It was a long journey through S, wouldn’t you say? Unfortunately, now that we’re through the largest letter of the alphabet, it’s kind of hitting me that we’re reaching the end soon. However, we’ve still got a couple of pretty big letters to go, starting with the tantalizing T. Here are more songs from the bottom three-fifths of the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1980s.
Talking Heads “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” — 1983, #62 (download) “And She Was” — 1985, #54 (download) “Once in a Lifetime [Live]” — 1986, #91 (download)
The Talking Heads were pretty awesome, weren’t they? Not only did they have some of the catchiest melodies of the decade (“This Must Be the Place”) but they were unique and kind of quirky at the same time. I mean, it’s impossible to forget the strange and yet wildly cool video for “Once in a Lifetime.”
“This Must Be the Place” comes from Speaking in Tongues, which gave them their only Top 10 hit in “Burning Down the House” (#9). “And She Was” was the second single from their 6th album, Little Creatures, and “Once in a Lifetime” came from their live album Stop Making Sense. Sense was released in 1984 and a couple singles charted in the UK before Little Creatures came out, and then two more singles were shipped to radio after that album’s run was complete. Amazingly, the studio version of “Once in a Lifetime” only bubbled under at #103.
After the surprising amount of love shown to Survivor last week, it’s time to pay your last respects to the letter S, as we’re finally going to get to move on to something new — but not until we squeeze every last bit of life from the 19th letter of the alphabet. Here are a few more tracks that failed to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1980s.
Keith Sweat “Something Just Ain’t Right” — 1988, #79 (download) “Make It Last Forever” — 1988, #59 (download)
Keith Sweat’s 1987 album Make It Last Forever ends up going down (Aww yeeeah … —Ed.) as one of the best New Jack Swing records of the decade. It was the only record he made in the ’80s, though, so we only get a small taste of him here (Dave clearly has S on the brain. —Ed.). The big hit from the album was “I Want Her,” which went to #5. Both of the songs here are great examples of that era, but I’m shocked that Sweat didn’t sue Mariah Carey: his duet with Jacci McGhee, “Make It Last Forever,” absolutely sounds like the basis for her ’91 smash “Can’t Let Go.”
Just when you thought it might be over, we get Survivor holding up the completion of the 19th letter of the alphabet. It’s the penultimate week of the letter S, as we take a look at the bottom feeders — songs that charted below #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 — of the glorious decade we call the ’80s.
Henry Lee Summer “Darlin’ Danielle Don’t” — 1988, #57 (download) “Hands on the Radio” — 1988, #85 (download)
Henry Lee Summer reminds me quite a bit of Eddie Money. Music and vocals decent, overall sound kind of generic but harmless. “Hands on the Radio” is the better of the two songs here, which were the second and third singles off his self-titled major-label debut (third album overall).
Summer’s run into some issues in the past few years: in 2006 he was drunk driving and crashed his car, and last May he was busted for possession of meth.
Here are even more songs by artists whose names begin with the letter S, as we continue looking at singles that charted below #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.
If you’ve been reading this series for a while you’d definitely think I’d be ripping into Babs about now. I really tried to, but everything I was writing seemed forced which made me realize that I don’t really have that many issues with her. I will never ever voluntarily pick up a Streisand record and I’m cursing myself for listening to all of these on my iPod as they are now most likely going to show up in shuffles more often, but it is what it is. I give her credit for trying to stay relevant with the times. She could record anything and her fans would stick by her, but her collaborations in the ‘80s were actually okay.
I’m a big Bee Gees fan, so I actually enjoy “Promises” which came off what goes down as a very good record, Guilty, written by Barry and Robin Gibb. “Left in the Dark” is clearly a Jim Steinman song and is just as good as the majority of his material and “Emotion” is actually semi-hip. Even “Memory” and “Somewhere” while no big favorites of mine are Barbra at what she does best.
Ssssssssssssstop the relentless surge of Bottom Feeders songs by artists whose names begin with the letter S, you say? Never! Here are more singles that charted below #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.
Amii Stewart & Johnny Bristol “My Guy/My Girl” — 1980, #63 (download)
Better than Sister Sledge’s “My Guy” or Suave’s “My Girl,” which both charted in the ‘80s. Maybe it’s because we’re getting a two-for-one here? There are certainly better versions of this tune/these tunes, but Amii & Johnny’s is a keeper.
