song of the day – “Under Pressure” – QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE | 1981 / 1982.

Today, January 8, 2020, would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday.  But, on David Bowie’s birthday, for the past few years, I tend to think about January 10th, the day we lost him at age 69.  I know it’s weird to think of it like that.  It also reminds me that one of my first blog posts ever was about David Bowie. 

With this blog being three parts autobiographical, singles chart nerdiness and my love for the 80s, one thing I didn’t count on was how much more about myself I would learn through these songs and these artists when writing about them.  When I first wrote about David Bowie, I mentioned that, growing up, although I enjoyed his music very much, he wasn’t one of my immediate favorites.  But, and this surprised me the most, when I thought about it after he died, I realized that David Bowie was always a part of my life, in some form, at least since the 1977 Xmas special he did with Bing Crosby.  More than 42 years later, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” is still my favorite Xmas song.

David Bowie and Bing Crosby, 1977.

David Bowie was also on the first record I ever bought with my own money, QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS, at the former LaVerdiere’s Drug Store across the river from where I’m writing this (in Wooterville, Maine, or Waterville, Maine for the uninitiated).  You throw in LET’S DANCE, LIVE AID, LABYRINTH and more, over the years, my love for David and his music grew more and more.  For years, I resisted getting a tattoo, and three months and a week after he died, I got my first tattoo with Mr. Bowie on my right shoulder, saying “We can be Heroes, just for one day.”  Just felt right and still does.  Sometimes, when Maryhope and I are on the air together, and we play David Bowie, I tend to refer to him as “the ever-present David Bowie.”  And he is, and not just because he’s on my shoulder.

Some of the early Elektra pressings of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS had a new song on the album, with David Bowie — “Under Pressure.”  And I’m so grateful I got one of the early pressings.  My 39-year-old copy of the album is beat to shit, after the millions of times I played it, but as the first album I ever owned, I’ll never part with it.

Not my copy, this is mint compared to my beat-up copy!

Being a lanky 14-year-old singles chart nerd (and nerd in general) in 1981, one of the things I enjoyed most about QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS were the liner notes.  It had mini bios of each song, and revealed what positions the songs charted in both the U.K. and the U.S., which was a thrill for me, because at that time, I had little knowledge of how songs did across the pond, or other parts of the globe.

Here’s what the liner notes looked like on the first U.S. pressings of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS, right down to the crease in the upper right corner.

What I didn’t know is that, on the U.K. and Ireland versions of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS (or actually just titled GREATEST HITS, though I never called it that), “Under Pressure” was nowhere to be found.  But, on (at least) the American, Canadian and Japanese versions of the compilation, it was thankfully there.  And I instantly fell in love with it. 

“Under Pressure” was the brilliant pairing of two of the greatest voices in the history of music — Queen’s Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.  Absolute total fucking genius.  I’ve heard stories of stressful moments between them during the recording of “Under Pressure,” which, depending on your interpretation of the song, could be about stress and pressure because of work, politics, life, love, family, war, war within yourself, or anything.  When I hear “Under Pressure,” I don’t feel pressure at all, I don’t think about the battles Freddie and David had whilst making the song.  I just feel the love that was put into the song and I hear the passion and conviction in each of their voices:

“Love, love, love, love, love / Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking / Can’t we give ourselves one more chance? / Why can’t we give love that one more chance? / Why can’t we give love, give love, give love, give love / Give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?…”

The unassuming, pressure-free cover art for the “Under Pressure” single.

“Under Pressure” was released the last week in October 1981, on the same day as QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS.  Within two weeks, it debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 at No. 80.  In early December 1981, it debuted in the Top 40 at No. 40.  A month later, in early January 1982, it spent a couple of weeks at its peak position of No. 29, 15 total weeks on the Hot 100, and was gone by late February.  I can’t express enough how pissed I was (or as pissed as a then-15-year-old nerd living in Central Maine could get) that “Under Pressure” didn’t get the recognition it deserved. 

Unbeknownst to me, though, in many other parts of the globe, “Under Pressure” DID indeed get the recognition it deserved.  In the U.K., it spent two weeks at No. 1, a week at No. 1 in the Netherlands, and reached the Top 10 in (at least) Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.  Why Americans couldn’t get behind this masterpiece is a question that eluded me for a very long time.

10 years to the week after “Under Pressure” hit No. 1 in the U.K., Freddie Mercury sadly passed away at the age of 45.  His loss was felt everywhere, and less than six months after he died, a benefit concert was put together in honor of him.  Many artists performed with the surviving members of Queen, including Robert Plant, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, George Michael, Elton John, and when it came time for “Under Pressure,” Queen’s Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon performed with David Bowie, and singing Freddie’s part of the song, the extraordinary Annie Lennox of Eurythmics.  The performance was magnificent, and an amazing tribute indeed, that I’m sure Freddie would have loved.

Annie Lennox and David Bowie, from the Freddie Mercury Tribute, April 20, 1992.

Over the years, you couldn’t escape “Under Pressure” being featured in numerous TV shows and movies, including a touching scene in the brilliant 1997 John Cusack film, GROSSE POINTE BLANK.

John Cusack and a baby, quietly jamming out to “Under Pressure” in 1997’s GROSSE POINTE BLANK.

When David Bowie died in 2016, many of his songs returned to the charts everywhere in the world, even here in America.  On the BILLBOARD Hot 100, “Under Pressure” was the highest Bowie song to re-enter the chart, at No. 45 — over “Let’s Dance,” over “Fame,” over “Space Oddity.”  And now (maybe also due in part due to the excellent 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY), “Under Pressure” is in heavy rotation at Retro Rock and Classic Rock stations all over.  It took awhile, but here in the U.S., “Under Pressure” has finally gotten the recognition it has deserved all along.

I want to travel back in time and go to there!

It’s hard to believe that, at one time in my life, David Bowie was not one of my favorite artists.  But, today, January 8, 2020, and well before today, and with many eternally grateful thanks to Maryhope, I can honestly say David Bowie is one of my all-time favorite artists.  I can’t imagine my life without him or his music. 

If I had access to a working DeLorean time machine, you can bet your 88 miles an hour ass that I would go back in time and see David perform live and buy everything of his that I could, at those moments.  But, since that’s not yet physically possible, I take comfort in the fact he left us an incredibly brilliant catalog of music that stretches far across the universe and then some. 

I also take comfort with something Maryhope often reminds me of, how we existed on this planet at the same time as David Bowie.  That’s so fucking cool.  Also so fucking cool is a thought I’ve had of David hanging out with Maryhope’s dad, Dennis, and my two baby brothers, Mark and Jonn — because they can.

