Dave’s Faves: #1 Songs in the 1980s

First posted 4/4/2020; updated 4/28/2020.

Dave’s Faves: #1’s: 1980-1989

September 18, 1982. I can peg my fascination with music charts to that date. After listening to a local radio station’s countdown of the hits of the summer, I decided to make my own list of favorites (see original list here). I ended up revising it every few days, eventually developing my own charts which I maintained into the ‘90s. I’ve also projected before and after those lists to create speculative lists of #1 songs for eras not covered by those original charts. You can check out those links here, but this page is focused on the #1 songs that might have been for me in the 1980s. 1980: Jan. 19: Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (2 wks) Feb. 2: Pink Floyd “Mother” (1 wk) Feb. 9: Rush “Free Will” (2 wks) Feb. 23: Air Supply “Lost in Love” (3 wks) Mar. 15: Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” (2 wks) Mar. 29: Blondie “Call Me” (3 wks) Apr. 19: Charlie Dore “Pilot of the Airwaves” (2 wks) May 3: Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (2 wks) May 17: Mac Davis “It’s Hard to Be Humble” (2 wks) May 31: Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (3 wks) June 21: Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (4 wks) July 19: Split Enz “I Hope I Never” (2 wks) Aug. 2: Peter Gabriel “Family Snapshot” (2 wks) Aug. 16: Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” (3 wks) Sept. 6: Peter Gabriel “Biko” (4 wks) Oct. 4: Kenny Rogers “Lady” (2 wks) Oct. 25: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (2 wks) Nov. 8: Kool & the Gang “Celebration” (1 wk) Nov. 15: Air Supply “American Hearts” (2 wks) Nov. 29: REO Speedwagon “Keep on Loving You” (2 wks) Dec. 13: The Alan Parsons Project “Games People Play” (2 wks) Dec. 27: Eagles “Seven Bridges Road (live)” (3 wks) 1981: Jan. 17: Styx “The Best of Times” (6 wks) Feb. 28: Climax Blues Band “I Love You” (3 wks) Mar. 21: Styx “Too Much Time on My Hands” (2 wks) Apr. 4: Rush “Tom Sawyer” (3 wks) Apr. 25: Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” (2 wks) May 9: Stars on 45 “Medley I” (1 wk) May 16: Neil Diamond “America” (4 wks) June 13: Bruce Springsteen “The River” (2 wks) June 27: Squeeze “Tempted” (4 wks) July 25: Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” (2 wks) Aug. 8: Journey “Who’s Crying Now” (2 wks) Aug. 22: Foreigner “Juke Box Hero” (2 wks) Sept. 5: Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (3 wks) Sept. 26: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (2 wks) Oct. 10: Sting “Message in a Bottle (live)” (2 wks) Oct. 24: Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (4 wks) Nov. 21: Foreigner “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (4 wks) Dec. 19: Triumph “Magic Power” (1 wk) Dec. 26: The J. Geils Band “Centerfold” (2 wks) 1982: Jan. 2: Queen with David Bowie “Under Pressure” (2 wks) Jan. 23: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (2 wks) Feb. 6: Journey “Open Arms” (6 wks) Mar. 20: Alabama “Mountain Music” (4 wks) Apr. 17: Elton John “Empty Garden” (2 wks) May 1: Squeeze “Black Coffee in Bed” (2 ws) May 15: Sting “Roxanne (live)” (2 wks) May 29: Queen “Body Language” (3 wks) June 19: Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (2 wks) July 10: John Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (4 wks) Aug. 7: The Alan Parsons Project “Eye in the Sky” (3 wks) Aug. 28: Van Halen “Happy Trails” (2 wks) Sept. 11: Olivia Newton-John “Heart Attack” (5 wks) Oct. 16: Don Henley “Dirty Laundry” (2 wks) Oct. 30: Toto “Africa” (6 wks) Dec. 11: Charlene with Stevie Wonder “Used to Be” (3 wks) 1983: Jan. 1: The Police “I Burn for You” (2 wks) Jan. 15: The Alan Parsons Project “Old and Wise” (4 wks) Feb. 12: Styx “Mr. Roboto” (8 wks) Apr. 9: Marillion “Script for a Jester’s Tear” (2 wks) Apr. 23: Pat Benatar “Anxiety (Get Nervous)” (3 wks) May 14: U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (3 wks) June 4: The Police “Every Breath You Take” (8 wks) July 30: The Police “King of Pain” (7 wks) Sept. 17: Pat Benatar “Love Is a Battlefield” (4 wks) Oct. 15: Berlin “Masquerade” (1 wk) Oct. 22: Olivia Newton-John “Twist of Fate” (5 wks) Nov. 26: Yes “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (2 wks) Dec. 10: Journey “Ask the Lonely” (3 wks) Dec. 31: Paul McCartney “Pipes of Peace” (2 wks) 1984: Jan. 14: The Police “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (2 wks) Jan. 28: Nena “99 Red Balloons” (3 wks) Feb. 18: Genesis “Illegal Alien” (1 wk) Feb. 25: Yes “Leave It” (2 wks) Mar. 10: Night Ranger “Sister Christian” (1 wk) Mar. 17: Marillion “Fugazi” (1 wk) Mar. 24: Marillion “She Chameleon” (2 wks) Apr. 7: Styx “Music Time” (5 wks) May 12: Prince “When Doves Cry” (3 wks) June 2: Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” (4 wks) June 30: Ray Parker, Jr. “Ghostbusters” (4 wks) July 28: Bruce Springsteen “Born in the U.S.A.” (4 wks) Aug. 25: Prince “Let’s Go Crazy” (2 wks) Sept. 8: Dennis DeYoung “Desert Moon” (6 wks) Oct. 20: Pat Benatar “We