September 26, 1987 Part Two

Before we return to 1987, let's have a quick glance back at 1975.

John Denver's double-sided "I'm Sorry/Calypso was #1. And below that...not a lot new..."Run Joey Run" at 5, "Mr. Jaws" at 14, "Games People Play" at 18, the great "Bad Blood" at 25...Here's a new one, Tony Orlando and Dawn covering Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need to Get By" at 34. I liked Dawn's parts...Jim Stafford had his last Top 40 hit with his version of Shel Silverstein's cautionary drug goof "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" at 37...And the Average White Band did a lot of singing on their third hit, "If I Ever Lose This Heaven." 39 is where it was this week, and also where it peaked. But it's much better than that position would indicate...But this week, my spotlight hits...

35 - "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips was 14 in 1950 when she had an incredible run of success on the rhythm and blues charts, scoring three #1s and seven Top Tens in that year alone. But the hitmaking magic dried up as suddenly as it came on, and by 1962, she was playing in tiny clubs while struggling with drug addiction. But that year, none other than Kenny Rogers saw her performing in Houston, and arranged for her to sign with his brother's record label. She then recorded the counrty song "Release Me" (as in "Please release me, let me go." I bet you at least know that part), and it not only took her back to the top of the R&B charts, but to the pop Top Ten as well. She had a steady career in the years that followed, but no major hits until this disco version of a 1934 song that was originated in Spanish and translated into English in 1934 but not popularized until 24 little years later, when jazz great Dinah Washington took it to #8. Phillips' voice definitely has an old-school quality that's a little out of synch with the pulsing disco beat, but somehow, it works. A cool little curiosity.

Now back to the 80s.

20 - "Who Found Who," Jellybean
19 - "Jump Start," Natalie Cole
18 - "I Need Love," L.L. Cool J
17 - "Casanova," LeVert
16 - "One Heartbeat," Smokey Robinson

The second half opens with producer John "Jellybean" Benitez, who alongside his many production and remix credits, managed two Top 40 singles, the last of which was this nondescript dance number with vocals by the equally nondescript Elisa Firorillo. Nothing here, really.

In between her contemporary jazz-pop beginnings and her 90s reinvention as an interpreter of standards, Natalie Cole had a brief period of upbeat R&B success, an example of which is this song in which she compares herself to a battery that needs charging. And yes, she means she needs sex. This definitely isn't the type of song that she could do a duet with her dead father on.

Next is James Todd Smith, who fancied himself both "cool" and someone that ladies love. These two qualities inspired his rap name. His first pop hit was this tender ballad in which he promises gentlemanly behavior, including pulling out chairs for his lady and putting his coat over a puddle for her to walk over. Sweet. But I like his second hit "Goin' Back to Cali," waaaaay better.

Then it's the vocal group led by Gerald and Sean LeVert, two sons of O'Jay Eddie LeVert. On their first and biggest pop hit, they dismiss comparisons to such famous lovers as Romeo and the guy in the song's title, claiming they're just average guys. But they still feel worthy of the affections of whoever they're singing to. I guess that soft sell works on some women.

Rounding out this batch is Motown legend Smokey Robinson with his last Top Ten, a leisurely ballad about taking romance at a relaxed pace, even to the point of "making love in slow motion." Whatever works for ya, Smokey.

15 - "Can't We Try," Dan Hill with Vonda Shepard
14 - "Paper in Fire," John Cougar Mellencamp
13 - "Who Will You Run To," Heart
12 - "Wipe Out," The Fat Boys and the Beach Boys
11 - "Doing it All for My Baby," Huey Lewis and the News

This section begins with Canuck Dan "Sometimes When We Touch" Hill's second and final U.S. pop hit, a duet about a crumbling relationship with the then-unknown Vonda Shepard, who would later achieve her greatest fame by serenading single female lawyer Ally McBeal and her friends on a weekly basis. This song's nothing special.

Next is John Cougar Mellencamp with a rollicking number that seems to be about wasting one's time without realizing it until it's too late. Whatever. It's catchy, and I like the banjo and fiddle on it.

Then it's Heart with one of the better songs of their "utter crap" period. It's fairly decent pop-rock about feeling that a past lover will never have it as good as they had it with you. I can even overlook the fact that it was written by schlockmistress Diane Warren. The bar for this period of Heart is that low.

In one of the oddest combinations ever, pioneering rap group The Fat Boys teamed up with 60s surf-popsters The Beach Boys on a cover of a Surfaris song that was originally an instrumental save for "Hahahahahahaaha wipeout!" But of course, this would never do for this collaboration, so the Fat Boys did a rhyme about a beach vacation, while the Beach Boys contributed doo wop harmonies on the chorus. Bizarre, and not necessary at all. And the clear winner of this week's Uneasy Rider.

This section closes with Huey Lewis and the News and another of their slick pop hits, this one a midtempo number about how coming home to a woman makes all the work worth it. I've never seen or read American Psycho, but even if that didn't exist, I would be suspicious of anyone who was really, really into these guys. What about them is there to be passionate about?

There are ten that rose above all others for seven days. Let us honor them.

10 - "U Got the Look," Prince
The Purple One gets an assist from Sheena Easton, the once-clean-cut Scots lass he so wonderfully corrupted, on this fantastic dancefloor stomper that invites us all to be spectators to "the dream we all dream of: Boy versus Girl in the World Series of Love." I find that a pretty sexy image. "Let's get 2 rammin'," not so much.

9 - "Touch of Grey," The Grateful Dead
As this year began, Jerry Garcia and company had been together for over two decades, sold millions of albums, amassed perhaps the most loyal fan base of any rock band ever (the "Deadheads") and had become living monuments to the Hippie era. But the one thing they hadn't done was have a Top 40 single. But by the fall, they had achieved that at last with this bouncy, catchy number with nonsensical lyrics about shoes on hands and cows giving kerosene. The only thing that sort of makes sense is the chorus, on which they commit to survival. Definitely not a song the diehards think is among their best, but it sounds good on the radio.

8 - "La Bamba," Los Lobos
This Mexican folk song, often played at weddings in the state of Veracruz, was first brought to rock n' roll by Richie Valens in 1958, then taken to #1 by this Los Angeles band in their recording for the Valens biopic of the same name. Oh, and apparently, this song describes a dance that must be done fast and with humor. I think that's the only way I know how to dance.

7 - "Carrie," Europe
This Swedish hair-metal band had their biggest American hit with this power ballad about leaving someone. Not over-the-top enough to stand out, which can't be said about their U.S. Top Ten, "The Final Countdown."

6 - "When Smokey Sings," ABC
This Sheffield, England band had five American hits, the last and biggest of which was this tribute to the man who was also on this week's chart at Number 16. When that guy sings, singer Martin Fry says, "I hear violins." And I guess that's a good thing. But for me, this is the least appealing of their hits. "The Look of Love" is my favorite, by the by.

5 - "Lost in Emotion," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
This year, these two entities decided to record without Full Force, and were rewarded with the only two #1s of their career, the second of which was this midtempo tune about not realizing that friendship might be turning to romance. Another song I'm not a fan of. And quoting "Que Sera Sera" didn't help matters.

4 - "I Heard a Rumour," Bananarama
This was the last major American hit for this London trio, a tune about debating whether or not to take back an allegedly reformed ex. Wasn't a big fan of these ladies. "Cruel Summer" was probably my favorite.

3 - "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," Michael Jackson featuring Siedah Garrett
This was the long-awaited first single from Michael's follow-up to the biggest record ever. A duet with an unknown singer on a tender ballad may not have been what people had expected, but that didn't stop it from rocketing to the top of the charts. Garrett, who also co-wrote Bad's "Man in the Mirror, wasn't the first choice of partner for Michael, but after Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog were unable to do the record, he turned to her on the suggestion of Quincy Jones. And she does all right. But really, the best part of the song is Michael's spoken word intro. It's overwrought, but it works.

2 - "Here I Go Again," Whitesnake
David Coverdale first gained fame as Ian Gillan's replacement in Deep Purple. After they broke up in the late 70s, he formed his own band. They'd had some success in their native Britain, but they didn't crack America in a major way until they released a new version of a song they'd first recorded in 1982, a driving rocker about searching for meaning and answers and love and such. It climbed all the way to #1. Whether that was because of its lyrical themes, or because of the video that featured Coverdale's future wife Tawny Kitaen writhing on the hood of a car in her underclothing, who can say, really? Regardless, it retains a cheesy nostalgic charm.

