(40) (I JUST) DIED IN YOUR ARMS - CUTTING CREW
Apart from the 'ooh-waah!' weirdness at the start of the vocal, this is wonderful pop single. Beautifully constructed by legendary producer Tim Palmer, with just the right level of emotion to distract you from whatever you're doing. The song title was scribbled on a piece of wallpaper by lead singer Nick Van Eede, it's not clear why, and the record company didn't originally want to add (I Just) at the start of the song title but it was pointed out that The Rolling Stones had done it with (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction so they relented. The song reached number 1 in four countries, resting at number 4 in the UK, remaining in the top 10 for four weeks.
If they'd received royalties from every hair dresser who named their shop 'The Cutting Crew' in 1986 , they'd probably have made more from that than from sales of the single.
(39) YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME - BON JOVI
This is probably one of the best named singles of all time. As soon as you hear the title, you hear the song in your head - that's what every record company executive dreams about. Despite the dubious haircuts, Bon Jovi were a good looking band with oodles of charisma so their videos were very engaging, full of energy and positivity, despite the slightly oppressive nature of the lyrics. They never managed a UK number 1, which is surprising indeed but they did have 18 top 10 singles, which is equally surprising.
This was their first hit from their second release, reaching a disappointing number 14 in the chart. Better was to follow however.
(38) DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY - THE COMMUNARDS
I have a rule of not including songs in these top 40's if they've previously been released. For example, I didn't include Jackie Wilson's 'Reet Petite' (Christmas number 1 in 1986) because it had troubled the charts in 1957 and, should I venture there in future, it'll be in that top 40 instead. I'm little more fluid with cover versions however, especially when they're as good as this. How do you better a song that's been performed by both 'Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' and 'Thelma Houston'? Well, in stepped Jimmy Sommerville and said 'Hold my Irn Bru' (He's Scottish you see).
The Communards (of which Jimmy was a member) employed the vocal talents of Jazz singer Sarah Jane Morris. I thought this a weird thing to do because she sounded exactly like Jimmy and it was often difficult to discern who was singing what. Aficionados of the original Philadelphia version probably hated this version but The Communards turned it into something entirely different with Jimmy's soaring falsetto, the Reverend Richard Coles slamming the piano keys with unchristian-like velocity and that middle section where everyone does the 'oooooooooooohhh - baby' crescendo into a key change. Just glorious.
It of course hit Number 1 in the UK and stayed there for four weeks.
(37) LET'S GO ALL THE WAY - SLY FOX
In the Google-less days of 1986, I knew not who Sly Fox were nor from whence they came. All I knew was, they had an extremely catchy pop single that I couldn't get out of my head. It didn't really resemble anything else, which is one of the best things about pop music before the 2000s. It used looped digital processed samples as percussion and had lovely twinkling synth sounds decorating the dead-pan vocals. After this number 3 peaking single, they were never heard from again (not by me anyway).
(36) MY FAVOURITE WASTE OF TIME - OWEN PAUL
I'm not sure that 'You're my Favourite Waste of Time' is much of a compliment but it's nice to know you're the best at something I suppose. The song was written and recorded in 1979 by Marshall Crenshaw and later covered by Bette Midler of all people. One-hit-wonder Owen Paul released his version in May 1986 and took it to number 3. It's a truly joyous song and one that got me reaching for the volume dial on my radio in the heady summer of '86.
(35) TRAIN OF THOUGHT - A-HA
It's a matter of taste this song I suppose. Extremely unconventional and miles away from the previous hits, 'Take on Me' and 'The Sun Always Shines on TV'. The lyrics were inspired by Dostoevsky, not the first place one looks for pop single inspiration. The animated video was actually produced before the famous 'Take on Me' one, and was actually the reason they redid the original 'Take on Me' video, which was bland in the extreme.
This song actually sounds like a train, which I suppose is the point. It reached number 8.
(34) KYRIE - MR MISTER
How confused I was when this song popped up in the charts. I'd been playing a piece of music on the piano for years; it was 'Kyrie in D Minor' or 'Kýrie, eléison' (translates as 'Lord have mercy'), by Mr. Mozart (more on him later). This wasn't the pop version of that classical masterpiece - it was a whole different thing entirely. The mid-80s was awash with songs that had huge anthemic choruses and this fitted into that brief perfectly, even stripping it back entirely mid-way through the song, singing it a cappella style didn't remove the pomp.
