Soundtrack to forget
Boy, music sucked in 1980. Rules here. In short, the ones I like are bolded, the faves are underlined, the ones I hated are lined through, and the ones I don’t remember/don’t care about are left alone.
The Top 100 songs of 1980:
1. Call Me, Blondie
2. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd
3. Magic, Olivia Newton-John
4. Rock With You, Michael Jackson
5. Do That To Me One More Time, Captain and Tennille
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen
7. Coming Up, Paul McCartney
8. Funkytown, Lipps, Inc.
9. It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me, Billy Joel
10. The Rose, Bette Midler — (I absolutely double-strength hate this song and think every copy on the planet should be destroyed.)
11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
12. Cars, Gary Numan
13. Cruisin’, Smokey Robinson
14. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl, Spinners
15. Lost In Love, Air Supply
16. Little Jeannie, Elton John
17. Ride Like The Wind, Cristopher Cross
18. Upside Down, Diana Ross
19. Please Don’t Go, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
20. Babe, Styx — (I hate this song almost as much as I hate The Rose.)
21. With You I’m Born Again, Billy Preston and Syreeta
22. Shining Star, Manhattans
23. Still, Commodores
24. Yes, I’m Ready, Teri De Sario With K.C.
25. Sexy Eyes, Dr. Hook
26. Steal Away, Robbie Dupree
27. Biggest Part Of Me, Ambrosia
28. This Is It, Kenny Loggins
29. Cupid-I’ve Loved You For A Long Time, Spinners
30. Let’s Get Serious, Jermaine Jackson
31. Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
32. Sailing, Christopher Cross
33. Longer, Dan Fogelberg
34. Coward Of The County, Kenny Rogers
35. Ladies Night, Kool and The Gang
36. Take Your Time, S.O.S. Band
37. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer — (Yes, I did.)
38. Too Hot, Kool and The Gang
39. More Love, Kim Carnes
40. Pop Muzik, M — (Blasphemy to all 80-oids, I know, but this song is the dorkiest.)
41. Brass In Pocket, Pretenders — (I fucking hate the Pretenders.)
42. Special Lady, Ray, Goodman and Brown
43. Send One Your Love, Stevie Wonder
44. The Second Time Around, Shalamar
45. We Don’t Talk Anymore, Cliff Richard
47. Heartache Tonight , Eagles — (I got soooo sick of the Eagles.)
48. Stomp, Brothers Johnson
49. Tired Of Toein’ The Line, Rocky Burnette
50. Better Love Next Time, Dr. Hook
51. Him, Rupert Holmes
52. Against The Wind, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
53. On The Radio, Donna Summer — (Yes, another disco favorite that I liked. Not loved, mind you, but liked well enough.)
54. Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones
55. Rise, Herb Alpert
56. All Out Of Love, Air Supply
57. Cool Change, Little River Band
58. You’re Only Lonely, J.D. Souther
59. Desire, Andy Gibb
60. Let My Love Open The Door, Pete Townshend
61. Daydream Believer, Anne Murray
62. I Can’t Tell You Why, Eagles
63. Don’t Let Go, Isaac Hayes
64. Don’t Do Me Like That, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — (You could not escape the ubiquitous presence of Tom Petty on Florida rock radio. Gah.)
65. She’s Out Of My Life, Michael Jackson — (That little catch in his voice at the end made me want to reach through the radio and smack him.)
66. Fame, Irene Cara — (Pain! I wanna give it to everyone who made this song and movie a big hit.)
67. Fire Lake, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band — (I can’t remember this song but I am sure that if I heard it I hated it, because all Bob Seger songs suck.)
68. How Do I Make You, Linda Ronstadt
69. Into The Night, Benny Mardones
70. Let Me Love You Tonight, Pure Prairie League
71. Misunderstanding, Genesis — (Isn’t this from their album Duke, a “theme” album about a big ugly shlub who has a miserable life? Hate that album.)
72. An American Dream, Dirt Band
73. One Fine Day, Carole King
74. Dim All The Lights, Donna Summer — (Maybe I need to buy that Donna Summer greatest hits cd.)
75. You May Be Right, Billy Joel — (Three quarters of the population of Miami is actually from New York and environs, so I got real sick of Billy Joel.)
