On this day in 1980: Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra had the UK #1 single with ‘Xanadu’, taken from the film of the same name. It gave Olivia Newton-John her third UK #1 single.
On this day in 1986: Simply Red scored their first U.S. #1 single with ‘Holding Back The Years’. Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall wrote the song when he was seventeen, while living at his father’s house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later.
“Holding Back the Years” is the seventh track on Simply Red’s debut studio album Picture Book (1985). It remains their most successful single, having reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. It is one of two Simply Red songs (the other being their cover of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”) to reach #1 in the U.S. It also reached #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. “Holding Back the Years” had initially been released in the UK the year before, reaching #51. The song was nominated in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1987 Grammy Award Ceremony.
Here’s a look at the Top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1986:
1 2 HOLDING BACK THE YEARS –•– Simply Red (Elektra)-15 (1 Week at #1) (1)
2 6 INVISIBLE TOUCH –•– Genesis (Atlantic)-7 (2)
3 1 THERE’LL BE SAD SONGS –•– Billy Ocean (Jive)-13 (1)
4 5 NASTY –•– Janet Jackson (A&M)-9 (4)
5 3 WHO’S JOHNNY –•– El DeBarge (Gordy)-12 (3)
6 9 SLEDGEHAMMER –•– Peter Gabriel (Geffen)-10 (6)
7 10 DANGER ZONE –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-10 (7)
8 4 NO ONE IS TO BLAME –•– Howard Jones (Elektra)-14 (4)
9 12 YOUR WILDEST DREAMS –•– Moody Blues (Polydor)-13 (9)
10 11 TUFF ENUFF –•– Fabulous Thunderbirds (CBS Associated)-13 (10)
11 19 GLORY OF LOVE –•– Peter Cetera (Full Moon / Warner Brothers)-6 (11)
12 13 LIKE A ROCK –•– Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (Capitol)-8 (12)
13 8 ON MY OWN –•– Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald (MCA)-17 (1)
14 15 WHEN THE HEART RULES THE MIND –•– GTR (Arista)-10 (14)
15 7 CRUSH ON YOU –•– The Jets (MCA)-14 (3)
16 18 OPPORTUNITIES (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) –•– Pet Shop Boys (EMI-America)-7 (16)
17 21 LOVE TOUCH –•– Rod Stewart (Warner Brothers)-7 (17)
18 22 MAD ABOUT YOU –•– Belinda Carlisle (I.R.S.)-9 (18)
19 25 MODERN WOMAN –•– Billy Joel (Columbia)-6 (19)
20 14 LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT –•– 38 Special (A&M)-11 (14)
