70's, 80's 'Feel Good' Music

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"Never Be the Same" is the title of the third single by singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, released from his debut Grammy Award-winning album Christopher Cross. It was the singer's third consecutive single to reach the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at No. 15 in 1980. The song was also a No. 1 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart, remaining there for two weeks.

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Christopher Cross - Never Be The Same​

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℗ 1980 Capitol Records, LLC
Released on: 2004-01-01
Composer Lyricist, Producer: Giorgio Moroder
Recordingarranger: Harold Faltermeyer
Vocalist: Blondie
Lyricist: Deborah Harry

Call Me - Blondie​

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"Cherish" is a song by American R&B band Kool & the Gang, released in May 1985. It was the third single released from the band's 16th studio album, Emergency. The song is a romantic ballad that proved to be extremely popular when it was released and has since been a wedding song staple of sorts.
"Cherish" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and held the number-one position on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks; it would ultimately rank as the biggest adult contemporary song of 1985. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kool & The Gang - Cherish​

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"Kiss and Say Goodbye" is a 1976 song by American R&B vocal group the Manhattans. It was written by group member Winfred Lovett, the bass singer and songwriter of the group, who did the song's spoken introduction. The song was recorded for the album The Manhattans, released in 1976 by Columbia Records, and was released as a single in March of the same year. "Kiss and Say Goodbye" became a worldwide success, appearing in the musical charts of countless countries, a Top 10 hit in many countries, including No. 1 in the US, Belgium, Netherlands, New Zealand, and in Europe (European Hot 100 Singles). With the exception of the Adult Contemporary Chart, "Kiss and Say Goodbye" was ranked number 1 in the US on all pop and R&B singles charts. The song was one of the biggest hits of 1976 and of the 1970s.
The song was written by Manhattans bass singer Winfred "Blue" Lovett, who also provided the spoken introduction heard in both the full-length LP version and the commercial single (but edited out of the DJ 45). The lyrics and melody came to him late one night. As he later recalled, "Everything was there. I got up about three o'clock in the morning and jotted down the things I wanted to say. I just put the words together on my tape recorder and little piano. I've always thought that when you write slow songs, they have to have meaning. In this case, it's the love triangle situation we've all been through. I figured anyone who's been in love could relate to it. And it seemed to touch home for a lot of folks."

The Manhattans - Kiss and Say Goodbye​

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"Have You Seen Her" is a song by American soul vocal group the Chi-Lites, released on Brunswick Records in 1971. Composed by the lead singer Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin, the song was included on the group's 1971 album (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People.

The song begins and ends with a spoken narrator remarking on how he was once happy with a woman; however, she left him, so he passes the days by partaking in leisure activities, where he tries to get relief by telling jokes to the children:

One month ago today
I was happy as a lark
But now I go for walks...​

Much to his dismay, the woman does not return or attempt to communicate with him as he had hoped. The narrator ends the song, in a spoken voice, musing on how foolish he was for believing the woman of his dreams would always be around, thinking that he had her in the palm of his hand. Some radio edits have omitted the spoken dialogue. The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart in November 1971. It also reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1972, and was a UK hit again in 1975 when reissued as a double A-side with "Oh Girl", this time peaking at No. 5.

The Chi-Lites...Have You Seen Her​

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"Give Me the Night" is a song recorded by American jazz and R&B musician George Benson, released in June 1980 by Warner Bros. as the first single from his 18th studio album of the same title (1980). It was written by Heatwave's keyboard player Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. Patti Austin provides the backing and scat vocals that are heard throughout, and one of Benson's fellow jazz guitarists, Lee Ritenour, also performs on the track.
The song was a commercial success, and was Benson's first single to hit number one on the US Billboard Soul Singles chart, where it spent three weeks. It also peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it his most successful pop entry. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Disco Singles chart and at number seven in the UK Singles Chart, where it ties with "In Your Eyes" as his highest charting single.
The music video for "Give Me the Night" featured Benson performing the song both on stage with a band and on roller skates on the Venice Beach Boardwalk in Los Angeles under the sunset skies. In a 2024 interview with Spin, Benson saw the roller skaters nearby and asked his manager where his roller skates are. His manager was hesitant in order for Benson to not injure himself.
Benson insisted on filming the music video in roller skates and playing guitar simultaneously: "Nobody here can beat me skating, that’s why. Your problem is that you think about falling. When I skate, I’m just thinking about skating. That doesn’t mean I never fall. I just never think about it. I just skate."

George Benson - Give Me The Night​

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"My Eyes Adored You" is a 1974 song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000. After rejections by Capitol and Atlantic Records, Valli succeeded in getting the recording released on Private Stock Records, but the owner/founder of the label, Larry Uttal, wanted only Valli's name on the label. The record features the full group, marking the debut of Gerry Polci on tenor (harmony) vocals, with Joe Long taking lead on the final chorus. It is from the album Closeup. The Seasons debuted the song in late September 1974 at the Tulsa State Fair for an episode of The Midnight Special ahead of its release as a single in the US in November 1974; it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975. "My Eyes Adored You" also went to number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1975.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - My Eyes Adored You​

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"Suddenly" is a duet performed by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard from the soundtrack Xanadu, and is the love theme from the 1980 film of the same name. It was written and produced by John Farrar.
"Suddenly" reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1980 and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 1981. It finished the year as number 91 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1981. It was also a major Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number four. The music video shows Newton-John and Richard in a penthouse singing the song to each other, taken from her ABC TV special "Hollywood Nights" that aired before the 52nd Academy Awards on April 14, 1980.

