I'll just say that each era was unique in their own way in which sociopolitical factors all played a role that can never be duplicated again. I don't even try to compare them anymore. There's no point.
Was it a US pressing? I've heard it was a big seller in imports before it was officially released Stateside.
It's time once again for me to pick the song I most would have liked to see get to #1 that didn't. There are a lot of close calls that I can't quite see getting this prize. Here are a few of my favorite near misses: Every Time I Think of You (the Babys); Time Passages; September; Renegade; Arrow Through Me; Gold; Good Girls Don't; Dreaming; Dream Police; Rock and Roll Fantasy. All good songs, but one release in 1979 towered above all others, and clearly deserves the award. Of course I'm talking about the Christmas perennial Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney and Wings. What would Christmas be without it? OK, I'm pulling your legs. The song IS a perennial, but a controversial one to be sure. I like it fine, but I can TOTALLY see why many don't. This was a tough choice for me this year, actually, because I don't see any iconic songs that I think should get the award, and it's pretty much a tie for me as to which I like the best. I could have picked Dreaming, which is a great song, or Good Girls Don't, which is also great. But I don't really like the Knack that much, and Blondie will be getting a lot of attention soon enough, so I passed on those. So, my choice for song I would have liked to see get to #1 (but didn't) is one I talked about before, Getting Closer by Paul + Wings. The crucial tiebreaker: I just finished reading a book about Paul McCartney in the 70s, so I have some interesting facts to share about this period of his life! So, Getting Closer it is! Paul and Wings had a phenomenal run in 1976, culminating in their record-smashing world tour that produced the triple #1 album Wings Over America. But things were not all perfect in Wingsland. Paul had been having trouble with his brilliant but mercurial guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. One day, he received a call from Steve Marriott, who informed him that Jimmy had decided to join him in a reformed Small Faces lineup. Paul shrugged, and that was it for Jimmy in Wings. That Small Faces lineup did not last long, and alas neither did McCulloch, who overdosed and died in mid-September, 1979, aged just 26 years old. What a waste. Below: Jimmy and Paul The next year was a weird one. Linda got pregnant, precluding any touring. Paul's step-daughter Mary was now 14 and an early punk superfan. Punk was a direct challenge to Paul and the other aging 60s rockers. He toyed with the idea of heading in that direction, even going so far as creating private punk nicknames for himself and Linda (Paul called himself 'Noxious Fumes' and Linda was 'Vile Lin'). He also wrote a jokey punk takeoff called 'Boil Crisis' but never recorded it. Instead of going the punk route, Wings went in the opposite direction, recording the folky album London Town and a very unrocklike song dedicated to the area where he lived in Scotland called Mull of Kintyre. Paul was doubtful about releasing Kintyre, even recording a more rocking song called Girls School for the other side of the single, but in the end the British public made its preference known, and Kintyre became a super smash, topping the UK charts for 9 weeks. It became, for a brief time, the best selling single in UK history, beating the record previously held by She Loves You. In 1979, Paul decided he needed to reconstitute Wings again. He hired guitarist Laurence Juber to replace Jimmy. Paul had met him in the loo a year earlier; he was introduced to his future guitarist at the urinals by none other than Herbie Flowers, the bassist who had created the immortal bass part for Walk on the While Side. Must have been an interesting bathroom break with all those great musicians there! Paul moved over to Columbia Records, where he got a fantastic financial deal inspired by his recent mega success. He was hoping to toughen up his sound, but the resulting album, Back to the Egg, was a mixed bag of ideas. Their first single with the new lineup, Goodnight Tonight, was very successful but hardly rock. Paul, still clinging to the old sixties ideals, refused to put it on the forthcoming album, which affected the sales of the long player. Both singles released from the album were just moderate hits, and the album only got to #8 in America, a bit of a disappointment. While this was going on, he was also screwing around by himself in the studio, recording a bunch of songs that would eventually be released as a solo album, McCartney II, a sequel of sorts to his first solo record, McCartney. Paul found it energizing to be temporarily freed of the band, and was tiring of the idea of Wings. But the group would last until the next year, when an unfortunate incident in Japan helped to lead to the eventual demise of Wings. But that's for another time! Below: the cover photo for Wings' final album Back to the Egg Getting Closer is, as I mentioned before, one of my favorite songs of his from the late seventies. Like another fave, Junior's Farm, it has a ton of energy and hooks aplenty. Yet it also updates his sound a bit to the power pop of that time. It didn't really make much of a chart impact, which I've never been able to understand, although I do recall hearing it frequently on the radio back then. Fun fact: Paul ran into David Bowie in 1979 and played the soon-to-be-released Back to the Egg for him, asking him which songs he liked and which ones he didn't. Bowie gave him a complete critique of the numbers, telling Paul which ones he personally would keep and which ones he would discard. Given Bowie's art rock proclivities at the time, he suggested releasing the short surreal word salad 'The Broadcast' as the album's first single. Paul declined, but that certainly would have been an offbeat move had Paul made it!
