Popchartfreak

Thanks Rollo, and I tried to get tickets before Ticketbast*rd sent prices into the stratosphere as I've never seen ELO live, but no luck. Seen Roy 2 or 3 times, and seen The ELO Experience 2 or 3 times, both are fab, so I will have to make do, tch. It would be great if the 3 of them could get together and do California Man as a goodbye, along with 10538!!

Going Underground was a number one for me right off the bat, so a 10/10 for that. Dreams Of Children got zero airplay and I played it maybe once or twice, so cant really give it a mark, but G.U. was major exciting, carrying on where Eton Rifles left off. King was good, but again it was Food For Thought that grabbed most of the radio plays, 8 and 9 respectively, and UB40 were highly relevant to the music scene of the early 80's. Geno another 10/10 from me, topped my chart and bought it, I'd also bought Dance Stance in the bargain bin and played that one heavily around this time. No-One Driving wasnt as good as Underpants, but enough for a 7/10 from me, while BA Robertson's witty lyrics and catchy tunes always tickled my pleasure centres, and Kool In The Kaftan was no exception, loved the 60's hippie references 9/10. The single came with a very odd-shaped picture sleeve. Bear Cage was OK but it was no Nice N Sleazy or Walk On By, or even Duchess. 4/10. Secret Affair are under-rated, their horn-led mini-anthems sound great, especially My World, 9/10. They fill the mod gap in between Scott Walker and Teardrop Explodes I thought. Sad Cafe I think is My Oh My, which followed Strange Little Girl and was a bigger hit, but it was a bit of a schizophrenic track for me, I liked bits of it, but other bits not as much. 7/10. Bad Manners were extremely silly and for a laugh and a great night out, I saw them in 1981 and they were fab. I LOVE Ne Ne Na Na, right up my street in terms of humour and energy. Buster Bloodvessel the hardest-working frontman in music at that time! 9/10. Play very loud. January February is a well-produced likeable comeback for the 1976 Answer Me hitmaker, and it's an Alan Tarney song/production so of course it is - see Cliff, Take On Me etc. 8/10. Let's Do Rock Steady was fine, catchy ska and they name-check each other, 7/10. Leon haywood's hit was OK, it wasn't bad, it wasn't that memorable, sort of an inbetweenie 6/10. My room-mate was into Judas Priest in 1977/78 so I was regularly tortured by their albums. They had one good track and that track was Diamonds & Rust, a cover. I disliked everything else they ever did, but this was as close to tolerable as they got 4/10. Sexy Eyes was formulaic. Pleasant but unexciting 5/10.

1 (59) WHY CAN'T WE LIVE TOGETHER - Timmy Thomas A hit in the UK in 1973, this slinky, gorgeous, moving soul track remains powerful. Timmy Thomas was essentially a one-hit wonder who had some other decent soul tracks that just didn't resonate in the same way that this ode and plea to people getting along that fit into the era beautifully, and makes the second classic soul track in the top 10 to do that, but this one is more reflective, and minimal, with the striking organ sounds underpinning Timmy's passionate vocal. Another one I loved that peaked at 2 in my charts of the time, by 1990 I was well into regarding it as a major soul classic and bought it on CD along with a fabulous remix, which incorporated Martin Luthor King Jnr's I Have A Dream speech into the record, and which topped my charts for 4 weeks that year. The original is still the best, but sadly the single remix is not available anywhere except in my CD collection, I presume for copyright reasons on the MLK speech - frankly I would have thought that was part of history now and copyright free 55 years after his brutal murder - but it definitely underlined the message in the song even more. Alternative added bits are available online but they just aren't the same. There are, however, loads of other remixes, not to mention the sample borrowed by Drake, speeded up, and autotuned all over on Hotline Bling, a huge hit in 2016. I will stick with Timmy thanks, or maybe Sade's pretty good version of it on Diamond Life. I do, though, think that is fairly representative of the difference between the 70's and the 2010's and 20's - nick a song that means something as a hook to rich popstars moaning about their relationship problems. Me me me.

2 (2) SWEET TALKING GUY - The Chiffons 1966, so what's it doing here?! Well, 1966 is a fabulous year that I've never compiled a Best Of list for so until I do, pre-1967 tracks get moved to the year were hits again in. In the case of Sweet Talking Guy it was way bigger in 1972, going top 5, as the 60's girl-group sound was still popular in Northern Soul fandom, radio oldies and at school with girls. I went mad on the tune and multiple harmonies going on, short, sweet and fabulous. I recently caught up with my cousin Yvonne who was also a fan of this one at the time, same age as me, and she also liked Don't Let Him Touch You a modern girl-group take on the genre by The Angelettes which is rated 186th. This topped my charts for 3 weeks and remains a fave. The Chiffons have more-famous hits like One Fine Day and My Sweet Lord - oops I mean He's So Fine - but this one is still my favourite, it gets into your brain it's so catchy, but has never worn out it's welcome. The Chiffons had a brief career straight from school to stars, and then as the hits dried up after 1966 they moved back into the normal working world, but left a small collection of tracks that are still remembered. In my list they were second-fave of the year....and still are 50 years later. Always the bridesmaids....

