CHART ATTACK! #11: 12/5/81
Welcome back to another edition of CHART ATTACK! You may have noticed that these posts tend to cover the music of the mid-to-late ’80s. The reason is simply that I’m most familiar with these years in terms of the songs on the Top 10, and I find that the early ’80s charts tend to cross-over to Mellow Gold territory. Still, we’ve covered every year of the ’80s so far but one, so it seems only fair that we see what was happening on December 5, 1981!
10. Start Me Up – The Rolling Stones Amazon iTunes
9. Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Diana Ross Amazon iTunes
8. Young Turks – Rod Stewart Amazon iTunes
7. Let’s Groove – Earth, Wind & Fire Amazon iTunes
6. Private Eyes – Daryl Hall & John Oates Amazon iTunes
5. Here I Am – Air Supply Amazon iTunes
4. Oh No – Commodores Amazon iTunes
3. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police Amazon iTunes
2. Waiting For A Girl Like You – Foreigner Amazon iTunes
1. Physical – Olivia Newton-John Amazon iTunes
10. Start Me Up – The Rolling Stones Although included on their 1981 album Tattoo You, "Start Me Up" was recorded back in 1977, reportedly on the same day that "Miss You" was recorded. Both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were convinced the song was meant to be a reggae tune, but after countless unsuccessful takes, ditched the track. Musician and assistant Chris Kimsey, who was working on Tattoo You, reached back into the archives to see if there was any material for the album. Somewhere in the middle of the reggae takes, he found a straight-ahead rock version. All that was needed were some overdubs, both musical and vocal, and the number was complete.
This was the last week that "Start Me Up" would sit in the Top 10. It peaked at #2, held off the top by that damn Christopher Cross and his witty theme about Arthur. Still, I doubt there are many places in the world where the opening "Start Me Up" riff remains unrecognizable.
9. Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Diana Ross After the success of solo tracks such as "I’m Coming Out" and "Upside Down" (which we covered in Chart Attack! #7), Diana Ross made the controversial move away from the label that had made her a star. She left Motown for a reported $20 million contract with RCA Records, releasing this cover of the song by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers as her first single. It peaked at #7, and for many, became the definitive version of the song. To be honest with you, I’m not even sure if I can recall hearing the Lymon version at all. I think I always assumed it was a Supremes song.
8. Young Turks – Rod Stewart The lyrics to this song never actually mention "young turks." The mention "young hearts" instead. "Young Turks" which actually has a much different meaning, was a slang English phrase for rebellious teenagers. The music to the song was written by Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings. Armed with synths and a drum machine, they presented the completed backing to Stewart, who wrote the lyrics. They tell the story of two teenagers who run away to be together and then, in the last line, the girl (Patti) gives birth to a ten-pound baby boy, and then it’s just a repeat of the chorus. So we never know if there’s some kind of lesson to be learned here or something. Rod is either being vague or stupid.
"Young Turks" received heavy airplay on MTV, thanks to Rod having a number of prepared videos at MTV’s launch only 4 months’ prior. Gangs dance in the street, Rod and his bandmembers wear bandanas around their necks (when was this a good idea, people?), and MTV plays its first video featuring breakdancing. Watch it here.
7. Let’s Groove – Earth, Wind & Fire (download) Seriously, how do you not love this song? Although not their highest-charting pop single ("Shining Star" was a #1), "Let’s Groove" remains the band’s biggest hit, topping the R&B charts for a then record-breaking 11 weeks. It was also their last pop hit. I could say more, but the song speaks for itself. Enjoy.
6. Private Eyes – Daryl Hall & John Oates
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Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, we can move on. "Private Eyes" was part of the Daryl Hall & John Oates "comeback" of the early 1980s, solidifed by the success of the album prior to this one, Voices. The single became their third #1, and their fourth single to sell over a million copies. (It also dissed The Stones and hopped right over them to knock Christopher Cross off the top spot.) H&O remained on fire for the next 4 years.
5. Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) – Air Supply Gotta love the parentheses. Actually, I have no idea why they didn’t just can "Here I Am" in the title altogether. See, this is where we start leaning towards Mellow Gold status. Their fifth hit to reach the Top Five, this song happened smack in the middle of a two-year assault on the US charts, beginning in May 1980 and ending in September 1982. Every single made the Top Five. You remember when it was cool to be this wussy, right?
4. Oh No – Commodores (download) See, now here’s a song that needed some parentheses. "Oh No (Lionel Please Don’t Go)," for example. It’s not that The Commodores weren’t producing non-Richie hits at the time. There was "Lady (You Bring Me Up)," and then there was…uh…huh. I guess that was the only real non-Richie hit since "Brick House" in ’77. Every other song to make an impact on the charts was a Richie-penned ballad. So the writing was clearly on the wall. You all know I’m a big Richie fan, so yes, I really do like this song. Nevermind that the piano, and key, is so similar to all of Richie’s other ballads. The man writes an unbelievable hook. The Commodores would have one more hit in "Nightshift" in 1985 – their only hit without Richie.
3. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police Like "Start Me Up," this song had origins in the mid-70s – Sting wrote it in 1976 and performed with his pre-Police band, Strontium 90 (which was essentially the Police plus another bassist). It was somewhat of a departure from the ska singles the Police had been successful with in the past, and went on to win an Ivor Novello award for Best Pop Song. It’s been covered numerous times, most notably by Shawn Colvin (switching the gender), and Sting himself has shown an affinity for his own line of "it’s a big enough umbrella but it’s always me who ends up getting wet," which shows up in The Police song "O My God" and the Sting solo tune "Seven Days."
2. Waiting For A Girl Like You – Foreigner Oh, the whine! THE WHINE! Whatever, I’m not going to bash it, it works for this song. Taken from their fourth album, uh, 4, the song spent a record-breaking 10 weeks at #2 (most of it behind our #1 hit today). Most people would find this song typical of Foreigner, but remember that by this point, most of Foreigner’s hits – nine in the Top 20 – had been upbeat rockers. "Waiting" was their first power ballad hit, from an album co-produced by "Mutt" Lange. (All makes sense now, right?)
1. Physical – Olivia Newton-John There’s no real way for me to describe how huge "Physical" was at this point in time. I imagine some of you who were there remember, and are bristling right now. "Physical" was quite different from any previously-released single by Newton-John. It was poppier, not sappy at all, and was actually censored or banned from many radio stations because of its explicit content. Nevertheless, "Physical" was an unbelievable chart performer. It hit #1 two weeks prior to this one, and remained there for 10 weeks – making it the #1 song of 1982, and the most successful pop song on the Hot 100 during the 1980s, period. At the time, the only song that had spent more time at #1 was "Hound Dog." Newton-John first heard the song as it was about to be offered to Rod Stewart (frighteningly enough, it probably would have worked for him). Before the release, she became quite nervous about the song’s sexual theme, afraid that it would tarnish the image the public had grown to love – thus the aerobic-themed video was born, in an attempt to change the song’s focus to exercise instead of sex. Obviously, she had nothing to worry about!
And that’ll do it for another week of CHART ATTACK! See you next week! And be sure to come back on Monday for a holiday surprise…
December 8th, 2006 at 9:55 am
I’m a huge Police fan, but I never knew that "Every Little Thing" was written in the mid 70s. Thanks for adding to my music trivia knowledge!
December 8th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
I don’t remember what Diana Ross’s version of “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” sounds like at all. But my parents were teenagers in the mid-’50s, when rock and roll was becoming popular, so I definitely am familiar with the Frankie Lymon version. I guess the song I’m most familiar with from this period of Ross’s career is “Muscles.” I don’t remember it being very good.
