song of the day – “Infatuation” | ROD STEWART | 1984.

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!”

About 70 songs peaked at No. 6 between 1979 and 1989, and out of these songs I found many favorites, like “Lay Your Hands On Me” by Thompson Twins, “The Logical Song” by Supertramp, “Don’t Let It End” by Styx (a great song you almost never hear anymore), “Breakout” by Swing Out Sister, “Late In The Evening” by Paul Simon, the gorgeous “Piano In The Dark” by Brenda Russell featuring Joe Esposito, “Your Love” by The Outfield, “Neutron Dance” by The Pointer Sisters (from BEVERLY HILLS COP), “Come Dancing” by The Kinks, “Him” by Rupert Holmes (love those story songs), “Steppin’ Out” by Joe Jackson, “Family Man” by Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman, “Funkytown” by Pseudo Echo, “Word Up” by Cameo, “Obsession” by Animotion, “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions (from CADDYSHACK), “Some Like It Hot” and “Election Day” by Duran Duran spinoffs The Power Station and Arcadia, respectively, and “I Drove All Night” by the incomparable Cyndi Lauper.  I’ll come back to Cyndi in a moment.

The No. 6 position was also a favorite for Huey Lewis & The News, who placed four songs at No. 6, and three of those were consecutive No. 6 hits from their monster 1983 album, SPORTS – “I Want A New Drug,” “The Heart Of Rock & Roll” and “If This Is It.” 

Bryan Adams, Dr. Hook, Little River Band and John Mellencamp each had two No. 6 hits, plus there were two fantastic ballads by Bruce Springsteen from BORN IN THE U.S.A. (“I’m On Fire” and “My Hometown”), and two songs by Rod Stewart – “Love Touch” and one of my all-time favorite songs by the London native, “Infatuation.”

On Friday, July 14, 2017, my oldest friend, Peter, and I had the absolute privilege of seeing Cyndi Lauper and Rod Stewart perform in Bangor, Maine.  Cyndi opened up for him, and was, of course, phenomenal, as I knew she would be.  If my math is correct, it was her first time performing in Maine since her 1986-1987 TRUE COLORS tour, and was definitely long overdue and yet so worth the wait. 

Cyndi Lauper on the big hi-def screen, stunning as evah.

I was more than pleased to see the Maine crowd welcome back Cyndi, and the crowd went nuts when Maine Senator Susan Collins came out to the stage.  In 2015, Senator Collins – a longtime Maine Republican Senator – chaired a bipartisan committee to look into the serious issue of homeless youth.  Cyndi testified before Senator Collins and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations subcommittee, to seek legislative funding programs for homeless teens.  (For years, Cyndi’s wonderful True Colors Fund, has existed to help combat homeless LGBT youth, “creating a world in which all young people can be their true selves.”  Please go to TrueColorsFund.org for more info and find out how you can help.)

Cyndi was about to go into another song when one of her crew members came out and whispered that Senator Collins was backstage.  I think I heard Cyndi say, “Bring her out!”  And once the Senator came out to greet Cyndi, Cyndi told the audience, “This woman is a hero.  And she’s my hero.  And she’s a Republican.  She’s helped us so much with the LGBT homeless youth and all the homeless kids.”  And then Senator Collins got the hug I wanted, dammit!  It’s all good.  I may not agree with all of the political views of Senator Collins, but it was a really nice moment.  After the show, Cyndi even tweeted a selfie of Senator Collins, Rod Stewart and herself. 

What a great selfie: Maine Senator Susan Collins, Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper.

Speaking of Sir Rod Stewart, holy cats!  I don’t know why exactly I had never seen Rod perform live before, but I’m so glad I got to see him this time.  The guy is 72, and still had the moves, the looks, an incredible band, lovely ladies who could sing, dance and play instruments, and he sure knew how to work the crowd.  And he could kick the shit out of a soccer ball (er, football for everyone outside of the U.S.) (he gave away signed soccer balls by kicking them out to the crowd; one went over Pete and I, and about five people scrambled to get it, though they forgot a barrier was there.  Oopsie!).

