Tag: RFTS (Page 2 of 11)

Chart Week: November 14, 1981
Song: “Never Too Much” – Luther Vandross
Chart Position: #37, 6th week on the chart, first week in the Top 40. Peaked at #33 for two weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all! A quick entry based on a Casey anecdote about how a pop artist paid the bills before he started making hits of his own.

The Voice of a Generation. The Velvet Voice. Soundtrack to more babies being made than any artist of his era.

Those are a few of the nicknames Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. picked up over his career.[1] That last one is unofficial, of course.

“Never Too Much” was indeed the first single of his solo career. But Luther had been on the charts before. He was a highly valued backup singer to some of the biggest stars of the Seventies, lending vocals to tracks by Donna Summer, Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, and Chaka Khan. For my readers, the song you probably heard his voice on first was David Bowie’s “Young Americans.”

Luther did more than sing backup to other stars, though. He wrote and sang advertising jingles for a variety of major companies, including Pepsi, Juicy Fruit gum, Miller beer, and NBC. As I was looking into his jingle career, I found this amazing ad for Gino’s pizza. Which, unfortunately, will not embed in this post. Please, click the link.

There’s an equally amazing video on Facebook where Luther talks about the making of that ad.

In this countdown, Casey mentioned some of those ads Luther’s voice appeared on, and suggested all that work had made him both famous and very comfortable financially, an assertion the Facebook video seems to confirm. That wasn’t enough, though.

“The money is fine,” Casey quoted Luther as saying, “but sometimes I want to sing a whole song!”

Luther got his chance and capitalized on it, becoming one of the most successful soul singers of the next two decades.

He wrote, composed, arranged, and produced this track, along with most of his debut album. From the first notes, Luther carved out a unique space in music. “Never Too Much” is a cool mashup of contemporary soul and yacht rock, largely thanks to its impeccable production. Every sound is polished for maximum shininess. There’s a jazzy quality to how Luther sings the verses. The song is not too far off from the music George Benson was making around the same time. Luther is always in the pocket with his vocals, never showing off or pushing too far, which was his great strength. His voice was warm, comforting, sophisticated, and smooth as silk.

“Never Too Much” was #1 on the soul chart for two weeks, the first of his seven Soul/R&B number ones.[2] There were bigger things to come for Luther on the pop chart later in his career. This was fine way to introduce himself to the world as a singer capable of carrying an entire song on his own. 7/10

Chart Week: November 5, 1983
Song: “Automatic Man” – Michael Sembello
Chart Position: #34, 7th week on the chart. This was the song’s peak.

A quick RFTS to fill the place of the Friday Playlist as we are taking an adult fall break for the next few days.

The 100th entry in this series is getting very close. I’ve been reading through most of the previous posts, both to refresh my memory and to look for trends. When we hit the century mark, I’ll pull together some stats and observations to share.

For this week’s edition, we hit a familiar topic: a forgotten song by an artist generally assumed to be a One Hit Wonder.

Michael Sembello was a musical prodigy.[1] By his mid-teens he was already serving as a session guitarist for established stars. When he was 17, Stevie Wonder invited him to contribute to two songs on Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Two years later Sembello was a featured artist on Wonder’s mega-classic Songs in the Key of Life, playing on every track and earning a songwriting credit for “Saturn.” He continued to work with Wonder through the remainder of the Seventies. He also wrote and produced for other artists, including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

In 1983, he recorded his first solo album, Bossa Nova Hotel. Through a series of industry connections one of its cuts, “Maniac,” was added to the soundtrack for Flashdance. You may have heard it.

“Maniac” hit #1 for two weeks, was nominated for both Grammy and Academy awards, and landed at #9 on the final Hot 100 of 1983. For better or worse, depending on your perspective, it is one of the most recognizable and unforgettable songs of the decade.

“Maniac” was officially a single from the Flashdance LP, as Bossa Nova Hotel did not hit record stores until September 1983. Sembello warned people that he was not going to release another song that sounded like it. He wanted listeners to forget about his big hit and instead focus on his wide-ranging talent.

That should have been a clue that his next single would be a dud.

This song…oooof. It is cheesy as all get-out. At the same time, it is so blandly anonymous its cheese almost doesn’t register. I’ve listened to it several times this week, and each time my brain thinks it is hearing “Number One” by Chaz Jankel, one of the featured songs in the movie Real Genius. Sembello’s voice is less processed here than “Maniac,” and it comes across slighter because of it. Whether you liked “Maniac” or not, it was a song that grabbed you and forced its way into your head. Nothing about it is compelling enough to register and create long-term memories. It didn’t help that “Automatic Man” lacked the connection to the visuals of Jennifer Beals’ (and her dance double) scenes in Flashdance that “Maniac” had.[2]

The video, though? It is amazing! I had never seen it before this week. I’m am prepared to say it is one of the greatest videos ever made. There is just so much confusing and bizarre stuff going on that you can’t look away. Kind of the total opposite of the song.

