Gezza

46. ROD STEWART (2,214,600) 13 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: BABY JANE (436,000) An interesting one, undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of the 70s Rod seemed to have an image problem by the time 1980 came round with a career blown slightly off course by the song “Do You Think I’m Sexy”. Though that was a very successful single, his foray into disco backfired when the genre experienced a backlash in the early 80s (in the US certainly) and it took him some time to gain back credibility. 1983’s “Baby Jane” helped him move into the 80s psyche but it’s really consistency through the entire decade which has placed him here, 19 hits of which just 4 went top 10- but another 2 million is still a great show!

47. BAD MANNERS (2,170,500) 9 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: CAN CAN (440,000) Not the biggest 2Tone/ Ska act on the list but certainly one of the most popular with distinctive frontman Busta Bloodvessal whose antics eventually got the group banned from TOTP. They spent over 100 weeks on the charts in the early 80s though the hits were over by the time 1984 came around, they disbanded in 1987 but hey it was fun while it lasted.

48. A-HA (2,118,400) 12 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: TAKE ON ME (578,000) Certainly the biggest new Scandi act of the decade, they of course broke through thanks in part to the state of the art promo for “Take On Me” but youthful good looks helped them to become the biggest male pop act (let’s avoid the term boyband shall we) until Bros came along at least. An impressive 11 top 20 hits in the last 6 years of the decade sees them ease into the top 50 for the decade.

49. PAUL YOUNG (2,112,700) 8 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: LOVE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE (545,000) One of the most distinctive voices of the mid 80s was Paul Young who was considered something of a heart throb at the time and made a big splash in 1983 with 1.2 million singles sold when he launched his solo career. He never recaptured that momentum after his third album underperformed and he didn’t release anything else in the decade.

50. LEVEL 42 (2,105,700) 16 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: LESSONS IN LOVE (333,000) Take a bit of jazz funk and a few synths and you get pop gold for the mid 80s with this band, they supported Madonna on her world tour in 1987 and had to survive losing two members at the height of their success in 1987. The struggled on into the 90s but their glory days were well behind them by that time.

17TH JANUARY The charts are often a strange beast, All Saints “Never Ever” has been available for 8 weeks selling between 119,000 and 80,000 a week for all of those weeks. It sold just 54,000 last week but moves to the No 1 spot! That figure is the lowest required for a No 1 spot since R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” last April but the song does create some records, “Never Ever” now has total sales of 820,000 as it makes No 1 and that’s more than any song ever sold before making the top- certainly since 1980, it replaces Celine Dion’s “Think Twice” in that respect but it can’t eclipse Dion’s track on the length of time taken to get to No 1 though it is the longest time taken since “Think Twice”. All Saints were not leading midweek though that belonged to the dance track “Bamboogie” by Bamboo, the “group” is really a name taken by DJ Andrew Livingstone and is based extensively on KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” which made No 21 in 1975 here though topped the US Chart and formed a slice of the Bucketheads “These Sounds” for good measure. It sold just 600 copies less than “Never Ever” once the dust had settled and must count itself unlucky in the end result but is used in the current Bud Ice ad so may get an advantage. Sometimes you just have to keep on releasing a song until it’s a big hit, a case in point is “Renegade Master” by Wildchild which finally enters at No 3 (47,000). The song was originally released under the title “Legends Of The Dark Black Part 2” in spring 1995 making No 34 before it gained popularity over the summer in European clubs and got a re-issue under the title “Renegade Master” in November of that year this time going to No 11, it now gets a third bite of the cherry thanks to a remix by Fatboy Slim (or former Housemartin and Beats International member Norman Cook). The vocal sample used come from A.D.O.R’s “One For The Trouble” and is something of a bittersweet success as the man behind Wildchild, Roger McKenzie, died back in 1995 as the song was charting for its second time. No other new entries make into the top 10 this week meaning that Various Artists “Perfect Day” drop again from the top 1-4 (42,000) and push Janet Jackson down 4-5 (36,000). Robbie Williams however rebounds 7-6 (34,000) despite losing sales but “Angels” seems to have become his first single with longevity- it even helps his album shoot 12-3 to enter the top 10 for the first time ever! Other long standing hits dropping are The Spice Girls 3-9 (25,000) and Natalie Imbruglia 9-10 (22,000) all with big sales loses. Last week’s two new entries fall back 5-7 (31,000) for the Lighthouse Family and 6-8 (28,000) for Space. Next week we’ll see if Oasis still have it and can generate chart toppers? 1- NEVER EVER- All Saints (54,000) 2- BAMBOOGIE- Bamboo (53,400) 3- RENEGADE MASTER 98- Wildchild (47,000) 4- PERFECT DAY- Various Artists (42,000) 5- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (36,000) 6- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (34,000) 7- HIGH- Lighthouse Family (31,000) 8- AVENGING ANGELS- Space (28,000) 9- TOO MUCH- Spice Girls (25,000) 10- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (22,000)

