February 25, 201213 yr Author 54 Donna Summer/I Don't Wanna Get Hurt No:7/1989 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/Donnawannagethurt.jpg And so we begin with the first SAW-produced track on the list! Donna teaming up with the mighty trio was never really gonna fail, was it? This is a track firmly for the feet and the floor. A stellar production, Donna got with SAW at the right time, just as their sound was becoming more housey thus keeping her disco roots intact. In my view, it's also one of the greatest extended/12" mixes of the decade so I've posted that version instead (12 inches is always better than 7....). KYYaHS3dBoI Edited March 1, 201213 yr by ScottyEm
March 1, 201213 yr Author 53 Carly Simon/Why No:10/1982 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Carlysimonwhy.jpg It's all about Nile Rodgers here. From his days at Chic in the late 70s... to Carly Simon and Madonna in the 80s (and even David Bowie and Duran Duran got a sprinkle of Nile magic!). Some years after its release, "Why" found itself as a cult classic within the Ibiza and Hip-Hop scene in the late 80s. So much so, A Tribe Called Quest sampled it on 'Bonita Applebum'. It also has one of the most bizarre videos ever made. aW8UnXzP3ms
March 1, 201213 yr Author 52 Madonna/Into The Groove No:1/1985 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Intothegroovesinglecover.jpg "And you can dance... for inspiration". You said it Madge! "The Immaculate Collection" is great for 17 reasons (not 18, "La Isla Bonita" is utter tosh), and "Into The Groove" is one of the highlights. Her first album had easily established her as a pioneer of dance music and "Into The Groove" was exploitating the dance/nu-disco movement. And to cap it all off, it remains her best selling hit of the 80s (or of her career?) and is one of my personal faves. ZrLJXp3nYiE
March 1, 201213 yr Author 51 London Boys/London Nights No:2/1989 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/London-boys-london-nights.jpg Now I did warn you... this chart is gonna get a little ugly in parts. Saying that, I dislike the notion "guilty pleasure", like it's a justified method of liking something you shouldn't. Who is saying you shouldn't?? 1989 to me remains THE year for outstanding house music, but also a daft fixation for manufactured pop such as these "muscle fairies" (they weren't actually gay, believe it or not). Like their debut "Requiem", "London Nights" quickly vanished into the deep vaults of cheesey 80s pop, but for me it's a 4 minute rush of instant gratification. Blindin! 2VWDs2cgxXs
April 8, 201213 yr Are you continuing with this Scotty? In the spirit of the forthcoming S/A/W revival/ summer of love I need my fix! :o :D
July 14, 201212 yr Author After a too-may-months hiatus! The Top 50 shall begin! I have no real excuse of why I stopped for several months, the top 80 has already been done and ready to relay... Just a case of lazyarseitis. Anyway... shall we continue?
July 14, 201212 yr Author 50 Freeez/I O U No:2/1983 A relatively short-lived London act, Freeez would never come close to topping the electro swagger of "IOU". Produced by Arthur Baker (a man who is basically a leg end in dance music circles). "I O U" in 1983 is essentially a new-found technology. Even as early as 1983, electronic dance music was in position and a whole host of electro 80s tracks were predictably to follow. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Freeez_IOU_single_cover.jpg hRG_mwCecmE Edited July 14, 201212 yr by ScottyEm
July 14, 201212 yr Author 49 Kim Wilde/You Keep Me Hanging On No:2/1986 Enormous, dramatic, titanic sized production values - this is Motown getting a 1986 make over. "You Keep Me Hanging On' is a great song - the much told story of getting shut of a loveless relationship (rather like getting rid of a bad fart), Kim gives it 110% and her efforts paid off. Number one in the USA, Australia and basically shattering charts all over Eurpoe. Given it's production values, time hasn't been very kind to YKMHO, but no budget 80s compilation is complete without this! Certainly beats gardening anyway... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Youkeepmehanginon.jpg N_xrVEEblY
July 14, 201212 yr Author 48 Mel & Kim/Respectable No:1/1987 Mel & Kim were great. 2 Hackney girls - gorgeous and instantly likeable. Pete Waterman could not have been marketed them any better; young girls loved watching them on TV while their elder siblings were out dancing to the extended house mixes at 3am. SAW came to their creative peak with this and what remains is one of the most instantly recognisable classics of 1987. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Respectable_-_Mel_and_Kim.jpg czAQVsIldZ4
