July 8, 20232 yr Why didn't Wham change the release date and release 1 week earlier not to coincide with Band Aid? or they didn't care?
July 8, 20232 yr Author Everything was probably already geared up to the release date- promo etc and given that Band Aid was all last minute there wasn't enough time to get everything else re-arranged.
July 8, 20232 yr The Riddle is a great song, still listen to it every now and then. The Gigi D'Agostino dance version is also solid.
July 8, 20232 yr The Riddle is a great song, still listen to it every now and then. The Gigi D'Agostino dance version is also solid. 'The Riddle' is very good. It follows 'Safety Dance' in seeming to have folk influenced synths. The Gigi dance version is good but Kershaw is a way better singer! Edited July 8, 20232 yr by TheSnake
July 8, 20232 yr Everything was probably already geared up to the release date- promo etc and given that Band Aid was all last minute there wasn't enough time to get everything else re-arranged. Is it true that Shaky released Merry Christmas Everyone in 1985 to avoid Band Aid? Just didn’t realise he had Teardrops in the top 10 then so maybe it was just a story I heard?
July 9, 20232 yr Author The story is partly true. I'll link it later but the writer of the track said that it was intended for Christmas 84 but then they heard of other big releases. Given that band aid wasn't a known thing until very late November 84, the truth is probably that they heard about releases from wham and FGTH and decided to delay. Band aid came later and got thrown into the story. Both the aforementioned announced their releases in October which makes more sense and gave shaky more time to plan something else. As you note time wise it is the only way it could really have been.
July 9, 20232 yr I went to see Nik on his Riddle tour that autumn, he was pretty good, I liked the non-single track Bogart, always hoped that would have been a single. In a very George Michael fashion, soon as he heard about Band Aid he publicly urged everyone to buy the record and announced Last Christmas profits would also go to Ethiopian charity. So people like me immediately bought both when they came out, and huge sales ensued - I still treasure my gatefold sleeve double A side copy of Last Christmas/ Everything She Wants. I would comment more on this thread but my ancient laptop goes into an endless scroll of doom when I try to comment, threatens to close down unless I tell it to wait another 3 minutes, and repeat till it settles down. It's the Youtube links I'm afraid - too many and it can't cope ("too many" being anything more than 2 or 3 on a page). Plus side, everyone's spared my reminiscing anecdotes! :lol:
July 9, 20232 yr ^Nooo we love your anecdotes!!! I *think* you can play around with your settings so that images, links are not shown, but not fully sure how...
July 9, 20232 yr Author 8TH DECEMBER It has the hallmark of the quiet before the storm but the charts are in the pre Christmas lull at present which is good news for Frankie as “The Power Of Love” soars majestically 3-1 to become their third No 1 from their first three releases and in the process they equal a 21 year old record held by Gerry & The Pacemakers. The band have sold over 3 million records in just a year which is impressive by any standard and are already one of the top 10 best selling acts of the decade marking 1984 as an exceptional year for the scouse band. The song ascends to No 1 on a sale of 91,443 and had no trouble deposing Jim Diamond to No 2 (75,616), Diamond’s plea to the UK public to buy Band Aid and replace him at the top appears to have happened a week too early- be careful what you wish for, he becomes the first solo week chart topper since New Edition back in May 83. LgdlzzfY1jM Written by John David (who also wrote “She Means Nothing To Me” for Cliff Richard & Phil Everly) Alvin Stardust has had a good 1984 as well. His last single “I Feel like Buddy Holly” made No 7 and now “I Won’t Run Away” follows suit climbing 