| Billboard Top Hits: 1982 | 
 enlarge | Artist: Various Artists
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $6.98
Buy New: $1.47
You Save: $5.51 (79%)
Buy New/Used from $1.47
Avg. Customer Rating:   (3 reviews)
Sales Rank: 49680
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 70677
UPC: 081227067724
EAN: 0081227067724
ASIN: B0000032KG
Release Date: September 15, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Harden My Heart - Quarterflash | | • | Rosanna - Toto | | • | Eye In The Sky - The Alan Parsons Project | | • | Gloria - Laura Branigan | | • | Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work | | • | Open Arms - Journey | | • | Don't Talk To Strangers - Rick Springfield | | • | Maneater - Daryl Hall & John Oates | | • | Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes | | • | Centerfold - The J. Geils Band |
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| Customer Reviews:
 1982: Heading more in a rock/MTV direction. August 9, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
NOTES: Rhino's Billboard Top Hits series features ten popular songs from a given year. They may not be the exact biggest hits of the year (due to licensing restrictions from some major artists, etc.) but, more or less, provide an accurate snapshot of the year in pop music.
THIS REVIEW IS FOR 1982:
1982 and to a lesser extent '83 were probably the most varied musical years of the '80s simply because we were now in the MTV era of visual bands, but still retained a tiny bit of the past. This particular series again improves on the previous one, featuring much more on the rock side.
1. "Harden My Heart" Quarterflash -- The opener was also their biggest hit, featuring an immediately memorable sax solo as well as confident "I'm gonna get over you"-type lyrics set to a pop/rock beat.
2. "Rosanna" Toto -- The lite arena rock band's first major hit (after 1978's "Hold the Line") mines a similar territory, in the form of an uptempo, rocking love song, only with more synths and keyboards.
3. "Eye in the Sky" Alan Parsons Project -- One of the first songs from the progressive rockers to foray into pop. With its melodic and slightly hypnotic mid tempo sound, I'd call it classic rock lite. At first, I thought it was a love song, but upon closer listen, appears to be about big brother.
4. "Gloria" Laura Branigan -- Her debut (and biggest) hit (although I slightly prefer later hits like "Self Control"). An impossibly catchy dance tune with background guitar and synths about a woman who appears to be on the run. If disco had gone into the 80's, it would most likely sound like this.
5. "Who Can it Be Now" Men at Work -- Yet another breakout hit (I'm seeing a theme here, LOL) from the Aussies. A somewhat Police-esque, unique new wave rocker, about mental illness (although that's disguised by its fun, happy sound).
6. "Open Arms" Journey -- This is not only the premiere arena rock band's biggest hit, but one of the defining power ballad love songs of all time with its yearing sound.
7. "Don't Talk to Strangers" Rick Springfield -- Though this mid tempo keyboard pop/rock song isn't nearly as well-known as "Jessie's Girl" (from the previous year), I actually think it's just as good. The relationship theme comes into play again.
8. "Maneater" Hall & Oates -- Another one of the duo's biggest and best hits, with the semi Motown inspired pop/rocking dance beat.
9. "Up Where we Belong" Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes -- This theatrical and touching duet pop ballad is a definite throwback to the singer-songwriter era, but still is a beautiful song and fits in nicely.
10. "Centerfold" J. Geils Band -- There could hardly be a better way to close the album than with the bluesy band's party rock tribute to, err, centerfolds, which is pop and hard rock based at the same time.
Overall: Even though the majority of these songs are easily available elsewhere, it's a good a place as any to start if you're just building an 80's collection, especially since it gives a better sampling of different styles than many other years.
Since there were so many great songs to come out of '82, it's hard to pinpoint any glaring ommissions, but "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Jack & Diane," "Ebony & Ivory," "White Wedding" and "Somebody's Baby" all come to mind.
 Top 40 radio's last "hurrah". July 8, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I consider 1982 to be the last year of real honest to goodness Top 40 radio. Once we began to slink into the middle of the decade, the quality of your average pop single seemed to begin to slip. This is only an opinion but I think if you'll compare 1981 to 1987 you'll see what I mean. Once we got to the point where half the songs played on the radio belonged to the same "superstar" artists over and over and over (Steve Winwood, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston) it was just so boring to listen to a top 40 station. The diversity was gone and so was the life that pop music had possessed since the early 1960s. I will admit that I think things started to improve again around 89-90 but since that time, radio station program directors are so strict in their respective formats that you have to keep punching the dial from one station to another to hear any kind of variety. But variety still has its' last gasping breaths on this CD which features some of the more popular singles of 1982. Toto, Alan Parsons, Laura Branigan and Men At Work have the highlights.
'82 Revisited July 11, 2000
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an average collection of songs from '82. "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band is a classic and is welcome on any album. Songs like "Gloria", "Harden My Heart" & "Eye In The Sky" are nice additions as they are good songs and you'd never want to purchase complete Laura Branigan, Quarterflash or Alan Parsons to get them. "Maneater" is not one of Hall & Oates better efforts and "Up Where We Belong" is still sappy as ever.
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