The Flashback of the 60s, 70s, 80s Greatest Music Hits

Jan 3, 2016

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - on Glass Houses Album (1980)

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - on Glass Houses Album (1980)
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song is an examination of the themes of a musician's degrading fame and public tastes that were expressed in his 1975 hit "The Entertainer".



The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States.

The song is a cynical look at the music industry as a publicist/manager begs the protagonist to remain hip for the younger crowd ("What's the matter with the car I'm driving?" / "Can't you tell that it's out of style?"), and the protagonist's refusal to change, claiming his music will remain relevant regardless of his appearance. The song was a reaction by Joel at the new music genres that were around in the late 1970s (punk, funk, new wave). It was inspired by Joel reading a review about a particular (unnamed) band, and realizing that he had no idea what their music sounded like.

Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes - Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer (1980)

Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes - Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer (1980)
"Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" is a song written by David Ellingson and Kim Carnes and recorded by Kenny Rogers and Carnes as a duet. It was released in March 1980 as the first single from Rogers' album Gideon. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. It was also recorded in Spanish as "No Te Enamores De Un Loco".


Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore - on Rock 'N' Roll Juvenile Album (1979)

Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore - on Rock 'N' Roll Juvenile Album (1979)

"We Don't Talk Anymore" is a song recorded by Cliff Richard that reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1979, remaining there for four weeks. Produced by The Shadows' rhythm guitarist, Bruce Welch, and written by Alan Tarney, it was Cliff Richard's tenth UK number one and his first since "Congratulations" in 1968.



Coming just before his 39th birthday, and just when it was announced that he was to receive the OBE for services to music, the record cemented his comeback, which continued well into the 1980s and 1990s. The single was his biggest worldwide seller: it was number one in Germany for five weeks (his only English-language German chart-topper, though he had two German-language number ones there in the 1960s), and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. The fact that its chart run extended beyond the end of 1979 meant Richard became the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide, topping the charts in the UK, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Finland, West Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Switzerland. It was certified Gold in both the UK and West Germany.

The song was the sixth video aired on MTV on its launch on 1 August 1981.

Jan 1, 2016

Christopher Cross - Sailing - on Christopher Cross Album (1980)

Christopher Cross - Sailing - on Christopher Cross Album (1980)
"Sailing" is a song written and recorded by American artist Christopher Cross. It was released in June 1980 as the second single from his eponymous debut album. The song was a success in the USA, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, and helping Cross win the Best New Artist award. VH1 named this the greatest "softsational soft rock" music song of all time.




It was a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, reaching that position on August 30, 1980, for one week. Since its debut, it has been covered by many artists, including Avant, Barry Manilow, Greenskeepers, 'N Sync, Phajja, Patrick Yandall and, as a duo, Moya Brennan & Cormac de Barra. Recorded in 1979, the song was one of the first digitally recorded songs to chart, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System. In his Grammy acceptance speech, Cross acknowledged "Sailing" as his favorite song on the album and that originally it was not meant to be a single.