Select up to 5 of your favorites

  Today it's...

  Winning - Santana
  Hey Nineteen - Steely Dan
  Who's Crying Now - Journey
  The Best of Times - Styx
  Sweetheart - Franke & the Knockouts

You sure love your Hall & Oates! And so do I! Plus a bit of Rick Springfield and the Richie / Ross duet.

Sweetheart by Franke and the Knockouts also gets my vote!

My all-time favourite song of 1981 was a cover of 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' by Nielsen/Pearson.  It was not a big hit, but I appeared on an old K-Tel album I have called 'Night Flight' where I first heard it and I have loved it ever since

From your list ...I chose;

Tainted Love---Soft Cell  (I got sick of this one though...it was huge at the time)
Centerfold---The J. Geils Band
In the Air Tonight---Phil Collins
Jessie's Girl---Rick Springfield
Under Pressure---Queen and David Bowie

As far as songs not in your list. Our Lips Are Sealed - The GoGo's was a big hit in Oz and is still a favourite of mine from that era... :)

Some of my 1981 favorites -

Sweetheart - Frankie and the Knockouts
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) - Hall and Oates
Too Much Time On My Hands - Styx
Hearts - Marty Balin
Being With You - Smokey Robinson
A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do) - Ray Parker Jr.
Just the Two Of Us  - Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
Maldita Primavera - Yuri
Este Amor Ya No Se Toca - Yuri
La Gata Baja la Lluvia - Rocío Dúrcal

My favorite songs from 1981 were:

Police - Every little thing she does
Phil Collins - In the air tonight
Moody Blues  - The Voice
Genesis - No reply at all
Genesis - Like it or not
Journey - Don't stop believin'

Again, they have to be obscure songs with a nighttime vibe to them...

Deserters - Alien
Billy Squier - Lonely is the Night
Kim Carnes - Draw of the Cards (followup to Bette Davis Eyes)
The Kinks - Give The People What They Want
Johnny and the Distractions - Complicated Now

Of all those that are listed, I like just about all of them (except for "Endless Love", which I didn't care for all that much...but I can tolerate it). I also enjoy several 1981 songs that are not listed here, such as:

"Morning Train (9 To 5)" by Sheena Easton
"For Your Eyes Only" also by Sheena Easton
"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey
"Burning For You" by Blue Oyster Cult
....to name a few.

Fairee's really not a Journey fan, is she?
"Don't Stop Believin'", my 5th song
"Who's Cryin Now"
"Open Arms"

Your Pal,
Doc

Another song I really liked from 1981 was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. This did well everywhere but the U.S.

Another song I really liked from 1981 was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. This did well everywhere but the U.S.


Which is actually from 1979 :D

It just barely made the US Top 40, peaking at exactly #40.  It did fare much better in other places yes.

Which is actually from 1979 :D

It just barely made the US Top 40, peaking at exactly #40.  It did fare much better in other places yes.


Damn...I believe you are correct with the year. I remember it singing adrunken rendition of that song while standing on a table table in a pub....and the year was 1979!

That's how I tend to recall when songs were on the radio (where I was..and who I was with etc) ....and that also means that I have had more than one drunken escapade on a table top!!!

Damn...I believe you are correct with the year. I remember it singing adrunken rendition of that song while standing on a table table in a pub....and the year was 1979!

That's how I tend to recall when songs were on the radio (where I was..and who I was with etc) ....and that also means that I have had more than one drunken escapade on a table top!!!


It is synonymous with 1981 as it was the video that launched MTV in America, which is likely the sole reason why it is known in the United States.  Songs that just barely reach the Top 40, aren't usually remembered as well as 'Video Killed the Radio Star' is

For the world outside of the United States, it is both 1979 and 1980.  In the UK, topped the chart in Setember 1979.  In Canada, it peaked at #6 in February 1980 and in the US, it peaked at #40 in December 1979 (It would have spanned into 1980 had it charted higher_

I live on the US/Canadian border, so I was able to  hear "Video Killed The Radio Star" when it was big in Canada.  Also got to hear somebody named Bryan Adams before he broke big in the States in the mid 80's, I'm sure some here have heard of him.  :D 

I loved listening to that A.M. station, CKY (KY-58) out of Winnipeg.  When it shut down a few years ago, so went too a piece of my early radio listening years.

I live on the US/Canadian border, so I was able to  hear "Video Killed The Radio Star" when it was big in Canada.

Both versions, or just the Buggles one?

The other version was by the song's co-writer Bruce Woolley and his band the Camera Club, and was also a Top 40 success in Canada

Boy that is a good question.  I'm thinking it's the Buggles or maybe I'm just assuming it was the Buggles.  Truth be told, I can't tell you, but The Camera Club just doesn't ring a bell with me as far as band names go.

Were both versions identical or were there distinct differences in the two arrangements.

Another Canadian group I loved was Trooper.  I have their Hot Shots cd, which was impossible to find here in the states.  Thank goodness for Amazon.

The Buggles did the Disco version.  Camera Club's version was more new wave

Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tArLJ7sNcCQ