Old Music Friday: 12/13/24

New releases historically tend to taper off toward the end of the year, and based on this week's arrivals, I think we might be entering that stage a tiny bit early in 2024. Not sure what that might mean for NMF/OMF posts from now 'til January, but that isn't a concern this week, because a whopping ten singles debuted on the Hot 100 this week in 1984, including some future hits as well as some obscurities and flat-out forgotten numbers. Here we go:

"Treat Her Like a Lady," The Temptations (No. 90, peaked at No. 48)
I recorded a pair of appearances on the Ultimate Classic Rock podcast this week — one for the 40th anniversary of Foreigner's Agent Provocateur, and one for the 55th anniversary of Chicago Transit Authority. Having these conversations back to back reminded me that even though those two albums feel like they came from extremely different eras, they were only released 15 years apart — and even though "I Want to Know What Love Is" doesn't feel that long ago for me, we were closer to the late Motown era in the mid-'80s than we are to the mid-'80s now.

Time is a fucker! But I also bring this up to point out that even though groups like the Temptations are widely seen as artifacts of a bygone era — and have been for some time — they weren't that far removed from their prime during the '80s, and in fact, some of them (the Whispers, Ashford & Simpson, Aretha, et al.) enjoyed significant Top 40 success during this period.

I don't know if "Treat Her Like a Lady" should really be counted as a Top 40 success, especially considering that it peaked at No. 48, but the song certainly underscores the group's continued vitality — this is confident electro-soul, and it was even written in-house, with then-new lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson co-writing it with original member Otis Williams. I wouldn't go so far as to argue that it's remarkable in any way, but neither is it the pandering mess that one might assume it'd be after reading the words "Temptations in 1984."

"Lonely School," Tommy Shaw (No. 89, peaked at No. 60)
A&M had to have been hoping for bigger things from Shaw's first solo single, "Girls with Guns," which crapped out at No. 33. Still, at least they could take some comfort from the fact that it performed well at rock radio; they had no such silver lining when it came to the follow-up, "Lonely School," which stumbled at every format.