26TH DECEMBER- FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK- The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/FairytaleOfNewYork.jpg

 

It’s anything but a normal Christmas song- in fact it’s quite exceptional. There are undoubtedly two sides to Christmas, the family orientated time of presents, food, and fun which is covered by around 99.9% of festive hits, then there are the Christmas’s filled with falling outs, arguments, and anything but festive cheer. “Fairytale Of New York” is filled with the latter, the juxtapose of festivity with the regret works perfectly and the song pulls on the heart strings with the nostalgia of a relationship that once was sweet yet time has soured.

 

MacColl’s appearance on the record was pure chance, she was only drafted in to provide a vocal guide for the female part of the vocal by then producer (and then husband) Steve Lillywhite but the Pogues liked the results so much she stayed on the track, and the contrast between MacGowen’s drunken tones and MacColl’s sweeter voice is a joy to behold.

 

The reason the song works is precisely because it is firmly grounded in the reality of Christmas, the strain it places on relationships, the nostalgia for the good times that is especially intoxicating at such times (as well as the alcohol obviously), it’s certainly not all doom and gloom though- that’s the beauty. The simple piano led intro leads you into a false expectation of what’s to come, and MacColl’s vocal entrance kickstarts the song, in a way the vocals are a reflection of the tale, MacGowen’s drunken drool is slow and laboured as though freshly intoxicated, MacColl’s sober sprightly lyric reflecting the lover fed up with the empty promises of love. Everything’s here, depth of emotion, pop perfection, Irish charm, and a touch of Christmas magic, the only down side is that it was denied the Christmas No 1, to quote MacGowen “ We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine”......

 

Well that was 1987- how was it for you? I confess it was a hard year for me, a lot of songs didn't really have interesting stories/ interesting stars behind them so it was hard to review. As for quality well very patchy IMO. It certainly ended a lot better but a lot of dross. Next up 88 and the year I became a chart loon!.....

26TH DECEMBER- FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK- The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/FairytaleOfNewYork.jpg

 

This is indeed absolute genius. You sum the song up perfectly and this would've been a brilliant Christmas no. 1 had it got there. That said, I don't actually remember this at all from the time. :o I remember 'Always On My Mind' really well - another of my brothers record collection so maybe he didn't buy this.

 

For me, this is as good as it gets when it comes to well known Christmas no. 2 singles. It still sounds brilliant today and has definitely aged well. However, one thing I'll never forget was upon its re-release in 2005 Rado 1 wanted to ban the word "f*****" from being played during the daytime. WHAT?!!! So it was perfectly fine in 1987 but a good 18 years later and the PC brigade get involved. A sign of the times!!! -_- Proof if ever needed that the 80s was so much more innocent without "political correctness" destroying the true meaning of...well, everything. :lol:

Next up 88 and the year I became a chart loon!.....

 

:lol: Me too. In fact, I will pinpoint the very week when my interest in the UK charts went through the roof, but we will have to wait a few months before we get there. From that Sunday onwards, listening to the UK Top 40 with Bruno Brooks became a weekly event. :D

:lol: Me too. In fact, I will pinpoint the very week when my interest in the UK charts went through the roof, but we will have to wait a few months before we get there. From that Sunday onwards, listening to the UK Top 40 with Bruno Brooks became a weekly event. :D

I wonder if it's the same week as my looning started? It was in the second half of the year but we'll see- It's kinda spooky if it was- given we share the same birthday and all! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I wonder if it's the same week as my looning started? It was in the second half of the year but we'll see- It's kinda spooky if it was- given we share the same birthday and all! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Well if April/May (not entire sure which month this chart battle was) is considered "second half of the year" then yes, it will be. :D

23RD JANUARY 1988- SIGN YOUR NAME- Terence Trent D'Arby (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Sign_your_name.jpg

 

