On this day in 1985: Former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty went to #1 on the U.S. album chart with his third solo studio album ‘Centerfield.’ This was Fogerty’s first album in nine years after he decided to take a long break from the music business because of legal battles with his record company.
Also on this day in 1985: Billy Joel married model Christie Brinkley on a boat moored alongside the Statue Of Liberty. They divorced in 1993.
On this day in 1986: Heart were enjoying their first and only week at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘These Dreams.’ It was released on January 18, 1986, as the third single off their 1985 self titled album. It was the band’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1985, singer-songwriter Martin Page, who co-wrote other successful songs including “We Built This City” and “King of Wishful Thinking”, and Bernie Taupin, longtime collaborator with Elton John, wrote a song which would later be titled “These Dreams”. The song was offered to Stevie Nicks, who expressed no interest in recording it. Heart had just recently signed with Capitol Records, and while the band had previously recorded their own material, they were impressed by “These Dreams” and agreed to use the song on their upcoming album.
The track is a power ballad with a more polished sound in comparison to Heart’s previous work and was the band’s first single on which Nancy Wilson performed lead vocals instead of Ann Wilson. According to The ‘Billboard Book of Number One Hits’ by Fred Bronson, when it came time for Wilson to record her vocals, she was suffering from a cold and sounded somewhat raspy and gravelly. After the song reached commercial success, producers reportedly wanted Wilson to recreate the vocal style on future recordings, asking her “Can’t you just get sick again?
Here’s a look at the Top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1986:
1 2 THESE DREAMS –•– Heart (Capitol)-10 (1 Week at #1) (1)
2 1 SARA –•– Starship (Grunt)-13 (1)
3 4 SECRET LOVERS –•– Atlantic Starr (A&M)-13 (3)
4 7 ROCK ME AMADEUS –•– Falco (A&M)-7 (4)
5 6 R.O.C.K. IN THE U.S.A. –•– John Cougar Mellencamp (Riva)-8 (5)
6 3 KYRIE –•– Mr. Mister (RCA)-14 (1)
7 10 NIKITA –•– Elton John (Geffen)-10 (7)
8 9 KING FOR A DAY –•– Thompson Twins (Arista)-10 (8)
9 11 WHAT YOU NEED –•– INXS (Atlantic)-10 (9)
10 15 KISS –•– Prince & The Revolution (Paisley Park)-5 (10)
11 12 THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT –•– Loverboy (Columbia)-10 (11)
12 5 HOW WILL I KNOW –•– Whitney Houston (Arista)-16 (1)
13 16 LET’S GO ALL THE WAY –•– Sly Fox (Capitol)-13 (13)
14 14 SANCTIFY YOURSELF –•– Simple Minds (A&M)-9 (14)
15 19 MANIC MONDAY –•– The Bangles (Columbia)-9 (15)
16 8 SILENT RUNNING (On Dangerous Ground) –•– Mike + The Mechanics (Atlantic)-18 (6)
17 20 BEAT’S SO LONELY –•– Charlie Sexton (MCA)-15 (17)
18 32 ADDICTED TO LOVE –•– Robert Palmer (Island)-7 (18)
19 29 TENDER LOVE –•– Force M.D.’s (Warner Brothers)-8 (19)
20 23 (How To Be A) MILLIONAIRE –•– ABC (Mercury)-10 (20)