I was disappointed to learn that this band weren't included as a character in the new batch of Mr. Men books.
'Kyrie' reached number 11.
(33) WORD UP - CAMEO
For most people of the era, this song will forever be associated with a bright red plastic cod piece. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I probably wouldn't Google it if I were you. This song came from Cameo's thirteenth album - despite this being only the second time they'd bothered the top 20 in the UK. The song borrows a motif from 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' for reasons known only to Cameo but has a unique (at the time) groove and simple melody which made people like me feel 'cool' because I could sing along, hit all the notes and feel like maybe one day, I could wear a big red cod piece too.
Word Up! settled at number 3 in September 1986.
(32) SING OUR OWN SONG - UB40
Not a band I was overly fond of UB40 but this song captured my imagination. It featured Jaki Graham and Ruby Turner on backing vocals and reached number five in the UK chart. 'Sing Our Own Song' is an anti-apartheid song, and quite a powerful one at that.
(31) LIVE TO TELL - MADONNA
What an intro! The first minute of this song is a sonic masterpiece. Atmosphere is one of the most important things to get right when producing music, and this has more atmosphere than a teenagers bedroom. This song features a very different Madonna to the one we were watching rolling around on a Gondola in the 'Like a Virgin' video (in fact we saw a different Madonna with every single song she released).
Here she is sombre, almost vulnerable, speaking of regrets and fears. Her range as a pop star was expanding with every release - and nobody expected something like this from her. It's still an all time classic song - it's not higher in the list because it doesn't really fit the brief of what a single should be and, In my opinion, it was bold to release this as the lead single from the album 'True Blue' when you had others like 'Papa Don't Preach', 'Open Your Heart', 'La Isla Bonita', 'Where's the Party' and 'True Blue' to choose from. Thinking about it, 'True Blue' is probably the album of the decade *checks notes* actually, it was the best selling album of 1986 - beating Brothers in Arms! (However, it was only 10th biggest seller of the decade - Brothers in Arms was number 1)
'Live to Tell' reached number 2 behind 'Rock Me Amadeus' in May.
(30) STRIPPED - DEPECHE MODE
Depeche Mode became louder, darker, scarier and more confident as time went on. This was a million miles away from 'Just Can't Get Enough' and was probably the reason bands like Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam and Marilyn Manson existed and nudged their way into the charts come the 90s. This was the birth of the industrial sound and it wasn't fully embraced by the record buying public in 1986, nor it seems, by the Depeche Mode fan base. It only reached number 15 and only remained in the top 40 for four weeks; it was very definitely before it's time.
(29) LIFE'S WHAT YOU MAKE IT - TALK TALK
The mixture of the piano loop and the wonderous guitar part makes this single a winner well before the vocals even start. It sneaked into the number 16 spot in the chart in January 1986 however, I don't remember this from 1986, my entire memory of the song is from it's re-release in 1990 when it reached number 23. Similarly, their 1984 song 'It's My Life' was re-released in 1990 and reached number 13. Probably the best marketing decision their record company ever made, doubling their royalties without putting much actual work in to do so. Probably.
(28) LAND OF CONFUSION - GENESIS
Hard to believe, but 70s and 80s UK chart regulars Genesis only scored eight top ten hits. Probably because Phil Collins had so many solo hits, it was difficult to tell which were his and which were Genesis. This was unequivocally Genesis though, the searing keyboards, bombastic production and chugging infectious guitar line proving they were probably better as a three than as a Collins solo record or a Mike and the Mechanics offshoot.
The heavy political message of the song was juxtaposed by the whole thing being played out by Spitting Image puppets, making you unsure whether to laugh or cry. The song reached number 14, one better than their previous release that year 'Invisible touch', which has one of the best mis-heard lyrics of all time : "She seems to have an invisible todger". Have a listen and tell me that's not what he's saying.
(27) PANIC - THE SMITHS
This is absolutely one of the best produced singles of all time. It's flawless which is a feat in itself for a track with so many jangly guitars and syncopated rhythms (a gracious nod to the musicians involved). One of those straight in and out songs which doesn't hang around, outstay its welcome and begs to be played just one more time. Being a protest about 'modern' pop music, when it was played on primetime radio among the songs it outwardly criticised, I'm sure Morrissey afforded himself a wry smile.
