This week in 1986
1 The Lady In Red Chris de Burgh
2 So Macho/Cruising Sinitta
3 Papa Don’t Preach Madonna
4 Camouflage Stan Ridgway
5 I Want To Wake Up With You Boris Gardiner
6 Let’s Go All The Way Sly Fox
7 Find The Time Five Star
8 What’s The Colour Of Money Hollywood Beyond
9 Every Beat Of My Heart Rod Stewart
10 I Didn’t Mean To Turn On You Robert Palmer
Until ‘The Lady In Red’, Chris de Burgh had had his closest brush with the UK charts in 1983 when ‘High On Emotion’ reached number 44. Away from the UK however, he had enjoyed considerable success through the 70s and early 80s –for instance, his debut album ‘Far Beyond These Castle Walls’ was a number one seller in Brazil, and the single ‘Flying’ (or ‘Turning Around’ in Ireland and the UK) also hit the top of the Brazilian charts, staying there for 17 consecutive weeks. ‘The Lady In Red’ , inspired by the memory of when de Burgh first saw his wife Diane, made the singer a household name in countries where he had not previously scored hits. His biggest-selling single, it reached No. 1 in many countries and went to number three in the US. In 1988 he had a No 3 UK hit with ‘Missing You’ but has not revisited the UK top 20 since then. But, with sales of 45 million albums worldwide, it’s probably safe to say the Wicklow resident loses little sleep over his lack of UK hit singles.