Happy Birthday, Starman, wherever you are.  My love to you all…

“Cause love’s such an old fashioned word / And love dares you to care for / The people on the edge of the night / And love (people on streets) dares you to change our way of / Caring about ourselves / This is our last dance / This is our last dance / This is ourselves / Under pressure / Under pressure / Pressure…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

song of the day – “A Love Bizarre” | SHEILA E. featuring PRINCE | 1985.

More and more lately, I keep coming back to these Classic Rock and these retro radio stations playing “80s and More,” and how they are limiting themselves to the same songs by the same artists that every other station like them always plays.  They always tout variety, and yet, the song(s) remain the same.  And, not in a great Led Zeppelin way either.  And in turn, I’ve been thinking about songs they are not playing, and SHOULD BE playing already.  Damn.

Is it really more, or just the same?

Somewhere in the space and time of radio, some “professional” programmer or programming “team” for a collective of similar radio stations thought that it would be brilliant to play the same select group of artists within a six-hour span, maybe even longer. 

Using an “80s and more” station out of Boston as an example, on Tuesday, December 10th, the same artists are repeated a number of times in just a short six-hour span.  Aerosmith was played three times (understandable since they’re from Boston, but still, is hearing Aerosmith on the same radio station once every two hours necessary?), two Elton John songs were played in an hour, and multiple (male) artists were played twice: Men At Work, The Police, Queen, Billy Joel, Journey, Michael Jackson, Foreigner, Hall & Oates, and fucking Bon Jovi, the band who killed New Wave back in 1986 when “You Give Love A Bad Name” hit No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (I half joke about that, but it’s true.).

During that same six-hour span, women were represented just nine times, and though all are awesome, the songs are by the same handful of female (or female-driven) artists they always play in heavy rotation: Scandal, Eurythmics, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Pat Benatar, Heart, The Bangles, and three of the same 70s Fleetwood Mac songs everyone plays (did they forget about all of their sweet work in the 80s?  Or “Tusk” from 1979?  Now THAT would kick ass, and would be branching out!).

Radio programmers! Play this song already, dammit!

While Michael Jackson was played a couple times, I didn’t see any other Soul or R&B artists from the 80s OR MORE OR ANY played at all.  No Aretha?  No Donna Summer (from Boston)?  No Blondie?  No Sheila E.?

Sheila E. performing live, 1978.

Sheila E. turns 62 today (December 12), and by the time she branched out on her own in 1983, she had already worked with music R&B and Pop royalty, including the likes of Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, and she was even a member of The George Duke Band for a few years.

In 1978, the year Prince released his debut album, FOR YOU, he also met Sheila E. (full name Sheila Escovedo) at a concert where she was performing with her father, percussionist Pete Escovedo.  Six years later, 1984 would prove to be a huge year for both of them. 

They teamed up during the PURPLE RAIN recording sessions and sang together on the B-side of “Let’s Go Crazy,” the highly memorable (not to mention one of the best B-sides ever), “Erotic City.”

One of THE BEST (and certainly naughtiest) B-sides EVER.

Working with Prince gave Sheila E. a huge boost to her own career, and just a couple of weeks before the release of PURPLE RAIN, she released her own debut album, THE GLAMOROUS LIFE, which would eventually be certified Gold.  Prince co-produced the album with Sheila E., and wrote the album’s title track, a huge Top 10 hit around the globe.  She also opened for Prince on his PURPLE RAIN tour (THAT would have been a concert to see!).

In late August 1985, Sheila E. released her second album, ROMANCE 1600, again co-produced with Prince (and on Prince’s Warner Bros. imprint, Paisley Park).  By late January 1986, ROMANCE 1600 became another Gold-certified album here in America for Sheila E. 

Fast forward to November 1985, and the funky first single from the album, “A Love Bizarre,” co-written by Prince and Sheila E., and featuring Prince on guitar, bass guitar and backing vocals, was released.  A month earlier, the song was featured in the film, KRUSH GROOVE, starring Sheila E., Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, New Edition, Rick Rubin and Blair Underwood (who you would later see in TV shows like L.A. LAW and SEX AND THE CITY, and many other films in his long acting career).

Most of the music video for “A Love Bizarre” was taken from the film, and the 3:46 single version was whittled down from the album’s epic 12-minute version.

“A Love Bizarre” debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in mid-November 1985 at No. 84.  After a slow start, “A Love Bizarre” reached the Top 40 in the last week of 1985, and after a steady 16-week climb up the Hot 100, it spent a week at No. 11 in early March 1986.  After 23 weeks, “A Love Bizarre” fell off the chart in mid-April 1986.  It was one of the biggest hits of 1986 here in America.

Around the globe, “A Love Bizarre” found some not-so-bizarre love from Germany and The Netherlands, reaching the Top 10.  It also hit No. 14 in Austria, No. 16 in Switzerland, No. 20 in Canada, and charted in the U.K. as well.  It spent two weeks at No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, and was her biggest hit on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart, reaching No. 2.

NERDY FUN FACT: In 1987, the late New Age / World singer and guitarist, Michael Hedges, released his much-heralded live album, LIVE ON THE DOUBLE PLANET, and on that album was a spirited acoustic cover of “A Love Bizarre,” performed live in the Spring of 1987 at the University of Maine at Orono, just about 90 minutes north of where I’m typing this.  At the beginning of the song he sings, “A, B… A, B, C, D… Sheila E!”  It was a frequent covers favorite played during the 20-year-plus run of my 80s radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s, and remains as one of my all-time favorite cover songs.

Though Sheila E. never had another big hit, it doesn’t mean she hasn’t been busy.  She appeared in four total movies, toured with Prince on his SIGN “O” THE TIMES and LOVESEXY tours (when she was briefly engaged to Prince during this time), has released eight albums between 1984 and 2017, performed as a member of the “All-Starrs” for three tours as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, played percussion on Phil Collins’ cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” and a few years later, played percussion on the Maurice Williams classic, “Stay,” for Cyndi’s brilliant 2003 album of standards,  AT LAST.  She has also provided percussion and/or drums for many motion pictures, including MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN.

Sheila E. and Prince, late 80s.

Sheila E. and Prince occasionally got together to perform over the years, and in 2016, following his sad death in April of that year, she released a new song in honor of Prince, called “Girl Meets Boy.”

A 2016 tribute song for Prince.

I still love hearing “The Glamorous Life” on the radio 35 years later, though it’s not played as much as it should be.  But, it’s certainly played more than “A Love Bizarre,” which to this day is highly-regarded as Sheila E.’s signature tune, and yet I NEVER hear it on the radio. 

