Chart Bubblers, 1981

[Dawn]

Let's look at another set of bubblers...this time from 1981. All reached a peak position of 45 to 57 on the Billboard charts.

225 45 Lonely Together Barry Manilow
226 45 Super Trouper Abba
227 45 Lovin' The Night Away Dillman Band
228 46 Fool That I Am Rita Coolidge
229 46 Love All The Hurt Away Aretha Franklin & George Benson
230 46 Games Phoebe Snow
231 47 One More Night Streek
232 48 Let Me Love You Once Greg Lake
233 48 Stranger Jefferson Starship
234 48 Promises Barbra Streisand
235 48 Arc Of A Diver Steve Winwood
236 48 I've Been Waiting For You All Of My Life Paul Anka
237 49 Tempted Squeeze
238 49 When She Dances Joey Scarbury
239 50 Running Scared Fools
240 50 Square Biz Teena Marie
241 50 You Like Me Don't You Jermaine Jackson
242 51 Lipstick Suzi Quatro
243 51 All I Have To Do Is Dream Andy Gibb & Victoria Principal
244 51 Teacher Teacher Rockpile
245 51 Magic Power Triumph
246 52 Fantasy Girl 38 Special
247 52 Yesterday Once More - Nothing Remains The Same Spinners
248 52 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Phoebe Snow
249 53 Silly Deniece Williams
250 53 It's All I Can Do Anne Murray
251 53 Shaddap You Face Joe Dolce
252 53 What Cha' Gonna Do For Me Chaka Khan
253 53 Ch Ch Cherie Johnny Average Band
254 54 Almost Saturday Night Dave Edmunds
255 54 Nothing Ever Goes As Planned Styx
256 54 Bet Your Heart On Me Johnny Lee
257 54 Lovers After All Melissa Manchester & Peabo Bryson
258 54 Brooklyn Girls Robbie Dupree
259 55 Limelight Rush
260 55 More Stars Stars On 45
261 55 Full Of Fire Shalamar
262 55 You Don't Know Me Mickey Gilley
263 55 Suzi Randy Vanwarmer
264 55 Fly Away Peter Allen
265 55 Fantastic Voyage Lakeside
266 55 Somebody Send My Baby Home Lenny LeBlanc
267 55 One Day In Your Life Michael Jackson
268 55 The Kid Is Hot Tonite Loverboy
269 56 Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore Nielsen-Pearson
270 56 Hold On Badfinger
271 56 United Together Aretha Franklin
272 56 Sensitive Kind Santana
273 56 I Don't Need You Rupert Holmes
274 57 It's My Job Jimmy Buffet
275 57 Sign Of The Gypsy Queen April Wine

Quite a few really good tracks here. To comment on a few:

It's surprising that Super Trouper wasn't more successful as a single. This was a bit after Abba's peak, but they had done well with The Winner Takes It All.

Arc of a Diver is another track that should have been a huge hit. As much as I like While You See A Chance, this track is every bit as good if not better IMO.

I remember looking in the Whitburn top 40 book years ago to find information for Tempted and being surprised when it wasn't listed. It has all the makings of a great pop single.

Fantasy Girl is a good track, with the classic .38 Special sound. It still turns up occasionally on classic rock stations.

I'm not too familiar with More Stars, but I'm guessing it's an excerpt of the Stars on 45 LP. 1981 and '82 were definitely the years of the medley!

One Day in Your Life has an interesting story; it was recorded in 1975 but not released until years later. Though not a big success in the States, it reached #1 in the UK.

What are your thoughts on these?

[Jughead]

Y'know, as someone born in '81, I was kind of disappointed that I didn't like a whole lot of music from that time period.

But, seeing all the songs that didn't quite make it, I see that 1981 was a pretty good year after all. "Tempted" and "Square Biz" are two of my favourite 1980's tracks!

[Ken]

Hey Dawn,

A little "Canadian Invasion" here lol !
Nice to see Rush, Triumph, Loverboy and April Wine all included on this list - all of them are big faves.

I agree with you about "Super Trouper" I thought it charted higher. I remember my sister in law bought the album when it came out and then later my brother bought the CD to upgrade, I remember it was one of the first CD's he bought.

Stranger - Jefferson Starship - This along with "Find Your Way Back" were great songs. I have both together on a mix CD.

Tempted - Squeeze - Excellent track, they had quite a few great songs.

Hold On - Badfinger - Such a terrific song sung flawlessly by Tommy Evans. It deserved better.


Almost Saturday Night - I'm a big Dave Edmunds fan and he does a great job on this.


Teacher Teacher - To me, this song should have gone "top 10."
I remember hearing it often. The Seconds of Pleasure album is a "must own" 80's classic. I have it on both vinyl and CD.