The Year in #1 Hits - 1988

I am starting a new feature today with what I call "The Year in #1 Hits".   I will pick a year and each day (I hope!) I will post, in order from Jan 1st to Dec 31st, all the songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for that year.
I am starting with, for no particular reason, 1988.   I would love some feedback on this and maybe request for certain years.   I will also try to include the UK Top 40 chart also for a little change of pace.

So lets get this party started for 1988


Up first from January 1st of 1988 - "Faith" by George Michael (4th of 4 weeks at #1)

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 70s - April 2nd 2011

This week in on AT40 the 70s its April 1st 1972

The Top Ten Songs

10 - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
9  -  Rockin' Robin - Michael Jackson
8  -  Jungle Fever - Chakachas
7  -  Without You - Nilsson
6  -  I Gotcha - Joe Tex
5  -  The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Robert John
4  -  Mother & Child Reunion - Paul Simon
3  -  Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
2  -  Heart of Gold - Neil Young
1  -  A Horse With No Name - America
(2nd of 3 consecutive weeks at #1)




The Top 10 Albums

10 - American Pie - Don McLean
9  -  Eat a Peach - The Allman Brothers Band
8  -  Let's Stay Together - Al Green
7  -  Music - Carole King
6  -  Fragile - Yes
5  -  Baby I'm-A Want You - Bread
4  -  Paul Simon - Paul Simon
3  -  Nilsson Schmilsson - Nilsson
2  -  Harvest - Neil Young

1  -  America - America
(2nd of 5 consecutive weeks at #1)

The debut album for the 3 man group, originally released with out #1 song "A Horse with No Name", but when that song hit the charts the album was re-released with that song added.
The other top ten hit from the album was "I Need You" which peaked at #9.

Today in Music History

1937 - Born on this Day - Herb Alpert, trumpet, vocals, (1968 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'This Guy's In Love With You'). Formed A&M Records with Jerry Moss, at first operating from his garage at home.

1958 - Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic 'Johnny B. Goode' single was released. It entered the Hot 100 six weeks later and peaked at #8. The song's original lyrics referred to Johnny as a "colored boy", but Berry later acknowledged that he changed it to "country boy" to ensure radio play.

1976 - The Brotherhood Of Man were at #1 on the UK singles chart with the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, 'Save Your Kisses For Me.' The group's first of three UK No.1's.

1984 - Kenny Loggins started a three week run at #1 on the Hot 100 with 'Footloose', the theme from the film with the same name, a #6 hit in the UK.

2007 - A new world record for the longest non-stop concert was set by hundreds of musicians in Japan. The performance began on the evening of 23 March in the city of Omi, with musicians aged between six and 96 taking turns with over 2,000 tunes being performed over 182 hours. Organisers praised the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major earthquake during her piano piece. The previous world record was set in Canada in 2001 with 181 hours.

Original vs Remake #10

Well we have reached the 10th edition of this little show, and we will mark it with a Pop vs country remake of recent vintage.

A song written by Diane Warren for the 1998 movie "Armageddon" and help get Aerosmith their first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 (after 28 years of record making).

"I Dont Want To Miss A Thing" debuted at the Top of the Billboard Hot 100 September 5th and remained in place for 4 consecutive weeks.  A #4 in the UK it was their highest charting song on that Top 100.

In late 1998 country singer Mark Chestnutt released his version of this song from the album of the same title.  In February of 1999 he topped the Billboard Hot Country singles chart for 2 weeks and #17 on the Hot 100.

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 70s - March 26th 2011

AT40 The 70s this week from March 25th 1978

The Top Ten Singles

10 - Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson

9  -  If I Can't Have You - Yvonne Elliman

8  -  Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill

7  -  I Go Crazy - Paul Davis

6  -  (Love is) Thicker Than Water - Andy Gibb

5  -  Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow

4  -  Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton

3  -  Emotion - Samantha Sang

2  -  Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees

1  -  Night Fever - Bee Gees

(2nd of 8 consecutive weeks at #1)

The Top Ten Albums

10 - Point of Know Return - Kansas

9  -  The Grand Illusion - Styx

8  -  News of the World - Queen

7  -  Weekend in L.A. - George Benson

6  -  Even Now - Barry Manilow

5  -  Aja - Steely Dan

4  -  Running on Empty - Jackson Browne

3  -  Slowhand - Eric Clapton

2  -  The Stranger - Billy Joel

1  -  Saturday Night Fever - Soundtrack

(10th of 24 consecutive weeks at #1)

The bestselling movie soundtrack of all time, until 1992 when it was surpassed by the "The Bodyguard".

The album won the Grammy for Album of the Year for 1978, it contains 5 singles that hit the Billboard Hot 100.   Four of those singles would top the Hot 100 and only one of those was not credited to the Bee Gees, "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman.   However, the Bee Gees wrote the song and sing backup vocals on the recording.

There are other #1 singles on the album including "A Fifth of Beethoven", "Jive Talkin" and  "You Should Be Dancing" they were all previously released and hit the top in 1976.

Also on the soundtrack was "More Than a Woman" written and performed by the Bee Gees but not released as a single US. The album also included a version by the soul group Tavares

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 80s - March 26th 2011

This week AT40 the 80s is from March 24th 1984

The Top Ten Singles

10 - Got a Hold on Me - Christine McVie

9  -  Adult Education - Hall and Oates

8  -  Automatic - The Pointer Sisters

7  -  99 LuftBalloons - Nena

6  -  I Want a New Drug - Huey Lewis & The News

5  -  Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

4  -  Footloose - Kenny Loggins

3  -  Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

2  -  Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell

1  -  Jump - Van Halen

(5th of 5 weeks at #1)

The Top 10 Albums

10 - An Innocent Man - Billy Joel

9  -  Touch - Eurythmics

8  -  Synchronicity - The Police

7  -  Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders

6  -  Sports - Huey Lewis & The News

5  -  Footloose - Kenny Loggins

4  -  Can't Slow Down - Lionel Richie

3  -  Colour By Numbers - Culture Club

2  -  1984 - Van Halen

1  -  Thriller - Michael Jackson

(33rd of 37 non consecutive weeks at #1)

The winner of 8 Grammy Awards in 1984 including Album of the Year.

Certified 29 times Platinum in 2009, having sold over 29 million copies since its release November of 1982.

The first album to have 7 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the only album to be the best selling album of 2 consecutive years (1983-1984) in the US.  The album also reached #1 in the UK (8 weeks), Japan and Australia.

Your Classic Country Video of the Week

Tom T Hall spent 1 week at the top of the Billboard Country chart in January of 1973.