40

Joyce Sims/Come Into My Life

HCP:7/1988

 

And she's back! Only 2 top 20 hits to her name and both easily sail into this top 80. Unlike it's predecessor, "Come Into My Life" is a slowie in that candle-lit 80s short of way but in much better way that you're probably envisaging! Gorgeous, silky 80s soul that still oozes class 24 years on.

 

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/9608-raw.jpg

 

Hand On Your heart is clearly a S/A/W classic, if a plain attempt to transform Minogue into an 80s Doris Day. Joyce Sims is also AMAZE, I love 88 & 89 they were by far, for me, the best years of the 1980's (probably as I was 12 and 13 and just getting into music) but it formed my musical taste for the rest of my life, thankfully for Girls Aloud who I have invested a fortune in!)

39

Madonna/Lucky Star

HCP:14/1984

Missing the top ten is something Madonna is probably used to now, but "Lucky Star" was a rather unlucky star chart-wise, missing the top 10 was a very rare occurrence in the 80s . Saying that, I have immense fondness for this quick blast of vintage Madonna. The primitive choreography is utterly endearing and, despite it's tiny budget, still stands head and shoulders above anything her disastorous MDNA album has to offer. 80s producer and dance music extraordinaire (and then boyfriend of said songstress) Jellybean paved the way for a superstar and also produced one of the great dance albums ever - "The First Album".

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Lucky_Star_Single_Cover.jpg

 

38

Ten City/That's The Way Love Is

HCP:8/1989

 

Now we're sailing into the top half of the rundown, the dance tunes of 88 and 89 are starting to flood in. Dance and house music was often hard and even cold sounding to the casual listener - Ten City however, a 3 piece male group from Chicago, added a dollop of soul to proceedings - swaggery guitars, trumpets and Byron Stingilys knock-out vocals make for one of the greatest soul tracks ever in my opinion. "TTWLI" charts the breakdown of relationships - how "feelings change just like seasons". Such a profound lyric and sung with such sincerity. Music that is very much good for the soul, as cheesey as it sounds.

 

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/10300-raw.jpg

 

"That's the way love Is" a GREAT song, I didn't manage to lay my hands on it until about the late 90s for some reason. I don't know why I didn't buy it at the time as 1989 was at the height of my 7" single buying ( I must have bought over a 100 that year) but it passed me by.

37

Neneh Cherry/Buffalo Stance

HCP:3/1988

 

"Who-wh-wh-who-whooos that gigalo on the street with his hands in his pocket and his crocodile feet!". With an opener like that, you know you're on to a winner! "Manchild" has already been featured and, like I say, it's a real head-scratcher why such a bold and exciting talent like Miss Cherry only has enough steam to carry out one successful album. "Buffalo Stance" genre hops like an over excited yo-yo and still packs out bar floors... I had a drunken wiggle (freak out!) to this just the other week on Friday night! Oh and here she is back in 1988 - 8 months pregnant!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Neneh_Cherry_Buffalo_Stance_cover.jpg

 

"That's the way love Is" a GREAT song, I didn't manage to lay my hands on it until about the late 90s for some reason. I don't know why I didn't buy it at the time as 1989 was at the height of my 7" single buying ( I must have bought over a 100 that year) but it passed me by.

 

Sometimes you have to revisit to realise the goodness of past tracks. I only ever bought one 7", which was Sybil "When I'm Good and Ready"!!, but within a matter of months the 7" was virtually out of circulation and cassette singles were the order of the day!

Sometimes you have to revisit to realise the goodness of past tracks. I only ever bought one 7", which was Sybil "When I'm Good and Ready"!!, but within a matter of months the 7" was virtually out of circulation and cassette singles were the order of the day!

Weren't cassingles just the most useless thing EVER? Even compaired to vinyl they were rubbish and soon as CD players got fitted to cars the format was dead in the water. :(

36

Evelyn King/Love Come Down

HCP:7/1982

 

Let's go back a bit now. It's 1982 and disco is, essentially dead, certainly in its purest form. That said, it never went away as such, is evolved and branched out. Evelyn King, part of the disco movement, enjoyed a brief flutter with the top 10 most notably with this absolute beauty. "LCD" is the sort of track your mother would appreciate, a perfectly simple, soul song that just swings so effortlessly.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Love_Come_Down.jpg

 

Edited July 16, 201212 yr by ScottyEm

Weren't cassingles just the most useless thing EVER? Even compaired to vinyl they were rubbish and soon as CD players got fitted to cars the format was dead in the water. :(

 

I hated by singles on tape, but is only what I could afford at the best of times! That said, I bought a ton of vinyl and CD singles in my teens!

35

Terence Trent D'arby/Wishing Well

HCP:4/1987

 

Terence owned 1987. 35 weeks on the chart and that album, which the infectious "Wishing Well" came from, "Introducing The Hardline...". Who could have guessed he would crash in spectacular fashion just a couple of years later. But lets remembers his sole glory year. All singles were great but "Wishing Well' towers above. A simplistic drum kick, a nagging whistle and shit-hot vocal. It's also worth mentioning Terence was my very first music fixation - "Introducing The Hardline" was my favourite tape when I was just 4 years old!

