Monday, January 04, 2021

CoronaVinyl Day 191 (Various Artists): Reflections by Various Artists

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Various Artists," which means we're at the end of the first go-round of the A-Z trip through the albums I haven't yet featured on CoronaVinyl.  

My choice today is the 1982 Heartland Music collection called Reflections.  It's a compilation of hit soft rock songs mostly released between 1978 and 1981, although there are a couple songs released before then.  There are songs by one-hit wonders, songs by bands and artists who had many hits, and even songs by bands and artists who are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

All of the 16 songs on the album were pretty big hits.  All 16 were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, 12 were Top 10 songs, and four were #1s.  And since this album is all soft rock, all the songs also performed well on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (known as the Easy Listening chart until 1979), with 14 reaching the Top 10 of that chart and five topping it.

I couldn't find the album on Spotify or YouTube (but someone is selling a copy on eBay for $50!), so there is the track listing, along with the year of release, the peak Billboard Hot 100 chart position, and the peak Billboard Adult Contemporary/Easy Listenting chart position.

Side 1
1.  
"The Only That You Love" by Air Supply (1981; #1 Hot 100; #2 AC)
2.  "Broken Hearted Me" by Anne Murray (1979; #12 Hot 100; #1 AC)
3.  "I've Never Been To Me" by Charlene (1976, re-released 1982; #3 Hot 100; #7 AC)
4.  "'65 Love Affair" by Paul Davis (1981; #6 Hot 100; #5 AC)
5.  "Time" by Alan Parsons Project (1981; #15 Hot 100; #10 AC)
6.  "Take It Easy On Me" by Little River Band (1981; #10 Hot 100; #14 AC)
7.  "Sukiyaki" by Taste of Honey (1980; #3 Hot 100; #1 AC)
8.  "Touch Me In the Morning" by Diana Ross (1973; #1 Hot 100; #1 AC)

Side 2
1.  "Just The Two of Us" by Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers (1981; #2 Hot 100; #2 AC)
2.  "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates (1981; #1 Hot 100; #12 AC)
3.  "Three Times a Lady" by Commodores (1978; #1 Hot 100; #1 AC)
4.  "Sexy Eyes" by Dr. Hook (1979; #5 Hot 100; #6 AC)
5.  "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart (1976; #8 Hot 100; #8 AC)
6.  "Fire in the Morning" by Melissa Manchester (1979; #32 Hot 100; #8 AC)
7.  "Living Inside Myself" by Gino Vanelli (1981; #6 Hot 100; #5 AC)
8.  "Deja Vu" by Dionne Warwick (1979; #15 Hot 100; #1 AC)

Favorite song from Side 1:  "'65 Love Affair" by Paul Davis
This one is a little more upbeat than some of the other songs on this side.  What's crazy to think about is that -- at least for me as a young child in the early '80s -- 1965 seemed so long ago, but it was only 16 years before the song was released.  So, in today's terms, it would be like having a song called "'05 Love Affair," which seems like yesterday.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates
Even though there are some other classics on Side 2, I can't pass up Hall & Oates.  This one and its memorable sax solos became the group's fourth #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

No comments: