One year down, nine to go! I've reached the first milestone in this project by listening to and reviewing all songs to debut on the pop chart in the year 1980. Summing up the year in music, I would say it was transitional. The laid-back singer/songwriter stuff was beginning to fade and disco was definitely on the outs. Incoming was new wave and the beginnings of synth-pop, one of the defining genres of the 80s. Also making its way onto the charts was rap. It would still take a good chunk of the decade before rap had more of a presence on the chart, but 1980 was where it really began to get notice. It was a fun year that had its share of surprises and good finds, along with some real duds that somehow made it on the chart. I look forward to beginning the next step in the project with the next post and the first song to hit the chart in 1981. Here are some stats for this first milestone of my venture:
Number of charted songs in 1980: 452
Time it took to listen/post all songs: 10 months (yikes!)
Favorite song of the year: "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
Worst song of the year: "Voice of Freedom" by Jim Kirk and the TM Singers
Best song I didn't know existed: "King of the Hill" by Rick Pinette and Oak
Favorite discovery: Turley Richards
Most interesting discovery: The unexpected personal connections to the artists RCR and Robin Lane
Recordings I bought based on songs I heard from 1980:
Cindy Bullens - bought her first 2 vinyl LPs
Turley Richards - bought 3 LPs and 2 CDs
Cliff Richard - bought 1 CD
RCR - bought 1 LP
Spider - bought 1 CD
Oak - bought 1 LP
The Motors - bought 1 CD
Hotel - bought 1 LP
Robin Lane - bought 1 CD and 2 digital download albums
Russ Ballard - bought 1 digital single
Jimmy Hall - bought 1 LP
Meco - bought 1 45-rpm single (for coverage purposes)
Pendulum - bought 1 LP
Jackie English - bought 1 45-rpm single (for coverage purposes)
According to the year-end chart for 1980, these were the year's Top 10 singles:
1. Call Me - Blondie
2. Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 - Pink Floyd
3. Magic - Olivia Newton-John
4. Rock with You - Michael Jackson *
5. Do That to Me One More Time - The Captain & Tennille *
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen *
7. Coming Up - Paul McCartney
8. Funkytown - Lipps, Inc.
9. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel
10. The Rose - Bette Midler
* These songs debuted in 1979, so they were not covered in the blog.
I hope folks have enjoyed the posts and the songs. So long 1980 - welcome 1981!
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