80s0n8 Big 40 Countdown Schedule

[Aaron]

19 out of 40. The latter part of the decade was not a strong one for pop music.

Yeah about the same number for me. Overall not a great countdown.

 

[HecticArt]

I was at 12. There were a couple that were just nostalgia from hearing them around the shop that I used to work at back in the day.

 

[Channel98]

Kenny G (Gorelick) plays what I call "snake charmer music." Songbird was the only instrumental to make the Hot 100 in 1987. Only one instrumental charted in 1988-89: Silhouette by Kenny G. Only one instrumental charted in 1990: Going Home by Kenny G. In January 2000, Kenny G's Auld Lang Syne (The Millennium Mix) reached #7. It includes sound bites of Thomas Edison, Bob Hope, Lou Gehrig, Abbott & Costello, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and many other personalities and news stories.

 

[scotchandcigar]

About a 9 for me. I was fully into alt rock and adult contemporary by then.

 

[sadchild]

Good 10
Okay 6
Bad 24

63. You Keep Me Hangin' On - Kim Wilde
33. ALWAYS - ATLANTIC STARR
31. HEAD TO TOE - LISA LISA & CULT JAM
26. WHO'S THAT GIRL - MADONNA
4. I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY - WHITNEY HOUSTON

Forgot about all of these. I knew my 87 is shaky,

34. CAN'T WE TRY - DAN HILL WITH VONDA SHEPPARD

31. HEAD TO TOE - LISA LISA & CULT JAM

My friend's old room mate guessed this

30. LA BAMBA - LOS LOBOS

I guessed this

3. I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR - U2
2. SHAKEDOWN - BOB SEGER

I should have guessed one of these.

1. ALONE - HEART

My friend's son guessed this one.

Will never reach the top 40
#52 INXS "Good Times"
#58 John Waite "These Times Are Hard For Lovers"
#59 Will To Power "Dreamin'"
#61 Cure "Why Can't I Be You"
#64 Laura Branigan "Shattered Glass"
#66 Kool & The Gang "Holiday"
#67 Jody Watley "Still A Thrill"
#70 Debbie Harry "In Love with Love"
#71 Tom Kimmel "That's Freedom"
#73 Kim Wilde "Say You Really Want Me"
#75 Breakfast Club "Kiss And Tell"
#76 Fabulous Thunderbirds "Stand Back"
#78 Hooters "Johnny B"
#80 Rod Stewart "Twistin' the Night Away"
#81 38 Special "Back To Paradise"
#82 Regina Belle "Show Me The Way"
#83 Jon Astley "Jane's Getting Serious"
#86 Carly Simon "Give Me All Night"
#88 Depeche Mode "Strangelove"
#89 LL Cool J "I'm Bad"
#90 Whitesnake "Still of the Night"
#93 Bruce Willis "Under The Boardwalk"
#94 Amazulu "Montego Bay"
#95 Chicago "Niagra Falls"
#97 Ana "Shy Boys"
#99 Gino Vannelli "Wild Horses"
#100 Lou Gramm "Ready Or Not"

 

[Aaron]

Strangelove is better than anything on that chart if you ask me.
Still of the Night got a good bit of airplay also to not have made the 40.

 

[Jon]

#83 Jon Astley "Jane's Getting Serious"
#88 Depeche Mode "Strangelove"
#90 Whitesnake "Still of the Night"

My three surprises considering Whitesnake was all over the place back in the day. Wonder if they placed higher on the Rock charts. Depeche Mode is still regularly played on the 80's channel/First Wave.

 

[Channel98]

You wonder. I answer. Whitesnake placed ten songs on Billboard's mainstream rock chart:

Slow An' Easy (17/1984)
Love Ain't No Stranger (33/1984)
Still Of The Night (18/1987)
Here I Go Again (4/1987)
Is This Love (13/1987)
Give Me All Your Love (22/1987)
Fool For Your Loving (2/1989)
Judgement Day (32/1989)
The Deeper The Love (4/1990)
Now You're Gone (15/1990)

 

[HecticArt]

#83 Jon Astley "Jane's Getting Serious"

We've talked about this song before. Love it. It's quirky and wonderful. I'm surprised it's this high on the countdown.

#88 Depeche Mode "Strangelove"

Great song, but not on their list of biggest radio hits. I thought it would have been just a little higher on the charts though.

#90 Whitesnake "Still of the Night"

I'm surprised this one isn't much closer to 40.

 

[seasalt43]

​ #83 Jon Astley "Jane's Getting Serious"​

We've talked about this song before. Love it. It's quirky and wonderful. I'm surprised it's this high on the countdown.

It made it a wee bit higher. It peaked at #77 the next week.

 

[sadchild]

Doesn't surprise me Depeche didn't make the top 40 in 87. Their time was about to come though in late 89/early 90 as alt got bigger.

 

[sadchild]

8/1/81 is a no brainer. But I think I'm missing the chart-toppers right before it and right after it...?

