Calendar Search Results: u i a song
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.
July 24, 1985 A stretch of Detroit's Washington Boulevard is renamed "Aretha Franklin's Freeway Of Love," in honor of her recent comeback hit.
July 19, 1985 The Legend of Billie Jean, starring Helen Slater and Christian Slater as teens who become accidental outlaws, debuts in theaters, boasting the hit theme song "Invincible" by Pat Benatar. The teen flick receives mixed reviews but goes on to become a cult classic, despite Benatar calling it "one of the worst movies ever made."More
July 13, 1985 Tears for Fears bow out of performing at Live Aid, Bob Geldof's star-studded charity concert for famine relief in Africa, after two members of their band quit. The group donates concert funds to the cause, but feels the weight of Geldof's disapproval. TFF's Roland Orzabal says, "He made us feel very guilty. All those millions of people dying, it was all our fault. I felt terrible. I tell you, I know how Hitler must have felt."
July 13, 1985 Piggybacking on Live Aid, top Australian acts play a benefit concert in Sydney called Oz For Africa. INXS, Little River Band and Men At Work are all on the bill.
July 13, 1985 The Live Aid concerts take place in Philadelphia and London to raise money for the hungry in Africa. The Beach Boys, The Four Tops, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who, Queen, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan all take part.More
July 13, 1985 Howard Jones performs at London's Wembley Stadium as part of Live Aid. Jones sings his hit single "Hide and Seek" on Freddie Mercury's piano.
July 13, 1985 David Bowie and Mick Jagger debut their video for "Dancing in the Street" at Live Aid. Bowie also performs "Heroes" at Wembley Stadium.
July 10, 1985 Playboy publishes nude photos of Madonna taken before she was famous.More
July 10, 1985 Tina Turner stars opposite Mel Gibson in the post-apocalyptic action flick Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Turner sings two hit songs for the movie: "One Of The Living" and "We Don't Need Another Hero."More
July 6, 1985 Phil Collins' "Sussudio" - a song about a girl with a funny name - hits #1. It holds the position for one week.
July 3, 1985 Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox as a time-traveling teenager, opens in theaters. When he plays "Johnny B. Goode" in 1955 at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance, he gives birth to rock and roll. In the real-life present, a new generation gets a lesson in Chuck Berry from the scene.More
June 18, 1985 Weird Al Yankovic's Dare To Be Stupid, featuring the Devo-inspired title track, makes history as the first album of comedic music ever released on compact disc.
June 17, 1985 The famously reclusive Bob Dylan opens up on the syndicated radio show Rockline, taking calls from fans.
June 7, 1985 The movie Perfect debuts in theaters, starring John Travolta as a Rolling Stone reporter who falls for aerobics instructor Jamie Lee Curtis. While the drama is a dud with critics, it portrays Rolling Stone as more than a music magazine – which is exactly what its editor-in-chief Jann Wenner hoped. More
June 4, 1985 Elton John begins a high court battle with Dick James Music, seeking the rights to early songs and recordings plus damages estimated at more than $51 million.
June 1, 1985 The Prince album Around The World In A Day goes to #1 in the US, where it stays for three weeks. Hits from the album include "Raspberry Beret" and "Pop Life."
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