5TH JULY

 

 

Don McLean still rules the roost this week as "Crying" stays at the top for a third week though incredibly his sales again are on the slide to just 59,000- we're making history in the wrong way week on week! that takes its total to 396,903 copies, it can also claim a double celebration as the song simultaneously climbs into the top 20 for the year.

 

 

Whilst we're on that subject here's the top 10 for 1980 as we reach the halfway point:

 

1. GENO- Dexy’s Midnight Runners 576,719

2. TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL- Fern Kinney 572,806

3. THE COWARD OF THE COUNTY- Kenny Rogers 568,893

4. WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORGIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners 551,993

5. GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam 518,141

6. DANCE YOURSELF DIZZY- Liquid Gold 494,741

7. THEME FROM MASH- Mash 491,829

8. ATOMIC- Blondie 475,072

9. I’M IN THE MOOD FOR DANCING- The Nolans 446,771

10. SPECIAL AKA EP- The Specials 432,185

 

Note there hasn't been a strong standout single which has dominated the field yet, with "Geno" overtaking Fern Kinney only a matter of weeks ago.

 

 

Also not far of that list is Lipps Inc (currently No 21 on the YTD list) but "Funky Town" fades badly with only 54,000 sales last week, that's the lowest tally for a No 2 track this year, and the track will be very lucky to hold the position next week. Especially given the track at no 3 looks set to be the biggest challenge to McLean's 4th week, that of course is "Xanadu" by Olivia Newton John & ELO which jumps 14-3 (49,000) and is a marked improvement on her last single "Deeper Than The Night" which fizzled out at No 64 last year. Much like Newton John's biggest hits it is supported by a film in which she stars, but unlike "Grease" the film "Xanadu" isn't meeting with critical approval time will tell if the audience when it opens next month.

 

 

 

It was only a few months ago that Narada Michael Walden was in the top 10 with "I Shoulda Loved Ya" and he's back there this week as the writer of "Jump To The Beat" for 13 year old Stacy Lattisaw which expands 11-6 (40,000). She becomes the youngest female solo act to have a top 10 hit since Lena Zavaroni back in 1974 at the young age of 10.

 

 

 

With a debut album out next month expectations are high for UB40 who score a second top 10 single with their second release "My Way Of Thinking/ I Think It's Going To Rain" the latter a cover of a Randy Newman track. It bolts 19-8 this week (36,000) but has a long way to go to beat their debut hit which sold 390,000 copies.

 

 

 

In an exact reverse of the Narada Michael Walden situation here's B A Robertson who was in the top 10 as a writer earlier as co-author of Cliff Richard's "Carrie" this week finds himself zooming up the charts 25-9 (36,000) with "To Be Or Not To Be" which becomes his fourth top 10 hit from 5 releases and rectifies the blip that was "Kool In The Kaftan" which could get no higher than No 17 in April.

 

 

The Korgis hold at No 5 this week a their sales remain 44,000 and Splodgenessabounds also hold at No 7 with a slight increase to 37,000.

 

Dropping this week are Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway who slip one to No 4 (47,000) and Teena Marie who moves 6-10 (35,000).

 

 

1- CRYING- Don McLean (59,000)

2- FUNKY TOWN- Lipps Inc (54,000)

3- XANADU- Olivia Newton-John & ELO (49,000)

4- BACK TOGETHER AGAIN- Roberta Flack & Don Hathaway (47,000)

5- EVERYBODY’S GOTTA LEARN SOMETIME- Korgis (44,000)

6- JUMP TO THE BEAT- Stacy Lattisaw (40,000)

7- SIMON TEMPLAR/ TWO PINTS AND A PACKET OF CRISPS- Splodgenessabounds (37,000)

8- MY WAY OF THINKING/ I THINK IT'S GOING TO RAIN- UB40 (36,000)

9- TO BE OR NOT TO BE- B.A Robertson (36,000)

10- BEHIND THE GROOVE- Teena Marie (35,000)

 

'My Perfect Cousin' has some brilliant lines, namechecking University Challenge, Subbuteo, and The Human League before the latter had even made their chart debut!

 

Yeh class I thought I’d misheard them! Human League not far from a debut now though albeit the performance isn’t anything like you imagine HL nowadays lol!

