80s0n8 Big 40 Countdown Schedule

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

36: BOBBIE SUE – THE OAK RIDGE BOYS

Cornier than Iowa. I assume this got some play due to it being the follow-up to "Elvira"?


29: WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND - LOVERBOY

Loverboy hits me in the same place a guy like Donnie Iris does - a lot of it is forgettable, but every once in awhile they nail it. This is one of their good 'uns.

Bobby Sue was #1 country hit (3rd straight) and #12 pop hit in USA. They had the sound. Only Elvira tends to be played now.

Loverboy had a tonne of hits in Canada. Only some crossed the border. Some of their best hits didn't cross for whatever reason.

 

[sadchild]

Cornier than Iowa.

LOL true. Ba-ba, ba-ba...

 

[HecticArt]

38: LOVE IS LIKE A ROCK – DONNIE IRIS

Donnie was one of those guys that didn't always hit the ball squarely, but when he did he sent it waaaaaaaaaaaaaay outta the park.

His hits were hits for good reason.

I love the guitar tone on Ah Leah.

32: DADDY’S HOME – CLIFF RICHARD

I can never hear Cliff without thinking of "The Young Ones".

That's all I can think of too!

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

The song "Daddy's Home" wasn't very good and the subject made me feel creepy as it did not appear to be directed at a kid but rather a lover. *cringe* Of course, I didn't listen very closely and may have missed the point.

 

[sadchild]

Good 12
Okay 8
Bad 20

38: LOVE IS LIKE A ROCK – DONNIE IRIS

Might be the first time I've heard this one. I like it!

32: DADDY’S HOME – CLIFF RICHARD

2: I CAN’T GO FOR THAT (NO CAN DO) – DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES

My guess at #1.

1: CENTERFOLD – THE J. GEILS BAND

At least one of the others guessed this. I was torn between this one, "No Can Do", and "Chariots Of Fire" (which is at #44 this week).

#59 Placido Domingo/John Denver "Perhaps Love"

WTH?

#65 Conductor "Voice On The Radio"

No wiki page. Kinda rocks. Reminds me of Scandal a bit.

Will never reach the top 40
#43 John Hall Band "Crazy (Keep On Falling)"
#45 Teddy Pendergrass "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration"
#46 AC/DC "Let's Get It Up"
#47 Peabo Bryson "Let The Feeling Flow"
#51 Earth Wind & Fire "Wanna Be with You"
#53 Player "If Looks Could Kill"
#55 Steve Miller Band "Circle of Love"
#59 Placido Domingo/John Denver "Perhaps Love"
#63 Sammy Hagar "I'll Fall In Love Again"
#64 Irene Cara "Anyone Can See"
#65 Conductor "Voice On The Radio"
#68 Anne Murray "Another Sleepless Night"
#71 Doobie Brothers "Here to Love You"
#72 Commodores "Why You Wanna Try Me"
#76 TG Sheppard "Only One You"
#78 All Sports Band "Opposites Do Attract"
#79 Madleen Kane "You Can"
#80 Petula Clark "Natural Love"
#88 Sugarhill Gang "Apache"
#89 Kool & The Gang "Steppin' Out"
#91 Time "Cool (Part 1)"
#93 Grover Washington Jr "Be Mine (Tonight)"
#95 Henry Paul Band "Keeping Our Love Alive"
#96 Molly Hatchet "Power Play"
#98 Michael McDonald "I Gotta Try"
#99 Bill Champlin "Tonight Tonight"

 

[seasalt43]

32: DADDY’S HOME – CLIFF RICHARD

Jermaine Jackson made remade this in the 70s too. It was just as creepy.

#59 Placido Domingo/John Denver "Perhaps Love"

WTH?

I love those strange pairings.

#65 Conductor "Voice On The Radio"

No wiki page. Kinda rocks. Reminds me of Scandal a bit.

This is what I found out about the band: 1982 The Conductor - Conductor

It interesting because the bands on Indie labels seem to be forgotten. I may need to explore building Wikipedia pages to start immortalizing some of these groups.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

At least one of the others guessed this. I was torn between this one, "No Can Do", and "Chariots Of Fire" (which is at #44 this week).

You let my messing up last week with "Chariots of Fire" throw you.

Will never reach the top 40
#46 AC/DC "Let's Get It Up"

Not a surprise it didn't crack but damn good song.

 

[HecticArt]

38: LOVE IS LIKE A ROCK – DONNIE IRIS

Might be the first time I've heard this one. I like it!

Really?
Have you heard Ah Leah?

Will never reach the top 40

No surprises this week.

