#31 - I Want To Know What Love Is

Artist: Foreigner

Album: Agent Provocateur
Video: From DailyMotion.

In the first five years of their existence, Foreigner churned out four multi-platinum albums.  The band authored classic rock staples such as "Hot Blooded", "Cold As Ice", and "Juke Box Hero".  They even topped the pops with their "Foreigner 4" album in 1981.

But it 1985 they reached their peak with "I Want To Know What Love Is".  It is their greatest song and their only number one hit.  It makes grown women weep and has caused the upper lip of many a man to quiver.

From humble beginnings, the song builds powerfully into a thundering declaration of love desire.  The questioning verses in the opening blend into the earnest "in my life..." pre-chorus, which explodes into the titular chorus.  The second time around, that chorus features a gospel choir.  Talk about piling on. 

The song can be interpreted as a longing for romantic love, or it can be seen as a hunger for a spiritual connection to the divine.  It can also be viewed as a complete and total ass-kicking power ballad.

The video features the New Jersey Mass Choir performing with the band.  Scenes of rehearsal are interspersed with ordinary people going about their daily lives, seemingly deep in thought, united in their want of love.

#32 - Radioactive

Artist: The Firm

Album: The Firm
Video: From YouTube.

I had no awareness of this band in 1985.  Until just now, my only association was a John Grisham novel made into a Tom Cruise movie.  Either that, or The Fixx was misspelled.

But apparently, The Firm was a genuine British rock supergroup.  Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin.  The lead singer of Bad Company.  People from other 70's bands.  I guess they were going for a Traveling Wilburys Lite sort of thing.  Or they would have been, had the Wilburys existed in 1985.

"Radioactive" was their big smash hit, soaring all the way to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It's a terrible song.  Dippy lyrics, lame music, haunted house sound effects.  The robotic repetition of the song's title.  Siri sings with greater emotion.

Anyway, The Firm broke up for good in 1986.  Fortunately, Jimmy Page had his experience of creating one of the greatest bands of all-time to fall back on.  Not that I had any idea about Zeppelin in 1985...of course, that was a weird thing about the year.  I've already covered my confusion about rock 'n' roll legends and their poor 1985 performaces.

The video is as forgettable as the song.  Just the band playing on an empty stage with a bunch of flashing strobe lights.  No storyline.  Poor.  Placed ridiculously, inappropriately high by MTV at #32. 

#33 - The Old Man Down The Road

Artist: John Fogerty

Album: Centerfield
Video: From YouTube.

John Fogerty was sued for releasing this song, because it sounded a lot like "Run Through The Jungle", a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR).  You know who the lead singer and founder of CCR was?  JOHN FOGERTY.

Ridiculous.  It is an original.  From whom else would you have to hidey-hidey-hide?  The Grim Reaper, of course, cleverly disguised as "The Old Man Down The Road".

Peaking at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, this was the highest charting song from Fogerty's comeback album.  The song "Centerfield" is a timeless classic, but oddly it whiffed on both the MTV countdown and the Billboard top 40.

The video is a long sequence shot, beginning in the swampiest of jungle swamps.  The camera settles on a friendly kemosabe, who lifts a blanket to reveal a speaker with extension cord attached.  As the scene progresses, a variety of colorful characters are found along the path of this unusually lengthy cord.

After passing a couple having a picnic, a cheerleader at a call box, motorcycle riders, a pregnant woman, and a grave digger, the cord finally ends with Fogerty himself in a somewhat residential neighborhood, rocking out on his gee-tar.

#34 - Head Over Heels

Artist: Tears For Fears

Album: Songs From The Big Chair
Video: From DailyMotion.  With annoying ads at the beginning and end, but it is the complete video.

This is the first of multiple appearances by Tears For Fears on this countdown.  TFF was kind of a big deal in 1985.

"Head Over Heels" was the third single from the "Songs From The Big Chair" album, and it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It’s a nifty tune.  The album name is a reference to Sybil, the character with multiple personality disorder who sought the comfort of her analyst's "Big Chair".