This was the final charting single of Sembello’s solo career, and it dropped out of the Top 40 after just two weeks. He continued to work with other artists, most notably Chaka Khan and New Edition. But he never re-captured that magic from the summer of 1983. One critic called Sembello “…Michael McDonald with a rhythm machine, but that would be unnecessarily cruel to McDonald. And the rhythm machine." Well, I think that was unnecessarily cruel. Sembello did some cool things in his career. This song was not one of them. 3/10

Chart Week: October 30, 1982
Song: “I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)” – Donald Fagen
Chart Position: #36, 4th week on the chart, debut week in the Top 40. Peaked at #26 for three weeks in November and December.

Pop music tends to be pretty limited thematically. Amongst the bazillion or so songs about love, lust, and heartbreak, occasionally one will emerge from left field about a topic that makes no sense as the basis for a radio hit.

The first single of Donald Fagen’s solo career, “I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)” was inspired by the International Geophysical Year, an 18-month event that stretched across 1957–58. It brought together scientists from both sides of the Cold War divide with the hope of leading the world forward to a more connected and peaceful future.

Nothing says rock ’n’ roll like scientific discovery, amiright?

When “I.G.Y.” was released, my limited knowledge of the Fifties was based solely upon watching Leave It To Beaver re-runs and old sci-fi flicks on late-night TV, hardly a comprehensive source of Eisenhower-era knowledge. Whatever view I had of that decade, the images this song inspired fit right into it.

I suppose my attraction to “I.G.Y.” was because it is full of bright-eyed optimism about the prospect of an amazing, space-age future. Since I was into computers and other cool Eighties electronic stuff, I, too, envisioned an improved world thanks to technological advancement. In my 11-year-old mind, if Atari ran the world there would be no Cold War. And what a beautiful world it would be if my mom somehow scraped together the money to buy me an Apple II computer!

Listening to the song as an adult, I wonder if I got it all wrong.

In 1982 I didn’t know a thing about Donald Fagen. Certainly not that the songs he wrote with Walter Becker for Steely Dan were noted for their ironic, cynical lyrics. An approach that was the exact opposite of the warm, nostalgic trip I assumed “I.G.Y.” to be.

For a moment I wondered if this song wasn’t, instead, taking a shot at the late Fifties. Was Fagen mocking the naive belief that science could solve all our problems? Was he pointing out all the ways that the best intentions of that time had failed? Was he critiquing the view that the world would be a better place if everyone just followed America’s twin pillars of Christianity and Capitalism?

I was leaning that way until I listened to the song a few more times. I was again struck by the music. Those clear tones in the horns. The whimsical qualities of the keyboards and harmonica. The little blips and blurps sprinkled throughout. Those elements combine to build a futuristic soundscape that wouldn’t be out of place in one of those Fifties sci-fi movies.

Yes, there are some scathing lyrics, mostly aimed at the American First viewpoint that was prominent at the time. Fagen has said that he discovered pretty quickly that the idillic depiction of the Fifties was a sham, crafted to hide things like racism, sexism, inequality, and fear of nuclear war.

Still, I do think that Fagen was looking back fondly to his childhood. It was an opportunity for him to recall the days before his cynical gene presented itself, when he viewed the world around him, and the future, with wonder rather than skepticism.

I would liken that to our generation looking back to the early days of the Internet, when there seemed to be limitless possibilities for how it would enhance our lives. A computer and modem in every home was the 2000s version of Fagen’s spandex jackets for everyone. A quarter-century down the road we see how the Internet has been as destructive as additive to our lives. But it is still fun to recall the excitement of your first time dialing up and logging on.

I was too young to understand that battle between cynicism and optimism when this song was climbing the chart. Perhaps it is that juxtaposition that has made it stand up over the years to me. It is a reminder that miracle cures sometimes have unintended consequences. And also to never forget the innocence and hopefulness that characterized our younger days. 7/10

Chart Week: September 29, 1984
Song: “On the Dark Side” – John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
Chart Position: #24, 19th week on the chart (charted twice, see below). Peaked at #7 for two weeks in October/November.

The history of pop music is filled with opportunists. If an artist or musical style makes a big splash, you can be sure that soundalikes (or lookalikes) will soon follow.

At first glance that seems to be the case with “On the Dark Side.” I bet almost everyone who has ever heard it assumed, upon first listen, that it was Bruce Springsteen. From vocal tone and style to the sound of the band, almost everything about this track recalls Springsteen, specifically his song “She’s the One.”[1]

In the fall of 1984 it made sense for a record like this to become a hit. Bruce was in the midst of his leap from critical darling with a cult following to becoming one of the biggest stars in music. “Dancing in the Dark,” which peaked at #2 earlier in the summer, had just dropped from the Hot 100. “Cover Me,” the second single off of Born in the USA, moved into the top 10 this week. It was the perfect moment for record companies to push Springsteen soundalikes.

No one sounded more like The Boss than John Cafferty. Springsteen and Cafferty have eerily similar deep, gruff, raspy voices. Their bands both played classic, good-time, barroom rock ’n’ roll. You were as likely to hear a sax as a guitar in each band’s solo breaks. Hell, both were predominantly white groups with Black sax players. The acts were even named alike: Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band vs. John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band.

Ironically all those similarities kept Cafferty from earning a recording deal for years, as labels thought he and his band sounded too much like Bruce. But once Springsteen broke through, that became an advantage rather than a hindrance.

