I think "China" may have been the first record that I considered my favourite record ever (at 11)- it's still amazing and I'd probably put it in my top 5 for the year even now though some have surpassed it in the intervening years. The album version with the extra verse is much better though!

I’ve always had a soft spot for China In Your Hand. I think, as you said, it’s the plucked strings and the over the top power ballad bombast, I’m a sucker for that kind of thing. Very 80s. I agree with your 8/10

China In Your Hand is one of my favourites from the year, I think I would put it in my top 5.

Like both China in Your Hand and Got My Mind Set On You, they made a great top two.

BTW George did make #1 first time around in 1971 as well, it was the biggest selling single of the year as well 🤩

China In Your Hand I never used to be a fan of but now I am, with the melodic complexity of the chorus particularly the 'they may come true you cannot help them' bit.

Not a big fan of the saxophone solo near the end though.

Edited April 12Apr 12 by TheSnake

28 minutes ago, dandy* said:

Like both China in Your Hand and Got My Mind Set On You, they made a great top two.

BTW George did make #1 first time around in 1971 as well, it was the biggest selling single of the year as well 🤩

Oooops! My bad! Will edit.

China is great number one, but oddly Heart & Soul has always been my fave T'Pau record. Carol Decker still in fine voice these days.

'China In Your Hand' is fantastic!

9. Aretha Franklin & George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (Score: 8.5/10)

2 weeks at number 1

Kept off number 1: Pepsi and Shirlie - Heartache

Onto a fantastic duet now, with somehow oddly matched but perfectly complimented vocals of Aretha Franklin and George Michael. This was a huge number 1 on both the UK and US charts (Aretha’s only UK number 1) and a Grammy winner.

Aretha Franklin is one of the best selling artists ever and is probably best known for the song Respect. She started her career in the early 60s after moving to New York where she capitalised on her gift of a singing voice after being part of a gospel choir in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. She signed to Columbia records at the age of 18 and by the mid 60s she was described as the Queen of Soul. She left Columbia after disappointing sales and moved to Atlantic records where she was convinced to take advantage of her gospel background and she recorded her version of Otis Reading’s Respect which reached number 1 on the US charts in 1967. She was a prominent activist for civil rights and was a good friend of Martin Luther-King. Her other big hits in the 60s included I Say A Little Prayer and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and these, with Respect, were adopted as both civil women’s rights anthems (The former was used very well in Bridget Jones!).

Onto George Michael, I won’t go into his career too much, but more into where he was by 1987. At this point, Wham! had split up the year before following a massive farewell gig and George already had two solo number ones in the UK (Careless Whisper and A Different Corner). This was an in-between phase for George before his Faith era later in the year.

A duet between George and Aretha had been on the cards since 1984 when George was asked to contribute a song to a soundtrack with Aretha, but George turned it down as he was too scared to record with such a massive talented singer at the time. However, Aretha was a big fan of George’s as she liked his unique sound in Wham! and this lead to the recording of I Knew You Were Waiting in May 1986, before the release in January 1987 (I was today years old when I found out the song was co-written by Simon Climie off of Climie Fisher!). The song was recorded together but the many ad-libs were added later and recorded separately. The video shows both singers performing the song on and off a big screen and eventually together in person with the screen showing other famous duets (the song has echoes of River Deep, Mountain High appropriately).

This was George’s third solo number on the trot and Aretha’s sole UK number 1. The song entered at number 2 which was a big achievement at the time. It went onto be a US number 1 as well and eventually listed by Billboard as her biggest hit.

I think this is one of the classic duets to reach the top of the charts and the voices of George and Aretha compliment and combine perfectly. It’s a really upbeat anthem and really showcases what a fantastic voice Aretha had. I find it a fitting legacy for two such iconic singers that passed away within a couple of years of each other.

A word on the song stuck at number 2, this was, interestingly by Pepsi and Shirlie, George’s previous Wham! bandmates. Ironic huh? I think Heartache is a decent song but not number 1 material so the much better song won out.

I think it's about right for the duet. Hard to imagine how this would have sounded with either Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder (who were the initial picks by George MIchael) once you hear Aretha!

The song that was number one on the day I was born, and what a song for it to be!

A bit of a sad listen. Aretha and George much missed :( Aretha obviously had the better voice of the two but George still sounds very good on this record.

Couldn’t agree more with your assessment of I Knew You Were Waiting, a great duet, complimenting vocals of two fantastic singers both sorely missed. I’d give 8/10

2 fabulous singers on a great pop song, and both have honey sweet and powerful-when-they-need to be vocals. I recall John Peel wagging something like "Aretha can make any old piece of tat sound good - and I think she just has" on TOTP, which was unfair to the song and to George Michael, who might have been a pop idol but he had the goods, and has come to be more appreciated these days. I bought it, it topped my charts and would easily be in the top 10 of a very good year for number ones. I wouldnt quite put it up there with Different Corner or I Say A Little Prayer, to name but 2 of their respective classics, but it's still bloody good.

I'm not overly keen on big '80s power ballads but there's something compelling about 'China In Your Hand'. Its ideas are a bit all over the place but that chorus is huge and the strings really pull me in too.

