Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 14

On August 3 1985, “Shout” (video up top) by English pop rock band Tears For Fears reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. It was the second single from their second studio album, Songs from the Big Chair. While the song was their second Number One on the “Hot 100”, it was released before their first Number One hit, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, which was the subject of Part 9 of this series.

I liked this song every bit as much as their earlier songs, and some of their other songs, too—including another 1985 song that didn’t reach Number One—maybe I should do a “best of the rest” sort of post? Dunno—there were quite a lot of Number One songs in 1985.

One of the reasons I liked this song is that, for me, it rekindled a memory by somehow evoking a recollection of a 1981 dance song by Canadian duo Voggue. The song was called “Dancin' the Night Away” [LISTEN on YouTube]. The two aren’t remotely similar, but it was something about the percussive start of “Shout” that for some reason stirred my memory of the Voggie song, or maybe that they both later had percussion bits, but whatever it was, it was a welcome association: “Dancin' the Night Away” was the one of the first songs I ever danced to with my first-ever boyfriend in the first gay bar I’d ever been to. For me, anything that rekindles such a memory, however tenuous the prompt may be, is welcome. And that right there is precisely why pop music has always been such a powerful force in my life: Music really is the “soundtrack of our lives,” as Dick Clark is said to have put it. Also, I still have the 12-inch single, 44 years after I bought it.

“Shout” was, as Roland Orzabal later described it, "a simple song about protest", and that, too, is another reason I liked the song: I have a long history of gravitating to songs about protest and defiance of authority. What I didn’t know until I researched this post was that the exterior scenes in the music video were filmed in Dorset on the south coast of England—I do remember wondering where it was, a detail I’d forgotten.

“Shout” reached Number One in Australia, Canada (Platinum), and New Zealand (Gold), Number 4 in the UK (Gold), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and on their “Hot Dance Club Play” charts. It was also Number One on the Cash Box. The song The song was certified Gold in the USA.

The album Songs from the Big Chair reached Number 5 in Australia, Number One in Canada (7x Platinum), Number 2 in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 2 in the UK (3x Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard 200”. It was Certified 5x Platinum in the USA.

This series will return in three weeks, on August 24, with the Number One song for 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
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 12 – July 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 13 – July 27, 2025