The year 1985 was an epic one for music. It saw collaborations from all types of stars to benefit a bigger cause (“We Are The World”), and it also saw the rise of VH-1. Here are a few songs from 1985 that still make pop music look good today.
“Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears
“Head Over Heels” appears on Songs from the Big Chair, alongside other popular songs like “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”. This song is pretty much about falling for someone and realizing that it’s too late to do anything about it.
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Something happens and I’m head over heels
I never find out until I’m head over heels
Something happens and I’m head over heels
Ah, don’t take my heart, don’t break my heart
Don’t, don’t, don’t throw it away.
“Crazy For You” by Madonna
“Crazy For You” was Madonna’s second No. 1 hit, after “Like A Virgin,” and it also earned her her first Grammy nomination. This song was used in the film Vision Quest and was also a ballad, which was pretty different than what Madonna had done up to that point.
“I was tense because I had never done a record like this,” her producer, John “Jellybean” Benitez told Billboard, per Songfacts. “Everything I did was totally on instinct. I tried to make the song stand on its own, but at the same time work in the two scenes (in which) it was used in the movie.”
Recording a ballad was also a first for Benitez, who had mostly recorded upbeat pop music before this.
“What About Love?” by Heart
The band Toronto originally recorded this song in 1982. In 1985, Heart used it as their “comeback single,” and they reached the Top 10 on Billboard. Brian Allen and Sheron Alton of Toronto wrote it, along with Jim Vallance, who co-wrote many of Bryan Adams’ hits. In “What About Love?” the singer asks why the person she’s singing to wouldn’t want love in their life. After all, she wants them and them only.
I can’t tell you what you’re feeling inside
And I can’t sell you what you don’t want to buy
Something’s missing, you gotta look back on your life
You know something here just ain’t right.
Photo by: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
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