28th January 1989 for four weeks

We last met Marc Almond at Number 1 in 1981 when his band, Soft Cell, reached the top with Tainted Love. Eight years later he reached the summit again, this time singing without his band, but joined by Gene Pitney.

Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, originally performed by Gene Pitney, was released in 1967. It’s a good song.

It was given a new lease of life in 1989 when Marc Almond released a version of it featuring Gene Pitney. Their collobation is absolutely fantastic! The song sounds great and their voices are very distinctive but complement each other. I always think that Gene Pitney sings this version like he simply cannot believe his luck that he gets to rerecord this song all over again! It still sounds great today, but I don’t think it gets the plays that it probably deserves.

8/10

8th January 1989 for three weeks

I would have been 9 when Especially For You was released before Christmas 1988. This was exciting times – two stars of one of my favourite shows, Neighbours, were uniting to sing together on a pop song! I can remember excitedly watching the video on TV. Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were set for stardom!

Kylie, of course, had enjoyed a Number 1 single the year before and a couple of Number 2 records. Jason Donovan had released Nothing Can Divide Us in 1988, reaching Number 3. Inevitably, when the two combined their chemistry from the show would be replicated in musical form and the song reached the top (although it was kept off the Christmas Number 1 spot by Cliff Richard).

The song is a classic cheesy pop song. It sounds just as cheesy in 2023 and it’s not quite as exciting as their solo singles usually were, with hindsight. The song had sales of just below one million copies, before just edging over in the 2010s.

6/10

10th December 1988 for four weeks

For me, Mistletoe And Wine is one of the great Christmas songs. It reminds me very much of childhood and instantly puts me in the Christmas mood.

The song charted in 1988 (of course), 2007 (after digital purchases were added to the charts), and has then recharted each year since 2019, but never reaching higher than Number 51. For me, this isn’t the recognition that it deserves. It’s probably because of the Christian theme of the song, or maybe because people think Cliff Richard isn’t cool.

7/10

19th November 1988 for three weeks

For the second time in 1988 a song reached the top of the charts after featuring on a TV advert (The Hollies’ He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother being the other).

First Time was a song from a Coca Cola advert. I can remember liking the song in the advert. “Coca Cola is it” was the lyric to the song in the advert.

The song was released and I can remember hearing it and liking the song. It is a proper Eighties power pop song and I feel it probably hasn’t had the longevity that it deserves.

It was remixed by Sunblock in 2006 and it reached the Top Ten all over again.

Other than with this song, Robin Beck has never troubled the charts,

7/10

29th October 1988 for three weeks

I can clearly remember Orinoco Flow as a child. It sounded completely different to any other music I’d ever heard before. It still does! It is a really fantastic piece of music and it’s hard to comprehend that it still sounds unique, 35 years later.

When I was younger I thought Enya was singing about Gibberish. Now I can hear the words and can recognise place names within the song.

I can recall Enya singing the theme tune to the movie Far And Away (which I’ve never seen, but liked the song). But that’s about it. She never had a Number 1 single. But she should be celebrated for this wonderful timeless song.

10/10

15th October 1988 for two weeks

Whitney’s third Number 1 is another fabulous pop song. A sentimental ballad, apparently it was released to coincide with the Olympic Games in 1988 (the games must have been later in the year back then, compared to when they take place now).

Whitney has such an incredible voice. It’s hard not to stop and listen to the song whenever you hear it. It’s a good song to sing in the car when no one is listening.

These days, the radio seems to prefer Whitney’s more upbeat songs, but this one deserved its place at Number 1 back in 1988.

9/10

8th October 1988 for one week

I can remember going to Granada Studios Tour and this song, and others by U2, being used as the soundtrack to a lightshow, or something. I remember quite liking the music. But this was in around 1990.

I have no recollection of Desire when it was first out. Nothing whatsoever. I began to love U2’s music as time went on and Desire is a great song. This is the first time we’ll meet the band on this blog, although we’ll have to wait a few years before we come across them again.

7/10

24th September 1988 for two weeks

I adore this song. As one of four brothers, being a good brother is really important to me.

I can vividly remember this song being used in a beer advert and loving the song then. It was then released and went to the top of the charts.

You don’t hear the song often these days, but I don’t know why as it is a brilliant song.

I didn’t know that it was a cover version – I’ve never heard the original version by Kelly Gordon, or a version by Neil Diamond.

10/10

10th September 1988 for two weeks

Having mentioned that I can recall many of the songs over the summer of 1988, I have no recollection of A Groovy Kind Of Love when I was 9. It was some years after when I listened to more of Phil Collins’ music that I learned to love this song.

As an adult I’ve heard the original version which is more upbeat and is good – it’s by the Mindbenders and it was released in the Sixties. But I love Phil Collins’ version. There’s something about the way he sings it – almost like his voice is about to break in tears. You can feel the emotion. It’s a gorgeous song. It has aged really well as it still sounds great!

9/10