3 (74) LOOKIN' THROUGH THE WINDOWS - The Jackson 5 Like the Carpenters, The Jackson 5 had been faves for 2 years, including Michael's solo output during 1972 (see number 12, with The Jackson 5's follow-up cover of Doctor My Eyes at 149), but the group seemed to have been struggling while young Michael got all the attention until this Motown gem came out late in the year. They even flew over to the UK to appear on Top Of The Pops singing this, and Michael's Ben. Clifton David wrote this one, he had already written the fabulous Never Can Say Goodbye so he had form, and this got them back in the charts after a series of flops in the UK. This Hal Davis production did the business, though, harmonies, great vocal from Michael, exciting and driving at a rapid tempo, it showed there was still life left in the act - and suddenly the hits dried up for Michael and the band were back for another year in the UK, 2 years in the US. It peaked at 2 in my charts of the time, 74th of the year, but time has been kind and I think it sounds even better with age, and it's very much an under-rated gem.

4 (12) GOODBYE TO LOVE - Carpenters By the summer of '72 I had been loving Richard and Karen for 2 years, the dirty-word to Rock journalists "Easy Listening" made no never-mind to me, I didn't care what their opinions were, I trust my own love of music to spot a classic when I hear it - and this one was a classic. Goodbye To Love outdid previous Carpenters faves with that mix of melancholy, piano, harmonies from Karen multi-tracked with Richard, and that blistering fuzz guitar solo from Tony Peluso, and Richard's last great song as songwriter (with John Bettis). Classy, sounding effortless on lead vocal, Karen was always the at the heart of the band and mood and the appeal. We were blissfully unaware of her mental struggles behind the scenes, which makes the great songs all the greater with the benefit of hindsight. This record topped my charts of the time in Autumn of 1972, and remained a favourite ever since, rising from 12th to 4th, but they also just missed the 1972 countdown at 110 with the very good I Won't Last A Day Without You, and Hurting Each Other at 120. Thing is, 50 years on, they still sound timeless, just as they never really sounded like the trendy sounds of the early 70's, they inhabit their own genre.

5 (65) HELLO IT'S ME - Todd Rundgren I loved this track in early 1974 as I turned 16 and it was climbing the US charts following a rather late release as a single. I'm guessing it wasn't chosen in early 1972 when the good Something/Anything came out as it had already been a minor hit in 1969 for Todd's previous band Nazz. Since then he had been busy doing solo stuff and working as a producer for fresh new band Sparks - aka The Mael Brothers, who I saw 2 weeks ago as I write this in July 2025, both now in their late 70's and as fresh and relevant as ever: qualities Todd had musically, always happy to try something different, including his recent collaboration with the actual Sparks again 50 years on. His most commercial and accessible stuff was in the early 70's, though, melodic, a nice vocal, touching, and fitting in with the West Coast singer-songwriter vibe. Hello It's Me remains my fave Rundgren track, but it's close - I Saw The Light is at 14 on the rundown!

6 (NEW) HOW CAN I BE SURE - David Cassidy Darlin' David's greatest moment as a solo star, and I didn't appreciate it at the time, as the pop idol solo career was eclipsing The Partridge Family records, and the hype went into overdrive as Cassidy got his first UK chart-topper at the expense of T.Rex Children Of The Revolution, which annoyed me. I also didn't really know the song, never hear the US original by The Rascals nor Dusty Springfield's UK minor hit version in 1970, both of which are great versions of a great song. The French-style accordion touches seemed a bit old-fashioned at the time, but I grew to love them over the years, and if I needed an emotional outlet from sadness, grief or stress I had a core batch of songs to sing along to, including this one. It's my favourite version of the song, I think he was a better singer than he got credit for, what with being an actor first and foremost, and I am now very glad it went to number one. It's David's 4th and highest-placed on the countdown. There is a fun video from TopPop on Youtube, but David appears to have budgie-smugglers on - the norm at the time, not so much these days.

7 (3) LOVE TRAIN - The O'Jays Peak Gamble & Huff and The O'Jays greatest record. I was a huge fan of all concerned at the time, Back Stabbers already featuring on this chart at 18, but oddly Love Train was held back to be the 3rd single off the album in 1973, at which point I saved my pocket money, bought it and had it rule my charts for 6 weeks. The O'Jays were great singers, soulful (and it runs in the family, see 80's kids Levert following in dad's footsteps) and Gamble & Huff immaculate and influential in the late 60's and early 70's with the Philly Sound. Love Train is a classic "Let's all just love each other and get along" song, and was highly relevant in 1972, and is highly relevant in 2025. It's just the fashion for singing for peace and love in song was dead and buried long ago, presumably because it never happened and never will happen because people just can't get along. I still believe in it though, as an aspiration, and 15-year-old me still hadn't had the optimism knocked out of me cynical reality. So this remains a celebration to that, a top 10 fave of the year then, and now.

