US /UK: The Charts in Sync

Need to check this with Whitburn and Guinness at home but I think you may be right here.

The correspondence between the UK and US singles charts in the mid-eighties in particular was extremely close such that in 1985 our charts were basically the Billboard charts a month out of date.

For a first hand account of why this situation arose, see Morley's closing remarks in Ask: The Chatter Of Pop, if you can find it.

Thanks Dingbod, I will check out the Morley book when I get the chance. I am somewhat disappointed that more people haven't had something to say about this. The fact that the Madonna and Los Lobos records were both from films that had transatlantic appeal was definitely a factor but probably not the only one.

Usually you would have expected a time lapse between the two countries, but I guess this pays tribute to the efficacy of the simultaneous global marketing phenomenon which was just about coming into the picture in the mid-eighties, i.e. two hit songs from major films followed by the first new song by the world's biggest pop star in nearly five years. As I recall there wasn't much in the way of domestic competition here at the time, Pet Shop Boys and New Order notwithstanding.

around that interesting period, the UK charts certainly reverted to type -- with No. 1s like Pump up the Volume and Star Trekkin which could never have been hits in the US.

'Pump up the Volume' was a massive hit in the US, #13 singles chart and #1 Dance, astonishing for a record featuring Colourbox and AR Kane. Probably would be even higher on the singles chart if it was purely sales based too.

really? I stand corrected.