music Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

#1 mainstream rock tracks for 1982

Kookaburra

Here are the #1 mainstream rock tracks from 1982.

Everybody Wants You – Billy Squier, 6 weeks at #1 M, #32 pop

Heat of the Moment – Asia, 6 weeks at #1 M, #4 pop

I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 5 weeks at #1 M, #1 for seven weeks pop. Not to be confused with I Love Rocky Road by Weird Al Yankovic

Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor, 5 weeks at #1 M. #1 for six weeks pop. From the movie Rocky III. cf. Weird Al’s The Rye or the Kaiser.

Down Under – Men At Work, 5 weeks at #1 M, #1 for four weeks pop. I have the album. I noted here: “In June 2009, the band was sued for copyright infringement, the allegation being that the flute part was lifted from a 1932 Australian song called ‘Kookaburra,'” a song I learned in grade school. “(This is sad: “Greg Ham took the verdict particularly hard, feeling responsible for having performed the flute riff at the centre of the lawsuit and worried that he would only be remembered for copying someone else’s music, resulting in depression and anxiety. Ham’s body was found in his home on 19 April 2012 after he suffered a fatal heart attack at age 58.”

Centerfold – J Geils Band, 3 weeks at #1 M, #1 for six weeks pop. I have a greatest hits CD

Telephone number

867-5309/Jenny – Tommy Tutone, 3 weeks at #1 M, #4 pop . This song definitely has a story.

Think I’m In Love – Eddie Money, 3 weeks at number one M, #16 pop.

Dirty Laundry – Don Henley, 3 weeks at #1 M, #3 for three weeks pop. I have the album

You Got Lucky – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 3 weeks at #1 M, #20 pop. I have the album.

Oh, Pretty Woman – Van Halen, 2 weeks at #1 M, #12 pop. The Orbison original was #1 pop in 1964; I have that too.

New World Man – Rush, 2 weeks at #1 M, #21 pop

Shock The Monkey– Peter Gabriel, two weeks at #1 M, #29 pop. Not only do I own the LP, but I also own the German CD with Schock Den Affen

All the rest were number one for just one week, Mainstream

Don’t Let Him Know – Prism, #39 pop. Co-written by Bryan Adams

No One Likes You – Scorpions, #65 pop

Stone Cold – Rainbow, #40 pop

Hurts So Good – John Cougar, #2 pop for four weeks. Own it on a greatest-hits CD under the name John Mellencamp.

Caught Up In You -38 Special, #10 pop

January rambling: American Hegemony

Rebecca Jade sings the Beatles

Mark Carney Warns “American Hegemony” Is Destroying World Order in Candid Speech

World to exceed 1.5°C heating threshold by 2030

FBI puts the final nail in the coffin of free speech

Philadelphia is suing the regime over the decision to remove an exhibit at Independence National Historical Park depicting the factual history of slavery in the United States.

FOTUS’s second term delivers massive gains for billionaires as working Americans face cuts and rising costs

Study Reveals Who Is Paying 96% of Regime Tariffs

New CDC guidance could revive childhood meningococcal disease, a rare but deadly disease

Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2025 Update from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ)

The RootsTech 2026 schedule is live. The world’s largest family discovery event will be taking place March 5-7. Register to hear inspiring speakers, watch exciting keynotes, and get expert help discovering your family story.

The Dangerous Power of Predictive Markets

Also

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Releases 2026 Child Vax Schedule, No Longer Endorses CDC’s Version

Dealing with a sudden death or loss

Bruce Bilson Obituary: Director on The Patty Duke Show, Get Smart, Hogan’s HeroesPlease Don’t Eat the Daisies, The Doris Day Show, The Odd Couple, Love, American Style, B.J. and the Bear, Barney Miller, The Fall Guy, Hotel, Dinosaurs, The Sentinel and Viper, among others

Forty years ago, they slipped the surly bond of earth

Baseball HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2026: Center fielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, and second baseman Jeff Kent.

The Trial of the Century: On the hundredth anniversary of Tennessee v. Scopes.

