4 Smash Hits From 1985 That Deserved No. 1 but Settled for No. 2

No artist ever sets out with the explicit goal to reach No. 2 on the pop charts. (At least no artist that we know.) Musicians have been aiming for that No. 1 spot ever since someone started ranking these songs by popularity.

These four songs from 1985 don’t have to apologize for only making it to No. 2. They’re still No. 1 in our hearts whenever we play them.

“Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins

Phil Collins, ubiquitous as he was an artist himself in the 80s, also started to take production gigs as well. Philip Bailey was looking for a solo smash to go along with the many hits he sang as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. At the end of the creation of Bailey’s Chinese Wall album, released at the end of 1984, the two men worried that they didn’t quite hear a hit. Working with guitarist Nathan East, they concocted “Easy Lover” pretty much on the spot one night. Collins duetted on the track with Bailey, a move that helped it grab the attention of MTV. Alas, the song couldn’t get past the juggernaut of Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is” to reach the top spot in 1985.

“Raspberry Beret” by Prince And The Revolution

Like all the best musical iconoclasts, Prince never gave us what we were expecting from him too many times in a row. Coming off the monumental success of Purple Rain, most listeners wouldn’t have complained if he did more of the same the next time out. Instead, he went into psychedelic pop mode for Around The World In A Day. The album confounded many critics at the time. But nobody could resist “Raspberry Beret” as the lead single. Even with all the song’s day-glo trappings, Prince still adorned it with a funky groove very much in keeping with his previous work. The song worked its way to No. 2 before being prevented from the pinnacle by Duran Duran’s Bond theme “A View To A Kill”.

“Material Girl” by Madonna

It’s a testament to Madonna’s interpretive skills and control of her musical identity that, in the early stages of her career anyway, she often put out songs she didn’t write that seemed to directly comment on her life and career. “Material Girl” followed up on her No. 1 mega-single “Like A Virgin”. It winked at the public perception of her and took control of the narrative. It didn’t matter a whit that the song was actually penned by writers-for-hire Peter Brown and Richard Rans. Madonna might have added to her burgeoning list of chart-toppers with the song. But it ran into the power ballad duo of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” and Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds”.

“You Belong To The City” by Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey knew the agony of just missing the top of the charts twice in 1985. First, the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack hit “The Heat Is On” stalled at No. 2. “You Belong To The City” suffered the same fate later in the year. We think it’s the better of the two Frey songs, which is why we chose it for this list. Written with Frey’s longtime musical collaborator Jack Tempchin, it was made to order for the second season debut of Miami Vice. Frey had already been featured on the show as an actor in a first-season episode built around his track “Smuggler’s Blues”. “You Belong To The City” cops a New York vibe in keeping with where the plot of the show had traveled at that time.

(Photo by Ross Marino/Icon and Image/Getty Images)

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