As I progress through the years listening to all of these songs from the late 1970s through the late 1990s, I realize that, for the songs I have heard, some of the nostalgia and deja vu is offset, as for a lot of these entries I didn’t hear them until years (or decades) after they charted. But since each song is also a product of its time, there are multiple levels of temporal disconnect here. The songs are of one era, but I might have heard them decades later, and I am reviewing them now. So the various timelines of my memory and limbic system have become…entangled. So it goes in the age of instant everything, when the time is always “now.”
1977: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., “Your Love”
I don’t think I had heard this one before researching the songs for this week. I had heard of McCoo before, both in her capacity as the host of Solid Gold back in the 1980s, and of a member of The Fifth Dimension, which is, I think, the only place I had heard of Davis before now.
1982: Eddie Rabbitt, “I Don’t Know Where to Start”
This is a beautiful song in the vein of 1970s folk ballads, with maybe a little country mixed in. I have not heard this one before. But in style and tone it triggers a nostalgic shadow of pre-high school times, which is appropriate.
1987: Donna Allen, “Serious”
This is a very 80s song and associated video. As with the previous two on this list, I *might* have heard it, assuming we turned on the radio in the milking parlor in time to catch the first few songs in the countdown. It’s decent enough, but doesn’t really stand out from other songs like it, though the mid-song rap break is well done.
1992: Shanice featuring Johnny Gill, “Silent Prayer”
I *might* have heard “Silent Prayer” back in the day. Shanice and Gill have beautiful voices, and they work well together, but I didn’t feel much of a sense of recognition.
1997: Montel Jordan, “What’s On Tonight”
This is a beautiful slow-jam, but while I have heard of Montel Jordan (of course!) I can’t say for certain that I have heard “What’s On Tonight.”