Popchartfreak

10th December 1995 It's 4 weeks on top for Earth Song as Oasis give up trying to catch Jacko, but Robson Jerome take a classic song to 5 - Up On The Roof, Goffin/King 60's gem, and Jerome will one day turn up in Game Of Thrones, so all is forgiven. New entries staright into the top 10 for Bel Canto, and the banging dance track We'Ve Got To Work It Out, never the bigger hit it should have been, and Marc Almond is still getting top 10's 14 years on from Tainted Love and his Trevor Horn resurgence. Child Star wasn't a hit, sadly, but it was good! Mary J. Blige makes it two Carole King classic songs in the chart, as she dares to go where Aretha Franklin has already been - covering Natural Woman! New in at 17, bosh! Gary Glitter is on tour with Suzi Quatro, and bungs out an old classic instead of a fairly mundane newie this year, Hello Hello went top 3 in 1973, and is back at 32. The Lighthouse Family are Lifted at 34, the easy-listening radio-friendly regular suggests Lightweight Family might have been a better name. Mayte is a Prince protege, so expect one hit and nothing much else, judging by previous, If Eye Love U Tonight, Oasis say Whatever, as they bounce back in again, Robert Palmer goes where Bruce Willis has gone before - covering The Staple Singers - and Bonnie Tyler goes where Air Supply have gone before - recording a Jim Steinman song from 1980. Be afraid: Maria Carey has joined with BoyzII men with a dastardly plan to stay on top of the US charts for most of 1996. They do, too, having lonooong previous runs. Finally, menswear, Morrissey and Eternal don't sparkle too much, the latter two being one-week wonders (for now). 1 ( 1 ) EARTH SONG Michael Jackson 2 ( 2 ) FREE AS A BIRD The Beatles 3 ( 4 ) THE UNIVERSAL Blur 4 ( 5 ) PASS THE VIBES Definition Of Sound 5 ( 15 ) UP ON THE ROOF/ I BELIEVE Robson Jerome 6 ( 6 ) MISSING (TODD TERRY REMIX) Everything But The Girl 7 ( 3 ) WONDERWALL Oasis 8 ( NEW ) WE’VE GOT TO WORK IT OUT Bel Canto 9 ( 10 ) PERFECT PJ & Duncan 10 ( NEW ) CHILD STAR Marc Almond 11 ( 8 ) GOLD Prince 12 ( 9 ) LUCKY LOVE Ace Of Base 13 ( 12 ) IT’S OH SO QUIET Bjork 14 ( 7 ) CRAZY HORSES (UTAH SAINTS REMIX) The Osmonds 15 ( 19 ) DISCO 2000 Pulp 16 ( 13 ) ANYWHERE IS Enya 17 ( NEW ) YOU MAKE ME FEEL (LIKE A NATURAL WOMAN) Mary J. Blige 18 ( 31 ) FINGERS AND THUMBS (COLD SUMMER’S DAY) Erasure 19 ( 22 ) I WISH Skee-Lo 20 ( 11 ) WISHES OF HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY Sacred Spirit 21 ( 18 ) SHOW ME HEAVEN Tina Arena 22 ( 40 ) MISS SARAJEVO The Passengers 23 ( 25 ) ALRIGHT Cast 24 ( 74 ) HAD TO BE Cliff Richard & Olivia Newton-John 25 ( 14 ) THEME FROM “PEOPLE’S CENTURY” Zbignieuw Preisner 26 ( 24 ) HE’S ON THE PHONE Saint Etienne 27 ( 21 ) GANGSTA’S PARADISE Coolio featuring LV 28 ( 23 ) YOU’LL SEE Madonna 29 ( 16 ) SOMETHING SO RIGHT Annie Lennox featuring Paul Simon 30 ( 50 ) MIGHT BE STARS The Wannadies 31 ( 17 ) GOLDENEYE Tina Turner 32 ( NEW ) HELLO HELLO (I’M BACK AGAIN) Gary Glitter 33 ( 20 ) UNTIL MY DYING DAY UB40 34 ( NEW ) LIFTED The Lighthouse Family 35 ( NEW ) IF EYE LOVE U TONIGHT Mayte 36 ( 49 ) LIE TO ME Bon Jovi 37 ( 41 ) MISLED Celine Dion 38 ( 28 ) HAND IN MY POCKET Alanis Morissette 39 ( 30 ) FANTASY Mariah Carey 40 ( 42 ) REMEMBERING THE FIRST TIME Simply Red 41 ( 26 ) ITCHYCOO PARK M People 42 ( 27 ) HAPPINESS Pizzaman featuring Norman Cook 43 ( 38 ) KELLY’S HEROES Black Grape 44 ( 34 ) STAYIN’ ALIVE N’Trance 45 ( 36 ) FAIRGROUND Simply Red 46 ( 33 ) I’D LIE FOR YOU (AND THAT’S THE TRUTH) Meat Loaf 47 ( NEW ) WHATEVER Oasis 48 ( 60 ) BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (REMIX) Janet Jackson & Luther vandross 49 ( NEW ) SHE’S ALL ON MY MIND Wet Wet Wet 50 ( 37 ) WHEN LOVE AND HATE COLLIDE Def Leppard 51 ( 39 ) SOMETHING STUPID Ali & Kibibi Campbell 52 ( 32 ) HUNGRY HEART Bruce Springsteen 53 ( RE ) SENTIMENTAL Deborah Cox 54 ( NEW ) MAKING LOVE (OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL) Bonnie Tyler 55 ( 48 ) WATERFALLS TLC 56 ( 51 ) A CHANGE IS GONNA COME/A KIND OF CHRISTMAS CARD Morten Harket 57 ( NEW ) RESPECT YOURSELF Robert Palmer 58 ( 64 ) WONDERWALL The Mike Flowers Pops 59 ( 29 ) DIGGIN’ ON YOU TLC 60 ( 65 ) FATHER AND SON Boyzone 61 ( 56 ) I FEEL LOVE ’95 Donna Summer 62 ( 35 ) THE LOOK ’95 Roxette 63 ( NEW ) ONE SWEET DAY Mariah Carey & BoyzIIMen 64 ( 63 ) DANCING QUEEN/EAGLE Abba 65 ( 68 ) COME TOGETHER The Smokin’ Mojo Filters featuring Paul Weller 66 ( 72 ) QUEER Garbage 67 ( 66 ) YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING The Righteous Brothers 68 ( 59 ) CAN I TOUCH YOU...THERE Michael Bolton 69 ( 54 ) WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue 70 ( NEW ) SLEEPING IN Menswear 71 ( 46 ) SCREAM Janet Jackson & Michael Jackson 72 ( 52 ) RUNAWAY/WHEN I THINK OF YOU (REMIX) Janet Jackson 73 ( 71 ) NO MORE ‘I LOVE YOU’S Annie Lennox 74 ( NEW ) BOY RACER Morrissey 75 ( NEW ) I AM BLESSED Eternal playlist of the week 1 7 Prince 2 PANINARO Pet Shop Boys 3 CAN’T BUY ME LOVE The Beatles

