I would also have put Atomic and Turning Japanese at the top of the list. Blondie's best song and a new wave classic from The Vapors. So Lonely, Cuba and Hands Off, She's Mine are the best of the rest.

Another very strong bunch here: any of the top 4 could have been a top pick but I’ve put the best known classic at the top.

9	Martha And The Muffins	Echo Beach	Only hit for this Canadian band about escaping to a fictional paradise: a wonderful new wave track with driving energy and great delivery
9	Rush	The Spirit Of Radio	Another Canadian rock band with their highest peaking hit: a wonderfully intriguing complex song with tempo changes and swirling guitars
8	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Happy House	4th Top 40 for them with a sarcastic song about the perfect portrayal of families in the media: it's an excellent biting reggae tinged track
8	Squeeze	Another Nail In My Heart	Not one of their biggest hits but an excellent and captivating, interestingly structured track with good use of marimba and a guitar solo
7	Genesis	Turn It On Again	A song about someone who is TV obsessed and believes the characters to be friends: it's great and draws you into this person's mind
7	Tony Rallo And The Midnite Band	Holdin' On	A Tunisian born jazz musician here with his only hit that seems forgotten, but it's a very good song with interesting instrumental features
6	The Brothers Johnson	Stomp	By far the biggest hit for this US duo: it's a fairly typical disco sound but has a striking chorus and it's not hard to see why it did so well
6	Liquid Gold	Dance Yourself Dizzy	After a #41 and some other misses, a huge hit for this UK disco group: it doesn't have anything remarkable but is very fun and danceable
5	The Lambrettas	Poison Ivy	A UK mod revival band giving The Coasters' 1959 hit its highest peak and bringing it up to date, though I think I still prefer the original
5	The Dooleys	Love Patrol	Last stop 40 for this UK family band: this has a Bee Gges disco like sound to it and is nothing remarkable but quite an enjoyable track
4	UK Subs	Warhead	A UK hardcore punk band here in the middle of their string of hits: it's good at its style but quite shouty and the vocals a little grating for me
4	The Detroit Spinners	Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl	455th #1: the Four Seasons version feels soulful whereas this is a little bland, and I don't think the added bridge makes much difference
3	Narada Michael Walden	Tonight I'm Alright	1st of a couple of hits for this US jazz fusion artist: it's not a bad funky sounding style but the track drags on rather and is quite repetitive
2	Jon Pertwee	Worzel's Song	Only hit for this "Doctor Who" actor in his "Worzel Gummidge" role: a pleasant enough child friendly track but with limited replay value

1980 Group 6:

#73	08/03/1980	Secret Affair	My World	16	72-40-28-27-17-{16}-18-19-62->9
#74	22/03/1980	The Jam	Going Underground/Dreams Of Children	1	{1}-1-1-3-6-20-33-49-72->9
#75	15/03/1980	Barbara Dickson	January February	11	59-29-19-12-{11}-11-13-18-46-66->10
#76	15/03/1980	The Bodysnatchers	Let's Do Rock Steady	22	44-31-24-27-{22}-22-24-26-60->9
#77	15/03/1980	Leon Haywood	Don't Push It, Don't Force It	12	56-35-30-19-18-14-{12}-12-19-28-60->11
#78	08/03/1980	UB40	King/Food For Thought	4	65-55-40-20-10-5-{4}-4-6-13-35-51-68->13
#79	29/03/1980	Judas Priest	Living After Midnight	12	25-15-{12}-16-18-47-71->7
#80	01/03/1980	B.A. Robertson	Kool In The Kaftan	17	73-51-51-45-28-25-25-19-{17}-22-38-69->12
#81	15/03/1980	Sad Cafe	My Oh My	14	66-43-31-31-24-23-{14}-16-24-53-74->11
#82	29/03/1980	John Foxx	No-One Driving	32	{32}-32-35-59->4
#83	01/03/1980	Bad Manners	Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu	28	64-55-62-49-34-39-38-36-36-{28}-33-29-33-39->14
	15/03/1980	The Monkees	The Monkees EP	33	63-46-35-38-34-{33}-37-49-66->9
#84	22/03/1980	The Stranglers	Bear Cage	36	55-{36}-41-48-64->5
#85	29/03/1980	Dr Hook	Sexy Eyes	4	38-9-{4}-5-5-8-16-34-54->9
#86	22/03/1980	Dexy's Midnight Runners	Geno	1	61-40-37-29-12-2-{1}-1-2-5-10-17-35-54->14

