Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 83
Chart Week: February 25, 1978 Song: “Falling” – LeBlanc and Carr Chart Position: #28, 20th week on the chart. Peaked at #13 the week of April 1. Normally I put my song grade at the end of these posts, but for this entry it seems best to offer the assessment up front. This is not a good song. In fact,…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 82
Chart Week: February 9, 1980 Song: “I Wanna Be Your Lover” – Prince Chart Position: #20, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #11 for two weeks in January and February. It started here. This was the very first Prince single to crack the Top 40. It took a few years, but eventually just about everyone around the world who…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 81
Chart Week: January 23, 1988 Song: “Don’t Shed A Tear” – Paul Carrack Chart Position: #21, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #9 for three weeks in February. It feels like I’ve lost the momentum for this series lately. After reviewing the numbers, I did add 15 entries in 2022, which was three more than 2021. Perhaps it seems…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 80
Chart Week: November 20, 1982 Song: “Heartbreaker” – Dionne Warwick Chart Position: #28, 7th week on the chart. Peaked at #10 for two weeks in January 1983. Dionne Warwick has had an amazing career. Hits upon hits, all kinds of notable and interesting personality quirks, a side-career that kept her in the public eye, becoming Twitter famous, and most recently…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 79
Chart Week: November 23, 1985 Song: “Separate Lives” – Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin Chart Position: #3, 8th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 the week of November 30. (Note: To tide you over during our Thanksgiving vacation, I’ve scheduled a couple posts to drop while we are away. I’m hoping all goes well and they appear on time…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 78
Chart Week: September 18, 1982 Song: “Somebody’s Baby” – Jackson Browne Chart Position: #18, 8th week on the chart. Peaked at #7 for three weeks in October. I loved this song when I was 11. It wasn’t because I was a big Jackson Browne fan, or because it was a fantastic song. No, it was solely because it was the…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 77
Chart Week: August 30, 1986 Song: “Heaven In Your Eyes” – Loverboy Chart Position: #33, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #12 for two weeks in October. A quick entry this time, based on a cultural nugget that shows how much the world has changed since 1986. Casey shared that Loverboy keyboard player Doug Johnson refused to appear in…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 76
Chart Week: July 22, 1978 Song: “Baker Street” – Gerry Rafferty Chart Position: #2, 14th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for six weeks. I’ve been wanting to write about this song for ages, and everything finally lined up thanks to an AT40 I caught last week. “Baker Street” is one of the greatest songs of its time. Or…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 75
Chart Week: June 20, 1981 Song: “Angel of the Morning” – Juice Newton Chart Position: #38, 18th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 for four weeks in May. Juice Newton was a classic Right Artist at the Right Time success. Although she came up in the world of folk music, by the early 1980s she had slid into a…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 74
Chart Week: May 24, 1980 Song: “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” – Pink Floyd Chart Position: #17, 19th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for four weeks in March/April. Each week Casey would read letters from his listeners, generally either Long Distance Dedications or general music questions that his crack staff of researchers would answer. Occasionally he…