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin “It’s My Party” — 1981, #72 (download)
For the longest time I just assumed this Dave Stewart was the Eurythmics guy, but it turns out he’s a prog keyboardist who’s probably most well known for being in the band Bruford, led by former King Crimson and Yes drummer Bill Bruford. Stewart released this as a one-off single with Gaskin, but then decided he liked working with her so much that he kept releasing singles with her until ’86, when they progressed to full-length albums. They’re still working together today.
I would have, too, after recording this. I can’t get enough of “It’s My Party,” from the keys sounding like old arcade games to the slow and eerie breakdown in the middle abruptly switching to the upbeat pop reminiscent of the original version. This to me is a great example of how you really remake a song: stay true to the original melody but add some originality to it.
It’s the final Bottom Feeders of 2009! We’ll end ‘09 and start ‘10 the same way — with more artists whose names begin with the letter S and songs that charted no higher than #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.
Michael Stanley Band “Lover” — 1981, #68 (download) “Falling in Love Again” — 1981, #64 (download) “When I’m Holding You Tight” — 1982, #78 (download) “Take the Time” — 1982, #81 (download) “Someone Like You” — 1983, #75 (download)
To this day I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a Michael Stanley song on the radio in Pennsylvania. He was big in the midwest and had two Top 40 hits, so he certainly got national play for a bit, but maybe that didn’t include Philadelphia, where I grew up. Most of his stuff in the ‘80s was somewhere between Springsteen and Seger, but a track like “When I’m Holding You Tight” sounds more like Loverboy or .38 Special.
Starland Vocal Band “Loving You With My Eyes” — 1980, #71 (download)
Yikes. Checking in at #19 on my Bottom 80 Songs of the ‘80s list, this was the Starland Vocal Band’s final charting single. In a decade of sappy-ass songs, this takes the cake. How is loving you with my eyes an impossible high? I’d bet you there are 100 other ways I could get that high or higher. Thank God they at least had “Afternoon Delight” to fall back on.
It’s another week of artists whose names begin with the letter S, as we take a look at the ass end of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, i.e. songs that charted below #40, during the 1980s.
Neil and Tim Finn. Great songwriters, no doubt about it. But am I shocked that Split Enz didn’t have more than this one lonely hit? Not really. They were experimental and ahead of their time and clearly no record company thought that the material they released in their native New Zealand really translated well on U.S. soil as pretty much everything they released was either reworked or just sequenced differently for our ears. I think most of the readers here would think highly of the band but certainly Top 40 radio wasn’t quite hip enough back in the day to play them.
Rick Springfield “Taxi Dancing” — 1984, #59 (download)
My apologies to the Jack Wagner fans out there, but Rick Springfield is the best musician-actor of the decade. Rick had 17 songs hit the Hot 100 and only this lone single from the Hard to Hold soundtrack didn’t go Top 40 (rightfully so — it’s the worst of the singles). And of course, Rick Springfield has one of the iconic ‘80s songs in “Jessie’s Girl.”
The Best of Rick Springfield, from 1999, has 16 of those 17 hits (leaving off “Bruce,” the song released without his consent that’s about him being mistaken for Springsteen) and is right up there with my favorite Greatest Hits compilations of all time. Even if you think you aren’t that familiar with his music other than the mega hits, I’d bet after listening to the hits, you’d be shocked how many you know. And since his major hit making period started in 1981 and 1988’s Rock of Life album was his last for 11 years he’s essentially a true ‘80s artist.
Whew. Friday morning was a big ol’ sigh of relief for me. My wife and I moved last Wednesday (hence my late-Thursday responses to part 81), and of course that means moving my entire music collection. We hired movers, who did a great job, but I moved close to 4,000 records with only some help from a buddy — who’s since vowed never to do it again — from a second-floor condo to a house with room for records on the second floor. After all those steps, my legs were on fire but felt like jelly at the same time.
But the relief came on Friday when all the records were put on shelves and sorted correctly in their new home. Sounds a little silly to be so nervous about records, and I realize I probably have some undiagnosed form of OCD, but damn if it didn’t ease my mind to have the collection in place again.
Anyway, onto the post, with more tracks from artists in the Bottom Feeders collection whose names start with the letter S, as we look at songs that charted below #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s.
