31st July 1984

 

4 weeks for Frankie as they were heading for 9 on top of the UK singles chart, and The Beatles keep those reissued Top 10 hits coming as A Hard Day’s Night hits 6. Shakatak are down in the streets but up in the charts, at 10, and everybody might be laughing at Phil Fearon, but he’s at 12 in the charts that count so he has the last laugh. Windjammer sail up to 22, with a track I’ve utterly forgotten - I’m guessing that’s not a good sign! Hazell Dean gets a second hit, though, with the even better Whatever I Do, and the sound of Stock Aitken Waterman has 2 in the 30 (Divine, t’other one, I think). Better get used to multiple entries in the singles chart, eh lads?

 

Queen get a third Top 40 hit of 1984, Rod gets a 2nd one, and Dave Edmunds has a welcome (floptastic) Top 40 hit yet again in my charts. I’m so loyal! Arrow finally prove it’s Hot Hot Hot at 40, as a major classic enters at 42. My sis-in-law Sue, then 24, loved George Michael, and Careless Whisper especially, and the new mature pop sound was a big surprise (especially after all the furore over his video expensive haircut obsession), but as we now know a huge hit and the start of a new solo career (eventually). I can’t listen to it these days, not since it was played at Sue’s funeral.

On TV sci-fi miniseries V started, but just as the Lionel Richie record falls dramatically because it reminded me of feeling ill, so this series has the same effect since the scene of the rodent-swallowing. By now I felt like I was on the verge of bursting into tears all the time, something I’d not done for a decade or so. Mum & dad knew something was up, I wasn’t eating properly, but I couldn’t explain it to them. Or to the doctor. So I stayed on camp for a few days with everyone so they could keep an eye on me. I hope this has a happy ending!

 

 

1 ( 1 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2 ( 2 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

3 ( 4 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

4 ( 3 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

5 ( 6 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

6 ( 13 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

7 ( 7 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

8 ( 10 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

9 ( 8 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

10 ( 22 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

 

11 ( 5 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

12 ( 23 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

13 ( 17 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

14 ( 18 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

15 ( 9 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

16 ( 12 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

17 ( 11 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

18 ( 14 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

19 ( 29 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Blancmange

20 ( 20 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

 

 

21 ( 15 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

22 ( 50 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

23 ( 21 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

24 ( 19 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

25 ( NEW ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

26 ( 16 ) STATE OF SHOCK The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger

27 ( 35 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

28 ( 34 ) SEVEN SEAS Echo And The Bunnymen

29 ( 33 ) SWEET SOMEBODY Shannon

30 ( 40 ) STEPPING OUT John Lennon

 

 

31 ( 25 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

32 ( NEW ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

33 ( 31 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

34 ( 28 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

35 ( 32 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

36 ( 26 ) SISTER OF MERCY The Thompson Twins

37 ( 60 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

38 ( 74 ) SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BABY Dave Edmunds

39 ( 39 ) BROWN SUGAR The Rolling Stones

40 ( 46 ) HOT HOT HOT Arrow

 

 

41 ( 24 ) ABSOLUTE Scritti Politti

42 ( NEW ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

43 ( 36 ) LAMENT Ultravox

44 ( 30 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

45 ( 37 ) BOYS DO FALL IN LOVE Robin Gibb

46 ( 47 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

47 ( NEW ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

48 ( 38 ) PERFECT SKIN Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

49 ( 43 ) THE LEBANON Human League

50 ( 44 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

 

 

51 ( 66 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

52 ( 27 ) STUCK ON YOU Lionel Richie

53 ( 41 ) HEAVEN KNOWS I'M MISERABLE NOW The Smiths

54 ( NEW ) HAND ON MY HEART Shriekback

55 ( 45 ) YOU'RE THE BEST THING The Style Council

56 ( 72 ) MY MALE CURIOSITY Kid Creole And The Coconuts

57 ( 56 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

58 ( 58 ) ONE BETTER DAY Madness

59 ( 48 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

60 ( 70 ) ON THE WINGS OF LOVE Jeffrey Osbourne

 

61 ( 49 ) THE REFLEX Duran Duran

62 ( 61 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

63 ( NEW ) WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ONE Matt Bianco

64 ( 59 ) WOOD BEEZ (PRAY LIKE ARETHA FRANKLIN) Scritti Politti

65 ( NEW ) STATE OF INDEPENDANCE Jon And Vangelis

66 ( NEW ) THERE ARE MORE SNAKES THAN LADDERS Captain Sensible

67 ( 65 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

68 ( 51 ) TO FRANCE Mike Oldfield and Maggie Reilly

69 ( 42 ) CHANGE OF HEART Change

70 ( 69 ) RADIO GA GA Queen

 

71 ( 68 ) DOCTOR MABUSE Propaganda

72 ( 63 ) AUTOMATIC The Pointer Sisters

73 ( NEW ) COULDN'T STAND A DAY Re-Flex

74 ( 54 ) SAD SONGS (SAY SO MUCH) Elton John

75 ( NEW ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT Sunset Gun

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Mudd's Women

2 Cheers

3 Mary Tyler Moore Show

4 Rhoda

5 Soap

6 Addams Family

7 Hi De Hi

8 V

9 Top Of The Pops

10 Tenko

Edited August 1, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

7th August 1984

 

After a record-equalling modern-era 9 weeks on top of the UK chart it was 5 weeks on top for Frankie, the longest run since Abba’s Day Before You Came in 1982, with neil at 2 and the Kane Gang giving chase at 4 with the lovely Closest Thing To Heaven. Laura Branigan’s brilliant Self-Control surpasses my own in real life at 7, but it’s George’s Careless Whisper rocketing to 9 that is the big news, as sad songs continue to dominate.

 

Queen get a third top 20 hit of the year, and new in at 27 it’s Alphaville who are, apparently, Big In Japan. Must be the catchy synths! A Flock Of Seagulls fly up to perch at 32, just out of reach of Captain sensibles snakes at 34. Tracey Ullman manages a 5th Top 40 hit just ahead of leaving the country for pastures anew. Doh! And...at 46...it’s a mega-famous song. Agadoo. Push that effing pineapple, shake that blanking tree? Actually, it’s by far the best Black Lace record. Admittedly, not that much of a compliment...

 

What about the dreary life of John? Depression-symptoms continue, and affected my judgement so much that I though Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom was better than Raiders Of The Lost Ark (after seeing it a second time). Oh no it’s not! Richard Burton died, meanwhile, and still not eating much. Even going to the Radio One Roadshow on Bournemouth beach, with sis-in-law and baby niece on a glorious hot summer day didn’t cheer me up much. Just a bit. Gary Davies DJ’d, I took some photos of the crowds and cliffs, then the live broadcast started at 11, with Hazell Dean’s current hit. I marvelled at all the gorgeous fit young people in speedos and bikinis while I had my coat on. Nerd! Sue, heavily-preganant, didn’t complain about rushing back to the car in the crowds, bless her, cos the parking ticket had expired.

 

 

1 ( 1 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2 ( 3 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

3 ( 2 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

4 ( 13 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

5 ( 6 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

6 ( 4 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

7 ( 14 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

8 ( 10 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

9 ( 42 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

10 ( 12 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

 

 

 

11 ( 9 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

12 ( 5 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

13 ( 25 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

14 ( 7 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

15 ( 8 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

16 ( 11 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

17 ( 27 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

18 ( 20 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

19 ( 18 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

20 ( 32 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

 

21 ( 15 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

22 ( 22 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

23 ( 16 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

24 ( 17 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

25 ( 19 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Blancmange

26 ( 21 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

27 ( NEW ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

28 ( 37 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

29 ( 23 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

30 ( 24 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

 

 

31 ( 31 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

32 ( 46 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

33 ( 33 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

34 ( 65 ) THERE ARE MORE SNAKES THAN LADDERS Captain Sensible

35 ( 35 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

36 ( 47 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

37 ( 39 ) BROWN SUGAR The Rolling Stones

38 ( 38 ) SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BABY Dave Edmunds

39 ( 40 ) HOT HOT HOT Arrow

40 ( 34 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

 

41 ( 30 ) STEPPING OUT John Lennon

42 ( 26 ) STATE OF SHOCK The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger

43 ( 29 ) SWEET SOMEBODY Shannon

44 ( 36 ) SISTER OF MERCY The Thompson Twins

45 ( 51 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

46 ( NEW ) AGADOO Black Lace

47 ( 54 ) HAND ON MY HEART Shriekback

48 ( 28 ) SEVEN SEAS Echo And The Bunnymen

49 ( 65 ) STATE OF INDEPENDANCE Jon And Vangelis

50 ( 56 ) MY MALE CURIOSITY Kid Creole And The Coconuts

 

 

 

51 ( 41 ) ABSOLUTE Scritti Politti

52 ( 45 ) BOYS DO FALL IN LOVE Robin Gibb

53 ( 50 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

54 ( 49 ) THE LEBANON Human League

55 ( 63 ) WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ONE Matt Bianco

56 ( 44 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

57 ( 48 ) PERFECT SKIN Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

58 ( 57 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

59 ( 60 ) ON THE WINGS OF LOVE Jeffrey Osbourne

60 ( 55 ) YOU'RE THE BEST THING The Style Council

 

61 ( 43 ) LAMENT Ultravox

62 ( 75 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT Sunset Gun

63 ( 62 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

64 ( 58 ) ONE BETTER DAY Madness

65 ( 59 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

66 ( NEW ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

67 ( 66 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

68 ( 64 ) WOOD BEEZ (PRAY LIKE ARETHA FRANKLIN) Scritti Politti

69 ( NEW ) IN THE COUNTRY Farmer's Boys

70 ( 73 ) COULDN'T STAND A DAY Re-Flex

 

71 ( 67 ) TO FRANCE Mike Oldfield and Maggie Reilly

72 ( NEW ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

73 ( NEW ) BANANA BANANA King Kurt

74 ( 53 ) HEAVEN KNOWS I'M MISERABLE NOW The Smiths

75 ( NEW ) I GO WILD Suzi Quatro

 

TV

1 Star Trek: What Are Little Girls Made Of

2 The Young Ones: Summer Holiday

3 Soap

4 Rhoda

5 Mary Tyler Moore Show

6 The Addams Family

7 Outlands: film

8 Top Of The Pops

9 WKRP In Cincinatti

10 Hi De Hi

Edited August 28, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

14th August 1984

 

6 weeks for Frankie, and Laura Branigan is in runners-up spot. From the point of view of 2014 it should have been the other way around, Self Control deserved to get a least a week on top. Hazell Dean gets her first and last top 5 hit Rod gets a 13th year of Top 20 hits, and Jeff Lynne does the same with his Electric Dreams single.

 

Stevie Wonder, 16 years of big hits in my charts, and so many under-performing classics that should have gone all the way, and two that did in 1977 (I Wish and Sir Duke) and one in 1981 (Lately), and it’s the highest new entry with a telephone song that finally gave him his first solo UK chart-topper: I Just Called To Say I Love You at 19. Will it give him a 4th chart-topper? Meanwhile long-forgotten wannabe popstar Jamie Rae shoots up to 28 with She’s The One, not the Robbie song, it’s a pleasant pop song.

 

Lots of new entries: Elton John’s string of hits carries on, with Passengers, very much his prep homework for The Lion King, I think, and in at 36. The SOS Band also get a follow-up instant top 40 hit, with the Jam & Lewis Just The Way You Like It. It was. Martha And The Muffins have a comeback, albeit using Eminem’s name (but not spelling) 15 years earlier than he did. The funky Black Stations White Stations even had a dancing on the ceiling video and line that Lionel Richie “borrowed” 2 years later.

 

If ever there was a band that should have been bigger it was The Adventures, a great Northern Irish band who enter here with the fab Another Silent Day at 47, even beating out Howard Jones latest good hit at 50, Rockwell’s Beatles cover follow-up Taxman at 60, and Kid Creole’s ebbing run of singles at 62, as he worries that someone’s going to take his coconuts. Black Uhuru get a rare chart entry at 72, there’s a bit of spare Change at 73, Yes, It Can Happen - check out 75 - and call me a doctor! Doctor Beat? Doc Doc Doc Doc Doctor Beat! It’s Gloria Estefan and hubby debuting as Miami Sound Machine at 74, with the fab whimsical latin-rhythmed track that launched a pretty successful career.

At home I was marched off to the doctors as I still wasn’t eating much. His expert opinion was it was a viral infection and nerves. Next patient please! I bought a prezzie for my niece’s first birthday, and her mum did the house cleaning for me as some college friends were calling for a few days, Jane and Dave, two of my good friends just back from Italy where Dave’s relations come from. We went out to the pub, though it can’t have been much fun for them me not being at my best by any means. Next day I showed them the highlights of Poole Quay, then they took me to Swanage for my first ever visit, which was quaint, before leaving for home. Sunday, a family outing to Poole Park, everyone forcing me to get involved in life, and then on Monday waiting for more good College friends, Paul and Sheila to arrive. I’d forgotten how often people used to visit me, I must say...

 

Daley Thompson retained his Olympic title, meanwhile, on TV, and Mary Decker sobbed about her crash with Zola Budd on the track: talk about media manipulation!

 

 

 

1 ( 1 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2 ( 7 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

3 ( 3 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

4 ( 4 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

5 ( 13 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

6 ( 9 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

7 ( 8 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

8 ( 6 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

9 ( 17 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

10 ( 10 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

 

11 ( 5 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

12 ( 2 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

13 ( 19 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

14 ( 28 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

15 ( 11 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

16 ( 12 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

17 ( 22 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

18 ( 45 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

19 ( NEW ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

20 ( 20 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

 

21 ( 16 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

22 ( 14 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

23 ( 15 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

24 ( 18 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

25 ( 27 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

26 ( 38 ) SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BABY Dave Edmunds

27 ( 21 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

28 ( 66 ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

29 ( 32 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

30 ( 24 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

 

31 ( 23 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

32 ( 36 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

33 ( 34 ) THERE ARE MORE SNAKES THAN LADDERS Captain Sensible

34 ( 29 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

35 ( 31 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

36 ( NEW ) PASSENGERS Elton John

37 ( 25 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Blancmange

38 ( 26 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

39 ( NEW ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

40 ( 35 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

 

 

41 ( 33 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

42 ( 46 ) AGADOO Black Lace

43 ( 40 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

44 ( 30 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

45 ( NEW ) BLACK STATIONS WHITE STATIONS M & M

46 ( 62 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT Sunset Gun

47 ( NEW ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

48 ( 72 ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

49 ( 49 ) STATE OF INDEPENDANCE Jon And Vangelis

50 ( NEW ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

 

 

51 ( 70 ) COULDN'T STAND A DAY Re-Flex

52 ( 39 ) HOT HOT HOT Arrow

53 ( 53 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

54 ( 59 ) ON THE WINGS OF LOVE Jeffrey Osbourne

55 ( 42 ) STATE OF SHOCK The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger

56 ( 37 ) BROWN SUGAR The Rolling Stones

57 ( 56 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

58 ( 54 ) THE LEBANON Human League

59 ( 58 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

60 ( NEW ) TAXMAN Rockwell

 

 

61 ( 41 ) STEPPING OUT John Lennon

62 ( NEW ) DON'T TAKE MY COCONUTS Kid Creole And The Coconuts

63 ( 43 ) SWEET SOMEBODY Shannon

64 ( 52 ) BOYS DO FALL IN LOVE Robin Gibb

65 ( 63 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

66 ( 51 ) ABSOLUTE Scritti Politti

67 ( 69 ) IN THE COUNTRY Farmer's Boys

68 ( 67 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

69 ( 64 ) ONE BETTER DAY Madness

70 ( 60 ) YOU'RE THE BEST THING The Style Council

 

71 ( 65 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

72 ( NEW ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

73 ( NEW ) YOU ARE MY MELODY Change

74 ( NEW ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

75 ( NEW ) IT CAN HAPPEN Yes

 

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Dagger Of The Mind

2 Soap

3 Rhoda

4 What's Up Doc?: film

5 Mary Tyler Moore Show

6 The Addams Family

7 Top Of The Pops

8 The Likely Lads: film

9 Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

10 The Monkees

Edited August 29, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

21st August 1984

 

Careless Whisper gets to the top and gives George Michael his first number one. The sax is gorgeous and the conviction of the song written when he was a lad is surprisingly sincere. It was like a leap forward in sophistication for Wham!, and people viewed George with a lot more credibility from here on. Sadly for Laura Branigan, she gets stuck at 2 and Stevie (the third UK Number One million-seller in a row) leaps to 4, so it’s not looking good for her!