For those “professional” 80s and retro programmers out there, what in THE H-E-double hockey sticks are you doing?!  What are you waiting for?  I love that Barry Scott’s long-running program, THE LOST 45s, brings some of these big hits, most of which sadly remain lost and forgotten, back to the radio with his wonderful show, but until I can finally get that programmer job I’ve always wanted, radio programmers need to please please please show Sheila E. some birthday love and highly regard “A Love Bizarre.”  Not only does it kick much ass, but NOT showing this song any love IS truly bizarre.

Happy Birthday, Sheila E.!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56gpwl6cohc

song of the day – “Give Peace A Chance” | PLASTIC ONO BAND | 1969 / 1981.

There’s one thing I consistently wish for every Christmas, and that’s peace.  I’m sure I’m not the only one.  John Lennon was one of those people.  In the Spring of 1969, during of the Vietnam War, in a hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a song that became this huge anthem for the anti-war movement here in America during the 1970s.  That song is “Give Peace A Chance.”

The recording session took place at that Montreal hotel on June 1, 1969, and featured many journalists and celebrities, including Timothy Leary, Petula Clark, and Tom Smothers of The Smothers Brothers even played acoustic guitar with John Lennon on “Give Peace A Chance.”

From the recording of “Give Peace A Chance,” June 1, 1969, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

It was released a month later, and became the first solo single released by a Beatle (the band was still together at that point), though it was credited to the Plastic Ono Band, and not directly John Lennon.  The song was a huge success, reaching No. 1 in The Netherlands, and the Top 10 in a least a handful of other countries, including the U.K., where it reached No. 2.  It peaked at No. 14 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 here in America in early September 1969.

Following the tragic death of John Lennon on December 8, 1980, “Give Peace A Chance” (along with many other of his songs) re-entered the U.K. singles chart, and in 1981, peaked at No. 33. 

Over the years, the song has been covered by the likes of U2, Hot Chocolate, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Aerosmith, and even by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as a tribute (and testament) to John Lennon and his message to “Give Peace A Chance.”

In 1991, Yoko Ono and her son with John, Sean Ono Lennon, along with Lenny Kravitz, spearheaded a new version of the song in response to (what eventually became) the Gulf War.  This version recruited many artists from all over the music landscape, including Cyndi Lauper, Peter Gabriel, Ofra Haza, Adam Ant, Terence Trent D’Arby, Dave Stewart, Bruce Hornsby, Little Richard, LL Cool J, Michael McDonald, Wendy & Lisa, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Little Steven Van Zandt, Don Was, Iggy Pop, MC Hammer, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, Randy Newman, and members of the Zappa family, including Dweezil and Moon Unit.

From L to R: Cyndi Lauper, LL Cool J, Sean Ono Lennon and Lenny Kravitz giving peace a chance in 1991.

Sometimes it’s hard to find peace, especially this time of year.  Right now, the so-called “leader” of America is responsible for a partial government shutdown because he didn’t get funding for an unnecessary border wall between the United States and Mexico.  Millions of Americans (including many government workers) are affected by this partial shutdown this holiday season, something they had nothing to do with.  Will they have peace this holiday season?  One can hope.

Back in November 1989, people were tired of the long-standing Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin (and Germany as a whole), and the fall of the Berlin Wall began.  Within two years, the Wall was removed, save for sections serving as a memorial.  East Germany and West Germany became one Germany.  That was almost three decades ago.  So, what’s happening here in America?  Why can’t Mr. Trump take his DeLorean and go back in time to see why it’s wrong to build up walls, and why people don’t want them?

The beginning of the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989.

Much like Germany back in the 80s, the United States of America is not so united these days, sadly.  The country is split in two, like there’s a wall between it.  When you build walls, whether it’s between countries or within yourself, there’s no room for peace.  When you build walls around you, you shut everyone else out.  Mr. Trump’s vision is limited because there is a wall in front of it. 

I think John Lennon, who so loved this country, would have been deeply disappointed about today’s America.  But, I also think he would have done everything he could to give peace that chance it so deserves.  And I know he would have loved the fact that his 49-year-old anthem for peace is still cherished by millions around the globe today. 

My annual Christmas wish for peace for everyone will continue to be my wish. Happy Xmas everyone…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yU0JuE1jTk

song of the day – “Caravan Of Love” | THE HOUSEMARTINS | 1986 / 1987.

Happy Winter Solstice and Happy Holidays everyone!

As a proud singles chart nerd, I have loved singles chart info from all over the globe ever since I can remember.  One chart phenomenon I wasn’t really aware of until well into my adulthood was this phenomenon over in the U.K. and Ireland, a tradition that started back in 1952 and is known as the Christmas No. 1. 

The Christmas No. 1 is prolly the most-coveted piece of chart nerdiness for everyone (artists and fans alike) during the entire year over in the U.K. and Ireland.  Artists rush out to release singles, many of them Christmas singles, in hopes to reach the top of the charts the week in which Christmas falls.  It’s a big deal.

Since 1952, The Beatles hold the record as the act with the most Christmas No. 1’s.  Band Aid’s original 1984 version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (the Christmas No. 1 for that year) is not only the biggest-selling Christmas song of all-time in the U.K., it’s also the second biggest-selling U.K. single of all-time (behind Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997”).  Two other incarnations of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” were Christmas No. 1’s in 1989 and 2004.  The third-biggest selling U.K. single of all-time is Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is the only song to hold the title of Christmas No. 1 twice – during its original 1975 release, and in 1991, following the passing of singer Freddie Mercury a month before.

There are also many popular Christmas singles that didn’t become the coveted Christmas No. 1, including “Last Christmas / Everything She Wants” by Wham! (released the same week as “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and itself is one of the biggest-selling U.K. singles ever), and in 1987,  the beloved “Fairytale Of New York” by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century and oft-regarded as the best Christmas song of all-time.  It was denied the Christmas No. 1 spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of “Always On My Mind.”

In 1986, the race for the U.K. Christmas No. 1 was between a couple of non-holiday songs: a posthumous re-release of “Reet Petite,” a 1957 single by Jackie Wilson, who died in early 1984, and an a cappella cover of “Caravan Of Love,” the third U.K. Top 40 single by Hull, England’s The Housemartins.

“Caravan Of Love” was a song originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley, one-half of the famous Isley Brothers lineup dating back to the 1970s.  The song was a huge R&B hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart in late 1985, and reaching No. 51 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (it was climbing the Hot 100 this week in 1985).

