The Smiths were lucky last time to go top 10, but this time Girlfriend in a Coma peaks at #13

It's one of my favourites from them

 

also further down the charts in the low top 30, The Jesus & Mary Chain follow up their top 10 April Skies with the fantastic Happy When it Rains but fails to repeat the trick sadly peaking at #25

 

 

Girlfriend In A Coma is a very sad song :( , good song melodically.

 

Also in the chart at #12 was Wax Bridge to Your Heart - a good sophistipop song, Graham Gouldman of 10cc fame was in the band.

 

 

And peaking at #13 a few weeks before, a Stock Aitken Waterman produced, and unusually self credited, song, largely instrumental sophistipop.

 

Edited February 9, 20241 yr by TheSnake

also very surprising, Whitney's follow-up to I Wanna Dance, the ballad Didn't We Almost Had It All

kinda flopped at only made it to #14 in the UK, that's pretty surprising as I Wanna Dance was massive

and this is a decent ballad, was of course a #1 in the US but only #14 in the UK looks low

and her albums from album 1 did well so it's not that...

 

and looking back a few weeks, I was convinced this had been top 10 but peaked at #11

ABC's return to form with the fab and sophisticated When Smokey Sings

 

ABC kind of started 80s sophisti-pop originally indeed with the 'Lexicon of Love' album. 'When Smokey Sings' is a good song but I prefer their 1982 songs.

‘When Smokey Sings’ is a fab comeback but kinda flopped as they were on TOTP flat out and it still couldn’t go top 10! The Wax songs is great, is it a cover??

Edited February 8, 20241 yr by Steve201

5TH SEPTEMBER

 

 

The SAW tea boy turned good does it again this week, and smashes through the 100,000 mark for only the 11th time in 1987 ending up with a mighty 135,354 in the last 7 days. Rick Astley reigns supreme and has sold a healthy 289,255 since release and is shaping up nicely as one of the singles of the year. It is Stock Aitken & Waterman’s 4th No 1 single but their third of this year and they are now probably the hottest producers in the land as we speak, for a third week they also produce two of the top 5 tracks with Sinitta holding at No 4 (46,529) though she is starting to cool.

 

 

 

If you’re looking for potential challengers to “Never Gonna Give You Up” then simply there aren’t. Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield play token runner up but they are over 70,000 copies behind Astley on 57,613, the last time there was such a gap between the top 2 was all the way back in October 1986 when Madonna was beaten by Nick Berry by almost 140,000 copies. You might be better off putting your hopes on The Fat Boys whose version of the Surfari’s 1963 No 5 hit “Wipeout” has already exceeded the original as it storms 19-3 (47,056) to give a glimmer of hope. The US rap trio comprise among others Darren Robinson, a pioneer of “Beatboxing”, and have been around for roughly 3 years getting major exposure (along with the Beastie Boys) on the film “Krush Groove”, for this track they have recruited The Beach Boys for whom this is their 13th top 10 single but first in 8 years and it’s been 19 years since they were in the top 3 when “Do It Again” went all the way.

 

 

 

When first released last year it only made No 72 but in the wake of the No 8 hit “Sweetest Smile” Black have re-issued “Wonderful Life” and have a much bigger hit this time around as it flies 18-8 (28,815) to match the former hit’s peak. In three weeks time Vearncombe releases his debut album which will also be called “Wonderful Life” and should benefit from the hit singles, the promo for the title track is filmed at New Brighton near Vearncombe’s home.

 

 

 

Another song getting a re-issue and a far better reception is T’Pau’s “Heart And Soul”. The group hail from Shropshire, formed last year, and had this single featured on a Pepe Jeans advert in the states which gained the song national recognition and saw it peak at No 4 last month, that then caused a re-issued here and now the song can’t be stopped as it strides 28-9 (24,820). Their unusual name comes from a character in the Star Trek series which was cruelly forgotten about when the firm named a few in their recent chart topper.

 

 

Wet, wet, wet have their biggest chart hit on their hands as “Sweet Little Mystery” inches 6-5 (33,932) and moves above a couple of fallers, Spagna 5-6 (30,277) and Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett 3-7 (30,158), Pseudo Echo also recede 8-10 (24,395).

 

 

1- NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP- Rick Astley (135,354)

2- WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS- Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield (57,613)

3- WIPEOUT- Beach Boys & Fat Boys (47,056)

4- TOY BOY- Sinitta (46,529)

5- SWEET LITTLE MYSTERY- Wet, wet, wet (33,932)

6- CALL ME- Spagna (30,277)

7- I JUST CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU- Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett (30,158)

8- WONDERFUL LIFE- Black (28,815)

9- HEART AND SOUL- T’Pau (24,820)

10- FUNKY TOWN- Pseudo Echo (24,395)

 

I genuinely thought until recently that T'Pau debuted with, you know, the song most people know them for.

 

Heart and Soul is a good song anyway, but not as good as their other one, the spoken word verses reminds me of both Pet Shop Boys and PM Dawn!

 

'Wonderful Life' is a bit of a classic, very nice song, his voice is similar to Furniture of 'Brilliant Mind' fame.

 

I also think Black was influenced by Double of 'Captain Of Her Heart' fame.

 

'Wipeout' is good fun, yes rap was becoming more popular by this stage of the 80s.

