1985 - music, news and childhood memories
This Week's Top 10 - 100 and more - Saturday May 18, 1985This post was inspired by a thread on Stevehoffman.tv Music Forums about commenting on pop charts that are posted for a particular week. Sometimes they post very old charts from the 1950s to some a bit more current, maybe early 1990s. Most of them are US based, they typically pluck from Billboard or from Cash Box magazines. If the thread snowballs and I get hold of a Billboard one, I will post it, if I am allowed, if not, oh well. It is hard for me to believe this stuff is as old as seniors in college. Now where is that email that all your friends or family who forward junk about in this year that freshman entering college? - now that email makes me feel rather old.
I collected outdated Billboard magazines from a local Turtles Records store in suburban Atlanta. The manager there would occasionally give me the old ones. Because I went on a near weekly basis, she grew very annoyed with me, not wanting to bothered by a pesky-nerdy-chart-grrrrl. I am such a pack rat, I still have the stupid little stamps that you could put in a booklet to get dollars on your next purchase. I should scrapbook it, I guess. Sometimes I got some nice ads for records or other music oriented items in Billboard magazine.
I was so into pop music at this time, probably my pinnacle of interest. By 1986, I had lost a lot of interest in current US popular music. That year, just seems lamer and 1987 was mostly even lamer than lamer. while writing this blog entry, I googled for historical events of 1985, this link was the most informative of what I found.
The one event I will comment on is "New Coke", ugh. Gross out. Here in Atlanta, Coca-Cola headquarters, this was a big deal and also a major marketing flop.
I was still buying LPs and cassettes this particular year, Christmas to be exact, I did get a CD player, however, CDs were still out of my budget for quite a while. I bought a lot of older pop music, too, 60s and 70s.
Anyway on to the music. I posted some charts below and a link to a UK chart. At this time I was really into Album 88 WRAS here in Atlanta. Georgia State students ran it. At this time, I discovered the wonderful songs by the Smiths, Bronski Beat and some other bands that escape my faded memory by name right now. I remember the neighboring radio channel which was GA Tech's which frequently played death metal, definitely I seldom listened.
I also was influenced by the musical choices of close high school friend's such as Marie. Marie had turned me into a Duranie and (much later an active blogger), it is hard to say how much interest I would have had on my own without her being crazy about the group. I do believe their earlier music holds up well with time and I am glad I was quite enthused at the time. So there is a lot Duran Duran mentionings below on some randomly charted songs.
Because I chose German as language to study in high school, I was also really dorky and tried to like German pop music and some of it I did like, such as Falco, Opus, Nena and Kraftwerk. Falco had a few big hits in the US 1985 or 1986. I don't think I could get into that music now, but I never hear it and I do not seek it out online, so there. I start cracking up thinking about the Nihilists and awful German pop music in the Cohn Brothers' movie The Big Lebowski. I plan to own that movie on DVD and watch it repeatedly. BTW, if you didn't know, Flea, plays one of the Nihilists.
This Week's Top 10 - May 18, 1985
This is from Cash Box Magazine - source posted here
Cash Box Top 10 - Week Ending May 18, 1985
1. DON’T YOU (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
2. WE ARE THE WORLD - USA For Africa
3. CRAZY FOR YOU - Madonna
4. ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK - Murray Head
5. EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - Wham!
6. SOME LIKE IT HOT - Power Station
7. SMOOTH OPERATOR - Sade
8. RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT - DeBarge
9. EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD - Tears For Fears
10. AXEL F - Harold Faltermeyer
Watching the UK Charts I do not have permission to copy the equivalent UK chart I googled for,
but go to this link and you will see some examples of overlap (make sure to look under May) and some not of certain pop songson US and UK charts.
