Musical Monday - I Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon

#1 on the Billboard Hot 100: March 9, 1985 through March 23, 1985.

#1 on the Cash Box Top 100: March 9, 1985 through March 23, 1985.

The 1980s were an era of power ballads, and few bands perfected the formula like REO Speedwagon. One really had to live through 1985 to understand what a massive hit this song was. The fact that it spent two weeks atop the Billboard and Cash Box charts kind of undersells how ubiquitous this song was. To a certain extent, I think the existence of MTV - the version of MTV that still primarily played music videos, and whose programming was heavily skewed towards what could best be described as "Dad rock" - was what made this song an omnipresent fixture in the culutual zeitgeist of the year.

To a certain extent, it seems that the music video was a large part of what made this song a hit. The imagery was just surreal enough to make the video seem cool, while also being just concrete enough to make it still seem accessible. The symbolism is sometimes starkly literal - such as the candles floating by the window followed by frost on the glass to accompany the lines "You're a candle in the window on a cold dark winter's night". At other times the symbolism is nigh incomprehensible, as when the viewer is confronted by a collection of people with their faces replaced by the static of a television tuned to a dead channel. In short, it was just weird enough that teenagers could think it was subversive and cool without getting lost in the metaphors.

Previous Musical Monday: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive

Subsequent Musical Monday: Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins

Previous #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: Careless Whisper by Wham!

Subsequent #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: One More Night by Phil Collins

Previous #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: Careless Whisper by Wham!

Subsequent #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: Material Girl by Madonna

List of #1 Singles from the Billboard Hot 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles from the Cash Box Top 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles on the U.K. Chart for 1980-1989

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