If I Was only really clicked with me in the last 5 years - that synth sound is so uplifting I can turn a blind eye to the grammatical incorrectness (although 'If I Were' seems more jarring somehow).

 

Oh My God... how did I never think of this before when I am usually the Grammar Police??

NO 73- 63 POINTS

 

Stand By Me Ben E King (Voter: Jackjones- 30 points, Chez Wombat- 12 points, Dircadirca- 16 points, Leonardo- 5 points)- No 1 for 3 weeks in February/ March 1987

 

 

An oldie but a goodie- clearly Jackjones thinks so as they award this 1961 track their maximum points. It only made No 27 originally but helped by a Levi’s Commercial and its use in a Stephen King film adaptation of the same name, they pushed it all the way to the top.

 

NO 72- 64 POINTS

 

Do They Know It's Christmas Band Aid (Voter: Chez Wombat- 1 point, Danvember- 28 points, Colm- 18 points, Gooddelta- 17 points)- No 1 for 5 weeks in December 1984/ January 1985

 

 

By far the biggest selling record of the 80s and of all time (at one time anyway) the granddaddy of all charity records crashes out here.

 

NO 71- 64 POINTS

 

Merry Christmas Everyone Shakin Stevens (Voter: Steve201- 1 point, Danvember- 29 points, Gooddelta- 28 points, Last Dreamer- 6 points)- No 1 for 2 weeks in December 1985/January 1986

 

 

And more festive chart toppers take a bow- this time Shaky’s fourth and most loved No 1 it seems. It was delayed for a year due to Band Aid but it didn’t dent his chances.

 

surprised those Xmas tracks are so high, not a fam myself

 

I do like Stand By Me, nice track

Not keen on Stand By Me.

 

Love Merry Christmas Everyone - one of the best ever Christmas songs.

 

Just watched the TOTP performance of Do They Know it's Christmas and it's hilariously bad as everyone just mimes along to the whole thing and the cameras try to find the right people when the line they actually sung comes along.

I always associate 'Stand By Me' with my dad asking for the Oasis one on karaoke and them playing that one by mistake :lol:

I always associate 'Stand By Me' with my dad asking for the Oasis one on karaoke and them playing that one by mistake :lol:

:lol: With my dad it would be the other way round!

 

It’s difficult to compare the classic Christmas songs with the other stuff. I’d have been tempted to vote for Shaky but with so few votes to give decided to focus elsewhere. Plus hearing it several times each year without even choosing to does take the shine off it a bit.

I do wonder if they wouldn't have done so well if the voting period wasn't november/December?

I thought the Band Aid song was not very much liked, especially cos that Bono line ("Well tonight thank God it's them Instead of you"),

which is rather insensitive to say the least

I don't think it's insensitive. It's deliberately put that way to illustrate "there but for the grace of god" i.e it could easily be you. That was the intention anyway if I recall from the documentary.

yeah I probably wouldn’t have ranked the christmas songs so high if this had been done outside of the holiday season but they are two great tracks reagardless and clearly needed those points. i’m

I do wonder if they wouldn't have done so well if the voting period wasn't november/December?

 

I suspect Band Aid climbed my rankings a few spots due to voting near Christmas but Merry Christmas Everyone genuinely is one of my big favourite 80s songs <3 Shame Shaky Fan didn't vote to give it a bit more of a leg up.

 

Although that TOTP performance gave me a headache, I've never heard such frantic clapping along.

Another 30 pointer on the way out tomorrow!

Stand By Me is good and Ben E King has a great voice. I do prefer from the 80s Levi's advert reentries Percy Sledge When A Man Loves A Woman which made #2, as its backing track is rather emotive and moving, rather like Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale imo.

 

Surprised at danG giving the Christmas songs more points than a lot of the dance songs evidently!

Do They Know It's Christmas is one of the better Christmas songs. I like Phil Collins' drumming on it and the use of the Tears For Fears sample at the start. I'm not so keen on the Shaky song. Stand By Me is a classic which I'd put in the top 10 songs from 1961 which I've been listening to on my Record Of The Week 60 years ago thread.

Surprised at danG giving the Christmas songs more points than a lot of the dance songs evidently!

To be fair there weren't too many dance number 1 singles in the 80s, right? I could nominate something like 6 one hundred percent dance songs (there are others 50% pop and 50% dance number ones imo) only: 19, Doctorin The Tardis, Theme from S-Express, Ride On Time, The Only Way Is Up and Pump Up The Volume.

I thought the Band Aid song was not very much liked, especially cos that Bono line ("Well tonight thank God it's them Instead of you"),

which is rather insensitive to say the least

 

Things I should have known before #1

 

I always thought that this line meant "thank God tonight we are making this song and concentrating on helping them, rather than you keeping all your money for yourself".

It was only LAST MONTH that someone pointed out to me the meaning of "thank God it's happening to someone else".

I was really surprised.

 

Anyway... call me slow (like 37 years slow!!)

Yeah, the line's meant to be powerful and challenging to the listener rather than jeering, making you imagine what it's like in their shoes. I admittedly made that mistake before, but now I think it's easily the most powerful line in the song. The 2014 one cutting it out was ridiculous.

 

It's a great song anyway, I wouldn't say it was disliked either, certainly in the UK, it's still played every year and was the blueprint that many other charity singles followed (We Are The World is probably better known in a worldwide context)

 

Love Stand By Me too, the vocals and strings give me shivers. I know it's not an 80s song so debated whether to include it, but it did grant the song justice for it's low peak earlier so I counted it!

To be fair there weren't too many dance number 1 singles in the 80s, right? I could nominate something like 6 one hundred percent dance songs (there are others 50% pop and 50% dance number ones imo) only: 19, Doctorin The Tardis, Theme from S-Express, Ride On Time, The Only Way Is Up and Pump Up The Volume.

 

Doctorin' The Tardis isn't really dance imo although it is by a dance group.

 

A few 80s number 1s songs would have been considered dance at the time though but not as much now, like Into The Groove and I Feel For You.

 

Two Tribes and You Spin Me Round could arguably could be added to the list too. The Only Way Is Up has some pop elements to it as well as dance I think, much like Don't Leave Me This Way which it was arguably influenced by, but I suppose because The Only Way Is Up has the acid house bassline it can be considered more dancey than Don't Leave Me This Way.