Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4­

Yet another new pop song reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” on March 30, 1985: “One More Night” (video up top) by English singer, drummer, songwriter (etc.) Phil Collins. It was the first US single (and second UK single) from Collins' third studio album No Jacket Required. It was his second Number One song the first was “Against All Odds”, which was the subject of Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 5 on April 21 of last year).

Something I didn’t say about Collins last year was that I first became familiar with him when he was lead singer for English rock band Genesis. specifically their 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three.... I had that album and aslo it’s follow-up album, 1980’s Duke. As far as I can remember, I never bought another Genesis album, nor any Phil Collins album. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I actively disliked any of the music from either in those eras, thought I also didn’t necessarily like it all, either. The early-to-mid 1980s was one of the periods in which my musical tastes were changing the most, as I’ve mentioned before, and that meant that I didn’t always like bands or artists I once did. That’s just part of life, I think.

All that said, I actually kind of liked this song: It had a pleasant sound, and sometimes that’s enough. While it wasn’t a favourite song, I thought it was okay. Sometimes that’s enough for me, too.

“One More Night” reached Number 2 in Australia, Number One in Canada, Number 5 in New Zealand (Gold), Number 4 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and their “Adult Contemporary” charts. It was also Number 4 on the Billboard “Mainstream Rock” chart. The song was certified Gold in the USA.

The album No Jacket Required reached Number One in Australia (Platinum), Canada (Diamond), New Zealand (Platinum), the UK (6x Platinum) as well as Number One on the Billboard 200” (12x Platinum).

This series will return April 13 with the next Number One from 1985.

Footnote: Back on schedule! But I still wrote this on Sunday, the day I published it, and did so only after I fixed the messed up links in Part 3. The journey continues.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025