Top 40 Songs This Week – April 16, 1983: Songs 20-11

Welcome back to this week’s countdown!! We’re getting down to the nitty gritty now. We will be covering songs 20-11. In case you missed them, you can check out songs 40-31 and 30-21. Today, we have a great list of songs. I like every song here, and I don’t think there are any here that have been overplayed lately. Let’s jump into it, and Return to the week ending April 16, 1983, and check out songs 20-11.

20. “I Won’t Hold You Back” by Toto

This is a great ballad by Toto. I did not recognize the title at first, but I remembered this song as soon as I heard the chorus. This is off of the Toto IV album, which also gave us “Africa” and “Rosanna“. Toto also had a little help on this song. The Eagles’ bass player Timothy B. Schmit performed the backing vocals during the chorus.

19. “Overkill” by Men At Work

Men At Work continued with their string of awesome hits in the early ’80s. This was the second single released off of their sophomore album, Cargo. This is a little slower pace than we were used to from Men At Work. Colin Hay’s vocals are outstanding.

18. “Back On the Chain Gang” by The Pretenders

Here is a classic hit by The Pretenders. “You cannot have the Pretenders’ first album! That’s mine.” Whoa, where did that quote come from!? And that’s OK anyway. This song is off of The Pretender’s third album, Learning to Crawl, which also had the hit “Middle of the Road“. Both that song and “Back On the Chain Gang” bring me back to the early days of MTV.

17. “Little Red Corvette” by Prince

Prince doesn’t want us to hear his music online, so I won’t promote it. But, you can enjoy this skit from In Living Color instead.

16. “Even Now” by Bob Seger

Here’s another song that I didn’t recognize from the title right away. I thought it sounded familiar. But, once the song came on, I remembered it and love it! While I liked his song from yesterday – “Shame On the Moon” – I like this song a lot more.

15. “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie

When it comes to reinventing yourself, David Bowie could give Cher a run for her money. This song (and album of the same name) was an introduction of David Bowie to a younger audience. Kids in 1983, like me, were not aware of Bowie’s career in the ’70s. But, this song put him back on the map. It would go on to become one of his biggest selling singles. I wasn’t too crazy about this song when it came out. But, this also brings me back to those fond, early days of MTV.

14. “I Know There’s Something Going On” by Frida

I had not known about this song until I came across it during the One Hit Wonders series in 2011. I loved it when I heard it, so it is now on my iPod, and frequently played. It also comes up quite often for me on the Song Pop game.
This may have been Frida’s only hit as a solo artist. But, you don’t need to shed a tear for her. She was a member of Abba, which had several hits. In 1982 ABBA was on an unofficial break, only for it to become a permanent break. During this “break”, Frida recorded her first solo album called Something’s Going On, which was produced by Phil Collins. This title track was the lead single from the album, and Phil Collins played drums and sang backup on the track.

13. “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby

Time to nerd out!! This is an ultimate, classic ’80s song.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11lvw_thomas-dolby-she-blinded-me-with-sc_music

12. “You Are” by Lionel Richie

This is Lionel Richie’s second song on the countdown (“My Love” was #37). I like this song even better. This is a fun, upbeat song. He would be just fine without The Commodores.

11. “We’ve Got Tonight” by Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton

Here is yet another Bob Seger song on this countdown. This one is not his version though. Seger wrote this song, and released it on his 1978 album Stranger in Town. It was a hit song for him, reaching number 13 on the U.S. pop charts.

In 1983, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton did this song as a duet, and it did even better on the charts. It would reach number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart, number six on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, and number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Bob Seger’s version is pretty good, but I prefer this one.

That wraps up the countdown for today. We will finish the top-10 either tomorrow or Friday. There are going to be some incredible songs on that list. Did you have any favorites here so far?

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