24TH JULY- DA DA DA- Trio (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/Da_Da_Da_cover.jpg

 

German Band Trio hit it big with "Da Da Da" which is best summed up by the word dire. Repetitive, uninspiring, annoying, I could go on but you get the idea. It's a song that had been used on many adverts over the year probably because of its simplicity and the ability to climb inside your head, that I don;t doubt.

 

I can honestly say I don't remember this song from the time, as a 6 yr old I can assume I was out playing (thank god) but I can see no redeeming features to this song, their only UK hit and quite rightly so.......

 

 

Edited June 14, 201114 yr by gezza76

11TH SEPTEMBER- SAVE A PRAYER- Duran Duran (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/Save_A_Prayer.jpg

 

Finally we arrive at the pin up boys of "New romanticism" which was, by late 1982, having its last stand. Frilly shirts and lipstick were just on their way out to make way for power dressing and overt conspicuous capitalism. However let's savour the moment for now, the duranies had been scoring bigger and bigger hits since "Planet Earth" back in early 1981 and had emerged as the house band at Birmngham's "Rum Runner" club ,which pioneered the "New Romantic" lifestyle and look beyond the confines of London. As the new movement became a chart force so too the hits got larger with "Girls On Film" and "Hungry like the wolf" hitting the top 5 before this track, and the band were acquiring a name for themselves as fine purveyors of expensive videos in exotic locations. "Save A Prayer"'s video was shot in Sri Lanka and apparently the scene where the elephant squirts water over Jon Taylor was a controversial one, none of the band keen to do it for its supposed homoerotic overtones.

 

Anyway Duran Duran are, in my opinion, at their best between 1981-1984 when there is a genuine hub of creativity about the band, you can see the hunger behind the band in the videos- they want to be big, the biggest in the world, and another example of a group who perfectly understand how visual a medium music is. Naturally pretty boys making expensive video's is going to result in a big teenage female audience and Duran Duran were no exception, we'll meet them again when they are on their way down but for now they are in the ascent, the beginning of their "imperial phase". As a song "Save A Prayer" is essentially about loneliness, emotional repression, and the meaninglessness of "casual encounters". It's oddly haunting in a beautiful way, the synth line which pervades the record provides suitable bleakness in the landscape of the record.

 

Lyrically it's actually a pretty dark song, "you wanted to dance so I asked you to dance/But fear is in your soul/ Some people call it a one night stand/ But we can call it paradise" i'd go as far to say it's probably one of the darkest things they did single wise. Mature and unsympathetic, it offers the listener no glimpse of joy at the end of this tale, just a temporary reprieve from the emotional starkness......in short bloody fantastic!

 

Edited June 14, 201114 yr by gezza76

18TH SEPTEMBER- PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS- Dire Straits (1 week)

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/6517.jpg

 

I never really understood Dire Straits, the only period i recall well is the "Walk Of Life" era- I got that- it was bright, fun, young, I understood that. "Private Investigations" is a song which should and could be over at least 2 minutes before it actually is, I suppose you could say it's building atmosphere for the tale of a man who is convinced he is being cheated on- it's like paranoia on vinyl. The verses are spoken, half whispered- I suppose to make the tale a convincing portrayal of heartbreak, jealousy, vengence, and revenge but ultimately it all comes across as dull.

 

You half end up understanding why she cheated on him, the dark moods, the ominious lyrics, it's a tale told in a bar filled with smoke by a drunken man, the one that you want to get away from, the one that could flip at anytime, now all this could make for a smashing record but its length blunts the message, over-eggs the emotion, and leaves you feeling a little depressed yourself, then again maybe i'm missing the point, find out for yourself.....

 

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by gezza76

25TH SEPTEMBER- THE BITTEREST PILL (I EVER HAD TO SWALLOW)- The Jam (2 wks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/TheBitterestPillFront.jpg

 

It's not the happiest of themes. Weller seems to be observing a former love who is marrying someone else, and now laments his loss, "In your white lace and your wedding veils/ You look the picture of contented new wealth/ But from the on-looking fool who believed your lies/ I wish this grave would open up and swallow me alive" it's kind of extreme stuff- a kind of morbidity and self pity that Morrissey would be echoing very shortly. Trouble is, well not trouble really in my opinion, it's wrapped up in beautiful orchestraction. Now i'm no fan of Weller- I find no joy in a man who is full of himself and his own righteousness (or certainly he comes across as that to me), but his stuff with the Jam is the most bearable to my ears, and "The Bitterest Pill" is definitely my favourite single they ever did by some margin.