 

The US rap trio comprise among others Darren Robinson, a pioneer of “Beatboxing”, and have been around for roughly 3 years getting major exposure (along with the Beastie Boys) on the film “Krush Groove”, for this track have recruited The Beach Boys for whom this is their 13th top 10 single but first in 8 years and it’s been 19 years since they were in the top 3 when “Do It Again” went all the way.

 

Interesting film title there, reminds me of something....

Edited February 8, 20241 yr by TheSnake

Wonderful Life is an absolute classic and many prob forget it’s by Black!

'What Have I Done to Deserve This?' so deserves #1 but I can't begrudge it being behind an absolute juggernaut.

Didn't know the Rick Astley song was that big at the time, thought it might have been just a one week #1 but no.

 

Spagna and the Wets held up well. Glad Psuedo Echo got another week top 10 too.

Meant to ask why the huge jump for Rick in week 3?

Meant to ask why the huge jump for Rick in week 3?

Which week ending are you asking about?

King Rick :cheeseblock:

‘When Smokey Sings’ is a fab comeback but kinda flopped as they were on TOTP flat out and it still couldn’t go top 10! The Wax songs is great, is it a cover??

Lol at ABC being #11 and being called a flop

It was 100% the other way around, their last 2 albums failed to produce a proper hit

so this was definitely a return to form

 

love Heart and Soul, what a fantastic debut for T'Pau, one of the best bands of the 80s

bizarre that i flopped first time in the UK but got top 5 in the US, also it doesn't sound like something that would be a hit in the US

I can see why Whitesnake or Def Leppard were huge there, but T'Pau not so much

 

also love Wonderful Life, second amazing song from Black. And so many songs that flopped first time, luckily labels didn't have a problem re-releasing :)

Neve Gonna Give You Up was good but i never seem to enjoy it as much as most other people.

12TH SEPTEMBER

 

 

Another week of Rick Astley domination results in another 111,639 copies of “Never Gonna Give You Up” being sold, that’s a 18% loss week on week but this week's figure does include a day's less sales given it was a bank holiday on the Monday. Its total of 400,894 is easily enough to place it in the top 10 YTD which we’ll update in three weeks time, also keep an eye on its sales next week as it is about 130,000 away from overtaking Mel & Kim to become S/A/W’s best selling single ever!

 

 

The Fat Boys & The Beach Boys move the expected move 3-2 (53,414) with a nice sales boost of 13% thanks to TOTP but it still lags too far to threaten and the Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield sag 2-3 (41,140) as they gear up for the album release this week. That provides a 60s look to the top of the charts and contributes to the overall feeling of what a “retro” year 1987 has been.

 

 

Michael Jackson’s “Bad” album enters the charts at No 1 this week after selling a phenomenal 350,000 copies (a new chart record) as it pushes the opening tally for “The Joshua Tree” down to second on the list of biggest opening weeks, but U2 still claim the biggest selling album of the year so far as it celebrates 6 months on the charts without leaving the top 10 though it dips 6-9 this week. Third single from the album “Where The Streets Have No Name” debuts at No 4 (36,550), ordinarily a track entering into the top 5 must be fancied to hit the No 1 spot next week but U2 have proved to be something of a high debuting act who find it difficult to make that final step to the top so we’ll see if it can follow their norm. The title incidentally is taken from the concept in Belfast that you can tell someone’s religion and income based on their street name and Bono imaging a place where that doesn’t happen- he’s a good soul.

 

 

 

A truly amazing 54th Top 10 single (yes it’s true) for Cliff Richard this week with the Alan Tarney penned “Some People” which is another release from his “Always Guaranteed” album which is released in a fortnight and goes head to head with releases by Black, Five Star, and Chris Rea in a very busy week. The single powers 15-7 (30,345) to hint that it may become a bigger seller than “My Pretty One” which sold just over 136,000 copies.

 

 

 

US trio LeVert contain two sons of Eddie Levert a co-founder of the O’Jays and his star genes pay off with the group scoring a first hit with “Casanova” a track which features on the new Robert Downey Jr/ Molly Ringwald film “The Pick Up Artist” which is out in the US now but not here until Christmas when it won’t help its promotion on the UK charts. The song still seems to have legs though flying 20-10 (22,491) this week.

 

 

T’pau show spirit climbing 9-5 (33,779) as they sneak past Sinitta who dips 4-6 (32,232), further down Wet, Wet, Wet also ebb 5-8 (26,265) and Black just can’t get past the No 8 position as their second hit slips 8-9 (25,500).

 

 

1- NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP- Rick Astley (111,639)

2- WIPEOUT- Fat Boys & Beach Boys (53,414)

3- WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS – Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield (41,140)

4- WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME- U2 (36,550)

5- HEART AND SOUL- T’Pau (32,779)

6- TOY BOY- Sinitta (32,232)

7- SOME PEOPLE- Cliff Richard (30,345)

8- SWEET LITTLE MYSTERY- Wet, wet , wet (26,265)

9- WONDERFUL LIFE- Black (25,500)

10- CASANOVA- Levert (22,491)

 

'Where The Streets Have No Name' is another good U2 song.

 

'Casanova' is a good new jack swing type song, the melody sounds influenced by Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing.

'Where The Streets Have No Name' :wub: assuming that's where it peaked, that's three huge favourites of mine peaking at #4 in 1987 alongside 'With Or Without You' and 'True Faith'!

U2 released 3 absolute classics in a row in 87