5TH APRIL

 

 

Becoming the first No 1 single of the year to do so (and thusly the decade) "Going Underground/ Dreams Of Children" makes it three weeks in pole position though the pace of sales lessens dramatically to 85,000, a 31% drop. In total the track has now sold 340,067 copies in just 20 days and rockets to No 10 on the YTD list.

 

 

As it's the end of the first quarter of 1980 it might be relevant to sum up the first 3 months of the decade by showing the top 10 best selling singles in that period.

 

1. COWARD OF THE COUNTY- Kenny Rogers 557,128

2. TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL- Fern Kinney 501,904

3. ATOMIC- Blondie 451,061

4. I’M IN THE MOOD FOR DANCING- The Nolans 443,781

5. THE SPECIAL AKA EP- The Specials 427,635

6. BRASS IN POCKET- The Pretenders 401,206

7. TAKE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE- Marti Webb 380,419

8. MY GIRL- Madness 369,629

9. AND THE BEAT GOES ON- The Whispers 369,005

10. GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam 340,067

 

The Jam didn't have it all their own way however and fought tooth and nail this week for the top spot against Liquid Gold whose "Dance Yourself Dizzy" outsold the Woking boys on Saturday and ended up off the pace by just 12,000 copies, both had TOTP performances this week but it was Liquid Gold who profited most from the experience. It is produced by Adrian Baker who you may recall had a top 10 hit 5 years ago with "Sherry".

 

Yet again though its Detroit Spinners who pursue Liquid Gold all the way as they move 5-3 and in the end sold 73,000 (and were the best selling single of all three on Saturday) meaning that next week it could be a fight to the death between them and "Dance Yourself Dizzy".

 

 

To compensate for only one new entry last week there are five!!! this week. Starting us off are the Brothers Johnson who move 11-6 (52,000) with "Stomp", it's their fourth hit but the first to make the top 30, their previous best is "Strawberry Letter 23" which peaked here at No 35.

 

 

 

Also jumping 5 places from 12-7 (50,000) are the Lambrettas with their version of "Poison Ivy" originally by Leiber and Stoller, the song has been a hit in the UK for the Coasters in 1959 (#15) and The Paramounts in 1964 (#35) so this is the first time for the song in the top 10 and the first hit for the band who hail from Lewis, Sussex.

 

 

 

Peter Gabriel was only in the top 10 a matter of weeks ago, now it's the turn of former band mates Genesis to grab their second top 10 of their already lengthy career. "Turn It On Again" bolts from 23-8 (43,000) one place short of their highest peaking track "Follow You, Follow Me" a fact that looks like being altered next week.

 

 

 

Dr Hook are back with a third top 10 in just 5 months, "Sexy Eyes" jumps 38-9 (42,000) and is the follow up to "Better Love Next Time" which peaked at No 8 earlier this year, along with The Beat they are the only act so far to have two top 10 singles this year (that weren't hangovers from 1979).

 

 

 

For those out of work at present the next bands name "UB40" will be familiar, it is of course the name of the form used for signing on and was taken by the Birmingham based group as a sign that they were, mostly, on the dole before joining the group. Seen in a pub by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders she offered them support act on the last tour and lo and behold here they are in the top 10 (38,000), released on graduate records it is being touted as the first record to make the top 10 without a major record company backing and thematically is about Martin Luther King fact fans.

 

 

Elsewhere we have a couple of fallers, The Vapors drop one spot 3-4 (59,000) and Fern Kinney falls 2-5 (57,000).

 

 

 

1- GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam (85,000)

2- DANCE YOURSELF DIZZY- Liquid Gold (73,000)

3- WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORGIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners (73,000)

4- TURNING JAPANESE- The Vapors (59,000)

5- TOGETHER WE ARE BEAUTIFUL- Fern Kinney (57,000)

6- STOMP- Brothers Johnson (52,000)

7- POISON IVY- The Lambrettes (50,000)

8- TURN IT ON AGAIN- Genesis (43,000)

9- SEXY EYES- Dr Hook (42,000)

10- KING- FOOD FOR THOUGHT- UB40 (38,000)

 

Not crazy about any of those newbies, think the Drifters is the only one I truly like in that t10

well at least UB40 started with original material :D

'Turn It On' by Genesis is my favourite of those new entries. Really feels like the start of Mr. Collins' impact on the charts.

 

Stomp is good too though, 'Uptown Funk you up' with the last spoken word bit!

Edited April 4, 20241 yr by TheSnake

Glad to see the love for 'Echo Beach' in here, it's a big favourite of mine too :wub: a relatable escapist feeling captured so wonderfully and with excellent new wave production to boot.

