acroyear | Today's AT40...

...is January 25, 1986, halfway through my sophomore year. Oddly, i was just thinking about this year last night for reasons I don't know. Still, should be exciting (right...)

Last week's tops were

Party all the Time
Say You Say Me
That's What Friends Are For (which will stay there forever, as it's still #1 according to a Feb '86 recap I just looked up).

And we're starting out with...

Thompson Twins debut with King for a Day at 40
another debut, Freddie Jackson He'll Never Love You (Like I Do) at 39. totally forgotten by me...
and another, Secret Lovers from Atlantic Starr
Digital Display from Ready for the World (of Oh Sheila fame)
Mr. Mister's Broken Wings (a fav of mine and my dad's)
Ta Mara and the Sean, with Everybody Dance, a song I have no memory of at all. Very "post-Prince" like.
Tarzan Boy (though Sherlock Holmes is actually the most filmed character of all time)
33 - Pat Benatar is still going with Sex as a Weapon.
32 - a-Ha follow up Take on Me with Sun Always Shines on TV - yes, a-Ha remain a guilty pleasure, even though it costs a fortune now to get their new albums via imports since they have American label (or respect) in spite of their consistent history in Europe. I liked Sun Always Shines a lot at the time, but have realized there's others on that album that are far better, including Living a Boy's Adventure Tale and the title song, Hunting High and Low.
Corey Hart's Everything in My Heart, a lost and forgotten song, very "never surrender" like, is 31

two big ones in a row jump ten spots

Silent Running from Mike and the Mechanics
Sara from the Kanter-less Starship

28 jumped 9 notches, Phil Collin's Separate Lives from White Knights. At the time I finally saw the film (years later, on HBO), the whole idea of snow in the summer that never has nightfall just weirded me out. Still does. A brilliant song, in spite of the sentiment. That's 3 former #1s so far.
Pete Townsend's absolutely brilliant Charleston dance track, Face the Face. A good version, but live (Deep End or The Who's '89 version) it's even better, with some very impressive drum fills from Simon Phillips. The video had a live-in-studio version, which I have on 12" but has never seen a CD release.
Another "post-Prince" song, Love Bizarre, from Sheila E, at 26

there are a LOT of "great radio stations" plugs this week. They did mention Fox-FM from Winchester, which was my college ex-'s fav station.
Dream Academy's brilliant Life in a Northern Town. I actually like most of the rest of this album, but my dad only cares for the title song. oh well. Driving through northern England (Yorkshire and Northumbria) is something special - it really is very different from London and the Costwolds, in spite of being only an hour away on the M-1.
Jackson Brown says to Clarence Thomas (no relation to the judge, who back in '86 none of us had ever heard of), "You're a Friend of Mine"
James Brown is living ~~with a Hernia~~ in America.
Sade's The Sweetest Taboo. Now, raise your hands, who here knew the origin of the word Taboo actually came from the south pacific islands?

I always wonder, when a long distance dedication is requested for a song title that has about 20 songs that could match, like "Forever", if the AT40 team actually picks the right one. In this case, they used one from Kenny Loggins.
21 is Mr. Mister's other big one from the first album, Kyrie. Listening now, it's actually interesting how that drum sound (and off-rhythms) were so unique to them at the time, something I wouldn't have paid attention to if I didn't know the drummer would end up in King Crimson 8 years later. Even a straight 4/4 isn't when Pat's playing it.

20 is "Jellybean" with Sidewalk Talk. One of those producer-bands. Madonna provides backing vocals, but the lead is an unknown. I'd never heard it or of it before.

ugh, for some reason, they've cut the last few songs off a minute early
Night Ranger's Goodbye. Another I've little memory of. I think I actually first heard it from a tape of my college ex-'s.
Bryan Adams and Tina Turner duet with It's Only Love.
WH's How Will I Know. bleh.
Miami Sound Machine's Conga - now this one they decided to stretch out to the full instrumental mix. go fig.
The Cars's Greatest Hit (since that was the only album it was on), Tonight She Comes
John Cougar Mellencamp sings about his Small Town
13 - Stevie Wonder still going, with Go Home. Never heard of it, don't care to hear it again.
Simple Minds are Alive and Kicking, one of my fav tracks from one of my all-time fav albums
The VERY overplayed (especially on MTV) When the Going Gets Tough from Jewel of the Nile, Billy Ocean

And into the top ten we go with...

10. Paul McCartney's Spies Like Us. Cute song for a somewhat crappy movie. The video pretty much showed every funny sequence in 1/30th the time.
Eddie Murphy's only hit, Party All The Time drops big time to #9. Eddie at the time says he wanted to be a variety artist, like old school Vaudeville acts that sang and did comedy sketches. Raw, unfortunately for that dream, would paint him strictly as a raunchy (if brilliant) comic for years until he started doing the kids films. Today, "Donkey" can sing, but "Eddie Murphy" is still just an actor.
Klimaxx says "I Miss You" and acroyear70 says "I didn't miss this song...and still don't"
Another overplayed video, Dire Straights doing the Walk of Life
Bruce gets his 7th hit from Born in the USA, My Hometown, tying Michael Jackson's Thriller for most hits from single album. I think the only other to get that to that bar was Def Leppard's Histeria, also with 7.
5, I'm Your Man from Wham. A VERY different meaning, now that we know far more about George Michael than we did 23 years ago...
Stevie Nicks says you can Talk To Me
Survivor's Burning Heart, also from Rocky 4, is at #3. As I wrote before, I had no idea this wasn't the same singer as Eye of the Tiger, who'd left due to voice problems (but rejoined years later). The original singer does beer commercial jingles now.
Say You Say Me from Lionel Richie holds at #2, leaving the #1 song intact...
That's What Friends are For.

So it ends with another overplayed on MTV hit, but at least it was for a good cause.

Enjoy the game, or whatever you do to avoid it. I should be back next week...

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Some comments:

I've always been a big fan of a-ha. I remember being shocked when I saw a new a-ha album when I went up to Canada for a HS thing (Stay On These Roads). I still think that "East Of The Sun, West Of the Moon" is their best album. As you say, they are still around, but you have to import just about everything.

I also bought the Dream Academy album, and the whole album is pretty good.

As for Eddie Murphy, I was impressed at the time with "Party All The Time" and it was either me or my sister who owned his followup (So Happy), which I remember being pretty decent.

I found Stay on These Roads at the used CD shop near the college, and was mixed about it. East is definitely fantastic.

Today's AT40...

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