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Spandau Ballet: True - On Top of the Pops - April 21, 1983 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "True" is a song by English pop band Spandau Ballet, released in April 1983 as the title track and third single from their third studio album. It was written by the band's lead guitarist and principal songwriter Gary Kemp to express his feelings for Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan. Kemp was influenced musically by songs of Marvin Gaye and Al Green he was listening to at the time, and lyrically by Green and the Beatles. "True" reached number one on the UK singles chart in April 1983 and made the top 10 in several other countries, including the US, where it became their first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100. Kemp wanted to shift the sound of Spandau Ballet into soul and incorporated band member Steve Norman's newfound interest in the saxophone into his writing; the band also updated its look to suits for the song's music video and tour. "True" was recorded with most of the other tracks from the album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. The True album was then released as "Communication", its first single, was climbing the UK Singles Chart. DJs were so enthusiastic about playing the title song that the band knew it would be their next single. The song has since become the band's signature hit. It has been covered by Paul Anka in a swing style, and used in films such as Sixteen Candles and 50 First Dates, as well as TV series such as Modern Family. Other artists have sampled it in their own hits, including P.M. Dawn, who went to number one in the US with "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" in 1991.

Pet Shop Boys: West End Girls - on Top of the Pops - December 19, 1985 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "West End Girls" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song's lyrics are concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life in London which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. It was generally well received by contemporary music critics and has been frequently cited as a highlight in the duo's career. The first version of the song was produced by Bobby Orlando and was released on Columbia Records' Bobcat Records imprint in April 1984, becoming a club hit in the United States and some European countries. After the duo signed with EMI, the song was re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague for their first studio album, Please. In October 1985, the new version was released, reaching number one in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1986. In 1987, the song won Best Single at the Brit Awards, and Best International Hit at the Ivor Novello Awards. In 2005, 20 years after its release, the song was awarded Song of The Decade between the years 1985 and 1994 by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. A critic's poll in 2020 by The Guardian selected "West End Girls" as the greatest UK number-one single.

T'Pau: Heart And Soul - On Top Of The Pops - 1987 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Heart and Soul" is the debut single by British pop rock band T'Pau, released in a rerecorded version from their debut studio album Bridge of Spies in 1987. Following its inclusion in a Pepe Jeans advert, the single reached number four on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The song is notable for its usage of various vocal overdubs, causing Decker, essentially, to be duet-ting with herself on the original studio recording. This makes the song, in its initial studio form, impossible to perform live without additional backup singers. Instead, Decker often performs what she calls a "basic" version, explaining to Songfacts: "I rap the first two verses then cut to the melody for the verse before the chorus. No one really notices or minds as I cover the essential dynamics of the song. It works well."Upon its initial release in the UK in February 1987, the song was not well received, entering the bottom of the chart and falling out immediately after.But in the United States, the song received heavy airplay, and enabled it to reach No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1987. Due to the exposure, the song was re-released in the UK that same month; this time it became a hit, equaling the US peak of No. 4 in September.

Level 42: Something About You - On Top Of The Pops - October 24, 1985 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Something About You" is a single released by English jazz-funk band Level 42 in 1985, in advance of its inclusion on the album World Machine the same year. The song was written by Mark King, Mike Lindup, Phil Gould, Boon Gould, and Wally Badarou. "Something About You" was released in several countries outside the United Kingdom, including the United States, Germany, Italy, Canada, in addition to many countries in South America and Asia. It is the only Level 42 song to have been a top 10 hit in the United States, where it reached no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it was their second top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching no. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was certified gold in Canada in 1986. "Something About You" appears in many Level 42 collections, including Level Best, The Very Best of Level 42, and The Definitive Collection. "Something About You" also appears on the PC version of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV on the Vice City FM radio station.

George Michael: Careless Whisper - On Top Of The Pops - 1984 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Careless Whisper" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!'s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make It Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael (in North America and several other countries) or solely to George Michael (in the United Kingdom and some European countries).The song has been covered by a number of artists since its release, including Brian McKnight, Seether, Roger Williams, Kenny G and Julio Iglesias, among others. A contemporary pop song with R&B and soul influences, it features a prominent saxophone riff composed by Michael and played by Steve Gregory. It became a commercial success, topping record charts in at least ten countries and selling about 6 million copies worldwide—2 million of them in the United States. The song later achieved popularity on social media, mainly due to the saxophone riff being used as a popular internet meme.