Peaking this week at no.31 was the debut top 40 hit for one of the classic alternative/goth groups of all time. This is actually my favourite Cure single - so haunting and mysterious but with THAT amazing riff. And we see Robert Smith before he applied tonnes of make up and ruffed up his hair! :o

 

 

Love seeing early 80s NEs from what would become classic bands through the decade, 1980 was like a different era compared to their peak eras but the ground work was being laid by them!

'Funkytown' was a bit unlucky to miss out as it did 60k in both the previous two weeks which would have been enough for #1 this week, but it had a great run in the Top 3 by 1980 standards. 'Jump To The Beat' is my favourite of the Top 10 additions.

UB40s 'My Way of Thinking' sounds familiar, its very good.

 

'Jump To The Beat' by Stacy Lattisaw is a classic and very catchy.

 

Also this is my favourite OMD hit I think:

 

#13 in June 1980

 

Edited April 17, 20241 yr by TheSnake

Interesting! There was so much dark and mysterious music in the early 80s. I prefer it before it all went Live Aid/Stadium/Big superstars/Bright or whatever you want to call it.

 

The Specials were really a great band (my pet peeve re: Too Much Too Young lyric notwithstanding) - so much more than their signature song which is coming next year.

 

'FunkyTown' was fun and futuristic. When I first heard it at the end of the 80s I absolutely loved it for several decades although kind of 'over it' now.

 

Absolutly agree as I’ve said in these threads there was so much more experimentation in the 79-83 era compared to the commercialism of the late 80s when the record companies regained control of the artists.

 

Love ‘Funky Town’ it’s so joyous and marked the end of the proper disco era for me and the beginning of the synth pop electro dominance!

Can't say I've see the Xanadu film but I really like that ELO/Olivia collab. 'Jump To The Beat' still gets some radio plays but never knew it was sang by a 13-year-old!

I saw Xanadu when it was shown TV as ELO were involved in the music and can confirm it's pretty awful. The soundtrack still managed to produce six top 40 singles.

 

To Be Or Not To Be is another good one from BA Robertson with his usual wordplay.

I saw Xanadu when it was shown TV as ELO were involved in the music and can confirm it's pretty awful. The soundtrack still managed to produce six top 40 singles.

 

To Be Or Not To Be is another good one from BA Robertson with his usual wordplay.

 

 

or as the video link says 'ba robertson to be or not to be', reminiscent of TOTP 1987-8 when the titles of songs on the show had no capital letters

Edited April 17, 20241 yr by TheSnake

For those interested in the Musicians strike of 1980 there's more here Strike of 1980

 

Was TOTP off for the duration of this strike and was this when it returned with the modern intro or was that in the summer of 81?

UB40s 'My Way of Thinking' sounds familiar, its very good.

 

'Jump To The Beat' by Stacy Lattisaw is a classic and very catchy.

 

Also this is my favourite OMD hit I think:

 

#13 in June 1980

 

 

 

Love it, what a tune this is!!

 

Never really a fan of Xandu but my god Olivia Newtown-John is stunning isnt she!

Edited April 17, 20241 yr by Steve201

Welcome back Steve, was just saying the verses of Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It sound like the start of '80s Britfunk' to try and answer your question before!

 

Love ‘Funky Town’ it’s so joyous and marked the end of the proper disco era for me and the beginning of the synth pop electro dominance!

 

You are kind of right but disco sounds sort of continued as well.

Was TOTP off for the duration of this strike and was this when it returned with the modern intro or was that in the summer of 81?

Not only was TOTP off air throughout the strike but all live music across bbc1 and bbc2 which included things like Pebble MIll and The Old Grey whistle test. So in effect 2 of 3 TV channels of the day. Radio was unaffected. When it returned it was revamped.

Oh Xanadu was huge, I remember it as a child the song was everywhere

12TH JULY

 

 

1980 continues to be a poor year for sales at the top of the charts, lack of TOTP is playing its part with no track really lifting off, not that that matters too much to Olivia Newton-John who strikes gold with Electric Light Orchestra in tow, "Xanadu" rises 3-1 after shifting 74,000. It's her third No 1 following on from "Summer Nights" and "You're The One That I Want". The parent album of the same name will be in the shops this week so can the single survive the loss of sales to it?

