Before we kick off the fourth quarter of this bowl game, let's have a quick look back at what was big in 1977. A very quick look. Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. were on top with "You Don't Have to be a Star (To be in My Show)." Below it, a ton of stuff we've been over. There are only three songs I haven't touched on, all very minor hits. One's a hard rock ode to sex by Foghat, "Drivin' Wheel" at #36 Another is a soul ballad by Hall and Oates, "Do What You Want, Be What You Are," that didn't get any higher than this week's #39 ranking. Maybe it was the mention of Earth Shoes. Ant the other one was...
37 - "Keep Me Cryin'," Al Green
The soul legend's final Top 40 pop hit of the decade was this spirited soul number about how life just isn't making him happy. It's danceable, but it doesn't sop to disco. I'm glad Al went out like this, and I'm just as happy that he found joy again, even if it meant turning his back on secular music for a while.
Okay, time to finish off the biggest of '83.
25 - "Never Gonna Let You Go," Sergio Mendes
Bland pop ballad from the Brazilian who I know I saw several times on the Mike Douglas Show durning the 70s. Remember Mike Douglas? Anyway, this song is nothing.
24 - "The Girl is Mine," Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
Macca and Jacko have the most polite fight over a woman ever recorded. Again, this was the world's first taste of Thriller. Don't that blow your mind?
23 - "Electric Avenue," Eddy Grant
One of the greatest funk songs to come out of Britain, as far as I'm concerned. It makes me want to rock...and then take it higher!
22 - "She Works Hard for the Money," Donna Summer
Probably the Disco Queen's final lasting hit single, so I'd better treat it right. And I will. A very good dance-pop portrayal of a woman doing what she must to make ends meet. All right.
21 - "Hungry Like the Wolf," Duran Duran
The American breakthrough for these Birmingham, England heartthrobs. An unstoppable pop rocker about animalistic sexual pursuit partly inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood." And the evocative jungle video, filmed in Sri Lanka, did a lot to sell both song and band. I'm pretty sure it was the first 45 (remember those?) I ever bought, and it remains my solid favorite of theirs to this day.
20 - "Sexual Healing," Marvin Gaye
Marvin's all-too-short return to the heights of pop. Filmmakers should start using this in the spots where they usually just rely on "Let's Get it On." Mix things up a little.
19 - "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," Air Supply
The Aussie sap duo's one shining moment, aided in no small part by opera-pop maestro Jim Steinman, whose "Go Big or Go Home" ethos usually lifts his clients to some of their greatest moments. He even did it for Celine freaking Dion, so you know he can do it for anybody.
18 - "You and I," Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle
Eddie had long hair for a male country singer, but it was practically a buzzcut compared to Crystal's legendary floor-length mane. The hair contrast is much more interesting than this meh love song.
17 - "Let's Dance," David Bowie
Bowie's second and last U.S. charttopper was this radio-ready funk-rocker from the album of the same name. A bit of a sellout, perhaps, but so smooth and catchy that it's hard to be too down on him. But as far as that LP goes, I do like "Modern Love" better.
16 - "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," Culture Club
The biggest hit for the group named Billboard's "Top New Act of 1983" was this great soul ballad in which Boy George introduced himself as a genuine star. Love is never easy in Culture Club ballads, and there are almost always tears. But still, you just can't turn a song like this off.
15 - "Mickey," Toni Basil
At 39, Toni dusted off her 20-year old Las Vegas High cheerleading outfit, tweaked a song called "Kitty" from a 1979 album by the British band Racey, and turned it into one of the decade's most alternatately catch/annoying hits. And the "Mickey" that inspired the name change was none other that Mr. Dolens of The Monkees
14 - "Maniac," Michael Sembello
The second biggest Flashdance hit, which documented the movie's plot about a "Steeltown girl on a Saturday Night, looking for the fight of her life." Don't forget your leg warmers!
13 - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," Eurythmics
Icy cold deliciousness from Annie and Dave. Marilyn Manson tried to make this song even more disturbing with growling and dissonant guitars. Nice try, Brian, but the original is still much more haunting.