However, in this week’s countdown, Casey would have you believe that it was a forgotten movie getting a second life on cable TV that propelled this song onto the charts.

“On the Dark Side” was first released in 1983 as the featured single from Eddie and the Cruisers, a film about a fictional band with a mysterious lead singer. While John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band sang every word and played every note, the record was credited to the imaginary Eddie and the Cruisers.

The movie was a box office disaster, garnering poor reviews and lasting just three weeks in theaters. “On the Dark Side” did better, grinding out nine weeks on the chart, but it never got higher than #64.

The film soon wound up on HBO, where something about it connected with the audience and it got good ratings. Its VHS tape was doing decent business as well.

Scotti Bros., the label that published the soundtrack, noticed this ripple of popularity and re-released “On the Dark Side,” this time giving John Cafferty and his pals proper credit. Two months after entering the Hot 100 for the second time, it peaked at #7 for two weeks.

That HBO/home video traction combined with the success of the single led Embassy Pictures to send the movie back to theaters in the fall of 1984. But, again, no one watched, and it was yanked after one week.[2]

I thought it was interesting that Casey suggested that the single’s success was due more to those folks who were watching the movie at home than to Cafferty’s uncanny vocal resemblance to Bruce Springsteen. I suppose that’s the angle Scotti Bros. and the band’s representation wanted to push. Americans love a good second chance story, so it made sense to play up that angle of this song’s unlikely path to popularity rather than acknowledge the elephant in the room.

I was just becoming a Springsteen fan in 1984, so while I heard the obvious common elements, I didn’t get all fired up about Cafferty ripping Bruce off. Years later, when I heard the entire Born to Run album for the first time, and that opening section of “She’s the One” came on, I was floored. “HOLY SHIT!” I thought. “PEOPLE WERE RIGHT, THEY TOTALLY RIPPED OFF BRUCE!”

It’s probably not fair to call this a complete rip off. After its opening section it takes a different path than “She’s the One.” But everything else about it remains firmly within the Springsteen tent. While the lyrics might lack the specific literary details that The Boss was famous for, they still bump up against his territory. There’s a big, honkin’ sax solo. The drums sound much like Max Weinberg’s style of play.[3] If anything, “On the Dark Side” sounds like Springsteen cranked to 11, with every aspect taken it its absolute max.

The question I ask myself today is, if you eliminate those Springsteen connections, forget about whether this is a ripoff or a cynical marketing exercise, pretend that you’ve never heard the insanely incredible experience that is “She’s the One,” is this still a good record? I say yes.

Those opening piano notes immediately grab your attention. The bass and jangling guitar coming in together build terrific tension, which is broken by the first snap of the snare. Then it turns into a pretty straight forward banger. It’s easy to sing along with Cafferty. It’s hard not to clap your hands, tap your toes, or bang your steering wheel along to the rhythm.[4] As the track fades, I don’t think it leaves you with any great emotional release or epiphany. I do know that your heart should be beating a little faster. Which is the ultimate goal of most rock stars, whether they are Bruce Springsteen or opportunists chasing a trend. 7/10

As it was such a big part of this piece, it seems a shame not to include a video for “She’s the One,” too. While this live performance has a different intro, which subtracts from the commonalities between songs, I’ve always thought this performance was unreal. You see a band that is totally locked in. It’s no surprise that other bar bands on the east coast were chasing what Bruce and his band were doing.

Chart Week: September 19, 1981
Song: “General Hospi-tale” – The Afternoon Delights
Chart Position: #35, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #33 for two weeks.

I’ve been reading through the RFTS archives and was surprised that I’ve never written properly about a novelty song, stuff like “Pac-Man Fever” or “The Curly Shuffle,” for example. I probably should have held off until one of those popped up on an old AT40, but this record was so strange that it required my first novelty song post.

We can’t talk about this track without reviewing how important daytime soap operas once were. In the age before the wide adoption of cable TV, your only afternoon viewing options on sick days or visits to grandma’s were the three hours of soaps shown on each network.

My mom’s mom was a Days of Our Lives devotee. That meant for the hour it aired, shit shut down in grandma’s house. The grandkids had to either shut the hell up or go outside. Grandpa had the good sense to take a post-lunch nap each day. She watched Days because the NBC station was the best signal they could grab with their gigantic antenna at their house out in the middle of nowhere. She watched the other NBC soaps, too, but Days was the show that got grandma’s full attention. You risked her wrath if you interrupted in any way.

The biggest soap of that era, though, was ABC’s General Hospital. At its peak, over 13 million people watched it each day. It was a launching pad for Rick Springfield’s career.[1] Fellow GH alum Jack Wagner could wind up in this series at some point. It is one of three daytime soaps still airing on traditional TV today, and celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year.

Most importantly, it gave us the biggest storyline in soap history: Luke and Laura. I never watched GH, and was in the fourth-through-sixth grades at its prime, yet even I knew all about Luke and Laura. You should read up on their storyline. It was bonkers, even for a soap. Despite their relationship beginning with a sexual assault, Luke and Laura’s union endured, and eventually crossed over into the pop culture mainstream like no other daytime soap characters did before or since. When Luke and Laura got married, 30 million people watched. THIRTY MILLION!!! For comparison, NBC’s Sunday Night Football was the highest rated series on TV last year, averaging a little over 18 million viewers per week. I know, different times, more choices, etc. Regardless of all that, General Hospital was a ratings behemoth. Soon every soap was looking for their own L&L.

Naturally outsiders tried to capitalize on GH’s success. A group of songwriters and singers in Boston thought a pop single about the show might be a hit. In a truly wild choice, they presented the record in a proto-rap style.

It was pretty awful. My first thought when hearing it again was of Sam Malone rapping an editorial during his brief foray into TV sports.

I doubt the housewives and shut-ins who were General Hospital’s prime audience were ready for rap in 1981. Even vanilla rapping like this was probably frighteningly close to “Black music from New York” for a lot of folks in the heartland. I just can’t see my grandma tapping her toes and humming along when Casey played it on Sundays.

However, GH was so big that the song got some airplay. It spent five weeks in the Top 40 and peaked at #23 on the R&B chart. I find it hard to believe Black radio stations actually played it, but what do I know?

The lyrics and delivery of them are clunky. I’m not sure any of the people who made it had actually listened to a true rap song. The music is cheesy and overwhelming. It wants to be funky, but the end result was profoundly un-funky.

And the group’s name? Get the fuck out of here.

You can make an argument that this was the third hip hop song to crack the Top 40 after “Rapper’s Delight” and “Rapture.” So maybe it has some historical significance?

And, TBH as the kids say, since white people trying to rap sounded like this song for the next two decades, does that make it a highly influential piece of music, even if it influenced people to produce shit?

No, that can’t be right. It’s a bad song. It deserves no props. The charm that carried other novelty tracks of that era is completely missing. On the rare occasions when I hear it, I quickly switch away. There’s a reason it was buried in the slag heap of historically bad music, and that had nothing to do with the waning popularity of soaps. Some may find it silly and harmless. I think it’s trash. 1/10

Chart Week: August 29, 1981
Song: “For Your Eyes Only” – Sheena Easton
Chart Position: #29, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 for for weeks in October and November.

I’ve heard a glut of 1981 countdowns recently. To be honest, it’s a little much. The quirkiness of that era grates rather quickly upon repeated exposure.

However, I did learn something new and amazing in the process.

On a countdown from earlier in the summer of ’81, a bonus track outside the Top 40 added to the new recording was Sheena Easton’s “For Your Eyes Only.” I didn’t like that song much as a kid; I have no love for it as an adult. I believe I was cooking dinner while listening and focused on my work rather than the music.

When it ended the announcer mentioned that it was, of course, the theme to the James Bond picture of the same name. He also stated that Blondie had recorded a song for the movie with the exact same title.

Wait, WHAT?!?! Blondie recorded something for a 007 flick? How had I never heard that before?

After dinner I raced to the computer and started searching. Turns out, the story was true. The production team behind the twelfth Bond film indeed requested that Blondie perform the title song. They wanted the band to record a piece written by Bill Conti, who composed the picture’s score. I bet you’ll recognize another of his themes.

Blondie thought this was a terrible idea. They wanted to write their own music. So they did. They submitted their recording, but it was promptly rejected. The film’s producers pivoted to the rising Scottish artist Sheena Easton, asking her to interpret Conti’s original effort. The rest is history.

Easton’s track peaked at #4 in the US, #8 in the UK, and was nominated for an Academy Award. The producers liked Easton so much that she became the first, and still only artist to appear performing during the movie’s title sequence. Star Roger Moore said she was sexier than any of the Bond Girls in the film.

Blondie put their version of “For Your Eyes Only” on their 1982 album The Hunter, but never released it as a single. The album received some of the worst reviews of their career, it didn’t sell well, and soon the band split up.

Blondie’s record is interesting. You can hear them trying to connect with the vibe of James Bond, especially in the guitars. And I can 100% envision it as the music played under the title sequence. I sense some common threads to a few of the modern Bond themes that are perfectly fine, but basically serve as background music to the visual playgrounds those scenes have become.

However, it also feels flat, lacking the energy and sex appeal of Blondie’s biggest hits. Their idea of cool didn’t really match Bond’s. It doesn’t sound like a hit to me, even if it had made the soundtrack. Let’s call it a 5 and guess it peaks in the 20’s on AT40 had it been the official theme.

Sheena Easton’s tune, on the other hand, kind of sucks. It’s not her fault. While the film was going for a grittier tone to replace the campy direction the franchise took in the 1970s, this ballad is pure, old people pop. It is overly big and dramatic, and often veers into Cheeseland. I’m not sure why they thought a 22-year-old woman was the right person to sing about a 54-year-old spy. Easton has a nice voice, but it’s not big enough to match what this song asks for. You can hear her straining on its grandest moments. It needed some semi-washed up star of the late Sixties who could belt out those big notes. I can’t imagine Deborah Harry singing it, either. It could not be farther away from what she stood for, or what her voice was capable of.

Conti said he had two other singers in mind when he wrote the piece: Donna Summer and Dusty Springfield. Summer would have been an interesting choice. She certainly had the voice, but I’m not sure she was a good match for the vibe either. Especially since she was still considered the Queen of Disco in 1981. But Dusty Springfield? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! It would have been a perfect, late-career revival for her. Alas…

The Conti/Sheena track gets a 2.

