80s0n8 Big 40 Countdown Schedule

[Aaron]

Surprisingly 25 I'm good with.

I like that Hall & Oates song a lot.

 

[Jon]

12 good ones. That era of popular music started to lose me a little, until grunge came along.

 

[HecticArt]

otally disagree. Though I will say Def Lep was one of my favs as a teen but by the mid-90s I barely listened to them anymore. I loved Pyro start to finish as a teen. Hysteria .... well ... I loved it from 87 up until the big music shift of 91/92. When Adrenalize dropped in 92, I was shocked at how little I cared, and how cheesy and overproduced the songs felt. And that retroactively made Hysteria sound overproduced. But, decades later, I appreciate Hysteria the same way I appreciate Permanent Vacation. Good, but not as great as I used to think they were.

I'm kinda the same way with Def Leppard. When Hysteria came out, it had a huge fresh sound, with rich production and a lot of energy. It was really exciting back then, and great to see them finally get an album together after the accident. The formula faded rather quickly after that album though. I like Depeche Mode, New Order, Crystal Method, and NIN, so drum machines / electronic drums don't bother me. They are just another tool to make music.

 

[Jon]

On Through the Night through Hysteria was my era with Def Leppard, Pyromania probably being the best.

Anything from Adrenalize on is where they lost me.

Rock Til You Drop is on my all time list along with a few others.

 

[Jon]

6/5/88


35. DA' BUTT - E.U.

HAAAAAAAAATED this song, which was popular when I was in middle school and it was all over the place. Even if it wasn't overplayed it still sucked.

34. ANGEL - AEROSMITH

Some from the later years is not horrible but this is the worst (even Steven Tyler will tell you that apperently!)

32. WISHING WELL - TERRENCE TRENT D'ARBY
31. UNDER THE MILKY WAY - THE CHURCH
30. NEW SENSATION - INXS
29. BEDS ARE BURNING - MIDNIGHT OIL
28. ELECTRIC BLUE - ICEHOUSE
27. POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME - DEF LEPPARD

Nice run of some real good songs in this bunch.

23. NOTHIN' BUT A GOOD TIME - POISON

......that ends there.

11. CIRCLE IN THE SAND - BELINDA CARLISLE

Although not the worst song in the world, it's something you'd expect to be written for Tiffany or Debbie Gibson, not the lead singer of the friggin' Go-Gos!

 

[seasalt43]

36. WHEN WE KISS - BARDEUX

What the hell is this? What an absolute nothing of a song. It literally sounds like a crappy demo that should have never been recorded, let alone make the Top 40. This kinda thing is why I wasn't listening to the radio much at this point.

The artists on this track did not sing or rap. They talked! To make the 40, radio was playing this and people were buying it which is crazy.

31. UNDER THE MILKY WAY - THE CHURCH
30. NEW SENSATION - INXS
29. BEDS ARE BURNING - MIDNIGHT OIL
28. ELECTRIC BLUE - ICEHOUSE

Here we go...4 songs I actually like! I've owned that Church album on every format imaginable. And I need to find a solid Icehouse "greatest hits" CD.

I agree. It's great to see Australian bands getting airplay during this time.

33. MY GIRL - SUAVE

Never heard this before, either. Not as bad as Bardeux, because the song itself holds up. But this is another one that just sounds like someone fucking around in their dorm room with a Casio keyboard. And the version I'm listening to on YouTube sounds like it's coming from a speaker that was run over by a Yugo, & then placed in a drawerful of socks.

What passes as music today has taken the dorm room/Casio model and perfected it.

20. KISS ME DEADLY - LITA FORD

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I have NEVER understood the appeal of this song. Generic as fuck, & it doesn't "rock" at all. It could have only been a hit in the morass of the late 80's.

I think Lita Ford got here because she was among few females doing this at this time. Heavy airplay from MTV didn't hurt either. If there was more competition, I'm sure she would have been dethroned.

 

[sadchild]

What passes as music today has taken the dorm room/Casio model and perfected it.

Yes.

Though "perfected it" here means "made it lucrative" not "good" IMO

 

[seasalt43]

Yes.

Though "perfected it" here means "made it lucrative" not "good" IMO

You're right. I blame the records companies too for literally allowing anything to be released these days.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I get about 12. Surprising how many of these I'm unfamiliar with. Never heard of Da' Butt (the song) until the countdown. And just in case anyone's interested in my take on good/bad Def Leppard, it's all bad IMO.

 

[sadchild]

their stuff from "Permanent Vacation" on is mostly straight-up garbage.