What almost looks like a huge painting is actually a very elated Rod Stewart, wowing the crowd in Bangor, Maine.

The first song he sang surprised me, but it was so great to hear – “Infatuation.”  Between 1979 and 1989, Rod Stewart reached the Top 10 seven times, including his No. 1 hit, “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, which incidentally was the first 45 I ever bought with my own money back in 1979, and the last song he played in Bangor. 

The upbeat Rock / Dance hit featuring the incredible Jeff Beck on guitar (he also appears in the music video), “Infatuation” was released in advance of Rod Stewart’s 13th studio album, CAMOUFLAGE.  It debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late May 1984 way up at No. 47, and would have been the highest-debuting song of the week, but Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” had other plans, and debuted within the Top 40.

The following week, “Infatuation” jumped into the Top 40, and from there made a slow but steady climb up the chart, reaching the Top 10 in late July 1984, and spent the next two weeks at its peak position of No. 6.  “Infatuation” departed from the Hot 100 by late September 1984 and finished the year at No. 58.

There was even a bit of infatuation for “Infatuation” across the globe, and it was a Top 20 hit in Canada, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland, and a Top 30 hit in the U.K. and Germany.  It also reached No. 5 on BILLBOARD’s Mainstream Rock chart and No. 19 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, his last of five songs to date to reach that chart.

Rod continued to chart well on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 into the the first half of the 1990s, and his last Top 10 hit was also his last No. 1 single to date – “All For Love” (from the 1993 film, THE THREE MUSKETEERS), with Sting and Bryan Adams.  It was No. 1 for three weeks in early 1994.

Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting, teaming up for one of the biggest hits of 1994. And now I’ve seen all three perform live!

Over on the album charts since then, especially with his GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK series since Y2K, Rod Stewart has seen a ton of success all over the world.  In Bangor, he also played a lovely track from his most-recent album, 2015’s ANOTHER COUNTRY, called “Love Is.”  The album went Platinum in his U.K. homeland and reached No. 2 there.

Though I don’t know why it took me decades to finally see Rod Stewart perform, I’m so glad I did.  I was honestly there to see Cyndi perform, but I had always a fan of Rod’s music, so I thought it’d be great to see him too.  Little did I know just how impressed I would be with his performance and then some. 

Rod and Cyndi also did a wonderful duet together – “This Old Heart Of Mine,” a 1966 song originally by The Isley Brothers that he covered in 1975, and which reached No. 83 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  In 1989, he covered the song again with Ronald Isley, and it became a Top 10 hit, surpassing the original.  Rod’s duet with Cyndi was one – of many – highlights of the night.

Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper, singing “This Old Heart Of Mine.”

“Infatuation” isn’t regarded as one of those Rod Stewart songs most folks immediately associate with him, but I sure do, and I’m so glad he dug it out for what turned out to be an incredibly memorable show…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH_xiZZheg4

song of the day – “Push It” (Remix) | SALT-N-PEPA | 1988.

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!”

The line between male and female Rap and Hip Hop singers and musicians in 2017 is much more unified than it was 30 years ago.  And current female Rappers and Hip Hopsters like Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim, M.I.A., Eve, Lauren Hill and Alicia Keys prolly wouldn’t have had the success they have now if it hadn’t been for three women out of Queens, NYC – Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Deidra “Spinderella” Roper, better known to the world and then some as Salt-N-Pepa.

Formed in 1985, Salt-N-Pepa came onto the music scene when – despite success by The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Run-D.M.C., Kurtis Blow and Blondie’s “Rapture,” to name a few – a lot of folks in the music industry weren’t entirely convinced Rap was here to stay, which is why Rappers during this time signed on to independent record labels, as opposed to the big labels.

Salt-N-Pepa recorded and released their first album, HOT, COOL & VICIOUS (on the independent Next Plateau Records label) in 1986.  The first two singles from the album were minor hits on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart, while the third single, “Tramp,” made its way to No. 21 in 1987.

Then something unusual – but not uncommon in chart world – happened.  Thanks to a remix by a San Francisco DJ named Cameron Paul, the B-side of “Tramp” eventually became the A-side.

The original version of “Push It” was in fact the B-side of “Tramp,” and once “Push It” was remixed, a push was made to have its own release; a single which gave Salt-N-Pepa the “push” it needed.

“Push It” debuted at No. 77 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late November 1987, the week Billy Idol’s now-forgotten “live” version of the Tommy James classic, “Mony Mony,” spent a week on top, and in turn replacing another Tommy James cover, Tiffany’s Bubblegum Pop version of “I Think We’re Alone Now,” at No. 1 (or, in other words, creamy chart nerdiness for yours truly).

One day after Xmas 1987 (and the last Hot 100 chart of the year), “Push It” had reached the Top 40 at No. 40.  A good holiday for the trio, I’m sure.  In mid-February 1988, “Push It” had pushed its way to a No. 19 peak for one week, and departed from the Top 40 a month later.

NERDY FUN FACT: The Kinks’ Ray Davies got a songwriting credit for “Push It,” as Salt-N-Pepa reworked a line from “You Really Got Me”: “Boy, you really got me goin’ / You got me so / I don’t know what I’m doin’…”  (Salt-N-Pepa used three other samples for “Push It,” including The Time’s 1985 hit, “The Bird.”)

By early April 1988, “Push It” was certified Gold here in the U.S., and left the Hot 100 in mid-May 1988 after 25 weeks.  It also reached No. 18 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, and No. 28 on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart.

Around the globe, radio stations and fans pushed “Push It” real good, and “Push It” reached No. 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, No. 2 in Canada, New Zealand and Sweden, No. 3 in Australia, No. 4 in Norway, No. 6 in Ireland, Spain and Switzerland, and No. 9 in Austria and Germany.  Over in the U.K., “Push It” originally peaked at No. 41 (with “Tramp”), but after Salt-N-Pepa performed “Push It” at Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday concert, it shot up to No. 2 in the Summer of 1988.

With the success of the remixed version of “Push It,” HOT, COOL & VICIOUS added the remix as the album’s opening track, and it pushed sales of the album to Platinum status.  In doing so, it became the first album by a female Rap act (solo OR group) to reach Gold or Platinum here in America.

“Push It” was nominated for a Grammy Award, and on ROLLING STONE’s list of the 500 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME, it ranked at No. 446.  Over the years, “Push It” has itself been covered and sampled many times, from the likes of Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Gorillaz, Pitbull, and has been featured in a mashup with The Stooges’ “No Fun,” which I now have to hear.

Salt-N-Pepa saw their biggest success in the 1990s, with songs like “Let’s Talk About Sex” and the huge Top 5 hits, “Shoop” and “Whatta Man” with En Vogue, the latter of which is their biggest hit ever in their U.S. homeland.  “Shoop” got a big boost in 2016, when it was featured in a funny scene during the kick-ass superhero film, DEADPOOL (released on my birthday in February 2016).

Salt-N-Pepa are still together today, and currently appear on the bill for the popular “I LOVE THE 90s” tour, which is still going on through most of the rest of 2017 (and which made a stop in Bangor, Maine in 2016; my co-workers attended the show and would not stop singing “Shoop”).

You know, there have been times over the past 30 years that I’ve considered “Push It” to be a part-time New Wave song?  It’s the keyboards that do it, which are most prominent in the beginning and especially at the end of the song.  New Wave-worthy or not, “Push It” has always been a favorite of mine, and it’s one of those rare times where this B-side baby became an A-side classic, and I’m grateful it was pushed real good to get there…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCadcBR95oU

song of the day – “The One Thing” | INXS | 1982.

The charismatic singer and frontman for my favorite band, INXS, Michael Hutchence, would have been 57 today.  INXS, formed in Sydney, Australia in 1977, had already released two albums (1980’s INXS and 1981’s UNDERNEATH THE COLOURS) before they appeared on my radar (and most folks from North America and other parts of the globe) in early 1983, with “The One Thing,” the first single from their third album, the brilliant SHABOOH SHOOBAH.