If this was Morrissey's commentary about the tepid nature of pop music in 1986, lord knows what he thinks of it these days. Music was recorded by musicians back then, regardless of its perceived quality, I'm sure he'd rather be listening to 1986 than 2026. The Beatles used to release singles that didn't appear on Albums and The Smiths carried that on to a certain extent. Panic didn't appear on an album which probably helped it up to a healthy number 11 in August. If you think it's a crime this didn't break the top 10, just remember that songs such as 'I Want to Wake up With You', Stan Ridgeway's 'Camouflage' and Sinitta's 'So Macho' were all higher in the chart. I know.
(26) BEGINNING (MAMBA SEYRA) - BUCKS FIZZ
I don't know how many drums are used on this single but it's probably more than the rest of the top 40 at the time put together. I'm not aware of another pop song prior to this one that leaned in on the rhythms so heavily, but it lit up the record. The song had actually been recorded by 'The Dooleys' (of 'Chosen Few' fame) under a pseudonym. However, after Jay Aston had left Bucks Fizz and been replaced by Shelley Preston, it was chosen as the former Eurovision winners' come-back single.
The song reached number 8 and became their final chart entry. For those of you not au fait with the back catalogue of Bucks Fizz, I would urge you to give their Greatest Hits a spin, you'll be surprised by how many songs you actually like.
(25) ROCK ME AMADEUS - FALCO
Being a classical pianist by the age of 11, I was probably the only kid at my primary school who knew who 'Amadeus' was. I didn't speak German however so knew only that the song was about Mozart and probably about how he wrote what could have been considered the 'pop' music of his day. It topped the charts in 10 different countries including the UK. It probably wasn't the first 'Euro-dance' track to enter the chart but the genre was far more prevalent in the months and years following.
(24) MANIC MONDAY - THE BANGLES
Written by Prince, the melody of the opening line is exactly the same as that on 1999. For 'Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream', read 'I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray'. The song had been written for Apollonia 6 (a Prince mentored trio) but subsequently pitched to The Bangles who gratefully snapped the song up. It was a watershed moment that plopped the foursome on the pop map and enabled further chart success.
It's a very simple song with a Nursery Rhyme quality but that's what makes it such a great single - it's hooky and bright. It entered the top 10 and rose quickly to number 2 behind Diana Ross' 'Chain Reaction' in what was probably the worst top 10 of the year - '(Nothing Serious) Just Buggin' was at number 7, 'Hi Ho Silver' at number 6, 'New York, New York' was at number 4 for some reason and 'Love Missile F1-11' by Sigue Sigue Sputnik was at number 3. The 80s clearly wasn't all legwarmers and Rubik's cubes.
(23) THE EDGE OF HEAVEN - WHAM!
I can still feel this in my bones. It had been announced that Wham! were to split up after a concert at Wembley Stadium in the summer of '86. Mr. Michael had become too big for the vehicle he was 'the shy one' of at the beginning. Wham! had become a definition of the mid-80s charts and as news of their split emerged, it ensured that this song entered the chart at number 2, rising to number 1 for the two weeks following. In it's own right, this song is what the pop charts were created for. It's big, brash, loud and glossy, everything George Michael's subsequent pop career wasn't.
(22) TRUE COLORS - CYNDI LAUPER
A truly great pop vocal performance here, probably one of the very best. I'd like to have heard her sing Madonna's 'Live to Tell', it would definitely have given it a certain fractured quality that could have made it even better?
The demo for this song was a gospel-style 'Bridge over Troubled Water' thing, but Cyndi saw through that and completely dismantled it in favour of the stark version that ended up at number 12, criminally. Again, the songs which were higher in the chart tell a story of an eclectic bunch of people going into record shops and buying 'Every Loser Wins' by Eastenders' own Nick Berry (Number 1), 'In the Army now' (Number 4), 'Midas Touch' (Number 10) and that man again, Boris Gardner with 'You're Everything to Me'. You can't say that there wasn't something for everyone in those days I suppose.
(21) ROSES - HAYWOODE
If you're looking to write a good pop song then you'll need a hook, a good melody, some energy, a great vocal and memorable lyrics. You don't always need those things but in this case, they're all present and correct. The guitar part over the inbetween-bits is the hook here. I get chills whenever I hear it and Haywoode's vocal is perfect for upbeat chirpy pop music like this. She'd made six previous attempts to chart but got no higher than number 48 with her 1983 single 'A Time Like This'. 'Roses' was released in 1985 and reached number 65 but it was re-released and made it's way up to number 11 in August 1986.
