Moonlight Shadow is lovely, very unlike anything Oldfield had done before.

I admit I didn’t remember When We Were Young but I like it, certainly a change in direction for Bucks Fizz

Forbidden Colours is indeed beautiful.

I really like Come Live With Me, the subject matter of age gap relationships was/is controversial though.

I.O.U is a song I appreciate more now than then, a great song.

Wherever I Lay My Hat is an excellent cover version and it was brave taking on a Marvin Gaye classic

Moonlight Shadow, Forbidden Colours and I Won't Hold You Back all sampled/covered in early 00s dance songs by Groove Coverage, Watergate and Roger Sanchez respectively.

'IOU' indeed a good early electronic dance track. As is 'She Works Hard For The Money', traditional disco being left behind now!

The Paul Young track is very atmopheric like the best 80s ballads are and like an early The Cars - Drive with the synths.

Edited May 22May 22 by TheSnake

There were better, more complex songs on ELO's 1983 album but Rock'n'Roll Is King was the obvious choice for the lead single as it had a basic singalong tune.

Fish came up with some very poetic lyrics for Garden Party as he did for many other Marillion songs.

Forbidden Colours is sublime, Moonlight Shadow is still well remembered, while When We Were Young I'd put in my top 3 Bucks Fizz songs.

That still leaves us with War Baby, Come Live With Me, IOU and Wherever I Lay My Hat, all very good songs so this latest batch might be the best one so far.

Another very strong group here with an average well above 6. “The First Picture Of You” is one of the best discoveries of the year. I had been planning to give “Who’s That Girl” an 8 but actually it’s got it all - the melody, the excitement, the production, the building tension, the synths. In the end I had to give it the second 9.

9	The Lotus Eaters	The First Picture Of You	Debut single and only Top 40 for this Liverpool band first recorded in a John Peel session: it's a stunning song
9	Eurythmics	Who's That Girl?	Their 3rd fantastic big hit in quick succession: the way the synths build around Annie's voice here is electrifying
8	Bananarama	Cruel Summer	Only a #8 hit when they had 7 Top 5s, but their most Spotify streamed and signature song: an excellent pop track
8	The Cure	The Walk	Only their 3rd Top 40 and 1st Top 20, an excellent piece of synth pop with an Eastern flavour thanks to Steve Nye
8	Echo And The Bunnymen	Never Stop	An exciting track with an urgent beat and a worthy follow up to "The Cutter", critiquing profiting from religion
7	Malcolm McLaren	Double Dutch	His highest peaking hit about an American playground skipping game: it's a delightfully unusual feel good track
7	Oliver Cheatham	Get Down Saturday Night	Incredible that this is sampled in 2 big dance his of the 2000s: a great track in its own right and his only solo hit
7	Midge Ure And Mick Karn	After A Fashion	Mick Karn had been in Japan and this is his only solo Top 40: it's a quirky and fun forgotten minor hit with Midge
6	A Flock Of Seagulls	Transfer Affection	A less well known small hit of theirs: this has all the usual ingredients but ends up being good rather than great
6	Mary Jane Girls	All Night Long	Only Top 40 for this US R&B girl group: a very sensual soul track that works well and has been heavily sampled
5	Men At Work	It's A Mistake	An anti Cold War song: it's conceptually interesting but musically puts them in the ordinary soft reggae rock lane
5	Elvis Costello	Everyday I Write The Book	A Top 40 as himself after a number of misses, and it's charming but syrupy and not a patch on "Pills & Soap"
4	Roman Holliday	Don't Try To Stop It	1st hit for this UK group: it has quite a nice energy to hit but I don't think has anything to make it really stand out
3	Jimmy The Hoover	Tantalise (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh)	Only hit for this UK group managed by Malcolm McLaren: it's not great but has his international kind of sound
2	Musical Youth	Tell Me Why	They're only having smaller hits from now on: this is a rather sickly sweet cover of a reggae song by John Holt

1983 Group 13:

#1123	23/07/1983	The Police	Wrapped Around Your Finger	7	14-8-{7}-18-26-39-66->7
#1124	23/07/1983	Gary Byrd And The GB Experience	The Crown	6	21-{6}-6-6-11-18-26-33-52->9
#1125	23/07/1983	Shakin' Stevens	It's Late	11	23-12-{11}-14-22-32-56->7
#1126	23/07/1983	Clubhouse	Do It Again/Billie Jean (Medley)	11	29-{11}-13-22-38-55->6
#1127	16/07/1983	KC And The Sunshine Band	Give It Up	1	64-30-19-5-{1}-1-1-2-4-13-18-34-45-69->14
#1128	16/07/1983	George Benson	Feel Like Makin' Love	28	46-31-{28}-29-32-46-64->7
#1129	16/07/1983	The Creatures	Right Now	14	43-32-29-20-17-{14}-19-28-42-73->10
#1130	16/07/1983	Thompson Twins	Watching	33	54-35-{33}-35-41-59->6
#1131	16/07/1983	Al Jarreau	Trouble In Paradise	36	50-38-{36}-43-59->5
#1132	16/07/1983	Tracie	Give It Some Emotion	24	44-40-38-33-28-{24}-25-33-54->9
#1133	23/07/1983	Depeche Mode	Everything Counts	6	41-26-16-10-{6}-7-14-22-28-46-71->11
#1134	30/07/1983	Wham!	Club Tropicana	4	27-10-5-{4}-5-6-11-18-25-42-59->11
#1135	16/07/1983	Robert Plant	Big Log	11	49-47-31-15-{11}-12-17-24-32-55->10
#1136	30/07/1983	Bruce Foxton	Freak	23	34-27-{23}-25-40->5
#1137	30/07/1983	Elton John	I'm Still Standing	4	42-24-9-5-{4}-5-8-15-23-38-52->11
#1138	30/07/1983	Herbie Hancock	Rockit	8	65-25-15-{8}-8-12-17-23-34-46-62-70->12

Double Dutch is fun and good summery South African influenced music. There was a remix of it on TOTP 1999 recently which was nowhere near as good.

Who's That Girl is good and indeed does build well.

The Cure - The Walk in parts sounds like Blue Monday a bit, the other Eastern sounding synth effect in it was kind of used by Addison Rae last year in Fame Is A Gun.

Edited May 24May 24 by TheSnake

The Lotus Eaters' record is a lovely one still very sweet 9/10. Who's That Girl is also fab and yes 3 huge bangers in a row from Annie & Dave 9/10. They stray from the dark, downbeat vibes for the next one though....and Dave's Ex is singing while his future Ex is singing on Cruel Summer, and easily the Nana's best record to date, the song is strong 9/10.

The Walk was the first time I had noticed The Cure since A Forest, and a good little semi-forgotten comeback hit 8/10. Never Stop also a good 'un though not heard it in ages. 7/10. Double Dutch seeing Malcolm borrowing happening scenes in the USA, but doing it well 8/10. Get Down Saturday Night I havent heard in 40 years, odd considering the sampling thing, but 7/10 sounds about right.

I'm off to see Midge tomorrow night, he may or may not do After A Fashion! Not one I recall being that mad on though 6/10. Transfer Affection also only vague memories of sadly but maybe 7/10 or so. All Night Long was a big un though and still sounds fresh 8/10. It's a Mistake was a way of stopping the career impetus, really, odd choice of single 6/10.

I love Everyday I Write the Book, one of Elvis' best melodies, just lovely, and the soul vibes do it for me every time 9/10. Dont Try To Stop It was fun but inessential, 6/10. Jimmy The Hoover OTOH, is much catchier and unusual, still sounding good to me 8/10. Quirky! Musical Youth I liked, and John Holt I liked, so Tell Me Why was fine by me - not heard it in decades though so I'll give it a quickie now. Catchy, upbeat, and youth-appealing reggae well-produced - I'm sticking with my "their 2nd-best record" view 8/10.

A very rare triple 9 in this group. “I’m Still Standing” is a bit like “Flashdance” for me - an incredibly exhilarating pop song. “Everything Counts” is Depeche Mode’s best yet and “Rockit” is a pioneering record. “Big Log” is great too but just below those 3.

9	Elton John	I'm Still Standing	Such an exciting and intense pop song with a great flow to it, and it's one of his best loved and most streamed
9	Depeche Mode	Everything Counts	Their darker more mysterious sound is here and this is a wonderful synth heavy track about corporate greed
9	Herbie Hancock	Rockit	His 1st hit of the decade and a fantastic and hugely influential, mostly instrumental track using scratching
8	Robert Plant	Big Log	His1st solo hit and highest peak in or out of Led Zeppelin: it's a beautiful, gentle but brooding and artistic track
8	Wham!	Club Tropicana	Much more polished and mature than their previous singles and an excellent summery track with a Latin feel
7	Gary Byrd And The GB Experience	The Crown	Only hit for this US radio DJ and producer and his band: it's a very good early rap song with a soulful chorus
7	KC And The Sunshine Band	Give It Up	525th #1: amazingly this post disco chart topper is the last of their 10 Top 40s, and a joyous, infectious song
6	The Police	Wrapped Around Your Finger	Not one of their best but a good and similarly paranoid in subject matter follow up to "Every Breath You Take"
6	The Creatures	Right Now	Their last Top 40 is a cover of a 1962 jazz song by Herbie Mann: not quite as good as the others but nicely done
5	Thompson Twins	Watching	This #33 peak is an outlier among a run of huge hits: it's quite a bizarre paranoid feeling track but still interesting
5	Bruce Foxton	Freak	Only solo Top 40 for this former Jam bassist inspired by "The Elephant Man": it's quite an enjoyable rock track
4	Al Jarreau	Trouble In Paradise	This has a good chorus to it and is more engaging than his last hit, but is still a  fairly pedestrian listen all in all
3	Clubhouse	Do It Again/Billie Jean (Medley)	The Steely Dan and Jackson originals are of course fantastic and this mash up is intriguing but doesn't add much
3	Tracie	Give It Some Emotion	Her 2nd and last Top 40: I prefer this to the other one but still feel like it doesn't really go anywhere interesting
2	George Benson	Feel Like Makin' Love	Many of his hits have "love" in the title and this is quite a raunchy one, but the music is less exciting than the title
2	Shakin' Stevens	It's Late	A cover of a 1958 song made popular by Ricky Nelson: this version brings nothing and is also a fairly grating listen

1983 Group 14:

#1139	30/07/1983	Kim Wilde	Love Blonde	23	41-34-24-{23}-23-27-38-56->8
#1140	30/07/1983	Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon	Wait Until Tonight (My Love)	20	47-37-26-{20}-21-29-40-65->8
#1141	30/07/1983	Level 42	The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)	10	57-38-33-21-14-11-{10}-10-14-25-35-56->12
#1142	16/07/1983	David Grant	Watching You Watching Me	10	67-53-48-40-34-17-{10}-10-14-19-27-43-70->13
#1143	13/08/1983	The Style Council	Long Hot Summer/Paris Match	3	8-{3}-3-7-13-24-38-57-72->9
#1144	13/08/1983	Spandau Ballet	Gold	2	12-{2}-2-3-6-16-24-40-50->9
#1145	06/08/1983	Kraftwerk	Tour De France	22	41-31-28-{22}-23-25-36-66->8
#1146	13/08/1983	Whitesnake	Guilty Of Love	31	37-{31}-31-42-68->5
#1147	06/08/1983	Modern Romance	Walking In The Rain	7	45-39-30-13-9-9-9-{7}-11-22-31-52->12
#1148	20/08/1983	Madness	Wings Of A Dove	2	19-6-4-{2}-8-13-26-36-55-72->10
#1149	06/08/1983	The Kinks	Come Dancing	12	65-43-29-{12}-13-18-25-32-58->9
#1150	13/08/1983	Shalamar	Disappearing Act	18	47-33-28-{18}-19-22-35-59->8
#1151	06/08/1983	Carmel	Bad Day	15	48-42-35-26-{15}-16-26-40-64->9
#1152	20/08/1983	UB40	Red, Red Wine	1	36-9-{1}-1-1-2-2-3-8-16-20-29-39-51->14
#1153	13/08/1983	Asia	Don't Cry	33	49-37-{33}-46-65->5
#1154	27/08/1983	Rod Stewart	What Am I Gonna Do	3	27-8-{3}-7-10-20-34-49->8

Herbie Hancock - Rockit sounds a few years ahead of its time! 'Everything Counts' is a good dark Depeche song with a dance bassline.

'Give It Up' is catchy and has that horn sound that would be much copied in the mid to late 80s.

Watching by Thompson Twins is interesting, sounds like Kajagoogoo but also with an odd operatic vocal bit. It's a pity they would become rather MOR and poppy.

Edited Wednesday at 22:583 days by TheSnake

I'm Still Standing was a great comeback for Elton after a few quiet years, defiant and finally got that classic upbeat rocky track that had always eluded him. Too Low For Zero his best album since Yellow Brick Road too. 10/10 despite being a bit overplayed. Evrything Counts is where Depeche Phase 2 starts proper and is pretty industrial-sounding synth 8/10. Rockit was nothing like Herbie's jazz-funk back catalogue though I Thought It Was You with the vocoder vocals was an early indication of what might be going on, Rockit not quite as appealing as that one for me, but that video from Godley & Creme was as inventive and creative as pretty much everything they did in the 80's. 8/10.

Big Log was the point at which I started to think maybe Led Zep werent the annoying Noisy Racket Id assumed after being tortured by a mate's Led Zep II when I was more into his Monkees singles at age 13. One should remember Led Zep didnt do singles and so didnt get airplay. Robert Plant solo not nearly as precious about it. Classy and widescreen 9/10. Likewise, Club Tropicana was a step up from the Wham! formula-pop, and another great video to boot 9/10.

