I always called this Massage in a Brothel

3 mega classics for me there. Message In A Bottle is the lesser of the 3 but the urgent punk reggae mash up was a big pounding anthem at the time. My two neighbouring mates 3rd year uni also bought the singles so we thought we would test out the accuracy of our record players starting all 3 at once. They didn’t finish in unison so at least 2 were not exactly 45rpm.

Floyd were always snippy about singles so the irony of them getting a million seller was delicious, and with a disco beat. Two young kiddies of my mum and dad’s friends got singles that Xmas. One was I Have A Dream, t’other was this. Neither of them had nightmares though over the video! They have grown up kids of their own now😎

Tragedy arrived like a manic synth disco monster from Satan. Ominously wall of sound and fabulous. Steps version was like those old Top of the Pops budget cover versions by unknowns trying to copy the real hit in the days before ktel and rondo and Now wiped them out. Good but not original. The Bee Gees remain amazing and under appreciated. Falsettos were only used on about half a dozen dance hits 😳

I'm not a big fan of the Bee Gees either but Tragedy is one of their songs I like. Message In A Bottle is better than Walking On The Moon certainly. I would put them both in mid-table positions so I think they are in the right place here.

Apologies for the pause in this... I'm still struggling to rank the top 8 and keep changing my mind, all of them are fantastic imo

I’ll be the same when I do a 70s one, it’s the decade I am least familiar with.

08 | Blondie - Sunday Girl

Weeks at number one: 3

End of year position: 9

Rating: 9/10

I love this song and it pains me putting it in 8th, but I think I've settled that it has to be the next one to fall. All of the top eight tracks are fantastic and we leap up to the 9/10 mark already. This one holds a particularly special place in my heart because it was the #1 song when I was born, something I've always been very pleased about because y'know, who wouldn't want an act as cool as Blondie to have been their birth number one.

This was Blondie's second number one single of a very impressive six chart toppers, any of which have a good claim to be considered a classic and all have a pretty distinctive style to them... and the reason this one is the track that I've decided should fall in 8th is that it probably isn't quite as distinctive a song as their others, nor the other songs that remain.

But it still is a cracking pop song, and it is very much a pure pop track (with a sprinkling of new wave) as the hand claps and bouncing melody result in a joyous 3 minute gem. The thing that lifts it above most other pop songs of this ilk is Debbie Harry's vocal though, she is undoubtedly the star and her vocals just sound so smooth and cool - and she must have looked it too as she sports a suit in the video, just standing there but somehow managing to look like the person every kid aspires to be as cool as.

Worth a mention is the song that got stuck behind Sunday Girl, Roxy Music with one of their biggest hits Dance Away. You could argue that it is very unlucky not to feature on this countdown instead as on the end of year chart it actually featured one place higher than Sunday Girl despite the latter blocking it from #1 for all three of the weeks it peaked in second spot.

Majestic song 💗

Another Brick In The Wall would quite likely be top five for me, brilliant track. I can't argue too much with the other positions so far. Agreed with others that Steps did Tragedy better than Bee Gees oops.

YMCA and Sunday Girl are really strong, I'd probably put the former above Tragedy on balance.

Not massive on either version of 'Tragedy'.

'Message In A Bottle' is great though. Police were on a hot streak here!

'Sunday Girl' - just another great single from Blondie!

07 | Gary Numan - Cars

Weeks at number one: 1

End of year position: 18

Rating: 9/10

Next up is a bit of a synth classic in the form of Cars by Gary Numan, the final act to appear who managed to grab two #1s during 1979. Both Blondie and Gary still have their other one in so who will win out in the double #1 stakes? It seems like it was perhaps a little fortunate to make #1, securing a single week as Cliff Richard's huge hit dropped away and before the Police's biggest hit of the year took over, but I'm very glad it did make it.

I am a total sucker for this sort of synth music with pretty deadpan vocals and synths that do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to melody, these songs paved the way for some of my favourite tracks such as Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy the Silence' or Woking Mens Club's 'Widow'. Gary must have seemed like such an unlikely pop star back at the time, a lot of his performances seem quite awkward and the stylings of his hits were the exact opposite of much of what else was going on in 1979... whilst disco was bringing all the joy and colour you could possibly hope for, this was something much darker and dystopian in tone.

