It could be argued by some in the music world (or at least by me) that 1985 was the year of Madonna. Her music was just about everywhere, and her songs from that era had such staying power that many of them are still played on the radio today. Some of those songs, though, have fallen by the wayside, despite their popularity at the time. The most prominent of Madonna’s forgotten songs from that era would have to be “Angel”.
This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide by The Kings
If someone were to mention The Kings to most Americans, my guess is that the most common response (other than “Who?”) would be something along the lines of “Hey, aren’t they that group that sang ‘Lola’?” No, The Kings were a Canadian rock group that formed in the late 70s and, per the group’s official website, refer to themselves as a one-hit wonder…which they basically were…though their one hit was two songs together: “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide”.
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The Super Bowl Shuffle by The Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew
In late 1985, the Chicago Bears were dominating the NFL, cruising to a 15-1 record. It was widely expected that they would continue to win easily all the way through the Super Bowl.
What was not widely expected is that they would release a hit song along the way. But along came “The Super Bowl Shuffle”.
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Time by the Alan Parsons Project
In the late 70s and early 80s, the Alan Parsons Project had several hits, a few of which still receive the occasional spin. (And then there’s “Sirius”, which will be forever associated with NBA team introductions in my mind, and possibly for many others as well.) They were known for a few concept albums that had a little bit of a storyline.
In America by The Charlie Daniels Band
Most people who have heard of Charlie Daniels probably remember him mostly for The Charlie Daniels Band’s platinum-certified #3 smash “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, which still gets a fair amount of airplay even today, and rightly so. Some may also remember his #9 song from a few years before, “Uneasy Rider”, or they might even remember this ad from 2010:
Most people, though, probably don’t remember that The Charlie Daniels Band very nearly returned to the Top 10 just a year after “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” had its run and helped the album on which it appeared, Million Mile Reflections, go platinum as well. The band’s follow-up album was entitled Full Moon and was released in the summer of 1980.
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(Full Moon peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Hot LPs and Tape chart. Album ℗1980 Epic/Nashville Records. Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)
A few weeks before Full Moon dropped, the debut single, “In America”, was released. The song was about restoring patriotism in the United States after a rather lousy decade (with an economy to match) and while the Iran hostage crisis was still ongoing. It spoke of Americans becoming united, and after all this, “God bless America again”. The hope, optimism, and patriotism of the song resonated with many people.
Chart Performance
“In America” debuted in Billboard’s Hot 100 at #82 in its May 31, 1980 issue (chart) and peaked at #11 the week ending August 2 (chart | magazine); it remained at that position for two weeks and then went into a freefall, falling out of the Top 40 within three weeks of peaking (by which time the second single from Full Moon, “The Legend of Wooley Swamp” had already begun its chart run) and out of the Hot 100 completely just two weeks later. “In America” spent a respectable 15 weeks on the Hot 100, and it did well enough to land at #96 in the year-end chart for 1980.
According to Wikipedia (at least as of this writing), “In America” experienced a short revival in 2001 after the events of September 11; however, since that time I know of no station that has played the song except WCBS-FM, in a 2008 Sunday night broadcast of their Top 20 from August 3, 1980.
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Love Sneakin’ Up On You by Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt is one of those rockers who was around for years before ever having a top 40 hit. She started recording in the early 1970s and even got a shoutout from Dr. Johnny Fever on “WKRP in Cincinnati” when he played her late 70s remake of “Runaway”, which got up to #57. But it wasn’t until the early 90s that she ever hit the top 40 charts. She hit first with “Have a Heart”, but she is probably best known for “Something to Talk About”, which hit #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1991. “Something to Talk About” still gets some airplay on radio these days, and deservedly so, usually on adult contemporary stations.
But who remembers the first single from her follow-up album in 1994? Maybe some of my readers, whom I assume are quite enlightened, will remember “Love Sneakin’ Up On You”, the first single from Longing in Their Hearts, but I think radio hardly remembers it at all.
(Longing in Their Hearts, as might be expected, peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200. Album ℗1994 Capitol Records. Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)
“Love Sneakin’ Up On You” debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 the week ending March 12, 1994 (chart) at #90, and I personally heard the song for the first time that same week on a Spring Break quasi-roadtrip. It slowly made its way up the charts, peaking at #19 almost two months later, as seen in the issue for the week ending May 7 (chart | magazine). The song had fairly good staying power, staying on the Hot 100 for 20 weeks and ending up at #94 for the year. It did even better on the Canadian charts, where it was a #1 song.
After its run, there was one more single to be released from Longing in Their Hearts. Unfortunately, “You” was not nearly as successful, peaking at #92. After that, Ms. Raitt hit the Hot 100 a couple more times before basically moving solely to the adult contemporary chart, which she last hit in 2006.
“Love Sneakin’ Up On You”, though, has seemingly disappeared. (In researching this song, I discovered that YouTube does not even presently have the album version of this song on its site.) It would be nice to see it reappear on the airwaves sometime.
Room to Move by Animotion
I’ll readily admit that some of what inspires me to call out specific songs is the appearance of the artist (or a member of the group) in the news. Once already this year, unfortunately, I have done so because of the news of a divorce after a long marriage. Sadly, this is the case a second time, this time the dissolution of the 25-year marriage of Richard Marx (who has been mentioned on this blog before for reasons not related to his own hit music) and actress/singer Cynthia Rhodes, of the group Animotion.
How Much Love by Leo Sayer
When asked about Leo Sayer, I would guess that most people would either respond with “Who?” or possibly remember one or two songs of his…or the fact that he once appeared on the Muppet Show. I personally remember him for three songs. Two of them, “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You”, were mainstays on middle-of-the-road radio in my hometown for years. The third, Mr. Sayer’s 1980 remake of “More Than I Can Say”, was popular after I was old enough to pay attention to what songs were popular at the time.
You Don’t Want Me Anymore by Steel Breeze
1982 was a year of flux for top 40 music. A lot of different types of music hit the charts that year, and many acts came and left that year. One act that appeared for the first time was Steel Breeze, a pop-rock band out of California. Like Magazine 60, Steel Breeze incorporated synthesizers into its sound, but while Magazine 60 had an obvious Eurodisco sound, Steel Breeze was much more an album-oriented rock group.
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Don Quichotte (No Estan Aqui) by Magazine 60
During the post-disco years, a lot of synthpop bands popped up, many Europe-based. One such band was Magazine 60, a French band which is known in America–if it is known here at all–for exactly one song, “Don Quichotte (No Estan Aqui)”.
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