(20) VENUS - BANANARAMA
This is probably the song Bananarama are most associated with but it probably ushered in a bland new era for them when they'd been doing so well previously. Their collaborations with Fun Boy 3 had been unusual, their debut album was uniquely interesting, 'Robert DeNiro's Waiting' and 'Cruel Summer' were all time classics, even 'Rough Justice' was erring on the more adult contemporary side. However, although Venus is a brilliant pop song, I didn't think it suited them and Siobhan Fahey agreed; after the release of 'Love in the First Degree', she left citing musical blandness and formed the faultless alternative-pop group 'Shakespears Sister'.
'Venus' reached number 8 in July.
(19) DIGGING YOUR SCENE - BLOW MONKEYS
If smooth lounge jazz isn't your thing or you think saxophones are seedy, then I challenge you to deny you like this song. To say its soulful is to say water is slightly wet. It's full of emotion and sexiness and was created by people who knew their musical instruments (including their voices) inside and out. This was their second release and first hit single (number 12) and although they only had one top 10 success ('It Doesn't Have to Be This Way'), they're still around and about in 2024.
(18) OPEN YOUR HEART - MADONNA
Madonna's range as a pop vocalist was stretched once more on this track to the point you believed she was capable of anything. Originally called 'Follow Your Heart' and written for Cyndi Lauper, Madonna's management quickly snapped the song up and with Madge's help, turned it from a Rock and Roll song into a Pop track. This is the highest charting song called 'Open Your Heart' (Number 4) beating Human League (6), Europe (86) and M People (9). Incidentally, Europe's 'Open Your Heart' is brilliant and should have been a top 10 hit for the piano and guitar parts alone. (Incidentally, Madonna's 'Open Your Heart' was stopped from climbing a further place to number 3 by Europe's 'Final Countdown')
(17) HAPPY HOUR - THE HOUSEMARTINS
Paul Heaton is a master wordsmith and an A1 level song writer. The Beautiful South song 'A Little Time' is one of the greatest singles of all time, in fact, most of The Beautiful South's singles were brilliant. 'Happy Hour', lyrically, is superb, taking a swipe at sexism, 'yuppies' and godawful people who think they're something they're not. The chorus glues the whole thing together and Heaton's voice lends a jovial sardonic tone which ensures the song doesn't tip over into anything too acerbic. Genius really.
The song reached number 3 in June behind Wham!'s 'Edge of Heaven' and Madonna's 'Papa Don't Preach'. Not bad for a first hit single.
(16) SPIRIT IN THE SKY - DOCTOR AND THE MEDICS
I can never think of this as a novelty single. The Gothic costumes, backing singers with creepy wigs and accompanying hand dances, over the top makeup, huge theatrics and a glam-rock infused re-imagining of the Norman Greenbaum classic all pointed towards 'novelty'. But you know what? It totally works as a genuine assault on the chart. That filtered guitar riff at the beginning is so crisp, it opens the track perfectly. The original got to number 1 in 1970 and sixteen years later, Dr. and the Medics took it to number 1 again for three weeks.
(15) TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) - SAMANTHA FOX
You shouldn't ever really do what pop singles tell you to but, if you have to, make sure you've got at least two bottles of hand sanitizer. This single was a genuine surprise. Someone who was famous for something else entirely, releasing a pop single? When has that ever gone well? Well - right here actually.
Ms. Fox had a perfectly decent pop voice (she'd been auditioned by a record company who were looking for a new British Madonna) and with this track, sold the entire thing perfectly well. I'm a little troubled by the metaphor in the second verse : 'Like a tramp in the night, I was begging for you'. Not entirely sure she knows what a tramp is but regardless of that, a decent number 3 hit was a good way to start a much more dignified career.
(14) WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING - BILLY OCEAN
If the musicians union weren't miffed enough by the advent of synthesizers and miming on Top of the Pops, they were forced to write a strongly worded letter when Billy Ocean's video featured Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito singing backup (as they were in the film 'The Jewel of the Nile' of which 'When the Going Gets Tough' was the theme song) even though they weren't the vocalists on the record. The video was then temporarily banned from Top of the Pops when it turned out that Danny DeVito (who mimed playing a saxophone) wasn't in the Musicians Union and that was 'against the rules'. This begs the question of how Jason Donovan ever got on Top of the Pops?
