Old school Rick Dees specials

[Hervard]

I was cleaning out my closet over the weekend (no Eminem jokes, please) and I came across a folder that contained assorted special countdown shows. Most of these were radio station year-end countdowns, but I did find a few Rick Dees specials from as long as 20 years ago. Those of you who were born, say, after 1985 or so probably have no idea that he actually had meaningful special shows back in the 1980s and some of the 1990s. Nowadays, all his special shows are just a re-arranged version of the current chart (done by pulling songs out of a hat). But here are a few of his special shows. Starting off, here is the first one I ever heard. I happened upon the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 on September 6, 1986 and, at the end of October of that year, he did a special called "Number One Songs of the 1980s - So Far"

POS SONG/ARTIST (Year)
1) Every Breath You Take/The Police (1983)
2) Stuck With You/Huey Lewis & The News (1986)
3) Crazy For You/Madonna (1985)
4) Invisible Touch/Genesis (1986)
5) Let's Go Crazy/Prince (1984)
6) Open Arms/Journey (1982)
7) How Will I Know/Whitney Houston (1986)
8) Endless Love/Lionel Richie & Diana Ross (1981)
9) Jump/Van Halen (1984)
10) Physical/Olivia Newton-John (1981)
11) Addicted To Love/Robert Palmer (1986)
12) Call Me/Blondie (1980)
13) Can't Fight This Feeling/REO Speedwagon (1985)
14) When The Going Get Tough, The Tough Get Going/Billy Ocean (1986)
15) Time After Time/Cyndi Lauper (1984)
16) Billie Jean/Michael Jackson (1983)
17) Careless Whisper/Wham! (1985)
18) Papa Don't Preach/Madonna (1986)
19) Sussudio/Phil Collins (1985)
20) Hard To Say I'm Sorry/Chicago (1982)
21) Flashdance...What A Feeling/Irene Cara (1983)
22) You Are/Lionel Richie (1983)
23) We Built This City/Starship (1985)
24) Biggest Part Of Me/Ambrosia (1980)
25) Kiss/Prince (1986)
26) Slow Hand/The Pointer Sisters (1981)
27) Heaven/Bryan Adams (1985)
28) Eye Of The Tiger/Survivor (1982)
29) Do You Really Want To Hurt Me/Culture Club (1983)
30) When I Think Of You/Janet Jackson (1986)
31) The One That You Love/Air Supply
32) Part-Time Lover/Stevie Wonder
33) Owner Of A Lonely Heart/Yes
34) I Keep Forgettin' (Everytime You're Near)/Michael McDonald
35) No One Is To Blame/Howard Jones
36) Let's Hear It For The Boy/Deneice Williams
37) Money For Nothing/Dire Straits
38) Crazy Little Thing Called Love/Queen
39) Dancing In The Dark/Bruce Springsteen
40) Don't Talk To Strangers/Rick Springfield

Extra: Human/The Human League
Extra: Typical Male/Tina Turner

(Not sure if either of the two extras was called "The Sure Shot")

This one is clearly done through random selection. But he did a pretty good job of sticking to songs that went to #1 on the R&R chart, except for "Physical" by Olivia Newton. Rick mentioned that song was #1 for nine weeks, longer than any other song that decade. Well, then why didn't he put it at #1? At least the #1 song was a song that spent the most number of weeks on the R&R chart within the 1980s. It also would have been nice if he ranked the songs according to their total number of weeks at #1. Also, there are a few songs that are missing. "It's Still Rock & Roll To Me" by Billy Joel, "Woman" by John Lennon, and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross (as well as Cross's 1980 hit "Sailing") all spent four weeks at #1, but were excluded from the list. Yes, we all know the story about music from the early 80s, but remember - this was 1986, before 1980 and 1981 were considered "taboo". Besides, "Biggest Part Of Me" by Ambrosia was on the list, and it's from 1980. Moreover, "Say You Say Me" from just a year before also spent four weeks at #1 and guess what - it's missing, along with a whole host of other #1 songs.
But at least this was a somewhat meaningful countdown, regardless of how shabbily it was computed. As stated before, for the most part, it included only songs that were #1 songs. And I remember how much fun I had listening to it. During the show, a few friends called me and asked me if I wanted to go to a nearby restaurant to hang out, but I passed. And that was one of few times I was invited to hang out with friends during high school, so it shows just how much this show meant to me.
Anyway, I'll be posting more and more shows. And you, too, are more than welcome to post a special show if you happen to come across one. However, just make sure it's not a mixed up version of a current chart!

