10 May 1986 Not a good sign: I can't find this single on the usual video or streaming sites. The live version in the video below, plus whatever I can remember from the time, will have to suffice. First, though, a lot of background and explanation: what was Self Aid? Just as Band Aid inspired … Continue reading Christy Moore, Paul Dolan and the Self Aid Band – ‘Make It Work’ →

3 May 1986 I had forgotten that the studio version of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' features a prominent fiddle, which just goes to show how little it's been played on any radio within my hearing. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' was where a big Celtic stadium rock sound became, if not fashionable, then at least profitable. Big … Continue reading Big Country – ‘Look Away’ →

26 April 1986 My memory of the night is hazy. However, I'm pretty sure I was at a college party where as a party piece someone stood by the fireplace, propped their elbow on the mantelpiece in time-honoured come-all-ye style, but instead of some dreary ballad gave us a full-on rendition of 'Rock Me Amadeus'. … Continue reading Falco – ‘Rock Me Amadeus’ →

29 March 1986 Being young and innocent, I was genuinely concerned that Cliff Richard was literally "gonna lock her up in a trunk". Now that I'm older and more cynical, that and the whole 'living doll' conceit is still as horribly sexist as it must have seemed even in 1920 or whenever it was first … Continue reading Cliff Richard and The Young Ones – ‘Living Doll’ →

15 March 1986 At this point in my short life I hadn't yet heard Bowie's glam, Philly soul or Berlin records. On the plus side, I hadn't seen the movie Absolute Beginners either. So, my small child brain was a tabula rasa on which to take this Bowie hit—the title song from the aforementioned movie … Continue reading David Bowie – ‘Absolute Beginners’ →

1 March 1986 I've always found a weird tension between the video for 'Chain Reaction' and the song itself. The storyline of the video has Diana Ross on a TV show as her '60s Motown persona—solo, pointedly—but, much to the chagrin of the control-room directors, insistently breaking out of that monochrome past into a vibrant, … Continue reading Diana Ross – ‘Chain Reaction’ →

15 February 1986 We've just had 'Walk Of Life' helped to number one by a gimmicky video, followed by 'Only Love' as a prominent soundtrack theme, and now here's a chart-topper by grace of both. 'When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going' was from the movie The Jewel Of The Nile and its … Continue reading Billy Ocean – ‘When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going’ →

8 February 1986 Other times I've had to make speculative guesses as to why a certain single topped the charts, but I remember exactly why 'Only Love' by Nana Mouskouri got to number one; it was the theme to a big-budget Euro-American Saturday evening TV mini-series called Mistral's Daughter. If you lived in two-channel Ireland … Continue reading Nana Mouskouri – ‘Only Love’ →

1 February 1986 I referred to Madonna's previous number one, 'Into The Groove', as anachronistic but if anything that could describe 'Borderline' even more accurately; this is a re-released single from her 1984 debut album, one which hadn't been a hit in Ireland or the UK first time around. I can't recall any immediate reason—movie … Continue reading Madonna – ‘Borderline’ →

25 January 1986 Ha ha ha - the guy dropping the ball! Then—hee hee!—the two guys running into each other! And what about—oh my sides!—the guy in the gorilla outfit! I'm pretty sure that the above is what got the flimsy three-chord blues-rocker 'Walk Of Life', with its video of bloopers from baseball and American … Continue reading Dire Straits – ‘Walk Of Life’ →