And at the top of the pop heap 24 years ago this week was...

1 - "Didn't We Almost Have it All," Whitney Houston
After her debut single, "You Give Good Love," only reached #3, Houston became the dominant diva of the latter half of the 80s by going on a run of 7 consecutive #1s. This, the fifth in that line, is a typically big ballad about a relationship that showed promise but wasn't built to last. This isn't the kind of thing that I'm into personally, but there's no doubt she delivered what the people wanted when she was at the top of her game like this.

The NotCaseys were "Holiday" by The Other Ones, "Hourglass" by Squeeze, "Heaven is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle, and "Should've Known Better" by Richard Marx. Casey played two Long Distance Dedications. The first was "Coming Around Again" by Carly Simon, which two American sisters dedicated to some Italians they met in the Bahamas. The other was Suzanne Vega's "Luka," which a man sent out to his sister who had suffered horrible abuse from her mother.

And that does it for another week.

September 26, 1987 Part One

The fall of '87. I was a couple weeks into Grade 11. The next month would see a major worldwide stock market crash. And these were the popular songs in the United States at the time.

40 - "Don't Look Down - The Sequel," Go West
39 - "Don't Make Me Wait for Love," Kenny G
38 - "Rock Steady," The Whispers
37 - "It's a Sin," Pet Shop Boys
36 - "Something Real (Inside Me/Inside You)," Mr. Mister
35 - "Don't Mean Nothing," Richard Marx
34 - "Who's That Girl," Madonna
33 - "Victim of Love," Bryan Adams
32 - "Mony Mony (Live)," Billy Idol
31 - "In My Dreams," REO Speedwagon

We'll start with a couple of British synth-pop duos. Go West had just missed the American 40 with 1985's "We Close Our Eyes," then just scraped in two years with a remix (hence "The Sequel") of one of their UK hits. This is a peppy little song that encourages courage, but personally, I think "We Close Our Eyes," is better by miles. And the Pet Shop Boys picked up their third U.S. Top Ten with this epic-sounding confession in which Neil Tennant declares "At school they taught me how to be/So pure of thought and word and deed/They didn't quite succeed." He was inspired by his Catholic-school education, and even included some passages from Latin masses. These guys had a bunch of great singles, but this may be the best of them.

Next we have three songs that I've decided to lump into a category called "R&B/Dance." Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, the man who brought the soprano saxophone to elevators everywhere, followed up his first hit, the instrumental "Songbird," with this ballad featuring vocals by someone named Lenny Williams. It's meh until the very end, when Kenny's sax playing becomes especially grating. L.A. vocal group The Whispers had been releasing singles since 1969, but didn't score a pop Top Ten until 18 years later with this nice little dance jam about finding love and acting on it. And Madonna had her seventh Number One single with this bouncy title track to one of her bad movies. A typically fun Madonna hit of that era, although the inclusion of Spanish lyrics makes less sense here than it did on "La Isla Bonita."

Then it's a couple slices of lightweight pop-rock. In 1986, Mr. Mister burst on the scene in a huge way, scoring three Top Ten hits, including the #1s "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie." One year later, they scored what would be their last hit with this little ditty about searching for the genuine in all of us. It only hit #29, and deservedly so. It's a safe bet that this wasn't the song that guy from Train heard on the radio. And the band named after a fire truck shows up again with a ballad about retreating to subconscious reverie to pretend the one one loves loves one back (awkward sentence, but I stand by it). It's terrible, and so limp it makes "Can't Fight This Feeling" sound good. And I didn't think that was possible.

We finish with solo male rock singers. Richard Marx had experienced some success as a songwriter before making his own record and picking up his first hit with this poppy number. It not only borrows from the Eagles in terms of sound and lyrical theme (the dark side of the glamorous Hollywood dream), but from the band itself, as three one-time members of the band play on the song. It's not a classic by any means, but it's undeniably catchy. Canada's Bryan Adams notched his last hit of this decade with this unremarkable ballad about the tribulations of l'amour. And William Broad, who changed his name in part because a teacher once called him a certain synonym for "lazy," would hit #1 in America for the first and only time with this live version of a Tommy James and the Shondells hit that he'd first recorded in 1981. This rendition is harder rock than the synth-driven studio version, but it's that first recording that has stood the test of time and inspired millions to chant obscenely.


30 - "Breakout," Swing Out Sister
29 - "Bad," Michael Jackson
28 - "I Think We're Alone Now," Tiffany
27 - "Never Let Me Down," David Bowie
26 - "You are the Girl," The Cars
25 - "Fake," Alexander O'Neal
24 - "Little Lies," Fleetwood Mac
23 - "Causing a Commotion," Madonna
22 - "Let Me Be the One," Exposé
21 - "Only in My Dreams," Debbie Gibson

We start with some soul-dance-pop. Britain's Swing Out Sister had their only American hit with this sprightly Top Ten about overcoming fears and obstacles to reach your goals and dreams. This kind of message can come off as cheesy, but the delivery here is so funkily classy that it works. Alexander O'Neal, who was the lead singer of The Time until they became associated with Prince and he was replaced by Morris Day, had his biggest hit on his own with this Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis produces slice of rubbery funk that criticizes women who wear false eyelashes, hair extensions, and colored contacts. One can debate the merits of his arguments, but you can't argue with the groove. And Miami-based girl group Exposé had their third hit with this Latin-flavored request to be someone's lover. They never did anything at all for me. Didn't get it. But they had a bunch of hits, so what do I know?

There are two songs here by gigantic pop stars who had multiple hits on this week's countdown. Michael Jackson, who at this time had not yet crowned himself the King of Pop, is here with the tough-talking title track to his follow-up albun to Thriller. At the time it came off to me as a little overblown, and perhaps that overstuffed Martin Scorsese video didn't help matters. But the song has grown on me to a certain degree over the years. Cha'mon! And Madonna borrows the phrase "the love you save may be your own" from Michael and his brothers for a lyric on her second Who's That Girl? single. Not one of her better big hits, as far as I'm concerned.

Next we have the battle of the teen-girl pop stars. This was the week Tiffany made her debut with her machine-driven cover of a Tommy James and the Shondells song about two young lovers finding solitude at long last, and presumably taking that opportunity to fuck. But I don't think the then-fifteen Ms. Darwish understood that, and that's for the best. This is by far the second best Tommy James cover to enter the Top 40 this week. Meanwhile, her rival for shopping-mall supremacy, Debbie Gibson, had been on the charts since June with her first hit, an original song about missing someone and wanting them back that she wrote all by herself. Decent lyrics, catchy, and it sounds much more natural than the Tiffany track. Tiff won the first battle, as she hit #1 while Debbie stalled at #4. But in the end, Deborah had more hits. They apparently toured together this summer, and I've heard reports that Tiffany was the better singer. Both have posed nude in Playboy, and...I have no comment on that.

We finish with three 70s survivors. David Bowie is here with the title track to the album that he promoted with the massively theatrical Glass Spider tour. An unremarkable midtempo ballad about a devoted friend, but it is notable because it is the first time that I can remember offhand hearing harmonica on a Bowie track. The Cars are here with their final Top 40 hit, an uptempo love song from the last album that featured their original lineup. It's a sweet song, but it sounds kind of, I don't know, neutered. And Fleetwood Mac had their third hit from the Tango in the Night LP with this melancholy synth-popper in which Christine McVie asks her lover to supply her with falsehoods so their relationship can continue. Well, this band isn't exactly known for stability in their love affairs.

Tomorrow: Rap goes surfing, a singer appears on the same chart as a song about him, and the "sporting event" we all dream of.

September 19, 1981 Part Two

Before we complete 1981, let's have a brief look at the list from September 21, 1974:

Barry White was on top with "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe." And below...

