June 29, 20232 yr Wonder why Bowie ‘only’ entered at 17 with his first release from a new album and the follow up to the huge Let’s Dance album?
June 29, 20232 yr Author Wonder why Bowie ‘only’ entered at 17 with his first release from a new album and the follow up to the huge Let’s Dance album? Probably because it's not very good?
June 29, 20232 yr I like Blue Jean but it’s nowhere near his best. Doesn’t sound like top 10 material to me and the album it was from is pretty poor - although not as bad as what was to come later in the 80s
June 30, 20232 yr I'm not a fan of that Bowie song either so can understand why it debuted and charted lower than before... actually not crazy about any of those newbies... not a fan of Jimmi Sommerville's hyper-ultra-falsetto or Shakin Stevens :o but yay at U2 going top 3 and also nice for Sister Sledge, crazy that Thinking of You only went to #11 and this went top 5, Thinking of You sounds much better and commercial to me Also surprised Ghostbusters only peaked at #2, kinda remembered it as a #1, guess they were unlucky to clash with I Just Called... Edited June 30, 20232 yr by Bjork
June 30, 20232 yr 'Thinking of You' and 'Lost in Music' are both iconic! The weird one for me is how out of them all, 'Frankie' was the #1!
June 30, 20232 yr Author 6TH OCTOBER Nothing, it seems, can yet even compete with Stevie Wonder as “I Just Called To Say I Love You” spends a fifth week at the summit, though it is at least starting to look vulnerable as sales fell to 148,087 but that was still double the No 2 record. As we’re now ¾ of the way through 1984 it’s time to review the top 10 best sellers of this stellar year: 1- RELAX- Frankie Goes To Hollywood 1,598,561 2- TWO TRIBES- Frankie Goes To Hollywood 1,507,577 3- I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU- Stevie Wonder 1,217,931 4- CARELESS WHISPER- George Michael 1,036,201 5- HELLO- Lionel Richie 750,907 6- AGADOO- Black Lace 608,039 7- WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO- Wham! 589,186 8- 99 RED BALLONS- Nena 479,043 9- WHITE LINES (DON’T DO IT)- Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel 453,832 10- THE REFLEX- Duran Duran 452,030 As you can see Wonder is already the third best selling single of the year and the fourth biggest of the 80s so far- and it’s still at No 1! By way of interest both Frankie records are still in the chart at No 42 (“Two Tribes”) and No 50 (“Relax”) but the former track is only outselling the latter by a few thousand a week so it looks unlikely to overturn the dominance of “Relax” in 1984. Others will note “Careless Whisper” at No 4 on the YTD whilst it falls to No 11 on the weekly chart and also Michaels Wham!’s track at No 7, the duo’s new single “Freedom” is out this week and will go head to head for the No 1 spot with another of one of the biggest acts around in 1984. 5qwRZdu4Y0k That act is of course Culture Club who spent most of 1984 getting massive in the US and all over the world where “Karma Chameleon” topped the charts and allowed the band to rival Duran Duran in terms of headlines and international fame. Their third album “Waking Up With The House On Fire” is out next month and lead single “The War Song” has already been proclaimed by Boy George as their best and a sure fire No 1 single, and to be honest it starts bright enough debuting in the charts at No 3 matching their highest entry position set by…..”Karma Chameleon” and we all know how well that song ended up selling. It comes with a rather expensive promo rumoured to have cost £100,000 and spent most of the week looking like it would enter at No 2 until it was overtaken by the TOTP exposure given to “Ghostbusters”, the two tracks ending up with sales of 57,579 and 72,862 respectively. SBJaEtJ-s2w America’s most recent import is up next, Prince has had a phenomenal year with a hit album and film to his credit, indeed the film’s title track has been shortened in length (halved at least) and this week “Purple Rain” becomes his second Top 10 hit here as it flies 16-8 (31,450). The soundtrack