'Billie Jean' a classic obviously (it's coming up in the next survivor too)

'Too Shy' and 'Electric Avenue' are both fab too. I knew of the remix before the original too but enjoy both equally!

A 3rd straight very strong group to kick off the year. “Sweet Dreams” was always going to come top but I’m very surprised I’ve ended up dropping “Africa” to 3rd place. “Genetic Engineering” is just that little bit more exciting overall.

9	Eurythmics	Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)	1st Top 40  after some misses for the UK duo about the break up of their band The Tourists: a synth pop masterpiece
9	Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark	Genetic Engineering	This broke their Top 10 run, probably because it's so unusual, but a fabulous, zany and slightly distopian feeling track
8	Toto	Africa	One of the most streamed songs from the whole '80s with beautiful soft production and an impassioned chorus
8	Fun Boy Three	The Tunnel Of Love	Their previous single failed to chart but this takes them back into the Top 10: a great song and I love its tango style
7	Depeche Mode	Get The Balance Right	They have a new member for this track exploring the contradictory demands of life with a jangly electronic sound
7	Thompson Twins	Love On Your Side	1st Top 40 for this UK group and a bit success after their last single only reached #67: an interesting pensive song
7	Icehouse	Hey Little Girl	1st and biggest hit for this Australian band: a compelling and well produced track and I enjoy the deep lead vocal
6	Marillion	He Knows You Know	Their 2nd single and 1st Top 40: no central hook to this but an enjoyable, foreboding and dramatic slice of prog rock
6	Thin Lizzy	Cold Sweat	Their big hits are behind them and this is a surprisingly heavy lead single, but it's a strong one with a great guitar solo
5	Spandau Ballet	Communication	Their transition to a pop sound is complete and although it's catchy and serviceable I think they've lost their edge
5	Madness	Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)/Madness (Is All In The Mind)	The 1st side is a fairly typical Madness style track, while the 2nd has a slower more bluesy feel: not a bad double A
4	Musical Youth	Never Gonna Give You Up	Their 3rd hit and 2nd biggest eclipsing the previous one: still not fully buying into the project but this is a decent tune
4	Phil Everly And Cliff Richard	She Means Nothing To Me	Phil's 1st solo Top 40 with this collaboration that has a fairly typical Cliff sound: bland and radio friendly but not bad
3	Patti Austin With James Ingram	Baby, Come To Me	A US #1 after being featured in a soap and Patti's only Top 40 here: nicely performed but a little dull and soppy for me

1983 Group 4:

989	19/02/1983	Bonnie Tyler	Total Eclipse Of The Heart	1	49-14-2-{1}-1-2-3-8-16-27-34-63->12
#990	19/02/1983	Blancmange	Waves	19	41-30-26-21-{19}-19-25-32-53->9
#991	26/02/1983	Forrest	Rock The Boat	4	35-12-{4}-4-6-10-17-24-43-66->10
#992	26/02/1983	Bananarama	Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye	5	40-21-7-{5}-7-9-16-21-40-71->10
#993	26/02/1983	Modern Romance	High Life	8	57-28-18-{8}-10-23-33-50->8
#994	26/02/1983	David Joseph	You Can't Hide (Your Love From Me)	13	51-30-24-16-{13}-14-25-31-56->9
#995	19/02/1983	Orange Juice	Rip It Up	8	50-42-31-22-10-9-{8}-12-18-32-49->11
#996	26/02/1983	Malcolm McLaren	Soweto	32	47-{32}-33-40-57->5
#997	12/02/1983	Kenny Rogers And Sheena Easton	We've Got Tonight	28	56-42-41-34-{28}-33-55->7
#998	26/02/1983	The Stranglers	Midnight Summer Dream	35	62-38-{35}-55->4
#999	19/02/1983	Joan Armatrading	Drop The Pilot	11	70-59-39-29-28-{11}-12-22-29-57->10
#1000	05/03/1983	Soft Cell	Numbers/Barriers	25	40-{25}-31-46->4
#1001	12/03/1983	Bucks Fizz	Run For Your Life	14	31-21-{14}-21-28-33-65->7
#1002	26/02/1983	Big Country	Fields Of Fire (400 Miles)	10	64-49-37-34-31-13-13-{10}-15-29-42-73->12

Sweet Dreams is obviously brilliant and I agree Genetic Engineering is a bit of a lost OMD gem.

Africa probably suffers from overplaying for me. I actually prefer Hold The Line and their next hit anyway.

Tunnel Of Love is great but the next hit is my absolute favourite Fun Boy Three single.

I think my favourite from the group though would be Love On Your Side. I just love the uptempo pop feel contrasting with the darker lyrics and all the little added percussion notes scattered throughout. Excellent stuff.

Sweet Dreams is a sweet classic 10/10 for me. Perfect and exciting and moody. And that video was amazing. Genetic Engineering was a bit of a disappointment at the time at first, but it still went top 10 for me as all their singles had to date since Messages hit my top spot. Not heard it in ages, and it's practically upbeat and cheerful (for them) sound-wise. 8/10. Africa was a huge fave at the time, and played afterwards virtually weekly by Steve Wright who was a big fan at the time. Consequently its monster-streaming/radio plays have dampened its appeal a bit, I need a break from it for a few years. Still a 9/10 though.

Tunnel Of Love is a goodie, not heard it in a while 8/10, Get The Balance Right was OK but not among my faves of the early Depeche stuff. 7/10. Love On Your Side sticks in the mind better, pretty good 8/10 and Tom Bailey touring this year. Hey Little Girl obviously Roxy influenced and fab, 9/10. Icehouse were always under-rated in the UK. Marillion I barely recall at all, so I'd guess a 5/10.

Thin Lizzy's came and went pretty quickly, my memory is I liked it, but not amongst their classics 6/10. Spandau really getting annoying by this stage, Communication just grated and still does 3/10. Tomorrow's Just Another Day not Madness' top tier but always charming and very London-centric 7/10. Musical Youth was a bit of fun, still, and had a bigger run than one might have expected. I liked this one 7/10.

She Means Nothing To Me was a great return for Phil Everly and those harmonies all present and correct with an assist from Cliff, an under-rated singer for all his success. Written by Love Sculpture/Airwaves member and writer-producer John David, a presence on some Dave Edmunds, and hit writer for Quo, Alvin Stardust tracks in the 80's. 8/10. Baby Come To Me is nice enough for what it is, nothing exciting but pleasant radio fodder 7/10.