Cat Stevens was at #11 with his last Top Ten, an okay cover of Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night"...Yes, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods had another hit besides "Billy, Don't Be a Hero," and here it is at #15, "Who Do You Think You Are"...And similarly, Blue Swede charted with something other than "Hooked on a Feeling." They actually made it all the way to the Top Ten with another cover, this one of The Association's "Never My Love," which landed this week at 21. But there are no "ooga chakas" or anything similar, so who cares?...R&B vocal group The Tymes invented a new term of endearment on the cool strut "You Little Trustmaker" at 22...Joni Mitchell's feeling "unfettered and alive" on the wonderful "Free Man in Paris" at 23...The Ohio Players appreciate "Skin Tight" pants in their usual funky-as-hell way at 27...Charlie Rich had his last major pop hit with "I Love My Friend," a ballad about finding comfort from loneliness one night in the arms of a to-that-point platonic companion that peaked at 28...Cool, this week I actually got to hear Carole King's original "Jazzman" at 29. It's nice...James Brown insists that "Papa Don't Take No Mess" at 38. Nor should he...And The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, a country-rock supergroup assembled by David Geffen, are here at 39 with "Fallin' in Love." It isn't the same song that Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds would go to #1 with the next year. Thank God. But I've decided to shine my spotlight this week on...

19 - "Earache My Eye featuring Alice Bowie," Cheech and Chong
The stoner duo not only moved millions of comedy LPs in the 70s, they also found their way onto the pop charts three times, with "Sister Mary Elephant," "Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces," and most successfully, this Top Ten riff (and I do mean riff, as the guitar part that drives this song has become somewhat of a classic on its own) on glam rock performed by a character inspired by two of the genre's biggest names at the time. The song begins with the sound of someone waking up and then putting on the "Alice Bowie" record. In the lyrics, the singer describes the hardships he had growing up, like being disowned by his father for cross-dressing and being kicked off a basketball team for "wearing high-heel sneakers and acting like a queen." But of course, his outrageousness eventually paid off and made him a famous rock star, a fact which "Alice" rubs his listeners' faces in at the end of the song. But then thesong ends with the sound of a needle being ripped off of a record, and then we're transported to a teenage boy's room, where his father is trying to get his lazy son out of bed and off to school. The boy begs off sick, claiming an earache, which provokes the immortal response "Earache, my eye! How would you like a buttache?" Eventually the father can put up with the disobedience no more, and he gives the boy an unholy beating then leaves, assuming the message has been recieved. But moments later, the kid puts the record back on, and presumably has gone back to bed. Good stuff all around.

And now, we wrap up September '81.

20 - "The Night Owls," The Little River Band
19 - "For You Eyes Only," Sheena Easton
18 - "The Voice," The Moody Blues
17 - "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," The Greg Kihn Band
16 - "Cool Love," Pablo Cruise

We kick off with my old friends The Little River Band. I'm not sure what this song is about, but I think it's their attempt at being "gritty." Actually, for them, it's not bad. But all in all, they're still awful.

Next is Sheena Easton with the theme from the twelfth James Bond film. Easton was not the first choice. Blondie had written a song for the movie, but the producers preferred another song co-written by Bill "Gonna Fly Now" Conti, and Blondie refused to record someone else's song. Conti had written the song with singers such as Donna Summmer and Dusty Springfield in mind, but the producers steered him to the then-hot Easton. I don't think it would have mattered who sang it. It's not among the best Bond themes, plain and simple.

Then it's the Moody Blues in their synth-heavy 80s incarnation. This song is about some sort of mystical, life-changing force. I think. It's all right, but I like "Gemini Dream" better.

Berkeley, California's The Greg Kihn band scored the first of their three Top 40 hits with a song about drowning one's sorrows over a fractured relationship in classic sad songs. It's like the downer polar opposite of "Old Time Rock and Roll." But a much better song.

Closing out this section are Pablo Cruise with their last hit. Unlike their others, this is a bluesy rock ballad. A much better direction for them, as far as I'm concerned. Better this than bland background music.

15 - "Believe it or Not," Joey Scarbury
14 - "The Beach Boys Medley," The Beach Boys
13 - "Jessie's Girl," Rick Springfield
12 - "Hold on Tight," The Electric Light Orchestra
11 - "Start Me Up," The Rolling Stones

This group opens with Joey Scarbury and his theme to The Greatest American Hero. We covered it on our first visit to '81, and all I have to add this time is that Scarbury sounds like a poor man's James Taylor.

With the popularity of "Stars on 45," record labels decided that medleys were a good way to repackage old songs to get more airplay and sales mileage out of them. And so, we have this mix containing snippets of the original recordings of "Good Vibrations," "Help Me Rhonda," "I Get Around," "Shut Down," "Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' USA," and "Fun, Fun, Fun." Who knew the music industry could be so cynical and calculating?

Next is Rick Springfield, still hanging on with his first #1, still angsty with envy over his buddy Jessie's woman. It remains a classic manifestation of male lust, and by far the best thing he ever did.

Then it's ELO with their final Top Ten, a song about hanging on to one's aspirations no matter what obstacles present themselves. And to make sure their point reached as wide an audience as possible, they did one of the verses in French. That was nice of them. Tres bien.

This bunch ends with the Stones and their biggest hit of the 80s. I liked it a lot as a kid, but overuse in popular culture has dulled it for me. But I still think about my initial reaction to the line "You make a dead man come." I'm pretty sure I thought he meant the woman he was singing about could make a dead man come back to life and come to her. But years later, I figured out the real meaning, and, um, eww.

Here come ten from way back when.

10 - "Slow Hand," The Pointer Sisters
Ruth, June and Anita had another big one with this sultry number about wanting a man who takes his time during intimate situations. Later, country singer Conway Twitty covered it. I like this version much better.

9 - "Step by Step," Eddie Rabbitt
The New Jersey country star followed up the #1 "I Love a Rainy Night" with this guitar ballad that provides advice for reluctant men on asking out women. Treat her like a lady, share your feelings, that sort of thing. If he'd wanted to, he probably could have stretched this out into a book. But the concise approach was the better one.

8 - "Lady (You Bring Me Up)," The Commodores
One of the groups last hits with Lionel Richie, this is a discoey number about a woman who changed a man's life for the better. All right, but I think I can hear them running out of steam. Lionel picked the right time to get out.

7 - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Christopher Cross
Cross would top the charts for the second and last time with the theme song from the Dudley Moore comedy about an irresponsible multimillionaire. It was co-written by Cross with songwriting pros Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen, so it's clearly well-crafted. But it doesn't do much for me.

6 - "Who's Crying Now," Journey
The San Francisco rockers cracked the Top Ten for the first time with this ballad about a volatile relationship that may or may not last. I liked it enough as a kid to buy the album it came from on cassette. Or maybe I didn't buy it until "Don't Stop Believin'" came out. I can't remember.

5 - "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me," Ronnie Milsap
This blind singer from North Carolina was a huge country star in the 70s and 80s, racking up an amazing 35 country #1s. This slick poppy tune (complete with sax solo) about how the woman who left him will not be able to get him out of her head ("I'll be the song on the radio...I'll be the book that you just can't put down.") was his biggest pop hit. I'm not a fan of country that doesn't sound like country, but put that aside, and this is pleasant enough.

4 - "Urgent," Foreigner
Lou Gramm and his British friends are back in the upper reaches of the charts with this appropriately desperate-sounding rocker about when lust rises to the level of emergency. Solid song, enhanced greatly by the saxophone of Motown legend Junior "Shotgun" Walker.

3 - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty
The first single from Nicks' solo debut, Bella Donna, featured vocal assistance from Tom Petty and musical backing from The Heartbreakers. It basically sounds like a Petty song sung by the witchy lady from Fleetwood Mac, but that's certainly not a bad thing.

2 - "Queen of Hearts," Juice Newton
Juice's second pop smash. We covered this on our first 1981 excursion, and I have nothing more to say. It's a great song. Someone should recommend it to Carrie Underwood for a cover version.

And the song that put the "one" in "eighty-one" this week was...

1 - "Endless Love," Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
The ex-Supreme and the soon-to-be ex-Commodore were on their sixth week at the top with this passionate duet that was featured in a movie of the same name that starred Brooke Shields. I've never seen it, but I just looked it up now, and it sounds pretty fucked up. So much so that when I saw that James Spader was in it, my thought was, "Of course he is." You can look it up for yourself, but all I'll say is, it wouldn't stand a chance of getting made by a major studio today.