12 - "Shame on the Moon," Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
The Styx of Detroit went to #2 with this song written by country vet Rodney Crowell. It's a cool little acoustic ballad about the hopes, fears and doubts of a man in love. I'm not much on Bob, but I have to admit, this is damn good.
11 - "Baby Come to Me," Patti Austin and James Ingram
This nice ballad was a flop upon its original release, but was revived when General Hospital used it to accompany the burgeoning romance between Luke and Holly. Where was Laura, you ask? Presumed dead. But you know how that goes in soaps. One thing I've been reminded of while doing this was that at one time, soap operas had a surprising amount of influence on the pop charts. Now, they're slowly but surely dying off. It's just a matter of whether GH or The Young and the Restless will be the last one left to turn out the lights.
And now, the ten tunes that mattered most to the most in 1983...
10 - "Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
The Bee Gees again asserted their behind-the-scenes hitmaking prowess by presiding over this summmit meeting of the king and queen of country-pop that went all the way to the top of both charts. Not very country, but a craftsmanlike pop hit. Oh, and no jokes about Dolly face-up in the bathtub, please.
9 - "Gloria," Laura Branigan
The late Laura B.'s first and biggest, a tour de force of danceable drama about a party girl past her prime. This is her legacy, and a fine one at that.
8 - "Beat It," Michael Jackson
One of Thriller's crown jewels, an Eddie Van Halen-aided rocker about proving one's machismo that was promoted by a video in which Michael breaks up a knife fight between rival gangs armed only with a red zipper jacket and some sweet-ass dance moves. No way that should have worked, but hey, he's MJ.
7 - "All Night Long (All Night)," Lionel Richie
L-Rich's biggest hit of the year, and the first single from the album that launched him into the stratosphere, Can't Slow Down. Raise the roof, have some fun, and let the music play on play on play on.
6 - "Maneater," Daryl Hall and John Oates
Big hair, good song, can't lose. And no, I wasn't a regular viewer of Friday Night Lights. That phrase is all I know of it. Anyway, gotta love this slinky slut alert.
5 - "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Bonnie Tyler
More Steinman, this time proving that Bonnie's Welsh rasp was just as effective surrounded by bombastic rock balladry as it was by folk-pop. Just sit back and let it wash over you, Bright Eyes.
4 - "Down Under," Men at Work
To many outsiders, this should be Australia's national anthem. To many Aussies, it should be "Waltzing Matilda." In actuality, it's "Advance Australia Fair." And I must admit, that's probably as it should be.
3 - "Billie Jean," Michael Jackson
"The Girl is Mine," may have been first, but this is the song that not only launched Thriller into history, but also changed pop music as a whole. The video, with the tiger and the sidewalk that lights up as Michael dances on it, opened MTV up to black artists. His performance on the Motown 25 TV special introduced the world to the moonwalk. And the song, a thunderbolt of a dance track about what the kids these days call "baby mama drama," is just a master class in production, instrumentiation, melody and lyric. Yes, I've said before that I like "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." And I do. But come on, or "chamone," as it were. This is genius. Nothing less.
2 - "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Irene Cara
Cara first hit #4 with the theme from Fame, then had a huge #1 with another movie theme. Later in '83, she would contribute "The Dream (Hold on to Your Dream)" to the soundtrack of the Mr. T comedy D.C. Cab. Sadly, that song would not complete a hat trick of cinematic smashes. But she did go Top Ten the next year with a song about break dancing, so that's nice.
And the song that was declared the biggest hit of all in 1983 was...
1 - "Every Breath You Take," The Police
Sting's stalker classic spent eight weeks at #1, dominating radios across the country throughout that summer. That was the same summer my father put an expansion on our house. Don't know why you needed to know that, but there it is. Anyway, good, iconic song, but probably not the best thing The Police ever did. I'm partial to "Walking on the Moon" myself.
The NotCaseys were "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackon, "Heart and Soul" by Huey Lewis and the News, "1999" by Prince, and "Rio" by Duran Duran.
Back next week with our first regular list of 2012.
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