8 (NEW) THE COLDEST DAYS OF MY LIFE (PART 1) - The Chi-Lites I didn't know this record in 1972, but I did love The Chi-Lites and their 2 UK hits, one of which is shuffled to my 1971 run-down and the other, Oh Girl, is at 31. Oh Girl topped my charts, but this track has never charted - because it's a recent discovery! The older I get the more I find I love Eugene Record's soul creations, sentimental, beautifully-produced, sweetly-sung, and dealing with all sorts of people-related topics and social commentary. Poetic, though I can see how some might not go for the very-polished final product. This track is slow, gentle, violin-and-strings set against the sound of waves on the ocean, flute, and a long story, heavy on imagery of past-times and nostalgia. Nostalgia, of course, increases as you get older, times change, and people and places are lost to you, especially from your childhood and teen years. The album version is over 8 minutes long, but part 1 works on its own merit, it doesn't repeat itself, there's no hook, there's earnestness and mood and it's a journey led by the lead vocal from Eugene. Can he do hooks? Oh, my, yes - 1969's instrumental version of Am I The Same Girl with Barbara Acklin as co-writer was a fab hit as Soulful Strut and then got covered by Dusty Springfield, and post-Chi-Lites among many samples was the intro to Beyonce's Crazy In Love cos Eugene could do funk as well as ballads. I just love the sad ballads most of all!

9 (17) 10538 OVERTURE - Electric Light Orchestra It would be very fair to say I was a fan of ELO from day one - this topped my charts after a Top Of The Pops appearance, the strings (cellos especially) and that guitar riff were just fab, so terrific that Paul Weller nicked it in the 90's. Best of all though was the song, especially the dark menacing lyrics and melody. ELO was a side project of The Move as main man Roy Wood, long a fave with records such as Blackberry Way and Flowers In The Rain, joined up with new-ish fellow Brum band-mate Jeff Lynne to sort of cross orchestral pop with rock. And not in an entirely unlike-the-Beatles way. I did buy the album 4 years later, but this single edit is the highlight, still a brilliant track. Sadly, Roy & Jeff suffered immediate "musical differences" by the end of the year, so The Move bowed out with California Man, drummer Bev Bevan stayed with Jeff in ELO as they carried on the Rockorchestra vibe to end the decade second only to ABBA in terms of classic pop singles, for me. Roy set up his new Glam Rock band Wizzard, had 2 years of fabness, wrote some top notch singles and one christmas perennial, entirely self-created solo albums, especially the fab Boulders, and then more or less vanished for most of the years afterwards bar annual Christmas returns, touring, and the odd project here and there. But Roy was my number one pop hero for 1973/4!

It's been hectic for weeks but I'm hoping I can grab a few lazy days to finish this off! 10 (29) WALKING IN THE RAIN WITH THE ONE I LOVE - Love Unlimited featuring Barry White This one introduced me to Barry White, though I had already been a fan of his hit with Felice Taylor, I Feel Love Coming On, and his stuff with The Banana Splits musical numbers on the Hanna-Barbera show. OK I didn't know his name at the time, but his deep growl was a key part of the record, as much as his wife's lead vocal in Love Unlimited, his song, and his production. His brand of sultry soul had arrived, and I loved it, the song was atmospheric, sexy, lush and I loved the raindrops sound, it reminded me of cooling down in Singapore after stonkingly hot equatorial days and standing out in the garden getting soaked during thunderstorms as monsoon drains turned torrential. I love this track even more than I did at the time, from top 30 to top 10: it's a comforting, lovely and sedate production and performance. They would both be back in due course with more classics.

George and Andrew arrived with an attitude statement on Top Of The Pops then repeated it for 8 months or so until Club Tropicana suggested they might have a bit more to them. Careless Whisper confirmed that, virtually a Wham! record anyway as it was labelled in the USA so 5.8 million is arguable. The rest of Wham's career was great, but not as great as George's solo career, never prolific, but pure class, meticulous, varied, and one of the great singers of the 80's. He made it look easy, which disguised just how good he was, but he could always keep up with whoever he was duetting with, or more usually shine. Last Christmas remains the most-popular christmas ballad in the UK each christmas, which is pretty impressive. That's in all of music history with no sign of easing off or new competition.

