American Top 40 1986 November 8th

American Top 40 with Casey Kasem aired on radio from July 4, 1970 until August 6, 1988. This recording is a rebroadcast from internet radio.

In this countdown:

The second Long Distance Dedication in this countdown is from a lawyer who participated in the Great Peace March, and Casey mentions his support of the rally last week as he starts the show. As a RocketMan Extra, I've included some documentary video from that march in RocketMan_Extras_Package_3.

Casey gets corrected by listeners. He previously listed all the recording acts that were named for well-known cities and who have hit number one, but he left out the one named after Kingston, Jamaica. Details are in the first hour.

Billy Joel is at number 30 with his song "A Matter Of Trust." I liked the "Let It Be" flavor of that video (and the Spider-Man poster on the wall in the background) so that video is included in RocketMan_Extras_Package_3.

A listener asks, "Has any artist in the Rock Era ever had the Top 2 songs on the chart simultaneously; that is, had hits in the number one and number two spots at the same time?" Casey says three acts have done just that; the biggest act of the 50's, the biggest act of the 60's, and the biggest act of the 70's. Hear the details right after Triumph, at number 27 with "Somebody's Out There."

The all-time chart record for the longest gap of time between a single's first appearance in the Top 40, and its return to the Top 40 was long held by The Beatle's "Twist And Shout" until it was broken by the song at number 31 this week, "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King.

Also, this week's biggest mover is "Walk Like An Egyptian" (up eleven notches to number 25) by The Bangles. It would become the number one song of 1987.

Casey reports the group Journey stopped making videos for a few single's releases, but now they've started again with "Girl Can't Help It" (at number 24), so I've included the video in RocketMan_Extras_Package_3.

Even more, Aretha Franklin sounds so good at number 21 singing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" I just had to put her video in RocketMan_Extras_Package_3 as well. She has Keith Richards playing guitar for her, but not to be outdone, Bryan Adams sings back-up on "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Glass Tiger (at number 31, but no video).

Casey tells the story of the man who wrote the greatest party song of all "Louie, Louie" by The Kingsmen, but he doesn't play the song! So I've add a live video performance to RocketMan_Extras_Package_3.

Madonna is redecorating at number 5 with "True Blue" and Cyndi Lauper is painting by numbers at number 3 with "True Colors."

40: Shake You Down - Gregory Abbott
39: You Know I Love You…Don't You - Howard Jones
38: Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads
37: Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
36: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
35: Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone - Glass Tiger
LDD: Life In One Day - Howard Jones
34: (Forever) Live And Die - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
33: What About Love - 'Til Tuesday
32: Two Of Hearts - Stacey Q
31: Stand By Me - Ben E. King
30: A Matter Of Trust - Billy Joel
29: Throwing It All Away - Genesis
28: Heartbeat - Don Johnson
27: Somebody's Out There - Triumph
26: Freedom Overspill - Steve Winwood
25: Walk Like An Egyptian - Bangles
24: Girl Can't Help It - Journey
23: Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
22: To Be A Lover - Billy Idol
21: Jumpin' Jack Flash - Aretha Franklin
20: I Am By Your Side - Corey Hart
19: When I Think Of You- Janet Jackson
18: The Way It Is- Bruce Hornsby & The Range
17: All Cried Out - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force
16: Emotion In Motion - Ric Ocasek
15: Hip To Be Square - Huey Lewis and The News
14: Love Will Conquer All - Lionel Richie
13: I'll Be Over You - Toto
12: The Next Time I Fall - Peter Cetera with Amy Grant
11: Sweet Love - Anita Baker
LDD: Imagine - John Lennon
10: The Rain - Oran "Juice" Jones
9: Word Up - Cameo
8: Typical Male - Tina Turner
7: You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi
6: Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money
5: True Blue - Madonna
4: Human - Human League
3: True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
2: I Didn't Mean To Turn You On - Robert Palmer
1: Amanda - Boston