I chose this list for one reason and one reason only: It's the only chart appearance of "Video Killed the Radio Star." That's right: The song which launched MTV, the song which proved eerily prophetic in predicting the rise of music videos, spent a solitary week at the anchor position.
But there were many other goodies this week, as well.
40. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, The Buggles 39. I STILL HAVE DREAMS, Richie Furay 38. DEJA VU, Dionne Warwick 37. TUSK, Fleetwood Mac 36. DIM ALL THE LIGHTS, Donna Summer 35. CHIQUITITA, Abba 34. LOVE PAINS, Yvonne Elliman 33. THIRD TIME LUCKY, Foghat 32. DON'T LET GO, Isaac Hayes 31. DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
30. WAIT FOR ME, Daryl Hall & John Oates 29. DAMNED IF I DO, Alan Parsons Project 28. I NEED A LOVER, John Cougar 27. I WANT TO BE YOUR LOVER, Prince 26. COWARD OF THE COUNTY, Kenny Rogers 25. POP MUZIK, M 24. BROKEN HEARTED ME, Anne Murray 23. THIS IS IT, Kenny Loggins 22. CRUISIN', Smokey Robinson 21. I WANT YOU TONIGHT, Pablo Cruise
20. JANE, Jefferson Starship 19. THE LONG RUN, The Eagles 18. BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME, Dr. Hook 17. SHIPS, Barry Manilow 16. HEAD GAMES, Foreigner 15. HALF THE WAY, Crystal Gayle 14. WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE, Cliff Richard 13. COOL CHANGE, Little River Band 12. ROCK WITH YOU, Michael Jackson 11. LADIES' NIGHT, Kool & The Gang
10. TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME, Supertramp 9. HEARTACHE TONIGHT, The Eagles 8. DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME, The Captain & Tennille 7. YOU'RE ONLY LONELY, J.D. Souther 6. NO MORE TEARS (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH), Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer 5. SEND ONE YOUR LOVE, Stevie Wonder 4. ESCAPE (THE PENA COLADA SONG), Rupert Holmes 3. PLEASE DON'T GO, KC & The Sunshine Band 2. STILL, The Commodores 1. BABE, Styx
I wasn't listening to Top 40 countdowns or much radio at all in 1979, but I still know a lot of these songs. Top 10: yep, most are still played frequently. Same with the next bunch, with the exception of the Dr. Hook at #18. Went to YouTube & eventually it sounded vaguely familiar, so it must get the occasional spin on oldies or soft rock stations.
4. ESCAPE (THE PENA COLADA SONG), Rupert Holmes
YES! I genuinely love this song, although I do not love Pina Coladas.
39. Richie Furay was a member of Buffalo Springfield (yes, the Stephen Stills/Neil Young band) and was a founding member of Poco.
32. I heard a cover version of this song out of the blue while at a coffee shop a few weeks ago! I probably hadn't heard the original since 1980 or so. I do have the single. Loved the bass line.
25. Still one of my favorite songs and music videos ever. It's cheesy, but in the best way.
20. The song that made me a Jefferson Airplane/Starship fan. This was from their only album that featured neither Marty Balin nor Grace Slick. Mickey Thomas takes the lead vocal for the first time.
10. Love the lyrics on this song, though "The Logical Song" still remains my all-time favorite Supertramp number.
4. Agree with Teeds. It's an awesome song. To this day, I don't think I've ever had a Pena Colada. (By the way, this song was on its way to No. 1 and would become the last No. 1 of the '70s.)
1. I'm a big fan of Styx, but I've always found this song to be boring and saccharine. Still, congratulations to them for having their only No. 1 hit.
Oh, that's Escape. I didn't recognise the title. Haven't heard that for years and years. Good to hear it again.
Also great to see another one of these HWW.
One's I've listened to in the last year or so...
40. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, The Buggles 37. TUSK, Fleetwood Mac 10. TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME, Supertramp 32. DON'T LET GO, Isaac Hayes 31. DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - that might have been off the back of another HWW list.
