Pulse Rankdown: 1980 Year-End Mainstream Rock (complete)

[gonecountry]

Rush vs. Petty. The only part of my Top 10 predictions I got right. Wonder how close this is going to be. Pulse history makes me think Rush, but I'm thinking that Petty is going to nail this one.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

3. Brass in Pocket - Pretenders
So we all can agree the best Pretenders' song is the Pop hit.

[singingrulebritannia]

Your final 2.

Refuge
The Spirit of Radio

Tale of the Tape:
This was the top 2 for 9 non-consecutive movements
These songs have a combined 22 top 10s, 10 being top 5s...but only 1 person still has their #1 (gonecountry). That poster has easily the best pair of remaining rankings (his other ranking is a 5)
No bottom 50s remain (in fact, none of the top 3 had such rankings)
Butterflies & Hurricanes, Doc Indie Party Rock, and House Lannister all did not put either of these songs in their top 10.
The final margin is 64 points.

[Clode]

Yeah I have a gut feeling that "Refugee" is going to come out on top.

[singingrulebritannia]

condolences gonecountry

---

2

The Spirit of Radio
Rush

Year-End Position: #10
Peak: #5
Weeks: 16

1640 Points
Standard Deviation: 12.18 (3RD LOWEST)

gonecountry - 1
rowellfarm490 - 2
wheatsquares33 - 3
peacebone - 4
Daryl the Beryl - 4
Red - 4
thethirdcurry - 6
razorshark - 6
Mirago - 8
DJDaveMick69 - 8
aerodynamite - 13
singingrulebritannia - 16
House Lannister - 21
Doc Indie Party Rock - 26
Juanca - 29
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 29
Clode - 31
Gonza'90 - 32
DadJokes - 36

Movements:
3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2

Performance history:
#1 Active 1987 (Time Stand Still) | #2 Active 1981 (Tom Sawyer) | #4 Active 1981 (Limelight) | #5 Alt 1981 (Tom Sawyer) | #7 Active 1990 (Show Don't Tell) | #8 Active 1991 (Dreamline) | #9 Active 1983 (Subdivisions) | #11 Active 1992 (Bravado) | #11 Active 1996 (Test for Echo) | #12 Active 2002 (Secret Touch) | #13 Active 1997 (Driven) | #14 Active 1992 (Ghost of a Chance) | #15 Active 2012 (Headlong Flight) | #16 Active 2007 (Far Cry) | #17 Active 2004 (Summertime Blues) | #20 Active 1984 (Distant Early Warning) | #21 Active 1986 (Manhattan Project) | #22 Active 1994 (Cold Fire) | #22 Active 2002 (One Little Victory) | #23 Active 1985 (The Big Money) | #24 Active 1982 (New World Man) | #24 Active 1994 (Nobody's Hero) | #25 Active 1987 (Force Ten) | #29 Active 1993 (Stick It Out) | #29 Active 1997 (Half the World) | #38 Active 1982 (Closer to the Heart [Live]) | #50 Active 1992 (Roll the Bones)

---

The fact that nobody ranked this song in their top 2 lmao
Not only that--it didn't even have a top 3 until the second-to-last submission
Hard to argue against a song that no one ranked bottom 50 and almost no one ranked bottom 80, though. Also heartwarming to see Tom Petty finally get a rankdown win

---

1

Refugee
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Year-End Position: #6
Peak: #1
Weeks: 19

1704 Points
Standard Deviation: 9.79 (LOWEST)

Juanca - 3
Gonza'90 - 4
DadJokes - 4
gonecountry - 5
wheatsquares33 - 6
thethirdcurry - 8
rowellfarm490 - 9
peacebone - 10
Daryl the Beryl - 10
aerodynamite - 10
singingrulebritannia - 10
Clode - 10
Butterflies & Hurricanes - 11
Red - 12
Mirago - 12
Doc Indie Party Rock - 12
House Lannister - 13
DJDaveMick69 - 17
razorshark - 49

