My Random Music

"I Will Survive" is the one I cannot stand. I think disco is one of those genres where when done well you have a great tune but if done badly it's really irritating and this fits the latter for me. I always used to write off disco as being cheesy nonsense which was really because of the big anthems like this, but when looking at the more obscure records there's some proper gems which are mainly instrumental or have minimal vocals.

Ian Dury is one that would definitely be in my Top 5 and Buggles is the one that would just miss out. Aside from Dr Hook as my number one it's very difficult to choose between the ones behind it but when I thought what my Top 3 would be prior to making my last post it included the 2 which are yet to come. So 2 of our Top 3 are the same but we have polar opposite opinions on our other choices.

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.

No worries, we can't all like the same thing. No I don't remember it at the time, my memories of the charts didn't begin until 1987 and I've been a music nerd ever since. I would also put "Bright Eyes" nearer the bottom than the top, it's not too bad but like others have said it works better in the film than as a stand alone song. Interesting how Paul Simon is considered the bigger solo artist from Simon & Garfunkel but had no solo number ones whereas Art Garfunkel topped the charts with 2 of his 3 solo Top 40 hits.

Yes the 50s had less than 200 new entries every year but there were fewer positions. Then from the 60s to mid-70s it was over 200 new entries each year but always less than 300. Late 70s and most the 80s was around 300 new entries each year then got over 350 in 1988 and 1989. All of the 90s years had at least 400 new entries and from 1992 they all had over 500 and peaked in 1997 when there was over 700.

I was fully expecting Lena Martell to be bottom of the list because it's generally perceived to be on of the worst number ones of all time . I don't know why it topped the charts but I do know it was recorded in 1977 and was a cover of an American song written by Kris Kristofferson. I think the Dr Hook song is excellent and is not only my favourite number one of the year but possibly also the best Top 40 hit of the year. I think the lyrics are funny, they were a band who didn't take themselves too seriously and there's humour in a lot of their songs.

The 5 best: Marvin Gaye - (Sexual) Healing Whitesnake - Here I Go Again Malcolm McLaren And The World's Famous Supreme Team - Buffalo Gals Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love Incantation - Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Desi) Worst: Shalamar - Friends Tiebreak: Mad World

I like the way it goes from one extreme to another. I do get that listening to a 50s crooner after hearing a 90s rave classic is a bit of an anti-climax. However the problem with having a similar song that follows is you're likely to switch off if it isn't to your liking. At least with the way it is if you don't like the song playing when you switch on you know it could be one of your favourites up next.

5 best: Wonder Dog - Ruff Mix Pinkees - Danger Games Musical Youth - Pass The Dutchie Roxy Music - Take A Chance With Me John Cougar - Jack And Diane Worst: Abba - The Day Before You Came Tiebreak: The Message The bonus songs are mostly after my time so I won't be voting in that.

The 5 best: Madness - Driving In My Car Wavelength - Hurry Home Sting - Spread A Little Happiness Captain Sensible - Wot Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five - The Message The worst: The Belle Stars - The Clapping Song

5 Best: Roxy Music - Avalon The Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird Visage - Night Train Junior - Too Late Worst: Shalamar - A Night To Remember

Now the countdown is complete I don't think there's a single obscure number one of 1983. Interested to know if there's any 1983 number one that anyone on here didn't know already.

5 best: PhD - I Won't Let You Down Hot Chocolate - Girl Crazy Junior - Mama Used To Say Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast New Order - Temptation worst: Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'N' Roll tiebreak: Japan

Does anyone here listen to this? For those who don't know it's a radio station with a playlist of every Top 40 hit from 1952-1999 that gets played at random and won't get repeated until they've got through the entire playlist. There's no presenters and just 1 advert an hour. The problem with most retro stations is that they never play anything I haven't heard before and often they play something I've heard far too many times in my life. Every time I listen to Retro Charts Radio I hear something I've never heard before. I honestly couldn't think of a single way you could make it better. Obviously I don't like everything they play but I'd much rather sit through 3 minutes of a boring song than 3 minutes of irritating adverts you get on other stations.

