One Love is a great delving into Bob's extensive back catalogue, one of the bonuses of it taking him a good 5 or 6 years to get a hit, so much material there to revamp - Johnny Nash was fulfilling that hitmaking songwriter role for him until No Woman No Cry. 9/10. Cocteau Twins was a wistful sad oddity I liked 8/10. The Reflex was the best Duran single to date, Nile Rodgers making a sound move towards excitement in the same way Trevor Horn was amping it up 9/10.

Footloose beloved by everyone but me. Never seen the film, so that may be a factor, but I just find it a bit ho-hum 6/10. I would love to see a Thriller-style parody where a zombies foot falls off after hanging loose. Thieves Like Us passed me by a bit too, I like it though 7/10. Automatic I still think is The Pointer Sisters best record, it's unusual and having Ruth on lead vocal changed their sound immediately. Classy and sounding contemporary rather than traditional 70's soul/disco 9/10.

Silver very much not The KIlling Moon, and one I havent heard in 40 years so I'm guessing around 7/10. Hand In Glove was a thrilling TOTP return for Sandie, cavorting on the floor and an improved Morrissey-Marr revamp of their original 9/10. Jocelyn Brown setting up her stall with a goodie 8/10, and The Lebanon got slagged off royally at the time, for the guitars, and for the lyrics, but I loved it 10/10 those riffs still work.

Love Games seemed a bit insipid at the time for a Eurovision song, but compared to much of what after for the UK... 6/10. The Longest Time not one I disliked or one I loved, it was just pleasant, but I think it's aged well 7/10. Eat It funny video, once and once only, then annoying. I think this is why I dont enjoy Beat It these days, I dont like songs about food. 2/10. Marvelettes cover, I quite like it actually, sweet enough, and I like the song 7/10. Julio & Willie's a low-point for both really, that's not saying much in either case chart-wise 3/10.

Oh you were spoilt for choice for a group 7 favourite! Queen are a good pick though, another high point from their '80s work and that video is nothing short of iconic. I'm glad 'The Caterpillar' was a good discovery for you <3 it only just missed out in my top 5 SyncTube votes. That song was such a quirky, charming standout when I listened to all of their albums back in 2020. 'Dr Mabuse' edges them both as my favourite though so I'm happy it attracted a lot of love in the weekly '80s poll result. I would've first come across it on Now! 3, before I'd properly got into dark synth music in a big way, but later rediscovered the song when Rollo sent a version of it to BJSC years ago, where it thankfully performed really well! An epic piece of music.

'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' is then my favourite from group 8 I first found it when I curiously clicked on an ATRL thread that asked people for suggestions of music that was similar to Kate Bush. I listened to every song in there and fell in love with how ethereal this was. I used to love 'The Reflex' but overplayed it to the point where it started to grate on me. However, enough time has passed to enjoy it more again and I totally agree that it's a step up from their recent singles, which felt more anonymous.

'Thieves Like This' and 'Automatic' also stand out as highlights - the latter is indeed a great example of a highest peaker that isn't an act's most well-known song. Love how warm and groovy it is.

It’s been amazing the sheer consistent quality of Ulatravox’s hits, even the smaller ones, and they win another group here.

