1999.

1996.

 

exactly the same year! (or 1995 when I got my first cable TV)

1996 to 2002

1976. The long hot summer with reservoirs dry, water shortages and non-stop heat. Did my O-Levels in June and started work in July. So much variety in the charts.

 

No downloading then. All vinyl and you had to sell a lot in a week to get to No.1.

 

1978 deserves a mention too. Boney M and Saturday Night Fever and Grease.

There were too many oldies in 1976 with a 30s and 40s sort of revival. Plus there were a number of 50s records charting.

 

I think the long hot summer evokes a sense of nostalgia that hearing records from those hot months helps bring back. Everytime I hear 'The Boys Are Back In Town' by Thin Lizzy I automatically think of hot days and warm nights. That said, the summer came to an end in style with heavy downpours and flooding on the very weekend 'Dancing Queen' by Abba sold enough to climb to number 1. I can still remember listening to Radio 1 on the Wednesday that the record climbed to the top (the chart was delayed by a day because of the Bank Holiday) and as I was walking around Whitley Bay on North Tyneside the heavens opened just as the "Britain's Number 1" jingle played and 'Dancing Queen' started.

 

2000 AND 2014, the most dynamic and full of dance music :wub:

1995 - Britpop (including the Blur vs. Oasis chart battle), multiple million sellers, Robson and Jerome keeping some of the best singles of all time from No1 (not a good thing obviously, but interesting nonetheless)

1981. 'Don't You Want Me' getting to #1 for Xmas , charts were so much more exciting, new Artists were breaking all the time, it was a transitional time for music, electronic pop was at its peak, it was exciting to buy vinyl, British music ruled, Artists took risks, no remixes to extend chart life of songs, TOTP was watched by everyone.

I liked 2009 because that was the year I first starting following the charts. The few years after that were fun to follow to

Yeah I think 1999 for me too. It was just an amazing year for music - so diverse, chart movement was exciting, I was very young and enjoyed it like a kid. Found charts amazing through to 2003 really, then enjoyed them thoroughly (but in decreasing amounts) until maybe the last couple of years. I'm confused as to why the poll is so biased towards the recent years!

Yeah I think 1999 for me too. It was just an amazing year for music - so diverse, chart movement was exciting, I was very young and enjoyed it like a kid. Found charts amazing through to 2003 really, then enjoyed them thoroughly (but in decreasing amounts) until maybe the last couple of years. I'm confused as to why the poll is so biased towards the recent years!

If I had listed every individual year from 1970 to 2017 then the poll options would probably cover the whole of the page :lol:, that's why I asked to specify which year was your favourite if you were going to vote for a year from before this current decade.

If I had listed every individual year from 1970 to 2017 then the poll options would probably cover the whole of the page :lol:, that's why I asked to specify which year was your favourite if you were going to vote for a year from before this current decade.

Haha I meant I'd have posted it all as blocks of 5s or 10s and asked to specify.

Haha I meant I'd have posted it all as blocks of 5s or 10s and asked to specify.

If everyone who votes in this poll mentions their favourite year then it wouldn't make a difference would it?

1981. 'Don't You Want Me' getting to #1 for Xmas , charts were so much more exciting, new Artists were breaking all the time, it was a transitional time for music, electronic pop was at its peak, it was exciting to buy vinyl, British music ruled, Artists took risks, no remixes to extend chart life of songs, TOTP was watched by everyone.

I voted for 1979 but 1981 is a strong contender too. My era for music is from roughly the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s with particular emphasis on the second half of 1977 to around the end of 1985 / the first quarter of 1986. My absolute favourites, in order, are:

 

1979

1981

1978

1980

1982

1984

1985

1983

 

and as I mentioned the second half of 1977 and the first part of 1986.

 

I had a Christmas job at HMV in 1981 and it was unbelievable how many copies of 'Don't You Want Me' we sold. We literally couldn't keep up with demand for the single. We were getting dozens of copies of the single delivered every day and by early afternoon it was often sold out. The 12" version of the single was far more popular than the 7" version. Sadly, our stock of The Waitresses 'Christmas Wrapping' remained largely unsold. It was badly promoted by the label and as far as I was aware I was the only person to buy a copy from our stock. As we were a chart return shop it probably explains why the single couldn't get higher than 3 weeks in the Breakers / Bubbling Under chart, the next 25 singles below number 75 (which back then were listed in alphabetical and not numerical order).

 

I’ve only properly followed it since 2012 or so.

 

2014 stands out as there was a new number one pretty much every week! And lots of housey dance songs

I voted for 1979 but 1981 is a strong contender too. My era for music is from roughly the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s with particular emphasis on the second half of 1977 to around the end of 1985 / the first quarter of 1986. My absolute favourites, in order, are:

 

1979

1981

1978

1980

1982

1984

1985

1983

 

and as I mentioned the second half of 1977 and the first part of 1986.