Well, I know exactly three of Holmes' songs. I do despise Escape, but I like Him, and even like Timothy, despite or maybe because of its utter weirdness. So I don't think I qualify as a hater. To quote a popular singer of the time, 'Two Out of Three Ain't Bad!'.
Please Don't Go I had a lot of fun dismissing most of KC's big disco hits, so here's another surprise: I really like Please Don't Go. OK, a few important details to handle first. The lyrics are terrible. And he looks like a big goof in the video making those puppy dog eyes while singing those words. He's not the greatest singer and seems to strain occasionally, but even that works in the context of this song. You don't need to have Tom Jones' pipes to pull this particular song off. What I like: the ambience of the song is interesting. I like the droney sound in the background (Strings? Synths? I'm not sure what it is, but it's nice). I also like that it kicks itself up slightly as it goes on. It sounds eighties but it also doesn't sound eighties. I dig that it has a somewhat odd structure: where is the chorus? Is it all chorus? It's a bit repetitive, but not nearly so much as many of the dance songs in his canon, which literally repeat the same ten second chunk 20 times and then the song is over. I'm glad he tried to do something different for once, and I personally think he pulled it off. Kudos!
I know. To quote a number from Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King And I: "Is . . . a puzzlement!" I certainly got on board, for sure. Can't say for the others . . .
I agree - I don't get the hate for this. I really like it. Great way to start off the '80s. This song was a very slow climber, not hitting No. 1 until it's 20th week on the chart. Still, it holds the record for being the first No. 1 of the new decade.
That could be - the Co-op sold imported albums. I don’t have it anymore, so I can’t check. I got rid of all of my vinyl in the late 1980s when I converted to CDs (big mistake, btw)
I’m convinced that Paul was stoned when he wrote and recorded “Wonderful Christmastime” - I never really liked it and you have to hear it a bazillion times every December. But, I like “Getting Closer” quite a bit, and I also like the Back to the Egg album even though it’s a bit of a mess. There are a number of fine tunes on that LP.
KC and the Sunshine Band - Please Don't Go I don't think I've heard a KC ballad until this one. He and the band are better at doing dance tunes. The song is really boring for the first 2 minutes and then it finally turns into something enjoyable for the last minute and a half. I appreciate that the arrangement gets beefier as the song builds. It just takes too long to get there.
Things looked so bright for KC. He had 2 big hits in early 1980 and then that was it aside from a surprise hit a couple years later that we will get to. It ended so quickly for the poor guy despite releasing a few more albums.
It certainly seems especially frothy compared with John's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," certainly, dunnit?
I like it, too. On a recent Sirius-XM 80s on 8 Big 80s Top 40 countdown, the one from the first week of Jan. 1980, they played this. Although I didn't particularly care for this ballad at the time, my music tastes weren't as developed as a sr. in high school, I like it now. I blasted it in my car. Good to hear.