 

He's equally vitriolic and full of passion on most of the band's work, that is never in question, but here he's talking about himself in a personal manner, not the angry young man railing at the system that we see in "Malice" and "Underground" which I give credit to as being superbly written, but in this song he appears to let down the guard, this is anger, but at himself, not the world.

 

A great work and one that deserved No 1 status but when you're up against "Pass The Dutchie" you don't stand a chance really....

 

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by gezza76

9TH OCTOBER- ZOOM- Fat Larry's Band (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/6532.jpg

 

I was all ready to write this review along the lines of "OK but nothing special" and then I found myself listening to it again and again. It's not well remembered and you won't find it on many 80s compilatons but that's a shame- it's actually a beautifully crafted piece of 80s pop soul which has a very subtle underrated charm that almost takes you in unawares. The band incidently are named after the drummer, I doubt you would get away with a name like that now (but a look at the drummer reveals the name is not a lie).

 

It was their only brush with the top spot in the UK which is also a shame, songs about love (which is going well) tend to be either heart and flowers or stomach churningly syrupy but "Zoom" treads the line just right, which considering how many songs have tread it unsuccessfully, is actually a revelation of expert songwriting. Understated and just right- be warned though- you just might fall in love with it....

 

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by gezza76

30TH OCTOBER- ANNIE, I'M NOT YOUR DADDY- Kid Creole & The Coconuts (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/6560.jpg

 

August Darnell (Kid Creole) is up next with their third (and final) top 10 hit of their career. Infused with jazz and latin, this is a little pop nugget with a catchy chorus and moreover an eye catching video, kinda cod gangsta long before 50 Cent met the genre! Lyrically it's a tale of Kid denying he is the father of Annie (imagine a latin version of "Billie Jean" and you're just about there), a corker of a little number and well worth its place on this list. There's even some cheeky humour in the lyrics "See if I was in your blood/ Then you wouldn't be so ugly" it's fun pop a la 82 and that can only be a good thing!

 

1982 proved to be just as contrasting a list as those of 1981 which is obviously to be praised, but as the 80s wears on we're starting to get into more corporate ground (and certainly by the time we get to 85 onwards) that's not to say that there is nothing else of worth to come, far from it, but that odd gems like Kid Creole become less frequent which is a shame, and diversity is definitely a feature of the earlier part of the decade. Anyway try it and see- I think you'll like....

 

Edited June 16, 201114 yr by gezza76

Was Zoom a theme for an 80s tv show?

mmm, I'm too young to recall from memory but the internet is providing me with any answers so I'll have to pass on that- perhaps some of the older members might be able to assist? :D

Edited June 10, 201114 yr by gezza76

13TH NOVEMBER- HEARTBREAKER- Dionne Warwick (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/DW_Heartbreaker.jpg

 

Let's be clear "Heartbreaker" is epic stuff. More a relative of "Stand by Your Man" than "I Will Survive" its a song which aches with both resiliance and betrayal. It contains wild hyperbole "Love should be everything or not at all" and "This world may end/ Not you and I/ My love is stronger than the universe" it's the stuff of Wuthering Heights, it's as dysfunctional a tale of relationships as that great novel, and all wrapped up in a truely great melody by the Bee Gees. Whilst I love "Chain Reaction" for me "Heartbreaker" is THE song that the Bee Gees made and gave away, the gift of Warwick's performance is that you get to the end of the song actually wanting her to turn things round with her evil cheating man.

 

For all these reasons it's rightly her biggest UK hit, the tale of the woman wronged would be wasted if sung by the brothers Gibb, but its great songwriting for sure. By some stretch my favourite runner up of 1982 and one of my mother's favourite as well (not quite what that has to do with facts but a little additional info for you there!)

 

 

Edited June 16, 201114 yr by gezza76

27TH NOVEMBER- MIRROR MAN- Human League (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Mirrormancover.jpg

 

Had it run into the final Jam single ever this would undoubtedly have been the band's second chart topper in Nov 1982. In style it's an update of the motown sound of the 1960s with enoough hooks and catches to draw you in, and was widely tipped by the bookies to become the christmas chart topper of 1982 but that fact that it's on this list means that in this respect alone it is a failure.

 

So who exactly is the mirror man? Well it wasn't until 1988 that Oakey actually revealed the subject of the song to be Adam Ant who Oakey felt had started to believe his own press and was becoming detached from reality. It's a song that I quite like actually, a typically bombastic vocal delivery from Oakey who is almost shouting, but it's all enjoyable and deliciously 1982....

 

Edited June 17, 201114 yr by gezza76

25TH DECEMBER- THE SHAKIN STEVENS EP- Shakin Stevens (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/39747.jpg

 

And so it came to pass that in the 80s it was Shaky who became most closely associated with xmas and xmas releases, something that wasn't Cliff's domain until 1988 onwards. This collection of 4 covers (surprise surprise) was comprised of "Blue Christmas/ Josephine/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy/ Que Sera Sera" and only became the xmas number two stuck behind Renee & Renato didn't it!

 

Now it's difficult to review this really, they're competant enough covers but beyond that perhaps there is nothing to say. He'd have much better luck in 85 when he actually suceeded in getting the xmas chart topper, we'll consider this a warm up for that eh?.....

 

Edited June 17, 201114 yr by gezza76

Just catching up on this, great stuff, didn't realise that Yazoo first did "Only You" :o Their version is muchos better.

Catching up here too... LOVE the tracks from Yazoo, Duran Duran and Human League.

 

It's very striking what an odd collection of tracks this thread contains, some of the songs here are incredibly awful!

Catching up here too... LOVE the tracks from Yazoo, Duran Duran and Human League.

 

It's very striking what an odd collection of tracks this thread contains, some of the songs here are incredibly awful!

Agreed, but then it has to be forgiven considering the sheer variety of records that you get, something shocking to something amazing- and all genre's much more varied than you get in say the 00s when a fanbase alone is required to get you there- these all had to climb to No 2 so they relied on teh casual buyer so i suppose even if you didn't like a record (and there is a lot to loathe) you can't deny they are catchy and you can see the appeal :)

15TH JANUARY 1983- A WINTER'S TALE- David Essex (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/6655.jpg

 

He was a major heart throb in the 70s but those boyish good looks were starting to fade a bit by the early 80s and indeed this was Essex's penultimate top 20 hit of his long music career. By rights this should have been a christmas No 1 in my opinion, if only he'd have got a choir in and a sleigh bell I suspect he could have made it as well. It's a simple song without big production and even a whiff of subtlety, it's written by Tim Rice and Make Batt which will explain why it sounds a lot like the follow up to "Bright Eyes".

 

How this managed to get lodged behind Phil Collins I'll never know, I think even as a 7 yr old i'd have been routing for this song, and whilst it's not gonna change the course of pop history it's a credible entry into our list and a fine way to start 1983, by the way I'm not commenting on that fur coat on the sleeve, it's the 80s after all...

 

Edited June 19, 201114 yr by gezza76

5TH FEBRUARY- ELECTRIC AVENUE- Eddy Grant (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/6676.jpg

 

Coming off the back of a 3 week No 1 single in "I Don't Wanna Dance" this was Grant's follow up and almost repeated the feat. I quite like "I Don't Wanna Dance" and I also like "Electric Avenue", it has the same Joie De Vivre as it's predecessor and about as infectious. An ode to the street of the same name in Brixton, London, one of the most multi cultural parts of London, certainly in the London of 1983.

 

Other than this there isn't much to be said about the record, nice, engaging, and catchy, but it won't be winning any awards....

 

EDIT: After a few listens it strikes me what a masculine record this is- i'm unsure what makes it so- it may be the edginess, or the "oi" chants, but it suggests this song could only be made by a man......maybe I'm wrong but it's just my ramblings....

 

Edited June 19, 201114 yr by gezza76

19TH MARCH- SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)- Eurythmics (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Eurythmics_SDAMOT.jpg

 

I was becoming aware of pop music by the time 1983 came round- it was the year that I started Junior school- the time when you start to experience proper peer prssure. I recall "Sweet Dreams" from that time- it was a play ground favourite and the girls loved it. It's a very determined record, there's no messing with Lennox on the vocal and the beat is clearly king here with the synth line hovering somewhere above it. For this reason it, much like Grant before it, makes this record a curiously masculine record despite being sung by a woman, it's early Eurythmics so the video is wrapped up in androgyny and gender blending which the whole thing rather exciting. It is, of course, an insanely catchy song but it's the focus that you're left with, the drive, the ambition, it's almost like a vehicle for the cult of personality that Lennox attempts to build.

