15TH MARCH

 

 

Right on track the No 1 single changes hands after just a fortnight- this time Fern Kinney celebrates a chart topper with "Together We Are Beautiful" which climbs 2-1 on an increase of 23% to 84,000 and was helped no doubt by a steep decline in demand for "Atomic" which it swaps places with and this week recorded a sale of 78,000 copies (down a whopping 39%) perhaps as buyers flip to parent album "Eat To The Beat" which has been rising this month and is up to 11 this week. Good climbs this week for Peter Gabriel (8-4) on sales of 65,000, and Rainbow who accelerate 10-5 and record their biggest hit with "All Night Long" just 5,000 copies behind Gabriel.

 

 

 

Four new songs make the top 10 this week, firstly the police who release another of their 1978 singles in the form of "So Lonely" which bombed here on initial release, not so now as it shoots 16-6 this week (50,000) in the wake of their new found popularity. It seems as though they can do little wrong at present but there is nothing new from the band planned until the end of the year, regardless the band have both their albums in the top 15 for the last 3 weeks and are currently on their first world tour.

 

 

 

Rocketing 25-7 is a track which topped the US chart just last month for Captain and Tennille who had a string of minor hits over the last 5 years but it finally seems to be happening on this side of the Atlantic. The husband and wife duo first struck it big with a cover of Neil Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together" in 1975 which also went to the top stateside but failed to dent to the top 30 here but things look rosier now attracting 48,000 buyers last week.

 

 

 

Landing at No 8 this week are the Vapors (note that missing u to make the band seem American) with "Turning Japanese". They are managed by Paul Weller's father John who will see his son in action next week (probably), the song's author David Fenton assures that the supposed meaning of the song doing the rounds at the moment is not accurate! It probably helped sales as 37,000 people partied with their cash last week.

 

 

 

Becoming the first act to grab two new top 10 hits in the 80s The Beat return at No 9 with "Hands Off- She's Mine". The band are now releasing singles on their own label "Go Feet" in case you wondered not that it seems to have affected sales at all with 37,000 copies being sold in the last 7 days.

 

 

Elsewhere Marti Webb holds at No 3 as her sales increase to 71,000 and the Whispers drop 5-10 (34,000)

 

1- TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL- Fern Kinney (84,000)

2- ATOMIC- Blondie (78,000)

3- TAKE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE- Marti Webb (71,000)

4- GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS- Peter Gabriel (65,000)

5- ALL NIGHT LONG- Rainbow (60,000)

6- SO LONELY- The Police (50,000)

7- DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME- Captain & Tennille (48,000)

8- TURNING JAPANESE- Vapours (37,000)

9- HANDS OFF- SHE’S MINE- The Beat (37,000)

10- AND THE BEAT GOES ON- The Whispers (34,000)

 

What a terrible chart topper :/

What strikes me about 1980 which I didn't really think about until now is how many singles didn't have official record sleeve art and nor for that matter a promo vid. Of course the invention of MTV in 1981 and forthcoming new romantic movement (with its importance on the visual elements of pop music) would make both of these essentials within a few years.

 

In other news does anyone else of a certain age remember buying singles, even in the late 80s, where the shop seemingly ran out of the actual cover and just gave them to you in a plain sleeve? I often wondered why they had copies of singles without the right sleeve?

never understood how that Fearne song managed the top spot, terrible #1, one of the worst of the early 80s

by comparison, the Captain song is also a bit corny but also endearing

 

really like So Lonely, all their early singles are pretty good, also like The Beat one,

Turning Japenese not half bad either

 

Turning Japanese is the best of that week's new entries. At the time, everyone thought that The Police were singing about Sue Lawley who was one of the presenters on Nationwide and other BBC programmes.

The Beat song is another good 2tone style track.

 

What strikes me about 1980 which I didn't really think about until now is how many singles didn't have official record sleeve art and nor for that matter a promo vid. Off course the invention of MTV in 1981 and forthcoming new romantic movement (with its importance on the visual elements of pop music) would make both of these essentials within a few years.

 

Until recently I thought MTV started in 1979 because that's when The Buggles song 'Video Killed The Radio Star' came out.

The addictive 'Turning Japanese' is my favourite new entry from the past couple of days.

 

Boo Blondie being knocked off #1 :(

Oof great #1 from the Specials, horrendous #1 from Kenny Rogers, great #1 from Blondie and now an utterly crap one again.

