Song#: 0013
Date: 01/19/1980
Debut: 93
Peak: 87
Weeks: 5
Genre: Pop, Easy Listening
Pop Bits: Here is one potentially interesting song, but unfortunately I can't find a lick of it anywhere. I did find the B-side, but nothing else from this time period. Dana Valery was actually quite popular in the mid-60s and had some Northern soul hits in the UK casinos. Her top song was a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies," which was a pretty good stomper. Born in Italy and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, she was active in musical theater and also appeared in the States on several TV shows. Her brother was the late actor Sergio Franchi. She now lives in New York and is an energy healer doing techniques such as Reiki.
ReduxReview: Sad to say I can only guess on this one. Since she seemed to veer into AC territory and since the B-side mentioned above was a cover of "Rainbow Connection," I'm thinking this was a typical saccharine ballad of the day, which was what a lot of female vocalists who had some success with 60s pop ended up singing. The song link above is not this chart song, but is the S&G cover which I think is pretty great and worth a listen. (Note: A reader let me know that this tune is on YouTube now. I included it above. It's not quite as bad as I had expected, but it is not great either. It definitely has that late-70s pop ballad feel to it. The chorus is good and Valery sounds terrific. Overall I could re-rate this at a 5.)
ReduxRating: 3/10
Trivia: Valery was a panelist on the TV show "What's My Line?" and the contestant on that episode was then-Governor Jimmy Carter.
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Hey!
ReplyDeleteFor completists sake, YouTube has I Don't Want to Be Lonely now. I would say the rating stays at 3.
https://youtu.be/vrbaDMuqZTg
cheers
Thanks for the update. Yeah, it's not a great song, but the chorus is solid and I like Valery's voice so I'd up the rating a bit. But not by much.
DeleteChart Run: 93 - 91 - 89 - 88 - 87
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love this blog. I plan on listening to every single Hot 100 hit of the 80s, no matter how long it takes me. You've been working on this every single day for nearly a decade, which is amazing. Do you think you would ever try to do songs from the early 1990s to the week the Billboard charts degraded and its songs made slower progress? Maybe 1970s music, or is that too much? I'm 23 and I'm an avid, eager fan of classic music.
Thanks for tuning into the blog. Once the 80s are done, I may do the 70s. I'm not the biggest fan of 90s music, so after a couple of years I might not find it as interesting. However, I love the 70s so that is where I would most likely head next.
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