RPM was a Canadian magazine that published the best-performing singles of Canada from 1964 to 2000. During 1987, thirty-one different songs reached number one. Bruce Hornsby and the Range achieved the first number-one single of the year, "The Way It Is", while George Michael became the final musician to peak at the top spot during the year with "Faith". Of the thirty-one musical acts that earned a number-one single, twenty-two of them reached number one for the first time; those who had previously topped the listing were Corey Hart, Starship, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Atlantic Starr, Bob Seger, Billy Idol, Jennifer Warnes, and George Michael. The only Canadian who reached the summit this year was Corey Hart.
The longest-running chart-topper and most successful track of the year was Los Lobos's cover of "La Bamba", which spent seven weeks at number one from 5 September to 17 October. Madonna was the only artist to peak at number one with multiple singles: "La Isla Bonita" and "Who's That Girl", which remained at the top for a week each. Billy Idol obtained the second-most weeks at number one in 1987—four—with his live rendition of "Mony Mony" while Club Nouveau and Cutting Crew each spent three issues at the top with "Lean on Me" and "(I Just) Died in Your Arms", respectively.
+Key Indicates best-performing single of 1987
Chart history
Issue dateSongArtistReference3 January"The Way It Is"Bruce Hornsby and the Range 10 January17 January"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"Wang Chung24 January"Walk Like an Egyptian"The Bangles31 January"Can't Help Falling in Love"Corey Hart7 February"C'est la Vie"Robbie Nevil14 February"At This Moment"Billy Vera & The Beaters21 February28 February"Touch Me (I Want Your Body)"Samantha Fox7 March14 March"Livin' on a Prayer"Bon Jovi21 March28 March"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"Starship4 April11 April"Lean on Me"Club Nouveau18 April25 April2 May"Don't Dream It's Over"Crowded House9 May"With or Without You"U216 May"(I Just) Died in Your Arms"Cutting Crew23 May30 May6 June"La Isla Bonita"Madonna13 June"Looking for a New Love"Jody Watley20 June"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You"Glenn Medeiros27 June"You Keep Me Hangin' On"Kim Wilde4 July"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"Whitney Houston11 July"Always"Atlantic Starr18 July25 July"Head to Toe"Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam1 August"Shakedown"Bob Seger8 August"Alone"Heart15 August"Funkytown"Pseudo Echo22 August"Heart and Soul"T'Pau29 August"Who's That Girl"Madonna5 September"La Bamba"Los Lobos12 September19 September26 September3 October10 October17 October24 October"Here I Go Again"Whitesnake31 October"Mony Mony"Billy Idol7 November14 November21 November28 November"I Think We're Alone Now"Tiffany5 December12 December"(I've Had) The Time of My Life"Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes19 December"Faith"George Michael26 December
Notes
See also 1987 in music List of number-one albums of 1987 (Canada) List of RPM number-one adult contemporary singles of 1987 List of RPM number-one country singles of 1987 List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1987 List of Cashbox Top 100 number-one singles of 1987
References
External links Read about RPM Magazine at the AV Trust Search RPM charts here at Library and Archives Canada