A few years ago I was watching a BBC documentary of Synth Pop. They said the end of Synth Pop as we knew it in the early 80s came when the Pet Shop Boys came along with a different image.
They had a point, the Pet Shop Boys were the success story of 1987 whilst there were very few early 80s Synth Pop acts left. The Pet Shop Boys had two number ones this year with "It's a Sin" and the Christmas number one "Always On My Mind". They also had a number two with "What Have I Done To Deserve This" featuring Dusty Springfield returning to the Top 40 after a 17 year absence. Their other hit was "Rent" which reached number 8.
It was a solid year for Erasure who had three hits this year including two top tens. New Order scored just their second top ten hit with "True Faith" and had another hit at the end of the year with "Touched By the Hand of God". The only other survivor of the Synth Pop from the early 80s was Depeche Mode who's sound was getting darker as the decade progressed and they had a couple of hits lower down the charts this year.
Having seen House Music in the charts for the first time in 1986, the year began with the first House number one in "Jack Your Body" by Steve Silk Hurley. Also charting at the start of the year was Raze with "Jack the Groove".
However we wouldn't see another House record in the charts until September when we had the number on record "Pump Up the Volume" by Marrs, which would be the only House record of the year not to contain the word "house" or "jack". Also in September we had the hit "House Nation" by Housemaster Boyz & The Rude Boy Of The House. Chic returned for the first time in 8 years with a House version of "Le Freak" called "Jack Le Freak". Then in December we had "House Arrest" by Krush.
We saw the brief return of the medley courtesy of Nigel Wright of Enigma fame who released a couple of House inspired melodies under the name Mirage with "Jack Mix II / III" and "Jack Mix IV".
Having seen the last of Wham! and Culture Club in the 80s in 1986, this year saw the inevitable solo careers. Having already scored two solo number ones in his Wham! days, George Michael hit number one again with "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" alongside Aretha Franklin. This made him the third act to hit number one with their first three releases. He then scored a number three with "I Want Your Sex" and a number two with "Faith".
Boy George also got off to a good start with his solo career scoring a number one with his debut "Everything I Own". His following three singles however all failed to reach the top ten and that would be the last we'd see of him this decade.
It was the end of the road for Spandau Ballet with the single "How Many Lies" which reached number 34. They would have further single releases but none of them would reach the Top 40.
Wham! backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie started their post Wham! career with the number two hit "Heartache" which was from the Stock Aitken & Waterman camp. Their follow up "Goodbye Stranger", which wasn't Stock Aitken & Waterman, also reached the top ten, but that would be the last we'd see of them in the Top 40.
The group who gave Stock Aitken & Waterman their first number one, Dead Or Alive, had their final hit this year with "Something In My House". Their second number one came this year from Mel & Kim with "Respectable". Mel & Kim would have another top ten hit with "FLM".
The third Stock Aitken & Waterman number one knocked off their second. It was a collective of musicians calling themselves Ferry Aid and did a cover of "Let It Be".
Joining the Stock Aitken & Waterman camp this year was Samantha Fox with "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" and Sinitta with "Toy Boy" and "GTO". We also had Stock Aitken & Waterman have hits of their own with "Roadblock" and "Mr Sleaze" which was a double a side with "Love In the First Degree" by Bananarama.
The fourth Stock Aitken & Waterman number one came from debutant Rick Astley with "Never Gonna Give You Up". He followed it up with the number three "Whenever You Need Somebody" and the number two "When I Fall In Love" which prompted the rerelease of Nat 'King' Coles version that reached number four.
There was another record which entered the charts following a cover, although it didn't chart originally. This was "I Found Lovin" by the Fatback Band which was covered by radio DJ Steve Walsh. It was the original that fared better reaching number seven compared to the cover reaching number nine.
Cliff Richard had three hits this year bringing his total to 89 hits. David Bowie kept up his streak of hits every year since 1972 having three hits and bringing his total to 44 and remaining third.
Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Status Quo all had no hits this year and remained fourth, fifth and sixth with 37,35 and 34 respectively. Now in seventh with one hit this year is Paul McCartney with 33.
Then in eighth was Frank Sinatra with 32, and ninth with 30 was Lonnie Donegan, Queen and Rod Stewart with none of these acts charting this year.
The only Motown act to have new Top 40 hits this year was actor Bruce Willis. He had his only two hits with "Respect Yourself" and "Under the Boardwalk".
There was no shortage of Funk and Soul music in the charts though. We saw some examples of New Jack Swing make its way into the charts with "Lean On Me" by Club Nouveau and "Casanova" by Levert.
From the Freestyle scene we had the second hit from Joyce Sims with "Lifetime Love". We also had former Shalamar singer Jody Watley score her debut solo hit with "Looking For A New Love". Jellybean made is debut with "The Real Thing" and followed up with "Who Found Who" and "Jingo".
Jumping on the Sophisti-pop bandwagon this year was ABC with the hits "When Smokey Sings" and "The Night You Murdered Love". We had debuts from the Christians with "Forgotten Town", Living In A Box with "Living In A Box", Johnny Hates Jazz with "Shattered Dreams", Wet Wet Wet with "Wishing I Was Lucky", Hue & Cry with "Labour Of Love" and Climie Fisher with "Rise To The Occasion".
Whitesnake returned to the Top 40 this year with "Still of the Night" and followed up with their only top ten hits to date, "Is This Love" and the 1987 remake of "Here I Go Again". We had the debut of Heart with "Alone" and Def Leppard with "Animal", both quite surprisingly late debuts for bands which formed in the 70s.
For the first time this decade there was no Iron Maiden in the charts. But keeping Heavy Metal music in the charts was WASP who debuted with "I Don't Need No Doctor" and followed up with "Scream Until You Like It".
The gothic sound was kept going by Siouxsie & the Banshees, who had now had a hit every year for 10 years, the Mission, the Cult and the Damned who would have their final year in the Top 40 this year. Joining them was Sisters Of Mercy who's debut hit was "This Corrosion".
Bon Jovi and Europe kept the glam sound going and were joined by Kiss who returned to the charts after a four year break with "Crazy Crazy Nights". We also had the debut of the Motley Crue with "Girls Girls Girls".
There was a new sound making its way into the charts from the world of metal though, Thrash Metal. Anthrax were the first Thrash act to have a hit with "I Am The Law", then came Metallica with "The $5.98 EP - Garage Days Re-visited". Anthrax then followed up with "I'm The Man" which mixed metal music with rap.
It was the strongest year to date for Rap/Hip Hop music. Having debuted the previous year, we had follow ups from Mantronix with "Who Is It" and Run DMC with "It's Tricky". Debuting this year was the Beastie Boys with "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" and followed up with "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", "She's On It" and "Girls / She's Crafty".
LL Cool J made his debut with "I Need Love", Eric B & Rakim made their debut with "Paid In Full" and Public Enemy made their debut with "Rebel Without A Pause".
Collaborating with the Beach Boys was the Fat Boys with a rap version of "Wipeout". Finally we had Morris Minor & The Majors with "Stutter Rap (No Sleep 'Til Bedtime)" which was a comedy version of the Beastie Boys "No Sleep Till Brooklyn".
Having been the second act from New Zealand to have a UK hit in 1980 with Split Enz, Neil Finn would also become part of the third act this year as part of Crowded House with their debut hit "Don't Dream It's Over". There was a new nationality on the charts too, Judy Boucher became the first act from St Vincent to have a hit with "Can't Be With You Tonight" and followed up with "You Caught My Eye" which were her only two hits.
So that was 1987, which is also the first year I remember following the charts. What I didn't know at the time was the number of acts who were new to the charts, I assumed many of them had been around for a while. It does certainly seem that the two halves of the 80s are 80-86 and 87-89. The only acts to have had a hit every year so far this decade are David Bowie, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Cliff Richard, Shakin Stevens and UB40. Will they all manage hits in 1988?
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