2ND MAY

 

 

The Island of San Pedro continues to live a charmed life and provide Madonna another week at No 1, however sales slip further to 47,107. The track has actually lost sales every week since W/E 11/4/87 despite moving 3-2-1-1 since that week, its total is now a rather poor 250,274, whilst unspectacular for a chart topper it’s a fifth single from an already million selling album. Judy Boucher languishes at No 2 and loses sales, slightly at 40,613.

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing 1987’s fixation with film hits, Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” appears in the recent flick “Mannequin” which has helped pull the song to be an American No 1 single already. Starship are of course a continuation of Jefferson Starship (itself a continuation of Jefferson Airplane). When the final founding member Paul Katner left in 1984 he launched legal action to prevent the continued use of either “jefferson or Starship Airplane” so the remaining members formed Starship who scored a No 12 hit last year with their debut single “We Build This City”. Their current single comes with a high pedigree, penned by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren and is produced by Narada Michael Walden and is now easily the biggest hit they’ve had in any formation, it leaps 15-3 (29,971) and looks a dead cert for the top next week.

 

 

 

Scoring his 14th top 10 single, but his first in 15 years, Tom Jones is back! Seemingly in a terminal world of cabaret shows in Las Vegas, Jones gave it all up to return to the UK earlier this year to be a lead in a musical called “Matador” recording some songs for the concept album of which “A Boy From Nowhere” is one of them. The musical is yet to get the financing but Jones finds a good bargaining tool in the form of a hit song, this week he jumps 12-7 (22,100) the musical’s story of the rise and fall of a matador is naturally set in Spain which ties in with his last top 10 single, 1972’s “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer”.

 

 

 

Co-written by the woman herself Kim Wilde scores only her fourth top 10 hit in duet with Junior on “Another Step (Closer To You)”. The song was also written by Steve Byrd who was the original duet partner but a more soulful voice was felt to be required and so Junior was chosen, his previous best was on 1982’s “Mama Used To Say” (No 7), and now the song has been substantively remixed for the single by her brother Rick and here we are. It’s the second single pulled from Wilde’s “Another Step” album which is already home to the massive “You Keep Me Hanging On”, the current single soars 14-9 (20,230)

 

 

 

Remember when The Smiths were the future of music? For a brief time in 1983/84 ever improving chart positions indicated they were about to become a major force in music then somehow, at least commercially, it never quite happened. The group have amassed 13 hits now but until now only one track (1984’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”) managed to break the top 10, at least they now can boast a second No 10 track with “Sheila Take A Bow”. Originally conceived as a track to be recorded with former collaborator Sandie Shaw she did actually record a version which was scrapped and re-recorded in its present form, as per usual the group’s single comes with a cover star (Candy Darling in this instance) and became their fourth single to debut straight into the top 20 last week, it’s move 13-10 (19,227) would seem to indicate it will go no higher as all their last 7 releases peaked in either their first or second week- that sale the lowest needed for the top 10 since January.

 

 

Five Star get their third top 5 single unexpectedly with “The Slightest Touch” rocketing 8-4 (29,495) and Living In A Box hold at No 6 (27,421) just a few hundred copies behind Club Nouveau who fall 3-5 (27,676), Terence Trent D’Arby finally gives up the ghost as he dips 7-8 (21,148).

 

 

1- LA ISLA BONITA- Madonna (47,107)

2- CAN’T BE WITH YOU TONIGHT- Judy Boucher (40,613)

3- NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW – Starship (29,971)

4- THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH- Five Star (29,495)

5- LEAN ON ME- Club Nouveau (27,676)

6- LIVING IN A BOX- Living In A Box (27,421)

7- A BOY FROM NOWHERE- Tom Jones (22,100)

8- IF YOU LET ME STAY- Terence Trent D’Arby (21,148)

9- ANOTHER STEP (CLOSER TO YOU)- Kim Wilde & Junior (20,230)

10- SHEILA TAKE A BOW- The Smiths (19,227)

 

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now is one of the better examples of that big US power ballad sound, difficult to deny how catchy it is.

Oh I used to love that Kim Wilde song and also bought the single <3

 

yes the Starship song is undeniably catchy

 

also really loved Sheila Take a Bow, the Smiths deserved bigger hits

I adore Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now :wub:

Love the two Starship hits although the first one will always be tainted by the sausage roll stuff now 😕

 

Why didn’t the Smiths become any bigger, I mean they were undeniably important in the mid 80s but as Gezzas commentary says they did quite fade away and their singles peaked as fanbase songs a lot of the time.

 

Very low sales in that top 10!

re: low sales- it's amazing to see how much Easter affects the sales. A day's lost trading has given us very low sellers in 85, 86 and 87 and seems to affect sales more than one might think, bank holidays generally play havoc with sales giving us poor totals

 

1985

Easy Lover Phil Bailey & Phil Collins 60,724

We Are The World USA For Africa 58,582

 

1986

10-May Rock Me Amadeus Falco 44,778

 

 

1987

25-Apr La Isla Bonita Madonna 49,742

02-May La Isla Bonita Madonna 47,107

 

but not always.....odd

A very late Easter in 1987!

I can see why The Smiths became a fanbase act rather than a massive band for the masses

sure Morrissey being a bit of a dickhead didn't help much :)

 

This is their discography up to Sheila take a Bow, not bad but not spectacular either...

 

This Charming Man/25

What difference does it Make/12

Heaven knows I’m Miserable Now/10

William It was really nothing/17

How Soon is Now/24

Shakespeare’s sister/26

That joke isn’t funny anymore/49

The boy with the thorn in his side/23

Bigmouth strikes again/26

Panic/11

Ask/14

Shoplifters of the world unite/12

Sheila take a bow/10

 

I think lack of mainstream airplay and being on a small label (Rough Trade) was the main reason most of those Smiths songs didn't gain much traction beyond the first couple of weeks. The two which reached the Top 10 are fine although I'd have preferred 'Panic', and probably the two most revered in retrospect ('This Charming Man' and 'How Soon Is Now') didn't even go Top 20 while they were active.