Or Sananda Maitreya as he is now known. D'Arby was one of the sensations of 1987 with tracks like "Wishing Well" and "If You Let Me Stay" allowing him to rule the airwaves of the year, and his final release from the million selling album "Introducing The Hardline According To..." was "Sign Your Name". Essentially a love song, the song draws in Middle Eastern influences which mix quite easily with D'Arby's vocals, the lack of any competition in the charts of early 1988 allowed the song to climb so high despite it being the fourth release, but the TOTP appearance reminds me slightly of Prince, with similar pretentiousness, which would spell commercial suicide for the singer when he returned in 1989 with his sophomore set "Neither Fish Nor Flesh" but the 87-88 period was a roaring success for the singer. The overall track has a languid feel, kind of sensuous and sexual without ever being crass or obvious and that's not an overly easy task to pull off.

 

For my money "Sign Your Name" is a nice enough song (though not as good as "If You Let Me Stay") and it's certainly a much better start to the year than either 86 or 87 provided, but neither would I class it as a classic. 1988 is a much more youthful year, full of new young stars, which meant a real spring clean in the charts, and that S/A/W invasion is just around the corner.......

 

6TH FEBRUARY- WHEN WILL I BE FAMOUS?- Bros (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/When_will_I_be_famous.jpg

 

This was kind of inevitable really. Since the advent of pop music and certainly since the advent of MTV, sooner or later music would come to be seen as a "Visual art", and Bros are one of the pinpoint's along this route. Whilst marketing was always part of the industry the 80s is when it went into overdrive and became an art form in itself and Bros are a really interesting group, not musically but visually and from a marketing point of view. Remodelled and managed by Svengali Tom Watkins, Bros were marketed as some kind of aryan dream, all blonde hair and blue eyed, there is an inescapable homo- erotic angle to the band (wait until you see the cover for "Too Much") despite, and maybe very conciouslessly, all being rampant hetero's, it's like every angle of marketing has been thought about and explored as some kind of mass global campaign. Apart from the composition of the band and it's formation there is nothing natural about the band, I should say brand, because that was what Bros were in 1988, a brand. The grolsh bottle tops, the brossettes, you weren't buying into the music really that was just the legitmacy for them, it was them, it was the image of power, beauty and youth wrapped up in end of the decade decadance. It's all wonderfully powerful and interesting stuff.

 

"When Will I Be Famous?" pretty much summed up the rise of celebrity culture or the beginning of what we know understand it as, it sums up the bare faced ambition of the late 80s and late Thatcherism, when pop stars started talking about "Longevity" and "units sold" instead of "credibility" but for all that it's also a cracking pop song. Driven by that ambition it's a song of immediacy, of instant gratification, of frustration, but also of unadultered "pop" and that is never a bad thing in my book, for me nothing else says 1988 quite like these guys...

 

Edited August 6, 201113 yr by gezza76

27TH FEBRUARY- BEAT DIS- Bomb The Bass (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Bomb-The-Bass-Beat-Dis.jpg

 

And here is a little piece of pop history. There had been dance music around before 1988, there had been DJ's having hits before 1988, but 1988 is the year that dance music exploded onto the charts as a constant presence that continues to this day and Bomb The Bass were one of the leading lights back in 1988. The pop history was created the week before this hit No 2 when it debuted at No 5, at the time the highest debuting "debut" hit ever (actually bettering 1986's No 7 debut by Sigue Sigue Sputnick), i'd love to say I was on the dance bandwagon from the off, one of the trendsetters, sadly i'd be lying. Things like Bomb the Bass, S.Express et al by and large passed me by, that might very well be explained by me being 12 at the time and thusly not able to hear the music in its proper environment, and that S/A/W were producing music directly at my age range and so as a consequence I was by and large oblivious to dance music charms (until the early 90s anyway).

 

Bomb the Bass were essentially just DJ Tim Simenon, and his appearance on the cover of previously hostile (to dance music anyway) NME is often referred to as the moment when DJ culture was born. Simenon recorded "beat Dis" for £500 and launched it onto the New York underground music scene where it spread through word of mouth in 1987 and the record contains, alledgedly, 21 samples, must have been a nightmare to clear! Hence it's explosion onto the charts, Bomb The Bass were to have three more top 10 hits though no more top 5 hits, and helped launch the career of Neneh Cherry along the way, and throughout the 90s/00s the project was very much on/ off with Simenon at the production helm for Bjork and Depeche Mode amongst others. "Beat Dis" therefore remains one of the important events in dance music and shouldn;t be dismissed no matter how much of a non event it was in my life.......

 

12TH MARCH- TOGETHER FOREVER- Rick Astley (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/RickAstleyTogetherForevercover.jpg

 

Now, to me, this is the sound of 1988, and with "I Should Be So Lucky" at No 1 during this time it was a harbringer of the S/A/W domination for the remainder of the 80s, indeed between March 1987 and March 1990 there are only 7 weeks when one of their productions is absent from the top 20- an incredible record. "Together Forever" is another peice of pure pop from Astley, his fourth and final single from his debut album and whilst four more top 10 hits would follow this is in effect the end of Astley as a major chart force. The gap between his first and second album would see the emergence of Jason Donovan who would take the mantle from Astley of heart throb of the year, and of course being Australian he was impossibly far more cooler than the British Astley.

 

The video is also typically S/A/W bright colours, fresh looking stars with clean cut images, there's little sex on show here, in reality the whole S/A/W success of the late 80s is an attempt to re-invent and re-cycle the 50s/60s, not only in image but also in production values and in the idea of a "production team with a stable of stars". This certainly wasn't new- the motown label of the 60s was something which S/A/W set out to emulate, they created a definite "Sound" and exerted considerable influence over the stars that they "made", the curiously non sexual angle to them was in many ways again a reaction to the AIDS epidemic, to keep it covered. I would argue, most likely this is not a popular view, that they were actually being quite subversive, they were making essentially "gay music" and transporting onto Essex (yes i'm being sterotypical here) straight nightclub floors almost under the noses of people who would probably be the most unresponsive to the music of the gay clubs if you presented it in that way. At a time when gay culture was under major attack and major censure they could hardly be open about it, the best they could do was to present bland anodyne pop stars who people could "project" sexuality onto- this would land Donovan (or should I say "The Face" magazine) in major trouble in 1991, but certainly in the late 80s and early 90s it was S/A/W that was making successful music with gay acts (Big Fun/ Damian) and they are to be thanked for that if nothing else....

 

Edited August 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

23RD JANUARY 1988- SIGN YOUR NAME- Terence Trent D'Arby (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Sign_your_name.jpg

 

Hard to believe that for a short period of time, Terence Trent D'Arby had the world at his feet. Ok, not to the same extent as Milli Vanilli would become the following year (even if it wasn't them actually singing). At least this was a fairly decent song. I remember it well from the time and suspect this was a song my sister bought. I also remember his previous hits well too. My interest in the UK charts was at an all time high in 1993. So much so that I even remember his duet with Des'ree 'Delicate'. I must be the only person my age who remembers that song. :lol:

 

6TH FEBRUARY- WHEN WILL I BE FAMOUS?- Bros (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/When_will_I_be_famous.jpg

 

Honestly, I never "got" Bros. Even as a mere 7 year old I remember watching them perform 'When Will I Famous' on TOTP and just not liking the song at all. Then again I think Tiffanny 'I Think We're Alone Now' was no. 1 at this point in 1988 and that was another song I liked, but didn't love.

