“Stop The Cavalry” is one Christmas record I can happily hear any time of year: I guess it helps that it isn’t all that Christmassy in the first place.

9	Jona Lewie	Stop The Cavalry	His 2nd and last Top 40, stuck at #3 behind Lennon and Winifred's, this is a glorious march style anti war turned festive song
8	Adam And The Ants	Antmusic	Antmusic would become the general name for their sound: this is similar in style to "Dog Eat Dog" but even more compelling
8	Stray Cats	Runaway Boys	1st hit for this US band: a great track with quite a stark sound to it thanks to the throbbing baseline, and a frenetic guitar solo
7	Madness	Embarrassment	Another really enjoyable single from them: I like how this has a harsher edge to it than their better known ones from this time
7	Robert Palmer	Looking For Clues	1st Top 40 after a few misses for this UK singer, with a great fun and quirky track that blends some different styles and sounds
7	Eddy Grant	Do You Feel My Love	His 1st Top 10 hit with a great and catchy piece of pop with a simmering lilting reggae beat and bags of emotional energy
6	Daryl Hall And John Oates	Kiss On My List	1st Top 40 for the US duo and a US #1: it's the usual bouncy feel good pop from them and enjoyable but not outstanding
6	Queen	Flash	The theme song to "Flash Gordon": I love the electropop come opera elements but am less keen on the spoken film parts
6	Electric Light Orchestra	Don't Walk Away	The last of the "Xanadu" hits: the track does have something of a Disney feel to it but it's well done with a strong lead vocal
5	Neil Diamond	Love On The Rocks	A US #2 that did less well here: this gentle number has nice orchestral backing but doesn't rise above pleasant for me overall
5	Status Quo	Lies/Don't Drive My Car	"Lies" is fairly banal and sounds like many of their others, but "Don't Drive My Car" is very good with a seething intensity to it
4	AC/DC	Rock 'N' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution	Oddly a much bigger hit than "You Shook Me…", this isn't a bad rocky number but somehow doesn't quite pop as you'd hope
3	Kenny Rogers	Lady	It was written by Lionel Richie and indeed sounds very like him: a fairly dull track but I prefer it to "Coward Of The County"
2	St Winifred's School Choir	There's No-One Quite Like Grandma	472nd #1: having appeared on the #1 "Matchstalk Men…" this Stockport choir released another single but it's not very good
1	Dr Hook	Girls Can Get It	Could do with this not having scraped a #40 peak as it's even worse than their other hits and the lyrical message is comical

1980 Group 21:

#310	29/11/1980	Showaddywaddy	Blue Moon	32	50-35-{32}-32-34-34-32-46-70->9
#311	29/11/1980	Matchbox	Over The Rainbow/You Belong To Me	15	72-38-31-24-19-19-18-{15}-21-31-59->11
#312	06/12/1980	Kate Bush	December Will Be Magic Again	29	39-{29}-30-32-32-36-74->7
#313	06/12/1980	The Clash	The Call Up	40	{40}-42-49-69-69-69->6
#314	13/12/1980	The Police	De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da	5	9-{5}-6-6-7-9-24-54->8
#315	29/11/1980	Chas And Dave	Rabbit	8	66-43-34-18-13-13-11-{8}-18-30-53->11
#316	06/12/1980	The Barron Knights	Never Mind The Presents	17	69-36-27-{17}-17-22-37-61->8
#317	06/12/1980	Bad Manners	Lorraine	21	59-37-38-36-36-33-29-22-{21}-25-36-65->12
#318	06/12/1980	The Nolans	Who's Gonna Rock You	12	66-40-39-31-31-24-{12}-17-27-32-62->11
#319	13/12/1980	The Beat	Too Nice To Talk To	7	50-31-23-23-20-{7}-7-13-23-46-72->11
#320	13/12/1980	The Specials Featuring Rico With The Ice Rink String Sounds	Do Nothing/Maggie's Farm	4	70-34-24-24-15-{4}-5-11-18-30-57->11
#321	20/12/1980	Gary Numan	This Wreckage	20	35-28-28-27-{20}-31-43->7
#322	15/11/1980	Mac Davis	It's Hard To Be Humble	27	61-59-46-50-47-36-29-29-34-{27}-34-33-48-56-71-73->16
#323	29/11/1980	Mike Berry	If I Could Only Make You Care	37	60-46-44-40-{37}-37-38-45-59->9
	20/12/1980	John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir	Happy Xmas (War Is Over) {1980}	2	45-4-4-{2}-3-9-23-49-69->9
	27/12/1980	John Lennon	Imagine {1980}	1	9-9-{1}-1-1-1-4-6-17-23-32-49-56->13
#324	20/12/1980	Racey	Runaround Sue	13	61-40-40-29-18-{13}-15-27-42-74->10