Canadian (CHUM Chart) countdown for the same week - reference
Chart #1482 - Saturday, May 18, 1985
Rank Song Title Artist
1. Crazy For You - Madonna
2. Rhythm Of The Night - DeBarge
3. Everything She Wants - Wham!
4. One Night In Bangkok Murray - Head
5. Everybody Wants To Rule The World- Tears For Fears
6. Obession - Animotion
7. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
8. Nightshift - The Commodores
9. Black Cars - Gino Vannelli
10. All She Wants To Do Is Dance - Don Henley
11. Smooth Operator- Sade
12. Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody - David Lee Roth
13. That Was Yesterday - Foreigner
14. Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves
15. Would I Lie To You? - The Eurythmics
16. Welcome To The Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
17. Rock And Roll Girls - John Fogerty
18. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid - Daryl Hall & John Oates
19. Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones
20. A View To A Kill - Duran Duran
21. We Are The World - U.S.A. For Africa
22. Raspberry Beret - Prince
23. Angel - Madonna
24. Sussudio - Phil Collins
25. Some Like It Hot - Power Station
26. You're The Only Love - The Payolas
27. A Criminal Mind - Gowan
28. Tears Are Not Enough - Northern Lights
29. Heaven - Bryan Adams
30. Tokyo Rose - Idle Eyes
The WICN 90.5 FM of Worchster, MA Top Albums for MAY 1985Husker Du - New Day Rising
Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
New Order - Low-Life
Smiths - Meat is Murder
Naked Raygun - Throb Throb
Hooters - Nervous Night
Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
Three O'clock - Arrive without traveling
Slickee Boys - Uh Oh..No breaks
Stranglers - Aural Sculpture
Because I listened to college radio and watched the top 40 in the UK. I was really getting into the Smiths that year. I bought The Queen is Dead on cassette. I listened to the UK top 40 radio show on Sundays and at the time there were still a fair number of tunes they could not locate to play. I recall the charts in the US and UK overlapped only a bit here and there with Madonna tunes. The Smiths albums charted in the US, but no singles ever did. The Smiths were very big in England, but here in the US, they were popular mostly with the college crowd. Lastly, I never had any interest in Morrissey's solo work. I bought Viva La Hate, but only listened to it once.
_____________________________________________________________
May 1985 UK Chart link found hereComments on selected songs from this era that charted in the UK. Oops, I picked the wrong year, oh well. The UK charts for 1986 are here.
19 - Paul Hardcastle - I had the 12 inch of this song. I adored it, I haven't heard it in ages, but I think if I did, I would still really enjoy it. My understanding is the sampling for this sone was taken from a TV documentary about the Vietnam War in 1982. I am going totally by memory here and no cheating with Google for this comment.
I feel Love - Bronski Beat & Marc Almond Bronski Beat & Marc Almond, the Style Council and Dear Or Alive were among my UK chart topper faves.
Johnny come home - Fine Young Cannibals - I took a song from the UK chart in June 1985. I had the 12 inch of this record too. This is still one of my all time 80s songs. I hear it on XM occasionally. The 12 inch is even better. I do not think this particular song charted in the US or if it did chart, it did not fair too well.
Canadian (CHUM Chart) countdown selections
3. Everything She Wants Wham! - I still hear this one quite a bit on local radio, but not some of their other big hits. Odd. It probably suffers from 80s overplay, but I still can dig it.
4. One Night In Bangkok Murray Head - This one has a superb classical intro that would get cut out in radio play. I know it was banned in Thailand as well, as there are references to
prostitutes. I downloaded this on mp3 format back in 2002 This is about one of about a dozen or so MP3s I downloaded back when I had Gnutella or whatever spyware P2P downloading crap that is evil for your computer.
6. Obession - Animotion - This is part of the Duran Duran chapters, although indirectly and remotely. The lead singer Michael Des Barres who toured with Power Station wrote this song. Catchy tune.
7. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds - This song still makes me think of the Breakfast Club. Classic teen movie that is still worth multiple watches, even to this day, IMHO. Maybe I will buy this movie's soundtrack, sounds like a good online purchase.
8. Nightshift - The Commodores - I still adore this song and hear it regularly on Atlanta FM radio. Still after 21 years, this one can bring tears to my eyes. Ode to Marvin Gaye who was shot by his father a year earlier. Jackie Wilson is mentioned as well, I think he died a few years
earlier. I recently discovered some Jackie Wilson material on an Ed Sullivan appearance on VHS, Jackie Wilson style and singing seems pretty amazing if you ask me.
