1985 - Top 100 Hits
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The Eighties Club
The Politics and Pop Culture of the 1980s
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Top 100 Songs of 1985
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Derived from Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits
    Wham!; "Don't You (Forget About Me)," Simple Minds; "Broken Wings," Mr.Mister
1. "Careless Whisper".....Wham!
2. "Say You, Say Me".....Lionel Richie
3. "Separate Lives".....Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
4. "I Want To Know What Love Is".....Foreigner
5. "Money For Nothing".....Dire Straits
6. "We Are The World".....USA for Africa
7. "Broken Wings".....Mr. Mister
8. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".....Tears for Fears
9. "The Power Of Love".....Huey Lewis & The News
10. "We Built This City".....Starship
11. "St. Elmo's Fire".....John Parr
12. "Can't Fight This Feeling".....REO Speedwagon
13. "Crazy For You".....Madonna
14. "Easy Lover".....Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins
15. "Everytime You Go Away".....Paul Young
16. "Don't You (Forget About Me):.....Simple Minds
17. "Take On Me".....a-ha
18. "Party All The Time".....Eddie Murphy
19. "Everything She Wants".....Wham!
20. "Shout".....Tears for Fears
21. "Alive and Kicking".....Simple Minds
22. "I Miss You".....Klymaxx
23. "Sea Of Love".....Honeydrippers
24. "Cool It Now".....New Edition
25. "Part-Time Lover".....Stevie Wonder
26. "Saving All My Love For You".....Whitney Houston
27. "Sussudio".....Phil Collins
28. "Oh Sheila".....Ready for the World"
29. "A View To A Kill".....Duran Duran
30. "One More Night".....Phil Collins
31. "Cherish".....Kool & The Gang
32. "Heaven".....Bryan Adams
33. "The Heat Is On".....Glenn Frey
34. "Raspberry Beret".....Prince & The Revolution
35. "You're The Inspiration".....Chicago
36. "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free".....Sting
37. "Miami Vice Theme".....Jan Hammer
38. "Freeway Of Love".....Aretha Franklin
39. "Don't Lose My Number".....Phil Collins
40. "Never".....Heart
41. "Things Can Only Get Better".....Howard Jones
42. "The Boys Of Summer".....Don Henley
43. "Rhythm Of The Night".....DeBarge
44. "We Don't Need Another Hero".....Tina Turner
45. "We Belong".....Pat Benatar
46. "Loverboy".....Billy Ocean
47. "All I Need".....Jack Wagner
48. "One Night In Bangkok".....Murray Head
49. "Never Surrender".....Corey Hart
50. "Lovergirl".....Teena Marie
   "Shout," Tears for Fears; Tina Turner & Mel Gibson, Rolling Stone, 8.29.85; "Smooth Operator," Sade
51. "Nightshift".....Commodores
52. "Head Over Heels".....The Go-Gos
53. "Neutron Dance".....Pointer Sisters
54. "Axel F".....Harold Faltermeyer
55. "You Give Good Love".....Whitney Houston
56. "The Search Is Over".....Survivor
57. "Small Town".....John Cougar Mellencamp
58. "Smooth Operator".....Sade
59. "Glory Days".....Bruce Springsteen
60. "Suddenly".....Billy Ocean
61. "Run To You".....Bryan Adams
62. "Obsession".....Animotion
63. "Lonely Ol' Night".....John Cougar Mellencamp
64. "Some Like It Hot".....Power Station
65. "Valotte".....Julian Lennon
66. "You Belong To The City".....Glenn Frey
67. "Material Girl".....Madonna
68. "Perfect Way".....Scritti Politti
69. "Election Day".....Arcadia
70. "Too Late For Goodbyes".....Julian Lennon
71. "Freedom".....Wham!
72. "In My House".....Mary Jane Girls
73. "Summer Of '69".....Bryan Adams
74. "Sleeping Bag".....ZZ Top
75. "Angel".....Madonna
76. "Lay Your Hands On Me".....Thompson Twins
77. "I'm On Fire".....Bruce Springsteen
78. "Would I Lie To You?".....Eurythmics
79. "Who's Zoomin' Who".....Aretha Franklin
80. "Fortress Around Your Heart".....Sting
81. "Born In The U.S.A.".....Bruce Springsteen
82. "All She Wants To Do Is Dance".....Don Henley
83. "Voices Carry".....'Til Tuesday
84. "Be Near Me".....ABC
85. "Private Dancer".....Tina Turner
86. "Fresh".....Kool & The Gang
87. "Sentimental Street".....Night Ranger
88. "California Girls".....David Lee Roth
89. "Do What You Do".....Jermaine Jackson
90. "Method Of Modern Love".....Hall & Oates
91. "Walking On Sunshine".....Katrina & The Waves
92. "Pop Life".....Prince & The Revolution
93. "You're Only Human".....Billy Joel
94. "Invincible".....Pat Benatar
95. "Lovin' Every Minute Of It".....Loverboy
96. "Get It On (Bang A Gong)".....Power Station
97. "Dare Me".....Pointer Sisters
98. "What About Love".....Heart
99. "You Are My Lady".....Freddie Jackson
100. "Dress You Up".....Madonna
  "You Belong To The City," Glenn Frey; "Material Girl," Madonna
 1985's Number Ones
(Includes the date the song reached the top of Billboard's Hot 100, and the duration of its stay there.)