I agree, Stop The Cavalry is a festive semi-regular that never gets wearisome, what a gem. 10/10, though I still think of it as his 4th hit as Terry Dactyl is really a pseudonym plus mates. I think that it's very not-christmassy in the WW1-styled video helps. Antmusic is Adam's first throbbing classic 9/10. Stray Cats were fab courtesy of the Dave Edmunds production, very clean-sounding and modern for such a retro track. 9/10.

Madness drop their first "serious" song as a single, and it works very well, proving they weren't one-trick ponies. I bought the album around this time, which was fab. 9/10. Looking For Clues is an upgrade in sound for Robert Palmer to an 80's synth-sound, and away from the annoyingly non-top-40 classic sound of Every Kinda People and the rock romp of Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor Doctor) which were both US smashes 7/10.

Do You Feel My Love is throbbing Eddy Grant reggae as he reinvents himself for the 80's after the brill Living On The Frontline. A kiddie fave in The Equals in the 60's, it was great having him back and this is a 9/10, my bias has nothing to do with Eddy giving me a follow on X after I was heart-ing Equals Bandcamp re-issues, it's high time they were re-evaluated as a notable band of the 60's and early 70's, they were more than just Baby Come Back. Kiss On My List was my fave Hall & Oates track since She's Gone criminally fell short of the top 40. That's a 10/10 classic and this new dance-soulpop direction was on point 9/10. I'm doing a lot of 9/10's here...

I know what you mean about the dialogue lifts from the OTT camp sci-fi cult film, but there wouldnt be much to the track without them, more of uncompleted song waiting for more lyrics. 8/10, I liked it more at the time when it was shiny and new and colourful. Don't Walk Away was possibly my least-fave ELO single since Ma Ma Ma Belle at the time, or in other words my least-fave single ever by ELO. 7/10. Love On The Rocks plugged The Jazz Singer movie as Neil moved into movies, but I longed for classic Diamond by this point. Dreary. As Americans tend to pronounce Rocks as Racks, that's an appropriate misheard lyric 5/10.

Don't Drive My Car sounded a bit menacing for a Quo track, and may well be their last good single till 1986 7/10. AC/DC proving a huge disappointment to me post-Bon Scott and an unintentional ironic title... 3/10. Lady indeed sounding like a Commodores off-cut, I quite liked it in comparison to his annoying chart-toppers, but it's not a patch on his First Edition era classics. 6/10. Grandma wasn't as loveable to me as Grandad had been for Clive Dunn, it was more sickly than olde-world charming, and my grandma didnt rate it, either 4/10. Better than AC/DC tho. Dr Hook I barely recall, and the novelty was wearing off as the music scene moved on. 3/10.

Love 'Stop The Cavalry', the anti-war themes and brass instruments are both stirring. It never gets old for me during the festive period and I agree with your assessment that it transcends that time of year anyway, happy to seek it out whenever. Great that it managed a top 40 return in 2021 even if it hasn't quite done so since.

'Antmusic' is another infectious burst of energy from Adam and co. They got unlucky with this release, running into the Lennon chart-toppers, but at least it was a new personal best after 'Dog Eat Dog'. The quality of the music video is so poor on YouTube so I hope that gets upgraded one day 🙏

Those Dr Hook lyrics were quite something *_*

That last batch is full of good songs. Antmusic and Love On The Rocks are my favourite songs by those two artists and Stop The Cavalry is always welcome to hear every Christmas. I have a copy of the Flash Gordon soundtrack album, the 'Flash' single doesn't appear on it in the same form as it's made up from different tracks, most of which include spoken parts by the cast, but it still works on its own.

Don't Walk Away by ELO is fairly unique in that it has two different choruses. The part after the first verse has the song title repeated a few times so could be interpreted as the chorus but the next section could also be called a chorus. Both melodies are used again after the second verse. AI is telling me the third part is the chorus but a lyrics website says the second part is the chorus and the third part is the post chorus.

I was able to send an email to Jeff Lynne recently, his management gave out an address to send him messages as he was unable to complete his farewell tour and was recuperating at home. They said he would read every email. If he receives thousands of them, I'm not convinced he will read every one but I would like to hope that he might get round to reading mine.

This is the first time in any of my 3 (so far) threads that the winner of any group has been a song not on Spotify. I thought it might never happen as only a few % of Top 40 hits are not on Spotify and most that aren’t are justly forgotten. However Ms Bush’s Christmas track is just too magical not to receive the crown here: maybe it will appear on Spotify one day.

Note that we’re passing over both the 473rd #1, “Imagine”, and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” here but they will be due in my other thread in due time.

9	Kate Bush	December Will Be Magic Again	The piano and voice combination twinkle and it features all her usual quirkiness, making it 4 out of 4 brilliant hits this year
8	The Clash	The Call Up	This only scraped in at #40 but it's an excellent anti-war track with an almost deadpan, nonotonous and slightly sinister feel
8	Gary Numan	This Wreckage	His 5th hit and the 1st to miss the Top 10, but it's another great synth laden track with a slightly apocalyptic performance
7	Chas And Dave	Rabbit	Biggest hit yet for the Cockney duo based on the rhyming slang "rabbit and pork" meaning "talk": a highly entertaining track
7	The Specials Featuring Rico With The Ice Rink String Sounds	Do Nothing/Maggie's Farm	The Dylan cover is different from the original and works well, and "Do Nothing" is the usual ska style but also very enjoyable
6	The Beat	Too Nice To Talk To	Their 4th Top 10 in 5 releases over 12 months: a good song in their usual style, but nothing very different from their others
6	Bad Manners	Lorraine	Their 4th hit of the year with an interesting lyrical story about an abusive relationship, but musically I prefer "Special Brew"
5	The Police	De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da	Mocking the public's love for simple songs with its nonsense chorus, this is musically quite enjoyable but standard Police
4	The Nolans	Who's Gonna Rock You	I have to admit that I've caught myself humming this a few times and it's a good performance from Bernie, but a little naff
4	Matchbox	Over The Rainbow/You Belong To Me	Their last Top 40: credit for doing a relatively seamless mashup of two classics, making it a moderately interesting listen
3	Racey	Runaround Sue	Their last hit with an inessential cover of Dion's 1961 song, which is a little more polished but very similar to the original
3	The Barron Knights	Never Mind The Presents	Their last Top 40 but amazing that they're still having hits after so long: this isn't so enjoyable apart from the Floyd part though
2	Showaddywaddy	Blue Moon	Another cover of an old standard for them: it just feels like a sing through to me without much of the song's charm and power
2	Mike Berry	If I Could Only Make You Care	His last Top 40: "The Sunshine Of Your Smile" earlier this year was enjoyable, but this is a very dreary old fashioned ballad
1	Mac Davis	It's Hard To Be Humble	2nd and last hit for this US singer who wrote "In The Ghetto" and other Elvis tracks: unfortunately this one is dire and not funny

12 hours ago, King Rollo said:

I was able to send an email to Jeff Lynne recently, his management gave out an address to send him messages as he was unable to complete his farewell tour and was recuperating at home. They said he would read every email. If he receives thousands of them, I'm not convinced he will read every one but I would like to hope that he might get round to reading mine.

Aww that's nice, Jeff is a personal legend and I hope he gets back on his feet soon. I saw his last performances on Youtube and I wish he'd postponed or cancelled a bit earlier, fans will understand, I'd rather have a healthy Jeff not touring than an ill one overdoing it! I may go see the ELO Experience who are always a worth a look-in, other alternative ELO tribute bands are also available.

I cant believe December Will Be Magic isnt on Spotify - that must be a choice made by Kate! I've got it on Xmas compilations of the 80's and 90's so that seems a bit random. I wonder if Ken is on Spotify?! That's a comedy track that is fab! It's an 8/10 for me, and a Xmas tune that should get played in the mad season for a change. Havent heard The Call Up in decades, and dont have a lot of memory about it, so I'm guessing it's a 5 or 6/10. This Wreckage ditto but I was disappointed with it at the time, after the run of top singles it was a bit of a 6/10.