“The One Thing” was first released in July 1982, a few months before the release of SHABOOH SHOOBAH, and reached No. 14 in their Australian homeland.  The album and single were released here in the U.S. in February 1983, and I instantly fell in love with the song (and later the album).  “The One Thing” is three-and-a-half minutes of pure New Wave / Rock perfection.

SHABOOH SHOOBAH prolly wouldn’t have happened if INXS hadn’t fronted the money to record “The One Thing” with producer Mark Opitz, who had worked with fellow Australian Rock bands AC/DC, The Angels, and Cold Chisel (who INXS toured with in 1982).  Mark Opitz was initially hired to produce “The One Thing,” which led to producing a few more songs, and later, what would become SHABOOH SHOOBAH.

The success of SHABOOH SHOOBAH in Australia (where it reached No. 5 on the album chart, and spent 94 weeks on that chart), led to success here in America and beyond.  The album reached No. 46 on the BILLBOARD album chart and was certified Gold. 

Over on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, “The One Thing” became the band’s first American hit, debuting at No. 90 in late March 1983.  Their first U.S. performance that month, in San Diego, California (on a tour in support of Adam And The Ants) was before a crowd of 24 people.  Can you imagine?  Damn.  That prolly never happened again.  INXS would later tour with Daryl Hall & John Oates, The Stray Cats, The Kinks, and The Go-Go’s (Portland, Maine was a stop on that tour – wish I could have been there!).

With a steady climb up the Hot 100, “The One Thing” became the band’s first U.S. Top 40 hit as well, reaching No. 40 in mid-May 1983, and spending two weeks at its peak position of No. 30 in late May / early June 1983, and a total of 14 weeks on the chart.  Over on BILLBOARD’s Mainstream Rock chart, it fared much better, reaching No. 2.  “The One Thing” was also a Top 20 hit in Canada.

With the positive reaction to both SHABOOH SHOOBAH and “The One Thing,” INXS would go on to have much success for many years to come.  The one and only time I would see INXS – on an early date in the Fall of 1987 for their monster KICK tour and album, at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Michael Hutchence was so fun to watch on stage.  The band, of course, was phenomenal, but Michael had the moves and charisma as I had never seen in a singer / frontman before or since (save for maybe David Byrne).  It was a performance I will never forget, and one of the last performances at a small venue INXS would play on that tour, or again.

2017 will mark the 20th anniversary of Michael’s passing, and I think of him often, sometimes wondering what he’d be doing with INXS for their 40th anniversary this year.  But, at the very least, I have amazing songs like “The One Thing” – which is just one of many things – to remember him by…

Miss you Michael, wherever you are…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJyKTNdPL5s

song of the day – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” | TEARS FOR FEARS | 1985.

The other night, I was at a get-together in South Portland, Maine, at the home of my friend Melissa, and there was a conversation going about The British (music) Invasion.  I chimed in and said, “Which one?”  They were talking about the one in the mid-1960s, while I was referring to the one in the mid-1980s.  When questioned about the 80s British Invasion, I then tried to remember all the big British hits in the U.S. during 1985, and had a huge gaping brain cramp.  So, I’ll properly answer that question here.

I’ve prolly said on the bloggy thing here that the New Wave era here in America started and ended with The Human League.  Their big 1982 hit, “Don’t You Want Me” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in July 1982, and for the next four years, New Wave artists were prominent on the Hot 100 singles chart.  In November 1986, their hit, “Human,” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, and was replaced the following week by “You Give Love A Bad Name” by Bon Jovi.  I’ve also prolly said here (half-jokingly) that Bon Jovi killed New Wave.

Another interesting thing about The Human League’s two bookend reigns at No. 1 on the Hot 100 – not only did New Wave come into play (pun intended) during this time – with the tremendous help of MTV – it was also the time of the Second British (music) Invasion. 