 

Interesting to see Madonna reach and hold #1 on a declining sales trajectory, very similar to Falco the previous year.

weren't depeche mode and erasure also on an indie label (Mute)?

Yes… and you could argue that Depeche Mode didn’t have the singles success they deserved too. Certainly lots of them fell short of the top 10. I don’t think this is a spoiler as such but we’ve seen the last of DM for the 80s threads, only 5 of their 23 singles made the top 10 in this decade.

9TH MAY

 

 

Starship make their expected move to the top of the charts this week but it was a struggle as Judy Boucher put up an unexpected fight to lead much of the way for the second time in its chart life. TOTP helped once again with the direction of the top slot giving airtime to Starship and not Boucher which resulted in a victory for the former by 67,898 to 64,396, well clear of the rest of the field. Could Boucher yet do it? Madonna drifts 1-3 (37,672) and was never in with a shout of retaining the No 1 slot. In a year in which debuting inside the Top 40 is a prerequisite for making No 1, Starship are the first act since Jackie Wilson to buck the trend!

 

 

TOTP also helped Tom Jones climb 7-4 (33,473), it nudged Five Star down a spot to No 5 (29,835) and kept Living In A Box at No 6 for a third week with 26,384 copies.

 

 

Labi Siffre was retired from the music business for 9 years before 1984 when he penned “(Something Inside) So Strong” in response to a TV program broadcast about Apartheid. In his brief spell as a popstar he was of course responsible for “It Must Be Love” which was later a bigger hit for Madness (Siffre made a cameo appearance in the video), and during his years of non recording he came fifth in the 1978 song for Europe campaign, but you can’t keep a good popstar down and he returns with this emotionally charged track which is on the up 16-7 (21,930) to be his biggest hit.

 

 

 

Few groups over the last few years have had the notoriety of Jesus & Mary Chain, a band famed for their short sets and live appearances which end in violence. Arrested for drug possession, dubbed the “New Sex Pistols”, their last single “Some Candy Talking” getting banned by radio 1 after a campaign by DJ Mike Reid (we’ve heard that story before), the band have had an eventful two years so far even though they didn’t have a big hit single to their credit. The band are putting the finishing touches to their second album due in the summer and lead single “April Skies” marks a change in musical direction a more commercial field and they get rewarded with a 19-8 (21,267) move this week.

 

 

 

Level 42’s last album “Running In The Family” disappointingly only made No 2 unable to overcome U2’s “Joshua Tree” but has remained in the top 10 since moving 5-3 this week thanks in part to the success of the third single to be culled from it “To Be With You Again” which sneaks in 14-10 (19,601) just behind Kim Wilde & Junior who hold at No 9 (20,281).

 

 

1- NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW- Starship (67,898)

2- CAN’T BE WITH YOU TONIGHT- Judy Boucher (64,396)

3- LA ISLA BONITA- Madonna (37,672)

4- A BOY FROM NOWHERE- Tom Jones (33,473)

5- THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH- Five Star (29,835)

6- LIVING IN A BOX- Living In A Box (26,384)

7- (SOMETHING INSIDE) SO STRONG- Labi Siffre (21,930)

8- APRIL SKIES- Jesus & Mary Chain (21,267)

9- ANOTHER STEP (CLOSER TO YOU)- Kim Wilde & Junior (20,281)

10- TO BE WITH YOU AGAIN- Level 42 (19,601)

 

Sorry to be annoying but just noting it's kind of impressive you misspelt 'Siffre' in 3 different ways in that post :D :kink:

Sorry to be annoying but just noting it's kind of impressive you misspelt 'Siffre' in 3 different ways in that post :D :kink:

I'm nothing if not inconsistent! :D

'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' is a good #1. Its one of the big power ballads of the 80s, there are a few more to come in 1987.

 

Something Inside (So Strong) is a very good song, also of course iconic.

 

Love the two Starship hits although the first one will always be tainted by the sausage roll stuff now 😕

 

Even before that, I noticed 'We Built This City' in a few online polls of 'The Worst Songs Ever' because a lot of people thought they had 'sold out' and become 'corporate rock' compared to their their cool Jefferson Airplane days.

I can see why The Smiths became a fanbase act rather than a massive band for the masses

sure Morrissey being a bit of a dickhead didn't help much :)

 

This is their discography up to Sheila take a Bow, not bad but not spectacular either...

 

This Charming Man/25

What difference does it Make/12

Heaven knows I’m Miserable Now/10

William It was really nothing/17

How Soon is Now/24

Shakespeare’s sister/26

That joke isn’t funny anymore/49

The boy with the thorn in his side/23

Bigmouth strikes again/26

Panic/11

Ask/14

Shoplifters of the world unite/12

Sheila take a bow/10

 

The same could be said of the Gallagher bros?

Awesome for The Jesus and Mary Chain to get a Top 10 hit, 'April Skies' is a great song too, even if I like a few of their earlier songs a little more.

 

Bank holidays notwithstanding, that's quite a jump in sales for Judy Boucher, although she may have had one of the more forgotten #1s of the era if it had grabbed a week there.

I've never really listened to Jesus and Mary Chain before but I quite like April Skies on first play, may have to take a listen to some of their others

I checked out their 90s album Honey's Dead when listening through Mercury Prize nominated records before and it was great, need to give their 80s material a go

Psychocandy is well worth a listen!

Edited January 22, 20241 yr by jimwatts