 

My mum was a massive fan of The Jam, they were the first act she saw in concert - their appeal definitely stretches to me too, good #1 and interesting to read about their week 1 tactics ^_^

 

'Dance Yourself Dizzy' is sampled in 'Synth & Strings' by Yomanda so I imagine that was the first iteration of it that I heard.

Turn It On Again has a great intro and the lyrics are about watching television, it's something we all do but not often the subject of a song. Poison Ivy and Echo Beach are also good ones.

Haven't had time to do many replies to this excellent thread but gave to say that I adore 'Dance Yourself Dizzy' - absolutely burst of joy and so so catchy. Didn't really like the Yomanda 'Synth and Strings' track from 1998 which sampled it mind.

 

UB40 first top 10 hit and what a couple of corkers. Prefer 'King' ever do slightly although know 'Food for Thought' got more airplay.

12TH APRIL

 

 

Though it led midweek it wasn't to be for Liquid Gold whose "Dance Yourself Dizzy" misses out on No 1 after registering only a minimal sales increase at 73,000, the reason for this are the Detroit Spinners who score by far the biggest hit of their career with "Working My Way Back To You- Forgive Me Girl" both of which are covers as we previously discussed. It has been tracking Liquid Gold all the way over the past few weeks and posts a mere 5% sales increase to 78,000 enough to slip past their rivals though hardly a great sale in itself- sales in part impacted by Easter and the Bank Holiday.

 

 

The Jam descend 1-3 with "Going Underground/ Dreams Of Children", they fought back to almost recover the 2 position on 73,000 but were a few hundred when all sales were recorded, regardless they push 10-6 on the YTD chart.

 

 

After the onslaught of new entries last week there is just one this week coming from Madness who pluck a fourth single from their debut album. It forms part of the "Work, Rest, and Play EP" with three new compositions including "Don't Quote Me On That" which is the band's response to recent allegations of supporting the National Front. The band chose an EP as they wanted to offer fans something substantial other than an already available single in case you wondered, it's done the trick as the song entered at No 14 last week an impressive debut and climbs to No 6 this week on sales of 44,000 copies.

 

 

A couple of last weeks new tracks continue to climb this week including Dr Hook who progress 9-4 (61,000) and UB40 who track them 10-5 (50,000).

 

The rest are falling sadly, the Vapors 4-7 (43,000) The Lambrettas 7-8 (38,000) and the same sale for the Brothers Johnson who recede 6-9, and rounding the top 10 off Genesis who drop 8-10 (35,000) but continue at No 1 on the album charts with "Duke".

 

1- WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORGIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners (78,000)

2- DANCE YOURSELF DIZZY- Liquid Gold (73,000)

3- GOING UNDERGROUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam (73,000)

4- SEXY EYES- Dr Hook (61,000)

5- KING- FOOD FOR THOUGHT- UB40 (50,000)

6- NIGHT BOAT TO CAIRO- Madness (44,000)

7- TURNING JAPANESE- Vapours (43,000)

8- POISON IVY- Lambrettas (38,000)

9- STOMP- Brothers Johnson (38,000)

10- TURN IT ON AGAIN- Genesis. (35,000)

 

nice surprise at #1, wasn't expecting that, ncie for them even on low sales, probably something will come out of nowhere next week and replace them...

 

also didn't know UB40 had done so well, was expecting #10 to be its peak

 

another kinda silly one from Madness, not a fan

Quite like 'Night Boat to Cairo' - being largely instrumental it's very different to their other hits. Decent atmosphere.

'Night Boat To Cairo' is good never really heard it before.

 

Surprised about the chart longevity of 'Dance Yourself Dizzy', still not really a fan of the vocal for some reason, the strings are the best thing about it hence the genius of Yomanda's Synth and Strings.

I definitely heard Yomanda before I heard 'Dance Yourself Dizzy', I remember hearing that for the first time somewhere in the early 00s and I sorta did a double take.

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?

 

Was just about to comment how many discs didn’t have any art at all right up to the early 80s, shows how one of the features of new wave is the visual arty aspect of music!

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.

 

Always thought the TOTP episode had a Japanese man in the corner of the screen which is a bit weird or racist now but guess that’s what the song was about :lol: !

 

Great song though, always thought it was more a 78/79 new wave punk track but came in the 80s!

 

Wondered why they spelt it Vapor’s!

Edited April 6, 20241 yr by Steve201

I bought The Jam and Madness singles, The Jam had a short and huge career form 1979 onwards, saw them at Bingley Hall standing on a coke can to get a view of the sweaty gig. Madness are now national treasures © and were always naughty boys doing whatever they wanted to do, and that was consistently fab. Bought their next album. I liked all the others a lot too, UB40 it was Food For Thought that got the airplay, and they have been 1 on sales the last few days with a football remake (Forever True).

 

My least-liked of the latest batches was Dr Hook - I loved their 70's stuff but in 1980 they turned to mush MOR. Cut to the 2010's and I went to see lead singer UK-based Denis Laccoriere twice, and he is great in a live setting, the mush gets a cursory treatment.

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.

 

Love the back story of songs entering at the top. Assume that’s why big hits entered the top 30 and jumped to the top 10 in week 2 for much of the 80s?

 

Interesting to see Detroit Spinners and Liquid Gold do so well showing 70s disco was very much still alive in the spring of 80!

19TH APRIL

 

 

Well it holds the No 1 position but a third week looks unlikely for two reasons. Firstly "Working My Way Back To You/ Forgive Me Girl" is increasing its sales very incrementally (up 4% to 81,000) to take its total to almost 400,000 but its failure to really accelerate coupled with the meteoric rise of Blondie at No 2 makes a third week at the top look beyond them.

 

 

 

Rocketing from 21 to No 2 this week on a healthy sale of 79,000 are Blondie who look set for a fourth No 1 single with "Call Me" taken from the current film "American Gigolo". It hits the top spot in the USA this week, composer Moroder wrote the music hoping that Stevie Nicks would provide the vocals but contractual obligations meant she couldn't oblige and so it falls to one of pop's biggest names to oblige with the lyrics. Should be an interesting fight next week. It is credited to Blondie although it may be fairer to say that it is Moroder featuring Debbie Harry as (allegedly) the rest of the band were not even at the recording of the song and active promotion from them has been muted to say the least....

 

 

 

Two other new entries into the top 10 this week, firstly the Pretenders are back with "Talk Of The Town" follow up to the No 1 single "Brass In Pocket" and the first to be lifted their as yet untitled second album due at the end of the year. It rises 13-8 (49,000).

 

 

 

For the last few years you'd more likely to see David Essex treading the boards than on TOTP but he returns to the top 10 this week after a two year absence with "Silver Dream Machine (19-9, 35,000). It's the theme tune to his most recent film "Silver Dream Racer" which has had mixed reviews.

 

 

Good news for UB40 as they continue to rise (5-4) with "King/ Food For Thought" which sells strongly this week with 65,000 copies sold and looked good for the top 3 until Blondie came along.

 

Everything else drops, Liquid Gold are unlucky to sell 69,000 yet drop 2-3, Dr Hook fall one as well to No 5 (52,000), the former No 1 for the Jam drops 3 (3-6, 51,000), Madness fall one 6-7 (49,000) and the Lambrettas fall 8-10 (32,000).

 

1- WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU- FORIVE ME GIRL- Detroit Spinners (81,000)

2- CALL ME- Blondie (79,000)

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

4- KING- FOOD FOR THOUGHT- UB40 (65,000)

5- SEXY EYES- Dr Hook (52,000)

6- GOING UNDERGOUND/ DREAMS OF CHILDREN- The Jam (51,000)

7- NIGHT BOAT TO CAIRO- Madness (49,000)

8- TALK OF THE TOWN- The Pretenders (49,000)

9- SILVER DREAM MACHINE- David Essex (35,000)

10- POISON IVY- The Lambrettas (32,000)

 

Love the back story of songs entering at the top. Assume that’s why big hits entered the top 30 and jumped to the top 10 in week 2 for much of the 80s?

 

Interesting to see Detroit Spinners and Liquid Gold do so well showing 70s disco was very much still alive in the spring of 80!

No Monday was the day of choice certainly by 1983 and perhaps sooner.

'Turn It On' by Genesis is my favourite of those new entries. Really feels like the start of Mr. Collins' impact on the charts.

 

Stomp is good too though, 'Uptown Funk you up' with the last spoken word bit!

 

Yeh love the Genesis one - the start of a big decade for them and Phil and love Echo Beach, would be a classic in my opinion now!

The Spinners #1 is alright but not a big fave of mine, Call Me on the other hand is a stone cold classic.

'Call Me' is another amazing Blondie single, they were on fire :wub: it feels weird to imagine anyone other than Debbie Harry on vocals so I'm glad it fell to them.

 

I think I would've first heard 'Call Me' when Diana Vickers sung it on X Factor :lol: