On this day in 1986, “These Dreams” by Heart hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band’s first song to top the charts. Singer-songwriter Martin Page, who co-wrote other successful songs including “We Built This City” and “King of Wishful Thinking“, and Bernie Taupin, longtime collaborator of Elton John, wrote this song. It was originally offered to Stevie Nicks, but she was not interested in it. Heart had just recently signed with Capitol Records, and while the band had previously recorded their own material, they were impressed by “These Dreams” and agreed to use the song on their upcoming self-titled album.
Nancy Wilson sang lead on this track. Her sister Ann typically handled lead vocals, but when they heard the demo the group thought it suited Nancy’s voice. Nancy had a nasty cold when she first recorded her vocals, but their producer Ron Nevison liked some of the raspiness. When Nancy was feeling better, they recorded more takes in her healthy voice, with Nancy doing her best to re-create the raspy parts Nevison liked.
On the album, this song was dedicated to Sharon Hess, a good friend of Nancy Wilson’s who died of Leukemia. Sharon’s sister, Shannon Hess-Terlop, told Songfacts the story:
“Sharon was a fan who had a custom, handmade blue acoustic guitar made for Nancy. It was her dying wish to meet Nancy and give it to her. She did get her wish, and was able to spend several days in the recording studio with the band while they were working on this album. She died four weeks later, on Nancy’s birthday.
The reason for choosing that particular song for the dedication was simply because it was the only song on the album where Nancy sang lead vocals.
Not to be confused with the hit song by the Thompson Twins, this ballad by the Irish singer, Johnny Logan, was the winner of the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest. Never released in the U.S., this song was a top 5 song in most of the European countries, with the exception of Switzerland, where it peaked at #6.
This worldwide smash hit was the first single released from Michael’s iconic Faith album. It was also part of the Beverly Hills Cop II Soundtrack, which was an awesome soundtrack.
Broken English was a British band formed in 1987 by Steve Elson (singer and guitarist), who at the time performed in a Rolling Stones tribute band. You can totally get that vibe from this song. It sounds like it could be a Rolling Stones song.
This was the 3rd single released from Billy Idol’s Whiplash Smile album. This song also appeared in a Miami Vice episode, which automatically gives it a Cool factor, as if Billy Idol isn’t enough for that.
Mel and Kim were sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. Sadly, Melanie died of cancer in 1990 at the age of 23. She bears a striking resemblance to Maya Rudolph. This was the third single released from their debut album, F.L.M.
Unless you live under a rock, you know this signature song by Heart. It was a worldwide smash hit. But, did you know it was a cover? It was originally performed by 
This is a pretty cool tribute to the R&B legend, Smokey Robinson. Robinson was still going strong at the time. In October of 1987, in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, Robinson’s hit, “One Heartbeat”, was in the top 10 along with this tribute song to him.
Not to be confused with David Bowie’s hit song, this song is by British rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, Chris Rea. This song would peak at #12 here, but only landed at #81 in the U.S.
This sounds like a combination of Bryan Ferry, Morrissey, and Chris Isaak. This is not for me.
Back to a song familiar to the U.S. audience. This was the second single released from Whitesnake’s classic 1987 self-titled album. What an awesome rock ballad! It would reach #9 in the U.K., and #2 in the U.S.
Ah, the good ole days of the Cold War. Too bad those days are over, right? Right? Well, maybe we’ll get a Nikita ’18 update version this year.
This is one of the most iconic music videos ever. The five models in the video are Julie Pankhurst (keyboard), Patty Kelly (guitar), Mak Gilchrist (bass guitar), Julia Bolino (guitar), and Kathy Davies (drums). Andy Taylor of Duran Duran (and a bandmate of Palmer’s from The Power Station) provides lead guitar.
This very cool song was the only Top 40 hit for Sly Fox, making them a one-hit wonder.
This worldwide smash hit was The Bangles’ first hit single. It was originally intended for the group Apollonia 6 in 1984. And yes, that means it was written by Prince.
This was the first Top 10 hit for INXS in the U.S. At the Countdown Music and Video Awards for 1985, in Australia, this won for Best Video.
This was was Atlantic Starr’s true breakthrough hit on the pop charts in both the US and UK.
I still remember listening to the radio while playing a computer game, when the DJ said that they were going to play the new Prince song, “Kiss”, for the first time. It was exciting for me to be able to catch the debut of a song on the radio. I’ve been a fan of this song ever since.
This is a fun rocker by Mellencamp, who had quite a good run of hit songs throughout the ’80s.
And we have arrived at the #1 song of the week! Of course, it’s a song that will be stuck in your head the rest of the day. While Falco was wildly popular in Germany, his native Austria, and much of Europe, this was his only #1 hit in both the U.S. and U.K. With “Rock Me Amadeus”, Falco became the first German-speaking artist to be credited with a number-one single in all mainstream US pop singles charts: the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 Singles. Prior to Falco, “99 Luftballons” by Nena got to number one on Cashbox, but peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Welcome back everybody! If you missed the previous songs, you can check out songs 
Return to the 80s 