On this day in 1988: Nelson Mandella’s 70th birthday tribute took place at Wembley Stadium, London, featuring Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, George Michael, Eric Clapton, UB40, The Eurythmics and Simple Minds. The event was broadcast live on BBC 2 to 40 different countries with an estimated audience of 1 billion.
Also on this day in 1988: George Michael was starting his third and final week at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “One More Try.”
The song lyrically explores a young man’s hesitancy to enter/revisit a new relationship because he had been emotionally hurt so many times previously. The song concludes with temptation taking over, and Michael ends by singing the title for the only time.
“One More Try” was the third consecutive #1 single from the ‘Faith’ album. “One More Try” debuted at an impressive #40 the week of April 16, 1988, and matching the speed of “Father Figure”, reached #1 by its seventh week on the chart, staying there for three consecutive weeks. “One More Try” was the second-longest running #1 of 1988, tied with “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison, and behind the four-week run of Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It”. In total, “One More Try” spent seven weeks in the top 10 and 14 weeks in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a triple-chart number one, also topping the R&B and Adult Contemporary Charts. It was ranked the #11 song of 1988 on Billboard’s year end chart.
Here’s a look at the complete Top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1988:
1 1 ONE MORE TRY –•– George Michael – 9 (1)
2 5 TOGETHER FOREVER –•– Rick Astley – 9 (2)
3 4 EVERYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES –•– Daryl Hall & John Oates – 9 (3)
4 2 SHATTERED DREAMS –•– Johnny Hates Jazz – 13 (2)
5 3 NAUGHTY GIRLS (NEED LOVE TOO) –•– Samantha Fox – 16 (3)
6 7 FOOLISH BEAT –•– Debbie Gibson – 8 (6)
7 9 MAKE IT REAL –•– The Jets – 9 (7)
8 12 DIRTY DIANA –•– Michael Jackson – 6 (8)
9 11 CIRCLE IN THE SAND –•– Belinda Carlisle – 9 (9)
10 14 THE VALLEY ROAD –•– Bruce Hornsby & The Range – 7 (10)
11 6 PIANO IN THE DARK –•– Brenda Russell Featuring Joe Esposito – 17 (6)
12 15 ALPHABET ST. –•– Prince – 7 (12)
13 19 THE FLAME –•– Cheap Trick – 10 (13)
14 16 WE ALL SLEEP ALONE –•– Cher – 10 (14)
15 18 I STILL BELIEVE –•– Brenda K. Starr – 11 (15)
16 20 KISS ME DEADLY –•– Lita Ford – 11 (16)
17 23 NOTHIN’ BUT A GOOD TIME –•– Poison – 8 (17)
18 22 NITE AND DAY –•– Al B. Sure! – 10 (18)
19 10 ANYTHING FOR YOU –•– Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine – 14 (1)
20 26 MERCEDES BOY –•– Pebbles – 6 (20)
