Billboard 1985: The Rankdown (Winner Revealed)

[Unhinged]

Apr 25, 2018 14:07:39 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

Polarizing? I figured the popular opinion now is that it's awful.

The truly messed up result is Julian Lennon being eliminated in the bottom 20.

lol...admittedly I ranked it as high as I did mostly because of MJ's involvement. It really isn't a good song (though the melody is nice) and some of the guest vocalists are down right horrid.

[Unhinged]

Counting down 80-71 tomorrow. Someone is going to lose their No. 2 and we will see our first visit from Madonna...

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Wow! I'm sad that Diana Ross and New Edition are out so soon.

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Apr 25, 2018 14:38:57 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Counting down 80-71 tomorrow. Someone is going to lose their No. 2 and we will see our first visit from Madonna...

Hopefully, Like A Virgin is next. That is like her most annoying song ever!

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Apr 25, 2018 12:15:17 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

#81

Too Late For Goodbyes

Julian Lennon

Total Points: 759

Billboard Hot 100: 5

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 77

From: Valotte

Written by Julian and produced by Phil Ramone, this track became the most successful song of his career by peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1985.

It also placed inside the Top 40 in over a half dozen countries even reaching Gold status in Canada.

Doc Indie Party Rock - 80 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 69
mamooshka - 58 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 42 
craziaskowboi - 49 
singingrulebritannia - 52 
newpower - 60 
Mirago - 14 
rgreen0625  - 40 
Red - 39 
Cody Wants Out...  - 48 
aerodynamite - 57 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 81 
Az Paynter - 86 
mrmike855 - 89 
Glove Slap - 72 
Ky - 69 
Juanca  - 87 
Sambalada  - 93 
Unhinged - 86

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

I'm right on the dot! So far so good. I'm real happy I haven't lost any top tens and top 20s today.

[craziaskowboi]

Damn, I've already lost a song in my top 10. "Who's Holding Donna Now" is a guilty pleasure of mine. It has a soothing sound, and I like the chorus. It also reminds me vividly of the first cross-country road trip I took with my family as a child. I vividly remember hearing this song at two moments during the trip: 1) On I-40 westbound near Gallup, NM as the sun set below the horizon and the mountains in the distance became silhouettes in the evening twilight. 2) On U.S. 101 northbound during afternoon rush hour, heading toward the San Fernando Valley and on to San Jose after a fun day at Disneyland.

As for "Never Surrender," I never liked it because of the vocals: "So if / you're ffppththlost and on your own / you can neva suwwenduh!" Corey Hart did a much better job singing "Sunglasses At Night."

[aerodynamite]

My list so far:

52. Miami Vice Theme
55. No More Lonely Nights
57. Too Late for Goodbyes
61. Valotte
62. Cool It Now
67. California Girls
70. Missing You
71. Penny Lover
76. Do What You Do
81. Never Surrender
85. Who's Holding Donna Now
86. Suddenly
89. I Can't Hold Back
90. Separate Lives
91. All I Need
94. Sentimental Street
96. You're the Inspiration
97. The Search Is Over
99. Sea of Love
100. We Are the World

I'm amazed at how well I'm doing.

[Red]

Apr 25, 2018 14:38:57 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Counting down 80-71 tomorrow. Someone is going to lose their No. 2 and we will see our first visit from Madonna...

looks at my #2

...

Yeah, that's not happening.

I'm bitter that Julian Lennon is out this early, though mostly because of "Too Late for Goodbyes". I feel like I underranked it, to be honest. At least "We Are the World" is out. I honestly don't hate charity singles THAT much, for the most part, but "We Are the World" is just insipid.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

#90. We Are The World - USA for Africa
Truthfully. I never liked this song. I loved Wham - last X-Mas and even more "Do They Know It's Christmas". Mainly because of the singers.

#89. Who's Holding Donna Now - DeBarge
I don't go nuts over R&B ballads, but this one was very nice.

#88. I Can't Hold Back - Survivor
AOR is dead on pulse. I better not see this type of treatement for "Eye Of The Tiger".

#87. Missing You - Diana Ross
This was no "Upside Down" or "I'm Coming Out" that's for sure.

