80's UK & US Charts.

Found some Australian pop charts from the 80's - if Bobby doesn't mind and if anyone is interested I might post one now and then...

Here's a Radio 10 hot forty five from 1984

 

No, I don't mind. Post away.

 

I also, in "Never Knew Love...," heard elements of another song Lucas co-produced - "You Know How To Love Me" by the late Phyllis Hyman, from the year before. Especially within the chorus.

 

From what I see of this list, I'd only have #5. Now for a few observations:
- Viz #8, how many, on the chorus, had misheard "fantasy world" as "vanishing world"? Given the mix, the vocal phrasing, all that? (Besides myself, at first.)
- On #9, doesn't it sound at certain points like they seemed to slow down Madge's voice rather than speeding it up? She wasn't yet to the point where some of her vocals (i.e. on "Live To Tell") sounded almost similar to Lou Christie when not singing falsetto.
- Listening to #14, doesn't one get a Johnny Cash vibe somewhere?
- Likewise with #28, how many who heard it the first time thought it was a David Bowie record?
- Amongst the once and future Eagles, there is a school of thought among some people that there was more substance to Don Henley's works (i.e. #24) than to Glenn Frey's (#11 - of which some have asked, "The heat is on what?!")
- #23, no-one - and I mean no-one - could top The Beach Boys' definitive recording.
- Don't think I've really heard #25, 31 - 34, 39, 40, 41, 44, 47, 50, 52, 65, 75 or 77 (the last of which I doubt was the Air Supply hit). I do remember #48, believe it or not . . . think I heard it as a "future gold" on WCBS-FM back then . . .

 

Yes. It was "Fantastic". (Two can play at that game, mr. Bob60.)

 

It's funny, I bought The Legacy Of Phyllis Hyman CD just before Christmas, so I've been listening to her quite a bit the past week (previously I just had a few of her albums on mp3). I can't say I picked up on that similarity, but now you mention it... yes, I can definitely hear it. Reggie Lucas definitely had a certain sound in the early 80s. He also plays guitar on all three tracks, so that's also a unifying element.

 

"Save A Prayer" was never issued as a single in the US back when Rio was on the charts, so their label issued a live version as a single when the Arena live album was released. IIRC most radio stations just played the studio version rather than the live version. I don't remember ever hearing the live version on the radio. Great chart, many classic singles!

 

1 3 ONE MORE NIGHT –•– Did he have to put his giant face on every album??
2 2 MATERIAL GIRL –•– Madonna – Terrific song and video
4 6 LOVER GIRL –•– Teena Marie – Great, funky/rocky track
5 21 WE ARE THE WORLD –•– USA For Africa – They had one day in the US in '85 where many radio stations played this song at the exact same time. I sat with my boombox turning the dial up and down to hear the local Cleveland stations doing this. Because I was a nerdy teenager, naturally.
6 5 TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES –•– Julian Lennon – Fun and poppy. He deserved more success. When I worked for Universal in Minneapolis in '99, we distributed his album he released that year. He did an appearance/signing at the Mall of America in their main rotunda. People were shaking and crying when they got to meet him, just for the relation to John. One person inexplicably gave him a very expensive jean jacket with a John Lennon image/logo embroidered on hit (his manager, backstage after the event, said "The worst part is that Yoko gets a cut of the sale of this jacket." Another person handed Julian song lyrics (about John Lennon of course) with the intention he could make a hit record. One of the lines was "And in your words, 'Let It Be.' Julian's manager remarked "Um, no, those were Paul's words!" Oh - and there is an amusement park in the mall. They shut down the park for a while so Julian and his girlfriend could ride the rollercoaster in private.
7 7 PRIVATE DANCER –•– Tina Turner – A very smart single
9 20 CRAZY FOR YOU –•– Madonna – Love this song. I always remember that it premiered on MTV at the same time as "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds.
10 15 NIGHTSHIFT –•– Commodores – I'm glad they had a hit post-Lionel.

11 4 THE HEAT IS ON –•– Glenn Frey – No disrespect to the dead, but man, I hate this freaking song.
12 13 JUST ANOTHER NIGHT –•– Mick Jagger – Kinda like this one
13 14 SOMEBODY –•– Bryan Adams – Plain old rock 'n' roll but still good
17 12 CARELESS WHISPER –•– Wham! Featuring George Michael – Well this is just wonderful of course
18 24 RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT –•– DeBarge – Hate, hate, hate. But one of Diane Warren's early hits (her first?)
19 22 OBSESSION –•– Animotion – Still love it after all these years. Really like the album, too, and the artwork is so of its time. They have a new album out this month!
20 10 RELAX –•– Frankie Goes To Hollywood – It took us a while to make this one a hit! Second time released as a single here was the charm, I guess. I had two Frankie T-shirts.