Yes, Pina Colada has the unique distinction of the only Hot 100 No. 1 to rise to the top spot IN TWO SEPARATE DECADES. Of course, it was only a second rise to the top, on another week, as many No. 1s have done (trading places with the No. 2), but.... this was in the 70s decade, and in the 80s decade. Pretty nifty. A chart accomplishment. Here are the charts the week of the feat: As always, my favorites, the songs I think were most important/ meaningful/ different, are highlighted. The last chart of 1979 (and, the 1970s). It was the 2nd to last week of the year. Billboard "froze the charts" for the very last week, the week of Christmas- New Years. US Top 40 Singles For The Week Ending December 22, 1979 Note – the chart was “frozen” next week (For December 29, 1979). The next new chart was dated January 5, 1980. TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak to Date) 1 4 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-10 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 3 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-18 (2) 3 1 BABE –•– Styx (A&M)-12 (1) 4 5 SEND ONE YOUR LOVE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-8 (4) 5 2 STILL –•– The Commodores (Motown)-13 (1) 6 8 DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME –•– The Captain and Tennille (Casablanca)-10 (6) 7 7 YOU’RE ONLY LONELY –•– J.D. Souther (Columbia)-16 (7) 8 6 NO MORE TEARS (Enough Is Enough) –•– Barbra Streisand / Donna Summer (Columbia / Casablanca)-10 (1) 9 11 LADIES NIGHT –•– Kool and the Gang (De-Lite)-12 (9) 10 10 TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME –•– Supertramp (A&M)-11 (10) 11 12 ROCK WITH YOU –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-8 (11) 12 13 COOL CHANGE –•– Little River Band (Capitol)-10 (12) 13 14 WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE –•– Cliff Richard (EMI-America)-10 (13) 14 16 HEAD GAMES –•– Foreigner (Atlantic)-7 (14) 15 22 CRUISIN’ –•– Smokey Robinson (Tamla)-12 (15) 16 18 BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME –•– Dr. Hook (Capitol)-11 (16) 17 19 THE LONG RUN –•– Eagles (Asylum)-3 (17) 18 20 JANE –•– Jefferson Starship (Grunt)-8 (18) 19 21 I WANT YOU TONIGHT –•– Pablo Cruise (A&M)-11 (19) 20 9 HEARTACHE TONIGHT –•– Eagles (Asylum)-12 (1) 21 23 THIS IS IT –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-10 (21) 22 26 COWARD OF THE COUNTY –•– Kenny Rogers (United Artists)-6 (22) 23 27 I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-5 (23) 24 15 HALF THE WAY –•– Crystal Gayle (Columbia)-13 (15) 25 31 DON’T DO ME LIKE THAT –•– Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Backstreet)-6 (25) 26 30 WAIT FOR ME –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-9 (26) 27 29 DAMNED IF I DO –•– The Alan Parsons Project (Arista)-13 (27) 28 32 DON’T LET GO –•– Isaac Hayes (Polydor)-9 (28) 29 17 SHIPS –•– Barry Manilow (Arista)-11 (9) 30 33 THIRD TIME LUCKY (First Time I Was a Fool) –•– Foghat (Bearsville)-6 (30) 31 35 CHIQUITITA –•– Abba (Atlantic)-7 (31) 32 25 POP MUZIK –•– M (Sire)-20 (1) 33 28 I NEED A LOVER –•– John Cougar (Riva)-11 (28) 34 38 DEJA VU –•– Dionne Warwick (Arista)-7 (34) 35 45 SARA –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-2 (35) 36 43 YES, I’M READY –•– Teri DeSario with K.C. (Casablanca)-6 (36) 37 24 BROKEN HEARTED ME –•– Anne Murray (Capitol)-14 (12) 38 41 TRAIN, TRAIN –•– Blackfoot (Atco)-10 (38) 39 39 I STILL HAVE DREAMS –•– Richie Furay (Asylum)-9 (39) 40 44 ROTATION –•– Herb Alpert (A&M)-6 (40) THIS WEEK’S DROPS 41 34 LOVE PAINS –•– Yvonne Elliman (RSO)-11 (34) 46 40 VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR –•– The Buggles (Island)-7 (40) 50 36 DIM ALL THE LIGHTS –•– Donna Summer (Casablanca)-18 (2) 52 37 TUSK –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-12 (8) POWER PLAYS 42 46 FOREVER MINE –•– The O’Jays (Philadelphia International)-5 (42) 43 47 RAPPER’S DELIGHT –•– Sugarhill Gang (Sugar Hill)-7 (43) 44 48 I’D RATHER LEAVE WHILE I’M IN LOVE –•– Rita Coolidge (A&M)-6 (44) 45 49 SAVANNAH NIGHTS –•– Tom Johnston (Warner Brothers)-6 (45) 47 42 RAINBOW CONNECTION –•– Kermit (Jim Henson) (Atlantic)-15 (25) 48 56 ROMEO’S TUNE –•– Steve Forbert (Nemperor)-4 (48) 49 54 MISTRUSTED LOVE –•– Mistress (RSO)-7 (49) DEBUTS THIS WEEK 58 — CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE –•– Queen (Elektra)-1 (58) 64 — FOOL IN THE RAIN –•– Led Zeppelin (Swan Song)-1 (64) 66 — SEPTEMBER MORN’ –•– Neil Diamond (Columbia)-1 (66) 67 — DAYDREAM BELIEVER –•– Anne Murray (Capitol)-1 (67) 76 — HEARTBREAKER –•– Pat Benatar (Chrysalis)-1 (76) 81 — STAR –•– Earth, Wind and Fire (ARC)-1 (81) 82 — CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS –•– Robert Palmer (Island)-1 (82) 84 — I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT –•– Rod Stewart (Warner Brothers)-1 (84) 85 — 99 –•– Toto (Columbia)-1 (85) 86 — I CAN’T HELP MYSELF (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) –•– Bonnie Pointer (Motown)-1 (86) 87 — DON’T MAKE ME OVER –•– Jennifer Warnes (Arista)-1 (87) 88 — SHOOTING STAR –•– Dollar (Carrere)-1 (88) 89 — VOLCANO –•– Jimmy Buffett (MCA)-1 (89) 90 — LET ME SLEEP ALONE –•– Cugini (Scotti Brothers)-1 (90) 93 — HOLDIN’ ON FOR DEAR LOVE –•– Lobo (MCA)-1 (93) Share the music, share the love
The Billboard Hot 100 chart from the first week of Jan. 1980. KC's on top. US Top 40 Singles For Week Ending January 5, 1980 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 2 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-20 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 1 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-12 (1) 3 11 ROCK WITH YOU –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-10 (3) 4 4 SEND ONE YOUR LOVE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-10 (4) 5 6 DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME –•– The Captain and Tennille (Casablanca)-12 (5) 6 3 BABE –•– Styx (A&M)-14 (1) 7 5 STILL –•– The Commodores (Motown)-15 (1) 8 22 COWARD OF THE COUNTY –•– Kenny Rogers (United Artists)-8 (8) 9 9 LADIES NIGHT –•– Kool and the Gang (De-Lite)-14 (9) 10 13 WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE –•– Cliff Richard (EMI-America)-12 (10) 11 12 COOL CHANGE –•– Little River Band (Capitol)-12 (11) 12 15 CRUISIN’ –•– Smokey Robinson (Tamla)-14 (12) 13 17 THE LONG RUN –•– Eagles (Asylum)-5 (13) 14 14 HEAD GAMES –•– Foreigner (Atlantic)-9 (14) 15 16 BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME –•– Dr. Hook (Capitol)-13 (15) 16 18 JANE –•– Jefferson Starship (Grunt)-10 (16) 17 23 I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-7 (17) 18 21 THIS IS IT –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-12 (18) 19 19 I WANT YOU TONIGHT –•– Pablo Cruise (A&M)-13 (19) 20 7 YOU’RE ONLY LONELY –•– J.D. Souther (Columbia)-18 (7) 21 8 NO MORE TEARS (Enough Is Enough) –•– Barbra Streisand / Donna Summer (Columbia / Casablanca)-12 (1) 22 25 DON’T DO ME LIKE THAT –•– Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Backstreet)-8 (22) 23 26 WAIT FOR ME –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-11 (23) 24 28 DON’T LET GO –•– Isaac Hayes (Polydor)-11 (24) 25 35 SARA –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-4 (25) 26 10 TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME –•– Supertramp (A&M)-13 (10) 27 27 DAMNED IF