The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Artists of the 1980's: #90 to #81

It's the second installment of The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Artists of the 1980's*.  Yesterday, we presented #100 through #91.  Today, the next ten--let's get started!

A unique act follows in The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Artists of the 1980's*. It wasn't a band for purposes of working together to write, record songs and continue tradition, but rather a project centered around a talented man with a revolving door of singers and musicians:

90.    Alan Parsons Project

Between 1975 and 1990, the Alan Parsons Project was keyboardist Alan Parsons and singer Eric Woolfson along with a revolving door of session musicians.  Parsons began his career as an engineer, and he became a very good one, with the Beatles' Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd among his credits. 

 

Parsons met Woolfson at Abbey Road and, although Woofson was a lawyer by trade, he was a also a songwriter and pianist, and agreed to manage Parson's career as a producer and engineer.  The two combined to assist the careers of such acts as the Hollies, Ambrosia, Al Stewart, John Miles and Pilot.  Although Parsons had been highly accomplished, he felt frustrated by adjusting his production techniques to suit the artists.  Woolfson came up with the idea of making an album centered around the producer.  Tales of Mystery and Imagination included work by the members of Ambrosia and Pilot.  Arista Records liked the concept and signed the Alan Parsons Project to record further albums.

Demand that your radio station not cheat you by playing the short version!

The Alan Parsons Project released the albums The Turn of a Friendly Card, Eye in the Sky, Ammonia Avenue, Vulture Culture, Stereotomy and Gaudi in the 1980's. AC hits in the decade were "Time" (#10 in 1981), "Eye in the Sky" (#3 in 1982), "Don't Answer Me" (#4 in 1984), "Prime Time" (#10 in 1984) and "Days Are Numbers" (#11 in 1985).  "Sirius" opened Eye in the Sky, and became so popular that it was used as entrance music by various sports teams in America, most notably by the Chicago Bulls during their 1990's NBA dynasty that included Michael Jordan.

Woolfson sang lead on several of the Project's biggest hits, including "Time" and "Eye in the Sky".  But Parsons also used John Miles, Colin Blunstone of the Zombies, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, David Paton, Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, Dean Ford of Marmalade, and many others on lead vocals.


Parsons also produced and engineered the soundtrack to the popular Matthew Broderick movie, Ladyhawk.  Except for one occasions, the Alan Parsons Project never performed live during their original incarnation.

Though the #89 act lost their lead singer early in the decade, they continued on and still make The Top 100*:

89.    Commodores 

This group from Tuskegee, Alabama, signed with Motown Records in November, 1972, after making a name while opening for the Jackson 5 on tour.  The Commodores hit it big in the 70's with songs like "Easy", "Three Times a Lady", "Sail On" and "Still".

                                                                    "Only You"

This great R&B group had three minor AC hits in 1980 ("Wonderland", "Old-Fashion Love" and "Heroes"), the #5 AC song "Oh No" and the #13 song "Lady (You Bring Me Up") in 1981 before lead singer Lionel Richie left for his amazing solo career.  The group continued on, with former Heatwave singer J.D. Nicholas assuming co-lead vocal duties with drummer Walter Orange.  The Commodores collected three more Top 10 songs in the decade--"Only You" (#8) in 1983 and "Nightshift" (#2) and "Janet" (#8) in 1985.  "Nightshift" captured the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

The next AC artist featured has soul credentials that are nearly unmatched:

#88.  Aretha Franklin

We're up to the artist whose career has now spanned over half a century.  She began recording at the age of 14 and when she signed with Columbia Records at 18, CEO John Hammond called her his most important act since Billie Holiday.  


But Franklin didn't achieve most of her success until switching to Atlantic Records.  In the 60's and 70's, she earned the title of Queen of Soul, with great songs like "Respect", "Chain of Fools" and "Spanish Harlem".