 

A sudden leap for the Seagulls to 12, Howard Jones to 24, Miami Sound Machine to 39, and The Pointer Sisters announce they need you at 29. A Jacko oldie sneaks in at 47, not one of his best, while The Smiths make it 4 in a row with William. It was really nothing. Oh that’s Morrissey being modest. For the first and last time. Dan Hartman, 5 years on, pops back into the charts with a future 1985 UK hit, I Can Dream About You, pleasant enough. Elvis is back (Costello) with his latest flame. The only flame in town in fact. At 67, also 5 years on, having dumped his band name (Raydio) Ray Parker Junior pops in with a halloween song from a movie. Who ya gonna call? I suggest Harold Ramis and Bill Murray, Groundhog Day, my all-time fave movie. If you can’t find it, settle for Ghostbusters. You might have heard of it...

Life? Don’t talk to me about life! Despite my friends Paul and Sheila visiting and taking me out, and having a proper laugh for the first time in months over some hairy balls (you had to be there), I was still depressed to be doing job applications, and mum tried to get me to go to Liverpool with them. Went to the cinema to see a Star Trek movies extravaganza, 1 I downgraded, Khan I upgraded in opinion, and Search For Spock, the new movie which had a few minuses (no Kirstie Alley, Christopher Lloyd being too lovable to be a Klingon, killing of David) and some pluses, the cast without Spock had more of a chance to shine, and inject some warm humour. After much indecision I went to Southport with mum and dad, and a day trip to Blackpool. A roller-coaster ride is usually guaranteed to bring me joy, best I could manage was a smile. Then to Liverpool to see grandma, who was quite flustered by the hot weather and us visiting, but did a meal before we went to New Brighton. I’ll leave it there, and comment that while I recall all the depressing stuff fairly vividly, the nice stuff I’ve almost entirely forgotten, no memories of the funfair, video games, going to see Star Trek III again. None of it. Now THAT’S depressing!

 

 

1 ( 6 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

2 ( 2 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

3 ( 1 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

4 ( 19 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

5 ( 5 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

6 ( 3 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

7 ( 4 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

8 ( 8 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

9 ( 9 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

10 ( 14 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

 

11 ( 7 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

12 ( 29 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

13 ( 13 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

14 ( 10 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

15 ( 39 ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

16 ( 18 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

17 ( 17 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

18 ( 28 ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

19 ( 12 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

20 ( 20 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

 

21 ( 11 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

22 ( 16 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

23 ( 25 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

24 ( 50 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

25 ( 33 ) THERE ARE MORE SNAKES THAN LADDERS Captain Sensible

26 ( 15 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

27 ( 32 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

28 ( 36 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

29 ( NEW ) I NEED YOU The Pointer Sisters

30 ( 23 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

 

31 ( 21 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

32 ( 22 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

33 ( 24 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

34 ( 27 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

35 ( 48 ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

36 ( 30 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

37 ( 26 ) SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BABY Dave Edmunds

38 ( 31 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

39 ( 74 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

40 ( 35 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

 

41 ( 34 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

42 ( 42 ) AGADOO Black Lace

43 ( 43 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

44 ( 41 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

45 ( 40 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

46 ( 38 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

47 ( NEW ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

48 ( 60 ) TAXMAN Rockwell

49 ( 49 ) STATE OF INDEPENDANCE Jon And Vangelis

50 ( 37 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Blancmange

 

 

 

51 ( 47 ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

52 ( 44 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

53 ( 54 ) ON THE WINGS OF LOVE Jeffrey Osbourne

54 ( 73 ) YOU ARE MY MELODY Change

55 ( 45 ) BLACK STATIONS WHITE STATIONS M & M

56 ( 53 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

57 ( 57 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

58 ( NEW ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

59 ( 59 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

60 ( NEW ) I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU Dan Hartman

 

 

61 ( 58 ) THE LEBANON Human League

62 ( 51 ) COULDN'T STAND A DAY Re-Flex

63 ( 71 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

64 ( 67 ) IN THE COUNTRY Farmer's Boys

65 ( 65 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

66 ( NEW ) THE ONLY FLAME IN TOWN Elvis Costello

67 ( NEW ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

68 ( 68 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

69 ( 69 ) ONE BETTER DAY Madness

70 ( 56 ) BROWN SUGAR The Rolling Stones

 

 

71 ( 62 ) DON'T TAKE MY COCONUTS Kid Creole And The Coconuts

72 ( 64 ) BOYS DO FALL IN LOVE Robin Gibb

73 ( NEW ) SUMMER HOLIDAY Kevin The Gerbil

74 ( NEW ) MOTHER'S TALK Tears For Fears

75 ( 55 ) STATE OF SHOCK The Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger

Edited August 30, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

28th August 1984

 

2 weeks for Georgie, and Alphaville suddenly leap to 6, and Howard Jones to 7, his 5th Top 10 in a row. Highest new entry though is a 60’s MOR jazz classic from Astrud Gilberto, The Girl From Ipanema - originally a hit without any credit for her in 1964, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto getting the credit. Just as well Joao was her husband then, as she became a big Brazilian bossa nova star as a result. It’s gorgeous whoever’s on the label though.

 

In at 27, Bucks Fizz cover the Romantics hit from earlier in the year, and do a damn fine job too, getting the UK hit version. Happily I’ve seen them both do it live. At 35, Malcolm McLaren tries fusing Opera and Hip Hop, with the lovely Madame Butterfly re-imagining. I appreciate it all the more having since been forced to endure the whole tedious opera. I think the translation of the lyrics on a screen were a bad decision, being as they were romantic drivel suited better to the times they were written in.

 

Kraftwerk show they still have something to show, cycling into the top 40 9 years after they first drove in, having catwalked their way into the 40 in the interim. Tour De France is a good track. Less good, is the pleasant I’ll Fly For You, keeping up the run of middle-period “pleasant but OK-ish” hits for Spandau Ballet. I’ve seen them in concert several times, and that applies to them live too. The last time was at the O2 sat at the far back. Honestly, might as well have been on a mountain in the next country for all you could see on stage. I wouldn’t say the stage was far away but several planes from Heathrow flew past my head.

 

Finally, in the novelty section, Agadoo goes Top 40, Kevin The Gerbil drops out the chart and is replaced by Iron Maiden. Not quite sure which of the 3 is funnier.

Meanwhile, back in Liverpool 1984, visited grandma, found a comic shop, and watched some lads break-dancing, bit of a rage at the time. Then the drive home so I could go for a job interview, tensed-up and stressed. The stop-off in Gloucester though reminded me of happier times and I remembered it all perfectly well, 9 years on, hadn’t changed much at all. According to Googlemap, it still hasn’t! I may go back next weekend as I’m feeling the need to revisit my youth. Mum and dad didn’t remember much, rather shockingly, I noted: “It proves to me that memory can’t be trusted, but mine seems to be better than most people’s as I like to remember the past as best I can - one photograph as a reminder makes the difference between remembering and forgetting forever.” I stand by that comment, and especially when dealing with memories 3 decades old and no evidence whatsoever. I’ve watched people embroider factual stories over a long period of time till the story becomes part-fiction accepted as fact, just because it’s funnier or more exciting, and become “remembered” that way.

 

Back at home my brother was in A&E after getting a bad head cut from a falling iron, and still on strike and stressed and irritable. “It never rains but it pours” I mused wondering if 1984 would ever get any better. The interview was for a surveyor (temporary) position with Dorset County Council, based in Bournemouth, but travelling the county with a state-of-the-art hand computer (ie less memory than a pocket calculator these days) measuring roads and verges, and signs and white lines ready for the tendering of contracts, as plans were afoot to privatise council staff. Unusually for me, I came out of it thinking I stood a good chance of getting it “not that I want it but it’ll do till a better one comes along”. More fun, my parents were waiting for me in Boscombe which had a record shop and comic shop. Hooray!

 

A word of advice: never muse if any given year is going to get better. On saturday Sue got a phone call from her Uncle Paul telling us her grandma had died. Mum looked after Sue who was crying a lot.

 

I didn’t get offered the job.

 

1 ( 1 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

2 ( 4 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

3 ( 5 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

4 ( 3 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

5 ( 2 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

6 ( 23 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

7 ( 24 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

8 ( 10 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

9 ( 12 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

10 ( 9 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

 

11 ( 6 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

12 ( NEW ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

13 ( 39 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

14 ( 8 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

15 ( 15 ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

16 ( 7 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

17 ( 28 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

18 ( 18 ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

19 ( 13 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

20 ( 27 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

 

 

21 ( 29 ) I NEED YOU The Pointer Sisters

22 ( 11 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

23 ( 14 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

24 ( 20 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

25 ( 19 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

26 ( 67 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

27 ( NEW ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

28 ( 35 ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

29 ( 16 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

30 ( 30 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

 

 

31 ( 17 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

32 ( 21 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

33 ( 42 ) AGADOO Black Lace

34 ( 22 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

35 ( NEW ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

36 ( 26 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

37 ( 32 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

38 ( 33 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

39 ( NEW ) TOUR DE FRANCE Kraftwerk

40 ( 36 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

 

 

41 ( 40 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

42 ( 34 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

43 ( 31 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

44 ( 38 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

45 ( NEW ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

46 ( 48 ) TAXMAN Rockwell

47 ( 47 ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

48 ( NEW ) ARE YOU READY Break Machine

49 ( 43 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

50 ( 58 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

 

51 ( 25 ) THERE ARE MORE SNAKES THAN LADDERS Captain Sensible

52 ( 44 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

53 ( 41 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

54 ( 71 ) DON'T TAKE MY COCONUTS Kid Creole And The Coconuts

55 ( 64 ) IN THE COUNTRY Farmer's Boys

56 ( 46 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

57 ( 52 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

58 ( 74 ) MOTHER'S TALK Tears For Fears

59 ( 60 ) I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU Dan Hartman

60 ( 59 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

 

61 ( 45 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

62 ( 56 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

63 ( 57 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

64 ( 61 ) THE LEBANON Human League

65 ( 65 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

66 ( 66 ) THE ONLY FLAME IN TOWN Elvis Costello

67 ( 50 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Blancmange

68 ( 37 ) SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BABY Dave Edmunds

69 ( 53 ) ON THE WINGS OF LOVE Jeffrey Osbourne

70 ( 63 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

 

71 ( 68 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

72 ( NEW ) SHE BOP Cyndi Lauper

73 ( 69 ) ONE BETTER DAY Madness

74 ( NEW ) TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT Iron Maiden

75 ( NEW ) THE INK IN THE WELL David Sylvian

 

TV

1 Mary Tyler Moore Show

2 Rhoda

3 Carrott Live

4 The Monkees

5 Soap

6 Batman

7 The Twilight Zone

8 Rock Around The Clock

9 WKRP IN Cincinatti

10 Top Of The Pops

Edited August 30, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

4th September 1984

 

Stevie gets his 4th Number One, and keeps on with the tradition of those topping my chart not actually being his best records. Ah well, it’s still very popular though I’m well over it now. At 3, fluttering up the charts, it’s Malcolm McLaren getting his biggest hit to date, and at 7 Bucks Fizz return to the top 10 for a 3-year run of great pop singles. Elton also adds to his massive haul of Top 10 hits with another record I’m largely over these days, more annoying than fun.

 

Highest new entry at 19 is Depeche Mode getting well into bondage, presumably of the industrial-sounding type, and sneaking up on a high-flying Spandau track. The Smiths climb 28 places to 22, Morrissey claiming it was really nothing, but it actually was something - it stays ahead of Agadoo! Morrissey’s announcement he has been having cancer treatment explains a lot, such as the cancelled show I had tickets for, and I wish him well as soon as possible.

 

At 24, Heaven 17 are all about Sunset Now, one that sounded good enough for a high new entry, and then got promptly forgotten. The Jacksons join Michael, and mate Rockwell, inside the Top 40, and it really looks like Torture. Depeche I’m sure would approve. At 53, The Specials deliciously sly What I Like Most About You, so sweet-sounding, so back-stabbing! Lyndsey Buckingham has a solo break again, after his 1982 Number 1 with the gorgeous Trouble, and much like Jameela feels a bit insane. Junior’s back with somebody at 59 - no not Kim Wilde, that’s in the future. OMD keep up the run of great singles at 67 with T T T Tesla Girls, and The Bluebells get a good follow-up with Cath, and Sade’s Smooth Operator slides smoothly in at 74. oooerrr missus!

 

On TV, Star Trek delight, and a new TV series called The Black Adder, with Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson and Brian Blessed, and which I really liked! Oldies? Laurel & Hardy. If you’re under 35 you may not be familiar with them as they were from the 1930’s, slapstick galore, and loveable. Once upon a time they were all over TV, but they were filmed in black and white and as such have now been banished all television stations along with all other black and white product. Youngsters whinge about it not being coloured, I say they are just racist!

In the miserable real world, hypochondria continued as part of my depression symptoms. I started writing up my 1979 American holiday diaries which I’d never got round to finishing - some of it was still fairly clear in my memory, some of it not so. Considered doing a one-year teaching course, made investigations, though not really suited to be a teacher I was well out of options. On Pop Quiz, old clips from 1974 led me to the conclusion that “my” era was 1971 to 1974, age 13 through 16 - I think that’s everybody’s era age-wise. That’s my theory, what is mine, that is the theory that, cough, is mine, and which is my theory, cough. cough. Sorry, Python movie this week on TV.

