Not going to do much on this week`s 1976 list. Rod Stewart was #1 with "Tonight's the Night." I've pretty much covered everything on that list, give or take a #38 John Travolta footnote. So let's get straight to the second half of 1982.
20 - "Pressure," Billy Joel
19 - "Down Under," Men at Work
18 - "Southern Cross," Crosby, Stills and Nash
17 - "Heartbreaker," Dionne Warwick
16 - "Heart Attack," Olivia Newton-John
The second half begins with the Piano Man. Although on this song, he's more like the Jagged Synthesizer man. There's a big New Wave influence on this song about dealing with the stresses of life, but it works. It might actually be my favorite single of his.
Australia's Men at Work follow with what would be their second straight American charttopper, a sprightly pop tune in which singer Colin Hay sings of his pride in his nationality as he travels the world. At least that's what I get out of it. Also, it introduced the Western World to "vegemite," a vegetable/yeast paste that apparently people like on sandwiches. Never tried it, don't want to. It'd probably make me chunder.
Crosby, Stills and Nash are back from our last visit to this time period, still gently singing about stars and boats and music. Well, it's better than their late-70s comeback hit "Just a Song Before I Go." That sucked.
Then it's Dionne Warwick with her last Top Ten solo hit, a Bee Gees-penned, Barry Gibb-produced ballad about not being able to get over a lover who keeps leaving no matter what sacrifices you make to please him or her. Dionne's classic voice and the Gibb sound jell well together. Not earth-shaking, but a worthy hit.
This section closes with ONJ's returning pop bouncer about lovin' that gives one pulmonary problems. As much as I love most of her 70s stuff, pretty much everything she put out after "Xanadu" leaves me cold.
15 - "Nobody," Sylvia
14 - "Shadows of the Night," Pat Benatar
13 - "It's Raining Again," Supertramp
12 - "Sexual Healing," Marvin Gaye
11 - "Rock This Town," The Stray Cats
This group is led off by country singer Sylvia's biggest hit, which uses the word "nobody" in a similar way that the recently deceased Bil Keane used "Not Me" and "Ida Know" in The Family Circus. I like the song better than the comic strip, but still, RIP Bil.
Next is another hit from Pat Benatar, a dramatic power semi-ballad about lovers who only have each other to protect them from the cold cruel world. I don't remember this one as well as some of her other hits, but it's growing on me. Pat's a definite cornerstone of the decade.
Then it's Supertramp with a hit from their last album with original singer Roger Hodgson. This song is about enduring hard times, and includes backround voices singing the old nursery rhyme "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring." I guess I liked this song at the time, because I actually bought the whole ...Famous Last Words... cassette. I don't remember liking anything else on that album, though. A costly lesson for young Robert G.
Marvin Gaye hadn't been on the pop charts for five years when he returned with this classic sex jam. In lesser hands, this could have been laughable, but Marvin was a professional at this kind of thing, even pulling off the line "Please don't procrastinate, it's not good to masturbate." Unfortunately, it was the last hit he'd ever have.
Closing out this quintet is the first American hit for Long Island rockabilly revivalists The Stray Cats. It sounded like it could have been an authentic oldie, with its sound and its references to fights, jukeboxes, and "boppin' on the big dance floor." But it gives itself away with mentions of disco and 1974. Still, it was a cool change of pace at the time, and it retains much of its charm.
Ten things people liked in '82:
10 - "Muscles," Diana Ross
Michael Jackson wrote this sultry ballad about lusting men with well-developed bodies for his friend and role-model Diana. He also got the idea for the title from the name of his pet snake. Miss Ross' vocals on this are often girlish to the point of being creepy. Not the best moment for either of this song's primary creators.
9 - "Dirty Laundry," Don Henley
The first and biggest solo hit for this ex-Eagle was this angry rock tirade against the emptiness of television news, with its emphasis on senstaionalism and its preference for anchors who are physically attractive as opposed to those who are good journalists. Of course, that was 29 years ago. We've come a long way since then. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Perhaps even more so today, "we all know that crap is king."
8 - "The Girl is Mine," Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
The first single from Michael's highly anticipated follow-up to Off the Wall was this mushy midtempo ballad in which Michael and new buddy Paul McCartney goodnaturedly argue over a "doggone girl." It's pleasant enough, but there's no way that 99% of people who heard this for the first time thought "this is the first single from what's going to be the best selling album of all time." And now, it's probably the fifth or sixth song that comes to most people's minds when they're trying to remember the songs on Thriller. It's just amazing to think that the world's first introduction to the biggest musical phenomenon ever was...this.
7 - "Steppin' Out," Joe Jackson
Not Michael's dad, but the British singer/pianist whose real first name is David. He had his biggest hit with this classy invitation to accompany him on a night out. I like a lot of Joe's other songs better, but this is still pretty damn good.
6 - "Up Where We Belong," Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
The An Officer and a Gentleman hit returns from last time. It was also one of this week's Long Distance Dedications. A man named Matt dedicated it to Debbie, the woman who helped him realize his dream of becoming a police officer. Awwwwww.
5 - "Heartlight," Neil Diamond
Neil's laughably sincere tribute to E.T. If the 80s have an equivalent to "Feelings," this might be it.
4 - "Maneater," Daryl Hall and John Oates
Hall and Oates are here again, this time with a bit of menacing midtempo funk about a woman who goes through wealthy men at a rapid rate. "Watch out boy, she'll chew you up," they warn. One of their best-crafted hits.
3 - "Mickey," Toni Basil
Toni B. returns with her one hit about a mindblowing male. Once, when Bart Simpson was asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, he decided to improvise with the "Mickey"-based "Hey America, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. America." The real Seymour Skinner was offended. I can't imagine why.
2 - "Gloria," Laura Branigan
Another returnee. Obviously, that "G-L-O-R-I-A" song that's been done by everyone from Van Morrison to the Doors to Patti Smith is better, but still, that doesn't mean this one isn't awesome in it's own way. It's the pop-single equivalent of a trashy novel about a crazy lady's adventures. And you know how much I like those.
And at the top of the December 1982 pop heap was...
1 - "Truly," Lionel Richie
After leaving The Commodores and having a smash with his Diana Ross duet "Endless Love," Mr. Richie finally released his first solo single. It's pretty indistinguishable from some of the ballads he sang with his old group, but that seemed to be just fine with the American public, as they propelled it straight to the top of the charts. I don't find it anything special, but I can't argue with the results.
This week's NotCaseys were "Goody Two-Shoes" by Adam Ant, "I Know There's Something Going On" by Frida, "Goodbye to You" by Scandal, and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club. Casey opened the show by playing the previous week's Top Three (same top two, but "Heart Attack" was #3), and later he played Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" after telling the story of the 1958 auto accident that put Lou in a coma and caused him to wake up with amnesia that wouldn't clear up for several months. And he played one other Long Distance Dedication. A girl entering high school dedicated The Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" to her best friend.
And there's my contribution to the blogosphere for another week.
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