This week we go back to 1987. This chart is from the same weekend that the first cartoon short starring the family now known as The Simpsons aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. Appropriate, don't you think? Anyway, here's the popular music of that particular moment.
40 - "The Right Thing," Simply Red
39 - "You Keep Me Hanging On," Kim Wilde
38 - "I Will Be There," Glass Tiger
37 - "Se La," Lionel Richie
36 - "Light of Day," The Barbusters
35 - "I Know What I Like," Huey Lewis and the News
34 - "Right on Track," The Breakfast Club
33 - "Mandolin Rain," Bruce Hornsby and the Range
32 - "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You," Glenn Medeiros
31 - "Big Love," Fleetwood Mac
Quite a few bands in this first section, so I'll divvy them up, starting with two groups from outside America and a English group with two Yanks. Britain's Simply Red had their third U.S. hit with this soul-pop number in which I think Mick Hucknall promises his lady that he'll improve his sexual technique. Or perhaps not. Anyway, good song. Canada's Glass Tiger picked up their third hit with this pop rock pledge of loyalty. Well, it's better than "Someday." And Fleetwood Mac's first single from their multiplatinum Tango in the Night LP with this funky, dancefloor-ready tune in which Lindsay Buckingham ruminates on his relationship and "a house on a hill." Crazily catchy, and probably my favorite post-Tusk Mac hit.
Now we got to the solo acts. Kim Wilde's father Marty was one of Britain's first rock stars, and in the 80s, she had a string of U.K. hits of her own, most notably "Kids in America," which also crossed the Atlantic. Five years later, she would top the American charts with this synth-pop cover of a Supremes classic. I'm thinking she rode the coattails of the song's familiarity, because on its own, this version isn't much. But I love "Kids in America." Lionel Richie had his last hit of the decade with this venture into reggae. It's a song that preaches peace and harmony. He's certainly no Bob Marley, but he doesn't embarrass himself either. And
Hawaiian teen Glenn Medeiros made his first chart impression with this version of a goopy ballad originally recorded by George Benson in 1984. Not my thing at all. Medeiros would hit #1 two years later with the dance-pop hit "She Ain't Worth It," but that was probably more due to the guy who was featured on it, the then-hot Bobby Brown.
We finish with the American bands. The Barbusters are actually Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, but it was released under the name of the bar band fronted by characters played by Jett and Michael J. Fox in the film Light of Day. The song was written by Bruce Springsteen, and it's about driving and searching for something better. Very Springsteenian. And Joan and co. do very well with it. It's still hard to imagine Michael J. Fox being in a band that does a song like this, though. Huey Lewis and his buddies had yet another hit with this okay pop-rock playlist-filler that's kind of a variation on Tom T. Hall's country hit "I Love." I would have much preferred that this had been bastardized by that "Twins!" beer commercial. No, The Breakfast Club weren't named after the movie. They had existed since the late 1970s, and at one point, none other than Madonna was in the band, as the drummer no less. By the time of their only major hit, this energetic dance-rocker about trying to catch a woman's eye through sweet dance moves, the band's only connection to the Material Girl was through their current drummer Stephen Bray, who had met Madonna at the University of Michigan and would go on to collaborate on many of her 80s hits. Yes, that's much more interesting than the song, but still, it's a catchy little number, and a worthy hit. And Bruce Hornsby and the Range are back from last time with their gentle hit about percipitation, music, and young love. Still good.
30 - "Ship of Fools (Save Me From Tomorrow)," World Party
29 - "What You Get is What You See," Tina Turner
28 - "Talk Dirty to Me," Poison
27 - "The Final Countdown," Europe
26 - "Let's Wait Awhile," Janet Jackson
25 - "Serious," Donna Allen
24 - "The Lady in Red," Chris DeBurgh
23 - "The Honeythief," Hipsway
22 - "Smoking Gun," The Robert Cray Band
21 - "Heat of the Night," Bryan Adams
I'll begin this section with bands from across the pond. Karl Wallinger left the rising British band The Waterboys to form his own one-man band, and he immediately trumped them by scoring a hit in the U.S., something his old band hadn't done. It's a catchy little midtempo rock number about heading for somewhere that seems to promise happiness and prosperity, but may not be all that it seems. This grabbed my attention from the first time I heard it, and I still love it. It was Wallinger's only Top 40, but in my opinion, he should have gotten there again with 1990's "Way Down Now." Europe are back from last time with their song with the chill-inducing keyboard opening and those lyrics about heading for Venus (Venus). And Scottish popsters Hipsway had their only hit of consequence with this catchy, New Wave-ish number that seems to be about a guy who has a lot of brief affairs with women, not someone looking to burglarize Winnie-The-Pooh. I don't really remember this from back in the day, but it's pretty damn good.
Next we'll look at solo women. Tina Turner is here with a pop-rocker about how many attractive men don't have much to offer beyond their looks. Not a great song, but her voice and energy rise above the material. Janet Jackson returns from last time, suggesting that she and her boyfriend take their time before giving in to their throbbing biological urges. And ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader Donna Allen had her only hit with this dance-pop fluff about a girl trying to change her heartbreaking ways for a guy. I like her voice, and the song is a little above-average as far as this genre goes, but still, nothing to get too excited about.
Then there are the groups from the good ol' U.S.A. Poison, one of the major names of the hair-metal era, had their first hit with this fun rocker about sexual congress in multiple locations, including the drive-in theater, behind some bushes, and "in the old man's Ford." Dumb, but I seriously dare you not to sing along. Difficult, isn't it? This band would go on to prevent bus driver Otto Mann from marrying his fiancee Becky, although technically, that was Cyanide, a loving tribute to Poison. And bluesman Robert Cray and his band had his only pop hit with this slow-burning story about a man who finds out about his partner's cheating and responds in the classic blues fashion, by shooting and killing both his woman and her lover. An effective song, and it features some, pardon the pun, smokin' guitar work.
The first half ends with two solo men. Argentine-born, Irish-raised Chris DeBurgh had his second and biggest American hit with this crushingly sappy song that was apparently inspired by the first time he saw his wife. That's sweet and all, but I didn't need to hear about it 50 bajillion times. I much prefer some of his more interesting stuff like "Spanish Train" and "Don't Pay the Ferryman." And Bryan Adams introduced his follow-up to the megahit Reckless album with this solid rocker that seems to be about being on the run from...something. Whatever. Bottom line, I think I may like it better than anything from Reckless. It just seems a lot more interesting.
Tomorrow: game pieces, indecision, and a superstar gets serious.
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