 

Perhaps that's what's lacking from the Eurythmics post 1984, once you make it the ambition tails off, happens to the best of them (see Oasis), but those early records by the band are fantastic, not only from a musical point of view but also a visual one. We are in the heyday of the pop promo here, being thought provoking and artistic, when music came on an equal par with visuals, now that is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your opinion, but it did ensure that the promo makers had a brief to make as wacky a video as possible.

 

A great video mixed with a superb song- the perfect package for the 80s and a number one had it not been for Bonnie Tyler......

 

EDIT: Doesn't that backing singer look like Eddi Reader?

 

Edited June 20, 201114 yr by gezza76

16TH APRIL- CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND- Culture Club (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Churchofthepoisonmind.jpg

 

"Karma Chameleon" is an undoubted classic mainly due its simplicity and sheer joy, similarly I think George is at his best belting out the ballads like "Victims" and "Time" which are gold nuggets of pop. COTPM is neither, its upbeatness leaves me rather empty and kinda wondering what that was all about when you get to the end of it. Helen Terry provides great gusto on backing vocals of that there is little doubt, and there is lots about the record to like so it's not a thumbs down from me by any means.

 

The campness and theatricality of the whole thing is also engaging, to a level, trouble is that it's to the detriment of the song, it's a song about Boy George, lots of songs are about the writer that's not an issue, but its almost like it tries to deny it, its cloaked in pretending to be about someone else, perhaps it's the deception that offends, i'm unsure, but at the end I feel dissatisfied.......

 

Edited June 20, 201114 yr by gezza76

30TH APRIL- WORDS- F R David (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/FRDavidWords7InchSingleCover.jpg

 

Ever been in love? Just couldn't find the words to tell that special person just how you felt? Well you and F R David (real name Elli Fitoussi) need to talk! He's not quite a one hit wonder (follow up "Music" made No 71) but not far off, and back in the spring of 83 this was a No 1 hit virtually throughout Europe, with the UK being one of the few countries to hold out. it doesn't quite manage to tread that fine line between syrupy ballad and heartfelt plea that say "Zoom" did, but it's not that wide of the mark either. It's a song that I actually warm to the more often I hear it.

 

Now I do vaguely recall this song from the time and remember thinking how tame it was compaired to "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" but let's be honest what is as wild as Bonnie Tyler running through that mansion & the crazy kids with the glowing eyes? It's also a gentle song like being hugged by your mother after you've had a fall, rather than a hug by your other half leading to rampant sex. In this way the pace of the record really rather reflects the message of the lyrics, gentle, earnest, and endearing, to hate it would really be like kicking a kitten and do you want that on your conscience?......

 

Edited June 21, 201114 yr by gezza76

MAY 14TH- (KEEP FEELING) FASCINATION- The Human League (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/KeepFeelingFascination.jpg

 

There's something a little bit strange about this record. It's ahead of its time in a way- the notion of seemingly welding two seperate records into one (which is what this sounds like) is quite noughties, and yet the begining of the record, and indeed the synth line, in the chorus seems out of tune and hurts the ears, it essentially spoils the song which verse wise isn't bad. An unusual tete a tete between the girls and the boys of the band, and an unusual vocal from Jo Callis to boot, but a look at the TOTP performance below should tell you exactly what the real problem was.

 

Phil Oakey is of course present, full on make up and what looks decidedly like a girls top, and back in 1981 or 1982 this would have been just another TOTP week, but something happened in 1983, dressing up was fine (and there is a lot of it to come) but now dressing up went from feminisation to masculisation (we got a corker of an example coming up), and I think this can be read in a political context. Thatcher's second election victory in (you guessed it) 1983 was her finest moment- the moment that she changed from the unsure prime minister with a shaky mandate into the landslide winning battleaxe who was fearless- in other words her more masculine traits came to the fore. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this but there seems to me to be a ground change in 1983 and it's exactly why Human League and even Boy George start to look uncomfortable on TOTP, almost like they know they're becoming a relic of pop history. Dressing up is fine, as long as you dress up to look masculine.

 

But hang on isn't this just a pop record? Can socio-political context explain why a band lose popularity? Well no, the transition in pop takes years rather than months, but by 1985 the stars of the new romantic revolution were either forgotten about, or were now power dressing (see above point) and Human League were in this camp, I just don't think that all the above is UN- related.....

 

Edited June 21, 201114 yr by gezza76