New York’s Grand Central Terminal Helped Provide the Blueprint for American Cities. It Happened by Accident

Element Ball: Letter Gothic

Now I Know: Why Does Toothpaste Make Orange Juice Taste So Awful? and Why Isn’t This Tennis Ball Bouncing? and The Meal That Makes You See Tiny People? and The Panhandle That Failed and Not The Frisco Kids and The $3 Grocery Bag That Became a Global Status Symbol and Every Rose Has Its … Jalen?

ICE

Video Contradicts DHS Claims About Killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Heather Cox Richardson: “Video from the scene shows Pretti directing traffic on a street out of an area with agents around, then trying to help another person get up after she had been pushed to the ground by the agents. The agents then surround Pretti and shoot pepper spray into his face, then pull him to the ground from behind and hit him as he appears to be trying to keep his head off the ground. An agent appears to take a gun out of Pretti’s waistband during the struggle, then turns and leaves with it. A shot then stops Pretti’s movements, appearing to kill him, before nine more shots ring out, apparently as agents continued to fire into his body.It looked like an execution.”

As William J. Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove noted: “Alex Pretti was killed by people who celebrated his death. They do not need better training. They demand a moral movement to disarm them and reconstruct democracy.”

Legal scholars and political scientists say the regime’s escalating ICE operation, National Guard brinkmanship, and Insurrection Act threats in Minnesota closely resemble conditions identified in civil war simulations, raising alarms about constitutional collapse and violent state-federal conflict. “We don’t need no stinkin’ warrants.”

A photo taken during a protest in south Minneapolis after federal agents killed Alex Pretti encapsulates a story unfolding on America’s streets.

Nurse Alex Pretti’s Death and the Symbolism of the Human Body

Fact Checks

“…when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” — Audre Lorde

Legal Eagle: Unbelievable ICE Memo Just Leaked

Six steps for researching the corporate enablers of ICE

To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers

Why FOTUS Is Finally Waving A White Flag In Minnesota

Pete Buttigieg believes The Ground Is Shifting

Three songs:

Minnesota Anthem – Marc Skjervem

Streets of Minneapolis – Bruce Springsteen

ICE, F**K You – A Protest Song for Minneapolis – Scared Ketchup

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent
— often attributed to Thomas Jefferson

MUSIC

Got To Get You Into My Life and Roll Over Beethoven -Peter Sprague, featuring Rebecca Jade from the All You Need is Love album, which you can buy individual tracks or the album here

For No One – MonaLisa Twins

Coverville 1564: The New Order Cover Story IV and 1565: The Flaming Lips Cover Story and 1566: The Bob Weir Tribute

From the CBS Sunday Morning archives: The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir

K-Chuck Radio: A moment of Midnight Oil memory (Rob Hirst)

J. Eric Smith on Bob Weir and Rob Hirst

She’s Not Blind – Roberta Flack

It Ain’t Necessarily So – Ella Fitzgerald · Louis Armstrong

Piece of Denmark – Marsh Family parody of “Piece of My Heart” by Erma Franklin re Greenland/FOTUS

John Fogerty: Tiny Desk Concert 16 Jan 2026

Poseidon and Amphirite: An Ocean Fantasy by John Knowles Paine

I Zimbra – Talking Heads

Third movement from Bach’s Partita No. 3 for solo violin

More music

These Are The Days – the cast of All In The Family (1975)

Stand By Me – The Buzztones

Superman [1978] by John Williams, Opening Titles/Credits Sequence

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover– Postmodern Jukebox

Da Doo Ron Ron – the Crystals

Jeux d’eau by Maurice Ravel

The Man I’m Supposed To Be – Bill Callahan

Popular – Lemon Squeezy with a song from Wicked

Mercedes Benz – Mari Gazen (Janis Joplin cover)

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da – The Police

I Just Might – Bruno Mars

That’s What Friends Are For by Dionne and Friends (Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder)

J. Eric Smith’s Genre Delve #9: Hip-Hop/Rap and #10: Reggae

Sunday Stealing says, “C’mon, Get Happy!”

walls of books

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

We found this one at CreativeGene. It’s designed inspire “happy thoughts on a frigid January day.” Obviously, temperatures vary based on locale, but it’s a lovely sentiment, so let’s go.

Before answering this, I should note how much the title “C’mon, Get Happy!” resonates with me. I was in a production of Boys in the Band in 1975 in Binghamton, which I wrote about here. The only music cue I can recall was Judy Garland singing Get Happy, from the 1950 movie Summer Stock.

