Today, we're looking at the left side of the WLS Musicradio 89 survey dated May 17, 1980; the Jock of the Week, the Concerts calendar, and the list of albums known as the Thirty-threes. Join us again in a few days for a look at the right side of the survey, aka the Forty-fives, as well as the survey's backside with the Etcetera, Etc. and Bio features.
Jock Jeff Davis had joined WLS in 1974 and probably worked each airshift around the clock. He's featured this week, holding down the 11pm-2am shift. Jeff spent more than 50 years with WLS, and one of his claims to fame is hearing Styx's "Lady" on a jukebox at a pizza joint, then playing the song until it became a number 2 hit on the station during his first year on air. According to the interwebs, Jeff heads his own production company these days.
Seger brought his Against The Wind Tour to the Rosemont Horizon for a couple of nights just before Memorial Day 1980. Tickets were $10! At various stops on the tour, The Rockets or Point Blank opened the shows. The tour would circle back to the Chicago area in August with a pair of shows at the Poplar Creek Music Theater, about 20 miles up the road from the Rosemont. Performances from even later dates on the tour were released as the double-live album Nine Tonight in September 1981. Against The Wind moved up to Number One on the Thirty-threes this week and would log another six weeks on top.
Nazareth pulled into the Aragon Ballroom on their Malice In Wonderland Tour on May 23rd instead of the 22nd, according to several sites. There are reports that they performed in Springfield, IL, on the evening of the 22nd. Blackfoot and Marseilles were the opening acts.
The Babys, supporting their Union Jacks album, opened for Journey on the Departure Tour, including a night at the Rosemont Horizon. The tour would return to the Horizon for another show in September 1980. Later performances from the Departure Tour were released as Captured in January 1981. After peaking at number 3, Departure slips one spot to number 6 this week.
There are three debut albums in the bottom third of the Thirty-threes this week. Pete Townshend's solo album, Empty Glass, jumped on the chart at number 30, bound for a high position of number 6. Scorpions came in at number 27 with Animal Magnetism. The album would rise to number 13 during its time on the station's surveys. Popping in at number 23 is Just One Night, a double-live set from Eric Clapton recorded over a two-night stand at the renowned Budokan Theatre in December 1979. The album would peak at number 8.
Sweet Kenny Rogers is the lone artist to hold down two spots on this week's Thirty-threes, with Kenny falling to number 31 and his concept album, Gideon, rising to number 12. The former album was nearing six months on the chart and had peaked at number 6, while Gideon would go on to peak at number 7 during a shorter run, with its single "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer", a duet with Kim Carnes, moving up to number 8 on this week's Forty-fives.
Several male R&B artists have albums on the list of Thirty-threes as well. Moving up one spot to number 25 is the eponymously titled tenth album from The Whispers. Buoyed by the single "And The Beat Goes On", number 33 on this week's Forty-fives, the album had peaked at number 15. The legendary Isley Brothers take a step up from last week's number 22 on their way to a peak of number 19 with Go All The Way. It's the only album I've ever come across where every track is listed as Parts 1 & 2. But the album that gets most of my attention from this week's Thirty-threes is Michael Jackson's Off The Wall, up at number 17. In its eighth month on the chart, with two singles on the list of Forty-fives this week, the album was trending back up the chart after peaking at number 5. More than anything, the music on Off The Wall reminds me of jukeboxes and skating rinks during eighth grade and Freshman year.
Before we get to today's album spotlight from the Thirty-threes from May 17, 1980, there are three vastly different artist compilations I'd like to shine a little love on. Falling four places to number 32 is Donna Summer's On The Radio - Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. This double-disc set of her chart hits includes ten singles that made WLS's weekly Forty-fives tallies. The album was under my Christmas tree in 1979 and remains a favorite to this day. Another favorite is up at number 15 in its third week on the albums list. REO Speedwagon's A Decade Of Rock 1970-1980 featured highlights from their first nine albums in chronological order, with the track "Time For Me To Fly" receiving a re-release to promote the package, which had peaked at number 5 during its 53 weeks on WLS's album chart. Just one spot above REO at number 14 is Rarities, an odd duck in the Beatles discography. Based on a UK album released as part of The Beatles Collection in 1978 and as a stand-alone seventeen-track UK album in 1979, the 1980 Rarities collects (what were) fourteen rare and unheard Beatles tracks in the US, as most of the tracks on the UK Rarities had been previously released on the mix & match US versions of Beatles albums. Rarities was in its fifth week on Thirty-threes, down three from its peak position at number 11.
9. "King Of Hollywood"8. "The Disco Strangler"7. "Teenage Jail"/"The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks"6. "Those Shoes"5. "The Sad Café"4. "I Can't Tell You Why"3. "Heartache Tonight"2. "The Long Run"
1. "In The City"
We like what we like.
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