Ever heard: "That was better before..."
Ever wonder what singers from the eighties became?
Do you remember Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, Tears for Fears, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Nick Kershaw, Howard Jones, Duran Duran, Human League, Madness, New Order ???
Well, this blog will bring you back in the eighties, but will also try to find the follow-up of those (not so ancient) times. ;-)
Please accept my apologies for having not posted more updates lately... I have several excuses, but who cares? We're not here to talk about me are we?!? ;-)
During the elapsed time, I've missed to talk about the following hits :
Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You" #1 in UK on 8th december '85
Shakin's Stevens' "Merry Christmas Everyone" #1 in UK on 22d december '85
Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" #1 in UK on 5th january '86
Anyway, I'm confident, we'll have other opportunities to talk about those artists during the year to come...
And what about US charts? Well, Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" reached the top position on 15th december '85 but he kept that place up to february '86!!! So, I still have "plenty" of time to talk about that smashing hit! ;-)
So, please stay tuned, I should be back very soon, talking about A-Ha...
That we'll still remember in 20 years from now! ;-)
Note that starting today, those of you that would like to post a comment will have to use a password. I've had no other choice than to use that tool to stop the automatically generated comments that was regularly posted on my blogs... I hope you'll understand that I made that decision to improve this blog's quality...
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... ;-)
"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...
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!;-)
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
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.
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 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 (?) ... ;-)
Ok, I'm deeply sorry, there are still no news on this blog!
And this lasts since ?... Months already!!! :-(
I know you're visiting my blog and I'm feeling guilty for not offering you better information about the music that we all like: 80's music !
As explained in my previous post, I'm now building a website to talk about what your favourite singers or bands from the 80's are doing nowadays!
What will become to this blog then?
Well, I think this blog will be the place to remember which song was number one 20 years ago and to discuss our feelings about this specific song. For more info about the singer of that song, I'll send you back to my new website... Once it will be ready of course! :-)
I'll keep you informed!
For those of you who still don't know about last Robbie Williams 'ska song "Tripping", click here to FULLY listen to it! ;-) You'll even be able to listen a sample of all the songs of his new album!!! It's FREE and official, thanks Robbie! ;-)
Maybe you thought I found a Time Travel Machine and went back to the eighties? :-)
Well, too bad I did not find it yet!
I'm still alive and I still love music from the eighties. 80's songs are still amongst the one I prefer and I know I'm not the only one to think that way...
I've seen that despite my lack of update, this blog was still receiving several visits per day! It amazed me but most of all, it motivates me to put some efforts in it to make it back to live! :-)
But that won't be an easy thing to do... you know the song: so many things to do and so few time to do those...
Moreover, I'm now wondering if this blog is the best way to present you the results of my searches... I think that a "real" website might be easier to use for you. But that also means even more designing work for me... So... we'll see how motivated I am...
One thing is sure 80's music still rocks, during summer festivals around here in Belgium bands such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood and The Human League was performing again.
Madness released a new album and I've also recently heard a new released from Bananarama!!
And those of you who heard last Robbie Willams'song will have obviously noticed the "eighties colour" of it, as it sounds like ska music from Madness.
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.
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.
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"...
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...
"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?...
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I can't believe I let you 20 days without any updates!!! "Shame on you!" should you say... Yeah, you're right!
I have to admit I was a bit lazy during these holiday times, but believe it or not, back in 1985, nothing moved in the UK charts during this period!
As I already told you, "Do They Know it's Christmas?" stayed number one for 4 months!!! I'm glad this year's cover is not going to do the same! ;-)
Regarding the US charts, we already talked about Madonna... I can already tell you that next one to reach first place will be Foreigner, but that's not for today yet... Sorry!
Seeing that some hit singles stayed very long time in the eighties charts (not changing as fast as nowadays!) I've chosen a BIG New Year's resolution: I will also do some searches on the hits of the early eighties. As I started this blog called "20 Years ago... Music of the 80's" in the middle of this decade... It means that we would miss the first half of the 80's !!! This is unacceptable!!!
This way, I hope you'll have more frequent updates about your favourite singers and bands from the 80's... and that you'll enjoy the trip back there!
See you soon! ;-)
If you want to know what we'd miss by ignoring the years from 1980 to 1984, click on the image below and listen to the samples...
I wish you all the best for the New Year. May 2005 bring you everything you need and everything you wish. Let's hope music in 2005 will be good enough to appear in my blog in 20 years from now...
Come back here in several days to see who reached the first places in the 1985's charts, but for now let's celebrate the New Year!!!
Ok, I told you than in UK charts nothing moved at the first place during 4 months... But, Americans were luckier as they welcomed on their charts' first place the one and only Luise Veronica Ciccone worlwide known as Madonna!
Well, for this one I guess there is no need to tell you what she became since then... so, what I could do is maybe refresh your memory a bit...
