Pat Benatar “Shadows of the Night” charted

Shadows of the Night Pat Benatar

Writer(s): David Leigh Byron, Rachel Sweet (see lyrics here) Released: September 18, 1982 First Charted: September 30, 1982 Peak: 13 US, 13 CB, 18 GR, 8 RR, 3 AR, 50 UK, 12 CN, 19 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 15.4 video, 29.04 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Rock singer/songwriter Pat Benatar was born in New York City, New York in 1953. She released her first single, “Day Gig,” in 1974 but it failed to chart. Five years later, she had her breakthrough with a cover of John Mellencamp’s “I Need a Lover,” a chart hit in Belgium and the Netherlands. The song was the lead single from her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, which also produced “Heartbreaker.” That was her first Billboard Hot 100 hit, reaching #23. Her second album, Crimes of Passion, gave Benatar her first top-10 hit with “Hit Me with Your Best Shot.” The album reached #2 and sold 4 million copies, the biggest seller of her career. She followed it up with the #1 album Precious Time. At this point, each of her three albums had produced three top-40 hits. Her fourth album, Get Nervous, broke the streak – by landing three songs in the top 40. The album’s first single, “Shadows of the Night,” reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her second most successful chart entry at that point (she would go on to rack up three more top-10 hits). Benatar was not the first to record the song. David Leigh Byron wrote the song for the 1980 movie Times Square about two New York City runaways. The song failed to make it into the movie WK so Byron intended to record it for his second album. His record label, Arista, rejected it as lacking commercial appeal and Byron left the label. SF It was then recorded and released in 1981 by Helen Schneider, an American singer who worked primarily in Germany. Bryon claims the song went five times platinum there. WK Ohio-born singer Rachel Sweet also recorded the song in 1981 with slightly different lyrics. The song had yet to experience any chart success in the United States. Then Benatar recorded it, also making some minor lyrical changes. Sweet was angry when she didn’t receive any writing credit. It turns out Byron submitted it to Benatar without mentioning Sweet’s lyrical changes. SF The video stars Benatar as a flying ace during World War II fighting against the Nazis. In the end, it turns out it was a dream and she is really a riveter. The video features Judge Reinhold as a pilot and Bill Paxton as a Nazi radio operator. Benatar’s husband, Neil Giraldo, wasn’t a fan of videos, saying that “as videos got more popular, they became little stories or vignettes, and…didn’t represent the song anymore.” SF Still, he acknowledged how much impact the video had on making the song a hit. SF The song earned Benatar her third consecutive Grammy win for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/23/2022; last updated 12/27/2022.

Dave’s Faves: The Columbia House Record Club

First posted 8/12/2020.

