Back...back...back into time once again, kickstarting the weekend with another "Time Machine" jaunt, this time to Wednesday, March 24, 1982. I'll play the songs in order starting just after midnight late Friday night on New Jersey 101.5.

  • 10

    "Freeze-Frame" by J. Geils Band

    (#18 last week) Peter Wolf & co. had their first top 40 hit back in 1973. Superstardom was a long time coming for the boys who formed in Boston, but were mainly from New York. title track, 2nd single from their 1st & only million-selling album.

  • 9

    "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner & Garcia

    (#10 last week) What can I say? Honestly, one of the worst pieces of junk ever to be a hit. Every time I heard the opening notes when I played this as a current song in Wilkes-Barre, it was like chalk on a blackboard. The record is SO bad, it's good. Almost. The followups? The immortal "Do The Donkey Kong" & "E.T. (I Love You)". I can only imagine.

  • 8

    "Chariots Of Fire" by Vangelis

    (#14 last week) Headed for the top. There have been a lot of #1 movie themes, & a lot of #1 instrumentals, but this is the only #1 record by an artist from Greece that I can think of. Vangelis' real name? Evangelos Papathanassiou.

  • 7

    "Centerfold" by J. Geils Band

    (#3 last week) On its way down after spending six big weeks at #1. Originally called the J. Geils Blues Band, they were asked to play at Woodstock soon after being signed but turned it down! They didn't want to "play in the mud". It's funny, but arguably their most enduring song wasn't anywhere near as big a hit originally as either of their two current top 10 songs: that would be 1980's "Love Stinks".

  • 6

    "Make A Move On Me" by Olivia Newton-John

    (#7 last week) A hit that has totally disappeared from airplay, & it isn't that bad! The followup to Olivia's biggest hit, "Physical", this has its pop charms. Talk about a complete image change for the formerly sweet & innocent lovely Livvy, now a smokin' hot songstress. Many ladies have followed her playbook since.

  • 5

    "Sweet Dreams" by Air Supply

    (@#5 last week) Hard to remember now, but this Aussie duo had hit after hit from 1980-1983. This one is especially forgotten. They're still performing & recording together.

  • 4

    "That Girl" by Stevie Wonder

    (#4 last week) This did very well at top 40 radio, peaking here at #4, but it did even better on the R&B chart, spending 9 weeks at #1. uit was a new song on a hits compilation, "Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium".

  • 3

    "We Got The Beat" by The Go-Gos

    (#6 last week) Poor Go-Gos, having to follow Rex Smith's lame-O intro on "Solid Gold". For me, personally, these ladies gave me hope that catchy guitar pop-rock was on its way back to the charts. Loved 'em!

  • 2

    "Open Arms" by Journey

    (#2 last week) "Don't Stop Believin" is by far their most enduring hit, but this was Journey's biggest originally.

  • 1

    "I Love Rock 'N Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

    (#1 last week; 2nd week at #1) Sometimes, the simplest songs are the biggest. The anthem of a generation! 7 weeks at #1. Originally written by & sung by British group The Arrows in 1977, it was meant as an answer record to the Stones "It's Only rock 'N roll (But I Like It)". Joan Jett first heard it while with her first band, the Runaways, but couldn't convince the other girls to record it. Glad she remembered it years later.

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