"Caught Up in You" by 38 Special

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  1011
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  82
Peak:  10
Weeks:  17
Genre:  Southern Rock



Pop Bits:  Each of this band's albums successively did better on the chart as their popularity increased. Their fifth album, "Special Forces," would continue the trend and become their best charting LP peaking at #10. It did well thanks to this single that became their first Top 10 hit and first #1 rock track.

ReduxReview:   This song continues their trend to be more radio-friendly and it paid off big time. It's easily their best single and deserving of its Top 10 showing. Although they would continue to be successful, this was their peak moment. This has one of those misheard lyrics in it for me. In the chorus after he sings "I never wanna get myself free," he then sings "And baby it's true." However, I always heard it as "Aunt Bee it's true," like Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show. You are welcome - now I've ruined that part of the song for you...

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Founding member Don Barnes sang lead on most of the band's hits including this song. He would leave the group in 1987 and embark on a solo career. Signing with A&M Records, Barnes recorded the album "Ride the Storm." Unfortunately, it came at the time when the A&M label was sold. The transaction left Barnes' album on the shelf and it remains unreleased. He returned to 38 Special in 1992.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Fool for Your Love" by Jimmy Hall

Song#:  1010
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  83
Peak:  77
Weeks:  3
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  Former Wet Willie lead singer Hall had a moderately successful debut solo album in 1980 that featured the #27 "I'm Happy That Love Has Found You." After a move to Nashville, Hall finally issued a follow-up album titled "Cadillac Tracks." This first single couldn't really get off the ground and it became his final pop chart single.

ReduxReview:   In my opinion, Hall should have been more popular. His vocals were terrific and fit perfectly with the jazzy-blues pop/rock songs he did. It may have just come down to timing as this type of music was winding down in favor of the new genres of the decade. Or perhaps Hall was suffered from the lack of promotion. Whatever the case, I think he had great potential to be a real music star but he just didn't click for some reason.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Written by Leo Sayer and Michael Omartian, this song first appeared on Sayer's 1977 album "Thunder in My Heart." It was not released as a single. In 1980, Dolly Parton covered the song and included it on her album "Dolly, Dolly, Dolly.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Just Another Day in Paradise" by Bertie Higgins

Song#:  1009
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  86
Peak:  46
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  After many years in the music biz, Higgins finally scored a hit with the gold record "Key Largo" (#8 pop, #1 AC). He followed it up with this title-track single to his album "Just Another Day in Paradise." Although it reached the AC Top 10 (#10), the song was unable to push into the pop Top 40 and it would be his last pop chart entry. Higgins would record a follow-up album, but without a significant hit, the album failed to chart. He would record several more albums over the years and continue to do tours and appearances with his group The Band of Pirates.

ReduxReview:  This must have been a hit on our local station as I remember this song quite well even though it didn't reach the Top 40. Higgins kind of comes off like a minor league version of Jimmy Buffett here, but it works fine for him. Higgins played up the whole island-paradise angle with his songs and personna and made a pretty decent career of it. He would revisit the movie tie-ins as well with tunes like "Casablanca" and "Gone with the Wind." This song deserved to do a bit better, but seems like most folks had enough after "Key Largo."

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Higgins' great-great grandfather was German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Famous for his play "Faust," Goethe became hugely popular after the publication of his first book "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774). The book was a sensation and is considered by some historians as literature's the first "best-seller."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Put Away Your Love" by Alessi

Song#:  1008
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  87
Peak:  71
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  Alessi is a duo consisting of twins Billy and Bobby Alessi. The singer/songwriters signed with A&M and released four albums for the label beginning with a self-titled debut in 1977. Although the LPs were not successful in the US, they did have some luck overseas. The song "Oh Lori" from their debut album was a UK hit reaching #8. After leaving A&M, the duo recorded a demo that found its way to Quincy Jones. He signed them to his new Qwest label and with Christopher Cross co-producing (in addition to singing on one track), Alessi issued the LP "Long Time Friends." This single got them on the US chart for the first (and only) time.

ReduxReview:  This ended up very Christopher Cross-lite. Even the vocals sound similar (and for someone who doesn't particularly like Cross' voice, that is not good). The production is quite weak with an AM-lite sheen complete with chirpy keyboard sounds. It's an okay song that's a bit too wispy/wimpy to standout on radio.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  After their chart time was over, the brothers went on to arrange and produce for many major artists including Paul McCartney, Olivia Newton-John, and Deborah Gibson. They also had a very successful career writing commercial jingles for companies like Ford, Greyhound, JC Penny, and McDonalds. Bobby spent 14 years heading up the ads for Diet Coke.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen

Song#:  1007
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  90
Peak:  23
Weeks:  16
Genre:  R&B, Dance



Pop Bits:  Rushen moved even further away from her jazz roots with her LP "Straight from the Heart." Mainly featuring slick dance and R&B tunes tinged with jazz-pop, it became her most successful album thanks to this lead-off track. Although it only made the pop Top 30, it reached #4 at R&B and was a significant hit on the dance chart going to #2. The song got Rushen a Grammy nod for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, while an instrumental track from the album, "Number One," received a nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. This song would be her biggest hit on the pop chart.

ReduxReview:  Here is a song that has really outlived its initial chart showing. I've always been surprised that this did not go Top 10. It's a terrific track with a very memorable chorus and some really tasty bass work courtesy the song's co-writer, Freddie Washington. I also think this song still works. Although there are some 80s sounds to it, it doesn't fully sound stuck in the decade.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) The sax solo was done by Gerald Albright. The jazz musician would strike out on his own later in the 80s and release a string of successful jazz LPs.  2) This song has been sampled many times and was part of two significant hits in the 90s. The song can be heard in the 1996 George Michael single "Fastlove" (#8), but it was more prominently used the following year in Will Smith's #1 "Men in Black" soundtrack single. Another track on Rushen's LP, "Remind Me," was not selected as a single, but it has also been sampled by many artists including Faith Evans ("Fallin' in Love," 1995) and Notorious B.I.G. ("Unbelievable," 1994).

_________________________________________________________________________________