 

 

1 ( 2 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

2 ( 1 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

3 ( 35 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

4 ( 6 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

5 ( 4 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

6 ( 27 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

7 ( 8 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

8 ( 3 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

9 ( 5 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

10 ( 17 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

 

11 ( 13 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

12 ( 12 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

13 ( 7 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

14 ( 9 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

15 ( 26 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

16 ( 11 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

17 ( 10 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

18 ( 45 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

19 ( NEW ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

20 ( 21 ) I NEED YOU The Pointer Sisters

 

 

 

21 ( 14 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

22 ( 50 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

23 ( 33 ) AGADOO Black Lace

24 ( NEW ) SUNSET NOW Heaven 17

25 ( 16 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

26 ( 19 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

27 ( 15 ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

28 ( 46 ) TAXMAN Rockwell

29 ( 47 ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

30 ( 18 ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

 

31 ( 22 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

32 ( 20 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

33 ( 30 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

34 ( 48 ) ARE YOU READY Break Machine

35 ( NEW ) TORTURE The Jacksons

36 ( 23 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

37 ( 24 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

38 ( 41 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

39 ( 28 ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

40 ( 34 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

 

41 ( 25 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

42 ( 36 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

43 ( 32 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

44 ( 37 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

45 ( 40 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

46 ( 58 ) MOTHER'S TALK Tears For Fears

47 ( 31 ) TOSSING AND TURNING Windjammer

48 ( 72 ) SHE BOP Cyndi Lauper

49 ( 54 ) DON'T TAKE MY COCONUTS Kid Creole And The Coconuts

50 ( 44 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

 

51 ( 43 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

52 ( 42 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

53 ( NEW ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

54 ( 49 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

55 ( 29 ) VIDEO Jeff Lynne

56 ( 52 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

57 ( 39 ) TOUR DE FRANCE Kraftwerk

58 ( NEW ) I GO INSANE Lyndsey Buckingham

59 ( NEW ) SOMEBODY Junior

60 ( 60 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

 

 

 

61 ( 38 ) YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN Divine

62 ( 57 ) TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD

63 ( 53 ) TIME AFTER TIME Cyndi Lauper

64 ( 56 ) I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Nik Kershaw

65 ( 66 ) THE ONLY FLAME IN TOWN Elvis Costello

66 ( 65 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

67 ( NEW ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

68 ( 64 ) THE LEBANON Human League

69 ( NEW ) CATH The Bluebells

70 ( 61 ) SMALLTOWN BOY Bronski Beat

 

 

 

71 ( 71 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

72 ( 62 ) INFATUATION Rod Stewart

73 ( 63 ) DANCE ME UP Gary Glitter

74 ( NEW ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

75 ( 70 ) WHEN AM I GOING TO MAKE A LIVING Sade

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Menagerie Part 1

1 Star Trek: The Motion Picture

3 And Now For Something Completely Different.. : film

4 The Black Adder

5 Rhoda

6 The Mary Tyler Moore Show

7 Laurel & Hardy

8 Soap

9 Pop Quiz

10 Taxi

11 Top Of The Pops

12 The Invaders

13 WKRP In Cincinatti

14 The Rockford Files

15 Upstairs Downstairs

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

11th September 1984

 

A new number one and it’s Malcolm McLaren doing what the Sex Pistols never managed - and with rap opera, sort-of. I’ve sat through Madame Butterfly, performed by a Russian opera group, and was bored witless at the inanity of the lyrics, the plot and the lack of tunes. This record is all you need, trust me. Highest new entry, exactly 5 years after peaking at 5, and it’s back at 5: it’s Sister Sledge following up their own B Side Top 10 with the classic A Side. Lost In Music? Too right!

 

The Smiths get another Top 10, hooray, and Astrud Gilberto and Miami Sound Machine keep a double-latin presence high joining them in the 10. A big leap for Kraftwerk, a year after charting first, up to 17 - obviously all that cycling gives it stamina. Lyndsey Buckingham gets another solo Top 20, as he goes insane at 19, up 39 places. Pity it wasn’t a hit. Highest new record to enter is The Adventures with their 2nd hit, Another Silent Day - another silent non-hit, sadly. Ditto The Specials at 29, as my chart starts to depart from the hits a little. Robin Gibb had a few big chart hits (for me) so here’s Barry with his own, Shine Shine at 33. Bowie follows up his Chic-tastic dance hat-trick of number ones with the more Bowie-esque Blue Jean at 40, thought to be disappointing at the time, but I liked it!

 

Level 42 are back at 42, Sade’s up to 43, Diana Ross has another minor hit (15 years into her run), Black Uhuru pose a serious question, to which I reply, don’t ask me! Prince’s signature dirge, I mean, TUNE, follows up the sublime When Doves Cry and plugs his movie nicely. I still don’t get the appeal...! Animal Nightlife were a smooth jazzsoul Brit band who had posters for the single splashed everywhere. Or rather posters of the fetching lead singer showing his asset off. A good record regardless, if largely forgotten these days. The Associates keep up the chart entries, Tom Robinson covers Steely Dan, and U2 enter with a top-notch passionate epic, the one that catapulted them from indie rock to stadium rock: Pride (In The Name Of Love) is classic. No less.

In my life: baby Vicki keeping me awake in the middle of the night (poorly), striking miner brother working where he could, dentist (a nightmare! Total dentist coward, that’s me, childhood traumas), friends Paul & Sheila invited me to Rotherham for their engagement do. NAAFI interview at Amesbury, popped into Stonehenge on the way. As you do. They wanted me to move to Amesbury (said I would, my body language prob said I wouldn’t). Family argument, drinking in the pub and lack of money the root cause, everyone upset. Not happy times at all.....

 

 

1 ( 3 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

2 ( 1 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

3 ( 2 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

4 ( 4 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

5 ( NEW ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

6 ( 6 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

7 ( 5 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

8 ( 11 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

9 ( 12 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

10 ( 22 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

 

11 ( 9 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

12 ( 15 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

13 ( 7 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

14 ( 10 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

15 ( 8 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

16 ( 13 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

17 ( 57 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

18 ( 19 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

19 ( 58 ) I GO INSANE Lyndsey Buckingham

20 ( 35 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

 

 

21 ( 24 ) SUNSET NOW Heaven 17

22 ( 16 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

23 ( NEW ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

24 ( 14 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

25 ( 29 ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

26 ( 18 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

27 ( 26 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

28 ( 21 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

29 ( 53 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

30 ( 17 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

 

31 ( 23 ) AGADOO Black Lace

32 ( 20 ) I NEED YOU The Pointer Sisters

33 ( NEW ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

34 ( 34 ) ARE YOU READY Break Machine

35 ( 28 ) TAXMAN Rockwell

36 ( 67 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

37 ( 69 ) CATH The Bluebells

38 ( 38 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

39 ( 33 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

40 ( NEW ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

 

 

41 ( 25 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

42 ( NEW ) HOT WATER Level 42

43 ( 74 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

44 ( 27 ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

45 ( 31 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

46 ( 46 ) MOTHER'S TALK Tears For Fears

47 ( 65 ) THE ONLY FLAME IN TOWN Elvis Costello

48 ( 48 ) SHE BOP Cyndi Lauper

49 ( 36 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

50 ( 39 ) STUCK ON YOU Trevor Walters

 

51 ( 30 ) SHE'S THE ONE Jamie Rae

52 ( 42 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

53 ( 40 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

54 ( 44 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

55 ( 45 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

56 ( 32 ) SUNGLASSES Tracey Ullman

57 ( NEW ) TOUCH BY TOUCH Diana Ross

58 ( 54 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

59 ( 43 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

60 ( NEW ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

 

61 ( 60 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

62 ( 50 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

63 ( NEW ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

64 ( 37 ) IT'S A HARD LIFE Queen

65 ( NEW ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

66 ( 56 ) THINKING OF YOU Sister Sledge

67 ( 66 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( NEW ) WAITING FOR THE LOVE BOAT The Associates

69 ( 51 ) LOVE RESURRECTION Alison Moyet

70 ( 52 ) JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) The Pointer Sisters

 

71 ( 59 ) SOMEBODY Junior

72 ( 41 ) HOLE IN MY SHOE neil

73 ( NEW ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

74 ( 71 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

75 ( NEW ) RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER Tom Robinson

 

 

 

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Menagerie Part 2

1 Blackadder

3 The Mary Tyler Moore Show

4 The Addams Family

5 Rhoda

6 Top Of The Pops

7 Taxi

8 The Rockford Files

9 High Anxiety: film

10 The Invaders

Edited October 13, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

18th September 1984

 

Another week another new number one, this time the 5-year-old Lost In Music, giving Sister Sledge their only number one, and Nile Rodgers first and last chart-topping song for 29 years. No rush then! Ghostbusters goes up to 6 in the first of several chart runs, and Ray Parker Junior’s biggest hit 6 years into his hit-career. Kraftwerk get their 3rd Top 10 9 years after their first (Autobahn), and OMD go up 26 places TTTT Tesla Girls-in with another Top 10 - it’s unusual for them NOT to make my top 10, to be honest, in the 80’s.

 

Highest new entry is a major classic, Drive, in at 14 for The Cars 6 years on from debut hit My Best Friend’s Girl, and very different: this one is hauntingly gorgeous, with a disturbing video about mental illness which sent shivers up my spine, and still does. Brilliant record. The Bluebells meanwhile take Cath into the 20 for 3 in a row, The Specials make it 5 years of Top 20 hits, and U2 rocket to 24 from 73 with the awesome Pride.

 

Sade and Animal Nightlife break into the 40, along with Prince and Level 42, and new tracks include Aztec Camera, Shakatak, Nik Kershaw following-up hits, while Shaky gets an occasional chart-entry they tend to be minor ones: A Letter To You is 73. Jethro Tull is 74 in the lap of luxury, but that makes it a nice round 15 years since Living In The Past first hit my charts. Queen keep up the run of hits (never failed to chart in the 10 years since 7 Seas Of Rhye topped my chart in 1974) as Hammer To Fall slams in at 55. Which leaves the 2nd-best new entry: Together In Electric Dreams, Giorgio Moroders hit with Human Leaguer Phil Oakey. I’ve seen Human League do it live 6 or 7 times (always brilliant), and 3 weeks back I was dancing and singing along madly to it in a Spanish Opera House, for Duckies In Sitges. Fab!

 

TV? Mike Read’s Pop Quiz, two of my all-time classic fave comedies, Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein and James Garner in Support Your Local Sherrif, Star Trek doing a Shakespeare-themed episode (and rather fine too), and brand new sitcom Blackadder continues to delight me. A US mini-series repeat The Martian Chronicles is a poetic and evocatively nostalgic brilliant science fiction Ray Bradbury novel (or rather collection of short stories), the TV series much less-so but it has loads of big stars in it. When I first bought and read the book age 13 in Singapore it was called The Silver Locusts - which I still think suits it more, even though they are stories based on Mars.

Life? Saw Romancing The Stone at the cinema (a good adventure movie). Signed on at the DHSS, as always I was stupidly honest (I’m such a dick) and told the guestapo woman interrogating me about working a few hours at NAAFI. She got snotty, and stopped benefits to the tune of £4.50 when I’d earned a grand total of £4. So, the moral and message given out? Don’t bother trying to get work experience for pay as you’ll be financially worse-off. Still trying to work out the logic of that one.....Lesson learned, there were, I later found, ways around the system. Babysat tantrumming Vicki while Mark & Sue had a pub break, told ‘em to go anyway and she was fine with me till she went to sleep, kids are almost always mellow with me. I must remind of her that later this week :) Helped at youth club again, after a break away (more adults than kids though, which was more like a social club for grown-ups!) and fumed over a massive gas bill I was having to pay (£172!!) That was an effing fortune in those days and I was unemployed. I turned the heating and hot water off when I was in the house alone.

 

 

1 ( 5 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

2 ( 2 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

3 ( 1 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

4 ( 4 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

5 ( 3 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

6 ( 12 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

7 ( 8 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

8 ( 6 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

9 ( 17 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

10 ( 36 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

 

11 ( 7 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

12 ( 9 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

13 ( 11 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

14 ( NEW ) DRIVE The Cars

15 ( 19 ) I GO INSANE Lindsey Buckingham

16 ( 10 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

17 ( 37 ) CATH The Bluebells

18 ( 29 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

19 ( 14 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

20 ( 20 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

 

 

21 ( 18 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

22 ( 15 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

23 ( 16 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

24 ( 73 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

25 ( 13 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

26 ( 25 ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

27 ( 23 ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

28 ( 43 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

29 ( 26 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

30 ( 22 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

 

31 ( 27 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

32 ( 65 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

33 ( 33 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

34 ( 40 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

35 ( 21 ) SUNSET NOW Heaven 17

36 ( 28 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

37 ( 63 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

38 ( 38 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

39 ( 39 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

40 ( 42 ) HOT WATER Level 42

 

41 ( 60 ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

42 ( NEW ) ALL I NEED IS EVERYTHING Aztec Camera

43 ( NEW ) DON'T BLAME IT ON LOVE Shakatak

44 ( 34 ) ARE YOU READY Break Machine

45 ( 57 ) TOUCH BY TOUCH Diana Ross

46 ( 24 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

47 ( 31 ) AGADOO Black Lace

48 ( NEW ) HUMAN RACING Nik Kershaw

49 ( 32 ) I NEED YOU The Pointer Sisters

50 ( NEW ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

 

 

51 ( 30 ) LOVE SONGS ARE BACK AGAIN Band Of Gold

52 ( 41 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

53 ( 48 ) SHE BOP Cyndi Lauper

54 ( 35 ) TAXMAN Rockwell

55 ( NEW ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

56 ( 45 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

57 ( 68 ) WAITING FOR THE LOVE BOAT The Associates

58 ( 52 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

59 ( 58 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

60 ( 54 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

 

 

61 ( 55 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

62 ( 53 ) YOUNG AT HEART The Bluebells

63 ( 61 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

64 ( NEW ) BURNING BUSH Savage Progress

65 ( 59 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

66 ( 62 ) LIFE ON YOUR OWN Human League

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 46 ) MOTHER'S TALK Tears For Fears

69 ( 49 ) EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING Phil Fearon and Galaxy

70 ( 75 ) RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER Tom Robinson

 

71 ( NEW ) YOU CAN'T GET WHAT YOU WANT Joe Jackson

72 ( 44 ) JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT SOS Band

73 ( NEW ) A LETTER TO YOU Shakin' Stevens

74 ( NEW ) LAP OF LUXURY Jethro Tull

75 ( 74 ) LET'S DANCE David Bowie

 

TV

1 Star Trek: The Conscience Of The King

1 Young Frankenstein: film

3 Blackadder

4 Support Your Local Sherrif: film

5 The Mary Tyler Moore Show

6 Top Of The Pops

7 The Addams Family

8 The Martian Chronicles

9 The Rockford Files

10 Pop Quiz

Edited October 13, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

25th September 1984

 

2 weeks for Sister Sledge at 1, and Alphaville finally go top 3 after weeks at 4, but the big news is new at 4 - War War is stupid, and people are stupid: yes Boy George got a lot of stick for those simplistic lyrics, but I loved the sentiment (still do) and the record is sort-of oddly joyous, one of Culture Club’s final goodies as they unexpectedly hit a drug-influenced career-stopping brick wall. Sad!

 

OMD go top 5, The Cars get a 3rd top 10, and Adam Ant is back with a jolly spaceman tune - how could I not like it?! In at 20 for Apollo 9, the one he did at Live Aid to everyone’s disgust. Freddie Mercury gets his first solo hit with Love Kills at 27, and leapfrogs Queen’s latest rocker with a bit of camp disco. Also grim, politically, UB40 threaten to leave the country if Maggie gets in again: oh yeah? Great record though, and I agreed with every word in at 28, and a 4 years non-stop run of singles.