11-7 (34,527) to give him a festive hit. FrQb3xp_wU4 Speaking of people who have a good 1984 one of them must be Nile Rogers who of course has steered both Sister Sledge and Duran Duran into the top 10 this year and now adds Madonna to the list with the rather controversial track “Like A Virgin”. She’s had a good start to her career scoring the No 6 hit “Holiday” back in February and whilst “Lucky Star” (No 14) and “Borderline” (No 56) haven’t struck gold, her new single from her second album seems to have turned around her chart fortunes, it’s already top 10 Stateside and now jets 27-8 (31,365) here. Naturally mid America has been outraged by the song and the singers writhing around the stage at the recent MTV Music awards didn't help to silence the critics and she proves a hit at least with the public. aLok_PESqhs One of the big hits of Christmas this year is expected to be “We All Stand Together” which is proving to be the more critically acclaimed film for Paul McCartney this year. It is taken from the film “Rupert And The Frog Song” and has the backing vocals of the King’s singers of St Paul’s Cathedral who are credited as the Frog Chorus all of which should make it a hit with the kids this Christmas. It arrives 39-9 (31,314) and should be in the festive top 5. gVfaf43W9cM Nik Kershaw can’t stop climbing as again he floats a spot 4-3 (44,846) though he drops sales wise, and the Eurythmics are on his tail moving 6-4 (42,670) though they at least are up marginally saleswise. Ditto to Shaky who advances 7-5 with sales up to 38,658 and two definite slackers are former chart topper Chaka Khan 2-6 (37,927) and Limahl 5-10 (30,396). Next week will see both Band Aid and Wham! Enter the top 10 doubtless and if the shipping figures are to be believed with very healthy sales indeed, yes Christmas arrives with a bang- see you in 7 days 1- THE POWER OF LOVE- Frankie Goes To Hollywood (91,443) 2- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER- Jim Diamond (75,616) 3- THE RIDDLE- Nik Kershaw (44,846) 4- SEXCRIME (1984)- Eurythmics (42,670) 5- TEARDROPS- Shakin Stevens (38,658) 6- I FEEL FOR YOU- Chaka Khan (37,927) 7- I WON’T RUN AWAY- Alvin Stardust (34,527) 8- LIKE A VIRGIN- Madonna (31,365) 9- WE ALL STAND TOGETHER- Paul McCartney & Frog Chorus (31,314) 10- NEVER ENDING STORY- Limahl (30,396)
July 9, 20232 yr oh very interesting that Madonna released Like a Virgin in December, sounds like very bad timing
July 9, 20232 yr The story is partly true. I'll link it later but the writer of the track said that it was intended for Christmas 84 but when they heard of other big releases such as band aid and wham they decided to delay a year. Given that band aid wasn't a known thing until very late November 84, the truth is probably that they heard about releases from wham and FGTH and decided to delay. Band aid came later and got thrown into the story. Both the aforementioned announced their releases in October which makes more sense and gave shaky more time to plan something else. As you note time wise it is the only way it could really have been. That makes sense, nobody would have predicted Band Aid. Wham would still have had huge sales that Christmas anyway imo albeit the band aid logo probably helped it go stratospheric. Sales were huge anyway at Xmas 84!
July 9, 20232 yr ^Nooo we love your anecdotes!!! I *think* you can play around with your settings so that images, links are not shown, but not fully sure how... Ta, I'll give it a go and thanks for the compliment! :lol: In the meantime, I am reading and enjoying everything on here :yahoo:
July 9, 20232 yr Ta, I'll give it a go and thanks for the compliment! :lol: In the meantime, I am reading and enjoying everything on here :yahoo: Yes your comments are great reads Pop!! Would love to have the original of Wham!
July 9, 20232 yr As for the chart itself, love it even the Macca entry which is just meant to be some festive fun!! 84 seemed to mark the return of some 70s favs with Alvin and Gary Glitter!
