A new month and a new song reached Number One on the Billboard “Hot 100” forty years ago today. Today’s song was the first of four one-week Number One songs in July 1985—a new Number One every week that month. On July 5, 1986 “There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” (video up top) by Trinidadian-British singer and songwriter Billy Ocean (the stage name of Leslie Sebastian Charles) reached Number One. Released on January 22, 1986, the song was the second of four singles from Ocean’s sixth studio album, Love Zone, which was released on May 6, 1986. It was written and produced by Wayne Brathwaite and Barry Eastmond, with Ocean also reciveing a co-writing credit. The song was also reportedly the 600 th song to reach Number One on the Billboard chart.
I liked “There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)”, but in researching this post I realised that I had a variety of reactions to his songs. The first of his songs that I was aware of was 1976’s "Love Really Hurts Without You”, a song that I liked because it had a classic-era Motown vibe to it. I don’t recall being aware of another of his songs until 1984’s "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)", a song I didn’t particularly like, though I also didn’t hate it. The following year, "Suddenly" was a hit, and I liked it. However, in 1986, the first single from Ocean’s album Love Zone was "When the Going Gets Tough,
the Tough Get Going", and I absolutely loathed that song, and I still don’t like it, even if my negative reaction has mellowed with time.
The thing is, my dislike of both "Caribbean Queen” and "When the Going Gets Tough” was at the front of my mind when I saw what this week’s Number One was. Even so, that was a memory of disliking two earlier songs, and I was aware that I liked this week’s song. I looked at his singles discography and saw that up to and including this week’s Number One, there were songs that I both liked and didn’t like, and that’s something that has happened often over the years: The fact I dislike one song by an artist doesn’t (usually) prevent me from liking a different song by that artist, or vice versa. I presume that’s true for most people, but this is the first time I ever noticed that pattern in my own pop music journey. Learning or understanding new things is one of my favourite things about these “Weekend Diversion” posts.
“There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” reached Number 10 in Australia, Number One in Canada, 8 in New Zealand, 12 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”, “US Adult Contemporary”, and “US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs” charts. It also reached Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart and Number 3 on their “US Black Contemporary Singles” chart. No information on certification for the single was included in the Wikipedia article liked above.
The album Love Zone reached Number 8 in Australia, 3 in Canada, 8 in New Zealand, and 2 in the UK (Gold), as well as reaching Number 6 on the USA’s ”Billboard 200” and Number One on their “US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” charts. Love Zone was certified 2x Platinum in the USA.
This series will return in next week, on July 12, with a new Number One song from July 1986. It’s a similar story for each of the following two weeks, but not for August.
Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6 – March 29, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 7 – April 19, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 8 – May 3, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 9 – May 10, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 10 – May 17, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 11 – June 7, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 12 – June 14, 2026