 

John Waite’s back at 34 with a well-known MOR rock ballad, Missing You, 6 years after hitting my number one in The Baby’s with Isn’t It Time: that’s a classic record, albeit obscure these days, and Missing You is merely quite good. Glen Frey joins in the solo fray, Sexy Girl at 50 and looking like The Eagles will get back together only when hell freezes over. Hey, it did....! Bronski have a shrill follow-up, can you tell me why? Marc Almond is yet another solo hitster with You Have at 55, Soft Cell sadly no more, Tina Turner’s back at 57 so you better be good to her, or else! One-time Be Bop Deluxe man Bill Nelson accelerates to 58, 8 years since Ships In The Night lit up my charts. The Mighty Wah! keep the hits coming, Frida has another shining solo hit at 71, Abba tragically no-more, though we didn’t know it then. Stephanie Mills get a follow-up hit 4 years late, and finally The Everley Brothers get their first chart hit with new material (being as they pre-dated my charts) thanks to Paul McCartney who donated a song. Thumbs-up Macca!

 

TV: Must mention Terrahawks again, loved Zelda and her Tina Turner fright-wig, and her idiot son. Loved the great little plot parodies of shakespeare (“a zeaf? a zeaf? My kingdom for a zeaf!”) and The Beatles (the cavern puts in an appearance). Under-rated, and frankly, over the heads of kids, most of the scripts! This was also Tony Blackburn’s last radio 1 show this week, Flowers In The Rain his first and last track - of course he’s still on radio 2 these days.

Life? Well, a big moment turned up in a letter from Dorset County Council: the job I didn’t get surveying highways, turns out someone dropped out before starting and they wanted me to start next week. This was a letter that did actually change my life, actually. It led to me being where I am now, and the start of the end of the depression, but of course it sent me into instant panic. As if that wasn’t enough drove to Winchester, Nottingham, Hucknell to friends Dave & Jane’s to stay, which was great and enjoyed Jane’s new paintings. Saturday was fun, then in the evening with mutual friend Julie off to Paul & Sheila’s in Rotherham for a gathering of fun games with their friends and relations - charades, pass the parcel, a great party and I didn’t want to go back to my life down south. Had to though, first day at work Monday...

 

1 ( 1 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

2 ( 3 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

3 ( 4 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

4 ( NEW ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

5 ( 10 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

6 ( 6 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

7 ( 14 ) DRIVE The Cars

8 ( 2 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

9 ( 9 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

10 ( 24 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

 

 

11 ( 5 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

12 ( 7 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

13 ( 8 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

14 ( 17 ) CATH The Bluebells

15 ( 12 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

16 ( 28 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

17 ( 20 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

18 ( 11 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

19 ( 13 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

20 ( NEW ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

 

 

21 ( 18 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

22 ( 34 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

23 ( 32 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

24 ( 15 ) I GO INSANE Lindsey Buckingham

25 ( 19 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

26 ( 23 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

27 ( NEW ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

28 ( NEW ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

29 ( 16 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

30 ( 40 ) HOT WATER Level 42

 

 

31 ( 21 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

32 ( 22 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

33 ( 33 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

34 ( NEW ) MISSING YOU John Waite

35 ( 43 ) DON'T BLAME IT ON LOVE Shakatak

36 ( 29 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

37 ( 37 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

38 ( 25 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

39 ( 41 ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

40 ( 50 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

 

41 ( 30 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

42 ( 31 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

43 ( 55 ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

44 ( 38 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

45 ( 45 ) TOUCH BY TOUCH Diana Ross

46 ( 36 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

47 ( 27 ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

48 ( 48 ) HUMAN RACING Nik Kershaw

49 ( 39 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

50 ( NEW ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

 

51 ( 42 ) ALL I NEED IS EVERYTHING Aztec Camera

52 ( 35 ) SUNSET NOW Heaven 17

53 ( NEW ) WHY Bronski Beat

54 ( 26 ) GIRL YOU'RE SO TOGETHER Michael Jackson

55 ( NEW ) YOU HAVE Marc Almond

56 ( 47 ) AGADOO Black Lace

57 ( NEW ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

58 ( NEW ) ACCELERATION Bill Nelson

59 ( 59 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

60 ( NEW ) WEEKENDS The Mighty Wah!

 

 

61 ( 46 ) THE MORE YOU LIVE THE MORE YOU LOVE A Flock Of Seagulls

62 ( 58 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

63 ( 52 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

64 ( 60 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

65 ( 70 ) RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER Tom Robinson

66 ( 63 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 74 ) LAP OF LUXURY Jethro Tull

69 ( 73 ) A LETTER TO YOU Shakin' Stevens

70 ( 56 ) DOWN ON THE STREET Shakatak

 

71 ( NEW ) SHINE Frida

72 ( 61 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

73 ( 65 ) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT The Beatles

74 ( NEW ) ON THE WINGS OF A NIGHTINGALE The Everley Brothers

75 ( NEW ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Balance Of Terror

2 Black Adder

3 Rhoda

4 The Mary Tyler Moore Show

5 The Addams Family

6 Terrahawks

7 Taxi

8 The Martian Chronicles

9 Top Of The Pops

10 The Rockford Files

Edited October 13, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

 

3rd October 1984

 

Culture Club get their 5th number one, 4th in a row, with the under-rated The War Song, as The Cars get their biggest hit with Drive at 3, and U2 are proud to be at 6, also their biggest to date. The Bluebells make it 2 in a row with Cath in the top 10 too. Bowie takes his Blue Jean to 16, and Barry Gibb breaks into the 30 with one on my current playlist (having finally bought it the other week) - Shine Shine - and ditto Black Uhuru at 36. Stephanie Mills and Glen Frey go top 40, leaving the highest new entry at 37: Paul McCartney’s old-fashioned sweeping ballad taken from his Give My Regards To Broadway film, No More Lonely Nights. The single was fine, the film, err Magical Mystery Tour looks very good in comparison.

 

ZZ Top get a great new entry at 47, Gimme All Your Loving, complete with girls and car and guitars sexist video, paving the way for a zillion copycat variation videos. In at 60, George is back with Andrew as Wham! get that Freedom at 60, all Motown delight. At 63 it’s the Higsons with a cover of a song originally a hit for the recently late Bob Crewe - him of Four Seasons co-writer fame, Lady Marmalade co-write fame, and as featured heavily in the Jersey Boys musical. Before Andy Williams became the best-known (and best) reissued version of the song it was covered by UK punk-funk band The Higsons. Yes, you guessed it Charlie Higson, later well-known comedian of The Fast Show fame and others, take a bow, you made it in my charts first! At 65, Billy Ocean makes it 10 years of hits, and a major comeback record that catapulted him into the world-star class after only a decade of trying, the terrific Caribbean Queen.

In the real world, I started work this week, my first proper job, 4 years on from getting my degree. It still wasn’t well-paid, but as luck would have it I started the same day as Bob, who quickly became a great mate, for 30 years so far mutual laughs and support through bad times. At one of the low points of my life, Bob was a bright, happy beacon that helped me to feel normal again. The job, well I got to see a lot of Dorset, surveying roads on a hand-held brick (aka state-of-the-art data-input computer that the crappiest mobile phone would put to shame). As we headed into wet cold autumn that wasn’t quite so great being outside much, but it kept me busy. We worked in two teams of three, our team boss being a bit of what I termed “an old dab hand skiver” regaling us of tales of the days he worked for Radio Caroline as a DJ, and was a member of an army hit-squad flown in to Cyprus to take out baddies. Yes, that’s right, a total bullshitter. Spotted it right away, the vagueness and lack of specific details on questioning a bit of a giveaway. The first Survey location: Blandford Forum - or as Douglas Adams preferred a dull radio 4 talk show. After hideous long journeys by bus to Bournemouth from the outskirts of Poole (no change to that in 2014) I decided to get a moped. Happily (sort of) I ended up car sharing next day with Monic, who lived nearby and worked in Dorset house too, and was getting married the next week, all hyper and excited. She drove like that too...

 

The rest of the week was spent learning the driving rules for a van, warning signs, learning codes for verges (341, yes still remember the bloody things), street signs, lamp-posts, drains and so on. Using measuring wheel, getting wet, learning the art of pissing in woodland and hedges when there are no public loos anywhere (a first for me!). Bob had an argument with Boss-man over the national speed limit: it’s 60, we all know it’s 60mph, but Boss-man insisted it be 50. That was, I realised, fairly typical of the level of knowledge, and he resented us jumped-up smart-arses who learnt the work pretty quickly and had opinions not shared by him. hey ho! Got to have Radio 1 on while travelling and lunchtimes, so that’s me sorted anyway! Bob too, it turned out, he was a big pop music fan. Yay! The big boss from Dorchester, Peter, came out with us Thursday, so I of course drove the van into a bumpy kerb. Tch!

 

 

 

1 ( 4 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

2 ( 1 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

3 ( 7 ) DRIVE The Cars

4 ( 5 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

5 ( 2 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

6 ( 10 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

7 ( 3 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

8 ( 6 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

9 ( 14 ) CATH The Bluebells

10 ( 9 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

 

11 ( 8 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

12 ( 16 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

13 ( 11 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

14 ( 12 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

15 ( 20 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

16 ( 22 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

17 ( 23 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

18 ( 13 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

19 ( 18 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

20 ( 15 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

 

21 ( 19 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

22 ( 28 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

23 ( 27 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

24 ( 21 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

25 ( 17 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

26 ( 25 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

27 ( 33 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

28 ( 24 ) I GO INSANE Lindsey Buckingham

29 ( 37 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

30 ( 53 ) WHY Bronski Beat

 

31 ( 40 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

32 ( 75 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

33 ( 34 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

34 ( 26 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

35 ( 50 ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

36 ( 39 ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

37 ( NEW ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

38 ( 32 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

39 ( 31 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

40 ( 43 ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

 

41 ( 30 ) HOT WATER Level 42

42 ( 35 ) DON'T BLAME IT ON LOVE Shakatak

43 ( 38 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

44 ( 44 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

45 ( 41 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

46 ( 48 ) HUMAN RACING Nik Kershaw

47 ( NEW ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' ZZ Top

48 ( 72 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

49 ( 42 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

50 ( 29 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

 

 

51 ( 36 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

52 ( 45 ) TOUCH BY TOUCH Diana Ross

53 ( 57 ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

54 ( 49 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

55 ( 46 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

56 ( 58 ) ACCELERATION Bill Nelson

57 ( 59 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

58 ( 69 ) A LETTER TO YOU Shakin' Stevens

59 ( 60 ) WEEKENDS The Mighty Wah!

60 ( NEW ) FREEDOM Wham!

 

 

61 ( 56 ) AGADOO Black Lace

62 ( 47 ) ANOTHER SILENT DAY The Adventures

63 ( NEW ) MUSIC TO WATCH GIRLS BY The Higsons

64 ( 51 ) ALL I NEED IS EVERYTHING Aztec Camera

65 ( NEW ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

66 ( 62 ) BREAKIN'...THERE'S NO STOPPIN' US Ollie and Jerry

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 66 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

69 ( 64 ) COME BACK The Mighty Wah!

70 ( 52 ) SUNSET NOW Heaven 17

 

 

71 ( 71 ) SHINE Frida

72 ( 63 ) CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN The Kane Gang

73 ( NEW ) ALL YOU PRETTY GIRLS XTC

74 ( 55 ) YOU HAVE Marc Almond

75 ( NEW ) EAST OF EDEN Big Country

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Shore Leave

2 Comic Strip Presents: Gino

3 Black Adder

4 Rhoda

5 Mary Tyler Moore Show

6 Top Of The Pops

7 The Martian Chronicles

8 Terrahawks

9 The Rockford Files

10 Pop Quiz

Edited November 3, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

10th October 1984:

 

2 weeks for Culture Club, U2 up to 4, Ghostbusters goes top 5, and Sade gets a second Top 10 hit cos she’s a Smooth Operator. Macca rockets to 14, UB40, Freddie Mercury, Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey all get more top 20 notches to their substantial belts. Which leaves the new entries, highest being The Stranglers melodic and rather catchy Skin Deep at 23, for a cool 7 and a half years of hits. John Lennon’s eldest boy Julian shows he can not only do a great impression of his dad, but he can make a great pop record to boot, as Too Late For Goodbyes reggaes for it now at 29.

 

Billy Ocean gets his first Top 40 entry for 6 years, and ZZ Top get their first, as meanwhile Chaka Khan follows up her remixed old hits recharting with a Prince song: I Feel For You was fresh-sounding state of the art dancerappop at the time, and it still sounds great - I think it’s fair to say it was influential mixing dance pop singers with rapping from Melle Mel. It may not have been the first to do it, but it was likely the first massive hit to do it. Yes, you can blame Chaka for the 21st century pop cliche obligatory rap break. Probably. Feargal Sharkey joins the list of solo-charting band frontmen, as he debuts with a bit of how’s your father, err listen, I mean! More follow-ups trot in from Laura Branigan, Spandau, Glitter & Idol. Billy Idol’s current singles (2014) are actually better than Flesh For Fantasy, which was OK at 75.

Back at my new job, pop music chatting to Bob on the way to the rural Blandford area, and Dorchester for a new works van to meet our (better-looking) counterpart team. I got a bit arrogant (to myself) about how quickly I picked up the computer and codes and work, which frankly was a doddle for me. Big-head! Just as well as I heard from NAAFI - didn’t get that job. Bemused at how crap I am at interviews. Got my latest Legion comic, shocked at the death of Karate Kid, and his widow leaving (Princess Projectra) after executing the baddie Nemesis Kid. Great stuff, trust me, very adult nearly 20 years on from debuting all 3 characters.

 

Friday at Milton Abbas for lunch, I had half a pint of lager and got quite light-headed from it. I didn’t like the taste, neither did Bob who had a cider - Bob enjoys a pint these days, though. I still don’t enjoy it (but have one socially). Had the weekend to myself, sitting for Suki, our cat with the plastic hip joint. Sadly, Leonard Rossiter died, so watched the tribute TV show for him, he was great in Rising Damp. Sad.

 

1 ( 1 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

2 ( 3 ) DRIVE The Cars

3 ( 2 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

4 ( 6 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

5 ( 8 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

6 ( 4 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

7 ( 9 ) CATH The Bluebells

8 ( 7 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

9 ( 5 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

10 ( 12 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

 

11 ( 15 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

12 ( 17 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

13 ( 11 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

14 ( 37 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

15 ( 16 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

16 ( 22 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

17 ( 13 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

18 ( 10 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

19 ( 23 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

20 ( 31 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

 

 

21 ( 30 ) WHY Bronski Beat

22 ( 14 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

23 ( NEW ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

24 ( 33 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

25 ( 19 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

26 ( 29 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

27 ( 21 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

28 ( 18 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

29 ( NEW ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

30 ( 40 ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

 

 

31 ( 20 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

32 ( 32 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

33 ( 26 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

34 ( 25 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

35 ( 24 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

36 ( 28 ) I GO INSANE Lindsey Buckingham

37 ( 65 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

38 ( 35 ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

39 ( 56 ) ACCELERATION Bill Nelson

40 ( 47 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' ZZ Top

 

 

41 ( 36 ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

42 ( 34 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

43 ( 27 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

44 ( 38 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

45 ( 44 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

46 ( 39 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

47 ( 43 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

48 ( 60 ) FREEDOM Wham!

49 ( 45 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

50 ( NEW ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

 

 

51 ( 41 ) HOT WATER Level 42

52 ( 48 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

53 ( 53 ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

54 ( 42 ) DON'T BLAME IT ON LOVE Shakatak

55 ( 63 ) MUSIC TO WATCH GIRLS BY The Higsons

56 ( NEW ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

57 ( 57 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

58 ( 49 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

59 ( 46 ) HUMAN RACING Nik Kershaw

60 ( 75 ) EAST OF EDEN Big Country

 

61 ( 54 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

62 ( 55 ) WHEN DOVES CRY Prince

63 ( NEW ) THE LUCKY ONE Laura Branigan

64 ( 61 ) AGADOO Black Lace

65 ( 58 ) A LETTER TO YOU Shakin' Stevens

66 ( 50 ) WILLIAM IT WAS REALLY NOTHING The Smiths

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 68 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

69 ( 51 ) I'LL FLY FOR YOU Spandau Ballet

70 ( NEW ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

 

71 ( 73 ) ALL YOU PRETTY GIRLS XTC

72 ( NEW ) SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT Gary Glitter

73 ( 52 ) TOUCH BY TOUCH Diana Ross

74 ( 59 ) WEEKENDS The Mighty Wah!

75 ( NEW ) FLESH FOR FANTASY Billy Idol

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Galileo 7

2 Black Adder

3 MASH

4 It'll Be Alright On The Night 3

5 Bewitched

6 Tenko

7 Addams Family

8 Krull: film

9 Rising Damp

10 Top Of The Pops

Edited November 6, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

17th October 1984

 

3 weeks for George & co, letting U2 climb to 3, and Macca to 4. The Stranglers are Skin Deep at 7, 7 years after first getting a string of top 10 entries, albeit mellower. John Waite gets his first Top 10 since topping with the Baby’s in 1978 (Isn’t It Strange?!), Missing You being a song later covered by Tina Turner, up to 35 with Better Be Good To me this week. Phil & Giorgio at last get together in top 10 Electric Dreams - I never did bother seeing the film, though.

 

Bronski get a 2nd top 20, Billy Ocean runs up 20 places to 17, and Julian Lennon 11 to 19. New entries, though, galore: Hall & Oates are the highest at 24 with the sublime Out Of Touch, stretching the run of hits to 8 years, big in the USA, minor hit in the UK, still sounding great live when I saw them for the third time a few months ago (2014). Springsteen, frustratingly, I still haven’t seen live (he only does big city tours, of course), but has 9 years of entries with Cover Me at 26, while Style Council Shout To The Top about their entry at 30, a fine single following on from the number one earlier in the year.

 

Huey Lewis is back again with a jolly pop song at 34, Paul Young covers Ann peebles (I think) as he tears your playhouse down at 37, and does it nicely, while Kim Wild is back, very much not for The Second Time, at 40 and a great pop track. Lionel’s back with a ditty at 53, Elton shoe gazes at 57, Limahl warbles on with the sweet popular movie theme tune, The Never Ending Story at 67, Alison Moyet gets a follow-up solo hit, cos she’s All Cried Out about being only at 75, while Mike Post’s TV theme The A Team is in at 73 a full 9 years after Rockford Files theme tune (still in my TV chart) became a big hit in my charts, and 2 years on since Hill Street Blues Tv theme did the same. He’s a great TV theme tune writer! Lastly, Alvin’s final big hit enters at 66, the 50’s sounding I Won’t Run Away, and I’ll play it in tribute here...

 

 

On TV it’s still Star Trek and 60’s and 70’s sitcoms mostly, but also Tenko, a soap with drama, death and survival stories, set in a Japanese prison camp for female war prisoners. Gripping stuff at times.

At work, team leader Phil was standing in for ol’ holidaying storyteller-boss, commuting from Dorchester, and he was a real treat, our age and a real Dorset farmer-boy, good-looking and congenial, and a pleasure to work with for 2 weeks. Phil confirmed my tall-tale-telling boss suspicions. When not at work and occupied, I still drifted towards depression and tenseness, still trying to work out what I wanted to do career-wise, mulling over Post grad teaching courses, but musing “What the hell. I want to be a pop star anyway.” Ha! Pity about the lack of talent! Mum & dad returned from Mansfield and looked after me quite a bit at home.

 

News drama on the 12th - Tory conference IRA bomb blast. My reaction? “Unfortunately, Thatcher will become a hero”. Bloody terrorists, bad enough they kill people without making bad politicians even more popular. Much worse for us, we got a phone call from Bud and Doreen, our good Singapore family friends, telling us that Dale, boyhood/teen friend a year younger than me had been killed horribly in a car crash along with his girlfriend, aged 25. It was shocking sleeplessness-inducing news, I liked Dale more than a lot, and went through a growing up phase together moving into adolescence. I’m still angry he never got to have a family and a proper life, and still shocked at the manner of his death, burnt alive when his car hit a tree, knocking them both out, and bursting into flames, passers-by unable to get them out. Life can be terrible sometimes. Bud also died a few years ago, ringing us up for an old-time chat shortly before he passed away: I think he must have known.

 

 

 

1 ( 1 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

2 ( 2 ) DRIVE The Cars

3 ( 4 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

4 ( 14 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

5 ( 3 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

6 ( 5 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

7 ( 23 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

8 ( 24 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

9 ( 20 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

10 ( 10 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

 

11 ( 6 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

12 ( 7 ) CATH The Bluebells

13 ( 21 ) WHY Bronski Beat

14 ( 16 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

15 ( 9 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

16 ( 8 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

17 ( 37 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

18 ( 29 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

19 ( 13 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

20 ( 17 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

 

 

21 ( 19 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

22 ( 12 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

23 ( 11 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

24 ( NEW ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

25 ( 15 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

26 ( NEW ) COVER ME Bruce Springsteen

27 ( 32 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

28 ( 18 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

29 ( 22 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

30 ( NEW ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

 

 

31 ( 25 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

32 ( 56 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

33 ( 48 ) FREEDOM Wham!

34 ( NEW ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

35 ( 53 ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

36 ( 26 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

37 ( NEW ) I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

38 ( 27 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

39 ( 39 ) ACCELERATION Bill Nelson

40 ( NEW ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

 

 

41 ( 28 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

42 ( 31 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

43 ( 35 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

44 ( 34 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

45 ( 40 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' ZZ Top

46 ( 71 ) ALL YOU PRETTY GIRLS XTC

47 ( 50 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

48 ( 45 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

49 ( 33 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

50 ( 30 ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

 

51 ( 70 ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

52 ( 44 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

53 ( NEW ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

54 ( 49 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

55 ( 63 ) THE LUCKY ONE Laura Branigan

56 ( 42 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

57 ( NEW ) WHO WEARS THESE SHOES Elton John

58 ( 47 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

59 ( 36 ) I GO INSANE Lindsey Buckingham

60 ( 38 ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

 

61 ( 57 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

62 ( 52 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

63 ( 46 ) MASTER AND SERVANT Depeche Mode

64 ( 61 ) WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel

65 ( 58 ) WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT Tina Turner

66 ( NEW ) I WON'T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

67 ( NEW ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

68 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

69 ( 68 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

70 ( 41 ) WHAT IS LIFE Black Uhuru

 

71 ( NEW ) FEEL IT Feelabilia

72 ( 43 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

73 ( NEW ) THE A TEAM Mike Post

74 ( 75 ) FLESH FOR FANTASY Billy Idol

75 ( NEW ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

 

 

 

TV

1 Star Trek: Arena

2 A Night At The Opera: film

3 MASH

4 The Young Ones

5 Terrahawks

6 Top Of The Pops

7 Mary Tyler Moore Show

8 Tenko

9 Rockford Files

10 Addams Family

Edited November 13, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

 

24th October 1984

 

4 weeks for Culture Club at 1, leaving The Cars at 2 for 3 weeks, with Phil and Giorgio hitting 4 - actually the lowest-placed Phil Oakey song since Sound Of The Crowd! It’s still a great live in concert show-stopper. Billy Ocean leaps to 6, his highest-placed record since he was On The Run (as Scorched Earth) in 1974. Julian Lennon gets his very own Top 10 hit months after his late dad, and The Style Council get a 4th Top 10 (or Paul Weller’s 10th or so).

 

Kim Wilde and Chaka Khan both leap into the 20, with Hall & Oates and Wham! taking a more leisurely-paced trip upwards. Highest new entry at 28, it’s Chicago with a 4th MOR-ballad, since topping the chart in 1976 with If You Leave Me Now. Alison Moyet has a 40-placed cried-out hurdle to 35, Limahl to 39 and Ultravox have a romping single with a great video at 40: Love’s Great Adventure. Meatloaf’s back with the fairly ordinary Modern Girl, at 54, while the utterly brilliant new-career-peak Nile-Rodgers-produced Mad-Max-epic-video of The Wild Boys takes Duran Duran up a step, and has the bonus of seeing Simon Le Bon dunked under water several times. I’m So Excited (say The Pointer Sisters, obviously having seen and heard it, at 65), Eddy Grant, Psychedelic Furs also pop in.

 

On TV a classic 60’s sci-fi movie - make that the first proper modern sci-fi classic movie, Planet Of The Apes, while new kids animated adventure series Dungeons And Dragons appealed to me. I had the board game, and no-one to play it with. So sad!

In My Life: I went along to the youth club, intending on telling them I was going to pack it in, and somehow got talked into committing more as the numbers of adults fell to 3, and I instead played darts with the kids. I’m such a pushover! Work: Milton Abbas, all thatched delight, Dorchester, guessing road widths before measuring them, space invaders at lunchtime in a pub. At home rang grandma in Liverpool who didn’t sound at all well, which caused me anxiety, and the next morning my pet budgie was in distress, which upset me as I’d seen the signs before. By the time I got home he was dead, the last of my many budgies (I had an aviary and used to breed them, I love animals what can I say!). He’d lived 8 years, was the first budgie born in my small aviary in April 1976, and outlived them all.

 

The weekend: took mum to see her friend from mansfield, Elsie, in Bournemouth, then drove to Poole on my own for a record fair, bought lots of singles I’d been after, then back to pick up mum. Got shown round Elsie and Keith’s hotel (very nice). Took mum to pick up some furniture and while parking touched the bumper of an old Rover in front, the even older driver jumped out and blew a fuse even though it was going at 2mph and caused no damage to either car. Had to swap insurance details anyway. Posh Git had me fuming inside!

 

Sunday we went to Chippenham, to see Bud and Doreen where young baby Jamie was now nearly-grown-up brainy James and we got the terrible whole story about Dale and his fiancee, and the events leading up to their death, out on a driving lesson doing 25 mph in a mini, which exploded when they hit a tree for some unknown reason. Dale’s room and fish tank was as he’d left it, quite some time later by now. Gary, the middle brother, also arrived with his wife to see us and we all went through some old Singapore photos and tapes of singing and laughing, I think the memories of happier times was both good and terribly sad. Bud said Dale would have loved being there that day, enjoying the memories. For both families, I think, Singapore was a time of great happiness, which can be a rare thing in life. Bud told me about his Falklands flights (still aircraft crew) and having enlisted again in the RAF now flying all over the world. Eventually we had to leave, wished everything could be made right for them all, I liked and admired them so much. I left thinking Dale dying was the most tragic thing to hit me personally, and I wished I could have been there to change events. I just did. Still having sleepless nights about it all.

 

As an aside, in my mind 1984 was my year from hell, and now I re-read events for the first time 30 years on from my diaries, it really WAS the year from hell for me. Sometimes in life there are long periods of mostly uneventful muddling along, and sometimes week after week after week there is no such thing as a nice quiet life. My life veers towards the latter quite often, and especially the last 16 or 17 years where many of the years make 1984 seem relatively bearable.

 

1 ( 1 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

2 ( 2 ) DRIVE The Cars

3 ( 4 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

4 ( 9 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

5 ( 3 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

6 ( 17 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

7 ( 7 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

8 ( 8 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

9 ( 18 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

10 ( 30 ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

 

 

11 ( 13 ) WHY Bronski Beat

12 ( 5 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

13 ( 24 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

14 ( 40 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

15 ( 47 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

16 ( 6 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

17 ( 33 ) FREEDOM Wham!

18 ( 10 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

19 ( 14 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

20 ( 11 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

 

21 ( 37 ) I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

22 ( 15 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

23 ( 12 ) CATH The Bluebells

24 ( 16 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

25 ( 26 ) COVER ME Bruce Springsteen

26 ( 20 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

27 ( 19 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

28 ( NEW ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

29 ( 21 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

30 ( 32 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

 

 

 

31 ( 34 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

32 ( 25 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

33 ( 27 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

34 ( 23 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

35 ( 75 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

36 ( 31 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

37 ( 22 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

38 ( 53 ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

39 ( 67 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

40 ( NEW ) LOVE'S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

 

 

41 ( 29 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

42 ( 28 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

43 ( 51 ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

44 ( 36 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

45 ( 45 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' ZZ Top

46 ( 72 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

47 ( 38 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

48 ( 55 ) THE LUCKY ONE Laura Branigan

49 ( 35 ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

50 ( 57 ) WHO WEARS THESE SHOES Elton John

 

51 ( 48 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

52 ( 42 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

53 ( 41 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

54 ( NEW ) MODERN GIRL Meatloaf

55 ( 46 ) ALL YOU PRETTY GIRLS XTC

56 ( 43 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

57 ( NEW ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

58 ( 39 ) ACCELERATION Bill Nelson

59 ( 60 ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

60 ( 71 ) FEEL IT Feelabilia

 

61 ( 52 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

62 ( 54 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

63 ( 49 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

64 ( 44 ) TORTURE The Jacksons

65 ( NEW ) I'M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

66 ( 56 ) LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL Howard Jones

67 ( 50 ) HAMMER TO FALL Queen

68 ( 61 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

69 ( 68 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

70 ( 69 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

 

71 ( NEW ) BOYS IN THE STREET Eddy Grant

72 ( NEW ) HEARTBEAT The Psychedelic Furs

73 ( 62 ) WAITING IN VAIN Bob Marley And The Wailers

74 ( 58 ) SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK Rod Stewart

75 ( NEW ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Page

 

TV

1 Planet Of The Apes: film

1 Star Trek: Today Is Yesterday

3 MASH

4 Top Of The Pops

5 Addams Family

6 Mary Tyler Moore Show

7 Terrahawks

8 Rockford Files

9 Whistle Test

10 Dungeons And Dragons

Edited November 14, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

31st October 1984

 

After 3 weeks at 2, the sublime, hauntingly beautiful Drive parks at the top, The Cars getting a number one after 6 years of trying. Hot on their heels though, it’s Duran Duran’s Wild Boys punching their way to 2 from 57, their biggest record to date. Chaka Khan gets her third top 10 with a Prince song, and 10 years since her first (both previously with Rufus, so her first official solo top 10 hit). Kim Wilde is also back in the 10, just go for it, Kim! Not The Second Time, it’s her 4th, and first one since 1981.

 

Limahl is never ending at 13, while highest two new entries are UK flops, from Bucks Fizz (at 16 with Golden Days) and Cyndi Lauper (25 with another album single All Through The Night). Under-appreciated both. ZZ Top get a sudden reversal shooting up to 17, Heaven 17, like the seagulls in Finding Nemo say “Mine” at 34, a new entry, and Alvin really won’t run away as he re-enters at 39.

 

Quo are back covering Dion’s way better original version of The Wanderer at 47, Sheena Easton gets an early not-yet-released entry for her new raunchy image, as she struts her way to 67, strut, pah, put it out, that’s what you want from women. Apparently! Murray Head had a name in the first cast version of Jesus Christ Superstar, and is the brother of Anthony Head, who did some decent singing in Buffy The Vampire Slayer - the Abba boys obviously took notice as they got him to sing One Night In Bangkok for their new musical Chess. In the absence of Abba (forever, as it turned out) this was a mighty fine substitute, a tad seedy, a bit catchy, and very thumping. Lastly, at 71 it’s a good debut single from Rebbie Jackson, Michael’s oldest sister, then 34, and written by him and with him on backing vocals. Shame it’s obscure these days and wasn’t a UK hit - though it was big in the USA.

At home, mum dad and I still having problems getting over Dale’s death, which put other stuff into perspective, like the rejection letter I got from my old college (to do a postgrad teaching course), though I was getting quite stressed by now with the driving of Monic, still giving me lifts into work and I was sorta happy when the car stalled and forced her to slow down. I had a letter for an interview at Exeter, which made me worry at work asking for the day off after just starting. Doreen rang, Bud, James and her came down on Sunday, and showed them my room which made them think of Dale, as we liked a lot of the same stuff, music, fish tanks & animals, art, photography and so on. We took them to the marine camp and showed them round the NAAFI which they enjoyed I think. Popped to Sandbanks, let James play on my guitar while I listened to the charts rundown upstairs, and they left at 7. We all still wished we could do something to help in some way, but of course there isn’t really.

 

 

 

 

1 ( 2 ) DRIVE The Cars

2 ( 57 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

3 ( 1 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

4 ( 3 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

5 ( 6 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

6 ( 9 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

7 ( 4 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey

8 ( 15 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

9 ( 7 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

10 ( 14 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

 

11 ( 5 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

12 ( 10 ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

13 ( 39 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

14 ( 17 ) FREEDOM Wham!

15 ( 13 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

16 ( NEW ) GOLDEN DAYS Bucks Fizz

17 ( 45 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' ZZ Top

18 ( 12 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

19 ( 8 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

20 ( 28 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

 

 

 

21 ( 35 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

22 ( 11 ) WHY Bronski Beat

23 ( 30 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

24 ( 16 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

25 ( NEW ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

26 ( 18 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

27 ( 31 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

28 ( 40 ) LOVE'S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

29 ( 20 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

30 ( 22 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

 

31 ( 19 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

32 ( 26 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

33 ( 27 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

34 ( NEW ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

35 ( 24 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

36 ( 21 ) I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

37 ( 38 ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

38 ( 23 ) CATH The Bluebells

39 ( RE ) I WON'T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

40 ( 43 ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

 

41 ( 25 ) COVER ME Bruce Springsteen

42 ( 36 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

43 ( 29 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

44 ( 48 ) THE LUCKY ONE Laura Branigan

45 ( 65 ) I'M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

46 ( 33 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

47 ( NEW ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

48 ( 32 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

49 ( 34 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

50 ( 50 ) WHO WEARS THESE SHOES Elton John

 

51 ( 41 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

52 ( 37 ) MR. SOLITAIRE Animal Nightlife

53 ( 75 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Page

54 ( 54 ) MODERN GIRL Meatloaf

55 ( 51 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

56 ( 42 ) TOUR DE FRANCE (REMIX) Kraftwerk

57 ( 47 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

58 ( 44 ) PURPLE RAIN Prince And The Revolution

59 ( 46 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

60 ( 49 ) BETTER BE GOOD TO ME Tina Turner

 

61 ( 52 ) THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA Astrud Gilberto

62 ( 53 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

63 ( 56 ) WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT YOU (IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND) The Special AKA

64 ( 62 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

65 ( 61 ) WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) Hazell Dean

66 ( 72 ) HEARTBEAT The Psychedelic Furs

67 ( NEW ) STRUT Sheena Easton

68 ( NEW ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

69 ( 69 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

70 ( 70 ) BILLIE JEAN Michael Jackson

 

 

 

71 ( NEW ) CENTIPEDE Rebbie Jackson

72 ( 59 ) SEXY GIRL Glen Frey

73 ( 68 ) I WANNA BE LOVED Elvis Costello

74 ( 63 ) PASSENGERS Elton John

75 ( RE ) ON THE WINGS OF A NIGHTINGALE The Everly Brothers

 

 

 

TV

1 National Lampoon's Animal House: film

1 Star Trek: Court Martial

3 MASH

4 Top Of The Pops

5 Addams Family

6 Mary Tyler Moore Show

7 Terrahawks

8 The Professionals

9 Tenko

10 Entertainment USA

Edited November 15, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

6th November 1984

 

Duran Duran get their first number one, the fabulous exciting The Wild Boys, a Mad Max video and Simon Le Bon getting dunked, what’s not to love. It had taken almost 4 years to get there, but in the end a great single persuaded me over. Chicago get their biggest hit in 8 years as Hard habit To Break climbs to 4, and Wham! return to Top 10 form with Freedom hitting 5, their 5th Top 10 and George’s 6th. Limahl also does what Kajagoogoo couldn’t, with a decent top 10 movie soundtrack single.

 

Heaven 17 exclaim “Mine!” at 17, which reminds me of the seagulls in Finding Nemo, and Murray Head rockets Abba upwards with One Night In Bangkok. Oh Chess he does. Oops! Bad pun alert. Highest new entry is album track Let’s Go Crazy from Prince at 26, a fabulous storming rockfunk workout making up for the relatively plodding Purple Rain single. Nik Kershaw gets a 4th hit with his best single, the great military-flavoured The Riddle, and mere weeks before seeing him live in concert where he sang a good album track called Bogart (should have been a single). rather appropriately Actual Bogart (and James Cagney) pop in at 73 with a gangster movie medley of scenes from their films. You Doity Rat!

 

Jim Diamond’s in at 33 with the UK chart-topper I Should Have Known Better. He really should have, being as he used to be a PhD and topped my charts in 1982 with I Won’t Let You Down. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay he did. Michael’s sis legs it into the 40 with Centipede, OMD have a middling ballad entry, Tracey Ullman keeps the run of hits Helplessly turning over, and a gem slides in lower down: Eurythmics 1984 movie single the glorious Sex Crime. S S S Sex at 54. Others: Iron Maiden, Cliff, Nick Heyward going funky, and ABC getting Millionaire stomping synth lessons. Talking Heads also Slippery in almost 4 years since biggie Once In A Lifetime.

 

 

 

1 ( 2 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

2 ( 1 ) DRIVE The Cars

3 ( 4 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

4 ( 20 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

5 ( 14 ) FREEDOM Wham!

6 ( 6 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

7 ( 5 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

8 ( 8 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

9 ( 3 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

10 ( 13 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

 

 

11 ( 7 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

12 ( 16 ) GOLDEN DAYS Bucks Fizz

13 ( 17 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

14 ( 25 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

15 ( 15 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

16 ( 10 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

17 ( 34 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

18 ( 9 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

19 ( 68 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

20 ( 21 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

 

 

 

21 ( 23 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

22 ( 12 ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

23 ( 11 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

24 ( 28 ) LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

25 ( 18 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

26 ( NEW ) LET’S GO CRAZY Prince

27 ( 19 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

28 ( 39 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

29 ( 53 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Wilde

30 ( NEW ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

 

 

 

31 ( 45 ) I’M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

32 ( 36 ) I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

33 ( NEW ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

34 ( 27 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

35 ( 24 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

36 ( 22 ) WHY Bronski Beat

37 ( 40 ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

38 ( 26 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

39 ( 47 ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

40 ( 71 ) CENTIPEDE Rebbie Jackson

 

41 ( 30 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

42 ( 33 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

43 ( 32 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

44 ( 54 ) MODERN GIRL Meatloaf

45 ( 29 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

46 ( NEW ) NEVER TURN AWAY OMD

47 ( 35 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

48 ( 38 ) CATH The Bluebells

49 ( NEW ) HELPLESS Tracey Ullman

50 ( 42 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

 

51 ( 37 ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

52 ( 31 ) IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN UB40

53 ( 41 ) COVER ME Bruce Springsteen

54 ( NEW ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

55 ( 46 ) THE MEDICINE SONG Stephanie Mills

56 ( NEW ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

57 ( NEW ) SHOOTING FROM THE HEART Cliff Richard

58 ( 55 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

59 ( NEW ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

60 ( 57 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

 

61 ( NEW ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

62 ( 48 ) BLUE JEAN David Bowie

63 ( 51 ) DR. BEAT Miami Sound Machine

64 ( 56 ) TOUR DE FRANCE Kraftwerk

65 ( NEW ) ACES HIGH Iron Maiden

66 ( 59 ) SHINE SHINE Barry Gibb

67 ( 49 ) APOLLO 9 Adam Ant

68 ( 64 ) EYES WITHOUT A FACE Billy Idol

69 ( 69 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

70 ( 70 ) BILLIE-JEAN Michael Jackson

 

71 ( 62 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

72 ( 44 ) THE LUCKY ONE Laura Branigan

73 ( NEW ) THE GANGSTER SINGLE Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney

74 ( 43 ) LOVE KILLS Freddie Mercury

75 ( NEW ) SLIPPERY PEOPLE Talking Heads

 

In the real world, I was still having nightmares with late friend Dale turning up while I was at work, in them facially scarred and not alive but interested in my work, meanwhile his mum was distraught. Mind working overtime. At real work, we visited Bulbarrow Hill and Hurn Airport, and by now getting on really well with mate Bob, lots of joking about.

 

In the news the shock news that Mrs Ghandi had been assassinated, as I put it “one of the few world leaders it’s possible to have any respect for”. I’ve never been much of a fan of politicians, the great ones are few and far between. The nutters never get assassinated, sadly. At home Bob came round to see my record collection and meet my parents - he was due round tonight in 2014 actually (see previous comments about life being circular and linked in so many ways). A first this week: I used a cashpoint for the first time!! Yikes at the novelty of having new technology and cash!

 

Grandma and grandad arrived by coach in Poole, where parents hosted them at the NAAFI quarters for the weekend. Listening to old music charts, I came to the conclusion that 1972 was my fave musical year, pretty much from Oct 1971 through Oct 1972 - I think it may well still be, even though better years followed. Parents and grandparents round on Sunday for dinner and socialising, I was definitely in a better place emotionally these days.

 

TV:

1. Star Trek: Space Seed

2. The Phil Silvers Show

3. The Addams Family

4. Rising Damp

5. Hill Street Blues

6. Soap

7. Terrahawks

8. Comic Strip Presents: The Bullshitters

9. Tenko

10. MASH

11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

12. The Avengers

13. Dallas

14. Top Of The Pops

15. The Rockford Files

16. Dungeons And Dragons

13th November 1984

 

2 weeks at 1 for The Wild Boys, as Chaka feels for you at 4, and Eurythmics positively explode from 54 to 7 giving a run of unbroken Top 10’s since Sweet Dreams. Quality! Tim Rice gets his first song in the top 10 for 5 years, and the Abba boys do nicely with Murray Head at 8. His brother Tony could do a good job too, I expect, based on his Buffy TV singing.

 

OMD get a nice jump into the 40 for an unbroken run of almost 5 years. Quality!! Depeche Mode get the highest new entry at 29 - now I don’t want to start any Blasphemous Rumours but their days of being teenypop synth boyband were looking long ago! Slade are back with another great singalong Christmas and New Year ballad at 38, let’s All Join Hands! Going berserk at 40, it’s Gary Numan determined not to be in any way singalong, New Year or whatever.

 

At 49, Human League’s sweet ballad Louise enters fairly lowly for them, given they hadn’t failed to top my chart since Love Action just missed over 3 years earlier. Rather sadly I just missed seeing them in concert last week again as I was on holiday (Dec 2014). Also back: Scritti Politti, Lloyd Cole and The Commotions with the rather good Rattlesnakes, The Cars, Dennis De Young ex-Styx singer, Bananarama and Joan Jett covering Gary Glitter’s million-selling banished I Love You Love Me Love. As radio will never play it again, here’s a version you can listen to instead.

 

 

1 ( 1 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

2 ( 2 ) DRIVE The Cars

3 ( 4 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

4 ( 8 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

5 ( 3 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

6 ( 5 ) FREEDOM Wham!

7 ( 54 ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

8 ( 19 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

9 ( 14 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

10 ( 10 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

 

11 ( 6 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

12 ( 13 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

13 ( 7 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

14 ( 9 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

15 ( 17 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

16 ( 11 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

17 ( 15 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

18 ( 20 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

19 ( 12 ) GOLDEN DAYS Bucks Fizz

20 ( 24 ) LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

 

21 ( 16 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

22 ( 33 ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

23 ( 29 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Wilde

24 ( 26 ) LET’S GO CRAZY Prince

25 ( 28 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

26 ( 46 ) NEVER TURN AWAY OMD

27 ( 31 ) I’M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

28 ( 18 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

29 ( NEW ) BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS Depeche Mode

30 ( 30 ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

 

31 ( 39 ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

32 ( 59 ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

33 ( 23 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

34 ( 25 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

35 ( 21 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

36 ( 61 ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

37 ( 22 ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

38 ( NEW ) ALL JOIN HANDS Slade

39 ( 40 ) CENTIPEDE Rebbie Jackson

40 ( NEW ) BERSERKER Gary Numan

 

 

41 ( 32 ) I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

42 ( 42 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

43 ( 56 ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

44 ( 49 ) HELPLESS Tracey Ullman

45 ( 41 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

46 ( 43 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

47 ( 27 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

48 ( 34 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

49 ( NEW ) LOUISE Human League

50 ( 35 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

 

 

51 ( 38 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

52 ( 36 ) WHY Bronski Beat

53 ( 45 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

54 ( NEW ) THE CHANT HAS JUST BEGUN The Alarm

55 ( 51 ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

56 ( 50 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

57 ( 57 ) SHOOTING FROM THE HEART Cliff Richard

58 ( 65 ) ACES HIGH Iron Maiden

59 ( 48 ) CATH The Bluebells

60 ( NEW ) HYPNOTISE Scritti Politti

 

61 ( 58 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

62 ( 47 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

63 ( NEW ) RATTLESNAKES Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

64 ( 37 ) HIGHLY STRUNG Spandau Ballet

65 ( 44 ) MODERN GIRL Meatloaf

66 ( 60 ) SELF CONTROL Laura Branigan

67 ( 69 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( NEW ) TAKE IT BACK The Pookah Makes Three

69 ( NEW ) YOU MIGHT THINK The Cars

70 ( 70 ) BILLIE-JEAN Michael Jackson

 

 

71 ( NEW ) I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

72 ( 64 ) TOUR DE FRANCE Kraftwerk

73 ( NEW ) DESERT MOON Dennis De Young

74 ( NEW ) HOTLINE TO HEAVEN Bananarama

75 ( 71 ) TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP Bucks Fizz

 

 

I had an interview on the Monday of this week, in Exmouth’s Rolle College, a teacher training course where I basically blew it (and knew it) as I’d done nothing to try and get observation experience in schools, and already had the chance of doing teaching at my previous College. Hey ho. Gave a lift back to Broadstone to one of the other candidates, whose parents happened to be teachers. Doh! Back at home, grandad was more chatty than he used to be in the olden days in his birthday week.