Most of my research for this post came from a single article, written in 2020. I had to laugh when the writer suggested “For Your Eyes Only” was the highlight of Easton’s career. Keep in mind she hit #1 in the US with “Morning Train (Nine to Five).” And, as my two brothers-in-music John N and Ed L immediately noted, had this guy not heard of “Strut” or “Sugar Walls”?

A highlight? Sure. But THE highlight? I don’t think so.

I talk a lot about how the summer of 1984 was the greatest moment in pop music history, normally backing that up with examples of some of the songs that were on the chart that summer.

As I was listening to a 1984 countdown a couple weeks ago, it struck me again how freaking solid those 40 songs were. There were a few duds, as there are in any countdown. But there were also a ton of timeless tracks that still get heavy airplay on Eighties stations today.

So why not go through a countdown from that summer to see just how loaded it was?

All my music ratings are highly subjective. In this case, I’m taking it to a whole new level of stupidity, rating each song on a highly arbitrary scale that factors in my like/dislike, how big of a hit it was at the time, if it is viewed as that act’s biggest hit, and then if it had a lasting cultural impact. I can’t say that I’ll weigh each of these factors equally from song to song. I’ll rank them on a scale from one-to-five, five being The Unforgettables.

I’m not sure if my ratings would hold up if given any serious, scientific scrutiny. We’re here to have fun, so don’t overthink them.

Here is the chart for the week ending August 11, 1984. That week I would have been in the midst of my month-long visit to my grandparents’ homes in central Kansas, listening on my Pioneer boom box.

(I’ve copied/pasted these straight from the terrific Top40weekly.com site and kept their formatting because I don’t want to fix it all.)

1 – GHOSTBUSTERS –•– Ray Parker, Jr. Biggest song of his career, theme for one of the biggest movies of the decade. Kitchy and silly, but it still gets played, both ironically and un-ironically. 5

2 – WHEN DOVES CRY –•– Prince Biggest song of the year from the biggest artist of the year. 5

3 – STATE OF SHOCK –•– The Jacksons with Mick Jagger When you think of Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, or Mick Jagger, this will not be very high on the list. All three of them had better songs in 1984. The ending is very cringey. 2

4 – WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT –•– Tina Turner The song that kicked off the greatest comeback in music history, and the most iconic song of an iconic career. 5

5 – SAD SONGS (Say So Much) –•– Elton John Maybe his best song of the 80s? Top three for sure. 3

6 – STUCK ON YOU –•– Lionel Richie The weakest of his big hits from 1983–84. 2

7 – DANCING IN THE DARK –•– Bruce Springsteen The song that made Bruce BRUCE to the masses. 5

8 – I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU –•– Dan Hartman I love this song. But I doubt that’s the case for most people. I’m sadly calling it a 3 since I might be the only person in the world who still gets excited when I hear it.

9 – INFATUATION –•– Rod Stewart I bet the video had whatever supermodel he was dating at the time in it. It sure sounds slight and of its time now. Pretty low on his career best list, too. 2

10 – SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT –•– Corey Hart One of these days I’ll write about Corey Hart, who had a better and longer career than most people realize. This is THE song from his career, though. It is a must on any 80s compilation. 5

11 – BREAKIN’… THERE’S NO STOPPING US –•– Ollie & Jerry As with Dan Hartman above, a song I love but was never sticky in the culture. Another sad 3.

12 – MISSING YOU –•– John Waite This is a great song and the biggest of Waite’s solo career. Not quite iconic, but pretty freaking good. 4

13 – IF EVER YOU’RE IN MY ARMS AGAIN –•– Peabo Bryson Mid–80s, lite R&B schmaltz. 1

14 – LEGS –•– ZZ Top When a good video on MTV could make even bearded good ol’ boys from Texas into pop stars. 4

15 – PANAMA –•– Van Halen “Jump” was the bigger hit, but this was the better song. Arguably the band’s peak. 4

16 – EYES WITHOUT A FACE –•– Billy Idol Great track, but “Rebel Yell” or “White Wedding” are what you think of first when you think of Billy. 4

17 – ROUND AND ROUND –•– Ratt Arguably the song that ushered in the glam metal sound that was huge in the back half of the ‘80s. The video that was very popular with dickheads like me. 4

18 – JUMP (For My Love) –•– The Pointer Sisters Nice song, but I bet you think of “Neutron Dance” or “I’m So Excited” way before this. 3

19 – IF THIS IS IT –•– Huey Lewis & The News Did you know they had three-straight singles that peaked at #6 in 1984? Did they make a deal with the devil?!?! Fortunately they had a much bigger hit a year later that keeps us from having to decide which of those ’84 tracks was their finest overall. 4

20 – SHE BOP –•– Cyndi Lauper Good enough song, but her third-best track of 1984. 3

21 – SHE’S MINE –•– Steve Perry I was really into Perry’s first solo album back then. Can’t say the songs beyond “Oh Sherrie” hold up. 2

22 – ROCK ME TONITE –•– Billy Squier As it gave us one of the worst, most cringey videos of all time, it has a special place in history and gets an extra bump. 4

23 – LIGHTS OUT –•– Peter Wolf The first solo hit by the J Geil’s Band’s lead singer. Not super memorable. 2

24 – SEXY GIRL –•– Glenn Frey Yuck. 1

25 – THE WARRIOR –•– Scandal Featuring One of the great one-hit-wonders of the decade. Great song, great video. 5

26 – I’M FREE (Heaven Helps The Man) –•– Kenny Loggins I shared not too long ago that this was the best track on the Footloose soundtrack. Our third 3 that makes me sad.