Echo Beach is a classic, pure 9/10 still rifftastic. Spirit Of Radio is top Rush, they were never better, a guitar classic and another 9/10. Happy House didn't quite rank up with Siouxsie's best for me, but a decent dark 7/10, while Squeeze were always class. Worth seeing in concert too. Another Nail In My Heart is a good 8/10.

Genesis's 3rd great single in Turn It On Again, one of their driving, unusual tracks, really rocks 9/10. Tony Rallo's Holdin' On is indeed forgotten, but I liked it 6/10. Brothers Johnson finally get a proper hit after the brilliant Strawberry Letter fell short, and Stomp is fab class disco 9/10. Dance Yourself Dizzy was a cheesy disco romp that was a lot of fun 8/10. The Mod Poison Ivy revamp was good, a bit of fun too, 7/10.

Love Patrol has been forgotten these days, but I like The Dooleys on the whole, 6/10. UK Subs, not a fan, 2/10. The Detroit Spinners made some of the essential early Philly-sound tracks in the 70's but got few hits for their trouble, so this was a nice bonus for them and it pushed the Four Seasons back catalogue - this really wasnt a well-known song at the time in the UK. 8/10. Narada went on to 80's success as artist and writer/producer so Tonight I'm Alright was a decent intro 6/10. Worzel passed me by I'm afraid, Jon Pertwee was better in Doctor Who or gurning in Carry On films 1/10.

Spirit Of Radio by Rush is the best song here, I'd put it second place in their discography behind the epic twenty minute track 2112. After that would be Turn It On Again by Genesis, part of the six track 'Duke' suite which is spread across the Duke album instead of being six consecutive tracks. It became a live favourite, often being part of the encore. Echo Beach and Poison Ivy are the best of the rest.

'Atomic' is my favourite so far in 1980 and one of the most euphoric #1s of the decade, perhaps ever. The last batch is possibly stronger overall though, the top four as ranked here are all great, and 'Holdin' On' was a good discovery. For spot-the-sample, Yomanda - Synth & Strings borrowed from 'Dance Yourself Dizzy', and I'll always remember first hearing 'Happy House' as the origin of the riff in Cappella - U Got 2 Know.

Not quite as brimming with greatness for me this group, but I do love the 2 double A sides at the top. It’s particularly interesting to see what UB40 could do before they became really commercial.

9	The Jam	Going Underground/Dreams Of Children	454th #1 and the 1st to debut there since 1973: both sides of this are brilliant with poetic protest lyrics and Beatles style guitar melodies
8	UB40	King/Food For Thought	1st hit of a huge career for this UK reggae band: both of these are excellent reflective tracks with well crafted lyrics about political events
8	Dexy's Midnight Runners	Geno	457th #1: an amazing popularity explosion after their 1st single reached #40, and a great jazzy track with an unforgettable saxophone riff
7	John Foxx	No-One Driving	Again he just misses the Top 30 with a synth-tastic and striking slightly dystopian track: not quite as compelling as "Underpass" but great
7	B.A. Robertson	Kool In The Kaftan	3rd hit for the Scottish musician: I love the nonsense lyrics and it's very catchy jaunty track with an Indian feel to the instrumentation
6	The Stranglers	Bear Cage	Another track protesting about societal oppression: only a #46 in a period when they struggled commercially but a compelling number
6	Secret Affair	My World	Last Top 40 for this UK band: it's a nice track with strong emotive vocals and enjoyable instrumentals including a saxophone solo
5	Sad Cafe	My Oh My	Following hot on the heels of "Strange Little Girl" and a bigger hit than that, but I think that while this is nice that had more atmosphere
5	Bad Manners	Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu	1st hit for this UK ska band with a cover of a mostly instrumental track from the '50s: a slightly silly track that has some fun parts
4	Barbara Dickson	January February	A Scottish singer largely known for her work in musicals but this is a straightforward pop hit: for an easy listening track it's quite nice
4	The Bodysnatchers	Let's Do Rock Steady	Only Top 40 for this all female ska band with a cover of a '60s song that does what it says on the tin: this has quite a nice sound to it
3	Leon Haywood	Don't Push It, Don't Force It	Only hit here for this US soul singer going since 1965: it's a moderately catchy and slightly raunchy number but I can take or leave it
3	Judas Priest	Living After Midnight	Only their 2nd Top 40 despite being active since 1969: it's a hedonistic sing along party track that largely fails to capture my interest
2	Dr Hook	Sexy Eyes	Last big hit for the US country rock band and this certainly feels like it belongs in the '70s: it plods and doesn't go anywhere interesting

