THE TRIATHALON OF ROCK AND ROLL
PLESE NOTE: This page is a temporary mirror site for THE AMERICAN TOP 40 CELEBRATION PAGE.
THE TRIATHALON OF ROCK AND ROLL
Broadcast 4th of July weekend 1988
(18th Anniversary Show)
Top 40 Artists that have charted in the Top 40 of the 60s and 70s and the Top 10 of 80s
(Special thanks to Michael Warner for this information)
| Act | First Top 40 Appearance | Most Recent Top 40 Appearance (as of 25 June 1988) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul McCartney | 1964:I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) | 1986:Press |
| 2 | John Lennon | 1964:I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) | 1984:Nobody Told Me |
| 3 | Diana Ross | 1963:When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (The Supremes) | 1985:Missing You |
| 4 | Michael Jackson | 1969:I Want You Back (Jackson 5) | 1988:Dirty Diana |
| 5 | Stevie Wonder | 1963:Fingertips (Part 2) | 1987:Skeletons |
| 6 | Mick Jagger | 1964:Tell Me (You're Coming Back) (The Rolling Stones) | 1987:Let's Work |
| 7 | Rolling Stones | 1964:Tell Me (You're Coming Back) | 1986:One Hit (To the Body) |
| 8 | Barry Gibb | 1967:New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have Your Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones) (The Bee Gees) | 1984:Shine, Shine |
| 9 | Marvin Gaye | 1963:Hitch Hike | 1983: Sexual Healing |
| 10 | Aretha Franklin | 1961:Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody | 1987:I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (Aretha Franklin and George Michael) |
| 11 | George Harrison | 1964:I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) | 1988:When We Was Fab |
| 12 | Neil Diamond | 1966:Cherry, Cherry | 1983:I'm Alive |
| 13 | Kenny Rogers | 1966:Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) (The First Edition) | 1984:What About Me (Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes and James Ingram) |
| 14 | Paul Simon | 1965:The Sounds Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) | 1987:You Can Call Me Al |
| 15 | Cher | 1965:I Got You Babe (Sonny and Cher) | 1988:We All Sleep Alone |
| 16 | Barbra Streisand | 1964:People | 1983:The Way He Makes Me Feel |
| 17 | Dionne Warwick | 1962:Don't Make Me Over | 1987:Love Power (Dionne Warwick and Jeffrey Osborne) |
| 18 | Smokey Robinson | 1960:Shop Around (The Miracles) | 1987:One Heartbeat |
| 19 | Gladys Knight | 1961:Every Beat Of My Heart (The Pips) | 1988:Love Overboard (Gladys Knight and the Pips) |
| 20 | James Brown | 1960:Think | 1986:Living In America |
| 21 | John Fogerty | 1968:Suzie Q (Part 1) (Creedence Clearwater Revival) | 1985:Rock and Roll Girls/Centerfield |
| 22 | Starship | 1967:Somebody To Love (Jefferson Airplane) | 1987:It's Not Over ('Til It's Over) |
| 23 | Bob Seger | 1969:Ramlin' Gamblin' Man (Bob Seger System) | 1987:Shakedown |
| 24 | The Spinners | 1961:That's What Girls Are Made For | 1980:Cupid/I've Loved You For a Long Time (Medley) |
| 25 | Linda Ronstadt | 1967:Different Drum (The Stone Poneys Featuring Linda Ronstadt) | 1987:Somewhere Out There (Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram) |
| 26 | Eric Clapton | 1965:For Your Love (The Yardbirds) | 1985:Forever Man |
| 27 | Tina Turner | 1960:A Fool In Love (Ike and Tina Turner) | 1987:What You Get Is What You See |
| 28 | Herb Alpert | 1962:The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro) (The Tijuana Brass Featuring Herb Alpert) | 1987:Making Love In the Rain |
| 29 | Jermaine Jackson | 1969:I Want You Back (Jackson 5) | 1986:I Think It's Love |
| 30 | Bill Medley | 1964:You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (The Righteous Brothers) | 1987:(I've Had) The Time Of My Life (Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes) |
| 31 | Billy Preston | 1969:Get Back (The Beatles with Billy Preston) | 1980:With You I'm Born Again (Billy Preston and Syreeta) |
| 32 | The Kinks | 1964:You Really Got Me | 1983:Don't Forget To Dance |
| 33 | Graham Nash | 1966:Bus Stop (The Hollies) | 1983:Stop In the Name Of Love (The Hollies) |
| 34 | Patti LaBelle | 1963:Down the Aisle (Wedding Song) (Patti LaBelle and Her Blue Belles) | 1986:Oh, People |
| 35 | The Moody Blues | 1965:Go Now | 1988:I Know You're Out There Somewhere |
| 36 | Robert Plant | 1969:Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) | 1985: Little By Little |
| 37 | Marty Balin | 1967:Somebody To Love (Jefferson Airplane) | 1981:Atlanta Lady (Something About Your Love) |
| 38 | Crosby, Stills and Nash | 1969:Marrakesh Express | 1982:Southern Cross |
| 39 | Cliff Richard | 1959:Living Doll | 1982:Daddy's Home |
| 40 | Jimmy Page | 1966:Shapes of Things (The Yardbirds) | 1985:Rockin' At Midnight (The Honeydrippers) |
This was the last special that Casey Kasem did for American Top 40 before being replaced by Shadoe Stevens, and it came just a few weeks after the "Newcomers of the 80s" special countdown. It seemed Specials were back at AT40 after being neglected during the middle part of the 80s.
The criteria for this countdown was a bit odd. The act had to only hit the top 40 in the 60s and 70s but had to hit the top 10 in the 80s. The idea was to highlight acts that were still strong in the 80s plus weed out many acts that had managed to crack the top 40 in the 80s but not the top 10.
There's quite a bit of repetition, solo acts and groups that the solo act came from could count the same songs. So we had cases like Mick Jagger/The Rolling Stones and Marty Balin/Starship. Also we had many solo acts that were members of the same group as well.
It should be noted that had the countdown taken place later in the decade, a couple of acts would have qualified. These were the Beach Boys who hit #1 in 1988 with "Kokomo" and The Bee Gees who hit #7 in 1989 with "One".