Like yesterday’s Throwback Weekend song, the #1 hit the week of December 21, 1985, was written for a movie. In this case, the film was White Nights, a Cold War drama starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov about a pair of dancers trapped in the Soviet Union.
I vaguely remember the film as a solid piece of mid-80s adult entertainment. I imagine the studio was chasing the success of another music-based drama, 1983’s Flashdance. The film had a decent pedigree, with Taylor Hackford directing and Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini in supporting roles.
This is one of two #1 songs from White Nights, the other being ‘Separate Lives,’ a duet between Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin. This one was left off the soundtrack because Motown was riding Richie’s success after the smash hit album Can’t Slow Down and didn’t want his next single to come out on a competing label.
Instead, it was included on the tracklist of Richie’s next album, 1986’s Dancing on the Ceiling. By then it had won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
I would have given the award to Huey Lewis & the News’ ‘The Power of Love’ from Back to the Future.
Say you, say me
Say it for always
That’s the way it should be
Say you, say me
Say it together, naturally
[Verse 1]
I had a dream, I had an awesome dream
People in the park playing games in the dark
And what they played was a masquerade
And from behind of walls of doubt a voice was crying out
[Chorus]
Say you, say me
Say it for always
That’s the way it should be
Say you, say me
Say it together, naturally
[Verse 2]
As we go down life’s lonesome highway
Seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two
A helping hand, someone who understands
That when you feel you’ve lost your way
You’ve got someone there to say, “I’ll show you”
[Chorus]
Say you, say me
Say it for always, oh
And that’s the way it should be
Say you, say me
Say it together, naturally
[Bridge]
So you think you know the answers, oh no
Well, the whole world has got you dancing
That’s right, I’m telling you
It’s time to start believing, oh yes
Believing who you are, you are a shining star
[Chorus]
Say you, say me
Say it for always, oh
That’s the way it should be
Say you, say me
Say it together, naturally
Say it together, naturally
Meet Me In Montauk 
I agree. I would have gone with “The Power of Love” also.
Me too! I remember White Nights too. It was a pretty good movie as I recall.