A-ha: Take On Me - On Top Of The Pops - 1985 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was produced by Alan Tarney for the group's debut studio album, Hunting High and Low (1985). The recording combines synth-pop with a varied instrumentation, including acoustic guitars, keyboards, and drums. The original 1984 version "Take On Me" failed to chart in the United Kingdom, as did the second version in the first of its two 1985 releases. The second of those 1985 releases charted in September 1985, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in October. In the United States in October 1985, the single topped Billboard's Hot 100, bolstered by the wide exposure on MTV of director Steve Barron's innovative music video featuring the band in a live-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The video won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. "Take On Me" originated from Pål Waaktaar's and Magne Furuholmen's previous band Bridges, who first composed a number called "Miss Eerie" when they were 15 and 16 years old, but felt too much like a bubblegum ad. Initially the band felt the riff was too pop-oriented for their band, thus the first version of the song was more "punky" in an attempt to offset the riff. The first take of the song was inspired in part by Doors member Ray Manzarek and his "almost mathematical but very melodic, structured way of playing". Waaktaar considered the song too poppy for their intended dark style, but Furuholmen recalled thinking it was "quite catchy". Soon after, Bridges disbanded. Waaktaar and Furuholmen relocated to London to try their hand in the music industry there, but returned to Norway after six months of disappointment. They were joined by their school friend, singer Morten Harket, who heard the song and said the keyboard riff had the character of a universal hit sound. The three began working on demos, including a new version of the song, which was renamed "Lesson One" before it evolved into "Take On Me". In January 1983, the band returned to London in search of a recording contract. They intended the song to show off Harket's vocal range, which led to his vocals "doing this spiraling thing".

Tears for Fears: Everybody Wants to Rule the World - On Countdown (1985) (My "Stereo Remastered" Edit) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears from their second studio album Songs from the Big Chair (1985). It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. It was released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, and Vertigo Records as the third single from the album. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave and synth-pop song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power and center on themes of corruption. An international success, the song peaked at number two in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox. It was certified gold by both Music Canada (MC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrospectively, music critics have praised "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", with some ranking the song among the decade's best. Along with "Shout" (1984), it is one of the band's signature songs. The song was a "last-minute" addition during recording sessions of Songs from the Big Chair (1985). The decision to include the song in the album came after Orzabal played two chords on his acoustic guitar for Hughes. It was recorded in two weeks and added as the final track on the album. According to Orzabal, the final line in the song's chorus, originally written as "Everybody wants to go to war", contributed to his indifference towards the track. A music video received promotion from MTV. The year the song came out, it was featured in the ending to the science fiction comedy film Real Genius. In 1986, the song won Best Single at the Brit Awards.

Mr. Mister: Broken Wings - On Top Of The Pops - January 16, 1986 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Broken Wings" is a 1985 song recorded by American pop rock band Mr. Mister. It was released in June 1985 as the lead single from their second album Welcome to the Real World. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1985, where it remained for two weeks. It was released as the band was just about to embark on a US tour opening for Tina Turner. "Broken Wings" became the first of two consecutive number ones of the band on the American charts, the other chart-topper being "Kyrie". Outside of the United States, "Broken Wings" topped the charts in Canada, peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany, and the top twenty of the charts in Austria, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden. Lyrically, "Broken Wings" is an attempt to keep a relationship together through the magic of flowery language: "Take these broken wings/ And learn to fly again, learn to live so free/ When we hear the voices sing/ The book of love will open up and let us in." Those words are grandiloquent enough to be self-parody, but Page delivers them all perfectly straight-faced. He means every bit of it. In Page's mouth, the word "take" becomes a desperate animal yelp. I love it. I also love how overproduced "Broken Wings" is. The song is all ominous churn, and it never really kicks in. Instead, it captures a state of sustained anticipation.

Yarbrough & Peoples - Don't Stop The Music On Solid Gold - February 28, 1981 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Don't Stop the Music" is a song by Yarbrough and Peoples, from the duo's 1980 debut album, The Two of Us. It was released as a single on Mercury Records in 1980. The song reached number 26 on the dance charts, number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and fared even better on the US R&B chart, where it hit number one, Outside the US, "Don't Stop the Music" went to number 7 in the UK. The song's success helped to earn a gold record for the duo. Radio promotion for the record was handled in Los Angeles by independent marketing firm Dudley-Gorov, while a young Russell Simmons shopped the record to New York club DJs as one of his early jobs.