10. All She Wants To Do Is Dance - Don Henley - I do like this song, not great to dance to, but you know. I heard this very recently on FM radio and it had been quite a few years, and brought back vivid memories of how I would have imagined the video.
11. Smooth Operator - Sade - wonderful song, I do not hear much air play of this on FM or XM. What happened to Sade? Even during my almost total loss in music in general I picked up her album on CD with no cover art in a pawn shop because of this song. Hmmm
12. Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody - David Lee Roth - Not much into Solo David Lee Roth, but this one was a good remake. It seems like Diamon Dave's solo material is largely ignored on retro 80s radio. I went to Youtube.com recently and watched a David Lee Roth video, talk about bringing back memories. Hmm, is this right?
13. That Was Yesterday - Foreigner - this is a wonderful song that is somewhat emotional to me, it can make me cry if I think about it, and that is rare for me to get choked up about most pop music.
14. Walking On Sunshine Katrina & The Waves - (this one is overplayed on 80s channels and elsewhere) – still catchy tune, one hit wonder here, I believe.
16. Welcome To The Pleasuredome Frankie Goes To Hollywood - I had this on 45, one of my last 45 purchases. I never hear this one on radio satellite or otherwise. I think it is Frankie's last dint on the US charts.
17. Rock And Roll Girls - John Fogerty - it took me a while to like Fogerty, at the time in high school, I knew only a little of his significance. Fogerty puts on a great live show if you catch him. I saw him live in 2005. I really now dig his 80s material and may go out and get the album Centerfield. I love the baseball track, "Centerfield."
18. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid - Daryl Hall & John Oates I like
most of Hall and Oates stuff, this one is one of my favs, I do not think this one charted well in the US. I never wanted to see these guys live, did anyone? Well, they had a loyal following of fans, I guess. Big time chart toppers for the 1980s.
20. A View To A Kill - Duran Duran
25. Some Like It Hot - Power Station
Being a big Duran Duran fan at the time abd I adored these songs, though I really much prefer their earlier albums. I saw Power Station in concert that summer of 1985; it was one of my first concerts. A few months ago, on Amazon, I picked a Power Station CD reissue with a DVD with those vary cheesy videos included. I even have a compiliation of the 12 inch mixes of the Power Station. I adore their ablum from 1985, to me it holds up well, the entire album.
Not so long ago, I learned that Power Station regrouped later, but I never heard the efforts. Sadly, half the group has passed away, leaving us John Taylor and Andy Taylor, formerly of Duran Duran. Hmm, did Duran rejoin with the original members? - well, I don't know, I will have to google and find out. I am kind of googled out for this entry. Maybe if you can enlighten me here.
[Edit]
OK, here is the Cashbox top 100 - just added to this post
I still love Limahl's Neverending Story and I bought an 80s compilation one just for that song. Julian Lennon's TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES is great too, I never hear that on radio either.
CASH BOX TOP 100 SINGLES
