George Michael needed a hit after deserting Wham! and he got it. This signature number held the number one position on Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks… according to Billboard magazine, it was the number one single of the year in the United States in 1988.
Joel Kopischke (+ Kelli Cramer) (live) builds nicely with his “George Michael ‘Faith’ Christmas Parody.” A kinky title to say the least for a professional, but the fun of the comedy here is what the take off on the title leads to during this time of present wrapping strife.
The Police had their biggest US and UK hit with this… topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks… their only number-one hit on that chart… #1 UK Singles Chart for four weeks… also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks… nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Record of the Year, winning in the first two categories… Sting received the 1983 British Academy’s Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically… Rolling Stone critics and readers voted it “Song of the Year”… in the US, it was the best-selling single of 1983 and fifth-best-selling single of the decade… Billboard ranked it as the number-one song for 1983… ranked number 84 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time… included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll… also ranked number 25 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.
The Mistletones play the music and make the funny with “Every Wish You Make,” but they don’t quite get the gravity of the song.
So let’s have Robert Lund unpack its mysticism with a paranoid screed about Santa watching “Every Toy You Break.”
British heavy metal band Judas Priest released the inspiration here on their 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance and made it a single later that year… May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs… became one of his signature songs, a staple of the band’s live performances… peaked at No. 66 in the UK Singles Chart and in the US it reached No. 4 on the Billboard rock chart.
The rock anthem is honored (mashed up with ‘Nat. Lamp’s Christmas Vacation’) via “You’ve Got Another String Comin'” courtesy of Les Gomez.
Foreigner’s song entered the U.S. pop charts and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, holding that spot for the entire month of September… hit #1 on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart also for four weeks… the most successful single from the 4 album on album-oriented rock radio… the album has since been certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, for selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone… the song was Foreigner’s second-best-selling single… reached #1 in Canada… #20 in Sweden… in Australia #24… in the UK #54.
A nod to Jesus’ mama with ApologetiX’s “Virgin.” Mmm hmm.
This Queen hit was written and recorded in collaboration with the singer David Bowie… reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band’s second number-one hit in their home country… only peaked at No. 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but would re-chart for one week at No. 45 in the US following Bowie’s death in January 2016… also number 31 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s… had been played live at every Queen concert from 1981 until the end of Queen’s touring career in 1986.
Bad Santa and the Angry Elves party on top of this angsty anthem with “Christmas Pressure.” Clap along to, yuno, relieve some.
Tommy Tutone’s surprise hit peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart… #16 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart… mostly known for not being a 555 phone number (and causing nuisance for those with the number).
In a Christmas miracle, Tommy Tutone recorded his own holiday parody.
Queen made this a worldwide hit… charted number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks… their second number-one single in the country… fifteen weeks in the Billboard top ten (the longest running top ten song of 1980) and 31 weeks total on the chart (more than any other song in 1980)… reached number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart and the Disco Top 100 chart… number seven on the UK Singles Chart… credited as Queen’s best-selling single, with sales of over 7 million copies… ranked at number 34 on Billboard’s All-Time Top Songs… won an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Single… garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Duncan G and Brian lean into the gee-tar with “One More Gift for Us.” Listen to it, gang. That’s parody!
Devo’s biggest hit peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart… #8 on US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play… #13 on US Cash Box… #17 onUS Record World… No. 11 on the Canadian Singles chart… the key selling point of the DEV-O Live EP, which album reached number one in Australia’s singles charts… ranked number 62 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s… number 15 on the same channel’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the ’80s.
Duncan and Brian laugh it up with “Wrap It.” You know what’s coming, but can’t look away.
The Eagles’ the most famous recording by the band has a famously long guitar coda… voted the best guitar solo of all time by readers of Guitarist in 1998… awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year… topped the Hot 100 singles chart for one week in May 1977… the band’s fourth song to reach No. 1 on that chart… peaked at number 10 on the Easy Listening chart… Billboard ranked it number 19 on its 1977 Pop Singles year-end chart… three months after its first release, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),… 2009, the song was further certified Platinum (Digital Sales Award) by the RIAA for sales of one million digital downloads… has since sold over 3 million downloads.
“Hotel Can’t Afford Ya” by ApologetiX seems to be an excuse to hit that guitar solo. Fun.
Queen’s album News of the World yielded thiscliche at sports events around the world as a stadium anthem hitting #1 in France, #9 in the Netherlands, and eventually #36 in US Billboard‘s Hot Digital Songs… Rolling Stone ranked it number 330 of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004… it placed number 146 on the Songs of the Century list in 2001… 2009 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame…. it has been covered, remixed, sampled, parodied, referenced and used by multiple recording artists, TV shows, films and other media worldwide.
The Mistletones get slyly hilarious with their down in the lot sales number “We Will Flock You.” Now that’s a hot one.