Rabbit just annoys me, always has 3/10. Didnt like Maggie's Farm in any version but Do Nothing was the airplay hit, a much better track, 8/10. Too Nice To Talk To a good Beat effort, another 8/10 from me, Lorraine my least fave Bad Manners single to date 7/10. I realise the point of De Do Do Do but that doesn't stop it being a bit annoying, and The Police's least hit single so far, the album had way better tracks on it like Canary In A Coalmine. That should have been the single. 7/10 de da da da.

Who's Gonna Rock You still better than the big hit in my eyes, though not a memorable hit. 6/10. Matchbox's was a weird choice of single, purely for Xmas I reckon, shoulda waited till the new year and another rockabilly cover. 4/10. Racey's cover not as good as the original but worth a 5/10. The Barron Knights were mildly amusing on the first listen and excruciating after that 2/10. Blue Moon is Showaddywaddy feeling a bit tired and samey compared to the new Rockabilly acts 5/10. Mike Berry needed another decent old song, this was a tad dull 5/10.

Mac Davis, In The Grotto oops! I love In The Ghetto! His 1972 hit is also decent enough, Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me, but Hard To Be Humble is a novelty song pretty much. 4/10.

Average score for 1980 was 5.55 - we’ll see how that moves as the decade progresses but that’s towards the higher end for the years I’ve completed.

I only gave 6 songs a 1, and my least favourite hit of the year is Mac Davis - Hard To Be Humble.

I gave 3 10s, 22 9s and 47 8s. My Top 40 of the year therefore only has room for 15 of the 47 8s.

1 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

2 Blondie - Atomic

3 ABBA - The Winner Takes It All

4 The Cure - A Forest

5 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

6 Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers

7 OMD - Enola Gay

8 Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry

9 Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved

10 Blondie - Call Me

11 Lipps Inc - Funky Town

12 Peter Gabriel - No Self Control

13 Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach

14 Korgis - Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime

15 Rush - The Spirit Of Radio

16 ABBA - Super Trouper

17 Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

18 Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

19 Kate Bush - Breathing

20 Diana Ross - Upside Down

21 The Jam - Going Underground

22 Kate Bush - Army Dreamers

23 The Vapors - Turning Japanese

24 Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again

25 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds

26 Jon & Vangelis - I Hear You Now

27 Adam And The Ants - Antmusic

28 John Foxx - Underpass

29 Hazel O’Connor - Eighth Day

30 The Buggles - The Plastic Age

31 The Sweet People - Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient

32 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - New Amsterdam

33 Ultravox - Sleepwalk

34 Jona Lewie - You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

35 Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

36 Kate Bush - Babooshka

37 Amii Stewart - Paradise Bird / The Letter

38 Bow Wow Wow - C30, C60, C90, Go

39 Siouxsie & The Banshees - Christine

40 New Musik - Living By Numbers

Thats a pretty good Now 1980 selection if I get to add a few of my top faves not on the list! 🙂

My top 40 of 1980 would look something like this:

1 Lipps Inc - Funky Town

2 The Jam - Going Underground

3 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

4 Abba - The Winner Takes It All

5 Madness - Baggy Trousers

6 Blondie - Atomic

7 Diana Ross - Upside Down

8 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay

9 Ultravox - Sleepwalk

10 John Foxx - Underpass

11 AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

12 The Pretenders - Talk Of The Town

13 Bob Marley And The Wailers - Could You Be Loved

14 Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

15 David Bowie - Fashion

16 The Specials - Too Much Too Young

17 Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin')

18 Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

19 The Clash - Bankrobber

20 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

21 Blondie - Call Me

22 Split Enz - I Got You

23 The Specials - Do Nothing

24 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Messages

25 The Korgis - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime

26 Blondie - The Tide Is High

27 New Musik - Living By Numbers

28 The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin

29 Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

30 The Specials - Rat Race

31 The Cure - A Forest

32 Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach

33 Junior Murvin - Police And Thieves

34 Dexy's Midnight Runners - Geno

35 Siouxsie And The Banshees - Happy House

36 Rush - The Spirit Of Radio

37 The Specials - Stereotype

38 John Foxx - No-One Driving

39 The Bodysnatchers - Let's Do Rock Steady

40 The Clash - The Call Up

My top 10 (Based only on UK chart songs)

1. Sue Wilkinson - You Gotta Be A Hustler If You Wanna Get On (UK # 25)

2. Barbra Streisand - Woman In Love (UK # 1)

3. Blondie - Call Me (UK # 1)

4. ABBA - The Winner Takes It All (UK # 1)

5. Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two (UK # 48)

6. Dooleys - Body Language (UK # 46)

7. Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard - Suddenly (UK # 15)

8. Prelude - Platinum Blonde (UK # 45)

9. Barbara Dickson - January February (UK # 11)

10. Dooleys - Love Patrol (UK # 29)

I think my list for 1980 would look something like this:

1. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

2. Blondie - Atomic

3. The Jam - Going Underground

4. ABBA - The Winner Takes It All

5. The Cure - A Forest

6. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay

7. David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes

8. Blondie - Call Me

9. Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach

10. Adam and the Ants - Antmusic

11. Motörhead - Ace of Spades

12. Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

13. The Korgis - Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime

14. Adam and the Ants - Dog Eat Dog

15. Kate Bush - Babooshka

16. David Bowie - Fashion

17. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Happy House

18. Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

19. The Mash - Theme From 'M*A*S*H' (Suicide Is Painless)

20. New Musik - Living By Numbers

21. John Foxx - Underpass

22. Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry

23. The Vapors - Turning Japanese

24. Olivia Newton-John And Electric Light Orchestra - Xanadu

25. Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers

26. Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

27. Sky - Toccata

28. The Jam - Start!

29. Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

30. The Specials - Stereotypes

31. Ultravox - Sleepwalk

32. Blondie - The Tide Is High

33. The Sweet People - Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient (And The Birds Were Singing)

34. Bow Wow Wow - C30, C60, C90, Go

35. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Christine

36. Kate Bush - Breathing

37. Split Enz - I Got You

38. The Clash - The Call Up

39. Michael Jackson - Rock With You

40. The Specials - Too Much Too Young

I get 17 in all 3 of @Jade , @jimwatts and my Top 40s:

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Blondie - Atomic

The Jam - Going Underground

ABBA - The Winner Takes It All

The Cure - A Forest

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay

David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes

Blondie - Call Me

Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach

Motörhead - Ace of Spades

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

The Korgis - Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime

Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

New Musik - Living By Numbers

John Foxx - Underpass

Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

Ultravox - Sleepwalk

I wonder how many would survive if you added say @King Rollo and @Brer to the mix.

1981 Spoti playlist:

1981 Group 1:

#325	20/12/1980	The Look	I Am The Beat	6	59-43-43-30-14-{6}-8-10-20-31-47-73->12
#326	27/12/1980	Stevie Wonder	I Ain't Gonna Stand For It	10	55-55-31-17-12-{10}-13-25-47-67->10
#327	27/12/1980	Yarbrough And Peoples	Don't Stop The Music	7	50-50-35-19-8-{7}-7-11-19-33-42-58->12
#328	20/12/1980	Rod Stewart	My Girl	32	57-41-41-37-{32}-43-68->7
#329	27/12/1980	Adam And The Ants	Young Parisians	9	75-75-39-23-11-{9}-9-15-22-32-40-56-62->13
#330	10/01/1981	David Bowie	Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)	20	49-25-{20}-20-29-44->6
#331	27/12/1980	The Gap Band	Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)	22	51-51-42-31-30-26-{22}-24-29-36-54->11
#332	20/12/1980	Visage	Fade To Grey	8	68-53-53-47-33-23-12-{8}-13-12-16-26-40-55-72->15
#333	06/12/1980	Barbra Streisand And Barry Gibb	Guilty	34	70-54-47-49-49-41-{34}-46-62-75->10
#334	17/01/1981	Phil Collins	In The Air Tonight	2	36-4-3-{2}-4-5-12-21-46-67->10
#335	10/01/1981	James Brown	Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses?)	39	75-{39}-39-47-66->5
#336	20/12/1980	Sad Cafe	I'm In Love Again	40	69-66-66-59-{40}-56->6
#337	24/01/1981	John Lennon	Woman	1	3-2-{1}-1-3-4-11-23-32-48-68->11
#338	24/01/1981	Blondie	Rapture	5	14-{5}-5-8-13-27-36-61->8
#339	17/01/1981	Ultravox	Vienna	2	52-16-6-3-{2}-2-2-2-4-7-16-22-43-57->14
#340	17/01/1981	Dire Straits	Romeo And Juliet	8	49-25-16-11-12-{8}-14-17-33-48-69->11

 

This is my top 40 from the year:

1 The Korgis - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime

2 Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers

3 ELO - Don't Walk Away

4 New Musik - This World Of Water

5 Blondie - Atomic

6 Peter Gabriel - No Self Control

7 New Musik - Living By Numbers

8 Genesis - Turn It On Again

9 Jon & Vangelis - I Hear You Now

10 Queen - Save Me

11 OMD - Enola Gay

12 ELO - All Over The World

13 Kate Bush - Breathing

14 Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

15 Ultravox - Sleepwalk

16 ELO - I'm Alive

17 Queen - Play The Game

18 Buggles - Plastic Age

19 OMD - Messages

20 Rush - The Spirit Of Radio

21 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

22 Roxy Music - The Same Old Scene

23 Queen - Flash

24 Olivia Newton-John And Electric Light Orchestra - Xanadu

25 Peter Gabriel - Biko

26 Air Supply - All Out Of Love

27 John Foxx - Underpass

28 Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

29 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

30 Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls

31 The Vapors - Turning Japanese

32 Adam and the Ants - Antmusic

33 Split Enz - I Got You

34 Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It

35 Hazel O'Connor - Eighth Day

36 The Cure - A Forest

37 Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

38 David Bowie - Fashion

39 Neil Diamond - Love On The Rocks

40 BA Robertson - To Be Or Not To Be

11/17 survived Rollo’s:

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Blondie - Atomic

The Jam - Going Underground

ABBA - The Winner Takes It All

The Cure - A Forest

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay

David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes

Blondie - Call Me

Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach

Motörhead - Ace of Spades

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

The Korgis - Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime

Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short

New Musik - Living By Numbers

John Foxx - Underpass

Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

Ultravox - Sleepwalk

I have done hundreds of these reviews now across three threads and I’ve been very sparing with the 10s, giving no more than 3 per year. I certainly didn’t expect to ever have to give 2 10s within 1 group, and I’ve never given 4 songs 9 or above either. But “In The Air Tonight” is a big all time favourite and “Vienna” a huge highlight of the decade. “Fade To Grey” and “Rapture” aren’t far off either - there may never be another top section quite as strong as this.

10	Phil Collins	In The Air Tonight	His 1st solo hit and a stunning, horrifyingly stark, minimalistic and bitterly anguished track with an electrifying drum break
10	Ultravox	Vienna	4 weeks at #2 for this smash: an incredible piece of piano assisted electropop which runs away from itself towards the end
9	Visage	Fade To Grey	1st hit for this UK new wave band and another unapologetic synth pop masterpiece, which started off as an instrumental
9	Blondie	Rapture	A #5 following 3 chart toppers but no less marvellous; an incredibly sensual and dreamy track with a quirky rapped section
8	Dire Straits	Romeo And Juliet	A 2nd #8 for them: it twists the plot of the play but it's a great lyrical story about young love and a warm, well performed song
8	David Bowie	Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)	About a woman's descent into madness, this is a typically theatrical Bowie song with Cockney vocals and a menacing guitar
7	The Look	I Am The Beat	Only Top 40 for this UK band: this is catchy has a great raw uncomplicated energy to it  and I enjoy the organ accompaniment
7	Barbra Streisand And Barry Gibb	Guilty	Another Bee Gees composed song from Barbra, this time done as a duet: a strong song that feels much bigger than its peak
6	Adam And The Ants	Young Parisians	Rather different from the energy of their big Burundi Beat hits, but an amusing track with fun lyrics and a mock French accent
6	Stevie Wonder	I Ain't Gonna Stand For It	Stevie impersonates a country and western singer with his accent here: an enjoyable song that crosses the soul-country divide
5	Yarbrough And Peoples	Don't Stop The Music	A US #1 and their only Top 40 sampled in Eve and Gwen Stefani's "Gangsta Lovin'"; I like that part but can take or leave the rest
5	Sad Cafe	I'm In Love Again	Their last hit: a nice track with a jazzy feel but doesn't have anything to make it stand out and I can see why it didn't do so well
4	John Lennon	Woman	474th #1 and the 3rd and last of his immediate posthumous trio: this has some nice elements but feels a little languid to me
4	James Brown	Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses?)	A track sampled in hundreds of songs including his "wooo!": as a stand alone track it's fine but more of a groove than a song
3	The Gap Band	Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)	Their 3rd hit and another of these funk tracks that isn't very distinctive and passes by without really leaving much impression
3	Rod Stewart	My Girl	This was a relatively barren period for big hits for him, and this one is nicely performed but a little saccharine and plodding