The Crown is fab too, Rap you can hear what they are saying, and something worth hearing done with style and panache (Autotune identikit morose self-obsessed Hot 100-invading ego-massagers take note). 9/10. Give It Up a long-overdue UK chart-topper, and fun, but its not in the same class as their 70's disco classics. My first niece was born while this ruled at 1 8/10. Wrapped Around Your Finger helped by the Godley & Creme slow-mo candlestick video at the time, as they did with Every Breath You Take, its a bit more under-stated and intricate 9/10.

Right Now Big Band cover fun, done darker and sparser, but still very catchy, forgotten goodie 8/10. Watching was an odd choice of single at the time, but I rather liked it 7/10. Freak didnt make much of an impression on me, not heard it in decades but 6/10 sounds about right. Trouble In Paradise I have zero memory of and Al Jarreau did have tendancy to glide by in one ear and out the other without being annoying or anything.

Clubhouse oddly worked, and it gave a boost to the Steely Dan classic which had fallen short of the top 30 in 1975 and flopped in 1972 7/10. Tracie another I've forgotten, I think it was OK to me but nothing special. George Benson's song is tail-ender of a long run of similar-sounding hits, but has the advantage of being familiar - Roberta Flack's 1974 hit - but it's got none of the subtelty and charm of the original. Plodding 5/10. Shaky's It's Late is better by Ricky but is tolerable 4/10. He will do better later in the year.

Another great group.

I’m Still Standing one of Elton’s best of the 80s

Everything Counts probably the start of ‘moodier’ Depeche Mode, again one of my favourites of theirs.

Rockit was groundbreaking and great at the same time

Club Tropicana is George writing his out and out euphoric pop song, his best in my opinion.

Give It Up was wonderfully summery escapism.

The Crown I had actually forgotten about but it’s fantastic old school rap

More greatness from Kraftwerk here and another slightly cheesy favourite in “Gold”. The Carnel track has been a very enjoyable and interesting discovery, and it’s great to see The Kinks having another hit.

9	Kraftwerk	Tour De France	This will chart again next year: the heavy breathing is so clever and it's another superb dreamy single from them
9	Spandau Ballet	Gold	Kept off #1 by "Give It Up", this is a powerful and uplifting song: I love the soaring held note before the chorus
8	Carmel	Bad Day	1st Top 40 for this UK jazz group led by Carmel McCourt: a wonderful track that really stands out for its time
8	The Kinks	Come Dancing	Their last new Top 40 and 1st since 1972: a very lovely song about going to the dance hall with a warm, retro feel
7	UB40	Red, Red Wine	526th #1: originally a Neil Diamond folk song but this stands up on its own and really suits their reggae style
7	The Style Council	Long Hot Summer/Paris Match	Their highest peaking hit and a strong double A: "Long Hot Summer" is classy and the other a nice jazzy number
7	Madness	Wings Of A Dove	A lovely calypso style track with assistance from a gospel choir and steel drums, giving them yet another big hit
6	Level 42	The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)	The lead from their album stalled at #41 but this strong follow up with a compelling chorus is their first Top 10
6	Kim Wilde	Love Blonde	A much jazzier direction for her: it's fun track and she carries it off well, though its success is modest for a lead
5	Asia	Don't Cry	Only Top 40 for this UK supergroup whose previous efforts missed: it's quite a nice dramatic prog rock track
5	Modern Romance	Walking In The Rain	Last of their 8 hits and surprisingly a ballad: it's quite a staightforward track but a very sincere perfornance
4	Shalamar	Disappearing Act	Their 10th Top 40 but the success is starting to diminish: it has decent energy but nothing about it grabs me
3	Whitesnake	Guilty Of Love	A typical style track from them with fast paced guitars, but there's nothing about it that really piques my interest
2	Rod Stewart	What Am I Gonna Do	Another big hit to follow "Baby Jane", but unfortunately I think the Rod naff factor is back and I don't enjoy it
2	Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon	Wait Until Tonight (My Love)	Their debut which charted much higher was only OK and this is a notch weaker than that: quite forgettable
2	David Grant	Watching You Watching Me	His 2nd solo hit and somehow it went Top 10, but its even duller than his debut for me and I can't get into it

