The S19 contemporary music thread.

[Stephen Morgan]

Here we go again, a new season, a new era, and time to look at the charts of early 1982.

As we begin a new year we see some of the Christmas novelty hits hanging around in the charts. Holly and The Ivy's with Christmas on 45 ( a pastiche of all the Stars On, beat handclap, beat handclap, singles that were in vogue throughout '81) Chas and Dave also cover this genre with their hit Stars over 45 which in the first week of the year is at its peak of #21. We also find re-issues of Slade and John Lennon's Christmas hits at 31 and 28 respectively. Undoubtedly though the biggest novelty hit comes from The Snowmen with Hokey Cokey which reaches a high of #18.
The Christmas #1, and for the first two weeks of January, comes from The Human League with Don't You Want Me.

I give you now the top twenty for the w/e 9th January 1982.

20 Diana Ross Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
19 Kim Wilde Cambodia
18 Imagination Flashback
17 The Tweets The Birdie Song
16 Duran Duran My Own Way
15 Police Spirits In The Material World
14 Rod Stewart Young Turks
13 Status Quo Rock n Roll
12 Foreigner Waiting For A Girl Like You
11 Godley and Creme Wedding Bells
10 Altered Images I Could Be Happy
9 Jon and Vangelis I'll Find My Way Home
8 Dollar Mirror Mirror
7 Kool and The Gang Get Down On It
6 Cliff Richard Daddy's Home
5 Abba One Of Us
4 Madness It Must Be Love
3 Adam and the Ants Ant Rap
2 Bucks Fizz The Land Of Make Believe
1 Human League Don't You Want Me

A couple of singles of note just ouside the top twenty this week include Phil Lynott's Yellow Pearl which will reach #14 in a couple of weeks time. This track was used as the new theme for Top Of The Pops for a little while.
At # 31, and after three weeks on the chart, we find Brown Sauce with I Wanna Be A Winner. Brown Sauce were of course Noel Edmonds, Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin from Swap Shop. The song was written by B A Robertson and eventually reached # 15, it was written as a theme for the "Eric's", awards Edmonds gave out to various personalities, it became popular with Swap Shop viewers who clamoured to buy it when it was released as a single.

[Rob McCow]

Ah, this is more like it! I can almost remember some of these - mainly the magnificent 'The Birdie Song'. Absolute masterpiece that one! It appeared at many a pre-teen birthday party along with 'Knock Three Times' (if that's what it was called), 'Superman' and 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

[Stephen Morgan]

Ah, this is more like it! I can almost remember some of these - mainly the magnificent 'The Birdie Song'. Absolute masterpiece that one! It appeared at many a pre-teen birthday party along with 'Knock Three Times' (if that's what it was called), 'Superman' and 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

The Birdie Song was one of those things that was popular on the continent, people brought it back from their summer holidays and it hung around the charts for months reaching number two back in October '81, only kept off the top by Adam and the Ants Prince Charming. Annoyingly, as it was dropping down the charts Christmas gave it an extra impetus and it kept jumping back into the twenty.
There were also a few variations of it which reached the very lower reaches of the charts and which turned up on a couple of K Tel compilations, one I have is by The Waders called The Qwaka Song which is quite hilarious as it's played as duck calls. Believe me, it has to be heard to be believed.

[SiHart]

That's a fantastic chart there- I remember them all very well indeed. The Top 5 is a really strong set of songs. One of Us remains my favourite ABBA song to this day, and their last really big hit, sadly.

[Stephen Morgan]

Here's the top twenty for w/e 30th January 1982. Due to the quick turnaround on Dr Who meaning a new story every two weeks, there's not much change in what's in the charts, but here we go.

