Don’s Top 10 For July 7, 1981

(#10 last week) Has there ever been a more perfectly coiffed beard than Kenny's?

(#9 last week) Looking at this clip, it's like we were living on a different planet. What were we thinking with the fashions & the cheesy dancing & the corny production?

(#4 last week) George, in tribute to John. He first gave the song to Ringo Starr & recorded it just two weeks before John's death. Ringo felt he wasn't right for the vocals & gave the track back to George. After John's passing, George rewrote sme of the lyrics to directly reflect John. Paul & Linda McCartney & Denny Laine came over to add backing vocals. It was the only time George, Ringo & Paul had recorded on one song since "I Me Mine" in 1969 & the last time until "Free As A Bird" in 1995.

Um...OK.

(#5 last week) A Springsteen song in all but vocal. He wrote it, produced it, & the E Street Band plays it. Bonds's first hit since 1962!

(#7 last week) One of the most enduring songs of the 80s. Rick says, "I'm thrilled by it. As a writer, all you can ask is that a song has legs. It has an appeal that keeps coming back".

(#3 last week) Ray got his start at Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus Records as a teenaged prodigy. You can hear his guitar on dozens of 70s hits, as far back as 1971's "Want Ads" by the Honey Cone. This song was his last hit with Raydio before he went solo.

(#6 last week) Stacy was only 14 when this hit big! This only peaked at #26 nationally, but it was much bigger around here. A remake of the 1970 smash by the Moments, it was written by Sylvia, who hit big as a singer herself with "Love Is Strange" & "Pillow Talk". Lattisaw quit pop music by the early 90s to raise a family, but has returned to music in the gospel field.

(#2 last week) The record that kicked off the "medley" mini-craze of the eearly 80s. Dutch studio group fronted by Jaap Eggermont, formerly of Golden Earring ("Radar Love"). I always found it strange how a medley of mainly Beatles covers would start with the Archies & Shocking blue, but apparently it was edited from a much longer 12-inch single, which had many other artists included. Because of legalities, every song used had to be listed as part of the title, making this the longest title ever to chart.

(#1 last week; 7th week at #1) One of the biggest hits of the decade, this was co-written by 60s star Jackie DeShannon & first recorded by her in 1974. Bette Davis herself was said to have been thrilled to be name-checked in a popular song & approached Carnes & DeShannon to thank them for "making her a part of modern times".