Very low sales! Presumably down to the mehness of much of the top 10 rather than due to a big economic downturn and singles hitting £1 with inflation in 1980 - cos it certainly wasnt the vibrant music scene that was the problem, it was growing millions unemployed. My memories of this period are more people buying property getting stuck with negative equity for a decade after housing and flats had become the new way to make money rather than to live in. I did like Goodnight Girl though, one of their better ballads from the Wets. The Prodigy was fun, had I been going to Clubs I'd prob have enjoyed it more, but I was mostly busy working for Council Parks Dept. while studying for horticulture qualifications related to the job. For years!

3rd December 1995 It's December and Michael Jackson's Earth Song is still holding off The Beatles "comeback" single, Oasis' Wonderwall and Blur's The Universal for one very epic top 4, while The Beatles next single gets an airing on Anthology and radio, allowing Real Love a quick entry at 76 as it wasnt eligible for the top 75 chart rules of the time. Silly me. Utah Saints meanwhile do a Crazy Horses remix for a 3rd chart run for the 23-year-old classic poprock environmental single. In at 7, as Prince gets a post-squiggle/symbol top 10 with Gold for a 13th year in a row. PJ & Duncan amaze me as they continue to drop decent little (and forgotten) varied singles, Perfect, the latest is up to 10. I must be one of the few people who preferred their pop star career to beloved variety entertainer hosts. Oh, no! I can only apologise as Robson Jerome climb into the top 20 as I do love Up On The Roof, the song, if not their version. But they don't ruin it. Meanwhile Ali Campbell gives his little daughter a brief pop star outing on their version of the Frank & Nancy Sinatra classic, Something Stupid. In at 39, again cos I love the song, a chart-topper for me as it would have done in 1967 when I was a kiddie too. Scream is back for a 3rd chart run of the year, but I'll join them all together for a chart year-end. The Cardigans debut at 47 with Carnival, one I'd forgotten but it's quite pleasant and sets up big hits in the future. David Bowie also drops in with a minor track that rings no bell, Strangers When We Meet - again it's quite pleasant, but wouldn't sound too out of place from Never Let You Down circa 1987. Janet Jackson has another recent entry as well as Scream , as her Luther Vandross smash has been remixed for another big chart run. One would have done on the whole though. Time for some cover versions: Mike Flowers Pops do Oasis, and it's rather fun, taking the piss and truning it into a mock 60's Easy Listening bit of fluff. Amusing.Paul Weller meanwhile tackles John Lennon's popular Beatles classic with some mates, Come Together, new at 68, lower than Boyzone doing Cat Steven's never-a-hit Father And Son for a huge UK smash. I remain less enamoured than most. Down the bottom-end, Garbage, with Scotland's Shirley Mansun on vocals and a Nirvana link behind the scenes turn out to be a great 90's band, but Queer is in at a lowly 72 for now. Van Morrison, meanwhile tends to have lesser hits, if any, in my charts, but he sneaks in at 73 with No Religion, just ahead of a sweet duet between Cliff and Olivia, making it 3 decades of singing get-togethers since Livvie used to turn up on Cliff's TV shows, not to mention have Cliff's old mucker from The Shadows helping with songs for her. Michael Bolton has A Love So Beautiful at 75, covering Roy Orbison's fab ballad from his final album, written by Roy & ELO's Jeff Lynne. I'd stick with the original, but this isn't awful. 