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I like the Screamers. Shows how far I go... the first one I recall being associated with the scream was "What Does Sex Mean To Me" by Human Sexual Response 3-Nov-80.
WLIR initially wasn't actively trying to consciously distance themselves from AOR --- but merely be a more experimental version of it, so early Screamers were often solo efforts by members of AOR staple bands --- "I Missed Again" by Phil Collins or "Talk Dirty to Me" by John Entwhistle --- overlooked by the station up the dial playing the Hell out of Genesis and the Who.
Let's review that first year.
"Rock Hard" Suzi Quatro 4-Sep-80
While I wrote about her a few weeks ago to little recollection (Dickshot was convinced she was a lesbian), I don't recall this song.
"Johnny & Mary" Robert Palmer 1-Oct-80
Johnny's always running around
Trying to find
Certainty"
Good song from when Palmer wasn't stuck on a formula.
"De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" Police 2-Oct-80
"Poets, priests, and politicians
Have words to thank for their positions
Words that scream for your submission
But no one's jamming their transmissions"
The song a lot of people first heard from the Police. WLIR would tell you they had it first.
"Girls, Cars, & Rock & Roll" Johnny Destri 3-Oct-80
Missed this one.
"Tighten Up" Yellow Magic Orchestra 4-Oct-80
This one too. Big Audio Dynamite had an album called Tighten Up
"Hungry Heart" Bruce Springsteen 5-Oct-80
Bruce was not beneath WLIR once upon a time.
"Staying Power" Neil Young 1-Nov-80
Nope. Don't recall it.
"(You’ll Always Find Me In The) Kitchen At Parties" Jona Lewie 2-Nov-80
"Me and my girlfriend we argued and she ran away from home.
She must have found somebody new and now I'm all alone
Living in my own. What am I supposed to do?
That's why always find him in kitchen at parties"
Great novelty song. Reminds me of Gang of Four.
"What Does Sex Mean To Me?" Human Sexual Response 3-Nov-80
"Late at night I walk through town
I spy every one I meet
I want to follow them all home
But I just follow my feet"
As I said, first one I recall.
"Jackie O" Human Sexual Response 4-Nov-80
"I want to be like Jackie Onassis
I want to wear a pair of dark sunglasses"
Back to back for HSR!
"I Know What Boys" Like Waitresses 1-Dec-80
"Boys like ME!"
She quit the band just before appearing at Nassau Community College. Boys didn't like as much the bassist who stepped up to the mic and sang in her stead.
"Lies Through The 80’s" Manfred Mann 2-Dec-80
I remember it not.
Hitsville, U.K. Clash 3-Dec-80
"Without even
The slightest hope
Of a thousand sales"
If I was aware of the Clash at this time, I probably didn't realize this was them.
"Happy Birthday" Stevie Wonder 4-Dec-80
I don't recall this. Stevie was dead set on using the eighties to write greeting cards, wasn't he?
"Eugene" Crazy Joe 1-Jan-81
No recollection.
"Do You Wanna Touch Me?" Joan Jett 2-Jan-81
I did and do.
"While You See A Chance" Steve Winwood 3-Jan-81
This was the rockiest track on AM at the time.
"Runaway Boys" Stray Cats 4-Jan-81
This was about at year before the Cats broke. They should have re-released this one. Mid-tempo, but groovin'.
"Precious To Me" Phil Seymour 5-Jan-81
Don't recall this. Sounds like a hit among British housewives.
"Everybody’s Boring But My Baby" Pearl Harbor 1-Feb-81
Nu wave boredom and detachment and historical insensitivity. Must've been great. I don't remember it.
"I Missed Again" Phil Collins 2-Feb-81
Phil played every instrument, enough to be considered cool enough for burgeoning alt radio.
"Seduced" Leon Redbone 3-Feb-81
Don't recall it, but Phil Collins usurped by Leon Redbone on WLIR? That was free-form radio, my friends.
"R.O.C.K." Garland Jeffries 4-Feb-81
"R.O.C.K., rock
Comin' from my generation"
Garland --- with this song and a cover of "96 Tears" --- was originally the only black act on MTV.
"Love’s Melody" Searchers 1-Mar-81
Drawing a blank. The Searchers were still recording in 1981? Cool.
"Torchlight" Ellen Foley 2-Mar-81
Wasn't she Meat Loaf's duet partner? Another case of WLIR being a good place to get side projects aired. Don't remember it, though.
"Daily Records" Who 3-Mar-81
I forgot a Who single?
"Someday, Someway" Robert Gordon 4-Mar-81
Is this an error. I know Gordon was cover singer, but this would have been brand spanking new from Marshall Crenshaw.
"I Love Rock & Roll" Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 1-Apr-81
This obviously broke her and started her long piss back at the recording industry. This and "Centerfold" by the J. Giels band held number one for long enough to keep "I Want to Know What Love Is" at number two for a record 15 weeks.
"Bumble Boogie" Jools Holland 2-Apr-81
Another solo effort here. I have two Jools solo albums, but I don't know this.
"What’s He Got" Producers 3-Apr-81
"What's he got
That I ain't got?
He's got you!
That's what he's got; that's what he's got! Hey!"
My sister's college boyfriend liked this more than I did. I thought that the Producers might be cooler than I thought, but I think he just liked that they had a balding vocalist and that made him feel better about his hair.
"Destination Unknown" Missing Persons 4-Apr-81
"Where do we go from here?
Which is the way that's clear?"
Cool, cool song. Nu wave detachment embodied from a band made up of rock veterans from Zappa's band.
"Hard Act To Follow" Split Enz 5-Apr-81
Don't know it. Split Enz is a pretty good act to point to when trying to explain that new wave isn't really Depeche Mode-type synth pop.
"Messed Around" Squeeze 1-May-81
Kinda remember this. An Argybargy track, right?
"Talk To You Later" Tubes 2-May-81
Great song from a band that would otherwise be interestingly mediocre.
"World Of Water" New Music 3-May-81
What? Who? How long could they last with a gimmicky name like New Music?
"I Won’t Let You Down" PhD 4-May-81
Dunno.
"Tempted" Squeeze 1-Jun-81
Now we're in business. Producer Elvis Costello convinced Glenn Tillbrook to let Paul Carrack sing lead on this. It's become as much a signature for Squeeze as any song, but the vocalist was just passing through.
"Formidable" Syl Sylvain & The Teardrops 2-Jun-81
If I knew it, I've forgotten it.
"Disappearing" Sinceros 3-Jun-81
Dunno. Sinceros sounds like a good name.
"Guilty" Classix Nouveau 4-Jun-81
I'd probably remember it if I heard it.
"La Di Da" Sad Café 1-Jul-81
I'm slumping here. Oh for my last four.
"Jumpin’ Jive" Joe Jackson 2-Jul-81
Joe Jackson was 15-20 years ahead of his time predicting the jump revival.
"Massive Reductions" Kinks 3-Jul-81
Don't know this. Probably the last Kinks track WLIR played.
"Si Si Je Suis Un Rock Star" Bill Wyman 4-Jul-81
I had no idea there were any Wyman solo efforts released into the wild. Don't, you may guess, know it.
"Edge Of Seventeen" Stevie Nicks 5-Jul-81
No way! They did not play that!
"Jealous Lover" Rainbow 1-Aug-81
Hah! Dim recollections. I assume this was Richie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio's Rainbow.
"Start Me Up" Rolling Stones 2-Aug-81
I guess Wyman didn't make enough to stay solo. Worst lip-synched video performance ever on this song.
"Private Eyes" Hall & Oates 3-Aug-81
Maybe second in a string of eight straight number-one singles for Hall & Oates. Most as gimmicky as this one.
"Hang Fire" Rolling Stones 4-Aug-81
They hung together pretty well for a pretty messed up band at this time.
"City Bound E Train" Novo Combo 1-Sep-81
Remember the band, not the song.
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" Police 2-Sep-81
I had a different crush every day, and sang it about each one.
"No Reply At All" Genesis 3-Sep-81
Still cool enough for this format? Barely.
"Talk Dirty" John Entwhistle 4-Sep-81
I enjoyed solo Entwhistle. A lot of his tracks were dirty jokes which seemed cool when I was 13.
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