 

 

 

"Xanadu" continues the trend for high turnover at the top of the charts, it's 1980's 13th No 1 single, there were a total of 18 in the whole of 1979 so this year is set to be something of a record breaker, and given that Odyssey rocket 12-2 (59,000) this week it looks far from certain that ONJ/ELO will hold down the top spot next week. The group are known here for their 1977 hit "Native New Yorker" which made No 5 and remained their sole UK hit until "Use It Up, Wear It Out" which creates a disco influenced top 2 at a time when the US market has turned decidedly against the genre.

 

 

For most of the week Don Mclean's "Crying" was running at No 2 but faded at the final hurdle to dive to No 4 by Saturday (53,000) and was overtaken not only by Odyssey but also Stacy Lattislaw who climbs 6-3 (57,000).

 

 

Completing the top 5 are the Detroit Spinners who followed up the No 1 single "Working My Way Back To You- Forgive Me Girl" with "Body Language" which burned out at No 40, they return to the winning formula however with another medley "Cupid- I've Loved You A Long Time" a combination of covers of songs recorded by Sam Cooke and the Michael Zager Band respectively. It jumps 16-5 (52,000) and isn't without its own threat to top our charts next week.

 

 

 

Taken from their new album "Uprising" Bob Marley & The Wailers score a No 9 hit with "Could You Be Loved" which now equals his peak position which he reached with both "Jamming" and "Is This Love", it climbs 21-9 (33,000) whilst the album lifts 10-6 in response with Marley's tour in the country taking place this week.

 

 

There's only one other climber within the top 10 and that's UB40 who rise 8-7 (37,000) with a minimal increase and look to be struggling, whilst Lipps Inc dive 2-6 (41,000), The Korgis drop 5-8 (33,000) and Splodgenessabouts just cling onto their place in the top 10 but can only sell 31,000 copies.

 

 

1- XANADU- Olivia Newton John & ELO (74,000)

2- USE IT UP AND WEAR IT OUT- Odyssey (59,000)

3- JUMP TO THE BEAT- Stacey Lattisaw (57,000)

4- CRYING- Don McLean (53,000)

5- CUPID/ I’VE LOVED YOU A LONG TIME- The Detroit Spinners (52,000)

6- FUNKY TOWN- Lipps Inc (41,000)

7- MY WAY OF THINKING/ I THINK IT’S GOING TO RAIN- UB40 (37,000)

8- EVERYBODY’S GOTTA LEARN SOMETIME- Korgis (33,000)

9- COULD YOU BE LOVED?- Bob Marley & The Wailers (33,000)

10- SIMON TEMPLAR/ TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS- Splodgenessabounds (31,000)

 

Could You Be Loved! :wub:

 

Good entry for Odyssey too and nice to see Stacy Lattisaw climbing. I'm not too fussy on Xanadu tbh.

Love the Bob Marley one but those other 2 newbies are too 70s

The #1 is good but both artists have better songs.

 

The Odyssey song is good, quite a fast disco song

 

Could You Be Loved is a classic of course, Jamaican music and Jamaican influenced music was doing well in the charts at this time with Bob Marley, UB40 and 2tone/ska in the UK.

 

a disco influenced top 2 at a time when the US market has turned decidedly against the genre.

 

I don't know much about the US charts at this time, I mean Funkytown made #1 in the US charts but maybe that was the exception rather than the rule.

Edited April 18, 20241 yr by TheSnake

 

Something moderately interesting. Whilst the BBC orchestra were on strike TOTP trialled some different formats featuring members of the crew standing in for artists. The one here is for this week's chart though of course these were never aired.

Welcome back Steve, was just saying the verses of Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It sound like the start of '80s Britfunk' to try and answer your question before!

You are kind of right but disco sounds sort of continued as well.

 

Thanks Snake, yeh Hot Chocolate is one for sure. Shakatak always symbolise the sound for me!

 

I kinda think disco morphs into Brit funk in a way and the electro synth pop was the more upbeat version of it then brit funk turned into the heavier mid 80s beat and synth pop into house later in the decade!