1 ( 1 ) EARTH SONG Michael Jackson 2 ( 2 ) FREE AS A BIRD The Beatles 3 ( 3 ) WONDERWALL Oasis 4 ( 5 ) THE UNIVERSAL Blur 5 ( 8 ) PASS THE VIBES Definition Of Sound 6 ( 4 ) MISSING (TODD TERRY REMIX) Everything But The Girl 7 ( NEW ) CRAZY HORSES (UTAH SAINTS REMIX) The Osmonds 8 ( 12 ) GOLD Prince 9 ( 9 ) LUCKY LOVE Ace Of Base 10 ( 20 ) PERFECT PJ & Duncan 11 ( 15 ) WISHES OF HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY Sacred Spirit 12 ( 11 ) IT’S OH SO QUIET Bjork 13 ( 7 ) ANYWHERE IS Enya 14 ( 6 ) THEME FROM “PEOPLE’S CENTURY” Zbignieuw Preisner 15 ( 33 ) UP ON THE ROOF/ I BELIEVE Robson Jerome 16 ( 24 ) SOMETHING SO RIGHT Annie Lennox featuring Paul Simon 17 ( 10 ) GOLDENEYE Tina Turner 18 ( 28 ) SHOW ME HEAVEN Tina Arena 19 ( 21 ) DISCO 2000 Pulp 20 ( 16 ) UNTIL MY DYING DAY UB40 21 ( 14 ) GANGSTA’S PARADISE Coolio featuring LV 22 ( 36 ) I WISH Skee-Lo 23 ( 13 ) YOU’LL SEE Madonna 24 ( 18 ) HE’S ON THE PHONE Saint Etienne 25 ( 25 ) ALRIGHT Cast 26 ( 32 ) ITCHYCOO PARK M People 27 ( 19 ) HAPPINESS Pizzaman featuring Norman Cook 28 ( 26 ) HAND IN MY POCKET Alanis Morissette 29 ( 17 ) DIGGIN’ ON YOU TLC 30 ( 30 ) FANTASY Mariah Carey 31 ( 65 ) FINGERS AND THUMBS (COLD SUMMER’S DAY) Erasure 32 ( 22 ) HUNGRY HEART Bruce Springsteen 33 ( 23 ) I’D LIE FOR YOU (AND THAT’S THE TRUTH) Meat Loaf 34 ( 34 ) STAYIN’ ALIVE N’Trance 35 ( 35 ) THE LOOK ’95 Roxette 36 ( 29 ) FAIRGROUND Simply Red 37 ( 27 ) WHEN LOVE AND HATE COLLIDE Def Leppard 38 ( 69 ) KELLY’S HEROES Black Grape 39 ( NEW ) SOMETHING STUPID Ali & Kibibi Campbell 40 ( 43 ) MISS SARAJEVO The Passengers 41 ( 47 ) MISLED Celine Dion 42 ( 58 ) REMEMBERING THE FIRST TIME Simply Red 43 ( 31 ) EVERYBODY SAY EVERYBODY DO Let Loose 44 ( 39 ) HEAVEN FOR EVERYONE Queen 45 ( 37 ) 2000 MILES (ACOUSTIC) The Pretenders 46 ( NEW ) SCREAM Janet Jackson & Michael Jackson 47 ( NEW ) CARNIVAL The Cardigans 48 ( 48 ) WATERFALLS TLC 49 ( 63 ) LIE TO ME Bon Jovi 50 ( 38 ) MIGHT BE STARS The Wannadies 51 ( 41 ) A CHANGE IS GONNA COME/A KIND OF CHRISTMAS CARD Morten Harket 52 ( 44 ) RUNAWAY/WHEN I THINK OF YOU (REMIX) Janet Jackson 53 ( 46 ) SORTED FOR E’S AND WHIZZ/MISSHAPES Pulp 54 ( 54 ) WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue 55 ( 40 ) ANGEL Jam & Spoon 56 ( 56 ) I FEEL LOVE ’95 Donna Summer 57 ( 42 ) EXHALE (SHOOP SHOOP) Whitney Houston 58 ( NEW ) STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET David Bowie 59 ( 59 ) CAN I TOUCH YOU...THERE Michael Bolton 60 ( NEW ) BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (REMIX) Janet Jackson & Luther vandross 61 ( 50 ) PRETENDERS TO THE THRONE The Beautiful South 62 ( 45 ) WALKING IN MEMPHIS Cher 63 ( 62 ) DANCING QUEEN/EAGLE Abba 64 ( NEW ) WONDERWALL The Mike Flowers Pops 65 ( NEW ) FATHER AND SON Boyzone 66 ( 66 ) YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING The Righteous Brothers 67 ( 64 ) BACK FOR GOOD Take That 68 ( NEW ) COME TOGETHER The Smokin’ Mojo Filters featuring Paul Weller 69 ( 55 ) 74 - ’75 The Connells 70 ( 67 ) HAPPY JUST TO BE WITH YOU Michelle Gayle 71 ( 70 ) NO MORE ‘I LOVE YOU’S Annie Lennox 72 ( NEW ) QUEER Garbage 73 ( NEW ) NO RELIGION Van Morrison 74 ( NEW ) HAD TO BE Cliff Richard & Olivia Newton-John 75 ( NEW ) A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL Michael Bolton 76 ( NEW ) REAL LOVE The Beatles playlist oldies 1 REAL LOVE The Beatles 2 HALLELUJAH Milk & Honey 3 KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU ABBA

