Matt OsbornNew Prince. Another Police Academy. Bette Davis holding court at the Oscars. Bill Elliott goes really fast at Talladega. The start of Married . . . With Children. And the end of Max Headroom. No, you aren’t in a quarantined hallucination – this was all just in one week, This Week . . . 33 Years Ago.
Welcome to This Week . . . 33 Years Ago where every week we’ll take a step back to this week 33 years ago to remember just how great it was as we review the top music and movie charts, as well as anything else that happened in TV, sports, the news, you name it.
Music
Singles Chart – Top 10
After two weeks at the top, Club Nouveau’s cover of Bill Wither’s (RIP) classic “Lean On Me” drops to #2 as Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” grabs the #1 spot. This marks the 3rd time Starship has hit #1 – “We Built This City” and “Sara” hit #1 in ’85. It will also be their last Top 10 hit.
Genesis continues to slowly inch up the charts to #3 while Aretha and George make the biggest jump, shooting up 4 spots to #6. We might want to watch that one.
Meanwhile, only one exit from the Top 10 – the American Tail theme “Somewhere Out There.” We’ll see James Ingram again in 3 years with a cassette single that I absolutely tore up playing so much – the classic “I Don’t Have the Heart.” Ronstadt will only have to wait two more years to get back when she meets up with Aaron Nevile in the DN33 favorite “Don’t Know Much.”
Replacing it is a band making its 2nd appearance in the Top 10 this year.
- Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Starship – ⬆ 1
- Lean On Me – Club Nouveau – ⬇ 1
- Tonight, Tonight, Tonight – Genesis – ⬆ 1
- Let’s Wait Awhile – Janet Jackson – ⬇ 1
- Come Go With Me – Expose – ⬆ 2
- I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) – George Michael and Aretha Franklin – ⬆ 4
- Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House – ⬆ 2
- The Final Countdown – Europe
- Mandolin Rain – Bruce Hornsby & The Range – ⬇ 4
- Let’s Go! – Wang Chung
- With perhaps their least-known hit some 33 years later, Wang Chung rides the success of “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” from earlier this year (it peaked at #4) to get a 2nd straight Top 10 hit with “Let’s Go.” These two are Wang Chung’s only entrances into the US Top 10 – even though “Dance Hall Days” was their best song, it only made it to #16 on the US singles chart back in ’84 (it’s likely more popular today than it was when it was released). “Let’s Go” will peak next week at #9 and that will be it for Wang Chung on the charts. Here’s “Let’s Go” and the far superior “Dance Hall Days.”
Albums Chart – Top 5
Once again, no real new entrants into the Top 5 Albums chart – just a little shuffling around between #3 and #6 with Janet overtaking Genesis yet again for the #5 spot..
- Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys
- Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi
- Graceland – Paul Simon – ⬆ 1
- The Way It Is – Bruce Hornsby & The Range – ⬇ 1
- Control – Janet Jackson – ⬆ 1
But while the chart might have been boring, a new release this week absolutely was not as the man himself released his 9th studio album.
Since the release of 1999 in ’82, Prince had released 3 more albums, Purple Rain (#1), Around the World in a Day (#1), and Parade (#3), won an Oscar for Purple Rain, and had 9 Top 10 hits. Oh, and the Revolution had broken up. Though the album Sign O’ the Times will not be as successful as his last 3 albums (it peaks at #6 on the chart above), the LP will give Prince 3 more Top 10 singles and be regarded by some as his best work. The title track will be a Top 10 single soon enough – but here is the 2nd cut from the album, “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” It’s the only single of the 4 released from the LP that won’t make the Top 10, peaking at #67. Next month, on May 8, 1987, Prince will embark on his Sign O’ the Times tour – and we’ll be covering it for sure!
Movies
Box Office Top 10
After one week atop the box office chart, Blind Date gets kicked out by that lovable group of misfits cops in the 4th installment of the Police Academy series, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. Releasing one sequel a year since the original debuted in ’84, the Police Academy franchised had grossed nearly $400 million with the first 3 films and Police Academy 4 would not disappoint. Even though it would be the least grossing of the 4 films, it would spawn 3 more sequels in ’88, ’89, and ’90, though this would be the last we would see of Steve Guttenberg as the hapless Sgt Mahoney. Here’s the poster, the highlights from the film (Bobcat’s fantastic), and this week’s box office chart.
- Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol – New Release
- A Room with a View – ⬆ 17
- Blind Date – ⬇ 2
- Platoon – ⬇ 1
- Lethal Weapon – ⬇ 3
- Children of a Lesser God – ⬆ 12
- Tin Men – ⬇ 2
- Some Kind of Wonderful – ⬆ 5
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors – ⬇ 2
- Burglar – ⬇ 4
Also this week, we got the 59th Academy Awards hosted by Chevy Chase. And, of course, he opened with a Jim and Tammy Faye joke. Here’s his opening monologue.
During the night, Platoon would win 4 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Oliver Stone. Here’s the Best Original Song category – you might have heard a few of them.
And from a personal standpoint, here’s the best part of the night – one of DN33’s favorite actors winning for his role in one of DN33’s favorite movies – all presented by Bette Davis, who still commanded the room at 79 years young.
Television
On Sunday, April 5, 1987, this great American sit-com classic debuted on Fox.
The show will have an amazing 11-year, 259-episode run and make Al and Peg Bundy our generation’s Lucy and Desi . . . which maybe explains a few things nowadays. Married . . . With Children’s launch also coincided with the debut of The Tracey Ullman Show and the start of Fox’s first primetime lineup.
And as one comes in, another goes out. Or in this case, two.
Unless you were around in the mid-’80s, it’s really hard to explain the phenomenon of Max Headroom. He was computer-generated before there was such a thing. And he was EVERYWHERE! His own movie. Coke commercials. mTV. A talk show. T-Shirts. And his own TV series. Here’s one of those Coke commercials and a cool 20-minute doc from Toy Galaxy about the phenomenon.
That TV series ended this week in 1987.
Also, Fraggle Rock came to an end this week after a five-season run.
Sports
On April 3rd, Bill Elliott sets the fastest NASCAR qualifying speed ever at Talladega, topping out at 212.808 miles per hour. Just two months earlier, in February, he had broken the Daytona record with a qualifying speed of 210.364 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, in the NCAA Final Four, Indiana beats Syracuse on a late shot by Keith Smart with seconds to go. For you non-’80s readers, watch this clip and imagine no scoreboard on the screen, no tenths of a second showing. Just a superimposed shot of the shot clock. And the whole picture is essentially 8-bit graphics.
And that’ll do it for now on This Week . . . . 33 Years ago. Be sure to check out the new DN33 Jukebox on Friday with all the music mentioned here plus more. And as always, be sure to share if you like what you see!
If you missed any of the past weeks in review, click below and catch up. And if you’re liking them, be sure to share through the social media of your choice below or to the side.
Past This Week . . . 30 Years Ago Reviews:
1987: Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Week Seven | Week Eight | Week Nine | Week Ten | Week Eleven | Week Twelve | Week Thirteen |
Acknowledgments:
Embedded tweets come from various Twitter accounts dedicated to all things ’80s (not just 1987), including a special thanks OldSchool80s, LandofThe80s, and RetroNewsNow. All provide fantastic content. We follow all of them and recommend you do too!
Duck Newton
