8 of the 80s: 1/24/13...

I'm back to close out today with 8 more nuggets from 1983, the year the final episode of M*A*S*H aired and became the most-watched episode on television.

The Gap Band - "Party Train"
from the album Gap Band V: Jammin' (1983)
Billboard peak: #101

Why this jam did not follow the Oklahoma brothers' "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" success is mindboggling, though maybe putting old people in a boxing ring made no sense.

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Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself"
from the EP Don't Stop (1981)
Billboard peak: #102

The masturbatory classic that every 80s child knows never hit the big chart in the States. Still, nothing made "beating the dragon" cooler than Idol singing about it.

Gladys Knight & The Pips - "Hero (Wind Beneath My Wings)"
from the album Visions (1983)
Billboard peak: #104

The legendary soul singer may have recorded this a full six years before Bette Midler's most known cover, but it wasn't even the first charting version, done by Lou Rawls the same year. Gladys' though remains my favorite.

Rush - "Subdivisions"
from the album Signals (1982)
Billboard peak: #105

One of my favorite songs from the Canadian prog-rock giant fit in to the isolation I was feeling at the time this came out.

The English Beat - "Save It For Later"
from the album Special Beat Service (1982)
Billboard peak: #106

The song that made me discover ska music, and hence a treasure trove of acts like Madness and General Public.

Miquel Brown - "So Many Men, So Little Time"
from the album Manpower (1983)
Billboard peak: #107

Speaking of influences, this little disco ditty was played constantly on the boardwalk in Wildwood, where my little naive self would always sing along. They all should have known.

Southside Johnny & The Jukes - "Trash It Up"
from the album Trash It Up (1983)
Billboard peak: #108

I'm sure the Asbury Park rocker that's not Bruce is still sort of embarrassed of this effort to follow David Bowie by having Nile Rodgers produce this album.

Pia Zadora - "Rock It Out"
from the album Let's Dance Tonight (1984)
Billboard peak: #110

This is so freakin' deliriously bad. LOVE IT. The Golden Globe-winning actress (yes!) goes to jail decades before Lady GaGa did.

Well that closes out tonight's 80s trip...I'll be back tomorrow with another Song of the Day, candletime, and my top-100 tunes for the week...