Popchartfreak

hah! certainly is...!

That was a Bruno blip for me in a run of great singles - and that this topped the chart when the uplifting and wonderful Marry You didn't is just annoying. I mean it's jolly, and retro, but it's no Grenade. Peak of 29 in my charts sounds more reasonable. The Military Wives I havent heard since it left the charts, and it's quite pleasant, nicely done but I didnt bother to chart it - oddly, as an RAF child my dad was a year in Aden when that was a tough posting and we lived in a one bed flat/shared toilet/bathroom in Liverpool as a working one-parent 2 kid family so you might think I'd support the intent (I did) but the sentimentality not so much - in that situation you are too busy dealing with day to day life to dwell too much on what you don't have at that time.

I was very happy Billy finally had a number one, but... I bought his 1974 powerpop tour de force under the band name Scorched Earth, and loved that, On The Run really should have been a hit but Radio 1 didnt pick up on it, Luxembourg did though at least. Or Love Really Hurts, Red Light, Caribbean Queen all worthy of a top spot place. This was a more formulaic track that was fine, plugged a fun film, and was catchy enough without being annoying - but isn't one I ever dig out to play as it never seems to have gone away ever. Saw him at Upton Country Park about a decade ago, that's a 5 minute walk from my house, and to beat the rush I left on the final song of the encore as I wasnt that fussed, I could still hear it walking down the road. This one. He didnt do this one sadly:

one away from the full marks all round yesterday, so close! oh so so hot Monday I used to love hot weather but not now! cinema to escape it (Spielberg and lovely lovely Vue aircon) and a pub quiz (lost). Up late today too eek but just in time for Ken. round 1: 39 round 2: 39 3 in 10: Sun Goes Down, Something About You and then I panicked as contestant nicked one before me 😄

I Am A Rock is a good Simon & Garfunkel track, but never one of my faves of theirs, James Brown's Man's Man's World is prob my fave of his, unlike most people I actually enjoy his emotional ballads more than the funk beats, bar one or two of them. The lyrics may not have aged well but that doesnt mean they are bad as such, and Brilliant's 80's more-uptempo cover with a detached female vocal gave it a great spin. AKA Youth/Killing Joke, KLF and Stock Aitken Waterman before they broke big (either inside the band or backscenes or writing/producing). Lana is sweet, but not peak Roy by any stretch. PJ Proby's is not one I know much, though I have heard it before. It's not too bad as a big ballad, though the lyrics are unfortunate given his more recent comments that got him firmly cancelled. Lady Jane is utterly period, and that period is 1965-7, so I get quite a nostalgic vibe from it without actually associating it with any memories of that time. Nice. Sitting On A Fence is liable to give you splinters and this sounds a bit like a demo for the later better She's A Rainbow, and another that is pure 1966. So, it's Paperback Writer, which always takes me back to The South Bank Show TV theme and charting again in 1976, and my least-fave Beatles single to date despite the great riff, or it's 1972's top 10 hitting and personal-chart-topping Chiffons' Sweet Talking Guy. Sweet Talking Guy, I absolutely love it, and it's not even close.

Hated Eastenders sorry Rollo (!), melodramatic, and all that shouty shouty arguing really rubbed me the wrong way. Corrie OTOH had wit, better scripts and acting, and if someone had attached threatening electrodes to my open eyelids and forced me to choose between the two for a 12-hour binge sesh, it would have been Coronation Street every time. So sadly this cast-off also rubbed me the wrong way, too - tho I can sing it now, Ev'ri LOOza wiiiins, ev'ri blah blah blah, blahblahblah blah blah. So it at least had a mildly memorable melody and ranks above The Chicken Song for me 😄

2 goodies, both 70's based - OMD totally nicking the Glam Rock Beat from Mr Unmentionable, and The O'Jays getting another cover hit without ever getting one themselves with Now That We've Found Love. Robbed! Still love the Third World cover though.

I get more satisfaction from consistency acts making the list than those with one big hit, so great to see The Shamen, Tina T, in there and to a lesser extent D:Ream

And for a topical ref today, The Jam have been played on the radio: Heat Surrender!

topical though 😄and can be taken as a Retro reference to 1978 hit Car 67 by Driver 67. maybe that needs to become a Tik Tok meme before kids get banned from it....

