THEME FOR GREAT CITIES: 14 14's for '14: 14 No. 14 Hits for the First Mix Tape of 2014

Friday, January 3, 2014

14 14's for '14: 14 No. 14 Hits for the First Mix Tape of 2014

What an excellent way to continue ringing in the new year! That was the very thought that flashed across my mind like a "Welcome to 2014!" banner today when I read Billboard.com's "No. 14 Hits for '14" article, which featured 31 No. 14 hits "that remain among the most memorable songs of the past five-plus decades." It's an excellent (if oddly unevenly numbered) list, but they left off at least 14 No. 14 gems, which will be my first official soundtrack of 2014. (I've only included songs from 1980, the year I began paying attention to Billboard's charts, on.)

You might notice that the majority of No. 14 songs below are from the '80s -- the decade whose halfway point brought the first one that popped into my head, Billy Joel's "The Longest Time," the quintessential No. 14 song there -- which is likely because I spent most of that decade memorizing Billboard's Hot 100 on a weekly basis and writing it down. Since the loose-leaf and spiral-notebook paper that I used back them came with 26 lines, No.14 was always the first song at the top of the second page and thus stood out more than most of the hits below the Top 10. I wonder if I'd remember the peaks of the '80s hits below as clearly now if they'd gone a few notches higher or lower.

"Take Me to Heart" Quarterflash (1983)