This is the fourth and final Hall & Oates entry in this countdown, joining I Can’t Go For That (No. 100), You Make My Dreams Come True (69) and Maneater (46).

So what earns the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo the distinction of joining Madonna as the only four-timers (to this point) on the MoranAlytics countdown?  Well among (many) reasons, we’ll start with one of the most memorable, handclap-driven musical choruses of the 80s, if not any decade.

Private eyes (clap). They’re watching you (clap clap). They see your every move.

Whether it’s when Private Eyes first debuted in September of 1981 or at the club last night, there’s a 0.0% chance you’re hearing this song and not singing (and clapping) loudly to the legendary chorus.

In a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone, Darryl Hall pulled no punches, claiming Hall & Oates was much like the band largely perceived as the best in music history.

“I think we’re the ’80s Beatles,” Hall said to the magazine. “If we had been born 20 years earlier, maybe the world would have seen that. There’s something about our personalities that is very Lennon and McCartneyesque. And there is something about the body of work that we both have that’s similar.”

Hall may have been pushing it with his magazine quote, but there’s no denying how innovative they sounded.  In my opinion, Hall and Oates were the bar when it came to pop hits of the era. They had 20 top 20 hits, including six number-ones.  Of those, Private Eyes was my favorite.

I’m actually thinking this tune’s a bit low here. Between I Can’t Go For That and this, I’m reasonably confident I’ll be reflecting at this countdown with my biggest regret being both songs didn’t rank higher.

Chart Success: Private Eyes reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. It spent 23 weeks on the charts and finished 1981 ranked 44^th on the year-end Billboard Hot 100.

Great Lyrics: There were four co-writers on the song: Hall, Sara Allen (his girlfriend in a relationship that lasted 30 years), Janna Allen and Warren Pash.

“You play with words you play with love
You can twist it around baby that ain’t enough
‘Cause girl I’m gonna know
If you’re letting me in or letting me go
Don’t lie when you’re hurting inside
‘Cause you can’t escape my”

Fun Facts:  From Songfacts.com: “The song title came from the 1980 movie The Private Eyes, starring Don Knots and Tim Conway as bumbling detectives. Warren Pash, a musician who was trying to make it in Los Angeles, was working on a song called “I Need You To Need Me,” but he didn’t like that title. He was driving on Ventura Boulevard when he saw the movie billboard, turned back home, and wrote the song with a new title and chorus: “Private Eyes.”.   Not surprisingly, the video for the song featured Hall and Oates dressed up as detectives.

He had several others, but Footloose is the crowning achievement for Kenny Loggins— the undisputed, undefeated King of movie soundtrack hits.  How you feel about the song, released in 1984 probably varies but one thing’s assured —Loggins’ Footloose is one of the most distinguishable dance songs of the 80s, if not all-time.

Deal with it, haters.

Footloose was one of the biggest movies of the decade, and it’s difficult to even deliberate another 80s flick having a finer soundtrack.  The Footloose soundtrack had nine singles and six were Top 40 hits, including three in the Top 10: This Loggins gem, Almost Paradise (Mike Reno and Nancy Wilson) and Let’s Hear It For The Boy (Denice Williams).  That’s two-thirds of a movie soundtrack hitting the Billboard charts. Insane.

By the way, this wasn’t the even the Loggins’ only gem from the album.  He also sang I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man); number 30 on this MoranAlytics countdown and one of those “other” three singles off the album to hit the Top 40.

Loggins also appeared at No. 93 with Danger Zone (Top Gun soundtrack) and at No. 67 with Meet Me Halfway (Over The Top soundtrack) on this countdown. Like I said—THEEEEEEE undisputed King of the movie soundtrack hit.

I’ll be the first to admit the album, including this single isn’t built on thought-chewing substance, but instead is unapologetically puffy and enjoyable.  Not always but every now and then that’s actually better than tunes soiled in never-ending contemplation.

At the very least, it’s much more fun. Such as the case with this timeless Loggins offering.  I mean, fuck everything else—just “kick off your Sunday shoes”….. and dance to this, baby.

Chart Success:  Footloose flew all the way to number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for three consecutive weeks before being knocked off by Phil Collin’s Against All Odds.  In total stayed on the chart for 23 weeks and finished that magical music year of 1984 ranked fourth on the year-end Billboard Hot 100.

Great Lyrics:  I don’t know about you, but for me nothing sounds more dangerous than Kenny Loggins threatening to tear up the town.   

“Been working so hard
I’m punching my card
Eight hours for what?
Oh, tell me what I got
I’ve got this feeling
That time’s just holding me down
I’ll hit the ceiling
Or else I’ll tear up this town”

Fun Facts:  From Songfacts.com: “Kevin Bacon revealed to Conan O’Brien that he bribes DJ’s at weddings with cash so they won’t play the song. I go to the disc jockey and hand him $20 and say, ‘Please don’t play that song,’ he told the talk show host. “Because, first off, a wedding is really not about me. It’s about the bride and groom.”

Songfacts.com describes “ I Ran (So Far Away)” by Flock of Seagulls as the following: “This is the opening song of the album, which is a concept piece about an alien invasion of earth. The song itself describes a person seeing an attractive female – he becomes anxious and wants to run away from his feelings but he can’t forget her. Then they are both abducted by the aliens.”

Uhhh, Ok.

I never knew what the song was supposed to mean and to be honest, I really don’t care to either.  I loved “I Ran (So Far Away) because of the sweet synthesizer sounds, the funky voice of the British pop band’s lead singer (Mike Score) and the impossibly to not sing along with chorus.

The video is also…..interesting.

A true one-hit wonder (in the United States anyway), Score has admitted in several interviews that he hated the group playing the song because it’s the only thing the audience was interested in hearing.

Young (in general) music fans may more associate the song as being in the 2002 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game, including promotional commercials.

I was only 11-years old when “I Ran (So Far Away)” came out—for the record, having to type  (So Far Away) is annoying. Anyway, thanks to this tune for introducing me to the art of pretending to play the keyboards while actually banging my fingers on the kitchen table.

Chart Success:  Climbed as high as number-eight on the Billboard Top 100 and remained on the charts for 22 weeks. It finished 1982 ranked 67^th on the Billboard Top 100.

Great Lyrics:  I’m not trying to fool anyone here—the lyrics are pretty stupid.

“With auburn hair and tawny eyes
The kind of eyes that hypnotize me through
You hypnotize me through

And I ran
I ran so far away
I just ran
I ran all night and day
I couldn’t get away”

Fun Fact: As much as I dug this song, evidenced by its inclusion on this countdown, VH-1 apparently loved it more.  It came in at No. 55 on the VH-1 100 Greatest Song of the 80s.