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’
David Bowie – ‘Absolute Beginners’
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’
Diana Ross – ‘Chain Reaction’
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’
Billy Ocean – ‘When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going’
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’
Nana Mouskouri – ‘Only Love’
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’
Madonna – ‘Borderline’
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’
Dire Straits – ‘Walk Of Life’
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’
A-ha – ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’
18 January 1986 Ever wondered how things turned out between cartoon-come-to-life Morten and the girl in the video of A-ha's charming, poppy 'Take On Me'? Well, the opening of their follow-up video, 'The Sun Always Shines On TV', gives you the answer; he turns back into a cartoon—his true nature, you understand—and runs off into … Continue reading A-ha – ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’
Dermot Morgan – ‘Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood’
28 December 1985 Nothing ages as badly as comedy, and some comedy was just bad to begin with. So, I get in the ring with this comedy record from Dermot Morgan's pre-Ted, pre-Scrap Saturday years with plenty of trepidation. Fortunately, 'Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood' is still in much better shape than the boxer-manager … Continue reading Dermot Morgan – ‘Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood’
Whitney Houston – ‘Saving All My Love For You’
21 December 1985 One of the great redundant questions of our time is "How will I know if he really loves me?" as asked by 1980s Whitney Houston. Well, because you're 1980s Whitney Houston! Pretty much a pinnacle of human perfectibility! Not having such vocabulary at the time, since I was only a child, I … Continue reading Whitney Houston – ‘Saving All My Love For You’