9	Ultravox	Dancing With Tears In My Eyes	Their 12th Top 40 and 2nd biggest hit after "Vienna": a beautiful song and emotionally powerful performance
8	Womack And Womack	Love Wars	1st hit for this US R&B duo: it's a gorgeous song with lovely harmonies and a intensely soulful feel to it
7	Marillion	Assassing	I've enjoyed the variety of their 5 Top 40s so far, none of which I knew, and this is another dynamic ride
7	Break Machine	Breakdance Party	Another enjoyable and ahead of its time hit from this rap act, though it doesn't stand out like "Street Dance"
6	Hazell Dean	Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man)	Her 1st hit: one of these power ballads about looking for a macho man, but it's well done and a fun track
6	Everything But The Girl	Each And Every One	1st hit for this Hull duo and a really nice jazzy track: unfortunately their next 5 hits will all miss the Top 40
5	Terri Wells	I'll Be Around	Only Top 40 for this US soul singer: it's a nice well delivered song with a particularly enjoyable organ solo
5	Alvin Stardust	I Feel Like Buddy Holly	Not sure about the lyrics, but the accompaniment is atmospheric and overall it's quite sweet and charming
5	Jeffrey Osborne	Stay With Me Tonight	1st Top 40 for this US singer songwriter: quite a good song and I really enjoy the guitar solo and production
4	Evelyn Thomas	High Energy	2nd and last Top 40 for this US disco singer and a big hit: it's not entirely my thing but certainly has impact
4	Deniece Williams	Let's Hear It For The Boy	Her last hit and a huge one giving her a peak in each Top 3 position: it's catchy butthe lyrics are quite silly
3	Status Quo	Going Down Town Tonight	This is slightly more uptempo than most of their hits, but still in their usual sound world and quite throwaway
2	Marilyn	You Don't Love Me	His 3rd and last Top 40: this really doesn't leave much impression and I can see why the hits were drying up
1	Roland Rat Superstar!	Love Me Tender	His 2nd and last Top 40: I could see some ironic fun in "Rat Rapping" but not so much in this lame Elvis cover

1984 Group 10:

#1396	26/05/1984	Wham!	Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go	1	4-{1}-1-2-2-5-9-18-22-28-30-36-46-46-62-69->16
#1397	26/05/1984	The Style Council	Groovin' (You're The Best Thing/Big Boss Groove)	5	11-{5}-7-13-17-32-41-60->8
#1398	26/05/1984	Howard Jones	Pearl In The Shell	7	25-15-8-{7}-10-22-33-52-63-74->10
#1399	26/05/1984	Bruce Springsteen	Dancing In The Dark	4	34-28-34-37-38-45-66-62R(27)-36-20-10-6-{4}-4-5-9-13-13-27-33-37-47-71->23
#1400	12/05/1984	Helen Terry	Love Lies Lost	34	71-45-39-{34}-41-53->6
#1401	02/06/1984	The Smiths	Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now	10	19-{10}-10-13-20-35-47-60->8
#1402	02/06/1984	David Sylvian	Red Guitar	17	21-{17}-25-33-59->5
#1403	26/05/1984	Elton John	Sad Songs (Say So Much)	7	49-22-12-8-{7}-9-15-23-27-36-41-69->12
#1404	26/05/1984	Sister Sledge	Thinking Of You	11	41-23-19-14-{11}-11-13-19-24-30-38-45-68->13
#1405	02/06/1984	Ozzy Osbourne	So Tired	20	29-25-21-{20}-21-30-39-52-72->9
#1406	02/06/1984	Madness	One Better Day	17	30-18-{17}-25-38-49-74->7
#1407	02/06/1984	Bronski Beat	Smalltown Boy	3	35-13-4-{3}-4-7-12-19-26-31-38-47-62->13
#1408	02/06/1984	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Dazzle	33	38-{33}-42->3
#1409	26/05/1984	Sade	When Am I Gonna Make A Living	36	43-40-{36}-38-57->5
#1410	09/06/1984	Spandau Ballet	Only When You Leave	3	5-{3}-6-16-24-35-41-50-66-74R(2)->10

Hazell Dean and Evelyn Thomas both with good hits from the revitalised hi-NRG genre. Certainly a bit cooler than 1988 Stock Aitken Waterman hi-NRG.

Dancing with Tears In My Eyes is a sad song lyrically but the vocal tries not to be too downbeat in style which I prefer.

Slightly less to love here, topped by ‘Dancing…’ which is fantastic, definitely one of Ultravox’s best.

Love Wars is lovely soulful music

Break Machine with another rap song ahead of its time, if not quite as good as Street Dance.

I have a soft spot for Let’s Hear It For the Boy’s upbeat pop.

