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.

Climax Blues Band “I Love You” charted

 

I Love You Climax Blues Band

Writer(s): Derek Holt (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 14, 1981 Peak: 12 US, 9 CB, 10 HR, 7 RR, 20 AC, 21 CL, 14 CN, 59 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 14.47 video, 12.06 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Climax Blues Band formed in 1967 in Stafford, England. They found their first chart success in 1976 with “Couldn’t Get It Right,” a top-10 hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their only other top-40 hit was “I Love You,” which didn’t chart in the UK but reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. On a personal note, the song was at #2 on my first personal chart. As a response to a local radio station’s countdown of the best songs of all time, I compiled my own list. I intended to make it a one-time list of favorites, but it turned into a weekly personal chart which I maintained for a little more than a decade. The song is “a pure love song about a woman who enters a man’s life and changes his world for the better. The message of love and friendship, along with the line, ‘You got what it takes so I made you my wife,’ made the song very popular at weddings.” SF The band’s guitarist, Derek Holt, wrote the song and said, “You could say it’s for one person, but it’s quite generic….Usually songs appear from nowhere, and that one appeared in a couple of hours.” SF He explained, “It was about meeting my first wife, meeting the lady that’s going to encourage me to do what I did best, and that was be a musician, with no qualms about it. I used to go away from home, used to leave her behind, and used to come back. I was a hippie, a drinking hippie with really long hair. We had a great time – I’m meeting my wife, since then I’ve never looked back. You know, pretty much out living a dream..” SF The band didn’t respond to the song initially, saying it “was a little bit too lovey.” SF However, while working with producer John Ryan for the eventual Flying the Flag album, he was going through the group’s tracks and asked if they had any more. Holt played “I Love You” and Ryan said, “That’s a hit.” SF Holt said, “Everybody just sort of looked at each other and said, “Oh, bloody hell.” SF The song was recorded with legendary keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, who worked with the Rolling Stones. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Climax Blues Band SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 9/7/2022.