Interesting how all the records in this countdown so far are all very well known and still regularly played today. In the 90s there were several that faded into obscurity straight after they topped the charts. In this countdown I'm certain I would know all these songs even if I wasn't a music nerd and I'm aware there's still more really well known ones to come.

I was alive in 1983 but too young to remember it. The Top of the Pops reruns filled a lot of gaps in my knowledge though. I like "Candy Girl". The first time I consciously remember it was when New Edition made their 90s come back with "Hit Me Off" and they showed this on Top of the Pops 2. I couldn't believe it was the same band.

The 5 best: Modern Romance - Queen Of The Rapping Scene (Nothing Ever Goes The Way You Plan) Imagination - Just An Illusion Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight (Live Version) Pluto - Your Honour Roxy Music - More Than This The worst: Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild In The Country

I like all 3 records in your Top 10 so far. Armand Van Helden is possibly my favourite of the year. I did find the superstar DJ thing a bit cringe but it was undeniably good music. Remember hearing the Five record for the first time on the radio in my car. Whilst other songs of theirs is more students union guilty pleasure material this is a genuinely good song. Blondie were quite unusual in having a comeback record that's up there with the records they did in their prime. Very few musicians manage to do that.

You hear a lot of people who were there in the acid house days say that before the raves they'd be getting into fights in the pubs and clubs on a Saturday night. The Prodigy certainly bridged the gap between rockers and ravers. Admittedly I hated it when they started incorporating guitars at the time because I was a rave purist but over time I've grown to like it. Still can't get into "Firestarter" though.

I've gone through many phases which I guess in itself reflects me as a person because I don't like too much of the same thing generally speaking. As a teen in the 90s rave music was my thing and it certainly went beyond the music. I saw a lot of the DJs had long hair so I grew mine, when I saw footage of raves I saw a lot of adidas being worn so I started wearing adidas myself. There weren't many others at school into rave, plenty were into house music but would turn their noses up at anything above 130 BPM, so it made it hard to gauge what being an authentic raver entailed. When I got to college and met new people I remember one person being surprised I was into rave because they didn't think I looked like a raver. I asked what sort of music I looked like I was into and they said indie which is one genre I've never got into and absolutely detested it at the time. More broadly I like my music to have a good beat and would rather listen to something hard and fast than something slow and soft. One of my big interests outside of music is motorsport which is all about speed. I'm also quite speedy in a lot of things I do so I guess that does say something about me as a person.

In the mid-90s The Offspring were much bigger than their chart positions would suggest. Once Kurt Cobain died grunge fizzled out and punk was to be the next big thing with The Offspring and Green Day being the main bands. It didn't last long and Britpop quickly took over as the guitar music of choice for people in the UK. 1999 was the time some of these guitar acts who were popular pre-Britpop came back out of the wilderness, The Offspring and Lenny Kravitz getting their only number ones and another notable comeback that springs to mind was the Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Scar Tissue". They also all seemed to have haircuts whilst they'd been away.

Garage was having a bit of a dry spell in the Top 40 when "Sweet Like Chocolate" topped the charts. The only UK Garage records I can think of that we'd had in the Top 40 in 1999 up to that point was the two Da Click records. Then afterwards aside from the re-issue of "Straight From The Heart" I don't think there was anything until we got the Dreem Teem, Artful Dodger and DJ Luck & MC Neat at the end of the year. I love UK Garage but "Sweet Like Chocolate" was far too cheesy for me. I thought garage was going to fizzle out commercially after it topped the charts but then it became bigger than ever the following year.

Really like it, I have the album and had it shortly after it was released in the early 90s. I wasn't one of the people who bought the single during the anti-X-Factor campaign because as much as I dislike any song I've heard from the show the fact it always got Christmas number one never really bothered me.

5 Best: Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) Alton Edwards - I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You) The J. Geils Band - Centerfold D Train - You're The One For Me Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills Worst: Toni Basil - Mickey

Best: difficult to pick just one, depending on what mood I'm in it's either Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind or Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Worst: so many candidates, probably one of the Spice Girls ones maybe "2 Become 1". The X Factor ones are probably worse but at least they're long forgotten after their week at number one and I'm not going to torture myself by listening to them again to remind myself how they go