Dave’s Faves: Columbia House

September 25, 1982. I was 15 years old and had just started my sophomore year in high school. Arguably, there is no more significant time for musical discovery. I was very much a slave to whatever was popular at the time, but my tastes were starting to shift from more middle-of-the-road artists like John Denver, Neil Diamond, and Barry Manilow to more rock-oriented fare like Journey, Queen, and Styx. A week before, I’d put together my very first personal song chart. I’d listened to a local radio station’s countdown of the hits of the summer and decided to create my own list of all-time favorites. However, within the week I revamped it and I was on my way to more than a decade’s worth of creating weekly personal song charts. By that second week, I was hit by an influx of “new” music. Actually, it would be more appropriate to call it “newly acquired music” as the six new albums in my collection were all at least nine months old: Air Supply The One That You Love (1981) Foreigner 4 (1981) Journey Escape (1981) The Police Ghost in the Machine (1981) Queen Greatest Hits (compilation: 1973-81, released 1981) Styx Paradise Theater (1981) To what did I owe this new treasure trove? Columbia House’s Record and Tape Club. Anyone from my generation should remember the omnipresent ads in magazines to buy 13 albums for a dollar, sometimes a penny, under the agreement that you bought X number more albums over the next few years. The catch was they would automatically send an album each month if you didn’t specifically refuse it, sticking some people with albums they didn’t want. My friend Nic and I decided to jump into the venture together, each getting half the albums and therefore only spending half as much money. I believe Nic took on the responsibility of mailing in the cards and I think he only got stuck once with the automatically mailed album. I’d started my music collection three years earlier with the K-Tel compilation High Energy (1979) on eight track. Now I was beginning my transition from eight track to cassette. I’d already bought Styx Cornerstone (1979) and the Xanadu soundtrack (1980) on tape and now, with six new titles in my collection, I was well on my way toward this newer medium surpassing the old. Before year’s end, I would also have John Cougar’s American Fool (1982), J. Geils Band Freeze Frame (1981), and Olivia Newton-John’s Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982). In December of that year, I also hit the jackpot when my local rock station played a Beatles’ album every day at midnight for a week. I recorded the Beatles’ 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 collections as well as Magical Mystery Tour (1967), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and Hey Jude (1968). The impact on my personal chart was immediately apparent. Songs from the above tapes which showed up on my charts in the next few weeks included: Air Supply “The One That You Love,” “Here I Am,” “Sweet Dreams” Foreigner “Urgent,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You” Journey “Who’s Crying Now,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Open Arms” The Police “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” Queen “You’re My Best Friend,” “Flash,” “Another One Bites the Dust” Styx “The Best of Times,” “Too Much Time on My Hands,” “Rockin’ the Paradise,” “Nothing Ever Goes As Planned” Some of the songs from those tapes still rank on my top 100 songs of all-time list (Foreigner “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” Journey “Open Arms,” Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions,” and Styx’s “The Best of Times”). Styx Paradise Theater and Journey Escape rank amongst my top 100 albums of all time. Perhaps no other week in my life has had more impact on me musically. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database (9/18/1982). “My First Personal Song Chart” Dave’s Music Database (1/3/2020). “Dave’s Faves: My Top 100 Albums” Dave’s Music Database (3/2/2020). “Dave’s Faves: My Top 100 Songs”

Prince released “1999”

1999 Prince

Writer(s): Prince (see lyrics here) Released: September 24, 1982 First Charted: October 16, 1982 Peak: 12 US, 14 CB, 12 RR, 33 A40, 4 RB, 15 CO, 2 UK, 6 CN, 2 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.72 US, 0.25 UK, 0.98 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 18.0 video, 72.62 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: While “1999” is well remembered as one of Prince’s best songs, it wasn’t one of his biggest hits. Based solely on peaks on the Billboard Hot 100, twenty Prince songs fared better on the charts than “1999.” That includes nineteen top-10 hits and the #11 hit “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” In fact, the song didn’t even hit the top 40 – the first time around. When it was released as the lead single for the album of the same name, “1999” stalled at #44. After “Little Red Corvette” reached the top 10, “1999” was re-released and peaked at #12. In the year 1999, the song resurfaced, hitting #40. It then charted for a rare fourth time in 2016 after Prince’s death, reaching #27. It became the first song to chart in three different decades. SF The song shares a commonality with Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” which gives lead vocal duties to two other singers before Wonder takes charge. “1999” was initially intended as a three-part harmony, but Prince decided to separate out the voices starting each verse. WK Lisa Coleman sings the first line of the song, followed guitarist Dez Dickerson. Both were members of Prince’s backing band, the Revolution. Prince doesn’t sing until the third line of the song. Jill Jones, a backup singer, also sings a line in the song: “Got a lion in my pocket / And baby he’s ready to roar.” While the song’s “we’re gonna party like it’s 1999” feels like a celebratory line, it has a deeper meaning. During the Reagan administration, the United States stockpiled nuclear weaponry in an arms race with Russia known as the Cold War. The massive arsenals of both countries provoked a fear of Armageddon. SF Prince sings “Everybody’s got a bomb / We could all die any die.” Of course, Prince still plans to have fun until the end: “But before I’ll let that happen / I’ll dance my life away.” In a CNN interview with Larry King in 1999, Prince said, “We were sitting around watching a special about 1999, and a lot of people were…speculating on what was going to happen…Everyone that was around me whom I thought to be very optimistic people were dreading those days, and I always knew I’d be cool. I never felt like this was going to be a rough time for me…So I just wanted to write something that gave hope.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Prince SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 3/10/2021; last updated 10/9/2022.