Whoever wrote that moogling (sic) bassline at the start of the song needs a trophy of some sort. The song hit number 1 and stayed there four weeks in April.
(13) HOLDING BACK THE YEARS - SIMPLY RED
The perfect song to explain my opinion of what makes a great song and what makes a great single. 'Holding Back the Years' is a masterpiece. Vocally, musically, atmospherically, lyrically, sentimentally, emotionally - brilliant song but not the best single. It's a song that takes a while to take hold of you, a good few listens to understand fully - a single should grab you straight away. Mick Hucknall wrote it when he was 17 and on it's first release in 1985, it peaked at 51. This was after the band's breakthrough with the number 13 hit 'Money's Too Tight to Mention'.
The song is backed by a beautiful video, filmed in the gorgeous Yorkshire town of Whitby. Just delightful.
(12) IF YOU WERE HERE TONIGHT - ALEXANDER O'NEAL
One of my favourite songs of all time was the single preceding this Alex classic, 'A Broken Heart Can Mend'. I get the same chills I had on first listen whenever I pop it on. It only managed to climb to number 53 in the UK. However, when 'If You Were Here Tonight' appeared and climbed to number 6, I knew Alex was going to be massive. The decorative piano riff which persists throughout the track is gorgeous, layer that with Alex's Galaxy Caramel voice and you've got something wonderous to put on repeat for an hour (at least). The B-side 'What's Missing' is, if anything, better than the A-side, making it a must buy (if you've got a time machine).
(11) PAPA DON'T PREACH - MADONNA
From the stabbing orchestral intro to the perfect synth bass, this is a perfectly produced piece of glossy pop loveliness. Of course, there's the Madonna-signature controversial lyrical content but it made for an interesting and compelling song with an actual story and message - something not always present in the bubble-gum pop of the time (such as 'Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)' by Samantha Fox).
It spent six weeks in the top 3 and three weeks at number 1. The song was tainted for me slightly when 'vocalist' Kelly Osbourne took it to number 3 in 2002 somehow. This was before downloads counted towards chart positions so people were actively physically leaving their houses to part with actual money to own that song. Ladies and Gentlemen, the power* of reality TV.
*iniquity
(10) BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN - THE SMITHS
Originally the 'La-di-da ha-ha' bits in this song annoyed me. It made me wonder how the record executives involved in making the decisions around the production and release of this song hadn't noticed. Then, I got older and my appreciation of such things matured. These days, I look back on this as a watershed for pop music. Everything about this single is magnificent. Joan of Arc's Walkman, smashing teeth, Roman noses and having no right to take a place in the human race - wonderful wordsmithery by the Smiths - maybe that's how they got their name?
The final chart position of number 26 doesn't in any way reflect the genius of this song - probably because none of us were ready for it. Maybe we're still not.
(9) SLEDGEHAMMER - PETER GABRIEL
I'm not sure there was a human being in the UK who hadn't seen the Sledgehammer video. How successful this song would have been without the video, I'm not sure, but it's very well crafted all the same. The parent album 'So' is one of the best of the 80s and in 'Mercy Street' has one of the best songs of the 80s. A number 4 placing matched that of 'Games Without Frontiers' as Peter Gabriel's highest chart placing to date.
(8) THROUGH THE BARRICADES - SPANDAU BALLET
From their debut, a number 6 hit with 'To Cut a Long Story Short', Spandau managed at least one top 10 hit in each of the first five years of the 80s. They skipped 1985 but came back with a bang in 1986 with 'Fight for Ourselves' and this masterpiece of a song 'Through the Barricades'. It was mature and beautifully structured; it showcased Tony Hadley's voice wonderfully too. This, their last top ten hit, mirrored the first in that it climbed to number 6.
(7) WE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE OUR CLOTHES OFF - JERMAINE STEWART
This is exactly how to have a hit single. The muted beginning to the song promises so much and then, after the bass-scratch, squirts pop music in your face like a pressure washer. I taped this when it was on the television and watched it back every single night for weeks. It was the song around which all other songs revolved in 1986 for me. Jermaine did have other hits despite his billing as a one-hit-wonder. His 1988 track 'Say it Again' is brilliant.
