8 of the 80s: 6/26/14 (1988)

We move ahead a decade on Throwback Thursday to 1988, the year that Wembley Stadium in London held a concert to celebrate the 70th birthday of then-imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela..

The Communards - "Never Can Say Goodbye"
from the album Red (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #51
Songwriter: Clifton Davis

I played this album from Jimmy Sommerville's post-Bronski Beat act incessantly, and this cover of the disco classic from Thelma Houston would always send me into a fevered dancing spree.

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Blue Zone UK - "Jackie"
from the album Big Thing (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #54
Songwriters: Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg

This blue-eyed soul group from the Manchester suburbs would last one album before lead singer Lisa Stansfield would come back as a solo act, with members Andy Morris and future husband Ian Devaney as her production/writing crew.

Eurythmics - "You Have Placed A Chill On My Heart"
from the album Savage (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #64
Songwriters: Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart

Criminally underrated, Savage has always been my favorite Eurythmics album, with gems like this instilling me with a days worth of emotion with both jubilation and despair mixed up like swirled soft-serve ice cream.

The Cure - "Hot Hot Hot!!!"
from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #65
Songwriters: Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Lawrence Tolhurst, Boris Williams

The modern rock emo kings go funky in this single from their double-album.

The Alarm - "Rain In The Summertime"
from the album Eye Of The Hurricane (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #71
Songwriters: Eddie MacDonald, Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Nigel Twist

The Welsh rockers used to be called the Toilets; thankfully they opted to change it.

The Cars - "Coming Up You"
from the album Door To Door (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #74
Songwriter: Ric Ocasek

It's fitting that the Boston new wave group's (so-far) last hit on the Hot 100 was sung by the late Benjamin Orr, who led their biggest hit "Drive".

Wa Wa Nee - "Stimulation"
from the album Wa Wa Nee (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #86
Songwriter: Paul Gray

The Aussie funk-pop band nicked the chart with this single that was their biggest hit in their home country, peaking at #2.

Gene Loves Jezebel - "The Motion Of Love"
from the album The House Of Dolls (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #87
Songwriters: Jay Aston, Michael Aston, Peter Rizzo, James Stevenson

The British band that was half Cure and half Simple Minds had their first hit in America with this charmer that probably would've been top-20 in the early 90s.