Finishing off our trip to Spring of '87 in the U.K. A time when Everton won what was then known as the First Division of football, and these songs made up the First Division of pop.
20 - "Wanted Dead or Alive," Bon Jovi
Third hit here for Jon and the boys was the power ballad about how being a touring rock musician is like being a Western outlaw. I assume there's less gunfire involved, burn you never know.
19 - "April Skies," The Jesus and Mary Chain
Scottish brothers Jim and William Reid formed a band in the early 80s, and by the time they scored their first and biggest Top 40 hit, they had already gained a reputation for their incendiary live performances. This is a nice little bit of catchy doom-pop. Gloomy, but you can still sing along.
18 - "With or Without You," U2
Their American #1 only hit #4 here. Honestly, I have no problem with either position.
17 - "Let it Be," Ferry Aid
This all-star charity version of the Beatles classic was put together by the Sun newspaper in the wake of the capsizing of the Dover-based ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge, Belgium, which killed 193 people. Paul McCartney participated, along with Boy George, Kate Bush, Mark Knopfler, and many more. Like most efforts of this kind, the performance was secondary to he spectacle and the cause.
16 - "(Something Inside) So Strong," Labi Siffre
Born in London with Barbadian and Nigerian roots, Siffre had a trio of early-70s hits before taking a musical hiatus, the returned with this ballad about overcoming obstacles and oppression. It was inspired in part by both the growing anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and Siffre's own experiences with homophobia. The words are strident, and the delivery is soulful lyrics defiant. Yet another pleasant discovery.
15 - "Let's Wait Awhile," Janet Jackson
This ballad of carnal forbearance matched "What Have You Done for Me Lately" as her highest-charting U.K. hit to that point. One of her deeper and more nuanced performances.
14 - "To Be With You Again," Level 42
These guys again with their fifth Top Ten, another but of romantic synthpop. The more I hear of them, the more homogeneous they sound.
13 - "Ever Fallen in Love," Fine Young Cannibals
In 1984, former Beat members Andy Cox and David Steele teamed up with singer Roland Gift and took a name from a 1960 Robert Wagner/Natalie Wood movie. Their third hit (and second that was a cover, following a version of Elvis' "Suspicious Minds,") was a funk-pop take on a 1978 Buzzcocks hit about romantic regret. The contrast between the urgent speed of the original andidn't the laid-back lamenting of this I find jarring, and therefore I think I like this less than it deserves.
12 - "Diamond Lights," Glenn and Chris
Similarly-named footballers Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle were teammates on both Tottenham Hotspur (COYS!) and the English national team when a producer decided,to take them to a studio to cut this new-wavish pop song about the boys' need for the attention high-level football granted them. Between the lyrics and music, it's the aural equivalent of Depeche Mode substituting for one of the teams in the FA Cup final. Thankfully, neither man darkened a recording studio door again.
11 - "Respectable," Mel and Kim
London sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby hit #1 with their second hit, a decent dance-pop number about living to dance and party. They would score two more Top Tens within a year, but sadly, Melanie Appleby would be diagnosed with cancer and would succumb in January 1990. Kim had a couple subsequent solo hits, but one wonders how much more the sisters would have accomplished together.
The Top Ten...why does it always have to be the Top Ten?
10 - "Sheila Take a Bow," The Smiths
Morrissey's gang found the Top Ten for the second and last time during their existence with this song in which Mozart seems to counsel a young lady to go out and find romance. That seems uncharacteristic. Maybe I'm missing something. Honestly, I think it's better if I'm not.
9 - "Another Step (Closer to You)," Kim Wilde and Junior
The second generation pop star teamed with soul man Junior Giscombe on a dance-rocker about treading lightly into love. Pretty much what you'd imagine a typical mid-80s pop song would sound like.
8 - "If You Let Me Stay," Terence Trent D'Arby
Born Terence Howard in New York in 1962, this guy was a champion amateur boxer before joining the army and being shipped out to Germany. He would soon be discharged for going AWOL, then relocated to London, where he got a record deal and immediately went Top Ten with his debut single, a terrific soul reconciliation plea. Most people remember him for "Wishing Well," but for me, this is the jam. This is in Marvin/Otis/Levi Stubbs territory.
7 - "A Boy from Nowhere," Tom Jones
The Welshman's biggest 80s hit was this dramatic ballad about a Spanish youth who dreams of being a bullfighter. Very much a song out of its time that somehow connected, which is why it gets an Uneasy Rider.
6 - "Living in a Box," Living in a Box
The Sheffielders' eponymous hit about isolation. Still a rung below Go West on the British electro-pop-funk ladder
5 - "Lean on Me," Club Nouveau
#3 here, #1 in the States, still OK but nowhere near Bill Withers.
4 - "The Slightest Touch," Five Star
Last of six Top Tens for these Essex siblings. Dance-pop about sexual desire. Basically, their a slightly better version of The Jets.
3 - "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," Starship
I still really, really wish something would have. Like maybe 1967 Grace Slick finding a time machine and slapping some sense into her future self.
2 - "Can't Be With You Tonight," Judy Boucher
From the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Boucher had been singing professionally for over a decade when this song caught the ear of Lizzie Webb, a fitness instructor who led exercise routines on a morning TV show. Webb began doing her routines to the song, and public interest in the tune made it a hit. It's a nice little reggae ballad about being torn between two lovers. And a cool story. Kind of like a Brit equivalent of what happened with Billy Vera and the Beaters.
And on top over there 30 years ago was...
1 - "La Isla Bonita," Madonna
Madge's fourth charttopper in her future adopted homeland was this Latin-flavored ode to the town of San Pedro, Belize. Just her making effortless radio pop at the peak of her powers.
Until the next spin of the time machine, farewell.
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