#86. Never Surrender - Corey Hart
I liked all Corey Hart songs. "Boy In A Box" also made my year end top 100.

#85. Valotte - Julian Lennon
It's great to see my bottom ten dropping like flies. At least the better Julian Lennon song is still in the running?

#84. Suddenly - Billy Ocean
When I think of how many better songs Billy Ocean had. For some reason Billboard top 100 for this year was full of sappy ballads.

#83. Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer
Instrumentals are not my thing, but this had 80's vibe all over the sounds.

#82. Cool It Now - New Edition

Now this is my kind of rap song. melodic song with good music in the backround.

#81. Too Late For Goodbyes - Julian Lennon
Well that didn't last long either. Just about where it belongs too.

No big losses tonight. 

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Apr 25, 2018 15:09:59 GMT -5 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 said:

Apr 25, 2018 14:38:57 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Counting down 80-71 tomorrow. Someone is going to lose their No. 2 and we will see our first visit from Madonna...

Hopefully, Like A Virgin is next. That is like her most annoying song ever!

Not If I can help it.  That's the one I think is her best. Next to "Material Girl" and "Burning Up". Her vocals; at least to me ,were 80's perfection back then. 

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

let's do some of my songs appearing in the 90-81 spots.

90. Bronski Beat - Why (UK #4) (DOC #11)
Did nothing on Us Billboard but got a #4 peak in The UK.  Very uptempo synthpop song

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD2rznSW454

89. Bryan Adams - One Night Love Affair (BB #13) (DOC #9)
Bryan Adams was allover my charts in 1985. This was the fifth single off the massive "Reckless" album. Universal is a dick when it comes to youtube so no MV.

87. Night Ranger - Four In The Morning (BB #19) (DOC #9)
Guess you all know I'm a huge Night Ranger fan.


86. Steve Perry - Foolish Heart (BB #18)  (DOC #10)
Second single off "Street Talk"  Gorgeous AOR Rock ballad that crossed over into my 1985 charts. 



85. Corey Hart - Never Surrender (BB #3) (DOC #12)

83. New Edition - Mr. Telephone Man (BB #12) (DOC #8)
This was the single that followed the one we just covered tonight.  Very melodic R&B ballad.  I wasn't as thrilled with Bell Biv Devo, but I followed Bobby Brown way into his solo albums. Too bad he was such an ass with Whitney. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTdxdr9pNnw

81. Krokus - Our Love (BB N/A)  (DOC #7)
I love screaming along to 80's Metal. 'nuff said. 




A couple more extras that missed the cut on the year end charts, but still great songs.

Rick Springfield - Celebrate Youth (BB #26)  (DOC #22)
From Rick's 1985 "Tao" LP. This album had some great songs with a bit harder edge than his usual Pop rock song, but also with some New Wave influences. This one just missed my top 100 of 1985.



Nik Kershaw - The Riddle (UK #3)  (DOC #37)
Off his album with the same name, Nik was huge in the UK. This song went all the way top 3 in The UK. I think the song featured bagpipes or flutes. Anyway it sounded great to me.

[Unhinged]

#80

Misled

Kool & The Gang

Total Points: 768

Billboard Hot 100: 10

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 69

From: Emergency

Second single from the album Emergency, this track was a modest success, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 40 in a few other countries.

Doc Indie Party Rock  - 53 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 61
mamooshka - 85 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 74 
craziaskowboi - 20 
singingrulebritannia - 62 
newpower - 99 
Mirago - 99 
rgreen0625  - 72 
Red - 65 
Cody Wants Out...  - 18 
aerodynamite - 56 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 90 
Az Paynter  - 38 
mrmike855 - 55 
Glove Slap - 82 
Ky - 46 
Juanca  - 78 
Sambalada  - 65 
Unhinged - 28

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

[Unhinged]

#79

Cherish

Kool & The Gang

Total Points: 812

Billboard Hot 100: 2⁽³⁾

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 17

From: Emergency

This single, released in May of 1985, was a huge success, spending 3 weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 6 weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It would ultimately rank as the biggest Adult Contemporary chart hit of the 1980s.

It also reached the Top 10 in almost a dozen countries (including Canada where it hit No. 1) and topped the R&B chart as well. 

Doc Indie Party Rock - 79 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 47
mamooshka - 83 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 83 
craziaskowboi - 38
singingrulebritannia - 67 
newpower - 84 
Mirago - 74 
rgreen0625  - 47 
Red - 82 
Cody Wants Out... - 46 
aerodynamite - 82 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 37 
Az Paynter  - 73 
mrmike855 - 34 
Glove Slap - 54 
Ky - 45 
Juanca  - 60 
Sambalada  - 22 
Unhinged - 74

Obersvers

alexcuse
Albie

[Glove Slap]

Aside from Cherish, none of the K&TG songs were memorable. And even that one wasn't up to their prior stuff.

[Cody Wants Out...]

I had a feeling I'd be in the minority when it came to Kool & the Gang. :(

[Unhinged]

#78

Sugar Walls

Sheena Easton

Total Points: 813

Billboard Hot 100: 9

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 100

From: A Private Heaven

Controversial at the time of its release, this track (the second single from A Private Heaven) was presumed to refer to the "walls" of her vagina and it was thus considered suggestive enough to qualify the song for the "Filthy Fifteen."

Written by Prince (but credited to Greg Mathieson) the song was a success, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and just making the year end list at No. 100.

This ones gonna hurt as 4 of you lose a Top 20 placement with this leaving the rankdown...

Doc Indie Party Rock - 18 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 3
mamooshka - 87 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 51 
craziaskowboi - 99 
singingrulebritannia - 90 
newpower - 83 
Mirago - 80 
rgreen0625  - 64 
Red - 71 
Cody Wants Out... - 95 
aerodynamite - 68 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 32 
Az Paynter  - 75 
mrmike855 - 99 
Glove Slap - 20 
Ky - 12 
Juanca  - 88 
Sambalada  - 21 
Unhinged - 43

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

[Glove Slap]

Dang, I knew this wouldn't go extremely far, but I expected it to last longer than this. Especially with Starship still in.

Sheena had a lot of great singles in the 80s.

[Cody Wants Out...]

Hmm...didn't know this song was suggestive...

[filthy]

Kool & The Gang :'(

[Unhinged]

#77

We Built This City

Starship

Total Points: 832

Billboard Hot 100: 1⁽²⁾

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 14

From: Knee Deep in the Hoopla

Often referred to as the worst song of the 1980's (Blender, Rolling Stone, GQ) this track (as hated as it is) was a huge success at the time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and reaching the Top 40 in almost 12 other countries.

This leaving the rankdown will make some of you very happy...

Doc Indie Party Rock - 52 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 49
mamooshka - 60 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 90 
craziaskowboi - 30 
singingrulebritannia - 77 
newpower - 38 
Mirago - 57 
rgreen0625  - 17 
Red - 98 
Cody Wants Out... - 32 
aerodynamite - 93 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 57 
Az Paynter  - 85 
mrmike855 - 86 
Glove Slap - 95 
Ky - 61 
Juanca  - 29 
Sambalada  - 20 
Unhinged - 66

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

[Glove Slap]

I used to like this a bit when I was younger, but not now. The verses in particular are beyond awful, especially the second one.

[Cody Wants Out...]

...and I thought I was gonna be the highest ranker for Starship!

[Unhinged]

#76

Lonely 'Ol Night

John Cougar Mellencamp

Total Points: 837

Billboard Hot 100: 6

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 86

From: Scarecrow

This 5-week No. 1 Top Rock Track hit was released in August of 1985 peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was inspired by the 1963 film Hud starring Paul Newman.  

Doc Indie Party Rock  - 42 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 83
mamooshka - 81 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 48 
craziaskowboi - 96 
singingrulebritannia - 26 
newpower - 61 
Mirago - 68 
rgreen0625  - 86 
Red - 57 
Cody Wants Out...  - 10 
aerodynamite - 83 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 87 
Az Paynter  - 40 
mrmike855 - 33 
Glove Slap - 58 
Ky - 51 
Juanca  - 95 
Sambalada  - 52 
Unhinged - 27

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Apr 26, 2018 8:29:08 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

#78

Sugar Walls

Sheena Easton

Total Points: 813

Billboard Hot 100: 9

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 100

From: A Private Heaven

Controversial at the time of its release, this track (the second single from A Private Heaven) was presumed to refer to the "walls" of her vagina and it was thus considered suggestive enough to qualify the song for the "Filthy Fifteen."