A year after the popularity of the Isley-Jasper-Isley original version of “Caravan Of Love,” The Housemartins released their version, a non-album single and a cappella cover.  With this cover, The Housemartins scored their second Top 10 U.K. single in a year (1986’s “Happy Hour” went to No. 3), and a month after its release, “Caravan Of Love” went to No. 1 on December 20, 1986.  It was only the second a cappella single in U.K. singles chart history to reach No. 1 (the first was the Christmas No. 1 from 1983, “Only You” by The Flying Pickets, a cover of the 1982 Yaz gem).

Jackie Wilson’s re-release of “Reet Petite” reached No. 1 in the U.K. on December 27, 1986 (thanks to a popular claymation video created for the song, which aired on a BBC Two documentary series called ARENA), and stayed there for four weeks.

The 1986 re-release of “Reet Petite.”

Now, even though “Reet Petite” reached No. 1 two days after Christmas 1986, it was No. 1 the week Christmas fell that year (Christmas was on a Thursday that year; the charts were dated for that Saturday, 12/27/86), and therefore won the race for the U.K. Christmas No. 1 for 1986.

“Caravan Of Love,” meanwhile, was a huge hit throughout the globe, reaching No. 2 in Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, No. 3 in The Netherlands, No. 4 in Spain, No. 5 in Belgium, No. 7 in Austria, No. 24 in Australia, and spent eight weeks at No. 1 during 1987 in Sweden.

From the “Caravan Of Love” video.

Though the quartet lost out on the U.K. Christmas No. 1, The Housemartins could take solace in the fact that they claimed the Christmas No. 1 in Ireland, as “Caravan Of Love” spent four weeks on top over the holiday season.

The Housemartins would go on to chart four more times in the U.K. Top 40, before splitting up in 1988.  Singer Paul Heaton, drummer / vocalist Dave Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch would go on to form The Beautiful South, which enjoyed success for the nearly 20 years they were together.  Bassist Norman Cook found some success with Beats International, but is prolly best known for his work under the pseudonym Fatboy Slim, which has given him massive success since 1996.  In January 2018, he released a remix album called FATBOY SLIM VS. AUSTRALIA.

Former Housemartin Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim.

I know not everyone is a singles chart nerd like myself, but I think it’s cool that, at least once a year in at least a couple of countries across the globe, many people become singles chart nerds and then some.  I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t want a No. 1 song for Christmas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehfiQd7lcPY

song of the day – “Tarzan Boy” | BALTIMORA | 1986 / 1993.

On June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem, host of the longtime countdown program, AMERICAN TOP 40, passed away at the age of 82.  From my first blog post (and prolly some more inbetween then and now), I explained how, in 1979, I was a geeky, lanky and somewhat lost 12-year-old living in Central Maine, had a few friends and not a lot of interest in much of anything, but at some point early that year, I discovered AMERICAN TOP 40, and was glued to it every weekend.  Not only could I hear the 40 biggest songs in the country every week, but also Casey’s cool trivia and facts about the songs and the artists, a trait I treasure to this day.  For me, the show was No. 1 with a bullet.  And still is (thanks to the re-airing of broadcasts of AT40 on iHeart Radio).

In honor of my radio hero, Casey Kasem, for the entire month of June (and now through July), I will be highlighting a song each day (some days will have two songs!) that peaked in the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including five (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s), and with every blog post, just like on AMERICAN TOP 40, the hits will get bigger with each post.  On June 1, 2017, I featured a song that peaked at No. 40.  Sometime here in July, I’ll feature a “song of the day” that went all the way to No. 1. 

As Casey used to say on AT40, “And on we go!”

You know, as unlucky as the stigma for being unlucky the number 13 has had as long as I’ve known it, the No. 13 position on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 is something altogether different, or, lucky.  No. 13 has been the home (or treasure trove, if you prefer) to many great classics, like “Money” by Pink Floyd, Queen’s “Somebody To Love,” “Because The Night” by the Patti Smith Group, “Different Drum” by The Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt, “Radar Love” by Golden Earring, “Takin’ It To The Streets” by The Doobie Brothers, Santana’s “Oye Como Va,” “Roundabout” by Yes, “Let’s Talk About Sex” by Salt-N-Pepa, “Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn, “Danke Schoen” by Wayne Newton (featured prominently in the John Hughes classic, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF), “Here Comes My Baby” by The Tremeloes (which my pal Dave Wakeling and The English Beat will be covering on their upcoming album!), “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)” by The Walker Brothers (which was featured in the brilliant but barely-seen 2012 Steve Carell film, SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD), and one of the first singles I ever owned, “Theme From CLOSE ENCOUNTERS” by John Williams. 

I still have my 45 of this, and it looks just as beat up.  After holding onto it for 40 years, I’m not parting with it anytime soon though…

Between 1979 and 1989, there were nearly 60 singles that reached lucky No. 13, and it was a popular number for Bob Seger, who had two hits stop there, as did Kenny Rogers, Elton John and Natalie Cole.  Van Halen had three songs reach No. 13 – “Right Where Ya Started,” and two from the album, 1984: “Panama” and the highly underrated “I’ll Wait.”  Speaking of Van Halen, in 1983, future / former Van Halen lead singer, Sammy Hagar, reached No. 13 with his first Top 40 hit (and biggest solo hit), “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy.”

Some of my 80s favorites stopped at No. 13 too, like “Shadows Of The Night” by Pat Benatar, “All Over The World” by Electric Light Orchestra (from XANADU), “Back In The High Life Again” by Steve Winwood,” “One Night Love Affair” by Bryan Adams and “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

No. 13 must have been a favorite of mine for blog posts as well, as I’ve featured seven of them – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, “People Are People” by Depeche Mode, “Waiting On A Friend” by The Rolling Stones, “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2, plus two of the three (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached No. 13 – M|A|R|R|S (“Pump Up The Volume”) and Frida (“I Know There’s Something Going On”), and one song released in 1989, but peaked at No. 13 in March 1990 – “No Myth” by Michael Penn.

Another song that reached No. 13 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in the 80s came out of Italy, by way of Northern Ireland.  In the late 70s, Jimmy McShane (of Derry, Northern Ireland) was attending a stage school in London, learning how to dance and sing, when he was hired as a stage dancer and backing singer for English singer and musician, Dee D. Jackson.  He toured around Europe with Dee D. and her band, and upon a visit to Italy, he fell in love with Italy’s underground dance scene, and the country itself, and ended up moving to Milan in 1984.

In Milan, he learned the Italian language, and in 1984, met up with Maurizio Bassi, who was a music producer and a musician.  Together, they decided to form the New Wave / Dance band, Baltimora, with Jimmy McShane as the singer and the face of the band.

