11.09.1982 : Mari Wilson - Just What I Always Wanted (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.bookmebookme.co.uk/sites/default/files/performer_photos/Image3.jpg

 

 

Mari MacMillan Ramsey Wilson is an English singer. She is best known for her 1982 hit "Just What I Always Wanted" and her 1960s image complete with beehive hairstyle.

 

Recording on the Compact Records label with her backing band The Wilsations, Wilson scored six UK Top 100 singles between 1982-84. Her biggest hit, "Just What I Always Wanted", reached no.8 in 1982. In 1983, she scored a second Top 40 hit with a cover of "Cry Me a River" (UK #27) and released her debut album Showpeople (UK #24). After this, further commercial success eluded her, though, in 1985, she performed the song "Would You Dance with a Stranger" (theme for the film Dance With a Stranger), and turned her career towards live performances. Although for a while she distanced herself from her beehive days, she started touring with her old songs again in 2007.

 

In 1992, the album The Rhythm Romance, which combined jazz standards with 1960s songs and original material, failed to return her to the charts. She continued performing with jazz bands, and sang the theme-song to the TV sitcom Coupling ("Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"). Her version of "Cry Me a River" was featured in the 1990s crime drama series McCallum.

 

In 2005, Wilson returned to recording with the album Dolled Up. This was followed by a compilation of her hits, The Platinum Collection to celebrate her 25th anniversary in the music industry. Apart from pursuing her solo career, she toured with Barb Jungr and Claire Martin as the cabaret act, 'Girl Talk' (though Claire Martin has now been replaced by Gwyneth Herbert)

 

As of 2011, Wilson has been working on a new album called "Cover Stories", due out in 2012 and funded by public subscription.

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

14.08.1982 : Sheena Easton - Machinery (1 week # 1)

 

http://movie.smartzone.ru/uploads/posts/2012-12/1354904900_pretty_voices15.jpg

 

 

Easton's first three US albums : Sheena Easton (1981) (retitled edition of Take My Time), You Could Have Been With Me (1981), and "Madness, Money and Music" (1982), were all in the same Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary pop vein, although she made a grab for the New Wave audience with "Machinery" (US # 57, UK # 38). The title track from You Could Have Been With Me made it in to the Top 15 (US), however, by the end of 1982, she saw her sales slumping.

 

Hi Alex, some major classic number pop toppers in 1982 so far and some I dont know at all. The dooleys And I Wish is one of those I dont own and havent heard for 30 years, though I have vague recollections it wasn't bad.

 

Machinery, I bought, and have fond memories of the ever-cool indie-promoting legendary DJ John Peel saying on Top Of The Pops this was her best record so far - which I agreed with. Peel had several copies of 9 to 5 in his DJ box.

 

I see some wag has slipped in Black Sabbath. Their Paranoid, which is a classic rock record peaked at 2 in my charts in 1980. I placed Abba and Bucks Fizz' post-eurovision hits a bit higher at 1. John Peel, Paul Gambaccini and other DJ heroes of mine were/are quite comfortable with liking pop, so that's good enough for me too:)

 

cheers!

john

 

09.10.1982 : Tight Fit - I'm Undecided (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://dl3.zaycev.net/artist/1722/172249-66404.jpg

 

 

More great "ABBA wannabies". Tight Fit got their second # 1 with flopped UK single "I'm Undecided".

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

 

23.10.1982 : ABBA - The Day Before You Came (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/53720/ABBA.jpg

 

 

"The Day Before You Came" is a song recorded and released by Swedish pop group ABBA, their second longest (behind Eagle) at almost 6:00 in length. It was originally released in 1982 as both a single, and a track on the compilation album The Singles: The First Ten Years. It is reportedly the final ABBA recording, however regardless of whether this is indeed true, it was not their final song to be released (the next single was "Under Attack", also featured on the album).

 

"The Day Before You Came" was digitally recorded and mixed on 20 August 1982, with the working title of "Den Lidande Fågeln" (The Suffering Bird). Apart from Fältskog's lead vocal and a vocal line of Lyngstad mixed with the instrumental, the only instruments featured on the song were Andersson's synthesizer and drum machine, Ulvaeus' acoustic guitar and a snare drum by Åke Sundqvist.

 

Many years after the song was recorded, Michael Tretow, ABBA's longtime sound engineer, recalled Agnetha performing the lead with dimmed lights and said that the mood had become sad and everybody in the studio knew that 'this was the end'. On this rumour, Stephen Emms of The Guardian continues the story by saying "finishing her vocals, our heroine was to remove her headphones and walk solemnly out into the daylight, never to return".

