Pity it never climbed four places to a peak of #5....you'd have had the DJ saying "and up from 9 to 5 is Dolly Parton with 9 to 5".
UK Top 200 Best Selling Female Solo Hits Of The 80s
- Thread starter gezza76
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I find it fascinating that a song as universally loved as 9-5 firstly didn’t smash on its original release and secondly then managed to become so well loved over the years. I mean who doesn’t know and love 9-5? To completely miss the top 40 and then go on to sell over a million copies is quite remarkable.
Back then I was team Cyndi and thought she would continue to have a massive career over the following decades, whereas Madonna was a flash in the pan who would not have another hit by the late 80s. Glad I don’t work for a record label!
I hated the Hey Now version as it sucked the life out of the song. I might revisit it now though
I hated the Hey Now version as it sucked the life out of the song. I might revisit it now though
You have to think of it as a different song.
Indeed, quite an achievement and then some.
04. TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART- Bonnie Tyler (#1, 1983, 1,405,000)
80s position: 7
The very definition of an 80s power ballad surely? Jim Steinman naturally wrote it offering to Meat Loaf for him to record but after hearing the song Meat’s record label refused to pay for it so Steinman took it back and offered it to Tyler who had no hesitation. She knew a good thing when she saw it, filming the video in an actual sanatorium, the track went to No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and made a superstar, very briefly, out of the Welsh singer. Incidentally that raspy voice you hear was actually the result of an operation to remove nodules in the mid 70s which changed her voice forever! It’s doubled its 80s sales in the modern era probably because we love its 80s pomp!
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80s position: 7
The very definition of an 80s power ballad surely? Jim Steinman naturally wrote it offering to Meat Loaf for him to record but after hearing the song Meat’s record label refused to pay for it so Steinman took it back and offered it to Tyler who had no hesitation. She knew a good thing when she saw it, filming the video in an actual sanatorium, the track went to No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and made a superstar, very briefly, out of the Welsh singer. Incidentally that raspy voice you hear was actually the result of an operation to remove nodules in the mid 70s which changed her voice forever! It’s doubled its 80s sales in the modern era probably because we love its 80s pomp!
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Total Eclipse of the Heart is the ultimate power ballad. I'm surprised Bonnie hasn't overtaken Jennifer Rush in the streaming age, you hear it far more than you hear The Power of Love. I'm pretty sure I know what the new #1 is...
03. THE POWER OF LOVE-Jennifer Rush (#1, 1985, 1,572,000)
80s position: 1
In early 1985 this song made the top 20 in Germany and generated enough interest to warrant a UK release. Sadly it was premature with the song floating about the charts but never cracking the top 75, oddly it was championed in the Merseyside area where daily airplay led to consistent sales, and as other DJ’s picked up on it the record began to rise and lo and behold it rocketed to No 1 for five weeks becoming the only track by a female artist to a sell a million within the decade, and setting a new record for weeks taken to hit the top at 16 weeks (later repeated by Celine Dion who also covered this song as her first top 10 hit in the UK). It was also the first single by a female to sell a million in this country so get the hairbrush out – it loses pole position here though despite sales of over 1.5 million.
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80s position: 1
In early 1985 this song made the top 20 in Germany and generated enough interest to warrant a UK release. Sadly it was premature with the song floating about the charts but never cracking the top 75, oddly it was championed in the Merseyside area where daily airplay led to consistent sales, and as other DJ’s picked up on it the record began to rise and lo and behold it rocketed to No 1 for five weeks becoming the only track by a female artist to a sell a million within the decade, and setting a new record for weeks taken to hit the top at 16 weeks (later repeated by Celine Dion who also covered this song as her first top 10 hit in the UK). It was also the first single by a female to sell a million in this country so get the hairbrush out – it loses pole position here though despite sales of over 1.5 million.
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I sense a Whitney win....
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) would be a very worthy winner. It is the 80s.
The very best 80s anthem of all time and then some!
I can confirm the power of love was HAMMERED on the radio in Liverpool before it became a hit.
Weird how Epic (Meatloaf's label) rejected Total Eclipse but CBS (Bonnie's label) green-lighted it! Same group of companies.
So happy that 'Total Eclipse' has doubled its sales. Such a deserving million seller. I'm sure it got a good amount of sales after being featured on Drag Race UK Season 3 the other week. I'm hoping that one day Bonnie will eclipse Jennifer.
I can't for the life of me think what song is at #2.
I can't for the life of me think what song is at #2.
My mind's gone blank too...
Don't want to ruin the surprise but I've worked out it must be from a big movie soundtrack.
I was thinking the same but I thought both of her songs had already appeared in the countdown?
At the rate it's going it will have in a few years.