20 Alton Edwards I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)
19 Shakatak Easier Said Than Done
18 Madness It Must Be Love
17 Joan Of Arc (The Waltz Joan of Arc) Orchestral Manouvres In The Dark
16 Four Tops Don't Walk Away
15 Brown Sauce I Wanna Be A Winner
14 Mobiles Drowning In Berlin
13 Altered Images I Could Be Happy
12 Human League Don't You Want Me
11 Foreigner Waiting For A Girl Like You
10 Christopher Cross Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)
9 Meatloaf Dead Ringer For Love
8 Dollar Mirror Mirror
7 Jon and Vangelis I'll Find My Way Home
6 Human League Being Boiled
5 Kool and The Gang Get Down On It
4 The Stranglers Golden Brown
3 Kraftwerk The Model/Computer Love
2 Bucks Fizz The Land of Make Believe
1 Shakin' Stevens Oh Julie

A few notable entries in the lower reaches of the top 40 come from Hall and Oates with I Can't Go For That (No Can Do), Mike Post with the Theme From Hill Street Blues, a popular American police show, Rhoda and The Specials aka with a grim track about date rape called The Boiler, believe me, the track starts off quite innocently but builds up to a terrifying climax. If you've never heard it I urge you to check it out.
Also making their mark are Nick Hayward and Haircut 100 with Love Plus One, the latest boy band trend with a pretty good album in Pelican West, Love Plus One was their second single, following Favourite Shirt into the top five. Hayward later aimed for a mediocre and disappointing solo career.
In this week's top ten we find The Human League with Being Boiled, It's actually a reissue of an early track following the success of Don't You Want Me. It's a dark track condemning seri-culture, the act of boiling silk worms alive.
The number 3 sound from German Band Kraftwerk is also a reissue, first time around in mid 1981 the track got to number 36, this time around it gets to number one, that's after Shakey's 7th hit and 3rd of 4 number one's, Oh Julie.

[SiHart]

I always liked Love Plus One, though it wasn't as good as Favourite Shirt.

[Dirk Gently]

Some great songs in there. Season 14 on-wards had some great music running along side them. Although Computer Love is a bit of a weird song.

[Jeff]

My dad used to watch Hill Street Blues all the time.

[Jon Masters]

My dad used to watch Hill Street Blues all the time.

"Let's be careful out there "

[Jeff]

I didn't watch it. Just my Dad. I remember the theme song though.

[Dave Tudor]

It's a dark track condemning seri-culture, the act of boiling silk worms alive.

Not the most obvious subject for a top ten single....

I'm not a great fan of 80s music, despite this being the decade in which I grew up, and for me, I think that after the highs of 1980 and 1981, musically, 1982 was where the rot began to set in. However, there were still some great singles around and I can remember most of these - although I have no idea who Alton Edwards and The Mobiles were!

[Stephen Morgan]

....I have no idea who Alton Edwards and The Mobiles were!

Well!!!!!!! now you mention it.

All I can find out about Alton Edwards is that he was a Zimbabwean, and I Just Wanna was his one and only UK hit. He did however write and record a song called Thank You From Africa to thank the Western artists for their help in fund raising for Africa, mainly Ethiopia.
Apparently Edwards is still active on the UK circuit working frequently with Angelo Starr and Alexander O'Neal. (information depending on how up to date Wikipedia is on this artist)

The Mobiles were a synth pop band from Eastbourne. Drowning In Berlin (whose intro always reminds me of the music from Logopolis) was their biggest hit reaching # 9 early in '82. The follow up, Amour Amour only reached # 45. Further singles did not chart and they quickly faded into obscurity, although The Best of The Mobiles is available from archive specialist label Cherry Red.

[Jon Masters]

Great stuff, Steve.

BTW, does anyone else hear the Pick of The Pops music in their heads when they're reading one of Mr Morgan's informative posts ? (not half )

[Stephen Morgan]

Great stuff, Steve.

BTW, does anyone else hear the Pick of The Pops music in their heads when they're reading one of Mr Morgan's informative posts ? (not half )

Just call me Fluff, 'cos after all that's just what this stuff is, fluff and ephemera. All good fun though. Not half.