 

[MonoStereo]

I'm shocked the AC/DC tune got as high as it did.

And even though he had a couple real Top 40 hits, Donnie Iris was generally more of a "regional hit" kinda guy.

 

[HecticArt]

And even though he had a couple real Top 40 hits, Donnie Iris was generally more of a "regional hit" kinda guy.

Pretty much. Unfortunately, he didn’t have more hits, but he’s always been dedicated to gigging. I saw him in the early 2000‘s (I think) and he can still belt out the high notes.

 

[sadchild]

This is what I found out about the band: 1982 The Conductor - Conductor

I found this (I can't seem to link the page)

THE AMERICAN BOTTOM 45 OF THE DAY: Conductor - Voice On The Radio - Montage 1210 - Peaked at 63 in Billboard on 2/20/82 and at 68 in Cashbox.

Conductor were essentially a male/female duo rounded out with session players. They could have been like Nu Shooz, Eye To Eye or Unipop, but they were a solid-sounding melodic/arena rock act...and there were MANY of them around during '81-'82! Unfortunately, their career never took off as someone from their record label felt that lead singer Judy Comden's walking disability was a stumbling block. The 80's was all about image, whether we agree with it or not. So there was never a big tour or any MTV videos. A somewhat similar thing happened to Romeo Void in '84 when their "A Girl In Trouble" video was made; less emphasis was placed on the lead singer as someone at Columbia felt that she wasn't photogenic enough. Even though Romeo Void finally had a top 40 hit, their career never recovered.

You will want to check this out if you are/were a fan of Toronto, The Breaks/Drama, Quarterflash without the sax, and Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth (who, just like Conductor, started out with a 5 song EP).

"Voice On The Radio" was written by Franne Golde('79 minor charter "Here I Go(Fallin' In Love Again)") and Peter McIan(Men At Work producer and '80 mid-charter "Solitaire," which AA80's plays). Franne and Peter also co-wrote "Cool Kids," which Franne recorded in '80 and Kix made the best-known version of in '83(some of you may remember Beavis And Butthead's trashing of the video!).

Really?
Have you heard Ah Leah?

I have. A friend of mine back in the 90s played it for me. Not a fan of that one.

 

[HecticArt]

Man, I love that one. The guitar solo is fantastically simple, but the tone just cuts through the air.

 

[MonoStereo]

Franne and Peter also co-wrote "Cool Kids," which Franne recorded in '80 and Kix made the best-known version of in '83(some of you may remember Beavis And Butthead's trashing of the video!).

I'll be damned...I'm a massive KIX fan, & never knew the deal on the songwriters. I know the band hates that album because of things like the outside songwriting/push to be poppier, etc. I'm in the minority of fans who looooooooooooooooooooooove that record. It's a great pop/rock album.

 

[Aaron]

2/22/1986

40. ROCK ME AMADEUS - FALCO
39. MANIC MONDAY - BANGLES
38. NIGHT MOVES - MARILYN MARTIN
37. WALK OF LIFE - DIRE STRAITS
36. GO HOME - STEVIE WONDER
35. LET'S GO ALL THE WAY - SLY FOX
34. ANOTHER NIGHT - ARETHA FRANKLIN
33. HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE - ABC
32. SAY YOU, SAY ME - LIONEL RICHIE
31. TALK TO ME - STEVIE NICKS
30. SPIES LIKE US - PAUL MCCARTNEY
29. BEAT'S SO LONELY - CHARLIE SEXTON
28. WHAT YOU NEED - INXS
27. THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT - LOVERBOY
26. R.O.C.K. IN THE U.S.A. - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP
25. HE'LL NEVER LOVE YOU (LIKE I DO) - FREDDIE JACKSON
24. SANTICFY YOURSELF - SIMPLE MINDS
23. STAGES - ZZ TOP
22. NIKITA - ELTON JOHN
21. DIGITAL DISPLAY - READY FOR THE WORLD
20. THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON T.V. - A-HA
19. RUSSIANS - STING
18. DAY BY DAY - HOOTERS
17. KING FOR A DAY - THE THOMPSON TWINS
16. TARZAN BOY - BALTIMORA
15. CONGA - MIAMI SOUND MACHINE
14. THESE DREAMS - HEART
13. I'M YOUR MAN - WHAM
12. A LOVE BIZARRE - SHEILA E.
11. SECRET LOVERS - ATLANTIC STARR
10. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR - DIONNE & FRIENDS
9. BURNING HEART - SURVIVOR
8. SILENT RUNNING - MIKE & THE MECHANICS
7. LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN - THE DREAM ACADEMY
6. THE SWEETEST TABOO - SADE
5. LIVING IN AMERICA - JAMES BROWN
4. SARA - STARSHIP
3. WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING - BILLY OCEAN
2. KYRIE - MR. MISTER
1. HOW WILL I KNOW - WHITNEY HOUSTON

 

[Jon]

24 out of 40. Not bad, getting closer to the Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, NKOTB era toward the end of the decade.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Surprisingly 19. Big channel changer at #1 of course.

