In Memoriam: Chris Stufflestreet

Before diving into the top 100, I have something much more important to write about.  On September 19th of last year, the music and baseball card blogging communities lost one of their finest contributors, as Chris Stufflestreet passed away at the age of 39.  I should have acknowledged his death on the 1985 blog, but I was a little slow in getting the news.

Chris was the author of four terrific blogs.  Among them were two decade-themed music blogs, 80s Music Mayhem and 70s Music Mayhem.  He also wrote two baseball card-themed blogs (another favorite hobby of mine), 1973 Topps Photography and Vintage Sports Cards.

Chris was one of the greatest early supporters of my 1985 music videos blog.  As I was just starting out and trying to build an audience, he was the first person to post feedback and did so regularly.  I was always excited to get a comment from him when I would post about videos, as he would share his personal recollections and feelings.  His encouragement was a major factor in my enthusiasm to keep the blog going.

He also inspired me to be a better and more accurate writer.  In his first-ever comment on my blog, he responsed to my assertion that Katrina & The Waves was a one-hit wonder by correctly pointing out that the band actually had two other top 40 hits, one that peaked all the way up at #37.  I loved that he would dive deep into the charts to profile minor songs and give them respect.  He would also diplomatically correct me when I screwed up on reporting where a song ranked on the charts.

Since Chris scheduled blog posts for the future, his writings continued to appear after his death. 
It is fitting that his final blog post on 80s Music Mayhem turned out to be Jimmy Buffett's "Juicy Fruit", a novelty song that peaked at #45 in 1983.  The lyrics include: "Chew a little juicy fruit....it's good for the soul". 

Similarly, Chris's passionate and knowledgeable writing style was also good for the soul.  Rest in peace, sir.

Dancing On The Ceiling (Unranked)

Artist: Lionel Richie
Album: Dancing On The Ceiling
Video: From YouTube.

Another video that surprisingly missed the top 100 was Lionel Richie's "Dancing On The Ceiling".  Aside from the songs I featured previously, this was the only one to miss the top 100 despite peaking at #3 or higher in BOTH the Billboard Hot 100 and the MTV weekly countdown.

But honestly, who cares?

Hip To Be Square (Unranked)

Artist: Huey Lewis & The News
Album: Fore!
Video: From DailyMotion.

“Hip To Be Square” is a case study in irony.  Before this song, hipness and squareness were widely considered to be two completely different states of being.  But in the turbulent 80’s these opposing concepts became one and the same, as Huey Lewis & The News point out in this gripping social commentary.

Don’t believe me?  Well, 4 out of 5 serial killers agree. 

And this was another video that was gypped out of a spot in the MTV Top 100 of 1986.  It was a commercially successful song, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  On the MTV Top 20 video countdown it peaked at #4, holding that position for three weeks.  It spent nine weeks on the countdown.  No other video was on the weekly top 20 for that long and missed the year end top 100. 

It is surprising, because Huey Lewis & The News was at the height of its popularity.  “Sports” was one of the top selling albums of 1984, largely due to its videos being in heavy rotation on MTV.  The follow up album “Fore!” was just as strong with five top ten singles in all, and both albums reached #1 on the Billboard charts. 

So why the omission?  Very likely another victim of a late year debut, like “The Way It Is”.  It didn't reach its peak popularity until December.  But while Hornsby’s hit was ultimately rewarded with a spot on an all-time MTV Top 100 list, “Hip To Be Square” was left out in the cold.  No excuses though, MTV goofed up.

The video should not be watched by people who suffer from epileptic seizures.  It features tight facial shots of the band members, mostly Huey, usually about three inches from the camera.  Lots of nostril action.

The Way It Is (Unranked)

Artist: Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Album: The Way It Is
Video: From YouTube.

The first single ever released by Bruce Hornsby & The Range was a protest song against social injustice.  They could just as easily have been protesting their lack of inclusion in MTV's Top 100 countdown of 1986.  Plain and simple, they got screwed.