 

I got increasingly unhappy with the erratic speeding driving of my lift to work colleague, resolving to get my own transport. “On bus tomorrow thank God” I mused. At work got wet surveying roads at Anstey which was fun, honestly I enjoyed it! On TV Tenko was gripping drama, the female prisoners group fragmenting.

 

1. Star Trek: A Taste Of Armageddon

2. The Phil Silvers Show

3. MASH

4. Hill Street Blues

5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

6. Tenko

7. Rising Damp

8. Top Of The Pops

9. Soap

10. The Addams Family

11. Terrahawks

12. Dallas

13. The Avengers

14. Carry On Up The Jungle: film

15. The Rockford Files

 

 

20th November 1984

 

Eurythmics get a first chart-topper after coming close on pretty much most previous singles, this was sounding very of the moment and fresh with the computer-sampling repeats, though these days it’s not remembered as well as previous Annie n Dave songs. It was enough to keep off the very well-remembered Chaka Khan, rap and sampling I Feel For You from the top spot though.

 

Highest new entry at 4, giving them 3 in the chart and a third hit following on from two massive number ones, the fantastic Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the christmassy The Power Of Love. I recalled my boss listening to the track and calling it a dirge. I begged to differ quite strongly and rushed out to buy the fold-out sleeve version of the single. I was, of course, entirely correct, witness it’s subsequent numerous chart re-entries and recent cover UK chart-topper from Gabrielle Aplin. “I’ll protect you from the hooded claw” is one of my fave song lyric lines.

 

Slade shoot up 30 places to 8, giving them a cool 13 years of top 10 hits to date, Depeche Mode get a 6th top 10 with a spot of denial and some dark lyrics, and Nik Kershaw flutes his way up to 11. ABC take a sudden leap into the 20 as the drum-sounds impress, and the Dazz Band want to let it all blow. Well, it didn’t. The late Alvin gets a second top 20 hit of the year, for 11 years of hits, Sister Sledge get a third 1984 hit with a 1979 track, as We Are Family returns at 29. 5 years seems quite a long span of time when one is young, and a quite a short span of time when one is older. Records from 2009 making the chart in 2014 just seem like extended runs of long-running hits rather than actual oldies re-issues, as they were then.

 

Half A Minute, matt Bianco have a smooth jazz return to the 40, while Dave, inspiration for a great UK TV channel (well, perhaps the inspiration for Dave Lister, I ponder) gives the chart-flopping Boomtown Rats a great return to my top 40. I had faith in Bob Geldof even if no-one else seemed to! The Temptations are also back. Back! Almost 16 years since their debut run of hits, and well over 22 years since they started their American chart career, some of the original line-up pop back with a Motown soul track that’s very 80’s, but with nice 60’s harmonies. This was the line-up I saw in concert a few years later, minus the great Eddie Kendricks’ and David Ruffin’s vocals. Still good though.

 

Tina Turner becomes an albums artist with a bit of help from Mark Knopfler’s song and title track, a bit Dire Straits-ey, a bit hookers-ey, at 53 and future 1985 hit from the classic Motown songwriters Ashford & Simpson (Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and many others), husband and wife, get their own sparkling moment with the fabulous Solid. Solid as a rock, in fact, until Nick’s death a few years back. Steve Wright, DJ of the moment back then, was using American posse comedy format to great effect on radio 1. Sadly, he was also still basing a lot of his humour on camp 60’s cliches such as the pretty piss-poor The Gay Caballeros novelty hit. It was mildly amusing on listening once. Then not.

 

 

1 ( 7 ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

2 ( 4 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

3 ( 1 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

4 ( NEW ) THE POWER OF LOVE Frankie Goes To Hollywood

5 ( 8 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

6 ( 3 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

7 ( 9 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

8 ( 38 ) ALL JOIN HANDS Slade

9 ( 2 ) DRIVE The Cars

10 ( 29 ) BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS Depeche Mode

 

11 ( 30 ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

12 ( 5 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

13 ( 6 ) FREEDOM Wham!

14 ( 32 ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

15 ( 15 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

16 ( 36 ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

17 ( 10 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

18 ( 25 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

19 ( 13 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

20 ( 12 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

 

 

21 ( 11 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

22 ( 16 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

23 ( 23 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Wilde

24 ( 14 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

25 ( 22 ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

26 ( 49 ) LOUISE Human League

27 ( 18 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

28 ( 40 ) BERSERKER Gary Numan

29 ( NEW ) WE ARE FAMILY Sister Sledge

30 ( 20 ) LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

 

31 ( 17 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

32 ( 43 ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

33 ( 27 ) I’M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

34 ( 21 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

35 ( NEW ) HALF A MINUTE Matt Bianco

36 ( 19 ) GOLDEN DAYS Bucks Fizz

37 ( 31 ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

38 ( 73 ) DESERT MOON Dennis De Young

39 ( NEW ) DAVE The Boomtown Rats

40 ( NEW ) TREAT HER LIKE A LADY The Temptations

 

 

41 ( 34 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

42 ( 48 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

43 ( 26 ) NEVER TURN AWAY OMD

44 ( 28 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

45 ( 33 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

46 ( 63 ) RATTLESNAKES Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

47 ( 42 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

48 ( 35 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

49 ( 54 ) THE CHANT HAS JUST BEGUN The Alarm

50 ( 41 ) I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

 

51 ( 45 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

52 ( 46 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

53 ( NEW ) PRIVATE DANCER Tina Turner

54 ( 39 ) CENTIPEDE Rebbie Jackson

55 ( 57 ) SHOOTING FROM THE HEART Cliff Richard

56 ( 37 ) SHOUT TO THE TOP The Style Council

57 ( 60 ) HYPNOTISE Scritti Politti

58 ( 56 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

59 ( NEW ) SOLID Ashford and Simpson

60 ( 47 ) MISSING YOU John Waite

 

 

61 ( 44 ) HELPLESS Tracey Ullman

62 ( 61 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

63 ( 52 ) WHY Bronski Beat

64 ( 69 ) YOU MIGHT THINK The Cars

65 ( 50 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

66 ( 53 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 59 ) CATH The Bluebells

69 ( NEW ) THE GAY CABALLEROS Steve Wright

70 ( 70 ) BILLIE-JEAN Michael Jackson

 

71 ( 55 ) PENNY LOVER Lionel Richie

72 ( NEW ) WATCHING YOU Shakatak

73 ( 51 ) SMOOTH OPERATOR Sade

74 ( 74 ) HOTLINE TO HEAVEN Bananarama

75 ( 62 ) BIG IN JAPAN Alphaville

 

 

At home, by a strange co-incidence I found that my car-share driver was the cousin of the lady who’s place I’d filled in for at the NAAFI while she was ill over the summer. She had just passed away. On the way home from work I saw a moped accident which made me think twice about getting a moped to avoid the stress of being driven to work. Grandma and grandad popped in on their way back to Mansfield, telling me it was about time I got married. Pretty much expected to be married with kids at 19 in Mansfield in those days. They benefitted from me not getting married much later in life so all’s well etc...

 

My new TV character obsession was Stu Dapples on Terrahawks: “OK, ya, right, man, Miss Kestrel” You had to be there, trust me... I caught the latest “full of vitality” singles chart rundown in picturesque Milton Abbas, while the boss reckoned I’d grow out of it and “laugh when I get older”. Laugh again, old man! No chance of that now, I reckon, as I said to him at the time “I’ve heard all this before 15 years earlier, and it’s not declined with age (yet). More a way of life than a hobby”. He was really generally getting on my nerves by now. Not always. Only when he opened his mouth. So, a retrospective nur nur ne nur nur...

 

The weekend started with a classic batch of DC Comics, The Teen Titans at this stage a virtual top-selling artform, just brilliant. It ended with news that my car-share young driver’s dad had killed himself, so she was not in any state to go to work, fairly obviously, and her 3rd family death of the year. I also recalled one of the 1st year students from College who was great fun, and often popped round in the 3rd year, Jenny, had died from breast cancer. Life just not fair, barely over 22. The photo I have of her sat on my digs bed is of happier times when the world seemed bright and full of hope - 4 years earlier....

 

 

1. Star Trek: This Side Of Paradise

2. Tenko

3. Hill Street Blues

4. The Phil Silvers Show

5. MASH

6. Top Of The Pops

7. Dallas

8. Soap

9. The Twilight Zone

10. The Addams Family

 

27th November 1984

 

It’s a hat-trick of debut number ones for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, equalling Mary Hopkin and Middle Of The Road. Frankie’s, however, are three bonafide acknowledged classics. Murray Head gets to 3, and Human League keep the top 10 hits run 100% since the girls joined the band for Dare singles.

 

The Dazz Band get their synthfunk dance into the 10, while Alvin falls just short with his 50’s-harmony great retro single. Highest new entry, just above his movie single, it’s a TV kiddies animated feature theme tune from Paul McCartney: We All Stand Together, supported ably by a chorus of frogs! It sounds unlikely, but it’s great fun unless one has no sense of humour or no child-like enjoyment of life.

 

Nick Heyward sends a sudden Warning Sign top-20-bound, while Culture Club sing of medals and enter into the 40 at 24 following up 4 chart-toppers in a row with a rather merely OK-ish single. Sheena Easton struts her way back into the 40 as Frankie’s genius producer Trevor Horn, and Buggles-man, hops into a spot of Art Of Noise dance-synth instrumental close-to-the-edit stuff at 46.

 

The Kane Gang cover The Staples Singers 3 years before Bruce Willis had a hit with Respect Yourself, at 48. Stock Aitken & Waterman arrive proper at 54, though, as Dead Or Alive spin me round, like a record baby, a fantastic hi-energy pop record. At 66, Madonna’s 4th hit is the one that changed everything: Like A Virgin? Don’t mind if I do, as the gag goes. Produced by Nile Rodgers, a man who could do no wrong in those days. I wonder what happened to him? Daft Punk anyone?

 

Kool And The Gang, The Jacksons, and Shaky all pop back with new singles, while Strawberry Switchblade enter at 73 with a corker of a single, the super-melodic, girl-band sounds of Since Yesterday, and a great image not a million miles away from current various indie popstars. Love it. Finally, ever wondered what happened to the Flying Lizards after their cover of a Beatles cover, Money? Well, in my world they came back with another cover of a Beatles cover, Dizzy Miss Lizzie 5 years later!

 

 

1 ( 4 ) THE POWER OF LOVE Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2 ( 1 ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

3 ( 5 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

4 ( 2 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

5 ( 8 ) ALL JOIN HANDS Slade

6 ( 3 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

7 ( 26 ) LOUISE Human League

8 ( 10 ) BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS Depeche Mode

9 ( 16 ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

10 ( 6 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

 

11 ( 11 ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

12 ( 18 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

13 ( 7 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

14 ( 14 ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

15 ( 9 ) DRIVE The Cars

16 ( NEW ) WE ALL STAND TOGETHER Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus

17 ( 12 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

18 ( 32 ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

19 ( 13 ) FREEDOM Wham!

20 ( 29 ) WE ARE FAMILY Sister Sledge

 

 

21 ( 19 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

22 ( 17 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

23 ( 40 ) TREAT HER LIKE A LADY The Temptations

24 ( NEW ) THE MEDAL SONG Culture Club

25 ( 35 ) HALF A MINUTE Matt Bianco

26 ( 15 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

27 ( 39 ) DAVE The Boomtown Rats

28 ( 21 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

29 ( 38 ) DESERT MOON Dennis De Young

30 ( 20 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

 

31 ( 22 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

32 ( 25 ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

33 ( 24 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

34 ( 27 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

35 ( RE ) STRUT Sheena Easton

36 ( 23 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Wilde

37 ( 30 ) LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

38 ( 53 ) PRIVATE DANCER Tina Turner

39 ( 42 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

40 ( 37 ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

 

41 ( 33 ) I’M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

42 ( 31 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

43 ( 28 ) BERSERKER Gary Numan

44 ( 46 ) RATTLESNAKES Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

45 ( 41 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

46 ( NEW ) CLOSE (TO THE EDIT) Art Of Noise

47 ( 34 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

48 ( NEW ) RESPECT YOURSELF The Kane Gang

49 ( 59 ) SOLID Ashford and Simpson

50 ( 36 ) GOLDEN DAYS Bucks Fizz

 

51 ( 51 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

52 ( 47 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

53 ( 52 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

54 ( NEW ) YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) Dead Or Alive

55 ( 44 ) SKIN DEEP The Stranglers

56 ( 45 ) PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) U2

57 ( NEW ) TEARDROPS Shakin’ Stevens

58 ( 69 ) THE GAY CABALLEROS Steve Wright

59 ( 74 ) HOTLINE TO HEAVEN Bananarama

60 ( 58 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

 

61 ( 48 ) LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER Feargal Sharkey

62 ( 50 ) I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Paul Young

63 ( NEW ) BODY The Jacksons

64 ( 64 ) YOU MIGHT THINK The Cars

65 ( 62 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

66 ( NEW ) LIKE A VIRGIN Madonna

67 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

68 ( 43 ) NEVER TURN AWAY OMD

69 ( NEW ) DIZZY MISS LIZZIE The Flying Lizards

70 ( 70 ) BILLIE-JEAN Michael Jackson

 

 

71 ( 49 ) THE CHANT HAS JUST BEGUN The Alarm

72 ( 65 ) GHOSTBUSTERS Ray Parker Junior

73 ( NEW ) SINCE YESTERDAY Strawberry Switchblade

74 ( 66 ) TESLA GIRLS OMD

75 ( NEW ) FRESH Kool And The Gang

 

 

 

At work I was hating the long tedious bus journey between the outskirts of Poole and the centre of Bournemouth. 30 years on, there are more houses and no direct service at all for the 8 mile journey, so there’s progress for local authorities paying lip service to get people to abandon their cars. It’s cheaper and quicker and way more pleasant by car, fact, unless you live in London or on a direct bus route. Watched 28-Up on TV which sort of depressed me, watching young happy children grow up into unhappy adults, not least as I could relate, and it was a reminder of the passage of time speeding up.

 

We got a state of the art new hand-held computer to learn for data input. I took it as a challenge when presented with the “now try and crash that!” quip by the IT bloke. I managed to crash it and freeze the entire box in 2 minutes by trying to terminate something that wasn’t running (when you log the position of a grass verge you had to end it when the grass becomes road and I just decided to end a non-existent verge). I was quite proud of that, as it took some more programming to sort. Programmes have to be written to be idiot-proof, say I. 2nd time I was handed it, I succeeded in crashing it in 20 seconds. I was getting really good at this!

