The Flashback of the 60s, 70s, 80s Greatest Music Hits

Jan 3, 2016

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - on Glass Houses Album (1980)

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - on Glass Houses Album (1980)
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song is an examination of the themes of a musician's degrading fame and public tastes that were expressed in his 1975 hit "The Entertainer".



The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States.

The song is a cynical look at the music industry as a publicist/manager begs the protagonist to remain hip for the younger crowd ("What's the matter with the car I'm driving?" / "Can't you tell that it's out of style?"), and the protagonist's refusal to change, claiming his music will remain relevant regardless of his appearance. The song was a reaction by Joel at the new music genres that were around in the late 1970s (punk, funk, new wave). It was inspired by Joel reading a review about a particular (unnamed) band, and realizing that he had no idea what their music sounded like.

Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes - Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer (1980)

Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes - Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer (1980)
"Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" is a song written by David Ellingson and Kim Carnes and recorded by Kenny Rogers and Carnes as a duet. It was released in March 1980 as the first single from Rogers' album Gideon. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. It was also recorded in Spanish as "No Te Enamores De Un Loco".


Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore - on Rock 'N' Roll Juvenile Album (1979)

Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore - on Rock 'N' Roll Juvenile Album (1979)

"We Don't Talk Anymore" is a song recorded by Cliff Richard that reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1979, remaining there for four weeks. Produced by The Shadows' rhythm guitarist, Bruce Welch, and written by Alan Tarney, it was Cliff Richard's tenth UK number one and his first since "Congratulations" in 1968.



Coming just before his 39th birthday, and just when it was announced that he was to receive the OBE for services to music, the record cemented his comeback, which continued well into the 1980s and 1990s. The single was his biggest worldwide seller: it was number one in Germany for five weeks (his only English-language German chart-topper, though he had two German-language number ones there in the 1960s), and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. The fact that its chart run extended beyond the end of 1979 meant Richard became the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide, topping the charts in the UK, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Finland, West Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Switzerland. It was certified Gold in both the UK and West Germany.

The song was the sixth video aired on MTV on its launch on 1 August 1981.

Jan 1, 2016

Christopher Cross - Sailing - on Christopher Cross Album (1980)

Christopher Cross - Sailing - on Christopher Cross Album (1980)
"Sailing" is a song written and recorded by American artist Christopher Cross. It was released in June 1980 as the second single from his eponymous debut album. The song was a success in the USA, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, and helping Cross win the Best New Artist award. VH1 named this the greatest "softsational soft rock" music song of all time.




It was a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, reaching that position on August 30, 1980, for one week. Since its debut, it has been covered by many artists, including Avant, Barry Manilow, Greenskeepers, 'N Sync, Phajja, Patrick Yandall and, as a duo, Moya Brennan & Cormac de Barra. Recorded in 1979, the song was one of the first digitally recorded songs to chart, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System. In his Grammy acceptance speech, Cross acknowledged "Sailing" as his favorite song on the album and that originally it was not meant to be a single.

Dec 29, 2015

Level 42 - Something About You - From The Album Gold (1985)

"Something About You" is a single released by British jazz-funk band Level 42 in 1985, in advance of its inclusion on the album World Machine the same year. The song was written by Mark King, Mike Lindup, Phil Gould, Boon Gould, and Wally Badarou.

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"Something About You" was released in several countries beyond the United Kingdom, including United States, Germany, Italy, Canada, and many countries of South America and Asia. It is the only Level 42 song to be a top 10 hit in the United States, where it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it is their second top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Something About You" appears in many Level 42 collections: Level Best, The Very Best of Level 42, and The Definitive Collection.

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling - From The Album The Essential REO Speedwagon (1985)

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling - From The Album The Essential REO Speedwagon (1985)
"Can't Fight This Feeling" is a power ballad performed by the American rock band REO Speedwagon, the single remained three consecutive weeks at the number one position at the U.S. Hot 100 chart from March 9 to March 23, 1985.



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The song is about a man falling in love with a girl with whom he has been friends for a long time. The song first appeared on REO Speedwagon's 1984 album Wheels Are Turnin'. It was the group's second number-one hit on the U.S. charts (the first being 1981's "Keep on Loving You", also written by Kevin Cronin) and reached number sixteen in the UK. "Can't Fight This Feeling" has appeared on dozens of 'various artists' compilation albums, as well as several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums. REO Speedwagon performed the song at the 1985 Live Aid concert.

Dec 25, 2015

The Knack - My Sharona - From the album Get the Knack (1979)

The Knack - My Sharona - From the album Get the Knack (1979)
"My Sharona" is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for 6 weeks, and was number one on Billboard '​s 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.



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It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing one million copies sold, and was Capitol Records' fastest gold status debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964.
The characteristic riff of "My Sharona" was written by the band's guitarist, Berton Averre, years before he joined the Knack. He had played the riff as well as a drum groove for Doug Fieger, the group's lead singer and rhythm guitarist, who loved it and promised to make it a song, although he did not have any ideas for the lyrics.
When Fieger was 25, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as becoming Fieger's girlfriend for the next four years. Fieger recounted that "It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat; I fell in love with her instantly. And when that happened, it sparked something and I started writing a lot of songs feverishly in a short amount of time." Fieger and Averre worked out the structure and melody of the song. Averre was originally averse to using Alperin's name in the song, but Fieger wanted it to be a direct expression of his feelings; Averre ultimately relented. Fieger claimed that "My Sharona" was written in 15 minutes.

Dec 24, 2015

Patti LaBelle - On My Own - From the album Winner in You (1986)

Patti LaBelle - On My Own - From the album Winner in You (1986)







"On My Own" was a Billboard #1 hit duet by singers Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald when it was released as a single in 1986. It was released from LaBelle's first platinum album, Winner in You and was written and produced by Burt Bacharach and his former wife Carole Bayer Sager. The song was originally recorded by singer Dionne Warwick for inclusion on her album Friends. It is unclear why the song was not included on the final tracklist. The song was based on a relationship that had reached its end with both parties going their separate ways in a melancholy state with the occasional option of coming back together again one day.

It was often stated the two performers were in separate cities when they recorded their individual parts which were then "married" during mixing. This was reflected in the music video produced to promote the song, which depicted LaBelle and McDonald performing the song simultaneously on different coasts. The singers were shown on separate sides of a split screen, each singing the song while walking through apartments which had identical layouts but different decor and furniture. The views from their respective porches, where they finished the song, made clear their separation by the continent.

The song became the biggest hit single ever for both singers as it reached number one on the Billboard chart for 3 weeks, as well as charting highly on the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. In the UK, the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, going gold (it was the 22nd best-selling single of 1986 in the UK). The song was initially not intended to be a duet at all, but LaBelle decided to invite McDonald to help her turn the song into a duet, as she stated: "The song was sent to me and I did a version of it but somehow it just didn't quite work. We were going over things I'd done and we talked about turning it into a duet. Someone asked, 'If you could do it with anyone, who would you sing it with?', and Michael was my first choice."