Don’s Top 10 From June 7, 1980

(#18 last week) If you flipped over this 45, you had the studio version, "Coming Up", by "Paul McCartney" (no Wings). This studio version is the one most of the world knows, but here in the states, most stations preferred the live version, all except WABC & "American Bandstand", the only two major exceptions who played that weirder studio version. And check the video from the studio version out! Very inventive. McCartney was way ahead on these little art forms. I love how he dressed as his own 1964 self. 16 years later, he hadn't aged a bit.

(#11 last week) A certified platinum single, when that meant sales of two million copies! For a genre that was supposed to be "dead", disco was doing fine in 1980. Only it's now being called "dance music". Whatever. This Atlanta-based group had only one other hit, the local smash "Just Be Good To Me" in 1983.

(#9 last week) Hugely influential new wave track, which was a #1 song in the U.K., even in Canada, & went top 3 in national singles sales here, but didn't do quite as well getting airplay on the U.S.'s more conservative top 40 stations. Numan was a a one-hit wonder here, but had a string of successes in Europe, previously under the group name "Tubeway Army". It was just Numan..

(#6 last week) A multiformat smash, co-written by a then-unknown Carnes, whch got to #2 Adult Contemporary, #3 Country & #4 at top 40 radio. And yet, probably because it's a slow ballad, it's almost completely disappeared from radio since 1980.

(#5 last week) Air Supply before they became AIR SUPPLY, a phrase for, you know, soft rock blandness. This is actually a very pretty song, & their debut hit.

(#12 last week) Southern California soft-rock group featuring lead singer David Pack, who you can see in 2014 hosting one of those Time-Life half-hour infomercials for "the best of soft rock", or something like that. They chose the name Ambrosia to represent a vision of their music: all shades, textures, colors and styles.

(#4 last week) One of my all-time favorites! Love snapping my fingers to this one. Brothers George & Louis spent time in Billy Preston's band, playing on his 1972 instrumental smash “Outa Space”.This one was co-written by former Heatwave member Rod Temperton, who wrote many hits including “Rock With You” & “Thriller” for Michael Jackson, “Give Me The Night” (George Benson) & “Sweet Freedom” (Michael McDonald), & all three of Heatwave's million-sellers.

(#3 last week) Not too many people remember this ditty, but it was the #1 hit locally just two weeks ago, reaching the top, something these guys from Union City, New Jersey (also the hometown of our own Steve Trevelise!) could never do nationally.

(#2 last week) This video shows Debbie Harry at her hottest! Producer/co-writer Giorgio Moroder originally offered the track to Stevie Nicks, but she was legally unable to record it. It really isn't “Blondie”, just Harry's vocals over Moroder's already completed instrumental track.

(#1 last week; 2nd week at #1) It may say 1980 on the calendar, but it's 1976 all over again with this disco classic! Lipps Inc. was a studio band conceived by Minneapolis native Steven Greenburg. For a one-hit wonder that came after the end of the "disco era", this song's had an amazing shelf life, one of the most enduring songs from the era.