Madonna's debut LP, "Madonna" was released in September 1983. Her first single to enter the charts was "Holiday". One year later, her second album called "Like a Virgin" is released and both the album and single reach the first place in the U.S. in december.
Since then, she did something every year to make sure we're not forgetting her. That was not only albums, but a lot of world tours, some "scandalous" books and several movies... and most of all, she always renewed herself successfully everytime it was needed. That is probably what made her stay at the top for so long.
Nowadays, Madonna seems to definetely have chosen Spirituality rather than Sexuality. Her "scandalous" life is over, she's now married with 2 children. She's writing Tales for Children and she even decided to change her name to Esther, a name more suiting Kabbalah's rules...
Would 2005 be the year of Esther's first album... wait and see...
To review the whole Madonna's career and even watch all their videos, visit her official website by clicking here: Madonna's Official Website
Again, if I'm not updating before then, I'm already wishing you all a
Sorry, I've been sooo long to update my blog, but you'll see why this is not so "urgent" to update it...
Unless you are less than 20 years old, you can't have forgotten this hit from 1984: the Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". This song was played so many times on radios during 4 months(!!!) and still is during each Christmas period that I'm sure all of you could sing it right away!
What you might not be able to do is to list all the band/singers that were part of this Band Aid? If you want to try, you have to know they were 20 of them... Ok, stop to read until you find them back, then compare your list with the one below:
Bananarama Bob Geldof Culture Club David Bowie Duran Duran Eurythmics Frankie Goes to Hollywood Heaven 17 Human League Kool and the Gang Midge Urge Paul McCartney Paul Young Phil Collins Spandau Ballet Status Quo Sting The Style Council U2 Wham!
The aim of this song written by Sir Bob Geldof, was to collect funds to feed and help children in Ethiopia. Fifty million copies were sold. It sold over 3 million copies in the UK alone. Midge Ure was the co-producer, and he accompanied the first relief shipment of food and medical supplies to Ethiopa, March 11, 1985.
If you'd like to have the original song on CD, you'll find it on If I was: The Very Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox. By the way, this song is probably the least reason to buy this album, but songs like "If I was", "Vienna", and "Fade to Grey" make it a "must have" album for all the 80's fans!
Now here is the bad news for those who hated having heard that song sooo much... It's back again! Yes, 20 years later this song is back "thanks to" a new band called Band Aid 20. This new band consists of:
Beverley Knight Bono Busted Chris Martin (Coldplay) Daniel Bedingfield Danny Goffey (Supergrass) Dido Dizzie Rascal Estelle Feeder Fran Healy (Travis) Jamelia Joss Stone Justin Hawkins (Darkness) Katie Melua Keane Lemar Ms Dynamite Natasha Bedingfield Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) Paul McCartney Rachel Stevens Robbie Williams Roisin Murphy (Moloko) Shaznay Lewis Skye (Morcheeba) Snow Patrol The Sugababes The Thrills Will Young
This song jumped on the UK hits' first place right away, but I'm not sure this success will last as long as the previous one... I'm quite sure that next year at Christmas, we'll hear 84's version again and probably not this one anymore... Anyway, this year the funds collected are for helping victims of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. So, I guess it's a good thing to buy the song... but nobody said you have to listen to it! ;-)
If you wish to learn more about this project and/or download the song/ringtone, click on the following link : Band Aid 20
As the original song occupied the first place during 4 months, you know now why my update was not that "urgent"! I'll have to find another trick to know who I'll be talking about for the next weeks!...
Anyway, if I'm not updating before then, I'm already wishing you all a
Merry Christmas!
May Peace and Love be with you all!
Would you wish have some typical Christmas songs, check there Christmas songs
Yesterday, I told you who was on UK charts' first place... Today, I'm going to talk about the ones that reached the first place in US charts 20 years ago... It was Hall & Oates with the song "Out of Touch".
Hall & Oates' duet was formed in the 70's already but their biggest hits songs are part of the 80's history. To be honest, before doing some searches on them, I did not clearly remember what they sang, but just click on the following links to listen some samples, and I'm sure you'll say: "Ooh, that's from them?!? I know that song!". So, here are the ones I easily remember when listening to : "Out of Touch", "I can't go for that...(no) ", and the more famous "Maneater" and "Kiss on My List".
I thought this group disappeared at the end of the 80's, but actually they are still there... They might be a bit less successful than in the 80's but they are touring regularly and have just released a new album in October '04 named "Our Kind of Soul". This album contains mainly cover versions of soul standards and is kind of a tribute to legendary soul music stars such as Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Barry White, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin...
2005 might be the year of their come-back to international success... Seems Hall & Oates are trendy again, as a new dance release of "Out of Touch" by Uniting Nations is currently climbing in the charts...
Sometimes some videos are removed from YouTube and the links in my blog are not working properly anymore... If you ever notice a video that is not available anymore, please leave a comment to let me know and I'll change the link. Thanks in advance!
