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In league with his old schoolfriend Andrew Ridgeley, George Michael had
enjoyed huge chart success as Wham!; nothing the duo ever officially released would
fail to hit the UK Top 10. Wham! dealt entirely in uptempo pop-soul, however,
and George needed an outlet for his more reflective material. In the summer
of 1984, a solo single Careless Whisper was released and became a
million-selling #1 in both Britain and America (where it was credited to "Wham! featuring
George Michael), and two years later A Different Corner interrupted Wham!'s
final brace of chart-toppers I'm Your Man and The Edge Of Heaven. A Different
Corner climbed from #2 to the summit 18 years ago this week in 1986.
No fewer than five of the Top 40 singles were movie-related tracks: the
highest at #4 was A Kind Of Magic by Queen, taken from the epic Highlander starring
Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery although the film itself would not
arrive in UK cinemas until late July. Absolute Beginners, the notorious Julien
Temple-directed fiasco which sank the British studio which made it, provided two
simultaneous hits; David Bowie's magnificent title song (a former #2 now at
#21) and The Style Council's Have You Ever Had It Blue? (down a notch from its
peak of #14).
The latter had also been featured on their 1985 studio album Our
Favourite Shop with a different set of lyrics and titled With Everything To
Lose. Bryan Ferry was up 7 places to #22 with Is Your Love Strong Enough, taken
from Ridley Scott's fantasy flop Legend. A year earlier, Ferry had been the
intended choice to record Don't You Forget About Me, for the soundtrack to
Bratpack flick The Breakfast Club. The ex-Roxy Music frontman declined and the track
was eventually passed on to Simple Minds, who duly scored an American #1 with
the song. Completing the quintet of film tie-ins, Huey Lewis & The News' The
Power Of Love (from Back To The Future) was coming to the end of its second
chart run, dropping 7 places to #35.
Through a Big Country: Greatest Hits
Those photogenic Scandanavians a-ha had been the year's third #1 when The Sun
Always Shines On TV hit the top at the end of January, but its follow-up
Train Of Thought was at its high of #8 this week, having entered at #23 and then
leapt to #9. One place below them, Simple Minds were up from #15 with All The
Things She Said, the third single from Once Upon A Time. Not to be confused
with the debut hit of the same name by faux-lesbian Russian schoolgirls t.A.T.u.,
it was Simple Minds' fourth Top 10 success in a row, after Don't You Forget
About Me (#7), Alive & Kicking (also #7) and Sanctify Yourself (#10). Their
compatriots Big Country, meanwhile, were on course for a career-best of #7 with
Look Away, which was climbing from its entry position of #18 to #10. It would
prove to be the last time they scaled such heights.
The writing/production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was arguaby at its
zenith during 1986. Initially breaking through with the brilliant Just Be Good
To Me by the SOS Band in the Spring of 1984, they went on to make further
waves within the Dance fraternity in 1985 courtesy of outstanding albums for
Alexander O'Neal (an eponymous debut that included If You Were Here Tonight) and
Cherrelle (High Priority, featuring the #6 smash Saturday Love). Jam & Lewis' 1986
began with Saturday Love in the Top 10, but it was their work for Michael
Jackson's then little-known kid sister Janet which put them firmly on the mainstream
pop map. The first fruits of their collaboration with Miss Jackson, What Have
You Done For Me Lately (soaring 21 places to #16), effectively invented
today's pop-dance genre while its strikingly-choreographed video did likewise for
the medium. All of this rather overshadowed another Jam & Lewis creation, The
Finest, which returned the SOS Band to the UK Top 20 after a two-year absence
by advancing 6 places to #17.
Suzanne Vega: Retrospective
Bronski Beat had survived the loss of vocalist Jimmy Somerville, who departed less
than amicably to form The Communards in 1985, and appeared to be in rude chart
health when Hit That Perfect Beat made #3 shortly after. With new singer Jon
Jon, however, continued Top 40 action would be short-lived; the second
post-Somerville single C'Mon C'Mon ditched their trademark synth sound to a less than
enthusiastic response, peaking this week at #20, and bar a one-off comeback in
the 90s with Eartha Kitt the Bronski boys never reached the UK Top 40 again.
At the opposite end of the career spectrum, Suzanne Vega was making her first
foray into the British Singles chart with Marlene On The Wall, up 13 from #40
to #27. Aside from DNA's 1990 remix of her 1987 track Tom's Diner, which made
#2, Marlene On The Wall's eventual high of #21 still stands as Vega's most
successful single.
It's Immaterial: Life's Hard And Then You Die
Whitney Houston's
cover of the George Benson ballad The Greatest Love Of All made its bow at #33,
and would quickly become her third consecutive Top 10 hit, but the two highest
debutants - the Grange Hill Cast (in at #26 with the anti-drug charity record
Just Say No) and It's Immaterial (new at #28 with Driving Away From Home) -
would join the ranks of one-hit wonders, as would UK soul duo Aurra (debuting
at #39 thanks to future Top 20 hit You And Me Tonight).
Maxi Priest (entering
at #36 with Strollin') would go on to score a handful of other hit singles, but
Some People (a new entry at #38) would be Belouis Some's second and final
brush with chart fame and This Is Love was one of Gary Numan's last chart hits
before his recent commercial rehabilitation brought him back from the Top 40
wilderness.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