 

"The Day Before You Came" was released in October 1982, as both the first new song from ABBA's double compilation album. The Singles: The First Ten Years, and also as a single. The single was officially released on 18 October 1982 with another new song, "Cassandra", as the B-side. By this time, ABBA were experiencing a slow decline in UK single sales. Accordingly, the single peaked at No. 32 there. Ironically in 1984 a cover by British synthpop duo Blancmange charted higher than the ABBA recording reaching No. 22 on the UK charts. ABBA's recording however, hit the top 5 in Belgium, Finland, West Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. It also reached No. 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. Along with "Under Attack", prior to being featured on the album, the song had appeared in the United States only as a non-LP B-side. The song did not chart in that country.

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

 

13.11.1982 : Renee and Renato - Save Your Love (7 weeks # 1)

 

http://i051.radikal.ru/0912/bb/8728c32e5112.jpg

 

 

"Save Your Love" is a song which, when performed by duo Renee and Renato, was a UK Number one hit in December 1982. It remained at the top of the chart for four weeks before being knocked off by Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love". The song was written by Johnny Edward (creator and voice of fictional robot TV character Metal Mickey) and his wife Sue.

 

"Save Your Love" entered the UK charts in October 1982 at number 54. However, it began to pick up sales during the Christmas period, and seven weeks after its debut was at the top of the charts, resulting in it being played on Top of the Pops and many radio stations. Renee (whose real name was Hilary Lester), did not appear in the video for "Save Your Love"; instead, she was replaced by a model. The song was a huge hit, but the follow-up "Just One More Kiss", stalled at No. 48 in the charts. The duo went their separate ways.

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

 

18.12.1982 : Bucks Fizz - If You Can't Stand The Heat (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dN12_YBg0IE/Sa599fXg2aI/AAAAAAAAEaY/7TtyjX06zsM/s320/bucksfizz25.JPG

 

 

"If You Can't Stand the Heat" is a single by UK pop group Bucks Fizz. It was released in November 1982 and became the group's fifth top 10 single in the UK (and seventh consecutive top 20 hit), eventually peaking at No.10 in January 1983. It was certified silver by the BPI for sales of over 250,000 in the UK.

 

The lyrics of the song tell of someone who is manipulative, but when faced with her own medicine, can't handle it, hence the song's title. The song was a change for the group in that it was their first single where the two female members took the lead vocals on the track - according to the group, this was done due to requests from fans. It has also been noted that the faint reggae beat on the track gives it a slight variation on the group's usually straightforward pop. The song received a positive review from Record Mirror magazine, which complimented the song's production values, calling it “Another truly staggering pseudo-dramatic epic”. It was also well-received by Smash Hits which said "Bucks Fizz still know how to make really cultured pop singles" while also complimenting the production.

Edited December 30, 201410 yr by NICI Moose

Very sad news for the most retro pop music fans. It was the last year for 3 ultimate groups : ABBA, Blondie and Brotherhood Of Man.

 

All my personal # 1 singles (1982) :

01. ABBA - One Of Us (3 weeks)

02. ABBA - Head Over Heels (5 weeks)

03. Bucks Fizz - My Camera Never Lies (3 weeks)

04. Bardo - One Step Further (2 weeks)

05. Tight Fit - Fantasy Island (3 weeks)

06. Dana - I Feel Love Comin' On (4 weeks)

07. Bucks Fizz - Now Those Days Are Gone (2 weeks)

08. Brotherhood Of Man - Lighting Flash (4 weeks)

09. Nicole - A Little Peace (3 weeks)

10. Nicole - Give Me More Time (4 weeks)

11. Mari Wilson - Just What I Always Wanted (3 weeks)

12. Tight Fit - I'm Undecided (3 weeks)

13. ABBA - The Day Before You Came (2 weeks)

14. Renee and Renato - Save Your Love (7 weeks)

15. Bucks Fizz - If You Can't Stand The Heat (3 weeks)

 

Personal Awards:

Best single, which was not my personal # 1 : Barbra Streisand - Memory

Most # 1 singles : ABBA, Bucks Fizz (3)

Most # 1 weeks : ABBA (10)

Singer of the Year : Nicole

Group of the Year : ABBA

Favourite Eurovision song : Mess - Sonntag (Austria)

Favourite official UK # 1 single : Bucks Fizz - The Land Of Make Believe

Song of the Year : Renee and Renato - Save Your Love

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

Very sad news for the most retro pop music fans. It was the last year for 3 ultimate groups : ABBA, Blondie and Brotherhood Of Man.

 

All my personal # 1 singles (1982) :

01. ABBA - One Of Us (3 weeks # 1)

02. ABBA - Head Over Heels (5 weeks # 1)

03. Bucks Fizz - My Camera Never Lies (3 weeks # 1)

04. Bardo - One Step Further (2 weeks # 1)

05. Tight Fit - Fantasy Island (3 weeks # 1)

06. Dana - I Feel Love Comin' On (4 weeks # 1)

07. Bucks Fizz - Now Those Days Are Gone (2 weeks # 1)

08. Brotherhood Of Man - Lighting Flash (3 weeks # 1)

09. Nicole - A Little Peace (3 weeks # 1)

10. Sheena Easton - Machinery (1 week # 1)

11. Nicole - Give Me More Time (5 weeks # 1)

12. Mari Wilson - Just What I Always Wanted (4 weeks # 1)

13. ABBA - The Day Before You Came (4 weeks # 1)

14. Renee and Renato - Save Your Love (5 weeks # 1)

15. Bananarama - Cheers Then (2 weeks # 1)

 

Personal Awards:

Best single, which was not my personal # 1 : Barbra Streisand - Memory

Most # 1 singles : ABBA (3)

Most # 1 weeks : ABBA (12)

Singer of the Year : Nicole

Group of the Year : ABBA

Favourite Eurovision song : Mess - Sonntag (Austria)

Favourite official UK # 1 single : Bucks Fizz - The Land Of Make Believe

Song of the Year : Nicole - Give Me More Time

 

Hi Alex,

 

well 4 of them hit my number one at the time (abba & bucks fizz) and Mari, Sheena, Tight Fit all went top 10, the rest all charted I think...

 

it was a shame Abba just quietly faded away, a big goodbye would have been nice. I like to think I Know Him So Well would have been an Abba Number One in 1985:)

 

cheers

john

Hi Alex,

well 4 of them hit my number one at the time (abba & bucks fizz) and Mari, Sheena, Tight Fit all went top 10, the rest all charted I think...

it was a shame Abba just quietly faded away, a big goodbye would have been nice. I like to think I Know Him So Well would have been an Abba Number One in 1985:)

 

"Thank You For The Music" will the last ABBA # 1 in late 1983. :)

"I Know Him So Well" was the last Steps # 1 on Xmas week in 2001.

 

As I said before "When All Is Said And Done" could be another UK top 10 hit for ABBA in 1982.

Same opinion about "Honey Honey", "Hasta Manana" and "Eagle".

How many number #1 hits ABBA had in my charts ?

 

It's not 100 % accurate, but...

 

From UK Retro Favourites thread :

01. Ring Ring (5 weeks # 1)

02. Waterloo (9 weeks # 1)

03. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (4 weeks # 1)

04. SOS (3 weeks # 1)

05. Dancing Queen (5 weeks # 1)

06. Knowing Me, Knowing You (7 weeks # 1)

07. Name Of The Game (3 weeks # 1)

08. Angeleyes (5 weeks # 1)

09. I Have A Dream (5 weeks # 1)

10. The Winner Takes It All (5 weeks # 1) [sue Wilkinson and "Woman In Love" were very strong opponents for ABBA]

11. One Of Us (3 weeks # 1)

12. Head Over Heels (5 weeks # 1)

13. The Day Before You Came (2 weeks # 1)

14. Thank You For The Music (some weeks in late 1983)

 

Non-UK Singles :

15. Honey Honey

16. Hasta Manana

17. When All Is Said And Done

18. Happy New Year

19. Nina, Pretty Ballerina

 

Also can add :

20. That's Me (Japanese single)

21. When I Kissed The Teacher (video was released)

 

Even if :

1. I exclude "SOS" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do".

They are in most dangerous situation and under attack from Lynsey De Paul (I skip 1-2 her singles, maybe will correct in future) and Dutch chart hits.

2. Don't count 2 songs from my ABBA top 5 ("That's Me", "When I Kissed The Teacher")

 

Total : I have 17 ABBA # 1 singles !!! (It's the same result with Steps) or RECORD 19 # 1 hits (with "That's Me", "When I Kissed The Teacher")

 

Madonna, Britney Spears, Sugababes and maybe Shania Twain (include her country singles) also have many #1 hits, but I think, that 17 # 1s and especially 19 # 1s are impossible results for any another artists / groups.

