10. Frida and Agnetha Faltskog are the double feature at #10 with their solo hits I Know There's Something Going On, which peaked at #13 in April '83, and Can't Shake Loose, which hit #29 in November '83. As much as I love Abba, I love these two songs even more than any of Abba's singles.
9 Marilyn Martin is best known for her duet with Phil Collins, Separate Lives. But she had one of the lost gems of the decade with Night Moves, which hit #28 in March '86. And it had one of the most memorable videos of the 80's.
8 Flashdance was the first soundtrack I ever bought, and Irene Cara's title song was the greatest film song of the decade, spending six weeks at #1 in May and June of '83.
7
The greatest duet of the 80's is almost completely forgotten today. Robert Ellis Orrall and the fabulous Carlene Carter hit #32 in May '83 with I Couldn't Say No.
6
The most obscure song on my list is way up at #6. The Tarney Spencer Band hit #74 in October '81 with No Time To Lose. It so takes me back to riding around with my sister when she got her license. She would crank this up and we'd head off to the Tastee-Freeze.
5 THE GODDESS hit #5 in August '83 with Stand Back, presenting a new sound for her solo career.
4 Laura Branigan took 21 weeks to reach the #2 position with Gloria. This song was the reason why I started following the Billboard charts and Casey Kasem's American Top 40 religiously. R.I.P. LAURA.
3 Bonnie Tyler spent 4 weeks at #1 in October '83 with Total Eclipse of the Heart, and in the process gave us the greatest music video of the decade.
2
And now we have the greatest lost hit of the 80's. Tane Cain was married to Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain when she released her only album. The single Holding On peaked at a perplexing #37 in October '82. The album flopped, and Tane was fired from her record company. After she divorced Jonathan she went back to her maiden name, and as TANE MCCLURE she became one of the great softcore porn queens of 90's Skinemax. But I'll remember her for this song, which is my 2nd favorite pop song of the 80's.
1.
And here it is. My #1 pop song of the greatest pop culture decade in history. And here's a shocker, it's from THE GODDESS. Edge of Seventeen peaked at #11 in April '82, but its chart position is meaningless. To me it's the most memorable song of the 80's and the greatest rock song of all time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this list. I thought I was the only person alive who remembered I couldn't say no. I love that song. And I will always remember my sister banging on my door one Saturday morning at 730 telling me to turn down the radio. I couldn't help it. It was the Edge of Seventeen and it had to be heard.
Total Eclipse of the heart is responsible for one of my favorite memories. I was at Rehobeth Beach with some friends. We had been to karaoke night at a local pub. Back at the hotel we had an iPod playing a great mix of tunes. This song came on and a friend started singing. We all joined in. 10 guys and one rather amused girl spent the next 2 hours singing the best of the eighties at the top of our lungs. I blame the gin. Good memories.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this list. I thought I was the only person alive who remembered I couldn't say no. I love that song. And I will always remember my sister banging on my door one Saturday morning at 730 telling me to turn down the radio. I couldn't help it. It was the Edge of Seventeen and it had to be heard.
ReplyDeleteTotal Eclipse of the heart is responsible for one of my favorite memories. I was at Rehobeth Beach with some friends. We had been to karaoke night at a local pub. Back at the hotel we had an iPod playing a great mix of tunes. This song came on and a friend started singing. We all joined in. 10 guys and one rather amused girl spent the next 2 hours singing the best of the eighties at the top of our lungs. I blame the gin. Good memories.
ReplyDelete