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Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard - Suddenly​

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"Freedom" is a 1984 song by English pop duo Wham! from their album Make It Big, released on 1 October 1984. It became the group's second number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and reached number three in America. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo.
Wham! had already enjoyed a successful 1984 by the time "Freedom" was released in October of the year. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" had given them their first UK number one and had then reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Michael had then gone to number one with a solo single, "Careless Whisper".
"Freedom" was number one in the UK for three weeks, and featured on the album Make It Big, which was issued at the same time. "Freedom" was the 10th biggest-selling single of 1984.This song also reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in September 1985
The melody of the song's chorus was used by Michael as an introduction to his song, "Faith", played on a church organ.
A reworked version of the song with altered lyrics (but still performed by the duo) was used to promote Maxell's line of audio cassettes in 1984.
When the single was released in the United States, the song was remixed and extended an extra 20 seconds. The remix involved the vocals being given more reverb and the organ sounds being higher up in the mix. The extension involved a new trumpet section and added vocals. The section had first been heard in The Big Tour to close the number.
The music video, coinciding with the 1985 US release, features the band touring around Beijing, China. Their visit to the nation was significant because they were the first Western pop band to play in China.
The American remix was later included on The Final and later, the greatest hits compilation album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There.... However, the original version was included on the US release of Make It Big.

Wham! - Freedom​

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"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" is the debut single by English pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released on 11 June 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
"Wham Rap!" was the first song written by Michael and Ridgeley following the breakup of their previous band, the Executive, but before Wham! had been fully established. The genesis of the song began in 1981 and was a result of Ridgeley making up his own words ("Wham! Bam! I am the man!") while dancing to "Rapper's Delight" with Michael and Shirlie Holliman in Bogart's nightclub in South Harrow. As they continued to work on the song an ultimatum to Michael from his father inspired the line "Get yourself a job or get out of this house". A demo of "Wham Rap!" was recorded by local music producer Paul Mex on 18 January 1982 along with "Careless Whisper" on Mex's TEAC 4-track Portastudio, with the resulting 2-song demo tape gaining Wham! their record contract with Innervision Records some weeks later. Innervision quickly arranged for a proper demo of the song to be recorded at Halligan Band Centre in Holloway (on 24 March 1982) using session musicians on bass and drums, which was then used by Michael and Ridgeley as a backing track for promotional performances at various nightclubs in preparation for their debut release.
The music video was filmed in London in February 1983 after the single was re-issued. The video shows Michael and Ridgeley as two unemployed youths who were spending their time teaching one another on how to live their life while roaming about the streets of London. They wear leather jackets, combining their moody image with a bright, effervescent choreography.
The two are joined by Shirlie Holliman, Dee C. Lee, and their band in front of a white background with red letters reading 'WHAM!'. It is here that the group practises dance routines accompanied by background dancers.

Wham! - Wham Rap!​

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"Young Guns (Go for It)" (also listed as "Young Guns (Go for It!)" on some releases) is a song by English pop duo Wham! first released as a single in the UK by Innervision Records on 17 September 1982. Written and co-produced by George Michael, the song became Wham!'s first hit both in the UK and internationally after the BBC music programme Top of the Pops invited the duo onto the show as a last-minute replacement for another act which had pulled out, as the show's then-executive producer Michael Hurll had seen them on another programme, Saturday Superstore.
Michael wrote the song about a teenage boy's worry that his best friend is getting too committed to a girl when he should be enjoying his youth and the single life. It features a middle eight aside in which the girl conversely tries to get her boyfriend to ditch the best friend, prompting a vocal battle, akin to a tug of war, between the girlfriend and the best friend, which prompted the 'go for it' aspect of the song, as featured in the title.

Wham! - Young Guns (Go For It!)​

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"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" is a song performed by singers Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, written by Nat Kipner and John Vallins. The single was a comeback of sorts for Mathis, because his last U.S. top 10 hit had been 1963’s "What Will Mary Say" and his last U.S. #1 hit had been 1957's "Chances Are."
Released as a single in 1978, it reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, Adult Contemporary chart, and R&B chart. It also reached #1 on the Record World Singles Chart, but peaked at #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 Outside the United States, the song peaked at #9 on the Canadian Singles Chart and #3 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" was certified gold and silver in the United States and the United Kingdom by the RIAA and the British Phonographic Industry respectively
Later in 1978, the duo released a follow-up single, "You're All I Need to Get By" (which peaked at #47 on the Hot 100), and a full album of duets, That's What Friends Are For. The success of the duets with Williams prompted Mathis to record duets with a variety of partners including Jane Olivor, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight and Nana Mouskouri. A compilation album, also called Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, released by Sony Music in 1995, featured the title track among other songs by the Mathis–Williams duo.

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Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams - Too Much Too Little Too Late​

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"Honesty" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released by Columbia Records as the third US single from his sixth studio album 52nd Street (1978) in 1979. "Honesty" was solely written by Joel, while production was handled by Phil Ramone. The song appears on the Dutch and Japanese editions of Greatest Hits Volume 2, replacing "Don't Ask Me Why" (1980).
The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised its lyrics and piano instrumentation. It also received comparisons to other songs by Joel. "Honesty" peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the album's third consecutive top 40 hit. It went to Number 1 in France and has also been certified gold by Recording Industry Association of Japan for ringtone download sales of over 100,000 units. Joel performed the song live several times with Elton John and later with Bryan Adams. "Honesty" has been covered and sampled by various artists, including American R&B recording artist Beyoncé.

Billy Joel - Honesty​

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