25 May 1985
I can vouch for Paul Hardcastle’s ’19’ being huge in 1985. As to why it was huge, my small child brain didn’t get it at the time and my slightly bigger adult brain still doesn’t get it now. Perhaps the mainstream chart punter wanted electronic beats but something simpler and less brainy than New Order. Another live possibility is ‘novelty record’.
I wonder if this also appealed to fans of war paraphernalia and documentaries. You couldn’t call ’19’ an explicitly anti-war record; it presents the facts of US military intervention in Vietnam and its effects on GIs. No mention of its effects on the people of Vietnam, of course. While not in the Rambo league of brainless cheerleading for gung-ho military action, the video (below) certainly shows combat footage with relish. Taking the record alone, its mash-up of blunt docu-narrative and pseudo-soulful wailing about ‘destruction’ sits oddly on top of what sounds like incidental music from Airwolf.
Whatever it was that took it to number one, ’19’ just bores me. I can’t imagine it was fun for anyone in 1985 who had a stammer either.
Irish Number Ones 