1980 Group 7:

#87	05/04/1980	Madness	Night Boat To Cairo (Work Rest And Play) EP	6	14-{6}-7-10-14-29-49-70->8
#88	05/04/1980	The Pretenders	Talk Of The Town	8	26-13-{8}-9-9-22-36-73->8
#89	29/03/1980	The Selecter	Missing Words	23	51-34-30-26-{23}-24-37-43->8
#90	22/03/1980	Rupert Holmes	Him	31	65-43-36-32-{31}-33-65->7
#91	05/04/1980	David Essex	Silver Dream Machine	4	40-19-9-6-{4}-5-10-15-34-39-60->11
#92	12/04/1980	Blondie	Call Me	1	21-2-{1}-3-4-14-37-57-61->9
#93	22/03/1980	Saxon	Wheels Of Steel	20	66-41-45-37-25-28-{20}-20-27-38-65->11
#94	29/03/1980	Bobby Thurston	Check Out The Groove	10	68-44-40-30-26-{10}-12-16-22-56->10
#95	05/04/1980	Sky	Toccata	5	61-46-24-11-{5}-6-15-21-47-43-65->11
#96	05/04/1980	The Undertones	My Perfect Cousin	9	51-43-29-21-11-10-{9}-29-41-62->10
#97	12/04/1980	Elvis Costello	Hi Fidelity	30	54-32-{30}-56-43->5
#98	12/04/1980	The Nolans	Don't Make Waves	12	58-34-25-25-15-13-{12}-15-24-41-49->11
#99	05/04/1980	Phil Lynott	Dear Miss Lonely Hearts	32	72-50-37-{32}-37-57->6
#100	05/04/1980	The Buggles	Clean, Clean	38	55-45-{38}-38-66->5
#101	19/04/1980	Paul McCartney	Coming Up	2	62-7-{2}-3-3-11-24-41-66->9
#102	19/04/1980	Rodney Franklin	The Groove	7	70-27-13-{7}-11-14-46-58-74->9
#103	19/04/1980	The Ruts	Staring At The Rude Boys	22	51-31-32-27-{22}-31-42-50->8

Going Underground was a number one for me right off the bat, so a 10/10 for that. Dreams Of Children got zero airplay and I played it maybe once or twice, so cant really give it a mark, but G.U. was major exciting, carrying on where Eton Rifles left off. King was good, but again it was Food For Thought that grabbed most of the radio plays, 8 and 9 respectively, and UB40 were highly relevant to the music scene of the early 80's. Geno another 10/10 from me, topped my chart and bought it, I'd also bought Dance Stance in the bargain bin and played that one heavily around this time.