The NotCaseys were "Theme from Hill Street Blues" by Mike Post featuring Larry Carlton, "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" by Billy Joel, "Our Lips are Sealed" by The Go-Go's, and "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters. Casey himself opened the show with last week's top two ("Endless Love" and "Slow Hand"), and later played three #1's from 1968: "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band, "Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers, and "Love is Blue" by Paul Mauriat. He also played "Ferry Cross the Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers, because they were at that time the only British group to top the UK charts with their first three singles. And there were two Long Distance Dedications: A woman dedicated Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle" to her husband of ten years for being loyal to her in spite of the fact that they "had to get married.," and a college girl dedicated "Lady" by Kenny Rogers to the boy she left back home who still loved her in spite of her being "overly social" in her new surroundings. Even as recently as the early 80s, there were clearly still some retrograde sexual politics in play.

I shall return next week, looking back again, but not in anger.

September 19, 1981 Part One

This week we go back to the year we covered when I did that "sneak preview" a couple months back. Here's what Casey counted down during my first few days of Grade 5.

40 - "I'm in Love," Evelyn King
39 - "Straight from the Heart," The Allman Brothers Band
38 - "Just Once," Quincy Jones featuring James Ingram
37 - "When She was My Girl," The Four Tops
36 - "Some Days are Diamonds," John Denver
35 - "General Hospi-tale," The Afternoon Delights
34 - "Chloe," Elton John
33 - "We're In This Love Together," Al Jarreau
32 - "You Could Take My Heart Away," Silver Condor
31 - "I've Done Everything for You," Rick Springfield

A lot of R&B/soul in this first section. Evelyn King (not billed as "Champagne" on this one) stalled at 40 with this funky little declaration of affection. Nothing special in the lyrics department, but very good. Quincy Jones introduced the world to previously-unknown session singer James Ingram about an on again-off again relationship and the couple's search for a way to "make the magic last for more than just one night." Ingram would later perform this song in the 3-D House of Beef on SCTV. The Four Tops returned to the 40 after an eight-year absence with a reminiscence of a lost love. Not up there with their best material, but as I've said before, I'll always have time for a Levi Stubbs vocal. And jazz singer Al Jarreau was 41 when he made his pop breaktrhough with this smooth tune about a love that "like berries on the vine, it gets sweeter all the time." It's waiting-room music, but very good waiting-room music.

There's rock here. Gregg Allman and his band are here with a song where he's asking a woman (presumably not Cher) for a second chance. It's an okay Southern rock ballad, with the band's signature guitar sound, but it's marred somewhat by some overly-bright 80s keyboards. Silver Condor were a short-lived band that featured Earl Slick, a frequent David Bowie sideman. Their only hit was this midtempo ballad about looking for brief relief from loneliness. To me, they sound like a much better version of The Little River Band. And Rick Springfield followed up his smash breaktrhough "Jessie's Girl" with this rockin' complaint about the inequity in his current romantic entanglement. I wouldn't say that it does nothin' for me, but it doesn't do much.

A little bit of the easy stuff. John Denver cracked the Top 40 for the first time in four years with a country number about how since his lover left him, he has his good and bad days. Although judging from the lyrics, more of his days are stones than diamonds. He would only hit the 40 one more time after this. Elton John is here yet again with a ballad about a very understanding lady who takes "all the pain I give you, loving blindly in return." The string arrangement brings back memories of his better 70s stuff, but otherwise, this is just okay.


Lastly, we come to this week's Uneasy Rider. The soap opera General Hospital was a white-hot phenomenon at this time, led by the "Luke and Laura" storyline that would lead to their much-watched wedding that November. To cash in on this, a group of Boston singers cut this disco record that featured one of the women rapping about various storylines (adultery, stolen gold, insanity, etc.). "I just can't cope without my soap," she declares. A novelty very much of its times. And the last syllable of the title is pronounced to rhyme with "gal" or "pal."

30 - "Fire and Ice," Pat Benatar
29 - "Hard to Say," Dan Fogelberg
28 - "Draw of the Cards," Kim Carnes
27 - "Private Eyes," Daryl Hall and John Oates
26 - "Super Freak," Rick James
25 - "Share Your Love With Me," Kenny Rogers
24 - "Really Wanna Know You," Gary Wright
23 - "Breaking Away," Balance
22 - "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)," Lulu
21 - "In Your Letter," REO Speedwagon

This time we begin with the rock. Pat Benatar is here doing her passionate-belting thing on this song about trying to resist falling for a guy who's love runs hot and cold. For some reason, I always found her a comforting presence on the radio. I don't usually classify Hall and Oates as "rock," but the urgency of this stalkeriffic classic that would become their second #1 doesn't fit at all in the easy-listening category, so here they are. Gary "Dream Weaver" Wright had his last Top 40 with this midtempo rock ballad in which I think he means the title in the more familiar sense, not the Biblical one. At least not immediately. Besides, this doesn't immediately conjure up visions of back-of-van sex the way his other two hits do. But it has its own spacey charms. And REO Speedwagon continued their transition from under-the-pop-radar rock journeymen to Top 40 stalwarts with this retro-sounding pop-rocker about a particularly nasty Dear John letter. There's some nice piano and keyboard soloing, and the whole thing has a very catchy vibe to it. I like this much better than the big ballads they're best known for.

We walk quite a bit on the mild side in this bunch. MOR superstar Dan Fogelberg is here with a song he apparently wrote while recovering from surgery. If he had written it before, they could have used it as anasthetic. Really, sometimes you listen to this guy and legitimately question whether or not he has a pulse. Kim Carnes followed up "Bette Davis Eyes" with this snakey semi-rocker that uses playing cards as a metaphor for the randomness of fate. No mystery why this didn't come close to duplicating "Bette"'s success. Kenny Rogers was on the charts at this time with a cover of a 1970 Aretha Franklin hit. I haven't heard Aretha's version, but I'm sure it's way better than this. And I probably should, because even though Kenny doesn't really do very well with it, the quality of the song shines through. Balance are a faceless band whose only hit was this peppy breakup song that sounds like it could have been done by Starship in the latter part of the decade. And no, that's not a good thing. And Scotswoman Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, best known for the title song to the Sidney Poitier movie To Sir, With Love, made her return to the U.S. charts after a dozen years with this sultry disco-lite protestation of need. It was worth the wait.

And we finish with soul/funk's only rep in this section, Rick James's immortal ode to "a very kinky girl, the kind you don't take home to mu-THAAA." Yes, it's to blame for that blight on the summer of 1990, "U Can't Touch This." But just listen to the down-and-dirty original with open ears and you will forgive him.

Tomorrow: odes to a spy, a superhero, and a drunken playboy.

September 13, 1986 Part Two

Before we begin to finish our 1986 business, let's take a quick look at this week's 70s list, from September 4, 1976.

Number 1 that week were The Bee Gees with "You Should Be Dancin'." The top half is full of stuff I've already covered, though I must admit, #17, Cliff Richard's "Devil Woman" has been stuck in my head lately for some reason...At #26, James Taylor advises us to "Shower the People." I would hope they'd be able to do that for themselves. Oh wait, shower them with love. That makes sense...Wait, Helen Reddy made a disco record? Apparently so, because there she is at #30 making a bid for dance club dominance with "I Can't Hear You No More." She does okay, but it's just not her style...Diana Ross had scored two #1s to date in '76 with "Theme from Mahogany and "Love Hangover." This week she's here at #32 with the funky, strutting "One Love in My Lifetime." It's good, but it didn't even come close to giving her the hat trick...Wow, I can almost hear the disdain in Casey's voice as he introduces the debut of "Disco Duck" at #34...And there Olivia again with "Don't Stop Believin'" at #39. It sounds nothing like the Journey song of the same name, and that's a good thing...But this week, my 70s Spotlight song is...

29 - "Street Singin'," Lady Flash
Lorraine Mazzola, Monica Burruss and Debra Byrd were a vocal trio whose primary gig was singing backup for Barry Manilow on record and on tour. But they did manage one hit of their own in the form of this tribute to the days of streetcorner a cappella groups. "When we were street singing," they say, "we were beauties in the night." It's a little too slick, perhaps, but it's a cool little curio. Oh, and if you recognize the name Debra Byrd, it's because she's spent the last decade as the head vocal coach on American Idol.

Okay, let's jump back ahead ten years and pick up where we left off yesterday.

20 - "Throwing it All Away," Genesis
19 - "Rumors," Timex Social Club
18 - "When I Think of You," Janet Jackson
17 - "Two of Hearts," Stacey Q
16 - "The Captain of Her Heart," Double

The second half begins with Genesis at the peak of their commercial powers. This, the second hit from the hugely successful Invisible Touch album, is a pretty standard Phil Collins ballad about how the woman leaving him is going to regret doing so. Doesn't do much for me.

