My Camera Never Lies was the first record I ever bought.

 

Three #1s in a year for Bucks Fizz. They really reached the height of their fame around this time and were on TV all the time.

Yeh Pig Bag is a great song a real dance floor classic!

24TH APRIL

 

 

After 34 hit singles Stevie Wonder finally hits No 1 on the singles chart even if it takes the helping hand of Paul McCartney to do it. McCartney had 17 No 1 hits as part of the Beatles plus once with Wings, but has never been at the top in his own right, so relief all around this week that "Ebony And Ivory" climbs 3-1 selling 92,000 copies into the bargain to easily triumph over the field, with nothing looking like a challenger it should be a shoe-in for keeping the top slot next week as well.

 

The tracks come with two promo's- one with Wonder and a solo version by McCartney- allegedly because McCartney was doing a promo film for his forthcoming album "Tug Of War" and needed a promo of the song to use. Frustrated at waiting for Wonder to do his part McCartney did his own!

 

 

 

By one of the quirks of chart compilation had last week been organised in the same fashion as BMRB had done in Jan-March of this year then it would have been Chas and Dave who had celebrated the top slot last week, given that perhaps the track would not have headed in reverse this week 2-5 (66,000). It would also have meant that Bucks Fizz wouldn't have recorded a No 1 single in "My Camera Never Lies" but no matter how it was compiled there was no chance the song was going hold that position this week, it ebbs 1-2 (90,000) though it naturally gets a boost in sales thanks to TOTP which saw it almost catch up to "Ebony & Ivory" but in the end it proved too big an ask. I omitted to note last week that all three of Bucks Fizz's chart toppers all moved 5-2-1. Throw into the mix a couple of climbers, namely Pigbag who threaten the top with "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag" which jumps 9-3 (71,000) and Dollar who inch 5-4 (69,000) and this weeks top positions were very closely contested.

 

 

Another Bucks Fizz link coming up, last year they won the Eurovision of course and the contest has come around again this time being held in Harrogate this Saturday. The UK Entry comes from Bardo a duo comprising Sally Ann Triplett and Stephen Fischer, Triplett was formerly in the Eurovision as a member of Prima Donna, the UK entrant in 1980, also in the group? well a certain Lance Aston brother of the current Bucks Fizz member Jay Aston, a small world Eurovision. We can go further in fact, Fischer was actually offered a place in Bucks Fizz but turned it down as he had another offer on stage at the time. The track is already a firm favourite with the bookies to win and this week the UK public seem to agree as the track surges 16-6 (48,000)

 

 

 

An 11th top 10 hit in the making, "Blue Eyes" marks a return to the top 10 for Elton John who has been missing from the upper reaches for 4 years now. Parent album "Jump Up" pushes 31-16 this week, Elton will be hoping that it becomes his first top 10 album of the decade as the lead single jostles 17-8 (45,000).

 

 

 

Growing an ever larger fan base Shakatak finally get their reward with a top 10 single "Night Birds". Their debut period failed to produce any top 40 hits but new album (also called "Night Birds") will be home to two top 20 hits after their last track "Easier Said Than Done" peaked at No 12. They now float 15-9 (43,000) and look to have a bright future.

 

 

 

Already on their sixth album Shalamar are best known for their 1980 hit "I Owe You One" which made No 13, they can now celebrate going even better with "I Can Make You Make You Feel Good" which makes its presence felt as it accelerates 20-10 (42,000).for the US trio,

 

 

Roxy Music drop a spot 6-7 (47,000) and are out of the picture.

 

 

1- EBONY & IVORY- Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (92,000)

2- MY CAMERA NEVER LIES- Bucks Fizz (90,000)

3- PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW PIGBAG- Pigbag (71,000)

4- GIVE ME BACK MY HEART- Dollar (69,000)

5- AIN’T NO PLEASING YOU- Chas & Dave (66,000)

6- ONE STEP FURTHER- Bardo (48,000)

7- MORE THAN THIS- Roxy Music (47,000)

8- BLUE EYES- Elton John (45,000)

9- NIGHT BIRDS- Shakatak (43,000)

10- I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD- Shalamar (42,000)

 

One Step Further is a great song. Dance routine is an addictive watch.

 

Didn't know the 5-2-1 connection between all Bucks Fizz's #1s so that's really interesting to learn.

really hope Bardo climb to #1 next

that Ebony and Ivory song is one of the worst #1s of the 80s

One Step Further is a good catchy pop song.

'One Step Further' is very good, I don't usually like retro UK Eurovision entries but it is so upbeat and catchy I can't dislike that.

 

'Night Birds' is a nice song, jazz funk/Britfunk vibes.