 

27TH FEBRUARY- BEAT DIS- Bomb The Bass (2 weeks)

 

I don't remember this song at all from the time. I have heard this song since but it was actually on an old clip of The Chart Show that had been uploaded to YouTube about 2 years ago and 'Beat Dis' was the no. 1 single of the week. I just listened to the track again in the embedded video and it follows on nicely from 'Pump Up The Volume'. It may have been some form of a dance revolution at the time but these tracks just don't have any impact on me whatsoever. Maybe that's why I don't remember this track from the time. A classic case of seeing it on TOTP, getting bored after 30 seconds and going to get a drink. :D

 

12TH MARCH- TOGETHER FOREVER- Rick Astley (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/RickAstleyTogetherForevercover.jpg

 

Now this is more like it!!! :lol: The beauty of being a kid, being naive and vulnerable. Listening to a track like 'Together Forever' and just hearing what sounds like a great pop song. No influences of the "pink pound" or "gay culture". Just enjoying the song for what it is. Obviously had I been 10 years older in 1988 maybe my perception of this track would've been very different. I know that by the time I was 17, I had started listening to more rock/indie music and appreciating music I'd disliked when I was younger. In this case, the likes of Rick Astley are more of a guilty pleasure purely because it reminds me of my childhood.

Honestly, I never "got" Bros. Even as a mere 7 year old I remember watching them perform 'When Will I Famous' on TOTP and just not liking the song at all. Then again I think Tiffanny 'I Think We're Alone Now' was no. 1 at this point in 1988 and that was another song I liked, but didn't love.

 

Now this is more like it!!! :lol: The beauty of being a kid, being naive and vulnerable. Listening to a track like 'Together Forever' and just hearing what sounds like a great pop song. No influences of the "pink pound" or "gay culture". Just enjoying the song for what it is. Obviously had I been 10 years older in 1988 maybe my perception of this track would've been very different. I know that by the time I was 17, I had started listening to more rock/indie music and appreciating music I'd disliked when I was younger. In this case, the likes of Rick Astley are more of a guilty pleasure purely because it reminds me of my childhood.

A lot of S/A/W stuff was aimed at young teenagers, marketing to kids didn't really take hold (in the pop world) until the Spice Girls some 8 years later, I suppose at 12 years old I was the ideal demographic for them. Bros aren't really interesting musically as I have stated, but in marketing they are a masterclass. I recall tons of scenes on TV from back then with girls literally fainting at their feet- just crazy. I don't think I've ever seen that intensity in the mass of followers since, not even Take That or Westlife at their peaks (or it never seemed that way) I suppose that's why it couldn't last as long- you can't maintain that level of media exposure....

 

I think I probably like S/A/W for that reason- pure nostalgia- but then again I think it has coloured my music taste- commercial stuff, dance, harmony heavy etc...

Edited August 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

26TH MARCH- DROP THE BOY- Bros (4 Weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9733.jpg

 

Arriving straight into the top 20, Bros' second single rocketed to No 2 in only its second week on the chart before spending four, frustrating, weeks in the runner up position. Unable to dislodge Aswad/ Pet Shop Boys combo, that Bros chart topper would have to wait another 3 months, but I have to say that "Drop The Boy" is probably my least favourite Bros No 2 hit (there's a phrase I never anticipated saying). Its verses seem laboured and unfocused, the tune never gets into its stride before the chorus erupts, and curiously seems unconnected to the Verses, that's nothing unusual now, but back in the 80s that was unusual.

 

If you have to remind or state to people that you're a man then you probably aren't, and Bros's insistance in this hit might have been charming to their fans, but it's all a load of tosh to be honest, even by April 1988 that was by the by anyway. Bros had been catapulted to Smash Hits cover star status and were virtually the hottest thing in the country, so the song was largely irrelevant, and whatever the crimes were of "When Will I Be Famous" (which incidentally IS a good pop record) this is a pale imitation. I defy you to watch Craig Logan's dancing in this TOTP performance and not laugh at how bad it is, but Matt Goss is on fine form, and whatever we can say about the songs there is no denying that Goss has a fantastic voice that is both strong and powerful....