19th January 1976 It's 3 weeks on top for Mamma Mia as I technically give Jethro Tull an equal number one, but it really wasn't, nostalgia didnt overhaul my love of Mamma Mia, so Living In The Past peaks at a new high of 2 until its 1993 reissue on CD takes it all the way third time lucky. Another 1969 classic is back out in the wake of Andy Fairweather-Low's big solo hit, and Half As Nice bangs in at 10 having topped my chart first time round. The 1976 music scene starts to establish itself post-Christmas with new entries from The Miracles, finally getting a big hit with Smokey Robinson involved, long-gone solo, on the frantic Love Machine at 12. Meanwhile, the Mike Oldfield double A side single has attention turning to the much better ballad On Horseback, and it gets listed on it's own in my charts away from In Dulce Jubilo, new in at 19. The Sweet drop a new single, The Lies In Your Eyes sounding like a hit record to follow-up Action, but it really wasn't! New at 26 here though, 4 slots above trio Faith, Hope & Charity who tackle an update on The Hollies' Just One Look, and quite good it was too, though I havent heard it in decades (yet). At 35, Donny & Marie go for a 4th chart hit, with a cover of Deep Purple, the Nino Tempo & April Stevens 60's duet - but Ray Stevens had already done a much better uptempo Country-pop cover on his 1975 album which made my top 20, so this version didnt quite have the same impact, though it had the sweet appeal of the original hit version, but the classic song dates back to the 1920's in line with the many other vintage songs in the chart and on the way as 1976 really goes all the way back in a fashion that the UK singles has at the moment thanks to Christmas and the Stranger Things finale. Barry White has his best new single in a year with Let The Music Play in at 43, it's among his best records, though the formula had worn a bit thin on me at the time - but it would come back decades later and top my charts, quite rightly. Finally, Ringo Starr has a belated double A single of two lesser tracks from his last 2 albums - both were US singles, but not released in the UK. No No Song, passed me by, but Oh My My sneaks in at 50. I will find it in a bargain bin later in the year, buy it, and sell it in the early 80's when I was long-term unemployed to a Beatles completist friend of a friend. He gave me £5 so I reckon I made 10 times what I paid. I havent sold a vinyl record since, though, I still regret it, hah! Goes for about £30 these days. 1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA 2 ( 9 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull 3 ( 2 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra 4 ( 3 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir 5 ( 10 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor 6 ( 5 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen 7 ( 4 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake 8 ( 7 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC 9 ( 6 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor 10 ( NEW ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner 11 ( 24 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson 12 ( NEW ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles 13 ( 19 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band 14 ( 8 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie 15 ( 11 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield 16 ( 16 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa 17 ( 17 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces 18 ( 15 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music 19 ( NEW ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield 20 ( 22 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille 21 ( 44 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps 22 ( 23 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell 23 ( 12 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson 24 ( 25 ) WE DO IT R & J Stone 25 ( 13 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom 26 ( NEW ) THE LIES IN YOUR EYES The Sweet 27 ( 42 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon 28 ( 34 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin 29 ( 35 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross 30 ( NEW ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity 31 ( 14 ) VOLARE Al Martino 32 ( 26 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span 33 ( 18 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono 34 ( 20 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood 35 ( NEW ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond 36 ( 31 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe 37 ( 32 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman 38 ( 33 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell 39 ( 50 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer 40 ( 21 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust 41 ( 29 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus 42 ( 30 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes 43 ( NEW ) LET THE MUSIC PLAY Barry White 44 ( 48 ) IF I COULD David Essex 45 ( 27 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard 46 ( 37 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill 47 ( 49 ) TEARS ON THE TELEPHONE Claude Francois 48 ( 28 ) HUMBUG Greg Lake 49 ( 36 ) LADY LUCK Pilot 50 ( NEW ) OH MY MY Ringo Starr