[Hervard]

Now, here's the second special that I heard Rick Dees do (aside from year-end countdowns, that is). It was called the "One-Shot Special". It was a One-Hit Wonder countdown and was broadcast the weekend of June 20, 1987. It was definitely done in random order and there are some artists here that had more than one hit, but so it goes:

POS SONG/ARTIST (Peak) (Year)
1) We Are The World/USA For Africa (#1(3)) (1985)
2) Too Shy/Kajagoogoo (#3) (1983)
3) Maniac/Michael Sembello (#1) (1983)
4) Rumors/Timex Social Club (#7) (1986)
5) Perfect Way/Scritti Politti (#10) (1985)
6) Party All The Time/Eddie Murphy (#3) (1985)
7) Sidewalk Talk/Jellybean f/Madonna (#18) (1986)
8) Respect Yourself/Bruce Willis (#6) (1987)
9) Let's Go All The Way/Sly Fox (#8) (1986)
10) The Captain Of Her Heart/Double (#18) (1986)
11) Let The Music Play/Shannon (#9) (1984)
12) All I Need/Jack Wagner (#3) (1984)
13) Tarzan Boy/Baltimora (#17) (1986)
14) Touch Me (I Want Your Body)/Samantha Fox (#8) (1987)
15) Up Where We Belong/Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes (#1(3)) (1982)
16) Tainted Love/Soft Cell (#7) (1982)
17) Mickey/Toni Basil (#11) (1982)
18) Digging Your Scene/The Blow Monkeys (#15) (1986)
19) The Rain/Oran "Juice" Jones (#11) (1986)
20) Heartbeat/Don Johnson (#6) (1986)
21) Baby Love/Regina (#10) (1986)
22) Relax/Frankie Goes To Hollywood (#10) (1985)
23) Fight For Your Right/The Beastie Boys (#12) (1986)
24) Tenderness/General Public (#25) (1985)
25) Walking On Sunshine/Katrina & The Waves (#10) (1985)
26) What You Need/INXS (#3) (1986)
27) I Wanna Be A Cowboy/Boys Don't Cry (#13) (1986)
28) Axel F/Harold Faltermeyer (#3) (1985)
29) The Facts Of Love/Jeff Lorber f/Karyn White (#28) (1987)
30) No Easy Way Out/Robert Tepper (#17) (1986)
31) Keep Your Hands To Yourself/Georgia Satellites (#5) (1987)
32) One Night In Bangkok/Murray Head (#5) (1985)
33) The Honeythief/Hipsway (#17) (1987)
34) Big Log/Robert Plant (#15) (1983)
35) Everybody Dance/Ta Mara & The Seen (1986)
36) Miami Vice Theme/Jan Hammer (#2) (1985)
37) The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades/TimBuk3 (#20) (1986)
38) Life In A Northern Town/The Dream Academy (#4) (1986)
39) Call To The Heart/Giuffria (#23) (1985)
40) Somebody's Watching Me/Rockwell (#2) (1984)

Sure Shot: Fascinated/Company B (#27) (1987)

Extra: Kiss Him Goodbye/The Nylons (#11) (1987)
Extra: Funkytown/Pseudo-Echo (#6) (1987)

Definitely thrown together carelessly and it seems that these were artists who had one hit within the 1980s (as Murray Head, Joe Cocker, and Jennifer Warnes had several hits in earlier decades). Also, INXS's first hit was not "What You Need". It was actually "The One Thing" which peaked at #23 back in 1983, and besides, INXS would go on to have an even bigger career later on. That's why they probably should have focused on the first half of the 1980s (of course, by then, many of the one-hit wonders would be obscure. However, back in 1987, people generally didn't complain about that like they do now).

But how poorly this countdown was thrown together is beside the point. It was definitely more interesting than a current countdown figured by random selection, isn't it?

[reception]

How did he introduce/back announce the Sure Shot?

[mst3k]

ulij20 said:

I was cleaning out my closet over the weekend (no Eminem jokes, please)

I won't make any jokes, just as long as you apologized to your mother.

I agree, it is strange that they chose to include several songs that were less than a year old. It's kind of hard (unfair, even) to say an artist is a one-hit wonder when you haven't even given them the opportunity to release a followup album (like Samantha Fox). And both of the extras were still on the regular chart that week... was he predicting that they would be one-hit wonders too? (As it turns out, they were.)

[Hervard]

reception said:

How did he introduce/back announce the Sure Shot?

I believe pretty much the same way he does now.

[mst3k]

ulij20 said:

reception said:

How did he introduce/back announce the Sure Shot?

I believe pretty much the same way he does now.

I think reception meant how did he do it on this special... did he say that "Fascinated" was a song that would soon be hitting a special countdown? ;)

[Hervard]

This next one I'm going to need a little help with. You see, the radio station on which I was listening to this was experiencing technical difficulties and omitted a great deal of the show which, by the way, was Rick's "Number Two Hits Of The 80s" special, broadcast the weekend of May 7, 1988. So if someone else has the chart, by all means, fill in the blanks!