Pet Shop Boys: Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) On Top Of The Pops - June 5, 1986 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their debut studio album, Please (1986). It was released as a single in 1985 and re-recorded and reissued in 1986, gaining greater popularity in both the United Kingdom and United States with its second release, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. After a Super Bowl ad in February 2021, featuring the song, it re-entered the charts claiming the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Songs No. 1 spot on 27 February, 2021, among others.

Johnny Hates Jazz: Shattered Dreams - On Italian TV (Tutto di tutto) 1987 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Shattered Dreams" is a song by English musical group Johnny Hates Jazz from their debut studio album, Turn Back the Clock (1988). Written by the band's lead singer Clark Datchler, the song was released in March 1987 as the album's lead single. "Shattered Dreams" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 92 and gained popularity through extensive radio play and video rotation on MTV, eventually peaking at number five in May 1987 and spending three weeks at that position. Internationally, "Shattered Dreams" reached the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, and West Germany. In the United States, it was released with an alternative music video shot entirely in black and white and directed by David Fincher, which Datchler preferred. The single topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart for one week and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Singer Clark Datchler wrote "Shattered Dreams" in a small studio he had set up in the front room of his parents' house. He had an upright piano, a 4-track portastudio, a drum machine, and a keyboard in the studio. He wrote the song quickly, but the bongo solo took a while to conceive. Datchler knew he had written something special by his dad's reaction. Usually, his dad would offer musical advice if he asked for it, but would otherwise leave Clark alone. But this time, his dad walked in and told him he had written a big hit, and believed in the song's potential when few other people in the music industry did. On the lyrics, Datchler said: Obviously when I wrote "Shattered Dreams" I had it in mind that it would revolve around divorce, not just a relationship break-up but something a little bit heavier. But actually, the way I think people relate to it is that there are all kinds of shattered dreams that we experience on an individual level or in partnerships or as a people, as a nation, as humanity. We are facing some very serious shattered dreams right now whether that be environmental, or economic, or philosophical even. There are ways that "Shattered Dreams" reaches out and touches people when they are going through difficult times. And in some ways, it's not necessarily a very hopeful song. But I think the energy of the song is still quite bright which makes it an interesting combination. It's kind of opposites of each other, but that is something I tend to do lyrically and musically, having serious subjects with more up-tempo music.

Nena: 99 Luftballons (1984) (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "99 Luftballons" (German: Neunundneunzig Luftballons, "99 balloons") is a song by the German band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. An English-language version titled "99 Red Balloons", with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also released by Nena on the album 99 Luftballons in 1984 after widespread success of the original in Europe and Japan. The English version is not a direct translation of the German original and contains lyrics with a somewhat different meaning. In the US, the English-language version did not chart, while the German-language recording became Nena's only US hit. While at a June 1982 concert by the Rolling Stones in West Berlin, Nena's guitarist Carlo Karges noticed that balloons were being released. As he watched them move toward the horizon, he noticed them shifting and changing shapes, where they looked like strange spacecraft (referred to in the German lyrics as a "UFO"). He thought about what might happen if they floated over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet sector.Also cited by the band was a newspaper article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal about five local high school students in 1973 who played a prank to simulate a UFO by launching 99 (one was lost from the original 100) aluminized Mylar balloons attached with ribbons to a traffic flare. The red flame from the flare reflected by the balloons gave the appearance of a large pulsating red object floating over Red Rock Canyon outside the Las Vegas Valley in Nevada.A direct translation of the title is sometimes given as "Ninety-Nine Air Balloons", but the song became known in English as "Ninety-Nine Red Balloons". The title "99 Red Balloons" almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first line of lyrics, although Neunundneunzig (99) has one syllable more than "ninety-nine".The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general officer to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the war ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go." The English version retains the spirit of the original narrative, but many of the lyrics are translated poetically rather than being directly translated: red helium balloons are casually released by the civilian singer (narrator) with her unnamed friend into the sky and are mistakenly registered by a faulty early warning system as enemy contacts, resulting in panic and eventually nuclear war, with the end of the song near-identical to the end of the original German version.From the outset Nena (the lead singer) and other members of the band expressed disapproval of the English version of the song, "99 Red Balloons". In March 1984, the band's keyboardist and song co-writer Uwe Fahrenkrog Petersen said, "We made a mistake there. I think the song loses something in translation and even sounds silly." In another interview that month, the band, including Nena herself, were quoted as being "not completely satisfied" with the English version since it was "too blatant" for a group not wishing to be seen as a protest band. American and Australian audiences preferred the original German version, which became a very successful non-English-language song, topping charts in both countries, reaching No. 1 on the Cash Box chart, Kent Music Report, and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Jump" by Van Halen. It was certified Gold by the RIAA. The later-released English translation, "99 Red Balloons", topped the charts in the UK, Canada and Ireland.

Tavares - A Penny For Your Thoughts On Solid Gold - October 30, 1982 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) Tavares - A Penny For Your Thoughts On Solid Gold - October 30, 1982 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "A Penny for Your Thoughts" is a song by R&B/disco group Tavares in 1982, originally recorded by Marion Jarvis in 1975. It was written by Kenny Nolan. Released from their 1982 album New Directions, the song became Tavares's eighth and final US Top 40 hit, peaking at number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 28 on the Cash Box Top 100. Unlike all of their bigger hits, "A Penny for Your Thoughts" did not chart in Canada. Three collections of the group's work were issued during the early 2000s by Capitol Records, however, because of their label change to RCA the song was not included among their other hits. "A Penny for Your Thoughts" was his ninth of 10 compositions to become U.S. chart hits. Ten years later Atlantic Starr would reach the Top 10 with Nolan's song, "Masterpiece." At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards "A Penny For Your Thoughts" received a nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal.

Atlantic Starr: Secret Lovers - On Solid Gold (1986) (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Secret Lovers", released in 1985, is the third single from As the Band Turns, the sixth album from American group Atlantic Starr. "Secret Lovers" was Atlantic Starr's true breakthrough hit on the pop charts in both the US and UK, though the group had previously minor pop and R&B hits in both countries. The flip side "When Love Calls" had previously been issued in the US in 1981 as a single (A&M Records AM-8634) and proved a substantial club success in the UK where its presence contributed to sales of "Secret Lovers". Sung as a duet between Atlantic Starr members Barbara Weathers and David Lewis, "Secret Lovers" is the story of a man and a woman who are having an affair with each other even though they are both married to other people. Although they know their actions are wrong and are forced to keep their relationship secret as a result (hence the title of the song), they love each other too much to let the affair end. They also justify the affair by trying to convince themselves that maybe their spouses have their own "secret lovers" as well.

Prince: Little Red Corvette - On Solid Gold (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Little Red Corvette" is a song by American recording artist Prince. The song combines a Linn LM-1 beat and slow synth buildup with a rock chorus, over which Prince, using several automobile metaphors, recalls a one-night stand with a beautiful promiscuous woman. Backing vocals were performed by Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson; Dickerson also performs a guitar solo on the song. Released in 1983 as the second single from 1999, the song was, at that point, Prince's highest charting and his first to reach the top 10 in the U.S., peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also his first single to perform better on the pop chart than the R&B chart. Later, it was re-released as a double A-side with "1999", peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart in January 1985. Following Prince's death in April 2016, "Little Red Corvette" re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 29, rising to number 20 the following week. It has sold more than 900,000 copies in the United States. Prince got the idea for the song when he dozed off in band member Lisa Coleman's 1964 pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually, he was able to finish it without sleeping.

Remembering Steve Lawrence: (Born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935 – March 7, 2024) R I P Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935 – March 7, 2024) was an American singer, comedian, and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and friend of the main characters in The Blues Brothers. Steve and Eydie first appeared together as regulars on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954 and continued performing as a duo until Gormé's retirement in 2009 Lawrence was born as Sidney Liebowitz to Jewish parents in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. His father, Max, was a cantor at the Brooklyn synagogue Beth Sholom Tomchei Harav. His mother, Helen, was a homemaker. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School. During his high school years, Lawrence earned some money after school singing for songwriters in the Brill Building. Lawrence and Gormé married on December 29, 1957, at the El Rancho Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two sons together; David Nessim Lawrence (b. 1960) is an ASCAP Award-winning composer, who wrote the score for High School Musical, and Michael Robert Lawrence (1962–1986), who died suddenly from ventricular fibrillation resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 23. Michael was an assistant editor for a television show at the time of his death and was apparently healthy despite a previous diagnosis of slight arrhythmia. Gormé and Lawrence were in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time of Michael's death, having performed at the Fox Theater the night before. Upon learning of the death, family friend Frank Sinatra sent his private plane to fly the couple to New York to meet David, who was attending school at the time. Following their son's death, Gormé and Lawrence took a year off before touring again. Eydie Gormé died on August 10, 2013, at age 84, after a brief, undisclosed illness. In June 2019, following public speculation about his health, Lawrence announced that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and that treatment to slow its progression had so far been successful. Lawrence died from complications due to Alzheimer's disease in Los Angeles, on March 7, 2024, at the age of 88.

