Go West — “Don’t Look Down – The Sequel”

Entered Top 40: September 26, 1987
2 weeks 
Peaked at: 39

Go West’s debut single was “We Close Our Eyes” in 1985. Buoyed by its music video featuring animated artists’ lay figures, it was a modest MTV hit and peaked at #5 in the UK (their biggest hit at home), but just missed the US Top 40 (#41). The duo would have two more US singles off their Go West album: “Call Me” (#54 here, and later included in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) and “Eye to Eye” (#73). In the UK they’d release four singles in 1985 (“Eye to Eye” was not one), the last of which was a “sequel” remix of an album track, “Don’t Look Down.”

“Don’t Look Down—the Sequel” ended up doing well internationally as a late single (#13 UK, #10 Ireland, #15 New Zealand, #26 Australia) after initial Go West interest had waned in the States, so Chrysalis added it to the US release of their next record, 1987’s Dancing on the Couch, and made it the first single. The remix adds some carnival synth and is half a minute longer. I like it less than the original; both are linked below.

Dancing on the Couch would have some low-charting UK singles, but nothing else from it would crack the Hot 100 in the US. In 1990 Go West would place “King of Wishful Thinking” on the soundtrack to Pretty Woman, which of course would go on to become one of the biggest films of the year. The song would peak at #8 and become their signature US tune. Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd ended up recreating the video, which is also below.

It doesn’t look like Go West ever officially split, but they took a long recording hiatus through most of the 1990s. Peter Cox pursued a solo career for a while, and in 2008 they released futurenow, their 4th studio record. In 2024–25 they’re playing 40th-anniversary dates with orchestral accompaniment.