Baltimora’s Maurizio Bassi, left, and Jimmy McShane.

In early September 1985, they released their debut album, LIVING IN THE BACKGROUND, along with the first single from the album, “Tarzan Boy.”  The catchy song about being free and doing whatever you want in the jungle, without the hustle and bustle of living in the city, took about a month and a half to find its way to the BILLBOARD Hot 100, but did find it in mid-October 1985, when it debuted at No. 80.

“Tarzan Boy” steadily moved up the chart at first, but lost its chart “bullet” (for sales and airplay) in its sixth chart week, and stalled at No. 62 for three weeks.  By early December 1985, “Tarzan Boy” had regained its bullet and started moving back up the Hot 100, reaching the Top 40 in mid-January 1986.

By March 1, 1986, “Tarzan Boy” had been on the chart for 20 weeks (longer than some No. 1 songs), and spent a week at No. 13.  “Tarzan Boy” spent half a year on the survey and finished the year at No. 73.

Around the globe, “Tarzan Boy” was a massive hit, reaching No. 1 in Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Spain, and the Top 10 in the U.K., Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the BILLBOARD Dance chart.

Despite the success of “Tarzan Boy,” Baltimora had a hard time duplicating that success for its other singles and second album, 1987’s SURVIVOR IN LOVE.  Following “Tarzan Boy,” the title track from their debut album, LIVING IN THE BACKGROUND, peaked at No. 87 on the Hot 100, and a few other singles reached the Top 40 singles chart in Italy, but nothing more.  Baltimora broke up after the record label (in this case, Manhattan) dropped them. 

From the 1993 commercial for Cool Mint Listerine, which used “Tarzan Boy.”

Fast forward to 1993, and a new remix of “Tarzan Boy” was used in a Cool Mint Listerine commercial (with animation by future film giant, Pixar).  Well, it didn’t stop there.  “Tarzan Boy” was also featured that year in the film, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III, and the combination of the two sent “Tarzan Boy” back onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100, re-entering the chart in late March 1993. 

“Tarzan Boy” climbed as high as No. 51 and spent 12 additional weeks on the Hot 100, and a total of 38 weeks combined.  With new hits by Duran Duran, R.E.M., Madonna, INXS, New Order and Boy George’s Pet Shop Boys-produced theme to THE CRYING GAME, the 80s were still sticking around in 1993.  But it was pretty cool to hear “Tarzan Boy” on the radio again.

The cover art for the 1993 reissue of “Tarzan Boy.”

Sadly, the following year, Jimmy McShane, the face of Baltimora, was diagnosed with AIDS while in Milan in 1994.  A few months later, he returned to his hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, the place where his family had shunned him many years before for being gay.  He died in Derry in late March 1995 at the young age of 37.  And, despite his family’s earlier stance towards Jimmy’s homosexuality, after his death, a family spokesperson said, “He faced his illness with courage and died with great dignity.”

The legacy of Jimmy and “Tarzan Boy” live on today, and the song continues to be covered by other artists and has appeared in films, like Seth MacFarlane’s 2014 film, A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST.  And, “Tarzan Boy” is still heard on the radio today, as it should, because, who wouldn’t want to dance around to a fun, catchy song about being free and roaming around the jungle, removed from that city life?

“Jungle life, I’m far away from nowhere / On my own like Tarzan Boy / Hide and seek, I play along while rushing ‘cross the forest / Monkey business on a sunny afternoon…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY

song of the day – “Slipping Away” | DAVE EDMUNDS | 1983.

On June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem, host of the longtime countdown program, AMERICAN TOP 40, passed away at the age of 82.  From my first blog post (and prolly some more inbetween then and now), I explained how, in 1979, I was a geeky, lanky and somewhat lost 12-year-old living in Central Maine, had a few friends and not a lot of interest in much of anything, but at some point early that year, I discovered AMERICAN TOP 40, and was glued to it every weekend.  Not only could I hear the 40 biggest songs in the country every week, but also Casey’s cool trivia and facts about the songs and the artists, a trait I treasure to this day.  For me, the show was No. 1 with a bullet.  And still is (thanks to the re-airing of broadcasts of AT40 on iHeart Radio).

In honor of my radio hero, Casey Kasem, for the entire month of June, I will be highlighting a song each day (some days will have two songs!) that peaked in the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including five (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s), and with every blog post, just like on AMERICAN TOP 40, the hits will get bigger with each post.  On June 1, 2017, I featured a song that peaked at No. 40.  On June 30, I’ll feature a “song of the day” that went all the way to No. 1. 

As Casey used to say on AT40, “And on we go!”

In researching for this blog post, I found a lot more songs from the 80s that peaked at No. 39 than expected, at least 30.  There were some great ones, like “Atomic” by Blondie, “I Don’t Care Anymore” by Phil Collins, “In The Mood” by Robert Plant,” “Looking For A Stranger” by Pat Benatar, “My Town” by the Michael Stanley Band, “Skin Trade” by Duran Duran, “Tomorrow People” by Ziggy Marley, “(What) In The Name Of Love” by Naked Eyes, “Second Nature” by Dan Hartman, “Who’s Making Love” by The Blues Brothers, Bon Jovi’s first hit, “Runaway,” ELO’s sadly-forgotten “Last Train To London,” the gorgeous “Wake Up (Next To You)” by Graham Parker And The Shot, and six (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s.

I also found some songs I had forgotten about, like “Don’t Let Him Know” by Prism and “New Romance (It’s A Mystery)” by Spider, and some stinkers among the bunch, including “Memory” by Barry Manilow, “Sartorial Eloquence” by Elton John (sorry Elton, with a song title like that, it was bound not to work out), and the “WTF was I thinking with this song” song by Mick Jagger, “Let’s Work.”  Downright awful.  Don’t watch the video – that’s four minutes you’re not getting back.

I nearly chose “Wake Up (Next To You)” as my selection for a song that peaked at No. 39 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, but I wanted to choose instead a gem from the sensationally-talented Welsh singer / songwriter / guitarist / über-producer, Dave Edmunds.

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Dave Edmunds first got his big break with a band called Love Sculpture, and in 1968, they reached No. 5 on the U.K. singles chart with a song called “Sabre Dance.”  Two years later, he had himself a huge international solo hit called “I Hear You Knocking,” which spent six weeks at No. 1 in the U.K., reached No. 3 in Canada and New Zealand, and No. 4 in the U.S. and Australia.  Dave’s version was actually a cover of a 1955 hit by R&B singer Smiley Lewis, and then covered by the legendary Fats Domino in 1961.  It’s also been covered many times over the decades, including versions by Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams.

