Just a small town girl livin' in a lonely world

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.  

1981 : Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

This is an interesting one because I was very into music in the early 80s but, at the time, I was completely unaware this track existed.  My current belief is that this took the year solely due to the Glee version which is, and this very much isn't always the case for Glee versions, arguably an improvement on the original.  Before Glee came along, I'm not aware this country paid this song the slightest bit of attention - it will be interesting to see if that's the case.

Wikipedia tells me it's 4:11 of Californian rawk (and I have to admit it's pretty fine rawk) which came about initially from some ideas from Jonathan Cain, who had only recently joined the group following the departure of their original keyboardist.  He was struggling to complete the song, so everyone got involved - and I think it's safe to say it's been their signature track ever since.  It should be noted that they were pretty successful over the pond for quite a few years given that they had five US top ten albums in the 80s - it must have been the haircuts that did it for everyone.

Before we get into exactly how successful the song was, let's give you a couple of interesting facts about it.  It has an interesting composition because the chorus doesn't appear until 50 seconds from the end - and from that point on, it's the only thing we hear.  It's also amusing because the city boy in the song is "born and raised in South Detroit".  However, as far as Americans are concerned, there's actually no such place as South Detroit - because Canada is south of Detroit (but it sounded better, so they went with it anyway).

So, was its success all down to Glee?  Well - definitely not in the US because it got to #9 in the charts at the time and sold over a million copes.  However, over here it only got to #62 (and sold a few less than a million).  It continued to enjoy a reasonable amount of airplay in the US over the years, but disappeared from trace here until it re-entered the chart at #92 in '07.  And since Glee didn't air until '09, it turns out that wasn't the reason, which I did know but I'd completely forgotten - it was the song playing on the jukebox for the final scene in The Sopranos final episode (and for such a cultural highpoint, it's weird that Wikipedia really only mentions it in passing).  Further internet research tells me that David Chase chose it as the song because he played it to a load of people and they all hated it - which was enough to convince him it had to be the one.

After sneaking back into the UK chart in '07, it then appeared in every year from '09-'13 including a 66 week run - so it's fair to say Glee had a slightly larger impact over here than The Sopranos did.  And boy has it done well - it's the most successful song globally from the 20th century based on digital downloads, having sold 7 million copies in the US and 3 million copies here.  Which is a lot of copies!

Other factors which have helped maintained its popularity are its appropriateness for sporting occasions, with the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Red Wings and San Franscisco Giants all claiming it has a special place in their hearts.  It's also the closing number for the jukebox musical Rock Of Ages, which I was somewhat surprised to see was made into a film starring Tom Cruise - and there aren't many of his films that fly under the radar.  Amusingly, Wikipedia notes it was a "box office bomb" failing to make money but also "the film still has the seventh-highest opening ever for a musical", so it's quite a successful failure.

So - have their been any cover versions of this then?  Well, you're probably thinking there's been at least one given I've mentioned it several times already - and you'd be right, but there isn't just the one Glee version.  Yes, there are actually FOUR different versions and Wikipedia is very proud of itself for giving you all the cast members on each version - and I'm very proud of myself for not doing so.  Commercially, this version also did pretty well - top ten in a load of countries, getting to #2 here and #4 in the US.  But - it's still not the most successful version chartwise (over here) with LadBaby having got "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" to the top of the charts as his third Xmas single in 2020.  And, if you think that sounds bad, then I can assure you that the 2010 Big Brother version is far, far, worse.  secondhandsongs.com also offers up versions from Badly Drawn Boy (a much more straightforward version than you'd expect) and Alvin and The Chipmunks (are you expecting me to say nice things about this monstrosity?).

I'm not surprised this has taken the year, but I suspect the competition will throw up quite a few tracks I prefer.  The best selling track of the year was The Human League's "Don't You Want Me Baby" (selling over a million with five weeks at #1), followed by the equally of-the-time offerings of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and Adam and The Ants "Stand And Deliver" and "Prince Charming" with Shakin' Stevens' "This Ole House" completing the top five in a not-so-much-of-the-time manner.  Other artists in the top ten are Bucks Fizz, Joe Dolce and The Tweets - who said 1981 wasn't cool?!?  

Other tracks that jump out of the chart for me are Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight", Ultravox's "Vienna", Visage's "Fade To Grey", Dire Straits' "Romeo And Juliet", Kim Wilde's "Kids In America", The Teardrop Explodes' "Reward" (I'd completely forgotten about this), Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" (did you know this is a cover?), Hazel O'Connor's "Will You?", The Specials' "Ghost Town", Elaine Paige's "Memory", Spandau Ballet's "Chant #1", Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday", Aneka's "Japanese Boy" (this is odd on so many levels), Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough", Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" (this was very odd on Top Of The Pops), Elvis Costello's "Good Year For The Roses" (another cover), Squeeze's "Labelled With Love", Queen & Bowie's "Under Pressure", Madness' "It Must Be Love" and ABBA's "One Of Us".  Well, that's a peculiar mix and no mistake.

The charts from over the Atlantic don't turn up many great tracks but there are some names on there that take me back - Hall & Oates ("Kiss On My List"), Juice Newton ("Angel Of The Morning" and "Queen Of Hearts"), Pat Benatar and Heart.  And Journey were never one of those names that made it across here for me until somewhat later, but I certainly know of them now.  Well, one track of theirs anyway - but I suspect it's been enough to keep their bank balances topped up and it was certainly enough to give them the year.

1980 - A hat-trick of wins for the lads
1982 - The cheese fest continues