The Timex Social Club were a soul/hip-hop group from Berkeley, California who managed just one hit, this plea for an end to gossip. They even ask the U.S. congress to impose the death penalty for those who would say things like "Hear that one about Michael? Some say 'he must be gay.'" Sounds a little harsh, but still, this is the best song I can think of off the top of my head from a band named for a watch.

Next is the little sister of a guy named Michael, who one might speculate was the subject of the above "Rumors" reference. Anyway, this sweetly funky number in which she declares to her significant other "All I think about is our love" would go on to be Janet Jackson's first #1, and once and for all establish her as more than the girl from the famous family who was on the last years of Good Times and played Willis' girlfriend on Diff'rent Strokes. Of course, now when we think of her, all we think about is her boob.

Stacey Lynn Swain spent her childhood performing at Disneyland and in a travelling circus. In the early 80s she was in a band called Q, then she went solo and took that letter as her stage surname. When this synth-drenched dance-pop confection hit the charts, she was 28, but her girlish voice made her sound much younger. Anyway, I-I-I-I-I, I need, I need never hear this song again.

Rounding out this group is the Swiss duo Double with their only American hit, a dark-sounding, piano-driven ballad about a woman who waits for the return of her true love. The singer sounds bored. I'm with him.

15 - "Man Size Love," Klymaxx
14 - "Papa Don't Preach," Madonna
13 - "Love Zone," Billy Ocean
12 - "Dreamtime," Daryl Hall
11 - "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)," Glass Tiger

This section starts with an all-female L.A. soul band who couldn't have spelled their name properly even if they'd wanted to, because that had already been taken by the people who brought us "Precious and Few." This synth-funk number is a simple plea for a male who can provide them with the right amount of affection. Does this song have anything to do with penis size? Honestly, I don't think so, and that's surprising.

Next is Madonna with the danceable melodrama in which she takes on the role of a pregnant teen looking for support and approval from her father, because she's made up her mind, she's keeping her baby. And marrying the guy who knocked her up. We never find out if she gets what she asks for. Like "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off," this was also used as a Long Distance Dedication, from a teenage mother from the Phillippines who actually did get her father's blessing for her choices. Well, at least real life provided closure.

Would you believe that Billy Ocean racked up a dozen U.S. Top 40 hits in his career? Including three #1s and two #2s? Well I didn't, but it's true. His entry here, a smooth midtempo ballad in which he promises to take his lady to a mystical realm where "together we can live and learn." only made it to #10. What a failure.

What's this? Hall...without Oates? Yes, it's true. For a couple years during the latter half of the decade, they amicably went their separate ways. But while John was doing stuff like recording with the Canadian band The Parachute Club and not really impacting the charts, Daryl put out a solo album with the fantastically awful title Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine. That record produced two Top 40 singles, the first and biggest of which was this song about a woman who runs away from her problems through fantasy. It's an interesting song, with a big beat some rocking guitars, but also an elaborate string arrangement. It definitely sounds distinct from Hall and Oates, and quite frankly, I think I just might like it better than anything those two did together.

Finishing this fivesome are Newmarket, Ontario's Glass Tiger with this frothy bit of cheese-pop that just screams "80s" from the horns to the haircuts to those vocal interjections from Bryan Adams. On behalf of all of Canada, I apologize for exposing the world to this. I really do.

Never mind the bollocks, here's the Top Ten:

10 - "Baby Love," Regina
Brooklyn songstress Regina Richards scored her only hit with this dance-popper that sounds quite a bit like something Madonna might have recorded. And since it was co-written by Stephen Bray, one of the Material Girl's most frequent collaborators in the early part of her career, that's not surprising. But it's not exactly something that sticks in the mind.

9 - "Walk this Way," Run-D.M.C.
The Queens rap pioneers helped bridge the gap between hip-hop and rock with this cover of Aerosmith's 1975 teen lust anthem that featured contributions from the band's "Toxic Twins," Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Not only did this song give us the Aerosmith comeback of the late-80s, but one could also argue that it is to blame for the likes of, say, Limp Bizkit. But I won't hold that against them.

8 - "Words Get in the Way," Miami Sound Machine
This band of Cuban-Americans, fronted by singer Gloria Estefan, had broken through to the Anglo market with a couple of upbeat numbers when they put out this ballad about a failure to communicate. With Estefan demonstrating her way with tenderness, this became the group's first Top 5 single. Not a big fan, but this is pretty effective in its mission, and that's all you can ask for.

7 - "Sweet Freedom," Michael McDonald
The master of bland soul-pop scored another post-Doobies hit with this song from a Billy Crystal/Gregory Hines buddy cop comedy called Running Scared. Why anyone would ever go out of their way to listen to this song is beyond me. There's absolutely nothing to feel passionate about one way or the other.

6 - "Higher Love," Steve Winwood
This British veteran of The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, and Traffic hit his commercial peak as a solo artist in the latter half of the eighties, and this R&B- inflected track that called for some sort of divine intervention was the first of his two #1s. I never thought too much of it, especially when I thought the chorus went "Break me off high or low." But I can't be too hard on any song that has Chaka Khan on backing vocals.

5 - "Venus," Bananarama
This British girl group scored their only American #1 with this cover of the tribute to the Roman goddess of love that first topped the charts in 1970 for Holland's Shocking Blue. Of course, this song is now most closely associated with leg razors. What's your desire? Why, stubble-free gams, of course!

4 - "Friends and Lovers," Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson
Loring, an actress, singer and songwriter whose biggest musical achievement to this point had been co-writing the themes to Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life with ex-husband Alan Thicke, was starring on the soap Days of Our Lives when she teamed up with Anderson, best known for playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar both on stage and screen, for this drippy ballad about a friendship that loses its platonicness. Really, I can only explain this song's success by saying that soap actors singing seemed to work in the 80s. See also Jack Wagner, Michael Damian, and of course, Rick Springfield.

3 - "Stuck with You," Huey Lewis and the News
Lewis and his band of current events followed up that big Back to the Future song with this one about a relationship that in spite of its many challenges just won't die. And Huey's pleased about that. Bland and inoffensive, but that's what the people wanted from these guys.

2 - "Dancing on the Ceiling," Lionel Richie
The ex-Commodore introduced the follow-up to his mega-selling Can't Slow Down LP with its title track, a propulsive floor-filler about a party so vibrant, it defies gravity. It may be his best solo single. It holds up surprisingly well.

And a quarter-cetnury ago, the top tune in the U.S. of A. was...

1 - "Take My Breath Away (Love Theme from Top Gun)," Berlin
Coming into 1986, these Los Angeles New Wavers had scored a single Top 40 hit with 1984's "No More Words, but were probably more famous for a song that only reached #62, the controversial "Sex (I'm A...)." But then they were tapped by producer Giorgio Moroder to record this ballad for a Tom Cruise movie about Navy pilots, and suddenly, singer Terri Nunn's voice is all over ther radio, and her band have a Number One record. Then they were pretty much never heard from again. But as long as there is 80s nostalgia, this song will live on.

The NotCaseys this week were "Earth Angel" by New Edition, "Human" by The Human League, "Wild Wild Life" by Talking Heads, and "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel. Casey opened the show with the previous week's #1, "Venus," and played one non-current LDD, Anne Murray's "You Needed Me," dedicated by a guy who put his career ahead of his marriage to the wife he wants back.

And there's another one. With yet another to come.

September 13, 1986 Part One

This week we travel back to the year Diego Maradona led Argentina to the World Cup (with a little help from the "Hand of God"), Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, and the world learned that there was nothing in Al Capone's vault. But it wasn't Geraldo's fault. D'oh! Anyway, here are some of the songs that were popular 25 years ago this week.