July 10, 20232 yr Author 15TH DECEMBER It’s been a record breaking week this year with all the headlines going to Band Aid whose “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” has introduced the world to the concept of the charity record. Stemming from a report on the BBC by Michael Buerk about the current famine in Ethiopia back in October, it spurred Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to combine their talents and enlist the help of the biggest pop stars of 1984 onto one track which was recorded given to radio and made available in the shops all in just a week. Special note should be made of Paula Yates (Geldof’s wife) who was the connection between Geldof and Ure after Ultravox guested on “The Tube” shortly after the news feature. Such was the demand for the track that the media has hyped up the release with Radio 1 playing it on the hour and a record 750,000 copies being shipped to store in preparation for the Christmas rush. The track is retailing at £1.35 plus VAT (basically cost only) and the paying of VAT has been a bone of contention between Geldof and the Government with neither side backing down at present, Geldof also managed to harrang BBC1 into showing the video after TOTP in its entirety, again a first! The result of this media frenzy and festive goodwill? An amazing tally of 574,464 copies have been bought, by far the highest weekly tally of the decade and puts Band Aid as the 7th biggest seller of the year after 6 days on sale. Astounding and a whopping 26% of the entire market last week! RH-xd5bPKTA That might make you feel slightly bad for Wham! Who were one of the favourites for the Christmas No 1 single before the announcement of Band Aid, their double A-Side “Last Christmas/ Everything She Wants” couldn’t compete with Band Aid though of course it isn’t all bad news for Michael who appears on that track too, kind of holding himself off the top spot. Wham! Have announced that proceeds from this single will similarly go to the Band Aid cause and that the current AA side “Everything She Wants” will be issued with a promo and remixes once Christmas is done to help generate further sales (and maybe a shot at the No 1 slot after all?) It also sold better than any Wham! Single in its first week and in most weeks of the year the 146,285 copies it sold would have earned it the No 1 spot, that sales tally meaning that the top 2 alone sold almost 750,000! E8gmARGvPlI Naturally Frankie Goes To Hollywood get ousted 1-3 in wake of Band Aid and Wham! But even they share in the bonaza as their sales increase 36% week on week to 123,947 copies which is the normal bounce one would expect a new chart topper to get. Frankie, along with David Bowie, are the two notable absences from the Band Aid track as they were unavailable for the recording though both send messages on the b-side of the track and Bowie presents the promo. After three weeks “The Power Of Love” has sold 268,821 copies- not bad but no million seller- have the group reached saturation point? Also showing marked improvements this week are Paul McCartney 9-4 (77,945) and Madonna 8-5 (75,276), McCartney now has four top 5 singles in a row, something he’s not done since his Beatles days, but for Madonna it’s her first top 5 single. The lower half of the top 10 is nowhere near as exciting as it consists of 5 fallers, Jim Diamond drops 2-6 (48,603), Shakin Stevens dips 5-7 (44,336), Nik Kershaw slips 3-8 (40,630), Eurythmics trip 4-9 (38,930) and Alvin Stardust topples 7-10 (34,459) 1- DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS?- Band Aid (574,464) 2- LAST CHRISTMAS/ EVERYTHING SHE WANTS- Wham! (146,285) 3- THE POWER OF LOVE- Frankie Goes To Hollywood (123,947) 4- WE ALL STAND TOGETHER- Paul McCartney & Frog Chorus (77,945) 5- LIKE A VIRGIN- Madonna (75,276) 6- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER- Jim Diamond (48,603) 7- TEARDROPS- Shakin Stevens (44,336) 8- THE RIDDLE- Nik Kershaw (40,630) 9- SEXCRIME (1984)- Eurythmics (38,930) 10- I WON’T RUN AWAY- Alvin Stardust (34,459)
July 11, 20232 yr Shame Madonna didn't wait until either side of the Christmas rush for 'Like a Virgin', I think she could have bagged herself a very easy #1 with it then!
