Back...back...back into time, as "The Time Machine" takes us to Wednesday, October 13, 1982. It was a partly-to-mostly cloudy day, with a high in Newark of 62 & low of 54. In music, The Who, with opening act The Clash, play the second of two nights at Shea Stadium (they played Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands last Sunday night). In the headlines, the IOC restored two gold medals to Jim Thorpe that he had won in the 1912 Olympics. In baseball, The Cardinals played the Brewers in game 2 of the World Series--they tied the series 1-1 with a 5-4 win. In hockey, Don Lever scores the New Jersey Devils first short-handed goal, whatever that means. :-) On Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical "Cats" ends its first smash week. At the movies, the ladies swooned as Richard Gere literally swept Debra Winger off her feet in "An Officer And A Gentleman" ("Up Where We Belong", the theme song, moves up to #11 this week). On TV this Wednesday night, we loved watching evil rich people scheme against each other, as "Dynasty" ruled the ratings at 10pm on ABC. NBC had a couple of popular new sitcoms at 9 & 9:30: "The Facts Of Life" & "Family Ties". Late night, Tim Conway was Johnny's guest on "The Tonight Show". "Late Night With David Letterman" followed with guest Howard Cosell. And here are the national top 10 singles:

  • 10

    %22I Ran (So Far Away)%22 by A Flock Of Seagulls

    (#10 last week) For a new wave song so associated with the 80s, why was this featured in an episode of "That 70s Show"? Mike Score of the band has stated he "resents" the song, for unknown reasons.

  • 9

    %22Heart Attack%22 by Olivia Newton-John

    (#11 last week) This song has totally disappeared from the radio since 1982. Did it deserve to go away? You be the judge. By the way, the followup, "Tied Up", didn't do as well, peaking at #38. Maybe the movie version of "50 Shades Of Grey" can use it as the theme. :-)

  • 8

    %22You Can Do Magic%22 by America

    (#9 last week) A very catchy comeback for the duo that used to be a trio. First hit since 1976's "Today's The Day". Written & produced by the multitalented Russ Ballard. Some other hits Ballard wrote: "Liar" (Three Dog Night); "New York Groove" (Ace Frehley); "Winning" (Santana) & "I Know There's Something Going On" (Frida). Ballard ALSO was lead singer of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up".

  • 7

    %22Somebody's Baby%22 by Jackson Browne

    (#8 last week) From the soundtrack of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High", the movie of which is remembered VERY fondly by a generation of guys for several reasons which I can't repeat here, but which involved the gorgeous Phoebe Cates & Jennifer Jason Leigh.

  • 6

    %22I Keep Forgettin'%22 by Michael McDonald

    (#7 last week) McDonald's first solo hit, written by Michael with Ed Sanford of the Sanford-Townsend Band ("Smoke From A Distant Fire"). Its similarity to the earlier song "I Keep Forgettin'", by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, resulted in Leiber and Stoller also being given a songwriting credit.

  • 5

    %22Abracadabra%22 by The Steve Miller Band

    (#2 last week) I would never have guess this, but Miller was inspired to write this song by Diana Ross, who Steve met on the TV show "Hullaballoo" in the 60s.

  • 4

    %22Hard To Say I'm Sorry%22 by Chicago

    (# last week) Speaking of comebacks, it had been been more than 3 & a half years since Chicago had a top 15 hit, & this was a big one, co-written by lead singer Peter Cetera with producer David Foster.

  • 3

    %22Eye In The Sky%22 by The Alan Parsons Project

    (#4 last week) In the sort-of-obvious department, the song is in part a reference to George Orwell's classic novel "1984", regarding a possible future in which individual privacy is virtually non-existent due to the ever-watching eye of Big Brother. In the novel, citizens are constantly monitored by hidden video recording equipment. Let's give credit where credit is due: the singer & songwriter here is Eric Woolfson.

  • 2

    %22Who Can It Be Now%22 by Men At Work

    (#5 last week) The best phrase I've heard described for this smash is "rugged boogie". Surprisingly, while this got to #1 in the U.S., it only peaked at #2 in the band's native Australia, & #45 (!!!) in the U.K.

  • 1

    %22Jack & Diane%22 by John Cougar

    (#1 last week; 3rd week at #1) This classic ode of heartland rock was actually recorded in Miami. It's still his biggest hit. Mellencamp has said it was a very tough song to record technically.

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