On this day in 1984: The Jacksons kicked off their North American Victory tour at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City. Over 2 million people attended the 55 concerts which grossed over $75 million. Michael Jackson donated $5 million of the proceeds to various charities.
On this day in 1985: Phil Collins went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Sussudio.” The song is the first track on Collins’ third solo studio album, No Jacket Required, released in February of the same year. The song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May; by July 6, 1985 both the single and the album reached #1 on their respective U.S. Billboard Chart. It would spend one week at #1 on the singles chart.
Collins has said that he “improvised” the lyric. Collins was just playing around with a drum machine, and the lyric “su-sussudio” was what came out of his mouth. “So I kinda knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as ‘sussudio,’ and I couldn’t find one, so I went back to ‘sussudio'”, Collins said. According to Collins, the lyrics are about a schoolboy crush on a girl at school.
The synthesizer, rhythm and synth bass arrangement, sound design, and programming was done by David Frank of The System, and the horn arrangements were done later based on the motif from the bassline.
The music video for the song was filmed at a pub owned by Richard Branson (The Princess Victoria in Shepherds Bush) in London. The accompanying music video features Collins, as well as long-time collaborators Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson. The video begins with a man telling his family he is taking his dog for a walk, with them ignoring him while watching TV. He passes outside a pub, with live music being played. It then cuts to Collins and his band inside playing for an uninterested crowd. The crowd slowly migrates toward the band as the song progresses, leaving them cheering at the end. Bass player Lee Sklar also appears in the video; however, neither Sklar nor Thompson played on the studio recording.
Here’s a look at the Top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1985:
1 2 SUSSUDIO –•– Phil Collins (Atlantic)-9 (1 Week at #1) (1)
2 3 A VIEW TO A KILL –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-8 (2)
3 4 RASPBERRY BERET –•– Prince & The Revolution (Paisley Park)-8 (3)
4 1 HEAVEN –•– Bryan Adams (A&M)-12 (1)
5 6 THE SEARCH IS OVER –•– Survivor (Scotti Brothers)-12 (5)
6 8 WOULD I LIE TO YOU? –•– Eurythmics (RCA)-11 (6)
7 13 YOU GIVE GOOD LOVE –•– Whitney Houston (Arista)-9 (7)
8 14 EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY –•– Paul Young (Columbia)-9 (8)
9 12 VOICES CARRY –•– ‘Til Tuesday (Epic)-13 (9)
10 5 ANGEL –•– Madonna (Sire)-11 (5)
11 17 GLORY DAYS –•– Bruce Springsteen (Columbia)-6 (11)
12 15 THE GOONIES ‘R’ GOOD ENOUGH –•– Cyndi Lauper (Portrait)-8 (12)
13 19 IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY SET THEM FREE –•– Sting (A&M)-5 (13)
14 7 EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD –•– Tears For Fears (Mercury)-17 (1)
15 20 SENTIMENTAL STREET –•– Night Ranger (MCA / Camel)-7 (15)
16 9 THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER –•– Howard Jones (Elektra)-16 (5)
17 22 CRAZY IN THE NIGHT (Barking At Airplanes) –•– Kim Carnes (EMI-America)-9 (17)
18 16 SMUGGLER’S BLUES –•– Glenn Frey (MCA)-14 (12)
19 11 WALKING ON SUNSHINE –•– Katrina & The Waves (Capitol)-16 (9)
20 10 IN MY HOUSE –•– Mary Jane Girls (Gordy)-18 (7)
