Huey Lewis & The News - "Jacobs Ladder"

On 14th march 1987 in the U.S., it's Huey Lewis & the News who reached the first place with "Jacobs Ladder". Well, ok, I know I'm too late to publish that post... but 20 years later, 1 week too late doesn't matter anymore, does it? Well, then quickly watch the video:

This californian band is probably much more successfull there in the U.S. than on this side of the ocean, and to be honest I don't remember this song "Jacobs Ladder"... But, they do have had some big successes in Europe... for instance, I'm sure you remember songs like "Stuck With You" and "Hip to be Square" in 1986, but most of all "The Power of Love" in 1985 because it was chosen as the soundtrack of "Back to the Future", huge popular succes starring Michael J.Fox.

So, to apologize for my late posting, I can't resist the pleasure to also show in here the "The Power of Love" video... Enjoy! ;-)

Mr.Mister "Broken Wings"

In the United-States, december 1985 started with a new number one on the top of their music charts... It was Mr.Mister with their song "Broken Wings".

They stayed number one only 1 week and they did not produce a lot of hits during the band 5 years long existence. During that short career they edited 3 albums... The first one was "I Wear the Face" and contained no real success..."Broken Wings" was on their second album "Welcome to the Real World" and that was their real "break-out" album... That album also contains the hits singles "Kyrie" and "Is it Love?". Then, their third and last edited album was "Go On" ... but none of the songs of that album ever reached a top 10...

So, the band decided to break-up in 1989... Note that before the Mr.Mister "adventure", all the members of this band were already successfull musicians playing or singing with famous people such as: Kenny Loggins, REO Speedwagon, Toto, Al Jarreau, Donna Summer, Quincy Jones, Barry Manilow, James Ingram, Twisted Sister, they even did a lot of vocals for the Village People !!! So when Mr.Mister was over, they all turned back to work with different famous music people such as : Madonna, Djinn, Kenny Loggins, WhiteSnake, Tori Amos...

Now, here is little game for you: try to find the differences between their "best-of" album and their second (and most successfull) album... ;-)

Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin "Seperate Lives"

"Seperate lives" from Phil Collins ?!? Was that a n°1 hit? Yes, 20 years ago it was n°1 in the United-States! I guess that for once, Belgium was really too far away from the States, because I can hardly remember that song ever reached Europe! :-)

I'm almost sorry to have to talk about that song for the first time that I'm talking about Phil Collins on this blog! Though I'm not a real Phil Collins' fan, there are several songs from him that I like very much... ( and also others that I hate!)

Anyway, even if that last only 1 week, that song was n°1 and I'm going to tell you a bit more about it... Obviously there were people who liked it and maybe you're part of those! ;-)

This song was written to be part of the soundtrack of the movie "White Nights" from Taylor Hackford, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.

No need to say that this movie is for dance lovers only, Baryshnikov is certainly a dance genius, but that doesn't make him an actor! And don't expect to be thrilled by the "political/thriller" part of the movie!! :-)

Before she sang this duet with Phil Collins, backing vocalist Marilyn Martin had performed with Joe Walsh and Stevie Nicks, and had performed on Kenny Loggins' n°1 hit "Footloose"... which was the main song from... a dance movie!!! Is there any kind of "singer for dance movies" diploma out there?!? :-))

Ok, enough said... if you liked that song or if you don't have a clue anymore what it was, you can watch the entire video above...

But I suggest you rather click on the cover below, and listen to some samples of Phil Collins' greatest hits...

Wham! "I'm your man"

Today, back to London where Feargal is not the charts' leader anymore, but they needed to be two to replace him... They? I'm talking about Wham! that reached n°1 in the UK charts with their hit single "I'm your man".

Wham! it's of course (are you an eighties music fan or not?!?) George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. I've already talked about them in that post, so just click if you don't remember! ;-)

By clicking on the cover above, you'll be able to listen to samples of the best songs from Wham!

"I'm your man" is the second track but there's also a '96 remix... That is ... how to say... "different"! This remix is probably not the best idea they ever had... I'll let you judge by yourself but of course I still prefer the 85's version...

If you checked my previous post about George Michael, you saw that I had said that I'll let you know more about Andrew Ridgeley in my next post about Wham!... So, it should be today... but since then, I've changed my mind about what this blog would be about... So, I'll keep the updated information about Andrew for my "to come" website about singers from the eighties... Sorry!;-)

Jefferson Starship "We Built This City"

Ok, let's see for once what was n°1 in the US charts...while Feargal Sharkey was entertaining the UK...

In November 1985...yes that's 20 years ago! ;-)... the number one song was "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship, also known as Starship alone... Starship is a band formed by Paul Kantner who previously built the band Jefferson Airplane. So for his second band, he kept the name Jefferson, but today we talk about them sometimes as Jefferson Starship, sometimes as just Starship... whatever! :-))

Was "We Built This City" a big hit ? Is there any reason for it to be "famous"?

