Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

A big album from 1985 turned 40 years old last month. Songs From The Big Chair, the second studio album by British band Tears For Fears, was released in February 1985. It proved to be their breakthrough with two #1 hits: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” for two weeks in June and “Shout” for three weeks in August, the same month the album took over the top spot of the Billboard 200 for five consecutive weeks.

It helped earn the band-formed in Bath, United Kingdom in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith-and their “synth-pop” sound a place as one of the most successful of the decade. My favorite track from the album was released in June 1985. The video was in very heavy rotation at that time and it is still quite popular, garnering 124 million views on YouTube to date. Orzabal’s evocative vocal and his manner of phrasing the song’s thought-provoking lyrics helped the song peak at #3 in the U.S. in November 1985.

Top: Roland Orzabal (L) and Curt Smith (R) on the cover of their 1985 album. Bottom: The duo circa 2024. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

If the milestone anniversary of that album does not make you feel old, try this: “The Breakfast Club” also turned 40 last month. The movie, released in February 1985 as well, told the story of five teenagers spending a Saturday together in their high school’s library for a day of detention who learned a lot more than just a lesson in right and wrong.

Whether you still see yourself as “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess or a criminal”, I do not think there is a more relatable film about teenage angst. The John Hughes classic eventually earned 51 million dollars in box office sales worldwide and produced a theme song that hit the top spot in the U.S. for one week in May 1985.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Tears For Fears: “Head Over Heels” (1985, written by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith).

Simple Minds: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (1985, written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff).

Stay safe & well.