Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Rick James - "Super Freak, Part 1" (#78 of 1981)

I'm Rick James, bitch!  Sorry, couldn't resist.  The Master of Funk, Rick James, began crossing over into the mainstream dance charts in 1981.  The bassline riff is a classic, being sampled on MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" in 1990.  Also, 10-year old Abigail Breslin does a very inappropriate burlesque routine to the song at a children's beauty pageant in "Little Miss Sunshine".

The video featuring James and his bevy of "freaks" is pure fun.  One particularly overzealous "freak" dancing around him before jumping in a limosine is entertaining simply for holding a quellazaire very close to Rick's heavily jheri curled glittery wig!  Hopefully, it was not lit.


 
 
My Personal Chart Data:

Debuted: November 6th, 1981


Peak Position: #11

Number of Weeks:  6

Little River Band - "The Night Owls" (#7 of 1981)

Australia's Little River Band was one of my favorite groups of the late 70's and 80's.  Like most early videos, "The Night Owls" combines band performance with snippets of video images.  This brief "storyline" may be about the dangers of being a "night owl"!  A woman is chased through rain-soaked streets in the dead of night by a man in a trenchcoat! 


 
 
My Personal Chart Data:

Debuted: November 6th, 1981


Peak Position: #2

Number of Weeks:  12


Kim Carnes - "Draw of the Cards" (#67 of 1981)

Kim Carnes' follow-up to her smash hit "Bette Davis Eyes", this strange video is a mish-mash of dream sequences ranging from Carnivale dancers to what appears to be escapees from an insane asylum. 
 
 


My Personal Chart Data:

Debuted: October 30th, 1981


Peak Position: #8

Number of Weeks:  8

Dan Fogelberg - "Hard to Say" (#17 of 1981)