Popchartfreak

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! 😎

Hey james! 🙂 Jade doing well for you at the top end! 3 out of 4! Great to see PDM top 5, that's a fun pop track, very late 70's disco vibe to it. Sophie's Vertigo up, Blessings is good, I just havent heard it much, playing it now, I can see it growing on me. Freedom Of The Night & Taste keeping the other Sophie Ellis-Bextor tracks upwardly mobile, both of them good pop tunes. 2 gaga's down the lower end I like/love and 2 I dont know, with added bonus Alex Warren too. Top 31 is a unique chart number! Great chart! 😎

Hey James! 🙂 Yes, I'm sure Wouldn't It Be Nice is the one you're thinking of, it's used in adverts all the time, including one right now! I know what you mean about a new era for Sabrina, it really does sound like it belongs along Busy Woman as a bonus track, but both are great, melodic pop for the 2020's so I hope the new album is filled with goodies! Tom Grennan has his trademark style, and it's one I like most of the time, staying just on the right side of passion without dipping into shouty angst. Thanks for the comments and picks! 😎

Hi Sergej! 🙂 hope all is good with you! Your 4-week chart-topper still sounding jolly for the summer, and a Haim invasion here! I've gone for Loaded Honey as my mini-invasion, I do enjoy Jungle. Faves going up: Ella Langley, Suzanne and Sapphire in the top 10, Blessings Ive yet to chart, I think I need to hear it again! There's tons of other faves, but they are all dropping eek! Manchild, Zombie Lady and Bloodline to name but a few great records vacating the top 10 this week, with others sprinkled throughout the chart, which is actually a great chart even if there's only 3 going up/holding! cheers! 😎

Hi Sergej! 🙂 Thanks for the comments and picks and glad you like all the Beach Boys oldies, what a legend Brian Wilson was! 😎

Peter & Gordon losing the subtlety of the original lovely track a bit, but they were on their way to back-stage employment so it's all fine. Tossing & Turning I have as a double-A-side yellow vinyl late 70's reissue, and I'm rather fond of the track. Funny How Love Can Be is Ivy League's best track though. Even better was to come from John Carter and Ken Lewis though, in 1967 and 1974 under new names The Flowerpot Men and The First Class along with singer Tony Burrows. Woolly Bully is great fun and ahead of it's time, and Jackie Trent is better as co-songwriter to her hubbie Tony Hatch by and large, total classy hit machines in the 60's. Dusty was alternating classy ballads with r'n'b in her heyday, and In The Middle Of Nowhere is brassy funk-gospel fabness and is my track of the week - Madeline Bell was among a handful US future hitsters backing Dusty in those days, and I'm pretty sure that's her on the record, she did a tribute live version on youtube to her late old friend Dusty in 2011 and was talking about the pre-Blue Mink days to Paul Gambaccini when I saw her in concert last year. Still as great a singer as ever and Dusty is timeless.

I LOVE reggae and I love UB40 - but not so much the monster hit covers. Food For Thought, One In Ten, If It Happens Again, Earth Dies Screaming from the actual UB40-dole form period when it was a political statement (and I was one of the 3 million for 2 years and lived the lifestyle they were talking about). Ali is a great vocalist and the band shared a mutual love of growing up (like me) loving obscure and hit reggae tracks of the 60's and into the 70's and helped struggling reggae songwriters get an actual income. I still like stuff UB40 parts 1 and 2 do post-split apart, but their greatest records are easily Kingston Town and Don't Break My Heart though they'd always chuck a good oddity in the mix like Rat In Mi Kitchen. Seen them a couple of times, and they arent what you call an exciting live act, but the rhythms and tempo were never going to let that happen, it's more of a laid-back vibe, and a pleasant one. That's why they lasted so long.