For the longest time I thought the “claps” in “Private Eyes” were real hand claps, based on the video. Not so. I felt foolish when I found out. I still love “Private Eyes” and every other Hall & Oates hit, minus “Maneater.”
In my freshman year of college, after I’d bought an Earth, Wind & Fire “randomly selected hits” tape (thanks for the lazy compilaton, CBS Special Products!), I made an answering-machine message with “Let’s Groove” playing in the background. I pretended to be Maurice White on the message and ended it with “Let’s groove, baby!” My dad called a week or so later and said, “I think you should change your message. What if your grandparents were to call you?” I was confused by what had offended him. It turns out that he thought I was saying “Let’s SCREW, baby!”
I was pretty disappointed when I discovered that “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” wasn’t written by Lionel Richie. That’s my favorite Commodores song. Probably my favorite song from Richie’s entire career, actually. It’s a near-perfect song.
Pretty interesting to know that “Physical” almost went to Rod the Mod. Makes sense.
December 8th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Yeah, this was really the last period when mellow gold had a grip on the charts. By ’82, we were all obsessed with MTV, and that was it. Who knew at this point that Diana Ross’ move to RCA would be a disaster for her, or that "Young Turks" was actually not the bottom of the Rod Stewart barrel ("Love Touch", anyone?).. "Waiting For a Girl Like You" has keyboards by the then-unknown Thomas Dolby..
December 8th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
I like “Love Touch”! I feel like that song was a rise up from the bottom that was “Infatuation.”
December 8th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Following up on woofpop’s observation about Mellow Gold and the charts, I just realised that Olivia Newton-John probably had a lot to do with the Mellow Movement of the 70’s. Remember her questions from the #1 hit in 1975?
Now I don’t mean to make you frown / No, I just want you to slow down
Have you never been mellow?
Have you never tried to find a comfort from inside you?
Have you never been happy just to hear your song?
Have you never let someone else be strong?
Now, this was exactly what the Bishop’s and the Vanwarmer’s were waiting for. Poor Olivia, the guys must have been harassing her badly considering her 1981 full retreat in another #1 hit:
There’s nothing left to talk about / Unless it’s horizontally
Let’s get physical, physical / I wanna get physical
Let’s get into physical
Let me hear your body talk, your body talk
Let me hear your body talk
And then the wimps were gone (not really). Speaking of Bishop, have you seen this? He just goes on and on, doesn’t he? When all he really wants to do is to pick up the guitar and sing "Separate Lives" and tell the world he was dating Karen Allen… (I must offer my apologies for any grammatical errors – this is like stepping into the lion’s den with my English skills…)
December 8th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Terje,
So, based on your observation, we could take it a little further and say that Olivia may have been responsible for the death of mellow with "Physical". I hadn’t thought of that before, but you might not be far off at all on that one!
December 8th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
I don’t know – it’s a really close call .. "inftuation" is absolutely lame, but "ooh, you’re gonna get a.. ooh, you’re gonna get a big love touch" – now, that’s just..special.
December 8th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
True — the song doesn’t have great lyrics, but the melody makes up for it if you ask me. I realize I’m in the minority with this song, though. Even All Music Guide calls the album "Love Touch" comes from the worst album of Stewart’s career. And the movie it was featured in, "Legal Eagles," wasn’t exactly a success.
December 8th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
10. Personally, I think this is the last good song the Stones recorded.
9. The Frankie Lyman song has such, I dunno, joy in it. Diana’s cut is good, but almost too polished for me.
8. As cheesy as this shit is, I also consider this to be the last good song Rod recorded. And by good I mean “passable.” And by passable I mean “not Love Touch.” (For the record, “Infatuation” beats “Love Touch,” but only because the keyboard riff is more interesting.)
7. Sheer, pure, awesome genius. Let the disco ball lower and backwards skating commence.
6. Only now, at age 36, do I wonder how Daryl Hall felt singing such stupid lyrics. Otherwise, I find this song timeless and perfect and scads of fun.
