24
LOVE IS THE
SEVENTH WAVE
STING
Sting’s solo career
started sluggishly, with
only two of fi ve singles
from his debut album The Dream
Of The Blue Turtles making the
Top 40. Determined to shake off
any edginess from The Police
and establish his musicianship,
this harmonious, ska-infl uenced
track was typical of his maturing
songcraft but didn’t get beyond
41 in 1985, despite (or due to)
the mock-reprise of Every Breath
You Take towards the end.
2O
THAT JOKE ISN’T
FUNNY ANYMORE
THE SMITHS
Their only single to fl op
after debuting, and it
was their own fault.
Outraged fans boycotted it
because of the lack of an
original B-side on all versions,
and with negligible promotion,
the units that were shifted only
got it to 49 in 1985. A shame,
as Morrissey’s refl ective lyrical
dig at his own persona is
complemented by an elegant
guitar track from Marr and an
innovative false fade.
23
OUTSTANDING
THE GAP BAND
The Wilson brothers
confronted the disco
backlash with an
effervescent brand of P-Funk
that established them at the turn
of the 80s. A number of Top
40 hits preceded a run of
near-misses that included this
funky, sentimental, cheerful love
song that was all over specialist
soul shows and dominated the
clubs, but still peaked at only
68 in 1983. Eight years later,
Kenny Thomas took it to the
Top 20.19
FREE FALLIN’
TOM PETTY
Los Angeles and
the West Midlands
combined to yield
a blues-rock song inspired
by the people Petty would
observe on his daily journey
on the Ventura Boulevard.
With his Traveling Wilburys
co-conspirator Jeff Lynne
prominent on backing vocals,
it was a heartland anthem that
opened the terrifi c 1989 album
Full Moon Fever and got masses
of airplay, but on release as the
third single, only got to No.59.22
I CAN HEAR
YOUR HEARTBEAT
CHRIS REA
An assiduous artist
whom the British
record-buying public
took forever to appreciate, some
of Chris Rea’s fl ops now rank
as among his most familiar.
This typically strident, winsome
example, with intricate lead
guitar and that never-changing
gravelled vocal contained a truly
lovely chorus, one of his best. A
total of 17 of his releases in the
80s peaked outside the Top 40.
This reached No.60 in 1983.18
GRACELAND
PAUL SIMON
Infectious title track to
Paul Simon’s world
music album, using
some of the most gifted artists in
South Africa’s townships and
credited with playing a role in
hastening the downfall of
apartheid. Possibly because
two-and-a-half million people
with an interest had already
bought the album, it was
adjudged an unnecessary fourth
and fi nal single in 1987, though
its solitary week at No.98 was
still a surprise.21
DUDE (LOOKS
LIKE A LADY)
AEROSMITH
They qualify via guest
artiste status on their
own track, Run DMC’s
version of Walk This Way, but
this 1987 rock’n’roll ripsnorter,
inspired by a theme night in a
bar where the waiters dressed
as women, should have been
Aerosmith’s long-awaited
unaccompanied Top 40 debut,
especially as all types of hair
rock made huge commercial
advances in the UK that year.
But it only got to No.45.17
FREE WORLD
KIRSTY MACCOLL
The lead single from
her second album
Kite gave Kirsty
MacColl a rare opportunity to
show a hostile side to her
songwriting, detailing injustices
of the politics of the era and the
north-south divide. The words
venomously sit atop a song with
an hourglass fi gure, produced
sumptuously and luxuriantly as
an edgier, rockier tune of her
career. It was desperately
unfortunate to only get to No.43
in 1989.