#1 at KZZP/Phoenix: “Just The Two Of Us” by jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., featuring vocals by Bill Withers.
Leaping from #13 to #6 is the future #1 song, “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes, which was the top hit of the year at KZZP as well as many other top 40 stations.
Another soon-to-be KZZP chart topper jumps from #25 to #19: “Beatles Medley” by Stars On 45, which launched a fad of stringing together snippets of old hit songs into radio-friendly ear candy with a disco beat. The U.S. version of this Dutch record (which begins at :43 in the video link above) starts with a sample of the guitar intro from “Venus” by Holland’s Shocking Blue. Then, studio singers recreate portions of the Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” and eight Beatle songs, followed by an original chorus at the end. The official title on the label, due to copyright requirements, is (take a deep breath) “Medley: Intro Venus / Sugar Sugar / No Reply / I’ll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want To Know A Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You’re Going To Lose That Girl / Stars On 45.”
Staying in the nostalgia vein, a cavalcade of 1960s stars have hits on this 1981 list:
- Smokey Robinson, “Being With You” (holding at #2), his biggest solo hit;
- Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb, “What Kind Of Fool” (#7), from her album Guilty that he wrote and produced;
- The Who, “You Better You Bet” (#8), their biggest hit in years;
- John Lennon, “Watching The Wheels” (climbing to #13), third single from Double Fantasy;
- Rolling Stones, “If I Was A Dancer” (#17), a minor hit from the Sucking In The Seventies compilation album of outtakes and remixes;
- Eric Clapton, “I Can’t Stand It” (#18), first single from Another Ticket;
- Santana, “Winning” (#23), one of the band’s last hits until 1999’s blockbuster “Smooth“;
- Gary U.S. Bonds, “This Little Girl” (#24), written and co-produced by Bruce Springsteen;
- Dottie West, “What Are We Doing In Love” (#27), on which the longtime country artist veers pop with a little help from Kenny Rogers;
- Neil Diamond, “America” (debuting at #28), from his movie The Jazz Singer;
- Cliff Richard, “Give A Little Bit More” (new at #29), a minor hit from the longtime British heartthrob who never really made it big in the U.S.