Grace Kelly was a unique-sounding biggie, loved it at the time, it's still fun, and I found myself liking his run of hits, and loving some of the flops even more. Mika is in my current charts as I speak and he has a Radio 2 playlisting, not to mention his Eurovision sparkling moment in Italy the other year, so lasting 2 decades is rather longer than it might have seemed at the time!

The Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra Dexys Midnight Runners And The Emerald Express - Come On Eileen Bucks Fizz - Now Those Days Are Gone Dollar - Videotheque Hot Chocolate - It Started With A Kiss

Well done on the 39's Chris and Jade! 🤩Condolences on the near-miss Rollo! Round 1: 39 Round 2: 39 3 in 10: Walk Like A Man, The Night, December 63 (Oh What A Night)

2 classics there, Bowie had dumped RCA for shiny new EMI and needed to have a mass-appeal album to make them appreciate the money they spent to get him to sign, cur Nile Rodgers, to Chic-up the pumping dance, and Bowie to throw some cash Iggy Pop's way with a co-write on China Girl. The whole album is fab, and commercial. Bowie sometimes viewed them as mutually exclusive, but he's wrong fairly obviously. The video is amazing. Top 5 of the year but behind Police and MJ and Bonnie. Steinman's greatest moment is Total Eclipse, and another amazing video, by 1983 videos were part of the art of the single's appeal. Unusual and Bonnie one of the top UK female acts - not that many of them in those days pre-Madonna - and I think this might be second to MJ for me, though it's neck and neck with Police.

