1. BAND AID Do They Know It's Christmas (1984)

2. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Relax (1984)

3. STEVIE WONDER I Just Called To Say I Love You (1984)

4. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Two Tribes (1984)

5. HUMAN LEAGUE Don't You Want Me (1981)

6. WHAM! Last Christmas/Everything She Wants (1984)

7. CULTURE CLUB Karma Chameleon (1983)

8. GEORGE MICHAEL Careless Whisper (1984)

9. JENNIFER RUSH The Power Of Love (1985)

10. DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS Come On Eileen (1982)

 

11. SOFT CELL Tainted Love (1981)

12. SURVIVOR Eye Of The Tiger (1982)

13. NEW ORDER Blue Monday (1983)

14. ADAM AND THE ANTS Stand And Deliver (1981)

15. KYLIE MINOGUE & JASON DONOVAN Especially For You (1988)

16. TIGHT FIT The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1982)

17. IRENE CARA Fame (1982)

18. RAY PARKER JNR Ghostbusters (1984)

19. BILLY JOEL Uptown Girl (1983)

20. BLACK BOX Ride On Time (1989)

21. JIVE BUNNY & THE MASTERMIXERS Swing The Mood (1989)

22. CULTURE CLUB Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (1982)

23. LIONEL RICHIE Hello (1984)

24. ELAINE PAIGE & BARBARA DICKSON I Know Him So Well (1985)

25. JOHN LENNON Imagine (1981)

26. POLICE Don't Stand So Close To Me (1980)

27. BLACK LACE Agadoo (1984)

28. BARBRA STREISAND Woman In Love (1980)

29. UB40 Red Red Wine (1983)

30. ADAM AND THE ANTS Ant Music (1980)

31. MADONNA Into The Groove (1985)

32. RENEE & RENATO Save Your Love (1982)

33. KELLY MARIE Feels Like I'm In Love (1980)

34. MUSICAL YOUTH Pass The Dutchie (1982)

35. RICK ASTLEY Never Gonna Give You Up (1987)

36. ADAM AND THE ANTS Prince Charming (1981)

37. CLIFF RICHARD Mistletoe And Wine (1988)

38. COMMUNARDS Don't Leave Me This Way (1986)

39. EDDY GRANT I Don't Wanna Dance (1982)

40. SHAKIN STEVENS This Ole House (1981)

41. BUCKS FIZZ The Land Of Make Believe (1981)

42. STARSHIP Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (1987)

43. ULTRAVOX Vienna (1981)

44. GOOMBAY DANCE BAND Seven Tears (1982)

45. WHAM! Freedom (1984)

46. MICHAEL JACKSON One Day In Your Life (1981)

47. BUCKS FIZZ Making Your Mind Up (1981)

48. ABBA Super Trouper (1980)

49. TWEETS The Birdie Song (1981)

50. PAUL HARDCASTLE 19 (1985)

 

