10. “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates (1 week at #1, January ’82 | Amazon)
Daryl Hall was and is an incredibly versatile vocalist. He and partner John Oates have done more than their part to advocate for musical schizophrenics over the past forty years. Folk-rock? New Wave? Soul ballads? Electro-pop? New jack swing? All Daryl needs to do to complete the circle is make a jazz album.
“I Can’t Go For That” is an odd little song. It sounds almost spooky-the wheezing drum machine, a whole lot of foreign echo. Hall himself has stated that the song came about as something of an accident, a result of his fooling around with a drum machine. What an accident-the song dethroned Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” from the top of the pop charts after 2 1/2 months, became the rare song to reverse-crossover from the pop charts to land at #1 R&B and became the duo’s defining single. Considering the breadth of H2O’s catalog, it’s a pretty lofty perch “No Can Do” sits on.
9. “That Girl” by Stevie Wonder (9 weeks at #1, February-April ’82 | Amazon)
Copied verbatim from my list of the greatest Motown songs of the ’80s (where it finished #2.)
Fairly uncomplicated Stevie-a simple love song with no political message, no concepts about plants, no tributes to Bob Marley or Duke Ellington. “That Girl” is like “My Cherie Amour” updated for the ’80s, and was the best song the genius recorded during the decade. Stevie’s ebullient vocal matched the twinkly keyboards perfectly, and “That Girl” may have also included the last harmonica solo to ever rock the top of the R&B charts.
Don’t you wish someone made you feel as good as Stevie sounds here?
8. “Can You Stand The Rain” by New Edition (2 weeks at #1, February ’89 | Amazon)
Here’s the song that officially sent New Edition sailing over the “kiddie band” hump and into legendary territory. It was also Johnny Gill’s coming-out party as a member of the group. As legend has it, Ralph Tresvant wasn’t too happy with New Edition’s new addition, and producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were asked to restrict the amount of airspace that Gill’s notoriously chesty vocals received. After all, Ralph was the lead singer. “Can You Stand The Rain” is the perfect marriage of Tresvant’s boyish tenor and Gill’s more mature stylings. Jam & Lewis’s best ballad? Perhaps. A standard? Should be.
Also, New Edition’s best video.
7. “Kiss” by Prince & The Revolution (4 weeks at #1, April ’86 | Amazon)
After Prince went all expansive and paisley with Around The World In A Day, “Kiss” sounded like a throwback. I can remember hearing it in my mom’s car and thinking that it was an older Prince song that’d just made its way onto the radio.
If you’re a P fan, you probably know that “Kiss” was originally written by Prince for Mazarati, one of his protege bands. After hearing Mazarati’s version, Prince decided to take it back. I bet those Mazarati dudes were pissed.
Alternate scenario: Prince leaves “Kiss” with Mazarati and the exact same thing that happened to “Nothing Compares 2 U” happens. Mazarati’s version goes nowhere, Tom Jones discovers it (although in this alternate reality, it’s probably not Tom Jones who covers it but Robert Palmer) and has a #1 smash, leaving Prince very very rich but very very annoyed. Can you imagine?
6. “Juicy Fruit” by Mtume (8 weeks at #1, June-July ’83 | Amazon)
Random “Juicy Fruit” facts:
-James Mtume and Reggie Lucas were among the premiere production units of the late ’70s and early ’80s, working with Stephanie Mills, Roberta Flack, Phyllis Hyman and others. The two parted by the time “Juicy Fruit” came out, and Lucas busied himself with a new artist by the name of Madonna.
-This song is NOT about chewing gum. Not at all.
-Between “Juicy Fruit”, “Sexual Healing”, “Between the Sheets” and 1999, was every R&B lover with a Walkman walking around with a boner during the first half of 1983?
-I have a giggle every time I go to a Dave Matthews Band concert and see Tawatha Agee (Mtume’s female voice) singing background as one of Dave’s “lovely ladies.” DMB should just cover “Juicy Fruit” for the hell of it.
-Did you know that The System played keyboards on this song? Now you know.
5. “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross (2 weeks at #1, October ’81 | Amazon)
“Never Too Much” was Luther Vandross’s first solo hit after a period that saw him semi-anonymously contribute vocals to hits by Chic, Sister Sledge and most notably, Change (“The Glow Of Love” and “Searching”). In contrast to his ballad-heavy later work, “Never Too Much” is uptempo light-funk with a rapid-fire vocal delivery that contains a hint of early hip-hop. As with most of Luther’s early work, it’s sublime. His voice flows over the chorus like butter over pancakes.
Luther was a master when it came to showing off without actually seeming like he was showing off. Hear the ad-libs at the end of “Never Too Much”? You can’t do that. No one can do that.
4. “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson (6 weeks at #1, January-February ’80 | Amazon)
“Rock With You” was the first #1 pop and R&B song of the new decade, and, with hindsight, served as a pretty solid indicator of who was gonna end up ruling the charts in the ’80s. It features Michael at his most relaxed, and later offered a reminder that the King of Pop wasn’t always singing through clenched teeth. It’s innocent, sure, but also quite sensual. It’s also the first song I distinctly remember falling in love. With that in mind, you’d think I’d have more to say about it. Sometimes you just have to let the music do the talking, though.
3. “When Doves Cry” by Prince (8 weeks at #1, June-August ’84 | Amazon)
“Let’s take the bass out of the song. That’ll freak people out, right?”
“Dude-your song has a line about animals striking curious poses. I don’t think the absence of bass is gonna faze anyone.”
“Okay. Have you ever purified yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka?”
“You’re really weird, Prince.”
2. “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye (10 weeks at #1, November ’82-January ’83 | Amazon)
You haven’t had a hit in five years, spent some time living in a bread truck, exiled yourself to Belgium, parted ways with your label home of 20 years and shoved thousands upon thousands of dollars up your nose. What are you going to do next, Marvin Gaye?
“I’m gonna make the longest-running #1 R&B single of the decade and win two Grammys for my trouble. Plus, I’ll have the only chart-topping R&B song to include the word masturbate in the lyric. Then I’m going to Disneyland.”
(drops mic.)
(picks it back up as the suspense builds…)
…and now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, which will surprise absolutely NO one reading this…
1. “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson (9 weeks at #1, February-April ’83 | Amazon)
If you know me, then you knew that “Billie Jean” was #1 as soon as this countdown started. It’s musical perfection. The greatest song from the greatest pop artist to ever live.
What else is there to say? Just watch and enjoy.
What else can I say? It’s been real. Stay tuned for more lists, and more fun…and rumor has it that this list may even be turned into a podcast soon.
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6 comments
Michael S. says:
Nov 1, 2014
Excellent series! Thanks for sharing this with us. I found a few gems that were new (to me).
MJ says:
Nov 1, 2014
thank you and my pleasure…
John says:
Nov 3, 2014
Amazing list. Thanks for taking the time to compile this. I knew “Rain” and “Billie Jean” would be up here from the get go, but I’m pleasantly surprised Luther made the Top 10. Well done.
MJ says:
Nov 3, 2014
Thanks very much, John. Your comments kept me going.
John says:
Nov 3, 2014
I’ll selfishly offer myself up any time you need motivation if it comes out as well as this series did.
Daryl*88 says:
Dec 26, 2014
So that ”Funk” in Madonna’s first album is actually coming from Mtume’s Reggie Lucas… Interesting fact!