NOW Music is proud to present NOW That’s What I Call USA: The 80s – 3LPs packed with 44 massive U.S. hits – Whilst some were big hits on both sides of the Atlantic, we shine a spotlight on huge hits from America at the time, that have gone on to be as legendary in the UK as they were in the US.
Kicking off LP 1 with his first US Top 10 single is Bruce Springsteen with ‘Hungry Heart’, followed by John Mellencamp with ‘Jack & Diane’, a Top 30 UK single, which reached #1 in America in 1982, whilst in 1983 The Police enjoyed a transatlantic chart-topper with ‘Every Breath You Take’. Featuring R&B/Soul from international favourites Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, and dancefloor classics from Lipps Inc., Company B and The S.O.S. Band lead to the classic soundtrack smash from Ray Parker Jr. ‘Ghostbusters’.
Duran Duran’s epic floor-filler ‘The Reflex’ reached #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and Nena – whilst having a UK #1 with ’99 Red Balloons’ – reached #2 in the US with the German language version ‘99 Luftballons’, which is here on LP 2. Kenny Loggins features with his US #2 ‘Danger Zone’, and Foreigner’s huge ballad ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’ reached Top 10 in both the UK and the US.
Blondie’s ‘American Gigolo’ theme ‘Call Me’ which reached #1 in both territories opens LP 3, plus Belinda Carlisle’s solo debut, alongside US single ‘Show Me’ from The Pretenders. The massive transatlantic hit ‘Say Say Say’ from Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson, reaching #1 and #2 in the US and UK is followed by Pure Pop from Olivia Newton-John with her 10-weeks at US #1 ‘Physical’. In 1984, Tina Turner saw the career-defining ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ hit the Top 3 in the UK and become her first #1 in the US, and in 1985 Whitney Houston’s debut single ‘You Give Good Love’ hit the US Top 3. Drawing the collection to a close is the aptly titled ‘America’, which gave Neil Diamond his third Top 10 single in the US from the soundtrack of his film ‘The Jazz Singer’.
NOW That’s What I Call USA: The 80s – Celebrating huge hits from the charts of eighties America!