January 25, 1986 Part One

This week, we go back to what the United Nations declared the International Year of Peace. On the day before this show was originally broadcast, the Voyager 2 space probe approached Uranus. Make your own jokes.

40 - "King for a Day," The Thompson Twins
39 - "He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)," Freddie Jackson
38 - "Secret Lovers," Atlantic Starr
37 - "Digital Display," Ready for the World
36 - "Broken Wings," Mr. Mister
35 - "Everybody Dance," Ta Mara and the Seen
34 - "Tarzan Boy," Baltimora
33 - "Sex as a Weapon," Pat Benatar
32 - "The Sun Always Shines on TV," A-ha
31 - "Everything in My Heart," Corey Hart

We begin with pop bands. England's Thompson Twins had their final American Top Ten with this bubbly-yet-dull declaration that "love is all we need to get us through." That's a nice sentiment and all, but with 24 hours of regal power, I'd like to think I'd accoplish more than these three to. Mr. Mister are back with their breakthroug hit about overcoming adversity and "learn(ing) to fly again." I like the song, but not as much as I hate that Train song that namechecks them. That's awful. Baltimora, four Italians and a Northern Irishman, had their biggest hit with this Europop nugget about a nature boy inviting a prospective lover to join him in the jungle. It's pretty catchy, and using the famous Tarzan cry as a hook was a minor act of genius. And Norway's A-ha had their second and final American hit with this dramatic synth-pop rollercoaster that asks someone to "give all your love to me." What that has to do with the sun shining on television, I'm not sure, but that's just an example of what I love about Scandanavian pop bands who write English lyrics. A lot of them don't make sense, but then again, they kind of do. I don't know how to explain it. But from ABBA to Ace of Base to A-ha to Roxette, it's a quality that I find strangely charming.

Good chunk of R&B/soul/dance in here. Freddie Jackson had the third of his four pop Top 40s with this unremarkable lite-funker. Not sticky at all. New York group Atlantic Starr are here with their contribution to the adultery-soul genre that peaked in the 70s with classics like "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right." By comparison, their offering is limp and lacks lustful urgency. But maybe the fact that it had been a while since one of these charted was enough, because it got to #3. Ready for the World followed up their horndog-funk classic "Oh Sheila" with this stange little number in which they imagine that a woman's measurements are being projected in neon lights. Or something. It's a bizarre combination of references to numbers, technology, and sex. It doesn't really make sense, but I still think it's almost as good as "Oh Sheila." And Ta Mara and the Seen return with their okay boogie call. I think I remember it from when it was out, but I could have been very happy not being reminded of it.

We'll finish this section with two solo artists. Pat Benatar is back from last time, still pleading for her man not to manipulate her with the promise of carnal pleasure. Be strong, Patricia. And Corey Hart is here with the meh power ballad that was the third American hit from Boy in the Box his only platinum album in the States. It went diamond in Canada, meaning it sold ten times platinum up here. I have no explanation or defense for that.

30 - "Silent Running," Mike + The Mechanics
29 - "Sara," Starship
28 - "Separate Lives," Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
27 - "Face the Face," Pete Townshend
26 - "A Love Bizarre," Sheila E.
25 - "Life in a Northern Town," The Dream Academy
24 - "You're a Friend of Mine," Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne
23 - "Living in America," James Brown
22 - "The Sweetest Taboo," Sade
21 - "Kyrie," Mr. Mister

Again, bands have a strong presence. In 1985, Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford formed a side project with, among others, singers Paul Carrack and Paul Young. On the band's first single, Carrack plays the role of a man who has fled Earth and is travelling in space, trying to get a message to his family back on his home planet, which is being ravaged by some sort of dystopian war. He tells them who they can and cannot trust, where the gun is hidden in the house, and tells his wife to "teach the children quietly," so they can someday rise up against the tyranny that has taken over. Science fiction and the pop charts rarely mix ("In the Year 2525" is the only other example that comes to mind), but this managed to climb all the way to #6. And now it adds another accomplishment: Uneasy Rider winner. Starship followed up the cheese-rock of "We Built This City" with this horrible, horrible ballad that might be even worse than the most terrible of Jefferson Starship's 70s mushlumps. Sadly, it became their second straight #1. But for me, any time is a good time to say goodbye to this song. English folk-rock trio The Dream Academy had their first and biggest hit with this gentle tale of a man who comes to a small town "like Sinatra in a younger day," tells the gathered townsfolk about the winter of 1963, especially "John F. Kennedy and the Beatles." then takes the train out of town. Not much of a story, but as a song, it works as an ethereal evocation of time and place. And Mr. Mister show up a second time with their "Broken Wings" follow-up, a song that repurposes the ancient Greek Christian prayer "Kyrie, eleison" (Lord, have mercy) as the chorus hook to a song about the journey that is life. It's all deep-sounding, but it just doesn't quite connect the way "Broken Wings," does with me. But it must have with other people, because it became their second straight Number One."

Two duets in this group. Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin return yet again with this ballad that gets less impressive every time I hear it. And Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne are still friends. I miss Clarence. I hope he's gotten his wings by now.

The two male solo artists in this bunch had both been making hits for over 20 years at this time. Who guitarist Pete Townshend had his second and last American solo pop hit with this stomping rocker. I'm not really sure what the lyrics mean. Most of them involve variations of "We've gotta _______ the _______s." And then in the middle of the awesome horns-and-harmonica instrumental break, he shouts, "New York, Chicago!...London and Glasgow!" Whatever. It's fantastic. And James Brown returned to the pop charts after a 12-year absence with this funky throwback that celebrates the U.S.A., from its highways to its factories, its radio stations to its diners. And of course, there's a shoutout to several cities, but even if that's a bit predictable, it works as a callback to his classic "Night Train." It's a pretty damn fine postscript to his pop-chart legacy. It didn't work out so well for Apollo Creed in Rocky IV, though.

The second half closes with two solo women, sort of. Although Sheila E. and Prince share lead vocals on it, "A Love Bizarre" is credited only to the former. Not surprisingly, it's about sex, although it's less raunchy than their earlier collaboration, the "Let's Go Crazy" B-side "Erotic City." But still, pretty damn hot. And Nigerian-born Brit Sade Adu (if you don't know how to pronounce her first name by now, I'm going to make you look it up. Sorry.) had her second Top 5 smash in America with a song about a lover who makes her feel like "every day is Christmas, and every night New Year's Eve." Her voice is just so seductive and timeless. Maybe that's why she can still sell a ton of records on the rare occasion that she puts a CD out: Her last three studio albums came out in 1992, 2000, and 2010. All of them reached the U.S. Top 5 and went platinum.

Tomorrow: the concrete speaks, an Ocean roars, and a dying community is mourned.