On December 13, 1986, "The Way It Is" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The previous evening, the video ascended to #1 on the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown, in the midst of a ten week run on that chart.  It was one of only twenty songs to reach the top of the MTV countdown and spend at least ten weeks in the top 20.  But it did not crack the top 100 for the year.  Ex-squeeze me?  A baking powder?

The easiest explanation is the late December peak.  You can imagine that the list had to be just about ready for broadcast at that time, and maybe MTV was just too lazy to update it.  Or they forgot, or whatever.  It didn't prevent the Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian" from snagging the #55 spot on the year-end countdown.  That song didn't hit #1 on the Billboard chart until December 20, 1986.

But in general, it's not uncommon for late December hits to get the shaft on the year-end countdown.  Madonna's "Like A Virgin" and Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" spent the last two weeks of 1984 and 1985, respectively, at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and those songs checked in way down at #91 and #90 on the year-end list.  Respectively.  But not respectfully.

And it's a lowdown dirty shame, because "The Way It Is" deserved a better fate.  Hornsby delivers some terrific moments on the piano, and the video is pretty cool with some nice aerial shots of the band on a big open stage.  The close-ups on Hornsby's fingers during his piano solo are also quite nifty.  And the song has aged well, having been heavily sampled by other artists, most notably Tupac Shakur in "Changes".

As a postscript, MTV apparently realized its error in the 1986 countdown.  When they broadcast a "Top 100 Videos of All-Time" countdown in early 1987, guess what video came in at #80.  There is still a lot of social injustice in the world, but maybe it's not always true that "some things never change".  Or something like that.

Where Did The Top 100 Come From?

This turns out to be a rhetorical question on the level of "why is the sky blue" and "how much product was in Mark Goodman's hair".  But we can attempt to attack the question logically.  If we start with the basic premise that #1 is supposed to be the best, and #100 is...well, not the worst, because many videos don't even make the list.  But what determines where a video is ranked?  Monkeys picking numbers out of a hat?  The process can be baffling, as I've previously ranted about in my 1985 countdown blog.

However, we are not walking blindly in the jungle.  Evidence exists which implies that the year-end countdown was at least partially based on MTV's weekly top 20 video countdown, which aired on Friday nights.  Generally speaking, the more successful a video's overall performance on the weekly countdown (in both peak position and longevity), the higher the video will rank in the year-end countdown.  With some notable exceptions as we will see.

It is difficult to assess whether the ranking of a particular video is fair, because official records of the weekly top 20 video countdowns do not exist.  Until some ex-MTV intern from back in the day cleans out their garage and publishes the original lists, we're out of luck.  Fortunately, there are dedicated archivists publishing amazing MTV chart research on the interwebs.

The music website UK Mix hosts a chat forum dedicated to the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown.  Within this forum exists some of the only surviving evidence of MTV Top 20 chart performance.  Some chart results are taken from old Rolling Stone magazines, and some from the detailed handwritten notes of scholarly MTV enthusiasts.  Some of the results shared are estimates, but considering the attention to detail, I have come to trust the results more often than not.

I owe a debt of gratitude to this forum, particularly a participant who goes by the name of "mrpenpen", who I believe to be the world's leading authority on the week to week placement of videos in the MTV Top 20 countdown during the mid-'80s.  It would have been impossible to analyze the integrity of the year-end Top 100 countdown without this resource.  Thank you all at UK Mix, your painstaking efforts have not been in vain.

And so it begins...

At the end of 1985, MTV counted down the top 100 videos of the year.  And I created this blog in response.

At the end of 1986, once again, MTV counted down the top 100 videos of the year.

And once again, here we are.

1986 was a wild year in music.  Get ready for chaos and controversy. 

For those of you who hate surprises, here is the Top 100 list.  Oh yeah, we're gonna get into it.

There are some surprising placements, as we've come to expect from MTV.  And some startling omissions.  In fact, should you lean back in your chair as you read what follows, you may find yourself literally toppling over from the shock.

Get your popcorn ready.