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.
Throwing back to the week of August 30, 1975, we find Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their sole chart-topping hit, ‘Fallin’ in Love.’
I often hear classic songs and have no idea who performed them. And I often learn who performed them and fail to recognize the artist’s name even a little bit. But Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds might just be the artist name with which I’ve had the least familiarity in all my life. I read it three times before registering that this was the actual band name and not some sort of coding glitch on Billboard.com.
The week of August 24, 1965, found a trio of major hits atop the Billboard Hot 100: Sonny & Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe,’ The Beatles’ ‘Help!,’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls.’
In the #4 spot that week, its peak position on the chart, was The Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody.’ I was sure I had featured this song on the blog before, but it turns out I have posted other versions (five, to be exact) but never the most famous one.
Throwing back to the week of August 23, 1955, we find Bill Haley & the Comets and Pat Boone holding on to the top two spots with ‘Rock Around the Clock‘ and ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ respectively.
That brings us to the #3 song that week, Mitch Miller’s version of ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ which eventually reached #1. This traditional tune dates back at least 100 years from Miller’s recording. The original version had references to “darkeys” and “yellow women” that were sanitized over the years.
On the week of August 17, 1985, Tears for Fears held the top spot with ‘Shout,’ which spent three weeks at #1.
Right behind it, on its way to its own #1 berth, was Huey Lewis and the News’ ‘The Power of Love,’ lead single of the soundtrack of blockbuster hit Back to the Future. The song plays early in the film as Marty McFly skateboards to school, followed shortly by Lewis himself in a cameo as an uptight school employee.