51. NICK BERRY Every Loser Wins (1986)

52. JOE DOLCE Shaddup Your Face (1981)

53. MADONNA Like A Virgin (1984)

54. BORIS GARDINER I Want To Wake Up With You (1986)

55. JACKIE WILSON Reet Petite (1986)

56. OTTAWAN D.I.S.C.O (1980)

57. SISTER SLEDGE Frankie (1985)

58. FOREIGNER I Want To Know What Love Is (1985)

59. BLONDIE The Tide Is High (1980)

60. DAVID BOWIE Let's Dance (1983)

61. BONNIE TYLER Total Eclipse Of The Heart (1983)

62. SPANDAU BALLET True (1983)

63. DIANA ROSS Chain Reaction (1986)

64. PAUL McCARTNEY We All Stand Together (1984)

65. YAZZ The Only Way Is Up (1988)

66. CLIFF RICHARD & THE YOUNG ONES Living Doll (1986)

67. PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER Ebony And Ivory (1982)

68. FLYING PICKETS Only You (1983)

69. SHAKIN STEVENS You Drive Me Crazy (1981)

70. WHAM! Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (1984)

71. CHRIS DE BURGH Lady In Red (1986)

72. DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS Geno (1980)

73. MEN AT WORK Down Under (1983)

74. DAVID BOWER & MICK JAGGER Dancing In The Streets (1985)

75. JAM A Town Called Malice/Precious (1982)

76. KYLIE MINOGUE I Should Be So Lucky (1988)

77. FERN KINNEY Together We Are Beautiful (1980)

78. KENNY ROGERS Coward Of The County (1980)

79. CHAKA KHAN I Feel For You (1984)

80. SPECIALS Ghost Town (1981)

81. WHITNEY HOUSTON I Wanna Dance With Somebody (1987)

82. PHYLLIS NELSON Move Closer (1985)

83. JOHN LENNON Just Like Starting Over (1980)

84. DAVE STEWART & BARBARA GASKIN It's My Party (1981)

85. SMOKEY ROBINSON Being With You (1981)

86. DETROIT SPINNERS Working My Way Back To You - Forgive Me Girl (1980)

87. BILLY OCEAN When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going) (1986)

88. MICHAEL JACKSON Billie Jean (1983)

89. SHEENA EASTON 9 To 5 (1980)

90. FEARGAL SHARKEY A Good Heart (1985)

91. MADNESS Baggy Trousers (1980)

92. A-HA Take On Me (1985)

93. ALTERED IMAGES Happy Birthday (1981)

94. OTTAWAN Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) (1981)

95. DAVID BOWIE Ashes To Ashes (1980)

96. JOHN LENNON Woman (1981)

97. KING Love And Pride (1985)

98. STRANGLERS Golden Brown (1982)

99. LIONEL RICHIE All Night Long (1983)

100. PAUL YOUNG Love Of The Common People (1983)

 

 

OK, long list, but I'll comment on a few: :D

 

1. BAND AID Do They Know It's Christmas (1984) In my opinion, the ONLY near decent charity track. Shame it spawned so many awful imitations

2. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Relax (1984) Classic! Still sounds fresh today

3. STEVIE WONDER I Just Called To Say I Love You (1984) Awful! :puke2: Of all the great stuff he done, this one got to No.1. The mind boggles

4. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Two Tribes (1984) Prefer Relax, but this was good too

5. HUMAN LEAGUE Don't You Want Me (1981) Easily one of my Top 3 all time favourites! :yahoo: :heart: :wub:

13. NEW ORDER Blue Monday (1983) Still a floorfiller! In the club I used to work in, I used to love the chavs' faces when this got dropped in the set between some garage and hip hop :lol:

14. ADAM AND THE ANTS Stand And Deliver (1981) Wonderful. Far better than Prince Charming, which I've never really liked

20. BLACK BOX Ride On Time (1989) Still adore this! :wub:

22. CULTURE CLUB Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (1982) Outstanding. One of the best pop songs ever!

23. LIONEL RICHIE Hello (1984) No, don't like this. But the video is (unintentionally) hilarious! That poor blind woman :lol:

27. BLACK LACE Agadoo (1984) Evil! :puke2: :puke2: :puke2:

30. ADAM AND THE ANTS Ant Music (1980) Great track!

31. MADONNA Into The Groove (1985) Love it! Still her best selling single

32. RENEE & RENATO Save Your Love (1982) :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2:

35. RICK ASTLEY Never Gonna Give You Up (1987) Still have a fondness for this

39. EDDY GRANT I Don't Wanna Dance (1982) Great record!

41. BUCKS FIZZ The Land Of Make Believe (1981) Is it wrong I quite like Bucks Fizz? Silly song, but a good one

46. MICHAEL JACKSON One Day In Your Life (1981) My favourite MJ track

47. BUCKS FIZZ Making Your Mind Up (1981) Yes, I do like this.

48. ABBA Super Trouper (1980) Not their best, by a long way. Not bad though

49. TWEETS The Birdie Song (1981) Inexplicable! :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: :puke2:

50. PAUL HARDCASTLE 19 (1985) :wub:

 

51. NICK BERRY Every Loser Wins (1986) Actually, this isn't that bad

52. JOE DOLCE Shaddup Your Face (1981) No, hate this! :puke2: :puke2: :puke2:

53. MADONNA Like A Virgin (1984) Gotta love this

55. JACKIE WILSON Reet Petite (1986) Loved this! Still remember the plasticine video very well

59. BLONDIE The Tide Is High (1980) Love Blondie

67. PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER Ebony And Ivory (1982) :puke2: Cringe fest! Awful!

69. SHAKIN STEVENS You Drive Me Crazy (1981) The only Shaky song I quite like

71. CHRIS DE BURGH Lady In Red (1986) :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: People say there's a load of c**p in the charts these days. But is any of it as bad as this?

