14 | The Police - Walking on the Moon

Weeks at number one: 1

End of year position: ??

Rating: 6/10

Next up we have the first of two appearances for The Police and the first of three acts to have multiple number ones in 1979. The eagle eyed among you will notice that there's no end of year position for this one, I can't find any record of how well it sold sadly and it seems to me as though the songs that made #1 in December possibly haven't had their sales included as neither this, nor the eventual christmas number one feature in the published lists. I'm guessing that @Gezza will be able to tell us more about what went on here...

This is actually a song I like less these days than I used to. I remember my dad buying the best of Sting & the Police back in the 90s and I was surprised by how many songs I knew and liked, and this was one of them. So I was quite surprised when I have been ranking these that I've dropped this down the list several times as I was expecting it to be top 10... but the more I've listened to this set of songs, the more I realised that I found myself getting a bit bored by this track. It seems to take a particularly long time to get to the chorus and that's emphasised by the verses essentially being variants on the same line set to the same tune over and over - the chorus does lift it and I do quite enjoy the generally relaxed vibe to the track, it's quite nice to listen to in the background. Also, I think that I've only just realised that Waking on the Moon was actually about just feeling happy and being light footed as a result of being in love (well I think it is anyway!) and that's quite a cool way of expressing that feeling.

The interesting thing about the track is it really feels quite relaxed and kinda spacious in a year where most tracks are crammed full of production and soaring vocals. I can definitely see why the reggae-lite vibes would have stood out from the crowd at the time... but even so I do find this quite a surprising song to have topped the charts that year, I assume it got there largely out of who it was as the Police were becoming one of the most consistently successful bands of the times. This one only a spent a week at the top so it possibly was a little lucky and it didn't really have chance to deny anything from reaching #1, the nearest was No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) which was busy stalling at #3 for Donna & Barbra but I can't say I massively prefer that to this track either.

Its not the sort of music I generally listen to but it sounds very good and have liked the song for a long time.

I do like the spaciousness of the song and high vocal!

On 07/02/2026 at 22:47, dandy* said:

18 | Lena Martell - One Day at a Time

Weeks at number one: 3

End of year position: 10

Rating: 2/10

Out of interest - was anyone around at the time this was out? I'd be really intrigued to know if there was a reason this became so popular in the UK that I'm not aware of, it really does feel very out of sync - kinda reminds me of how out of place The Millennium Prayer was when it was so successful in 1999

Yes Dandy. She had a BBC TV show and sang that each week so that's why it became so popular.

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by CRAZY CHRIS

Yes cut off dates for the year ends in the 70s were typically early December to prepare the chart for publication pre Christmas which wasn't too big an issue as no data was collected between Christmas and new year normally.

Thanks, I assumed it must have been something like that.

And thanks Chris too for the Lena explanation!

17 minutes ago, CRAZY CHRIS said:

Yes Dandy. She had a BBC TV show and sang that each week so that's why it became so popular.

Basically like Nick Berry and Robson & Jerome then!

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by TheSnake

I've actually never heard this one before. It's... pleasant enough. In a background music at the pub kind of way.

One of Cliff's better songs agreed and another great Police track though they have several I prefer.

That’s my favourite Police song! I’m not a huge fan of theirs but I do really like this one.

Enjoying your write-ups Dandy! My knowledge of 70s popular music is minimal so I’m just playing anything you mention really. So far my favourite discovery is Pop Muzik! My fave of the number ones was the Dr Hook one. I’m also a big fan of No More Tears (Enough is Enough). It’s exactly the sort of anti-men pop diva music I love.

A fair review for Cliff. He does actually have the odd really strong hit I’ve discovered (like “Wired For Sound” in 1981 and “Carrie” in 1980) but also a lot of stinkers. This one is pleasant.

In such a strong and experimental year “Bright Eyes” certainly doesn’t stand out, but I do think it’s lovely.

“Walking On The Moon” is one of The Police’s best: I think I’d put it higher but we’ll have to see what’s to come.