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

 

08.01.1983 : Annie Haslam & Nevada - In The Bleak Midwinter (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/53870041.png

 

 

Annie Haslam is an English rock vocalist, songwriter, and painter.

 

Originally a fashion student, she began studying under opera singer Sybil Knight in 1970. In February 1971, she became the new lead singer of Renaissance, after answering an advertisement in a magazine, and auditioning for the band in Surrey.

 

In 1977, she began her solo career with her album Annie in Wonderland, produced by Roy Wood who played most of the musical instruments, and who also duetted with her on one track, and also performed on the Intergalactic Touring Band album. Haslam and Wood were engaged to be married for four years, which she later described as "Four of the funniest years of my life". She has since released eight studio albums, three of which were released through her own record label, White Dove. She has also collaborated with Steve Howe on a number of projects.

 

In 1993 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she survived and which became the inspiration for her 1994 album, Blessing in Disguise.

Edited May 12, 201312 yr by AlexRange

-

Edited January 26, 201510 yr by NICI Moose

 

05.02.1983 : Crystal Gayle - Everything I Own (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/12/1259/Q72T000Z/posters/crystal-gayle.jpg

 

 

Crystal Gayle is an American country music singer best known for her 1977 country-pop hit, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". An award-winning singer, she accumulated 20 number one country hit songs during the 1970s and 1980s (18 No. 1's on Billboard and 2 on Cashbox). Also famous for her nearly floor-length hair, she was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine in 1983. She is the youngest sister (by 19 years) of singer Loretta Lynn and a distant cousin of singer Patty Loveless. Crystal Gayle has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near Loretta Lynn's star.

 

"Everything I Own" was only # 93 in UK Singles chart.

Edited May 13, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

26.02.1983 : Renee and Renato - Just One More Kiss (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.vinylsolution.com/images/products/129184.jpg

 

 

Renée and Renato was a female/male vocal duo, who had a UK Number one hit in December 1982 with "Save Your Love". The follow-up single "Just One More Kiss" peaked at #48. Their third single, "Jesus Loves Us All", failed to reach the UK Singles Chart.

 

West Midlands-resident Italian-born Renato Pagliari auditioned for ITV's talent show New Faces in 1975, catching the attention of songwriter, Johnny Edward, who had written "Save Your Love". He was teamed by Edward with British singer Hilary Lester and the duo was renamed as Renee and Renato. They recorded the song, "Save Your Love", which became the 1982 Christmas number one. By that stage Lester had already joined another group, and the contractually enforced follow-ups, "Just One More Kiss" and "Jesus Loves Us All", flopped.

 

Lester returned to private life after the fame died down, but Renato still sang, mainly on cruise ships and occasionally at his son's restaurant, Renato's, in Tamworth, Staffordshire. His later credits included a guest spot on the TV comedy show Little and Large. He also issued several albums.

Edited May 13, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

12.03.1983 : Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.sunkj.com.tw/sunkj/attachments/201205/9434833571.jpg

 

 

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a Platinum-certified power ballad, written and produced by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler for her studio album Faster Than the Speed of Night.

 

Released as a single in early 1983 in the UK and later that summer in the US, it was the first release from the album and became Tyler's biggest career hit, reaching number one in several countries including the United States, making her the first and only Welsh singer to reach the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100.

 

The power ballad remains Tyler's most successful song, peaking at No. 1 in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom. At its peak, it sold 60,000 copies per day, and approximately 6 million copies in total. It won the Variety Club award in the UK for best single of 1983. The song also made number 82 of VH1's top 100 love songs.

 

This song was # 1 in Ireland on the date of my birth (30.03.1983), but was detroned by Duran Duran in United Kingdom.

Edited May 13, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

26.03.1983 : Rocky Sharpe & The Replays - If You Wanna Be Happy (1 week # 1)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/300x300/63724135.jpg

 

 

Second # 1 single for Rocky Sharpe & The Replays in my chart after ultimate success of "Martain Hop" in 1980.

 

It was their last chart single, which reached UK chart position 46 in 1983.

 

02.04.1983 : Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://images.ukfestivalguides.com/gallery_images/sweet-dreams/sweet-dreams_2.jpg

 

 

"I'm Never Giving Up", written and composed by Ron Roker, Jan Pulsford, and Phil Wigger, was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed by the trio Sweet Dreams.