July 11, 20232 yr Yes, it will be interesting to see what sales are like in early 1985. Christmas does seem an odd time for them to have released Like a Virgin, she was basically still a new act then so it’s not like success would have been guaranteed in the high sales climate
July 11, 20232 yr Author 22ND DECEMBER The week before Christmas and it seems as though the festive top slots are all decided. The sales are astronomical and incredibly up on last week and record breaking once again. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” holds the top slot with a new weekly record of 769,046 copies sold to take its 2 week tally to an phenomenal 1,343,510 as it becomes the year’s fourth million seller and the 4th biggest selling single of the 80s already, selling at the rate it is it could easily become No 1 in the YTD list and the decade chart before the year is out! Iqus5ouCkd0 Wham! Continue to play bridesmaid and aren’t disgracing themselves either, after registering the biggest 2nd biggest sale for a No 2 single in 1984 they saw a further 94% sales boost to tally 283,713 copies last week to bring their total to 429,998 and the song could overtake “Freedom” to be the duo’s best seller next week, though it may struggle to overtake “Careless Whisper” as Michael’s biggest seller. The top 2 generated sales of over a million in just 6 days- also a new record! Joining in the triple figure sales tallies are Paul McCartney who rises 4-3 (119,833) but Madonna just misses out as she writhes her way 5-4 (94,605)- all impressive figures and for the latter act the cream on the cake after “Like A Virgin” hits the No 1 spot stateside. Four tracks are new in the top 10 in a hope to provide a shock to Band Aid, first up are punk survivors Toy Dolls who are best known for their more jocular take on the punk scene. They have a version of the Children’s classic “Nelly The Elephant” which was originally issued two years ago but failed to chart (though it became an Indie Chart No 1), but it now fares considerably better jumping 16-6 (76,687). The original dates back to 1956 and was originally produced by George Martin in his pre Beatles days. vYcXrtiIb2U Last Christmas saw the revival of the chart fortunes of Slade and this year it seems to be that other big star on the 70s Gary Glitter whose chart fortunes seems to have about faced. “Dance Me Up” was a No 25 hit for him earlier this year to become his highest placed single in 7 years, and now he does even better as “Another Rock N Roll Christmas” soars 22-7 (41,786) to become his biggest hit since he made No 6 in 1975 with “Doing Alright With The Boys”. The tracks come from the pen from Mike Leander who created many of Glitter’s 70s smashes. s3f52ddC2TA Eyebrows were raised when Paul Young’s new single “Everything Must Change” entered at the lowly position of No 39 a few weeks ago but alarm over as the track powers 17-9 (35,513). Unlike previous singles this is the first to be composed in part by Young himself who has had vocal issues this year but whose new album is promised in early 1985. QhJ66qWX-Vs It had to happen really, Black Lace’s “Do The Conga” completes its journey into the top 10 moving 13-10 (35,173) to become their third top 10 in just over a year. One suspects that with Office parties taking place this week this can only continue to rise for another week at least. Oh dear. 6Jrg0oLP30I Nik Kershaw holds at No 8 and barely loses any sales on 38,658 thanks to several TV shows this week but Frankie Goes To Hollywood can’t join in the sales boost as they tumble 3-5 (82,076). 1- DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS- Band Aid (769,046) 2- LAST CHRISTMAS/ EVERYTHING SHE WANTS- Wham! (283,713) 3- WE ALL STAND TOGETHER- Paul McCartney & Frog Chorus (119,833) 4- LIKE A VIRGIN- Madonna (94,605) 5- THE POWER OF LOVE- Frankie Goes To Hollywood (82,076) 6- NELLIE THE ELEPHANT- Toy Dolls (76,687) 7- ANOTHER ROCK N ROLL CHRISTMAS- Gary Glitter (41,786) 8- THE RIDDLE- Nik Kershaw (38,658) 9- EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE- Paul Young (35,513) 10- DO THE CONGA- Black Lace (35,173)
July 11, 20232 yr Yes, it will be interesting to see what sales are like in early 1985. Christmas does seem an odd time for them to have released Like a Virgin, she was basically still a new act then so it’s not like success would have been guaranteed in the high sales climate I don’t want to give away any peaks etc but it has a decent run and doesn’t peak for a while yet! Also the no1 after Band Aid is another huge song of the era! Edited July 11, 20232 yr by steve201
Create an account or sign in to comment