27 – THE GLAMOROUS LIFE –•– Sheila E. Checks every box you need to check to earn a 5, including being written by Prince.

28 – SELF CONTROL –•– Laura Branigan Sorry, if it ain’t “Gloria” no one is going to remember it. 2

29 – ALIBIS –•– Sergio Mendes White dude yowling pop (Joe Pizzulo sang the lead). 2

30 – ALL OF YOU –•– Julio Iglesias & Diana Ross Oof. 1

31 – LEAVE A TENDER MOMENT ALONE –•– Billy Joel Billy cranked out a lot of hits from his An Innocent Man album. The fact this was the only one not to reach the Top 20 is telling. 2

32 TURN TO YOU –•– The Go-Go’s Pales in comparison to their classic hits. 3

33 DYNAMITE –•– Jermaine Jackson I have a big, soft spot in my heart for this song, mostly because of its goofy ass video. 3

34 DRIVE –•– The Cars What Cars song you think of first is very dependent on your age. Not one of my personal favorites so 3 to me, 4 to the world.

35 LET’S GO CRAZY –•– Prince & The Revolution Prince was so not fucking around in 1984. 5

36 WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES –•– Night Ranger My personal favorite Night Ranger song. But, come on, mention their name and there’s another song from 1984 that EVERYONE thinks of first. 4 to me, 3 to the world.

37 CRUEL SUMMER –•– Bananarama I really struggled with this one. I can’t decide whether it is a classic of the decade, or just another fun song tied to a very popular movie. I’ll split the difference and call it a 4 but open to arguments that it is either a 3 or 5.

38 ALMOST PARADISE –•– Mike Reno & Ann Wilson I have some good friends that love this song. I think it’s trash. But it was from Footloose and a lot of people probably slow-danced to it with people that were very important to them, so I’ll give it a 2.

39 MY, OH MY –•– Slade Zero memory. Zero cultural relevance. 1

40 RIGHT BY YOUR SIDE –•– Eurythmics The Eurythmics were a great band and I don’t think they ever made a bad song. But even Mr. Big Music Brain me forgot about this one. 2 because I bet no one else remembers it either.

Chart Week: July 15, 1989
Song: “Buffalo Stance” – Neneh Cherry
Chart Position: #20, 16th week on the chart. Peaked at #3 the week of June 24.

I have always been fascinated by the details of how songs are made. There’s the initial inspiration. The writing and recording process. How a song is mixed and produced. Whether it goes on an album or not, and if it does, how it is sequenced. And then whether it is released as a single. Dozens of steps that can make or break a track’s commercial success.

A subset of that fascination is how small ideas can transfer from song-to-song and artist-to-artist. It might take a few years, but an innocent nugget from an obscure, forgotten tune can be the building block for something legendary.

In 1986 the British act Morgan McVey recorded a single called “Looking Good Diving.” It’s not a great song. It’s not a good song. It might be awful. To my ears it is cartoony, silly in a bad way, and does nothing to hold my attention. The duo released a truly terrible video to promote the track.

Legend has it that Cameron McVey was so embarrassed by the video that he abandoned performing and transitioned to producing, eventually working with UK giants Massive Attack and Portishead.

You should not be shocked that “Looking Good Diving” did not chart in either the UK or US.

Did you notice two familiar faces in the video? That is soon-to-become supermodel Naomi Campbell “playing” the keyboards. And on guitar, McVey’s then girlfriend and future wife, Neneh Cherry.[1]

Neneh Cherry was born in Stockholm in 1964. Her mother was Swedish, her father a Sierra Leonian studying in Sweden. Their relationship did not last. Shortly after Neneh was born, her mother met and quickly married American jazz musician Don Cherry, who raised Neneh as his own daughter. The family remained in Stockholm until the early 1970s, when they moved to New York. Just after she turned 15 Neneh dropped out of school and departed for London, where she immersed herself in the growing punk scene.

There should be something else familiar in the video. Surely your ears picked up on that ascending synthesizer line. That, my friends, is the point of inspiration that takes us from trash to gold.

Almost no one bought the “Looking Good Diving” single. Those few who did and bothered to flip it over found something very different. That B-side was called “Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch.” It had promise.

There’s that same synth line as on the A-side. Cherry jumps on the mic, rapping with a decent flow for 1986. Her delivery was fresh and exciting, if slightly stilted. Obviously the lyrics almost completely match those for “Buffalo Stance.” The track has a twitchy, 80s dance pop vibe. There is some light scratching and sampling, hinting at hip hop. It does seem clunky, though, as if the group wasn’t sure how to make all the different parts work together. It reminded me of the live mixes I listened to on Bay Area radio when I lived there, the transitions rough and awkward. In short, it very much sounds like a demo rather than a fully formed song.