I DO –•– The Alan Parsons Project (Arista)-15 (27) 28 30 THIRD TIME LUCKY (First Time I Was a Fool) –•– Foghat (Bearsville)-8 (28) 29 34 DEJA VU –•– Dionne Warwick (Arista)-9 (29) 30 31 CHIQUITITA –•– Abba (Atlantic)-9 (30) 31 36 YES, I’M READY –•– Teri DeSario with K.C. (Casablanca)-8 (31) 32 32 POP MUZIK –•– M (Sire)-22 (1) 33 24 HALF THE WAY –•– Crystal Gayle (Columbia)-15 (15) 34 20 HEARTACHE TONIGHT –•– Eagles (Asylum)-14 (1) 35 48 ROMEO’S TUNE –•– Steve Forbert (Nemperor)-6 (35) 36 40 ROTATION –•– Herb Alpert (A&M)-8 (36) 37 43 RAPPER’S DELIGHT –•– Sugarhill Gang (Sugar Hill)-9 (37) 38 38 TRAIN, TRAIN –•– Blackfoot (Atco)-12 (38) 39 44 I’D RATHER LEAVE WHILE I’M IN LOVE –•– Rita Coolidge (A&M)-8 (39) 40 42 FOREVER MINE –•– The O’Jays (Philadelphia International)-7 (40) OFF THE CHARTS 64 29 SHIPS –•– Barry Manilow (Arista)-13 (9) 69 33 I NEED A LOVER –•– John Cougar (Riva)-13 (28) 82 37 BROKEN HEARTED ME –•– Anne Murray (Capitol)-16 (12) 87 39 I STILL HAVE DREAMS –•– Richie Furay (Asylum)-11 (39) POWER PLAYS 41 45 SAVANNAH NIGHTS –•– Tom Johnston (Warner Brothers)-8 (41) 42 64 FOOL IN THE RAIN –•– Led Zeppelin (Swan Song)-3 (42) 43 58 CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE –•– Queen (Elektra)-3 (43) 44 56 VOICES –•– Cheap Trick (Epic)-5 (44) 45 65 WHY ME –•– Styx (A&M)-4 (45) 46 53 YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU –•– Santana (Columbia)-7 (46) 47 51 SHE’S IN LOVE WITH YOU –•– Suzi Quatro (RSO)-7 (47) 48 54 DO YOU LOVE WHAT YOU FEEL –•– Rufus and Chaka (MCA)-7 (48) 49 49 MISTRUSTED LOVE –•– Mistress (RSO)-9 (49) 50 55 LONELY EYES –•– Robert John (EMI-America)-5 (50) DEBUTS THIS WEEK 81 — I’M ALIVE –•– Gamma (Elektra)-1 (81) 83 — FLIRTIN’ WITH DISASTER –•– Molly Hatchet (Epic)-1 (83) 85 — MAKE BELIEVE IT’S YOUR FIRST TIME –•– Bobby Vinton (Tapestry)-1 (85) 86 — GOODNIGHT MY LOVE –•– Mike Pinera (Spector)-1 (86) 93 — BAD TIMES –•– Tavares (Capitol)-1 (93)
US Top 40 Singles For Week Ending January 12, 1980 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 2 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-13 (3 weeks at #1) (1) 2 3 ROCK WITH YOU –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-11 (2) 3 5 DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME –•– The Captain and Tennille (Casablanca)-13 (3) 4 4 SEND ONE YOUR LOVE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-11 (4) 5 1 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-21 (1) 6 7 STILL –•– The Commodores (Motown)-16 (1) 7 8 COWARD OF THE COUNTY –•– Kenny Rogers (United Artists)-9 (7) 8 9 LADIES NIGHT –•– Kool and the Gang (De-Lite)-15 (8) 9 10 WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE –•– Cliff Richard (EMI-America)-13 (9) 10 6 BABE –•– Styx (A&M)-15 (1) 11 11 COOL CHANGE –•– Little River Band (Capitol)-13 (11) 12 12 CRUISIN’ –•– Smokey Robinson (Tamla)-15 (12) 13 13 THE LONG RUN –•– Eagles (Asylum)-6 (13) 14 15 BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME –•– Dr. Hook (Capitol)-14 (14) 15 16 JANE –•– Jefferson Starship (Grunt)-11 (15) 16 17 I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-8 (16) 17 18 THIS IS IT –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-13 (17) 18 14 HEAD GAMES –•– Foreigner (Atlantic)-10 (14) 19 22 DON’T DO ME LIKE THAT –•– Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Backstreet)-9 (19) 20 25 SARA –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-5 (20) 21 23 WAIT FOR ME –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-12 (21) 22 24 DON’T LET GO –•– Isaac Hayes (Polydor)-12 (22) 23 20 YOU’RE ONLY LONELY –•– J.D. Souther (Columbia)-19 (7) 24 21 NO MORE TEARS (Enough Is Enough) –•– Barbra