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/Wishing_Well_song.jpg

 

34

Mel & Kim/Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)

HCP:3/1986

 

What a track! "Showing Out" was basically 2 good-time girls giving a stern middle finger to the Thatcherite champagne socialists of the mid 80s. "Can't afford to wear diamonds and pearls/wouldn't want to be that kinda girl - anyway". DAMN RIGHT! And let's remind ourselves this is 1986 and SAW were still making tracks made firmly for the weekend with aplomb. This is so close to Chicago house, DJs were spinning this against the most underground of house tracks. It's raw, inperfect and clumsy in parts but that only adds to its charm. A bloody great record, nothing less. Mel Appleby was sadly be no longer with us but her memory will remain, atleast on my ipod anyway!

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Showing_out2.jpg

 

33

Dead Or Alive/You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)

HCP:1/1984

Any 80s rundown worth its salt is incomplete without this instant blast of giddy Hi NRG pop. Inspired by Hazell Deans "Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)", Pete Burns fancied a bit of that for the said track and SAW were equally looking for an act they could get their teeth into. The development of "YSMR" is a well documented story - it was pain-staking and time consuming. But what a result! 28 years later, Im sure both parties can look back with a smile... or as close to a smile Pete Burns can manage these days.

 

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/7757-raw.jpg

 

Edited July 19, 201212 yr by ScottyEm

32

New Order/Bizarre Love Triangle

HCP:56/1986

 

Oh I'm full of surprises! Mancunian indie darlings save a SAW hat-trick with what is, in my opinion, one of the most under-rated singles of the decade. A glorious, breezy and joyous track - what's more bizarre is how this was a complete commercial failure! That said, what remains is a cult classic. Very of it's time, so it sounds a bit dated now but the prodding bass and the electronic strings just before the chorus explodes... Wonderful!

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Blt_New_Order.jpg

 

31

Gwen Guthrie/Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent

HCP:5/1986

 

"Bill collectors at my door/What can you do for me... hey!". Gwen Guthrie was the original gold digger - and there was no shame! In an age where women are rightfully declaring independence, 1986 was a very different time and a man with a flash job and a decent salary was more important than the size of his manhood. This was THE R&B jam of 1986. A ridiculously addictive hook thanks to that bassline. Gwen would never come close to the chart highs of this and later passed away in 1999.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Ain't_Nothin'_Gwen_Guthrie.jpg

 

30

Belinda Carlisle/Heaven Is A Place On Earth

HCP:1/1987

 

One of the most iconic, exhilarating pop anthems of the said decade - US style! It's also one of the most obvious and heavily spun 7" singles of its time. "HIAPOE" was the first new number one of 1988 and would be the first of 3 consecutive solo international female artists to top the UK chart (Tiffany and Kylie followed). There isn't much more to be said about this. It's godlike, it's marvellous - enough said!

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/9581-raw.jpg

 

 

29

Grace Jones/Slave To The Rhythm

HCP:12/1985

 

Graces second and final feature on the countdown. her androgynous image and striking features together with a reluctance to conform secured her gay iconic status, which she has proudly maintained to this day. Her socialising in Studio 54 in the late 70s didn't do any harm either. But back to the track and of her back catalogue, "STTR" remains her biggest and most mainstream hit. Trevor Horns usual epic sized, glossy production (big brass sections and orchestral strings) bagged her one of the most highly acclaimed singles of the 80s. And the track lives on... hula-hooping outside Buckingham Palace, as you do. Bravo Grace!

 

How amazing is this cover!!

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/8229-raw.jpg

 

 

 

28

Pet Shop Boys/Suburbia

HCP:8/1986

 

A third dent on the rundown by the finest British duo of our generation. Not exactly sure what it is about "Suburbia" I like so much - maybe it's the crisp production, the melancholic melody or Tennant and Lowe's ridiculous flair for mixing current affairs with pop. In all honestly, it's not something I want to get to involved with. The fact remains is "Suburbia" is a masterclass in sophisticated pop.... that sax at the end... Marvellous!

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/PSB_Suburbia.jpg

 

Edited July 21, 201212 yr by ScottyEm

27

S.O.S. Band/Just Be Good To Me

HCP:13/1984

 

S.O.S. Band were from Atlanta and SOS stands for Sound of Success. How modest. Mind you, it's not exactly an inaccurate claim considering the legs "Just be Good To Me" would go on oto have. This was one of an array of 80s R&B tracks produced by the proflic Jam & Lewis team (they jump started Janet Jacksons career). This was also the decade of the cowbell. Another production group would use it to overkill later in the decade... I'll let you guess who. Of course, the track was propelled to a new level when Norman Cook covered it 6 years later for his Beats International project thus dumping the track 12 places higher up the chart.

 

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/7384-raw.jpg

 

 

 

26

Madonna/Borderline

HCP:56/1984

HCP:2/1986 (re-issue)

 

It took a re-release to get "Borderline" 54 places higher up the chart, which by 1986 and 8 top 5 hits to her name, it seemed like the sensible thing to do. Madonna is easily the most featured artist in the rundown (and it may not be the last you hear from her) so it fair to say I'm a fan - or certainly of her 80s work at least. "Borderline" is a curious song, illustrating that there is fine line between throw-a-way and absolute classic... and this sits on the borderline! Then boyfriend at the time Jellybean was asked to remix the track as Madonna was apparently not happy with the initial final mix.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Borderline_Single.jpg