THIS WEEK IN 1988
1 Desire U2
2 He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother The Hollies
3 One Moment In Time Whitney Houston
4 Teardrops Womack and Womack
5 Groovy Kind Of Love Phil Collins
6 Nothing Can Divide Us Jason Donovan
7 She Wants To Dance With Me Rick Astley
8 Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix) Bill Withers
9 Domino Dancing Pet Shop Boys
10 Big Fun Inner City For all U2’s success through the eighties, culminating in the huge critical and commercial triumph of 1987’s ‘The Joshua Tree’ and songs such as ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, ‘With Or Without You’ and ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, the Irishmen did not score a UK number one single until 1988.
‘Desire’, the third track on U2’s sixth studio album ‘Rattle and Hum’, was released as the album’s lead single in September of 1988 and reached No 1 in number of countries, including the UK and Ireland, as well as number three in the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
U2 have cited the Stooges’ proto-punk classic ‘1969’ as a primary influence on ‘Desire’ and both Bono and the Edge have spoken about their liking for the blues/rock track.
In 1988 the Edge told Hot Press: ‘What I like about ‘Desire’ is that if there’s ever been a cool No 1 to have in the UK, that’s it because it’s totally not what people are listening to or what’s in the charts at the moment. Instead it’s going in exactly the opposite direction. It’s a rock and roll record - in no way is it a pop song.’
‘Desire’ gave U2 one of their 22 Grammys, winning the 1988 award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocal.
While our number one from over three decades ago was influenced by a track called ‘1969’, the number two was originally recorded in that year. ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ was a worldwide hit for The Hollies (with Elton John on piano) in 1969, and again in 1988 following its use in a TV advert for Miller Lite beer.