By the mid-1980s, the era of putting together material for at least one album a year was over. The costs had already begun to skyrocket and the record companies weren't willing to shell out the bucks to freely have an act come in to the studio to record a 12-song package, much to the consternation of the act's agents/managers who believed in pushing their act to the brink of exhaustion.
So with less albums being produced, record companies were gambling more on their acts churning out numerous hits from those albums. And it was this week that 18 of the 40 songs in the countdown were the second or third or fourth or even fifth singles from the act's albums.
No. 38 All Of You--Julio Iglesias & Diana Ross: The follow-up single to his debut duet with Willie Nelson, "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" was from Iglesias' breakthrough album 1100 Bel Air Place, which also featured a collaboration with the Beach boys on the Hollies' classic "The Air That I Breathe."
No. 37 Flesh For Fantasy--Billy Idol: It was late in 1983 when Idol's breakthrough album Rebel Yell, and though the title cut missed the Top 40, the follow-up, "Eyes Without A Face," sure didn't. It got to No. 4 in the summer of '84. "Flesh For Fantasy" was the follow-up and peaked at No. 29.
No. 36 Who Wears These Shoes?--Elton John: The venerable Mr. John released his 24th album, Breaking Hearts, in the summer of '84 and produced the Top 10 hit "Sad Songs (Say So Much)." The follow-up, "Who Wears These Shoes?" would get as high as No. 16. This song, like the previous hit, was co-written with his legendary writing partner, Bernie Taupin.
No. 33 Bop 'Til You Drop--Rick Springfield: Since his 1981 breakthrough in "Jessie's Girl," Springfield was non-stop on the chart. He had three Top 40 hits from that album, Working Class Dog, three more from Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet, and three more from Living In Oz. From the movie soundtrack of his debut film, "Hard To Hold," Springfield had hit the Top 10 with "Love Somebody" and Top 30 with "Don't Walk Away." "Bop 'Til You Drop" would get as high as No. 20 as the third single from this soundtrack.
No. 31 Some Guys Have All The Luck--Rod Stewart: The album Camouflage was Rod Stewart's fourth solo album of the decade and produced the Top 10 hit "Infatuation" during that summer of '84. "Some Guys Have All The Luck," the perky remake of the 1973 Persuaders' Top 40 hit smash, would also be a Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 10.
No. 29 I'm So Excited--The Pointer Sisters: Talk about unique hit songs. "I'm So Excited" was a follow-up release on not one album, but two. In 1982, it was a Top 30 smash from the album "So Excited!" and was the follow-up to the Top 20 "American Music." Then their record label slipped the song back in thanks to an edited and remixed version for their 1984 album "Breakout," and was the third release after "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)." This time, the song made the Top 10, peaking at No. 9.
No. 25 The Lucky One--Laura Branigan: In the early summer, Branigan's first release from her third album, Self Control, the title cut, peaked at No. 4. "The Lucky One" was her fifth top 40 hit in two years, peaking at No. 20.
No. 19 Torture--The Jacksons: It had been over three years since Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Randy and Michael had a Top 40 hit with "Heartbreak Hotel" (not the Elvis song). Then came the album Victory and the first single, "State Of Shock," which featured Michael and Mick Jagger on vocals. "Torture" was produced and co-written by Jackie and features brother Jermaine, who was uncertain of his availability on the album until the last moment, and Michael on lead vocals. It got as high as No. 17.
No. 17 When You Close Your Eyes--Night Ranger: This song was actually the third release from the album Midnight Madness as the first song, "(You Can Still) Rock In America" got to No. 51. It was the second release, the '80s classic "Sister Christian," which peaked at No. 5 that finally got the band into the Top 40. The follow-up, with Jack Blades on lead vocal, was "When You Close Your Eyes." It got as high as No. 14.
No. 16 Lucky Star--Madonna: The self-titled album for the woman we would come to know as the "Material Girl" gave us the Top 20 hit "Holiday," and the No. 10 hit "Borderline." She was about to continue her upward climb to fame and fortune with the hit "Lucky Star," highlighted by a memorable music video that would punctuate the "Madonna look" of the mid-1980s. "Lucky Star" would get to No. 4.
