Here’s another installment of tunes that didn’t crack the Top 40, this time from that all-world period of mid-April 84.
#95: Midnight Star, “No Parking on the Dance Floor”
WFMI had played “Freak-a-Zoid” the previous fall before giving this one a good number of spins at this point in time. “No Parking” had already peaked at #81. Midnight Star was from Cincinnati, which likely played a role in the attention they were getting from the Lexington market. They’d make AT40 at the end of 85 with “Operator.”
#87: Billy Idol, “Rebel Yell”
This was down from a high of #46. Given how well it has held up over the years, it’s a bit of a surprise in retrospect this didn’t do better.
#82: Josie Cotton, “Jimmy Loves Maryann”
Cotton is most remembered now for “Johnny, Are You Queer?” and her appearance in the movie Valley Girl. I believe I occasionally saw copies of her albums Convertible Music and From the Hip at Cut Corner while I was in college but never was curious enough to pick either of them up (which might have been a mistake). This is a remake of the #33 hit for Looking Glass from fall 73. It’s at its peak, and deliciously retro in multiple ways. This is the one to try out today.
#63: Nik Kershaw, “Wouldn’t It Be Good”
This has wound up making the canon of songs receiving regular play today on 80s stations, and it’s worthy of the honor. The video’s strange but quite memorable. Reached #46.
#55: John Lennon, “I’m Stepping Out”
James really loved “Nobody Told Me,” the top 5 hit from the posthumously released Milk and Honey. This was the follow-up; I suppose its #47 peak speaks to how little close-to-finished commercially viable product remained at the time of Lennon’s death.
Additionally, there were three songs in the 90s, on their way down, by artists who cropped up a month ago when I was writing about 3/26/83: Modern English (#99, after peaking at #91 with “Hands Across the Sea”), Missing Persons (#93, after peaking at #67 with “Give”), and Adam Ant (#92, after peaking at #42 with “Strip”).
The Music of My Life 