EARLIER
John Lennon "Starting Over"
Dolly Parton "9 to 5"
Blondie "Tide Is High"
Hall And Oates "Kiss On My List"
Eddie Rabbit "I Love A Rainy Night"
Blondie "Rapture"
Sheena Easton "Morning Train"
Kim Carnes "Bette Davis Eyes"
Stars On 45 "Stars On 45"

Spoiler: NO BRAINER

Rick Springfield "Jesse's Girl"

LATER
Diana/Lionel "Endless Love"
Christopher Cross "Best That You Can Do"
Barbra Streisand "Guilty"
Hall And Oates "Maneater"
ONJ "Physical"

 

[Aaron]

8/1/1981

40. YOU'RE MY GIRL - FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS
39. REALLY WANNA KNOW YOU - GARY WRIGHT
38. STOP DRAGGIN' MY HEART AROUND - STEVIE NICKS & TOM PETTY
37. DON'T WANT TO WAIT ANYMORE - THE TUBES
36. LOVE ON A TWO WAY STREET - STACY LATTISAW
35. FEELS SO RIGHT - ALABAMA
34. DON'T GIVE IT UP - ROBBIE PATTON
33. ROCK AND ROLL DREAMS COME TRHOUGH - JIM STEINMAN
32. DOUBLE DUTCH BUS - FRANKIE SMITH
31. FIRE AND ICE - PAT BENATAR
30. WHO'S CRYING NOW - JOURNEY
29. A WOMAN NEEDS LOVE - RAY PARKER JR.
28. COOL LOVE - PABLO CRUISE
27. THE BREAKUP SONG - GREG KINH BAND
26. MODERN GIRL - SHEENA EASTON
25. MEDLEY (A&B) - STARS ON 45
24. DON'T LET HIM GO - REO SPEEDWAGON
23. IN THE AIR TONIGHT - PHIL COLLINS
22. URGENT - FOREIGNER
21. ALL THOSE YEARS AGO - GEORGE HARRISON
20. IT'S NOW OR NEVER - JOHN SCHNEIDER
19. SWEET BABY - STANLEY CLARKE & GEORGE DUKE
18. THE STROKE - BILLY SQUIER
17. LADY YOU BRING ME UP - THE COMMODORES
16. TOUCH ME WHEN WE'RE DANCING - THE CARPENTERS
15. TIME - ALAN PARSONS PROJECT
14. ENDLESS LOVE - DIANA ROSS & LIONEL RICHIE
13. NO GETTING OVER ME - RONNIE MILSAP
12. GEMINI DREAM - MOODY BLUES
11. YOU MAKE MY DREAMS - HALL & OATES
10. QUEEN OF HEARTS - JUICE NEWTON
9. HEARTS - MARTY BALIN
8. BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY - THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER
7. BETTE DAVIS EYES - KIM CARNES
6. SLOW HAND - POINTER SISTERS
5. ELVIRA - THE OAK RIDGE BOYS
4. I DON'T NEED YOU - KENNY ROGERS
3. BELIEVE IT OR NOT - JOEY SCARBURY
2. THE ONE YOU LOVE - AIR SUPPLY
1. JESSIE'S GIRL - RICK SPRINGFIELD

 

[HecticArt]

Only 8 this time.

 

[hwkn]

27 this week.

 

[MonoStereo]

8/1/1981

40. YOU'RE MY GIRL - FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS

I always forget these guys had more than 1 hit ( they ultimately had 3 ).

37. DON'T WANT TO WAIT ANYMORE - THE TUBES

"The Completion Backward Principle" is straight-up one of my favorite records of the 80's.

34. DON'T GIVE IT UP - ROBBIE PATTON

I hadn't heard this since, I dunno, maybe 1982.

27. THE BREAKUP SONG - GREG KINH BAND

I could listen to this song over & over, kihntinuously.

20. IT'S NOW OR NEVER - JOHN SCHNEIDER

Oooooooh, them Dukes!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY - THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER

I like/love most of the songs on this week's countdown. Here's an exception!!!!!

5. ELVIRA - THE OAK RIDGE BOYS

The summer this countdown comes from, I was working in the fiberglass plant my Dad was a manager for. The hardest job I ever had, in part because I heard this song roughly 37,954 times from May to August.

3. BELIEVE IT OR NOT - JOEY SCARBURY

"Where could I beeeeeeeeeee?" #Costanza

 

[Jon]

36. LOVE ON A TWO WAY STREET - STACY LATTISAW

I'm pretty sure you can be arrested for that.

 

[Jon]

15 out of 40. Eh!!

 

[scotchandcigar]

15 out of 40. Eh!!

Same here.

 

[Channel98]

Touch Me When We're Dancing was written by Ken Bell, Terry Skinner and J.L. Wallace. They also wrote Air Supply's Even The Nights Are Better. the Kendalls' Teach Me To Cheat and the Forester Sisters' That's What You Do When You're In Love. Touch Me When We're Dancing was first recorded in 1979 by Bama, a group of session musicians in Muscle Shoals. It reached #86 on the Hot 100 and #42 on the adult contemporary chart. A version by Alabama topped the country chart in 1976. The song was also recorded by Thelma Houston and by Mickey Gilley & Charly McClain. Here is a 1982 version by Mary Wells: