This week in 1985, another new song, and another one from a movie soundtrack, hit Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. On July 13, 1985, “A View to a Kill” (video up top) by by the English pop rock band Duran Duran reached number one. The song, which was Number One for two weeks, was the theme song for the James Bond movie of the same name. The song was the only single from the soundtrack album, which, oddly enough, was also called A View to a Kill. Who’d have ever guessed that?
I’m joking, of course: All of them having the same name made marketing much easier—I guess? In 1985, I was mostly unaware of the single, music video, and movie. I’ve never been a fan of 007 movies, and while I’ve seen a couple, Roger Moore’s movies were not among them. Similarly, I was never a fan of Duran Duran, either. Having said all that, I certainly didn’t “hate” either the band or any of the 007 movies—I simply wasn’t into them. As is so often the case in pop culture matters,”Arthur’s Law” applies.
Because I wasn’t a fan of the band, I have no memory of seeing the music video until I went to get the video link for this post. So, um, yeah, it’s certainly a video. Seriously, I have two thoughts. First, I generally prefer music videos that use the artform and don’t just show the band performing the song or are just edited concert footage. In that sense, I give the video big points for being an actual music video. However—to be completely honest—I think the video was really lame, although, I have absolutely no idea what I would’ve thought if I’d seen in 40 years ago. And, anyway, in my long-held opinion, music videos are an artform separate from the song itself. It’s absolutely possible and logical for someone to like one but not the other (and I knew folks back in the day who said they hated all music videos, so there’s that, too).
When I talked about last week’s song, I said that “having mellowed with age and time, my reaction to the song is far less visceral, if still generally negative, though perhaps tinged with a kind of nostalgia that only time—decades?—can permit for something once disliked”. If I remembered this week’s song better, it’d probably be true for this song, too—I find it happens all the time. Things being as they are, the sound of the song is a source of nostalgia for me because it reminds me of pop music in the mid-1980s, and, for me, that’s actually a good thing.
“A View to a Kill” reached Number 6 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Gold), Number 13 in New Zealand, Number 2 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, and on the Cash Box “Top 100” Chart. The song didn’t receive Certification in the USA.
No chart information for the album A View to a Kill was included in the Wikipedia article linked to up top, but, then, it only had the one single from the album, so it probably didn’t sell well.
This series will return July 27 with the song that hit Number One that week in 1985.
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
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5 – April 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 6 – May 11, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 7 – May 18, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 8 – June 1, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 9 – June 8, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 10 – June 22, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 11 – July 6, 2025
1 comment:
1. I have never seen a Bond movie all the way through. 2. I judge Bond songs by theiir memorability, and I barely remember it, unlike Nobody Does It Better, Goldfinger, et al. 3. that said, I liked the video more than the song
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