On the BILLBOARD Hot 100 dated July 16th, 1983, British music acts shattered the record established in 1965, where 14 songs by British recording artists were in the American Top 40 at the same time.  On this July 1983 chart, HALF of the Top 40 were songs by British artists, and of those 20, seven of the Top 10 singles that week were by Brits: “Time (Clock Of The Heart)” – Culture Club (No. 10), “Is There Something I Should Know” – Duran Duran (once called The Fab Five; No. 9), “Our House” – Madness (No. 8), “Too Shy” – Kajagoogoo (No. 7), “Come Dancing” (The Kinks, who were part of the original British Invasion; No. 6), “Electric Avenue” – Eddy Grant (a Londoner from Guyana, which was known as British Guiana at the time of his birth in 1948; No. 2), and “Every Breath You Take” – The Police (for the second of eight weeks at No. 1).

In April 1984, 40 of the singles on the Hot 100 were by British acts, and on the Hot 100 chart dated May 25, 1985 (the year of the height of the Second British Invasion), a record EIGHT of the Top 10 singles that week were by Brits: “Things Can Only Get Better” – Howard Jones (No. 10), “Some Like It Hot” – The Power Station (No. 9), “Suddenly” – Billy Ocean (of British origin; No. 8), “One Night In Bangkok” – Murray Head (No. 7), “Smooth Operator” – Sade (No. 5), “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” – Tears For Fears (No. 3), “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” – Simple Minds (No. 2), and “Everything She Wants” – Wham! (No. 1).

For three months between May 18, 1985 and August 17, 1985, and starting with “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” songs by acts from Britain would rule the U.S. music world for all but two weeks – the aforementioned “Everything She Wants” and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” plus “Sussudio” by Phil Collins, “A View To A Kill” by Duran Duran, Paul Young’s cover of the Daryl Hall song, “Everytime You Go Away,” and “Shout” by Tears For Fears.

When Bon Jovi claimed their first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 in late November 1986, and in the process signaling the end of the reign of New Wave and the Second British Invasion, the No. 1 songs for the better part of the rest of the 80s were dominated by Glam Metal and Dance acts, though in 1988, many songs by Brits did manage to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.

One of the British acts who had a banner year in 1985 – in the U.S. and all over the globe – was Bath, England’s Tears For Fears.  Led by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, Tears For Fears had been around since 1981, but despite a brilliant debut album (THE HURTING), they hadn’t been able to break through to the U.S. market until the success of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” their third single from their second album, SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR.

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (with vocals by Curt Smith) was the first single released here in the U.S., and for awhile in the Spring and Summer of 1985, Tears For Fears did rule the world with their incredible hit.  It spent a couple of weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in June 1985, as well as reaching No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart for two weeks.  The love for this song was felt through many different genres, and it reached No. 2 on BILLBOARD’s Rock and Adult Contemporary charts – no easy feat.  Here in America, it rightfully ranked at No. 7 for all of 1985.

Around the globe, it reached No. 1 in Canada and New Zealand, and the Top 10 in the U.K., Australia, Belgium, Holland and Ireland.  A year later, Roland and Curt returned to the Top 10 of the U.K. and Ireland charts with a rework of their big hit, titled “Everybody Wants To RUN The World,” in support of Sport Aid, which was a sports-themed offshoot campaign of Live Aid, to aid in the effort to help the famine problem in Africa.  The highlight of this campaign was the Race Against Time, a 10K fun run simultaneously held in 89 countries.  $37 million was raised for Live Aid and UNICEF.

For many years, Roland Orzabal kept performing under the Tears For Fears name while Curt Smith had left the band, but they have been together again since 2000, released an album in 2004 (EVERYBODY LOVES A HAPPY ENDING) and are currently on the last dates of their rescheduled U.S. and Canada tour. 

Though overall Tears For Fears may not be the household name they were in 1985, it’s great to see them still together and so wonderful to hear their songs like “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” on the radio.  It’s one of those songs I have always loved from the start and a song I always love driving to.  One of the lyrics of the song goes, “Nothing ever lasts forever.”  Clearly, Roland and Curt aren’t referring to their own song, as this song will live on in radio eternity, and as I’ll love this song forever…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0