Through the end of the 1970s, Dave Edmunds picked up another three Top 10 U.K. hits, including Silver-Certified “Girls Talk,” written by Elvis Costello and appearing on his 1979 album, REPEAT WHEN NECESSARY (on Led Zeppelin’s SWAN SONG label). 

NERDY FUN FACTS: Huey Lewis appears on that same 1979 Dave Edmunds album, playing harmonica on a song he wrote called “Bad Is Bad,” four years before it would appear on Huey’s own monster album with The News, SPORTS.  And a song called “Queen Of Hearts” was also on the album, a No. 11 U.K. hit for Dave Edmunds that would become a big global hit for New Jersey Country singer, Juice Newton, in 1981.

Yepper, that’s Huey Lewis’ name and song on Led Zeppelin’s label, years before Huey became a star in his own right…

In addition to being a successful singer, songwriter and musician, Dave Edmunds was also a popular producer for other artists, including producing several albums by The Stray Cats, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, his side project with Nick Lowe, Rockpile, and k.d. lang’s second album, ANGEL WITH A LARIAT.

In all the years Dave Edmunds produced his own albums and the works of other artists, when it came time to work on his own 1983 album, INFORMATION, Dave did something he had never done before – he collaborated with another producer, in this case, Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra.

Jeff Lynne would go on to produce two songs on the album – the title track, and the album’s first single, “Slipping Away,” which Jeff Lynne also wrote.  “Slipping Away” entered the BILLBOARD Hot 100 at No. 93 in mid-May 1983.  I confess I didn’t know much about Dave Edmunds when this song came out, but I loved the updated twangy sound. 

With the help of airplay on the relatively new MTV, “Slipping Away” inched its way up the Hot 100, reaching its peak position of No. 39 nearly three months after debuting on the chart.  Four weeks after reaching the Top 40, “Slipping Away” slipped its way out of the Hot 100.  It’s his last Top 40 hit to date. 

Dave Edmunds, now 73, released two albums in recent years, one in 2013 called …AGAIN (featuring recordings from the 90s and four new songs), and in 2015 (ON GUITAR…RAGS & CLASSICS).

It’s his twangy, Jeff Lynne-penned and produced No. 39 hit, though, that caught my ear, which introduced me to a music legend, and is a song that has never slipped away from me since, and won’t…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFETrcH1Dks

song of the day – “The Way It Is” | BRUCE HORNSBY AND THE RANGE | 1986.

There are some songs out there that can’t be grouped in with ballads or Dance or straight up Rock ’n’ Roll songs because they don’t fit in any of those categories.  But, you know, just because you can’t shake your booty to them or you prolly can’t slow dance to them at a wedding reception doesn’t mean they aren’t good; it just means they don’t really fit into any particular category you’re used to.  Case in point, at least for me, is today’s “song of the day” – “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby And The Range. 

Bruce Hornsby, a native of Williamsburg, Virginia, first got his music “start” in 1974 in a band put together by his older brother, Bobby (then a student at the University of Virginia), called Bobby Hi-Test And The Octane Kids, playing covers of songs by The Band, Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers at frat parties. 

That gig didn’t last long, but Bruce’s association with music continued.  He studied music at the University of Richmond, Boston’s Berklee School Of Music, and the University of Miami, where he graduated from in 1977.  After college, he went back to Williamsburg for a short time and played piano in clubs and bars before meeting up with his younger brother, John, in Los Angeles in 1980. 

QUIRKY FUN FACT(S): You can find Bruce Hornsby at the ol’ 88’s and hamming it up for the camera in Sheena Easton’s late 1984 hit, “Strut,” a song that was co-written by Charlie Dore, one of the (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s with her own 1980 hit, “Pilot Of The Airwaves.”  Bruce Hornsby was a member of Sheena’s touring band, and he also appeared in the video for Sheena’s Prince-penned and PMRC target practice favorite, “Sugar Walls.”

Yes, that’s really Bruce Hornsby in the 1984 video for Sheena Easton’s “Strut.”

In between his time in L.A. and touring with Sheena Easton, he formed a five-man Rock band called Bruce Hornsby And The Range, and they were signed to RCA Records in 1985.  Their debut album, THE WAY IT IS, was released on April 1, 1986, and seven of the nine songs on the album were written by Bruce Hornsby and his younger brother, John.  Bruce wrote the songs “Every Little Kiss” and the album’s title track.

The first incarnation of the album, was, oddly enough, targeted to New Age listeners (which I’m still trying to figure out).  The album even had a different cover that prolly most people who are familiar with the album haven’t seen, with an impressionistic shot of Bruce Hornsby playing the accordion.

The original cover art for THE WAY IT IS album.

A couple of months following the release of THE WAY IT IS, the first single released from the album was “Every Little Kiss,” which took two months to debut on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 and stopped at No. 72 in August 1986, but which still managed to stay on the chart for a couple months.

Well, once “Every Little Kiss” started getting airplay, THE WAY IT IS album got remixed, and a new cover was commissioned, this time with a darker, sepia-toned color, with a simple shot of the band in the foreground, and a shot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the background.  The change must have worked.

The last week “Every Little Kiss” was on the Hot 100, the album’s title track debuted at No. 86.  By the following week, it had already surpassed the peak of “Every Little Kiss.”  “The Way It Is” reached the Top 40 in mid-October and the Top 10 a month later. 

I think what latched me onto “The Way It Is” at first was the impressive way Bruce Hornsby knew his way around a piano.  You don’t normally hear piano solos in Pop songs, let alone two of them in the same song.  Still impresses me to this day.  It didn’t sound like anything else, and it certainly didn’t sound like a Pop song, popular at the same time as songs by Bon Jovi, The Bangles, Peter Cetera and Amy Grant, Huey Lewis And The News, Duran Duran and Wang Chung. 

This is a song which brings up homelessness, the welfare divide of the rich and the poor, the Civil Rights movement and racism: “Well they passed a law in ’64 / To give those who ain’t got a little more / But it only goes so far / ‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind / When all it sees at the hiring time / Is the line on the color bar, no…”

Well, it may not have fit in at wedding receptions or night clubs, but “The Way It Is” was a big hit with record buyers and radio listeners, and it spent a week at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in mid-December 1986, and finished at No. 8 for all of 1987.

Around the globe, “The Way It Is” reached No. 1 in Holland, No. 3 in Belgium, No. 4 in Canada, No. 8 in Ireland, and the Top 20 in the U.K., Germany, South Africa and Switzerland.