3rd May 1975 It's 2 weeks on top for 10cc's classic lush ballad, holding off the best non-single (in the UK) on the ABBA album at 2, with The Doobie Brothers fab cover at 3, as good as Long Train Coming and Listen To The Music I reckon. As per usual in the reissue mad record releases of 1972, some more oldies pop back - Jackie Wilson's Higher And Higher this time at 4, but not the radio side of the double A I Get The Sweetest Feeling as that already charted again in 1972, while Israelites is back at 15 for Desmond Dekker, though according to my single copy it's dated 1975 and doesn't feature The Aces, as it's a re-recording. Frankie Valli is back in the big league with his solo minor hit, Swearin' To God, I much prefer it to My Eyes Adored You, love the buzzing guitar bits and groove, in at 14 ahead of the reissued The Night in the UK, a big hit which I transferred back to the year of issue 1972 in these retro look-back-charts. Fox grab a follow-up to Only You Can, the equally catchy and quirky Imagine Me Imagine You for 2 top 20's in a row, as The Love Unlimited Orchestra keep a Barry White presence in the chart as his single drops out, the 4th charting track with gentle lush disco instrumental vibe still melodic at 46. The Stylistics are back with a jolly disco ditty in Sing Baby Sing, arranged by Van McCoy for his second on the list, while in at 2 it's the former lead singer of Thunderclap Newman and the voice of the epic Something In The Air, Speedy Keen. 6 years after I bought that single in Singapore he drops a rather nice track that I bought at the time, Someone To Love, which sadly flopped. A massive chart-topper on the other hand, was the novelty spin-off from It Ain't Half Mum sitcom set in wartime Burma - a performing troupe for the troops put on shows and sing songs of the period, largely the short portly Don Estelle as Lofty who had a great singing voice that belied his looks. Whispering Grass was an old Inkspots song appealing to mums and dads, but didn't really need the comedy bits. Slade are back - with a departure from their sound, on the funky sounds of Thanks For The Mem'ry ironically not as memorable as previous hits, but it makes 5 consecutive years of charting. Rhetta Young has a disco hit I never managed to record at the time, The Commodores add to their list with one I didn't know - Slippery When Wet. Young John Bon Jovi obviously took notes. It's good. Cher covers Fontella Bass's Rescue Me and doesn't ruin it, Todd Rundgren keeps his Retro chart entries coming with Real Man, for a 6th year, Barry Blue opts for a ballad that killed his hit-making run, and European Joey & Didi hit on the Continent with a cover of Do You Wanna Dance - but not the Barry Blue song, the older Cliff Richard hit song (in the UK), done best by The Mamas & The Papas I reckon. 1 ( 1 ) I’M NOT IN LOVE - 10cc # 1 2 ( 5 ) BANG-A-BOOMERANG - ABBA # 2 3 ( 8 ) TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS (ROCK ME A LITTLE WHILE) - The Doobie Brothers # 3 4 ( NEW ) HIGHER AND HIGHER - Jackie Wilson # 4 5 ( 2 ) MISTY - Ray Stevens # 1 6 ( 4 ) BAD TIME - Grand Funk Railroad # 3 7 ( 10 ) BOY BLUE - Electric Light Orchestra # 7 8 ( 6 ) GET DOWN TONIGHT - KC & The Sunshine Band # 1 9 ( 3 ) THE HUSTLE - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony # 1 10 ( 7 ) LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER - Captain and Tennille # 7 11 ( 12 ) GRINGO IN MEXICO - Maria Muldaur # 11 12 ( 14 ) I WANNA DANCE WIT’ CHOO (DO DAT DANCE) - Disco Tex & The Sex-o-lettes featuring Sir Monti Rock III # 3 13 ( 9 ) SKIING IN THE SNOW - Wigans Ovation # 1 14 ( NEW ) SWEARIN’ TO GOD - Frankie Valli # 14 15 ( NEW ) ISRAELITES - Desmond Dekker # 15 16 ( 20 ) I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO - ABBA # 16 17 ( 17 ) HEY HEY HELEN - ABBA # 17 18 ( NEW ) IMAGINE ME IMAGINE YOU - Fox # 18 19 ( 11 ) SISTER GOLDEN HAIR - America # 11 20 ( 37 ) CRY SOFTLY - Andy Williams # 20 21 ( 15 ) A LITTLE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING - Gilbert Becaud # 8 22 ( 21 ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE - Gloria Gaynor # 1 23 ( 23 ) SUPERGIRL - Graham Bonney # 8 24 ( 26 ) IT’S ONLY ME YOU’VE LEFT BEHIND - Cliff Richard # 24 25 ( 46 ) LOOK AT YOU - George McRae # 25 26 ( 16 ) THAT’S THE WAY OF THE WORLD - Earth, Wind & Fire # 10 27 ( 27 ) JACKIE BLUE - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils # 4 28 ( 28 ) ONE DAY IN YOUR LIFE - Michael Jackson # 1 29 ( 13 ) JIGSAW GIRL - Clifford T.Ward # 5 30 ( 18 ) FOX ON THE RUN - The Sweet # 3 31 ( 33 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? - Diana Ross & The Supremes # 3 32 ( 30 ) WONDERFUL BABY - Don McLean # 13 33 ( 43 ) THE LAST FAREWELL - Roger Whittaker # 33 34 ( 19 ) EL BIMBO - Bimbo Jets # 2 35 ( 47 ) LOST AND FOUND - Whiskey Mac # 35 36 ( 24 ) TAKE YOUR MAMA FOR A RIDE - Lulu # 19 37 ( 22 ) THE TIME WARP - Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell, Charles Gray & Cast # 4 38 ( 31 ) I CAN DO IT - The Rubettes # 9 39 ( 38 ) TUXEDO JUNCTION - Manhattan Transfer # 35 40 ( 34 ) SEND SOME LOVE - Lelly Boone # 34 41 ( 25 ) LET ME TRY AGAIN - Tammy Jones # 25 42 ( 45 ) INTERMEZZO NUMBER 1 - ABBA # 42 43 ( 35 ) LOVIN' YOU - Minnie Ripperton # 1 44 ( 32 ) #9 DREAM - John Lennon # 1 45 ( 44 ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY - Gary Lewis & The Playboys # 12 46 ( NEW ) FOREVER IN LOVE - Love Unlimited Orchestra # 46 47 ( 73 ) DON’T BE CRUEL - Billy Swan # 47 48 ( 49 ) YOU BABY - John Holt # 48 49 ( 36 ) PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM - Elton John Band # 1 50 ( 56 ) BE MY BABY - The Ronettes # 1 51 ( 39 ) LOVE ME LOVE MY DOG - Peter Shelley # 19 52 ( 68 ) DON’T DO IT BABY - Mac & Katie Kissoon # 52 53 ( 51 ) I’LL BE HOLDING ON - Al Downing # 51 54 ( 29 ) SWEET TRANSVESTITE - Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon & Barry Bostwick # 20 55 ( 60 ) MIDNIGHT SKY PART 1 - The Isley Brothers # 55 56 ( 53 ) YOUR KISS IS SWEET - Syreeta # 5 57 ( 42 ) DING-A-DONG - Teach-In # 17 58 ( 54 ) OH BOY - Mud # 45 59 ( NEW ) SING BABY SING - The Stylistics # 59 60 ( 58 ) CHILD OF LOVE - Caston & Majors # 1 61 ( 71 ) WOMBLING WHITE TIE AND TAILS - The Wombles # 61 62 ( NEW ) SOMEONE TO LOVE - Speedy Keen # 62 63 ( 69 ) BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? - Ronnie Lane # 63 64 ( 40 ) WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS - War # 36 65 ( 48 ) LAND OF A THOUSAND DANCES - Mr Bloe # 48 66 ( 52 ) ROCK ME - ABBA # 52 67 ( 41 ) LET ME BE THE ONE - The Shadows # 18 68 ( NEW ) WHISPERING GRASS - Windsor Davies & Don Estelle # 68 69 ( 64 ) WE’LL FIND OUR DAY - Stephanie De Sykes # 64 70 ( 74 ) TROPICAL LOVELAND - ABBA # 70 71 ( 76 ) PALOMA BLANCA - George Baker Selection # 71 72 ( NEW ) THANKS FOR THE MEM’RY (WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM) - Slade # 72 73 ( 79 ) LOVE LIKE YOU AND ME - Gary Glitter # 73 74 ( 59 ) PAPA OOM MOW MOW - The Sharonettes # 50 75 ( NEW ) SENDING OUT AN S.O.S. - Rhetta Young # 75 76 ( NEW ) SLIPPERY WHEN WET - The Commodores # 76 77 ( NEW ) RESCUE ME - Cher # 77 78 ( NEW ) REAL MAN - Todd Rundgren # 78 79 ( NEW ) YOU MAKE ME HAPPY WHEN I’M BLUE - Barry Blue # 79 80 ( NEW ) DO YOU WANNA DANCE - Joey And Didi # 80

