January 31, 1981 Part One

This week we go back a time when the United States was in the best mood it had been in in years. Reagan had just been sworn in, and the fact that the American hostages in Iran were released that very day was seen as a sign that better days were ahead. To paraphrase a singer who wouldnt even be born for another decade or so, it was a party in the U.S.A. And as we'll see, many of the songs on this week's chart reflect that.

40 - "Shine On," L.T.D.
39 - "Who's Making Love," The Blues Brothers
38 - "Suddenly," Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard
37 - "I Need Your Lovin'," Teena Marie
36 - "Treat Me Right," Pat Benatar
35 - "Lady," Kenny Rogers
34 - "Games People Play," The Alan Parsons Project
33 - "He Can't Love You," The Michael Stanley Band
32 - "Hello Again," Neil Diamond
31 - "Smoky Mountain Rain," Ronnie Milsap

We begin with R&B in its various forms. The Greensboro, North Carolina funk band whose initials stood for Love, Togetherness and Devotion had their final Top 40 hit, a ballad about wanting to go back in time and recapture lost love. Not long after this, singer Jeffrey Osborne would leave the group for a solo career. Honestly, I think his L.T.D stuff was better. The Blues Brothers, the group that began as Saturday Night Live characters played by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi but then became a real recording and touring act, had their last pop hit with a cover of a 1968 Johnnie Taylor tune about cheating and being cheated on. These guys genuinely loved the stuff they covered, and I'm sure it would have been fun to see the original group live, but in the end, I think their real value lay in drawing attention to the artists they were influenced by. And Mary Christine Brockert, a California singer who would go on to be one of the relatively few white acts signed by Motown records, had her first pop Top 40 with this funky plea for physical affection. She had a great voice, and she was taken from us too soon at 54.

Then we go to MOR-land. ONJ had another Xanadu hit by teaming up with Cliff Richard on this okay ballad. Not one of the stronger tracks from that movie. Just an okay love song. And Neil Diamond had his second hit from the, um, questionable remake of The Jazz Singer with this ballad about needing to hear from an old friend. No, I've never seen the movie, but I've heard things. However, I did have the soundtrack as a kid. It wasn't a bad album.

Three rock songs are here. Pat Benatar followed up her Top 10 breakthrough "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," with this swaggering call for her would-be lover to make up his mind about what kind of relationship he wants. Her toughness is always appreciated. The Alan Parsons Project, who were a band and not, as Homer Simpson once believed, some sort of hovercraft, had their biggest hit to date with this synth-driven hit that seems to be about dissatisfaction with one's life. You would think that the line "games people play in the middle of the night" was about sex, but I don't think it is. The song is also from a concept album about gambling called The Turn of a Friendly Card, so bottom line, I don't really know what it's about. I do know that even though this is pretty good, I like the similiarly-titled Spinners hit from the 70s much better. And Michael Stanley is kind of a local legend in his native Cleveland, but his only dent on the national scene was this slice of pop-rock romantic case-presenting. It's very dated in its sound, but it's also quite catchy, the guitar solo is solid, and the saxophone adds color without being distracting the way it could be on many 80s hits. A minor lost treasure.

We finish with two country-pop stars. Kenny Rogers is back from last time with his Lionel Richie-penned #1 about a very special woman. Presumably, it was his then-wife Marianne, who was spouse #4. She's no longer his lady, but they had a 16-year run, which for now remains his personal record. And Ronnie Milsap had his second pop hit with a song about a guy coming back home from a failed venture in Los Angeles, only to find that the woman he left behind didn't wait for him. So he begins a search for her that reminds me of the one in the much-better Elvis hit "Kentucky Rain." Not a good sign when you spend half a song's duration thinking of a different song altogether.

30 - "Tell it Like it Is," Heart
29 - "Killin' Time," Fred Knoblock and Susan Anton
28 - "A Little in Love," Cliff Richard
27 - "Crying," Don McLean
26 - "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da," The Police
25 - "Heartbreak Hotel," The Jacksons
24 - "Hungry Heart, " Bruce Springsteen
23 - "Seven Bridges Road," The Eagles
22 - "The Best of Times," Styx
21 - "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It," Stevie Wonder

This section contains a big chunk of rock. Heart had their highest-charting single to date with this cover of Aaron Neville's 1966 hit ballad. It doesn't quite measure up to the original (given Aaron's performance, nothing could), but it's a decent stab at soul, and certainly much better than their songs in the future that would outperform it. The Police cracked the U.S. Top Ten for the first time with this deceptively bouncy hit about the power of words both eloquent and nonsensical. I definitely liked it as a kid, but I'm glad that at the time I didn't understand the lyric "their logic ties you up and rapes you." An odd image, and one I'm quite surprised actually made it onto 1981 mainstream radio. Bruce Springsteen had his first Top Five with this big bar-rock rave-up about the endless search for romantic companionship. He originally wrote it for The Ramones, but his manager, who had seen his client give away hit songs to Patti Smith and the Pointer Sisters, advised Springsteen to keep it for himself. Good call. The Eagles had the last hit of their original run with this live cover of a country song by a guy named Steve Young.
It's a nice song, with gorgeous harmonies, but it was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that the band had already broken up so acrimoniously that the two main members, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, collaborated on mixing the Eagles Live album on opposite sides of the United States, sending tapes back and forth because they couldn't stand to be anwyehre near each other. Gotta love bad breakups. And Styx are here with a power ballad about leaning on one's romantic partner to get through tough periods in the world around them. It's probably my favorite serious ballad of theirs. (I might like "Come Sail Away" better, but that's strictly for cheese/camp reasons.)

Easy listening is also well-represented. Country singer Fred Knoblock had his second and last pop hit with this song about a one-night stand. His duet partner was actress and singer Susan Anton, who was best known for being tall and dating short actor Dudley Moore. And may I say, at least on this song, her voice sounds awful. It might be technically fine, but I just don't find it pleasant to listend to at all. Fingernails on a chalkboard. There are millions of better ways to kill time than to listen to Susan Anton sing. British superstar Cliff Richard shows up for a second time this week, this time on his own with a midtempo ballad about infatuation. Nothing much. Certainly no "Devil Woman." And Don "American Pie" McLean made a surprise return to the Top Ten with a decent but thoroughly unnecessary cover of a Roy Orbison classic. He adds nothing at all to it, unlike, say, k.d. lang when she duetted with Roy himself on it in 1987.

We close the first half with a couple of Motown's biggest 70s acts, keepin' on keepin' on into the new decade. The Jacksons weren't with their old label anymore, but they were on the charts with a song that, surprisingly, isn't an Elvis cover (in fact, to avoid confusion, the song was later retitled "This Place Hotel"). The inn in this version, however, isn't the loneliness rehab centre Mr. Presley sang of; rather, it's kind of a haunted house where love goes to die. And the music is suitably spooky, perhaps a precursor of "Thriller." Michael gives a solid perfomance, and in spite of the distracting title, it's a very good song. And Stevie Wonder is here with a song about suspecting his lover of cheating that is notable for the strange country twang in which he sings the verses. And in a weird way, it kind of works with lyrics about how Stevie believes someone has been "pickin' in my cherry tree" and "diggin' round in my cake." It's kind of an oddity, but a very cool one.

Tomorrow: a lot of optimistic music, but with some heartbreak mixed in, and one song whose positivity was tarnished by genuine tragedy.