The back end.
20 - "Wait Until Tonight," Galaxy featuring Phil Fearon
This London funk group led by singer Fearon had their second of four hits with this promise that he'll be home in the evening. Competent is the best adjective I can come up with.
19 - "Wings of a Dove," Madness
Another hit for the Nutty Boys, this one is a jaunty call to live fearlessly that features steel drums and a gospel choir. A fun three-minute party.
18 - "Moonlight Shadow," Mike Oldfield
Reading- born multi-instrumentalist Oldfield is mainly known in America for Tubular Bells, the instrumental piece that soundtracked The Exorcist. An edited version made the Top Ten there, but he had no further hits. At home he scored eight Top 40s and three Top Fives, the last of the latter being this poppy number sung by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly that I think is about a woman in love with some kind of outlaw. But it doesn't matter, it's pretty and catchy.
17 - "Watching You Watching Me," David Grant
Londoner Grant's biggest true solo hit since the breakup of the duo Linx was this funk-pop tune about finding romance. It's good, in that Go West/Living in a Box vein. More interesting than most Level 42, for sure.
16 - "Cruel Summer,"Bananarama
Their fifth Top Ten. Still solid seasonal pop.
15 - "The First Picture of You," The Lotus Eaters
The only major hit for this Liverpool band was this spare New Waver about summer romance. It seems trifling at first, but it grows on me with every listen.
14 - "Right Now," The Creatures
The biggest hit for the side project of Siouxsie Sioux and Banshees drummer Budgie was this cover of an uptempo jazz love song first sung on record by Mel Torme in 1962. Perhaps the only song that you can picture goth kids jitterbugging to. I like that image for some reason.
13 - "Who's That Girl," Eurythmics
Their third Top Ten. Annie sounds very pissed at whoever is cheating on her. Run, whoever you are!
12 - "Big Log," Robert Plant
His biggest solo hit. And if it's a double entedre, he doesn't make that as obvious as it would have been back in the Zeppelin days.
11 - "The Crown," Gary Byrd and the GB Experience
Buffalo-born Byrd and his band had their biggest success with this ten-and-a-half minute rap epic about the accomplishments of African people throughout history, and how this knowledge can empower people today. It features a sung verse by the track's producer, none other than Stevie Wonder. And it's probably the only song to mention King Tut, Malcolm X, the Incredible Hulk, Harriet Turman, Jackie Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. A terrific discovery, and this week's co-Uneasy Rider.
Jumpin' Top Ten is a gas gas gas.
10 - "I.O.U.," Freeez
A song we encountered in an '87 recap. Electro-dance okayness, but not much more.
9 - "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)," Paul Young
Young's first hit, this cover of a 1969 Marvin Gaye B-side, would be his only home charttopper. A great showcase for his soulful voice, and probably his best performance.
8 - "Rockit," Herbie Hancock
The jazz star's foray into hip-hop beats and scratches may have swept the MTV awards in America with its iconic Godley and Creme robot video, but as a single it didn't even crack the Top 70 there. But Britain made it the Top Ten it should be. A landmark record that still holds up.
7 - "Double Dutch," Malcolm McLaren and the World Famous Supreme Team
After his stints managing the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow, McLaren tried his handat being a recording artist himself, and he scored his biggest hit with this tribute to the teams of girls who practiced the titular rope-skipping style in New York City (in particular a group called the Ebonettes. It is set to the sort of African music that three years later would form the base of Paul Simon's Graceland album. Very spirited and joyful, and also this chart's other Uneasy Rider.
6 - "Everything Counts," Depeche Mode
The Mode's third Top Ten was this critique of corporate greed. Their transformation into seriousness was complete, and in the end, it was for the best. They wouldn't have lasted as long as they have just doing variations on "Just Can't Get Enough."
5 - "I'm Still Standing," Elton John
Elton's triumphant declaration of survival. It was up to Canada to make it a #1. I don't mind that we did that at all.
4 - "Club Tropicana," Wham!
The boys' fourth hit was this tropical jam about cheap vacations. It doesn't quite have the spark of most of their other biggies. More like Wham period than Wham exclamation point.
3 - "The Long Hot Summer," The Style Council
The group's biggest hit was this languid, jazzy ballad about the point at the end of a relationship where it seems all you can do is hurt each other. Gorgeously sad, and proof that Weller's second chapter was going to be pretty significant.
2 - "Gold," Spandau Ballet
Their sixth Top Ten. As exhilarating as "True" is relaxed.
And up on top back then was
1 - "Give it Up," K.C. and the Sunshine Band
Surprisingly, Harry and the Disco-Suns' last major hit was their only #1 here. Later, it would crack the Top 20 in America, but it was billed there as being just by K.C., probably because "disco sucks" was still a thing and the label wanted you to know that no matter what you thought, this wasn't disco. It probably worked on Homer Simpson: "It looks like disco, it sounds like disco, but brother, it ain't disco!
Done again. Until next time, keep watching the skis.
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