Echo Beach is a classic, pure 9/10 still rifftastic. Spirit Of Radio is top Rush, they were never better, a guitar classic and another 9/10. Happy House didn't quite rank up with Siouxsie's best for me, but a decent dark 7/10, while Squeeze were always class. Worth seeing in concert too. Another Nail In My Heart is a good 8/10. Genesis's 3rd great single in Turn It On Again, one of their driving, unusual tracks, really rocks 9/10. Tony Rallo's Holdin' On is indeed forgotten, but I liked it 6/10. Brothers Johnson finally get a proper hit after the brilliant Strawberry Letter fell short, and Stomp is fab class disco 9/10. Dance Yourself Dizzy was a cheesy disco romp that was a lot of fun 8/10. The Mod Poison Ivy revamp was good, a bit of fun too, 7/10. Love Patrol has been forgotten these days, but I like The Dooleys on the whole, 6/10. UK Subs, not a fan, 2/10. The Detroit Spinners made some of the essential early Philly-sound tracks in the 70's but got few hits for their trouble, so this was a nice bonus for them and it pushed the Four Seasons back catalogue - this really wasnt a well-known song at the time in the UK. 8/10. Narada went on to 80's success as artist and writer/producer so Tonight I'm Alright was a decent intro 6/10. Worzel passed me by I'm afraid, Jon Pertwee was better in Doctor Who or gurning in Carry On films 1/10.

Everybody struggling with round 1 where I struggled with round 2 yesterday, Jade beat me there, well done! Well done Steve on TTTT scores they always throw in some tough ones, so a high score is a good achievement yay! I must give it another go next time Ken is stuck on a train :) round 1: 39 round 2: 30 way out on year; Eternal - my brain just filters them out of existence. 3 in 10: Thunderdome, Help, What's Love Got To Do With It

Dont know most of these but I Trance is brilliant, a million-selling personal chart-topper for me in 2019, what a monster! Balenciaga Covered Eyes is currently fab too ❤️ Release Me, what a record that was too, epic. Still, maybe one of the other unknown tracks is fabulous too! 😄

2 monster legends there in Stevie Wonder and David Bowie, who were both still on fire in the early 80's, Scary Monsters and Hotter Than July albums both top notch with singles to match, huge faves like Ashes To Ashes, Under Pressure from David and Lately, Masterblaster, Happy Birthday from Stevie. They kept great into 1983 for me, loved the Let's Dance poptastic era, and the huge number one was justice served after waiting so long for a solo topper. Yes we all got sick of hearing it, but it sounded fun at the time and my Aunty Norma still loves it, and Stevie dropped the fabulous Part Time Lover and Overjoyed as good singles afterwards, while Bowie did Loving The Alien and Absolute beginners, an one-offs like This Is Not America still classy. I still havent caught Stevie wonder live, but Bowie I saw twice, Glass Spider was the 80's gig, and that much maligned (post-shambles that was Tin Machine) album they were plugging was OK, better than Tonight at any rate. Stevie never did improve after 1986 bar the odd decent single along the way, or collaboration.