On the other hand, 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)' doesn't do much for me musically, but definitely can't begrudge the supremely talented Aretha Franklin having a U.K. #1 to her name!

Happy to see Bee Gees, Madonna and Pet Shop Boys x2 still to come.

8. Madonna – La Isla Bonita (Score: 8.5/10)

2 weeks at number 1

Kept off number 1: Judy Boucher – I Can’t Be With You Tonight

 

Spanish for ‘The Beautiful Island’ La Isla Bonita is Madonna’s dreamiest and most Latin inspired number 1 (her 4^th) and was released as the fifth and final single from the huge True Blue album.

At this point in her career, Madonna was already an established pop phenomenon in Britain, her debut Madonna and breakthrough Like a Virgin had produced a run of defining mid‑80s hits, while True Blue had elevated her to another level topping the UK albums chart and confirming her as both a commercial force and a creative one as she co‑wrote and co‑produced the album’s material. 

Written by Madonna alongside Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch and produced by Madonna and Leonard, ‘La Isla Bonita’ began life as an instrumental demo originally offered to Michael Jackson (him again!) before being reshaped into a song that marked Madonna’s first clear embrace of Latin pop, with flamenco‑style guitar, Latin percussion and Spanish phrases woven into its romantic, dreamy, escapist mood. 

Critics and radio shows responded well to its melodic sophistication and softer atmosphere, seeing it as evidence of Madonna’s growing musical range while the heavily played video (portraying her as both a devout Catholic woman and a passionate flamenco dancer) helped cement its popularity.

I only realised when researching this song that the San Pedro she dreamt of last night was a made up place and not a person! La Isla Bonita showed that Madonna could reinvent her sound with ease while still being incredibly popular. She stayed in this Latin groove for her follow up chart topper, but see much lower down my rate for that one.

For me, this was probably the first Madonna track I was really aware of, I was entranced by the mood of the song and her red dress in the video. It easily remains one of her best UK number 1s and by far her best single released in 1987.

 

Glorious track! 💖 Sunkissed magic

I love La Isla Bonita, gorgeous song and another 8!

classic Madonna, and another number one in my charts, the latin vibes remain delicious. Easily top 10 of the year for me.

7. Pet Shop Boys - "Always on My Mind" (8.5/10)

4 weeks at number 1

Kept off number 1: Rick Astley – When I Fall In Love & The Pogues feat. Kirsty McColl – Fairytale of New York

 

Next up is the third best Pet Shop Boys single of 1987 (the first I already mentioned and the second is still to come!). This reworked cover was the Christmas number 1 for the year and famously kept a certain controversial fairytale off the top spot – more on that soon.

Always on My Mind was written in 1971 by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James. The song was first released in 1972 by Gwen McCrae under the title You Were Always on My Mind, with Brenda Lee (of Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree fame) and more famously Elvis Presley both recording versions later the same year. Elvis’s recording became the first major hit version in the UK, reaching the Top 10 after appearing as the B‑side to single Separate Ways.

By late 1987, Pet Shop Boys were at a commercial peak. They had already achieved two UK number one singles with West End Girls (1985) and It’s a Sin (1987), while their second album Actually had established them as one of the most important British pop acts of the decade. Tennant later referred to this era as their ‘imperial phase’, marked by confidence, ambition and near‑constant chart presence. 

The Pet Shop Boys originally recorded Always on My Mind for an ITV television programme marking ten years since the death of Elvis Presley. After abandoning plans to perform Baby Let’s Play House, they reimagined Always on My Mind as a hi‑NRG, synth‑driven track, transforming its introspective musings into something more cinematic. Retaining the core of the lyric but radically altering its musical context, the Pet Shop Boys version married electronic beats and sequenced basslines with Neil Tennant’s restrained vocal delivery. The track was released as a standalone single on 30th November 1987, temporarily interrupting the promotion of Actually, and ahead of third single Rent (another classic!).

The accompanying music video matched the song’s theatrical tone. A menacing Joss Ackland sits in the back of their car (the line I smell youth! Is quite iconic) and gets increasingly frustrated u til he demands to be let out of the car in the middle of nowhere. The stark visual style aligned perfectly with the Pet Shop Boys’ aesthetic at the height of their success.

During its run at the top, Always on My Mind kept a number of high‑profile releases from reaching number 1. Famously, it blocked Fairytale of New York by The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl, which peaked at number 2 on its original 1987 release and has since become an annual staple in the Christmas chart top 10. I have made my feelings known about Fairytale already on the forum, it is tainted by homophobia and I will die on that hill. I have also already commented on the slushy Rick Astley cover so won’t do so again.

This is probably one of the best covers of all time, it’s quite a feat turning a country ballad into a electronic masterpiece while still keeping an emotional punch. It showcases Neil Tennant’s emotionless delivery against the high NRG backing which was used frequently during their imperial phase. Fantastic as this is, it is a tribute to the quality of their output at the time that is, for me, only their third best single of the year. A Pet Shop Boys purple patch!