Actually there's a very "funny" reason for it to be "famous" but probably a reason that Paul Kantner doesn't like much...

In April 2004, Blender, a US music Magazine, listed the "The 50 Worst Songs Ever" and guess who hit the first place: "We Built This City" ! Not really the kind of first place singers are looking for, is it? :-)

According to editor Craig Marks "It purports to be anti-commercial but reeks of '80s corporate-rock commercialism. It's a real reflection of what practically killed rock music in the '80s."
Also sealing the song's fate were Starship's steep fall from grace as the admired Jefferson Airplane and "the sheer dumbness of the lyrics," Marks says...

Note for all of you 80's music fans, 6 songs from the eigthies are in the top 10 of 50 worst songs EVER!!! Here they are:

• Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" at n°3
• Huey Lewis & The News' "The Heart of Rock & Roll" at n°6
• Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" at n°7
• Eddy Murphy's "Party All the Time" at n°8
• Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder's "Ebony and Ivory" at n°10

Note that I almost forgot that Eddy Murphy pretended to be a singer! :-))

Find more information about Starship on their official website: Jefferson Starship

Feargal Sharkey "Good Heart"

On 10th November 1985 (yes, 20 years ago...) Feargal Sharkey reached the first place in UK charts with his song called "Good Heart".

Too bad for Feargal, that song will be his first but also almost his lonely hit ever...

So, how come that a new singer with a new song made such a success? Well, actually Feargal Sharkey had already had some success with the irish punk-pop band The Undertones. But the band split in 1983. So, his voice (very "special") was already known by the audience... Moreover, the song is actually a cover of Maria McKee's "A Good Heart" and so, was maybe already in the audience's memories... And last but not least, the song was produced by Dave Stewart the famous guitarist of Eurythmics.

Feargal public career was not very long, but he stayed in the music business first as an A&R Manager (controlling the artists and choosing the material) for Polydor Records. He was then a member of the Radio Authority (part of the UK's communications regulator) for 5 years from 1998 to 2003.

Jennifer Rush "The Power of Love"

Ok, back to work! ;-)

Twenty years ago the N°1 in UK hits was "The Power of Love" performed by Jennifer Rush.

This is for sure the biggest hit of Jennifer Rush. It stayed number one in the UK charts for more than 1 month long! This was the first single by a female soloist to sell a million copies in the UK, and is among the UK's best-selling singles of all-time!

Too bad for Jennifer, she didn't hit the american top 40 with it, but the song did!!! The versions of the song by Laura Branigan and also by Celine Dion reached the american top 40. Celine Dion's version was even nominated for a 1995 Grammy Award.

There's even more to tell about the song title "The Power of Love"...

Actually, there are 3 different songs each called "The Power of Love" and the 3 of them were hits in 1985. That's for sure the only year in which three different songs of the same name have been in the UK charts...

The first was released by Frankie Goes to Hollywood a bit before 1984's Christmas.

The second, released by Huey Lewis and the News, was written for and featured in the film "Back from the Future" starring Michael J.Fox. That song was nominated for an Academy Award at the 1986 Oscars.

Then Jennifer came out with her unforgettable song.

Ok, that's it about that song... and as promised, you'll find more about Jennifer Rush on my new website, coming out soon (?) ... ;-)

George Michael

George who? Hehe, just kidding... ;-)

If you did not spent your last 20 years in a bunker without radio and television, I guess I don't need to tell you who George Michael is!

Just a quick note on him today to let you know that on 10th februray 1985, George Michael's hit "Careless Whisper" finally crossed the ocean and hit the number one position in US charts... In UK, this song hit the first place on august'84 already!!! 6 months to cross the ocean... what a record! ;-)

The story of this song is a bit original, because I'm still not sure if it has to be considered as a George Michael's song or a Wham!'s song... In Uk, the song was published as a solo from George and in the US it was credited to Wham! featuring George Michael !!! Actually, it looks like the song was written by George Michael together with Andrew Ridgeley, but this ballad didn't fit well with the image Wham! had with their upbeat songs...

At the end, it appeared well on Wham!'s second album "Make it big", this was their breakthrough album as it also contained the hits "Wake me up before you go-go", "Everything she wants" and "Freedom". You can click here to listen to samples of those.

I'll talk again about Wham! in another post and I'll try then to know what Andrew Ridgeley became, but that's another story...

If you want to read more about this song's story, click here.

Kenny Rogers a country's star?

Today, I want to talk about Kenny Rogers. I think that anybody in the US knows who he is. Kenny Rogers is a monument in US music's history! He's also well known all over the world, but probably far less, because the country music is, for instance, not so popular in Europe (where I'm from)...