No-One Driving wasnt as good as Underpants, but enough for a 7/10 from me, while BA Robertson's witty lyrics and catchy tunes always tickled my pleasure centres, and Kool In The Kaftan was no exception, loved the 60's hippie references 9/10. The single came with a very odd-shaped picture sleeve. Bear Cage was OK but it was no Nice N Sleazy or Walk On By, or even Duchess. 4/10. Secret Affair are under-rated, their horn-led mini-anthems sound great, especially My World, 9/10. They fill the mod gap in between Scott Walker and Teardrop Explodes I thought.

Sad Cafe I think is My Oh My, which followed Strange Little Girl and was a bigger hit, but it was a bit of a schizophrenic track for me, I liked bits of it, but other bits not as much. 7/10. Bad Manners were extremely silly and for a laugh and a great night out, I saw them in 1981 and they were fab. I LOVE Ne Ne Na Na, right up my street in terms of humour and energy. Buster Bloodvessel the hardest-working frontman in music at that time! 9/10. Play very loud.

January February is a well-produced likeable comeback for the 1976 Answer Me hitmaker, and it's an Alan Tarney song/production so of course it is - see Cliff, Take On Me etc. 8/10. Let's Do Rock Steady was fine, catchy ska and they name-check each other, 7/10. Leon haywood's hit was OK, it wasn't bad, it wasn't that memorable, sort of an inbetweenie 6/10. My room-mate was into Judas Priest in 1977/78 so I was regularly tortured by their albums. They had one good track and that track was Diamonds & Rust, a cover. I disliked everything else they ever did, but this was as close to tolerable as they got 4/10. Sexy Eyes was formulaic. Pleasant but unexciting 5/10.

No big favourites of mine here but I think the top 3 are the right ones followed by My Oh My and My World.

‘Atomic’, ‘Echo Beach’ and ‘Going Underground’ would top their batches for me too, taste

I do love ‘Dreams Of Children’ but it feels crazy that ‘Going Underground’ wasn’t originally pencilled in as part of the A-Side, until the pressing plant mix up. I’ve been on a massive Jam binge ever since last week’s session and have completely fallen in love with Weller’s lyrics and the often compelling instrumentation too. We’re in their peak period for me at the moment (although quality band from start to finish, quitting while they were ahead and all) as the Setting Sons album from around this time grabbed me the most.

The two UK #1s from The Jam and Dexys are my favourites of this batch - 'Going Underground' has been a staple of my all-time favourite songs lists since 1997, when I had limited knowledge of 80s music and it led me to buy their Very Best Of that year. The one song I'd push higher in this batch is 'Let's Do Rock Steady', it's infectious.

Why did The Monkees EP get skipped in the listenthrough?

Intrigued to see your thoughts on the batch from today since you weren't on SyncTube this time! My opinions aren't wildly different to yours on many songs so far - I'm treating the cutoff for inclusion in my Spotify playlist as anything I'd rate 7.5/10 or higher, and so far only 1 of the songs you've rated 8 or higher hasn't made that for me ('So Lonely' - technically 3 as I only included the first A-Side for 'Going Underground' and 'King'), while I've only playlisted 2 songs that you've rated lower than 5 (both 4s - 'Warhead' and 'Working My Way Back To You / Forgive Me, Girl').

Some unpopular opinions :

Toyah's version of Echo Beach is much better than original.

Atomic is overrated, it's good song, but for me this single is far from the best Blondie tracks like Sunday Girl, 11.59 and many others.

8 hours ago, Brer said:

Why did The Monkees EP get skipped in the listenthrough?

I believe every song on it is a pre 1980 Top 40 hit.

1 hour ago, Julian_ said:

I believe every song on it is a pre 1980 Top 40 hit.

Yes they were, and they all jointly topped my chart for the first time in 1980 where they would have topped my charts separately first time round had I been doing charts. I was mad on the band and the show!

When you do the book of the reviews the typo for Strange Little Girl/My Oh My will need updating 🙂I'll buy the book, all those reviews in one handy place! 🤩

24 minutes ago, Popchartfreak said:

When you do the book of the reviews the typo for Strange Little Girl/My Oh My will need updating 🙂I'll buy the book, all those reviews in one handy place! 🤩

Thank you - that’s fixed I believe!

A really strong group here but there was only going to be 1 winner. “Call Me” is much more poppy than “Atomic” but still almost as brilliant.

9	Blondie	Call Me	456th #1: this doesn't quite have the artistic beauty of "Atomic", but it's a wonderfully chaotic, energetic  and powerful pop rock number
8	Sky	Toccata	I'm sometimes sceptical about classical pieces turned into pop hits, but this progressive rock version of Bach's "Toccata" is excellent
8	The Buggles	Clean, Clean	Their 3rd and last minor Top 40, and it's another delightful quirky and fast paced track with ahead of its time Trevor Horn production
8	The Pretenders	Talk Of The Town	The follow up to the chart topping "Brass In Pocket" and another bright and breezy pop track but with a certain sparkle added by Chrissy
7	The Selecter	Missing Words	"Three Minute Hero" didn't fully click with me but I enjoy this one a lot and it's the pulsing, irregular rhythm that makes it a striking track
7	Paul McCartney	Coming Up	He's yet to have a solo #1 but another runner up hit here: a great track with interesting production techniques and distorted vocals
7	Phil Lynott	Dear Miss Lonely Hearts	1st hit for this short lived black Irish singer who was also the guitarist in Thin Lizzy: this is a lovely understated well sung soft rock ballad
6	Elvis Costello	Hi Fidelity	A really nice yet sad Motown influenced track with a stompy piano intro, based on his struggles with fame and relationship troubles
6	David Essex	Silver Dream Machine	A track used in a flop film: it's nothing out of the ordinary but certainly is dreamy, with a very nice gentle and blissful atmosphere to it
6	Madness	Night Boat To Cairo (Work Rest And Play) EP	The lead track on this EP is really strong and the 2nd and 3rd are good fun too; the last is largely a response to newspaper articles
5	Rodney Franklin	The Groove	Only hit for this US jazz pianist: this is a lovely track though I see it more as something to listen to in a café than an essential '80s hit
5	The Undertones	My Perfect Cousin	"He thinks that I'm a cabbage 'cause I hate University Challenge": this is the Northern Irish band's only Top 10 hit and is silly but fun
5	The Ruts	Staring At The Rude Boys	Last of 3 Top 40s for this UK reggae infused rock group: this is slightly rough and ready but a decent track with a nice rumbling beat
4	Rupert Holmes	Him	His 2nd at last hit and a bitter love rival number that 's very different from "The Pina Colada Song": quite a nice listen but unremarkable
4	Bobby Thurston	Check Out The Groove	Only hit for this US singer with a fairly typical disco track: he has a nice soulful voice but I find nothing about the song at all memorable
4	The Nolans	Don't Make Waves	Their 2nd hit after their most famous debut: this is a similar style song and is not bad with nice harmonies, but a little cloying overall
3	Saxon	Wheels Of Steel	1st hit for this UK heavy metal band who I understand are highly regarded, but this track drags a little to my ears and doesn't grab me