75. JAM A Town Called Malice/Precious (1982) I'm quite surprised, I thought Going Underground was the bigger seller. Apparently not

76. KYLIE MINOGUE I Should Be So Lucky (1988) Think what you like, I think it's a great harmless pop song

77. FERN KINNEY Together We Are Beautiful (1980) Yeah, like this

82. PHYLLIS NELSON Move Closer (1985) Love this!!! :wub:

85. SMOKEY ROBINSON Being With You (1981) Number 1 when I was born!

92. A-HA Take On Me (1985) Prefer Sun Always Shines On TV, but still a great pop track!

95. DAVID BOWIE Ashes To Ashes (1980) My favourite Bowie record! Easily

 

 

The big thing here is that on the majority, these are on the list because lots of people bought them simply because they liked the song. Go to the 90s and the top selling songs are all naff movie/TV tie-ins, and this decade is basically just a load of reality TV stars.

 

Sure, there's a few slightly embarrassing novelty songs in there, but also many of the best songs ever made! I'm not listing all my favourites because it's pretty much the entire list, but suffice to say that my two all-time fave songs of the 80s are numbers 4 and 76!

and this list PROVES just how c**p s/a/w really are.... i count only 3 tracks of theirs in the top 100!... yet they supposed to be 'great' or seen as 'great' by some deluded individuals! lol. it also highlights just how bad the late 80's were for music :)

the 80's year chart

 

1 1981 ............. 19

2 1980 ............. 17

3 1984 ............. 14

4 1982 ............. 13

5 1983, 1985 .... 11

7 1986 ............. 7

8 1988 ............. 4

9 1987 ............. 3

10 1989 ........... 2

 

says it all really :)

These I like, the really good ones IMO bolded

 

1. BAND AID Do They Know It's Christmas (1984)

2. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Relax (1984)

3. STEVIE WONDER I Just Called To Say I Love You (1984)

4. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Two Tribes (1984)

5. HUMAN LEAGUE Don't You Want Me (1981)

6. WHAM! Last Christmas/Everything She Wants (1984)

7. CULTURE CLUB Karma Chameleon (1983)

8. GEORGE MICHAEL Careless Whisper (1984)

9. JENNIFER RUSH The Power Of Love (1985)

11. SOFT CELL Tainted Love (1981)

12. SURVIVOR Eye Of The Tiger (1982)

15. KYLIE MINOGUE & JASON DONOVAN Especially For You (1988)

17. IRENE CARA Fame (1982)

18. RAY PARKER JNR Ghostbusters (1984)

20. BLACK BOX Ride On Time (1989)

25. JOHN LENNON Imagine (1981)

26. POLICE Don't Stand So Close To Me (1980)

28. BARBRA STREISAND Woman In Love (1980)

31. MADONNA Into The Groove (1985)

35. RICK ASTLEY Never Gonna Give You Up (1987)

42. STARSHIP Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (1987)

43. ULTRAVOX Vienna (1981)

48. ABBA Super Trouper (1980)

53. MADONNA Like A Virgin (1984)

54. BORIS GARDINER I Want To Wake Up With You (1986)

58. FOREIGNER I Want To Know What Love Is (1985)

61. BONNIE TYLER Total Eclipse Of The Heart (1983)

62. SPANDAU BALLET True (1983)

63. DIANA ROSS Chain Reaction (1986)

65. YAZZ The Only Way Is Up (1988)

70. WHAM! Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (1984)

71. CHRIS DE BURGH Lady In Red (1986)

73. MEN AT WORK Down Under (1983)

76. KYLIE MINOGUE I Should Be So Lucky (1988)

81. WHITNEY HOUSTON I Wanna Dance With Somebody (1987)

87. BILLY OCEAN When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going) (1986)

92. A-HA Take On Me (1985)

And had to add, the top ten for me:

 

1. MADONNA Into The Groove

2. STARSHIP Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

3. BONNIE TYLER Total Eclipse Of The Heart

4. A-HA Take On Me

5. MEN AT WORK Down Under

6. CHRIS DE BURGH Lady In Red

7. KYLIE MINOGUE I Should Be So Lucky

8. FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Relax

9. WHAM! Last Christmas

10. tie GEORGE MICHAEL Careless Whisper / JOHN LENNON Imagine

 

 

 

the 80's year chart

 

1 1981 ............. 19

2 1980 ............. 17

3 1984 ............. 14

4 1982 ............. 13

5 1983, 1985 .... 11

7 1986 ............. 7

8 1988 ............. 4

9 1987 ............. 3

10 1989 ........... 2

 

says it all really :)

well, it partly explains why SAW only have 3 or so songs in this list. Singles sales went into steep decline from 1986 onwards and by 1989 they were a third lower than what they were in 1980. In part this was because people began to buy albums in ever increasing numbers. As a result the top 100 albums chart of the 80s would show a late 80s bias, the opposite of this chart. Two SAW productions, Kylie by Kylie Minogue in 1988 and Ten Good Reasons by Jason Donovan in 1989 headed the annual best selling albums lists and both sold well over a million copies.