76. Hurt So Bad, Linda Ronstadt
77. Should’ve Never Let You Go, Neil Sedaka and Dara Sedaka
78. Pilot Of The Airwaves, Charlie Dore
79. Off The Wall, Michael Jackson
80. I Pledge My Love, Peaches and Herb
81. The Long Run, Eagles
82. Stand By Me, Mickey Gilley
83. Heartbreaker, Pat Benatar
84. Deja Vu, Dionne Warwick
85. Drivin’ My Life Away, Eddie Rabbitt
86. Take The Long Way Home, Supertramp
87. Sara, Fleetwood Mac
88. Wait For Me, Daryl Hall and John Oates
89. Jo Jo, Boz Scaggs
90. September Morn, Neil Diamond
91. Give Me The Night, George Benson
92. Broken Hearted Me, Anne Murray
93. You Decorated My Life, Kenny Rogers — (Another “Rose” level hatred.)
94. Tusk, Fleetwood Mac
95. I Wanna Be Your Lover, Prince
96. In America, Charlie Daniels Band
97. Breakdown Dead Ahead, Boz Scaggs
98. Ships, Barry Manilow
99. All Night Long, Joe Walsh
100. Refugee, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
No favorites! 1980 sucked. The only thing that was good about it was I finally was done with the pointless ritual of high school.
August 28th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Completely agree with you about #10. And yet, she went on to perpetrate even worse crimes against humanity, like “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “From a Distance.” There is no justice in this life.
August 28th, 2005 at 9:15 pm
I’d have done a similar list, but 1985’s music just didn’t seem like it would be worth the trouble.
The worst thing of all about the music in the early 80’s was that every third song on the radio turned out to be Michael Jackson.
August 28th, 2005 at 11:30 pm
No stinkin’ wonder I took a turn for the worse for a decade or three (musically) after high school: 1970 was a very, very bad music year. Except for:
52. Lola, Kinks …still funny, still a great tune …I’m still a retrogressive
53. In The Summertime, Mungo Jerry …forgot about this one, it was unusual for that time; brought back a smile …I didn’t know no Marley, Jah
67. Fire And Rain, James Taylor …I wore out his first LP, Sweet Baby James …and now? I simply loathe his politics, but still like this song
69. Evil Ways, Santana …Carlos is a typical Left Coast idiot, sigh, but I always liked the way he played guitar (and the one piece of thematic material he showcased that playing with, endlessly repeated …at least he had one though)
73. Up Around The Bend / Run Through The Jungle, Creedence Clearwater Revival …hat tip, though their best efforts were past by ‘70 (I didn’t recognize it at the time)
AND (DRUM ROLL) the only really, really good song by the only kickin’ musician of the bunch in the entire year (which barely made the damn list):
98. The Thrill Is Gone, B.B. King …needless to say, the only blues musician to hit the top 100 that year (or almost any other) …still like BB’s rendition of this (though really, his style of blues was a little too polished and electric for my tastes)
Please note that in 1970 John Mayall again didn’t break into the TOP 100 (nor - probably - the TOP 1000). Though I vaguely recall that he was living in Laurel Canyon somewhere around this time.
Six stinking tunes (and I had to cheat by including “73.”); 1970 was a musical year of blechh. To me. One frickin’ piece of bubble gum (seriously; it was depressing) music after another …I’m no longer puzzled as to why glam rock and disco became popular shortly thereafter. As in, what the hell difference did it really make anyways?
Where is all the music I fondly recall? - I need another year. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:22 am
Maybe it’s an end-of-the-decade thing. Didn’t 1990 and 2000 also suck as music years? I’m at work — somebody check.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:25 am
Hot ‘n’ nasty, cool ‘n’ shady,
We’re the class of 1980!
Wow. Yes, I remember it well, and it was indeed a very sucky year for pop music. The only songs on the list that meant anything at all to me were “Funkytown,” “Cars,” “All Night Long,” and “The Long Run.” And you’re right, the Eagles got done to death that year, and so did “Another Brick in the Wall.” My friends and I, all major Pink Floyd fans, were tearing our hair out because the stations had, on seemingly endless rotation, the one song that was possibly the least interesting one on the whole album. It got to the point where I would change the channel whenever “Brick in the Wall” came on…for me, that’s tantamount to sacriledge when it comes to Pink Floyd, but I had had enough.
1980: The year I graduated high school and took the road trip of my life. 3000 miles in a beat-up 1974 Subaru with a dodgy clutch. Ten weeks of hanging out with my friends in Washington for the last time, then 3000 miles back to go back to school and learn how to be a scientist. Along the way, I got religion, and made some great new friends. All in all, not a bad year for me.
Except for the music, of course.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:23 pm
Well 1981 was my last year in HIgh School but I can agree with you, 1980 sucked if these were the top 100 songs. Luckily (music wise) I returned to Australia after High School and found a vibrant live music scene in Sydney with a whole host of now classic Oz bands.
Of that list the top one “Call Me” was the only thing with any balls. Mind you Brick in the Wall was a favourite album in my house as I remember.