5. This is when Air Supply started to suck. (No, really.)
4. I had completely forgotten this song, due in no small part to the fact that, in the pantheon of Richie ballads, it’s fairly forgettable. Good, mind you, just not AS good.
3. If Sting has written anything better than this, I’ve never heard it. I’ve got the Stontium 90 version if you’d like it. Not as good.
2. Too wussy for Foreigner. I still love it. The only ballad that doesn’t reek of saccharine to me.
1. “A Little More Love” was hotter. Totally.
December 8th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Jason — you owe it to yourself to listen to Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers’ version of Why Do Fools Fall In Love. Not only does it have that genuine, joyous 50s vibe, but the vocals are truly amazing ( made even more so when you realize that Frankie was only 13 years old at the time ). It is the definitive version of the song.
I understand where you’re coming from, though. When it comes to different versions of hit songs, it’s my experience that most people prefer the first version they heard. For instance, I love Blue Swede’s version of Hooked On A Feeling, which I heard before the B.J. Thomas original, which I loathe.
December 10th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
So…..when are we going to see that dynamic duo????
Too bad they look soooo old!!!
December 10th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Air Supply come to Westbury Music Fair every summer….usually with America. We’ll go together and be disappointed, Mom.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:10 am
[…] Jason: He mentions that in that clip Terje referenced. Did he do the entire soundtrack? […]
December 15th, 2006 at 10:38 am
[…] 2. Still – Commodores Man, it seems like just last week that we were discussing Lionel Richie’s ever-increasing dominance over the music of The Commodores. Oh wait, it was last week. When we covered "Oh No" in our Chart Attack! from 1981, Richie was at the tail-end of his Commodore reign. "Still" was a hit from 2 years earlier, and if Richie was eyeing a solo turn, it wasn’t yet apparent. What was apparent, however, was that the group, for better or for worse, was becoming the vehicle for Richie’s ballads more than the funk tunes for which they were originally known. "Still" was Richie’s sixth Top 10 for The Commodores, and their second (and final) #1. Although a little unfocused lyrically (like "Sail On" before it), it really is a great ballad – and you can’t beat the moment at the end of the song where Richie just quietly says the title of the song. After seeing him live, I can verify that the ladies go frickin’ crazy after he says it. […]
January 12th, 2007 at 10:03 am
[…] 6. Talking In Your Sleep – The Romantics (download) The Romantics are known for two hits: this one and "What I Like About You." Judging from media saturation, I would have bet that the latter was the bigger hit, but it turns out that "Talking In Your Sleep" was the big winner for The Romantics, peaking at #3. ("What I Like About You," surprisingly, only reached a disappointing #49, which is odd since their lesser-known single "One In A Million" beat it and reached #37.) I’ve always loved this song, which is a great blend of new wave and power pop. Sharp guitar, and a great vocal. In fact, when I got my first CD burner (back when you had to buy them separately from computers and you had to walk three miles in the snow uphill against the wind, etc), I immediately made my definitive ’80s CD and put this song as track #2. (Track #1: "Kyrie.") 5. Twist of Fate – Olivia Newton-John Ladies and gentlemen, rejoice: we have finally reached the end of The Reign Of Newt. Oh, and what a reign it was! As mentioned back in Chart Attack #11, Newt (this is your fault, everybody who encouraged me on "Nuge") holds the honor of having the most popular Hot 100 song of the 1980s, period: "Physical." Unfortunately, such a popular song enabled her to reach the top of the charts which some pretty shitty tunes ("Heart Attack," anyone?). "Twist Of Fate" was her last Top 10 hit, period (unless she has something up her sleeve, which I doubt). And it sounds not only horribly dated but also like something straight out of a soundtrack, you’re right on both counts. The dated sound is courtesy of none other than the song’s author, David Foster. (Damn him!) The soundtrack sound? Well, it was the lead-off track for the movie Two Of A Kind: […]