Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 12
Chart Week: August 18, 1984 Song: “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Twisted Sister Chart Position: #39, 4th week on the chart. Peaked at #21 for two weeks in September. In between contractor visits last week, which have caused a move of my computer gear onto the dining room table temporarily, I was trying to hack together a post about…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 11
Chart Week: August 5, 1989 Song: “18 and Life” – Skid Row Chart Position: #32, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 the week of September 23. These late 80s countdowns are not my favorites. By 1987 my tastes were drifting away from mainstream, Top 40-style music. Emphasis on the word drifting, because I still liked plenty of music…
Reading for the Stars, Vol. 10
Chart Week: July 10, 1982 Song: “Play the Game Tonight” – Kansas Chart Position: #17, 10th week on the chart. Peaked at #17 for three weeks. I would guess I heard this song approximately once in a quarter century before I heard it at, of all places, a high school football game a few years back. In the hour of…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 9
Chart Week: June 9, 1984 Song: “Eyes Without a Face” – Billy Idol Chart Position: #18, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 for two weeks in July. As I said, I’ve been sitting on a couple of these posts. And since Spotify and WordPress appear to be fighting again, I’ll knock this one out in place of a…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 8
I’m a bit behind on these. Mostly because of not having solid internet access (fuckers). But I have three of these posts mentally queued up from the past month that I’m going to try to crank out over the next week. Chart Week: July 5, 1980 Song: “Stomp!” – The Brothers Johnson Chart Position: #28, 17th week on the chart.…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 7
Chart Week: April 21, 1984 Song: “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper Chart Position: #36, 2nd week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for two weeks in June. I recently read an article suggesting, based on an analysis of information from Spotify, that for the majority of us, the music we listen to between ages 11–16 form the basis for…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 6
Chart Week: March 26, 1983 Song: “Little Red Corvette” – Prince Chart Position: #27, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #6 for two weeks in May. A few weeks back I heard Prince’s first Top 40 hit, “I Wanna Be Your Lover” and wondered when the first time I ever heard a Prince song was. “Lover” reached #11 in…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 5
Chart Week: March 8, 1986 Song: “Kyrie” – Mr. Mister Chart Position: #1, 12th week on the chart, second week at #1. One of my favorite things to do when I hear old music is consider artists who had really brief, but really amazing runs. “Did so-and-so have the best year ever?” I’ll ask myself when I hear a song…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 4
Chart Week: March 5, 1983 Song: “Allentown” – Billy Joel Chart Position: #17, 15th week on the chart. Peaked at #17 for six straight weeks from February through March. This week’s edition is the first that draws from SiriusXM’s VJ Big 40 show on its Eighties on 8 channel. For those not familiar, Eighties on 8 features three of the…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 3
Chart Week: February 18, 1984 Song: “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” – Elton John Chart Position: #18, 17th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 the week of January 28, 1984. A countdown from 1984, my favorite musical year! So many fantastic songs to pick from. “Thriller” had just hit the top 10 in its second…