well, it partly explains why SAW only have 3 or so songs in this list. Singles sales went into steep decline from 1986 onwards and by 1989 they were a third lower than what they were in 1980. In part this was because people began to buy albums in ever increasing numbers. As a result the top 100 albums chart of the 80s would show a late 80s bias, the opposite of this chart. Two SAW productions, Kylie by Kylie Minogue in 1988 and Ten Good Reasons by Jason Donovan in 1989 headed the annual best selling albums lists and both sold well over a million copies.

 

they went into steep decline from 86 onwards largely BECAUSE of saw...

 

but there was a generation thing, very similar to the 60's/70's 'step' , and indeed the 70's/punk step. 60's generation didnt transfer into the 70's (moving onto rock and prog rock), allowing for a shift in musical style. this was most obvious in the punk (and disco) shift in c77 (kicking out the 'glam' style of the early 70's). so when 'the punk generation' exhausted itself and 'grew up' moving as you say, on to albums, the singles charts were left open for the next shift, the next style, but unlike the new sounds in the 60s, the new sounds in the early 70's, the new sounds of punk later 70's, this shift failed to produce large sales as it appealed to a smaller market.

 

 

and this list PROVES just how c**p s/a/w really are.... i count only 3 tracks of theirs in the top 100!... yet they supposed to be 'great' or seen as 'great' by some deluded individuals! lol. it also highlights just how bad the late 80's were for music :)

 

100% agreement, the SAW cheerleaders need to look at the facts here.... You dont even get a SAW track until No14...

 

I hold the likes of Waterman directly responsible for the decline of the pop single, I was a fairly regular singles buyer until that c/unt started horning in and basically killed the genuinely great Pop this country had in the early 80s - I mean, Madness, Depeche Mode, Human League, Frankie, Culture Club, then Kylie (let's face it, Kylie only started to get a bit more interesting when she ditched Waterman :P ), Jason, Sonia and (P)Rick Astley, I rest my case.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

And now we have the scumbags Cowell/Walsh who almost make Waterman look like fukkin' Tony Wilson.... <_< <_<

100% agreement, the SAW cheerleaders need to look at the facts here.... You dont even get a SAW track until No14...

 

I hold the likes of Waterman directly responsible for the decline of the pop single, I was a fairly regular singles buyer until that c/unt started horning in and basically killed the genuinely great Pop this country had in the early 80s - I mean, Madness, Depeche Mode, Human League, Frankie, Culture Club, then Kylie (let's face it, Kylie only started to get a bit more interesting when she ditched Waterman :P ), Jason, Sonia and (P)Rick Astley, I rest my case.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

And now we have the scumbags Cowell/Walsh who almost make Waterman look like fukkin' Tony Wilson.... <_< <_<

 

Can't beat a bit of Sonia! :D

 

Anyway I do tend to agree with you here. If I was a full-blown 80s child I would be able to appreciate what you were saying more. Pete Waterman only really uses his record sales as a defence weapon, only a small fraction of his work can boast any kind of aesthetic value.

 

I still think Bananarama made equally great track with SAW compared to their early 80s material., so it can be looked at either angle.

well, it partly explains why SAW only have 3 or so songs in this list. Singles sales went into steep decline from 1986 onwards and by 1989 they were a third lower than what they were in 1980. In part this was because people began to buy albums in ever increasing numbers. As a result the top 100 albums chart of the 80s would show a late 80s bias, the opposite of this chart. Two SAW productions, Kylie by Kylie Minogue in 1988 and Ten Good Reasons by Jason Donovan in 1989 headed the annual best selling albums lists and both sold well over a million copies.

 

 

Do you not consider the reason why sales declined in the late 80's was down to S/A/W started issuing stuff(can't really refer to it as music).

Can't beat a bit of Sonia! :D

 

Yes you can... With a cricket bat... Repeatedly.... :lol: :lol:

 

Pete Waterman only really uses his record sales as a defence weapon, only a small fraction of his work can boast any kind of aesthetic value.

