5th August 1989 for five weeks

I am pretty sure that no one in 1989 saw what would be coming in the latter half of the year – a take over by Jive Bunny. They pretty much dominated the chart for the rest of the year. We will be meeting them again very soon after this!

I can vividly remember Swing The Mood – it is a mash up of lots of rock and roll records from the Sixties. There was an animated character – Jive Bunny who I can remember liking.

I thought this song was a good idea when I was ten. I’m not so sure that it sounds as good 34 years later.

But it was clearly a fun song and you can see why a mash up of all these old songs had appeal. The mastermix became a thing in the Eighties and Nineties and there would be lots of bands who would release a mastermix of their best hits. I think it all started with Jive Bunny (and the Mastermixers, of course).

4/10

22nd July 1989 for two weeks

I have clear memories of this song when I was a child. I can remember Sonia being on TV promoting it and I can remember hearing it every where. I can remember that she was Scouse and laughed a lot.

It is a fabulous pop song – pop perfection. Sonia sings it brilliantly, although, to be fair it sounds like a Kylie Minogue song!

Sonia never troubled the Number 1 spot again, but she was on the charts for a few more years to come. Her song was chosen as the Eurovision entry in 1993 – Better The Devil You Know which was also very catchy!

I have clearly played this song more than I thought as the other day, when it came on in my car, our children knew the chorus and sang along!

10/10

24th June 1989 for four weeks

Soul II Soul came along in 1989 with a bona fide club classic.

I can remember Back To Life vividly as a child. Those shuffling beats and that bass rhythm are sublime – I was too young to understand what made the song so good, but I just knew that I liked it.

Nothing else by Soul II Soul ever cut it for me. Back To Life is head and shoulders above the rest of their songs. It has aged well and wouldn’t sound out of place on the charts in 2023.

10/10

10th June 1989 for two weeks

Jason Donovan’s Sealed With A Kiss was a significant moment in 1989. Not only did it mark three Number 1s in a row from producers Stock, Aitken And Waterman, it also entered the chart at Number 1.

Somehow, SAW and Jason Donovan had created enough hype around the song that it went straight in at the top! It’s a great pop song and it’s another guilty pleasure!

I didn’t know that this was a cover version. The original came out in 1962.

Stock, Aitken And Waterman were absolutely riding high! It seemed like everything they touched turned to gold. We will take a break from them for one Number 1, a huge dance anthem, before returning to them with a brand new artist.

6/10

20th May 1989 for three weeks

I need to phrase this very carefully. As a Liverpool fan, and a young child in 1989, the Hillsborough disaster hit home. It shocked me to my core. I couldn’t quite comprehend how something so awful had happened to my beloved football club. I can remember watching it on TV and being very upset.

I can remember this charity record being announced and thinking it was a good thing. Anything that raised money for the families of the victims of this awful tragedy was a good thing as far as I was concerned.

Ferry ‘Cross The Mersey was a song by Gerry And The Pacemakers who had been a huge band from Liverpool. It’s a good song, and Gerry Marsden lends his voice to this new version.

This charity version, however, is not good. Without knowing the history of the single, someone managed to assembly some of the greatest Scouse singers from all time and put them together on a record. Stock Aitken And Waterman, the pop song trio who were on a roll, writing and producing Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan’s songs, managed to grab a credit as artists on the song. The whole thing feels very self-indulgent and musically is not good.

But it did raise some money so that’s a good thing. As an adult it really frustrates me that people think that buying a song will raise money for a charity. It is much better to just give directly to a charity.

1/10

13th May 1989 for one week

Hand On Your Heart is a typical Kylie-sounding single.

At the time I can remember liking it. It was formulaic and sounded just like everything you’d want from a Kylie single. That was a good thing. But I guess that is also the reason why it’s not, perhaps, considered one of her greats.

There was a cover by Jose Gonzales released in 2006 which stripped away the pop and turned it into a melancholic-sounding love song. It’s quite good.

7/10

15th April1989 for four weeks

Eternal Flame is one of the great pop ballads. The Bangles released a classic in 1989 with a love song that has stood the test of time, still sounding great 34 years later.

A few years later, in high school, there was a talent show on a residential trip somewhere. I can remember some girls singing this song and everyone would join in with the ‘whaoos’.

This is not the last we’ll hear of Eternal Flame, but it is the last we’ll hear of The Bangles. They released a couple of other songs that are fun – Walk Like An Egyptian and Manic Monday.

10/10

25th March 1989 for three weeks

In 1989, Madonna released her best song, Like A Prayer. It reached Number 1, deservedly so. It was everywhere at the time. I can remember seeing the video on Top Of The Pops and hearing the song on the radio.

34 years later, the song still sounds great. It’s often been remixed and sampled. In 2002 a remix by Mad’House reached Number 3. 

I find it surprising that the song has only ever had one chart run – for thirteen weeks. Its popularity surely means that it should have experienced further success in the digital era?

9/10

11th March 1989 for two weeks

And for the second time in two months, Jason Donovan was at Number 1.

Too Many Broken Hearts is a glorious pop record. It is Stock Aitken and Waterman at their very best. I can remember loving this song and hearing it everywhere. 

In my opinion, it has aged really well and still sounds great. Like much of Jason Donovan’s best work it is a guilty pleasure to listen to. This is one of his best.

9/10

25th February 1989 for two weeks

Simple Minds released some amazing rock anthems – Alive And Kicking and Don’t You (Forget About Me).

But their most moving song reached Number 1 in 1989. In Belfast Child, the band reflects on the loss of loved ones due to the troubles in Northern Ireland.

These days their other, easier to listen to and less hardhitting, songs get their airplay rather than this.

4/10