1984: The Year In Top 40 Hits (Week 12: March 24, 1984)
Lionel Richie asks an inappropriate question of a blind woman, plus Queen, the Alan Parsons Project, Pretenders, and Missing Persons
(Note: If you’re new here, you might want to read an introduction to this series to get caught up on what we’re doing. Glad you could make it.)
You know what I don’t miss about spring in west Texas? The wind. Like, even above and beyond the tornado risk, my overriding memory of March and April in the panhandle was walking outside and the air just being brown from the amount of blowing dirt. (Thing I do miss about spring in west Texas: Elmer’s Gold Brick Eggs, the best Easter candy ever.) Anyway, there were seven new entries this week, the highest being “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel at #59.
At #17, “Hello” by Lionel Richie
Yes, this is the third week in a row that I can’t write about a song in the top 10, because I’ve already written about them all. As I mentioned earlier in this series, I loved the Commodores in their mid-‘70s “Brick House” mode, but I find Lionel Richie’s ballads treacly. Possibly even more than “Three Times A Lady” or “Endless Love,” “Hello” is Peak Lionel Ballad for me in that regard.