12th January 1976 It's 2 weeks on top for ABBA as I decided to have another joint number one with Evil Woman (ELO's 3rd, after 10538 Overture and Showdown) but as ties not allowed in these charts I'm going with the order they were put in my chart and ABBA I bought, ELO I didnt, so it really would be a number 2, albeit classic one and one of their greatest records. Duran Duran did a great Halloween version the other year, 2024, I think. Jethro Tull hit my top 3 in 1969, and are back already 7 years on for a second chart go at 9. Gloria Gaynor meanwhile is on her 3rd top 10 as the number of decades-old songs is set to shoot up this year. Osibisa had been around a few years, and finally grabbed a UK hit with the sweetly-sorta-sad Sunshine Day done in their sorta-African-beats/Caribbean vibes new at 16. Debuting at 24, Barbara Dickson is set to become part of the UK variety show and Musical and live show furniture ever since, with her Frankie Laine cover, way better than the original, it has a lightness and melodic sad appeal that Frankie lacked. Paul Simon had been shooting blanks as far as the UK charts were concerned, though he invariable charts for me, but 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover got him another minor UK hit, it's better than the chart positions might suggest though, it's still a great record. Baby Face was from the 30's I think, and ever-covered since then from the likes of Little Richard, but the Wing & A Prayer lot gave it a disco make-over which appealed to me at the time, new at 44, though I may have over-rated it a bit as the song had been around since I was a kid in terms of awareness. David Essex changes tack on the very low-key ballad If I Could, my least-fave single to date, though it was setting the stage for his future hits I guess, as a more MOR and less slightly-cutting edge teen-appealing star. French singer Claude Francois pops in with Tears On The Telephone - I think that'd be a Terry Wogan Radio 2 fave of the time, as it's not a radio 1 track that I recall, but I liked it a bit, and the accent. Finally, Donna Summer, American but based in Germany, makes her first chart with the banned heavy-breathing slow-disco naughty track. This one I did get to hear on Radio Luxembourg though, at least, and it caught on in Europe a while before the UK succumbed to Love To Love You Baby. 1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA 2 ( 7 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra 3 ( 3 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir 4 ( 2 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake 5 ( 4 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen 6 ( 6 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor 7 ( 5 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC 8 ( 8 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie 9 ( NEW ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull 10 ( 13 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor 11 ( 9 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield 12 ( 11 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson 13 ( 10 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom 14 ( 17 ) VOLARE Al Martino 15 ( 12 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music 16 ( NEW ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa 17 ( 15 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces 18 ( 21 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono 19 ( 20 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band 20 ( 16 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood 21 ( 25 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust 22 ( 26 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille 23 ( 27 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell 24 ( NEW ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson 25 ( 43 ) WE DO IT R & J Stone 26 ( 24 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span 27 ( 19 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard 28 ( 31 ) HUMBUG Greg Lake 29 ( 14 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus 30 ( 22 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes 31 ( 28 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe 32 ( 29 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman 33 ( 30 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell 34 ( 47 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin 35 ( 46 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross 36 ( 23 ) LADY LUCK Pilot 37 ( 18 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill 38 ( 42 ) LADY Supertramp 39 ( 37 ) LYIN’ EYES The Eagles 40 ( 38 ) ROCKY Austin Roberts 41 ( 32 ) BLUE MOON The Marcels 42 ( NEW ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon 43 ( 48 ) BREAKAWAY Art Garfunkel 44 ( NEW ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps 45 ( 36 ) RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM Maxine Nightingale 46 ( 35 ) LET’S TWIST AGAIN John Asher 47 ( 39 ) IMAGINE John Lennon 48 ( NEW ) IF I COULD David Essex 49 ( NEW ) TEARS ON THE TELEPHONE Claude Francois 50 ( NEW ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