Dancing With Tears In My Eyes still one of the highlights of Midge's gigs (saw him the other month), it's a singalong crowd pleaser 9/10. Love Wars is standout track, soulful and low-key from two members of legendary Soul families. Their daughters currently perform as The Womack Sisters, which means their parents are hitmakers, their uncle was a soul legend (Bobby Womack) and their grandfather was an all-time great in Sam Cooke! 9/10. Assassing was OK, but not one I've heard since the 80's 6/10.

Breakdance Party very much a follow-up soundalike 6/10, Searchin big in gay clubs as was hazell and HI-NRG back in the day (saw her in the 00's in the local pub garden), 8/10. Each And Every One was a lovely summer-vibed gentle classy jazz ballad I took a shine to 9/10. I'll Be Around an update of a classic Detroit Spinners non-hit in the UK, so worthy of being a hit and good version but not as great as the original 8/10.

Alvin gifted a Mike Batt song and production on Buddy Holly. I liked it a lot at the time, but it's dimmed a bit in my memory since. Pleasant though 7/10. Stay With Me Tonight a decent upbeat track, 8/10, while High Energy was the sound of dance music for a while, and Evelyn had a moment with this total banger 8/10. Another Footloose song in Let's Hear It For The Boy, and nice to see the Free-hitster back again but I overdosed on this one a bit 7/10.

Quo still on treading-water mode 4/10, Marilyn's was OK but not special 5/10, and the Rat really annoyed me. Have I mentioned that already? Sorry. 1/10.

Some very strong batches just gone. Like most people I knew the Beats International version of 'Just Be Good To Me' first, but the original is strong too. 'Dr Mabuse' was the weekly poll winner from the last 3 batches, great to see something so leftfield do so.

I hadn't sought Bob Marley's original version of 'One Love' until you mentioned it, agree the medley with 'People Get Ready' improves it and it's one of his most joyous songs. 'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' is such an unusual sounding hit for the time and you can hear its later influences. 'The Reflex' is gloriously 80s, those vocal inflexions flow so well, and 'Somebody Else's Guy' is a masterclass of a vocal.

Absolutely agree with the top two from the last batch - 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes' is a fantastic song with a powerful concept, and 'Love Wars' is fabulous, the toughened electronic soul carries the subtle weight of the lyrics.

Yet another very strong bunch - this group is notable because very unusually there isn’t a single weak track that I can put in the 1-3 zone. “Dancing In The Dark” is obviously over-exposed yet still brilliant, but it’s beaten by the era defining “Smalltown Boy”.

9	Bronski Beat	Smalltown Boy	An incredibly emotive and heartbreaking piece of storytelling coupled with beautiful vocals and production
9	Bruce Springsteen	Dancing In The Dark	A US #2 behind "The Reflex" and one of his most commercial songs, but also a very powerful piece of writing
8	The Smiths	Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now	Their 1st Top 10 and a lovely tenderly delivered piece of storytelling about the transient nature of happiness
8	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Dazzle	A sparkling song indeed with beautiful swooping strings, powerful production and punchy reverbed vocals
8	Sister Sledge	Thinking Of You	A very classy and soulful Nile Rodgers produced track; perhaps their very best despite it missing the Top 10
7	Wham!	Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go	535th #1: it's bubblegum pop but an extremely energetic and arresting song with a fun throwback bassline
7	Sade	When Am I Gonna Make A Living	A bouncy and optimistic track about facing adversity: very different from their debut hit but also really strong
6	The Style Council	Groovin' (You're The Best Thing/Big Boss Groove)	"You're The Best Thing" is a delightful track: I'm a little less keen on the other very politically focussed side
6	Madness	One Better Day	The lowest peaking of their 19 hits so far, but it's an interesting and understated song about homelessness
6	David Sylvian	Red Guitar	His 1st entirely solo hit: it's very well done and has many atmospheric elements but doesn't quite fully hit
5	Helen Terry	Love Lies Lost	Only solo hit for this UK singer whose backing vocals were on some Culture Club hits: it's a nice jolly number
5	Spandau Ballet	Only When You Leave	A 3rd straight Top 3 but they've certainly lost their edge as this is an enjoyable but quite standard pop song
5	Elton John	Sad Songs (Say So Much)	After some career highlight singles in 1983 this lead hit is only pleasant unfortunately, and not memorable
4	Howard Jones	Pearl In The Shell	Another successful hit for him but I don't enjoy this one so much, especially the falsetto parts in the chorus
4	Ozzy Osbourne	So Tired	Not a bad track by any means: I just find it quite ordinaary and don't think it brings anything different from him

