• Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 35

    Chart Week: January 15, 1983 Song: “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy” – Sammy Hagar Chart Position: #27, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #13 for two weeks in February/March. One of the disappointments of the iHeart Radio Classic American Top 40 channel is that only so many of the old countdowns have been digitized and, thus, countdowns are…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 34

    Chart Week: November 6, 1982 Song: “Maneater” – Daryl Hall and John Oates Chart Position: #36, 4th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for three weeks in December and January. I was hoping to turn on the local AT40 replay last weekend and hear a countdown from a Thanksgiving weekend past that would stir up some holiday-themed memories. Alas…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 33

    Chart Week: September 17, 1983 Song: “Stand Back” – Stevie Nicks Chart Position: #35, 16th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 the week of August 20. First a piece of housekeeping. I noticed this morning that I mis-numbered my last entry, for some reason skipping from 31 to 34. I have updated that post to correctly show it as…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 32

    A bit of a change-of-pace for this entry. The focus will not be on one song, or a couple songs, but rather an entire chart. This countdown was from Memorial Day weekend, 1988. In it, Casey counted down the top new artists of the 1980s. Which seems a little strange since there was a year-and-a-half left in the decade. But…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 31

    Chart Week: April 10, 1982 Songs: “We Got the Beat” – The Go-Go’s; “I Love Rock ’n Roll” – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Chart Positions: #2, 11th week on the chart. Would spend three weeks at #2. /#1, 10th week on the chart, fourth week at #1. Would spend seven weeks at #1. A two-fer, as a tidbit I…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 30

    Chart Week: August 21, 1982 Song: “Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)” – Donna Summer Chart Position: #12, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #10 the week of September 25. My goodness this was a great week! As I was listening to parts of this countdown, song-after-song jumped out at me. I would settle on a song…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 29

    Chart Week: August 31, 1985 Song: “Invincible (Theme from The Legend of Billy Jean)” – Pat Benatar Chart Position: #12, 15th week on the chart. Peaked at #10 the week of September 14. I’m cheating a little for this entry. Although I’m sure if I listened to the iHeart Radio classic AT40 station long enough I’d hear a countdown from…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 28

    Chart Week: July 24, 1976 Song: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” – Elton John and Kiki Dee Chart Position: #8, 4th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for four weeks in August. What a song. I could stop right there, throw up the video, and that would be enough. A quarter-century after its release it was a Saturday night…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 27

    I figure most of my readers are taking it easy on this holiday week. So I will slow the pace here a bit, get caught up on some things, and otherwise take advantage of the lazy week. Chart Week: June 29, 1985 Song: “19” – Paul Hardcastle Chart Position: #27, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #15 for two…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 26

    Our Internet was out almost all day yesterday, so my web time was greatly reduced. Fortunately I had some notes pulled together for this post, which I was able to hammer out between other activities. Chart Week: April 26, 1986 Song: “West End Girls” – Pet Shop Boys Chart Position: #3, 7th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 the…