Written by Prince (but credited to Greg Mathieson) the song was a success, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and just making the year end list at No. 100.

This ones gonna hurt as 4 of you lose a Top 20 placement with this leaving the rankdown...

Doc Indie Party Rock - 18 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 3
mamooshka - 87 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 51 
craziaskowboi - 99 
singingrulebritannia - 90 
newpower - 83 
Mirago - 80 
rgreen0625  - 64 
Red - 71 
Cody Wants Out... - 95 
aerodynamite - 68 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 32 
Az Paynter  - 75 
mrmike855 - 99 
Glove Slap - 20 
Ky - 12 
Juanca  - 88 
Sambalada  - 21 
Unhinged - 43

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

I do love this song tho. Haha.

[Cody Wants Out...]

Apr 26, 2018 9:26:31 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

#76

Lonely 'Ol Night

John Cougar Mellencamp

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Apr 26, 2018 0:23:07 GMT -5 Doc Indie Party Rock said:

Apr 25, 2018 15:09:59 GMT -5 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 said:

Hopefully, Like A Virgin is next. That is like her most annoying song ever!

Not If I can help it.  That's the one I think is her best. Next to "Material Girl" and "Burning Up". Her vocals; at least to me ,were 80's perfection back then. 

For me, I personally think Into The Groove is her best single. Then, Lucky Star.

[Unhinged]

#75

Angel

Madonna

Total Points: 869

Billboard Hot 100: 5

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 81

From: Like A Virgin

Written by Madonna and Steve Bray, this track, the third single from Like A Virgin, was released in April of 1985. It became her 5^th consecutive Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is certified Gold in the US. 

Doc Indie Party Rock - 54 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 41
mamooshka - 93 
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 36
craziaskowboi - 84 
singingrulebritannia - 38 
newpower - 63 
Mirago - 22 
rgreen0625  - 99 
Red - 50 
Cody Wants Out...  - 80 
aerodynamite - 53 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 64 
Az Paynter  - 94 
mrmike855 - 67 
Glove Slap - 70 
Ky - 44 
Juanca  - 54 
Sambalada  - 5 
Unhinged - 40

Observers

alexcuse
Albie

[Glove Slap]

This is probably the least essential 80s Madonna single. In a weaker year, it'd have been higher, but I kept moving it down the more I listened to the others.

I'm expecting Crazy For You to be her highest track on this.

If ITG (the B-side to Angel in the US) had been on this, it would have instantly been my #1. My favorite Springsteen single from this year (I'm Goin' Down) also isn't present and would have likely been top 5.

[aerodynamite]

Oh, cool. I thought the Madonna song in this set might be Dress You Up, but instead, it's the one that's not in my top 50.

[Unhinged]

#74

Nightshift

Commodores

Total Points: 875

Billboard Hot 100: 3

Billboard Top 100 of 1985: 40

From: Nightshift

This tribute to singers Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye (who both passed in 1984) was released in late January of 1985 and became the groups first hit single after the departure of original lead singer Lionel Richie in 1982.

It won a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Vocal R&B Performance by a Duo/Group.

Someone loses a No. 2 with this leaving the rankdown...

Doc Indie Party Rock  - 87 
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 86
mamooshka - 49 
Butterflies & Hurricanes  - 79 
craziaskowboi - 42 
singingrulebritannia - 39 
newpower - 91 
Mirago - 67 
rgreen0625  - 46 
Red - 22 
Cody Wants Out...  - 83 
aerodynamite - 47 
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 76 
Az Paynter  - 67 
mrmike855 - 2 
Glove Slap - 63 
Ky - 49 
Juanca  - 86 
Sambalada  - 13 
Unhinged - 51

Observers

alexcuse
Albie