"Walking in L.A." by Missing Persons

Song#:  1372
Date:  03/12/1983
Debut:  83
Peak:  70
Weeks:  6
Genre:  New Wave, Synthpop



Pop Bits:  This band made three valiant attempts to grab a Top 40 single from their album "Spring Session M." They came up short with "Words" and "Destination Unknown" (both #42), and "Windows" (#63). So why not give it another go? This fourth attempt was released but it also failed to do the trick. Although it would have been great for the band to get a major hit, the four chart singles did well for the album which reached #17 and went gold.

ReduxReview:  Four singles in and they were still pumping out solid material. This one may not be the best of the bunch, but it is just as hooky and memorable. It's a bit more forceful and rock oriented, which is a nice change from the previous singles. It may not be the perfect description, but I've always thought this sounded like The Cars meets "Cars" by Gary Numan with Cyndi Lauper at the wheel. And I mean that all in a good way.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Back in the early 80s it was a bit uncommon for an album to spawn four chart singles. Typically, this feat would stem from a hit album from a major artist where songs from the LP hit #1 and/or the Top 10. The Beatles accomplished this feat as did Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album, which contained four Top 10's including one #1. Hall & Oates had two early 80s album that featured four chart singles each, "Voices" and "Private Eyes." Again, there were #1 songs involved. Missing Persons accomplished this feat without a single song cracking the Top 40. It was a rarity. After "Thriller" and MTV made it possible to have more than four hit singles from an album, it became more common. Both "Thriller" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" would grab seven Top 10 hits each. Yet it was Michael Jackson's sister Janet that would claim the singles crown. Her "Rhythm Nation: 1814" album would contain seven Top 5 hits. In these digital days where most any song can get some airplay somewhere, multiple chart hits from one album are common, although many of those songs spend just a few weeks in the bottom half of the chart. It appears two Taylor Swift albums may hold the record for most songs to reach the pop chart. "Fearless" and "Red" both boasted eleven songs that found their way onto the pop chart. Of those charting songs, four singles from each album would be Top 10 hits.

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