While Dr. J was moving into 4th place in the all-time NBA scorers, Cyndi Lauper was winning the Best New Artist Grammy and the Dow was hitting another record high, these were the top 10 rock albums we had cranking in our Walkmen:
10. Wheels Are Turnin' - REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon struck gold once again with their tenth album, Wheels Are Turnin’ (no G!) It’s the #10 rock album on this week’s countdown and it features one of the band’s biggest songs:
9. Tropico - Pat Benatar
This has to be memorable album for Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. While filming a video for one of the album’s tracks, they found out they were expecting their first child! The album was Tropico and it was #9 on February 23, 1985.
8. Sports - Huey Lewis And the News
Huey Lewis came up with the idea for this song when he was being driven to his lawyer’s office! He had all the lyrics, but needed the right music to fit. His lead guitarist, Chris Hayes came up with the music, and the classic opening riff on “I Want A New Drug.” It’s taken from Sports, our #8 rock album on the Thursday Top 10- Countdown.
7. Beverly Hills Cop - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
We include this soundtrack album on our rock album countdown list, because it contains a GREAT song by Glenn Frey. It’s “:The Heat Is On,” and it’s from the #7 album on February 23, 1985, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to “Beverly Hills Cop.”
6. Volume One - The Honeydrippers
It’s fitting this would appear on the countdown, on the day Robert Plant is featured on our MGK Top 20 Greatest Singers today. It’s the one and only album by his side project with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, The Honeydrippers, called Volume One. It peaked at #5, and drops one to #6 on the countdown this week.
5. Building The Perfect Beast - Don Henley
Don Henley’s second solo album remains his biggest seller as a solo artist. Building The Perfect Beast peaked here at #5 on February 23, 1985.
4. Centerfield - John Fogerty
With spring training underway, it’s nice to have this album in the countdown, John Fogerty’s third solo album, Centerfield. It’s the #4 rock album on MGK’s Thursday Top 10 Countdown.
3. Reckless - Bryan Adams
In all the years of releases to come out of Canada, it took Bryan Adams’ Reckless to be the first album to sell a million copies up there. It did pretty well here, too, selling over 5 million copies! On February 23, 1985, it was #3.
2. Agent Provocateur - Foreigner
Mick Jones of Foreigner said he has no idea where this song idea came from. The only thing he DOES know is he wrote it at three o’clock in the morning, and it was one of Foreigner’s biggest songs. “I Want To Know What Love Is” is from the #2 rock album on the countdown, Agent Provocateur.
1. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Topping the charts this week is the landmark release by one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters. The album, his seventh, was three years in the making, and not only hit #1 but spawned seven top 10 singles and has gone on to sell over 17 million copies in the U.S. alone! #1 on February 23, 1985 was Born In the USA by Bruce Springsteen.
Catch the Thursday Top 10 Countdown Thursdays at 5, and again Sunday nights at 8, on MGK!