As we go a little somethin' like this...HIT IT!
40> Along Comes A Woman-Chicago
One of the rare up-tempo singles they put out in the 80s. Sadly, it was their final hit single with, Mr. Helium himself, Peter Cetera on vocals sad :(... Synthy, horn-blasty and a tad rocky in a Frank Stallone-ish kinda way.
39> The Boys Of Summer-Don Henley
Still hangin' on after peaking in the top 10 a few weeks prior. Just a solid, well written, gimmick-less slice of American pop-rock. Seems to get better and better with the passing of each year.

38> The Borderlines-Jeffrey Osbourne
Forgettable, pallid soul-pop.
37> Rhythm Of The Night-DeBarge
Kind of in the same faux-Carribean vein as Lionel Richie's "All Night Long (All Night)". Written by the blandly prolific Diane Warren. From that Berry Gordy martial arts movie, The Last Dragon. 'Member that silly movie??
36> Why Can't I Have You?-The Cars
Sly lil' number off their Heartbeat City LP. Their last good single.

35> This Is Not America-David Bowie & The Pat Metheny Group
Pretty dark sounding for the American top 40 in 1985. I like this tune. From the Sean Penn/Timothy Hutton movie, The Falcon & The Snowman.

34> Missing You-Diana Ross
Schlocky, opportunistic slice of insincere tributery (yes, I know that's not a word). Written by Lionel Richie for Marvin Gaye... Sung soullessly by Diana Ross. Her final top 40 hit, I do believe. And rightfully so.

33> Take Me With U-Prince & The Revolution with Apollonia
My 2nd favorite track off of Purple Rain...behind "When Doves Cry". Couldn't believe this song failed to make the top 20. I seem to think Warner Brothers purposely didn't promote the single to radio because they knew Prince was ready to release Around The World In A Day and didnt want to glut the market with Prince product. Too bad...I always preferred this song to "I Would Die 4 U".

32> Obsession-Animotion
A cross between the Human League's "Dont You Want Me" and Romeo Void's "Never Say Never". Only not as good as either.

31> Turn Up The Radio-Autograph
Sounds like something out of a Trey Parker/Matt Stone parody.
30> Jungle Love-The Time
I would go as far as saying it's as good as most of the stuff off Purple Rain...and I say that knowing full well I'm going to get flamed by all you "Computer Blue" fans.

29> I'm On Fire-Bruce Springsteen
I always liked it when this song came on the radio back in the day. It was always fun playing with the balance control on my radio. In the left channel, it's just Bruce and his gee-tar. In the right, it's just Bruce and the drums. I would always do a little impromptu on-the-spot remix, much to my sister's chagrin. I was no Jellybean...

28> Nightshift-The Commodores
Lionel Richie had left the band by this point and was writing schlocky slices of insincere tributetry for Diana Ross. His old band meanwhile, one upped him and wrote their own homage to Marvin Gaye (and Jackie Wilson...both died in '84). Their song went top 5. Diana/Lionel's only went to #10. Nanny nanny poo poo...
27> Somebody-Bryan Adams
Sounds like something from a Trey Stone/Matt Parker parody...with production by Bob Clearmountain.

26> Solid-Ashford & Simpson
"...as a rock", as it were. In a word, "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-HOT!"

25> Just Another Night-Mick Jagger
Co-produced by Bill Laswell and the crew from the avant-garde funk outfit, Material. The Arthur Baker 12" mix is quite good actually. Wish I had a YSI for you...but I don't.

24> Keeping The Faith (Remix)-Billy Joel
His almost two year old full-length, An Innocent Man, was already sounding a bit dated by '85 standards. So for the album's final single, he had it remixed. What did that entail? Just a bunch of compression, jangly percussion and a dusting of reverb. It didn't work. The song petered out at #18.

23> Naughty Naughty-John Parr
Was this the first time the word "horny" was uttered on a big top 40 radio single? I seem to think it was, but I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise, sounds like a Trey Stone/Matt Parker parody sung by your creepy study hall monitor. With neat lil' car screeching sound efx thrown in. Maybe if Billy Joel had added that to the remix of "Keeping The Faith", he wouldve gone top 10.

22> High On You-Survivor
REO Speedwagon with even less personality.

21> Save A Prayer-Duran Duran
Originally from their 1982 album, RIO, In the fall of '84, they released a live record, Arena. The label released the live version of "Save A Prayer" as a single. Radio didn't seem to bite. Rather than play the live version, they played the b-side...which was the original studio version, albeit in edited form. It was all downhill after this. Their next single (3 months later) would be the god awful, "A View To A Kill". Blecccccch....

20> Method Of Modern Love-Daryl Hall & John Oates
Apparently, Wu-Tang was a big fan of this one. Featuring one of the best vocal codas...ever.

19> Mr. Telephone Man-New Edition
Hahaha...This was my favorite single of 1985, I admit. Sweet as molasses R&B jam produced and written by Ray Parker Jr. God damn...I love this ****ing song.

18> Only The Young-Journey
This has "Song Sitting Around Waiting To Be Used On A Throwaway Soundtrack" written all over it. From the movie, Visionquest. Which incidentally included the much better, "Crazy For You" as recorded by Madonna.

17> Relax-Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Times haven't changed much. The US is still behind the times when it comes to music. This was a HUGE #1 in late '83 in Britain. Upon its first US release in the spring of '84...it stiffed. Then, the Frankie craze got really big and those "Frankie Says Relax" shirts started getting really big here in the states...despite the fact that the band had yet to have a true "hit" here. (Us Yankees really are a bunch of poseurs, aren't we??) They re-released the single, made a new "live" video for the tune (emphasizing FRANKIEMANIA!!!) and sure enough...the song went top 10 and became an 80s classic. I always liked "Two Tribes" better, though...

16> Easy Lover-Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins
Not only is she an easy lover. She'll get a hold on. You believe it...

15> Private Dancer-Tina Turner
I never got the Dire Straits thing. That said, this is favorite Mark Knopfler song. Must be his voice er something. Get the balls out of your mouth, Mark. Jesus...

14> One More Night-Phil Collins
Conjures up memories of winter melting into spring. Not a big fan of the song. But it does bring back some nice memories.

13> The Old Man Down The Road-John Fogerty
I liked the video more than I liked the song. If I remember correctly, the video consisted of a camera following the cord from his amp to his guitar through a swamp and people's houses and shit...Am I right on that?

12> LoverGirl-Teena Marie
Rumor has it, MILLIONS of payola dollars were spent to get this song off the ground. Odd, since I think this song is pretty good. Most of the time record companies will only offer payola money for records they know are shit (Jessica Simpson, J Lo, John Mayer etc...).
11> LoverBoy-Billy Ocean
Somebody at the Billboard charts department was trying to be a wiseguy that week...
10> Misled-Kool & The Gang
How does a mostly R&B act get airplay on the mostly rock MTV? Throw a hot rockin' 80s guitar in the mix!! This is essentially a re-write of their much better 1984 hit, "Tonight". Their future hits "Victory" and "Emergency" also followed this rock-R&B formula.

9> Sugar Walls-Sheena Easton
Just an old fashioned love song about pussy. Written by Prince, obviously.

8> I Want To Know What Love Is-Foreigner
Sounds like a Trey Parker/Matt Stone parody...with backing vocals by the New Jersey Mass Choir.

7> Neutron Dance-The Pointer Sisters
My favorite Pointer Sister was the black one.

6> Too Late For Goodbyes-Julian Lennon
I know what you're thinking...But I'm actually glad Cynthia didn't abort because I thought his song "Valotte" was quite good.

5> Material Girl-Madonna

The song that spawned a million hacky DJ intros. Example: "Hey, evry'boddy!! Here's that hot new one by the MATERIAL GIRL!!!!" Ugh. Any DJ that's ever said that needs to be disemboweled with a pair of rusty salad tongs.

4> California Girls-David Lee Roth
Great frontman, sometimes interesting solo act, embarassingly bad wanna shock jock. His videos were always better than the records, themselves. Which made him the perfect 80s act.
3> The Heat Is On-Glenn Frey
He so wanted to be Huey Lewis it wasn't even funny.

2> Careless Whisper-Wham!
I remember when this first came out I was amazed at how utterly..."black"...he sounded. I was quite impressed.

1> Can't Fight This Feeling-REO Speedwagon
I saw Kevin Cronin on Politically Incorrect once. He seems like a very nice, smart & articulate fellow. Keeping that in mind, why does he always choose to sing as if he's mentally challenged and/or constipated?