THE SERIES FINALE: Chuck Small’s “Who Sings It ?” – A Miscellaneous Roundup

So, after ten chronological installments of the 1980s sets of “Who Sings It?,” this conclusion episode bounces around the decade:

Picking up a couple of dozen tracks that didn’t make earlier editions but needed conversion to digital for my iPod (the original reason for the compilations).

Many of these will resonate with the MTV Generation:

• Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,”

• Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy,”

Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom (Coming Home),”

• Golden Earring’s “Twilight Zone,”

Kajagoogoo’s “Too Shy,”

• And Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science.”

Others exploded on TV or film soundtracks:-

• John Parr’s “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion),”

• Jan Hammer’s “ ‘Miami Vice’ Theme,”

• Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F.”

And then there are the tracks that just scream “‘80s:”

• Buckner and Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever,”

Stars on 45’s “Abba Medley,” “

Run DMC’s “Walk This Way”

and Sheriff’s “When I’m With You.”

Ohio native Jermaine Stewart went Top 10 in 1986 with “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off…”

… the same year that Nick Heyward’s “Over the Weekend” appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Nothing in Common, starring Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason.

Martin Briley’s sole Top 40 hit, from 1983, brought the immortal kiss-off, “I won’t cry for all The Salt In My Tears.”

Six years later, Texas’ “I Don’t Want a Lover” featured a bridge with lyrics just as powerful:

“You don’t even care about what I’m saying/You don’t even think what you’re doing/All you see is what you want it to be/But in there there’s just no room for me.”

The Texas track is one of five from late 1989, lopped off a set from 1989-90,” Because somewhere down the line, we’ll take a spin through the “Who sings it?” collection from the ’90s.

We’ll finish this set – and the series, with another great forgotten track:

“The Way to Your Heart” by the Belgian group Soulsister.

It was another song that just missed American Top 40 by peaking in Billboard at No. 41. But Casey Kasem counted it down on his Casey’s Top 40 because that countdown show used Radio and Records’ charts.

That’s where “The Way to Your Heart” eventually peaked at No. 33.

Of this set, the only one not available on Spotify is Bob and Doug McKenzie’s (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas’) “Take Off.”

It’s available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jm4LoOaAWI.

Here’s the Spotify link for the rest of this set:

Which ones do you like? Hate? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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