When Cherry began working on her debut solo album two years later, she brought in outside talent to assist in making those disparate parts fit together better. DJ Tim Simenon provided samples, scratches, and a final mix that took the track from the dance clubs to the streets. Producer Mark Saunders made several contributions, including a keyboard line that mimicked the guitar sound of The Smith’s Johnny Marr. He also elevated the chorus into something glorious and unforgettable. Cherry sharpened her own attack, bringing a sense of urgency not present in the original version. She is as hard as Chuck D or KRS-ONE when she raps, and as sweet and light as Janet Jackson on the chorus. She sounds more Brooklyn than London in those rapped verses. And that synth line? It is now played on a Roland Super JX–10, adjusting its tone to give it more of an edge than it had on “Looking Good Diving.”

Cherry, Saunders, and Simenon took elements of various genres and morphed them together into something that was totally new, unique, and forward looking. “Buffalo Stance” is fierce yet sleek. Defiant yet tender. It is irresistible; I challenge you to not sing along when you hear it. Most of all, there is some undefinable magic deep in its core. Who knows how many hundreds of times I’ve heard it over the years. Yet every single time it completely delights me.

Those years of effort and incremental progress were totally worth it. “Buffalo Stance” is an all-time classic. A first ballot Hall of Famer. An electoral landslide. It is incredible that it grew from a tiny keyboard run in a cheeseball song that no one was interested in.

It’s looking good today, looking good in every way. And has been for 34 years. 10/10

By the way, the two songs that kept this from topping the US pop chart? Richard Marx’s “Satisfied” and New Kids on the Block’s “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).” Sometimes America really sucks.

A rather uninteresting weekend around here, even with an extra day thrown in, so let’s jump straight into our latest exploration of Old School American Top 40s.

Chart Week: June 23, 1979
Song: “I Want You To Want Me” – Cheap Trick
Chart Position: #16, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #7 for two weeks in July.

Sometimes our musical memories trick us into believing a band was more popular that it actually was.

Cheap Trick is a good example for me. I think of them being huge in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and I’m not really sure why. My parents never owned any of their albums. I certainly didn’t. As we will soon see, they weren’t super successful on the pop chart, either.

I could chalk it up to the old “Bus Stop Theorem,” which holds that the influence of older kids on your school bus can have a disproportionate impact on your worldview. But I was pretty young when Cheap Trick had their first moment of pop chart glory, and I’m not sure if my fellow grade schoolers had that kind of sway yet. Maybe they were on TV a lot, which made me think they were huge at the time?

Something caused this impression, but I do not know what.

(Quick aside: A few years later our middle school bus driver would let us play the radio on our ride to school if we were on good behavior. She generally kept us pinned to Q–104, the most popular Top 40 station in Kansas City. Every now-and-then she would let us switch over to KY–102, the more rock-oriented station. One of those KY–102 days Cheap Trick’s “She’s Tight” came on. The older boys loved it. Betty was in her 50s, I’m guessing, and was much more into songs like “Islands In The Stream.” She didn’t always understand the lyrics to songs, but this one caught her ear.

“WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?!?!” she exclaimed.

One of the older boys was ready for this.

“She’s NICE. Like she’s a nice girl.”

Betty wasn’t so sure but reluctantly let us keep listening. We all cackled behind our seat backs. I wasn’t sure what it meant to be tight, but if the 7th and 8th graders thought it was cool/funny/risqué, that was enough for me.)

Regardless, I was amazed to review the band’s chart history and see other than two brief moments, they never got tons of radio airplay.

Casey Kasem shared a story in this countdown about their popularity. He pointed out how despite releasing albums that got great reviews, their singles consistently flopped. All seven songs they released before “I Want You To Want Me” failed to make the Top 40.[1] In fact, this was the second version of “I Want You To Want Me” released to radio stations, and the first hadn’t even cracked the Top 100.

However, Casey said, the band was immensely popular in Japan. When they toured that country in 1978, it was like the second coming of the Beatles. The band was swarmed at the airport upon their arrival. News programs dedicated long segments to the band. A music magazine devoted an entire issue to Cheap Trick. When they announced a concert at the legendary Budokan arena, so many people called to buy tickets that the phone system melted down.

Casey didn’t offer any evidence for what prompted the Japanese to love Cheap Trick so much. Some quick research suggests a few possible explanations.

First, several Japanese writers had seen Cheap Trick open for Queen in Milwaukee, enjoyed their performance, and asked the band to write about their experience for a magazine. Based on that article, the entire Japanese music press began following the band closely. Soon Cheap Trick had their first #1 song in Japan, “Clock Strikes Ten.”

Next, Cheap Trick didn’t sound like many other bands of their time. They weren’t hard rock or straight pop, nor were they early adopters of the New Wave sound. They had an edge but they sure weren’t punk. However, they incorporated elements from all of those styles, predicting where music would go in the ‘80s. While that made them outliers to what was popular on American radio, the Japanese were receptive to their unique sound.

The band was from Rockford, Illinois, and cut their teeth playing small venues in the Midwest rather than making their name in Chicago or another large scene. For a lot of American labels, music execs, and program directors, that made them tough to market.[2] The Japanese didn’t care that they weren’t from a music hotbed.

