WLS Music Survey - February 9, 1980 (Part Two: The Forty-fives)

 

The brief Bio of Pink Floyd featured on the rear of the WLS survey from February 9, 1980, is perfectly suitable for the station's Top 40 listeners. A new generation was hearing Pink Floyd's music for the first time via The Wall and lead single "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II." What kid didn't love shouting along with "Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!" The group had only one previous Top 40 single, 1973's "Money," off the previously mentioned Dark Side Of The Moon. 

John David Souther passed in September 2024, leaving behind a songwriting, recording, and acting legacy. One of those songs was his biggest single, the haunting "You're Only Lonely", which falls ten points this week to number 30 on the list of Forty-fives. The song peaked at number 12 on WLS's survey at the end of December 1979 and appeared on The Big 89 of 1979 at number 69 and The Big 89 of 1980 at number 81.

American Gigolo made its debut at the box office the first weekend of February 1980. The lead single from the film's soundtrack, Blondie's "Call Me", would first appear on WLS's Forty-fives on March 8, 1980, before peaking at Number One in April 1980 and ending the year at number 10 of the Big 89 of 1980. It probably was my favorite song of the year.

There are five EXTRAS listed on this week's list of singles. Four of them would peak on the Forty-fives the week of March 15, 1980, while "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" would peak at Number One a week later and end up at number 8 of the Big 89 of 1980.

In addition to the Pink Floyd single mentioned above, there is another future chart-topper on this week's list: Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" moving up 15 spots to number 14 this week before topping the list the week of March 8th. Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" had displaced Rupert Holmes and his "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" as this week's Number One single while songs on this week's list by Styx and Herb Alpert had previously held the highest honor.

One of two debuts among the Forty-fives is Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" up at number 39. I don't recall hearing it all on WLS but that's probably more about the nature of my memory than the song actually not being played. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" served as a lot of people's introduction to the unique artistry of Prince and while I surely heard it on American Top 40 and a couple of K-Tel albums (Sound Waves and Certified Gold) if nowhere else, I was not ready for it. The single would peak at number 21 in March 1980 on WLS.

The single taking the biggest fall this week is M's "Pop Muzik" as it tumbles from 13 to 24 after peaking at number 3 back in early December 1979 and landing at number 46 on the Big 89 of 1979. Taking the biggest jump up the Forty-fives this week is Dan Fogleberg's "Longer" going from 40 to number 22 this week. The single would peak at number 3 in March 1980 and finish at number 4 on the Big 89 of 1980.

Six artists have two singles each on WLS's Forty-fives for the week of February 9, 1980. First up, Cheap Trick has two songs from their Dream Police album. Falling six spots to number 38 is the album's title track which peaked at number 8 in early December. Moving up nine points to number 32 is "Voices" on its way to number 28 in just a couple of weeks.

Donna Summer appears on two labels with songs taken from her On The Radio - Greatest Hits Vol. I & II. The album's title track "On The Radio" (originally written for and later included on the Foxes soundtrack) moved up thirteen spots to number 31 this week. Falling ten spots to number 21 is "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". Summer's dramatic duet with Barbra Streisand peaked at number 2 at the beginning of December 1979 and, in a unique arrangement, the song was also included on Streisand's album Wet and the 45 was commercially released on her label, Columbia, while the commercially released 12" single was on Summer's label, Casablanca. Two interesting promotional artifacts of the era are a 45 and one-sided 12" single of "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" that are co-labeled with both Columbia and Casablanca logos on the labels.

Two Eagles songs from The Long Run were falling down the list of Forty-fives this week. Dropping five points to number 36 is "Heartache Tonight" (one of three songs from the album co-written with JD Souther) which peaked at number 4 in November 1979. Last week, "The Long Run" peaked at number 14 - this week it's down to number 16. One of my favorite cassettes to listen to in my first car in 1984 was a homemade 2fer featuring the Hotel California album on one side and The Long Run album on the other side. A couple of years later, Dad bought the same tape. 

After peaking at number 6 in early November 1979, "Tusk" began descending the Forty-fives chart and this week finds the single slipping four places to number 43. The song wound up at number 44 on the Big 89 of 1979. Moving up seven spots to its peak of number 10 this week is "Sara", the second single released from Fleetwood Mac's sprawling double album Tusk. "Sara" made the Big 89 of 1980 at number 73. There were a few weeks in 1980 when Tusk was my absolute favorite Fleetwood Mac album.

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" peaked at number 7 in October 1979, finishing the year at number 74 on the Big 89 of 1979. On this week's survey, the single fell three notches to number 41. Despite being Number One this week, "Rock With You" ended up down at number 54 on WLS's Big 89 of 1980. This is just another example in the theory that the station used two different methods when compiling their weekly surveys and their annual year-end Big 89 charts.

Chicago's very own Styx, the number one favorite musical group according to a 1979 Gallup Poll, is the sixth act to have two singles on this week's list with two tracks from their Cornerstone album. After peaking at number 21 last week, the newer single "Why Me" drops two spots this week. The album's initial single, the ballad "Babe", peaked at Number One (as mentioned above) in November 1979, earning the number 6 spot on the Big 89 of 1979. This week, the single drops three places to number 9. As someone who jumped on the Styx bandwagon with their album The Grand Illusion and song "Come Sail Away" in 1977 and also enjoyed the follow-up album Pieces of Eight in 1978, I was completely disappointed with Cornerstone and especially "Babe". Still not a fan of either.

Another song I don't ever recall hearing on WLS or any other radio station is Henry Mancini's take on "Ravel's Bolero" from the soundtrack to "10". On this week's list of Forty-fives, this single debuts at number 45 on its way to an unbelievable peak of number 15 in March 1980 just as Bo Derek appeared on the cover and inside the pages of Playboy.

This is a fine playlist with a nice mix of post-disco and rock of the hard & soft varieties as well as a novelty track, a pioneering rap track, classical music, a few country songs, and a couple examples of early new wave. Very eclectic and very enjoyable to listen to, playing like a vintage K-tel compilation album or time machine with the dial set back to eighth grade for this listener.