[Dirk Gently]

I usually hear this. along with this version.

First bit of Led Zep I ever wanted to play on guitar.

[Stephen Morgan]

Let's see what we can dig out for w/e 27th February 1982.

20 Adam and the Ants Deutscher Girls
19 Iron Maiden Run To The Hills
18 George Benson Never Give Up On A Good Thing
17 Elkie Brooks Fool If You Think It's Over
16 XTC Senses Working Overtime
15 Meat Loaf Deadringer For Love
14 Shakin' Stevens Oh Julie
13 Kraftwerk The Model/Computer Love
12 Christopher Cross Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)
11 Toni Basil Mickey
10 Depeche Mode See You
9 Fun Boy Three with Bananarama It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It
8 Daryll Hall and John Oates I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
7 Orchestral Manouvres In The Dark Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)
6 Stranglers Golden Brown
5 Soft Cell Say Hello Wave Goodbye
4 Haircut 100 Love Plus One
3 J Geils Band Centerfold
2 Tight Fit The Lion Sleeps Tonight
1 The Jam Town Called Malice/Precious

The Adam and the Ants track was a re-issue of one of their early recordings. Deutscher Girls was originally recorded for the film Jubilee in 1977, this was a re-recording and not much different from the original. The difference is negligible, you can barely tell them apart.

Toni Basil was/is a dancer and choreographer. She worked closely with David Byrne on the Talking Heads video Once In A Lifetime, and also choreographed David Bowie's Diamond Dogs and Glass Spider tours.
She came to prominence in the UK with two BBC specials, Toni Basil Tape 1 and Toni Basil Tape 2 and the album Word of Mouth from which Mickey, originally titled Kitty and recorded by UK band Racey in 1979, was taken. Written by Chinn/Chapman Basil took it to number two on the UK charts, the biggest hit of her musical career which consisted of just two albums.

The much covered The Lion Sleeps Tonight, also known as Wimoweh, is a song with a history that goes back to 1939. Previous to Tight Fit, a UK manufactured band, the best known versions were in 1961 by The Tokens and Karl Denver.
Tight Fit were put together by record producer Ken Gold in 1981 to record a song, Back To The Sixties, the beat/handclap medley mode was in full swing and the song consisted of covers of Beatles and Merseybeat songs from the 60s. Early in 1982, and with a different lineup, Tight Fit took Lion to a three week reign at the top of the UK charts.

A noteworthy song in the lower reaches of the chart come from Modern Romance with Queen of the Rapping Scene. The band were formed from the ashes of punk band The Layton Buzzards. Early chart success for Romance came with Ay Ay Ay Ay Moossey and Everybody Salsa in 81. Further hits come in the form of a cover of Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White with jazz trumpeter John Du Prez, and their biggest hit, Best Years Of Our Lives later in 82.

At 34 in this chart are ABBA with Head Over Heels. It's a low new entry for them having been used to a high entry on the chart. The song fails to reach the top twenty only reaching 25.

A new entry at 23 comes from Bow Wow Wow with Go Wild In The Country. One of the band's original members was one Stuart Goddard who later found fame as Adam Ant. Bow Wow Wow had previously been in the charts with a couple of hits in 1980 C'30 C'60, C'90 Go and Your Cassette Pet and a few less memorable singles before htting on this one their biggest hit reaching number 4. One further big hit followed in the summer of 82, I Want Candy which got to number 9. The band were produced by Malcolm McClaren.

[Nyder]

I can sing ALL those songs. Luckily for Planet Skaro, no-one will be able to hear me.....

[Jeff]

The much covered The Lion Sleeps Tonight, also known as Wimoweh, is a song with a history that goes back to 1939. Previous to Tight Fit, a UK manufactured band, the best known versions were in 1961 by The Tokens and Karl Denver.

This song always makes my wife think of her late father. Back in the day he would sing along to it: "My weenie wet, my weenie wet..."

[Stephen Morgan]

Here we go with a chart rundown for w/e 20th March 1982

20 The Jam Town called MAlice/ Precious
19 Adam and the Ants Deutscher Girls
18 Robert Palmer Some Guys Have All The Luck
17 Starsound Stars on Stevie
16 Derek and the Dominos Layla
15 Associates Party Fears Two
14 Madness Cardiac Arrest
13 Iron Maiden Run To The Hills
12 Julio Iglesias Quermo Mucho (Yours)
11 Depeche Mode See You
10 Adrian Gurvitz Classic
9 J Geils Band Centerfold
8 Imagination Just An Illusion
7 Bow Wow Wow Go Wild In The Country
6 ABC Poison Arrow
5 Fun Boy Three with Banarama It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It
4 Haircutt 100 Love Plus One
3 Toni Basil Mickey
2 Goombay Dance Band Seven Tears
1 Tight Fit The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Not much has changed since we last looked at these charts, but I'll take a look at some of the more notable singles in the lower reaches of the top forty.
Elvis Presley is still, seemingly, ever present in the charts, either with re-issues or "newly discovered" tracks from the vaults. He's at 37 with Are You Lonesome Tonight, if memory serves me right this one is "The Laughing Version", a live recording at which Presley cannot stop laughing at the backing singers voice. I was never a great Presley fan and this single seriously pissed me off.
At 35 we have a new entry from Leo Sayer, Have You Ever Been In Love, thsi singles from his ninth studio album World Radio peaked at number ten. The album also gave him a second successive hit with Heart (Stop Beating In Time) written by The Bee Gees which peaked at 22 later in the year.
At number 29, on its second week, and highest position, in the charts we have David Bowie with Baal's Hymn, an EP (remember them??) of five tracks from the soundtrack of a BBC production of Bertolt Brecht's Baal, starring Bowie.
“Baal’s Hymn” is a combination of the vignettes spread throughout the play, and establishes Baal’s amoral character. “Remembering Marie A” concerns Baal’s reminiscences of a past conquest, where he can remember a cloud drifting overhead, but not the face of the girl he was with. “Ballad of the Adventurers” is Baal’s aggressive lament to the death of his mother. “The Drowned Girl” relates the suicide of one of Baal’s conquests – a video clip for this song was shot by David Mallet at the same time as the one for “Wild is the Wind”. “The Dirty Song” is a short number, with Baal humiliating his lover Sophie.

His performance as Baal was transmitted on February 2, 1982, and RCA issued the EP to coincide with this. Both the play and EP were well received, with the latter reaching #29 in the UK chart, commendable considering the unconventional tracks.

A few singles within the top 20 deserve mention too, no less then The Associates at # 15.
The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and New Wave band of the early 1980s. They were known for the operatic voice and theatrical antics of singer Billy Mackenzie, who committed suicide in 1997.
The band's breakthrough came in 1982 with the release of the single "Party Fears Two". Buoyed along by the popularity of synthpop at the time, the song reached number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Two other hits soon followed, "Club Country" and "18 Carat Love Affair". That year the band released their most commercially successful album, Sulk. Martha Ladly, of Martha and the Muffins, contributed backing vocals and keyboards to this album.

The Derek and the Dominos single at 16 is a straight re-issue of their most popular single.
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues-rock band, Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (December 1970). It is considered one of rock music's definitive love songs, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, and a piano coda that comprises the second half of the song. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.

Inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison, "Layla" was unsuccessful on its initial release. The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim, and is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time. Two versions have achieved chart success, the first in 1972 (and it's 1982 re-issue) and the second twenty years later as an acoustic "Unplugged" performance. In 2004 it was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and the acoustic version won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

At# 8 we have disco oufit Imagination with their 4th top twenty hit, Just an Illusion. Lead singer Leee (yes, that's correct, 3 e's) John would appear alongside Lynda Baron in the 1983 Doctor Who story Enlightenment.