POS SONG/ARTIST
1) Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'/Michael Jackson
2) The Heart Of Rock & Roll/Huey Lewis & The News
3) Will You Still Love Me/Chicago
4) What's Love Got To Do With It/Tina Turner
5) Don't Lose My Number/Phil Collins
6) Ride Like The Wind/Christopher Cross
7) Jump (For My Love)/The Pointer Sisters
8) What Have I Done To Deserve This/Pet Shop Boys f/Dusty Springfield
9) Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)/Billy Ocean
10) Steppin' Out/Joe Jackson
11) Lady (You Bring Me Up)/The Commodores
12) Africa/Toto
13) Looking For A New Love/Jody Watley
14) Endless Summer Nights/Richard Marx
15) Electric Avenue/Eddy Grant
16) Take My Breath Away/Berlin
17) Who Can It Be Now/Men At Work
18) Human Nature/Michael Jackson
19) Don't You Want Me/Human League
20) Drive/The Cars
21) I Feel For You/Chaka Khan
22) Easy Lover/Phillip Bailey w/Phil Collins
23) Seasons Change/Expose
24) Sara/Starship
25) U Got The Look/Prince w/Sheena Easton
26) Another One Bites The Dust/Queen
27) Broken Wings/Mr. Mister
28) Causing A Commotion/Madonna
29) The Next Time I Fall/Peter Cetera f/Amy Grant
30) You Belong To The City/Glenn Frey
31) Rock With You/Michael Jackson
32) Dirty Laundry/Don Henley
33) Girls Just Want To Have Fun/Cyndi Lauper
34) She's Like The Wind/Patrick Swayze
35) Stand Back/Stevie Nicks
36) Human/Human League
37) Say It Isn't So/Daryl Hall & John Oates
38) Funky Town/Lipps Inc.
39) Dress You Up/Madonna
40) R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A/John Mellencamp

Seems like they used several different publications for this one. "Jump (For My Love)" by the Pointer Sisters peaked at #5 on R&R, but I think it went to #2 on Billboard. And "Funky Town" was not #2 on either Billboard or R&R. It peaked at #1 on the former and #7 on the latter. Perhaps it peaked at #2 on the Cash Box Singles chart, since Rick used that chart during the first two years of his show.
There must have been a special show the weekend of December 14, 1985, since that was the week that "Broken Wings" was #1 on the R&R chart, but it's included in the list of songs that peaked in the runner-up position. Perhaps it was just an oversight. Rick (or the staff, anyway) aren't known for being perfectionists, right?
So, who knows what songs are in the positions left blank, thanks to the amateur high school kid working at WYRX in St. Joe, Michigan? Tell you what, during the first show I listed here (#1 songs of the 80s so far), they played a montage of songs that peaked at #2 during the 1980s in place of the Weekly Top 40 Challenge. These were the ones I could pick out:

Let's Dance/David Bowie
Miami Vice Theme/Jan Hammer
Dress You Up/Madonna
Easy Lover/Philip Bailey & Phil Collins
? (a high-pitched male voice sounding like he's screaming, "What?")
The Heart Of Rock & Roll/Huey Lewis & The News
Caribbean Queen/Billy Ocean
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin/Michael Jackson
Uptown Girl/Billy Joel
? (might be "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks)
Another One Bites The Dust/Queen
Girls Just Want To Have Fun/Cyndi Lauper (or "She Bop")
? (a sultry male voice sounding like he's singing "Baby")
Emotional Rescue/The Rolling Stones
Time (Clock Of The Heart)/Culture Club
Alive & Kicking/Simple Minds
Sara/Starship
Burning Heart/Survivor
What's Love Got To Do With It/Tina Turner
Broken Wings/Mr. Mister
You Belong To The City/Glenn Frey
Rock With You/Michael Jackson
Take It Away/Paul McCartney
Lost In Love/Air Supply
You May Be Right/Billy Joel
Electric Avenue/Eddy Grant
Wasted On The Way/Crosby Stills & Nash
California Girls/David Lee Roth
Sweet Dreams/Air Supply
99 Luftballons/Nena
Human Nature/Michael Jackson
Take My Breath Away/Berlin
Why Can't This Be Love/Van Halen
That's All!/Genesis

Obviously, that wasn't every single number two hit on the R&R chart during the 1980s, but there probably wouldn't have been enough time to include all of them. In fact, many of them lasted only a split-second; "Uptown Girl", the unidentified song, and "Another One Bites The Dust" were all run together in one second.
By the way, the first unidentified song was not "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. It sounds more like a hard-rock group, but it's hard to tell - like the three songs mentioned above, Rick only played a split-second of it, such was the case with the "baby" song, which wasn't "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne - the voice resembled Lionel Richie, but I don't think it was "Hello". It sounded to be in the wrong key. It also sounded like it might be Bruce Springsteen, but he didn't have any number two hits in the 1980s. It didn't sound like "Dancing In The Dark".
Short of contacting someone who was with the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 back in late 1986, we might never know what these songs are.
Anyway, if someone here heard the #2 Hits countdown and has the chart, by all means, fill in the missing data.

EDIT: I recently acquired this show and was able to fill in the blanks :)

[Hervard]

mst3k1 said:

ulij20 said:

I believe pretty much the same way he does now.

I think reception meant how did he do it on this special... did he say that "Fascinated" was a song that would soon be hitting a special countdown? ;)

No, I think he was implying that he predicted them to be "One-Hit Wonders", just like the Nylons and Pseudo-Echo.

Anyway, here's another one. This was one of his annual "Summer Specials", run back in the summer of 1990. But it wasn't just a mixed-up version of a weekly chart during that time period. There were songs from the past four summers, as well as the current one. I believe Rick did something very similar during the summer of 2002, when he was desperately trying to avoid having to play a rap song as the #1 song.
Anyway, here's the list:

1) Cold-Hearted/Paula Abdul (1989)
2) New Sensation/INXS (1988)
3) I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)/Whitney Houston (1987)
4) U Can't Touch This/MC Hammer (1990)
5) I'll Be There For You/Bon Jovi (1989)
6) She Ain't Worth It/Glenn Medeiros f/Bobby Brown (1990)
7) Express Yourself/Madonna (1989)
8) Step By Step/New Kids On The Block (1990)
9) Mercedes Boy/Pebbles (1988)
10) Monkey/George Michael (1988)
11) I'll Be Your Shelter/Taylor Dayne (1990)
12) Kokomo/The Beach Boys (1988)
13) Come Back To Me/Janet Jackson (1990)
14) Love In An Elevator/Aerosmith (1989)
15) Baby Don't Forget My Number/Milli Vanilli (1989)
16) Do You Remember/Phil Collins (1990)
17) On Our Own/Bobby Brown (1989)
18) 1-2-3/Miami Sound Machine (1988)
19) Poison/Bell Biv Devoe (1990)
20) Sledgehammer/Peter Gabriel (1986)
21) All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You/Heart (1990)
22) La Bamba/Los Lobos (1987)
23) Another Part Of Me/Michael Jackson (1988)
24) When I'm Back On My Feet Again/Michael Bolton (1990)
25) Buffalo Stance/Neneh Cherry (1989)
26) Hangin' Tough/New Kids On The Block (1989)
27) Notice Me/Nikki (1990)
28) What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)/Information Society (1988)
29) Enjoy The Silence/DePeche Mode (1990)
30) Nasty/Janet Jackson (1986)
31) Pour Some Sugar On Me/Def Leppard (1988)
32) Vogue/Madonna (1990)
33) Sweet Child O' Mine/Guns 'N Roses (1988)
34) Rub You The Right Way/Johnny Gill (1990)
35) Simply Irresistible/Robert Palmer (1988)
36) If I Could Turn Back Time/Cher (1989)
37) Hold On/Wilson Phillips (1990)
38) Roll With It/Steve Winwood (1989)
39) The Humpty Dance/Digital Underground (1990)
40) Summer Of Love/The B-52's (1986)

Extra: Cruel Summer/Bananarama (1984) (played during the halfway point of the show, as I had it listed as #20, but then realized my mistake when Rick mentioned that Peter Gabriel was #20)

As you can see, they focused more on 1988 through 1990 and were very sparing of using the years 1986 and 1987, playing only the songs that were the "summer songs" of those two years. I sure can't say I remember the B-52's "Summer Of Love", though. Rick played that song near the beginning of the show in 1988 as well, and during another summer show, and mentioned that it was from 1986. But no stations near me ever played that and, as far as I know, it was never even released to radio. But, since it has "Summer" in the title, and sounds very summery, I guess it fits.
According to my notes, eight songs had yet to peak (songs by Glenn/Bobby, Taylor Dayne, Janet Jackson, Michael Bolton, Nikki, DePeche Mode, Johnny Gill, and Digital Underground), so this sounds like a special that was aired in either June or July. I don't really remember, since it's been so long since I heard this show. It would have been nice to see more songs from 1986 and 1987, but this was about the time that PDs of CHR stations were beginning to frown upon playing too many songs that were more than two years old. We have to keep everything current. But, like all the countdowns I have listed here, they look so good in retrospect, right?

[cartman2002]

Which was the rap tune Rick was trying to avoid? Nelly? Eminem?

[Hervard]

^Both, actually, though I believe he ended up having to play Nelly at #1, since that song spent two weeks there. Then again, maybe not, as I seem to remember him moving "Complicated" to #1 a week ahead of time.

On the year-end show, when he played a montage of the #1 songs during 2002, those songs were both included even though neither of them were #1 on any weekly edition of his show. At least Eminem wasn't.

Now for yet another list. This appears to be a Remake/Request special, similar to one he did back on Thanksgiving weekend, 1988. This one, however, appears to be from the spring of 1992, since the songs from that year are written down as having peaked and, based on the fact that the ink color is still a faint green color (it was a brand-new Scripto Stick pen with green ink), it doesn't look like I went back and filled in the peak positions after the fact).