21 18 KEEPIN’ THE FAITH –•– Billy Joel – Oh, @Bobby Morrow, I hate this one soooooooooooo much
22 16 SAVE A PRAYER –•– Duran Duran – Released as the second single from Arena but as someone else mentioned, radio didn't play the live version; they played the original studio one instead
24 29 ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE –•– Don Henley – Hate the Eagles but like a lot of Henley's solo stuff. This one is OK; I prefer "Sunset Grill"
25 25 TAKE ME WITH U –•– Prince & The Revolution – Perfection
27 35 ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK –•– Murray Head – Quirky and a little too Broadway, but I still like it
28 36 DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME –•– Simple Minds – My boys finally had a hit!!!!
29 37 THAT WAS YESTERDAY –•– Foreigner – I don't care for "I Want To Know What Love Is" but this song I like a lot
30 43 SOME LIKE IT HOT –•– The Power Station – Some of the best drums ever recorded for a pop record

31 39 RADIOACTIVE –•– The Firm – Not bad. Album needs to be remastered
32 32 THIS IS NOT AMERICA –•– David Bowie & Pat Metheny Group – I like the mood of this song
33 34 WHY CAN’T I HAVE YOU –•– The Cars – Great track that should have done better
34 38 LUCKY –•– The Greg Kihn Band – Not as good as "The Breakup Song" or "Jeopardy" but a decent rocker
35 26 I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS –•– Foreigner – See above. Loathe this, love "That Was Yesterday."
37 44 SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID –•– Daryl Hall & John Oates – So good
38 52 SMOOTH OPERATOR –•– Sade – Love it, love her (and yes, I know that "Sade" is a band)
39 40 SECOND NATURE –•– Dan Hartman – Catchy; should have done better
40 45 FOREVER MAN –•– Eric Clapton – I like this one; great guitars and a gruff vocal
42 27 NEUTRON DANCE –•– The Pointer Sisters – Whole album is solid. Get the Cherry Red 2CD reissue on this one.
56 33 EASY LOVER –•– Philip Bailey & Phil Collins – Love it, particularly the drums
46 60 EVERYTHING SHE WANTS –•– Wham! – HIS BEST SONG EVER

 

Love it too. And for a synth pop track, it has some nice, funky bass and tasty guitar licks. I like the short 45 edit, but the full 5:30 of it is 80s pop heaven.

 

I have an advance copy of the new album and it's really excellent.

 

I've heard one song and I like it.

My favorite song by them is the single mix of "Let Him Go." Also love "Tremble" from the first album and "I Engineer" from the second. And even though it was a totally different band for the third album, I still think the album is decent, particularly "Ground Zero" and "Room To Move."

 

Thought I'd do a UK chart for a change.

Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company

32 years ago this week.

 

This top 10...issa bop

Also lol @ 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now' being #14 and 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' being #15. Inspirational week much?

Also is Cliff Richard's the most successful artist in UK chart History? I was looking up the UK charts and he was on them for many, many years.

 

Gentle Tuesday at #86 and Don't Dream It's Over at #27 are my favourites. #1 It's a Sin probably next ...

 

A lot to love here! I had no idea that John Farnham's 'You're the Voice' made it into the top 40 in the U.K, let alone the top 10. I mean it was number one here for what seemed like 100 years, but I thought it largely failed overseas.

 

It was his only hit here. Great song.

 

I didn't realize Primal Scream had chart action at all that early on

 

UK singles chart from 1982. 35 years ago this week.

Official Singles Chart Top 75 | Official Charts Company

 

Funny they use comp covers on a few
Some good one's Bob!

 

#48 Fireworks, #60 Empty Garden and #64 You Little Fool are the ones I took note of ...

 

I think it's a great one, too. RCA tried so hard to make that song a hit here in the US - I think it was first released here in 1987? (Someone on these forums can correct me). Their final attempt only netted him a placing of #82 in February of 1990. Heart recorded a version of it in the '90s as well, as the lead single from a live album.

 

There's a lot of great songs on this one - many "songs of the summer" for me, such as "When Smokey Sings," "Luka," and "I Want Your Sex." Of course I love seeing the live version of "Promised You A Miracle" on there. But, as always, what's really interesting is songs that were hits here in the US as well, but at different times. We were a few months behind on "It's A Sin" (my all-time favorite PSB song), and both "Shattered Dreams" and "Wishing Well" weren't hits here until 1988 (I also believe we didn't get "Wishing I Was Lucky" until then, although it didn't really hit here). The only hit Bruce Willis scored here was "Respect Yourself," and as I noted in my last post, it took a long, long time for John Farnham to even grace the charts with "You're The Voice" (released in '86 in Australia, right??)

Oh, and I love that "Wig" was a single there. That album came out in '86 and did nothing, but I love it, and when I worked in music retail, a co-worker and I considered it our nightly "closing song" in '87. We'd close the gate after the last customer left (it was a mall store), then we'd blast this song as we cleaned up for the next day and counted out the cash register.

 

Yes John Farnham released 'You're The Voice' here in 1986- it and the subsequent album 'Whispering Jack' was a comeback for him and boy, did it work! The single and album were massive here. Did 'You're The Voice' do anything in the US?

 

I don't know how well it did it the U.S. but it was a hit up here in 1987.

 

Discogs lists a US released date of 1986 for the album, but if I remember correctly, Whispering Jack was released here in 1987 and "You're The Voice" was the first single. He got a lot of press coverage - I probably read about him in Billboard magazine, since I was working in music retail at the time. I liked the song right away and bought the CD, but the song didn't chart. "Pressure Down" is another great track, as is "A Touch Of Paradise" - which was also recorded by Kevin Paige around the same time (he charted in 1989 with "Don't Shut Me Out"). Looks like Mondo Rock recorded it as well, but I only know their name, not their music.

However, RCA tried again to make "You're The Voice" a hit by tacking it onto his follow-up album, Age Of Reason. The song finally charted in early 1990, but as I noted above, it stalled out at #82. That albums shows a release date of 1988 on Discogs, but again, I think it came out here in 1989-90 if I remember correctly.