Dan Hill w/Corinne Plomish: Can't We Try - On Solid Gold In Concert - September 19, 1987 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) **Audio is Dan Hill and Vonda Shepard. "Can't We Try" is a 1987 duet performed by Dan Hill and Vonda Shepard. The ballad was Billboard's No. 1 Adult Contemporary Song of the Year for 1987. "Can't We Try" was released as a single from Dan Hill's 1987 self-titled album. The song reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also on Cash Box, making it Dan Hill's second-biggest hit behind "Sometimes When We Touch", which hit No. 3 back in 1978, and was Vonda Shepard's only Top 10 Pop hit. It also reached No. 2 for three weeks on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (behind "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston and "Moonlighting" by Al Jarreau). In Canada, the song reached No. 14.

The Dream Academy: Life In A Northern Town - On Solid Gold - March 1, 1986 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band The Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It appears on the band's self-titled debut studio album, The Dream Academy. The song was written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake. Written by band members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel, the song was produced by Laird-Clowes with help from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts. It is the band's highest charting single in the UK, the US, and Ireland.

Kenny Loggins: Footloose - On Solid Gold Countdown '84 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Footloose" is a song co-written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was released in January 1984 as the first of two singles by Loggins from the 1984 film of the same name (the other one being "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)"). The song spent three weeks at number one, March 31—April 14, 1984, on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Loggins' only chart-topper, and was the first of two number-one hits from the film. Billboard ranked it at the No. 4 song for 1984. The song was very well received, and is one of the most recognizable song recorded by Loggins. When the American Film Institute released its AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, "Footloose" reached the 96th position. The song was covered by country music artist Blake Shelton for the 2011 remake of the 1984 film. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1985 ceremony, losing to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red. The single version is slightly shorter in length compared to the album version. It begins with a soloed guitar track instead of a drum intro, and features more prominent backing vocals in the mix, particularly towards the end of the song. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."

Kenny Loggins: Meet Me Halfway - On Solid Gold -1987 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Meet Me Half Way" is a song by American singer Kenny Loggins written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for the film Over the Top. It also appears as the final track on his sixth studio album Back to Avalon. It was his sixth soundtrack single and also his 13th Top 40 single, peaking at number 11, while it was more successful on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number two. The single debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent twenty-five weeks on the chart, peaking at number 11 in the week of June 13, 1987. It was ranked 96th on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1987. It also peaked at number 28 on the Canadian RPM 100 chart.

Cyndi Lauper: Time After Time - On Solid Gold Countdown '86 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Time After Time" is a 1983 song by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, co-written with Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals. It was the second single released from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). The track was produced by Rick Chertoff and released as a single in March 1984. The song became Lauper's first number 1 hit in the U.S. The song was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide magazine, referring to the science fiction film Time After Time (1979). Music critics gave the song positive reviews, with many commending the song for being a solid and memorable love song. The song has been selected as one of the Best Love Songs of All Time by many media outlets, including Rolling Stone, Nerve, MTV and many others. "Time After Time" was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 1985 edition. The song was a success on the charts, becoming her first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 9, 1984, and remaining there for two weeks. The song reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and number six on the ARIA Singles Chart. Although "Time After Time" would eventually become one of Lauper's signature songs, it was one of the last songs on her debut album to be recorded. While Lauper was still writing material for She's So Unusual in the spring of 1983, her producer, Rick Chertoff introduced her to American musician Rob Hyman, a founding member of the Hooters. Lauper had by then already recorded the majority of the album, including the songs "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "She Bop," but Chertoff insisted that she and Hyman needed to record just "one more song". Therefore, she and Hyman sat at a piano and started working on "Time After Time". The inspiration for the song came from the fact that both songwriters were going through similar challenges in their respective romantic relationships; Hyman was coming out of a relationship, and Lauper was having difficulties with her boyfriend/manager, David Wolff. One of the early lines Rob wrote was "suitcase of memories," which according to Lauper, "struck her," claiming it was a "wonderful line," and other lines came from Lauper's life experiences. The song's title was borrowed from a TV Guide listing for the 1979 movie Time After Time, which Lauper had intended to use only as a temporary placeholder during the writing process. Although she later tried to change the song's name, she said that she felt at some point that "Time After Time" had become so fundamental to the song that it would fall apart with a different title. Initially, Epic Records wanted "Time After Time" as the album's lead single. However, Lauper felt that releasing a ballad as her debut solo single would have pigeonholed her stylistically as a balladeer, limiting her future work and thus potentially killing her career. Wolff felt that "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" could become a successful pop anthem and was a better choice; ultimately the label agreed and released it as the lead single. "Time After Time" became the album's second single, released on March 27, 1984.