Movements:
4 2 2 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Performance history:
#2 Active 1989 (Runnin' Down a Dream) | #3 Active 1991 (Learning to Fly) | #6 Active 1989 (I Won't Back Down) | #8 Active 1981 (Stop Draggin' My Heart Around) | #8 Active 1990 (A Face in the Crowd) | #9 Active 1989 (Free Fallin') | #9 Active 1994 (Mary Jane's Last Dance) | #10 Active 1981 (The Waiting) | #10 Active 1991 (Into the Great Wide Open) | #11 Active 1985 (Don't Come Around Here No More) | #11 Active 1991 (Out in the Cold) | #12 Active 1980 (Don’t Do Me Like That) | #14 Alt 1980 (Refugee) | #16 Active 1992 (King's Highway) | #20 Active 1990 (Yer So Bad) | #21 Active 2002 (The Last DJ) | #22 Active 1983 (You Got Lucky) | #27 Active 1989 (Love Is a Long Road) | #30 Active 1995 (You Don't Know How It Feels) | #32 Active 1995 (You Wreck Me) | #39 Active 1987 (Runaway Trains) | #41 Active 1995 (It's Good to Be King) | #43 Alt 1982 (You Got Lucky) | #45 Alt 1980 (Don’t Do Me Like That) | #45 Active 1981 (A Woman in Love [ It's Not Me]) | #46 Active 1999 (Room at the Top) | #51 Active 1987 (Jammin' Me) | #51 Active 2006 (Saving Grace) | #57 Active 1996 (Waiting for Tonight) | #59 AAA 2014 (U Get Me High) | #59 AAA 2018 (Keep a Little Soul) | #61 Active 1996 (Climb That Hill) | #62 Active 1996 (Walls) | #64 Active 1995 (A Higher Place) | #67 Alt 1980 (Here Comes My Girl) | #67 Active 1999 (Swingin') | #68 Active 1981 (Nightwatchman) | #68 Active 1999 (Free Girl Now) | #70 Alt 1987 (Jammin' Me) | #70 AAA 2014 (Forgotten Man) | #72 Active 1986 (So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star) | #77 Active 1997 (Change the Locks) | #89 Active 1985 (Rebels)

Spectators:
tanooki
Optical Apex

[gonecountry]

Yeah for Petty getting that elusive #1 and thanks singingrulebritannia for a great rankdown.  A lot of new favorites and a couple favorites I had forgotten.

Really looking forward to 1979.

[singingrulebritannia]

Year-end Chart Closeness:

SPOILER: Click to show

Juanca 25.14
gonecountry 26.36
Doc Indie Party Rock 27.16
thethirdcurry 28.1
DadJokes 28.12
Butterflies & Hurricanes 28.26
DJDaveMick69 28.5
Mirago 29
Clode 29.66
House Lannister 29.82
Daryl the Beryl 30.2
aerodynamite 30.36
rowellfarm490 30.76
Red 31.04
Gonza'90 31.9
peacebone 32.6
singingrulebritannia 32.92
wheatsquares33 33.58
razorshark 38.5

Rankdown Closeness

SPOILER: Click to show

rowellfarm490 10.12
Daryl the Beryl 13.84
singingrulebritannia 13.96
Butterflies & Hurricanes 14.48
Red 14.96
peacebone 15.18
DadJokes 16.26
aerodynamite 16.54
Mirago 17.52
Clode 18.32
thethirdcurry 18.92
House Lannister 19.26
Juanca 19.46
wheatsquares33 19.72
Gonza'90 19.82
Doc Indie Party Rock 20
gonecountry 20.7
DJDaveMick69 20.94
razorshark 25.16

Perfect Rankings:

SPOILER: Click to show

singingrulebritannia 4
DJDaveMick69 4
Doc Indie Party Rock 4
rowellfarm490 4
Clode 4
gonecountry 3
peacebone 3
Butterflies & Hurricanes 3
aerodynamite 3
DadJokes 2
House Lannister 2
Red 1
Daryl the Beryl 1
wheatsquares33 1
Mirago 1
Juanca 1
thethirdcurry 1

Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread for helping us enter the brave new world of Radio & Records smoothly! Onward we march to 1979. This is the first year that will truly have no precedent on Pulse. There won't be a Modern Rock rankdown, no 70s Hot 100 rankdowns have ever been hosted, and no other 70s genre chart rankdowns have been hosted either. So, no cheatsheets from here on out!

(while you're here, send for my Jazz Favorites Rankdown Part 3, and be on the lookout for Reggae Favorites to open when that's done)

[tanooki]

Sept 8, 2021 20:50:58 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

no 70s Hot 100 rankdowns have ever been hosted\

👀

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

2. The Spirit of Radio - Rush
Great song. Amazing guitar playing in this one, but I didn't get that RUSH until I heard "Tom Sawyer"


1. Refugee - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Really happy with this turn out. A song just below my top 10 takes the crown. Fine with me. Great to see one of my top 5 songs from this band take the crown.


singingrulebritannia
hell of a job counting em down. early 80's Rock rulez, but now I can't wait to get into the 70's.  Waht will my #1 song be? decisions decisions..

[Clode]

"Refugee" is hands down one of Tom Petty's greatest songs, I'm happy to see my last remaining Top 10 song end up at #1 in this Rankdown! Thank you for hosting singingrulebritannia! 

[Mirago]

The spirit of radio is an outstanding piece of songwriting,

One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity

I love how Rush snuck that in. 

[DJDaveMick69]

Thank singingrulebritannia. Great rankdown!

