Hello everyone, and especially to Greta Thurnberg. So, I thought I would go ahead and post my last flashback of 2022. This will be a bit different from ones in past posts, in that this won't be a weekly countdown. Instead, it is my tabulation of what the top songs of a particular year.
How did I come up with this, you ask? Well, I may have explained it a few years ago in a seperate post, then again, I don't remember exactly. But anyway, what I did was take the weekly Top 40 charts from two of the music industry's leading publications, Radio & Records Magazine (now defunct) and Billboard Magazine (which I'm working on currently). I then assign a point value based on how high on the chart they placed (in the case of R/R until 1983, there was no top 40 back then, it was a top 30):
#1 125
#2 100
#3 90
#4 80
#5 70
#6 60
#7 55
#8 50
#9 45
#10 40
#11 37
#12 34
#13 32
#14 30
#15 28
#16 through #40 are in descending order from 25 to 1 point.
I also would assign bonus points for chart longevity as well as how long they were in a certain spot of the countdown. In all, it's kinda like pop music meets the NASCAR Cup Series.
So without further ado, here were my top 100 songs of 1980 (with points) based on the data I got from Radio & Records Magazine (I may do Billboard in a separate entry):
100: Drivin' My Life Away by Eddie Rabbitt (205)
99: I'm Alive by Electric Light Orchestra (217)
98: Dreamer by Supertramp (219, peaked at #12)
97: Think About Me by Fleetwood Mac (219, peaked at #9)
96: The Tide Is High by Blondie (222)
95: Stomp by The Brothers Johnson (228)
94: Take Your Time (Do It Right) by SOS Band (229)
93: Do That To Me One More Time by Captain & Tenille (234)
92: Do Right by Paul Davis (238, peaked at #11 but #24 on BB)
91: In America by Charlie Daniels Band (238, peaked at #11, but #11 on BB)
90. Coward Of The County by Kenny Rogers (238, peaked at #6)
89: Special Lady by Ray, Goodman, and Brown (239)
88: Don't Ask Me Why by Billy Joel (240)
87: She's Out Of My Life by Michael Jackson (248)
86: Off The Wall by Michael Jackson (251)
85: Lovely One by The Jacksons (262, peaked at #12)
84: I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross (262, peaked at #10)
83: You'll Accompany Me by Bob Seger (262, peaked at #8)
82: Take A Little Rhythm by Ali Thomson (273)
81: Pilot Of The Airwaves by Charlie Dore (274)
80: An American Dream by The Dirt Band (275)
79: On The Radio by Donna Summer (276)
78: Don't Do Me Like That by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (290)
77: September Morn by Neil Diamond (315)
76: All Over The World by Electric Light Orchestra (316)
75: Jojo by Boz Scaggs (318)
74: Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders (319)
73: Every Woman In The World by Air Supply (321)
72: Into The Night by Benny Mardones (324)
71: Desire by Andy Gibb (337)
70. Cars by Gary Numan (343)
69: Look What You've Done To Me by Boz Scaggs (357)
68: Sexy Eyes by Dr. Hook (358)
67: Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar (360)
66: Never Knew Love Like This Before by Stephanie Mills (363)
65: I'm Alright by Kenny Loggins (364)
64: 99 by Toto (377)
63: Boulevard by Jackson Browne (386)
62: Jessie by Carly Simon (387)
61: Guilty by Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb (393)
60: You're The Only Woman by Ambrosia (397)
59: Romeo's Tune by Steve Forbert (401)
58: More Love by Kim Carnes (402, peaked at #6)
57: Rock With You by Michael Jackson (402, peaked at #2)
56: Lookin' For Love by Johnny Lee (405)
55: How Do I Make You by Linda Ronstadt (418)
54: Breakdown Dead Ahead by Boz Scaggs (420)
53: Cupid/I've Loved You For A Long Time by The Spinners (427)
52: Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen (434)
51: Funkytown by Lipps, Inc. (441)
50: Give Me The Night by George Benson (444)
49: Let My Love Open The Door by Pete Townshend (471)
48: Yes I'm Ready by KC with Teri Desario (480)
47: (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon* (489)
46: Hurt So Bad by Linda Ronstadt (507)
45: Tired Of Toein' The Line by Rocky Burnette (510)
44: Too Hot by Kool & The Gang (513)
43: Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John & ELO (517)
42: The Long Run by The Eagles* (520)
41: He's So Shy by The Pointer Sisters (532)
40: Shining Star by Manhattans (548)
39: Misunderstanding by Genesis (559)
38: Hot Rod Hearts by Robbie Dupree (571)
37: I Can't Tell You Why by The Eagles (573)
36: You've Lost That Loving Feeling by Hall & Oates (576)
35: Never Be The Same by Christopher Cross (580, peaked at #3)
34: Love On The Rocks by Neil Diamond (580, reached #1)
33: The Wanderer by Donna Summer (589)
32: Steal Away by Robbie Dupree (621)
31: Sara by Fleetwood Mac* (625)
30: Him by Rupert Holmes (643)
29: Working My Way Back To You by The Spinners (658)
28: Dreaming by Cliff Richard (677)
27: Let Me Love You Tonight by Oure Prairie League (679)
26: Against The Wind by Bob Seger (696)
25: You May Be Right by Billy Joel (710)
24: Emotional Rescue by The Rolling Stones (713)
23: Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer by Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes (767)
22: Another One Bites The Dust by Queen (778)
21: Fire Lake by Bob Seger (784)
20: The Rose by Bette Midler* (803)
19: Coming Up by Paul McCartney & Wings* (806)
18: More Than I Can Say by Leo Sayer (824, nine weeks within top 20)
17: Little Jeannie by Elton John (824, 11 weeks within top 20)
16: Upside Down by Diana Ross* (830)
15: Lost In Love by Air Supply (833)
14: All Out Of Love by Air Supply* (844)
13: Late In The Evening by Paul Simon* (864)
12: Ride Like The Wind by Christopher Cross (917)
11: Real Love by The Doobie Brothers* (932)
10: Longer by Dan Fogelberg* (959)
9: Biggest Part Of Me by Ambrosia* (961)
8: Magic by Olivia Newton-John* (970)
7: Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen* (975, eight weeks on the top ten)
6: Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd* (975, nine weeks in the top ten)
5: It's Still Rock & Roll To Me by Billy Joel* (1,059)
4: Sailing by Christopher Cross* (1,072)
3: Woman In Love by Barbra Streisand* (1,131)
2: Lady by Kenny Rogers* (1,143)
1: Call Me by Blondie* (1,256)
*--denotes song that reached #1.
No real big surprises on this chart. A little shocked that "I'm Alright" wasn't higher on this list Then again, it only reached #8. "Real Love" would be the last Doobie Brothers song to chart for another nine years, and the last with Michael McDonald as lead singer. Fortunately, I didn't get into pop music until the following year (1981), so the tragic death of John Lennon didn't mean that much to me at the time, plus I was quite young (I only started school that fall). Michael Jackson's hit album Off The Wall surprisingly didn't land one single in the top fifty. Other than that, I'd say 1980 was a nice change of pace from the disco era and helped usher in the video music era.
I'll have more of these next year, which is only two days away. In the meantime, have a good one!
More to come:
CT
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