Billboard Number one hits of 1985 Quiz

Answer: Foreigner

Foreigner was formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones, ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald and vocalist Lou Gramm. Foreigner has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Their hit "I Want to Know What Love Is" reached the top of the charts in February, 1985. "Waiting for a Girl Like You" was number two in November, 1981.

It was kept from the top spot by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical". "Hot Blooded" had peaked at number three. "Double Vision" had also stalled at number two and their hit "Feels Like the First Time" made it to number four. Lou Gramm had concerns that "I Want to Know What Love Is" was too drastic a departure from the band's edgy rock sound. Soon after Foreigner's single topped the charts the New Jersey Mass Choir released its own version of the song.

The Honeydrippers had a top five behind "Like A Virgin" with "Sea of Love". New Edition was also at number five behind Madonna's "Like A Virgin" with their hit "Cool it Now". Chicago was at the number four spot behind Foreigner with "You're the Inspiration".

Answer: Duran Duran

After 20 years of Bond film themes failing to reach the top of the charts, Duran Duran finally had a number one with "A View to a Kill". "Live and Let Die" and "Nobody Does it Better" both made it to number two. "A View to a Kill" was Duran Duran's second number one.

The band was undergoing creative differences at the time "A View to a Kill" was made. John and Andy Taylor wanted to produce songs with more of a rock feel, while Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes wanted to experiment with more abstract material. John and Andy joined Robert Palmer's Power Station and the remaining members formed Arcadia.

When the band eventually reunited they were a trio. Roger Taylor was suffering health problems and Andy Taylor pursued a solo career. Survivor was number four behind Duran Duran with the song "The Search is Over". "Alive and Kicking" is a December, 1985, top five hit for Simple Minds. Tears for Fears took "Head Over Heels" to number four in November, 1985.

Answer: John Parr

John Parr was 12 years old when he formed a band with two schoolmates called The Silence. They eventually became professional and toured Europe. Parr left and worked with Meat Loaf before going solo. His first top 40 hit was "Naughty Naughty". Soon Parr was on the road with his band The Business opening for Toto.

At the end of the tour John received a call from record producer David Foster. Foster wanted Parr to write and record a song for "St Elmo's Fire". Parr and Foster wrote the Grammy nominated song together.

The number one hit became part of Billboard history. The week of September 7th, 1985, was the first time three songs from movie soundtracks were the top three songs. In addition to "St Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" the number two song was "Power of Love" from "Back to the Future" and holding down the third spot was Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)". Harold Faltermeyer was number four the week of May 25, 2005, with "Axel F." from "Beverly Hills Cop".

Answer: Whitney Houston

"Saving All My Love for You" was written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo on their 1978 album "Marilyn & Billy". It is the second single release from Whitney Houston's self-titled debut album. The song about a love affair with a married man was released in August, 1985. Arista Records' CEO Clive Davis was initially against Houston covering the song.

It turned out to be the first of seven consecutive number one songs for Whitney. The single spent fifteen weeks in the top forty and won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and the American Music Award for Favorite R&B/Soul Video. Aretha Franklin made the top five in September, 1985, with "Freeway of Love". Sade's hit, "Smooth Operator" made the top five in May, 1985. Mariah Carey didn't break the top ten until the nineties.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie collaborated on the song which was produced to raise money for Africa. The recording was scheduled for the same date as the American Music Awards so there would be a large number of artists in town. In an interview with "Billboard" Richie related that after three days of preparation the actual writing of the song took about two and a half hours. Quincy Jones produced the instrumental tracks and sent copies to all the artists involved.

There were forty-five singers at the microphone at 10:00AM the morning of the vocal recording at A&M Studios.

The song took only three weeks to reach number one. Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte were among the 45 artists. Bob Geldof's Band Aid song "Do They Know it's Christmas?" was cited by Belafonte as the inspiration for him to call Ken Kragen of United Support of Artists for Africa to suggest staging a concert.

The idea of a concert was eventually scrapped in favor of releasing a celebrity recording.

Answer: Can't Fight This Feeling

In an interview with "USA Today" singer Kevin Cronin related that "Can't Fight This Feeling" finally put to rest the idea that REO Speedwagon was a one-hit-wonder band. For their album "Wheels are Turning" Kevin had revived a song he had been writing off and on for almost ten years.

The song was dubbed "that stupid ballad" by the rest of the band. The band's debut album, "REO Speedwagon", had been released on Epic Records in 1971. By the end of the eighties the group began to disintegrate. After minor lineup changes REO Speedwagon teamed with Journey and Styx in 2003 for the Classic Rock's Main Event tour and they continue to tour regularly. "Take It on the Run" reached number five in 1981. "Ridin' the Storm Out" was their premier chart entry, reaching number 94 in 1977. "Roll with the Changes" reached number 58 the following year.

Answer: Marilyn Martin

When the song was released the public thought that the relatively unknown Martin was actually Crystal Gale. Martin had been hired to do backup vocals on tour with Stevie Nicks and Joe Walsh. She sang on Nicks' "Rock A Little" release which led to an offer from Atlantic Records to record her own album. Before she could start production she was asked to sing the duet with Phil Collins because Doug Morris from Atlantic thought her voice would blend well with his. Collins had to approve and consented merely upon hearing a demo tape.

His instincts proved correct when the song hit number one. Stephen Bishop wrote "Separate Lives". He had been scoring songs for such films including "Animal House" and "Tootsie". He was nominated for an Oscar for "Separate Lives" but lost to Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" from "White Nights". "Say You, Say Me" went number one on December 21, 1985. Collins also had solo number one hits in 1985 with "One More Night" and "Sussudio". Dionne took "That's What Friends are For" to number one in early 1986. Janet Jackson scored a number five in 1986 with "What Have You Done for Me Lately?".

Answer: Miami Vice

"Miami Vice" premiered on September 16, 1984. Czechoslovakian native Jan Hammer had a jazz background, performing in New York with a group of musicians who formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early seventies. He became an in-demand session musician and gravitated to scoring film tracks.

While working on film scores, Hammer met Michael Mann and was intrigued by the concept of "Miami Vice". He scored the pilot and when the show was picked up Hammer was given free rein to score twenty minutes of original music every week.

The song "You Belong to the City" is from the show and reached number two for Glenn Frey. On September 29, 1985, "MacGyver" premiered on ABC and ran until 1992. In addition to "MacGyver", Randy Edelman produced scores for several films including "Ghostbusters II", "Twins", "Angels in the Outfield" and "Kindergarten Cop". "T.J. Hooker" ran from 1982 to 1986.

The song "I Can't Wait" is based on a sample of the first season's opening theme. "The Equalizer" premiered in 1985 and ran for four years.

The theme song became a hit for Stewart Copeland, founder and drummer of The Police.

Answer: Simple Minds

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is the first number one for the group Simple Minds. Composer Keith Forsey was not keen on Simple Minds doing the song when he wrote it for "The Breakfast Club" film. Bryan Ferry turned down the opportunity to sing it and Simple Minds was then tabbed.

The band was named after a line in David Bowie's song "Jean Genie" when they formed in Glasgow, Scotland in the late seventies. They first broke into the UK charts in 1982 with "Promised You A Miracle". Tears for Fears took "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" to number one in June, 1985, and "Shout" was number one for them in August.

The Flint, Michigan, group Ready for the World saw number one success in October, 1985, with "Oh Sheila". Norwegian band A-ha had a number one in October, 1985, with "Take On Me".

Answer: Paul Young

Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates wrote "Every Time You Go Away" and it became Paul Young's first number one in the US. His first five American singles were all cover versions of other artists' work. Young started out in the music business playing bass for local bands while working days in the British Vauxhall plant.

He soon joined groups such as Streetband and The Q-Tips. Stevie Winwood's brother Muff signed Young to a deal with CBS in 1981. At the end of 1985 Daryl Hall joined Young on stage in New York and they performed a duet of "Every Time You Go Away". Stevie Wonder made it to number one in 1985 with "Part-Time Lover". Kingston, Ontario, native Bryan Adams took "Heaven" to the top spot in June, 1985. George Michael was still a part of Wham when "Everything She Wants" went to the top in May of 1985.