This is also the second consecutive video in the countdown filmed in Toronto, following Corey Hart.  That's just the type of in-depth research I go the extra mile to provide for you.

The video takes place in a library, an innovative setting for a music video.  Roland Orzabal carries a ridiculously large stack of books and sings loudly to an embarrassed librarian, blatantly disregarding the posted “SILENCE” sign.  Even the monkey in the Red Sox jersey has the decency to keep his yap shut.

Over the course of the video, wacky hijinks ensue, with all the band members getting into the act.  It ends dramatically on the lyric “funny how time flies”, with Orzabal and the librarian transform into an elderly couple, drinking tea and studying in a dignified manner.

#35 - Never Surrender

Artist: Corey Hart

Album: Boy In The Box
Video: From YouTube.

Here we have one of the great songs of the year.  An awesome, inspiring message delivered with earnestness and passion.  Never Surrender, baby!  Timeless.

Corey Hart peaked in 1985 with this epic, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  But did you know that he continued to record hits well into the late 90's, charting dozens of top 40 singles in Canada?  I certainly did not.

“Never Surrender” is a tour de force, an urgent directive of how to react when you reach your lowest point.  The music is pretty good too.  Great sax solo, instruments, whatnot.

The video is entertaining and provides more than its share of unintentional comedy.  Corey gazes into the camera often and with great intensity.  Hitchhiking through the cold streets of Toronto, exchanging furtive glances with call girls, and getting chewed out by a shopkeeper for who knows what.  And then, taking the stage for a live performance and absolutely killing it.

In other news, I finally was able to post another poll.  I guess we’ll soon find out if anyone is still out there.

#36 - Don't Lose My Number

Artist: Phil Collins

Album: No Jacket Required
Video: From YouTube.

Out of the truckload of hit songs by Phil Collins in 1985, I believe that "Don’t Lose My Number" was the weakest.  Sure it’s energetic with a good beat, and it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.  But the song is beset by a deep confusion at its core.

First of all, who is this "Billy"?  And why is it so important that he hold on to Phil's number?  Clearly this is a critical matter, for it comprises the title of the song.  We learn that it's because "you're not anywhere that I can't find you".  Well, if Billy can be found so easily, then what possible difference could it make if he lost Phil's number?  Phil can find Billy anytime he wants!

Actually, upon further review, the lyric is "you're not anywhere that I CAN find you".  So never mind about any of that.

The video is a parody of other videos, with several directors pitching ideas to the performer.  In between pitches, we see many ideas acted out.  My favorite is when he’s in an all-white suit with a top hat and cane, walking by models on the beach, a la David Lee Roth in California Girls.

Finally, I can’t get Blogger’s poll widget to work.  So unfortunately we might not have any more polls.  The people’s favorite song of 1985 may have to remain a mystery.

#37 - We Are The World

Artist: USA For Africa

Album: We Are The World
Video: From YouTube.  The original MTV video solicits donations to an address on Wilshire Blvd.

This band, USA For Africa, was really great in 1985.  If only they had stayed together, they could have been amazing.  Bunch of massive egos consumed with their "solo projects".

Seriously though, it's incredible to see all this talent together in one place.  Superheroes joining forces for a good cause.  Sure the song itself is kind of cheesy, but it's instantly recognizable all these years later.

"We Are The World" spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.  USA For Africa raised over $50 million dollars for humanitarian aid to African countries.

Between the performers, a clear hierarchy emerges: the masses in the chorus, stars who are granted a solo verse, and finally the superstars who deliver their own distinctive "We Are The World" chorus.  That elite status is granted to five performers: Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles.  Upper echelon all-time greats, every single one.

It's just compelling to watch every single person in this video.  Everyone you see has made a unique and lasting contribution to the majesty of rock 'n' roll.  And really, when you think about it, they are all absolutely correct.  We ARE the world.  We ARE the children.