40 - "True Colors," Cyndi Lauper
39 - "Velcro Fly," ZZ Top
38 - "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On," Robert Palmer
37 - "Point of No Return," Nu Shooz
36 - "That was Then, This is Now," Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork
35 - "Sweet Love," Anita Baker
34 - "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off," Jermaine Stewart
33 - "A Matter of Trust," Billy Joel
32 - "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)," Simply Red
31 - "Mad About You," Belinda Carlisle

I'll start with some staight-up, female-sung pop. Cyndi Lauper is here with the first single from her follow-up to her huge debut album, She's So Unusual. It's a tender, comforting ballad promising unconditional friendship. In lesser hands, it could be sappy, but something about that little rasp in Cyndi's voice just makes it touchingly sweet. Valerie Day and her husband John Smith made music under a poorly-spelled synonym for mint footwear, and they broke through earlier in '86 with the catchy, hiccupy "I Can't Wait." This week, they appear with their second and final hit, a less-successful, less-memorable number about crossing the line from friendship to romance. After this, Nu Shooz were Ohld Nooz. And ex-Go-Go Belinda Carlisle made her solo debut with a peppy romp describing her and her lover as "a couple of fools run wild." I always liked Belinda's voice, but somehow, I enjoy it more on Go-Gos songs. Don''t know why.

Next we go to songs sung by American males. ZZ Top are here with another example of the combination of synth-pop and blues-rock that turned them into MTV sensations in the mid-80s. The song is essentially about the advantages of wearing pants that use the hook-and-loop fastening system invented by Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral as opposed to zippers or buttons. But a quick scan of the lyrics, with their repeated use of the word "snatch" and lines like "It feels so right when you squeeze it tight/When you reach the end, do it over again" would indicate that there might be something else going on. Regardless, it's still a song about Velcro, which is enough to qualify it for this week's Uneasy Rider. Ex-Monkees Dolenz and Tork recorded "That was Then, This is Now" for a hits compilation that was released to cash in on the band's TV show achieving new popularity on cable. The song, about trying to regain a lover's trust, is mildly catchy, but doesn't really live up to the legacy of earworms like "I'm a Believer" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone." Yes, I used the word "legacy" when referring to The Monkees. Deal with it. And Billy Joel picked up another hit with this underrated rocker where he tries to assert that his relationship is so strong that it won't be taken down by deception and dishonesty. At the time, he was married to Christie Brinkley. They're not together anymore. Take from that what you will.

We've got two tunes crooned by Brit blokes in this section. Robert Palmer followed up his #1 smash "Addicted to Love," with this darkly funky cover of a 1984 Cherrelle R&B hit about not knowing the power of one's own attractiveness. Yeah, I have that problem too, Bob. And Simply Red, led by ginger Mick Hucknall, also followed up a #1 ("Holding Back the Years") with a cover of an American R&B song from earlier in the decade. As the title would indicate, it's about economic hardship. It also features multiple criticisms of Ronald Reagan, and a seemingly incongruous line that seems to speculate on the quality of Nancy Reagan's sex life ("Did the earth move for you, Nancy?"). Did The Valentine Brothers, the originators of this song, believe that Nancy got off on trickle-down and supply-side fiscal policy? Who knows, maybe she did. Only her astrologer knows for sure.

We'll finish with two different kinds of soul. Detroit jazz-pop vocalist Anita Baker made her first big impression with this sexy ballad that helped propel her Rapture album to huge sales. For some reason, my mother didn't like her singing. I never found out why. I'm not sure even she knew. And Jermaine Stewart had his biggest success by far with this bouncy celebration of the fun that couples can have without disrobing, telling an overly-amorous companion "I'm not a piece of meat, stimulate my brain." The emergence of AIDS surely gave this song extra resonance. In addition to being on the chart, this song was also one of this week's Long Distance Dedications. A girl in Georgia dedicated it to her fellow teenagers to encourage them not to just jump into bed with each other. Clearly she wanted them to follow the song's message: Don't have sex, just dance and party. And drink cherry wine.

30 - "Heartbeat," Don Johnson
29 - "Twist and Shout," The Beatles
28 - "Love Walks In," Van Halen
27 - "Typical Male," Tina Turner
26 - "All Cried Out," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force
25 - "Heaven in Your Eyes," Loverboy
24 - "Glory of Love," Peter Cetera
23 - "Missionary Man," Eurythmics
22 - "Yankee Rose," David Lee Roth
21 - "Press," Paul McCartney

We start with a couple of guys and their biggest hits. According to legend, Miami Vice began life in the form of a memo from NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff that read simply "MTV cops." Given that, perhaps it was inevitable that the show's two main stars would actually try to get themselves on MTV. In 1985, Philip Michael "Tubbs" Thomas took his shot first by putting out an album, but nothing came of it. But the next year, Don Johnson, aka Sonny Crockett, had his turn, and was rewarded with this Top Ten hit. Listening back to it, its success seems almost entirely attributable to his television fame, because it's generic pop-rock with nothing lyrics, and Don's singing is...okay, I guess. But this song has been forgotten by most people, and with good reason. And Peter Cetera, the man who crooned most of Chicago's wussiest hits, had struck out on his own by this time with a goopy ballad of his own, which appeared on the soundtrack of The Karate Kid, Part II. Naturally, it went to #1. If there's one thing I can't understand about the music I grew up with, it's the public's high tolerance for Peter Cetera-sung love songs. He's certainly not the hero I've been dreaming of.

The Fab Four are here in two incarnations. The Beatles themselves were back on the charts with their original recording of a song first done by The Isley Brothers. Its renewed popularity was powered mainly by its use in the parade scene in the hit film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Also at this time, Rodney Dangerfield was being seen performing the song in Back to School. The other connection between the two movies was the fact that both featured future "troubled actors" in small roles: Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Jr., respectively. Hey,I find that interesting. Meanwhile, the band's bassist had a hit of his own with a jumpy synth-pop number in which he suggest that his beloved tell him to "press" whenever she wants him to love her. I...don't get it. I also don't know why he sings the lyric "Oklahoman was never like this." What does that have to do with anything? And they said John was the weird one.

We also have another pair of songs connected to one band, even though the names on the record labels were different. Van Halen are here with the third hit of the Sammy Hagar era with a ballad that seems straightforward enough, but contains odd lyrics in which "some kind of alien waits for the opening, simply pulls a string." Well, the Red Rocker has claimed that he has been in contack with extra-terrestrials, so...Meanwhile, their former singer, the man known far and wide as "Diamond Dave," was doing fine without his old band. On this rocker, which features a couple of spoken word interludes in which Roth has conversations with Steve Vai's guitar, he sings about a woman with his typical leering lasciviousness. But this time, he's singing about a very special woman who at the time was 100 years old and weighed over 200...tons. But before you start panicking and screaming "This enormous woman will devour us all!" I must tell you he was singing about the Statue of Liberty, which in 1986 was being celebrated for both its centennial and its recent refurbishment by a foundation led by Lee Iacocca. Well, I guess it was the least he could do after taking all that Chrysler bailout money.

Two songs sung by women that reached #3 on the soul charts are here. Tina Turner is here with another hit from her 80s resurgence, a song where she tries to seduce a lawyer with her "female attraction." We know this because she twice refers to the person she's singing to as "lawyer." Her basic point is that underneath all his education and sophistication, deep down, he's just a horny guy like all the rest. A little too high-concept, perhaps, but still pretty good. And the combination of three different acts that we encountered last week on "I Wonder if I Take You Home," returns with this ballad about a woman devastated by a breakup. "My body never knew such pleasure, my heart never knew such pain," Lisa sings. Well, better to have loved and lost, etc.

We finish with a couple groups. Canada's Loverboy are probably best remembered these days for fun, dumb rockers like "Working for the Weekend" and "Hot Girls in Love," but they also did pretty well with ballads, as represented this contribution to the Top Gun soundtrack. Nothing special, but perfect background music for the tender moments in an 80s action flick. I guess Loverboy was an apt name, eh? Eh? Eh...sorry about that. And Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox are here with one of my favorites of theirs, a tough, abrasive rocker about a charlatan posing as a man of God. It's not clear exactly what this guy does that's so terrible, but Annie seems so convinced that this guy's eeeeeevil, so that's good enough for me not to want to mess with him.

Tomorrow: a glimpse at '76. Plus: a fragile cat, one half of a very successful whole, and another song does double duty.

September 7, 1985 Part Two

We're back for the second half of this week's 1985 list, but before I get into that, I'd like to take a quick look at this week's 70s offering, September 4, 1971.