Billy Joel’s The Nylon Curtain released

First posted 5/9/2011; updated 9/22/2020.

The Nylon Curtain Billy Joel

Released: September 23, 1982 Peak: 7 US, 27 UK, 12 CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Allentown (11/27/82, 17 US, 19 AC, 28 AR, 21 CN, 49 AU) Laura Pressure (9/25/82, 20 US, 8 AR, 9 CN, 16 AU) Goodnight Saigon (3/19/83, 56 US, 29 UK) She’s Right on Time A Room of Our Own (11/13/82, 27 AR) Surprises Scandinavian Skies (10/9/82, 38 AR) Where’s the Orchestra? Total Running Time: 41:57

Rating: 3.608 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About the Album: With previous album Glass Houses, Billy Joel set out “to prove that he could rock as hard as any of those new wave punks.” AMG “For all of his claims of being a hard rocker, his work inevitably is pop because of his fondness for melody – but he proved to himself that he could still rock, even if the critics didn’t give him any credit for it.” AMG “His faux-New Wave period behind him, Joel decided it was time to be taken seriously as an artist” DB and that “it was now time to mature, to move pop/rock into the middle age.” AMG Joel “consciously crafting a song cycle about Baby Boomers in the Reagan era,” AMG making for “a fascinating cross between ear candy and social commentary.” AMG “His desire to record a grand concept album is admirable, but his ever-present lyrical shortcomings mean that the songs paint a picture without arriving at any insights.” AMG “He scored with brooding, well-intentioned odes to Vietnam and Rust Belt unemployment” DB with Goodnight Saigon and Allentown respectively. The first half of the album – including those songs as well as Laura, Pressure, and She’s Right on Time –“ is layered, successful, mature pop that brings Joel tantalizingly close to his ultimate goal of sophisticated pop/rock for mature audiences.” AMG However, “he occasionally gets lost in his own ambition, as on the waterlogged second side.” AMG In addition, “the Beatlesque art-pop that lords over the album was strained and overly stylized.” DB “Joel is naturally inclined to write big melodies like McCartney, but he idolizes Lennon.” AMG In the end, though, “Lennon and McCartney should never sound this labored.” DB “And be wary of any Billy Joel album with a song called Scandinavian Skies.” DB

Resources and Related Links: Billy Joel’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5.

