that Kylie version of Locomotion is terrible

Saw at their very worst

but I don't like the song in general in any version

 

Wait... What?... Kylie's debut album didn't just sell a bucket load on its first week and go straight in at No.1? I am shocked I tell you!!

 

Locomotion is a bit poop.

 

But not as poop as The Only Way Is Up (which is Come on Eileen levels of overplayed 80s annoying!!)

 

 

What's interesting is how TOTP worked against new entries at No 1 in the 80s by focusing and promoting what was in the charts already- hence, first Bros, then Kylie were on course for debuts there but ultimately lost out to tracks which featured in the weeks programme, that despite low sales (for the 80s).

Wait... What?... Kylie's debut album didn't just sell a bucket load on its first week and go straight in at No.1? I am shocked I tell you!!

 

Locomotion is a bit poop.

 

But not as poop as The Only Way Is Up (which is Come on Eileen levels of overplayed 80s annoying!!)

Yes, I bought "Kylie" but not until after "Locomotion" came out- I recall going into "Our Price" and seeing the single there but deciding to get the album instead so that's how I can place it. It had moved 2-3-5-5 so far since release, blocked by Tracy Chapman. :( . First week sales were roughly 60,000.

Love ‘The Only Way Is Up’ it’s so joyous and house really was the present by summer 88, especially love how the TOTP studio changed to reflect the music with the lighting on stage lol, it would change more by 1989. Is Yazzs songs the first real example of house at the top spot? The others seem to show off the sample phenomena more than a coherent pop record.

 

Weird how Kim Wilde did so poorly albums wise, was there no fan bases in the 80s??

 

Was entering high in the singles chart more the norm by 1988 or is it no different to the likes of the Jam in the earlier threads?

It's the fourth UK house #1 but as you say it's different to the others because its more of a conventional song in terms of structure.

 

Locomotion is good enough!

guess after Got to be certain nobody was rushing to buy the album, I also didn't buy it until a few months down the line

 

poor Kim Wilde never sold many albums sadly, guess she was more of a singles artist. Before Close which peaked at #8 she had:

 

Kim Wilde #3

Select #19 (includes 2 top 20 hits Cambodia and View from a bridge)

Catch as catch can #90 (after a #23 hit with Love Blonde)

Teases and dares #66 (after a #29 hit with The second time)

Another step #73 (despite having the #2 You keep me hanging on the the #6 Another Step)

 

Kim was more of a singles act - like Hot Chocolate, for example, who also never sold albums until their first and second and third Hits albums, and who were also on RAK and had a minor hit with one of brother Ricky Wilde's/dad Marty Wilde's songs written for Kim. I don't think RAK, much as I love them, were really geared around album promotion. They were very much single by single focused, but managed to get a good number of hits for most of their big acts. Kim had to leave Mickie Most to get another album hit, and Close was very much a series of singles off the album rather than the other way round. It's no co-incidence they have named the new album Closer, referring back to Kim's most cohesive album.

'The Locomotion' is something I enjoy on a night out after a few drinks, but not something I ever really listen to out of choice.

 

She has a few worse singles though.

I think the Loco-Motion is the weakest of her debut album singles, but the nostalgia still hits hard.

13TH AUGUST

 

 

With sales exploding 100% week on week Yazz & The Plastic Population’s “The Only Way Is Up” secures a firm grip on the No 1 spot that looks hard to shake, so much so that even though she increases her own sales 68% Kylie Minogue drifts further away from Yazz though her album lifts 5-2 and so splits sales. The 84,830 copies that “Loco-Motion” sold would have been enough to be No 1 in 22 of the 31 weeks so far in 1988- it’s all about the timing! but it is the highest sale for a runner up since Whitney Houston in May last year. That was of course on its way down from No 1 so if we strip out all tracks either climbing or falling to No 1 then the last track to sell that much and peak at No 2 was A-Ha way back in October 1985. Yazz's sale of 122,145 is the fourth six figure weekly sale of the year compared to 10 in 1987 and 6 in 1986 at the same point.

 

 

 

The high debut of “Can I Play With Madness” followed by only peaking one place higher urges caution, but certainly for now the resurgence in popularity of Iron Maiden continues as the second single from “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” debuts at No 6 (25,585). Taking its title from a speech by Marcus Antonius in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, “The Evil That Men Do” heralds the band’s brief touch down in the UK on their current world tour, they’ll return for a longer stint in November but this track becomes their third top 10 hit and in doing so equals the record of three top 10 singles for a heavy metal group set by Rainbow, however Iron Maiden have now debuted twice there- a record!