Streisand / Donna Summer (Columbia / Casablanca)-13 (1) 25 19 I WANT YOU TONIGHT –•– Pablo Cruise (A&M)-14 (19) 26 28 THIRD TIME LUCKY (First Time I Was a Fool) –•– Foghat (Bearsville)-9 (26) 27 29 DEJA VU –•– Dionne Warwick (Arista)-10 (27) 28 31 YES, I’M READY –•– Teri DeSario with K.C. (Casablanca)-9 (28) 29 30 CHIQUITITA –•– Abba (Atlantic)-10 (29) 30 43 CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE –•– Queen (Elektra)-4 (30) 31 35 ROMEO’S TUNE –•– Steve Forbert (Nemperor)-7 (31) 32 36 ROTATION –•– Herb Alpert (A&M)-9 (32) 33 59 AN AMERICAN DREAM –•– The Dirt Band (United Artists)-6 (33) 34 41 SAVANNAH NIGHTS –•– Tom Johnston (Warner Brothers)-9 (34) 35 26 TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME –•– Supertramp (A&M)-14 (10) 36 37 RAPPER’S DELIGHT –•– Sugarhill Gang (Sugar Hill)-10 (36) 37 40 FOREVER MINE –•– The O’Jays (Philadelphia International)-8 (37) 38 39 I’D RATHER LEAVE WHILE I’M IN LOVE –•– Rita Coolidge (A&M)-9 (38) 39 38 TRAIN, TRAIN –•– Blackfoot (Atco)-13 (38) 40 42 FOOL IN THE RAIN –•– Led Zeppelin (Swan Song)-4 (40) OFF THE CHARTS 47 27 DAMNED IF I DO –•– The Alan Parsons Project (Arista)-16 (27) 59 32 POP MUZIK –•– M (Sire)-23 (1) 85 33 HALF THE WAY –•– Crystal Gayle (Columbia)-16 (15) 99 34 HEARTACHE TONIGHT –•– Eagles (Asylum)-15 (1) POWER PLAYS 41 44 VOICES –•– Cheap Trick (Epic)-6 (41) 42 45 WHY ME –•– Styx (A&M)-5 (42) 43 46 YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU –•– Santana (Columbia)-8 (43) 44 48 DO YOU LOVE WHAT YOU FEEL –•– Rufus and Chaka (MCA)-8 (44) 45 47 SHE’S IN LOVE WITH YOU –•– Suzi Quatro (RSO)-8 (45) 46 56 DAYDREAM BELIEVER –•– Anne Murray (Capitol)-4 (46) 48 50 LONELY EYES –•– Robert John (EMI-America)-6 (48) 49 51 LOST HER IN THE SUN –•– John Stewart (RSO)-6 (49) 50 53 LAST TRAIN TO LONDON –•– Electric Light Orchestra (Jet)-6 (50) DEBUTS THIS WEEK 81 — TOO LATE –•– Journey (Columbia)-1 (81) 82 — LET ME GO, LOVE –•– Nicolette Larson (with Michael McDonald) (Warner Brothers)-1 (82) 84 — REMEMBER (Walking In the Sand) –•– Aerosmith (Columbia)-1 (84) 86 — ON THE RADIO –•– Donna Summer (Casablanca)-1 (86) 90 — KISS ME IN THE RAIN –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-1 (90) 93 — TRUST ME –•– Cindy Bullens (Casablanca)-1 (93) 96 — TAKIN’ IT BACK –•– Breathless (EMI-America)-1 (96)
A short summary of Pina Colada's rise. I won't post it's fall. The single was No. 1 for its second time for only a week. Don't want to reveal the next No. 1. US Top 40 Singles For The Week Ending December 22, 1979 Note – the chart was “frozen” next week (For December 29, 1979). The next new chart was dated January 5, 1980. TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak to Date) 1 4 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-10 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 3 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-18 (2) 3 1 BABE –•– Styx (A&M)-12 (1) US Top 40 Singles For Week Ending January 5, 1980 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 2 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-20 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 1 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-12 (1) US Top 40 Singles For Week Ending January 12, 1980 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 2 ESCAPE (The Pina Colada Song) –•– Rupert Holmes (Infinity)-13 (3 weeks at #1) (1) 2 3 3 5 4 4 SEND ONE YOUR LOVE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-11 (4) 5 1 PLEASE DON’T GO –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-21 (1)
The reason you think he was stoned is because you don't like it. I like it, but also don't like hearing it ad nauseam.
