today's at40
Apr. 20th, 2008 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acroyearis April 6, 1985, starting the countdown with the 5th single from Heartbeat City, Why Can't I Have You. I didn't care for it at the time but now I love the sound and feel of it. That's followed by the cover of California Girls by then ex-Halen David Lee Roth. Debuting today is Wham's Everything She Wants, so with all of that it's pretty obvious the mid-80s are in full swing. I've talked about Spring '85 twice before, so I won't elaborate on the sorry state of my life in that dim and distant past.
At 37 is Clapton's Forever Man, after a long story about his heroin habit of ages past. This is another that's grown on me more than I liked it at the time. Next is Patti Labelle's New Attitude (from Beverly Hills Cop). Good blues voice, and I liked her take on Acid Queen for The Who in '89, but this particular song I could have done without. I also could have done without pretty much any John Fogerty song, but I am well aware that's just me.
As I've said before, any hit from the first three albums of Duran Duran could have actually "made it" in the States in pretty much any order. Save a Prayer was huge a UK hit and MTV staple in 1982, but didn't make the top ten 'til '85 where the studio version was released instead of the live version from Arena that was the single overseas. Still, Hall & Oats think Some Things are Better Left Unsaid. After Prince's Take Me With You (Purple Rain) comes one of the last and lost Greg Khin songs, Lucky.
Sade's Smooth Operator is at #28, a 10 notch jump. She was actually quite good in Absolute Beginners, made later this year. That's followed by Careless Whisper, which has been discussed before. Then Frankie says, Relax. As always. Then Foreigner rants about how That was Yesterday, you know, back when...ok, you all know by now. :)
Power Station (featuring 2 Duran^2 members) with Some Like it Hot, followed by the history of the Steve Perry's joining Journey from "Alien Project" leading into their Vision Quest, Only the Young. Billy Joel is still Keeping the Faith, his Innocent Man look not quite holding up in the video though the 50s/60s sound I still find an interesting curiosity at times. Chicago's Along Comes a Woman, from 17 before Cetera left, then Don Henley's All She Wants To Do Is Dance, which apparently had backing vocals by Patti Smythe (he'd do a full duet with her later) and The Motels' Martha Davis. Then Chess's One Night In Bankok, with the full album orchestra intro. It really is unrepresentative of the album/show. While a good hit single, I actually skip it when I hear the album more often than not. Kinda saturated with it, especially that it's been on moderate rotation on Vh1-Classic (as in, I've seen it more often now than back then).
An 80s immortal, Don't You Forget About Me is now in the top 20 on its way to #1. I'd mentioned that Billy Idol turned it down, but wikipedia says that Roxy Music's Brian Ferry also turned it down. I can actually "hear" it in my head that way, using the same ethereal sounds that Slave to Love used, but I also think that would have not been as successful a single as Simple Minds. It was simply the right band at the right time, you know?
Beverly Hills Cop shows up again with another ex-Eagle, Glen Fry's The Heat Is On. That's followed by a "whatever happened to Alice Cooper", not knowing he'd have a minor comeback with "He's Back" in a year and then a HUGE comeback with Trash and Poison by 1991. Tina Turner's Private Dancer is a song![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
faireraven told me she doesn't really care for, and neither do I. But High On You from Survivor is a decent rocker. Animotion's Obsession is one of those one-hit-wonders that manages to get current airplay way out of sync with its popularity at the time (as did Golden Earing's Twilight Zone). A Marvin Gaye career recap leads into Diana Ross's Missing You, one of two dedications that seems to be on every AT40 from this time. Mick Jagger's spending Just Another Night at #12. The 80s rock hitmakers stay huge on this countdown, with Bryan Adams's Somebody Like You, then Julian Lennon's Too Late For Goodbyes.
oops, spoke too soon, as dance hitmaker family De Barge hits the top 10 with Rhythm of the Night, then Springsteen's odd country-tinged I'm on Fire, once covered by Dolly Parton (oh, wait, that was just Don & Mike playing the 33 lp at 45 rpms!). :)
The other Marvin Gaye song that always shows up, Night Shift, is introduced with a bit about groups that stayed popular after losing their lead singer (The Commodores were one, certainly, but also mentioned were The Temptations, The Supremes, and Genesis - it was a bit early for Van Halen to end up on that list, 'cause nobody really knew that Sammy would be the final piece to get 'em to hit #1 3 albums in a row). REO's ex-#1 Can't Fight This Feeling is down to #6.
Madonna has 2 in the top 5, first time that's been done since '79 (Donna Summer), the first being Crazy for You (the other Vision Quest song) at #4, then her namesake, Material Girl.
