On this day in 1987: Def Leppard scored their first U.K. #1 album with Hysteria which also became #1 on the U.S. album chart in July the following year after spending forty-nine weeks working its way to the top.
Also on this day in 1987: Rick Astley’s debut hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, started a five-week run at #1 on the U.K. singles chart. It became the biggest selling single of 1987 in the UK and the song won Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards.
Also on this day in 1987: Los Lobos started a three week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘La Bamba’, a #31 hit in the U.K., taken from the film about the life of Ritchie Valens.
La Bamba is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit on the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll’s best-known songs. It was ranked #345 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. It is the only song on the list sung in a language other than English.
Let’s take a look at the complete Top 20 on the U.S. Singles chart from this day back in 1987:
1 2 LA BAMBA –•– Los Lobos (Slash)-10 (1) (1 Week at #1)
2 1 WHO’S THAT GIRL –•– Madonna (Sire)-8 (1)
3 4 DON’T MEAN NOTHING –•– Richard Marx (Manhattan)-12 (3)
4 3 LUKA –•– Suzanne Vega (A&M)-13 (3)
5 7 ONLY IN MY DREAMS –•– Debbie Gibson (Atlantic)-17 (5)
6 10 I JUST CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU –•– Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett (Epic)-4 (6)
7 8 ROCK STEADY –•– The Whispers (Solar)-13 (7)
8 16 DIDN’T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL –•– Whitney Houston (Arista)-5 (8)
9 11 IT’S NOT OVER (‘Til It’s Over) –•– Starship (Grunt)-10 (9)
10 12 CAN’T WE TRY –•– Dan Hill & Vonda Shepard (Columbia)-13 (10)
11 6 I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR –•–U2 (Island)-12 (1)
12 13 LOVE POWER –•– Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne (Arista)-8 (12)
13 5 I WANT YOUR SEX –•– George Michael (Columbia)-13 (2)
14 19 DOING IT ALL FOR MY BABY Huey Lewis & The News (Chrysalis)-7 (14)
15 20 HERE I GO AGAIN –•– Whitesnake (Geffen)-9 (15)
16 18 WHEN SMOKEY SINGS –•– ABC (Mercury)-9 (16)
17 17 LIVING IN A BOX –•– Living In A Box (Chrysalis)-11 (17)
18 9 HEART AND SOUL –•– T’Pau (Virgin)-18 (4)
19 25 TOUCH OF GREY –•– Grateful Dead (Arista)-6 (19)
20 23 WIPE OUT –•– Fat Boys & Beach Boys (Tin Pan Apple)-8 (20)
