Welcome back to the Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the previous posts, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. I hope you’ve been enjoying these songs this week. There will be quite a few familiar ones today. So let’s Returh to the week ending January 12, 1985, and see what was topping the charts in the U.K.
10. “The Power of Love” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
9. “Everything Must Change” by Paul Young
8. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.
7. “Shout” by Tears for Fears
6. “Nellie the Elephant” by Toy Dolls
5. “We All Stand Together” by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus
4. “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner
3. “Like a Virgin” by Madonna
2. “Last Christmas” by Wham!
1. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid
Well, that’s a wrap. The next countdown will be back in the U.S. Until next time, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
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Wow, Spandau Ballet did songs other than “True”?! I actually like this one better.
This is a cover of George and Ira Gershwin’s popular song from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. It has been covered many times, including this version, from Bronski Beat’s debut album, which reached up to #16 on this chart.
The novelty act, Black Lace, is back with another hit! This is similar to Buster Poindexter’s “
Sal Solo had been the lead vocalist of Classix Nouveaux, as part of the New Romantic movement. He embraced the Roman Catholic faith after a pilgrimage to San Damiano, a small village in Italy near Piacenza. He began a solo career, scoring a hit with this song, which would peak at #15. After 1987, Solo stopped recording music commercially, and became active in youth ministry in the Catholic Church in the UK.
Here is the song from Chess that I did know about already, and love! Murray Head raps the verses and the chorus is sung by Anders Glenmark, a Swedish singer, songwriter and producer. For fans of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show, Murray Head is the brother of Anthony Stewart Head, who played Giles.
Smiley Culture was a reggae rapper. We did not hear this style music in the U.S. at this point. This was the supposedly autobiographical tale of how Smiley Culture was arrested for the possession of cannabis, but then let off in return for an autograph when the policeman recognized him as a famous reggae artist. In a cruel twist of irony, Smiley Culture died at the age of 48 in 2011 during a police raid on his home.
Nik Kershaw was huge in the U.K. through the mid-80s. He did not break through in the U.S. Most likely, U.S. audiences would mainly have seen him from his 
This was the first song released from the album Here’s to Future Days. It peaked right here at #13 in the U.K., and reached #14 on the U.S. charts. This song and “
Great song from the Emergency album! I owned the cassette, and the whole first side is flawless, in my opinion. I love the funky R&B sound of this song. It peaked at #11 here, and cracked the Top 10 in the U.S., peaking at #9 there.
My long-time readers and podcast listeners know of my love of rap, and how I loved to break out the cardboard and boom box, throw on my parachute pants, and throw down some break dance moves. Well, this is right in my wheelhouse! I love how the Chaka Khan/I Feel For You rap got mixed in here too.
Before this artist became known as Alvin Stardust, he was known as Shane Fenton. He had success in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known in the 70s and 80s with his Alvin Stardust persona. This song had reached up to #7 on the U.K. charts.
Love this! This is a novelty song that was a huge hit in the UK, peaking at #2, and spending 30 weeks in the Top 75. I am reading up on these songs before I listen to them, just so I can know the background. In a survey for dotmusic in 2000, this song was rated the 4th most annoying song of all time. That really got my attention! I just had to listen to it. This is from 
When I first saw the song title, I thought this was going to be a Beatles cover. Instead, this is a very good power ballad.
Here is a throwback song by the Welsh singer. This sounds like it came right out of the ’50s. It makes sense that this was a hit, as there was a lot of nostalgia for the 50s and 60s in the 80s.
Very cool funk/R&B song. Council Collective was a collaborative effort put together by The Style Council. It was put together to raise money for striking miners. The proceeds also went to the family of David Wilkie, a Welsh taxi driver who was killed during the miners’ strike.
This song was my introduction to Chaka Khan, and was a big comeback hit for her. It has an iconic introduction by Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Oh by the way, this was written and originally performed by 
To say that this was a smash hit, is just putting it mildly. This was Stevie Wonder’s biggest hit, topping a record 19 charts. This was one of those cases where the song was much bigger than the movie that it was featured in. In this case, it came from the 1984 soundtrack album The Woman in Red. This was actually Wonder’s only #1 hit in the U.K. He made it count though, as it topped the charts for 6 weeks, and it became Motown Records’ biggest-selling single in the UK, a distinction it still holds today.
This is the third song in a row that we all know. This was the first cassingle I ever owned. Whenever I hear this song, the Mad Max type video of this song comes to mind.
Well, I learned something new, which I probably should have known. This song is from the album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), which was the soundtrack from the film Nineteen Eighty-Four. I never knew there was a soundtrack for that movie. I’m pretty sure I saw the movie, but I don’t remember it. There’s no need to go back and watch it, seeing that we are living it now.
Great soulful song by the awesome Yazoo singer. In my opinion, she is very underrated (at least in the States).
