Each week, I am releasing a list of my 15 favorite songs from the first 15 summers I lived in my beloved hometown of Toms River, N.J. between 1974-88. That takes me from the summer I was 7 until the summer I was 21. Each song from each summer has a special meaning and I will try to convey them as best as I possibly can. So I will rank each summer's hit song memory from Nos. 15 through No. 1. Each song was a hit that peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend. An interesting final note here: "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes is NOT in this countdown because it was a hit in the Spring of 1981, hitting No. 1 then, so I did not include it among the summertime memories.
This week, it's the Sounds of the Summer of '81:
15. Endless Love—Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (#1, August)
OK, I admit I loved this duet when it first came out from the failed Zefferelli film of the same name starring Brooke Shields. It's the dynamic between the two singers that made this such a majstical moment in music history as well as that emotional piano that accompanies the pair played by Richie. It's a beautiful piece of music and though it got overplayed to death that late summer, it's still a worthy summertime memory from that year.
14. Seven Year Ache—Rosanne Cash (#22, July)
In the early 1980s, country music permeated the pop and Top 40 radio stations where I was in New Jersey. This song by Johnny Cash's daughter was a great example. Rosanne Cash's narration of a guy who thinks he's got it with all the ladies, but she knows better, is done in such a Southern style that we can't help but notice. It's subtle, but great storytelling nonetheless. Great steel guitar work by Hank DeVito, who would write a great late summer-early fall hit in 1981 for Juice Newton called "Queen Of Hearts." Then-husband and country star Rodney Crowell did the production on this smash that would turn out to be Cash's lone Top 40 crossover hit.
13. In The Air Tonight—Phil Collins (#19, August)
I had a taken a cruise with my sister and grandmother and it would take us from Montreal to New York City. One night, I'm up on deck and it's foggy and we were in the North Atlantic waters. I had taken my transistor radio on the trip with me and this song suddenly comes on -- that haunting opening was perfect for what I was viewing. So who cares if the story of Phil Collins seeing some guy watch another person drown and then he puts a spotlight on him at a concert to point him out of what he did is not true at all! It makes for an eerie-sounding great memory of that summer. And those drums -- oh, yeah! Those memorable, pounding drums that lead to the very end of the record. Fantastic emotion from start to finish.
12. Theme From "The Greatest American Hero" (Believe It Or Not)—Joey Scarbury (#2, August)
For the record, I never saw one episode of The Greatest American Hero starring William Katt. Not one. Yet the most indelible thing about the show is this song that continues to live long after the show came and went. Joey Scarbury's approach is sweet and needs commending. He never had to be over the top. The only thing about this song over the top is the guitar work by John Goux at the bridge. It's that record that snuck under the radar and became the left-field hit that summer. If not for Diana and Lionel, this would have been a No. 1 song. The song still makes me smile all these years later.
11. Don't Let Him Go—R.E.O. Speedwagon (#24, August)
This song is cranked to 11 practically from the first sound of feedback in the play-in. The booming drums of Alan Gratzer matching the intensity of bass guitarist Bruce Hall sets the tone. Kevin Cronin delivers the lyrics in dramatic and succinct fashion and the song at its bridge has not only a guitar solo from the late Gary Richrath, but it has a keyboard solo by Neal Doughty. It's my favorite song by R.E.O. from the No. 1 album of the year, "Hi Infidelity" and helped to set a great musical summer on fire.
10. Don't Want To Wait Anymore—The Tubes (#35, August)
Not until long ago did I realize that Canadian producer-writer David Foster produced and co-wrote this magnificent piece of music by San Francisco's Tubes. Fee Waybill delivers one of the most dramatic lead vocals I've ever heard and his improvised ending is something I won't ever forget. Bill Spooner's guitar solo is in a perfect place after the first chorus and the whole song is just dramatic from start to finish.
9. Slow Hand—The Pointer Sisters (#2, September)
Always loved that soulful opening on keyboards and Anita Pointer's voice is just downright sexy with her sisters following her in harmony at key moments, including the chorus. This song has its soul roots, but by the middle of the song, you feel like it's going into gospel territory, and that's the Pointers' wheelhouse. Co-written by John Bettis, who co-wrote a number of hits for the Carpenters in the 1970s, and Michael Clark, it's hard to think of anyone else who could do this song other than the Pointer Sisters, but they almost didn't get the song because the writers weren't convinced they could do this song. Boy, were those two wrong. Then a year later, Conway Twitty made it a No. 1 hit on the country music chart.
8. Gemini Dream—The Moody Blues (#12, August)
One of the first two cassette tapes I bought in the Summer of 1981 was "Long Distance Voyager" by the Moody Blues. I always thought this song with Patrick Moraz's opening keyboard salvo was so cool to my 14-year-old ears that I had to have the "Long Distance Voyager" tape (that also included the other hit song from it, "The Voice."). I also love the duel lead vocals of John Lodge and Justin Hayward on this record. The song is a journey from start to finish and you don't have to tell anyone what zodiac sign you are to enjoy it.