Not too many others I've heard of. 11, 12, 25, 26 & 35 pop up now and again, but aren't ones I look out for.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
EDE, My first awareness of Kenny Rogers was about two years earlier when "Lucille" was a hit. He was such a ubiquitous presence through the early '80s.
thoth, "Escape" is one of those songs where the title doesn't quite match up with the lyrics people remember--hence the subtitle, natch.
Another example is "No More Tears." The story is that it was originally called "Enough is Enough," but Streisand almost chose not to do the duet with Donna Summer. The reason? Babs was working on an album called Wet and wanted every song to relate to that title in some way. Hence the song was renamed "No More Tears."
I know a bunch of these but I'm only replying to a select bunch...
40. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, The Buggles-- I had no memory of this at the time, of course now it's well-known. I'm surprised it hit top 40 at all. And WOW, the prophecy here, huh?
30. WAIT FOR ME, Daryl Hall & John Oates-- Listening to now, and I've verified that YES, I knew and loved this at the time!
26. COWARD OF THE COUNTY, Kenny Rogers-- I have this album. My Kenny love is well-documented.
24. BROKEN HEARTED ME, Anne Murray-- Shocked, delighted to see this. I *ADORE* Anne Murray's mid/late 70s and early 80s songs. I have the 45.
15. HALF THE WAY, Crystal Gayle-- More shock and delight. I own an embarrassing amount of 70s Crystal Gayle albums. This song is great. I had NO IDEA it had gotten so big on the Pop chart. (now playing!!)
13. COOL CHANGE, Little River Band-- Somebody ALWAYS plays this at the lesbian bar and I love it now. No memory of it then.
8. DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME, The Captain & Tennille-- Good stuff! A sexy departure for them.
6. NO MORE TEARS (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH), Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer-- Fabulosity. I have the 45.
4. ESCAPE (THE PENA COLADA SONG), Rupert Holmes-- The drink is coconutty and tropical. The song holds fun memories for me.
I have a surprising number of 45s on this list, as well. If memory serves me right, I have:
40. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, The Buggles 37. TUSK, Fleetwood Mac 33. THIRD TIME LUCKY, Foghat 32. DON'T LET GO, Isaac Hayes 31. DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
30. WAIT FOR ME, Daryl Hall & John Oates 28. I NEED A LOVER, John Cougar 25. POP MUZIK, M
20. JANE, Jefferson Starship 11. LADIES' NIGHT, Kool & The Gang
10. TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME, Supertramp 9. HEARTACHE TONIGHT, The Eagles 4. ESCAPE (THE PENA COLADA SONG), Rupert Holmes
My mother adored "Chiquitita," which was enough of a reason for me NOT to like it. I did, however, buy Abba's previous single, "Does Your Mother Know." It was their only hit which featured the guys singing lead instead of the girls. It also featured a bitchin' electric guitar, which was the main reason I bought anything in those days.
I remember my mom calling me from the local mall to find out if I wanted anything, and I asked her to pick up a few of these singles. I was embarrassed to say "I Need a Lover" but somehow managed to squeak it out!
I bought a couple of these 45s...in the early 90s, from a thrift store, of course.
20. JANE, Jefferson Starship -- I don't remember it as a big favorite, but I suppose I was in the right mood when I was flipping through the 45 bin. Plus they were cheap.
14. WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE, Cliff Richard -- I remembered this & wanted to hear it again. This was still 10 years before iTunes or YouTube!
Thank you, He Who, for another nice trip down memory lane (and thanks also to Teeds for suggesting another of these threads in the Shout Box).
Funnily enough, my favorite song on this list (out of many -- this was a particularly good week) is ABBA's Chiquitita.
Seriously, though, that song's gotten me through many a dark night of the soul. I suggest you listen to it again, He Who, the lyrics are actually quite beautiful.
I personally could stand to see these threads as frequently as HWW cares to produce them. And I ain't super picky about the weeks you want to choose either. It would be cool to see what songs I know were a hit the 3rd week of June 1972 or whatever!
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