Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 16

A new song went to Number One on November 3, 1984: ”Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)” by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean. The song was the lead single from Ocean’s fifth studio album, Suddenly, and it would stay at the top of the Billboard “Hot 100” for two weeks. The song won Ocean the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, making him the first British artist to win in that category.

What I didn’t know until I researched this post is that the song was originally released in the UK in May 1984 as "European Queen (No More Love on the Run)", but the song didn’t succeed. According to the Wikipedia article for the song (linked to above), people at the record company suggested it be re-recorded for different parts of the world, and there were also two other versions "African Queen" and the hit, "Caribbean Queen".

”Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)” was released in the USA in August 1984, and some ten weeks later it hit Number One. Ocean said about it:

The song was released in Europe as "European Queen" and nobody was interested in it. When we changed the name to "Caribbean Queen" and released it in the U.S., it took off and started snowballing and they started playing it in Europe. I guess it had more appeal as "Caribbean Queen" because Europe conjures up a vision of rain and snow and cold, but Caribbean sounds like sunshine and blue skies. It's much more exotic.

I probably saw the video at the time, though I apparently didn’t pay much attention to it, because when I watched it for this post I realised that I didn’t remember much about it. The song, however, I remember very well. It may have been Number One for only two weeks, but it was a popular song for much longer than that. I had the song on a Time-Life compilation disc for 1984, and I may actually have heard the song more when listening to that.

I was kind of indifferent to this song in 1984. I thought it was bouncy and catchy, but it just didn’t manage to catch me. I certainly didn’t DISlike it, it just wasn’t one of my favourites from that era. C’est la vie, and all that. Nigel liked Billy Ocean’s music generally much more than I did; our pop music tastes didn’t align all the time—just most of the time.

”Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)” reached Number 2 in Australia, 8 in Canada (Gold), Number One in New Zealand (Gold), 6 in the UK (Gold), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, “Hot Black Singles”, and “Hot Dance Club Play” charts, and was also Number 2 on Cash Box. It was certified Gold in the USA.

The album Suddenly reached Number 13 in Australia, 14 in Canada (3x Platinum), 35 in New Zealand, 9 in the UK (Gold), and Number 9 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” and 3 on the Billboard “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” charts. It was Certified 2x Platinum in the USA.

Back in two weeks with the next Number One song of 1984.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1984” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 1 – January 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 2 – February 4, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 3 – February 25, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 4 – March 31, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 5 – April 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 6 – May 12, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 7 – May 26, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 8 – June 9, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 9 – June 23, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 10 – July 7, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 11 – August 11, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 12 – September 1, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 13 – September 22, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 14 – September 29, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 15 – October 13, 2024