In 1980, Aretha signed with Clive Davis' Arista Records.  Her 1982 album Jump to It was produced by Luther Vandross.  Franklin released Who's Zoomin' Who? in 1985, which included the #11 Adult Contemporary hit "Freeway of Love"  and the title track, which reached #10.  In 1987, Aretha sang the George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me", which #2 in the genre and was featured on the album Aretha.  In 1989, Aretha teamed with Elton John for the #3 AC song "Through the Storm".

In 1985, then-Governor James Blanchard of Michigan declared her voice "a natural resource" during a ceremony that marked Franklin's 25th year in entertainment.  In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  She will be inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in August of 2012.

At #87, a good, decent guy who deserved all the success he had over three decades:

#87.  George Harrison

Harrison released the albums Somewhere in England in 1981, Gone Troppo in 1982 and Cloud Nine in 1987.

George achieved two #1 Adult Contemporary songs, "All Those Years Ago" in 1981 and "Got My Mind Set On You" in 1987.  He also reached #10 with "When We Was Fab" and #20 with "This Is Love" in 1988.


Harrison was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire along with his bandmates in the Beatles in 1965.  In 1992, Harrison received the Billboard Century Award.  George was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on March 15, 2004.  

In 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame.  Martin Scorsese directed the 2011 documentary Living in the Material World: George Harrison.

Up next is a man whose message and style was so powerful that a popular song was written about him:

#86.  Don McLean

By the age of five, McLean had developed an interest in all kinds of music.  He bought his first guitar as a teenager and took opera lessons.  He began focusing on folk music and recorded his first studio sessions.  He was invited to be a member of the Rooftop singers but turned it down.


He met Jim Croce at Villanova University in 1963 but left the school after four months.  Don performed at the Bitter End and Gaslight Cafe in New York City, the Newport Folk Festival, the Troubadour in Los Angeles and others, appearing alongside artists such as Steppenwolf, Pete Seeger, Herbie Mann and Janis Ian.  McLean graduated from Iona College and became the resident performer at Caffe Lena in New York City.


In 1969, Don recorded his first album, Tapestry.  In 1971, he recorded a song that would stun the world with its beautiful complexity of lyrics, woven together in a magical style and ensure McLean's name would live on for centuries.  That of course was "American Pie".

All of Don's AC hits in the 80's came in 1981.  "Crying" was a strong #2 for four weeks, "Since I Don't Have You" reached #20, a new version of McLean's "Castles in the Air" reached #7 and "It's Just the Sun" was a minor hit as well.  McLean released the studio albums Believers and Love Tracks in 1987, as well as And I Love You So (U.K. only) in the decade.

Iona conferred an honorary doctorate on Don in 2001 and in 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 2004, McLean was inaugurated into the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters' Hall of Fame.  Garth Brooks presented the award and said "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon".

The next artist had a string of hits in the '80s, but his success was primarily confined to the decade:

#85.  Howard Jones

In 1983, Jones took a unique approach to getting a recording contract.  He booked the Marquee Club in London and invited record labels to come and see him perform.  He signed with WEA in the U.K. and Elektra in the United States.

Howard made his debut on Top of the Pops on BBC-TV in October, 1983.  His album Human's Lib went gold and platinum in several countries.  In 1985, the album Dream into Action was his most successful, spawning the hits "Things Can Only Get Better" and "Life In One Day".  In 1985, Jones performed during the Live Aid concert at London's Wembley Stadium.  Jones also released the albums One to One and Cross That Line in the 80's.

Jones makes The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Artists of the 80's* on the basis of two smashes, "No One is to Blame" and "Everlasting Love", in 1986 and 1989, respectively.  He also had minor AC hits with "Life in One Day" and "Things Can Only Get Better", songs which were of course bigger overall hits.

Jones is a member of Soka Gakkai International, and is the musical director of one of its choirs, the Glorious Life Chorus.  Howard is also on the board of directors for the Featured Artists Coalition.

The #84 artist flourished in the Adult Contemporary format, more so than on the overall chart:

#84.  Jennifer Warnes

Warnes was offered an opera scholarship but chose to sing folk music instead.  In 1968, she joined the cast of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  Later in the year, she played the female lead in the Los Angeles production of Hair.