album entered the top 20 in August and hasn’t left yet ten weeks later, it re-peaks at No 9 this week. VbEv8C9Cff0 In the top 10 for a 7th time UB40 return this week with “If It Happens Again” which rises 17-9 (31,399). The song is apparently the group’s response to the Conservative party’s victory in the general election last year and is the lead single from the group’s fifth album “Geffery Morgan” which is out in a fortnight. QCl6RBceMbo He’s been with Queen for 14 years but Freddie Mercury finally goes solo, well kind of anyway. “Love Kills” was originally penned for the current Queen album “The Works” but didn’t make the cut and instead has been used on the forthcoming restoration project of the 1927 film “Metropolis” by Giorgio Moroder who co-writes the song with Mercury. You may recall the film was an inspiration for the Queen video “Radio Gaga” earlier this year and in terms of the musician’s on the track it is to all intents and purposes a Queen record. It moves 12-10 (28,696) to sneak into the top 10 apologetically. GglOC5tUT_c Bronski Beat manage to escape the arrival of Culture Club and move 7-6 (44,676) but not having that good fortune U2 reverse 3-4 (56,525) even with increased sales, Sister Sledge slip 4-5 (44,948) and even David Bowie falls 6-7 (34,357), he does however have the compensation of the No 1 album as “Tonight” powers to the top. On the subject of albums the final quarter of 1984 looks to be a bumper one with a who’s who of 1984 pop elite coming out with LP’s before Christmas- here’s a quick run down! October- U2, Bronski Beat, UB40, Big Country November- Culture Club, Ultravox, Alison Moyet, Paul McCartney, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Duran Duran, Wham!, The Smiths, Shakin Stevens December- Nik Kershaw, Howard Jones, Black Lace All in all something very big released on almost every week! Which of them will make No 1 though? 1- I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU- Stevie Wonder (148,087) 2- GHOSTBUSTERS- Ray Parker Jnr (72,862) 3- WAR SONG- Culture Club (57,579) 4- PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE)- U2 (56,525) 5- LOST IN MUSIC- Sister Sledge (44,948) 6- WHY- Bronski Beat (44,676) 7- BLUE JEAN- David Bowie (34,357) 8- PURPLE RAIN- Prince (31,450) 9- IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN- UB40 (31,399) 10- LOVE KILLS- Freddie Mercury (28,696)
June 30, 20232 yr Oh wow 'White Lines' in the EOY top 10 so far! It's an influential song but I didn't realise it had sold quite that well, with a peak of #7. Ooh the arrival of 'Purple Rain'! Nothing short of epic. :heart:
June 30, 20232 yr 'Purple Rain' is very good indeed. 'Love Kills' is a distant second to 'Living On My Own' in terms of Freddie Mercury solo singles in my opinion! Edited June 30, 20232 yr by TheSnake
June 30, 20232 yr In a surprising twist, something even worse in my eyes than I Just Called… has arrived in the top 10 this week. Step forward the War Song :(
July 1, 20232 yr 'Thinking of You' and 'Lost in Music' are both iconic! The weird one for me is how out of them all, 'Frankie' was the #1! Absolutely I hadn’t heard Frankie when it was played on TOTP in 1985 episodes compared to their classics. I guess these rereleases hyped the comeback!
July 1, 20232 yr I'm not a fan of that Bowie song either so can understand why it debuted and charted lower than before... actually not crazy about any of those newbies... not a fan of Jimmi Sommerville's hyper-ultra-falsetto or Shakin Stevens :o but yay at U2 going top 3 and also nice for Sister Sledge, crazy that Thinking of You only went to #11 and this went top 5, Thinking of You sounds much better and commercial to me Also surprised Ghostbusters only peaked at #2, kinda remembered it as a #1, guess they were unlucky to clash with I Just Called... Ghostbusters had a Relax style chart run I think where it rose again until new year 1985!
July 1, 20232 yr Probably because it's not very good? Fair enough but the hype alone I thought would have lead to a top 5 entry like his earlier 80s comebacks?
