In August of 1983, I got my first post-high school job at a local radio station for minimum wage: $3.35 an hour. It was a part-time job I got to supplement my “additional costs” while attending a local community college. It was a pretty no-brainer job changing reel-to-reel tapes on an automated station (at the time, the call letters were KINQ — also known as “Kink”) and the music they played was what his now called Hot Adult Contemporary. Which means (and meant) that for every softer sounding song, there were more upbeat (hotter) songs that were new and charting. One of the industry papers that would come into the station each week was Radio and Records or “R&R” for short. It had all sorts of articles on the radio industry, but also had record charts for various formats. At the time, I was into New Wave and some Album Oriented Rock bands, so R&R was a kind of go-to to guide me in my record purchases. Sure, there were promo copies of singles that came in every week, but rarely were they ones that I could take for myself because the station needed them for part of their music library. Sometimes I’d make cassette dubs of new singles so I could play them in my car, but mostly I liked having records that I purchased.
Like many music fans in this current age, I read a lot of music-related news, but I also like reading blogs that are music and pop culture centered. One blog I read regularly is Jefitoblog. Some of the posts are paywalled, but some of it is free for all to read. In the comments section on a post about Loverboy’s “Wildside” Jefito and I had a back and forth about the song and I said that radio programmers would often force feed musical dreck into our ears. Case in point was “Hot Girls In Love” — one of their most popular singles. Jefito wondered how that happened, and I noted: “I’m sure the MTV contest to be in a Loverboy video [ “Queen of the Broken Hearts”]was a contributing factor. Once that got attention, radio programmers were all over the single [“Hot Girls In Love”]. It would be interesting to read through Gavin Report or Radio & Records from that era to see which songs were likely added because of MTV.“
Well, in looking at the R&R charts from November 1983, we get a whole lotta this:
Sure, it’s a lot to take in, but filtering out the heavy-hitters of the day, let’s delve into the the Contemporary Hit Radio chart (also known as Top 40). In top 10, there are some MTV promoted artists that might not have had legs were it not for that Little Cable Channel That Could.
Quiet Riot, “Cum On Feel The Noize”
The Boys at MTV knew they had a hit video here, and the Boys in Radio knew the Boys at MTV were right. It’s a pop song through and through, but one with a little more heft from a hair metal band. What more can you say about this song other than it’s catchy, it’s fairly harmless, and I can’t stand it.
Huey Lewis & The News, “Heart and Soul”
The yuppie rock of Huey Lewis was something that surely reflected the times. Huey looked like every white guy striver out there looking to move up both financially and socially in Reagan’s America. And Huey’s rather tepid pop song might not have gotten pushed to the top 10 without the help of a well produced video. Just listen to the song without the visuals, and there isn’t a lot there. It’s just kind of a ho-hum pop song.
Pat Benatar, “Love Is A Battlefield”
Pat was the cool chick rocker that appealed to boys and girls who liked the glass shattering image of Pat as a treat me right lady who didn’t take a lot of shit from asshole guys. So, when her video budget got increased, they made mini movie about this song. It came with the added bonus of a bra liberated dance that, to my knowledge, never caught on. But the video sure did!
The Fixx, “One Thing Leads To Another”
Not the best video, but it sure helped propel The Fixx to the top 10 with this single. Maybe I ought to take back what I wrote about the video. Back then, the production values of the videos weren’t always that great, so when you’re a band like The Fixx, what you lack in video budget, you can make up with in terms of quirkiness. And that’s what Cy Curnin does with his, well, quirky dance. But, to me the stand out hook in the song is the repeating riff that guitarist Jamie West-Oram lays down. Sometimes all you need is three chords to make a hit happen — and these three chords aren’t usually known as hit makers.
The Motels, “Suddenly Last Summer”
If the single landed on my desk back in 1983 — and was a music director — I would have sent this right into the circular file. But the video! The video! It saved this song from Stiffville in my view. It helped that The Motels at this point were riding high from the success of All Four One. Now, would this song have charted as high as it did without the help of a well-produced video? My gut tells me no, but your gut may tell you something different.
Stevie Nicks, “If Anyone Falls”
Finally, let’s drop in and see what’s what with Stevie Nicks. Stevie was doing pretty well with “Stand Back” in 1983 and didn’t lack for fans. But what’s hard for me to fathom is why (and how) this follow up single charted as high as it did. Sure it has hooks, but it feels so languid to me, almost like it’s a kissing cousin from Stiffville — you know, the same town the produced The Motels’ “Suddenly Last Summer.” I’m sure there are big Stevie fans who will shout from the rooftops that this song is gold, but there are people who will shout from the rooftops about a lot of stupid things.
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