KROQ top 50 1981

KROQ top 50 1980

"Tom Sawyer" over "Elephant Talk", with a strong showing by "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". "Frame by Frame" would have provided stiffer competition.

Dog Eat Dog

man "lunatic fringe" is so great

but then so is "our lips are sealed"

Oh, I like "Under Pressure" a lot too.

quite a year for Adam Ant. I predictably chose Tom Sawyer. Kind of surprised that Elephant Talk got radio play.

"Our Lips are Sealed" just over "Homosapien"

I'd have thought "Bette Davis Eyes" -- the real biggest hit of '81 -- epitomized New Wave: second-rate L.A. also-ran getting a hit with synths and narrative.

Ha, I don't think I've ever heard the top 2 on this list.

Missing Persons also ultimate L.A. New Wave band. A shame they weren't mentioned more often in Less Than Zero.

Tough choice between "Ghost Town" and "White Girl"

The Friends of Mr. Cairo is one of the worst records I ever paid money for.

50 is just too many choices, a Top 40 would be better served.

"Electricity"

White Girl

Heaven 17 - (we don't need this) fascist groove thang

I was gonna make fun of Loverboy "Turn Me Loose" but then I realized that my vote for "Tom Sawyer" is a vote for a song that is probably closer to that pastiche (i.e. classic rock) than the New Wave stuff that I am not choosing. So never mind.

bah you're right - 'bette davis eyes' (which is total fogie going new wave) was the biggest hit of 81, but doesn't show up in the top 106.7 (never heard it on the kroq 80s station either); 'young turks', possibly the zenith of old fart new wave doesn't show up in 81 or 82 lists. 'i love rock n roll' was apparently merely the third biggest hit of 1982 (after 'physical' and 'eye of the tiger'), kroq played it as an album cut before it was released as a single.

'turn me loose' is a song i never would've thought of as being new wave before but makes sense in that context (cf rick james 'superfreak', which came in at 75). interesting to me also the falloff w/ the acts who dominated the 80s list. devo shows up alot in the bottom 50 and the second pretenders album is one of the all-time weak followups to a classic debut but tom petty is only represented by 'nightwatchman' at 84. he'd place six on the chart the year before. was hard promises a disappointment at the time? was having a big hit w/ stevie nicks the moment when he lost the new wave label?

This chart has classic rock morphing into New Wave, actually, now that I think about it. Even the dinosaurs had skinny ties on. (See: Kinks "Destroyer")

(Which I totally should have voted for, dammit.)

was hard promises a disappointment at the time? was having a big hit w/ stevie nicks the moment when he lost the new wave label?

The Stevie Nicks duet -- which a lot of people still don't know is actually Petty's highest chart hit -- was big enough that according to Petty in the Paul Zollo book and in the doc the record company refused to promote "A Woman in Love" -- still one of his best songs imom.

ghost town, our lips are sealed, homosapien, new toy, and fascist groove thing, mmmm mmmm, tough. i voted ashes to ashes for the '80 poll, but i don't feel like voting under pressure, though i like it even more. but damn i think it's the best song here.

"A Woman in Love" -- still one of his best songs imom.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, July 6, 2014

cosign this

1981: best year of eighties. Check the P&J poll.

I would've voted "Rapture"... weird it isn't here. Police "Magic" instead.

The year prog and new wave started dating is not coincidentally the year I dove headfirst into hardcore.

White Girl

8. romeo void - never say never
12. the suburban lawns - janitor
17. devo - jerkin' back 'n' forth
23. omd - electricity
41. the specials - ghost town

One of these. Can't not vote for 'Ghost Town', really.

Never Say Never for life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36AnZ5o5Nw4

Totally "Janitor" for me. Like Oingo Boingo, I'm guessing Suburban Lawns were bigger on KROQ than anywhere else.

I will rep for Romeo Void's "Never Say Never". A total case of catching lightning in a bottle.

Waitresses, X, Go-Go's (Our Lips Are Sealed), Police (though I think I would rate the creepy/stalker Police songs as Don't Stand So Close to Me, Every Little Thing, Every Breath You Take), Bowie/Queen. Fortunately the BWW choice isn't 'Do You Wanna Hold Me', and Split Enz isn't 'I Got You'.

sigh. Always vote Patty.

What was that VH1 show where they got old bands back together? There was an episode with Romeo Void that was really sweet, iirc.

voting for Rush out of this list seems p perverse for a KROQ poll

voting Waitresses

Kinks "Destroyer" was '81?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

It's amazing how many Pretenders songs -- from the second album too! -- went into rotation in '81.

And, wow, I know it was the moment for it, but "Homosapien" doing so well locally warms my heart.

ha "under pressure" and "stand and deliver" are probably my favorite songs of all time and i never put together they were out the same year

even though i prefer under pressure i'm voting for ant just cuz this is kroq and queen isn't new wave

if "Back Chat" were on the list, all bets would've been off.

also got a lot of love for "homosapien," "start me up," "never say never," "ghost town" and "primary"

pretty excited to check out the songs i haven't heard - half of the top ten!

I said upthread that Missing Persons was the quintessential New Wave band, right? They would've been Doobie Bros wannabes two years earlier if later Duran Duran member Warren Cucurullo hadn't heard a few Buzzcocks singles. Spring Session M peaked in the top twenty w/out a single top forty hit.

janitor vs electricity

Didn't mention my love for electricity, but anyway to me the best combo of factors is ghost town. I think the contrasting interlude in the middle of this dystopic nightmare vision of a song make it just indominatable for me.

somebody spotify this list plz

"Dancing With Myself" narrowly beats out "Girls On Film." Yes I am corny. But "Dancing With Myself" is almost unique in being both a 100% legit stadium jam and a song I can imagine playing on a beatup acoustic guitar in my room by myself and rocking out to.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

KROQ top 50 1982