Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie was released on October 26, 1981, with Soul Brother as the B side. It was a single from Queen’s album Hot Space.
The song reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen’s second and Bowie’s third No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Continue reading
Oversized Frankie Says Relax t-shirts were everywhere in the 80s.
The single that launched a thousand t-shirts in the 1980s, Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood was released on October 24, 1983, with One September Monday as the B side. The group’s debut single, it was later included on their debut studio album Welcome to the Pleasuredome, released in October 1984.
I wasn’t even a teenager yet when the song was released, so I completely missed its sexual connotations and was oblivious to the controversy that surrounded it. I just associated it with the aforementioned t-shirts and figured this guy Frankie didn’t like to get too stressed out.
The sexually charged lyrics and explicit cover art for the single earned Relax a ban from the BBC, which, of course, only fueled the song’s success. It eventually reached No. 1 on the UK Singles chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
White Wedding by Billy Idol was released on October 23, 1982, with Dead on Arrival as the B side. It was a single from the singer’s eponymous debut album.
The song reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, it was re-released in 1985 for Vital Idol, a compilation album of Idol’s remixed singles. Upon its re-release, it reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
The song’s music video featured Idol’s then real-life girlfriend Perri Lister as the bride in a gothic wedding.
You Got Lucky by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was released October 22, 1982, with Between Two Worlds as the B side. It was the first single from the band’s fifth album Long After Dark.
The song, propelled by the success of its Mad Max-esque post-apocalyptic music video, reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks charts.
To quote Ms. Jackson herself, this is a story about Control. The fourth single from her third platinum-selling album of the same name, Control was released on October 21, 1986, with Fast Girls as the B side.
The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Janet’s fourth consecutive Top 5 hit. The accompanying music video was choreographed by Paula Abdul and starred Janet’s Good Times costar Ja’net Dubois as her mother.
In the “if at first you don’t succeed” category, Take on Me by a-ha was originally released on October 19, 1984, with And You Tell Me as the B side. But this was not the version – or the accompanying music video – that would become one of the most iconic of the 80s.
The original version peaked at No. 3 in a-ha’s native Norway but failed to achieve success elsewhere. Unhappy with the version, the band re-recorded the song with a new producer – Alan Tarney – and released it again in 1985, with Love Is Reason as the B side. Continue reading
We Belong by Pat Benatar was released on October 16, 1984, with Suburban King as the B side. It was the lead single from Benatar’s sixth studio album Tropico.
The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart.
Tonight She Comes by The Cars was released on October 14, 1985, with Just What I Needed as the B side. It was a single from the band’s Greatest Hits album. Just What I Needed, which also appeared on the Greatest Hits album, was originally released on May 29, 1978 as the debut single from the band’s self-titled debut album.
Tonight She Comes was the first of two songs to be released as a single from the Greatest Hits album. The second was a remixed version of I’m Not the One, previously recorded for the 1981 album Shake It Up.
The Cars’ fourth Top 10 hit, Tonight She Comes reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.
You Keep Me Hangin’ On by Kim Wilde was released on October 13, 1986, with Loving You as the B side. A cover of the Supremes’ 1966 No. 1 hit, the song was the second single from the studio album Another Step and the first single from the album to be released worldwide.
The song was Wilde’s most successful song in the United States, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a No. 1 hit in Canada and Australia. It reached No. 2 in Wilde’s native Britain.
My Prerogative by Bobby Brown was released October 11, 1988, with My Prerogative (Instrumental) as the B side. It was the second single from Brown’s second studio album Don’t Be Cruel.
The song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. An international success, it reached the Top 10 in several other countries, including Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Urban Contemporary Single.
Eighties Grooves 