 

 

This was my era as well, with the likes of The Police, Ultravox, Visage, Human League, Blondie, Kim Wilde :wub: New romantic music was my favourite genre at the time. I used to have pictures/ posters of Kim Wilde and Debbie Harry on my bedroom walls :lol: And I used to buy my singles from a record store (and I still remember the name of the store Star Tracks :lol: no longer exists, it went bust early 90s) that gave out a free weekly top 40 singles chart, that's how my interest in the charts began with the purchase of The Police - Message In A Bottlle and Sad Cafe - Every Day Hurts (1977/78), on 7 inch vinyls that costed 50p at the time :lol:

I voted for 1979 but 1981 is a strong contender too. My era for music is from roughly the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s with particular emphasis on the second half of 1977 to around the end of 1985 / the first quarter of 1986. My absolute favourites, in order, are:

 

1979

1981

1978

1980

1982

1984

1985

1983

 

and as I mentioned the second half of 1977 and the first part of 1986.

 

I had a Christmas job at HMV in 1981 and it was unbelievable how many copies of 'Don't You Want Me' we sold. We literally couldn't keep up with demand for the single. We were getting dozens of copies of the single delivered every day and by early afternoon it was often sold out. The 12" version of the single was far more popular than the 7" version. Sadly, our stock of The Waitresses 'Christmas Wrapping' remained largely unsold. It was badly promoted by the label and as far as I was aware I was the only person to buy a copy from our stock. As we were a chart return shop it probably explains why the single couldn't get higher than 3 weeks in the Breakers / Bubbling Under chart, the next 25 singles below number 75 (which back then were listed in alphabetical and not numerical order).

 

Really interesting post there - did Christmas Wrapping get much airplay? Little did we know back then!

 

Why did you lose interest after 1986?

 

Really interesting post there - did Christmas Wrapping get much airplay? Little did we know back then!

 

Why did you lose interest after 1986?

I started to lose interest in 1985 and stopped buying Record Mirror at the end of 1985 after a decade of buying it. I even stopped watching Top Of The Pops though in 1986 I did start to watch the then new Channel 4 programme The Chart Show. I just got to that age where the charts mattered less and my life was moving in another direction, away from music. I even stopped buying singles in mid 1986 (by that point I had something like 4,000 or so of them). I did return to following the charts in 1989 and did start buying Record Mirror again until the magazine folded in 1991 and did start to listen again to the top 40 / watch Top Of The Pops but my love for music wasn't as strong as it had been back when I was 12/13 to 20. Most people tend to love the charts the most from when they are in their mid teens and then start to outgrow the music scene as life starts to get in the way!

 

I must have heard 'Christmas Wrapping' on the radio before I started my Christmas job at HMV as I was only there from Monday 14 December 1981 to Saturday 9 January 1982 and I think I bought the single on my first or second day there. We had a tape the manager had made which we used to play all day and I can't remember the single being on that tape. But I don't exactly recall if the single did well on radio in 1981. But I do remember it being a decent sized radio hit in 1982, the year when it was re-issued. I think it was also re-promoted in 1983 but once again it didn't do that well and the label just seemed to give up on the single after that. Even now it still struggles to sell despite it being a popular song, something I find quite strange.

Edited December 26, 20177 yr by Robbie

This was my era as well, with the likes of The Police, Ultravox, Visage, Human League, Blondie, Kim Wilde :wub: New romantic music was my favourite genre at the time. I used to have pictures/ posters of Kim Wilde and Debbie Harry on my bedroom walls :lol: And I used to buy my singles from a record store (and I still remember the name of the store Star Tracks :lol: no longer exists, it went bust early 90s) that gave out a free weekly top 40 singles chart, that's how my interest in the charts began with the purchase of The Police - Message In A Bottlle and Sad Cafe - Every Day Hurts (1977/78), on 7 inch vinyls that costed 50p at the time :lol:

Yum, Kim Wilde! Unbelievably I turned down the offer of going out with someone who actually looked a bit like Kim Wilde. That was back in 1981 - I must have been an idiot!

 

My favourites in that era were The Jam, Buzzcocks, Boomtown Rats, Public Image Limited and Siouxsie and the Banshees as well as the synth bands like the Human League, Depeche Mode, Ultravox and early Spandau Ballet. Plus a host of one hit wonder singles such as the excellent 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' by The Passions (for anyone who hasn't heard the song check it out on YouTube, it's absolutely brilliant). I was also a big fan of disco music (Chic especially) and reggae. I bought a couple of Police singles but could never warm to them, mainly on account of me finding Sting's voice to be annoying. His only saving grace was when I was very young he and his parents lived just around the corner from me - he lived above the local chippy and his mother used to serve there on a weekend!

 

Suppose it happens to us all when we get past our chart age peak!

1999

 

It was a good time, when some my favourite singles from that year were big hits or even # 1s (Heartbeat, Maria, Baby One More Time, Lift Me Up, Mi Chico Latino) in UK.

Edited December 26, 20177 yr by Good Old Days