[Red]

SPOILER: Click to show

{LATE NIGHT WORD WALLS}#10: Not going to make the obvious joke, so I'll just say that I'm glad this song got its due this time.
#9: I'm pretty sure "London Calling" would have won this, right?
#8: The lone surprise of this top ten, and, obviously, a good one.
#7: Influential songs, who needs them, anyway?
#6: One of the songs I was rooting for the most, despite it being my lowest going into the top ten. Glad this is her new best performer--oh, wait, it's not? And THAT'S her best performer?
#5: I'll fuckin' do it again
#4: If this was Brick Part 1 to this, it would have been in my top five six. It's good on its own, but it really needs the buildup.
#3: Well, "Don't Get Me Wrong" as their best performer was never going to last. At least it will continue to be their second-best performer. ("Brass" is great, ofc)
#2: pain
#1: Oh well, at least it's still one of the Heartbreakers' best...though the real crime is "Runnin' Down a Dream" not winning 1989.

Once more for those in the back, please don't do Molly Hatchet dirty in 1979. Thank you.

[thethirdcurry]

I had Rush ranked higher, but it's nice to see Tom Petty finally pick up a #1. Great seeing Pink Floyd take two of the top five as well. The modern rockers also got to make a solid final stand during their last year of crossovers. I was shocked to see "Brass in Pocket" and "I Got You" go so high in mainstream, but hey, they're both good songs.

[Daryl the Beryl]

Yeah, I'm super late with this again

Average ranks update: (combined with alt)

I've also separated the Crazy Horse rankings from Neil Young's solo ranking average like I do with Tom Petty and his work with the Heartbreakers.

Debuts:
The Blues Brothers
Bob Marley & the Wailers
Boz Scaggs
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dead Kennedys
Firefall
Gary Numan
Humble Pie
Ian Hunter
The Inmates
Joy Division
The Kings
Linda Ronstadt
The Marshall Tucker Band
Martha and the Muffins
Molly Hatchet
Motörhead
Nazareth
Pat Travers Band
The Rockets
Rossington Collins Band
Steve Forbert
Surf Punks
Ted Nugent
The Vapors
Visage

Improvements:
Aerosmith -0.251
The B-52's -6.338
The Babys -1
Bauhaus -1.5
Billy Joel -10.5
Black Sabbath -3.167
Blondie -10.75
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band -7.464
The Boomtown Rats -20.5
The Charlie Daniels Band -1.5
Christopher Cross -29
The Clash -8.179
The Cure -2.497
Dan Fogelberg -5.5
David Bowie -3.024
Devo -11.262
The Doobie Brothers -4
Eagles -7
Fleetwood Mac -1.811
Foreigner -0.151
Gamma -22.5
Genesis -0.717
Jackson Browne -3.958
Jefferson Starship -7.55
Jethro Tull -5
Judas Priest -1.75
Kansas -4.5
Kate Bush -0.875
Kenny Loggins -4.25
The Kinks -4.533
Led Zeppelin -5.75
Neil Young -4.125
Neil Young & Crazy Horse -3.917
Oingo Bongo -0.333
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark -2.017
Pat Benatar -0.642
Paul McCartney -3.6
Paul Simon -16.5
Pink Floyd -8.568
Pretenders -2.217
Robin Trower -6
Rush -0.552
Split Enz -16.75
Squeeze -2.1
Supertramp -0.833
Talking Heads -2.836
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers -2.465
Ultravox -1.167
Van Halen -0.802
X -4.375
Yes -0.8
ZZ Top -1.005

Downgrades:
AC/DC 0.52
Adam and the Ants 2.2
Alice Cooper 6.5
The Allman Brothers Band 2.5
Blue Öyster Cult 0.75
Bruce Springsteen 3.639
The Cars 11.75
Cheap Trick 3.2
Echo & the Bunnymen 4.783
Eddie Money 1.009
Elvis Costello & the Attractions 1.771
The English Beat 5.167
Graham Parker 11.333
Grateful Dead 9.333
Heart 3.967
The J. Geils Band 1.583
The Jam 13
Japan 1
Joe Walsh 0.5
John Lennon 21
Journey 0.749
The Knack 10.5
Little Feat 5
The Motels 10
Pete Townshend 1
Peter Gabriel 1.362
Poco 10.5
The Police 4.721
The Psychedelic Furs 1.064
Queen 3.6
The Ramones 3.917
Rockpile 4
Rod Stewart 4.571
Roger Daltrey 1.15
The Rolling Stones 0.438
The Romantics 10.167
Roxy Music 1
Simple Minds 0.912
Siouxsie and the Banshees 2.143
Tommy Tutone 17.167
U2 0.248
Warren Zevon 5
XTC 0.903

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w4zSyRghGi1MZbgmVIDRfT1OrHnofpjwFpE6l1zEhrY/edit?usp=sharing