Anyway, the chart is as follows:

POS SONG/ARTIST
1) When A Man Loves A Woman/Michael Bolton
2) The Power Of Love/Love Power/Luther Vandross
3) Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Freebaby)/Will To Power
4) Ice Ice Baby/Vanilla Ice
5) Nothing Compares 2 U/Sinead O'Connor
6) Mony Mony/Billy Idol'
7) Set The Night To Music/Roberta Flack w/Maxi Priest
8) This Old Heart Of Mine/Rod Stewart w/Ronald Isley
9) Take Me Home Tonight/Eddie Money
10) Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me/George Michael f/Elton John
11) You Can't Hurry Love/Phil Collins
12) U Can't Touch This/MC Hammer
13) What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted/Paul Young
14) Lean On Me/Club Nouveau
15) The Way You Do The Things You Do/UB40
16) You Keep Me Hangin' On/Kim Wilde
17) Everybody Plays The Fool/Aaron Neville
18) Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go/Soft Cell
19) Set Adrift On Memory Bliss/PM Dawn
20) Walk This Way/Run DMC
21) Emotions/Mariah Carey
22) Always On My Mind/The Pet Shop Boys
23) Unforgettable/Natalie Cole f/Nat "King" Cole
24) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)/I Want You/Robert Palmer
25) I Think We're Alone Now/Tiffany
26) O.P.P./Naughty By Nature
27) The Motown Song/Rod Stewart
28) Now That We Found Love/Heavy D & The Boyz
29) Signs/Tesla
30) Wind Beneath My Wings/Bette Midler
31) Don't Be Cruel/Cheap Trick
32) Groovy Kind Of Love/Phil Collins
33) The Loco-Motion/Kylie Minogue
34) Levon/Jon Bon Jovi
35) Put A Little Love In Your Heart/Al Green w/Annie Lennox
36) We Want The Funk/Gerardo
37) Have You Seen Her/MC Hammer
38) Oh Girl/Paul Young
39) Let's Talk About Sex/Salt-N-Pepa
40) I Only Want To Be With You/Samantha Fox

Actually, now that I look at it, it looks more like the Top 40 Remakes and Sampled songs, although "The Motown Song" is really reaching, since that wasn't a remake or didn't use any samples; the Temptations sing on it and that's all. The same goes with "Emotions" by Mariah Carey. She didn't sample the Emotions' song "Best Of My Love" as some people believe. It just sounds very much like that song. There were many recently charted songs that sampled old songs that would have fit better ("Wildside" by Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch comes to mind)

There was a (better!) remake special in early June, 1994, but I don't know where my notes for that went. That show was also re-aired (and re-arranged a little, too) sometime during the late summer of 1997, but I only heard that one on Chicago's WPNT (now known as Windy 100). The other station on which I caught the show (U93) aired a regular weekly show. Either that, or a different special. Probably one of those "Summer" specials. This was around the time his shows were becoming very shoddy.

[Hervard]

Now, here's still another "Summer Special". This was the one he did during the summer of 1987 (I believe it was the weekend of August 1, 1987). It was this one that reminded me that even back in the 80s, Rick got lazy and took the current chart and mixed it up by random selection, although some of these songs had since left the chart:

POS SONG/ARTIST
1) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/U2
2) The Pleasure Principle/Janet Jackson
3) Rock Steady/The Whispers
4) Who's That Girl/Madonna
5) Cross My Broken Heart/The Jets
6) I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)/Whitney Houston
7) I'd Still Say Yes/Klymaxx
8) Only In My Dreams/Debbie Gibson
9) I Want Your Sex/George Michael
10) Point Of No Return/Expose
11) Don't Disturb This Groove/The System
12) Rhythm Is Gonna Get You/Miami Sound Machine
13) Something So Strong/Crowded House
14) Alone/Heart
15) Shakedown/Bob Seger
16) Luka/Suzanne Vega
17) It's Not Over ('Til It's Over)/Starship
18) Happy/Surface
19) Funkytown/Pseudo-Echo
20) Don't Mean Nothing/Richard Marx
21) Back In The High Life Again/Steve Winwood
22) Seven Wonders/Fleetwood Mac
23) One For The Mockingbird/Cutting Crew
24) Hearts On Fire/Bryan Adams
25) Girls Girls Girls/Motley Crue
26) Hypnotize Me/Wang Chung
27) Heart And Soul/T'Pau
28) Wot's It To Ya/Robbie Nevil
29) Moonlighting/Al Jarreau
30) In Too Deep/Genesis
31) Always/Atlantic Starr
32) Every Little Kiss/Bruce Hornsby & The Range
33) Lessons In Love/Level 42
34) Talk Dirty To Me/Poison
35) Sweet Sixteen/Billy Idol
36) Head To Toe/Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam w/Full Force
37) (I Just) Died In Your Arms/The Cutting Crew
38) Just To See Her/Smokey Robinson
39) Fascinated/Company B
40) Never Say Goodbye/Bon Jovi

Sure Shot: When Smokey Sings/ABC

Looks like they ran out of songs near the bottom of the Top 30 and added songs that had recently left the chart as fillers to avoid playing songs that had just debuted on the chart. A list of songs that were on the corresponding chart (though this had to be compiled several weeks before) are as follows:

#15: La Bamba/Los Lobos
#22: Kiss Him Goodbye/The Nylons (this would have been an ideal song to play, as it had been on the chart for quite awhile)
#27: Living In A Box/Living In A Box
#30: Can't We Try/Dan Hill f/Vonda Shepard
#31: Love Power/Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osbourne
#32: Since You've Been Gone/The Outfield
#33: Give To Live/Sammy Hagar
#34: Doing It All For My Baby/Huey Lewis & The News
#36: Mary's Prayer/Danny Wilson
#38: Here I Go Again/Whitesnake
#39: When Smokey Sings/ABC (though this was the Sure Shot)
#40: Who Found Who/Jellybean f/Elisa Fiorello

