The week of September 14, 1985, found John Parr hanging on to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion).’
Just behind it was another soundtrack song, Tina Turner’s ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)’ from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Parr may have won the Billboard battle, but he didn’t play a post-apocalyptic warlord in his movie, as Turner did in hers.
Throwing back to the week of September 13, 1975, we find Glen Campbell atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Rhinestone Cowboy.’ This was Campbell’s first chart-topping hit on the Hot 100, and his fourth to reach #1 on the Country chart. A couple of years later he would top both charts again with ‘Southern Nights.’
‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ was written and recorded a year earlier by Larry Weiss. And if you think this sounds like a Neil Diamond song (as I do), listen to Weiss’ version and you’ll swear that’s Diamond singing it. In fact, many people have erroneously attributed the original version to Diamond.
The week of September 7, 1965, saw a couple of all-time classics atop the Billboard Hot 100 in The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’
In the #3 spot was the protest song ‘Eve of Destruction,’ written by P.F. Sloan and performed by Barry McGuire. This was the only Top 40 hit of McGuire’s career and one of only three singles he landed on the Hot 100. This song was a giant killer — two weeks later it leap-frogged Dylan’s masterpiece and unseated The Beatles to secure #1.
Throwing back to the week of September 6, 1955, we find a trio of repeats atop the Billboard singles chart: Mitch Miller’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ Pat Boone’s ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ and Bill Haley & The Comets’ ‘Rock Around the Clock.’
That brings us to #4, ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing’ by the pop quartet The Four Aces. This was the most popular version of the song, which has been recorded by at least a dozen others. It eventually reached #1.
The week of August 31, 1985, was a big one for film soundtracks. Three of the top four songs atop the Hot 100 that week were from movies.
Topping the chart for the second week was Huey Lewis & the News’ ‘The Power of Love‘ from Back to the Future. In the #4 slot was Tina Turner’s ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)’ from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, a movie in which she also starred.
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