Hello again everyone, except you, Ron DeSantis. Seriously, he's amongst my most despised people on Earth right now. More so than...I won't mention it here. Anyway, it's been a minute (actually almost a month) since I wrote in this blog and published it. I had written some of another one, explaining what has happened in the past month, but my heart just wasn't into it. Anyway, here's a Reader's Digest condensed version. I had a birthday, celebrated a little, had a sister die, and was seriously let down on Valentine's Day...AGAIN. I'll probably go into detail more when the time is right, but I'm still processing and trying to heal.
So tonight, I thought I would do something different; in past blog posts, I would do a Top-40 flashback for the particular week on which it was written. Well for this one, and possibly subsequent posts similar to this one, I thought I would forego the date aspect of it and just throw one out there at random. Also, as some of you may know, I am recreating Billboard's Hot 100 charts and adding a points system based on how high a particular song charted and its length. Well, I am up to 1985 on that, and one the songs was "Dare Me" by the Pointer Sisters.
Now remember "American Top 40?" It's still around today, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, but in the 1980's, it was hosted by the legendary late Casey Kasem, and was based back then off the Billboard Hot 100. Many of us knew Casey as a kind man who when we listened to him, made us feel good, and sometimes human. Whether it was his countdown show or his voiceovers as Shaggy on Scooby-Doo or Robin (of Batman & Robin) from the Superfriends on Saturday morning cartoons, or his annual appearances on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. He always knew how to tug at our heartstrings.
However, there was one occasion that Casey's dark side came out and the rest of the world eventually found out about it. In September of 1985, Kasem had a complete meltdown when attempting to read a long-distance dedication (a staple of his show) from a truck driver in Ohio (NOT Florida) to his dead dog. It happened to be set for broadcast right after the song "Dare Me," which of course was catchy and upbeat. The dedication incidentally was "Shannon," a ballad from the 70s which I have no recollection of ever hearing. Freaking ponderous, man.
With that said, here were the Top 40 songs according to Billboard Magazine for the week of September 14, 1985 with some personal anecdotes sprinkled in with it:
40. Spanish Eddie by Laura Branigan. This song could have been ahead of its time for one reason. The first line of the chorus goes, "The night Spanish Eddie cashed it in..." It got me to thinking, what if the late wrestler Eddie Guerrero (who is of Hispanic descent) lived long enough to participate in a "Money in the Bank" ladder match and wound up winning and eventually cashed in that briefcase at a later date? Wouldn't that have been something?
39. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free by Sting. His first solo effort since disbanding The Police, which was LONG before "defunding the police" became a left-wing talking point.
38. Mystery Lady by Billy Ocean
37. Do You Want Crying by Katrina and the Waves. Given the past two weeks? No.
36. I'm Goin' Down by Bruce Springsteen
35. The Way You Do The Things You Do (medley) by Daryl Hall and John Oates
34. No Lookin' Back by Michael McDonald
33. Lovin' Every Minute Of It by Loverboy. True story, the very first concert I attended was Loverboy at the Virginia Beach Music Festival back in 1997. America was also there, but you had to pay to see that one, whereas you didn't with Loverboy.
32. I Got You Babe by UB40. Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders actually dueted with the group, but according to Billboard's website, isn't credited.
31. Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder. In my seventh-grade year, I was in band and the first song for our annual spring concert that year was this one.
30. What About Love? by Heart. Yeah, what about it? Mine never seems to get reciprocated. Even after a heartfelt letter to someone special.
29. Every Step Of The Way by John Waite
28. C-I-T-Y by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
27. Fortress Around Your Heart by Sting. Going back to what I wrote for #30, I guess my heart is a freaking citadel.
26. Life In One Day by Howard Jones. I low-key kinda like this song.
25. Dancing In The Street by David Bowie and Mick Jagger. Did you ever see the video for this? Guys, get a room, geez...
24. There Must Be An Angel by Eurythmics
23. Never Surrender by Corey Hart. No, I don't plan on surrendering anytime soon...
22. Shout by Tears For Fears. Another favorite of mine.
21. Shame by The Motels
20. Cry by Godley & Creme. I think I only heard this song in its entirety once, and it wasn't on radio. Back when "American Bandstand" was still a thing, they played the video for this song. I hated it. First, the song is cringeworthy enough (especially the face-melter at the end), but the video? Ugh. It was nothing but a bunch of people crying. As a teeny-tiny bony scribe, I used to be fascinated with people crying. Not after watching the video for this song. No way...
19. Lonely Ol' Night by John Mellencamp. The only type of night I've ever really known.
18. Saving All My Love For You by Whitney Houston. I slow danced the end of this song to my one-time middle school crush. It was the only opportunity I had to do so for she relocated to a different school not long afterwards. Just my luck.
17. Take On Me by a-ha. Everytime I hear this song, I immediately think of a Vine (remember those?) I saw put to the intro to this song.
16. Smokin' In The Boys Room by Motley Crue. Some kid named Jerry from my middle school used to sing along to this song, but he added his own lyrics to it. I didn't know what in the world he was talking about until many years later. Ah the joys of being raised in a very conservative, pseudo-evangelic family (and town).
15. Oh Sheila by Ready For The World. I know of two Shielas, one was a teacher in the little podunk town I just spoke of, and the other was a classmate who I wish I got to know better. The former was arguably the best-looking teacher in our town, which isn't saying much other than there was absolutely no chance of a Mary Kay LeTourneau situation happening in our school...
14. Dress You Up by Madonna. Indulge me for a moment, while I melt inside...
13. Dare Me by The Pointer Sisters. Now we arrive at the basis for this flashback. Is Don on the phone? And where arre the picture I was supposed to get last week?! Ponderous, man. Now on with our countdown. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
12. You're Only Human (Second Wind) by Billy Joel
11. Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. I'm still waiting for my summer of '69 (IYKYK).
10. Invincible by Pat Benatar. Also featured on several YTMND memes.
9. Pop Life by Prince
8. Freedom by Wham! Remember in 1985 when Wham! toured China? Four years later Tiananmen Square happened and any hopes of Chinese freedom flew out the door.
7. Freeway Of Love by Aretha Franklin. I remember when Real Radio 104.1 in Orlando was starting out in the summer of '93. They would play this song almost hourly on the weekends when they weren't airing lame talk radio.
6. Don't Lose My Number by Phil Collins. If I had a dollar for every time in my life someone had lost my number, I'd probably still be up the creek without a paddle.
5. The Power Of Love by Huey Lewis & The News
4. Cherish by Kool and the Gang
3. Money For Nothing by Dire Straits. Good luck hearing the full unedited version of this song in 2023...even on Spotify
2. We Don't Need Another Hero by Tina Turner
and the number one song the week of the Dead Dog Dedication was...
1. St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion) by John Parr. He had this hit and then faded into Bolivia as Mike Tyson would put it. He just dipped.
Well, I FINALLY got through another blog post. I hope to finish the one I had started within the next couple of weeks. I have a lot of things that need to get done, but for now, take care.
More To Come
CT
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