With the exception of the Nylons' song, all of the above songs had been on the chart for only three weeks, which is why I feel that the chart had been compiled a few weeks before. Two of the droppers on the August 2nd chart ("Every Little Kiss" and "Moonlighting") were on the list. "Songbird" by Kenny G is the only one that wasn't. Perhaps it was simply because that song was too mellow. Four of the songs that had dropped out the week before were included ("Head To Toe", "In Too Deep", "Always", and "Just To See Her") and the other, "Flames Of Paradise" by Elton John and Jennifer Rush" had not, because that song wasn't very popular and well known (many people had heard the "Moonlighting" theme and "Never Say Goodbye", and "One For The Mockingbird" was supposedly still heading up the chart when this chart was being figured).
Finally, on the July 19 chart, where the cutoff date seemed to be, we had more droppers not included than had been included. The only one that was on the list was "Lessons In Love" by Level 42. Shafted were "Endess Nights" by Eddie Money and "Diamonds" by Herb Alpert featuring Janet Jackson & Lisa Keith, which didn't make sense. That was a big Top Ten hit and had debuted the same week as "Lessons In Love". The theory of "One hit per artist" wouldn't be valid, since the Cutting Crew had two hits on the chart. Besides, Janet just sang on the song; it was credited to Herb Alpert.
The remaining songs on the above chart that had left the chart were two songs that had dropped out the week of July 12 ("Sweet Sixteen" and "Point Of No Return"), one song the week of July 5 ("Never Say Goodbye") and June 21 ("(I Just) Died In Your Arms"). Since that song had barely lasted into the official summer, and the Cutting Crew had two songs on the chart, #37 would have been a great position to place "Kiss Him Goodbye", since that was the only song in the list of songs that weren't included that had been on for more than three weeks. Perhaps there weren't enough "requests" for it, since that was supposedly what this show was based on.
I'll be back a little later on with more Dees charts. Isn't this fun, taking a trip down memory lane like this?

[Hervard]

Looks like Rick got lazy again in 1989, playing mostly songs from that era, but adding a few songs from past years. I seem to remember this show being broadcast the weekend of September 16, 1989, but I could be wrong, since he usually did them in July or August.

POS SONG/ARTIST
1) Right Here Waiting/Richard Marx
2) Cold-Hearted/Paula Abdul
3) If You Don't Know Me By Now/Simply Red
4) Good Thing/Fine Young Cannibals
5) Toy Soldiers/Martika
6) On Our Own/Bobby Brown
7) Express Yourself/Madonna
8) I'll Be Loving You (Forever)/New Kids On The Block
9) I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)/Whitney Houston (#1 song of Summer '87)
10) Batdance/Prince
11) Don't Want To Lose You/Gloria Estefan
12) Satisfied/Richard Marx
13) So Alive/Love And Rockets
14) Buffalo Stance/Neneh Cherry
15) Hangin' Tough/New Kids On The Block
16) Baby Don't Forget My Number/Milli Vanilli
17) Roll With It/Steve Winwood (#1 song of Summer '88)
18) The Look/Roxette
19) Shower Me With Your Love/Surface
20) Secret Rendezvous/Karyn White
21) Lay Your Hands On Me/Bon Jovi'
22) Don't Look Back/The Fine Young Cannibals
23) This Time I Know It's For Real/Donna Summer
24) Every Little Step/Bobby Brown
25) Forever Your Girl/Paula Abdul
26) Girl I'm Gonna Miss You/Milli Vanilli
27) Once Bitten Twice Shy/Great White
28) Cherish/Madonna
29) Rock On/Michael Damian
30) La Bamba/Los Lobos (Hot track from Summer '87)
31) What You Don't Know/Expose
32) Miss You Much/Janet Jackson
33) Crazy About Her/Rod Stewart
34) Heaven/Warrant
35) If I Could Turn Back Time/Cher
36) Partyman/Prince
37) Patience/Guns 'N Roses
38) Kisses On The Wind/Neneh Cherry
39) The End Of The Innocence/Don Henley
40) Friends/Jody Watley f/Erik B & Rakim

Sure Shot (or Extra): Monkey by George Michael (Hot track from Summer '88)

This was the weekend of September 16. Based on my notes of the songs' peaks so far, it was how high the songs had gotten by that weekend. For instance, I have the peak position of "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" by Milli Vanilli as #2 and the song went to #1 on September 23 (the week of the countdown, not the week the chart was published). So Rick's special was unusually late in 1989.
Also, it looks like Rick put a little more work to this countdown than he usually did. The number one songs are listed high up on the chart and there are no songs that didn't hit the Top 20. The lowest peaking song would be "Partyman" by Prince, which would get as high as #16, but they didn't know that yet. Nor had "Don't Look Back" by the Fine Young Cannibals hit its peak position at this point (it was currently at #18 and rising). The two songs that had already peaked were "Friends" and "Crazy About Her" and those came close to the Top Ten. So this countdown was figured more carefully than most of Rick's specials.
Well, it's getting kinda late, so I'll stop right here for now. But coming up are three more "Summer Specials", from 1988, 1991, and 1992. I didn't hear any of Rick's specials from 1993, since U93 had moved it to Sunday mornings, which was the same time that Casey's Top 40 was on. I kinda wish I'd listened to Rick's #2 hits special that he did in the early part of that year. The only thing I remember hearing was "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips, which had peaked at #3, so that list probably wasn't very accurate.