Thanks both and backatcha, just bubbling under there. Still watching TV Popmaster, I really can't get my brain into gear as quickly as competing younger contestants hitting a buzzer! So fast at recognising tiny segments of tracks or lyrics! the classic radio popmaster format flatters me somewhat as there is built-in thinking time. Hooray! 🤩 round 1: 39 round 2: 30 one year out! Forgot Brian's surname McFadden. Tch. 3 in 10: Time Clock Of The Heart, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Karma Chameleon

1 1 1 2 GOD ONLY KNOWS - The Beach Boys 340000 2 2 2 6 BROKENHEARTED - Gabry Ponte & Train 544750 3 3 1 6 RUN WITH U - Mamagama 550000 4 4 4 6 DON’T SPEAK - Loaded Honey 188900 5 17 5 2 GOOD VIBRATIONS - The Beach Boys 83000 6 7 2 9 MYSTICAL MAGICAL - Benson Boone 530500 7 5 3 8 VOICES - Damiano David 481400 8 9 8 5 BALENCIAGA COVERED EYES - Agnes 147300 9 10 1 15 SUNSET BLVD - Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco 955900 10 11 10 11 FEEL IT - d4vd 241350 11 8 2 12 END OF THE WORLD - Miley Cyrus 571550 12 18 12 5 GLAD - Saint Etienne 87100 13 12 1 10 I GUESS U NEVER REALLY CARED ABOUT ME - Artemas 682700 14 49 14 2 DAYDREAMING - Elliot James Reay 41100 15 50 15 2 TOKYO RAIN - Loaded Honey 39000 16 6 4 10 BLUEBIRD - Lana Del Ray 347200 17 13 9 7 TIME WAITED - My Morning Jacket 206500 18 14 11 9 HEART BY HEART - Joe Jonas 241150 19 21 19 5 OH OK - Sam Ryder 91750 20 19 1 13 SHINE - Mondo Cozmo 1052100 21 32 21 2 WOULDN’T IT BE NICE - The Beach Boys 375500 22 53 22 2 OVER - Loaded Honey 30750 23 16 16 10 MARRIAGE - Nelly Furtado 171450 24 15 12 6 VOYAGE - Zoe Me 149500 25 22 22 8 ANGELA - Benjamin Ingrosso 140750 26 27 26 7 MAN ON THE MOON - Fitz & The Tantrums 99600 27 23 23 8 FIND XANADU - Alison Goldfrapp 125450 28 24 3 13 RAGDOLL - The Lottery Winners featuring Chad Kroeger 370100 29 72 29 4 ZOMBIE LADY - Damiano David featuring Dove Cameron 32900 30 30 1 20 ORDINARY - Alex Warren 1285900 31 52 31 2 EASY LOVER - Miley Cyrus 29400 32 46 32 6 I SAW THE MOUNTAINS - Noah Cyrus 63650 33 20 1 15 HOW BAD DO U WANT ME - Lady Gaga 694200 34 45 34 2 CALIFORNIA GIRLS - The Beach Boys 30600 35 34 34 5 CHEMICAL REACTION - Debbii Dawson 64200 36 28 25 8 I’M FREE (7TH HEAVEN RADIO EDIT) - Donna Summer 115550 37 26 8 11 APOCALYPSE - Pete Tong, MoBlack & Max Zotti featuring Monolink 309800 38 25 16 9 NEXT SUMMER - Damiano David 165700 39 33 6 15 SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN - Avalan Rokston 389300 40 51 40 6 ABSURDA - Javiera Mena 658750

22nd June 2025 It's two weeks on top for God Only Knows, a 6th week in total for the Beach Boys classic as Good Vibrations returns to the top 5 49 years after it first hit number one in my charts. Damiano David and Loaded Honey continue to do well with multiple tracks, while throughout the chart there is such a lot of competition that tracks I still rate and sound fresh are forced to drop a bit! New entries include another catchy Myles Smith hit with Gold, a 2009 chart-topper for me from Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body shockingly only hit 11 in the UK chart despite a brilliant expensive hi-tech video. I feel justified now it's back in the UK charts and quite right too, it's their best record. Ed Sheeran and Elliot James Reay both add new tracks to their currently charting stashes, Mark Ronson makes it over 20 years of charting with added more-recent RAYE on board, Mark having had at least 2 chart-toppers previously with Bruno Mars and Miley Cyrus respectively. That leaves ABBA's 50th anniversary re-issues of the singles from the ABBA album, and the album itself. Mamma Mia and SOS have both had long chart runs previously and nestle inside my all-time top 100, so don't really need the attention, but So Long returns 51 years on from going top 5, and I Do I Do I Do etc has a first look-in since making my top 30 in 1975 - still the lowest-charting ABBA single released after Waterloo. 1 1 1 2 GOD ONLY KNOWS - The Beach Boys 340000 2 2 2 6 BROKENHEARTED - Gabry Ponte & Train 544750 3 3 1 6 RUN WITH U - Mamagama 550000 4 4 4 6 DON’T SPEAK - Loaded Honey 188900 5 17 5 2 GOOD VIBRATIONS - The Beach Boys 83000 6 7 2 9 MYSTICAL MAGICAL - Benson Boone 530500 7 5 3 8 VOICES - Damiano David 481400 8 9 8 5 BALENCIAGA COVERED EYES - Agnes 147300 9 10 1 15 SUNSET BLVD - Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco 955900 10 11 10 11 FEEL IT - d4vd 241350 11 8 2 12 END OF THE WORLD - Miley Cyrus 571550 12 18 12 5 GLAD - Saint Etienne 87100 13 12 1 10 I GUESS U NEVER REALLY CARED ABOUT ME - Artemas 682700 14 49 14 2 DAYDREAMING - Elliot James Reay 41100 15 50 15 2 TOKYO RAIN - Loaded Honey 39000 16 6 4 10 BLUEBIRD - Lana Del Ray 347200 17 13 9 7 TIME WAITED - My Morning Jacket 206500 18 14 11 9 HEART BY HEART - Joe Jonas 241150 19 21 19 5 OH OK - Sam Ryder 91750 20 19 1 13 SHINE - Mondo Cozmo 1052100 21 32 21 2 WOULDN’T IT BE NICE - The Beach Boys 375500 22 53 22 2 OVER - Loaded Honey 30750 23 16 16 10 MARRIAGE - Nelly Furtado 171450 24 15 12 6 VOYAGE - Zoe Me 149500 25 22 22 8 ANGELA - Benjamin Ingrosso 140750 26 27 26 7 MAN ON THE MOON - Fitz & The Tantrums 99600 27 23 23 8 FIND XANADU - Alison Goldfrapp 125450 28 24 3 13 RAGDOLL - The Lottery Winners featuring Chad Kroeger 370100 29 72 29 4 ZOMBIE LADY - Damiano David featuring Dove Cameron 32900 30 30 1 20 ORDINARY - Alex Warren 1285900 31 52 31 2 EASY LOVER - Miley Cyrus 29400 32 46 32 6 I SAW THE MOUNTAINS - Noah Cyrus 63650 33 20 1 15 HOW BAD DO U WANT ME - Lady Gaga 694200 34 45 34 2 CALIFORNIA GIRLS - The Beach Boys 30600 35 34 34 5 CHEMICAL REACTION - Debbii Dawson 64200 36 28 25 8 I’M FREE (7TH HEAVEN RADIO EDIT) - Donna Summer 115550 37 26 8 11 APOCALYPSE - Pete Tong, MoBlack & Max Zotti featuring Monolink 309800 38 25 16 9 NEXT SUMMER - Damiano David 165700 39 33 6 15 SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN - Avalan Rokston 389300 40 51 40 6 ABSURDA - Javiera Mena 658750 41 36 9 11 SPIKE ISLAND - Pulp 262000 42 31 31 6 ME & YOU - Ella Henderson 83000 43 43 1 32 LATE NIGHT PHONE CALL - Reverend And The Makers 1667950 44 29 29 9 PETITE ETOILE - Polo and Pan featuring Beth Ditto 119350 45 39 1 15 LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN - Justin Hayward & Mike Batt 858700 46 35 11 11 YOU KILLED THE MUSIC - Debbii Dawson 225950 47 37 11 12 ALL I KNOW - Rudimental x Khalid 235200 48 44 1 25 THE PROUD ONE - The Osmonds 1262200 49 40 14 15 IT’S NOT RIGHT BUT IT’S OK - Felix Jaehn & Whitney Houston 259600 50 54 50 8 TEARS DRY TONIGHT - CYRIL & James Blunt 78500 51 48 48 5 LOVER - Richard Ashcroft featuring Joan Armatrading 55150 52 38 33 11 AZIZAM - Ed Sheeran 151100 53 56 53 2 RUNAWAY TRAIN - Sam Feldt featuring RuthAnne 21850 54 55 52 7 TASTE - Sophie Ellis-Bextor 67400 55 42 5 16 LOVE IS LOVE - Kim Wilde 374350 56 73 56 4 LET’S RIDE AWAY - Avicii featuring Elle King 25500 57 66 57 2 MANCHILD - Sabrina Carpenter 17100 58 70 58 2 BLOODLINE - Alex Warren featuring Jelly Roll 16200 59 47 34 9 MIND OF A WARRIOR - Alan Walker & Sorana 106450 60 65 60 6 SPORTS CAR - Tate McRae 37600 61 74 61 2 FAMILY AFFAIR - Sly & The Family Stone 12700 62 41 24 14 SORRY I’M HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSE - Benson Boone 203550 63 62 62 5 PINBALL - Paul Weller 33000 64 69 64 8 I DON’T WANNA TALK - Dadi Freyr 46700 65 58 58 5 ROCKET - Robbie Williams featuring Tony Iommi 37000 66 57 7 16 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE - David Guetta & Sia 309450 67 68 67 5 GOT TO HAVE LOVE - Pulp 29600 68 76 68 2 RUNNING UP A TAB AT THE HOTEL FOR THE FAB - Sparks 11200 69 59 50 10 GUNSLINGER - Natalie Bergman 89300 70 60 26 13 RELENTLESS LOVE - Sophie Ellis-Bextor 182900 71 78 71 2 CHARGIE - Alesha Dixon featuring Tom Moutchie 10200 72 61 2 21 CONTROL OF ME - Topic x Daecolm 778200 73 64 57 8 BARBARIAN - AWOLNATION 59800 74 77 74 5 IN DAYLIGHT - Sparks 24800 75 67 7 20 ANDY (A GUY LIKE YOU) - The Waterboys 402700 76 NEW 76 1 GOLD Myles Smith 4800 77 81 77 2 WHO KNEW DANCING WAS A SIN - Elliot James Reay 8400 78 75 71 8 DROWNED IN A SEA OF TEARS - Sparks 40400 79 85 79 2 I GET AROUND - The Beach Boys 7200 80 86 80 2 EVERYBODY LAUGHS - David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra 6800 81 NEW 81 1 ROCK THAT BODY Black Eyed Peas 3800 82 88 82 2 FULL ATTENTION - Tom Grennan 6000 83 NEW 83 1 SWEETNESS Elliot James Reay 3400 84 87 78 4 LORD HAVE MERCY - Sparks 14600 85 NEW 85 1 SUZANNE Mark Ronson & RAYE 3000 86 89 86 2 NEVER EVER LET YOU GO - Bryan Adams 5000 87 90 87 2 LITTLE RICHARD’S BIBLE - Elton John & Brandi Carlile 4600 88 NEW 88 1 SO LONG ABBA 2400 89 NEW 89 1 SAPPHIRE Ed Sheeran 2200 90 NEW 90 1 I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO ABBA 2000 DROP OUTS 63 7 15 SORROW REPLACED - Kim Wilde featuring Midge Ure 284500 71 33 11 BOYS DON’T CRY - Tom Grennan 137200 79 51 10 THE MESSAGE - Turin Brakes 91850 80 56 8 RAIN IN THE RIVER - Bruce Springsteen 52100 82 60 9 DREAM MACHINE - Purple Disco Machine & Alison Goldfrapp 61400 83 72 6 BORDERLINE - Louise 28200 84 75 4 CATCHING FEELINGS - Cerrone x Christine And The Queens 17200