Kenny Loggins: Danger Zone - On Solid Gold Countdown '86 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Danger Zone" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins in 1986, with music composed by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics written by Tom Whitlock. The song was one of the hit singles from the soundtrack to the 1986 American film Top Gun, the best-selling soundtrack of 1986, and one of the best-selling of all time. According to Allmusic.com, the album "remains a quintessential artifact of the mid-'80s" and the album's hits "still define the bombastic, melodramatic sound that dominated the pop charts of the era". The song is also featured in the 2022 sequel film Top Gun: Maverick and its soundtrack, using the same original recording. Film producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, along with music supervisor Michael Dilbeck, had over 300 songs to employ on Top Gun. Testing compositions against the dailies of the opening scenes at the aircraft carrier, nothing satisfied them, and Bruckheimer asked soundtrack producer Giorgio Moroder to write something. With the help of songwriter Tom Whitlock, he composed "Danger Zone" and had Joe Pizzulo record a demo. With the approval of the producers, soundtrack distributor Columbia Records requested Moroder to have "Danger Zone" performed by an artist signed by the label. Pizzulo's original demo version would later make a partial appearance in the 1987 TV movie Cracked Up.The band Toto was originally intended to perform the track, but legal conflicts between the producers of Top Gun and the band's lawyers prevented this. According to Steve Lukather, when the band sent their version to the producers, they were told that only Joseph Williams' vocals would be used, which the band deemed unacceptable and pulled out. In a 2022 interview with AXS TV, Kenny Loggins revealed that it was Jefferson Starship that was the first act to be offered the track, but the band pulled out of the project. Corey Hart was also approached to perform "Danger Zone", which he declined, preferring to write and perform his own compositions. Loggins said in a 2022 interview that Kevin Cronin told him he said no because the notes were too high. Eventually, the film producers offered the song to Loggins, who would recall his assent to recording "Danger Zone" as "a very snap judgement". Whitlock went to Loggins' Encino home, and once shown the lyrics, the singer added his own improvisations. Reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Danger Zone" was kept out of the number 1 spot by Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". It became Loggins' second-highest chart hit, bested only by his 1984 number 1 hit "Footloose". In a 2008 interview, Loggins said that the song does not represent himself as an artist. In 2018, Loggins told TMZ that he was having discussions with the film's lead actor Tom Cruise about having a new version of the song featured in the then-upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick. Ultimately, however, the original recording was used instead; Loggins stated that Cruise wanted to invoke the same feelings listening to the song as with the original Top Gun.

Tina Turner: What's Love Got To Do With It - On Solid Gold Countdown '84 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "What's Love Got to Do with It" is a song written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten, and recorded by American singer Tina Turner for her fifth studio album, Private Dancer (1984). Capitol Records released it as a single from Private Dancer in May 1984 and it eventually became Turner's biggest-selling single. Although Turner had already scored a late-1983 top 30 hit with her rendition of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", "What's Love Got to Do with It" became her first and only Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, selling over 2,000,000 copies worldwide. At the time, aged 44, Turner became the oldest solo female artist to top the Hot 100. It was the second-biggest single of 1984 in the United States and the 17th-biggest in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. "What's Love Got to Do with It" received three awards at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In 1993, the song's title was used as the title for the biographical film based on Turner's life. In 2012, "What's Love Got to Do with It" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, marking Turner's third Grammy Hall of Fame award. The song ranked number 309 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and at number 134 in their 2021 updated list. It also ranked number 38 on RIAA's "Songs of the Century" list.

Deniece Williams: Let's Hear It For The Boy - On Solid Gold Countdown '84 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) "Let's Hear It for the Boy" is a song by Deniece Williams that appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film Footloose. The song was released as a single from both the soundtrack and her album of the song's same name on February 14, 1984, by Columbia Records. It was written by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford and produced by George Duke. The song became Williams' second number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on May 26, 1984, also topping the dance and R&B charts, and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and was certified platinum in the US and gold in Canada and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America, Music Canada and the British Phonographic Industry, respectively. The music video was released in mid-April 1984. The song features background vocals from George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who would go on to form the duo Boy Meets Girl.

Olivia Newton-John: Have You Never Been Mellow (Live 1975) (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) R.I.P.