This week’s song was the last Number One song of October 1986—and the first on November 1986. On October 25, 1986, the new Number One song on the Billboard “Hot 100” was “True Colors” (video up top) by American singer Cyndi Lauper. The song was the first single from Lauper's second studio album, also called True Colors.
Unusually, it seems, this is a song I actually liked back in the day, however (and a “but” was probably predictable…), I did start to get sick it of some time later when it was used in a commercial for camera film. The fact that I remember that underscores how much that TV ad started to annoy me.
None of that is actually about the song, of course. It was written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, but they credit Lauper for the arrangement of the song. The video for the song was in heavy rotation on MTV at the time, and that means I’d have seen it a lot. Watching at again now, it seems a little odd—I have no idea if I thought that back then.
The song went on to become particularly popular in the LGBTQ+ communities, and Lauper herself said the song initially resonated with her because when she was first offered it, she’d recently lost a friend to HIV/AIDS. She later created the True Colors United to end LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.
I never bought the album, which isn’t unusual for me, of course, thought I’d bought her debut album, She's So Unusual on vinyl, and I practically wore it out. Well, kinda nearly. That record never made it to New Zealand, and we never bought any of her albums on CD, but three different compilation CDs had one of her songs, of which was a different track from this album. So, there’s that, I suppose.
The song “True Colors” reached Number 3 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Gold), 8 in New Zealand (Platinum), 12 in the UK (Gold), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and also Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. It was certified Platinum in the USA.
The album True Colors reached Number One in Australia (Gold), 8 in Canada (2x Platinum), 3 in New Zealand (Platinum), 25 in the UK (Silver), and 4 on the USA’s ”Billboard 200”, as wells as 5 on the Cash Box “Top 200” album chart. It was certified 2x Platinum in the USA.
This series will return in two weeks, on November 8.
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
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 17 – August 2, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 18 – August 16, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 19 – August 30, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 20 – September 6, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 21 – September 13, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 22 – September 20, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 23 – October 11, 2026
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