1981 Group 2:

#341	17/01/1981	Diana Ross	It's My Turn	16	44-27-25-{16}-22-30-49-71->8
#342	17/01/1981	Heatwave	Gangsters Of The Groove	19	59-29-{19}-20-23-27-35-59->8
#343	24/01/1981	Cliff Richard	A Little In Love	15	33-17-{15}-16-20-28-39-66->8
#344	17/01/1981	Susan Fassbender	Twilight Cafe	21	63-36-29-{21}-21-25-34-66->8
#345	24/01/1981	Madness	The Return Of The Los Palmas Seven	7	38-18-14-10-{7}-7-10-18-27-41-71->11
#346	17/01/1981	Light Of The World	I Shot The Sheriff	40	68-{40}-41-50-63->5
#347	24/01/1981	Spandau Ballet	The Freeze	17	45-24-{17}-18-24-30-33-65->8
#348	31/01/1981	Rainbow	I Surrender	3	28-12-5-4-{3}-4-12-22-38-63->10
#349	24/01/1981	XTC	Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)	16	54-34-28-19-{16}-18-23-36-61->9
	24/01/1981	The Plastic Ono Band	Give Peace A Chance {1981}	33	50-35-{33}-43-68->5
#350	24/01/1981	Honey Bane	Turn Me On, Turn Me Off	37	64-{37}-37-47-61->5
#351	17/01/1981	Odyssey	Hang Together	36	53-42-39-{36}-37-52-75->7
#352	31/01/1981	The Boomtown Rats	The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)	26	40-{26}-27-32-42-46->6
#353	31/01/1981	Fred Wedlock	The Oldest Swinger In Town	6	52-19-7-{6}-10-13-24-38-46-70->10
#354	07/02/1981	Joe Dolce Music Theatre	Shaddap You Face	1	30-3-{1}-1-1-3-10-25-34-59->10
#355	31/01/1981	Slade	We'll Bring The House Down	10	58-31-17-{10}-13-20-30-60-71->9
#356	31/01/1981	The Passions	I'm In Love With A German Film Star	25	49-34-26-28-{25}-30-34-68->8

'In The Air Tonight' is great especially the drum bit.

I really like 'Don't Stop The Music', I just wish it was a little bit faster.

I prefer 'Fade To Grey' to 'Vienna' but both are good.

Absolutely spoilt with that bunch whew

'Fade to Grey' and 'Vienna' are two of my favourite songs of the entire 1980s so my 10-o-meter would be breaking too. The dark synth sound of the former (and 'The Model', but more on that in the future) really helped to shape that big facet of my music taste; the strings absolutely melt me too. 'Vienna' is a stunning slow burner and the outro blows me away every time. Such a shame that it was blocked from #1.

I'm not the biggest Phil Collins fan in general (hi Dandy x) but 'In The Air Tonight' is fantastic. That drum break is a total rush.

'Rapture' is quirky indeed. I have to be in the right mood for it but that bass line is undeniable. Debbie Harry is so effortlessly cool in the video too!

'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)' has been a staple on my Halloween playlist for years, that era in general is a triumph *.*

Love Adam but 'Young Parisians' is not for me sadly. It sounds nothing like their punky album pre-break through or anything they made it big with, so a weird outlier.

Oh 1981 the spectacular year you are.

Back down to Earth with a bang with this group - some nice tracks but the winner wouldn’t have made the Top 5 in the last group.

8	Spandau Ballet	The Freeze	Another excellent and punchy single from them with a strong striking guitar riff, a powerfully emotive vocal line and synths
8	The Passions	I'm In Love With A German Film Star	Only hit for this UK new wave band: it has a gorgeous dreamy and wistful feel to it thanks to the vocals and Echoplex guitar
7	Susan Fassbender	Twilight Cafe	Only hit for this classically trained UK singer songwriter who died young: this is a rather lovely song about the power of music
7	Madness	The Return Of The Los Palmas Seven	Their 2nd instrumental hit after 1979's "One Step Beyond" which also reached #7: this is very enjoyable with a retro charm
6	Rainbow	I Surrender	Their highest peaking hit, it's a strong high energy piece of rock music but nowhere near as good as "Since You Been Gone"
6	Honey Bane	Turn Me On, Turn Me Off	Only hit for this UK singer and actress: this has a nice pulsing rhythm to it and it's a rather quirky track that's nicely performed
5	Cliff Richard	A Little In Love	I think I prefer Cliff's songs when he doesn't seem to be trying too hard: this is a pleasant bright and breezy easy listening track
5	The Boomtown Rats	The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)	Their period of big success is over and this is a fairly small hit: it's enjoyable but feels a bit frantic and thrown together to me
5	Heatwave	Gangsters Of The Groove	One of the later hits for this funk band who had been around for a while: feels like this is going out of style but it's a decent track
4	XTC	Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)	Their highest peaking single to date but it's not anything like as compelling as their hits from last year and lyrically a little silly
4	Diana Ross	It's My Turn	The theme from the film of the same name and a return to emotive ballads after her disco era: not my thing but she does it well
4	Slade	We'll Bring The House Down	Their 1st Top 10 in a long time after they had fallen out of favour: a good one for chanting at a concert but not hugely enjoyable
3	Joe Dolce Music Theatre	Shaddap You Face	475th #1: the most successful Australian single ever apparently and a 1 hit wonder; it's quite fun novelty apart from the talking
3	Odyssey	Hang Together	After 3 Top 10 hits this was rather an underperformance: there are some quite pretty vocals but otherwise it's quite forgettable
2	Light Of The World	I Shot The Sheriff	1st time reaching the Top 40 for this UK jazz funk band: covering Bob Marley is unlikely to be a winner and indeed this is not
1		The Oldest Swinger In Town	Only hit for this UK folk singer: I like that it was covered in German as "Der älteste Popper der Stadt" but otherwise it's awful

1981 Group 3:

#357	07/02/1981	Stray Cats	Rock This Town	9	35-14-{9}-11-12-19-29-44->8
#358	17/01/1981	Sheila Hylton	The Bed's Too Big Without You	35	72-51-46-38-{35}-46-63->7
#359	31/01/1981	Barbara Jones	Just When I Needed You Most	31	57-39-{31}-36-46-64-75->7
#360	24/01/1981	Adam And The Ants	Cartrouble	33	69-51-40-{33}-40-38-38-50-58->9
#361	14/02/1981	The Pretenders	Message Of Love	11	28-{11}-15-19-29-50-74->7
#362	07/02/1981	The Jam	That's Entertainment	21	47-29-26-{21}-22-25-36->7
#363	14/02/1981	Gillan	Mutually Assured Destruction	32	{32}-33-37-52-73->5
#364	07/02/1981	Freeez	Southern Freeez	8	54-34-23-9-{8}-8-11-21-30-55-65->11
#365	07/02/1981	Talking Heads	Once In A Lifetime	14	63-38-35-24-{14}-14-16-27-37-73->10
#366	31/01/1981	Coast To Coast	(Do) The Hucklebuck	5	75-44-39-14-8-7-{5}-5-7-9-17-22-31-48-65->15
#367	07/02/1981	Barry Manilow	I Made It Through The Rain	37	58-40-{37}-41-44-62->6
#368	21/02/1981	Motorhead/Girlschool	St Valentine's Day Massacre EP	5	15-{5}-5-10-15-33-48-68->8
#369	21/02/1981	Roxy Music	Jealous Guy	1	21-6-3-{1}-1-3-7-18-34-47-54->11
#370	07/02/1981	Beggar And Co	(Somebody) Help Me Out	15	65-53-34-22-{15}-15-19-30-51-71->10
#371	07/02/1981	Kelly Marie	Hot Love	22	73-54-38-31-24-{22}-23-28-39-61->10
#372	21/02/1981	Adam And The Ants	Kings Of The Wild Frontier {1981}	2	39-17-6-{2}-4-5-18-26-31-38-40-71-66->13