 

[HecticArt]

19 or 20. That's pretty epic for me.

 

[MonoStereo]

2/22/1986

Another week right in the wheelhouse of my radio "career". We heard part of this countdown while we were tooling around doing errands yesterday.

40. ROCK ME AMADEUS - FALCO

I remember featuring this as one of our "Smash Or Trash" songs ( listeners would call in & vote on which they thought it was ). Middle America...1986...fairly rocking Top 40 station...how do you think it did?
39. MANIC MONDAY - BANGLES

A reminder - I was the Fifth Bangle.
38. NIGHT MOVES - MARILYN MARTIN

I was surprised she had a top 40 hit - I know they tried to capitalize on her monster duet hit with Phil Collins. I remember this getting a LOT of hype from her label, but I think it pretty much stiffed. I was trying to remember if we spun this song or not...it sounded kinda familiar, but I couldn't determine if it was because I vaguely remembered it back then, or because it's generic as shit.
37. WALK OF LIFE - DIRE STRAITS

Dire Straits, by & large, I have no big opinion on. Generally speaking, I can take 'em or leave 'em. But sweet fancy Moses, do I hate this song. Then and now. I'd like to see it face the Walk Of Death.

35. LET'S GO ALL THE WAY - SLY FOX

Unless I'm forgetting something, THIS is a true One Hit Wonder. Goofy as it is, this song always still puts a smile on my face. And it's featured on my DJ demo tape!

33. HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE - ABC

I always loved how Martin Fry would mix things up every album. They were practically a cartoon band at this point, & I loved it. I also had a thing for the girl in the band named Eden. There was one song where she had a dirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty lyric that I think they changed later.

30. SPIES LIKE US - PAUL MCCARTNEY

Probably one of his 3-4 worst singles ever.

29. BEAT'S SO LONELY - CHARLIE SEXTON

Really liked this at the time, but now I can see how hard they were trying to make him the next Billy Idol. A waste of his genuine talents.

20. THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON T.V. - A-HA

For some reason, I used to think it was funny there was a guy in the band named Mags. No idea why I thought it was funny. They're Norwegian, dipshit. Of course they have "weird" names.

7. LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN - THE DREAM ACADEMY

I remember one of my co-workers doing a bit over the intro to this one, about his Eskimo youth ( he was 1000000% not an Eskimo ). I mainly remember the punch line of the bit being the word "blubber".

 

[sadchild]

Good 17
Okay 7
Bad 16

Yeah not a bad countdown at all

37: WALK OF LIFE - DIRE STRAITS

WO² + HO²

27: THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT - LOVERBOY

2: KYRIE - MR. MISTER

My guess at #1

1: HOW WILL I KNOW - WHITNEY HOUSTON

Both of the other guys picked this (probably both of them). So I lose again.

Will never reach the top 40
#48 Dan Seals "Bop"
#51 Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew "The Super Bowl Shuffle"
#53 Meli'sa Morgan "Do Me Baby"
#54 Sam Harris "I'd Do It All Again"
#61 Barbra Streisand "Somewhere"
#63 Pat Benatar "Le Bel Age"
#64 Phyllis Nelson "I Like You"
#66 Alarm "Strength"
#67 Isley Jasper Isley "Caravan Of Love"
#68 Alisha "Baby Talk"
#70 Sheena Easton "Jimmy Mack"
#71 OMD "Secret"
#72 Five Star "Let Me Be The One"
#75 Jennifer Rush "The Power Of Love"
#77 Peter Frampton "Lying"
#78 Divinyls "Pleasure And Pain"
#83 Alan Parsons Project "Stereotomy"
#84 Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam "Can You Feel The Beat"
#85 Eurythmics "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)"
#88 Firm "All the King's Horses"
#90 Talk Talk "Life's What You Make It"
#91 Scritti Politti "Wood Beez"
#92 Klymaxx "The Men All Pause"
#93 Dokken "In My Dreams"
#96 Ray Parker Jr "One Sunny Day"
#97 Jennifer Holliday "No Frills Love"

 

[hwkn]

23 this week.