7th February 1987 for two weeks
What a fantastic record! Over the last few years George Michael had written some absolute classic hits (apart from A Different Corner) and then he joined up with fantastic singer, Aretha Franklin, to perform this anthem.
I Knew You Were Waiting For Me is a fabulous song – a good song to sing along to. Both singers were at the peak of their game and together they create perfection.
9/10
24th January 1987 for two weeks
I believe that Jack Your Body was an incredibly influential record – the first house record to reach Number 1. I believe it was influential because it led to the acid house scene of the late Eighties.
As a huge dance and house music fan I should love this. But I don’t. House music has come a long way since this.
Fair play for being a break through record and house music pioneer though.
2/10
The 1986 reflects the varying styles of music if the Eighties perfectly.
There was a mixture of the power ballad (The Final Countdown), the reggae-pop (I Want To Wake Up With You), the random foreign language hit (Rock Me Amadeus), the revival hit (Reet Petitie), the rock anthem (Spirit In The Sky) and the pure pop (True Blue).
The varying styles made it an interesting year!
I don’t have clear memories of the songs as they were released but many of them have become classics and include some of my favourites (Don’t Leave Me This Way).
Looking ahead to 1987 the varying styles continue and there are some absolute monster-huge songs that will reach the summit. Lots to look forward to.
27th December 1986 for four weeks
I was seven years old when Reet Petite was at Number One. I have vivid memories of watching what a clay animation video, like Morph, dancing to this song. In my head I thought it was an advert for Lurpak, but having just checked. I seem to have got mixed up with an advert that came out in 2000. I don’t know what the animation was for then.
Reet Petite was a re-release of a song that came out in 1957. So far in this blog, this is the longest time that a song has taken to reach Number 1 (29 years).
Reet Petite is awesome. It is a truly great song and one you can’t help but sing along with.
8/10
20th December 1986 for one week
Caravan Of Love is a great song. It is an accapella cover of a Isley-Jasper-Isley song.
The Housemartins were the band that included Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway (who we will meet again in Beautiful South) and Norman Cook (who we will meet again as Fatboy Slim). They recorded some great songs and Caravan Of Love is one of the best.
I have no memory of this song as a child but only discovered it as an adult, when I got into the music of Beautiful South. I don’t think the song gets the airing that it should.
8/10
6th December 1986 for two weeks
Everybody knows The Final Countdown.
My eight-year-old loves it. There is something about this song that makes it so easy to love.
The familiar riff is feels very empowering somehow. It is a song that should be on every psyche-up playlist.
It is so familiar that it is hard to imagine a time before The Final Countdown. It’s a song that feels like it has been around my entire life.
I mentioned hair in my last post, about Berlin. For Europe, I was expecting this much hair. It is exactly what I expected.
10/10
8th November 1986 for four weeks
I was 43 when I watched Top Gun for the first time. It’s a great film, but Top Gun: Maverick was even better (having watched it when I was 44).
I heard Take My Breath Away so many times over the years. I knew it was from Top Gun, but it never made me want to watch the movie.
It’s a great song and has that iconic riff that everyone knows, well almost everyone…
Having never seen the video for this song I am surprised to see how much hair the band members had.
9/10
18th October 1986 for three weeks
As a Neighbours fan, I always thought that it was the Aussies who decided that soap opera stars releasing pop songs was a great idea. However, it seems that Eastenders had the idea first.
I remember the song and can recall hearing it at my great Auntie’s house once.
3/10
11th October 1986 for one week
True Blue is a good song. It is pure pop and classic Madonna.
It is perhaps not one of her most popular songs today, but it is nonetheless a fabulous song!
Madonna released some really great pop songs, didn’t she. It’s good to look back at her earlier work as it was pure pop, before she started trying to make a statement or sound cool. It was just pop music that sounded fun.
8/10
13th September 1986 for four weeks
I absolutely love this song! I can recall hearing it as a child and loving it every time I heard it. It was one of the best songs of the year, without a doubt! It is very uplifting and I love the singing style of Jimmy Somerville and Sarah Jane Morris.
It still sounds great to this day, but I can’t recall hearing it on the radio for a fair while. Maybe it hasn’t aged as well as I think it has. But I totally love it!
10/10
Number 1s of my lifetime 