USA For Africa's grammatically-challenged We Are The World doesn't quite hit its #1 just yet. It's scare as hell that I can name every single singer as they come up. Of course some, like Bruce, REALLY stick out. :) MTV last year wrote up a bit on "whatever happened to the All Star Charity Song?"
And thus, the #1 song this week is Phil Collin's slow(er than molasses) One More Night.
At 37 is Clapton's Forever Man, after a long story about his heroin habit of ages past. This is another that's grown on me more than I liked it at the time. Next is Patti Labelle's New Attitude (from Beverly Hills Cop). Good blues voice, and I liked her take on Acid Queen for The Who in '89, but this particular song I could have done without. I also could have done without pretty much any John Fogerty song, but I am well aware that's just me.
As I've said before, any hit from the first three albums of Duran Duran could have actually "made it" in the States in pretty much any order. Save a Prayer was huge a UK hit and MTV staple in 1982, but didn't make the top ten 'til '85 where the studio version was released instead of the live version from Arena that was the single overseas. Still, Hall & Oats think Some Things are Better Left Unsaid. After Prince's Take Me With You (Purple Rain) comes one of the last and lost Greg Khin songs, Lucky.
Sade's Smooth Operator is at #28, a 10 notch jump. She was actually quite good in Absolute Beginners, made later this year. That's followed by Careless Whisper, which has been discussed before. Then Frankie says, Relax. As always. Then Foreigner rants about how That was Yesterday, you know, back when...ok, you all know by now. :)
Power Station (featuring 2 Duran^2 members) with Some Like it Hot, followed by the history of the Steve Perry's joining Journey from "Alien Project" leading into their Vision Quest, Only the Young. Billy Joel is still Keeping the Faith, his Innocent Man look not quite holding up in the video though the 50s/60s sound I still find an interesting curiosity at times. Chicago's Along Comes a Woman, from 17 before Cetera left, then Don Henley's All She Wants To Do Is Dance, which apparently had backing vocals by Patti Smythe (he'd do a full duet with her later) and The Motels' Martha Davis. Then Chess's One Night In Bankok, with the full album orchestra intro. It really is unrepresentative of the album/show. While a good hit single, I actually skip it when I hear the album more often than not. Kinda saturated with it, especially that it's been on moderate rotation on Vh1-Classic (as in, I've seen it more often now than back then).
An 80s immortal, Don't You Forget About Me is now in the top 20 on its way to #1. I'd mentioned that Billy Idol turned it down, but wikipedia says that Roxy Music's Brian Ferry also turned it down. I can actually "hear" it in my head that way, using the same ethereal sounds that Slave to Love used, but I also think that would have not been as successful a single as Simple Minds. It was simply the right band at the right time, you know?
Beverly Hills Cop shows up again with another ex-Eagle, Glen Fry's The Heat Is On. That's followed by a "whatever happened to Alice Cooper", not knowing he'd have a minor comeback with "He's Back" in a year and then a HUGE comeback with Trash and Poison by 1991. Tina Turner's Private Dancer is a song
faireraven told me she doesn't really care for, and neither do I. But High On You from Survivor is a decent rocker. Animotion's Obsession is one of those one-hit-wonders that manages to get current airplay way out of sync with its popularity at the time (as did Golden Earing's Twilight Zone). A Marvin Gaye career recap leads into Diana Ross's Missing You, one of two dedications that seems to be on every AT40 from this time. Mick Jagger's spending Just Another Night at #12. The 80s rock hitmakers stay huge on this countdown, with Bryan Adams's Somebody Like You, then Julian Lennon's Too Late For Goodbyes.oops, spoke too soon, as dance hitmaker family De Barge hits the top 10 with Rhythm of the Night, then Springsteen's odd country-tinged I'm on Fire, once covered by Dolly Parton (oh, wait, that was just Don & Mike playing the 33 lp at 45 rpms!). :)
The other Marvin Gaye song that always shows up, Night Shift, is introduced with a bit about groups that stayed popular after losing their lead singer (The Commodores were one, certainly, but also mentioned were The Temptations, The Supremes, and Genesis - it was a bit early for Van Halen to end up on that list, 'cause nobody really knew that Sammy would be the final piece to get 'em to hit #1 3 albums in a row). REO's ex-#1 Can't Fight This Feeling is down to #6.
Madonna has 2 in the top 5, first time that's been done since '79 (Donna Summer), the first being Crazy for You (the other Vision Quest song) at #4, then her namesake, Material Girl.
USA For Africa's grammatically-challenged We Are The World doesn't quite hit its #1 just yet. It's scare as hell that I can name every single singer as they come up. Of course some, like Bruce, REALLY stick out. :) MTV last year wrote up a bit on "whatever happened to the All Star Charity Song?"
And thus, the #1 song this week is Phil Collin's slow(er than molasses) One More Night.
