Well, well, well: Here we are with the final Number One hit on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” for 1985—and the first of 1986, but more about that later. While this is this series' final post about a specific 1985 song, next week will conclude the series with a wrap-up post.
40 years ago this week, on December 21, 1985, the new Number One hit on the Billboard “Hot 100” was "Say You, Say Me" (video up top), by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie , who wrote and performed the song. It was featured in the 1985 movie White Nights. Yes, it was yet another song from a movie, and yes, it’s the second song from that movie that reached Number One (the first was "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, which I talked about in Part 24 of this series back on November 30).
The song wasn’t included on the movie soundtrack album because Ritchie’s record label, Motown, wanted to save the song for his next album. Instead, the song was the lead single from the Ritchie’s third solo studio album Dancing on the Ceiling. However, the ties with the film weren’t totally severed: It won “Best Original Song” at the 58th Academy Awards ("Separate Lives" was also nominated).
The music video for “Say You, Say Me”, like that for "Separate Lives", used scenes from the movie, however, it wasn’t made as if it was part of the film’s story. I think that choice made Ritchie’s video the better of the two, though I didn’t really like either one. I’m picky, I know, and I also know that videos of songs used in movies also promoted the movie they were from. However, as I’ve said a few times, music videos were a unique art form, and I preferred ones that were more original. Yeah, well, Arthur’s Law and all that.
Actually, the same Law applies to the song itself. I never bought the song or album, nor any others, by Lionel Ritchie, however, years later Nigel bought digital versions of some of Ritchie’s music, and I still have those, of course. Which isn’t to suggest that I didn’t like the song—I was just more or less indifferent to it, though I liked it better than some of his other hits. There’s nothing even remotely unusual about that for me, of course..
"Say You, Say Me"reached Number 3 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Platinum), Number 8 in New Zealand, Number 8 in the UK (Silver), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, on their “Adult Contemporary” Chart and on their “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs” Chart. The song was also Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100 Singles” Chart. The song was certified Gold in the USA.
The Dancing on the Ceiling album reached Number 2 in Australia, Number 3 in Canada (3x Platinum), Number 3 in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 2 in the UK (2x Platinum), and Number 1 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” chart, and also Number 3 on their “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” Chart. The album was certified 4x Platinum in the USA.
The final post in this series will be next week, December 28, a kind of liner notes for this year’s series.
The first post in next year's series, talking about the Number One Songs of 1986, will be on January 18, 2026. “Say you, say me” was Number One for the first two weeks of 1986, too, partly because of a combined year-end issue of Billboard.
Until next week, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars. Or, something like that.
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
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 14 – August 3, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 15 – August 24, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 16 – September 7, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 17 – September 21, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 18 – October 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 19 – October 19, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 20 – October 26, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 21 – November 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 22 – November 9, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 23 – November 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 24 – November 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 25 – December 7, 2025
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