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 February 11Feb 11 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 February 11Feb 11 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.

8 hours ago, Josh! said:

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.

Ahhh thanks, I appreciate that comment! Especially as I'm not actually finding these as easy to write about as I thought I would do, not having any life experiences from the time to relate the tracks to is quite a hindrance as it makes it more difficult to personalise the commentaries

13 | Anita Ward - Ring My Bell

Weeks at number one: 2

End of year position: 20

Rating: 6/10

In 13th we have a song that started off life as a kids song being an innocent little tune about children ringing each other on the phone... but then Anita and her team came along and ramped up the sauciness factor changing a lot of the lyrics to create a bit of a stir as she invited everyone to ring her bell - and we all know that some mild controversy translates into sales in this world. Despite the comparative sauciness, this oddly feels a little tame as a disco tune to me as the backing slinks along but doesn't ever really take off. It's decent enough though and obviously the lyrics are pretty much harmless by today's standards.

More interesting than the sauciness is the recent revelations that have come to light from the Matrix Hack Lady on TikTok who would not be at all amused with the songs unlucky 13th placing... upon watching the youtube videos whilst ranking these songs I couldn't help but notice that this one was starting to receive a flurry of comments over the past month or so and that these were all people talking about wealthy and money... well it transpires that if you've clicked on the video to watch it then I have provided you the gift of wealth via this very thread! You are welcome! The Matrix Hack Lady is absolutely certain that this song has the exact frequency and tone needed to successfully manifest wealth - you too can get all your debts cancelled, land an unexpected windfall or win the lottery if you play this song whilst manifesting these things in your mind matrix. Who am I to argue with this clearly scientific approach to success! More details linked below from the lady herself.

https://www.tiktok.com/@goddessinanna15/video/7596112011407232311

Sadly the track didn't manifest any further hits for Anita as she became a one hit wonder pretty much worldwide, but in my ranking it did give her the good fortune of being bumped up above the Police at the last moment.

We Don't Talk Anymore is one of Cliff Richard's better songs but I think I would have put it around the same place. Walking On The Moon is OK but there are much better singles by The Police. I've never really liked Ring My Bell and would have put it below those two songs.

"Ring My Bell" is great - definately top 5. Cliff would be also higher for me - my favourite song from him. Agree with the other positions.

One day at a time appealed to grans, and the inevitable ongoing losses and trials that increase as you get older and speaks for those who held religious hope. Me, I have always hated it as it didn’t speak to teens! Dr hook always have their tongue in their cheek lyrically, and that fnar fnar at hard was as close to British innuendo as a USA band would get. I’m still fond of it but it’s not classic. Bear in mind Marianne Faithful was charting with her cover of their genuinely touching Ballad Of Lucy Jordan around this time, which was a flop annoyingly in the UK.

Bright Eyes was very much due to the film and kids loving it and Art doing a great version when approached. The love was always sadness tinged cos the film is quite stark. Cliffs is a classic and any aha fans will be grateful to writer producer Alan Tarney. It punched Cliff into the synth 80s a year early after his first attempt in 1975 stiffed very unfairly. His first year without a hit and It’s Only Me You’ve Left Behind deserved better.

Ring My Bell the pings can grate after a while so that would just above Lena for me, but Walking On The Moon sounded exciting at the time, the NASA video helped and they were hot and growing in appeal - but these days I prefer most of Police other singles for some reason…

12 | Village People - Y.M.C.A.

Weeks at number one: 3

End of year position: 26

Rating: 7/10

Here's the first number one of the year in the form of camp disco classic Y.M.C.A... the song was released in 1978 and was already a big hit making #2 throughout the christmas period - and whilst it's difficult to know its sales from that period for the reasons Gezza has already explained earlier in the thread, the #1 at the time was the huge selling Mary's Boy Child by Boney M so there's a pretty good chance that this track had already sold a decent amount before it finally made the top in January - its relatively low end of year peak here explained by this sales split between the two years.

Now I can't pretend that this is a song I find myself listening to often (if at all really) but when I was listening to everything I found it difficult not to accept that this is a really catchy slab of pop music. From the moment the intro begins and builds it is instantly recognisable and then it just explodes into a whole lot of fun - I'd say the moment of genius is the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 synth stabs that signal the arrival of the chorus as it just invites everyone to strike 5 poses before shamelessly exploding into the ubiquitous arm letter dance that has to accompany the chorus. ALTHOUGH I am AGOG to see that the dance doesn't actually appear in any of the videos of them so where on earth did that come from?!!! I need to know who was responsible for introducing the dance if it wasn't the band themselves!

Dance talk aside, the band were instantly recognisable with their theming...

I mean they're clearly the prototype Spice Girls with Cowboy Spice, Builder Spice, Red Indian Spice, Cop Spice, Biker Spice and Military Spice. I wonder if 70s children all had a favourite one? Perhaps there was a big bust up when Red Indian Spice left to pursue a solo career.

On a slightly more sombre note, there's also something about this song that represents the period where gay culture was really coming into the mainstream (I could very well be wrong but in my mind I associate the track with this) - the song itself is so obviously about gay culture that it's great that it was so successful - and the sombre bit is that I recall reading years ago that it represents that period in history where LBGTQ+ people were beginning to become more recognised and everything was feeling more positive... before the sad times that we now know were not far around the corner as we moved into the 80s and the culture was hit so hard by AIDS and all of the traumatic actions that happened during that period. But let's not end on that downer as this remains one of the most fun tracks to grace the charts and I suspect is a guilty pleasure for many people.

🔔 I prefer 'Ring My Bell' to 'YMCA', the latter a bit overplayed over the years, and I prefer the electronic dings and dongs and sweet vocal of 'Ring My Bell'. Although YMCA was ground breaking for LGBTQ+ representation as you say.

'Ring My Bell' is also used in a TV advert for an investment company called AJ Bell.

Edited February 13Feb 13 by TheSnake