Most of the songs here I've covered before. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" was #1. "Saturday Morning Confusion" and "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" are here, as is, um, "Go Away Little Girl." As for the stuff I never got to cover...lets see...A cluster of super-familiar songs from 12-14, beginning with Jean Knight's immortal funky putdown, "Mr. Big Stuff." Then it's Marvin Gaye with another impeccably delivered message in "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." And lastly it's the last hit by The Doors, the dark and evocative "Riders on the Storm."...James Taylor reminds that "You've Got a Friend" at 22, one place above James Brown's mighty "Hot Pants."...Hey, it's ONJ's first American hit, a sweet little cover of Dylan's "If Not for You." at 25...27 is the bombastic Paul Revere and the Raiders smash with a message "Indian Reservation." I go back and forth on that song...A Shondell-less Tommy James gives us the lazy, swampy "Draggin' the Line" at 29. The Jackson 5 missed the Top Ten for the first time with "Maybe Tomorrow," here at 33. It's good, though. Almost sounds more like Philly soul than Motown...And there aren't many lyrics to the song at 40, "I Likes to Do It" by The People's Choice. But it definitely gets its point across.

What I'm going to do, for this week at least, is pick one song to shine a spotlight on. And this week it's:

28 - "What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John," Tom Clay
Tom Clay was a DJ who came up at the dawn of the rock era. He worked in several cities and was popular, but at points in his career became involved in scandal: first getting caught up in the "payola" investigations, and later being involved in a fraudulent "Beatles Booster Club" that was just an excuse for listeners to send him money. But his most lasting legacy may be this record, a song that intersperses two 60s hits with clips of marching soldiers, the assassinations of John and Bobby Kennedy, a speech by Martin Luther King, and Ted Kennedy's eulogy for Bobby. And it's bookended by an interview with a child who responds "I don't know" when asked to define "segregation," "bigoty," and "hatred," but then when asked what "prejudice" is, he (I think it's a boy) responds, "I think it's when someone is sick." The middle may go overboard a bit, but the interview with the kid is genuinely moving. And yes, it's so different that it would have won an Uneasy Rider.

Okay, now let's go back to '85.

20 - "What About Love," Heart
19 - "Life in One Day," Howard Jones
18 - "Oh Sheila," Ready for the World
17 - "Dress You Up," Madonna
16 - "Smokin' in the Boys' Room," Motley Crue

The second half begins with Ann and Nancy Wilson's band and the record that announced their transformation from cool rock chicks to awful purveyors of corporate crap. This is just a hollow power ballad that doesn't really have any emotional heft. And now it's featured in commercials that feature people dressed as dirt, dust and mud being sucked up by the Swiffer. An appropriate fate.

Next is Welsh synth-popper Howard Jones with a peppy little number whose basic message is "stop and smell the roses." Although I have no idea what "get the hereditary bone" means, I still like it.

Then it's R&B group Ready for the World, the pride of Flint, Michigan. This lusty, Prince-esque party number was their first hit, and it went all the way to #1. This is a favorite of mine, especially when the lead singer busts out a fake accent that I assumed was supposed to be English, but was actually meant to be Australian. Which makes sense, not only because "sheila" is Aussie slang for a woman, but because it actually sounds more Australian than English. I guess they really were ready for the world.

Madonna makes her BGC debut with the fourth hit from the Like a Virgin LP, a peppy dance floor burner in which the Material Girl offers her love as, well, material. Her "silky caresses" and "velvet kisses", she claims, are even more stylish than custom-made suits. Somehow I doubt that.

Finishing this section is the first Top 40 hit for Motley Crue, a decent but, as I would eventually learn, inferior version of the song first made famous by Brownsville Station in 1973. But all in all, the Crue wore this tale of teen rebellion well. And as Casey reminded us with the story of singer Vince Neil's vehicular manslaughter incident the previous December, tobacco and washrooms mix better than alcohol and cars.

15 - "Dare Me," The Pointer Sisters
14 - "Never Surrender," Corey Hart
13 - "Shout," Tears for Fears
12 - "Freedom," Wham!
11 - "Invincible," Pat Benatar

This group begins with Ruth, June and Anita's next-to-last Top 40, a mild but catchy funk piece where they're either asking a guy to make love to them or challenging them to a fight. I think it's the former, but...

I'm sure if you asked random people in the street what Corey Hart's biggest hit was, a lot of people would mention something about baseball, thinking you were talking about the current Milwaukee Brewers right fielder. But among those who knew you were talking about the pop star from Montreal, I'm guessing most would say "Sunglasses at Night." And they'd be wrong. That only hit #7, while this ballad about not giving up got to #3. But it's awful, whereas "Sunglasses at Night" retains a cheesy charm. So I don't blame people for assuming it was the bigger record. It should have been.

Next are Britain's Tears for Fears with their second U.S. #1, a catchy call to protest and question authority. This is just a big-sounding song that I liked at first, then got sick of, and now I like it again. And you wouldn't be able to do to it what Michael Andrews and Gary Jules did to "Mad World" and have it sound right.

Then it's George Michael and "other guy" Andrew Ridgeley with one of the bouncy confections that made up the bulk of their singles output. In this one, George refuses to fool around on his lover, even though she's admittedly doing it to him. Given the song's title, it's ironic that the song's video was shot during the group's tour of the People's Republic of China.

Last in this group is classically-trained singer Patricia Andrzejewski, who became famous switching to rock and using her first husband's last name. On this hit from the forgotten teens-on-the-run The Legend of Billie Jean, she belts out a solid rock declaration of defiance. Not among her best, but pretty good. I consider Pat Benatar one of the more underrated pop singers of my youth.

Here be the Top Ten:

10 - "Pop Life," Prince and the Revolution
Mr. Nelson of Minneapolis and his capable backup make their first visit to this realm with a rubbery bit of synth-funk that basically encourages people to make the most of life. This includes avoiding drugs and pursuing education ("Show me a boy who stays in school and I'll show you a boy aware"). Very good, and greatly enhanced by the backing vocals of Wendy and Lisa.

9 - "You're Only Human (Second Wind)," Billy Joel
Billy wrote this song about not being too hard on oneself for making mistakes as an anti-suicide measure, going so far as to donate the proceeds from it to a youth suicide-prevention charity. Its upbeat tone and jumpy 80s arrangement seem jarring to me given the subject matter, but apparently Joel felt something more somber might not have the desired effect. I guess I'll trust his judgment, because this is songwriting, not driving.

8 - "Don't Lose My Number," Phil Collins
On this, one of the singles off the monster album No Jacket Required, the Genesis drummer does his big pop-rock thing on this story about a guy named Billy who's on the run for some reason. Phil's apparently a friend of his, and he hopes Billy calls him soon, because whatever happened, "he never meant to do anything wrong" and "it's gonna get worse if he waits too long." An okay song, which I remember had a video that ripped off a bunch of other videos.

7 - "Cherish," Kool and the Gang
In their poppier incarnation, these guys got gooey with this ode to a long relationship that asks "If you receive your calling before I awake, will I make it through the night?" So let me get this straight: he's asking if his wife dies in her sleep, will he die too? And what is he asking her for? How's she supposed to know that? Weird question. And the only interesting thing about this song that I imagined was assembled from a "Make a song that will be played at weddings but will be despised outside of that context" kit.

6 - "Money for Nothing," Dire Straits
Mark Knopfler and co.'s only American #1 is this Sting-assisted rocker, sung from the point of view of a guy who works at an appliance store seeing the bizarre antics of rock stars on MTV and says "That ain't workin'." The song caused controversy in Canada this year when the country's Radio and Television Commission declared the long version of the song "inappropriate for broadcast" because in a verse not included on the single version, the word "faggot" is used. Recently, however, the Commission amended that ruling to basically say that given the cdontext the word is used in, it should be up to individual radio stations whether or not to play it. Whew! Our national nightmare is over.

5 - "Summer of '69," Bryan Adams
The Canadian working-class rocker had his biggest non-ballad hit with this recollection of the summer he put together his first band and had his first serious relationship. Only problem is, in 1969, Adams was 10. So could "69" have another meaning? Perhaps (gasp) a sexual one? Well, near the end, it does sound like he sings "Me and my baby in a 69." At least to me. But maybe I'm just a dirty old man.

4 - "Freeway of Love," Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul cracked the Top Ten for the first time in a dozen years with this bouncy tune in which she offers a guy in tight pants a ride in her pink Cadillac on the titular motorway. A little dated, but still good. Plus there's a sax solo from the late Clarence Clemons, and that's never a bad thing.