Two personal chart-toppers I rushed out to buy in I Hear You Now and Atomic (no need to thank me for contributing sales :lol: ) Both classics. Most of the rest I like or love (Marti Webb, as I love a good showtune, for example). Carrie's one of Cliff's best, thanks to B A Robertson for that one.

 

Eat To The Beat was the first album to have an entire set of videos made (see Jungle's Volcano for 2023 equivalent) and it may well have been screened around the time it's sales picked up - though I got mildly annoyed it was the album version of Atomic, the single is perfect, the album meanders and drops the excitement in the bass-heavy bridge twiddling about unnecessarily.

 

Re: singles covers, yes it was very annoying getting a boring standard label cover, but that was the norm in the 60's and 70's until around 1978 when picture covers and picture discs started coming in more often, to boost demand. Single sales boomed, mostly through sales of music centres with cassette and turntables, disco, New Wave, big pop acts. When demand for a single out-performed availability they'd bring in emergency plain singles from France. I recall getting very pissed off at a French-pressing of a Boomtown Rats single which had crappy sound quality. That aligned with US singles pressing of the 60's and 70's which were also rubbish sound quality - I'm convinced to make you buy the albums which were way better quality.

 

price was also a factor, singles were 50p in the early 70's, quite pricey relative to income, but got cheaper as inflation ran riot in the late 70's at 79p or so for the boom years, but they hit one pound around mid-1979 which I think was a psychological barrier to not seeming cheap. So picture sleeves became the norm, they seemed a better buy with those. Unemployment (including me for 2 years) started to bite in 1980, 3 million on the way, and I'm sure that affected singles sales through to the mid-80's, too.

22ND MARCH

 

 

It's been just over 6 years coming but another record finally debuts at No 1, the first since Slade in December 1973 with "Merry Xmas Everybody" in fact. This week belongs entirely to the Jam who have their first chart topper and in some style selling 131,000 in the process which also gives them the biggest weekly sale of the year. The song is a double A-Side with "Dreams Of Children" and is therefore the first double sided No 1 since Christmas 1978 when Boney M turned the trick, but the funny thing is that "Going Underground" was only intended as the B-Side originally but a mix up at the pressing plant gave them both A-side status and certainly radio is far more supportive the latter track. The Jam have had 10 hits now but only made the top 10 for the first time last year with "Eton Rifles".

 

 

It was also helped by some clever marketing at Polydor who serviced the track to record stores for the Monday instead of the usual Friday meaning that the song got a full six days sales in its first week instead of the normal 2 days and issued the first 100,000 copies with a bonus "free" single of a couple of live tracks recorded last November hence assisting in its opening position.

 

You have to feel slightly sorry for Fern Kinney who becomes the decade's first solitary week No 1 track, she increased sales by 44% week on week to a mighty 120,000 but still falls to runner up spot.

 

Just below the tussle between the Jam and Fern Kinney there was Marti Webb who relents at retail to 68,000 but holds at No 3, the Vapors rise 8-4 post TOTP selling 57,000 in the process.

 

 

Keep an eye on the record which arrives in the top 5 this week all the way from 14-5 for the Brackley based act Liquid Gold. They've had only one previous hit "Anyway You Do It" which narrowly missed the top 40 in 1978, however "Dance Yourself Dizzy" is hurtling up the charts and looking like a No 1 if it can overcome the Woking trio, it attracted 44,000 buyers last week,

 

 

 

Much more of a "veteran" act ascend 20-8 with "Working My Way Back To You/ Forgive Me Girl". First hitting the charts 10 years ago with "It's A Shame" under the moniker The Motown Spinners the band changed their name to the Detroit Spinners and now score their 7th hit UK single (with only one track 1973's "Ghetto Child" being the only one to peak higher at No 7) on sales of 39,000. It's actually a medley of two tracks which are covers "Working...." was originally made popular by The Four Seasons in 1966 and "Forgive..." is a track by Michael Zager.

