WLS Music Survey - February 9, 1980 (Part One: The Thirty-threes)

In early 1980, my radio listening was split between WLS and WLRW-FM. If I was in my room, I listened to WLS. If I was in the rest of the house or in the car, WLRW was heard. The dynamic full-bodied stereo sound of the latter station was an amazing departure from the thin, tinny AM sound of WLS. 

I rarely listened to WLS on weekends because Dad usually had the house rockin' with WLRW every weekend he didn't have to work. I'm pretty sure American Top 40 was broadcast on the station on Saturdays and Sundays so I have no memory of ever hearing Steve Casey on air. I looked him up and after leaving WLS in 1981, Casey helped launch and program MTV before establishing an album rock consulting firm with legendary programmer John Sebastian in 1982. Casey returned to WLS a few years later only to leave in 1985 to assist in the launching and programming of VH1 before establishing Steve Casey Research International in 1989.

Sweet Kenny Rogers is the only artist with two albums on this week's list of Thirty-threes. The Gambler was originally released in 1978 and peaked at number 7 on the Thirty-threes back on July 7, 1979. It moves up one to number 26 this week. Holding at its peak of number 6 for the third week is Kenny. Both albums were released on a single CD by the UK label Edsel in 2009. 

Three albums in the top 10 of the Thirty-threes would go on to make Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time. Michael Jackson's Off The Wall is at number 8 on this week's list and ranked number 36 among the 500. Tom Petty's Damn The Torpedoes is number two this week and ranks 231st out of the 500. Pink Floyd's The Wall tops the list of Thirty-threes this week and is number 129th on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.

There are four greatest hits compilation albums on this week's list of Thirty-threes. Moving up two spots to number 29, ELO's Greatest Hits is one of two albums released in 1979 by Electric Light Orchestra. Despite Discovery being released five months ahead of ELO's Greatest Hits, neither of the former album's Top 10 hits was included on the latter album which leads us to believe it had been planned before Discovery's release. After peaking just outside the Top 10 of the Thirty-threes in late December, the double-disc Bee Gees Greatest slips a spot to number 24 this week as its post-Holidays sales trend downward. Covering the group's hits from 1975-1979, the album is second only to Saturday Night Fever as the Bee Gees RIAA-certified biggest-selling album. Lynyrd Skynyrd's double album Gold & Platinum rises two positions to number 19 on its way to a peak of number 18 in early March 1980. Given our druthers, we'd have preferred the album was all studio cuts rather than the few live tracks thrown in. Along with Bee Gees Greatest, we received Donna Summer's On The Radio - Greatest Hits Volumes I & II as gifts under the Christmas Tree in December 1979. After peaking at number 4 on WLS's albums list in December, On The Radio drops two spots to number 10 this week. The wonderfully sequenced album features all the songs segued into one another across its four sides, providing a unique disco-like experience. In December 2024, Donna Summer's On The Radio - Greatest Hits was revised as an "expanded" version of the original 1979 collection though it has very little in common with the magnificent earlier album.

Our featured album this week is Michael Jackson's Off The Wall. My folks had gifted me Michael's first solo album, Got To Be There, on Easter Sunday 1972, and except for 1974's "Dancing Machine" and assorted television appearances, I fell out with Jackson and his brothers until I picked up the fantastic Destiny album around Thanksgiving 1978. None of this prepared me for the first time I heard the incendiary "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". It was truly a revelation, announcing Michael's creative independence. Then came "Rock With You" and "Off The Wall" both powerhouse grooves also blessed with the masterful production of Quincy Jones and the unparalleled performances of his hand-chosen studio musicians. We've always been blown away by the sound of our original pressing of the album purchased just before eighth grade started in the fall of 1979. If we had to choose our favorite CD pressing, we'd have to go with the 1988 Japanese mastering though we're excited to listen to the 2025 Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs pressing that just showed up in our mailbox.