3 - "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)," Tina Turner
Tina's contribution to Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, a film in which she also co-starred as the boss of a post-apocalyptic town in which disputes are settled by brutal combat in something called, well, "Thunderdome." In this song, however, Tina is not in character. Rather, she's taking the point of view of the people who want something better than a life where things are resolved in a more civilized manner. Anyway, I find this song strange, because if you were to play the song to someone who'd never heard it before and had no awareness of the movie, they'd surely come out of it with one main reaction: "What the hell is a Thunderdome?" And it's for that reason that I'm giving this song this week's Uneasy Rider.

2 - "The Power of Love," Huey Lewis and the News
A horn-driven blues rocker in which Lewis compares love to a train, and informs us that you don't need money, fame, or a credit card to ride it. Oh yeah, and it was used in an obscure film about travel and Oedipus complex. I forget what it was called. I should call my father and ask him. I think I remember that he liked that movie. A lot.

And the big song 26 years ago was...

1 - "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)," John Parr
The second and last Top 40 for Englishman Parr, this slick slice of synth-heavy pop was originally written about disabled Canadian athlete Rick Hansen, who at the time was raising money by propelling his wheelchair around the world. But somehow, it ended up as the theme for the movie that was considered the peak of the "Brat Pack" era, starring as it did Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy. No, I've never seen it, and reading the plot summary just now, I don't think I missed anything. Probably better off just watching The Breakfast Club again.

The NotCaseys were "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder, "Miami Vice Theme" by Jan Hammer, "I'm Goin' Down" by Bruce Springsteen, and "And She Was" by Talking Heads. The Long Distance Dedications were Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" (from a young boy to his dying step-grandfather) and Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" (from a guy who'd contemplated suicide to others who might be doing the same, and the friends who could help them). And right in the middle of the show, Casey played a medley of hits from "AT40 Hall of Famer" Ray Charles. That, of course, blew most of the rest of what was played away.

So at last we reach the end of the first week of what should be the "new normal" Next week is going to be the same, I believe. Come back and see if I'm right!

September 7, 1985 Part One

This week, we arrive smack in the middle of the decade. This was the week I started high school. And these were the songs I was supposed to be too cool to like. In many cases, I actually was, but in others...well, let's just get on with it.

40 - "Spanish Eddie," Laura Branigan
39 - "I Wonder if I Take You Home," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force
38 - "I Got You Babe," UB40 and Chrissie Hynde
37 - "Do You Want Crying," Katrina and the Waves
36 - "No Lookin' Back," Michael McDonald
35 - "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)," Dead or Alive
34 - "C-I-T-Y," John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
33 - "Dancing in the Street," Mick Jagger and David Bowie
32 - "Fortress Around Your Heart," Sting
31 - "Who's Holding Donna Now," DeBarge

This section doesn't seem to break off into groups as naturally as the ones from past countdowns. So, okay, I'll start with a couple female-fronted pop songs. Laura Branigan barely scraped into the 40 with this dance-popper that seems to be about the death of a young Latino gang member. A lot of odd little things in the lyrics, like "we was mixin' Vicks with lemon gin" and repeated mentions of the Bob Dylan song "Desolation Row." A strange little song, but not that memorable. And Katrina and the Waves followed up their everlasting gobstopper of a hit "Walking on Sunshine," with this much less upbeat song about a nasty breakup. It's all right, but there's a reason no one remembers it.

Next we'll look at a couple songs that have been repurposed into new hits in the last few years. Lisa Lisa and her cohorts had their first hit with this catchy bit of what would become known as "Latin freestyle" whose chorus was borrowed by those pop scavengers The Black Eyed Peas for "Don't Phunk With My Heart." I wish they hadn't phunked with this song. And Dead or Alive had their biggest hit with this propulsive and catchy dance typhoon who also had its chorus nicked recently, this time by rapper Flo Rida for a song about a guy who has a crush on a stripper and wants her to perform oral sex on him. Call me a bitter old man, but isn't that what most Top 40 rap songs have been about in the last few years? Oh, and that song also loses points for introducing the world to Ke$ha. Ugh.

All right, we've got a couple covers. British reggae band UB40 teamed up with lead Pretender Chrissie Hynde for a cover of the song that introduced the world to Mr. and Mrs. Bono. I liked this a lot when it came out, but now, I'd much rather hear the original. And the lead Stone and the Thin White Duke teamed up for this boisterous but musically pointless cover of the Martha and the Vandellas classic. But it was made for that year's Live Aid concert, and the proceeds from it went to African famine relief, so its existence is justified.

Then there are a couple songs from ex-lead singers of big bands. Michael McDonald's work wussifying The Doobie Brothers was long done when he put out this solo single, co-written with fellow mellow man Kenny Loggins, that's about moving forward and stuff like that. Not horrible, as Michael McDonald goes. And Sting's second post-Police hit was this big ballad that uses imagery evoking some sort of medieval battlefield as a metaphor for the dissolution of his first marriage. Pretentious, but not painfully so. That would come later.

And the two that are left are by groups, so they have thiat in common, which is nice. Rhode Island's John Cafferty and his backing band that reportedly took their name from a shade of paint are here with a Springsteen-lite rocker about hard times for a working-class guy in Detroit. It's not as good as the stuff they did for the movie Eddie and the Cruisers, and that was mediocre at best. And the DeBarge siblings weren't as successful a family act for Motown as the Jacksons were, but they did manage a handful of Top 40 singles and two Top Ten hits, the last of which was this okay ballad about singer El DeBarge's wish to be back with his old flame Donna. Meh, I was glad when El went solo and started singing about robots.

30 - "Every Step of the Way," John Waite
29 - "Every Time You Go Away," Paul Young
28 - "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," Sting
27 - "Mystery Lady," Billy Ocean
26 - "There Must be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)," Eurythmics
25 - "Lonely Ol' Night," John Cougar Mellencamp
24 - "Cry," Godley and Creme
23 - "Saving All My Love for You," Whitney Houston
22 - "Shame," The Motels
21 - "Take on Me," A-ha

Okay, we'll break this group up by starting with the four British male solo singers who fill slots 30-27. Ex-Baby John Waite had his last American solo pop hit with this tepid rock band. But he may not have minded the down period in his career that followed, for he tells the person he's singing this song for "you're the meaning of success to me." Awwwww. Paul Young had a couple more U.S. hits than Waite, and his effort here, a slick, effective cover of a Hall and Oates album cut, went all the way to Number One. Every time that song goes off the air, it takes a piece of me with it. No, not really. Sting pops up again with his solo debut, a nice piece of faux-soul about allowing someone you care about to roam unfettered. It's the opposite sentiment to "Every Breath You Take," and apparently, that was intentional. And the Trinidadian-born Londoner originally named Leslie Charles is here with the fourth single from his breakthrough album Suddenly, a smooth loverman ballad in which he makes a promise to the titular enigmatic female that "when the nights are cold and lonely, I will keep you warm." And I don't think it means that he will pay her heating bills for her.

Then we have three European groups. Britain's Eurythmics are here with this pretty little pop celebration of heavenly romance. Annie Lennox sounds more joyous than she ever has, and having Stevie Wonder show up to do a harmonica solo doesn't hurt either. Two more Brits, ex-Hotlegs and 10cc members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, took time out from their successful video-directing career to record this haunting new-wave ode to lachrymation. And yes, the did direct the video to their own hit, a song that features faces blending into each other in a way that presaged Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video. And Norway's A-ha are here with one of the decade's most familiar hits, a synth-driven pop powerhouse whose lyrical meaning is shrouded in broken Scandinavian lyrics. But no one cared, especially when there was that awesome half-animated video where the singer is chased by guys with wrenches. For whatever reason, the song lives on, and is currently being performed by a dog and a parrot in an insurance commercial.

We close this first half with acts made in the U.S.A. John Cougar Mellencamp, during his transition from using his stage name to his real one, scored a solid Top Ten with this catchy rocker about people looking to spend a night togethter to avoid being alone. It was the first single from his biggest album, Scarecrow. I'm not ashamed to admit I bought it. Whitney Houston is here with her second hit, a sultry ballad about a woman committed to a man who belongs to another. Her star power was beginning to shine through. This was her first #1. Ten more charttoppers would follow. But so would Bobby Brown. And L.A. New Wavers The Motels had their last pop hit that explores the guilt that comes with infidelity in lines like "A lot of selfish dreams are waiting here for you." Bummer.

Tomorrow: a few spotlight tracks from this week in 1971. Plus: more music to Swiff by, a song that was banned in Canada (sort of), and silver screen domination.