BACK IN TIME: After first appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of Feb. 6, 1982, when "Do You Believe in Love" bowed at No. 77 on its way to a No. 7 peak, Huey Lewis & the News celebrated their first No. 1 this week in 1985, when "The Power of Love" rose 2-1.

The San Francisco band was already a Hot 100 mainstay, having notched five prior top 10s, but "The Power of Love" became its first top five and No. 1, thanks to its high profile in the now-classic time travel blockbuster, "Back to the Future." Not only did the adventure spur a better future for the McFly family, but Huey Lewis & the News also benefited: "The Power of Love" started a streak of seven consecutive top 10s for the group, including two additional No. 1s. "Stuck With You" reigned in 1986, and "Jacob's Ladder," co-written by Lewis' good friend Bruce Hornsby, climbed to the top in 1987.

Although it became the act's first Hot 100 leader, "The Power of Love" actually represented the second visit to the summit for Lewis, who sang on USA for Africa's "We Are the World," which spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning on April 13, 1985. Following the death of the song's co-writer, Michael Jackson, in June, Lewis reflected on the track's recording. Lewis told Entertainment Weekly, "I stood right next to (Jackson) on the solo lines, because I had the line right after he did. We had to share a position there for a couple hours. And we chatted. He said lots of nice things about my songs, and he knew our stuff, and he was just sweet, sweet, sweet."


THE HEART OF ROCK & ROLL: The Police had sent three songs - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "Every Breath You Take" and "King of Pain" - to No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Tracks chart, but on the survey dated Aug. 24, 1985, Sting notched his second topper on his own, as "Fortress Around Your Heart" lifted 3-1 (and entered the Hot 100 at No. 51). "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" had ruled the chart in June 1985. Sting would equal the Police's No. 1 sum when "All This Time" reached the pinnacle in 1991 ...

The fastest-rising song on the Rock Tracks tally this week in 1985 belonged to John Cougar Mellencamp, whose "Lonely Ol' Night" flew 19-3. Two weeks later, the song would become his second of seven career No. 1s on the chart. As it reached the top five on Rock Tracks, the song roared in as the top debut on the Hot 100 at No. 40. A Billboard Singles Review in the same issue praised the "out-of-the-box pop radio smash," heralding the "return of the tough guy with the sentimental streak" ...

The top 10 on the Billboard 200 (then titled Top Pop Albums) this week 24 years ago was entirely pop/rock-driven. Tears for Fears' "Songs From the Big Chair" returned for a fifth and final week at No. 1, followed by sets from Bryan Adams, Sting, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Bruce Springsteen, Motley Crue, the Power Station, Billy Joel and Ratt. Whitney Houston broke the guitar stranglehold at No. 11 with her self-titled debut collection. A week later, she would enter the chart's top 10 for the first time in her career.


HEART AND SOUL: Here is the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1985. Heart entered the top 10 for the first time in four years, and their shift from straight ahead rock to more of a glossy pop sound paved the way for a run in which the Seattle band would collect seven top 10s in five years. At No. 5, Aretha Franklin was enjoying her first top five since 1974. "Freeway of Love" would speed to a No. 3 peak the following week.

No. 1, "The Power of Love," Huey Lewis & the News
No. 2, "Shout," Tears for Fears
No. 3. "Never Surrender," Corey Hart
No. 4, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)," John Parr
No. 5, "Freeway of Love," Aretha Franklin
No. 6, "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)," Tina Turner
No. 7, "Summer of '69," Bryan Adams
No. 8, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," Sting
No. 9, "Everytime You Go Away," Paul Young
No. 10, "What About Love?," Heart