I have to say to be honest that I do know his name and I even know his face, but I could hardly sing one of his songs! By the way, it's quite funny to see how much his face is popular... I even found a funny website where you can send pictures of all the men that looks like Kenny! You should have a look here just for fun... ;-)

But is Kenny Rogers "only" a country music's star, certainly not! He also wrote great love songs such as "Through the years", "She believes in me", "You decorated my life", and "Lady" the biggest song of his career. Actually, I didn't know what "Lady" was for a song, then I watched the video ... and now, I'm very ashamed... This song is really a BIG BIG HIT!

The reason why I'm talking about Kenny Rogers today is because it's the day Kenny reached the first place in 1980 in UK charts with the song "Coward of the county". This song was such a success that an TV movie based on it was created... and Kenny himself played in it!

Nevertheless, the 80's are not the best years for Kenny regarding the music charts... he spent times to some new activities such as photography, he even published several well-received photography books...

I can't sum up his 50 years long career here, but make sure Kenny is still "alive and kicking"! He recorded 58 (!) albums which have sold over 100 millions records worlwide... His "42 Ultimate Hits" album has also sold several millions of records...and he's still touring...

I'll let him finish this post:

"I've always been like a boomerang. You can throw me away, but you can rest assured, I'm coming back!"

More info on Kenny Rogers on his official site, click here.

Other Kenny Rogers great site, click here.

The funny site: Men who look like Kenny Rogers

Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson

On 3rd February 1985, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson reached the first place in the UK charts with the song "'I know him so well'"... That's a fact, but to be honest, when I read that I thought "I know them so few" !!! ;-)

But maybe I should be ashamed for not knowing them, because this song is even in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest-selling record by a female duo! Impressive, isn't it?

I have to say that when I watched the video, I recognized the music. It's the kind of music that has been used so many times for tv shows, movies, ceremonies, ads, etc... quite popular indeed!

So probably this success owes a lot to the musicians that composed it: Björn Ulvaues and Benny Andersson... Who are those guys?!? Well, those guys are the founders (and the 2 B's) from ABBA !! Which I'm sure you know! :-)

Following ABBA's end, Björn and Benny embarked on a theatrical career, writing stage musicals. One of them being the very successfull "Chess" where "I know him so well" is coming from...

So, let's get back to our female duo... what are those women doing nowadays?

Elaine Paige is a very experienced singer and actress, but her 30-years carreer has been dominated by musicals. She played in all the main musicals such as : "Cats", "Jesus-Christ Superstar", "Evita", "Grease", "Hair", "Piaf", "The King and I"... but meanwhile she has recorded 14 solo albums!

Barbara Dickson began playing music as a child. Their biggest hits were produced during the start of the eighties... Barbara also played in several musicals: of course "Chess", "Evita" and "Blood Brothers" which provided Barbara with her first major acting role... During the eighties, her music was going back to her roots: the folk music rahter than pop music. In the mean time, she diversified more and more into acting with parts on radio and television, including a guest role in the popular crime series, "Taggart". Since then, she played in other series ("Band Of Gold"), turned back to theatre with a one-woman show "The 7 Ages Of Woman" and the musical "Spend, Spend, Spend".

Singer, actress, songwriter and even presenter - Barbara Dickson is one of the most versatile and in-demand performers working today! In January 2005, she was starring as Miss Sherman in "Fame"...

More info on Elaine Paige, click here.

More info on Barbara Dickson, click here.

Foreigner "I Want to Know What Love Is"

22d January 1985 (ooops sorry, I'm a week late!) is a great day for UK's charts... Why? Because at last, the Band Aid is not number one anymore!!! ;-)

So, who managed to take the place of a band of 20 top pop-rock musicians? Well, it took 6 musicians called Foreigner and their hit single: "I Want to Know What Love Is". This song is coming from their fifth album "Agent Provocateur" (let alone the best-of and live albums) and is almost their last very successfull song since then... Only in 1993 (after 7 years with no new releases) their album "Mr. Moonlight" contained also another top 10 hit: "Until The End Of Time".

We could easily say that this hit was kind of Foreigner's swansong... but don't worry too much for them, they're still selling a lot of albums. Of course, nothing really new but they do have some very great hits in their repertory, that are regularly re-edited or remixed in some best-of or live album...

Let's remember some of those (click on the links to listen to samples): "Urgent", "I Don't Want To Live Without You" and THE classical love song "Waiting For A Girl Like You" ! (What a song!)

"Urgent" and "Waiting For A Girl Like You" are from what is probably their best album simply called "4 ". Nearing the 10 million mark in sales, "4 " is amongst the most successful rock albums of all time.
In 2002, the band celebrated their 25th Anniversary and decided to embark in a tour hoping to show the world they're still alive and planning to release a new album... Since then, they did sell videos and DVD's of that 25th Anniversary Tour... but still nothing new... and even on their official website the last updated news was the release of that DVD...

Will we ever hear them again with something new?...

More info on Foreigner :

http://www.foreigneronline.com (official website)

http://www.foreignerfiles.com/ (fans website)