Thanks both and sadly yesterdays hasnt popped up on the website so well done Jade on the 39 Monday! 🤩and 36 Rollo great too, ah that explains why no Ken yesterday, ironically I was also faffing around with trains - taking a mate to the station, then picking up my brother later on. Apparently hot weather = trains melt and cant meet timetables. They need to adopt the spanish system. They dont melt, are way cheaper, have two-storeys, no H&S on tracks, are super-fast and super-slow, timetables are more of an aspiration than a promise, and you sweat buckets at the station waiting so good opportunities for chilled refreshment kiosks/vending machines for additional income. round 1: 39 round 2: 39 3 in 10: Sorry Suzanne, Carrie Ann, Bus Stop I watched Ken's Popmaster on TV yesterday, a young Portuguese chap who obv spent time in America and is fluent in English, knew almost everything about most things asked, his breadth of knowledge was amazing and he beat me in the Classic Popmaster finale to boot. Put me in my place!

Atomic was my 4th Blondie chart-topper, after buying Denis, Heart Of Glass and Sunday Girl, and it's the best Blondie of all, a monster exciting track in the single edit. The album version has a self-indulgent diversion into an un-needed instrumental break. The edit is 10/10 for certain and the video is fabulous. Debbie Harry turned 80 yesterday 😮She was already in her 50's when I caught Blondie for the first time in concert, still fab. Turning Japanese is still great fun, and it may or may not be politically incorrect these days, based on what you believe is behind the lyrics vs what was believed at the time, but either way it's a 9/10 for me. Unhinged is a good description for Alabama Song. I bought that single and then hardly ever played it, it was just a bit too jarring after a few plays. 4/10. So Lonely is very early Police re-issued, or "Sue Lawley" as we sang at the time, a TV presenter. 8/10 still, though. Never liked Stiff Little Fingers much, 3/10. Cuba was a slight revamp of an earlier flop, and quite probably the Gibson Brothers finest single in a good string of hits, 9/10. Better Do It Salsa didnt get any airplay but I expect it's a 7/10. On The Radio was a big US hit but it seemed fairly bland compared to her recent amazingly prolific and varied run of hits, more MacArthur Park part 2 without the disco and classy song. 6/10. Fern Kinney is still a sweet track, I like her unusual vocals and it's better than the original version of the song, which is pretty and melodic as a song. 8/10. Hands Off She's Mine is one of the more forgettable Beat tracks, but it's OK, a decent 7/10. Hot Dog wasn't a fave of mine from the Elvis musical star, the song just isnt very good 3/10. Better was to come from Shaky. Take That Look Off Your Face is a Lloyd-Webber gem, it builds and weaves and does what you need in a big musical number telling a story - belts out a hook at the right moment. I'm a fan, 9/10. Iron Maiden starting off as they mean to carry on - a formula to never-ever deviate from. Noisy, riffs, not much melody, more chanting and lots of background art graphics of horror images. 3/10. Sammy Hagar was more to my rock-based taste - a song for a start, a hook, and you still get to chant if you want to 6/10. Captain and Tennille had some great big US hit singles in the 70's, not one of them a big UK hit despite fab songs from Neil Sedaka - see Love Will Keep us Together, Lonely Nights - so it was sort of compensation that they finally grabbed one, even if it was low-key Radio 2 fodder. Quite pleasant, but I dont like it as much as I did at the time, now a mere 7/10.

I liked early Duran in 1981, then during the Rio phase I got a bit fed up with them, bar Save A Prayer, and Simon seemed to have been part-ego, part-wailing-vocals, before they started to get way more interesting around Union Of The Snake era, and peaked with The Reflex and Wild Boys, 2 classic tracks. Simon was getting better as a vocalist (and has continued to improve over the decades), and anyone willing to let themselves get tied to a windmill and dunked (Wild Boys video) gets me on board. The Bond theme was good, and then the minor decade end tracks were interesting, prior to the 1993 re-invention that was peak Duran again. 21st century stuff has been, IMO, as good as anything they have done, loved the recent Halloween album and bonus tracks, and before that a fabulous track with Tove Lo and another with Janelle Monae amongst much more. I class myself as a non-Durannie who got converted by virtue of brilliant singles.

Goodbyee was everywhere at the time, one I could singalong to on the telly, but yes it was of its' time, silliness. Just A Little Bit Of Love is new to me, fun seeing Eric Stewart in the video, but they all did better stuff than this, split up and elsewhere. Lulu an easy win, morphing from soulful young gutsy screamer to lush ballad on her way to Mickie Most tuneful pop hits. Leave A Little Love is pretty good.