 

'I Can Make You Feel Good' is a decent track and we'll see a cover of it eventually on the 90s thread - nice to link the two threads!

 

'Ebony and Ivory' is boring melodically apart from the intro but has a good lyrical message. It is still preferable to the song 'Blue Eyes' which lacks the good chorus of some of Elton's other songs and is rather flat and boring melodically apart from the ending.

 

 

Groups like Shalamar, Shakatak & formerly Inagination are so much of that 78-84 era - not quite modern pop sounding but in between disco and proper modern stuff!

1ST MAY

 

 

As you were at the top of the charts this week as "Ebony And Ivory" sprints away from the rest of the top 10 selling almost as much as the No 2 and 3 combined and was never in danger of losing its grip. 144,000 people decided it was worth purchasing last week to being its four week tally to 336,000 and is proving very popular at radio, it's also already McCartney's biggest hit of the 80s but only Wonder's 4th biggest- an indication of how the respective acts are finding life in the charts of the decade.

 

 

They may not have fared very well at Eurovision but fortunately a rather poorly received performance on the night came after the shops closed on Saturday which all helped "One Step Further" leap 6-2 (87,000). If you believe that any publicity is better than no publicity at all then the song should at least be top 10 next week though in finishing 7th it is perhaps doubtful that it can progress one step further! One place below Pigbag are holding at No 3 on a near identical sale of 71,000.

 

 

The world cup doesn't start in Spain until next month but that doesn't stop the England Squad from releasing "This Time (We'll Get It Right)" which this week equals the performance of the Scotland Team in 1978 (in the charts at least) when "Ole Ola" made No 4. The only previous track recorded by footballers to go higher was in 1970 when "Back Home" topped the charts for the England team, they aren't doing too shoddily in 1982 though as the track penetrates 11-4 (65,000)

 

 

 

Proving that their previous hit "It Ain't What You Do" was no one off the Fun Boy Three are back with Bananarama in tow for a second hit single, this time a cover of a failed Motown track recorded by The Velvettes in 1964. Billing has been altered to put the girl group first this time around and listeners will note that Bananarama perform the bulk of the track with the boys provided backing vocals alone, a fact which doesn't seem to have dented demand as the song climbs 17-5 (60,000).

 

 

 

Watch out Paul & Stevie- Shaky is back attempting to score his fourth No 1 single in just 14 months, this time the track is called "Shirley" and is once again a cover this time of a 1959 track by John Fred and His Playboys which failed to hit it big here. The song is off to a very good start after debuting at No 22 last week it now rockets to No 6 (58,000), the parent album incidentally isn't due until the autumn and so this could pose a serious threat to the top- keep an eye on it. It seems that Shakey's record label have learnt from his last single "Oh Julie"- the fanclub had more than 500 requests to join from Julie's after that hit and they clearly believe that this is the way to increase membership!

 

 

 

Haircut 100 also have cause to celebrate today as "Fantastic Day" rises 12-9 (47,000) to become their third top 10 hit from 3 singles, a dream start for the group. Debut album "Pelican West" continues to entice buyers and spends its ninth week in the top 6 albums and has so far peaked at No 2 and is shaping up to be one of 1982's biggest albums.

 

 

One climber to note and that comes from Shalamar who float 10-7 (58,000) and a couple of fallers Dollar fall back 4-8 (54,000) and Elton recedes 8-10 (45,000)

 

1- EBONY & IVORY- Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (144,000)

2- ONE STEP FURTHER- Bardo (87,000)

3- PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW PIGBAG- Pigbag. (71,000)

4- THIS TIME WE’LL FLY THE FLAG- England World Cup Squad (65,000)

5- REALLY SAYING SOMETHING- Bananarama and The Fun Boy Three (60,000)

6- SHIRLEY- Shakin Stevens (58,000)

7- I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD- Shalamar (58,000)

8- GIVE ME BACK MY HEART- Dollar (54,000)

9- FANTASTIC DAY- Haircut 100 (47,000)

10- BLUE EYES- Elton John (45,000)

 

Another fantastic pop song from Haircut 100!

Just realised/remembered that Jody Watley was in Shalamar, used to love her as a kid in the late 80s I think it was. She was huge in the US solo but not so much in the UK. Loved her Real Love single, think it was a US #2

Note that Bucks Fizz are no longer Top 10.

 

My Camera Never Lies actually fell 2 - 11.

 

After reaching #1 on its fourth week, it only spent four more to fall out oft the charts.

 

A really short run for a #1 single.

 

 

Was that not quite normal for nearly all songs back then apart from the random slow burners like Blue Monday.

Was that not quite normal for nearly all songs back then apart from the random slow burners like Blue Monday.

 

I'd say not.

 

Bucks Fizz's previous single, Land of Make Believe, spent twice as long in the charts (16 weeks), 7 weeks after it left #1 with 3 weeks still in the Top 10. So the comparison single to single was quite a change.

Oh Julie by Shakin Stevens (which was a #1 in 1982 as well) also spent 7 weeks in the charts after its solitary week at #1, with 3 weeks Top 10 and Lion Sleeps Tonight by Tight Fit spent 6 weeks around with 2 in the Top 10.

 

Although songs dropping down the charts wouldn't have been on TOTP for example and therefore sales fell away quite quickly, I still think such a quick drop out of the Top 10 is surprising for Camera when it was only 2k sales away from retaining #1 the week before.

 

 

 

Yeh true when its all laid out like that.

I can't offer you a definitive reason but it may be that the song never really embedded itself into people minds as it rose 33-5-2-1 then down, so maybe it only got 4 weeks exposure and naturally tv wouldn't support it any longer. I doubt radio was behind it either (or "oh Julie" for that matter) given that they were seen as uncool at the time. TLOMB isn't a fair comparison as that had longer to click and hung around over the festive period to ensure mass exposure. Maybe?.

I didnt realise BF were uncool and didnt get any airplay? Sounds a bit harsh, they are just novelty pop for me.

Same snobby attitude has always existed towards commercial pop which is seemed to be aimed at pre teens and sold to mums and grandparents as "safe".

I know, its not on, if something sounds good who cares?

8TH MAY

 

 

It may have lost 28% in sales terms but "Ebony & Ivory" easily retains the top slot on a sale of 103,000 to make it three weeks on the trot for McCartney and Wonder. The song should hit the half million mark next week and is now Wonder's biggest selling single of the 80s, it remains well clear of the field and a fourth week again looks likely.

 

 

With a poor performance at the Eurovision Song Contest sees the challenge of Bardo fade as they drop 2-6 (57,000) which means that the nearest song to McCartney and Wonder is now the England World Cup Squad whose "This Time (We'll Get It Right)/ England, We'll Fly The Flag" continues to move up 4-2 (69,000) with the actual competition still a month away.

 

 

Already a hit in some European countries at the end of 1981 Ph.D are now a hit act in their native UK. Formed by lead singer Jim Diamond with former Jeff Beck Group members Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips whose surname initials are the inspiration for the group name. "I Won't Let You Down" jumps 13-3 (67,000) and stands an outside chance of being No 1 next week,

 

 

 

Arrows are best known here for their 1974 No 8 single "A Touch Too Much" which was a much bigger hit than a track called "I Love Rock N Roll" which tanked here. Until now that is, covered by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts after Lead singer Jett saw the track performed on the band's US weekly series, she recorded it with former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook before recording it again with her band The Blackhearts, and it's the latter version that now becomes a UK hit. It rises 17-4 (65,000) this week to enter the top 5, but it still has a long way to go to equal its US success where the song falls from No 1 this week after 7 weeks at the top.

 

 

 

Whilst Bardo might have underperformed at the Eurovision last Saturday but 17 year old Nicole Hohloch certainly didn't. Her song "Ein bißchen Frieden" won by 61 points (the biggest winning margin in the competition's history) and during her reprise she performed the track in 4 languages including English. The English version was in the shops on Monday called "A Little Peace" and it debuts straight into the top 10 at No 8 today after selling 48,000 copies, that's only the second song to debut in the top 10 this year after The Jam did the ultimate and went in at No 1 back in February.

 

 

Bananarama and Fun Boy Three hold at No 5 (64,000) with "Really Saying Something" but aren't going anywhere with a 7% sales increase, whilst Pigbag (3-7), Shalamar (7-9) and Haircut 100 (9-10) all drop on sales of 49,000, 48,000 and 41,000

 

 

 

1- EBONY & IVORY- Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (103,000)

2- THIS TIME (WE’LL GET IT RIGHT)/ ENGLAND, WE'LL FLY THE FLAG- England World Cup Squad (69,000)

3- I WONT LET YOU DOWN- Ph.D (67,000)

4- I LOVE ROCK N ROLL- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (65,000)

5- REALLY SAYING SOMETHING- Bananarama and Fun Boy Three (64,000)

6- ONE STEP FURTHER- Bardo (57,000)

7- PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW PIGBAG- Pigbag (49,000)

8- A LITTLE PEACE- Nicole (48,000)

9- I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD- Shalamar (48,000)

10- FANTASTIC DAY- Haircut 100 (41,000)