Hi SSP! Zombie Lady getting closer to the top yay! Sombr, Awolnation and Manchild rocketing heading towards the top 10, Lover, Mystical Magical and There She Goes a bit lower down, with Brokenhearted, Taste and Sapphire nearer the bottom end ahead of a bunch of new entries. Of those I like Stayin' Alive, oops I mean Jonas brothers, Supermen Lovers remake, Empire Of The Sun, Bloodline, and Suzanne. I need to hear the new Gloria gaynor track! In 2007, Umbrella was topping my chart, and a couple others I liked too. great charts!😎

Hi SSP! thanks for the picks! cheers as always! 😎

Hey Sven! 🙂 I'm still running late on my charts, the next one will also be a roll-over unless i can get it another one done before saturday! So that means 2 weeks of comments to catch up on here! Azizam not going anywhere with it's 8 week run! I still enjoy hearing it too. Blessings I think I will buy next week, so a late charter from me! 🥺I like your entire top 9, but good to see big climbs for Sabrina and Ed's new Sapphire. Bloodline also nearly there and new entries for Suzanne, and a few other goodies dropping down the chart. Bubbling under it's nice to see a Maggie MacNeal reference, must try and catch that cover. I was sweet 14 when I first charted Mouth & MacNeal! Loaded Honey and Miley Cyrus ❤️Mutt, Hurts Remix and Robbie's Rocket are my other faves! Back in '85, N-N-19 was my top fave, but also Rah Band, Bruce, Duran, Cool Notes (who have been sadly totally forgotten these days) the fab Steve Arrington track, goodie Bowie revamp, and the perfect Everybody Wants To Rule The World make for a bunch of great oldies. Last week's 1984 had the fab Reflex on top, and equally brilliant Self Control and The Lebanon lower down, and even greater oldies than 1985 from Cyndi, Bob Marley, Queen, Pointer sisters, Deniece Williams, Alphaville, Galaxy, Womack & Womack, OMD, Rod, Bruce, FGTH and Rufus with Mike Oldfield getting some radio play! fab charts! 😎

Hey Sven! 🙂 Thanks for the picks and comments, glad you love God Only Knows, what a classic! ❤️Also happy you like Elliot James Reay I've only just discovered his brand of 60's/80's crooner, what a singer! 🥰 cheers! 😎