 

 

Elsewhere In the big 10 Peter Gabriel slides two places 4-6 (44,000), Blondie descend with some speed 2-6 (40,000), Rainbow also recede 5-9 (37,000) and Captain and Tennille move 7-10 (35,000)

 

 

 

1- GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam (131,000)

2- TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL – Fern Kinney (120,000)

3- TAKE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE- Marti Webb (68,000)

4- TURNING JAPANESE- Vapors (57,000)

5- DANCE YOURSELF DIZZY- Liquid Gold (44,000)

6- GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS- Peter Gabriel (44,000)

7- ATOMIC- Blondie (40,000)

8- WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORGIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners (39,000)

9- ALL NIGHT LONG- Rainbow (37,000)

10- DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME- Captain & Tennille (35,000)

 

By way of explanation further on release dates, my understanding was that historically that singles generally went to retail as soon as they were pressed and nothing was held back- less emphasis was placed on making a "splash" and more about making it a hit once available- so nothing was held back. The marketing strategy by the Jam was specifically designed to make headlines and hence releasing on a Monday designed to enter at No 1 given their growing popularity. Within a short space of time (a few years) it would become standard practice to release a new single on a Monday and thereby get a full week of sales to give the track the maximum time to start off in a better position.

 

Seems obvious now but I guess entering the charts high wasn't something that was purposely thought important until the mid 80s. The acts that had had debuts at No 1 until this point (The Beatles, Cliff, Elvis, Gary Glitter, and Slade) all did so at the height of their commercial appeal so would have sold by the bucketload as soon as released regardless of the release date- bearing in mind that the charts were compiled differently pre 1969 so are somewhat less reliable.

Back to quality at #1 :cheer: 'Going Underground' is for me The Jam's best song and one of the best #1s of the entire decade - seems incongruous that it was supposed to be the B-side to 'Dreams Of Children'

Wow Blondie really fell away quickly :(

#blondieinventingACR

And even in week 4

Pretty good newbies, the Jam is just ok for me

Much prefer the other two even if theyre very 70s

Dance Yourself Dizzy is cheesy but fun. Catchy too.

 

Adore Going Underground, never knew it was t supposed to be the A side!

29TH MARCH

 

 

The Jam hold No 1 which is only to be expected given its sensational debut there last week, but this week it sells a little less at 124,000 and take its 14 day tally to 255,000 copies impressive by any band's standards and a silver certification, it also looks like the ploy of making the track a double A-Side is paying off with some radio stations coming round to playing "Dreams of Children". It should enter the top 10 best selling tracks of the year so far next week. The band abandoned a US tour to return to the UK to do TOTP- seems it was worth it!

 

 

All of this of course is bad news for Fern Kinney who keeps faith at No 2 but her sales are well down to 80,000 raising its total to 444,000, the only record ahead of it currently in the YTD's is of course "Coward Of The County" which is still in the top 20 at No 18 and should keep that position when we review the top 10 of the year next week.

 

The Vapors increase their sales by just 14,000 copies this week to 71,000 and earn themselves a one place climb but they are well off the pace and could struggle next week to advance further. Healthier increases are recorded for both liquid Gold and the Detroit Spinners who increase sales by 57% and 75% to 69,000 and 68,000 respectively.

 

Rainbow and Captain & Tennille both reverse gear and move back up the charts with minimal increases. Rainbow move 9-7 selling 49,000 copies and Captain & Tennille float 10-8 selling just 10k less. Much harsher returns to reality for Marti Webb who tumbles 3-6 (49,000) and Peter Gabriel 6-9 (39,000).

 

 

The sole new entrant to the top 10 comes for Martha & The Muffins with "Echo Beach" which storms 15-10 (37,000). It's their first hit in this country for the Canadian band who insist that the beach in question is entirely fictional, parent album "Metro Music" is already available.

 

 

1- GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam (124,000)

2- TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL- Fern Kinney (80,000)

3- TURNING JAPANESE- Vapors (71,000)

4- DANCE YOURSELF DIZZY- Liquid Gold (69,000)

5- WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORGIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners (68,000)

6- TAKE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE- Marti Webb (49,000)

7- ALL NIGHT LONG- Rainbow (49,000)

8- DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME- Captain & Tennille (39,000)

9- GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS- Peter Gabriel (39,000)

10- ECHO BEACH- Martha & The Muffins (37,000)

 

Echo Beach is a huge fave of mine - really happy to see it make an appearance ^_^

Great #1 from the Jam and Echo Beach is also a brilliant track.

Echo Beach is great, easily my favourite in that top 10. The single cover artwork is great too, according to the map, Echo Beach is on the shores of a lagoon then technically!

 

The Jam #1 is good too, debuting at #1 is quite something back then.

 

The Spinners' track is good and a classic. Dance Yourself Dizzy is fun but definitely not one of the best disco tracks of all time. Both songs sound more 70s than 80s to me.

Edited April 3, 20241 yr by TheSnake