#40 - 36
Just call me Casey Kasem and send me your long distance dedications, cuz I'm about to give you the Top 40 Singles Of The 1980s - According to me of course!
#40 THE KID IS HOT TONITE - Loverboy
(Bernard Aubin/Paul Dean)
Columbia/CBS Single #38-02068
Chart Debut: 06/20/81
Chart Position: #55 US
Once more we go into the boy crushes of my past - Mike Reno with his head band and tight leather pants in every single color really did something to me. Perhaps it was even those yellow or red or black leather pants that turned me gay... I'm not sure but I do know I thought he was one hottie. Plus I really loved the songs. "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" was the second single from their 1980 self titled debut album. From the moment I heard it on the radio I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I had to request it over and over and over at our local rock station WIFC. I'm not sure if that station still exists but when we were kids that was the only place to hear the new rock of the day. One night while staying up late with my friend Samantha, I called and called and called and ended up talking with the DJ for hours. I have the strangest feeling he thought I was a girl the whole time but being a rather strange and somewhat manipulative child, I never bothered to tell him the truth. I know you're all thinking, "Holy crap!" but at the time it seemed innocent enough, but now I realize the whole scenario could've been the opening montage of Law & Order - Special Victims Unit - but in 1981 it was harmless fun.
As for the song itself, it's pop/rock genius and it has a fairly fine sense of new wave to it. In fact the entire debut album by Loverboy feels more new wave than the hard rock they would come to be known for. Still to this day, "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" is my favorite song they ever put out... "How do you like him so far/ how do you like his style/ how do you like the way he looks and the way he smiiiiles..." Well, if he looks anything like Mike Reno did in '81 then the kid is hot tonite! I couldn't find any video of the song that showed off Reno's hot leather pants so here's the band performing the song recently, not exactly the same image but the song is still really good!
#39. THEY DON'T KNOW - Tracey Ullman (Kirsty MacColl)MCA/Stiff single #52347 (US) / Stiff single BUY 180 (UK)
Chart Debut: March 17, 1984 (US)/ September 24, 1983 (UK)
Chart Position: #8 US / #2 UK
An almost forgotten little gem from the early 80s this is the Tracey Ullman you think it is. The Tracey Takes On... of the 1990s - the woman with a thousand voices and roles. When she first began she was but a token comedienne starring in a somewhat funny show called Girls On Top, written by and produced by Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders - yes, the girls who gave us Ab Fab. It also starred Ruby Wax, an American comedienne who for whatever reasons has made the UK her home and here Stateside is barely recognized. Anyhoos, the Trace left the show and decided pop songs was the way to go. Lucky for her she chose one of my all time fav gals Kirsty Mac Coll to help her out. Kirsty had made a bit of a splash with her own version of "They Don't Know" in 1979, then made interesting, lovely, exceptional singles sparingly until her untimely death a few years ago.
But in 1983, she helped out with Tracey and the single chosen was this gem, with its girl group production, Tracey's high vocal tones and as is always the case with a Kirsty song - very clever lyrics. Plus the bonus of Tracey's version is after the guitar solo when the voice chimes in, "Baby!" and I turn up the volume every single time. Incidentally, I've read but never have known for sure that it's actually Kristy's voice there taken from her version of the song. Anyhoos, the song of hidden love, "They don't know about us and they've never heard of love..." was Ms. Ullman's one big pop claim in the US but she did it very well, and for crying out loud, Paul McCartney was in her video! Watch it here!
#38. ONLY THE LONELY - The Motels(Martha Davis)
Capitol Single #5114 (US)/ Capitol single #263 (UK)
Chart Debut: May 29, 1982 US
Chart Position: #9 US
Martha Davis can turn a lyric about a fish fry into the most dramatic reading you have ever heard. Not there are any songs by the Motels about fish fries, I'm just saying drama oozes from her voice no matter what her subject matter is. In most cases, the subject matter is lost love or broken down characters. In their biggest US single "Only The Lonely" we get both. "We walked the loneliest mile/ we smiled without any style/ we kissed all together wrong/ no intentions..." Sophisticated pop is what Martha does best and this little pop ballad clocking in at only 3:15 has more dramatic pauses, solos and haunting lyrics that most artists mutter in their entire careers. If you haven't by now I strongly suggest you find yourself a Motels compilation and listen to it beginning to end, and back again. It really doesn't matter what CD or old album you find because I guarantee you won't be disappointed. As for the rest of their career, the Motels had a few more clever and over looked hits - "Take The L", "Suddenly Last Summer", "Shame," "Shock" - all of which further proved Martha Davis was a drama queen - and for once it's meant as a compliment. Watch the video.
#37. INTO THE GROOVE - Madonna(Madonna/Stephen Bray)
Sire single #8934 (UK)
Chart Debut: July 27, 1985 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 UK
In June of 1985, my fav Madonna performance hit the screens – Desperately Seeking Susan and along with it a little dance ditty entitled “Into The Groove.” Probably one of her most famous singles ever, the song was actually never released in the US as a single. Instead it was on the 12” single for Angel. The UK however would have none of that and they released the song as a single and it shot all the up to #1. It’s one of those strange occurrences I guess for it is still one of her most popular songs –“Get into the groove boy you’ve got to prove your love for mee….” I can’t hear the song without spouting off lines from the movie, like,
“Maybe she’s having an affair,”
“I think I would know if my wife were having an affair?”
“Why? You didn’t know she was a prostitute.”
and of course the image of Aidan Quinn as Des with his licking lip scenes, his losing his towel at just the right precise moment... well, it all just makes me want to get up on my feet and dance to the beat. I tried to look for a video shot of Aidan and his lovely derriere, but alas it was a no go so instead watch the Madonna video here!
#36. DON'T YOU WANT ME - The Human League
(John Callis/Phillip Oakley/Phillip Wright)
A&M/Virgin single #2397 (US)/ Virgin single #433 (UK)
Chart Debut: April 10, 1982 (US) / December 5, 1981 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 US / #1 UK
One of the rare instances on my list where the song was not only a hit in both countries, but it was also #1 in both countries.. this electro gem from the Human League was actually the very first #1 single for the Virgin record label and I personally believe it helped them fund all those airplanes they have.
A clever little take on fame, using people and bitterness, "Don't You Want Me" has it all. Our vocals take us through both the female and male interpretations of the love affair and we are left wondering who is really telling the truth. Personally I believe in the words "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar/ that much is true/ but even then I knew I'd find a much better life/ either with or without you..." Sassy fun. Watch the video here!
and though I know you have a much better life than one in which you constantly read blogs all day long, I hope you will join us again, as we count down numbers 35-31 on our way to the #1 Single of the 1980s (according to me!)
Labels: Aidan Quinn, Human League, Loverboy, Madonna, Martha Davis, The Motels, Top 100 Singles Of the 1980s, Tracey Ullman
posted by swivek @ 9:39 PM
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