 

But it aint a very effective "weapon" though is it...? And the facts do tend to bear that out... The decline of the single more-or-less began with Watertw@ts (s)Hit Factory; you cant say it was the Internet's fault back in 1987/88 dude..... For all Watertw@t's big mouthing off and posturing, he was pretty much an irrelevance in terms of music, I mean, actually trying to convince people he was somehow responsible for 2-Tone..... ROFLMAO... Trevor Horn can claim to have had more success than him, his work with Frankie is placed at No 2 and 4, and certainly Frankie Goes To Hollywood's two massive hits come off sounding a hell of a lot better in 2008 than anything Watertw@t did.... Frankie is timeless pop, PWL stuff sounds absolutely atrocious and hideously dated..... "Relax" and "Two Tribes" defines the 80s far more than PWL....

 

Yes you can... With a cricket bat... Repeatedly.... :lol: :lol:

 

:lol:

But it aint a very effective "weapon" though is it...? And the facts do tend to bear that out... The decline of the single more-or-less began with Watertw@ts (s)Hit Factory; you cant say it was the Internet's fault back in 1987/88 dude..... For all Watertw@t's big mouthing off and posturing, he was pretty much an irrelevance in terms of music, I mean, actually trying to convince people he was somehow responsible for 2-Tone..... ROFLMAO... Trevor Horn can claim to have had more success than him, his work with Frankie is placed at No 2 and 4, and certainly Frankie Goes To Hollywood's two massive hits come off sounding a hell of a lot better in 2008 than anything Watertw@t did.... Frankie is timeless pop, PWL stuff sounds absolutely atrocious and hideously dated..... "Relax" and "Two Tribes" defines the 80s far more than PWL....

 

spot on....

But it aint a very effective "weapon" though is it...? And the facts do tend to bear that out... The decline of the single more-or-less began with Watertw@ts (s)Hit Factory; you cant say it was the Internet's fault back in 1987/88 dude..... For all Watertw@t's big mouthing off and posturing, he was pretty much an irrelevance in terms of music, I mean, actually trying to convince people he was somehow responsible for 2-Tone..... ROFLMAO... Trevor Horn can claim to have had more success than him, his work with Frankie is placed at No 2 and 4, and certainly Frankie Goes To Hollywood's two massive hits come off sounding a hell of a lot better in 2008 than anything Watertw@t did.... Frankie is timeless pop, PWL stuff sounds absolutely atrocious and hideously dated..... "Relax" and "Two Tribes" defines the 80s far more than PWL....

 

Spot on.

 

Anyone who saw BBC4's Rock Britannia series would know full well how reviled PWL were and still are today by musicians.

 

Pete Waterman was responsible for turning music from an art-form into a product with about as much value as a Supermarket brand can of baked beans, my churning out cheap & cheerful product, which in the famous case of I Should Be So Lucky not even bothering to change any of the instrumentation from the Rick Astley recorded track which Rick wisely rejected on account of it being a pile of pooh, for Kylie Minogue to record her vocals over the top of.

 

Pete was also the first major player in music to realise that music could be sold not on the quality of the track but whom the person was recording the track, hence the popularity of the Kylie & Jason from Neighbours, and making a load of bull$h!t up about the background of Northern Club singer Rick Astley by saying they hired him as a YTS tea boy/tape engineer and did not know he could sing until one day......

 

But in the age of music BUSINESS, then recording tracks cheaply with little creativity and big sales is all the rage. Just ask Simon Cowell who has taken the music bible according to Waterman and has taken it to it's N'th degree with The X-Factor.

 

To compare the musical landscape before and after Waterman just look & listen to the first two Band Aid singles from 1984 & 1989.

Pete Waterman only really uses his record sales as a defence weapon, only a small fraction of his work can boast any kind of aesthetic value.

 

From what I've read, (according to Mike Stock anyway), Pete Waterman actually had very little to do with actually making the records.

From what I've read, (according to Mike Stock anyway), Pete Waterman actually had very little to do with actually making the records.

 

thats irrelevant, he was part of the process and unlike the other two anonymous faces he refused to die and has continued to champion himself as a pop impresario when in fact he is nothing more then a parasitic maggot feeding off the music business.

From what I've read, (according to Mike Stock anyway), Pete Waterman actually had very little to do with actually making the records.

 

All that means is that he's making up some elaborate history for himself that didn't happen, giving himself far more importance than he is actually due.. A bit like Malcolm McClaren's claims that he 'manufactured' The Sex Pistols.... Mind you, at least McClaren did actually manage to release a couple of decent records off his own bat... Watertw@t did SH!T ALL..... :rolleyes: