Adult Contemporary is a chart published by Billboard ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 1980, 20 songs topped the chart, based on playlists submitted by radio stations. [1]
The first number one of the year was "Send One Your Love" by Stevie Wonder, which retained its position from the final chart of 1979, [2] and held the top spot for the first two weeks of 1980. In the issue of Billboard dated January 19, it was replaced at number one by "Déjà Vu" by Dionne Warwick, who would return to the number one position in the fall with "No Night So Long" and was the only act to achieve more than one AC chart-topper in 1980. Solo vocalists dominated the top of the chart during the year; male soloists spent 21 weeks at number one and female soloists 20 weeks. The remainder of the year featured a duet between female singer Teri DeSario and KC, lead vocalist of KC and the Sunshine Band, and just two chart-toppers by groups. Three of the year's AC number ones also topped Billboard's all-genres chart, the Hot 100: "Woman in Love" by Barbra Streisand, [3] Olivia Newton-John's "Magic", [4] and "Lady" by Kenny Rogers. [5] "Lady", written by Lionel Richie, was a triple chart-topper for Rogers, as it also reached number one on the Hot Country Singles listing. [5]
Four songs tied for the longest unbroken run at number one during the year, each spending five weeks in the top spot. "Lost in Love" by Air Supply was the first to achieve the feat in April and May, and was immediately followed at the top of the chart by "The Rose" by Bette Midler, which held the position for the same length of time. Midler's song came from the film of the same name, in which she played a self-destructive rock star based loosely on Janis Joplin, [6] and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. [7] Later in the year two other female vocalists had five-week runs at number one: Olivia Newton-John with "Magic" and Barbra Streisand with "Woman in Love". "Lost in Love" by Air Supply also had a separate spell of a single week at number one, and its total of six weeks atop the chart was the most by a song during the year and meant that Air Supply had the highest total number of weeks in the top spot by an act in 1980. A second track to have two spells at number one was "Give It All You Got" by jazz trumpeter Chuck Mangione, the official theme tune of the 1980 Winter Olympics. [8] The final AC number one of the year was "More Than I Can Say" by British vocalist Leo Sayer.
Indicates best-performing AC song of 1980 [9] |
"The Way We Were" is a song recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand for her fifteenth studio album, The Way We Were (1974). It was physically released as the record's lead single on September 27, 1973 through Columbia Records. The 7" single was distributed in two different formats, with the standard edition featuring B-side track "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" and the Mexico release including an instrumental B-side instead. The recording was written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch, while production was solely handled by Marty Paich. "The Way We Were" was specifically produced for the record, in addition to three other tracks, including her then-upcoming single "All in Love Is Fair" (1974).
"Evergreen" is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams, and arranged by Ian Freebairn-Smith. The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born.
Barbra Streisand is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and author. Her discography consists of 117 singles, 36 studio albums, and 9 compilations, 7 live albums and 15 soundtracks. She is one of the best-selling female music artist of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States and a total of 145 million records sold worldwide, making her the best-selling female among the top-selling artists in the United States recognized by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"No More Tears " is a 1979 song recorded as a duet by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Gary Klein.
"Woman in Love" is a song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album, Guilty. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, who received the 1980 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. It is her fourth of four Platinum records, and is considered her greatest international hit.
A Collection: Greatest Hits...and More is the third greatest hits album recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand. It was released on October 3, 1989 by Columbia Records. The compilation features ten songs from Streisand's career, dating from 1975 to 1988, plus two previously unreleased songs: "We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" was released as the album's lead single on September 14, 1989, and "Someone That I Used to Love" was distributed as the second and final one in 1989. Both singles charted on several record charts internationally.
Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Volume 2 is the second greatest hits album recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand. It was released on November 15, 1978 by Columbia Records. The album is a compilation consisting of ten commercially successful singles from the singer's releases in the 1970s, with a majority of them being cover songs. It also features a new version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", which was released as the collection's only single on October 7, 1978. Originating on Streisand's previous album, Songbird, the new rendition is a duet with Neil Diamond who had also recorded the song for his 1978 album of the same name. The idea for the duet originated from DJ Gary Guthrie who sold the idea to the record label for $5 million.
"The Way He Makes Me Feel" is a popular song from 1983 performed by Barbra Streisand. The song is featured in the film adaptation of the play Yentl, in which Streisand starred and sang most of the music. The lyrics were written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, with music by Michel Legrand.
"My Heart Belongs to Me" is a popular song from 1977. It was originally performed by the songwriter, Alan Gordon, but the more famous version of the song was recorded by American singer and actress Barbra Streisand.
"Songbird" is the title track and first single released from Barbra Streisand's 1978 album Songbird. It was written by Dave Wolfert and Steve Nelson and produced by Gary Klein.
"Didn't We" is a song recorded by Irish singer and actor Richard Harris for his debut studio album, A Tramp Shining (1968). It was written and produced by Jimmy Webb and originally served as the B-side to Harris' 1968 single "MacArthur Park". "Didn't We" was then distributed as the record's single by Dunhill Records, also in 1968. A traditional pop song, Harris sings about his life in the past. Commercially, it charted at lower positions of both the United States and Canada, and in the higher ranks of their Adult Contemporary component charts. Harris featured "Didn't We" on several of his greatest hits albums, including The Richard Harris Collection: His Greatest Performances from 1973. That same year, the song was reissued as a promotional single paired alongside his 1971 single "My Boy".
"How Lucky Can You Get" is a song recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand for the official soundtrack to the 1975 film Funny Lady. It was released as a 7" single in April 1975 through Arista Records. The song was written by Fred Ebb and John Kander, while production was handled by Peter Matz. "How Lucky Can You Get" is one of the new songs on the soundtrack, with its origins coming from Fanny Brice, the character Streisand portrays in the aforementioned film. The music pertains to Brice herself, particularly the sarcastic nature of the lyrics that are accompanied by an "insistent" melody and production. It was suggested that the pattern of the lyrics may have been influenced by Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera, La bohème.