 

 

 

TV chart

1. Star Trek: The Devil In The Dark

2. The Young Ones: Bambi

3. Hill Street Blues

4. The Phil Silvers Show

5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

6. MASH

7. Top Of The Pops

8. The Addams Family

9. The Avengers

10. The Sullivans

11. Dallas

12. Terrahawks

13. Entertainment USA

14. The Rockford Files

15. Whistle Test

Edited December 26, 201410 yr by popchartfreak

4th December 1984

 

2 weeks on top for Frankie, as Band Aid debut from out of nowhere really, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organising the world-famous charity christmas record, about to become the UK’s biggest-selling single, pretty much overnight, convincing the biggest stars to turn up on the day. Still the best charity record, still the best version, and the money raised through this and Live Aid really did save lives in famine-stricken Ethiopa. Cynics whinge about pop stars doing stuff like this. Cynics of course doing f*ck-all themselves to help needy people, just slagging-off anyone with good intentions. The only ones in a position to criticise are those who DO actually work for charity organisations, or spend their voluntary time to do what they can, the rest are just mealy-mouthed hypocrites who can just go f*ck themselves. 30 years on and the record still makes the UK charts every year. So there!

 

In at 5, overshadowed, but it’s The Beatles and a record I bought in 1976 and was mad on: I Feel Fine was the single where The Beatles really started to experiment with sounds, and the songs started to become more sophisticated - still melodic, still love songs, but sounding more adult. 20 years old at the time, it’s breath-taking to me (cos I remember seeing them on TV at the time) to realise this is now 50 years old. Gulp! It also nicely keeps Paul McCartney’s frog chorus out of the top 5, is that irony or just me being realistic? Alvin Stardust gets his 6th top 10, Nik Kershaw his 3rd, and Madonna ponts on up to 12 from 66, cavorting most unlike a virgin. 30 years on as I write, and she’s topping my charts for the 20th time with Ghosttown. Not bad for a disposable dancepopstar, as she appeared to be at the time.

 

Big climbs for Kool And The Gang, Shaky (!), Dead Or Alive, The Cars and Strawberry Switchblade, with a high new entry for 1982 single The Voice, from The Moody Blues - saw them do it live 2013, and still fab. 14 years of hits. At 59, Ave Maria gets the Indian treatment, an unusual crossing of genres for an extended dance track, while at 66 Tears For Fears are back with a Shout! A fantastic record, and the video is SO appropriate to my life as it was filmed in and around scenic Lulworth Cove in Dorset, where I was working surveying roads, including the one running down to the cove. There be fossils in them thar cliffs, they be, as a local might (or might not) say. At 68 it’s a quick 3 out of 3 for Alison Moyet with the excellent Invisible, as other pop stars enter with more forgettable tracks.

 

1 ( 1 ) THE POWER OF LOVE Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2 ( NEW ) DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS Band Aid

3 ( 3 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

4 ( 2 ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

5 ( NEW ) I FEEL FINE The Beatles

6 ( 16 ) WE ALL STAND TOGETHER Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus

7 ( 7 ) LOUISE Human League

8 ( 12 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

9 ( 5 ) ALL JOIN HANDS Slade

10 ( 11 ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

 

 

11 ( 4 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

12 ( 66 ) LIKE A VIRGIN Madonna

13 ( 9 ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

14 ( 6 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

15 ( 10 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

16 ( 25 ) HALF A MINUTE Matt Bianco

17 ( 23 ) TREAT HER LIKE A LADY The Temptations

18 ( 18 ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

19 ( 8 ) BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS Depeche Mode

20 ( 24 ) THE MEDAL SONG Culture Club

 

21 ( 17 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

22 ( 75 ) FRESH Kool And The Gang

23 ( 13 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

24 ( 15 ) DRIVE The Cars

25 ( 21 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

26 ( NEW ) THE VOICE The Moody Blues

27 ( 27 ) DAVE The Boomtown Rats

28 ( 22 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

29 ( 35 ) STRUT Sheena Easton

30 ( 38 ) PRIVATE DANCER Tina Turner

 

 

31 ( 14 ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

32 ( 57 ) TEARDROPS Shakin’ Stevens

33 ( 19 ) FREEDOM Wham!

34 ( 20 ) WE ARE FAMILY Sister Sledge

35 ( 46 ) CLOSE (TO THE EDIT) Art Of Noise

36 ( 54 ) YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) Dead Or Alive

37 ( 64 ) YOU MIGHT THINK The Cars

38 ( 26 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

39 ( 32 ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

40 ( 31 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

 

41 ( 28 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

42 ( 29 ) DESERT MOON Dennis De Young

43 ( 30 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

44 ( 44 ) RATTLESNAKES Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

45 ( 33 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

46 ( 73 ) SINCE YESTERDAY Strawberry Switchblade

47 ( 41 ) I’M SO EXCITED The Pointer Sisters

48 ( 48 ) RESPECT YOURSELF The Kane Gang

49 ( 37 ) LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE Ultravox

50 ( 45 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

 

51 ( 34 ) ALL CRIED OUT Alison Moyet

52 ( 42 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

53 ( 59 ) HOTLINE TO HEAVEN Bananarama

54 ( NEW ) TROUBLE Rod Stewart

55 ( 40 ) THE WANDERER Status Quo

56 ( 51 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

57 ( NEW ) STRANGER IN TOWN Toto

58 ( 36 ) GOTTA GET YOU HOME TONIGHT Eugene Wilde

59 ( NEW ) AVE MARIA West India Company

60 ( 53 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

 

 

 

61 ( NEW ) RIDDLE ME UB40

62 ( 63 ) BODY The Jacksons

63 ( 52 ) I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU Stevie Wonder

64 ( 39 ) IF THIS IS IT Huey Lewis and The News

65 ( 60 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

66 ( NEW ) SHOUT Tears For Fears

67 ( 58 ) THE GAY CABALLEROS Steve Wright

68 ( NEW ) INVISIBLE Alison Moyet

69 ( 67 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

70 ( 65 ) RELAX Frankie Goes To Hollywood

 

 

71 ( NEW ) THANK YOU MY LOVE Imagination

72 ( 70 ) BILLIE-JEAN Michael Jackson

73 ( 47 ) THE SECOND TIME Kim Wilde

74 ( NEW ) DO THE CONGA Black Lace

75 ( NEW ) EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE Paul Young

 

TV:

1. Star Trek: Errand Of Mercy

2. Hill Street Blues

3. Logan’s Run: film

4. Tenko

5. The Phil Silvers

6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

7. MASH

8. Top Of The Pops

9. Carry On Camping: film

10. Soap

11. The Rockford Files

12. The Avengers

13. The Addams Family

14. Dungeons And Dragons

15. Hardcastle and McKormick

 

 

At work, had an argument with Boss-man about flying saucers (!) - maybe it was that sparking a setback for me, but I fell into a depression of sorts again in the evening for the whole week. Bob helped, as we bantered quite a bit at work. On TV the Band Aid video debuted, Friday lunch was the pub at Anstey (The Fox) where Boss-man tried to convince me Bob had spiked my coke. Arse. Bob assured me he wouldn’t (and he wouldn’t I can say now with some confidence after 30 years of friendship) it was just an attempt to stop us getting on so well by the boss cos he was an arse. I ended the week still very down, mood-wise.

11th December 1984

 

Band Aid get to number one with their christmas perennial, and guess what? The record it famously held at 2, the biggest-selling record never to top the UK charts, Last Christmas is new at 9, Wham!’s 6th top 10, and George’s 7th, and clearly his best record to date, it just punched all the right christmas buttons, had a fab tune, and George and Andrew donated profits to the Band Aid charity too.

 

The Beatles hit 3, not bad for a 20-year-old track, and I Feel Fine about it! Madonna gets her second top 10, after Holiday, it’s Like A Virgin. Touched for the very first time, indeed. Bob Marley’s 4-year-old Top 10 hit bounces back at 17, the great Could You Be Loved, as Alison Moyet makes it 3 in a row inside the 20, Invisible up 49 places to 19. Spandau are Round And Round, inoffensively at 39, and a host of christmas songs (yes actual NEW ones, no oldies!) drop in, one of them once upon a time a perennial xmas regular, and now banished forever: yes it must be Gary Glitter and the jolly Another Rock And Roll Christmas at 72, overshadowed for the moment by Queen’s middling try at a christmas song, and forgotten ones from Alvin Stardust and Captain Sensible.

 

The Stranglers are back, so is Ian McCulloch for the moment ex-of the Bunnymen, with September Song, Kurt Weil’s 1930’s standard. At 46, The Thompson Twins Lay Your Hands On Me is one of their not bad hits, while Prince’s brilliant Purple Rain track, I Would Die For U is in at 48, the 4th track to chart despite only 2 singles being released to date (and of course no youtube video for anything Prince-related). Bowie and Lennon (Julian) return with lesser follow-ups, and ditto Big Country and Stevie Wonder.

 

 

1 ( 2 ) DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS Band Aid

2 ( 1 ) THE POWER OF LOVE Frankie Goes To Hollywood

3 ( 5 ) I FEEL FINE The Beatles

4 ( 3 ) ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Murray Head

5 ( 6 ) WE ALL STAND TOGETHER Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus

6 ( 12 ) LIKE A VIRGIN Madonna

7 ( 4 ) SEX CRIME (1984) Eurythmics

8 ( 10 ) THE RIDDLE Nik Kershaw

9 ( NEW ) LAST CHRISTMAS Wham!

10 ( 11 ) I FEEL FOR YOU Chaka Khan

 

11 ( 7 ) LOUISE Human League

12 ( 8 ) I WON’T RUN AWAY Alvin Stardust

13 ( 22 ) FRESH Kool And The Gang

14 ( 9 ) ALL JOIN HANDS Slade

15 ( 17 ) TREAT HER LIKE A LADY The Temptations

16 ( 14 ) THE WILD BOYS Duran Duran

17 ( NEW ) COULD YOU BE LOVED Bob Marley And The Wailers

18 ( 20 ) THE MEDAL SONG Culture Club

19 ( 68 ) INVISIBLE Alison Moyet

20 ( 15 ) HARD HABIT TO BREAK Chicago

 

21 ( 13 ) LET IT ALL BLOW The Dazz Band

22 ( 29 ) STRUT Sheena Easton

23 ( 26 ) THE VOICE The Moody Blues

24 ( 18 ) WARNING SIGN Nick Heyward

25 ( 25 ) CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN) Billy Ocean

26 ( 21 ) NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS Paul McCartney

27 ( 16 ) HALF A MINUTE Matt Bianco

28 ( 32 ) TEARDROPS Shakin’ Stevens

29 ( 19 ) BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS Depeche Mode

30 ( 37 ) YOU MIGHT THINK The Cars

 

 

31 ( 24 ) DRIVE The Cars

32 ( 35 ) CLOSE (TO THE EDIT) Art Of Noise

33 ( 28 ) THE NEVER ENDING STORY Limahl

34 ( 30 ) PRIVATE DANCER Tina Turner

35 ( 23 ) ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT Cyndi Lauper

36 ( 36 ) YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) Dead Or Alive

37 ( 66 ) SHOUT Tears For Fears

38 ( 27 ) DAVE The Boomtown Rats

39 ( NEW ) ROUND AND ROUND Spandau Ballet

40 ( 39 ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER Jim Diamond

 

41 ( 34 ) WE ARE FAMILY Sister Sledge

42 ( 46 ) SINCE YESTERDAY Strawberry Switchblade

43 ( 33 ) FREEDOM Wham!

44 ( 52 ) OUT OF TOUCH Daryl Hall and John Oates

45 ( 48 ) RESPECT YOURSELF The Kane Gang

46 ( NEW ) LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME The Thompson Twins

47 ( 40 ) TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder

48 ( NEW ) I WOULD DIE 4 U Prince

49 ( 75 ) EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE Paul Young

50 ( 50 ) LOST IN MUSIC Sister Sledge

 

 

51 ( 45 ) THE WAR SONG Culture Club

52 ( 31 ) HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ABC

53 ( 38 ) THIS IS MINE Heaven 17

54 ( 57 ) STRANGER IN TOWN Toto

55 ( NEW ) NO MERCY The Stranglers

56 ( NEW ) SO NEAR TO CHRISTMAS Alvin Stardust

57 ( NEW ) ONE CHRISTMAS CATALOGUE Captain Sensible

58 ( 56 ) MADAME BUTTERFLY Malcolm McLaren

59 ( 59 ) AVE MARIA West India Company

60 ( 71 ) THANK YOU MY LOVE Imagination

 

61 ( 54 ) TROUBLE Rod Stewart

62 ( NEW ) TONIGHT David Bowie

63 ( 41 ) TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES Julian Lennon

64 ( NEW ) VALOTTE Julian Lennon

65 ( 60 ) CARELESS WHISPER George Michael

66 ( NEW ) THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTMAS Queen

67 ( 74 ) DO THE CONGA Black Lace

68 ( 43 ) GIMME ALL YOUR LOVING Z.Z. TOP

69 ( NEW ) THE ROSE IS SOWN Big Country

70 ( 69 ) THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME Abba

 

71 ( 65 ) TWO TRIBES Frankie Goes To Hollywood

72 ( NEW ) ANOTHER ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS Gary Glitter

73 ( NEW ) LOVE LIGHT IN FLIGHT Stevie Wonder

74 ( 61 ) RIDDLE ME UB40

75 ( NEW ) SEPTEMBER SONG Ian McCulloch

 

 

 

1. Tenko

2. Star Trek: The Alternative Factor

3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Monday)

4. Fame: film

5. MASH

6. Hill Street Blues

7. The Phil Silvers Show

8. Rising Damp

9. The Addams Family

10. The Betty White Show

11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (wed)

12. Top Of The Pops

13. Soap

14. The Rockford Files

15. Entertainment USA

 

 

At work, my young car share driver was back following her dad’s suicide, and tried to help her talking about her terrible year: as bad as 1984 was for me, it was worse for her. Surveying the lovely hilly countryside at Bulbarro again, and a little more optimistic than the previous week moodwise. The boss took one of my light-hearted banter lunchtimes with Bob the wrong way and got nasty. Mum and dad were suffering from overwork and illness, looking tired. I had a dream about meeting Paul and Linda McCartney and getting an autograph! Well I hardly ever dream about celebrities, but if you gonna do it, may as well go for the top...! This weekend , went to Southampton, looking for music computers with ambitions to have a go at making demos. Optimist!

Thursday 6th December: Nik Kershaw at The BIC (Bournemouth International Centre), live in concert.

 

Went with Bob, and we marvelled at all the wacky haircuts in the audience, we felt well out of place and old, being over 21 as we were (but not by much) - but these days I’m glad we didn’t go the Flock Of Seagulls hair-gel route for the sake of old 80’s photos. The support band were Scary Thieves (impressive but lacked songs), but Nik got the girls screaming as he strode on, affable always, themed around the “excellent” (I noted) current hit The Riddle. Also good were Wouldn’t It Be Good, I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, and album track Bogart, which should have been a single. Some lesser tracks were a bit samey, or else it may have the back-ache developing from standing in the same position for so long - one of those “standing-concert” things you put up with, though happily less of a problem (very oddly) as I got older. Rating: “a nice change but not a classic gig” . Nik was in Christchurch the other month (2014) doing great low-key gigs by accounts I've heard from a friend who went. I saw Nik again in 1989, supporting Elton John.