[Hervard]

RICK DEES' "SCHOOL'S OUT SUMMER SPECIAL" - broadcast the weekend of June 14-15, 1986:

1) The Greatest Love Of All/Whitney Houston
2) Live To Tell/Madonna
3) Kyrie/Mr. Mister
4) Sara/Starship
5) Kiss/Prince
6) Life In A Northern Town/Dream Academy
7) Rock Me Amadeus/Falco
8) Take On Me/A-Ha
9) Living In America/James Brown
10) I Can’t Wait/Nu Shooz
11) Part Time Lover/Stevie Wonder
12) Addicted To Love/Robert Palmer
13) R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A/John Cougar Mellencamp
14) How Will I Know/Whitney Houston
15) When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going/Billy Ocean
16) Burning Heart/Survivor
17) Let’s Go All The Way/Sly Fox
18) These Dreams/Heart
19) Take Me Home/Phil Collins
20) Is It Love/Mr. Mister
21) A Different Corner/George Michael
22) King For A Day/Thompson Twins
23) Why Can’t This Be Love/Van Halen
24) Secret Lovers/Atlantic Starr
25) Oh Sheila/Ready For The World
26) Fortress Around Your Heart/Sting
27) Who’s Johnny/El DeBarge
Ex) On My Own/Patti LaBelle f/Michael McDonald
28) Head Over Heels/Tears For Fears
29) All I Need Is A Miracle/Mike + The Mechanics
30) Miami Vice Theme/Jan Hammer
31) West End Girls/Pet Shop Boys
32) Say You Say Me/Lionel Richie
33) Crush On You/The Jets
34) I’m Your Man/Wham!
35) No One Is To Blame/Howard Jones
36) Money For Nothing/Dire Straits
37) Saving All My Love For You/Whitney Houston
38) Manic Monday/The Bangles
39) There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)/Billy Ocean
40) Broken Wings/Mr. Mister
EXTRA: Nasty/Janet Jackson

One can't help but notice the majority of 1986 songs here. That's because the survey was based on requests, according to Rick, and people generally preferred the newer songs to the older ones. At first, when I was listening to this on his webpage with old school specials, I took notes, writing down the peak position and weeks on chart, but quickly stopped, especially when "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)", which hadn't yet peaked, was on the list. Several songs that yet to reach their peak positions were included. I was kind of hoping that the survey would be based on actual chart performance (since, believe it or not, Rick did actually have a few meaningful special shows in the 1980s). This one looks like his "all-request" specials in the late 1990s and early part of this decade (whatever you call it).
When they got to the top two, I figured that it would be "The Greatest Love Of All" and "That's What Friends Are For". Instead, it turned out that the latter had been shafted and the current #1 song, "Live To Tell" by Madonna, was listed in the runner-up position.
Indeed, a rather disappointing special, but it was good to hear songs from my eighth-grade year.

[Hervard]

Bringing this topic back from the graveyard after four years to ask a question. One of the lists above is the "Number Two Hits of the 1980s" special, broadcast the week of May 7, 1988 (BTW, hopefully the blanks in that list will be filled in soon :)) Anyhoo, there was a second "#2 Hits" special sometime in the 1990s. Does anyone remember the date of this show? I felt sure it was sometime in 1993, but several people have said that he only had three specials that year - all of them "All Request" type specials (translation: figured out by a dartboard system). Does anyone happen to remember on what date the 90s version of the "#2 Hits" special was aired?

[johnnywest]

I didn't like the summer specials. But I did enjoy the all-remake countdown in the spring of 1992. And at some point, he played songs that all (mostly) peaked at #2.

[Hervard]

Sept 5, 2014 11:16:19 GMT -5 johnnywest said:

I didn't like the summer specials. But I did enjoy the all-remake countdown in the spring of 1992. And at some point, he played songs that all (mostly) peaked at #2.

I recently learned that second #2 Songs show was done on December 5, 1992. I didn't listen to that one, because I didn't listen to Dees by that point, but I heard that there was at least one non-#2 hit on that one, "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips.

[johnnywest]

^Yup, that was the big mistake. But it was still nice to hear an organized special, unlike an all-request special.

[Hervard]

Well, my friends, I have found it! The elusive #2 Hits special. Someone posted it on YouTube and I decided to listen to it before it is inevitably taken down, most likely as a result of the poster's account being closed. As mentioned earlier, the show was broadcast the week of December 5-6, 1992.

