Pop Shots – A Look At The Charts … From 40 Years Ago

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week I’m hopping into my time machine again, this time setting the coordinates for 40 years ago this week.

Touching down in 1986, which, as a Mets fan, was a year I absolutely loved, I turn on the radio and hear a pretty incredible mix of rock, pop, and R&B.

At #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 was Lionel Richie with “Say You, Say Me.” The song was the theme for the 1985 ballet drama White Nights, which starred Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. Yeah, that was a thing. Another song from the soundtrack, the Phil Collins / Marilyn Martin collaboration “Separate Lives,” was also in the Top 10 this week, coming in at #8.

Moving away from the White Nights soundtrack, there was a lot to love about what was on the airwaves this week back in ’86, so let’s get into this exploration of chart history!

Of course, since this is Pop Shots, you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

2. Eddie Murphy – Party All The Time

The ‘80s were a golden age of actors wanting to be singers, and one actor who tried his hand at being a pop star was Eddie Murphy. Surprisingly, he wasn’t half bad, and “Party All The Time” was just catchy enough to stick in our heads, and still be a memorable tune four decades later. To be fair, at least some of the credit for that should go to the song’s writer, and producer, a guy you may have heard of – he’s Rick James, bitch!

3. Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking

The band that gave us “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” had more than just the one memorable tune. Although their generation defining hit is the song they continue to be most known for, “Alive and Kicking” was another of their hits, and it’s one that’s well worth revisiting. The fact that we rarely hear it today is proof once again that oldies radio stations, and ‘80s playlists, are continually failing us by not giving airtime for anything past the super well known songs. This one is a gem!

6. John Cougar Mellencamp – Small Town

“Small Town” is a song that always reminds me of my mom, and hearing my parents play their records as I was falling asleep as a kid. John Cougar Mellencamp’s Scarecrow was in rotation for quite a while, as it was one of my mom’s faves, and I can still recite the lyrics to nearly every song on it. When I got my first CD player, it was one of the albums I started my collection with. This one’s for you, mom.

13. Dire Straits – Walk of Life

Featuring one of the most addictive keyboard riffs in music history, and with a video filled with sports bloopers, and highlights, Dire Straits had something for everyone with “Walk of Life.”

Seriously, though, that riff … good luck ever getting it out of your head. They really don’t make ‘em like that anymore!

26. Starship – We Built This City

The lineage that goes from Jefferson Airplane, to Jefferson Starship, to Starship is a winding one, but this very ‘80s version of the band had quite a few memorable hits, perhaps none as silly as “We Built This City.” Hey, sometimes silly is OK.

A year after this they’d give us “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” which was, of course, featured in the movie Mannequin, and I will defend both that song, and movie, until the end of time!

36. Whitney Houston – How Will I Know

One of the songs that rocketed Whitney to pop stardom, longtime readers of the site know from my One Hit Wondering series of columns that “How Will I Know” was penned by “Waiting for a Star to Fall” duo Boy Meet Girl, who’d later write another song Whitney topped the charts with, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”

Talk about a heck of a one-two punch!

37. Sheila E. – A Love Bizarre

Late last year Christina Aguilera had a Christmas special, and on social media a plethora of younger viewers couldn’t figure out why the camera kept panning to, and focusing on, the drummer. Some older folks let them know it was because the drummer was none other than Sheila E.

Rewinding 40 years, “A Love Bizarre,” which was co-written by Sheila E. and Prince, and was featured in the film Krush Groove, was climbing the charts, making the young drummer/singer a household name … as she still should be today!

38. Sade – The Sweetest Taboo

The world was a better place when Sade was receiving consistent airplay on the radio. It’s also true that there were far more babies being born when Sade was receiving consistent airplay on the radio. That isn’t a coincidence, that’s the power of Sade’s silky smooth vocals, and wonderfully jazzy band. Click play, and then prepare to build a crib, because that’s how this works.

40. The Thompson Twins – Lay Your Hands On Me

‘80s icons, The Thompson Twins had a number of hits, including “Lay Your Hands On Me,” and having seen the one touring Thompson Twin (Tom Bailey) with the current iteration of the band a few years ago, I can tell you he still sounds amazing, and is well worth seeing live. Also, their songs truly stand the test of time, as they made seriously good tunes.

43. a-ha – The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

What’s this, you say, a-ha had more than one song?

Yes! The band that gave us, arguably, the greatest music video of all-time with “Take On Me,” had other songs … and not just other songs, but other songs that charted!

“The Sun Always Shines on TV” actually cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, but stood no chance of being as well remembered as “Take On Me.” In fact, despite listening to the radio during this time, I didn’t remember it at all until the bizarre video for it recently went into rotation on MTV Classic.

I gotta admit, it was a nice discovery, because it’s a great song.

44. James Brown – Living in America

The fact that James Brown was still making hits in the ‘80s is something that deserves a heck of a lot of respect. He wasn’t just coasting on his extensive credentials, he was creating, and what he was creating was amazing.

That said, I actually learned of “Living in America” thanks to Weird Al’s “Living with a Hernia.”

Ah, to be a kid again. God bless you, Al!

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.