October 6, 1984 Part Two

Before we return to 1984, let's take a quick detour to October 1, 1977. That week, Meco was on top with "Star Wars theme/Cantina Band." And below...

Of course, there's a lot of stuff we've been through before. "Nobody Does it Better," "Boogie Nights," Shaun Cassidy...I forget, did I get to cover B.J. Thomas' cover of the Beach Boys drag-race classic "Don't Worry Baby?" If not, I will here. It sucks...Two months after his death, Elvis is on the charts at 18 with, "Way Down." It's an attempt to get back to his roots, and while it doesn't quite work, it's hardly an embarrassing way to go out...And speaking of Elvis, there's "The King is Gone" at 21. Still creepy..."Jungle Love" is probably my favorite Steve Miller song, because it doesn't sound as slick as most of his other stuff. It's here this week at 23...And at 25 it's..."The Greatest Love of All?" That "The Greatest Love of All?" Yep, the song that Whitney Houston would take to #1 in 1985 was first recorded by George Benson for the Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. Don't really care for either version...Kenny Rogers was thwarted in his attempt to be adulterous on his first solo hit, "Lucille," but on his second, this week's #28 "Daytime Friends," he sings about people who are more successful at cheating. Jealous, Kenny?...Yes, Leif Garrett recorded "Surfin' U.S.A.," and yes, it's at #29 this week. No further comment...Dorothy "Misty Blue" Moore had one other pop hit, "I Believe You," which we find this week at 32. The song is happier, but it was less successful. Wonder why?...Stevie Wonder is at 33 with "Another Star." It wasn't one of the bigger hits from Songs in the Key of Life, and while it's nice enough, I can't say it should have been bigger...The Alan Parsons Project are here at 37 with "I Wouldn't Want to be Like You." And apparently, the "I" in this song is a robot. Freaky. But this week, my spotlight hits...

31 - "Cat Scratch Fever," Ted Nugent
The title of this, the Motor City Madman's only Top 40 single, is an actual feline-borne disease. But the song itself doesn't seem to be about that at all. In fact, the Nuge seems quite happy to contract this malady, which he first got at the age of ten "from a kitty next door." Apparently, he enjoys close contact with the ailment's carriers, as he sings "I make the pussy purr with the stroke of my hand." Very interesting. I wonder if there's any connection between this condition and Ted's political views. Repeated cases of what he contracted, assuming it's the disease I'm thinking of, certainly can have long term effects on the male human brain.

Okay, back to the eighties.

20 - "The Lucky One," Laura Branigan
19 - "Are We Ourselves," The Fixx
18 - "When You Close Your Eyes," Night Ranger
17 - "Torture," The Jacksons
16 - "On the Dark Side," John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

We begin Part Two with the last Top 20 hit from the late Laura Branigan, a pop number about a woman who gets what she wants from men without giving her heart. Not as dramatic as "Gloria" or as sexually charged as "Self Control," but not bad.

Next is the band once known as The Portraits with a jittery bit of new wave that questions the truth of the world around and within us. Okay, but there's a reason it's not as well-remembered as "One Thing Leads to Another."

Then it's San Francisco proto-hair band Night Ranger with the follow-up to their classic ballad "Sister Christian." This is a midtempo tune about reminiscing about young love, the kind that involves car backseats. Nothing here is nearly as bizarrely awesome as "Motorin', what's your price for flight."

Michael Jackson followed up the monster machine that was Thriller by reteaming with his brothers on the Victory album and tour. This, the album's second single, is a rocker that compares the breakup of a relationship to genuinely dangerous situations. Michael and Jermaine share lead vocals. No prizes for guessing who sounds better.

Closing this section are John Cafferty and company with their first hit, a song they did for the soundtrack of the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. The movie bombed in theatres, but later became a hit on cable, and that powered the soundtrack to huge sales and led to this bit of Springsteen-lite going all the way to the Top Ten. I haven't seen the movie, but this song doesn't get me excited about doing so. It's just mediocre pub rock.

15 - "I'm So Excited," The Pointer Sisters
14 - "If This is It," Huey Lewis and the News
13 - "What's Love Got to Do with It," Tina Turner
12 - "Cruel Summer," Bananarama
11 - "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)," Billy Ocean

We begin with the second chart run for a Pointer Sisters hit. It was first released in 1982 and hit #30, but was then put out again in a slightly altered version two years later and made it to #9. It's been a little overused, but with new ears, I heard a fun song about being happy to be horny. Better than you think.

Next are Hugh Anthony Cregg III and his band with one of the big hits from Sports, a doo-woppy tune about wanting to know whether or not a relationship is over. I remember the video with them on the beach with their heads poking out of the sand. Without it, I probably wouldn't remember this song at all.

Then it's Tina Turner with the song that cemented her comeback, a sultry, synth-driven ballad about pure physical attraction. Later, the title would be used for the movie about her life. Anyway, what can I say? Just a powerhouse performance in which Tina makes herself relevant again by sheer force of will.

England's Bananarama follow with their deceptively bouncy number about being plagued by both oppressive heat and miserable loneliness. The point doesn't really get across, but still, undeniably catchy.

This bunch ends with the first American hit in eight years for Billy Ocean, a cool little disco tune (even though you couldn't call it that at the time) about an island beauty who decides that Billy is the tiger she wants to tame. Saxophone was overused during the first half of the 80s, but I must admit, the sax solo on this one is pretty great.

In France, the Top Ten's the Top Ten, only they call it "Le Top Ten":

10 - "Cover Me," Bruce Springsteen
Bruce and some of his collaborators originally wrote this song for Donna Summer, but his manager convinced him to take the demo and put it on his next album, Born in the U.S.A. It ended up being the album's second single. It's decent enough dance-rock about wanting to just shut oneself away from the world with a lover by one's side, but to me, it's the weakest of the singles from Bruce's biggest LP.

9 - "The Warrior," Scandal featuring Patti Smyth
First of all, the singer pronounces her name "Smythe," probably to avoid confusion with the punk rock poet. Now that that's out of the way, this song is fantastic rock cheese. I dare you not to smile while singing "Shooting at the walls of heartache, bang bang." This would be the band's only Top 40 hit, but they would hit #41 twice. That's kind of cool. At least it is to me.

8 - "Lucky Star," Madonna
This was Ms. Ciccone's third Top 40 hit, and her first Top Five. It's fittingly airy and fluttery, but it never really did much for me. I was a "Borderline" man myself, and I always will be.

7 - "The Glamorous Life," Sheila E.
This singer/drummer (last name Escovedo) had her first hit with this Prince-written jam about a rich girl who just wants meaningless flings in between her jet-setting, then gets scared when she thinks she finds real love. How much of its greatness is Sheila's and how much Prince's? I think it's about even.

6 - "Hard Habit to Break," Chicago
A power ballad from the same album as "You're the Inspiration," though not nearly as saptastic. I'm ashamed to say I bought this album. The mistakes of youth.

5 - "She Bop," Cyndi Lauper
Masturbation has been a frequent topic in pop music. This isn't surprising. It's a sexual taboo that moral guardians throughout history have tried to discourage by giving it the misnomer "self-abuse" and claiming it causes severe physical harm. But most of the songs about it are either riddled with guilt and shame, or take it much too seriously. But on her third Top Ten hit, the unusual Ms. Lauper just makes the act sound like harmless fun, a point of view that seems to prevail these days. She addresses the whole guilt and shame issues, but quickly dismisses them, singing "I won't worry, and I won't fret/Ain't no law against it yet." Because what's the point of getting hung up about it? She bop, he bop, we bop. I bop, you bop, they bop. And I truly believe He understands.

4 - "Missing You," John Waite
The ex-Baby went solo and went straight to the top in America with this midtempo ballad about romantic denial. It's very good, but I still like The Babys better. I'll take this over Bad English any day, though.

3 - "Drive," The Cars
This ballad, sung by bassist Benjamin Orr, would be the Boston band's biggest hit. It seems to be about trying to get a friend to face his demons and accept help. In the video, future couple Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova portray a psychiatrist and his troubled patient. I probably like this song more than I should. It's well-crafted commercial pop, but there's substance as well.

2 - "I Just Called to Say I Love You," Stevie Wonder
You all know I think Stevie Wonder is one of the great musical geniuses of all time, right? So it genuinely pains me to say that this is one of the most awful songs ever. It's a rejected greeting card verse set to music. I'd like to think that Stevie just decided one day to write something absolutely cloyingly horrible, put it out as a single, and see if its cheap sentiment would sell. Thankfully, history has not been kind to it.

And the song that kicked the most ass and took the most names 27 years ago was...

1 - "Let's Go Crazy," Prince and the Revolution
The second charttopper from Purple Rain, this is an unapologetically raucous rocker about letting loose while the sun shines. It loses something in the single version, because the opening speech is shortened, but at least that closing guitar solo was retained for radio. This is the man at his commercial and artistic peak. If this doesn't move you, you have no soul.

This week's NotCaseys were "All Through the Night" by Cyndi Lauper, "The War Song" by Culture Club, "Cool it Now" by New Edition, and "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar. Casey himself played The Police's "Every Breath You Take" after telling a story about how a Buffalo DJ stayed on the air for days to convince the band to play his city. And there were two Long Distance Dedications: A woman dedicated The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road" to the college roommate who helped her gain self-esteem, and another woman sent out Lionel Richie's "Hello" to the son she had given up for adoption 20 years earlier.

And another one's gone.