Week ending May 18, 1985
TW LW 2WK 3WK WKS
1 DON’T YOU (Forget About Me)
Simple Minds (A&M 2703) 3 4 7 13
2 WE ARE THE WORLD
USA For Africa (Columbia 04839) 1 1 1 9
3 CRAZY FOR YOU
Madonna (Geffen 29051) 2 2 2 12
4 ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK
Murray Head (RCA 13988) 4 5 9 13
5 EVERYTHING SHE WANTS
Wham! (Columbia 04840) 8 13 16 9
6 SOME LIKE IT HOT
Power Station (Capitol 5444) 6 8 11 10
7 SMOOTH OPERATOR
Sade (Portrait 04807) 7 12 14 12
8 RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT
DeBarge (Gordy 1770) 5 3 3 14
9 EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD
Tears For Fears (Mercury 880 659) 12 14 22 10
10 AXEL F
Harold Faltermeyer (MCA 52536) 13 20 30 8
11 ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE
Don Henley (Geffen 29065) 9 9 12 13
12 OBSESSION
Animotion (Mercury 880 266) 11 6 6 17
13 DON’T COME AROUND HERE NO MORE
Tom Petty & Heartbreakers (MCA 52496) 14 16 18 10
14 SUDDENLY
Billy Ocean (Jive 9323) 18 22 28 9
15 THAT WAS YESTERDAY
Foreigner (Atlantic 89571) 10 10 10 10
16 IN MY HOUSE
Mary Jane Girls (Gordy 1741) 23 29 40 10
17 THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER
Howard Jones (Elektra 69651) 21 27 32 9
18 NIGHTSHIFT
Commodores (Motown 1773) 16 7 4 17
19 NEW ATTITUDE
Patti LaBelle (MCA 52517) 19 21 23 13
20 FRESH
Kool & Gang (De-Lite 880 623) 25 30 37 9
21 SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID
Daryl Hall & John Oates (RCA 14035) 15 15 17 10
22 ANGEL
Madonna (Sire 29008) 31 39 48 4
23 HEAVEN
Bryan Adams (A&M 2729) 32 35 45 5
24 ONE LONELY NIGHT
REO Speedwagon (Epic 04848) 26 28 31 8
25 WALKING ON SUNSHINE
Katrina & Waves (Capitol 5466) 27 34 38 8
26 JUST A GIGOLO/I AIN’T GOT NOBODY
David Lee Roth (Warner Bros. 29040) 28 31 35 9
27 CELEBRATE YOUTH
Rick Springfield (RCA 14047) 29 32 36 7
28 RASPBERRY BERET
Prince & Revolution (Paisley Park 28972) -- -- -- 1
29 SUSSUDIO
Phil Collins (Atlantic 89560) 35 -- -- 2
30 SAY YOU’RE WRONG
Julian Lennon (Atlantic 89567) 33 36 43 5
31 INVISIBLE
Alison Moyet (Columbia 04781) 34 37 41 10
32 ONE MORE NIGHT
Phil Collins (Atlantic 89588) 17 11 5 15
33 NEVER ENDING STORY
Limahl (EMI America 8230) 37 42 46 9
34 THE SEARCH IS OVER
Survivor (Scotti Bros. 04871) 40 46 62 5
35 SMUGGLER’S BLUES
Glenn Frey (MCA 52546) 39 44 49 7
36 ’TIL MY BABY COMES HOME
Luther Vandross (Epic 04760) 36 40 44 9
37 WOULD I LIE TO YOU?
Eurythmics (RCA 14078) 42 52 70 4
38 A VIEW TO A KILL
Duran Duran (Capitol 5475) -- -- -- 1
39 SHOW SOME RESPECT
Tina Turner (Capitol 5461) 43 47 52 5
40 OH GIRL
Boy Meets Girl (A&M 2713) 44 48 57 7
41 LOST IN LOVE
New Edition (MCA 52553) 41 45 51 8
42 THE GOONIES ’R’ GOOD ENOUGH
Cyndi Lauper (Portrait 04918) -- -- -- 1
43 LUCKY IN LOVE
Mick Jagger (Columbia 04893) 47 57 73 4
44 VOICES CARRY
’Til Tuesday (Epic 04795) 53 64 71 6
45 TOUGH ALL OVER
John Cafferty & Beaver Brown Band
(Scotti Bros. 04891) 65 -- -- 2
46 I’M ON FIRE
Bruce Springsteen (Columbia 04772) 20 17 8 14
47 VOX HUMANA
Kenny Loggins (Columbia 04849) 22 23 25 9
48 ROCK AND ROLL GIRLS
John Fogerty (Warner Bros. 29053) 24 24 26 10
49 WALKING ON THE CHINESE WALL
Philip Bailey (Columbia 04826) 49 54 59 7
50 DO YOU WANNA GET AWAY
Shannon (Mirage 99655) 50 50 55 7
51 MISSING YOU
Diana Ross (RCA 13966) 30 18 13 25
52 CRAZY IN THE NIGHT (Barking At
Airplanes)
