1980's number one songs

[firepoint525]

The lamest of all such videos had to be the one of Ben E. King singing "Stand by Me" with the kids from the movie in the video with him, snapping their fingers or whatever. And almost as bad was John Parr singing "St. Elmo's Fire" while the "Brat Pack" hung out with him!

 

[firepoint525]

Shania had twelve hits off of "Come Over"..she was on fire..and hot too.

She kept that album on the charts for (I think) four years! And then when she returned with her next one, the media kept making a big deal about her making a "comeback" when she had really only been "gone" for about a year! (I think she took about a year off when she gave birth to her son.)

 

[RadioFreeAtlanta]

Personally, I knew radio and music was changing for good by the end of the '80s. That was when a song hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, "My Prerogative" by Bobby Brown, and I had never heard it. By that time, with Top 40 gone, people just gravitated toward their format of preference.

You bring up a very interesting point and one that hit home. I remember reading that some song by Tommy Page ("I'll Be Your Everything") in 1990 had hit #1 in Billboard and I had never heard of it. I was pretty surprised. None of the stations in my area played it.

I wouldn't say that Top 40 was gone but I knew it was definitely in wholesale change.

 

[hornet61]

in 1978 there were what 4 major charts......now there are 40, and a radio format for each of those 4o charts ..thats how a song slips by to Number #1 and you never heard It............

Actually...wikipedia lists 60 radio formats......

easy listening.........became Adult Contemporary, Adult standards, Adult hits, Hot adult contemporary. Modern Adult Contemporary, Lite Adult Contemporary, soft adult contemporay, smooth jazz

R&B...too many to list, my arm would fall off first, listing them

Radio is watered down........ and the oldies stations which has no new material like contemporary radio , when it morphed into a couple or three formats sank even worse than it was. PD's are so old school they refuse to improvise and go deeper into the charts for a goldmine of new material to shore up Oldie station playlists... no they are happy with their....... 1.0 - 3.8 ratings ...actually not happy, it's more like "Forgive them father, for they know not what they are doing"

 

[93-3TheSurge]

Back to the 80s...

Another song that was close to #1, Murray Head's One Night in Bangkok, has always been one of my favorites from the 80s. My question, what is the meaning behind this song? Chess and prostitutes?

 

[gamefreak]

The early 80's had all the really good songs.

The late 80's had all the teen stars. All the teen stars like Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and so on top of the chart music. As well as Millie Vanilli. Who lost his Grammy for Lip-Syching. Or the stars who literally HAD no talent. Just looks and glamour. Like Rick Astley and so on.

 

[firepoint525]

The late '80s also gave us one of the first "boy bands," New Kids on the Block, although New Edition had predated them by a couple of years.

Astley started out singing danceable pop stuff (might even refer to some of it as "disco"!), but by the '90s, his sound had matured somewhat, and he was singing ballads like "Cry for Help" and "Hopelessly." I, for one, thought he had an amazing singing voice.

The late '80s also borrowed heavily from the early '80s. See "the late '80s re-release craze" thread on this board for more information about that.

 

[oldies76]

The early 80's had all the really good songs.

As well as Millie Vanilli. Who lost his Grammy for Lip-Syching. Or the stars who literally HAD no talent. Just looks and glamour. Like Rick Astley and so on.

Milli Vanilli with their three #1 songs and a #2 hit in 1989. Such a shame! "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Girl You Know it's True" aren't that-bad, really.

Yes, the early 80's were special times for sure.

 

[oldies76]

The late '80s also borrowed heavily from the early '80s. See "the late '80s re-release craze" thread on this board for more information about that.

Also the late 60's too. Look at the remakes in 1987 that made #1

 

[ixnay]

The early 80's had all the really good songs.

As well as Millie Vanilli. Who lost his Grammy for Lip-Syching. Or the stars who literally HAD no talent. Just looks and glamour. Like Rick Astley and so on.

Milli Vanilli with their three #1 songs and a #2 hit in 1989. Such a shame! "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Girl You Know it's True" aren't that-bad, really.

Yes, the early 80's were special times for sure.

I prefer "Blame It on the Rain" myself. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, someone cut a parody called "Blame It on Hussein".

ixnay

 

[firepoint525]

You bring up a very interesting point and one that hit home. I remember reading that some song by Tommy Page ("I'll Be Your Everything") in 1990 had hit #1 in Billboard and I had never heard of it. I was pretty surprised. None of the stations in my area played it.
I wouldn't say that Top 40 was gone but I knew it was definitely in wholesale change.

I saw that video today. You didn't miss anything. :

 

[oldies76]

Any good reasons out there, why from 1980-1984, there were an acceptable amount of number one songs each year (15 to 19), but in the late 80's, there are 26 to 32 songs each year, which is a bit too high. And some of those late 80's singles really should not have been #1.

I'm aware of fast turnover on the charts, but what's the cause of that? Buying habits, less airplay?

Remember, we were still buying 45's then.

 

[firepoint525]

Since this is an old thread, I had to go back and read what I had posted. The fast(er) turnover of hits (#1 or otherwise) in the late '80s certainly opened up the door for the handful of reissues ("Red Red Wine," "When I'm With You," and others) to have a second chance on the charts. But as I said earlier, even these reissues performed similarly to other (non-reissued) hits that were riding the charts at the time.

We could say that there were "too many" #1 hits in the late '80s, and we could also say that there were too many during the 1974-1975 time period, but I think that what was more problematic were the years, beginning in the '90s, when there were simply too few #1 hits. There just simply was not enough turnover on the charts by then. And I mentioned that earlier in this thread as well, along with the reasons behind it. To my way of thinking, Soundscan ruined music forever. But by then (early '90s), I had aged out of the top 40 demo, so they really didn't care about me anymore, anyway.

 

[hornet61]

I recall reading a complaint in Billboard magazine in the late '80s similar to what you are saying here, that nearly all the #1s of 1988 only stayed on top for one or two weeks, and that all of the ones that managed to stay on top for a second week lost their bullet.

But equally annoying (maybe even more so) was the long number one/short number one/long number one pattern of early 1982. Consider the following:

"Physical" by Olivia Newton-John (carryover from '81): long number one
"I Can't Go For That," Hall & Oates, short number one
"Centerfold," J. Geils Band, long number one
"I Love Rock & Roll," Joan Jett, long number one (broke the pattern! ;D)
"Chariots of Fire," Vangelis, short number one
"Ebony & Ivory" Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder, long number one

Did anyone think "Chariots of Fire" really deserved to be #1?

chariots of Fire as a favorite song not number one in my book , based on sales and Billboard Magazines scoring system it was Number one based a a ca-gillion sales..

 

[dtuba]

Back to the 80s...

Another song that was close to #1, Murray Head's One Night in Bangkok, has always been one of my favorites from the 80s. My question, what is the meaning behind this song? Chess and prostitutes?

To answer your question: Yes. Actually it was from a British stage musical called Chess. The composers were Tim Rice and one or two of the dudes from ABBA, I think. The musical flopped when it first premiered but has been revived in recent years, most notably in a version starring Josh Groban that came out a year ago or so.