1984 Group 11:

#1411	02/06/1984	Michael Jackson	Farewell My Summer Love	7	45-26-15-8-{7}-8-16-20-29-37-48-60->12
#1412	26/05/1984	Bananarama	Rough Justice	23	63-44-29-{23}-26-42-69->7
#1413	26/05/1984	Rod Stewart	Infatuation	27	45-42-30-{27}-30-39-60->7
#1414	26/05/1984	The Art Company	Susanna	12	65-43-31-20-{12}-13-22-30-35-46-68->11
#1415	02/06/1984	Nick Heyward	Love All Day	31	61-37-{31}-31-37-51->6
#1416	02/06/1984	Change	Change Of Heart	17	58-39-26-19-{17}-19-27-31-45-60->10
#1417	16/06/1984	Frankie Goes To Hollywood	Two Tribes	1	{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-5-9-13-17-29-34-42-54-63-65-73R(2)->21
#1418	16/06/1984	Nik Kershaw	I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me {1984}	2	18-4-{2}-3-4-7-9-17-27-33-38-47-52->13
#1419	09/06/1984	Scritti Politti	Absolute	17	43-33-22-19-{17}-24-32-39-47->9
#1420	19/11/1983	Grandmaster And Melle Mel	White Lines (Don't Do It)	7	60-63-75-74R(10)-59-52-53-52-49-57-55-56-58-55-52-56-52-48-51-52-46-36-21-12-10-9-8-{7}-7-10-9-10-13-18-20-23-31-39-41-52-55-75R(4)-73R(6)->43
#1421	16/06/1984	Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark	Talking Loud And Clear	11	39-23-15-{11}-15-16-24-34-50-70->10
#1422	16/06/1984	Elvis Costello	I Wanna Be Loved/Turning The Town Red	25	40-29-{25}-27-37-46->6
#1423	23/06/1984	The Pointer Sisters	Jump (For My Love)	6	24-{6}-6-7-9-11-23-24-40-52->10
#1424	23/06/1984	Lionel Richie	Stuck On You	12	34-18-{12}-17-18-27-33-34-39-35-53-60->12

A very consistent group, I’m going to have to do a lot of agreeing with you this time!

Smalltown Boy is also my favourite, fantastic lyrics, vocals and music.

Dancing.. is Bruce at his most accessible but is still great with its driving rhythm.

Heaven Knows… is musically pretty but quite dark lyrically as the Smiths songs often were. I was/am still a massive fan, I bought pretty much everything they released in their short time together, this wouldn’t be among my absolute favourites but is still great.

Dazzle is gorgeous.

I agree Thinking Of You is one of the very best Sister Sledge songs, shame it wasn’t a huge hit, maybe a bit too understated for the GP?

Wake Me Up.. is ubiquitous of course, but still brings a smile with its joyous music.

You’re The Best Thing is a lovely laidback groove.

One Better Day is one of the best ‘serious’ Madness songs, but they were becoming less successful seemingly with each release by now

'Smalltown Boy' a pioneeering but sad song lyrically and the production is good too.

'Only When You Leave' is one of my favourite Spandau Ballet pop era songs.

I really like 'Pearl In The Shell' actually. I think A-ha - Train of Thought sounds influenced by it.

'You're the Best Thing' is a very nice summery song. It is a bit Paul Young influenced I think with the soul sound and bass guitar.