10TH JANUARY 1998 begins with a bit of a shocker! The feat of returning to No 1 is nothing unusual now (this is the 5th occurrence in the last 5 years) but in most of those cases it was just a week break between spells, today Various Artists’ “Perfect Day” flies back 3-1 after a four week break. The equals the 90s record for weeks between runs (thanks to “Three Lions”) and is the longest break since the Beatles “She Loves You” spent 8 weeks between chart toping duties in 1963. Predictably sales are down- 39% in this case- to 83,000 but it has sold over 1.3 million in just 7 weeks enough to be the 10th biggest single of the decade! This is a golden period of sales make no mistake with Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” drifting 7-10 (39,000) but with total sales over 1.6 million it is the 4th biggest of the decade so far. Regardless of that this is the first week that the sales needed to make No 1 have dropped below the 100,000 mark for 29 weeks, and moreover the amount needed for No 2 drops beneath the mark for the first time in 12 weeks- another record since 1980. That position is occupied by All Saints who get a fresh peak after 8 weeks around and sales of 766,000 in total with another 80,000 added last week. Last week’s No 1 from The Spice Girls tumbles 1-3 (78,000) but in truth were only 5,000 copies away for grabbing a third week at the top- no matter they have least sold half a million copies of “Too Much” now. They’ve sold 5.3 million singles in 18 months and overtake Oasis in terms of 90s sales- only Elton is ahead (albeit by over 1.5 million). The Lighthouse Family take full advantage of the release lull to get a second hit from the “Postcards From Heaven” album. Originally scheduled for a December release it has been wisely put back to January and as a result they enter one place higher than their last single “Raincloud” managed. “High” sold 58,000 to enter at No 5, that’s the group’s third top 10 single and also promotes the album back into the top 10. Space’s first album “Spiders” generated four top 15 hits and meant that the follow up album had big boots to fill. They start to attempt it at any rate with single “Avenging Angels” which instantly becomes the band’s highest placed song arriving at No 6 (50,000) benefiting as it did from extensive play throughout the festive period. Elsewhere Janet Jackson continues to climb 5-4 (63,000) in the face of a 30% sales loss and Robbie Williams drops 6-7 (48,000). Teletubbies bolt 2-9 (43,000) with the big day now over, and Natalie Imbruglia slipping 8-9 (41,000), both songs have now sold over 850,000 copies. 1- PERFECT DAY- Various Artists (83,000) 2- NEVER EVER- All Saints (80,000) 3- TOO MUCH- Spice Girls (78,000) 4- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (63,000) 5- HIGH- Lighthouse Family (58,000) 6- AVENGING ANGELS- Space (50,000) 7- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (48,000) 8- TELETUBBIES SAY EH-OH- Teletubbies (43,000) 9- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (41,000) 10- BARBIE GIRL- Aqua (39,000)

