machine (1981)