On April 23, 1988, Eddy Grant was at number 1 for a third week with Gimme Hope Jo’anna, a cheerful-sounding song about apartheid in South Africa.

Eddy Grant had four Top 40 hits in the first half of the 1980s, of which 1982’s No. 2 hit I Don’t Wanna Dance was clearly the most successful. That success was surpassed in 1988 with Gimme Hope Joanna, in which Joanna refers to the South African city of Johannesburg. However, the Guyanese-born Briton was not the only Briton of Caribbean origin to chart high in the Top 40.

At number 5 is Aswad, a band formed in 1975 and made up entirely of British Caribbean members. In 1988 they scored their first hit with Don’t Turn Around and were an instant success. However, the most prominent country in the top 10 is Guinea, whose only representation in the history of the List is Mory Kante.

Selection from the Top 40 on April 23, 1988

1 (1) GIVE JO’ANNA HOPE – Eddy Grant

3 (4) PLAY COOL – Freiheit

In 1986, Münchener Freiheit reached number 28 in the Top 40 with Tausendmal Du. In Germany they had more success with Ohne Dich, which became a top 10 hit for Erik Mesie in the Dutch version of Zonder Jou in the same year. The Bavarian band released their English-language material under the name Freiheit, including the single Play It Cool in 1988. Although this record is not even named on the German Wikipedia page Münchener Freiheit, it was a huge success in the Netherlands! It reached number three in the Top 40 and was therefore (Münchener) Freiheit’s biggest hit with their western neighbors in Germany.

4 (7) BED BURNS – Midnight Oil

Australian rock band Midnight Oil scored their first top 10 hit in their home country in 1983 with Power And The Passion, a record that included mention of the resignation of Australia’s social-democratic president Gough Whitlam in 1975. Midnight Oil’s breakthrough in Europe also had a political message; Beds Are Burning was a protest song about Aboriginal people being driven from their homes. It was not a number 1 hit in Australia, but it was in New Zealand. In the Netherlands, Beds Are Burning reached number three. In 1990, Midnight Oil scored their second and final Top 40 hit with Blue Sky Mine, about the consequences of asbestos mining in the Australian town of Wittenoom.

5 (11) DON’T TURN OVER – Aswad

Aswad (Arabic for ‘black’) are a British reggae band with Caribbean roots. For example, lead singer Drummie Zeb’s parents were born in Grenada and Brinsley Forde’s parents were born in Guyana. In 1988, Aswad made their first Top 40 hit with Don’t Turn Around. The original by Tina Turner was the B-side to her top 10 hit Typical Man from 1986. Don’t Turn Around reached number five in the Top 40 and it was Aswad’s only top 10 hit. In the 1990s the trio scored top 20 hits with Next To You (1990) and Shine (1994). Don’t Turn Around was covered again in 1994 by Ace Of Base who narrowly beat Aswad to number seven.

8 (17) YÉ KÉ YÉ KÉ – Mory Kante

The only Guinean artist to have reached the Top 40 is Mory Kante. He was born in 1950 in the southern city of Kissidougou and in 1984 he lived in Paris without a residence permit. There Kante recorded the song Yé Ké Yé Ké, sung in his native Mandinka language. In Europe, Yé Ké Yé Ké reached number one in several European countries, including the Netherlands. The hit stayed at the top for two weeks in the Top 40. In his later years, Kante struggled with a chronic illness, for which he was hospitalized in France. After the outbreak of the coronavirus in early 2020, this was no longer possible, and it was fatal; Kante died on May 22, 2020 in a hospital in the Guinean capital, Conakry, at the age of 70.

10 (12) I NEED YOU – BVSMP

The top 10 ends with rap. The BVSMP formation was founded in 1987 and its name is an abbreviation of Baby Virgo Shocking Mister P. Although it comes from the United States, BVSMP has not scored a hit in its own country. In Europe this happened in 1988 with the debut single I Need You. The song was a top 3 hit in the UK and Germany and in the Netherlands I Need You reached number 8. BVSMP’s second and last hit was Be Gentle, which did not go above number 22. However, BVSMP also scored more hits in the Netherlands than in the United States, which is rare for an American rap formation.

(25-04-2021)