"I Want To Know What Love Is"," Foreigner
2 February 1985/2 weeks
The band's first # 1 single, and the first release from Agent Provocateur, though some band members feared the ballad would damage their rock image. Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins), Jennifer Holliday and the New Jersey Mass Choir provided backup vocals. The song debuted at # 45 in Billboard's Hot 100 and took eight weeks to climb to the top.
"Careless Whisper," Wham!
16 February 1985/3 weeks
Debuting at # 37 in the fourth week of December 1984 -- the highest new entry in Billboard's Hot 100 that week -- this song took eight weeks to hit the top, becoming the group's second American # 1. It was an international hit, a # 1 in England as well as China, not to mention various other countries. In April, Wham! would be the first major Western rock band to perform in the Republic of China, at a concert before 12,000 people in the People's Gymnasium, Peking.
"Can't Fight This Feeling," REO Speedwagon
9 March 1985/3 weeks
Many wondered if REO Speedwagon could duplicate the success of their hugely successful album, Hi Infidelity, and it took the band a long time to do so. Band member Kevin Cronin had started writing the song 10 years earlier; other band members were dubious about the quality of the ballad -- until it debuted at # 46 and sped to # 1 seven weeks later.
"One More Night," Phil Collins
30 March 1985/2 weeks
Became # 1 on the same day that another of Collins' # 1's -- "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" -- was being performed at the 57th Annual Academy Awards, as it had been nominated for an Oscar. Almost simultaneously, his third solo LP, No Jacket Required, also topped the Billboard 200 album chart.
"We Are The World," USA for Africa
13 April 1985/4 weeks
At 3:50 pm GMT, five thousand radio stations around the world simultaneously played this song for the first time. Dreamed up as an American version of the British Band Aid charity performance of "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Ken Kragen, founder of United Support of Artists for Africa, the song was produced by Quincy Jones and written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. It sold 800,000 units on the first weekend of its release, entered the Hot 100 at # 21 and took just three weeks to reach # 1. In all, over 7 million singles were sold, and $44 million raised to fight famine in Africa.
"Crazy For You," Madonna
11 May 1985/1 week
Written by John Bettis and Jon Land for the soundtrack of Vision Quest, there were some who feared this ballad was not suited to Madonna, who'd previously released "Borderline" and "Material Girl." But the ballad was a huge success, broadening Madonna's horizons and supplanting "We Are The World" at the top of the chart after three weeks at # 2.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)," Simple Minds
18 May 1985/1 week
Written for the film The Breakfast Club and initially intended for Bryan Ferry, this song was only the second song that Simple Minds recorded that they did not write. Although band member Jim Kerr was openly critical of the lyrics, the song became the group's first American hit after seven years of recording.
"Everything She Wants," Wham!
25 May 1985/2 weeks
With this # 1 hit, Wham! became the first act since the Bee Gees to have three chart-toppers off one album (Make It Big). According to the George Michael, who wrote the song, it tells the story of a man who finds himself trapped in a marriage that isn't going well. Michael admitted it was a departure from the lightweight pop music the duo usually turned out.
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World," Tears for Fears
8 June 1985, 2 weeks
The last song selected for the album Songs From the Big Chair, this tune, according to Roland Orzabal, sounded too "un-Tears for Fears to me," but producer Chris Hughes insisted. The song was re-recorded in 1986 as "Everybody Wants To Run The World" for the Sport Aid charity event.
"Heaven," Bryan Adams
22 June 1985, 2 weeks
This song was recorded two years previously for the film Night in Heaven. Although the film was a flop, Adams had become such a hot property that radio DJs began playing the song off the soundtrack, and it was placed on the artist's third LP, Reckless and released as a single.
"Sussudio," Phil Collins
6 July 1985/1week
This was Collins' third consecutive # 1 single. The title is a word made up by the artist to verbalize a drum roll used on the track. And the subject of the song? A younger man's fantasies about an older woman. Critics said it sounded too much like a Prince song, and Collins freely admitted that he'd borrowed the tempo from "1999".
"A View To A Kill," Duran Duran
13 July 1985/2 weeks
The first "Bond" title song to hit #1; previously, Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die" and Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" had peaked at # 2. It was Duran Duran's second chart-topper ("The Reflex" was the first). After recording this song, the band split up for a while, with John Taylor and Andy Taylor joining The Power Station, and Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor formed Arcadia.
"Everytime You Go Away," Paul Young
27 July 1985/1 week
British singer Paul Young had his first American # 1 with this cover version of the song by Daryl Hall and John Oates (from their first album, Voices). Hall complimented Young for his definitive version of the song, and at the end of the summer of 1985 joined Young on a New York stage for a duet of the # 1 hit.
"Shout," Tears for Fears
3 August 1985/3 weeks
The duo's second chart-topper from the Songs From the Big Chair album ("Everybody Wants To Rule The World" being the first), "Shout" took months to record. In fact, Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley took eight months to finish the LP, which was intended from the start to be more commercial and radio-friendly than their previous platter, The Hurting.