7. This Little Girl—Gary "U.S." Bonds (#11, June)
Many of us who grew up listening to oldies of the 1960s by stars of the early Rock 'n Roll era, especially before the Beatles arrived in 1964 and wiped out most of the pre-Beatles stars of that day, were really relegated to "hearing their songs on vinyl or oldies station." That totally changed the day I heard Gary "U.S." Bonds doing "This Little Girl" on the radio the first time. I nearly cried. Gary "U.S." Bonds was real. My generation had something to get excited about an older act performing a new song. And I'll always thank Bruce Springsteen for bringing him back and producing and writing for him on the album, "Dedication," for which the entire E Street Band is backing Bonds, including that rousing saxophone solo by the late, great Big Man himself, Clarence Clemons. I still feel that emotion when I hear Bruce's subtle opening electric guitar strum. It's like letting a jack in the box free and for a Jersey Shore boy appreciating a guy doing a song that sounds so much like the Jersey Shore, it's forever appreciated.
6. Elvira—The Oak Ridge Boys (#5, July)
Now come on! You -- and that's just about everyone -- indulged in those "Ooom-papa-oooom-papa-mow-mows" that Richard Sterban delivered (come to find out that Sterban was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1943 and graduated from Collingswood High School in 1961). Every summer needs a "fun" record and welcome to that "fun" record courtesy of 1981. There's nothing offensive about it, and the Oak Ridge Boys' record label, MCA Records, saw a lot of cash flow when this song would take advantage of numerous other country songs crossing over to the pop chart. Boy, did it ever! I can never think about that song without thinking of Joe Bonsall's lead vocal and Sterban delivering the "ooom-papa-ooom-papa-mow-mows," especially the deeper his bass got as the song continued on. I can't think about that Summer of '81 without thinking of "Elvira."
5. Double Dutch Bus—Frankie Smith (#30, August)
OK, there was more than one fun record in the Summer of 1981 beside "Elvira." That was provided by the late Frankie Smith of Philadelphia, whose romp through the streets of Philly caught him at rope-jumping activities that the kids would call "double dutch." And it made it that much more fun to listen to all five minutes of this, that cutesy musical backdrop highlighted by that horn honk and Smith rhyming his way through his plight of him "walking to work 15 blocks and I already got a hole in my socks." He's got bad feet, his corns hurt, and to top it off, he's late for work. So he develops this funky walk and says, "shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhu-gar!" And that leads to the greatest form of Pig Latin ever put together -- high use of words with "ilz" at or near the start. Sad that the song only got as high as No. 30 on the pop chart because the effort alone and fun it exuded should have made it a Top 10 hit.
4. Time—The Alan Parsons Project (#15, August)
In the middle of a fun summer, you always have that one song that makes you go inside yourself and think about things like our mortality. That is "Time" by the Alan Parsons Project, which features the haunting vocals of first-time lead vocalist Eric Wolfson, who co-wrote the song with Parsons, who is the second vocalist you hear on the record. That opening piano piece by Wolfson is one of the prettiest-sounding works ever to start a song. Breathless as Wolfson sounds, it works beautifully. And the arrangement of Andrew Powell's Philharmonic Orchestra leaves you near tears, it's that beautiful and makes you think of those you lost in your life. "Goodbye my friend, maybe for forever. Goodbye my friend, the stars wait for me. Who knows where we shall meet again … if ever?" I can't help but think of my late girlfriend and those words. Powerful record and one of the best of 1981 overall.
3. Stars On 45 Medley—Stars On 45 (#1, June)
Yeah, it's kind of over the top -- the Beatles done by Dutch session singers. But no one was exactly hawking the market on it at the time and so CNR Records in the Netherlands thought it'd be a kitschy idea to make a Beatles medley, having those session singers sing in English their most recognizable songs for a 4-plus minute medley, add a Dutch favorite in "Venus" by Shocking Blue (just the opening guitar riff) and the Archies' "Sugar Sugar" and then tie it all up in one big huge bow with a hook line chorus to explain the "Stars on 45." Sure! If you loved the medley like I did for its near-precise vocals of the Beatles when they recorded those songs, you knew it was a No. 1 hit in this country. And it was -- stepping into the top spot in between Kim Carnes' nine-week run of "Bette Davis Eyes" at the top.
2. Jessie's Girl—Rick Springfield (#1, August)
Paging Dr. Noah Drake to the recording studio! Paging Dr. Noah Drake! When the spring came and this song was climbing the chart, I thought nothing of it. This was the dude that did the inspirational "Speak To The Sky" in 1972. What could he possibly bring to the table this time? Well, he brought us a song that would last us generations, even if the subject is his infatuation with his best friend's girlfriend he was seeing while they were all going to stained glass class. By July, that song was in my head and I couldn't get it out … and 38 summers later, I'm glad it never departed. Fantastic vocals and guitar from the ageless Aussie Mr. Springfield.
1. The Stroke—Billy Squier (#17, August)
If you rank a song on its lyrical content, this wouldn't be at No. 1, even as the years have passed and the idea that the song was about self-gratification was simply rumor. But it's Bobby Chouinard who is the true MVP of this record. He's the guy who has to do the "stroke"-like drum from start to finish and you know it couldn't have been that easy. While drums are supposed to be harder and faster, this one sets the entire song off in one distinct rhythmic way. Billy Squier's vocals are never flinching and the crashing guitar brought forward by Cary Sharaf still resonates all these years later. The "stroke" bridge of this record forever is entombed in this record and that last "stroke" part like they are trying to make it to the shoreline within only moments near the end of the song makes this one for the classic rock music files. Just hear that backbeat in your head and you'll be going to sleep with it in your head tonight, thinking how can I get rid of it tomorrow at work. It's that powerful to this day and part of the reason why the "other" cassette tape I purchased that summer was Squier's "Don't Say No." Still love it to this day and why "The Stroke" was my favorite song of the Summer of '81.
No comments:
Post a Comment