12/6/80, 12/17/77, and 12/18/82 Charts

Here’s what I’ve got from the shows that were rebroadcast this December. First up, 1980:

Um, those Archive #1s… Impossible not to notice the submissiveness in “I Will Follow Him” or the ‘advice’ to marry an ugly woman because she sure can cook (catchy as Jimmy Soul’s song is)…

The missing LDD is “Ready To Take a Chance Again.” Come to think of it, I didn’t listen to the last hour of the show this time, either.

As for my own take:

“Hit Me with Your Best Shot” is in its first week at the top; it’d spend six weeks there, the second-longest run over the almost three years I kept these charts. I really did not like “Lady,” so I’m pretty surprised to see it in the top 10 (to be fair, I thought even less of “I Don’t Need You” six months later). Another unexpected turn is seeing AC/DC make it so high–I’d guess there was some peer influence. The Korgis would take a big leap into the top 10 the following week and would get to #2.  Lennon reached #3.

Next, this past weekend’s 1977 show. The last two months of 77 were disrupted by a broken wrist–even though it was my non-dominant left one, I didn’t keep ‘real’ charts again until the 1/7/78 show. I’ll just go ahead and post the whole month of December (the only other show that Premiere can/will rebroadcast is that of 12/10).

Note I accidentally listed Fri/Sat dates for the middle two weeks of the month, and that I don’t provide the three Christmas extras that were played on 12/17. Looking at the 12/24 list, I’m curious as to how many times I predicted “I Go Crazy” to drop before it finally did, in April.

Finally, my personal rankings from late 1982. Since there’s no 12/25 show (the first half of the year-end countdown was playing), I’ll show you the last two lists I made.

Yes, it’s Benatar at the top again. She’s the only artist with four #1s on these lists (she also had the first #1, “Heartbreaker,” on 3/29/80, and “Fire and Ice” made it September 81). I know there are friends of this blog who don’t care for her stuff at all, but I’ve gotta say I’m still a pretty big fan.

If I had to guess which songs on this list might have taken over at #1 at some point in early 83, I’d point to “Africa,” “Rock the Casbah,” and “Down Under” as the most likely to do so, with “Goody Two Shoes” having an outside chance. I am curious about how high Peter Gabriel might have climbed…