Cheap Trick recorded their April 1978 Budokan shows and released the highlights as a live album in early 1979. That finally pushed them into the mainstream in America. The live recording of “I Want You To Want Me” made it all the way to #7. It went to #1 in Japan (of course), Belgium, and the Netherlands, and hit #2 in Canada.

The group’s US pop chart success was short-lived. Their next three singles all snuck into the Top 40, but none got higher than #26. After that, 16 straight releases failed to chart.

Sixteen!

The band was on the verge of being dropped by their label in 1987 when they agreed to bring in outside songwriters to help them on their next album. That worked, as the sappy, lite-rock track “The Flame” made it to #1 for two weeks in the summer of 1988. A remake of Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel” peaked at #4 later that year. Two more singles cracked the Top 40 over the next 18 months before the band, again, disappeared from the charts. This time for good.

Kind of a weird career. I would imagine those guys have some stories.

“I Want You To Want Me” is a nearly perfect, great song.

There’s that terrific opening line, when lead singer Robin Zander tells the crowd, “I want you, to want…me!” followed by the shrieks of the Japanese audience as the drums kick in.[3]

Rick Nielsen’s core riff is a nice summation of what Cheap Trick was all about. There was a hint of punk, a hint of power pop, a hint of New Wave, yet it remained slippery and undefinable. He throws flourishes all over the song, not waiting for his solo to show off.

The driving beat is insistent and undeniable.

Zander’s vocals are fantastic. He is horny but never sounds desperate. Everything is offered in a cheeky tone. Nielsen intent when he wrote the song was for it to be something of a parody. While the live version shifted away from that perspective, it never takes itself too seriously.

And I love how the verses and choruses seem flipped. My favorite section is the one when Zander rips through the lines:

Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you cryin’?
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you cryin’?
Feelin’ all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin’
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you cryin’?

They are quite different but I like to think “I Want You To Want Me” has at least a few common strands of DNA with a song that was racing up the charts as it fell, The Knack’s “My Sharona.”

“Surrender” was Cheap Trick’s best song, and should have peaked way higher than the #67 spot. This wasn’t a bad way for Cheap Trick to finally nab its first true hit, though. 8/10[4]

Any Cheap Trick discussion demands a reference to a certain 1980’s teen movie.

Chart Week: April 23, 1983
Song: “Whirly Girl” – Oxo
Chart Position: #28, 10th week on the chart. This was its chart peak.

We love to celebrate the one hit wonders that made a big impact on the charts and the culture. Toni Basil. Nena. Tommy Tutone. Artists of that nature that you still hear today.

Then there are the bands that are lost to time because their sole hit barely scratched its way onto the chart and failed to register in our generational memory.

This song is definitely one of those forgotten tracks.

I am writing about “Whirly Girl,” which I do not remember at all, because of the story Casey Kasem shared about its background. Casey told his audience that Oxo leader Ish “Angel” Ledesma wrote it about his wife’s adventures in the 1970s.

Before marrying Ish, Lori Ledesma had partied with some of the biggest bands of the ‘70s. “That can be fun, but also destructive,” Casey quoted Ledesma as saying. “I’m making fun of her lifestyle, but that’s ok. She made it through, and nothing happened to her.”

I’m sure he had his fun in the ‘70s, and he was publicly saying it was fine that she had her fun, too. Props to him for having an enlightened view about his wife’s past.

But then I checked out his lyrics and reconsidered my opinion.

She’s been with The Rolling Stones
On their tours
And in their homes
Won’t tell you where she’s bound
‘Cause she ain’t lost and don’t want to be found

Ok, fine so far. Dropping a Rolling Stones reference is solid. Let’s continue…

This girl just combs her hair
And takes her tea
With millionaires
She’s sitting in the latest styles
With open legs
And mysterious smiles

WAIT, WHAT???? OPEN LEGS?!?!

I think it’s one thing to say “Wow, my wife sure liked to party before we got together!” It’s another to write a line about her legs being open.

Again, maybe my focus should be on Ledesma’s comfort with his wife’s past. No double standards in their house.

I might have chosen a different way of talking about her history, though. One that didn’t imply she was easy, loose, or whatever the proper term for that era was.

Casey added that the song was meant to be called “Worldly Girl,” since Lori’s journeys had taken her around the world. But as that was too hard to sing, Ish adjusted it to be “Whirly Girl.”

The song? It’s a super annoying ear worm. I’m shocked I don’t recall it because it is the kind of track that I would hate but not be able to prevent from repeating in my head. It sounds like a cheesy, show tune knock off. Or maybe a poppier version of The Manhattan Transfer. The production sucks, too. Those tinny guitars drive me nuts. It sounds like it was made to be played on a single-speaker transistor radio and not one of the sweet Hi-Fis that Lori was no doubt listening to records on with Mick Jagger. 2/10

While this was Oxo’s only hit, Ish Ledesma himself was not a one-hit artist. He had reached #9 – and topped the R&B chart – in 1978 with his previous band Foxy on “Get Off.”[1] Ledesma’s third band, Company B, hit #21 in 1987 with “Fascinated.”