I'm not going to get into too much depth into this week's 70s countdown from November 5, 1977. Debby Boone was on top with "You Light Up My Life." At #40 was the fantastically odd Carpenters hit "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. And the only song in between those two was Jimmy Buffett's "Changes in Lattitudes, Changes in Attitudes at 37, and I just don't find that song all that interesting. Sorry, Parrotheads. So let's just go straight back to 1983.
20 - "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," Michael Jackson
19 - "Say it Isn't So," Daryl Hall and John Oates
18 - "Heart and Soul," Huey Lewis and the News
17 - "Love is a Battlefield," Pat Benatar
16 - "Tonight I Celebrate My Love," Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson
The second half begins with the sixth of what would be seven Top Ten singles from the best-selling album of all-time. It was the least successful of Michael's Thriller singles, only peaking at #10. But it's a funky dance-rock workout that doesn't deserve to be lost in the shuffle. Say "Na na na na."
Next are Hall and Oates with more of their uptempo soul-pop on a song about hoping a relationship isn't ending. One of the blander efforts of their hot period. Maybe if it was about Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Black Sox scandal, I'd like it better.
Then it's Huey Lewis and the News with the first single from their multi-platinum breakthrough LP Sports It's their typical pop-rock sound, applied to a song about a woman who's "got it all," including "hot lovin' every night." What that has to do with heart and/or soul, I'm not sure. But this is one of Huey's better efforts, regardless.
Pat Benatar had her biggest hit to date with this slinky rocker about the ongoing altercation that is romance. Fantastic song, well-belted by Ms. Benatar. Plus, she leads a hooker uprising in the video. You can't not love that.
This section closes with a duet between the legendary Roberta Flack and then-little-known R&B up-and-comer Robert Peapo Bryson, who decided to change one letter in his middle name and make it his professional first name. It's an okay ballad about longtime friends finally deciding to get it on. uplifted greatly by the performances. It's funny, most of Peabo's hits were duets and collaborations. I don't get that. He's certainly a good enough singer to have had more pop success than he did.
15 - "Modern Love," David Bowie
14 - "If Anyone Falls," Stevie Nicks
13 - "King of Pain," The Police
12 - "Cum On Feel the Noize," Quiet Riot
11 - "Suddenly Last Summer," The Motels
This group is led off by David Bowie with a groovy soul-rocker about love and religion that Bowie said was inspired in part by the life of Little Richard. I really like everything about this song, from the drums to the sax to Bowie's cool vocals. Easily my favorite of his from this decade.
Next it's Stevie Nicks with her sixth Top 40 single, a bit of spacey midtempo pop about romance and stuff. Nothing too special. She could do this type of thing in her sleep, and in parts of this, it sounds like she's doing just that.
Then it's The Police with a song that describes heartbreak using metaphors involving sunspots, skeletons choking on bread, and lots of animals either dead or in peril. A bit literary for the pop charts, but this was still at the point when Sting could pull that sort of thing off without being tedious about it. Very good.
Quiet Riot were an L.A. metal band whose original lineup included future Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads. Ten years after they formed, they made their American chart breaktrhough with this cover of a U.K. hit by British rock institution Slade. Singer Kevin DuBrow does a good job belting out this call to party and encouraging girls to "rock" their boys, but once you hear the Slade version, you'll find this underwhelming. Still, this powered QR's Metal Health album to multiplatinum sales, so good on them. But they couldn't sustain, not even by covering Slade again on their next album's lead single, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now."
This quintet finishes with The Motels and their gentle, atmospheric reflection on the close of the warmest of all seasons. It was their second and last Top Ten. Not much more to say about it. It's a nice listen, but not something I need in my collection.
Hits...to the power of Ten:
10 - "True," Spandau Ballet
These Brits, who broke in as part of the "New Romantic" movement in the U.K., named themselves after some graffiti they saw in a Berlin nightclub bathroom that referenced Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess. Their first and biggest American hit was this now-standard ballad about trying to work out one's feelings and soothe jangled nerves by "listening to Marvin all night long." It holds up. Later, it was sampled on P.M. Dawn's 1991 #1 "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss."
9 - "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)," Sheena Easton
The Scottish songbird sings of the perils of trying to keep romance alive from afar on this jittery synth-popper. The video featured appearances from the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and King Kong. No wonder it became such a big hit around Halloween.
8 - "Delirious," Prince
Speaking of jittery, that's how Mr. Nelson sounds on this hit about being driven crazy by a hot lady. The only cure for this condition, apparently would be for her to "take me 4 a little ride up and down in and out around your lake." That's a sex metaphor, isn't it? And from Prince, no less. Shocking.
7 - "Making Love out of Nothing at All," Air Supply
Back from last time, the Australian mush duo's finest moment, thanks in large part to Jim Steinman. I really am a sucker for that man's mini-operas.
6 - "Say Say Say," Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
The second and biggest duet between these two superstars is a fun bit of dance pop about relationship misunderstandings. It was during the process of recording of this song that Paul mentioned to Michael that publishing rights are "where the big money is" in the music industry. Reportedly, this is what first inspired Michael to try and purchase the song catalogue that included the Beatles' biggest hits. Paul, you should have kept your mouth shut.
5 - "Uptown Girl," Billy Joel
Billy sounds a lot like Frankie Valli on this Four Seasons homage about a working-class guy pursuing a rich woman. In the video, Billy played a mechanic, and the "Uptown Girl" was played by none other than his future wife, Christie Brinkley. Homer Simpson would later use this song to blow the minds of his mother's old hippie comrades. Their minds remained unblown.
4 - "One Thing Leads to Another," The Fixx
Well, that makes sense. Not sure it was necessary to write a whole song about it, but these guys got a big hit out of it, so what do I know?
3 - "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Bonnie Tyler
More Steinman goodness from Her Royal Raspiness. She could do this bombastitude and the gentle, countryish sadness of "It's a Heartache" with equal aplomb. Bonnie is an underrated talent, in my humble opinion.
2 - "All Night Long (All Night)," Lionel Richie
For the first single from his Can't Slow Down LP, the ex-Commodore added a Carribean flavor to this call to "throw away the work to be done" and party throughout the evening. The result is just pure joy. Another hit that cannot be heard without a smile being cracked at some point.
And on top 28 years ago was...
1 - "Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
Under the partial supervision of Barry Gibb, these two country superstars recorded this Bee Gees-penned midtempo ballad about lovers sailing away to another world. The combined talend wattage resulted in a hit that topped both the pop and country charts. Myself, I don't think much of it, but I can't deny that it sticks in the mind.
This week's NotCaseys were "Joanna" by Kool and the Gang, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John, and "Union of the Snake" by Duran Duran." In the third hour, Casey played Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to commemorate the anniversary of that ship's sinking and to tell of other ships that also sank on that same date on Lake Superior. And there were two Long Distance Dedications. First, a woman wanted Casey to play Diana Ross' "It's My Turn" to let the world know that she was giving up her search for the father who abandoned her to straighetn out her own life. Then, a Swedish man dedicated "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes to his family for their love and support during his recovery from a brain tumor.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment