Before we wrap up '81, let's rewind just a little and visit January 28, 1978.
Player were #1 with "Baby Come Back"...Also among the Top Ten were "Short People," "Stayin' Alive," "We Are the Champions," and "Come Sail Away"...Among the newbies, we'll first look at #27, Foreigner's "Long, Long Way from Home." It's an okay rocker that tells the old story of the small town boy who finds big city life not all that it's cracked up to be. Not a song I remember ever hearing much, and I can say that I didn't miss anything special...At #29 we find The Commodores, following up the disco-funk of "Brick House" by keeping the beat up on the thickly grooving "Too Hot ta Trot"... California's Con Funk Shun had a batch of R&B hits, but the biggest of their two pop hits was the eventual #23 "Ffun," found this week in the 30 slot. It's a fantastic funk delivery system. Not sure what the extra "f" was for, though...Bill Withers is at #32 with his last solo Top 40, the gentle funk ode to a love that makes everything better "Lovely Day"...The Little River Band added a touch of disco to their blandness as they wish an ex an ironic "Happy Anniversary" at #34...Leo Sayer, whom Casey dubbed "Everybody's favorite English pixie," picked up another minor hit with the midtempo disco "Easy to Love" at 36. The falsetto is strong on the choruses, but his voice grates on the verses...Alabama's Wet Willie had another of their handful of pop hits with this week's #38, the doo-wop tribute "Street Corner Serenade"...And it may be hard to believe, but Donna Summer was only on her third U.S. Top 40 hit by this time with the forgotten-yet-very-good "I Love You," found this week at #40...But this week, I shine a spotlight on...
24 - "Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind," John Williams
33 - "Theme from Close Encounters," Meco
In 1977, Steven Spielberg followed up his blockbuster Jaws with another smash, this time a story about aliens landing on and making contact with Earth. And, like Jaws, this film had an iconic theme, driven mainly by the the five-note tone that the movie's mother ship frequently emits. Naturally, it became a hit, and in two forms. First, a jazz-pop version by Williams himself was issued as a 45 and packaged with the soundtrack LP. Then, Meco Menardo, the Eurodisco impresario who had just scored a #1 with a version of another Williams' movie theme, the one to Star Wars, put out his own sped-up version, one which relied less on those famous five notes and put more emphasis on other music from the film. But this time, the originator outcharted the pretender, as Williams made it to #13 while Meco stalled at #25. Both are fascinating artifacts of that time when Spielberg and George Lucas were just beginning their bid to take over pop culture. They haven't quite done it yet, but they've certainly grabbed their fair share of territory.
Okay, now to clean up 1981.
20 - "Together," Tierra
19 - "Keep on Loving You," REO Speedwagon
18 - "The Winner Takes it All," ABBA
17 - "Woman," John Lennon
16 - "Miss Sun," Boz Scaggs
The second half begins with the biggest hit by Latin soul band Tierra, a nice ballad written by Philly soul maestros Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Nothing spectacular, but a pleasant listen.
After seven albums that built up a following but didn't produce a single radio hit, Champaign, Illinois' REO Speedwagon broke though in a big way with this song about loving someone no matter what, in spite of struggles and infidelities. It went straight to #1, and is still frequently used in movies and commercials. It's become one of the archetypal 80s power ballads, and while I don't think it's one of the best, it does have all the standard elements, and Kevin Cronin sings the hell out of it.
Next is ABBA with their last U.S. Top Ten, a theatrical mini-epic that compares the breakdown of a marriage to losing at some sort of spectator sport that involves cards and diceand judges. Yes, the metaphors are all over the place, but it's still a remarkably effective portrait of the heartbreak of a failed relationship, with Agnetha Faltskog just killing the lead vocal. My favorite ABBA song, hands down.
Then it's John Lennon with his first single to be released after his assassination. It's a tender, mature song that thanks his partner (Yoko, of course) for putting up with him and understanding and accepting his flaws. A fantastic love song.
Rounding out this section is Boz Scaggs with a return to the jazzy lite-funk on which he made his name. Apparently, he tried to hold the title woman "but the moon got in the way." Not sure what that means, but whatever, cool little song.
15 - "Time is Time," Andy Gibb
14 - "Same Old Lang Syne," Dan Fogelberg
13 - "Guilty," Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb
12 - "Hey Nineteen," Steely Dan
11 - "Giving it Up for Your Love," Delbert McClinton
This group opens up with the pentultimate Top 40 hit for the Bee Gees little brother. Like his brothers, he was starting to shy away from anything resembling disco, and thus this song is midtempo pop-rock about waiting out a reluctant lover. A solid little number, better than many of his bigger hits.
Soft-rock superstar Dan Fogelberg had his second Top Ten with this reportedly autobiographical song about a singer who runs into an old girlfriend on Christmas Eve. The two then buy a six-pack of beer at a nearby liquor store and share it in her car while swapping life stories. She had married an architect she wasn't really in love with, while he was doing all right with his music but hated touring. The two then part ways, and the singer feels a twinge of regret at what might have been. This is easily Fogelberg's best song, and because of its holiday connections, it's probably the one that gets the most recurring airplay. And because it's the rare Christmas-themed song to actually become a chart hit in this time period, it gets this week's Uneasy Rider.
Another Gibb, Barry, is here duetting with Barbra Streisand on the title track to her Guilty album, which he co-produced. He even appears on the album cover with her. It's very good Gibb-pop in which the two declare that their love "can climb any mountain near or far. I would call this a guilty pleasure, but that would be an awful pun. But it's true.
Then it's Steely Dan with their third and final Top 10, a song that reminisces about college days and laments that the 19-year-old girls of 1981 don't recognize Aretha Franklin as the Queen of Soul. In other words, typical Steely Dan navel gazing. But there's nothing wrong with that.
This bunch closes with Lubbock, Texas blues-rocker Delbert McClinton's only Top 40 single,, a funky, horn-adorned song about a desperate need for a woman's affections. I vaguely remembered this one, but I'm very glad to have my memory refreshed. This is a forgotten gem of a single that is due to be rediscovered.
It's Top Ten in the morning in America.
10 - "I Made it Through the Rain," Barry Manilow
Barry scored his last pop Top Ten with this ballad about perservering through hard times. As I recall, people began associating it with the Iranian hostages upon their release. A year later, I think I remember my mother singing it after my father's union finally settled a long strike. Anyway, it's decent Barry.
9 - "It's My Turn," Diana Ross
Miss Ross collected her third straight Top Ten with this ballad about a woman who decides to finally live for herself instead of others. It was the title song to a romantic comedy of the same name that co-starred Michael Douglas. I didn't really see many Michael Douglas movies before he began what I like to call his "women are eeeeeeeeeeevil!" trilogy of Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and Disclosure, so I find the idea of him as the lead in a romantic comedy almost unsettling.
8 - "9 to 5," Dolly Parton
Another movie song, this one from the workplace comedy in which Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda played secretaries who gain revenge on their chauvinist boss. The song itself is jaunty, jazzy pop about the struggles of working people. Catchy as all get out, and the typewriter at the beginning was an inspired touch. It was Dolly's only pop #1, and deservedly so.
7 - "Love on the Rocks," Neil Diamond
The movies strike again, this time with Neil's second Jazz Singer hit of the week, an excellent, world-weary ballad about souring romance. And no, I don't ever want to see that movie. Apparently Lucie Arnaz played his love interest. Seriously?
6 - "Passion," Rod Stewart
Rod the Mod's first American hit of the decade was this sultry, slow-burning rocker about that primal physical thing that "even the President needs." I like this song, but I pity anyone who heard that President line had found themselves picturing Ronnie and Nancy...together. Shudder.
5 - "Every Woman in the World," Air Supply
The third American hit for these Aussie mildmen was this song in which they state that one woman fulfills all their needs. No, I'm not implying that those two guys shared one girlfriend, but I don't know that they didn't, either.
4 - "I Love a Rainy Night," Eddie Rabbitt
Probably one of the few country superstars to be born in Brooklyn, Eddie had his only #1 pop hit with this celebration of percipitation. Catchy tune, although I can't say I share his affinity for the rain. I wonder how he felt about snow...
3 - "Celebration," Kool and the Gang
On a chart full of joy an optimism, this, Kool and the Gang's only pop #1, is arguably the most upbeat of all. "There's a party goin' on right here," they sing to a backing track that was pure disco even though no one would have dared call it that at the time. The "malaise" of the Carter years was over, and Ronald Reagan had just rode in from Hollywood to save the day. Did it work out that way? Like a lot of things, it depends on who you talk to.
2 - "(Just Like) Starting Over," John Lennon
On its own, this song is a wistful, wonderful midtempo ballad in which a man asks his wife to run away with him and kind of hit the reset button on their relationship. And John is at his charming best, even breaking out an Elvis impression on the verses. But of course, it just can't be divorced from what happened just one month after its release, which gave the song's title a sad, bitter irony. I love this track, but I also wonder what other gems might have followed if not for that Monday night in December.
And number one that week was...
1 - "The Tide is High," Blondie
The third #1 hit for Debbie Harry and co. was this cover of a 1967 song by Jamaican "rocksteady" band The Paragons. It's breezy reggae in which Ms. Harry declares that she will eventually land the man she has her sights set on, because "I'm not the kind of girl who gives up just like that." And yes, I had this cassette, too.
This week's NotCaseys were "Somebody's Knockin'" by Terri Gibbs, "Rapture" by Blondie, "Turn Me Loose" by Loverboy, and "Kiss on My List" by Hall and Oates. Before he started the countdown, he played the previous week's Top Three (in descending order: "The Tide is High," "Love on the Rocks," and "(Just Like) Starting Over." He also played two #1s from January 1964, "There! I've Said it Again" by Bobby Vinton, and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles. And there were two Long Distance Dedications. A nervous Nova Scotian sent out Jim Croce's "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song," to the librarian he had a crush on, and a girl from Oklahoma dedicated The Commodores' "Three Times a Lady," to the mother she now regretted disobeying and mistreating in the past.
I will be back next week. Yes, it's the Super Bowl, but I'll work around it. Anything for you guys.
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