After the success of “The Way It Is,” Bruce and his band picked up the Best New Artist Grammy Award and would release two more studio albums together, going on to have hits with “Mandolin Rain” (No. 4, 1987), a re-issue of “Every Little Kiss” (No. 14, 1987),  “The Valley Road” (No. 5, 1988), “Look Out Any Window” (No. 35, 1988) and “Across The River” (No. 18, 1990). 

Bruce Hornsby would also have a songwriting credit (with his brother, John) on a No. 1 song by Huey Lewis And The News – “Jacob’s Ladder,” which spent a week at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in mid-March 1987, and which Bruce and The Range would record for their second album, 1988’s SCENES FROM THE SOUTHSIDE.  Incidentally, Huey Lewis co-produced THE WAY IT IS album, and played harmonica and provided backing vocals on the album track, “Down The Road Tonight.”

In a 2015 interview with Kate Mossman of the NEW STATESMAN, a political and cultural U.K. magazine, Bruce Hornsby was asked why “The Way It Is” was so successful, which he couldn’t do.  But, he did say, “I see it as a novelty record.  There are things that set it apart.  I feel the same way about ‘Sultans of Swing’ by Dire Straits.  It goes down easy and isn’t that what a lot of pop is about?  But at the same time, it’s a completely different sound than you’d heard.  Even the big piano guys like Elton and Billy Joel, they didn’t really solo like that.  A pleasing sound with solos.  Like Mark Knopfler on ‘Sultans of Swing.’  That’s how I explain it.  But that’s complete crap, too, probably.”

That same year, Elton John had said when Bruce Hornsby played piano on Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 beautiful heartbreaking gem, “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” it made him “seek perfection.  It is sublime.  He is one of the best pianists – if not THE best – out there.”

Bruce has long since left Pop music and has gone his own way, playing music from a plethora of genres, like Jazz, Blues, Bluegrass, Jam Band, Gospel and most recently, performing with his Rock / Folk touring band, The Noisemakers.  Interestingly enough, on their fourth studio album, REHAB REUNION (released in June 2016), Bruce Hornsby does NOT play the instrument for which is world-renowned, but instead plays the dulcimer, an instrument that the incomparable Cyndi Lauper has embraced on her albums and tours for many years.  There’s even a sweet, almost unrecognizable seven-minute folk version of his 1988 hit, “The Valley Road,” on the album.  It’s actually quite lovely.

Bruce Hornsby sure has come a long way from appearing in Sheena Easton videos and picking up a No. 1 hit of his own.  And, for more than 30 years, he had some success, and has performed with some of his music heroes, like Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead, Don Henley, Ricky Scaggs and Bonnie Raitt, to name a few.  Now, Bruce is 62, married with twin adult sons, plays basketball when he’s not playing music (he’s 6’ 4”), and plays music for the absolute love of it.  You gotta respect that.  I know I do.

“That’s just the way it is / Some things will never change…”  Or, in the case of Bruce Hornsby, maybe they do…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOeKidp-iWo

xmas song of the day – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” | BAND AID | 1984 / 1985.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 30 of THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is prolly the biggest holiday song of my generation, written and spearheaded by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox, in response to the TV reports of famine in Ethiopia – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid.

Bob and Midge first got together about this project in early November 1984, and knew they had a limited time frame to work with, if they wanted to get the song ready for the holiday.  They put the song together, and then started recruiting many of the biggest recording stars in the U.K. and Ireland at the time (save for Chicago’s Jody Watley and Jersey City’s Kool & The Gang, who happened to be on the same record label as The Boomtown Rats and who happened to be in there when Bob Geldof pitched the idea to the label). 

Bob Geldof (in his “Feed The World” T-shirt) and Midge Ure.

They then asked famed producer Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Art Of Noise) if he would produce, but he told Bob and Midge that he would need at least six weeks to do it, which wouldn’t get the record ready in time for Xmas.  Though Trevor Horn wasn’t able to produce the original single, he did offer a studio for them to use free of charge for 24 hours on Sunday, November 25, 1984, and he later produced and remixed the 12” single for a 1985 re-release.

Nearly 40 recording artists, including members of Duran Duran, U2, Culture Club, The Boomtown Rats, Bananarama, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox and Status Quo, as well as folks like Sting, Paul Young, George Michael, Phil Collins (who played drums on the song) and Paul Weller of The Style Council, participated on the benefit record.  Artists who weren’t able to be there but who sent in recorded messages were David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Big Country.  These messages were included on the single’s B-side and as part of the 12” extended mix.

It took only a week after recording ended to release “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  The single had 250,000 advance orders and that number swelled to a million less than a week after its release.  Phonogram (who put out the single in the U.K.) had all five of its European factories working on pressing that one single to help meet demand.

On December 15, 1984, just 12 days after its release, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” spent the first of its five weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.  It was the fastest-selling single in U.K. chart history and sold three million copies in the U.K. alone by the end of 1984.  Until Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997” 13 years later, it was the biggest-selling single of all-time in the U.K.

Around the globe, the response to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was phenomenal.  It also reached No. 1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Over here in the U.S., the video for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was played often throughout the holiday season on MTV, and the single was released on December 10, 1984 on Columbia Records.  A few days before Xmas, it debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 at No. 65.  For the first chart in 1985, it shot up to No. 20.  But, despite the fact it was outselling Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” (the No. 1 single then) by a four-to-one margin (selling nearly two million copies in its first eleven days of release), the lack of airplay prevented it from charting any higher than No. 13.  It was gone from the Hot 100 after just nine weeks, departing in mid-February.

Bob Geldof had hoped “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” would raise £70,000 for Ethiopia, but instead, it raised £8 million within a year of its release.  And the support of the Ethiopian famine relief didn’t stop there. 

In early March 1985, (mostly) American recording artists teamed up as USA For Africa for the “We Are The World” single and album.  Canadian artists banded together as Northern Lights for “Tears Are Not Enough.”  The LIVE AID concert on July 13, 1985 brought musicians and fans together in London, Philadelphia and around the globe to raise money for famine relief.

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was re-recorded three times – in 1989, 2004 and 2014 – all three re-recordings reached No. 1 in the U.K. and all were charity records for Africa (the 1989 and 2004 versions went to famine relief, while the 2014 version raised money for the Ebola crisis in West Africa).

For this Xmas (and always), of course, the best gift I’d love to get is peace, love and understanding, especially for my wealth of family and friends.  I’d also love to see more support for those less fortunate than you or I.  On the 12” single for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” David Bowie puts out a plea for support: “It’s Christmas 1984, and there are more starving folk on the planet than ever before.  Please give a thought for them this season and do whatever you can, however small, to help them live.  Have a peaceful New Year.” 

