Another two months’ worth of AT40 rebroadcasts have passed, so there are five more of my charts to share, along with a few other odds and ends.
5/16/81: Some fine 60s Archive tunes, sappy LDDs, and the final time I listed all the songs that Stars on 45 sang (it was simply “Medley” from here on out).
Hello/Goodbye: T. G. Sheppard, take a bow. Terri Gibbs, James Taylor, and J. D. Souther, have a seat. (I was a little surprised to find this was it for J. T.)
WKRQ’s list from the following Monday largely shuffled most of the songs on the show, but note they held on to Loverboy, April Wine, Journey, and even Abba longer than most of America had.
I was on to “Just Between You and Me” longer than America was, too, though. “Sweetheart” would have another go at #3 before spending four long weeks in the runner-up spot, locked out forever by the Climax Blues Band.
5/27/78: The 6/3 chart is one of the few I have written in red ink; must have made these predictions right before that show? The Saturday Night Fever reign on the charts is almost done, but Grease is just starting to ramp up.
Hello/Goodbye: Michael Johnson is gracing us with his presence for the first time. I’m sad to report that time was up for Warren Zevon.
Goodies from 1982, 1979, and 1980 lie over the fold…
6/19/82: Making predictions became pretty hit-or-miss after my first year or two of chart-keeping; I’d do it only twice more after this, both in July. I got the top nine correct this go-round (yay, me), but only four others beyond that (though I did nail all five songs that fell off the following week).
Hello/Goodbye: It’s the relatively rare two-fer this week, as Rainbow spend their one and only week on the show. Franke and the Knockouts are also done. Outside of Richie Blackmore’s bunch, it’s quite the set of heavy hitters coming on board this week.
As for me, Tommy Tutone was in their final week on top; Toto would soon commence a four-week run at #1. I’m a little surprised now that I ever ranked “The Other Woman” as highly as this.
6/23/79: There was a small tweak in format beginning with the following week’s chart, as 70s #1 songs, LDDs, etc. were all shoved to the bottom, with twenty songs from the countdown on each side. That would last through the end of the year.
Hello/Goodbye: Nobody new, but this is it for Foxy and the Village People.
6/28/80: We arrived back home from our vacation to Hawaii on this date. Despite being lagged out, I managed to catch the show sometime the next afternoon (AT40 was getting play on a Cincinnati FM station by this time). They’d finished recapping all the #1 songs of the 70s the previous week. I count ten correct predictions–meh.
Hello/Goodbye: Welcome to Crowell and Gilley–it was county music’s time to shine. We’re bidding official farewell to Rupert Holmes and Bruce Cockburn, but it’s also the last time (excluding extras, etc.) that the Chairman of the Board and the Brothers Johnson were played–they were both on the chart one more week, but 7/5/80 was the AT40 Book of Records show.
On the personal side, I got a little burned out on Joel’s big hit when all was said and done. At this point, though, I was all in; it was starting out on a five-week run at the top. “Against the Wind” is one of my two or three favorite Seger songs.
The Music of My Life 