Kim Carnes (EMI America 8267) 71 -- -- 2
53 ALONG COMES A WOMAN
Chicago (Warner/Full Moon 29082) 38 19 20 13
54 MATERIAL GIRL
Madonna (Sire 29083) 45 25 15 15
55 FOREVER MAN
Eric Clapton (Duck/Warner 29081) 46 26 24 11
56 EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY
Paul Young (Columbia 04867) 78 -- -- 2
57 BE YOUR MAN
Jesse Johnson’s Revue (A&M 2702) 51 51 56 8
58 WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME
Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Island 99653) 48 49 54 7
59 CAN’T FIGHT THIS FEELING
REO Speedwagon (Epic 04713) 52 33 19 18
60 LOVERGIRL
Teena Marie (Epic 04619) 54 38 21 22
61 BABY COME AND GET IT
Pointer Sisters (Planet 14041) 55 41 42 9
62 TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES
Julian Lennon (Atlantic 89589) 56 43 29 18
63 PRIVATE DANCER
Tina Turner (Capitol 5433) 57 53 27 18
64 WAKE UP (Next To You)
Graham Parker & Shot (Elektra 69654) 75 88 -- 3
65 WE CLOSE OUR EYES
Go West (Chrysalis 42850) 58 55 33 12
66 YOU GIVE GOOD LOVE
Whitney Houston (Arista 9274) 82 -- -- 2
67 OO-EE-DIDDLEY-BOP!
Peter Wolf (EMI America 8254) 68 75 84 4
68 THROUGH THE FIRE
Chaka Khan (Warner Bros. 29025) 69 76 85 4
69 ONLY LONELY
Bon Jovi (Mercury 880 736) 70 78 90 4
70 I WAS BORN TO LOVE YOU
Freddie Mercury (Columbia 04869) 72 80 88 4
71 DANGEROUS
Natalie Cole (Modern 99648) 80 87 -- 3
72 MATHEMATICS
Melissa Manchester (MCA 52575) 73 81 89 4
73 BLACK CARS
Gino Vannelli (HME 04889) 83 -- -- 2
74 WAYS TO BE WICKED
Lone Justice (Geffen 29023) 86 -- -- 2
75 HOLD ME
Menudo (RCA 14087) 84 -- -- 2
76 DAYS ARE NUMBERS (The Traveller)
Alan Parsons Project (Arista 9349) 77 85 -- 3
77 SAVE THE NIGHT FOR ME
Maureen Steele (Motown 1787) 85 -- -- 2
78 (Come On) SHOUT
Alex Brown (Mercury 880 694) 89 -- -- 2
79 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
The Firm (Atlantic 89561) 87 -- -- 2
80 REGGAE ROCK ’N ROLL
B.E. Taylor Group (Epic 04862) 88 -- -- 2
81 MY TOOT TOOT
Jean Knight (Mirage 99643) 81 90 -- 3
82 MEETING IN THE LADIES ROOM
Klymaxx (Constellation 52545) 90 -- -- 2
83 SOMEBODY
Bryan Adams (A&M 2701) 59 56 34 16
84 SQUARE ROOMS
Al Corley (Mercury 822 241) -- -- -- 1
85 RADIOACTIVE
The Firm (Atlantic 89586) 60 58 39 14
86 LITTLE BY LITTLE
Robert Plant (Es Paranza 99644) -- -- -- 1
87 PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE
Depeche Mode (Sire 29221) -- -- -- 1
88 FIND A WAY
Amy Grant (A&M 2734) -- -- -- 1
89 THE HEAT IS ON
Glenn Frey (MCA 52512) 61 59 47 24
90 ALONE AGAIN
Dokken (Elektra 69650) -- -- -- 1
91 STEADY
Jules Shear (EMI America 8259) 62 62 68 6
92 CAN’T STOP
Rick James (Gordy 1776) 63 61 53 8
93 JUST ANOTHER NIGHT
Mick Jagger (Columbia 04743) 64 60 50 15
94 LONELY IN LOVE
Giuffria (MCA/Camel 52558) 66 63 58 8
95 THE BIRD
The Time (Warner Bros. 29094) 67 65 60 13
96 CARELESS WHISPER
Wham! featuring George Michael
(Columbia 04691) 74 66 61 22
97 TALK TO ME
Fiona (Atlantic 89572) 76 77 86 5
98 I’M THROUGH WITH LOVE
Eric Carmen (Geffen 29032) 79 79 87 4
99 RELAX
Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Island 99805) 91 68 64 25
100 MAGICAL
John Parr (Atlantic 89568) 92 69 69 6
posted by my0p @ 6:23 AM
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