Re-cap of the bottom half! 100. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES (1,383,300) 99. JULIO IGLESIAS (1,385,900) 98. SINITTA (1,390,700) 97. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (1,418,900) 96. IRENE CARA (1,420,600) 95. THE COMMUNARDS (1,429,000) 94. BROS (1,456,800) 93. THE BANGLES (1,473,300) 92. YAZOO (1,473,900) 91. TOYAH (1,540,900) 90. MODERN ROMANCE (1,541,000) 89. KATE BUSH (1,542,700) 88. ALISON MOYET (1,554,000) 87. DOLLAR (1,569,200) 86. JIVE BUNNY & THE MASTERMIXERS (1,576,500) 85. THE STRANGLERS (1,577,600) 84. NIK KERSHAW (1,594,200) 83. GARY NUMAN (1,602,700) 82. TIGHT FIT (1,610,800) 81. FUN BOY THREE (1,621,800) 80. GEORGE BENSON (1,623,500) 79. ABC (1,624,200) 78. THE BEAT (1,641,600) 77. THE PRETENDERS (1,651,900) 76. DIRE STRAITS (1,660,649) 75. DONNA SUMMER (1,669,400) 74. IRON MAIDEN (1,671,300) 73. ROXY MUSIC (1,761,300) 72. GENESIS (1,762,300) 71. HOT CHOCOLATE (1,769,200) 70. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (1,788,100) 69. STYLE COUNCIL (1,788,700) 68. NEW ORDER (1,800,900) 67. EDDY GRANT (1,851,300) 66. TINA TURNER (1,859,900) 65. THE NOLANS (1,867,600) 64. ODYSSEY (1,879,900) 63. BILLY OCEAN (1,909,700) 62. SHEENA EASTON (1,922,700) 61. FIVE STAR (1,938,800) 60. THOMPSON TWINS (1,966,300) 59. IMAGINATION (1,970,300) 58. THE SPECIALS (1,984,300) 57. U2 (1,984,400) 56. ERASURE (2,002,100) 55. SHALAMAR (2,006,200) 54. HOWARD JONES (2,012,900) 53. RICK ASTLEY (2,032,100) 52. BLONDIE (2,058,800) 51. BILLY JOEL (2,071,300)

51. BILLY JOEL (2,071,300) 8 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: UPTOWN GIRL (827,000) Singer songwriter who of course is most famous for “Uptown Girl” here which remains his best seller, but his best compositions are probably from the 70s (“Piano Man”, “She’s Always A Woman” and “Just The Way You Are” among a few of the finest). However his biggest hit was actually inspired by an occasion when Joel was in the company of Christine Brinkley, Whitney Houston, and Elle McPherson (his girlfriend at the time), but by the time it was completed he had swapped McPherson for Brinkley who appeared in the promo.

52. BLONDIE (2,058,800) 6 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: THE TIDE IS HIGH (619,000) Flipping from punk to a more commercial sound was just the ticket for these guys to hit it big in the late 70s with classics “Heart Of Glass” and “Sunday Girl”. By the time the 80s came around the group was at its biggest scoring a hat-trick of No 1 singles in 1980, “Rapture” in 1981 proved to be their final top 10 hit of the 80s (and arguably the first US No 1 single to feature rapping) and they split by 1982 which makes their position here all the more impressive.

Tomorrow, a recap of the bottom 50!

53. RICK ASTLEY (2,032,100) 7 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP (774,000) BEST SELLING ACT OF 1987 From very popular to uncool and back again, Astley has proved surprisingly resilient in the fickle world of pop. His first hit remains his biggest seller and signature track, but he fell out with S/A/W in 1988, a situation which probably cost him a place in the top 50 ultimately.

54. HOWARD JONES (2,012,900) 10 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: NEW SONG (395,000) Synth pop alert! One of the charts most reliable provider of hits between 83 and 85, he was famed (at the start of his career) for using a mime artist called Jeb on his early performances and led to him getting signed. He appeared at Live Aid but it was pretty much downhill for him after that commercial wise.

55. SHALAMAR (2,006,200) 9 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (369,000) Early 80s outfit that were influential in introducing body popping to the UK as well as pretty much inventing the moonwalk when group member Jeffrey Daniel did both on TOTP! Daniel was already known to Jackson through being a dancer on the “Soul Train” programme in the US and teamed up with him in the 80s to do choreography on some of Jackson’s promo’s.

