October 9, 1982 Part One

First of all, because for some reason they're not letting me post comments: Jimmy, last week's Uneasy Rider was to have been "She Bop," but I just forgot to mention it.

And now to this week, when we heard a chart from 1982. At this time, I had spent one month in my new school. I'm sure I was still a little unsure, but I have to say, quite a few of the people in that class remain among my favorite people in the world. Meanwhile, on the music scene, this was what was happening:

40 - "I Get Excited," Rick Springfield
39 - "Mickey," Toni Basil
38 - "You Keep Runnin' Away," .38 Special
37 - "Athena," The Who
36 - "Southern Cross" Crosby, Stills and Nash
35 - "Sweet Time," REO Speedwagon
34 - "Nobody," Silvia
33 - "New World Man," Rush
32 - "Love Come Down," Evelyn King
31 - "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," The Gap Band

We begin with the non-American contingent. Australia's Rick Springfield had one of his lesser hits with this "Jessie's Girl" soundalike about wanting a lover to stay because "the fire's ignited down below." About as appealing as that image. Britain's The Who hit the Top 40 for the last time with this song in which Pete Townshend gets over a real-life love affair by writing lyrics about flattened ants, pickled priests, and horses with snakes that live in their rib cages. Well, we all deal with heartbreak differently, I suppose. And Canadian prog-rock legends Rush had their only U.S. Top 40 with this typical number about a man who's trying to take the best of the past and modify it to create a better future. At least I think that's what it's about. You never know with Rush. Anyway, even though other stuff like "Closer to the Heart," "The Spirit of Radio," and the immortal "Tom Sawyer" are better remembered today, only this one cracked pop's promised land.

Three solo women are here. Antonia Basilotta was 39 and had been in show business for twenty years, but her most memorable moment to that point had been appearing as a prostitute in Easy Rider. But that changed when she released this indelible earworm about a boy so fine that he blows her mind, then dusted off her old high school cheerleader uniform for the video. Without this song and video, I don't think Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" would exist. I go back and forth on whether or not that's a good thing. Country singer Sylvia Jane Kirby had her only pop hit with this song in which she sees through her lover's insistences that there is no other woman in his life. But as we often find in country songs, she decides to fight to hold on to the straying dog. Oh, and she should not be confused with the other lady who went just by "Sylvia" and had a hit in the 70s with "Pillow Talk." That was Sylvia Robinson, who just passed away this week. R.I.P., woman who gave us "Rapper's Delight." And Evelyn King, again without the "Champagne," is here with a hunk of funk about a man who, well, makes her love come down. One could interpret that in a dirty way, but I choose not to.

We finish with American bands. Jacksonville, Florida's .38 Special picked up a handful of hits in the 80s. This one, about a woman who keeps avoiding love, didn't get any higher than the number in the band's name, and listening to it, that's no surprise. It's not the best example of their pop-tinged Southern rock. To me, their best was the hit they had just before this, "Caught Up in You." Crosby, Stills and Nash had their last Top 40 with this gentle folkie about escaping a failed love affair through sailing, stargazing, and listening to music. A more conventional approach to that of Pete Townshend. REO Speedwagon, who are revealing themselves to have been more ubiquitous than I remember, are here with this okay power ballad about taking love slowly. Nothing special, but better than a lot of their hits. And Tulsa, Oklahoma funk outfit The Gap Band had their second and final pop hit with this fantastically incendiary classic about a love that hits like an explosive device. One of the few songs that makes me instantly want to dance whenever I hear it, no matter where I am.

30 - "Make Believe," Toto
29 - "Voyeur," Kim Carnes
28 - "You Don't Want Me Anymore," Steel Breeze
27 - "Heartlight," Neil Diamond
26 - "The One You Love," Glenn Frey
25 - "Think I'm in Love," Eddie Money
24 - "Jump to It," Aretha Franklin
23 - "Don't Fight It," Kenny Loggins with Steve Perry
22 - "Big Fun," Kool and the Gang
21 - "Gypsy," Fleetwood Mac

We'll start with a duo and the groups. In between their two biggest hits, "Rosanna" and "Africa," soft rock powerhouse Toto released this bland little power ballad about wanting to pretend a dead love affair is still vital. It sounds like a neutered "Hold the Line." Steel Breeze were a nondescript Sacramento band who had their biggest of two hits with this catchy-but-forgettable pop-rocker about knowing when you're no longer desired. Far more interesting is their producer/manager Kim Fowley, a Hollywood heir and impresario who gave the world both the novelty hit "Alley Oop" and the all-girl rock band the Runaways. Kenny Loggins and Journey's Steve Perry engage in a duel of high voices on this impassioned encouragement to keep oneself open to love in spite of the potential for pain. I don't know if these are the guys to convince me of that. Kool and the Gang are here with a song that's basically a poor man's "Celebration." Not necessary at all. And Fleetwood Mac's entry this week is a Stevie Nicks-written-and-sung song that's about both her old hungry days of sleeping on the floor of a cheap apartment and the then-recent death of her best friend ("She is dancing away from me now...And a memory is all that is left.") Appropriately wistful, and up there with Stevie's best Mac moments.

Next we have the solo women. Kim Carnes continued her futile quest to equal the success of "Bette Davis Eyes" with this sexy dance rocker about...a sexy woman who likes to dance, alone in her apartment. It's all right, but you can just hear that it's falling short of what it wants to be. And Aretha Franklin returned to the upper reaches of the pop chart after six years with this peppy tune about a man she loves so much that when he says "Jump," she says "How high?" But I'm sure that even as she's being this loyal, she would speak up if the guy started giving her shit. Aretha is nobody's lap dog. Anyway, solid song, and I loved both the scatting and the spoken-word parts.

We finish with the guys. Neil Diamond is here with this ballad that he co-wrote with pros Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. The song was inspired by the movie E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, and is so explicit and sincere about it that I'm giving it this week's Uneasy Rider. Really, how did anyone take this seriously? Speaking of E.T., my brother used to have a ripoff E.T. doll that literally looked like a piece of shit. In fact, we called him Mr. Shit. Thought you needed to know that. Once and future Eagle Glenn Frey had his second solo hit with this ponderous ballad about a woman who has to make a choice between a good guy and an asshole. Of course, Glenn's the good guy in this song. Whether that's accurate casting, I can only speculate. And Eddie Money had his first Top 40 hit of this decade with this enthusiastic rocker about the optimism that comes with new romance. It's one of his better songs, although he probably should have enunciated the line in the chorus "I can't get enough" better, because to me, it sounds like, "I can't get it up." And that would tamp down his optimism just a bit, I would imagine.

Tomorrow: two songs about "rising up," a double dose from an American fool,and one of the decade's most iconic haircuts.