This should not be confused with the Elvis Costello album. Get Happy!

Here are 10 things that make me happy:

1. Having enough money to pay all of my bills. I’m not one of those people who balances his checkbook. (What’s a checkbook?) I just want the money in (Social Security plus some other sources) to be greater than the money going out. It got out of whack in 2025 because some medical reimbursements were less than what they should have been. (It’s too complicated to describe here.) But it has been resolved as of February 2026.

The usual

2. Listening to the music, which should be no surprise. It’s just TOO HARD to wash the dishes, clean the office, etc., without listening to music. (Currently playingMega Hits Dance Classics, including Let’s Get Serious by Jermaine Jackson, which features Stevie Wonder.)

3. Knowing stuff. I will freely admit that I fare less well watching JEOPARDY these days because I’m less up on current popular culture. (How can I keep track of all the shows on all of the streaming services and the big hits on Spotify?) But I know a lot of other things. I keep up with current events. My wife and I do the New York Times news quiz each week, and generally get 10 out of 11 right. The 11th question is usually in the “who cares” category.

4. My office, specifically the wall of books therein, built-in bookshelves in every direction. Many I’ve read, but more I have not. But there are a couple of rows I refer to often, books on music (of course), movies, and television.

5. Singing in the church choir. It’s an oddly collegial thing, especially after retirement.

6. Living in a place with accessible mass transit. The CDTA buses will get me downtown (to the library and church), to the nearest hospital, and to the Best Buy, which is the only store in Crossgates Mall I actually shop at.

7. Reading scripture in church. I’m told I do it well.

8. Reading the newspaper, the physical manifestation, not online.

9. Writing this blog. It’s my therapy and, increasingly, my memory aid.

10. There is a 10th.

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January rambling: sneaky new strain

State TV

Doctors still recommend flu shot despite sneaky new strain

AI bubble

Writing versus AI and A World Without People

Older Americans Quit Weight-Loss Drugs in Droves — Side effects and cost continue to be significant obstacles

Just Before Publishing, a Reporter Receives a Crucial Tip. We were nearly finished with our narrative on a Cold War mystery. Then juicy new info suddenly emerged. Now what?

The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to hold a prerelease webinar about the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 1 p.m. ET. All datasets will be available to the public Thursday, Jan. 29, by 10 a.m. ET.

Frank S. Robinson’s blog suspension as a result of the comments on a 2017 blog post. BTW, I had replied to his post.

Starring Dick Van Dyke, streaming only until 1/31/2026

Claudette Colvin, who challenged Alabama’s segregation laws, dies at 86. As a 15-year-old, Colvin refused to give her seat to a white passenger. Her challenge presaged Rosa Parks’ and helped integrate Montgomery’s buses.

‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams Dies at 68 After Cancer Battle. On one hand, his politics sucked. On the other hand, he died of the same thing my father died of, prostate cancer, a disease that “nobody” dies of except when they do

Frank Capra at Comic-Con 1974

Go, Bills!! Go, Bears! Go, 49ers. Go, Texans?

Wait, there’s an Australian version of Ghosts?

Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang

FOTUS and fiends

Lies, and more lies

Abandonment of Global Treaties, Including Landmark Climate Deal, ‘Threatens All Life on Earth’

Renee Good and Our Epistemological Crisis, and Who was Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by ICE?

He asked Fulton County, GA, for a $6.2 million payout in attorneys’ fees and costs after the criminal charges against him were dismissed. He had been indicted for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to “find” 11,780 votes to give him a victory in the state of Georgia.

The Venezuela attack is a constitutional crisis for the United States, and the euphoria period and Imperialism Is Very Expensive

EPA could limit its own ability to use new science to strengthen air pollution rules

CDC sharply narrows routine childhood vaccine guidance

What Morbidity Hath Secretary Kennedy Wrought? — A choice is not a choice when swamped with vaccine disinformation

Cuts Billions in Federal Childcare Funds for Democrat-Led States

Hegseth starts proceedings against Mark Kelly over video remarks; Kelly is not backing down

America’s third consecutive K-shaped recovery (an economic rally where the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer)

Rogues’ gallery

Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Talk of Athens

Jan. 6 never ended: ‘Filled With Lies’: WH Releases False History and All that the rioters want is everything, and GOP hides the memorial

Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, 1/5/2026

Jordan Klepper on djt’s Tylenol Tirade and Elon’s DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show

Imperial Aggression in Venezuela: Corporate Media Fall in Line

Tony Dokoupil’s ‘embarrassing’ first days at CBS Evening News savaged by staff: ‘It’s state TV.’

