Mike and the Mechanics are an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his other group Genesis. The band are known for the hit singles "Silent Running", "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Taken In", "The Living Years", "Word of Mouth", and "Over My Shoulder".
"Because of Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson from her fifth album, Janet (1993). It was released in January 1994 by Virgin as the album's fourth single. The track is a love song written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. A remix of the song, the Frankie & David Treat Mix, appears on Jackson's second remix compilation Janet Remixed (1995). Its music video was directed by Beth McCarthy.
"You Want This" is a song by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson from her fifth studio album, Janet (1993). Released as the album's seventh single in October 1994, the track was written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The single version, also used in the music video directed by Keir McFarlane, featured an additional rap verse from MC Lyte. The song was listed in the book Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era (2005) by Bruce Pollock.
Nanda Layos Lwin is a Canadian author, music historian, journalist, civil engineer, and educator. He wrote the weekly ChartTalk column, a commentary of the current Canadian music charts; it appeared on canoe.ca from 1997 to 2002 and in The Hamilton Spectator from 2003 to 2006. He is the author and publisher of eight books including Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (1999) and Top Albums: The Essential Chart Guide (2003), primarily documenting the chart history of the Canadian music magazine The Record.
"Freeway of Love" is a song by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden and produced by the latter for Franklin's thirtieth studio album, Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985). The song features a notable contribution from Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist from Bruce Springsteen’'s E Street Band. Sylvester, Martha Wash, and Jeanie Tracy provided backup vocals on "Freeway of Love".
"Heaven in Your Eyes" is a song recorded by Canadian rock band Loverboy for the soundtrack to the film Top Gun. It later appeared on Loverboy's 1989 hits compilation Big Ones. The power ballad reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US.
"Unskinny Bop" is a song by American glam metal band Poison, released as the first single from their third studio album, Flesh & Blood (1990), on June 18, 1990. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, number five on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, and number one on Canada's The Record chart. It also entered the top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
"Rush Rush" is a song by American recording artist Paula Abdul, taken from her second studio album, Spellbound (1991). It was released on April 24, 1991, by Virgin Records as the lead single from the album. Written by Peter Lord and produced by Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith, the song achieved success in the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot 100, and became a worldwide hit.
The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by Jam!/Canoe. The chart also appeared in Billboard until March 2006, when Billboard stopped publishing the Canadian Singles Chart in favor of the Canadian Digital Songs Sales Chart. Billboard later introduced their own singles chart for Canada, the Canadian Hot 100, on June 7, 2007.
"Let Your Backbone Slide" is the debut single by Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 from his first album, Symphony in Effect. In Canada, over 50,000 copies of the single were sold, making Maestro the first Canadian rapper to have a gold single. It also reached #1 on The Record Singles Chart, in April 1990. In the United States, 25,000 copies were sold in its first few weeks of release. It remained the best-selling Canadian hip hop single of all time until 2008, when it was eclipsed by Kardinal Offishall's "Dangerous".
"The Living Years" is a soft rock ballad written by B. A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford, and recorded by Rutherford's British rock band Mike + The Mechanics. It was released in December 1988 in the United Kingdom and in the United States as the second single from their album Living Years. The song was a chart hit around the world, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 on 25 March 1989, the band's only number one and last top ten hit on that chart, and reaching number-one in Australia, Canada and Ireland and number 2 in the UK. It spent four weeks at number-one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Paul Carrack sings lead vocals on the track.
"Motownphilly" is a song by American vocal harmony group Boyz II Men, released in April 1991 by Motown as the first single from their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony (1991). Co-written and produced by Dallas Austin, the song was a success, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. Michael Bivins, who co-wrote the song, provides a guest rap during the bridge. The song's title is a portmanteau of two of the group's main musical influences: 1960s Motown and 1970s Philly soul.
"Here I Am" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian singer Bryan Adams. The song was written and recorded in 2002 for the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and was both released on the official soundtrack and as a single. "Here I Am" reached number one in the Czech Republic and Portugal, number five in the United Kingdom and on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and the top 20 in at least 10 other European countries. The song won an ASCAP Award and was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Adams also recorded the song in French, called "Me voilà".
"I'll Be Over You" is a hit single by the American rock band Toto. Released as the lead single from their 1986 album, Fahrenheit, the song reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986. Lead vocals were sung by guitarist Steve Lukather, who co-wrote the song with hit songwriter Randy Goodrum. Guest musician Michael McDonald provided the vocal counterpoint on the recording.
"Roll with It" is a song recorded by Steve Winwood for his album Roll with It, released on Virgin Records. It was written by Winwood and long-time collaborator Will Jennings. Publishing rights organization BMI later had Motown songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland credited with co-writing the song due to its resemblance to the Junior Walker hit "(I'm a) Roadrunner".
"Bop" is a song written by Paul Davis and Jennifer Kimball and recorded by American country music artist Dan Seals. It was released in October 1985 as the second single from his fifth studio album, Won't Be Blue Anymore. It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1986, becoming his second number-one hit on that chart and his first as a solo artist. It was a major crossover hit as well, peaking at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, it topped the RPM Top Singles and Country Singles charts.
"All I Need Is a Miracle" is a song performed by English pop rock band Mike + The Mechanics. Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album, and later released as a single in early 1986 in the USA, where it reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was sung by Paul Young on both the original recording and the 1996 re-recording for the band's Hits compilation album.
"Sanctify Yourself" is a song released by Scottish rock band Simple Minds as the second single from their seventh studio album Once Upon a Time in January 1986. The song reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart and number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"I've Got You" is a song by American singer Marc Anthony, released on June 17, 2002 as the second single from his sixth studio album and his second English-language studio album Mended. It was an international hit, and also the most successful single from the album. A Spanish version, "Te Tengo Aquí", was also recorded for the album.
