It’s a new month, and time for the song that reached Number One on the Billboard “Hot 100” on August 2, 1986: “Glory of Love” (video up top) by American musician Peter Cetera. It was Cetera’s first song after he left American “rock band with horns” Chicago, and it would be Number One for two weeks—the first song that wasn’t a one-week hit since the end of June. The song was the lead single from Cetera’s second solo studio album, Solitude/Solitaire. The was also on the soundtrack album for the film The Karate Kid Part II.
I liked this song well enough at the time, though the music video did nothing for me, in part because it included a lot (in my opinion) of scenes from The Karate Kid Part II, a movie I never saw, nor wanted to (or any other version, for that matter). I had nothing against the movie—it just wasn’t my sort of film. By the time this song came out, I’d been very familiar with Cetera for many years because of his work with Chicago. In fact, one of the first albums I ever bought was the band’s 1972 album, Chicago V. After that, Cetera continued to be part of Chicago up until Chicago 17, the final album he recorded with the band, a recod that is still the band’s best-selling album.
Having said all that, and even though I heard Chicago’s various singles on the radio (I’m an Illinois native who lived in the City of Chicago for a dozen years, after all…), I was probably more aware of Cetera as a solo artist, beginning with this week’s song. Unlike with Phil Collins, I never confused Cetera’s solo work with his work with Chicago, and while I don’t know for sure why that is, it’s probably because his Solitude/Solitaire album was released a bit more than two years after Chicago 17 was released. That’s unlike Phil Collins who had solo albums out contemporaneously with Genesis albums.
“Glory of Love” reached Number 9 in Australia, Number One in Canada, 25 in New Zealand, 3 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and “US Adult Contemporary” charts. I didn’t receive a certification in the USA.
The album Solitude/Solitaire reached Number 75 in Australia, 20 in Canada, 56 in the UK, and Number 23 on the USA’s ”Billboard 200”. The album was certified Platinum in the USA.
The The Karate Kid Part II soundtrack album reached Number 96 in Australia, 86 in Canada, and 30 on the USA’s ”Billboard 200”. The album didn’t chart in New Zealand or the UK, and wasn’t certified in any of the five countries I include in these posts.
This series will return in two weeks, on August 16, and it’s another two-week Number One. August will definitely be less work for me.
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
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 13 – July 5, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 14 – July 12, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 15 – July 19, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 16 – July 26, 2026
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