Obsession by Animotion was released November 23, 1984, with Turn Around as the B side. It was the debut single from the group’s self-titled debut album.
The song originally was written and recorded by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres in 1983. This version was featured in the 1983 film A Night in Heaven; however, Animotion’s version was by far the big success of the two. It reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom and No. 6 in the United States. Continue reading
Straight Up By Paula Abdul was released November 22, 1988, with Cold Hearted as the B side. It was a single from Abdul’s debut album Forever Your Girl. Before launching her singing career, Abdul was a cheerleader and dancer for the Los Angeles Lakers and choreographed several popular music videos for artists like Janet Jackson, Debbie Gibson, and Duran Duran.
Straight Up was a No. 1 hit in the United States and the best-selling single of 1989. A huge hit internationally, the song also went to No. 1 in Norway and Canada and was a Top 5 hit in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The music video was directed by now famous movie director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network) and featured comedian Arsenio Hall, whose talk show had premiered a few weeks prior to the video shoot. The video went on to win four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, including for Best Female Video, Best Dance, Best Choreography, and Best Editing.
My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen was released November 21, 1985, with Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town as the B side. My Hometown, about Springsteen’s experiences growing up in Freehold, New Jersey, was a single from the album Born in the U.S.A. The B side was a live recording from a December 12, 1975, Springsteen concert on Long Island, New York. Springsteen’s version of the popular Christmas song was previously released in 1981 on a children’s album In Harmony 2.
My Hometown reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the seventh and last Top 10 single from Born in the U.S.A. — a record for the most top 10 singles from an album that stands today, tied with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. In the United Kingdom, My Hometown reached No. 9 on the UK Singles chart.
The music video featured a live performance of the song from a concert on the Born in the U.S.A. tour.
The picture sleeve of the UK 7″ release.
Come Dancing by The Kinks was released in the United Kingdom on November 19, 1982, with Noise as the B side. It was a single from the band’s nineteenth studio album State of Confusion.
The song failed to chart in the UK upon its initial release. When it was released months later in the United States, it was propelled by frequent airplay of the song’s music video on MTV. As a result, Come Dancing reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s highest US charting single in over a decade. Continue reading
867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone was released November 16, 1981, with Not Say Goodbye as the B side. It was a single from the band’s album Tommy Tutone 2.
The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, but perhaps a larger footnote in pop culture history is the movement of prank phone calls it inspired to the number in the song’s title. If you grew up in the 80s and didn’t dial 867-5309 and ask for Jenny at least once, you clearly were not utilizing your rotary phone to its fullest capacity. Those who had the number in various area codes were flooded with calls. For instance:
Check out Wikipedia for a continuation of this list and, if you still can’t quite remember the phenomenon that was 867-5309 back in the early 80s, read this very cool 1982 People magazine article about it, complete with interviews with members of the band.
This 7″ picture disc for I Want to Know What Love Is was released in the UK in 1984.
I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner
was released November 13, 1984, with Street Thunder (Marathon Theme) as the B side. It was the lead single from the band’s fifth studio album Agent Provocateur.
The song, which featured backing vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir and keyboard work by Thompson Twins frontman Tom Bailey, was a worldwide success. It reached No. 1 in several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
I Want to Know What Love Is was written by Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Check out this 2013 interview with Classic Rock magazine where he talks about the making of the song:
“I always worked late at night, when everybody left and the phone stopped ringing. ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ came up at three in the morning sometime in 1984. I don’t know where it came from. I consider it a gift that was sent through me. I think there was something bigger than me behind it. I’d say it was probably written entirely by a higher force.”
The picture sleeve for the UK 7″ release of Our House.
Our House by Madness was released November 12, 1982. The UK release featured Walking with Mr. Wheeze as the B side, while the US release had Cardiac Arrest on the B side. It was the lead single from the band’s fourth studio album The Rise and Fall.
The picture sleeve for the US 7″ release.
The song peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles chart. It was the band’s biggest hit in the United States, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 1oo.
Although sometimes regarded as a one-hit wonder in the United States because of the enormous popularity of Our House, Madness released several successful singles in their native UK in the 1970s and 1980s.
Part of the song’s success in the US was owed to the popularity of its music vide on MTV. Watch the song’s music video here.
Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins was released November 11, 1983, with Let Loving Start as the B side. It was a single from the band’s fourth studio album Into the Gap.
The song was an international hit. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart.
In an interview with Songfacts.com, Tom Bailey, one-third of the Thompson Twins, explained that he wrote the song with bandmate and then-girlfriend (and later wife) Alannah Currie about their relationship: Continue reading
Shake It Up by The Cars was released November 9, 1981, with Cruiser as the B side. It was the first single from the band’s album of the same name.
The song was The Cars’ highest charting Billboard hit at the time, peaking at No. 4 in early 1982. In 1984, the single Drive would climb a notch higher to No. 3. Continue reading
You Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids on the Block was released November 7, 1988, with a remix of the song as the B side. It was the second single from the group’s second album Hangin’ Tough, after the ballad Please Don’t Go Girl.
The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. A Spanish version of the song, Autentica, peaked at No. 11 on the Spain Singles Chart.
In a 2014 interview with the Manchester Evening News, Donnie Wahlberg, who shares lead vocals on the song with Jordan Knight, gave his thoughts on the song: Continue reading
Eighties Grooves 