January 12, 1980...one day after I turned 8 years old. "Jane" is the first hit of the Jefferson Starship with their new singer, Mickey Thomas (ex-Elvin Bishop band). A word of warning: We will be hearing more from them. "Jane" itself is a pretty good AOR song not unlike what Journey was doing. I'm not crazy about the "disco" sections of the song, though. "Third Time Lucky" must have seemed like a surprise hit for Foghat, who are best known for "Slow Ride," which had come out 5 years earlier. "Train Train" by Blackfoot is the heaviest tune on this top 40. Lynyrd Skynyrd was gone, but in 79/80 there was a popular third wave of Southern Rock gearing up (think Blackfoot, .38 Special, and Molly Hatchet), with crunchier guitars than the Allmans/Skynyrd/Wet Willie or even Black Oak Arkansas. At this point, I was listening to top 40 when being driven around by my parents in the car, but at home, it was all about KISS. My friends and I were beyond obsessed with them. In a few months, KISS will hit a brick wall in the US in terms of sales, when they put out Unmasked.
Oh !I don't know... I like it and I always think he's high when recording. Whether that' s high on life or something else is another matter.
The very best #1 records of 1979: "My Sharona" - The Knack "Pop Muzik" - M (I have this weird fantasy that every time Troy Aikman - or any other bumbling sports announcer - utters the phrase "You talk about [this]" "You talk about [that]" "You talk about [redundancy #88]", that it gets bleeped out and replaced with "TALK ABOUT - POP MUZIK". [/end rant]) "Heart Of Glass" - Blondie "Too Much Heaven" - Bee Gees "Reunited" - Peaches & Herb (At the time I thought it just another wimpy slow-dance number, but this well-produced, pure ear candy has really grown on me of late.) "Hot Stuff" - Donna Summer "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson "Tragedy" - Bee Gees "Love You Inside Out" - Bee Gees Others that I really like: "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor "What A Fool Believes" - Doobie Brothers "Heartache Tonight" - Eagles "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (still gets a lot of oldies airplay around here) "Babe" - Styx For other 'songs that should have been #1', my top pick is "Y.M.C.A.", a dumb-fun iconic hit that perhaps should be the record of the year, which should have been #1 the first three weeks of February. Billy Joel's "My Life" should have topped the week of January 20. "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters should have given the Boss his second penned #1 cover hit for February 24. My favorite record of the year, "Sultans Of Swing" by Dire Straits (#4) should have hit the summit in mid-April. Sister Sledge should have topped the charts the last two weeks of June with "We Are Family" (Pirates win an exciting World Series in seven games with this song!). Maybe a bit of a stretch, but I'd have "The Logical Song" for the week of July 7. And then Cheap Trick the last week of July with "I Want You To Want Me". Also worthy of mention are "Hold The Line" by Toto (#5), "Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen (#24), "Promises" by Eric Clapton (#9), "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire (#8), "A Little More Love" by Olivia Newton-John (#3), "Take Me To The River" by Talking Heads (#26), "Blue Morning, Blue Day" by Foreigner (#15), "Goodnight Tonight" by Wings (#5), "Blow Away" by George Harrison (#16), "Renegade" by Styx (#16), "One Way Or Another" by Blondie (#24), "Gold" by John Stewart (#5), "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss (#11), "Let's Go" by The Cars (#14), "Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp (#15), "Driver's Seat" by Sniff 'n' The Tears (#15), "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra (#4), "Cruel To Be Kind" by Nick Lowe (#12), "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan (#24), "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac (#8), "Dreaming" by Blondie (#27), "Take The Long Way Home" by Supertramp (#10), "I Need A Love" by John Cougar (#28), and "Damned If I Do" by The Alan Parsons Project. Another great year for pop music muzik!
One of my favorite singles from 1979 - “Life Begins at the Hop” by XTC. XTC never broke through with a mainstream US audience, but they would have cult/niche success in the mid 1980s with the rise of US alternative & modern rock radio. Love the video, btw - it’s like a time machine that takes me back to my college days. Hard to believe it’s been 4o years (!)
