4 Power Ballads From Rockers Who Dominated the Charts in 1985

It was all fine and dandy if you could bring the crowd to their feet with energetic rock in the 80s. But sometimes, the best way to the top of the charts was by slowing it down and providing the fans with a lighter-waving ballad. These four acts understood this maxim and utilized it to deliver huge hits. In fact, all four of these power ballads, which dominated radio in 1985, went to the top of the charts.

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“I Want To Know What Love Is” by Foreigner

Foreigner had been down the ballad road before. On their 1981 album 4, they included “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, which helped supplement their peppier singles. “I Want To Know What Love Is” upped the ante with gospel vocals provided by a New Jersey choir and backing vocals by Jennifer Holiday of Dreamgirls fame. The song was right up the alley for powerhouse vocalist Lou Gramm. Sadly, it became a bone of contention between Gramm and Mick Jones when it came to songwriting credits. Jones received the full credit, while Gramm claims to have contributed a good deal to its creation. In any case, the song gave the band their first No. 1 hit.

“Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon’s trajectory in the 80s was an object lesson in the importance of power ballad expertise. Their 1980 album Hi Infidelity launched them into the stratosphere thanks in large part to “Keep On Loving You”, a precursor to many of the arena rock power ballads to follow. But then they mostly strayed from that strategy for a few years. Even “Can’t Fight This Feeling”, released on their 1984 Wheels Are Turnin’, wasn’t chosen as the lead single. Yet once it made it to radio in late ’84, it took off, eventually ascending to the top spot in 1985. Kevin Cronin started writing it back in the 70s, when rockers didn’t usually record songs like it. But it fit like a glove in the mid-80s.

“Heaven” by Bryan Adams

Here’s another example of folks doubting the wisdom of a rocker hitching their star to a sensitive ballad. Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance were inspired initially to write the song after touring with Journey, who knew a thing or two about winning over fans with slow ones. “Heaven” received its first exposure in a 1983 film called A Night In Heaven. When it came time for Adams to put together his 1984 album Reckless, he wondered if it was wise to include the song. Producer Jimmy Iovine wondered the same thing. In the end, they not only included it on the album, but they also gave it a single release. It hit the top in 1985.

“Sara” by Starship

“Sara” was released at the tail end of 1985 by Starship. By that point in their career, the band, whose journey began all the way back in the 60s as Jefferson Airplane, had endured a ton of lineup changes and stylistic shifts. But they enjoyed a huge career resurgence with “We Built This City”, the wacky but catchy No. 1 hit from their 1985 album Knee Deep In The Hoopla. The natural move was to follow that up with a ballad. Co-written by Peter and Ina Wolf, the song provided an excellent showcase for lead singer Mickey Thomas, who had first entered this band’s orbit during their Jefferson Starship phase. Nobody saw back-to-back chart-toppers from this veteran group coming. But “Sara” secured that for them.

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