Calendar Search Results: u i a song
December 3, 1985 The day after taking a loss to the Miami Dolphins that keeps them from going undefeated, 10 members of the Chicago Bears record the "Super Bowl Shuffle," a rap tune where they each drop a verse about their talents. The video permeates MTV and the song spreads well beyond Chicago to become a hit single and Gold record.More
December 1, 1985 Sci-fi soul singer Janelle Monáe is born in Kansas City, Kansas.
November 27, 1985 Rocky IV opens in theaters, introducing a younger generation to James Brown, who performs a new song called "Living In America" before a big fight scene. It's Brown's first big hit since 1974, and also his last.
November 16, 1985 "We Built This City" by Starship hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is later named Worst Song of All Time by Blender magazine.More
November 9, 1985 The Miami Vice Theme hits #1 on the Hot 100, the last instrumental song to top the tally.More
November 8, 1985 Miles Davis guest stars on Miami Vice, playing a pimp named Ivory Jones.More
November 2, 1985 "Part-Time Lover" hits #1 on the Hot 100, 22 years after Stevie Wonder first topped the chart in 1963.More
November 2, 1985 The Miami Vice soundtrack album, featuring the #1-hit theme song, tops the albums chart in America, ushering in a new age of TV soundtracks.More
November 1, 1985 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) agrees to some demands made by another initialed organization, the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). As a result, any album deemed to contain offensive lyrics must be issued with a warning label, or the lyrics must be printed on the sleeve. Most record companies go with the labels, which don't seem to hurt sales.More
October 26, 1985 Whitney Houston scores her first #1 on the Hot 100 when "Saving All My Love For You" reaches the top spot. She goes on a remarkable run, with her next six singles all topping the chart.
October 25, 1985 One of the first rap movies, Krush Groove, is released in American theaters. Featuring Run-DMC, New Edition and Sheila E., the film is based on the life story of Russell Simmons, co-founder of the hip-hop label Def Jam.
October 19, 1985 Miami Sound Machine make the Hot 100 for the first time with "Conga," a song that opens doors for Latin pop and introduces America to lead singer Gloria Estefan, who is married to group leader Emilio Estefan. The song also brings conga lines to the fore when it becomes a staple of weddings and other celebrations.
October 19, 1985 Thanks to an innovative video that takes place in a comic book, "Take On Me" gives the Norwegian group a-ha a #1 hit in America.More
October 9, 1985 On what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, a section of Central Park in New York City is christened "Strawberry Fields" in his memory.More
October 9, 1985 With Steve Barron as their director, a-ha begin filming their music video for "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." at Saint Alban the Martyr Church and Udney Hall Gardens in Teddington, Middlesex, England.
October 8, 1985 Bruno Mars is born Peter Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii. His dad calls him Bruno because as a toddler he's chunky like the wrestler Bruno Sammartino. He becomes one of the most popular artists of the streaming era in the 2010s with a run of hits that includes "Grenade," Locked Out of Heaven and "Uptown Funk."
October 1, 1985 The low-budget independent film A Certain Sacrifice, starring Madonna, is released on home video to capitalize on the pop star's fame. It was filmed five years earlier but was never released in theaters.
September 22, 1985 The first Farm Aid concert plays in Champaign, Illinois, to benefit American farmers trying to survive amidst a national agricultural crisis.More
September 21, 1985 "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits hits #1 in America. The song is co-written by Sting, who sings the line "I want my MTV." Sting is also on the chart with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart," both from his debut solo album, Dream Of The Blue Turtles.
September 19, 1985 Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testify at a Senate hearing where the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) argue for a ratings system on music. The musicians explain that this is censorship, but the PMRC wins a victory and warning labels are ordered on albums containing explicit lyrics.More
September 16, 1985 Kate Bush's album Hounds Of Love surpasses Madonna's Like A Virgin for the #1 spot on the UK chart. Featuring the hit single "Running Up That Hill," it's the second chart-topper for the British singer-songwriter.More
September 14, 1985 The TV series The Golden Girls debuts on NBC. Its theme song is "Thank You for Being a Friend," written by Andrew Gold but sung by a jingle singer named Cynthia Fee. Gold's version was released in 1978 and reached #25 in the US.
September 7, 1985 For the first time in the Rock Era, the top three songs on the Hot 100 were all written for movies: #1: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" by John Parr #2: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News (from Back to the Future) #3: "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
September 7, 1985 "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" hits #1 in the US. David Foster and John Parr wrote the song for the film St. Elmo's Fire, but they wrote it about Rick Hansen, who went around the world in his wheelchair raising money for spinal cord research on his "Man In Motion" tour.
August 31, 1985 The serial killer Richard Ramirez is captured in Los Angeles and later convicted for 13 murders. At one of the crime scenes, he left behind an AC/DC hat. The media dubbed him the "Night Stalker," and speculated that the band's song "Night Prowler" compelled him to kill, an assertion that is never substantiated, but unfairly links the killer to AC/DC, which is horrified by the association.
August 16, 1985 Red Hot Chili Peppers release the cocaine-fueled funk album Freaky Styley, produced by Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton, and welcome back guitarist Hillel Slovak.More
August 14, 1985 Three years after their duet "The Girl Is Mine," Paul McCartney advises Michael Jackson to invest in publishing. Jackson makes a winning bid of $47.5 million for the rights to over 250 Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs owned by ATV publishing, which turns out to be a great investment, but kills their friendship.More
August 3, 1985 Tears For Fears' "Shout" hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks. It's the English synthpop duo's second chart-topper, following "Everybody Wants To Rule The World."
July 27, 1985 At Albert's Hall in Toronto, the blind 19-year-old guitar sensation Jeff Healey joins Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins on stage for a rousing jam session that gets a lot of press. Healey quickly forms The Jeff Healey Band, which gets signed to Arista Records and has a hit in 1988 with "Angel Eyes." They also appear in the movie Road House, playing the house band where Patrick Swayze's character works as a bouncer.
July 27, 1985 Paul Young hits #1 with "Everytime You Go Away," a cover of a Hall & Oates song released in 1980. It's the only Hall & Oates cover ever to make the Top 40.
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