I kind of hate Rox a little now, because she made me re-live the horrible music I had to endure when I was 18. To wit, she suggested I visit Music Outfitters, enter the year of my high school graduation into the search function, and then choose the "list of the 100 most popular songs."
Because I'm a nerd, I've bolded my top 10 favorite songs on the list.
1. Call Me, Blondie
2. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd
3. Magic, Olivia Newton-John
4. Rock With You, Michael Jackson
5. Do That To Me One More Time, Captain and Tennille
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen
7. Coming Up, Paul McCartney
8. Funkytown, Lipps, Inc.
9. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Billy Joel
10. The Rose, Bette Midler
11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
12. Cars, Gary Numan
13. Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
14. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl, Spinners
15. Lost In Love, Air Supply
16. Little Jeannie, Elton John
17. Ride Like The Wind, Cristopher Cross
18. Upside Down, Diana Ross
19. Please Don't Go, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
20. Babe, Styx
21. With You I'm Born Again, Billy Preston and Syreeta
22. Shining Star, Manhattans
23. Still, Commodores
24. Yes, I'm Ready, Teri De Sario With K.C.
25. Sexy Eyes, Dr. Hook
26. Steal Away, Robbie Dupree
27. Biggest Part Of Me, Ambrosia
28. This Is It, Kenny Loggins
29. Cupid-I've Loved You For A Long Time, Spinners
30. Let's Get Serious, Jermaine Jackson
31. Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
32. Sailing, Christopher Cross
33. Longer, Dan Fogelberg
34. Coward Of The County, Kenny Rogers
35. Ladies Night, Kool and The Gang
36. Take Your Time, S.O.S. Band
37. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
38. Too Hot, Kool and The Gang
39. More Love, Kim Carnes
40. Pop Muzik, M
41. Brass In Pocket, Pretenders
42. Special Lady, Ray, Goodman and Brown
43. Send One Your Love, Stevie Wonder
44. The Second Time Around, Shalamar
45. We Don't Talk Anymore, Cliff Richard
47. Heartache Tonight , Eagles
48. Stomp, Brothers Johnson
49. Tired Of Toein' The Line, Rocky Burnette
50. Better Love Next Time, Dr. Hook
51. Him, Rupert Holmes
52. Against The Wind, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
53. On The Radio, Donna Summer
54. Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones
55. Rise, Herb Alpert
56. All Out Of Love, Air Supply
57. Cool Change, Little River Band
58. You're Only Lonely, J.D. Souther
59. Desire, Andy Gibb
60. Let My Love Open The Door, Pete Townshend
61. Daydream Believer, Anne Murray
62. I Can't Tell You Why, Eagles
63. Don't Let Go, Isaac Hayes
64. Don't Do Me Like That, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
65. She's Out Of My Life, Michael Jackson
66. Fame, Irene Cara
67. Fire Lake, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
68. How Do I Make You, Linda Ronstadt
69. Into The Night, Benny Mardones
70. Let Me Love You Tonight, Pure Prairie League
71. Misunderstanding, Genesis
72. An American Dream, Dirt Band
73. One Fine Day, Carole King
74. Dim All The Lights, Donna Summer
75. You May Be Right, Billy Joel
76. Hurt So Bad, Linda Ronstadt
77. Should've Never Let You Go, Neil Sedaka and Dara Sedaka
78. Pilot Of The Airwaves, Charlie Dore
79. Off The Wall, Michael Jackson
80. I Pledge My Love, Peaches and Herb
81. The Long Run, Eagles
82. Stand By Me, Mickey Gilley
83. Heartbreaker, Pat Benatar
84. Deja Vu, Dionne Warwick
85. Drivin' My Life Away, Eddie Rabbitt
86. Take The Long Way Home, Supertramp
87. Sara, Fleetwood Mac
88. Wait For Me, Daryl Hall and John Oates
89. Jo Jo, Boz Scaggs
90. September Morn, Neil Diamond
91. Give Me The Night, George Benson
92. Broken Hearted Me, Anne Murray
93. You Decorated My Life, Kenny Rogers
94. Tusk, Fleetwood Mac
95. I Wanna Be Your Lover, Prince
96. In America, Charlie Daniels Band
97. Breakdown Dead Ahead, Boz Scaggs
98. Ships, Barry Manilow
99. All Night Long, Joe Walsh
100. Refugee, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Wow, you are on a roll. I'll have to do this one too.
Posted by: susan | August 29, 2005 at 05:06 PM
wow...take me back. :) Great List!
Posted by: dovely | August 29, 2005 at 09:47 PM
thanks for the site. i really enjoyed looking back on me year...
Posted by: Calogero | August 29, 2005 at 10:15 PM
I love looking at the lists just because of the memories. It was my first year of teaching. I love disco, Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp. I can't ever think of that time without mentally hearing its anthem-- Another Brick in the Wall.
Posted by: Margaret | August 29, 2005 at 11:49 PM
I'm 1980, too, and was so dismayed. I remember music from high school as being so good. But then, I didn't listen to most of this stuff. Where are the Ramones and Elvis?
Posted by: nina | August 30, 2005 at 12:18 PM
In terms of lame popular songs, 1980 can't hold a candle to 1986:
http://frymax.typepad.com/longcut/2005/08/just_deserts.html
Posted by: Mark | August 30, 2005 at 03:06 PM
A truly painful exercise. I tried 1987 and couldn't even come up with 10 songs I'd listen to today. Odd, I don't recall having trouble finding music I liked at the time.
Posted by: leah | August 31, 2005 at 08:32 AM
I LOOOOVE "Upside Down" by Diana Ross!
Posted by: Brooke | August 31, 2005 at 12:17 PM
I found the same meme in the same place. What a difference ten years makes!
Looks like you made up your own variation of the rules. No favorite of all the 100? No songs you loathed? Inquiring minds want to know!
Posted by: Elisson | August 31, 2005 at 01:29 PM
Rules, shmules!
I loathed most of those songs. I hadn't heard of quite a few, either -- mostly country stuff, I guess. I couldn't pick a #1 favorite, although it might have been Blondie or Prince....
Posted by: Karen | August 31, 2005 at 02:11 PM
I did my year--got a lot of great memories! I found quite a few of my favorites in your year, too--but how can you think of not including Brick in the Wall?? I remember seeing the video for the first time--I cried -it seemed so poignant and deep. And I stil like Supertramp's Take the Long Way Home. So many times I took the long way home, too.
Thanks for that link, Karen...I hope all is well with you.
Posted by: Cmaine | September 02, 2005 at 02:58 AM