Today's AT40

[acroyear]

June 13, 1987.  The summer between my Junior and Senior year, and a "summer off" - no summer school (I'd previously taken biology and chemistry over the summers to "get ahead" and keep a spot free for taking psychology - Senior year I'd dropped Latin so I had the space free for the electives like touch typing).

As a result of this wonderful summer of "doing nothing", I actually have very little memory of it other than images of my house and watching Robotech on TV most days.  Between that and my already growing dislike of a lot of pop music and increased listening to classic rock (2 months later would be my first solo concert: Roger Water's Radio KAOS), well, there wasn't much going on.  I'd gotten my license but rarely had the car.

The Nylons come in at #39 with their cover of Kiss Him Goodbye.  I didn't know more of it at the time, but certainly did later when I saw them live in '91 in my first trip to the Birchmere.  That's followed by Madonna's overplayed La Isla Bonita.  Europe rock's the night with, well, "Rock the Night".  More big hair with Motley Crue's censored video, Girls Girls Girls.

Casey *seriously* geeks out by explaining the plot of Star Trek's Amok Time in order to explain where the [one-hit-wonders] T'Pau got their name, followed by said one-hit, Heart and Soul.

• speaking of those forgotten songs i didn't care for, anybody remember a group called "Restless Heart" with one of the many *different* songs called I'll Still Be Loving You?  didn't think so.  musically, it sounds vaguely Alan Parsons-ish.  Wikipedia says they were big on the country and adult contemporary pop charts, which were, of course, two formats I avoided like the plague. :)
• Cutting Crew's one hit, I just DIIIIEEEEED in your arms, is at 32, coming down from its brief reign as #1
• forgotten hits from established 80s stars like Eddie Money and Brian Adams (his Heat of the Night was thought to be the first cassette single, but it turns out that the Go Gos did it with Vacation back in '82, though it didn't sell terribly well compared to the 45).
• Jody Watley's New Love shows up again, but that's forgotten quickly by the great Every Little Kiss from Bruce Hornsby, and the decent I  Know What I Like from Huey Lewis and the News
  
• Chicago 19 shows they can still be ballad gods without Cetera, with the song If She Would Have Been Faithful. As such, can be quickly forgotten by me.
• Crowded House sings about that Something So Strong
• Yet another song titled Point of No Return, this one being from Expose
• I won't ask Tom Petty to "Take Back" the 4 minutes wasted on this particular song, Jammin' Me, 'cause it ain't quite that bad.
• Bob Segar's Shakedown, from another of those hit-maker movies, Beverly Hills Cop 2.  You all hear that Eddie Murphy's interested in doing a 4th one, right?
  
• Fleetwood Mac's song, Big Love, is introduced by a discussion of how Lindsey Buckingham is the band's "Mr. Fixit", when it came to the new album Tango in the Night.  I'd just gotten this about a month before, and I still love most of it today.
• Madonna's former band hits with the great song, Right on Track - The Breakfast Club (no relation to the film).  I may have said this before, but I would have sworn they were brit-pop, 'cause of how well this song is crafted.
• The System says "Don't Destroy this Groove".  Fine I won't.  I'll simply forget it again...what do I mean again?  Never heard this before.
• oh goody - he's talking about the claymation commercial of the raisins singing Heard it on the Grapevine for some cereal.
  
• oh goody 2, Kenny G's Songbird.  I actually liked this once.  I got better.
• Heart continues their late-80s reign with Alone
• Kenny Loggins (yet another from the Seattle area - 3 in a row), with Meet Me Half Way, yet another of his "hits from a movie" collection, this one from  Over the Top.  If the plot summaries of Rocky's 5 and 6 seem familiar, they were this film split into two.

now into the top ten...

10. Smokey Robinson's forgotten hit, Just to See Her.   Certainly forgotten, 'cause I'd never heard of it before...
    
    That's followed by yet another "recovering battered wife" long distance dedication, this time the far better With Or Without You - it was a letter that was a follow-up to yet another "I Will Survive" playback.  It seems he does one of those at least once a year...
    
    
9. another old fart, Herb Albert, with another song I'd never heard before, "Diamonds".
   
8. the most played guitar lick of the 80s, Wanted Dead of Alive
   
7. Chris De Burgh's rather boring Lady in Read.
   
   Not much of a top so far, is it?
   
   
6. The boredom continues with Whitney Houston's I wanna Dance with Somebody...
   
5. looks like i missed this one being upstairs screwing with the other computer - sorry...
   
4. Genesis breaks a new record as the first group to get 5 top 10 singles (solo artists did it several times, but no group, not even the Beatles, had done it before), with In Too Deep.
   
3. Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam - Head to Toe.  Really not getting much out of this week, am I?  No wonder I quit pop music.
   
2. Kim Wilde's cover of Keep Me Hanging On drops down a notch, but it still was the only cover of a Supremes #1 to get to #1 on its own
   
   Joshua Tree was the #1 album (making me think it was the source of the missing #5 single since they didn't have a song elsewhere), but the new #1 song is from a group that had been around for 12 years before getting there
   
   
1. Atlantic Starr's ballad Always

meaning, yes, the top 10 pretty much totally sucked.  good grief, what a let-down.