The Look Of Love, as good as Poison Arrow and topped my charts that year to boot, classic pop music, and Trevor Horn doing everything right 10/10. Hungry Like The Wolf, oddly, I've never been that fussed about - seen 'em do it live and it still doesn't move me, for example Union Of The Snake sounds better to me, but those travelog videos did the job for Rio era I suppose and it's not bad as such 7/10. Forget Me Nots, a classic 80's souldance track, and spruces up any number of tracks since. 8/10. The Meaning Of Love seemed a bit ordinary to me, jolliness notwithstanding, not that memorable and I doubt Ive heard it in 40 years, except one play amongst the Greatest Hits CD 7/10. Iron Maiden were hitting their peak with The Number Of The Beast. But not with me. 5/10. Island Of Lost Souls was an oddity lead single, obviously a contract album project with little life to it, but this single was quite catchy and upbeat but an odd choice 8/10. Club Country not quite on a par with Party FT but it made all the right noises for me 9/10. Junior was great, the Brit-soul acts were proving as good as the US at times from the 70's onwards, and Mama Used To Say is a goodie 8/10. Nicole was endearing at Eurovision, and the well-meaning song a little naive but never out of date sentiment, 7/10. Fantasy Island is pure Abba-tastic cheese-pop, but it's quality cheese, their best record and what a hook, and serves the producers right they bombed after sacking the girls. 9/10. Suspicious Minds, classic song, classic Elvis, Candi's great, but it's not as good as one might hope it might be 6/10. I Specialise In Love, one of those "not heard it since it left the chart" tracks but I recall it being pleasant enough, and not much more than that. 6/10. Stay ditto, except I never liked it, 3/10. Footie songs and Chas n Dave, a combo made in hell 2/10. I literally have no memory whatsoever of the Stutzbear Cats, was it even on TOTP!?

Robbies' second-biggest selling and still that low down! Love Road To Mandalay.

Shine has weathered well, it sounds better than Patience - which was really the one that had the "warm cuddly to have them back with a good single" vibe to it, Shine was the one that made it clear they could do better than Version 1, even if I was under-whelmed at the time as it wasnt as good as Mark's Four Minute Warning which remains a highlight for me. That build is amazing though, as I tend to blank out adverts or fast forward when possible that Morrisons ad passed me by completely!

Down Under is fab, a number one for me as was Every Breath You Take, both classics. Men At Work I went to see in Nottingham in 1983/4 and they were fun, but Down Under is their gem no question. It's struck a nerve due to the number of Aussies abroad roaming the world and ending up in London - which had been a pop music tradition since the 60's for anyone wanting global success! Top 5 for me. Every Breath You Take is my number 2 so far, stark but moving and immacculately created, shame about the court case but I tend to go with the U2 band attitude - if you contribute to the success of a song via drum and bass bits you come up with, it's only democratic to get a writers credit. That might not be necessary where one person hires in talent (though I think morally they should for anything new they add to a finished product) but a band is a group. Shame about Down Under too, it would have been cheaper just to credit the original song and everyone gains and you avoid stress. That does seem to be a lesson the pop biz has learned these days, just be upfront with the credits!

Thanks Wardy, I would have enjoyed this one, but I'm shooting off Down Under for February lots to sort before I go, including paperwork applications still not sorted! So I doubt I will get the time to listen and vote 😟The next one for sure though! Pity, as I have a fave obscurity from 1970 that would def come last 😄I will save it for the next one that it fits the theme for 🙂I will pop in with interest though and kudos for any I love and know!