Thriller is a masterpiece and it charted far too low for 2 reasons: everyone (like me) had bought the album and that version was better than the single version, and the ground-breaking video got delayed and delayed from debuting, and when it did it was only on late-night TV so kids missed out. 10/10 annual chart visits overplays notwithstanding. On paper I should love Never Never, but I never never did. A bit too under-stated maybe 6/10. Paul's cover of the mini-classic reggae hit was nicely very different and the contribution of the Fabulous Wealthy Tarts on TOTP should not be under-estimated 9/10. Synchronicity II not remotely commercial and their first lower-chartin single, but still excellent though not heard it in years and years, my memory is "exciting": 8/10. Right By Your Side was unusually upbeat for Eurythmics, but not one of my faves from them 7/10. Undercover Of The Night the last excellent single from The Rolling Stones until Ghost Town, ignoring reissues and remixes. 8/10. Oblivious is a minor forgotten little gem 8/10. A Solid Bond In Your Heart, solid effort, but not top-notch Style Council 7/10. Calling Your Name is pleasant enough but the Monroe visuals made it bigger than it deserved 7/10. ABC's new musical direction, less strings and polish and romance, didn't really gel without Trevor Horn, but still good 7/10. Sun And The Rain not Madness' best single, they still have one more diamond to come though 7/10. Guns For Hire I have no memory of, as per usual for post-Bon Scott AC/DC formulaic singles. Musical Youth tackle the first reggae hit (if we don't call My Boy Lollipop ska) so it was nice for Desmond Dekker getting a call back 6/10. Only For Love better than the Kaja singles, but nothing that special 7/10. Cry Just A Little Bit one of Shaky's best singles, a pretty decent song as a non-cover 7/10. Lick It Up I vaguely recall not liking but not much more than that, as per usual for Kiss' brand of bland Glam Rock. Quo chucking out formulaic covers by this time, and if one was going to cover Elvis there are about 50 better songs to choose from 4/10.

ooh yes 39's all round well done 🤩 round 1: 30 doorbell ringing for last 2 questions oops. round 2: 33 Del Amitri always catch me out 3 in 10: Sweet Child O Mine, paradise City, Since I Dont Have You

Proper dance banger this one and still sounds good, Example seemed to be set for long success like Calvin or Guetta (my fave track was Example's collab with Pet Shop Boys) and then it all fizzled out sadly. I'd have this higher up the list I expect. That said the lower-peaking Nicole and Coldplay singles are even better than this track.

22nd June 1976 It's the long hot summer still ongoing, the ladybird invasion swarming over anything yellow such as my school bag and the school bus, and rain being a thing of the distant past, and on top of my charts it's Peter Frampton's Show Me The Way, 8 years on from his hits with The Herd. I got to see Peter as part of David Bowie's band on his Glass Spider Tour around 1987. Maureen McGovern meanwhile climbs to 2, a position she would have made had I allowed non-UK-Top-30 singles into my 1973 charts courtesy of The Poseidon Adventure movie's Morning After, Bryan Ferry leaps to 4 with Let's Stick Together, his highest solo single peak since A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall, and equals Roxy's All I Want Is You. The highest new entry is the latest Beatles single taken from the White and the Blue albums, but mainly to promote a one-off compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music issued that summer and never to be issued again in any form. The USA got the great Got To Get You Into My Life as the hit A side, and the UK got Back In The USSR, a right old romp and fun Beach Boys parody. New in at 6 - for one week only as my Beatles Chart will be starting again next week to cover this and other tracks such as Twist And Shout (the B side to USSR is new in at 46). Meanwhile The Surprise Sisters follow-up Sideshow with their version of The Beatles Got To Get You Into My Life at 36. The Beatles version is still the definitive. Talking of The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations is up to 21 while B side Wouldn't It Be Nice debuts at 47. It will return in future years when it gets it's own A side status in the UK. Thin Lizzy get a first-ever top 10 as The Boys Are Back In Town leaps to 7, and Lee Garrett ditto up to 10 with his under-rated You're My Everything soul-disco goodie. Candi Staton is up to 12, The Real Thing to 14, T. Rex to 18 for 3 climbing classics and a debut for Queen with the next-best track off A Night At The Opera - though there were other options that could have been pushed too - You're My Best Friend new at 19. In the oldies arena, Hold Your Head Up gives Argent a 3rd chart run at 41, starting with 1971, then 1972 when it was a single edit, and Jonathan King bungs out his Loop Di Love for a 1972 chart-topper for me returning at 42. Actual new records debuting come from the fabulous Moonlight Feels Right, as seen in a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie more recently, and appropriately given the band is named Starbuck and the main character is called Star Lord. New at 43 and criminally never a UK hit, unlike the USA, while we had the lovely You Are My Love from Liverpool Express at 44 hitting instead. Finally, The Steve Miller Band follow-up The Joker two years on with the catchy Take The Money And Run - also not a UK hit as per The Joker. They will get their eventually, though! 1 ( 2 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton 2 ( 6 ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern 3 ( 3 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton 4 ( 17 ) LET'S STICK TOGETHER Bryan Ferry 5 ( 5 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud 6 ( NEW ) BACK IN THE U.S.S.R. The Beatles 7 ( 23 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy 8 ( 1 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las 9 ( 4 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde 10 ( 26 ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett 11 ( 9 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers 12 ( 27 ) YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE Candi Staton 13 ( 18 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King 14 ( 21 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing 15 ( 19 ) THE WANDERER Dion 16 ( 10 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore 17 ( 11 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection 18 ( 40 ) I LOVE TO BOOGIE T. Rex 19 ( NEW ) YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND Queen 20 ( 12 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings 21 ( 31 ) GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys 22 ( 44 ) DANCIN' KID Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes 23 ( 13 ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra 24 ( 16 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross 25 ( 33 ) FOREVER AND EVER Demis Roussos 26 ( 35 ) SHOTGUN WEDDING Roy C 27 ( 45 ) LOVE STEALER Hello 28 ( 39 ) COULD IT BE MAGIC Donna Summer 29 ( 32 ) IT'LL BE ME BABE The Shadows 30 ( 20 ) FERNANDO ABBA 31 ( 24 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells 32 ( 22 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt 33 ( 28 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle 34 ( 42 ) C'MON MARIANNE Donny Osmond 35 ( 48 ) YOU JUST MIGHT SEE ME CRY Our Kid 36 ( NEW ) GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE The Surprise Sisters 37 ( 29 ) GLAD I WAITED FOR YOU Nancy Ryan 38 ( 38 ) DAWN Flintlock 39 ( 7 ) MONKEY SPANNER Dave, and Ansel Collins 40 ( 8 ) JOHNNY REGGAE The Piglets 41 ( NEW ) HOLD YOUR HEAD UP Argent 42 ( NEW ) LOOP DI LOVE Shag aka Jonathan King 43 ( NEW ) MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT Starbuck 44 ( NEW ) YOU ARE MY LOVE Liverpool Express 45 ( 14 ) DOUBLE BARREL Dave, and Ansel Collins 46 ( NEW ) TWIST AND SHOUT The Beatles 47 ( NEW ) WOULDN'T IT BE NICE The Beach Boys 48 ( 41 ) LITTLE PIECE OF LEATHER Donnie Elbert 49 ( 34 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc 50 ( NEW ) TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN The Steve Miller Band