No. 14 Hard Habit To Break--Chicago: Now sailing again with a second wind starting with 1982's No. 1 hit "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" and with Canadian writer-producer David Foster behind the controls of the band production-wise, Chicago released Chicago XVII in late spring of 1984 and "Stay The Night" went as high as No. 16. But the follow-up was the emotional "Hard Habit To Break," featuring Peter Cetera and Bill Champlain on co-lead vocals. It would get as high as No. 3.
No. 12 Stuck On You--Lionel Richie: By now, Richie's Can't Slow Down album was running out of steam, though "Penny Lover" was waiting in the wings to become the fifth Top 40 hit from that album. "Stuck On You" gave Richie an audience he rarely ever touched -- country music fans. After the dance-happy hits "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Running With The Night" and the No. 1 ballad "Hello," Richie got his cowboy hat and boots on for "Stuck On You," which peaked at No. 3 and was on its way down the chart at this point.
No. 11 Cover Me--Bruce Springsteen: Little did anyone know that The Boss was going to break the bank with the album Born In The U.S.A. by releasing an insane seven singles from it. In the early summer of '84, Springsteen and his merry E Street Band mates were bounding into the Top 10 with "Cover Me," the second Top 10 hit from the album and follow-up to the No. 2 smash and biggest hit ever, "Dancing In The Dark."
No. 6 If This Is It--Huey Lewis & The News: The band from Marin County, California was already up to their fourth release from the No. 1 album Sports. They hit the Top 10 with "Heart And Soul," "I Want A New Drug," and "The Heart Of Rock 'N Roll." Then came the summer-driven "If This Is It," complete with a music video featuring the band at the beach. It peaked at No. 6 as "Walking On A Thin Line" was in the on-deck circle ready to become the band's fifth Top 40 hit from the album.
No. 5 Drive--The Cars: The sassy "You Might Think" started off as the first single from the Boston-based band's fifth studio album. The hard-driving "Magic" became a summertime smash, peaking at No. 12. Then came the beautiful "Drive" with bass player Benjamin Orr on lead vocal after Ric Ocasek sang lead on the first two hits. "Drive" would peak at No. 3.
No. 4 What's Love Got To Do With It--Tina Turner: Dropping from the No. 1 spot after three weeks at the top, this Grammy Award-winning smash was really the second release from Turner's comeback album Private Dancer. Her remake of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" was a Top 30 hit in the late winter of '84, her first Top 40 hit in over 10 years when she was still married to Ike.
No. 3 She Bop--Cyndi Lauper: The album She's So Unusual gave us the fun-packed "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," which went to No. 2, and the beautiful "Time After Time," which went to No. 1. This time around, Lauper needed a chaperone because she couldn't "stop messin' in the danger zone." "She Bop" hit No. 3 as the third single and she still had two more releases to go ("All Through The Night" and "Money Changes Everything") from this breakthrough album.
No. 2 Let's Go Crazy--Prince & The Revolution: From the soundtrack of the movie "Purple Rain," the first single, "When Doves Cry," which was still in the Top 40 at this point, gave His Purple Majesty the first No. 1 of his career. "Let's Go Crazy," the second release from the soundtrack, was the follow-up and a week away from becoming the second No. 1 hit for Prince. Purple Rain would give us five Top 40 hits.
Of course, that's just the songs that were "follow-up" singles. There were also "first" releases from albums ("Strut" by Sheena Easton at No. 40, "Swept Away" by Diana Ross at No. 35, "On The Dark Side" by John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band at No. 32, Prince's "When Doves Cry" at No. 23, "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean at No. 22, "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart at No. 20, "Lights Out" by Peter Wolf at No. 18, "Dynamite" by Jermaine Jackson at No. 15, "I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder at No. 9, "The Glamorous Life" by Sheila E. at No. 8 and "Missing You" by John Waite, which went to No. 1 for its only week in this particular week) that would also spawn multiple Top 40 hits.
That's 29 songs in the Top 40 that week from albums that gave us multiple hits.
Yes, as you can see, the times of "an album a year" were definitely a-changin'.
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