On January 30th, exactly 30 years ago, the King of Pop had his smash hit, "The Way You Make Me Feel" dethroned by a six-man band from Sydney, Australia with a song that can best be described as sounding like a song by his late arch-rival, Prince. The song, "Need You Tonight" spent only one week at the top. It would be the only number one for the group, but the hit-streak would continue for the band as their seminal album, "Kick" would also yield three more big hits: "Devil Inside" (No. 2), "New Sensation" (No. 4), and "Never Tear Us Apart" (No. 7). The band's original lineup consisted of founders Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss who were brothers, along with Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly and of course, Jim Morrison-esque lead singer, Michael Hutchence, who nails the vocals on the track in what almost feels like one take. Again, as to whether they were intentionally channelling the late Minneapolis musical wunderkind; no one will ever know for sure.
Sadly, Michael Hutchence, despite his massive success with the group, would die in 1997 under bizarre circumstances. It was believed he commited suicide accidentally due to autoerotic asphyxiation. The band went through several lineup changes before officially disbanding in 2012.
Rounding out the Billboard Top Five: January 30, 1988:
2. California teen mall princess Tiffany (Darwish) edges closer to her second, and last number one hit, "Could've Been." Her last official chart hit was "All This Time" which peaked at number six in 1989.
3. L.A. band Bangles held the number three spot with their Simon & Garfunkel cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter" which, back in 1966, was titled, "A Hazy Shade of Winter". It was the all-female band's fifth single overall. They had two number ones in the 80's with "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Eternal Flame" and are still in the record books as the only female band (not the Go-Go's) to accomplish such a feat. From the soundtrack to the 1987 movie, "Less Than Zero".
4. The King of Pop took a tumble to number four after a one-week chart reign with "The Way You Make Me Feel", off the seminal album, "Bad". The gospel-tinged, "Man In The Mirror" would be the next smash out of the album and no guess needed as to which position it was headed for.
5. The Miami, FL, girl group, Expose, who up to that point, were known for bouncy freestyle dance hits, were about to get a big smash hit with their ballad hit, "Seasons Change", making the freestyle dance trio, the next girl group since Bananarama to score a number one. The UK female trio did it with their cover of the Shocking Blue's 1970 psychedelia-pop hit, "Venus" in 1986.
Did INXS stay on top? Or did the pop teen hitster make her way to the throne? Stay tuned!
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