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (especially the 12” extended mix) will always have a special place in my heart.  And from that 12” single, David Bowie’s plea, 32 years later, still resonates to this day. 

In Maine, there are so many folks in need – of food, heat, medicine, shelter, and affordable health care, for starters.  I’m sure it’s like that all over the US of A, and all over the world.  2016 has been a particularly rough year for a lot of reasons, and I do hope and pray that 2017 will be a peaceful New Year.  But first, Happy Xmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you choose to celebrate, if anything – be safe, have fun and do what you can to help those who won’t have much of either this holiday season…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc8TYsYb5i0

xmas song of the day – “The Power Of Love” | FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD | 1984.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 26 of THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is a song I had intended on posting for you before Xmas, but after the terror attacks during the past couple of days in parts of the globe – notably a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany – this was on my mind: “The Power Of Love” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Written by four out of the five members of the Liverpool, England band, “The Power Of Love” was released in mid-November 1984 as the third single from their brilliant double-album debut, WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME. 

Though the song itself has no reference to Christmas itself, the video for “The Power Of Love” depicts the birth of Christ, the single features a reproduction of the 16th Century painting of the Assumption of the Virgin, and, in the process, many folks (including yours truly) considered this to be a Christmas song.

It only took three weeks from its November 19, 1984 release for “The Power Of Love” to reach No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.  It gave Frankie Goes To Hollywood their third consecutive No. 1 U.K. hit, following one of the most controversial songs ever (“Relax”) and a Cold War Classic (“Two Tribes”), and gave Frankie the distinction of being only the second act in U.K. singles chart history to reach No. 1 with their first three releases.  The first act, by the way, was Gerry & The Peacemakers, also from Liverpool, and whom Frankie covered on WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME (with “Ferry Cross The Mersey”).  Gerry & Co. did the feat in 1963.

“The Power Of Love” might have spent more than a week at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart had it not been for the next song to reach No. 1- the charity record by Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  For nearly thirteen years, that single would become the biggest-selling U.K. single ever until “Candle In The Wind 1997” by Elton John.

Around the globe, “The Power Of Love” was a Top 10 hit in at least Australia, Austria, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland, and was certified Gold in the U.K. and Italy.  It was re-issued in 1993 and reached No. 10 in the U.K., and a 2000 remix reached No. 6.

The gatefold version of “The Power Of Love” 12″ single I picked up back in the day.  In the lower left corner, it reads, appropriately enough, “Thou shalt not bend.”

Sometime after the song’s release, FGTH lead singer (and co-writer) Holly Johnson once said, “I always felt like The Power Of Love was the record that would save me in this life.  There is a biblical aspect to its spirituality and passion; the fact that love is the only thing that matters in the end.”

Dedicated to Berlin and beyond…  #BerlinAndBeyond #ThePowerOfLove #LoveTrumpsHate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyoTvgPn0rU

xmas song of the day – “Last Christmas” | WHAM! | 1984.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 2 of the 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is a longtime guilty pleasure for me, and remains as one of the most popular holiday songs since its release in 1984: “Last Christmas” by Wham!

Wham! had a huge year in 1984, not just in their U.K. homeland, but worldwide, and upon its U.K. release (as a double A-sided single with “Everything She Wants”), “Last Christmas” was in the running for the coveted “Christmas No. 1 single” on the U.K. singles chart with Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power Of Love” (from their brilliant double album debut, WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME). 

Well, on December 8, 1984, two days before “Last Christmas” was released, “The Power Of Love” did reach the No. 1 spot in the U.K., but I don’t think either act could have anticipated the reach of Bob Geldof (of The Boomtown Rats) and Midge Ure (of Ultravox), and Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, the benefit record they wrote and put together to fight famine in Ethiopia. 

With the help of many (mostly) British recording artists (including George Michael of Wham!; and on the 12” remix in a spoken word message, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood), “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” not only became that coveted “Christmas No. 1” for 1984, it stayed at No. 1 in the U.K. for five weeks and became the biggest-selling single for the entire 1980s, and was the U.K.’s biggest-selling single of all-time through 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997” claimed the title.

As much as George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley would have liked to see their “Last Christmas” be the “Christmas No. 1” in the U.K. for Xmas 1984, I’m betting they were more than okay settling for No. 2 behind “Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

On a related note, all money and royalties received for the “Last Christmas” / “Everything She Wants” single went to the Ethiopian famine relief effort.  Over the years, “Last Christmas” returned to the U.K. singles chart (between 1986 and 2015) eleven more times, reaching No. 6 in 1986, No. 14 in 2007 and No. 18 in 2015.  As of June 2016, “Last Christmas” has sold 1.8 million singles in the U.K. alone, and is the biggest-selling single in the U.K. to not reach No. 1.

Though not a hit here in North America upon its release (their first U.S. Top 40 hit, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” had finished its 3-week stay at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 a week before the release of “Last Christmas”), it was a hit around the globe, reaching No. 2 in Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Sweden, No. 3 in Australia, Denmark, Finland and Greece, No. 4 in Austria and Germany (where it spent a whopping 88 weeks on the chart!), No. 6 in Switzerland, No. 8 in Poland and No. 9 in Spain.

FUNNY TRUE STORY:  This, um, last Christmas (Xmas 2015), an Austrian radio DJ was disciplined when he intentionally played “Last Christmas” 24 times in a row.  The guy barricaded himself in the studio, away from his co-host and producers so they couldn’t change the song.  If he played the Pudding Mix of the song, which is 6-and-a-half minutes long, for example, those radio listeners heard 2-and-a-half hours of “Last Christmas” back  to back to back.  Good times.  This marathon-of-sorts started at 8:00am and stopped a couple hours later when the DJ’s four-year-old daughter called to complain.  Can’t please everybody.  As a result of his little stunt, this DJ had to work Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Since its release, “Last Christmas” has been covered dozens of times, from the likes of Coldplay, The Puppini Sisters, the GLEE cast, Savage Garden, Manic Street Preachers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Arctic Monkeys, Metro Station, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Richard Cheese, whose version is more of a parody.  From his 2006 album, SILENT NIGHTCLUB, his 20-second cover begins “somewhat” normal, but ten seconds in, he says, “We were gonna do a swingin’ lounge version of ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!, but that song sucks.  Next tune!” 

While I do consider “Last Christmas” to be a longtime guilty pleasure, my tolerance level for the song is way better than that of Richard Cheese.  I’ve often played it on my annual holiday shows, and may play it one more time, for this “Last Christmas” show…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI