Happy Birthday

Well even though today in music is sad day to remember being the anniversary of the tragic death of John Lennon, there are some mighty big names that were born December 8th.

1925 - Sammy Davis Jr, singer, actor, (1972 US No.1 single 'The Candy Man'). Died of throat cancer on 16th May 1990.



1943- Jim Morrison,The Doors, (1967 US No.1 & UK No.49 single 'Light My Fire' & 1971 single 'Riders On The Storm'). Morrison died of heart failure in a bathtub in a Paris hotel room on 3rd July 1971.


1947 - Gregg Allman, keyboards, guitar, vocals, Allman Brothers Band, (1973 US No.12 single 'Ramblin Man').


1951 - Dan Hartman, multi- instrumentalist, producer, worked with Edgar Winter.
("I Can Dream About You" #6 US)
He died on 22nd March 1994. Wrote ‘Relight My Fire’ a UK No.1 for Take That and Lulu, collaborated with Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Tyler, Paul Young, James Brown, Holly Johnson and Steve Winwood.


1966 - Sinead O'Connor, Irish singer, songwriter, (1990 UK, US and world-wide No.1 single with the Prince penned 'Nothing Compares To U'). Her version of the song was also a No.1 hit in 18 other countries.

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 70s - December 4th 2010

AT40 the 70s this week December 2nd 1978

The Top Ten Singles

10 - Sharing The Night Together - Dr Hook
9 - My Life - Billy Joel
8 - Time Passages - Al Stewart
7 - I Love the Night Life - Alicia Bridges
6 - Double Vision - Foreigner
5 - I Just Wanna Stop - Gino Vannilli
4 - Le Freak - Chic
3 - How Much I Feel - Ambrosia
2 - MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
1 - You Don't Bring Me Flowers - Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand
(1st of 2 non consecutive weeks at #1)



The Top Ten Albums

10 - Some Girls - The Rolling Stones
9 - Living in the USA - Linda Rondstadt
8 - Comes a Time - Neil Young
7 - Greatest Hits - Barbra Streisand
6 - Pieces of Eight - Styx
5 - Grease - Soundtrack
4 - Double Vision - Foreigner
3 - A Wild and Crazy Guy - Steve Martin
2 - Live and More - Donna Summer
1 - 52nd Street - Billy Joel
(3rd of 8 non consecutive weeks at #1)

The 6th studio album and first #1 album for Billy Joel and featured 3 top 40 singles.
The biggest of these 3 was "My Life" which reached #3 and would be the theme song for the tv sitcom "Bosom Buddies" in the early 80s. The other songs to reach the charts were "Big Shot"
at #14, "Honesty" #24.
The album also earned the NY singer Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 80s - December 4th 2010

AT40 the 80s this week December 6th 1986

The Top Ten Singles

10 - To Be a Lover - Billy Idol
9 - Love Will Conquer All - Lionel Richie
8 - Human - Human League
7 - Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
6 - Word Up - Cameo
5 - Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
4 - The Way it is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
3 - Hip To Be Square - Huey Lewis and The News
2 - You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
1 - Next Time I Fall - Peter Cetera & Amy Grant
(1 week at #1)



The Top Ten Albums

10 - Word Up - Cameo
9 - True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
8 - Whiplash Smile - Billy Idol
7 - Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Richie
6 - Graceland - Paul Simon
5 - The Way it is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
4 - Fore! - Huey Lewis & The News
3 - Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
2 - Third Stage - Boston
1 - Live 1975-1985 - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
(2nd of 7 consecutive weeks at #1)


The first album of more than 2 LPs to top the Billboard album chart.
2 weeks previous it debuted at the top and scored a single Top 40 hit with Springsteen's version of "War" peaking at #8 on the Hot 100. The single also peaked at #19 in UK and the LPs reached #4 on th UK album chart.

Happy Birthday Ozzy!

Happy Birthday to John Michael Osborne or Ozzy as he known to the world.

Born on this day in 1948 he would become a legend in rock n roll and was a pioneer in heavy metal with his band Black Sabbath.

Here is Ozzy's biggest charting solo single on the Billboard Hot 100:
"Close My Eyes Forever" with Lita Ford.
Peaking at #8 in 1989.



Ozzy's biggest singles chart success without Black Sabbath came in 2003. He and daughter Kelly sang a duet of "Changes", the Black Sabbath song from 1972. They reached #1 in the UK on December 14th and spent one week at the top.

Grammy Nominations for 2010

The 2010 Grammy nominations were announced this week. I wont go into listing them all here but if you want to see all of them check out Grammy.com

I will look at the different awards I find interesting. Here is the first.

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance:
Eric Clapton - Run Back To Your Side


John Mayer -Crossroads


Paul McCartney - Helter Skelter


Silver Rider - Robert Plant


Angry World - Neil Young

Your Classic Country Video of the Week

From October 1977 a #1 Country hit for the Kendalls.

"Heaven's Just a Sin Away"

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 80s - November 27th 2010

AT40 the 80s this week November 29th 1980

The Top Ten Singles

10 - Dreaming - Cliff Richard
9 - Love on the Rocks - Neil Diamond
8 - (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon
7 - Master Blaster (Jammin') - Stevie Wonder
6 - More Than I Can Say - Leo Sayer
5 - I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
4 - Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
3 - The Wanderer - Donna Summer
2 - Woman in Love - Barbra Streisand
1 - Lady - Kenny Rogers
(3rd of 6 consecutive weeks at #1)


Top Ten Albums

10 - Triumph - The Jacksons
9 - One Step Closer - The Doobie Brothers
8 - Diana - Diana Ross
7 - Crimes of Passion - Pat Benatar
6 - Back in Black - AC/DC
5 - The Game - Queen
4 - Hotter Than July - Stevie Wonder
3 - Greatest Hits - Kenny Rogers
2 - Guilty - Barbra Streisand
1 - The River - Bruce Springsteen
(4th of 4 consecutive weeks at #1)

Springsteen's 5th release and first to reach #1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart.
It was a double album that yielded one top 40 single with "Hungry Heart", which reached #5 on the Hot 100.

(a personal note on this video, I found several clips of this song being done live in concert but the first 2 verses were sung by the crowd. Now this is a pet peeve of mine and why I dont do concerts anymore. I did not pay to sing nor to hear the 10 people around me sing, I paid to here the guy on stage! So I finally found this "video" of the the song where its all sung by Bruce Springsteen).