MUSIC

Battle Hymn of the Empire – Marsh Family adaptation of Battle Hymn of the Republic

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, first by Beethoven (op. 112) and then by Mendelssohn (op. 27).

Ameriican Requiem – Beyoncé

Dance to the music – Sly & The Family Stone –

The Sondheim Concert

Move On Up (Extended Version – Curtis Mayfield

Hang On Sloopy -The McCoys

You’ll Be Back – Lesli Margherita

Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) – Nina Simone

Your Friendly Liberal Neighborhood KKK – Mitchell Trio feat. John Denver (1966)

The River by John Williams

The Red Bucket Follies’ opening number, December 2025

An der schönen blauen Donau, Walzer, Op. 314

Year-end pop music mashups 2025

New Year’s Eve edition of The Dinah Shore Show, which aired 12/29/61, featuring George Burns, Ginger Rogers, and my mom’s favorite, Nat King Cole

Sunday Stealing Remembers the Good Old Days

Domingo Samudio

We’re going into the new year by looking back. Randy at GeneaMusings encourages us to reminisce. So the group remembers the Good Old Days.

When I Was Young

I used to say that I didn’t really like to wallow in nostalgia. But now it’s more of a mental exercise. Can I remember that stuff anymore?

1. Tell us about a time when your family got a newfangled invention (your first air conditioner, color TV, VCR, microwave, computer, etc.).

Our family got a color TV in either Christmas 1969 or Christmas 1970.

The only times I remember seeing color TV before that were some summer nights c. 1962/63. My sister Leslie had a best friend, Christine, who lived next door to my maternal grandmother.

They, I, and maybe my baby sister would be at Christine’s house watching this piece of furniture. It was usually the Wonderful World of Disney and Bonanza on Sunday nights on NBC. ABC and CBS weren’t broadcasting in color until 1966.

So when we got our color TV, I remember seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time in color. I had watched it a dozen times before that, but I never saw Oz that way before. I finally got the “horse of a different color” reference; the equine used to be different shades of gray.

Pharaohs?

2. Is there a particular song that sparks a childhood memory?

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that there are HUNDREDS, maybe THOUSANDS of songs I can identify from when I was 4 to 18. And most of them generate a memory, many of which I have written about.

I don’t think I’ve ever written about Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. I liked the song a lot, especially the countdown: “Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro.” Here’s an oddity: per Billboard magazine, it was the number one song of 1965. However, it never reached number one on the weekly Billboard charts, though it did top Record World.

It wasn’t the song as much as the outfits I was struck by as a kid. These guys weren’t Middle Eastern/Egyptian, were they? No.

Regarding the lead singer, “most sources refer to Domingo Samudio’s ancestry as Mexican-American. However, a 1998 Chicago Tribune article described Samudio as of Basque/Apache descent. In a 2007 conversation with music writer Joe Nick Patoski, Samudio described his grandparents fleeing the Mexican Revolution and settling in Texas, where his family supported themselves working in the cotton fields.”

Learning

3. What is something an older family member taught you to do?

My paternal grandmother taught me canasta, and my paternal grandfather taught me gin rummy. My father’s cousin Ruth described my father at her home, feverishly trying to figure out my name and initials shortly after I was born.

4. Back in the day, what name brands would we have found in your family’s kitchen?

Joy dish detergent, Kellogg’s/Nabisco/General Mills cereals (I LOVED cereal), Fro-Joy ice cream (a truly inferior product), Pyrex bowls, General Electric (refrigerator, maybe?) Our stove/oven was ancient, and I have no idea what brand it was. Maybe my sisters recall.

5. As a child, did you collect anything (rocks, shells, stickers, etc.)?

Stamps, baseball cards, LPs. coins. I was really put out when some kid, the child of my parents’ friends, purloined some of my half-dollars.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.