The standard of #1s is really becoming good now. A good choice for George Michael's best song. Sounds influenced by other atmospheric 80s ballads like Paul Young - Wherever I Lay My Hat and The Cars - Drive especially.

Great song from George, a fair placing.

I like all of the songs since my last reply. "Reet Petite" is my other contender for my number one so we won't agree on the best one. Still some decent records to come though but also still 2 remaining of those ones I really don't like to come.

George is also 7th in my rank that I've put together the other day. A great ballad from him that.

Wow a brilliant and varied top 10 so far! “A Different Corner” is one of George’s very best and most heartfelt vocal performances, and “Rock Me Amadeus” is brilliantly quirky.

A Different Corner is my favourite George ballad, minimal, classy, pure emotion and a decade ahead of Sliding Doors the movie plot. It was a bold move as a single and set-up to a solo career and easily one of the top 3 tracks of the year for me. George is one of pop's great singers, and a top, if flawed, bloke. Empathy and love are among his best traits and it comes out in his greatest songs. I have loved this record since it debuted, and never stopped.

Nice song from George - behind "Rock me Amadeus" for me - but a supersafe place 2 behind it so far. Let's see which 6 songs still missing.

A strong back-to-back since I last commented!

Love the quirky themes and execution of 'Rock Me Amadeus'. Its chorus and production are both vibrant. Always cool to see a largely non-English language song crossing over here in a big way too.

'A Different Corner' is my favourite George Michael song too! I was hoping it would get a chance to shine in the Pop Factor competition on here but it wasn't to be. There's a quiet devastation to the whole package. His vocal performance is really moving and the synth textures are hypnotic.

6. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna

Papa Don't Preach was written by Brian Elliot after overhearing conversations of teenage girls through the open window of his recording studio. He intended the song for an unknown singer, Christina Dent, but Warner Bros. presented it to Madonna who liked it and changed a few of the lyrics before recording it. The single spent three weeks at number 1 in July, a second chart topper for Madonna after 'Into The Groove' the previous year.

Like 'A Different Corner', the song starts with a string intro but this one is much chirpier. It was later sampled on the top 10 hit 'Everybody' by Progress presents The Boy Wunda which was shown on the Top Of The Pops 1999 repeats a few weeks ago. The rest of the song is from the point of view of a pregnant teenage girl who wants to keep the baby and has the support of her boyfriend but is afraid of what her father will have to say. It's this storytelling that makes the song stand out for me, it's quite a deep subject to address in a pop song and did cause some controversy at the time. I like the way she lengthens the word "please" every time it comes round as a way of emphasizing the way that the person in the song really wants her father's approval. The only line that I have a problem with is "I'm in trouble deep". I know it's to make it rhyme with "I've been losing sleep" but does that justify changing the order of words like Yoda does? The video does an effective job of illustrating the story and has a happy ending with the father hugging his daughter. Overall, this is a good number 1, much better than Madonna's second one from this year, 'True Blue', so it just misses my top five.

A great festive top 2 to start the top 10 - A capella has such a great, soothing and atmospheric quality and Caravan of Love was where it really pulled off well, it's very cheesy but perfect for the time of year. Nice to see rrrrrrrrRRRRRRReet Petite a bit higher here than on the last countdown, the claymation video is quite of it's time but a 50s classic and I'm glad it got him a number 1.

Rock Me Amadeus would be very high for me as well, still an extremely standout and bizarre song with a frantic structure, quite insane that a song that left field (and in a foreign language) got number 1 in the US as well.

Madonna couldn't do a lot wrong in her elite era, Papa Don't Preach indeed has some great storytelling to it.

Great pop song I like the production, synths and violins and some Spanish guitar! Like a precursor to her 1987 #1s in the latter, its Spanish influenced sound.

It is now almost precisely 40 years since 'Papa Don't Preach's release as a thread on our Madonna forum from a few days ago recently highlighted!

The chorus melody is strong and I found a comment on youtube a while ago that said the chorus melody is very similar to the synth riff in Classix Nouveaux - Is It A Dream from 1982 (a #11 UK hit) and indeed it is!

Papa Don’t Preach was the song I was thinking of when I thought there was one of my favourite Madonna number ones still to come. Excellent story telling and emotive vocals wrapped up in great pop song. I think it marked the moment it became obvious she was heading for a long lasting commercially successful, but also critically acclaimed, career.

"Papa Don't Preach" is another of those records I can't stand so that just leaves one left. Like I previously said I only like a handful of Madonna songs and this is one of several of her hits which sounds painfully squeaky.

Papa Don't Preach pushed Madonna into a more grown-up song-choice, loved the intro and her new image was the first time we'd become aware of Madonna-as-Chameleon. Not quite up there with George's Corner, but ahead of George's Edge Of Heaven and her own True Blue. Re: Yoda tendencies to shuffle word order, Milton gets labelled a literary genius for doing it constantly in Paradise Lost (and I had to spend many weeks hating every tedious moment of it!) so I'm willing to forgive a puppet and Madonna and also the odd sci-fi split infinitive boldly going where no split infinitive has gone before 😄

I’ve never liked this song. No Idea why as I can see why it’s good really 🤔 😂

I find a lot of George Michael's songs very meandering - possibly one reason I've never really got into his solo material - and 'A Different Corner' is one of those, but it's certainly heartfelt and has a nice arrangement.

'Papa Don't Preach' is one of Madonna's best #1s, presenting the lyrical storyline with confident resolve and still a danceable pop song.

5. Chain Reaction - Diana Ross

Up to this point, Diana Ross had twelve US number 1 singles with The Supremes and six as a solo artist but she had only hit the top of the UK chart twice, with 'Baby Love' in 1964 and 'I'm Still Waiting' in 1971. Her last top 10 hit had been 'Work That Body' in 1982 so Chain Reaction gave her a bit of a revival. The song was written by the Bee Gees and features Barry Gibb on backing vocals. It wasn't an instant hit, spending its first three chart weeks at 91, 69 and 44 before entering the top 40 at number 31. It then went 14-4-2 before spending three weeks at number 1 in March. A cover version by Steps reached number 2 in 2001.

Chain Reaction is written in the style of the Motown songs of the 60s and has an infectious rhythm to it right from the start with that drum beat. The same pace is kept up throughout. There's nothing too complicated here, it's just a well written song by experienced hitmakers with a consummate vocal by an American icon.

I’ve always enjoyed Chain Reaction, a great later career high point for Diana. More proof of the Bee Gees fantastic song writing though

Chain Reaction is an upbeat dancefloor classic.

It's like 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon in that an uncredited famous singer sings backing vocals.

Edited Wednesday at 21:255 days by TheSnake

"Chain Reaction" is the final one of those 5 I really don't like. Diana Ross is quite possibly the best female solo artist there's ever been. She had some great records in the 70s but "Chain Reaction" is so poor in comparison. Even when I used to hear a Diana Ross compilation as a kid with no knowledge of when the songs were from or have any background information on any of them "Chain Reaction" stood out as the weak link. To me it's her equivalent of "I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder.