I'm Relying On Your Common Decency

By Wm. on October 21, 2025

Time for the second quarter of my list of faves among 1985 Hot 100 hits. I acknowledge this is a creation springing from a couple nights' thought and that the rankings could easily be somewhat different tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. The point, as far as I'm concerned, is to take a couple of weeks to look back at some of the tunes and the times that goofy 21-year-old me lived through.

75. Don Henley, "Sunset Grill" (#22, October)
74. Cock Robin, "When Your Heart Is Weak" (#35, August)
73. Alphaville, "Forever Young" (#93, March)
72. Sting, "Love Is the Seventh Wave" (#17, December)
71. The Honeydrippers, "Rockin' at Midnight" (#25, February)

Cock Robin's one U.S. chart appearance would have been 40-50 spots higher back in the day; I still love the sound of it but have grown more and more turned off by its stalker-ish lyrics. Alphaville's main contribution to the culture keeps coming back and back, first as a re-release in 1988, when it got to #65, and then again just last year.

I've never owned a copy of The Dream of the Blue Turtles, though I can think of a close friend or two who were all about it when it came out. You're learning in this post that I like the hits from it plenty.

70. Kim Mitchell, "Go for Soda" (#86, May)
69. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Don't Come Around Here No More" (#13, May)
68. Howard Jones, "Life in One Day" (#19, September)
67. Sting, "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" (#3, August)
66. Debarge, "Rhythm of the Night" (#3, April)

Memorable videos rule this segment of the countdown. Petty's wild and weird visit to Alice in Wonderland takes me back to my folks' family room, where I spent too much of Spring Break '85 watching MTV. Godley & Creme had lots of fun at the editing table for both Sting (innovative and fun) and HoJo (utterly alienating--was there really a song being played in it?).

Despite "Rhythm of the Night" being a Diane Warren joint, I can't help but smile and boogie down just a little when Debarge's infectious--and biggest--hit comes on the radio.

65. Band Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas" (#13, January)
64. Heart, "What About Love" (#10, August)
63. The Hooters, "All You Zombies" (#58, June)
62. Air Supply, "Just As I Am" (#19, July)
61. Depeche Mode, "People Are People" (#13, August)

I was one of those folks who bought the Band Aid 45 at the end of '84. Six months later I also purchased Air Supply's last Top 40 hit, every bit as bombastic as "Making Love Out of Nothing At All," though mercifully without Jim Steinman's lyrical histrionics. On the album front, Heart found a place in my collection before the end of the year--I'd long had a fondness for much of the Wilson sisters' output and welcomed a return to commercial relevance.

Would that a much greater percentage of folks today buy what Martin Gore put out for sale all those years ago.

60. Mary Jane Girls, "In My House" (#7, June)
59. Sting, "Fortress Around Your Heart" (#8, October)
58. Madonna, "Material Girl" (#2, March)
57. Billy Joel, "Keeping the Faith" (#18, March)
56. Paul Young, "Everytime You Go Away" (#1, July)

I have warmed up considerably to "Fortress Around Your Heart" over the years, even if I still worry that Mr. Sumner stretches his metaphors a little too far. In other blogger-as-critic action, I've always thought Madonna sang "Material Girl" with a knowing wink; your mileage may vary. And who knew back in 1980, when Voices was first released, that Daryl Hall had written two #1 songs for it?

Rick James scores his second appearance as producer, this time with protégées the Mary Jane Girls. Much as I dig the groove of "In My House," I can't help but think that James didn't know how to write realistic songs from a woman's perspective.

55. Gino Vannelli, "Black Cars" (#42, June)
54. Alan Parsons Project, "Let's Talk About Me" (#56, March)
53. Duran Duran, "Save a Prayer" (#16, March)
52. Tommy Shaw, "Remo's Theme (What If)" (#81, October)
51. Murray Head, "One Night in Bangkok" (#3, May)

Lots of sub-Casey action here, all tunes who've appeared in this space before ("Black Cars" and "Let's Talk About Me" as Songs Casey Never Played, while "Remo's Theme" made its way to a mix tape I've revisited). Maybe the thing I like best about "Save a Prayer" is that Simon LeBon's vocals carry more than the occasional hint of how he approached things on the superior "Rio"?

My friend Suzanne grew up in the western part of KY and told me early that summer about a parody song she'd heard back home called "One Night in Boonville" (by Furry Head and the Favorites), which describes just how excruciatingly boring life is in a smallish town east of Evansville, IN. Presumably the brainchild of a DJ in Evansville or Owensboro, KY, it surely didn't have much geographical or temporal reach (though the title somehow stayed in my head for four decades). Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised--though, honestly, I am--to find it on YouTube. I finally, FINALLY heard it for the first time last night as I was writing this up.