Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls"

During the 1990s (and even today), many Adult Contemporary radio stations featured "forgotten" '80s music during specialty lunchtime, weekend or nightly features (like "80s @ 8"). These features highlighted '80s songs from the station's playlist and sprinkled in some "deeper cuts" that weren't part of the radio station's core playlist--such as "West End Girls" from Pet Shop Boys.

Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes & James Ingram "What About Me?"

The year 2017 saw Kenny Rogers wave goodbye to touring with the conclusion of his world farewell tour. Rogers remarkable career spans nearly 60 years...beginning with "That Crazy Feeling" in 1957. By the 1970s, Rogers etched his name in the history books as his music dominated the Country Music, Hot 100, and Adult Contemporary Charts. The list of artists connected to his 1984 hit "What About Me?" also spans multiple formats, genres and generations. Rogers originally enlisted Barbara Streisand and Lionel Richie to be part of the song, but both dropped out. Then came Jeffrey Osborne and Olivia Newton-John, who both had scheduling conflicts. Rogers settled on Kim Carnes and James Ingram, and the trio turned the ballad into Rogers final #1 hit on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Elton John "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

One of the main reasons Elton John agreed to sing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" was to introduce his music to a new generation. In that regard, he succeeded. However, The Lion King marked a turning point in Elton's musical career. He went on to sing songs during the latter half of the '90s for soundtracks to animated movies like Aida and The Road to El Dorado. Most longtime fans point out that Elton's music from The Lion King and beyond is what they don't want to hear whether it be on the radio or in concert. One look at set lists for Elton's live shows and you'll rarely see any of his music released in the '90s and beyond. Fun fact: Rick Astley provided backup vocals on the tune.

Rod Stewart "Forever Young"

"Forever Young" rates as one of Rod Stewart's personal favorites. The song pays homage to Stewart's oldest children who grew up while Rod was out on the road touring. The song reached #12 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1988 -- becoming a staple on Adult Contemporary radio stations for the remainder of the 20th century. The one place "Forever Young" never became a hit...is Rod's home. Strangely, the song never found success in the U.K. (only peaking at #57).

Marc Anthony "My Baby You"

Marc Anthony was red hot in 2000 thanks to the success of his self-entitled album. The album was Marc's first album of English songs and contained hits like "You Sang to Me" and "I Need to Know". "My Baby You" was the album's fourth single.

Eddie Rabbitt "Drivin' My Life Away"

People who tend to say they "like all music except for country" -- well, those folks should give Eddie Rabbitt's "Drivin' My Life Away" a listen. The catchy 1980 tune helped Rabbitt crossover from Country to Mainstream music. This move set him up for follow-up soft rock hits "I Love A Rainy Night" and the duet "You & I".

Hanson "Where's the Love"

Riding the wave of "MMMBop", the pop band Hanson released the song "Where's the Love" in late-1997. Today, the three brothers of Hanson continue making music some 25-plus years after the mega-success of their debut album, Middle of Nowhere.

Jennifer Warnes "Right Time of the Night"

Game shows such as The Newlywed Game coined the term "making whoopie" to describe intimate relations between two people. For soap operas and music, the term "making love" found its way into dialog and lyrics (like those in Jennifer Warnes' hit ballad "Right Time of the Night").

Toad the Wet Sprocket "All I Want"

There's nothing overly-special about "All I Want" other than the band's name Toad the Wet Sprocket.  That aside, the song is quick, catchy and became one of 1992's most popular songs on the radio.

Steve Perry "Oh Sherrie"

Music is responsible for the naming of children all across the world: many girls got the name Mandy thanks to Barry Manilow or Brandy thanks to the song from Looking Glass.  But we mustn't forget all the ladies whose parents loved Steve Perry and gave their daughters the name Sherrie..

Rod Stewart "Rhythm of My Heart"

While songs like "Despacito" and "Wild Things" from DJ Khaled top the Hot 100 Chart in August 2017, things sounded much different in the Spring of 1991.  For example, the Hot 100 that year not only featured music from The Simpsons but also Rod Stewart's "Rhythm of My Heart".

Huey Lewis & The News "Perfect World"

Huey Lewis' career extended well past 1988, yet that was the last year the pop-rock band charted a Top 10 single.  Huey and the boys did it with the brassy and reggae-filled song "Perfect World" -- a song that peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 (#2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart).  

Culture Club "It's A Miracle"

With a funky beat, "It's A Miracle" from Culture Club quickly became yet another hit from Culture Club.  The song was the group's fifth single from their Colour By Numbers album.

Andrew Gold - "Thank You For Being A Friend"

I produced a morning radio show in 2003 that was one of the toughest gigs of my career.  Management micro-managed the show from its inception...and for good reason.  After recognizing the show wasn't clicking (with listeners and with the hosts), they changed the direction of the show from personality-driven to a music-intensive morning show with a couple short breaks each hour for content.  We adhered to an eight-song per hour rule--meaning that we had to play eight songs every hour and, if we had time, could use the left-over time for content.

During one morning, the hosts discussed the previous night's Lifetime reunion special of The Golden Girls.  After talking about how they felt there was something missing from the TV special, it finally hit me: the famous Golden Girl's theme song was missing.  I quickly chimed in and shared my thoughts and the conversation ended.  About an hour later, a woman dialed up our station's studio line and introduced herself as Cindy Fee.  She explained that a friend of hers was listening to our station and heard us talking about her.  I told her that maybe she had our station mixed up with our sister station, The Mix, as we always received phone calls from people wanting to chime in on whatever topic The Mix was discussing.  Miss Fee said that she had the correct station and identified herself as the singer of "Thank You For Being A Friend"--more commonly known as the theme song to The Golden Girls.  I quickly Googled "Cindy Fee" to see if her story checked out, and it did.  Not only did Cindy sing the song that Andrew Gold made a hit in 1978, but she also lived in nearby Oak Park, Illinois and still performed with a jazz band.  We put Cindy on the air and she bravely belted out "Thank You For Being A Friend"...over the phone...at 8:50 A.M.  It was one of those "oh wow" moments that I'll never forget for multiple reasons--for one, I realized people outside of our tiny radio studio were actually listening.

Paul Young - "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted"

The Fried Green Tomatoes Soundtrack included Paul Young's take on the old Jimmy Ruffin song, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted".  It was one of Young's biggest hits--along with "Oh Girl" and "Every Time You Go Away".