This weekend we go back to 1986. The weekend this countdown aired, soccer's World Cup opened in Mexico. It was the only one to date Canada has qualified for. We're still waiting for our first goal. Still, it was fun watching Maradona. Anyway, while that was going on, America got its kicks listening to the following songs.
40 - "When the Heart Rules the Mind," GTR
39 - "Sledgehammer," Peter Gabriel
38 - "Like a Rock," Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
37 - "The Love Parade," The Dream Academy
36 - "Kiss," Prince and the Revolution
35 - "Rough Boy," ZZ Top
34 - "Never as Good as the First Time," Sade
33 - "Like No Other Night," .38 Special
32 - "Your Wildest Dreams," The Moody Blues
31 - "Tuff Enuff," The Fabulous Thunderbirds
We start our look back with three British bands. Ex-Yes guitarist Steve Howe teamed up with ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett to form GTR, a band named after a short form for both men's instrument of choice. Their only pop hit was this proggy pop-rocker about following one's dreams or something like that. I liked it better then than I do now. Time has revealed it to be a pale imitation of Howe's other, better 80s band, Asia. The Dream Academy had their second and last American hit with a dreamy tune about a relationship challenged by outside temptations. Not quite the classic that "Life in a Norrthern Town" was, but still pretty awesome. I especially like the parts when the accordion is prominent. And The Moody Blues scored their third and final Top Ten with this liter-than-lite remembrance of long-ago romantic idyll. I'm not a fan. However, I hear The Satin Knights do a much better version in Vegas.
Two more Brits are in this section. Peter Gabriel had his first and only American #1 with this loose, funkish pop perennial in which he offers to be your implement of destruction. Just as well-remembered is the claymation-assisted video, which still ranks high on many best-of-all-time lists. I like both song and video, but stay away from my fruit cage, Pete! And Sade picked up her third Top 40 hit with sweetly soulful uptempo track about how the intial burst of a romance is always the best part. But yet, you keep going and keep trying, in spite of the fact that "it's like the weather, one day chicken, next day feathers." I don't know what that means, but I like it.
Next are two American singers and their credited backing bands. The Styx of Detroit is here with a ballad about how invincible and idealistic he felt when he was eighteen. I wonder if that idealism involved selling this song and having it used as a pickup truck jingle for over a decade. Anyway, removed from that context, it's not a bad little song, but those commercials certainly have blunted and distorted it. And Prince and company return from last time with an offer of fantasy and good times. However, unlike Mr. Nelson, I do think it's okay to sometimes act your shoe size instead of your age.
We finish off with three American bands. ZZ Top had another hit from their most commercially successful period with this ballad in which Billy Gibbons declares that he is capable of romance in spite of his craggy exterior. I think that's the point he's driving at. Not that the song is strong enough for me to care. .38 Special are here again with another offering of their watered-down Southern rock. The lyrics talk of offering a unique and wonderful experience, but the song itself offers no such thing. And Austin, Texas blues rockers The Fabulous Thunderbirds had their biggest pop hit with this chugging, danceable number in which singer Kim Wilson lists all of the things he would do for love, including wrestling wild animals, swimming large bodies of water, climbing tall builidings, and fighting Muhammad Ali. Just good, solid fun rock. Fabulous, indeed.
30 - "Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight," Starship
29 - "Vienna Calling," Falco
28 - "All the Things She Said," Simple Minds
27 - "Mothers Talk," Tears for Fears
26 - "Rain on the Scarecrow," John Cougar Mellencamp
25 - "Who's Johnny," El DeBarge
24 - "Addicted to Love," Robert Palmer
23 - "I Wanna Be a Cowboy," Boys Don't Cry
22 - "Holding Back the Years," Simply Red
21 - "Why Can't This Be Love," Van Halen
This section is bookended by American bands. Starship followed up back-to-back Number Ones with this midtempo tune in which Mickey Thomas begs for a one-night stand. Neither the cheesy triumph that was "We Built This City" nor the abomination that was "Sara." Simply bland and pointless. And Sammy Hagar made his Van Halen debut with this rocker that continues on the keyboard-driven path started on 1984. A decent pop song, though the lyrics are a bit lazy and cliched. And Hagar sings it okay, but his attempt at scatting is hilariously painful or painfully hilarious, depending on your viewpoint. Leave that sort of thing to DLR, Sam.
Next we have the male solo singers. The Austrian rock singer born Hans Holzel had his second and last American hit with this dance-rocker whose German lyrics are apparently about women all over the world; particularly in the Austrian capital, but also in places like "Tucson, Arizona and Toronto, Canada." A solid song, and charming in a different way than "Rock Me Amadeus." John Cougar Mellencamp is here with a darkly rocking track about a man whose family farm has fallen on hard times to the point where the bank had foreclosed. It was around the time that this was originally released on the album of the same name that Mellencamp became involved in the first Farm Aid concert, and he continues to raise awareness of farm issues. But it's unusual subject matter for a Top 40 hit, and therefore, it wins this week's Uneasy Rider. El DeBarge had his first hit away from his family band with this pop trifle from the Steve Guttenberg-Ally Sheedy robot flick Short Circuit. A fun little throwaway song from a ful little throwaway movie. "No disassessemble!" And Robert Palmer is back from last time with his immortal hit about romantic dependency. Might as well face it, this song may be stuck in your head for a while. It isn't? Lucky you.
The first half closes with British bands. Scotland' Simple Minds had their last hit of the 80s with this anthemic song that's about...I'm not sure. It seems to be a call to some sort of action, but I'm not sure what. Taking to the streets...but for what purpose? And who is "she" and what exactly did she say? Okay song, but it raises too many questions. Tears for Fears had their fourth American hit with this song that was inspired both by a book of anti-nuclear cartoons and by the saying moms have been repeating for years "If you keep making that face, it'll stick that way." Interesting. Anyway, this wasn't nearly as big as their other Songs from the Big Chair singles, but I think it might be my favorite. I'm like that sometimes. Synth-poppers Boys Don't Cry had their only hit with this spare-yet-memorable curio about a man named Ted who dreams of riding the range and fighting off danger. A silly novelty, distinguished by "Ted's" dry, disintrested delivery and the breathless admiration of the lady who would be his cowgirl. And Simply Red had their first American hit with this future #1 ballad that was inspired by the fact that his mother left him when he was three years old. A genuinely affecting song, and easily my favorite by Mick Hucknall et al. And probably the biggest hit to employ the Latin parental terms "pater" and "mater."
Tomorrow: a futile quest for liability, advice on how to treat one's own person, and somebody thinks of the children.
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