Between 1979 and 1987, Warnes broke records previously held by Frank Sinatra for the most songs to be nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards (four) and the most Oscars for Best Original Song (three). 


In 1982, she joined Joe Cocker to record "Up Where We Belong" for the classic movie An Officer and a Gentleman.  The song not only won the Oscar for Best Original Song, but a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and a Golden Globe award as well.  "Up Where We Belong" has sold over two million copies in the United States alone and reached #3 on the AC chart. 

Jennifer's Hollywood appeal continued with "Nights Are Forever" (a #8 AC song) from Twilight Zone--The Movie and "All the Right Moves" with Chris Thompson from the movie of the same name in 1983.  

Warnes and Bill Medley recorded "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" for the movie Dirty Dancing in 1987.  The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song, the Grammy for Best Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and a Golden Globe.  It was the third Warnes song to win Best Original Song ("It Goes As It Goes" from Norma Rae being the other in 1979.)  The song went Platinum and was a #1 AC song for four weeks.


Warnes also recorded a duet with B.J. Thomas called "As Long As We've Got Each Other", that was used as the opening theme for the first three seasons of the television show Growing Pains.

The #83 artist had two big hits in the 70's, then generated a comeback in the early 80's:

#83.  Paul Davis

Davis once held the Rock Era record for the longest chart run with "I Go Crazy" from 1977.  Paul was the last active artist on Bang Records when they folded in 1981, releasing his self-titled album in 1980.  He scored a #4 song with "Do Right" from that album.

 

Davis signed with Arista in 1981 and scored the hits "Cool Night", a #2 Adult Contemporary smash, "'65 Love Affair", which reached #5, and Paul's remake of "Love or Let Me Be Lonely", which reached #11 on the AC chart.  After this, Davis retired for a while, except for a duet with Marie Osmond in 1986 ("You're Still New to Me") and a collaboration with Tanya Tucker and Paul Overstreet in 1988 ("I Won't Take Less Than Your Love").  Davis also wrote "Meet Me in Montana" and "Bop" for his friend Dan Seals.  

Just ahead of Paul, a popular singer who sang from the heart:

#82.  Luther Vandross

Vandross got his breakthrough when he was the lead singer of the pop-dance group Change.  In 1981, he signed a contract with Epic Records and released the album Never Too Much.  Luther produced two albums for Aretha Franklin, Jump to It and Get It Right.  In 1983, Vandross wrote, sang on and produced Dionne Warwick's album How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye.  The title song from that album was Luther's first AC hit, and it reached #4.  

 

Luther continued with the popular "Stop to Love" in 1987 and "Here and Now", a #3 AC hit in 1989 that was certified Gold.  He also had the minor hits "Any Love" and "She Won't Talk to Me" in the decade.

 

Vandross sold over 25 million albums in his career and won eight Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times.  





Up next, one of the artists of all-time in his native England:

 

#81.  Sir Cliff Richard

Richard began with the rock & roll group the Shadows.  John Lennon once said that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music."

"Devil Woman" in 1976 was his first big success in the United States, but it opened the door for a successful decade.  His duet with Olivia Newton-John, "Suddenly", was included in the movie Xanadu, and hit #4 on the AC chart.  Richard released the albums I'm No Hero, Wired for Sound, Now You See Me, Now You Don't and Silver.  The AC hits "A Little in Love" (#6) and "Daddy's Home" (#3) followed, and Cliff achieved minor success in the genre from "Dreaming" in 1980 and "Donna", his remake of the Ritchie Valens hit.  

Richard and Elvis Presley are the only acts to make the U.K. singles charts in all of its first six decades (the 1950's through the 2000's), and he is the only artist to have a #1 single in the U.K. in six consecutive decades.  


In 1980, Richard received the Order of the British Empire honor from the Queen for services to music and charity.  On October 25, 1995, Cliff became the first rock star to be knighted.


Join us tomorrow when we present 10 more...