Rod Stewart "How Long"

Never one to shy from remaking a popular song, Rod Stewart scooped up Ace's signature tune "How Long" and took it for a test drive of his own in 1981. Rod's version went on to become more popular (on the Adult Contemporary Chart) as it peaked at #5 as compared to #24 for Ace.

Terri Gibbs "Somebody's Knockin"

Plenty of Country music found its way onto the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1981. Juice Newton, Kenny Rogers, Eddie Rabbitt, Ronnie Milsap, and Rosanne Cash joined Terri Gibbs as successful crossover artists. "Somebody's Knockin" peaked at #3 that year. Later in the '80s, Gibbs turned to Christian music where she found additional success.

Cliff Richard "A Little in Love"

Originally billed as a "rebellious" rock 'n roller in the late-'50s, U.K. singer Harry Rodger Webb later changed his name to Cliff Richard to match his new image in 1980. His catchy "A Little in Love" charted a year after his popular duet "Suddenly" with Olivia Newton-John. Unlike the UK where his music is beloved, he has only found moderate success in the US. One could poorly joke that the US is just a little in love with his music...

Billy Vera & the Beaters "At This Moment"

Fans of the popular radio request show "Love Notes" might want to download the Radio.com app so they can tune into Boston's "The Cove" radio station. Why? The HD-3 station's imaging voice is none other than John Symons -- who hosted "Love Notes" in Columbus and Chicago. You'll hear old-school soft rock favorites such as "At This Moment" from Billy Vera and the Beaters -- as I did when I tuned into The Cove. Originally released in 1981, "At This Moment" caught fire years later when it aired on NBC's Family Ties. In fact, it went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1987 after failing to chart in 1981.

Joel Scarbury "Believe It or Not"

Believe it or not, television theme songs are no strangers to the radio. Think of "I'll Be There for You" from The Rembrants or "The Theme from St. Elsewhere" -- both songs made an impact on radio, particularly Adult Contemporary stations. Joel Scarbury got into the action back in 1981 with the "Theme from the Greatest American Hero: Believe It or Not".

Sheena Easton "For Your Eyes Only"

The theme song to the James Bond flick "For Your Eyes Only" didn't originally belong to Sheena Easton. Bill Conti (who was behind the Rocky Theme) co-wrote the song with the idea of Dusty Springfield or Donna Summer singing the ballad -- but that never happened. Blondie recorded their own version of the song, but it was newcomer Sheena Easton whose version Conti eventually chose for the film.

Franke and the Knockouts "Sweetheart"

Franke and the Knockouts are responsible for the 1981 song "Sweetheart", but also for most of the radio hits from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Lead singer Franke Previte (who sounds like he could be the lead singer of Toto) co-wrote both "Hungry Eyes" and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" which later became hits for Eric Carmen and Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, respectfully.

Paul Schneider "It's Now or Never"

Every family wedding reception features my drunken Uncle Mike grabbing the microphone from the DJ and belting out a rousing rendition of "It's Now or Never". Even with booze, Uncle Mike's version of the classic Elvis Presley tune pales in comparison to the original. Heck, it's not even comparable to the Paul Schneider version. Released in 1981, Schneider (of The Dukes of Hazzard fame) hit the Top 5 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Neil Diamond "Yesterday's Songs"

When was the last time you did a Google search of your own name? One of the first times I ever Googled myself was way back before Google was used as a verb. In doing so, I discovered the remnants of an important reminder: don't screw with Neil Diamond fans. I'll explain...

Back in 2003, we taped an interview with Neil for a morning radio show I produced. The show's host decided that he'd let the female co-host conduct the interview and, once complete, we would splice in questions from the host which Neil would ultimately "ignore". The joke was that Neil didn't like the host and informed us that he would not answer questions from him during said interview. It led to an awkward-sounding back-and-forth between the host, co-host and Neil. Should've been funny, right? Wrong.

After the interview aired, his legions of fans (who heard about the interview from Neil's fan club) tuned in to hear the awkward interview via the radio station's internet stream and were furious. They accused us of faking the interview...but for reasons that weren't even valid. In the interview, Diamond, a Boston Red Sox fan, mentioned the Chicago Cubs and how exciting it was to watch the team in the playoffs (up until the infamous Steve Bartman game of 2003). Diamond's fans claimed the interview was clearly fake because Neil would never talk about the Cubs (spoiler alert: he did!). They also believed Neil would never be mean to someone in an interview (they were right about that part). In doing so, they flooded our radio station with complaint calls and emails and even posted my phone number online. For years following this incident, a simple Google search turned up rants from these angry fans. I am happy to report those pages must have come down because I no longer find it in my search results. Neil Diamond's fans clearly have moved on...

Stacy Lattisaw "I Found Love on a Two-Way Street"

While just 15 years young, Staci Lattisaw found her music all over the radio. Her remake of "I Found Love on a Two-Way Street" made its way onto Adult Contemporary radio in 1981. That song followed a handful of other songs that made their way onto the music charts. The same year James Ingram released "I Don't Have the Heart", Lattisaw also released her take on the song. Unlike Ingram's #1 chart topper, Lattisaw's did not chart.

Air Supply "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)"

Air Supply had a problem on its hands when it released "Here I Am" in 1981. The lyrics (and title) of the ballad were very similar to the band's previous hit "The One That You Love" (with the lyrics: "Here I am the one that you love..."). To remedy this, the Aussie soft rock boys of Air Supply added "Just When I Thought I Was Over You" to the title. Problem solved, right? In 1985, the band released "Just as I Am" to further muddy the waters.

Bob Seger "We've Got Tonite"

Nine episodes after Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper split up on The Wonder Years episode Heartbreak, comes another touching episode, The Accident. During The Accident, Kevin notices a shift in Winnie's behavior from "trying to fit in" to "really trying to fit in when you know damn well that no one at your new school gets you".

It all begins when Kevin sees Winnie standing in front of her old house on his street. Winnie then peppers Kevin with questions about the new family that moved into her old house. Later, she again shows up at Kevin's house unannounced and asks Kevin to talk, but then doesn't really talk about anything beyond pleasantries. The young Miss Cooper also keeps fraternizing with 11th graders at the roller rink--much to Kevin's chagrin. Every time Kevin approaches Winnie, he senses she's bothered and seems out of place. Ultimately her hanging out with older dudes leads to her involvement in a car accident where she breaks her leg. Once Kevin learns of Winnie's injuries, he rushes to be with her. The problem is: she doesn't want to see him. After Winnie's parents shoo Kevin away, Kevin pretends to leave but then embraces his inner Romeo and climbs onto the Cooper's roof to see his Juliet. As he reaches Winnie's second-floor bedroom window, he watches as Winnie's mom tucks Winnie into bed. After she exits her bedroom, Winnie finally notices Kevin's face pasted to her bedroom window. After an awkward moment of staring, Kevin mouths. "I love you" to Winnie...who reciprocates. *Swoon* All the while, Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonite" plays the episode to a close.

More changes are in store for these young teenagers as, two episodes later, Kevin and Winnie graduate from middle school and in the fall will begin Season Five of The Wonder Years reunited in high school.

Human League "Don't You Want Me"

Many Brits received the gift of music for Christmas back 1981. Human League's "Don't You Want Me" was the top song during the week of Christmas back in 1981. The song made its way to the States in 1982 where it again went to #1 for three weeks.

Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight"

While out boating with friends, Phil Collins watched helplessly as one of the friends fell off their boat and into the angry waters of the night. Since Phil couldn't swim, he called upon a man standing on a nearby dock for help. Instead of helping, the man did nothing. They all watched as this man drowned. Years later, Phil released his first solo hit "In the Air Tonight" which details that fateful evening. In the front row of the crowd during one of Phil's concerts is the man from the dock who stood by while Phil's friend drowned. Phil invited that man to the show in order to out him. After performing the song, Phil announced to the crowd what the man had done (and not done). This story is a long-running myth and is 100% false. The only truth in the above paragraph is simply that "In the Air Tonight" was Phil's first solo hit. I remember first hearing the story from my mom's boyfriend in 1993. Nearly a week ago, my friend John sent me a text telling me how he just shared the story behind "In the Air Tonight" with a group of fellow boaters and how freaked out they were. Imagine how they're gonna feel when someone informs them that the story isn't true. Well then what is the haunting tune actually about? Collins said the song roughly details his feelings while going through a divorce with his first wife.