1983 Group 15:

#1155	20/08/1983	The Moody Blues	Blue World	35	47-{35}-39-55-75->5
#1156	20/08/1983	Peabo Bryson And Roberta Flack	Tonight, I Celebrate My Love	2	68-36-16-7-{2}-3-4-7-14-22-30-49-63->13
#1157	06/08/1983	Stray Cats	(She's) Sexy + 17	29	74-50-55-37-32-{29}-29-43-65->9
#1158	13/08/1983	H2O	Just Outside Of Heaven	38	69-45-{38}-38-46-74->6
#1159	03/09/1983	New Order	Confusion	12	17-{12}-14-22-36-48-62->7
#1160	03/09/1983	Genesis	Mama	4	20-5-{4}-5-6-11-19-28-38-59->10
#1161	03/09/1983	Big Country	Chance	9	22-15-12-11-{9}-14-22-35-46->9
#1162	03/09/1983	Gary Numan	Warriors	20	30-{20}-21-37-67->5
#1163	03/09/1983	Cliff Richard	Never Say Die (Give A Little Bit More)	15	36-23-20-{15}-21-30-45->7
#1164	13/08/1983	JoBoxers	Johnny Friendly	31	66-67-42-37-35-{31}-48-69->8
#1165	27/08/1983	Annabel Lamb	Riders On The Storm	27	41-40-34-{27}-28-48-73->7
#1166	03/09/1983	Ryan Paris	Dolce Vita	5	45-21-{5}-6-7-17-20-29-43-71->10
#1167	10/09/1983	Status Quo	Ol' Rag Blues	9	24-11-{9}-10-20-29-41-61->8
#1168	10/09/1983	Paul Young	Come Back And Stay	4	27-6-{4}-5-6-13-23-35-53->9
#1169	10/09/1983	Heaven 17	Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry	17	28-{17}-17-18-23-34-60->7
#1170	27/08/1983	Truth	A Step In The Right Direction	32	56-44-37-{32}-33-47-56->7

Tour De France is pleasant enough, catchy and pretty, but I never went mad on it as such 8/10. Gold I liked at the time, and then it was used in adverts for 43 years and really gets on my tits now, can't stand hearing it almost as much as True. If Gary Kemp had shown a bit more of quality filter in licensing it I might still quite like it 6/10. Bad Day is fab, shame it's not played much these days it's a little too downbeat for radio oldies stations ("keep it sunny!") 9/10.

Come Dancing was sweet and the fairground sounds immediately give it nostalgia-appeal , if Ray's vocal wasnt already doing that for a 60's vibe. The melody not quite up there with Waterloo Sunset though 7/10. Red Red Wine a good cover of a reggae cover that they thought was written by a Jamaican bloke called Nicky Diamond or something :) Again, well over-played, much rather hear all of the other tracks on Labour Of Love and Labour Of Love's II and III. Getting to number one in the USA in 1988 was one of those "shirley not" moments! 7/10.

Long Hot Summer takes me right back to the hot days of summer 83, laid-back and indeed classy delicious jazzy vibes still rate it 9/10. Wings Of A Dove nutty boys go gospel and create a soaring joyous singalong, love it 10/10. While everyone else (except Ray Davies) is Mid-Atlantic, Madness keep the Brit-pop going a decade early. Sun Goes Down is the first Level 42 single that clicked properly with me, cool jazz-funk with melody 8/10.

Love Blonde a change in tempo for Kim as pop was going more polished and corporate in some quarters, but Kim is almost always good, never done a bad track. 7/10. Talking of polished, Asia never really did it for me 5/10. Walking In The Rain made a nice change actually, for Modern Romance 6/10. Disappearing Act highlighting the magic had gone, as would Jody Watley shortly. Things were never the same after that. 7/10.

Whitesnake, see my comment on Asia. 4/10. Rod sticking with the Baby Jane sound, to lesser effect, but catchy enough to sing along to 8/10. The hits get lesser for a while from here on. Galaxy taking up where Shalamar left off - but the Moonwalking replaced by back-flips, and Phil Fearon's easy-on-the-eye appeal helped no end. It's nothing new as such but decent enough sitting in the Brit-jazz-funk of the times 7/10. Watvhing Me Watching You, similarly catchy and competent, as David shortly ditches the glasses-slightly-nerdy appeal for a misjudged headband/trackie vibe. Oops. 7/10. Not in the same class as Linx stuff though.

Tour De France is great, weird that it became the signature tune for the event it was celebrating. Love the rhythm being set by the cycling and breathing.

Red Rex Wine a good reggae cover version that has grown on me over the years.

Long Hot Summer is a great jazzy song with sparkling synths.

Wings Of A Dove is one of my favourite Madness songs, probably less known than some of their others. I love the gospel vibes.

Sun Goes Down is the first of Level 42’s best singles, great jazz funk

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by Jaz13music