8 of the 80s: 5/23/13 (1986)...

Hey gang, I'm ready to take another trip back to the 80s, and this week it's back to 1986, the year Hands Across America, which was one of the big charity events of the 80s, attempted to string people from coast to coast (I do remember seeing Dionne Warwick on our leg)...

Queen - "One Vision"
from the album A Kind Of Magic (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #61
Songwriters: John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor

Fresh from their iconic set at Live Aid, Freddie and the boys concocted this anthem that should've been huge here in the States. I used to yell "Fried Chicken" in the car with them.

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Alisha - "Baby Talk"
from the album Alisha (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #68
Songwriter: Greg Brown

I got to say I was obsessed with the debut album of this Brooklynite dance-pop singer on normally astute Vanguard records, home to Joan Baez.

Rene & Angela - "You Don't Have To Cry"
from the album Street Called Desire (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #75
Songwriters: Rene Moore, Angela Winbush

The fourth top-5 R&B hit from the duo's last album rogether was a smooth jam that still sounds fresh today.

Fine Young Cannibals - "Johnny Come Home"
from the album Fine Young Cannibals (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #76
Songwriters: Roland Gift, David Steele

Before the trio hit it huge in the States later in the decade, they conquered their native England with this, my favorite of theirs for its urgency and soul.

The Alan Parsons Project - "Stereotomy"
from the album Stereotomy (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #82
Songwriters: Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson

This harder edged track named for a term in an Edgar Allan Poe piece (a fave of theirs) would be their last pop hit.

Laura Branigan - "I Found Someone"
from the album Hold Me (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #90
Songwriters: Michael Bolton, Mark Mangold

Two years prior to Cher taking the song top-10, the most powerful voice in 80s pop had a minor hit from her underrated 1985 set.

Talking Heads - "Once In A Lifetime (live)"
from the album Stop Making Sense (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #91
Songwriters: David Byrne, Brian Eno, David Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth

The art-rock legends' 1981 classic got new life after their live documentary Stop Making Sense became a cult fave...

Ray Parker Jr. & Helen Terry - "One Sunny Day/Dueling Bikes (from Quicksilver)"
from the album Quicksilver (Original Soundtrack) (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #96
Songwriters: Dean Pitchford, Bill Wolfer

This "urban bike messenger" movie had all its pieces in a row, with Kevin Bacon and Lawrence Fishburne acting, the score done by Genesis' Tony Banks, the theme by Giorgio Moroder, and tracks by Roger Daltrey and Peter Frampton. But the film fizzled just like this single from the soundtrack, with an undescribably weird pairing of the post-disco soul singer with stout brash backup singer for Culture Club.

That'll be a wrap for tonight...I'll return tomorrow with another Song of the Day and my top 100 tunes of the week. Have a great night!