 

Assembled specifically to perform "I'm Never Giving Up" in the 1983 edition of A Song for Europe - A Song For Europe being the UK national preliminary round in the Eurovision contest - Sweet Dreams were often compared to Bucks Fizz the mixed-gender quartet who'd given the UK a high profile victory at Eurovision 1981 with "Making Your Mind Up": indeed Bucks Fizz were the evident prototype for several acts entered in the 1982 edition of A Song For Europe - including Lovin' Feeling a 1982 entrant which had featured Bobby McVay in an otherwise female quartet who'd finished fourth with "Different Worlds, Different People" - and also A Song For Europe 1983.

 

The song was sung up-tempo and related to the story of the singers "never giving up" in their quest to win back their lover, and restoring their love "the way it was before." The trio was dressed in exercise gear, with McVay colour-coordinated in blue, and Gray and Kray in red and yellow accessories, respectively. Also unique that year was their use of stools as props, sliding off them at one point to signify a key change in the melody.

 

Sweet Dreams were a British vocal trio comprising teenagers Carrie Gray, Helen Kray and Bobby McVay who represented the UK in Eurovision 1983 with the song "I'm Never Giving Up".

 

On the night of Eurovision 1983, held at Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich, Sweet Dreams performed "I'm Giving Up" third in a field of twenty to finish the contest in sixth place. In 2008 Carrie Gray - now known as Carrie Grant - would state: "We came sixth, which actually at the time was really shameful, but these days that would be a strong result." While the sixth place finish of "I'm Never Giving Up" at Eurovision 1983 represented an improvement over the seventh place finish at Eurovision 1982 for the 1982 UK Eurovision entrant "One Step Further" by Bardo, "One Step Further" had afforded Bardo a #2 UK hit while Sweet Dreams' "I'm Never Giving Up" failed to reach the UK Top 20, a TOTP performance by Sweet Dreams not boosting the song. "I'm Never Giving Up" did afford Sweet Dreams a Top 30 hit in Ireland peaking there at #25. After Eurovision, the song was placed at #21 on the UK Singles Chart during an eight week run. It would become Sweet Dreams' only hit before they disbanded at the end of 1983.

 

The members of Sweet Dreams had a follow-up single to "I'm Never Giving Up" entitled "17 Electric (Look Out!)" released in August 1983: to downplay the group's Eurovision association the single was credited to Dreams. This single "17 Electric (Look Out!)" failed to chart predicating the dissolution of the Sweet Dreams/Dreams trio by the end of 1983. Carrie Grant would opine on the failure of "I'm Never Giving Up" to become a major hit or afford Sweet Dreams lasting success: "Eurovision was so popular [in the UK] when I was growing up. It started to go off the boil [in 1983 when] there was a backlash for the first time.

 

McVay went on to become a local radio presenter. Gray married singer David Grant, and became a vocal coach. In this role she appeared in BBC Television's Fame Academy in 2002-2004, and has also participated in BBC Three Eurovision programmes.

 

The group should not be confused with the duo Sweet Dreams, which had a hit in the 1970s, and also attempted to represent the UK at Eurovision in 1976.

Edited May 13, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

07.05.1983 : Ann Breen - Pal of My Cradle Days (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/010/708/0001070880_350.jpg

 

 

Ann Breen is an Irish vocalist who is best known for her single "Pal of my Cradle Days". The track was released on the Homespun label and entered the Top 100 UK singles chartson 19 February 1983, and rose to a high of number 69; it only remained in the charts (Top 75) for one week. The song spent an unusually lengthy time in the "bubbling under" section of the chart throughout 1983, and into early 1984 - a total of 17 weeks.

 

It re-entered the Top 75 once again on 7 January 1984, and reached number 74 - again, it appeared in the main chart for only one week.

Edited May 15, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

14.05.1983 : Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly - Moonlight Shadow (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://img.youtube.com/vi/e80qhyovOnA/0.jpg

 

 

"Moonlight Shadow" is a pop song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983, and included in the album, Crises, of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had joined Mike Oldfield in 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single to date, reaching number one on a number of charts around Europe.

 

The single peaked at number 4 in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second highest ranked single after "Portsmouth", which reached number 3 in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe. It reached number 1 in countries, including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number 2 in Germany, hit number 6 in Australia, and peaked at number 3 in New Zealand and France.

Edited May 15, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

02.07.1983 : Mari Wilson - Wonderful (2 weeks # 1)

 

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Second # 1 for Mari Wilson.

Edited May 16, 201312 yr by AlexRange