well I can vouch for the Spanish liking to party in clubs at that time and earlier - as not in any way an outgoing party person, I enjoyed being there and soaking up the party vibes without having to be off my head 😄sadly I feel embarrassed to do that now, being so old. Plus I get annoyed when they play all the wrong records as opposed to dance bangers I like instead, current or old. I always think I could do a better job! I still stand outside to see what they are playing (it's open front in Gran Canaria so you can see and hear) out of curiosity, but 5 minutes is enough....😇

Edge Of Heaven was an EP I think (limited edition double pack on top of the single version) so that will have helped with sales, and track Where Did Your Heart Go more of a solo record really. I still like it a lot and the naughty lyrics an odd farewell choice, but it's not quite up to I'm Your Man in the Motown pastiche style, but better than Freedom and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. Wham! only really did the 4 singles in that vein and this one had a bit more edge than the singalong Go Go and Freedom, for me, as the excitement levels are notched up, so likely this would rate a bit higher if I could remember what hasnt come up yet - just checked and oh yes indeed still some real pet hates to come, and a bunch I'd place lower oops! 😄

21 1 20 12 TO 12 - sombr 786100 sombr's biggest to date for me, and the track that converted me over, I'd just assumed he was a morose teen-aimed star before this, but this has an insistent rhythm and he's doing something different from the 2 ballads that got him noticed.

22 2 20 MYSTICAL MAGICAL - Benson Boone 785400 Benson was huge in 2025, but this is the single that broke big for me, great song, and great to see an upbeat pop song can still become a hit, and love the hook in the upper register, no-one else is doing that much these days.

23 1 19 THE SUBWAY - Chappell Roan 782450 A one-off single and the last new thing to date she's done, but what a gorgeous melody and heart-breaking lyric. Amazing, Chappell's second of the year, and the Cousin Itt impression in the video is welcome too.

24 2 21 CONTROL OF ME - Topic x Daecolm 778200 Irresistable Afro-beats on this one, took a while to hook into my brain but it's quite the ear-worm, and Daecolm's vocal is just dreamy. Love it.

25 1 16 IT'S A SIN (BRYCE MILLER MONSTER MIX) - Pet Shop Boys 744900 First number one to fall, and another cheat - it's really 1987, but this completely different orchestral version for a TV series theme isnt at all like the pounding electrobeats of the original. Dramatic and fab in its own right, so listed under 2025 and the second version for PSB to top my chart in.

26 5 20 UNCONDITIONAL - JADE 681550 Jade's 3rd and best on the list, love the switching from sweet pinging discopop to thrashing guitar and back again.

27 3 20 BACK TO FRIENDS - sombr 675150 Break-out new male Indie-pop-star in 2025, sombr has the knack for great singles with the sort of sound that doesn't usually cross-over.

28 4 22 TIME WILL TELL - Celeste 667450 Celeste has made my top 100 before, and this heart-felt ballad is pure class and emotion. Great vocal and utterly lovely.

29 3 20 ZOMBIE LADY - Damiano David featuring Dove Cameron 656100 Just when you think Damiano has done with his listings - he hasn't. Zombie Lady is best of all and his 4th in the top 104.