1980 Group 8:

#104	26/04/1980	Narada Michael Walden	I Shoulda Loved Ya	8	35-19-11-{8}-9-16-25-45-69->9
#105	05/04/1980	Pete Townshend	Rough Boys	39	62-49-41-{39}-44-62->6
#106	12/04/1980	Billy Joel	All For Leyna	40	73-44-{40}-59->4
#107	03/05/1980	Johnny Logan	What's Another Year	1	15-2-{1}-1-3-10-32-50->8
#108	03/05/1980	Motorhead	Golden Years EP	8	23-{8}-12-20-28-42-75->7
#109	26/04/1980	Cockney Rejects	The Greatest Cockney Rip-Off	21	47-27-23-{21}-30-43-71->7
#110	26/04/1980	Kate Bush	Breathing	16	44-29-26-19-{16}-30-37->7
#111	26/04/1980	Whitesnake	Fool For Your Loving	13	51-30-21-20-{13}-14-18-38-52->9
#112	03/05/1980	Hot Chocolate	No Doubt About It	2	31-9-6-{2}-2-2-4-5-15-32-61->11
#113	19/04/1980	Smokie	Take Good Care Of My Baby	34	72-50-{34}-34-48-53-66->7
#114	12/04/1980	The Cure	A Forest	31	64-55-41-35-32-{31}-42-55->8
#115	03/05/1980	Jimmy Ruffin	Hold On To My Love	7	36-14-{7}-8-11-15-33-42->8
#116	26/04/1980	New Musik	This World Of Water	31	59-38-{31}-32-40-38-60->7
#117	26/04/1980	The Average White Band	Let's Go Round Again	12	69-39-28-17-17-{12}-13-13-34-48-62->11
	26/04/1980	The Jam	In The City {1980}	40	43-{40}-45-71->4
#118	03/05/1980	The Beat	Mirror In The Bathroom	4	58-17-{4}-4-7-11-26-41-59->9
#119	03/05/1980	Michael Jackson	She's Out Of My Life	3	55-25-5-{3}-4-8-11-32-53->9

Blondie have had an excellent 1980 so far as 'Call Me' would top this group for me too. You can't go wrong with the combination of them and Giorgio Moroder.

Amazing that the Sky version of 'Toccata' was a top 5 hit. The first non-Bach version I knew was this dance one by OVERWERK that placed 8th for me in BJSC:

Call Me is a great Giorgio creation - Blondie weren't first choice for the movie dance blockbuster but it all worked out nicely. 9/10. Toccata is pretty good, and they have the musician credentials, but I've never loved it quite as much as I feel I should 7/10. Clean Clean is a hat-trick of Horn goodies 7/10. My bargain bin singles buying was in overload in 1980 and 1979 and I have the majority of top 40 singles.

Talk Of The Town is a delightful Pretenders song, but not as great as the previous 3 for me 8/10. Missing Words is possibly my fave Selecter track, it seemed a bit darker than their other hits 8/10. Coming Up is full-on Macca-does-synths-and-everything-else-on-the-album, and the video is hilariously fab 9/10. The live version that topped the US charts for Wings was a total cop-out - US radio showing its shortcomings ahead of the MTV revolution which changed everything. I like to see that as Mike Nesmith's revenge on the sniffy Rock fraternity, he'd been doing solo videos for 3 years by this time.

Phil Lynott was fab, married Bruce Forsyth's daughter, though his solo excursions outside Lizzy were more variable, in quality and genre, but Lonely Heart was quite pleasant. 6/10. Hi-Fidelity was also fine, but there was a better single to come 6/10. Silver Dream Machine is a great production for David, and it was nice to see him getting big hits into the 80's, but it's not quite up there with my fave Essex tracks 8/10. Night Boat To Cairo was my first Madness chart-topper, totally nutty boy, bags of fun and utterly unlike anything else in the chart then or since. I bought the EP but this was the track I played 10/10.

The Groove is jazz-funk pleasant-ness, 7/10, My Perfect Cousin The Undertones' biggest hit, though not their best record - several candidates for that plus the classic minor hit that clearly is - but it's still a goodie 8/10. Staring At The Rude Boys is OK 5/10, The Ruts on the way to becoming another tragic band story, a seemingly endless theme. Him is not quite as wholesome as the MOR production might suggest, but it's still good, 7/10.

Check Out The Groove fit in with the early hot summer, boogie-vibes, and one I rated, 8/10, and Don't Make Waves I much preferred to the annoying huge hit predecessor, 7/10. Wheels Of Steel wasn't that promising a start for Saxon, I was a bit meh on it, the song wasnt that strong 4/10.

Amazing Call Me, it's very rare thing when I like your # 1 choice.

Sabrina and Samantha Fox version is good enough too.

Toccata and Clean Clean are the best ones there. The fourth Buggles single, 'Elstree', is another good one from them but will not make the top 40. Coming Up, Night Boat To Cairo and My Perfect Cousin would make up the rest of my top five.