1980 was, to put it mildly, a year of upheaval in the world of top 40 music in America. The disco era was ending rapidly, its end having been hastened by several causes, not the least of which was a changing in listeners’ tastes toward music such as “My Sharona”, which had been the previous year’s #1 song. While some listeners embraced the new wave movement from whence “My Sharona” came, others moved toward a resurgence of a mellower sound.
I Want You by Savage Garden
Occasionally, a band or artist will have a single which becomes a fairly good-sized hit but which becomes a forgotten song because of other songs the band/artist has released which completely overshadow the single in question. Even if a band is known for only a few songs, the huge hits can almost drive the songs that were just big from people’s minds. That appears to be the case for the late 90s band Savage Garden.
We Don’t Talk Anymore by Cliff Richard
Some artists have an amazing amount of chart success in their native country without having much of an impact in the United States music scene at all. Others eventually do hit the charts in the USA, sometimes almost two decades after starting their music careers. In that second category we find Cliff Richard, who had a few hits later in his career. One of his biggest hits, which has become virtually forgotten by radio, is “We Don’t Talk Anymore”.
Missing by Everything But The Girl
Occasionally a band will spend years in relative obscurity and then, finally, suddenly break through with one big hit before settling back into the same obscurity from whence that band had come. One such band, at least as far as the American music-buying public was concerned, was Everything But The Girl, who hit big with “Missing”.
Maybe I’m a Fool by Eddie Money
Ask a fan of classic hits radio about the name Eddie Money, and odds are good that you will hear about only two or possibly three songs. But in reality, Eddie Money had quite a good run, with almost a dozen top 40 singles and four platinum albums. Since we’re talking about him on this page, though, it’s likely that you haven’t heard some of his songs on the radio in a long time…if ever. Take, for example, “Maybe I’m a Fool”.
Reelin’ and Rockin’ by Chuck Berry
Any history of rock and roll music has to include Chuck Berry. One of the true pioneers of rock and roll, Mr. Berry started hitting the charts in 1955, right at the start of the rock era, and he achieved a level of fame that few people could reach. Whether it was his being the only rock artist to have a song (“Johnny B. Goode”) on Voyager 1’s Golden Record* or having a very tongue-in-cheek origin story told in Back to the Future, Chuck Berry is one of those few rock stars who will likely never be forgotten.
Vibeology by Paula Abdul
By far the biggest name to come out of the huge upswing in dance music in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Paula Abdul. To give the reader a sense of how pervasive Ms. Abdul’s music was in that era, it should be noted that her debut album, Forever Your Girl, is, as of this writing and per Ms. Abdul’s website, the third longest charting album on the Billboard Hot 100.*
You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else by The Jones Girls
The end of the disco era brought quite a few one-hit wonders onto the chart. Among that number were The Jones Girls, who, despite a fair amount of success on what was then called the soul chart, only placed one song into the Hot 100. Do you remember “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else”?
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Come Back by J. Geils Band
With the advent of April 2017 came yet another classic hits artist taken from us, as John “J.” Geils was found dead in his home at age 71 of what has been reported to be natural causes. J. Geils, of course, was the namesake of what was called the J. Geils Blues Band before simply becoming the J. Geils Band in 1969. (I suppose it was a catchier name for a band than its original name, Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels.)
Reach Your Peak by Sister Sledge
On March 10, we lost yet another pop singer, as Joni Sledge, the second oldest Sledge sister, passed away at the age of 60 from causes that are, as of two weeks ago, unknown. While it was youngest sister Kathy who sang lead on most of the Sister Sledge songs that people remember, Joni sang lead on a few as well.