"The Power Of Love," Huey Lewis & The News
24 August 1985/2 weeks
Bones Howe, music supervisor for the film Back to the Future, knew from the start that the producers wanted Huey Lewis to write an original piece for the movie. The first song crafted by Lewis, "In The Nick Of Time", ended up going onto the Brewster's Millions soundtrack. Lewis substituted "The Power Of Love" and "Back In Time", and some thought the latter would turn out to be the big hit. They were wrong, and Huey Lewis & The News had their first # 1 song.
"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)," John Parr
7 September 1985/2 weeks
This collaborative effort by David Foster and Briton John Parr was written for the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack at the very last minute. This week proved to be the first time that the top three songs were from movies -- in addition to "St. Elmo's Fire", "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News (Back to the Future) and "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) charted at # 2 and # 3 respectively.
"Money For Nothing," Dire Straits
21 September 1985/3 weeks
Because of Mark Knopfler's use of the word 'faggot' in the lyrics, "Money For Nothing became the year's most controversial chart-topper. Knopfler was inspired to write the song after overhearing a guy commenting on the MTV videos being played on every new TV set in an appliance store. When Sting agreed to perform backing vocals, his publishing company insisted on sharing the profits, so Sting was given credit as co-writer.
"Oh Sheila," Ready for the World
12 October 1985/1 week
The third MCA single for the six young men from Flint, Michigan who called themselves Ready for the World was thought by some to be a Prince song. Strangely enough, "Oh Sheila" had a virtually identical chord progression to that of the Tommy Roe 1962 # 1 hit, "Oh, Oh Sheila".
"Take On Me," a-ha
19 October 1985/1 week
A-ha became the first Norwegian group to top the American chart with "Take On Me," a song boosted significantly by an award-winning, part-live, part-animated video directed by Steve Barron. Interestingly, this was a second version of the song; the first, when released as a single, failed to catch fire, and the band re-recorded it.
"Saving All My Love For You," Whitney Houston
26 October 1985/1 week
This song had originally been recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. back in the Seventies, and it was the second single released from Houston's debut album. (The first was "You Give Good Love", which crossed over from the R&B chart to peak at # 3 on the pop singles chart.) This was the first of an amazing string of # 1 hits for Houston that established her as the Number One diva of the Eighties.
"Part-Time Lover," Stevie Wonder
2 November 1985/1 week
The first single from Wonder's long-awaited LP, In Square Circle, this song was the first to go to the top of five Billboard charts -- the Hot 100, Hot Black Singles, Hot Adult Contemporary, Hot Dance/Disco Club and Hot Dance/Disco 12" Singles Sales. As 22 years had passed since Wonder's first # 1, he became the artist with the longest span of chart-toppers to date.
"Miami Vice Theme," Jan Hammer
9 November 1985/1 week
Czech-born Jan Hammer, former keyboardist for the Mahavishnu Orchestra, had worked with the likes of Carlos Santana and Jeff Beck before composing the soundtrack for the film A Night In Heaven. Miami Vice producer Michael Mann asked him to score the pilot episode, and when the series was picked up by NBC, Hammer proceeded to compose 20 minutes of original music for every episode. This composition became the third TV theme to top the Hot 100 (the other two being the themes from S.W.A.T. and Welcome Back, Kotter.)
"We Built This City," Starship
16 November 1985/2 weeks
This song, written by Bernie Taupin and Martin Page, made the rounds for months before being picked up by the producers of the first album for the rechristened Starship. Two of the producers, Dennis Lambert and Peter Wolf, wrote a new chorus for the song and became the band's first # 1. (Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship had never had a chart-topper.)
"Separate Lives," Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
30 November 1985/1 week
"Separate Lives" was written for the film White Nights -- by Stephen Bishop back in 1982 after Taylor Hackford pitched the idea for the movie to him. Bishop was nominated for an Oscar for this song, only to lose out to Lionel Richie, who had penned "Say You, Say Me" -- yet another song from White Nights. Backing vocalist Marilyn Martin had performed with Joe Walsh and Stevie Nicks, and had performed on Kenny Loggins' # 1 hit "Footloose" before she sang this duet with Phil Collins.
"Broken Wings," Mr. Mister
7 December 1985/2 weeks
This song was written in 20 minutes by band members Richard Page and Steve George along with Page's cousin John Lang, and was one of the three songs on the demo tape the band presented to RCA records. A release from Mr. Mister's second LP, the song languished for months before even hitting the charts. But then it sped to the top. Miles Davis cut a jazz cover version.
"Say You, Say Me," Lionel Richie
21 December 1985/4 weeks
The second # 1 single from the film White Nights -- the first being "Separate Lives" -- which made that movie only the sixth to produce two chart-toppers in the rock era. Because of contractual obligations, though, "Say You, Say Me" could not be released on the official soundtrack; it came out, instead, on Richie's Motown LP Dancing on the Ceiling -- and ended up in fourth place on the list of Motown's all-time most successful singles. And with this song, Richie had written a # 1 hit in nine consecutive years.
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