You don't have to take your clothes off to have a good time, which is a good job because it never gets above 8 degrees here in the North East of England. The track reached number 2 for two weeks stalling behind The Communards' 'Don't Leave me This Way'.
(6) ADDICTED TO LOVE - ROBERT PALMER
There were many moments in my life when I heard a new song and thought music couldn't get any better. Heaven 17's 'Temptation' was one of those moments. Tasmin Archer's 'Sleeping Satellite' was another. 'Addicted to Love' changed my life slightly for three and a half minutes in June 1986. I couldn't understand how a song this good was even possible.
It was originally mooted to be a duet with Chaka Khan. Although she couldn't work a release from her record company to do so, she's still credited with the vocal arrangements - and you can really hear her singing it in your mind's ear. The track features the rhythm guitar work of Duran Duran's Andy Taylor (who was also in The Power Station with Robert Palmer). The video for the song was striking too, utilising a striking Patrick Nagel-inspired backing group (another Duran Duran link; he designed the cover of their album 'Rio'). It reached number 5.
(5) LOVE COMES QUICKLY - PET SHOP BOYS
In my 1985 commentary, I noted how The Pet Shop Boys never struck me as a very good pop group - almost anti-pop in their personae and completely without imagination in their image. However, 'West End Girls' was a genre defining song. 'Love Comes Quickly' is moribund and moody. The Synths in this song are used very intelligently and I don't even mind Neil Tennant's voice on this. Strange on the back of 'West End Girls' and its massive success that this follow up just scratched the top 20, reaching number 19 before falling away.
(4) SANCTIFY YOURSELF - SIMPLE MINDS
Turn this one up to full volume!
I'm not sure how to Sanctify Yourself but Simple Minds seem adamant that you should for some reason. This song has one of the best introductions of the 80s - gets the blood moving and the old right foot tapping. The vocal tune in the verse is all a bit random but the chorus and musical in-between-bits more than make up for it. It reached number 10 in February.
(3) HOUNDS OF LOVE - KATE BUSH
'Its in the trees! It's coming!'
Kate Bush in full flow here. You can tell she's in her element regardless of the insecure and very stark lyric. Consider this : 'I found a fox caught by dogs, He let me take him in my hands, His little heart, it beats so fast, And I'm ashamed of running away from nothing real. I just can't deal with this. I'm still afraid to be there among the hounds of love.'
This is a prime example of Kate being either a very brave songwriter or a very Avant Garde one. Probably both.
Although it didn't resonate at all with the single-buying public, it's another of those (like so many in my to 40) that have the passage of time to thank for us realising just how blessed we were to live through these iconic times and that the songs from those days sound so much better the older they get.
It only rose to a criminally low number 18 - Kate was always more of an albums artist anyway. The parent album, also called 'Hounds of Love' of course hit number 1 for three weeks and remained on the chart for 68 weeks.
(2) HIGHER LOVE - STEVE WINWOOD
Steve 'Spencer Davis Group and Traffic' Winwood did manage to get Chaka Khan to appear on his record, in this case, performing backing vocals. 'Higher Love' is a song which endures. It was brilliant at the time and it's still brilliant now. That drum intro was a complete accident. It was recorded without the drummer knowing - he was playing around during a break - and it was spliced onto the beginning of the track.
It only reached number 13 in July but I'm sure Steve will take some solace in knowing he's a number 2 in my mind.
(1) BROKEN WINGS - MR MISTER
I was once asked by a very strange friend of mine, 'If you were trapped in a lift forever and had to listen to one song on repeat, what would it be?' Without hesitation, I said 'Broken Wings'. I must have listened to this song at least once a month since the advent of Spotify (before then, it was on a hissy Memorex C90 with the last few seconds missing because the tape ran out). As vocal performances go, this takes some beating. As guitar accompaniments and simple but effective synth bass parts go, it also has very few peers. It's no spoiler to say that when I've done my top 40 of 1989, and I sum up with my top 10 of the 1980s, this will probably be number 1. The public didn't agree however, nudging it up to number 4 in January 1986 behind A-Ha's 'Sun Always Shines', Dire Straits' 'Walk of Life' and Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls' which had started falling back down the chart.
If you want to see my blog about 1985 click here, or if you'd like to dip into the 70s, click here