A pop, jazz, and R&B singer, you can’t help but feel a little sorry for Phoebe Snow. She had been dubbed the next big female singer in the mid-‘70s after her first single “Poetry Man” went to #5 in 1975. But she gave birth to a daughter at the end of the year who was severely brain damaged, and after deciding to devote her life to taking care of her, her music career was put on the back burner for the most part.
Both of the tracks here come from Rock Away; it would be another eight years before Snow released her next album, Something Real. There’s clearly something special going on here, as I love both these tracks as well as Rock Away.
We soldier on this week with more songs from the bottom three-fifths of the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1980s, made by artists whose names begin with the letter S. Enjoy.
Simply Red “It’s Only Love” — 1989, #57 (download)
I’m sure if I lived in England, Simply Red would mean a lot more to me than they do. I’ve always claimed to like them, especially their 1986 Top 40 hit “Money$ Too Tight (To Mention),” but I don’t believe I really know anything outside of their singles. And “It’s Only Love” isn’t one that I remember, as it was the only one out of five U.S. singles that didn’t hit the Top 40 from ‘85 to ‘89. In that same period, Mick Hucknall’s band had three times that many singles chart over in the UK.
Single Bullet Theory “Keep It Tight” — 1983, #78 (download)
This song would probably be rarer if it wasn’t on one of those Just Can’t Get Enough Rhino comps (volume 8, if you’re playing at home), but getting your hands on the original album is very tough. Named of course after the theory used by the Warren Commission to explain JFK’s assassination, I’ve only been able to find sketchy details on the group. I believe they were a D.C.-based band, and their self-titled debut on Nemperor Records was probably their only major release. Beyond that, “Keep It Tight” appears to be quite rare.
For most series-type items — episodes of a TV show, issues of a magazine, etc. — 100 is a great milestone that’s celebrated vigorously, as it should be. Doing something 100 times in this era of short attention spans is kind of cool. But I think it’s only appropriate that in a series of posts about songs from the ’80s, number 80 is my milestone.
That’s 20 months of songs, week after week, and with an average of 20 songs a post, a total of roughly 1,600 individual songs. And we’ve still got most of S, all of T, a decent-sized W, and the Bottom Feeders record for most songs by a single artist still to come. So tonight I think I might grab a 40 of Old E and celebrate by listening to Scott Baio’s debut album. There’s just no better way.
Here are some more songs by artists whose names start with an S, as we take a look at songs the Billboard Top 40 shunned during the Reagan era.
Michelle Shocked certainly isn’t my cup of tea, but even so, this ain’t a bad song. It was off her second album, Short Sharp Shocked, which took a little heat for the cover art: the photo of the singer being detained by police was real, but replace her with a man and you’ve virtually got the exact same cover as Chaos UK’s similarly titled Short Sharp Shock, which came out four years earlier.
The Talking Heads were pretty awesome, weren’t they? Not only did they have some of the catchiest melodies of the decade (“This Must Be the Place”) but they were unique and kind of quirky at the same time. I mean, it’s impossible to forget the strange and yet wildly cool video for “Once in a Lifetime.”
If you’ve been reading this series for a while you’d definitely think I’d be ripping into Babs about now. I really tried to, but everything I was writing seemed forced which made me realize that I don’t really have that many issues with her. I will never ever voluntarily pick up a Streisand record and I’m cursing myself for listening to all of these on my iPod as they are now most likely going to show up in shuffles more often, but it is what it is. I give her credit for trying to stay relevant with the times. She could record anything and her fans would stick by her, but her collaborations in the ‘80s were actually okay.
For the longest time I just assumed this Dave Stewart was the Eurythmics guy, but it turns out he’s a prog keyboardist who’s probably most well known for being in the band Bruford, led by former King Crimson and Yes drummer Bill Bruford. Stewart released this as a one-off single with Gaskin, but then decided he liked working with her so much that he kept releasing singles with her until ’86, when they progressed to full-length albums. They’re still working together today.
Michael Stanley Band
Split Enz
My apologies to the Jack Wagner fans out there, but Rick Springfield is the best musician-actor of the decade. Rick had 17 songs hit the Hot 100 and only this lone single from the Hard to Hold soundtrack didn’t go Top 40 (rightfully so — it’s the worst of the singles). And of course, Rick Springfield has one of the iconic ‘80s songs in “Jessie’s Girl.”