I'd also like to make mention of ABC's Poison Arrow which comes from a stunning, and critically acclaimed album, The Lexicon of Love. It is a concept album in which the singer, the charismatic Martin Fry, experiences heartache as he tries and fails to have a meaningful relationship.

It was produced by Trevor Horn, engineered by Gary Langan, and featured orchestration by Anne Dudley and Fairlight CMI programming by JJ Jeczalik; Horn, Langan, Dudley and Jeczalik would later form the Art of Noise. Indeed, most of the production team and sessions players listed below would form the basis for the ZTT label, and their work with Horn meant all concerned would be in constant demand throughout the industry in years to come.

"Tears Are Not Enough" (in its initial release produced by Steve Brown), "All of My Heart", "Poison Arrow", and "The Look of Love (Part One)" were all Top 20 hits in the UK; the last two also charted in the US, peaking at #25 and #14 respectively. The album reached #1 on the British charts, and peaked at #24 in the U.S. charts. In 2004, a deluxe 2-disc reissue including outtakes and early demos and a live performance of the album from 1982 was released on the Neutron label.

That's enough to take in for now, on my next look at the charts I'll see what I can dig out for The Goombay Dance Band who take over at number one after Tight Fit.

[Andrew Curnow]

I see that Toni Basil's Mickey has gone from 11 to 3 (or is that 3 to 11 Mr Chesterton?) - it may not be the world's greatest song, but it was very catchy indeed!!

[Dirk Gently]

15 of those I know of immediately without looking them up (although I'm not really that familiar with Deutscher Girls), most of which are the top 9 inclusive. The other 5 I may know if I heard them.

[Stephen Morgan]

Let's go for a final look at the charts of early 1982.

w/e 3rd April

20 Bow Wow Wow Go Wild In The Country
19 Pluto Your Honour
18 Roxy Music More Than This
17 Altered Inages See Those Eyes
16 Classix Noveau Is It A Dream
15 Dollar Give Me Back My Heart
14 Leo Sayer Have You Ever Been In Love
13 Toni Basil Mickey
12 Adrian Gurvitz Classic
11 Visage Damned Don't Cry
10 Associates Party Fears Two
9 Japan Ghosts
8 ABC Poison Arrow
7 Chas and Dave Ain't No Pleasing You
6 Tight Fit The Lion Sleeps Tonight
5 Bucks Fizz My Camera Never Lies
4 Derek and the Dominos Layla
3 Julio Iglesias Quremo Mucho (Yours)
2 Imagination Just An Illusion
1 Goombay Dance Band Seven Tears

The Goombay Dance Band is a German based band of the 1970s created by Oliver Bendt. The band is named after a small bay on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Their music has a distinctive sound (somewhat similar to Boney M.), a mixture of Caribbean soca or calypso and western pop.

The group built up a fan base across Europe and in total released some 15 singles between 1979 and 1985, within which time they enjoyed their greatest commercial success. They proved very popular in South Africa too, where "Sun of Jamaica" and "Aloha-Oe" topped the singles charts. "Seven Tears" also charted, while "Rain" and "Eldorado" also proved popular.

Their most successful song was "Sun of Jamaica" which topped the German single charts for nine weeks in 1980 and sold 11 million copies, although it never reached the Top 40 in the UK. However, in 1982, their song "Seven Tears" topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks and was also a million-seller. It was the eighth best selling single in the UK during 1982.

The Goombay Dance Band are still active today, performing regular nostalgia concerts on cruise ships across Europe.

[SiHart]

I remember my Mum being upset that The Goombay Dance Band were number 1 when my brother was born that she refused to have the song played for him on hospital radio!

[Stephen Morgan]

I remember my Mum being upset that The Goombay Dance Band were number 1 when my brother was born that she refused to have the song played for him on hospital radio!

No more upset than I was. I had just bought the Japan single and the Derek and the Dominos 12" and expected one of those to be number 1.