 

 

 

 

Rising 14-8 (23,613) this week is the second single from Fairground Attraction “Find My Love”, they’ll again be hoping that they can knock S Express off the top spot though the latter group only move 6-5 (26,486) so history may not be repeating on this occasion. The album responds by climbing 9-7 this week to match its debut peak back in May.

 

 

 

Kim Wilde is still inching closer to the top 4-3 (37,162) but so are BVSMP 7-4 (32,589), whilst three tracks are most definitely on the slide, Glenn Medeiros drops 3-7 (24,225) but is nearing the 450,000 mark, Salt N Pepa reverse 5-9 (18,598) and Transvision Vamp slump 9-10 (18,360).

 

 

1- THE ONLY WAY IS UP- Yazz & The Plastic Population (122,145)

2- THE LOCO-MOTION- Kylie Minogue (84,830)

3- YOU CAME- Kim Wilde (37,162)

4- I NEED YOU- BVSMP (32,589)

5- SUPERFLY GUY- S Express (26,486)

6- THE EVIL THAT MEN DO- Iron Maiden (25,585)

7- NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE MY LOVE FOR YOU- Glenn Medeiros (24,225)

8- FIND MY LOVE- Fairground Attraction (23,613)

9- PUSH IT/ TRAMP- Salt N Pepa (18,598)

10- I WANT YOUR LOVE- Transvision Vamp (18,360)

 

That Fairground Attraction song is good.

 

Def Leppard with 'Love Bites' recently at #11 was a way better rock track than that Iron Maiden song.

 

 

Was entering high in the singles chart more the norm by 1988 or is it no different to the likes of the Jam in the earlier threads?

 

Not overly-

 

Entries into the top 10-

1980- 11

1981- 10

1982- 9

1983- 11

1984- 15

1985- 11

1986- 9

1987- 19

1988- 10 (so far)

Generally just making double figures then unless you are 1984 or 87!

Crazy high sales for yazz

And also the locomotion

 

Kinda like Find my love

 

Yes very unlucky for Def Leppard to peak at @11 with Love Bites

Was their only US #1 but also the albums 5th single

 

Hate that IronMaiden song soooo much

Find My Love still sounds bubbly and fun, one of the "better follow-up than big hit" acts (see Tight Fit and numerous others). Iron maiden. Have I mentioned how much I generally hate their cloned cartoon singles? Thought so.... :lol: Motorhead anyday, thanks.

20TH AUGUST

 

 

The top 2 remain on lock down for a third week with Yazz & The Plastic Population claiming the top spot easily though sales cool to 103,989 to bring its total to 313,701 copies as it moves seamlessly into the top 10 YTD, it’s the first time since The Bee Gees back in October last year that a song has recorded more than 1 week above the 100,000 mark. Kylie therefore plays runner up on both charts with her album nestled behind “Now 12” for a second week and the single “Loco-Motion” making it three weeks lodged behind Yazz, the bad news is that she’s losing sales, the track sold 63,257 copies, though its total is now just shy of 200,000 copies, impressive for a third release of an album.

 

 

 

On its way down 2-7 in the US Breathe are moving the other way here in the UK with their track “Hands To Heaven”, it’s another example of a UK band (they’re from Hampshire) who only hit it big here after our American friends give them a break. It’s their first hit after a few flops and shows the success that can obtained when you get a major label behind you, the track flies 17-6 (27,047) after peaking at No 106 earlier in the year on first release.

 

 

 

A story of if at first you don’t succeed…. Brother Beyond have seen their first 4 releases either miss the chart or fail to hit the top 50 so when the chance to work with S/A/W presented itself via an offer from the producers to produce a song for whoever won a charity auction came along it was won by EMI who hooked the band up with the producers and “The Harder I Try” was born. Owing a debt of gratitude to “This Old Heart Of Mine” it duly gives the quartet their breakthrough hit shifting 24-8 (20,910) and has started to earn the boys a lot of coverage with the teenage female audience! it completes a nice trajectory of their singles which all peaked higher than the previous effort (#166,#62, #57, #56).

 

 

 

Former Mission backing vocalist Julianne Regan is also the vocalist for All About Eve who were last week involved in one of the more infamous incidents on TOTP when the group couldn’t hear the backing track while the camera rolled resulting in them missing their cue, even so the track still moved 22-15 and they got invited back on TOTP to remedy the error and the track again responds 15-10 (14,722). Much like Brother Beyond the band have released six singles all with improving chart positions, 87, 81, 47, 33, 30, and now 10, their debut album which is home to five of those singles peaked at No 7 on release in February and now returns to the top 40 for the first time since March.

 

 

BVSMP and Kim Wilde swap places at No 3 and 4 with former shifting 37,298 to the latter’s 30,379 and true to form Iron Maiden only move up a spot to No 5 after their spectacular debut a place lower last week and sell 28,577 to do so. Fairground Attraction also creep a spot 8-7 (22,780) as people seem to have been more swung into buying the album as it bounces 7-3 to get a new peak, and S Express fall 5-9 (20,026).

 

 

1- THE ONLY WAY IS UP- Yazz & The Plastic Population (103,989)

2- THE LOCO-MOTION- Kylie Minogue (63,257)

3- I NEED YOU- BVSMP (37,298)

4- YOU CAME- Kim Wilde (30,379)

5- THE EVIL THAT MEN DO- Iron Maiden (28,577)

6- HANDS TO HEAVEN- Breathe (27,047)

7- FIND MY LOVE- Fairground Attraction (22,780)

8- THE HARDER I TRY- Brother Beyond (20,910)

9- SUPERFLY GUY- S Express (20,026)

10- MARTHA’S HARBOUR- All About Eve (14,722)

 

 

oh Martha's Harbour <3 easily my fav song of the 80s <3 such a little gem, love its simplicity and how unpretentious it is

was a huge fan of All About Eve since day 1 when they were still only charting in the indie charts, I remember when Flowers in Our Hair was released in their own indie label Eden and hit #1 in the indie charts. Then Mercury signed them and their first big label single In the Clouds almost made the top 40. In early 88, Wild Hearted Woman gave them their first top 40, with the debut album going top 10. the follow up single Every Angel gave them their first to 30 and then Martha's Harbour gave them their first top 10.

All the singles had been amazing, really loved them all and the debut album was just fantastic with that mix of indie, folk, goth,... will never understand how their music stroke a chord with me, as I was kind too young to like this kinda music and was mainly listening to things like Madonna and Debbie Gibson but for some reason I was also very much into All About Eve and was obsessively listening to their album locked in my room day in day out.

27TH AUGUST

 

 

The top two are again proving intransigent at the top as they become the first two tracks to create such deadlock, and for so many weeks, since Wham! and Band Aid were locked in duel for 5 weeks in late 1984, both are still in decline, Yazz & The Plastic population down 14% to 88,995 whilst Minogue loses 17% to 52,836, respective tallies of 402,696 and 251,872 prove it’s been a lucrative four week stasis though for both. “The Only Way Is Up” is already the 4th biggest single of 1988 and “The Loco-Motion” is easily in the top 20 for the year, meanwhile “Kylie” finally tops the album chart making her the youngest female act to ever do so at just 20. It’s also the first time in chart history that all three records in the top 3 start with the same word!

 

 

 

It’s taken a re-issue to make it a hit and extensive use on Mad Lizzie’s TV-AM exercise work out session but Julio Iglesias and Stevie Wonder’s “My Love” is finally a hit moving 17-6 (29,852). It’s Wonder’s 18th top 10 single but only Iglesias’ 3rd, for the Spanish singer it also marks the third hit in a row to be duet and he’s had a different duetting partner on each track, Diana Ross and Willie Nelson being his previous co-conspirators, the first time an act has done such a feat- it’s quite the record breaking week.

 

 

 

19yr old Tanita Tikaram strikes it lucky first time out with debut single “Good Tradition” rising 15-10 (14,909) to become the perfect launch pad for her album “Ancient Heart” which hits the shops next month.

 

 

S/A/W again have two hits in the top 3 with Brother Beyond accelerating 8-3 (37,281), Breathe also climb 6-4 (33,745) as BVSMP dip 3-5 (32,946). Fairground Attraction hold at No 7 (25,891) but climb to No 2 on the album charts, Kim Wilde collapses 4-8 (23,647) and Iron Maiden run out of steam 5-9 (15,793).

 

 

1- THE ONLY WAY IS UP- Yazz & The Plastic Population (88,995)

2- THE LOCO-MOTION- Kylie Minogue (52,836)

3- THE HARDER I TRY- Brother Beyond (37,281)

4- HANDS TO HEAVEN- Breathe (33,745)

5- I NEED YOU- BVSMP (32,946)

6- MY LOVE- Julio Iglesias & Stevie Wonder (29,852)

7- FIND MY LOVE- Fairground Attraction (25,891)

8- YOU CAME- Kim Wilde (23,647)

9- THE EVIL THAT MEN DO- Iron Maiden (15,793)

10- GOOD TRADITION- Tanita Tikaram (14,909)

 

love love love Tanita Tikaram, her debut album was great

but sadly as per usual a great female UK singer than laster just the 1 era on the spotlight having hit singles and albums

 

great that Kylie finally made #1 in albums, was beyond ridiculous that all those Now and Hits were in the mean album charts blocking Push and Kylie from the top

 

not a fan of either Brother Beyond or Breathe, do all boy band now have to start with "Br"? :D