1985 was a year of heralding in the new. A year of many firsts, '85 boasted the likes of USA for Africa's No. 1 charity single "We Are The World" and even a new Coke flavor.
READ MORE: July 1985: Coca-Cola Brings Back Classic Flavor After "New Coke" Disaster
During a decade dominated by pop royalty, including Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Elton John, some of music's greats earned their place amongst the era's hitmakers by dominating the airwaves between '84 and '85.
Below are the top 7 artists who ruled the Billboard charts with their irresistible hit singles during the golden days of summer '85, in chronological order .
1. Tears for Fears, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
The anthemic catchphrase behind the 7th biggest song of 1985, as described by Billboard, apparently cost Tears for Fears songwriter Roland Orzabal "a fiver."
The Clash would first claim the line "Everybody wants to rule the world" in their 1980 song "Charlie Don't Surf," which drew its inspiration from the film Apocalypse Now.
READ MORE: March 1985: Tears for Fears Release "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
According to Strummer during a Musician interview, when Clash frontman Joe Strummer confronted Orzabal about "stealing" the line and demanded "a fiver," Orzabal allegedly pulled out a five-pound note from his pockets and paid upfront.
2. Bryan Adams, "Heaven"
From Bryan Adam's quintuple-platinum, 1984 album Reckless emerged "Heaven," the record's highest-charting single and heartfelt power ballad.
READ MORE: June 1985: Bryan Adams Flies High with No. 1 Hit "Heaven"
Co-written with composer Jim Vallance, the song stole the spotlight when it premiered in the soundtrack of A Night in Heaven, launching the song to the No. 1 spot on the charts by the time was re-released as a single in 1985.
3. Phil Collins, "Sussudio"
Released as a single in January, "Sussudio" emerged as the first track off Collins' third solo studio album, No Jacket Required. The former Genesis drummer fashioned the tune off a pile-driving beat, a Prince-inspired synth line and of course, the song's irresistible made-up word that gives the song its title.
READ MORE: July 1985: Phil Collins Returns to No. 1 with "Sussudio"
"This is one of those examples of improvising lyrics," Collins explained during a 1997 episode of VH1 Storytellers. "I set up this drum-machine pad, and I got some chords, and I started to sing into the microphone, and this word came out, which was 'sus-sussudio.'"
Collins also gave his daughter some credit as he shared his daughter's horse was named "Sussudio," as he quipped, "I'm sure there are children all over the world with the name Sussudio, so I apologize for that."
The funky, nonsensical tune launched Collins back to the top of the charts as "Sussudio" hit No. 1 on July 5, 1985, marking his second chart-topping entry that year (his first being "One More Night")
4. Duran Duran, "A View to a Kill"
Duran Duran took over Phil Collins' reign with "Sussudio" during their last stand as the Fab Five. The bandmates reunited in the spring of 1985, John Taylor, Simon Le Bon, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes, to record "A View to a Kill," the theme song for the James Bond movie of the same name.
READ MORE: May 1985: Duran Duran Releases "A View To A Kill"
When the striking uptempo tune premiered on May 6, 1985, "A View to a Kill" took over the No. 1 spot during the week of July 14,1985 for a two-week stay at the height of the charts. The James Bond song would go down in history as the only James Band song to scale to the top of the charts.
5. Paul Young, "Everytime You Go Away"
When Paul Young decided to step into the spotlight, he did so to singing the Hall & Oates tune "Every Time You Away" from their Voices album.
READ MORE: February 1985: Paul Young Releases "Everytime You Go Away"
Released as a single on February 25, 1985, Paul Young's rendition of "Everytime You Go Away" climbed to No. 1 in America over the week of July 28, 1985.
6. Tears for Fears, "Shout"
The Tears for Fears dynamic duo experienced delayed gratification when their single "Shout" climbed to the No. 1 on the charts on August 3, 1985 - over 7 months after the song made its debut in the states during late November 1984.
READ MORE: November 1984: Tears for Fears "Shout" to the Top
What had changed? Though the song was already the talk of the town in England, it wasn't until Tear for Fears unveiled their sophomore album Songs from the Big Chair that the song launched ahead on the airwaves of American radio and MTV.
7. Huey Lewis and the News, "The Power of Love"
RELATED: Huey Lewis and the News Hit No. 1 with 'Sports'
When Huey Lewis and the News signed off to write a song for the 1985 cult classic film Back to the Future, the rock band also cemented their status on the music map as they scored their first No. 1 on the Hot 100.
Lewis was initially hesitant to contribute to a film soundtrack given his lack of experience working with movies, but director Robert Zemeckis explained the song didn't have to be centered on the movie's plot - and the rest is history.
To top it all off, Lewis scored a cameo in the film itself when Marty McFly and his band The Pinheads auditions for the high school dance - under the wise gaze of Lewis, in the role of a teacher judging the auditions.
8. John Parr, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)"
Scaling the Billboard charts in early September, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" was written for the 1985 coming-of-age film of the same name.
Interestingly enough, when the film's music supervisor, David Foster, tapped John Parr to co-write the tune, the song originally began as a tribute to Canadian wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen, who lost the use of his legs in a car accident, went on a "Man In Motion" tour.
Foster and Parr convinced the film company the song's inspiration came from the film itself, tying the lyrics "this pair of wheel" to Demi Moore's jeep, instead.
The white lie thrust Parr in front of a global audience as the song became a cultural touchstone alongside the film and earned him his place on the global music stage as the song shot to No. 1.
- Log in to post comments