 

Edited August 8, 201113 yr by gezza76

23RD APRIL- LOVE CHANGES (EVERYTHING)- Climie Fisher (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9384.jpg

 

Now this is forgotten gem IMHO. I admit that, at the time, I didn't really care for the song, but years later in the 90s I kinda rediscovered it, and now it's one of my faves from 88. I suppose this appeals to my romantic side (I know- I surprised myself there), a song of love lost through growing up/ moving away/ life in general etc, only to be found again is kind of romantic I think, or certainly much more real than meeting at 14 and falling in love and staying together forever as Astley would have it (though both are obviously possible).

 

The song is strong melodically and sung with a grittyness that still convinces to this day, but therein lies the bonus of writing your own stuff. Indeed Climie was no stranger to the charts having written "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" for George Michael & Aretha Franklin in 1987 and post Climie Fisher (they only lasted for 2 albums) he helped to launch Astley's post S/A/W career with 1991's "Cry For Help" along with producing many hits throughout the 90s, Fisher sadly died of Bowel Cancer in 99.

 

It was a brief time spent as popstars but I think they left a good legacy and "Love Changes (Everything" will always have a special place in my affections.....

 

 

26TH MARCH- DROP THE BOY- Bros (4 Weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9733.jpg

 

Now where I do at least remember hearing 'When Will I Be Famous' at the time, 'Drop The Boy' completely passed me by unnoticed as if I didn't acknowledge the song even exsisted. Like 'Beat Dis', this is another track I only discovered via YouTube in the last couple of years. Was it worth the wait? No. I totally agree with you Gezza that is one of those mind boggling moments of a song doing well because of the group rather than the song. I suspect (well, if my neice was anything to go off then I know) that in the case of Westlife, there were girls who bought some of their singles - not because they liked the song, but because the boys looked fit on the cd cover. WHAT?!!! The definition of buying music for all the wrong reasons, surely? :lol: All the more reason to show respect here to 'Don't Turn Around' and more especially 'Heart' (which I thought was excellent at the time, and still think of the Pet Shop Boys track very fondly).

 

23RD APRIL- LOVE CHANGES (EVERYTHING)- Climie Fisher (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9384.jpg

 

Despite having a few hits in their career, it's easy to see why Climie Fisher are regarded as one hit wonders. This is the only single by them that has stood some form of test of time. I still see the video to this (albeit very rarely) on music channels like VH-1 Classic and Magic. I liked this song at the time when it was in the charts - it's innovensive, uptempo MoR that is pleasing on the ears. It's not groundbreaking but I'm sure it wasn't meant to be. That said, it's not a song I'd choose to listen to out of choice but if I was listening to Radio 2 and this was played I wouldn't feel the sudden urge to change the station.

28TH MAY- GOT TO BE CERTAIN- Kylie Minogue (3 Weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/KylieGotToBeCertainCover1.png

 

Now in 1988 I was a Kylie Loon i can't deny it, but it was her next record that did that not "Got To Be Certain". This seems like a paler version of her debut "I Should Be So Lucky", quite hollow and empty. Orginally written for, and recorded by Mandy Smith in 1987 this was another typical S/A/W composition, and even back in 1988 this was my least favourite single from her debut album. The positioning of Minogue by S/A/W as some kind of Doris Day for the late 80s was starting to take shape, a song about abstinence and coyness was entirely in keeping with the 50s image of wholesomeness that they were pushing in 88/89, and in a time when sex could kill it was a successful campaign by them.

 

Whilst ISBSL was insanely catchy this track seems like treading water from Minogue, but with "Neighbours" gripping the nation in 88 the daily exposure meant that nothing could stop the ascent of her star.....

 

2ND JULY- THE TWIST (YO TWIST)- Fat Boys Featuring Chubby Checker (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9903.jpg

 

In 1987 a cover of a hit from the 60s wouldn't have been out of place, yet just 12 months after hitting No 2 with "Wipeout" the Fat Boys appearance here looks curiously out of place. 1988 is a year of young stars, and after the excitement of Bros and Kylie, this record seems just plain lazy, roping in Chubby Checker (who of course popularised the track) just makes the record look like a carbon copy of that 1987 success, but it seems pointless.

 

It's a hard record to review really, I didn't like it at the time and I don't like it now.........

 

Edited August 9, 201113 yr by gezza76

28TH MAY- GOT TO BE CERTAIN- Kylie Minogue (3 Weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/KylieGotToBeCertainCover1.png

 

Well, if you were wondering when that week in 1988 was where my interest in the UK charts soared, this was the week. :lol: I remember very well listening to the UK Top 40 this particular Sunday when Kylie climbed 15-02 and my sister was down at our house that Sunday with the family. We were all listening to the run down hoping that Kylie had got to no. 1 :lol: So you can imagine our disappointed faces when Bruno Brooks announced 'Got To Be Certain' had just missed out on the top spot. Like you say, Neighbours was at its peak in 1988 - back then it was this and 'Home And Away' that kids my age used to love watching. So it's no wonder that Kylie and by 1989 Jason Donovan were the big pop acts of the late 80s.

 

2ND JULY- THE TWIST (YO TWIST)- Fat Boys Featuring Chubby Checker (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/9903.jpg

 

Unlike Kylie Minogue, I don't remember this at all from the time. Even listening to it in the video just now makes me wonder why it was popular. I guess Fat Boys were considered a novelty "oh hahaha" for 15 seconds before the joke wore thin. Though how they managed two UK #2 hits really does make the mind boggle.

16TH JULY- PUSH IT/ TRAMP- Salt N Pepa (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Push_It_by_Salt-N-Pepa_single_cover.jpg

 

Another hit I didn't care for at the time. "Push It" was a top 20 hit stateside in 1987 before making that leap to the UK a year later, the emergence of rap in the UK bored me rigid I have to admit. I recall being very overplayed at the time, but I also have to say that it has actually aged a lot better than most of 1988's hits and "Push It" was the first of 5 top 10 singles for the group in the UK. Whilst this is considerably better than the Fat Boys, it's a song I can't be in love with.

 

Commercial rap is a genre which of course would go on to become a major chart presence as the late 90s/ 00s came around but it was quite refreshing to have the occasional rap hit in the charts back in the 80s, and the summer lull was probably responsible for this track remaining in the runner up spot for 3 weeks. I've seen occasional cases put forward for this becoming a "classic" and I find all of them unconvincing but it's far from fingers in ears time.....

 

6TH AUGUST- THE LOCOMOTION- Kylie Minogue (4 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/KylieTheLoco-MotionCover.png

 

Sometimes the charts reflects what is going on in music- in the 80s this was certainly true. Having songs debut in the top 10 usually meant a big artist was releasing a song that was gonna be huge, and whilst 1989 was the year that debuting in the 10 became less noteworthy entering at No 2 in 1988 meant you were either Bros or Kylie Minogue. THIS is the week that my chart looning on Minogue started and the point when Sunday Nights meant time spent with Bruno rather than my mates/ family, I can't for the life of me tell you why now. "The Locomotion" is, of course, a cover of Little Eva's 1962 hit written by Goffin/ King and had been her first hit in her native Australia in 1987 where it became the biggest selling single of the decade there. Looking back it isn't her finest moment, but I fell in love with Kylie and the video for the single.

 

The four weeks it spent at No 2 were agony for me and led to an irrational hatred for "The Only Way Is Up" and Yazz that only a 12 yr old can have, now I have to conceed that Yazz had the better record of the two but I still can't like it. When you first get into the charts it really IS a big deal who No 1 is, and your favourite artist being held at No 2 is a personal slight that needs to be avenged, and for all those reasons "The Locomotion" takes me right back to being 12- simply amazing......

 

Edited August 21, 201113 yr by gezza76