The track itself is pretty simple in terms of lyrics, four verses of four lines that were vaguely inspired by a group trying to attack him whilst he was in his car. But this song isn't about the lyrics, it is about the synths and it's in the instrumental sections where the song really takes off... there are two main variants, the opening section which mirrors the verses and the sections immediately following the verses where a comparatively jaunty synth line provides a much needed counter to the repetitive nature of the track's construction... and my favourite part which is the end section of the track where it all sort of melts and moulds into each other. It's definitely up there with the top most classics in synth pop and it's a riff that is instantly recognisable.

What an classic that is.

06 | The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

Weeks at number one: 4

End of year position: 4

Rating: 9.5/10

Next up it's a song that was destined to remain relevant forever due to surely everyone on occasion thinking I don't like Mondays as they head off to work and then finding themselves going tell me why! This was Bob Geldof & Co's second number one in succession (following Rat Trap the year before) and it was destined to be their last as well - although they did manage a further couple of top 5 hits as well so they were more successful than I'd realised before beginning this.

I find the beginning half of this song to be the best part... it announces its arrival with a big piano flourish before then spending the first half minute continuing interspersed with thudding drum triplets and swirling strings, it's quite the entrance... and then we're treated to Geldof joining in with a verse that has a melody that is reminiscent of David Bowie to me (it could easily have been a partner to Life on Mars) before quickly moving into the call and response technique of the chorus which is really effective. The drama builds and lifts over and over again during the songs runtime and it makes for a very memorable chart topper - plus it has claps! And we all know a song simply cannot be bad if it has clapping in it!

I'm not sure how long it took me, but it was definitely quite a long time, to realise that this song was actually about a school tragedy. The opening line of the silicone chip inside her head gets switched to overload was always in my head that I'd always thought it was a sort of robot style tale... but I can remember one day just really listening and realising that the reason the playgrounds were empty was not because a robotic thing had got everyone the day off to avoid having to go in on Monday... but instead it hit me that lines like all the playing's stopped in the playground now, the lesson today is how to die and of course I wanna shoot the whole day down were right there painting a much darker story. Having researched it, it is about a true story of a 16 year old girl who began shooting at her school and the line I don't like Mondays was the response to why she did it. It's a pretty chilling song that somehow managed to keep its subject yet set it to a dramatically catchy production.

Cars was the first single I ever bought. The same applies to Don't Bring Me Down by ELO as I bought them both at the same time in WH Smith. They were at number 1 and number 3 in the chart that week. I Don't Like Mondays was quite ambitious in its arrangement for what was essentially a punk band. I think I would put it around 6th place as well. Sunday Girl is quite good but not one of my favourite Blondie singles.

Its odd that much of 1980's chart isn't very synthy despite the influence of 1979 tracks like 'Cars'. The chart only gets very synthy in 1981.

'Cars' is very good and ahead of its time, 'Koochy' by Armand van Helden which sampled it is interesting but also bit of a mess though!

Yeah 'I Don't Like Mondays' I am not a fan of, it leaves a bitter taste when you know the background and subject matter.

Like 1983 I don't think there's any obscure number ones of 1979. I'm sure I knew them all before I could use the internet to fill gaps in my knowledge.

Of the 5 that remain 3 of them would almost certainly make my Top 5, 1 would just miss out thanks to Dr Hook and Gary Numan and 1 I cannot stand and would put near the bottom.

Blondie, Gary Numan, and Boomtown Rats all high-quality #1's. For me this listing would be very variable annd not constant as all of these are so great and it depends on mood what to put for numbers 1 to 10. I will try do my own rating after dandy* revealed his full list ... and then again half a year later and numbers 1 to 10 might be upside down ;).

I was intrigued to see where you'd place 'Sunday Girl' as I remembered it was your birth #1, what a great one to have. 8th feels about right for it! I recall reading that this song was created to cheer Debbie Harry up after her cat had sadly ran away. Love its understandably uplifting, breezy sound and Debbie indeed makes everything effortlessly cool, even casually dropping in a French verse.