July 1, 20232 yr Author 13TH OCTOBER It was widely expected by those in the know that the competition this week for the top spot would be between Wham! And Culture Club but in the end the UK public went with what it knew and so “I Just Called To Say I Love You” is the best seller for a sixth week. Wonder’s track sold a still respectable 117,283 copies to bring its total to 1,335,214 to become the third biggest single of the 80s as it also moves to the top of the US charts, the soundtrack album gives up its attempt to make the top spot however and after three weeks at No 2 recedes to No 4 this week. VtPLdL5GWDg Its victory was far from certain however with Culture Club advancing 3-2 and selling a none too shabby 108,885 in doing so, whether it can take the final step to No 1 depends on the performance of the track which debuts at No 3 this week. Wham! are back officially, and “Freedom” becomes their highest debuting single bettering the entry of “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by a spot. It was right in the midst of a three way battle as the week began but TOTP exposure for both of the top 2 left Wham! a distant third place on 60,112, still their best start of their 7 singles. Their second album “Make It Big” is out next month and should be a big Christmas seller. 2ag5Qbc1O-c The Cars are best known for their 1978 No 3 hit “My Best Friend’s Girl” but the group failed to impress with subsequent singles and haven’t dented the top 10 since. After a brief hiatus the group are back now with a fifth album which has already spawned US top 10 singles this year but nothing has impressed us until “Drive” which now jumps 15-5 (46,121) in its third week. Q_pVdKXVRHM Paul McCartney has a very busy month with a new single, film, and film soundtrack out all within weeks. First up is the lead single “No More Lonely Nights (Ballad)” which features a guitar by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and is included in both of his other projects, it rises 28-6 (42,738) to become only his 6th solo top 10 single. Both the album and film “Give My Regards To Broad Street” are out in three weeks. FSB9sBTc5t4 Last week saw a Giorgio Moroder co-penned track make the top 10 in the form of Freddie Mercury’s “Love Kills”, that song dips out of the top 10 this week but he has another hit on his hands with “Together In Electric Dreams” which flies 21-9 (40,171). The track is taken from the soundtrack of the same name which has failed to impress so far but is directed by Steve Barron who previously directed many pop video’s including Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” which is why, when Moroder asked Barron who could sing the track, he volunteered Phil Oakey. So it is that the duet crediting Oakey and Moroder finds its way into the top 10 which will please Oakey whose two hits with the Human League so far in 1984 have both missed the big 10 though the group have another single "Louise" out next month for Christmas. PE1lzqJCeJ0 A few fallers elsewhere, Ray Parker Jr continues to falter 2-4 (53,822) whilst Bronski Beat slip 6-7 (42,177) U2 hurtle 4-8 (40,528), but they won’t be too fussed as “The Unforgettable Fire” arrives at No 1 to lessen the pain, and Prince dives 8-10 (37,349) on its way out. 1- I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU- Stevie Wonder (117,283) 2- WAR SONG- Culture Club (108,885) 3- FREEDOM- Wham! (60,112) 4- GHOSTBUSTERS- Ray Parker Jnr (53,822) 5- DRIVE- The Cars (46,121 6- NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS (BALLAD)- Paul McCartney (42,738) 7- WHY- Bronski Beat (42,177) 8- PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE)- U2 (40,528) 9- TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS- Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder (40,171) 10- PURPLE RAIN- Prince (37,349)
July 1, 20232 yr Agreed that 'The War Song' is pretty naff. I like the additions of 'Freedom', 'Drive' and especially 'Together In Electric Dreams' though!
July 1, 20232 yr was the Paul McCartney single really titled (Ballad) in parenthesis? Kinda liked the Cars song, and Freedom is ok-ish, loved that video with Pepsi & Shirlie in the background Don't think I knew the Electric Dreams song, sounds nice on 1st listen
July 1, 20232 yr I was more of an anti-fan of Culture Club, I can understand why Karma and Hurt Me were huge but their reggae pastiches were never my thing, almost as bad as UB40 :D but was checking now their discography to that point, and they were really popular: Do you really wanna hurt me/1 Time(Clock of the Heart)/3 Church of the Poison Mind/2 Karma Chamaleon/1 Victims/3 It’s a Miracle/4 The War Song/2
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