Commodores "Oh No"

Jokes that definitely wouldn't work today: in a scene from the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation, Clark Griswold gets lost driving his family from Chicago to a fictional theme park in California called Walley World. He somehow ends up in South St. Louis, Illinois where he seeks directions back to the highway. The Griswolds drive past numerous burnt-out cars and buildings and various stereotypical African-American characters before a basketball-carrying local offers to help (provided Clark pays him $5). The local ultimately gives him directions to another car where "Jack", his cousin, will help him get back to the highway. While this is happening, the hubcaps from the Griswold's Family Truckster get removed. It's then when Clark's son, Rusty, asks: "I wonder if these guys know the Commodores?". Many years later, the movie's director and former-Ghostbuster, Harold Ramis, apologized for the infamous scene. He explained, "The scene was supposed to be about prejudice, when in fact it is prejudiced."

Phil Collins "I Missed Again"

Think of the artists whose music made a lasting impact on your life. Your list likely is quite long and has deep memories rooted within each song or artist. For me, I would include the Doobie Brothers, Radiohead, Ray LaMontagne, Stevie Wonder, and Phil Collins. In the case of Collins', his music was EVERYWHERE during my lifetime. In 2003, I had the opportunity to see and meet Phil when he toured in Chicago...but I missed it. While working as a radio morning show producer, I had two weeks of vacation that year and one of those weeks happened to coincide with Phil's tour. When news of his Not Dead Yet Tour broke in 2017, my colleague Lisa and I sprung into action once he announced a Chicago date. It's taken 15 years, but today I am finally going to see Phil. His Not Dead Yet, Live! tour pulls into Chicago's United Center tonight.

Hall & Oates "Kiss on My List"

"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry I kissed your wife.""It's OK. I kinda enjoyed it."

After getting cast in a Second City show, I played a collection of bizarre characters including a former Hootie & the Blowfish roadie, a hapless motivational speaker, and a man who got turned on by things that should turn normal people off. When paging through the scripts during our first rehearsal, I noticed that my character (who got turned on by weird stuff) had to kiss the female character. Wait. What? As much as I liked Jackie, the girl who co-starred with me in that scene, I felt awkward even thinking of kissing her. She was nearly ten years older than me, married with twin boys and the only other actor in the show with whom I clicked. At the time, I had a live-in girlfriend who pushed me to take improv classes at Second City and, thus, audition for this part. Awkward!

Jackie and I approached our director and asked if we could not kiss. His response was something along the lines of: "We're all actors here who are acting--you'll be fine". Actors? I was bored with my job and used Second City as a way to scratch my creative itch--I didn't consider myself an actor, but that wasn't the issue. During rehearsals and for 5 weeks worth of shows, I'd have to kiss someone who wasn't my girlfriend. Eventually, we both got over trepidation and just went with it. I realized it was the first time I kissed someone other than my girlfriend in, well, years. It was weird yet kind of cool, but still weird.

After the final show, the entire cast got together for a wrap party where I finally met Jackie's husband. That's when the exchange at the top of this post happened. For weeks I built up how our meeting would go and never once did I think I would apologize for having to kiss his wife and be told "It's OK. I kinda enjoyed it." Allllrighty, then. Early on during rehearsals, I do recall Jackie mentioning that her husband jokingly told her that he was somewhat turned on at the thought of her kissing me during the show, but I dismissed it. To each his own, right? The entire experience at Second City remains one of my favorite achievements in life (and the kiss wasn't bad, either)...

Moody Blues "The Voice"

Before the internet, rarely did you know what a radio disc jockey looked like unless you went to a station event. Once all radio stations added websites, the curtain that most DJs hid behind finally lifted. Listeners finally got to match the voice to the face. With all due respect, people never look like how we envision. In one instance, a story floated around the radio station I worked in the early-2000s that station bosses refused to put photos of the DJs on the station's new website because one particular DJ had the proverbial "face for radio". To this day, I still don't know who this person is (or even if the story is true).

.38 Special "Hold on Loosely"

Answering the question, "What was the 13th video played on MTV?" is "Hold on Loosely" from .38 Special. The rock-tune aired during MTV's first day on the air: August 1, 1981.

Grover Washington Jr. "Just the Two of Us"

Rarely do children look forward to their parents talking about their job each night over the dinner table, but in one instance we did. My mother worked for a doctor's office and one of the doctor's friends named "Grover" would call into the office demanding to speak to the doctor. My mom usually answered the phones and had the pleasure of speaking to Grover. She said the conversation followed the same script with every phone call.

(phone rings) "Good morning, doctor's office."

"Hello. May I speak with the doctor. This is Grover. G-R-O-V-E-R, Grover."
"Grover?"
"Yes, Grover. G-R-O-V-E-R, Grover!"