Relevant:

Steven Tyler's input on Permanent Vacation...

By writing with other people we just added another spice to the pot. Some people might say it’s not the same Aerosmith, but I didn’t put anything on that album that I wasn’t proud of. ‘Magic Touch’ got a little stupid, commercial, so we pulled back.

 

[sadchild]

You're right. I blame the records companies too for literally allowing anything to be released these days.

Yes and no. They're just chasing the money. I think it's the mainstream listening audience that's getting stupider by the year.

 

[HecticArt]

Yes and no. They're just chasing the money. I think it's the mainstream listening audience that's getting stupider by the year.

Quoted for truth.
It’s the participation ribbon, YouTube celebrity, instant gratification culture that kids are growing up with that makes everyone think that it’s ok to reward talentless people for churning out crap. At least we could blame drugs for the crap that got released in the 70s and 80s.

 

[sadchild]

36. WHEN WE KISS - BARDEUX

This is just as atrociously bad as it was last year. Everything about it sounds awful. It shouldn't have even made the bottom of the Bubbling Under.

For every song you hate, there's always someone out there who likes it....

 

[HecticArt]

So he was the one that liked it.....

 

[MonoStereo]

A guy with the name "Kale" - the most bullshit leafy green since Arugula. Figures.

 

[HecticArt]

His name might as well be spinach......

 

[sadchild]

1982

EARLIER
ONJ "Physical" (81/82)
Hall & Oates "I Can't Go For That"
J Geils Band "Centerfold"
Vangelis "Chariots Of Fire"
Joan Jett "I Love Rock & Roll"

Spoiler: It's gotta be one of these two?!

Paul/Stevie "Ebony & Ivory"
Survivor "Eye Of The Tiger"

LATER
Steve Miller Band "Abracadabra"
Chicago "Hard To Say I'm Sorry"
John Mellencamp "Jack And Diane"
Men At Work "Who Can It Be Now"
Joe/Jennifer "Up Where We Belong"
Lionel Richie "Truly"
Toni Basil "Mickey" (82/83)

 

[hwkn]

Abacadabra was #50 this week in 82........Ebony And Ivory #1.......Eye Of The Tiger was #42 the following week........Hard To Say I'm Sorry was #34 on the week of 7/3/82

 

[Aaron]

6/12/1982

40. HOPE YOU LOVE ME LIKE YOU SAY YOU DO - HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
39. MURPHY'S LAW - CHERI
38. FRIENDS IN LOVE - DIONNE WARWICK & JOHNNY MATHIS
37. AFTER THE GLITTER FADES - STEVIE NICKS
36. PERSONALLY - KARLA BONOFF
35. I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START - EDDIE RABBITT
34. STILL THEY RIDE - JOURNEY
33. FORGET ME NOTS - PATRICE RUSHEN
32. FANTASY - ALDO NOVA
31. BREAK IT UP - FOREIGNER
30. WHEN HE SHINES - SHEENA EASTON
29. ONLY THE LONELY - THE MOTELS
28. PLAY THE GAME TONIGHT - KANSAS
27. TAKE ME DOWN - ALABAMA
26. WHEN IT'S OVER - LOVERBOY
25. ANY DAY NOW - RONNIE MILSAP
24. WITHOUT YOU - FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS
23. RUN FOR THE ROSES - DAN FOGELBERG
22. DID IT IN A MINUTE - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES
21. TAINTED LOVE - SOFT CELL
20. CAUGHT UP IN YOU - .38 SPECIAL
19. EMPTY GARDEN - ELTON JOHN
18. '65 LOVE AFFAIR - PAUL DAVIS
17. HURTS SO GOOD - JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP
16. LET IT WHIP - DAZZ BAND
15. LOVE'S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME - JUICE NEWTON
14. MAN ON YOUR MIND - LITTLE RIVER BAND
13. MAKING LOVE - ROBERTA FLACK
12. BODY LANGUAGE - QUEEN
11. I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME - CHARLENE
10. IT'S GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE - DENIECE WILLIAMS
9. 867-5309/JENNY - TOMMY TUTONE
8. CRIMSON AND CLOVER - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS
7. ROSANNA - TOTO
6. HEAT OF THE MOMENT - ASIA
5. ALWAYS ON MY MIND - WILLIE NELSON
4. THE OTHER WOMAN - RAY PARKER JR
3. DON'T YOU WANT ME - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
2. DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS - RICK SPRINGFIELD
1. EBONY AND IVORY - PAUL MCCARTNEY AND STEVIE WONDER

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

24 good. I was doing good only not-liking 2 until I got out of the top 20.