July 14, 201212 yr Author 47 Divine/You Think You're A Man No:16/1984 1984 is the year pop music came out of the closet. Hi NRG was getting commercial exposure, Frankie Goes To Hollywood practically monopolised the number one position and a virtually unknown songwriting trio, Stock/Aitken/Waterman, bagged their first top 20 hit with what remains their most rampent and campest hit. Even TOTP joined the gay party by having the late Divine on a centre platform, sporting a lovely V-line silver number. http://chartarchive.org/artwork/7560-raw.jpg xp-9vUp3Ge4
July 14, 201212 yr Author 46 Shalamar/A Night To Remember No:5/1982 Disco was very, very cruely written off by the beginning of the 80s, yet Shalamar continued - blissfully unaware almost. "A Night To Remember" bleeds into disco, funk, soul and pop... and cheese. It's a shame Shalamar don't get a look in much these days, 'ANTR' is just one of an array of brilliant singles and no CD/vinyl collection is complete without a 'Best Of Shalamar'. Oh and that TOTP performance... ^_^ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/Shalamarnight.jpg 1qokA5khruY
July 14, 201212 yr Author 45 Neneh Cherry/Manchild No:5/1989 How do you follow up a debut top 3 smash and a very good one at that? With something remarkably different but (almost) equally as good. "Manchild" took the tempo down and ropped in 3-D from Massive Attack - this Swedish canteause was on a mission to prove her worth. A shame Neneh never sustained the momentum as the big hits very quickly dried up. "Manchild" however remains one of '89s most under-rated and criminally ignored singles. http://chartarchive.org/artwork/10514-raw.jpg sWBTw9paRXE
July 15, 201212 yr Author 44 Frankie Knuckles Featuring Robert Owens/Tears No:50/1989 1989 again... but clock that underwhelming chart peak! "Tears" didn't exactly set the charts alite, "Tears" rather like a lot of club records, failed to translate to the charts. What is interesting about "Tears" is that this is not a house track that you can dance to - it's a love song, plain and simple. 23 years and and it's still hailed as a cult classic, mainly due to it's stellar production and the remarkable vocal from Robert Owens. -no available image- RwYJ6lTlzt0
July 15, 201212 yr Author 43 Pet Shop Boys/West End Girls HCP:1/1985 Is this the first rap single to top the UK charts? "West End Girls" was an underground sleeper, initially released in 1984 yet without troubling the mainstream. Refusing to accept there was no commercial potential in the track, Stephen Hague is assigned to revamp it into the song we know today. Those synth pads, the trembly bass line and Tennants stern "rapping" was just the latest milestone in electronic 80s music and one of the most illustrious careers on pop music was about to follow. A triumph! http://chartarchive.org/artwork/8306-raw.jpg j2QbhlnpZlY
July 15, 201212 yr A Fine selection of greats there- PSB's and Kim Wilde are very hard to argue with. That Frankie Knuckles one passed me by entirely at the time I was a slave to the top 40 at the time so if it didn't make it I wouldn't have heard it/ paid attention.
July 15, 201212 yr Author A Fine selection of greats there- PSB's and Kim Wilde are very hard to argue with. That Frankie Knuckles one passed me by entirely at the time I was a slave to the top 40 at the time so if it didn't make it I wouldn't have heard it/ paid attention. My music roots are FIRMLY in dance/house music, I bought an old dance CD when I was a kid and I was HOOKED from the get go! Bizarrely it's the chart pop of the 1980s I would discover later on. "Tears' just oozes gorgeousness and class... perhaps needed to balance out the cheddar and naffness! Ha! Edited July 15, 201212 yr by ScottyEm
July 15, 201212 yr Author 42 Lipps Inc/Funky Town No:2/1980 Play it in a retro bar, play it in an indie bar, play it in a gay bar or play it in a student dive errr I mean bar... "Funky Town" will fill a floor of drunks doing their very best robot dance. One of the most glorious one-hit-wonders of the 1980s, "Funky Town" sort of bridged the gap between disco and electro and suffered 5 long weeks in the top 3 without troubling the top spot. Considered a guilty pleasure but I struggle to understand why! http://chartarchive.org/artwork/5603-raw.jpg 5CImrIKNmBo
July 15, 201212 yr Author 41 Kylie Minogue/Hand On Your Heart No:1/1989 Well it was only a matter of time before she turned up! Not content with 4 top 2 hits and a 2 million selling debut album, SAW and Kylie plotted a second avalanche of hit singles to irritate the utter hell out of so-called muzo's. "HOYH" was a move towards a bouncier, housier sound from SAW which I'm a total sucker for (to be fair, it's all down to the desk-board wizardry of remixer Phil Harding). The choreography is rather splendid too! Check! http://chartarchive.org/artwork/10486-raw.jpg dDl7qxXikXk
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