56. ERASURE (2,002,100) 10 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: CRACKERS INTERNATIONAL EP (473,000) Vince Clark’s second appearance on the rundown isn’t even his highest, but we move over the 2 million mark with this longest surviving act. By 1986 the duo had broke the charts and they strung 10 top 15 singles together before the decade ended- an impressive stat complimented by a couple of chart topping albums, they inched over the 2 million mark at the death of the decade!

57. U2 (1,984,400) 12 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) (363,000) OK so who thought these would be higher? In truth always more of an albums act, they did have 9 consecutive top 10 hits (if you exclude an import single) but tended to debut high and drop quickly. Their performance at Live Aid is credited with transforming the band into a major stadium rock act for the rest of the 80s and well into the 10s though they haven’t troubled the top 40 in well over 15 years.

58. THE SPECIALS (1,984,300) 7 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: GHOST TOWN (605,000) Spearheading the brief 2Tone craze of 1980-81, this group of course famously topped the charts with “Ghost Town” during the urban riots of July 1981 in a rare moment of zeitgeist with social history and the charts. It was the peak before the very quick decline of the genre from the charts with three members breaking away from the group in the immediate aftermath of the single to for Fun Boy Three. The rest limped on as “The Specials AKA” but only one more top 20 hit followed (sales for both are combined here).

We finally hit the 2 million sales mark tomorrow!

59. IMAGINATION (1,970,300) 9 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: JUST AN ILLUSION (437,000) More trio’s here with a group that took their name from the John Lennon single in homage to his (then) recent death. They persuaded producers Jolley & Swain to produce their first single “Body Talk” and landed them all a hit which helped the producers become the most sought after of the early to mid 80s and launched the group into the charts. They became famed for their TOTP performances which were increasingly exotic and flamboyant (certainly for the time).

60. THOMPSON TWINS (1,966,300) 10 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: HOLD ME NOW (417,000) Everything this trio touched between 1982 and 1985 turned to gold as they even cracked the US thanks to MTV. Two members of the band married each other (Bailey and Currie) and went on to write Debbie Harry’s 1989 hit “I Want That Man”.

61. FIVE STAR (1,938,800) 15 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: RAIN OR SHINE (367,000) Britain’s answer to the Jacksons strung 9 top 20 hits back to back in just 2 years as they made hay when the sun shone. Being the 80s they invested in a recording studio under their mansion and sports cars just as the hits stopped happening resulting in bankruptcy and a rather spectacular fall from grace which the press lapped up.

Only "Arms of Orion" is Included as she had a named credit on that one

62. SHEENA EASTON (1,922,700) 10 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: 9 TO 5 (544,000) Back when reality TV was somewhat less of a thing, Easton rose to fame after being featured on the Esther Ransen TV programme “The Big Time” which followed the singer’s attempt to break the big time. She ended up the 6th highest placed female soloist of the decade moving more than a million in 1980 alone, she also became just the 4th UK Female solo act to make No 1 in the US following Petula Clark, Lulu, and Olivia Newton-John (depending on how you view her).

63. BILLY OCEAN (1,909,700) 8 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING (561,000) Like Odyssey, Ocean found fame in the 70s but his career looked over by the time the 80s came round, that was until his 1984 hit “Caribbean Queen” set him off on a train of hits for the rest of the decade. He was more successful in the US where he scored a hat-trick of No 1’s, and interestingly the aforementioned “Caribbean Queen” was released alternatively as European Queen” and African Queen” depending on the territory- cleaver marketing!

64. ODYSSEY (1,879,900) 5 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: USE IT UP AND WEAR IT OUT (464,000) Another act that you probably wouldn’t have predicted would be in the countdown. Having first hit our charts in 1977 (“Native New Yorker”, #5) they were absent thereafter until 1980 when they scored a chart topper with “Use It Up, Wear It Out”. Another 3 top 10 singles followed by 1982 before we moved on.