Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

October 19, 1985 Thanks to an innovative video that takes place in a comic book, "Take On Me" gives the Norwegian group a-ha a #1 hit in America.More

September 21, 1985 "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits hits #1 in America. The song is co-written by Sting, who sings the line "I want my MTV." Sting is also on the chart with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart," both from his debut solo album, Dream Of The Blue Turtles.

September 7, 1985 For the first time in the Rock Era, the top three songs on the Hot 100 were all written for movies: #1: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" by John Parr #2: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News (from Back to the Future) #3: "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)

May 25, 1985 Wham!'s "Everything She Wants" hits #1 in the US, making them the first group since the Bee Gees to have three #1 hits from the same album.

May 18, 1985 After repeated attempts to break through in America, Simple Minds go to #1 with "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which is used in the movie The Breakfast Club.More

May 11, 1985 Madonna's "Crazy For You," written for the movie Vision Quest, hits #1 in the US.

March 23, 1985 John Fogerty's comeback album Centerfield hits #1 in America. He had plenty of time to work up material: Fogerty took 10 years off because of a dispute with his former record label.

March 9, 1985 REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling" hits #1 in America, where it stays for three weeks.

October 13, 1984 Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" tops the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, R&B and UK Singles charts.More

September 29, 1984 The English girl group Bananarama has their US breakthrough when "Cruel Summer" peaks at #9 on the pop chart, thanks to the song's appearance in the summer smash The Karate Kid.

September 1, 1984 Tina Turner completes her comeback as "What's Love Got To Do With It" hits #1 in America.More

August 4, 1984 The Prince album Purple Rain, which also serves as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, hits #1 in the US, where it stays for an amazing 22 weeks.

July 7, 1984 "When Doves Cry" goes to #1 on the Hot 100, giving Prince his first chart-topper on the tally. The song is from his upcoming movie Purple Rain.

June 30, 1984 Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" reaches its chart peak of #2 on the Hot 100. The song spends four weeks at runner-up, held off the last three by Prince's "When Doves Cry." Springsteen never does reach #1 (except as a writer: Manfred Mann's Earth Band took "Blinded by the Light" to #1 in 1977), but the next six singles from his Born In The U.S.A. album all hit the Top 10.

June 23, 1984 Duran Duran's "The Reflex" hits #1 in America. This version is a remix of the album cut done by Chic's Nile Rodgers.

May 12, 1984 Lionel Richie's "Hello," a song inspired by his younger years when he was too shy to talk to the ladies, goes to #1 in America.

April 21, 1984 "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" goes to #1 on the Hot 100, giving Phil Collins his first solo chart-topper on the tally. He will have six more.

March 31, 1984 Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" hits #1 in America. It's the title song to the soon-to-be-famous film where Kevin Bacon brings dancing to a small town in the South.

February 25, 1984 Van Halen's "Jump" hits #1 in the US, where it stays for five weeks. The song embraces the keyboard-driven sound of the era with a synthesizer played by their guitarist, Eddie Van Halen.

January 21, 1984 "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" by Yes goes to #1 in America, an uncharacteristic hit for the prog-rockers and their only Top 10.

November 26, 1983 Quiet Riot's Metal Health hits #1 in America, becoming the first heavy metal album to reach the top spot. It's one of just six albums to top the chart in 1983, as Thriller (22 weeks) and Synchronicity (17 weeks) breathe most of the air.

November 12, 1983 With some fabricated Swahili ("Tambo liteh sette mo-jah!"), Lionel Richie hits #1 in America with "All Night Long (All Night)."

October 29, 1983 Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon album breaks the record for most weeks on the Billboard albums chart when it eclipses Johnny's Greatest Hits by Johnny Mathis with 491 weeks. Dark Side remains on the chart until 1988, when it drops off with 724 weeks. Thanks to reissues and promotions, it returns from time to time, notching over 880 weeks on the chart in total.

October 29, 1983 "Islands in the Stream," written by the Bee Gees and intended for Marvin Gaye, goes to #1 in the US as a duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.More

September 24, 1983 Billy Joel hits #1 in America with "Tell Her About It," a song inspired by his future wife Christie Brinkley.

August 20, 1983 Taco's cover of the Irving Berlin song "Puttin' On the Ritz" reaches #9 on the Hot 100, making the 95-year-old Berlin the oldest living songwriter ever to land a Top 10 on that tally.

April 30, 1983 Michael Jackson's fight is funky and strong, as "Beat It" hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks.More

March 26, 1983 Thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, Duran Duran have their first American hit when "Hungry Like The Wolf" hits #3 on the Hot 100.More

March 5, 1983 Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" hits #1 for the first of seven weeks.

February 19, 1983 The Patti Austin and James Ingram duet "Baby, Come To Me" hits #1 in America. The song is written by Michael Jackson hitmaker Rod Temperton, composer of "Thriller" and "Off The Wall."