My First Personal Chart: 9/18/1982

I was 15 in the summer of 1982 and was pretty enthralled with the popular music of the day. When my local top 40 radio station did a countdown of their all-time songs, I decided to emulate the list and make my own. It was a mix of classics alongside current hits. It turned into my own weekly countdown list which I maintained through high school, college, and into young adulthood. I consider it ground zero for my fascination with charts. Click here to see other Dave’s Faves song lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast My First Chart: 40 Years Ago (premiere: September 13, 2022) based on this list. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST. So here is the very first chart I did: 1. Styx “Babe” (1979) 2. Climax Blues Band “I Love You” (1980) 3. Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (1980) 4. Journey “Open Arms” (1981) 5. Kenny Rogers “Coward of the County” (1979) 6. The Beatles “Fixing a Hole” (1967) 7. Queen “Body Language” (1982) 8. Air Supply “American Hearts” (1980) 9. Barry Manilow “Copacabana (At the Copa)” (1978) 10. Styx “Renegade” (1978) 11. Olivia Newton-John “Suspended in Time” (1980) 12. Olivia Newton-John “Heart Attack” (1982) 13. Kenny Rogers “The Gambler” (1978) 14. Chicago “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982) 15. The Alan Parsons Project “Eye in the Sky” (1982) 16. Asia “Only Time Will Tell” (1982) 17. Paul McCartney “Take It Away” (1982) 18. Olivia Newton-John “Make a Move on Me” (1981) 19. Electric Light Orchestra “The Fall” (1980) 20. Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981) 21. Styx “The Best of Times” (1981) 22. Neil Diamond “Love on the Rocks” (1980) 23. Kermit “The Rainbow Connection” (1979) 24. Queen “You’re My Best Friend” (1976) 25. Blondie “Shayla” (1979) 26. Kenny Rogers “Lady” (1980) 27. Dan Fogelberg “Leader of the Band” (1981) 28. Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (1981) 29. The Police “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (1981) 30. Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (1981) 31. Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard “Suddenly” (1980) 32. America “You Can Do Magic” (1982) 33. Electric Light Orchestra “I’m Alive” (1980) 34. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” (1982) 35. Olivia Newton-John “Carried Away” (1981) 36. Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder “Ebony and Ivory” (1982) 37. Neil Diamond “Be Mine Tonight” (1982) 38. Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra “Xanadu” (1980) 39. The Human League “Don’t You Want Me?” (1981) 40. John Cougar Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (1982) 41. Chicago “If You Leave Me Now” (1976) 42. REO Speedwagon “Keep on Loving You” (1980) 43. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (1981) 44. Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (1982) 45. Fleetwood Mac “Hold Me” (1982) 46. Charlene “I’ve Never Been to Me” (1977) 47. Toto “Rosanna” (1982) 48. Styx “Come Sail Away” (1977) 49. Kansas “Play the Game Tonight” (1982) 50. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “Crimson and Clover” (1982) 51. Blondie “Heart of Glass” (1978) 52. George Harrison “All Those Years Ago” (1981) 53. Elton John “Blue Eyes” (1982) 54. Billy Joel “Just the Way You Are” (1977) 55. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “Do You Wanna Touch” (1981) 56. Air Supply “I Can’t Get Excited” (1980) 57. Sheena Easton “When He Shines” (1981) 58. Elton John “Empty Garden” (1982) 59. J. Geils Band “Freeze Frame” (1981) 60. Billy Squier “The Stroke” (1981) 61. Neil Diamond “America” (1981) 62. The Cars “Shake It Up” (1981) 63. Greg Kihn Band “The Breakup Song” (1981) 64. Air Supply “Lost in Love” (1980) 65. Blondie “Dreaming” (1979) 66. Air Supply “Sweet Dreams” (1980) 67. KC & the Sunshine Band “Please Don’t Go” (1979) 68. Dan Fogelberg “Run for the Roses” (1981) 69. Pure Prairie League “Let Me Love You Tonight” (1980) 70. Dirt Band with Linda Ronstadt “An American Dream” (1979) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Dave’s Faves: Song Lists” Dave’s Music Database: “Dave’s Faves: Albums/Works” Dave’s Music Database: “Dave’s Faves: Top 100 Acts” Dave’s Music Database: Other Best-of Song Lists First posted 12/1/2018; last updated 9/14/2022.

George Thorogood “Bad to the Bone” charted

Bad to the Bone George Thorogood & the Destroyers

Writer(s): George Thorogood (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 18, 1982 Peak: 27 AR, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 82.1 video, 157.34 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “George Thorogood and the Destroyers have a penchant for rockin’ covers of all kinds of blues songs, but the band is probably best known for a song George wrote himself: ‘Bad to the Bone.’ It didn’t get much attention when it was released on the 1982 album of the same name, but MTV liked it and put the video for the track into heavy rotation. The clip features a live performance by the Destroyers along with scenes of a cigar-chomping Thorogood shooting pool with Bo Diddley,” UCR one of Thorogood’s heroes. Thorogood had covered Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” and “the guitar riff and vocal rhythms in ‘Bad to the Bone’ sound like they were inspired by the iconic bluesman's classic song, ‘I’m a Man.’” UCR “Both songs are full of swagger, with the singers exuding lots of testerone.” SF Thorogood’s song “has a much heavier guitar sound, which replaces the harmonica in Diddley’s recording.” SF The song is used in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the scene when Arnold Schwarzengger exits a bar in biker gear. It has also been used in The Parent Trap, Major Payne, Christine, and Problem Child. The song has also been used by TV series including Married…With Children, Miami Vice, Top Gear, South Park, Nurse Jackie, My Name Is Earl, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. “It’s also played at sporting events all over the country, and several professional wrestlers have adopted it as their theme song. While this isn’t exactly as bad-ass, the song was also introduced to a much younger generation when Alvin and the Chipmunks covered it for an episode of their television series.” UCR Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for George Thorogood & the Destroyers SF Songfacts UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” First posted 7/22/2022.

Don Henley charted with “Dirty Laundry”

Dirty Laundry Don Henley

Writer(s): Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 11, 1982 Peak: 3 US, 5 CB, 5 RR, 13 AR, 59 UK, 11 CN, 51 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 28.99 video, 41.48 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: While “Dirty Laundry” was not Don Henley’s first solo outing, it is probably the one most people associate with the beginning of his post-Eagles career. After a decade with the Eagles and fronting #1 hits like “Hotel California,” “One of the These Nights,” and “Best of My Love,” Henley had first ventured out of the Eagles’ spotlight as Stevie Nicks’ duet partner on the top-10 hit “Leather and Lace.” He then had a minor solo hit (#42 on the Billboard Hot 100) with the new-wavish “Johnny Can’t Read,” the first single from his 1982 I Can’t Stand Still solo album. The second single, however, crawled its way up to #3 on the pop charts and reached the pinnacle on the album rock chart. “Dirty Laundry” removed any doubt that Henley could survive without his Eagles’ bandmates. He also made it clear he could craft a song with something to say that was also as catchy as hell. The song lambasted mass media sensationalism from the point of view of a jaded TV news anchor. It was inspired by the tabloid coverage of celebrity deaths such as John Belushi and Natalie Wood as well as Henley’s 1980 arrest for drug possession and delinquency of a minor. WK Interestingly, many local news stations have acknowledged the “superficial and vapid product they create” SF by using the song for blooper reels “tucked away in the dark corners of newsrooms.” SF Henley hadn’t completely severed ties with the Eagles as Joe Waslh performed the first guitar solo and Timothy B. Schmit also appeared on the record playing bass and performing backing vocals. The song also featured three members of the band Toto – Steve Lukather playing the second guitar solo, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and Jeff Porcaro on drums. Danny Kortchmar, who co-wrote the song and had previously played on albums by James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne, also contributes guitar. On a personal note, the song was an early favorite of mine when I started doing my own weekly chart, beginning on September 18, 1982. By year’s end, the song hit #1 for me, dethroning Toto’s “Africa,” which had debuted in the pole position six weeks earlier. Resources: AMG All Music Guide SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 6/30/2022; last updated 10/28/2022.

Olivia Newton-John charted with “Heart Attack”

Heart Attack Olivia Newton-John

Writer(s): Paul Bliss, Steve Kipner (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 4, 1982 Peak: 3 US, 2 CB, 5 RR, 46 UK, 2 CN, 22 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.36 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Olivia Newton-John had her first hit in 1971 with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You.” The song was a top-10 in the UK (where she was born) and Australia (where she was raised). It also reached #25 in the United States, where she would experience crossover success on the pop, country, and adult contemporary charts throughout the decade. Her career leapt into the stratosphere in 1978 when she starred opposite John Travolta in the blockbuster-movie version of Grease. After that, she moved farther away from country and fully embraced pop with #1 hits like “Magic” and “Physical.” The latter spent 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the biggest #1 hit of the decade. So what does one do after reaching the pinnacle of her career? Olivia released a greatest-hits album – her second actually. The first celebrated her country/adult contemporary era up to the Grease soundtrack while the follow-up, Olivia’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, gathered her eight top-40 hits from 1978 to 1982 alongside a couple of new tracks. One of the newbies was “Heart Attack.” It wouldn’t match the heights of “Physical,” but it did reach a respectable #3 on the pop charts and made it clear Olivia’s career wasn’t quite over yet. She logged four more top-40 hits through the mid-80s, including the top-5 hit “Twist of Fate.” “Heart Attack” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. On a personal note, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same month as it appeared on my first personal chart (September 18, 1982). That first week, Olivia Newton-John ranked as my favorite artist and Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2 would be my #1 album by month’s end. When I tallied the biggest hits of the year just a few months later, “Heart Attack” came in at #3. Resources: WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 6/29/2022; last updated 8/6/2022.