Top 40 Hits - January 1987

It has been a while, but it is a new year, and time to get back into the music retrospectives.  Slightly different format, hope you enjoy.

What were the top songs of the month in January 1987 (30 years ago)?  Well, looking at Billboard's Hot 100, ranking by peak position during the month, with ties settled by average position over the 5 weeks of the month....  and presenting the top 40:



           Song  -  Artist  -  Peak Position

1. Shake You Down  -  Gregory Abbott  -  1
2. At This Moment  -  Billy Vera  -  1
3. Walk Like An Egyptian  -  Bangles  -  1
4. C est La Vie  -  Robbie Nevil  -  2
5. Notorious  -  Duran Duran  -  2
6. Open Your Heart  -  Madonna  -  2
7. Everybody Have Fun Tonight  -  Wang Chung  -  2
8. Land Of Confusion  -  Genesis  -  4
9. Control  -  Janet Jackson  -  5
10. Change Of Heart  -  Cyndi Lauper  -  5
11. The Way It Is  -  Bruce Hornsby  -  5
12. Someday  -  Glass Tiger  -  7
13. War  -  Bruce Springsteen  -  8
14. Is This Love  -  Survivor  -  9
15. Stand By Me  -  Ben E. King  -  9
16. Livin' On A Prayer  -  Bon Jovi  -  9
17. Victory  -  Kool  -  10
18. Touch Me (I Want Your Body)  -  Samantha Fox  -  10
19. Don't Get Me Wrong  -  Pretenders  -  10
20. Keep Your Hands To Yourself  -  The Georgia Satellites  -  11
21. To Be A Lover  -  Billy Idol  -  11
22. We re Ready  -  Boston  -  12
23. Will You Still Love Me?  -  Chicago  -  13
24. Ballerina Girl  -  Lionel Richie  -  14
25. Love Is Forever  -  John Berry  -  16
26. Love You Down  -  Ready For The World  -  17
27. You Know I Love You ... Don t You?  -  Howard Jones  -  17
28. Coming Around Again  -  Carly Simon  -  18
29. This Is The Time  -  Billy Joel  -  18
30. All I Wanted  -  Kansas  -  19
31. The Future s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades  -  Timbuk 3  -  19
32. You Got It All  -  The Jets  -  20
33. Hip To Be Square  -  Huey Lewis  -  20
34. Stop To Love  -  Luther Vandross  -  21
35. The Next Time I Fall  -  Peter Cetera With Amy Grant  -  21
36. Nobody s Fool  -  Cinderella  -  22
37. Jacob s Ladder  -  Huey Lewis  -  23
38. You Give Love A Bad Name  -  Bon Jovi  -  24
39. Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)  -  Gloria Estefan  -  25
40. Talk To Me  -  Chico DeBarge  -  25

Quotated

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

- Douglas Adams

 - - -

photo is from May 2003

Top 40 Hits - January 1977

It has been a while, but it is a new year, and time to get back into the music retrospectives.  Slightly different format, hope you enjoy.

What were the top songs of the month in January 1977 (40 years ago)?  Well, looking at Billboard's Hot 100, ranking by peak position during the month, with ties settled by average position over the 5 weeks of the month....  and presenting the top 40:



           Song  -  Artist  -  Peak Position

1. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing  -  Leo Sayer  -  1
2. I Wish  -  Stevie Wonder  -  1
3. Car Wash  -  Rose Royce  -  1
4. You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)  -  Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.  -  1
5. Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)  -  Rod Stewart  -  1
6. Dazz  -  Brick  -  3
7. The Rubberband Man  -  The Spinners  -  3
8. Hot Line  -  The Sylvers  -  5
9. More Than A Feeling  -  Boston  -  5
10. New Kid In Town  -  Eagles  -  6
11. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word  -  Elton John  -  6
12. Torn Between Two Lovers  -  Mary Macgregor  -  7
13. After The Lovin'  -  Engelbert Humperdinck  -  8
14. Blinded By The Light  -  Manfred Mann's Earth Band  -  8
15. Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born)  -  Barbra Streisand  -  9
16. Walk This Way  -  Aerosmith  -  10
17. Stand Tall  -  Burton Cummings  -  10
18. Enjoy Yourself  -  The Jacksons  -  11
19. Lost Without Your Love  -  Bread  -  12
20. I Never Cry  -  Alice Cooper  -  12
21. Somebody To Love  -  Queen  -  13
22. Livin' Thing  -  Electric Light Orchestra  -  13
23. I Like Dreamin'  -  Kenny Nolan  -  14
24. Love Me  -  Yvonne Elliman  -  14
25. Fly Like An Eagle  -  Steve Miller  -  15
26. Weekend In New England  -  Barry Manilow  -  16
27. Muskrat Love  -  Captain & Tennille  -  16
28. Jeans On  -  David Dundas  -  17
29. Nadia's Theme (The Young And The Restless)  -  Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.  -  17
30. Nights Are Forever Without You  -  England Dan & John Ford Coley  -  18
31. Whispering/Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon  -  Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band  -  20
32. Hard Luck Woman  -  Kiss  -  20
33. Saturday Nite  -  Earth, Wind & Fire  -  21
34. Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing  -  Donny & Marie Osmond  -  23
35. Shake Your Rump To The Funk  -  The Bar-Kays  -  23
36. You Are The Woman  -  Firefall  -  23
37. Year Of The Cat  -  Al Stewart  -  24
38. This Song  -  George Harrison  -  25
39. Night Moves  -  Bob Seger  -  25
40. Dancing Queen  -  ABBA  -  26

Interesting that the 5 weeks of January 1977 gave us 5 different #1 songs! Not a bad month at all.  And 56 songs made the Top 40 during the month.  Most were either coming or going though.  The only song to both debut and drop out in the month?  Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird!  This was the live version, I suspect it was a radio-edit rather than the full 13 1/2 minute version...  Anybody remember?

Ah, January 1977...  I was 16 years old, and 1/2 way through my Junior year of high school...  the Oakland Raiders won their first Super Bowl, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14.   Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president of the USA.  And Gary Gilmore was executed in Utah, inspiring The Adverts.

Top 40 Hits - January 1967

It has been a while, but it is a new year, and time to get back into the music retrospectives.  Slightly different format, hope you enjoy.

What were the top songs of the month in January 1967 (50 years ago)?  Well, looking at Billboard's Hot 100, ranking by peak position during the month, with ties settled by average position over the 5 weeks of the month....  and presenting the top 40:



           Song  -  Artist  -  Peak Position

1. I'm A Believer  -  The Monkees  -  1
2. Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron  -  The Royal Guardsmen  -  2
3. Tell It Like It Is  -  Aaron Neville  -  2
4. Good Thing  -  Paul Revere and The Raiders   -  4
5. Georgy Girl  -  The Seekers  -  4
6. Winchester Cathedral  -  The New Vaudeville Band  -  4
7. Words Of Love  -  The Mamas and The Papas  -  5
8. Sugar Town  -  Nancy Sinatra  -  5
9. Standing In The Shadows Of Love  -  Four Tops  -  6
10. That's Life  -  Frank Sinatra  -  6
11. Nashville Cats  -  The Lovin' Spoonful  -  8
12. Kind Of A Drag  -  The Buckinghams  -  9
13. Tell It To The Rain  -  The 4 Seasons   -  10
14. (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet  -  Blues Magoos  -  10
15. Mellow Yellow  -  Donovan  -  10
16. Coming Home Soldier  -  Bobby Vinton  -  11
17. 98.6  -  Keith  -  11
18. Single Girl  -  Sandy Posey  -  12
19. (I Know) I'm Losing You  -  The Temptations  -  13
20. Devil W/ A Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly  -  Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels  -  14
21. Stand By me  -  Spyder Turner  -  14
22. Talk Talk  -  The Music Machine  -  15
23. Knight In Rusty Armour  -  Peter And Gordon  -  15
24. Color My World  -  Petula Clark  -  16
25. I've Passed This Way Before  -  Jimmy Ruffin  -  17
26. Good Vibrations  -  The Beach Boys  -  17
27. Cry  -  Ronnie Dove  -  18
28. Green, Green Grass Of Home  -  Tome Jones  -  19
29. A Place In The Sun  -  Stevie Wonder  -  19
30. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone  -  The Monkees  -  20
31. I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)  -  The Electric Prunes  -  20
32. Where Will The Words Come From  -  Gary Lewis And The Playboys  -  21
33. You Keep Me Hangin' On  -  The Supremes  -  21
34. Born Free  -  Roger Williams  -  22
35. Wild Thing  -  Senator Bobby featuring Bill Minkin  -  23
36. Music To Watch Girls By  -  Bob Crewe Generation  -  24
37. Try A Little Tenderness  -  Otis Redding  -  25
38. I Need Somebody  -  ? and The Mysterians  -  25
39. Mustang Sally  -  Wilson Pickett  -  26
40. East West  -  Herman's Hermits  -  27

The Monkees dominated January 1967, sitting at #1 all 4 weeks of the month, with the Neil Diamond written I'm A Believer.  The song was #1 for 7 weeks total staring 12/31/1966.

Interesting that the 5 weeks of January 1977 gave us 5 different #1 songs! Not a bad month at all.  And 56 songs made the Top 40 during the month.  Most were either coming or going though.  The only song to both debut and drop out in the month?  Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird!  This was the live version, I suspect it was a radio-edit rather than the full 13 1/2 minute version...  Anybody remember?

Ah, January 1967...  I was 6 years old, and just in 1st grade...