Classic Pop April 2019

It’s A Miracle CULTURE CLUB (VIRGIN)Given that

It’s A Miracle

was the

fi fth

single off the

boys’ sophomore album, Colour By Numbers

,

it still managed an impressive No.4 placing in the UK chart (in America, however, it would fare less well, not even puncturing the Top 10). One of their most warmly-remembered hits,

It’s A

Miracle

was originally called

It’s America

, and

there are clues to its fi rst title when George sings, “Run to the edge of town/ Where Hollywood lay its footprints down/ Monroe was there/ But do you really care”. The video mostly ignores the lyrics, throwing up a baffl ing array of random images, from the band jumping about on a human-sized game board, Jon Moss fl ashing his abs in a Union Jack crop top, Roy Hay and Mikey Craig playing American football players, can-can dancers, guitar-shredding geisha girls and clips from the

Karma Chameleon

promo. As beautifully

Robert De Niro’s Waiting... BANANARAMA (LONDON)Unsurprisingly, Bananarama failed to secure the bona fi de Robert De Niro for the video to their song namechecking the bats as only Culture Club at their best could be.

Raging Bull

Oscar-winner, but

they did manage to hook up with their favourite Italian-American when the actor was in the UK fi lming

Brazil

. Meeting up at the Soho watering

hole Kettners, the ‘Nana’s had invited friends and boyfriends, all of whom sat on nearby tables, trying to get a fl esh-and-blood glimpse of the legendary actor. “He had his producer with him, who did most of the talking,” recalled Sara Dallin. “I think De Niro was quite shy.”

The song peaked at No.3 in the UK, but barely

pricked the US chart, reaching an ignominious No.95. The girls would twice re-record the track, fi rst in 2000 for the

G-A-Y

compilation and the

next year it was given a dancefl oor makeover for their album

Exotica

.

Glad It’s All Over/Damned On 45 CAPTAIN SENSIBLE (A&M)The Falklands War had already been over for nearly two years when Captain

Sensible penned (with New Musik frontman Tony Mansfi eld) this euphoric anti-war ditty. Who knows, then, how much more chart muscle this one might have had had he been a little more nimble with his timing? Still, it gave the beret-rocking punk-popster his second biggest hit, after his chart-conquering version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein showtune, Happy Talk

(the Captain’s next release,

There

Are More Snakes Than Ladders

, only made

No.57).

Glad It’s All Over

was released as a

double A-side with the seven-minute

Damned

On 45

, a Stars On 45-styled gallup through

The Damned’s back catalogue.

Free Nelson Mandela THE SPECIAL AKA (2 TONE)Nelson Mandela was still very much in choky when Jerry Dammers penned this crazily catchy protest number,

lobbying for the release of South Africa’s most famous political prisoner. Sung by Stan Campbell (who later lost his freedom himself when he was convicted of assaulting a Coventry schoolgirl) and with future Soul II Soul diva Caron Wheeler on backing vocals, the song never made it higher than No.9, yet it remains one of Dammers’ signature compositions.

It’s Raining Men THE WEATHER GIRLS (CBS)First released in 1982,

It’s Raining

Men

was originally

credited to The Two Tons, until the duo of Izora Armstead and

Martha Wash remarketed themselves as The Weather Girls. A culture-quake smash on both sides of the pond, the song, which had since become an iconic gay anthem, was co-penned by David Letterman’s musical director, Paul Shaffer and Paul Jabara, who originally sent it to Donna Summer. Having recently found God, the freshly born-again Summer wanted nothing to do with it (she reportedly told Jabara “I hate the song” and promptly put a Bible in the post to him), and so the track was offered to The Two Tons. “We thought it was a crazy song,” recalled Wash, “in fact, too crazy to record.” They eventually relented and the song netted them their mightiest hit. ‘The Weather Girls’ are still touring today, only without

either

of the

original members.

Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) PHIL COLLINS (VIRGIN)Better remembered now than the movie it was written for, Phil Collins’ fi st-clencher nabbed itself an Oscar nom for Best Original Song. The movie headlined Jeff Bridges and Brit actress Rachel Ward, and even today, Collins remains fond of the fi lm. “When I think about the movie, the fi rst thing that comes to mind is the size of Rachel Ward’s breasts,” he told

Rolling Stone

in 2016. “I thought they

were fantastic.”

3

(4)

YOU TAKE ME UP

THOMPSON TWINS

(ARISTA)

3RD WEEK ON CHART

4

(5)

PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE

DEPECHE MODE

(MUTE)

4TH WEEK ON CHART

5

(3)

ROBERT DE NIRO’S WAITING...

BANANARAMA

(LONDON)

7TH WEEK ON CHART

6

(15)

GLAD IT’S ALL OVER/DAMNED ON 45

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE

(A&M)

4TH WEEK ON CHART

7

(7)

It’s A Miracle

CULTURE CLUB

(VIRGIN)

4TH WEEK ON CHART

8

(6)

It’s Raining Men

THE WEATHER GIRLS

(CBS)

12TH WEEK ON CHART

9

(14)

Free Nelson Mandela

THE SPECIAL AKA

(2 TONE)

5TH WEEK ON CHART

10

(26)

Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)

PHIL COLLINS

(VIRGIN)

2ND WEEK ON CHART