Could not agree more with what you wrote about 'Cars' down to the inspiration for future favourites in 'Enjoy the Silence' and 'Widow', the taste I think I'd have that slightly ahead of 'I Don't Like Mondays' but I do appreciate that in all its daring glory too; this year is evidently a gold mine for chart toppers.

17 hours ago, TheSnake said:

'Cars' is very good and ahead of its time, 'Koochy' by Armand van Helden which sampled it is interesting but also bit of a mess though!

'Koochy' is great! I still vividly remember the weird TOTP performance of it.

I was always quite fascinated by the backstory of 'I Don't Like Mondays', I bet few people realised or knew at the time it was out.

8 hours ago, Jessie Where said:

'Koochy' is great! I still vividly remember the weird TOTP performance of it.

I was always quite fascinated by the backstory of 'I Don't Like Mondays', I bet few people realised or knew at the time it was out.

I love Koochy as well. It was very different for Armand Van Helden but I think it worked. I remember being in a second hand record shop (back in the days when me being there was a rarity!) and it was playing on the radio and I said I liked it... and the look of disdain from every other person in there as they scrambled to inform me that the original was far superior 😂

9 hours ago, Jade said:

I was intrigued to see where you'd place 'Sunday Girl' as I remembered it was your birth #1, what a great one to have. 8th feels about right for it! I recall reading that this song was created to cheer Debbie Harry up after her cat had sadly ran away. Love its understandably uplifting, breezy sound and Debbie indeed makes everything effortlessly cool, even casually dropping in a French verse.

Could not agree more with what you wrote about 'Cars' down to the inspiration for future favourites in 'Enjoy the Silence' and 'Widow', the taste I think I'd have that slightly ahead of 'I Don't Like Mondays' but I do appreciate that in all its daring glory too; this year is evidently a gold mine for chart toppers.

You have such a good memory for things! Where as I can't even remember the other things that made me think that but I know there's a few things I've read where I thought wow it's so lovely that you recalled that.

10 hours ago, DaTilt said:

Blondie, Gary Numan, and Boomtown Rats all high-quality #1's. For me this listing would be very variable annd not constant as all of these are so great and it depends on mood what to put for numbers 1 to 10. I will try do my own rating after dandy* revealed his full list ... and then again half a year later and numbers 1 to 10 might be upside down ;).

Glad it isn't just me who thinks that... the more I've spent on this the more I think I may as well have just posted the top 8 in any order

05 | Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Weeks at number one: 1

End of year position: 13

Rating: 9.5/10

Into the top 5 we go and I'm beginning with the song that has made this thread especially worthwhile for me. Before I began listening to these back in January I had most definitely heard this track before, but I'd also rather quickly dismissed it as a borderline novelty track... if you'd have asked me back then where I'd thought it would finish then I'd possibly have said bottom 5 and definitely not top 5!

However repeated listens has made me realise that this track is actually absolutely brilliant. One thing I'd never noticed before was just how brilliant the music is on it, the groove that kicks in from the opening beat is as infectious as anything else released in the 1970s, the piano line and the bass in particular really just soar... I'm going to say it was approximately January 13th when I realised that this song was making me move more than any of the others in the playlist and my foot was tapping and my body swaying on the train into work - there's a real possibility that other passengers may have noticed as well! The sax solo kicks in and I'm absolutely sold, even the slightly bonkers bit where he's playing two saxophones at once... but even then the backing drops away at the perfect time to make that moment a moment and then everything builds back so slowly you don't even notice it was ever away before it all ends as suddenly as it began. C'est fantastique!

The reason I'd never noticed any of that before this January was primarily down to the lyrics, which it probably is fair to say do still border on novelty - but I've decided it's in a good way, like Tubthumping. I've grown to really like them as Ian Dury reels off a load of different places, has a brief foray into French and German before declaring that it's nice to be a lunatic and commanding us to hit him with our rhythm sticks. It certainly has to be one of the most distinctive number ones of all time and I'm a little bit sad that I've never given it the time it deserves before now as I think it could make it to a 10 in time, but to compensate for that it most definitely will be staying on my playlist to make me boogie in front of other passengers on the 6:35 to Nottingham.