5th January 1976 It's a new year, I turn 18 years old, and I get a 2 brand new notepads to put my personal charts and the BBC charts into. I also change my chart rules to allow B sides right after I buy a few ex-chart singles to go along with my full-price purchases and face myself with a real dilemma as 4 massive classic records all collide at the same time. I'm not going all hyperbole here, 50 years later 2 of them have made the top 75 again, Mamma Mia is a film, show and regular charter and Greg Lake is usually hovering in and around the top 100 each Christmas. My solution? Give them all a number one slot and continue the charts for the rest at 2,3 and so on. So anyway, the full Christmas top 50 was published in Record Mirror and Happy Xmas War Is Over had made the chart, after hitting the breakers in 1974, so qualifies for a new entry for a 3rd chart run and number one. Being sensible, it just looks wrong having 4 records tie, but happily I was very specific about the order they were listed as equal first, so that's how I'm splitting them up for this chart, and I have had to extend the chart to 53 to include all those I listed at the time. So, ABBA get a 2nd number one in my chart as the video is so fab I try to take black & white photos of it off the telly to develop at school - I had access to the Art darkroom to dabble with my growing hobby as I went back to Art after having to drop it in 1972 - not my choice! Screenprints and photography was my delight, and that would filter through to my Uni course in 1977. Mamma Mia is an amazing pop record, even more famous and beloved than it was at the time - I was besotted with it, and would have had my mind blown had ABBA's hologram live/digital show been decsribed to me at the time, it would have seemed like pure magic. This means that Greg Lake, the greatest christmas song of all time stays at 2, and the 2nd-greatest enters at 3 for John & Yoko, while the most-popular recording of all-time with the general public is down to 4 from 1. Additionally, their B sides all enter: Yoko Ono's sweet Listen The Snow Is Falling is at 21, 5 years ahead of her starkly brilliant solo number one, and ABBA's Tropical Loveland is at 33, off the fab ABBA album and their 8th chart entry not including Sweet Dreams' cover of Honey Honey. Greg Lake's Humbug comments additionally on the over-commerciality of the Festive season at 31, and Queen's raucous I'm In Love With My Guitar is at 53, with A Night At The Opera easily becoming Queen's best album to date (and ever). Elsewhere, Mike Oldfield gets a third top 10 with In Dulce Jubilo at 9, Gloria Gaynor covers a standard croon song from way back pumping disco stylee, How High The Moon should have been a bigger hit and new at 13, while Al Martino's version of the Eurovision classic starts to chase the Rock Bottom cover, 17 vs 10 for Volare. Glen Campbell's follow-up to his comeback hits in the US and in my chart, albeit not the UK, Country Boy at 27, with re-entries for some tracks I had just bought, Lyin' Eyes back at 37 while the arguably better B side James Dean is new 52 for The Eagles. Austin Roberts' Rocky is back at 38. Much like modern charts where there is a christmas clear-out in the New Year, my charts were already doing that with rebounds for Supertramp at a new peak 42, R & J Stone at 43, and Diana Ross had been getting Radio 1 airplay with her film ballad theme, Mahogany new at 46 for a 9th consecutive year of chart hits. Ex-Temptations-legend David Ruffin follows Eddie Kendricks into the chart with his fabulous Motown soul track Walk Away From Love, in at 47, and Art Garfunkel debuts a Gallagher & Lyle song Breakaway, not a hit for Art nor for Gallagher & Lyle still unable to grab that elusive chart success. Number 48 while a John Miles B side, There's A Man Behind The Guitar, creeps in at 50, just behind the fab A side. 1 ( 3 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA 2 ( 2 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake 3 ( NEW ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir 4 ( 1 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen 5 ( 6 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC 6 ( 5 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor 7 ( 4 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra 8 ( 7 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie 9 ( 22 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield 10 ( 8 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom 11 ( 18 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson 12 ( 13 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music 13 ( NEW ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor 14 ( 14 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus 15 ( 9 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces 16 ( 10 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood 17 ( NEW ) VOLARE Al Martino 18 ( 11 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill 19 ( 29 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard 20 ( 17 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band 21 ( NEW ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono 22 ( 33 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes 23 ( 15 ) LADY LUCK Pilot 24 ( 23 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span 25 ( 32 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust 26 ( 31 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille 27 ( NEW ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell 28 ( 25 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe 29 ( 26 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman 30 ( 27 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell 31 ( NEW ) HUMBUG Greg Lake 32 ( 16 ) BLUE MOON The Marcels 33 ( NEW ) TROPICAL LOVELAND ABBA 34 ( 12 ) IT’S GONNA BE A COLD, COLD CHRISTMAS Dana 35 ( 21 ) LET’S TWIST AGAIN John Asher 36 ( 24 ) RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM Maxine Nightingale 37 ( RE ) LYIN’ EYES The Eagles 38 ( RE ) ROCKY Austin Roberts 39 ( 36 ) IMAGINE John Lennon 40 ( 19 ) STEP INTO CHRISTMAS Elton John 41 ( 20 ) MAKE A DAFT NOISE FOR CHRISTMAS The Goodies 42 ( RE ) LADY Supertramp 43 ( RE ) WE DO IT R & J Stone 44 ( 37 ) SPACE ODDITY David Bowie 45 ( 35 ) SKY HIGH Jigsaw 46 ( NEW ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross 47 ( NEW ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin 48 ( NEW ) BREAKAWAY Art Garfunkel 49 ( 43 ) HIGH FLY John Miles 50 ( NEW ) THERE’S A MAN BEHIND THE GUITAR John Miles 51 ( 44 ) NEW YORK GROOVE Hello 52 ( NEW ) JAMES DEAN The Eagles 53 ( NEW ) I’M IN LOVE WITH MY GUITAR Queen