Belong” (1 wk) Oct. 27: Toto “Stranger in Town” (4 wks) Nov. 24: Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (2 wks) Dec. 8: Tears for Fears “Shout” (2 wks) Dec. 22: Foreigner “I Want to Know What Love Is” (4 wks) 1985: Jan. 19: Don Henley “Sunset Grill” (2 wks) Feb. 2: Foreigner “That Was Yesterday” (1 wk) Feb. 9: The Alan Parsons Project “Let’s Talk About Me” (3 wks) Mar. 2: Sting “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (2 wks) Mar. 16: Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” (2 wks) Mar. 30: The Dream Academy “Life in a Northern Town” (2 wks) Apr. 13: Marillion “Kayleigh” (3 wks) May 4: Bruce Springsteen “Trapped” (2 wks) May 18: Hooters “All You Zombies” (2 wks) June 1: Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” (2 wks) June 15: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” (2 wks) June 29: Marillion “Childhood’s End?” (1 wk) July 6: Tears for Fears “Head Over Heels” (5 wks) Aug. 10: John Parr “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” (2 wks) Aug. 24: U2 “Bad (live)” (3 wks) Sept. 14: Squeeze “I Won’t Ever Go Drinking Again (?)” (2 wks) Sept. 28: Prince “Purple Rain” (4 wks) Oct. 26: Olivia Newton-John “Soul Kiss” (2 wks) Nov. 9: Squeeze “Heartbreaking World” (4 wks) Dec. 7: Bruce Springsteen “My Hometown” (2 wks) Dec. 21: Sting “Russians” (3 wks) 1986: Jan. 11: Tears for Fears “When in Love with a Blind Man” (2 wks) Jan. 25: The Alan Parsons Project “Stereotomy” (4 wks) Feb. 22: Tony Banks with Fish “Shortcut to Somewhere” (4 wks) Mar. 22: Dennis DeYoung “Call Me” (5 wks) Apr. 26: The Moody Blues “Your Wildest Dreams” (4 wks) May 24: Roger Waters “Folded Flags” (2 wks) June 7: Double “The Captain of Her Heart” (2 wks) June 21: Furniture “Brilliant Mind” (4 wks) July 19: Berlin “Take My Breath Away” (2 wks) Aug. 2: Tom Cochrane with Red Rider “The Boy Inside the Man” (2 wks) Aug. 16: Billy Joel with Ray Charles “Baby Grand” (2 wks) Aug. 30: David + David “Welcome to the Boomtown” (6 wks) Oct. 11: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ‘86” (6 wks) Nov. 22: Bruce Springsteen “War (live)” (3 wks) Dec. 13: Huey Lewis & the News “Naturally” (2 wks) Dec. 27: The Bangles “Following” (4 wks) 1987: Jan. 24: The Alan Parsons Project “Standing on Higher Ground” (4 wks) Feb. 21: Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush “Don’t Give Up” (4 wks) Mar. 14: U2 “With or Without You” (3 wks) Apr. 4: XTC “Dear God” (6 wks) May 16: Marillion “Incommunicado” (2 wks) May 30: Marillion: “Going Under” (2 wks) June 13: Indigo Girls “Hey Jesus” (1 wk) June 20: Suzanne Vega “Luka” (4 wks) July 18: Terence Trent D’Arby “Wonderful World” (1 wk) July 25: Marillion “Sugar Mice” (2 wks) Aug. 8: Marillion “Tux On” (2 wks) Aug. 22: Marillion “Warm Wet Circles” (3 wks) Sept. 12: Pink Floyd “Learning to Fly” (2 wks) Sept. 26: R.E.M. “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (2 wks) Oct. 10: Pink Floyd “One Slip” (2 wks) Oct. 24: Sting “Englishman in New York” (2 wks) Nov. 7: Sting “They Dance Alone” (4 wks) Dec. 5: Bruce Springsteen “Spare Parts” (2 wks) Dec. 19: The Rainmakers “The Wages of Sin” (3 wks) 1988: Jan. 9: Eurythmics “Brand New Day” (3 wks) Jan. 30: Lyle Lovett “She’s No Lady” (3 wks) Feb. 20: Lyle Lovett “Pontiac” (3 wks) Mar. 12: Kate Bush “This Woman’s Work” (4 wks) Apr. 9: Sting “Someone to Watch Over Me” (3 wks) Apr. 30: Everything But the Girl “Apron Strings” (2 wks) May 14: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car” (4 wks) June 11: Melissa Etheridge “Bring Me Some Water” (2 wks) June 25: Melissa Etheridge “Occasionally” (2 wks) July 9: Crowded House “Better Be Home Soon” (6 wks) Aug. 20: Rod Stewart “Forever Young” (3 wks) Sept. 10: Everything But the Girl “Oxford Street” (2 wks) Sept. 24: Everything But the Girl “The Night I Heard Caruso Sing” (1 wk) Oct. 1: Olivia Newton-John “It’s Not Heaven” (2 wks) Oct. 15: Shona Laing “Glad I’m Not a Kennedy” (3 wks) Nov. 5: U2 “God Part II” (4 wks) Dec. 3: Sting with Bruce Springsteen “Every Breath You Take (live)” (2 wk) Dec. 17: Bruce Springsteen with Sting “The River (live)” (1 wk) Dec. 24: The Bangles “Something to Believe In” (2 wks) 1989: Jan. 7: Guns N’ Roses “Patience” (3 wks) Jan. 28: Mike + the Mechanics “The Living Years” (2 wks) Feb. 11: Night Ranger “Reason to Be’ (2 wks) Feb. 25: Metallica “One” (5 wks) Apr. 1: Shona Laing “South” (2 wks) Apr. 15: Lyle Lovett “Nobody Knows Me” (2 wks) Apr. 29: Elvis Costello “Veronica’ (3 wks) May 20: Simple Minds “Biko” (3 wks) June 10: Simple Minds “Mandela Day” (2 wks) June 24: U2 “All I Want Is You” (2 wks) July 8: The Call “Let the Day Begin” (2 wks) July 22: Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine” (6 wks) Sept. 2: Tears for Fears “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (3 wks) Sept. 23: Melissa Etheridge “You Can Sleep While I Drive” (2 wks) Oct. 7: Squeeze “Slaughtered, Gutted, and Heartbroken” (2 wks) Oct. 21: Tracy Chapman “All That You Have Is Your Soul” (2 wks) Nov. 4: Madonna “Oh Father” (6 wks) Dec. 16: Tears for Fears “Woman in Chains” (3 wks)

Indigo Girls charted with “Closer to Fine”

Closer to Fine Indigo Girls

Writer(s): Emily Saliers (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 17, 1989 Peak: 52 US, 48 AC, 48 AR, 26 MR, 53 CN, 57 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 6.7 video, 35.76 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met in elementary school in the Atlanta, Georgia area. As the duo Indigo Girls, they walked “the musical line between R.E.M. and Tracy Chapman” SG and were signed to Epic Records. Their 1989 self-titled sophomore album, but major-label debut, was a two-million seller which nabbed them a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and a nomination for Best New Artist. Blues singer Michelle Malone, who knew the duo “up-close and early on” SG said the album “captured the essence of that thing Amy and Emily have always done so well: vocal harmony weaving through well-written, sincere songs.” SG On one hand, there was Ray’s “husky alto…digging through the rubble of she was” SG while Saliers’ “lighter touch [served] as a counterweight to Ray’s fiery passion.” SG The album kicked off with “Closer to Fine,” a song featuring a penny whistle, a reference to Rasputin, and the Hothouse Flowers. SG It became “much more than just a folk song: it is joy, hope, and validation set to music.” SG The duo have played it at every concert since its release, eventually making it their show closer. Singer Matt Nathanson calls it a “magical unicorn of a song wrapped up in these campfire chords that anyone can play.” SG Saliers wrote the song sitting on the front porch of a cabin in Vermont while on vacation with her family. As she said, “whenever you’re in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical.” SF As a recent college graduate, she was wrestling with the impact of academia and, essentially, the purpose of life. In the song’s lyrics she “looked to the children” and “drank from the fountains” in search for answers, only to conclude that “the less I seek my source for some definitive / The closer I am to fine.” It served as “a testament to the spiritual notion that we each have all the truth and wisdom we need right here inside of us.” SG Resources: SF Songfacts SG Kelly McCartney (2/28/2019). Stereogum “Closer to Fine at 30: The Legacy of Indigo Girls’ Spellbinding Singalong” Related Links: First posted 10/20/2020; last updated 9/22/2022.

Indigo Girls released self-titled album

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls

Released: February 28, 1989 Peak: 22 US, -- UK, -- CN, 64 AU, 17 DF Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 2.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: folk rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Closer to Fine (Saliers) [4:02] (6/17/89, 52 BB, 48 AR, 26 MR, 1 DF) Secure Yourself (Ray) [3:35] (4 DF) Kid Fears (Ray) [4:34] (6 DF) Prince of Darkness (Saliers) [5:21] (2 DF) Blood and Fire (Ray) [4:38] (10 DF) Tried to Be True (Ray) [2:59] (5 DF) Love’s Recovery (Saliers) [4:23] (7 DF) Land of Canaan (Ray) [3:57] (9 DF) Center Stage (Ray) [4:46] (10 DF) History of Us (Saliers) [5:27] (7 DF) Total Running Time: 44:36 The Players: Amy Ray (vocals, guitar) Emily Saliers (vocals, guitar)

Rating: 4.125 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are a folk-rock duo comprised of Amy Ray (born 1964) and Emily Saliers (born 1963). They met in elementary school and started performing together when they were high school students in Decatur, Georgia. W-I They took on the name Indigo Girls when performing at a bar called The Dugout while they attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. W-I In 1987, they independently released the album Strange Fire. They signed a deal with Epic Records the following year and released their major-label debut, Indigo Girls, in 1989. About the Album “The Indigo Girls come on strong with an outstanding batch of tunes, watertight harmonies, impeccable musicianship, and flawless production.” AM “Crisp guitar work and haunting harmonies became the stock-in-trade of this powerful duo of ‘girls with guitars.’” AZ It “captures the passion of their youth with voices that are a little cloudy, untamed, and raw, but the power that surges through them suggests a maturity far beyond their years.” AM The songs “resound with a profound sense of honesty and raw emotion.” AZ “The same can be said of the songwriting – sheer poetry. To attempt examinations of these songs would not do them justice, for the layers of meaning and emotion unfold best upon repeated listening.” AM The album went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Folk Recording. The duo also nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best New Aritst. Their Influences and Impact The duo “followed the lead of such greats as Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell…[and] pumped social conscience and self-esteem into ringing acoustic anthems.” AZ “Entering the folk-rock music scene on the successful heels of R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and 10,000 Maniacs,” AM the pair’s music was perfectly timed to “catch the rising tide of feminist rock.” AZ They would set the stage for even more confessional singer/songwriters who treaded ground between folk-rock and alternative rock, helping pave the way for artists like Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, and Alanis Morissette. The Songs Here are thoughts on individual songs. “Closer to Fine” “The eponymous release kicks off with the upbeat jangle bounce of Closer to Fine, a modest hit, all-time fan favorite written by Emily Saliers, and a tune the Girls still play at every concert. A particularly fascinating point is that the Indigo Girls never write songs together, but they compliment each other perfectly.” AM Amy Ray Songs “The difference in styles becomes immediately apparent when the more dark and brooding Amy Ray steps up. Her remarkable contributions include Secure Yourself, Kid Fears, and Blood and Fire, spiritual ruminations of life, love, pain, and faith which bury themselves deep inside your core whether invited or not.” AM Emily Saliers Songs “Weighting the opposite scales, Saliers offers a tender balance to Ray with two beautiful ballads, Love's Recovery and History of Us. (Ray's Land of Canaan was once a ballad, but then she heard the Replacements and it became a bit of a rocker.) Chiming in with musical support are Hothouse Flowers, Luka Bloom, and fellow Georgians R.E.M.” AM Notes: A 2000 reissue added live versions of “Land of Canaan” and “Center Stage.”

Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Indigo Girls AM AllMusic.com review by Kelly McCartney AZ Amazon.com review by L.A. Smith WK Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls album W-I Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 12/3/2024.