In place of the SureShot was a montage of miscellaneous songs that were at #1 for three or more weeks. They were as follows:

Baby Baby – Any Grant (1991)
My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) – En Vogue (1992)
Remember The Time – Michael Jackson (1992)
Another Day In Paradise – Phil Collins (1989)
This Used To Be My Playground – Madonna (1992)
Vogue – Madonna (1990)
A host of Mariah Carey songs:
Emotions (1991)
Vision Of Love (1990)
Can't Let Go (1992)
I Don't Wanna Cry (1991)
I'll Be There (1992)
Someday (1991)
I Adore Mi Amor – Color Me Badd (1991)
When A Man Loves A Woman – Michael Bolton (1991)
Save The Best For Last – Vanessa Williams (1992)
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams (1991)
Rush Rush – Paula Abdul (1991)
Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough – Patty Smyth & Don Henley (1992)
Release Me – Wilson Phillips (1990)
End Of The Road – Boyz II Men (1992)
Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O'Connor (1990)

40: New Sensation – INXS (1988)
39: Wishing On A Star – The Cover Girls (1992)
38: I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd (1991)
37: Looking For A New Love – Jody Watley (1987)
36: November Rain – Guns 'N Roses (1992)
Ex: Human – The Human League (1986)
35: Good For Me – Amy Grant* (1992)
34: Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx (1988)
33: Joyride – Roxette (1991)
32: Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me – George Michael & Elton John (1992)
31: Roam – The B-52's (1990)
30: I Wanna Be Rich – Calloway (1990)
29: Masterpiece – Atlantic Starr (1992)
28: Hold You Tight – Tara Kemp (1991)
Ex: Heaven – Warrant (1989)
27: Live And Learn – Joe Public (1992)
26: To Be With You – Mr. Big (1992)
25: Express Yourself – Madonna* (1989)
24: The Finer Things – Steve Winwood* (1987)
23: Hold On – Wilson Phillips* (1990)
22: In The Closet – Michael Jackson (1992)
Montage of Janet Jackson's #1's:
When I Think Of You (1986)
Escapade (1990)
Come Back To Me (1990)
Love Will Never Do (Without You) (1991)
Black Cat (1990)
Miss You Much (1989)
21: Alright – Janet Jackson (1990)
20: The One – Elton John* (1992)
19: Simply Irresistible – Robert Palmer* (1988)
18: One – U2 (1992)
17: Baby Baby Baby – TLC (1992)
16: Losing My Religion – R.E.M.* (1991)
15: The Way I Feel About You – Karyn White* (1992)
14: Rhythm Of My Heart – Rod Stewart* (1991)
13: Black Velvet – Alannah Myles (1990)
12: All 4 Love – Color Me Badd (1991)
11: The Living Years – Mike + The Mechanics (1989)
10: U Got The Look - Prince w/Sheena Easton* (1987)
9: If You Asked Me To – Celine Dion (1992)
8: Love Is A Wonderful Thing – Michael Bolton (1991)
7: Take My Breath Away – Berlin (1986)
6: The Best Things In Life Are Free – Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson (1992)
5: More Than Words – Extreme (1991)
4: Too Funky – George Michael (1992)
3: Blaze Of Glory – Jon Bon Jovi* (1990)
2: Every Heartbeat – Amy Grant (1991)
Montage of Bobby Brown hits:
Don't Be Cruel (1988)
My Prerogative (1988)
Every Little Step (1989)
Roni (1989)
Rock Wit'cha (1989)
On My Own (1989)
1: Humpin' Around – Bobby Brown (1992)

Songs marked with an asterisk were songs that did not make it to #2. Most of these peaked at #3, but there were one or two that peaked at #4. Also, #10 was not skipped by Rick, but rather the person who posted it (who also cut out #11, but at least left in Rick announcing the song). I guess those songs were omitted due to time constraints - who knows? I have since found out what song was at #10, so it is now listed :)

There were two extras in this show. The first one I was unsure of, as Rick did not announce most of the positions in the first hour, so I could only guess what it was. At first, I was thinking, oh it's probably Amy Grant, since that song did not hit #2. But, since that was hardly the only such mistake, the best I could do was venture that it was "Human", since that song was older than the other songs (although a song that charted before that song was played later on). Rick mentioned the chart positions more often as he got further up the chart, so "Heaven" was definitely the other extra.

I had heard here and there that Bobby Brown was #1 on the countdown, which did not surprise me, as he was the king of #2 hits - in fact, the only time he'd ever reached #1 was as a featured artist on Glenn Medeiros' "She Ain't Worth It". It made sense that "Humpin' Around" was #1, as that song spent four frustrating weeks in the runner-up spot, trying to dislodge "End Of The Road" from the top spot, but there was no stopping that song. Ironically, on the corresponding weekly chart, Brown was collecting yet another #1 song ("Good Enough") as his wife Whitney Houston leapfrogged over him (from #9, no less) with "I Will Always Love You", one of her many Top 40 hits from The Bodyguard.

It was indeed great to finally hear this show, and so unexpectedly - I was randomly searching around on YouTube and happened up on it, so I was like, "Hey, I'm only listening to one retro AT40 show this weekend - why not check this one out?"