King Rollo

Well done Jade and Chris on today's 39s. Round 1: 36 The year (one year out) Round 2: 33 I didn't get Another Level either 3 in 10: 3 Antmusic, Stand And Deliver, Prince Charming

4. Down Under - Men At Work Men At Work were formed in Melbourne in 1979 and first recorded Down Under the following year as the B side to their first single 'Keypunch Operator'. The version we all know had a faster pace to it and was part of the group's 1981 album 'Business As Usual'. The first single from that album, 'Who Can It Be Now?' stalled at number 45 but went all the way to the top of the Billboard chart, leading the way for Down Under to reach number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. Over here, it spent three weeks at number 1 in February. At one point, the single and album topped the UK and US charts all at the same time. In 2007, an Australian quiz show included the question "What children's song is contained in the song Down Under?" The answer being "Kookaburra" led two years later to a court case with Larrikin Music, who held the rights to the song, being awarded $100,000. Lead singer Colin Hay said that his legal fees amounted to much more, about $4.5 million. The disputed part of the song was the flute solo and he said that the stress of the court case had led to the early death of the flute player, Greg Ham, in 2012. Down Under returned to the top 5 in 2022 in the shape of a drum'n'bass rework by Luude which featured a new vocal by Colin Hay. Men At Work's other three top 40 hits were all in 1983. Colin Hay still fronts the group but with no other original members. You don't get many number 1 singles as quirky and unusual as this one. The lyrics describe a trip around the 'hippie trail' and then to Brussels and Bombay where the person in the song encounters people who warn him that the modernisation of Australia and the selling of land could have some harsh consequences. This is counteracted by the light, cheerful sound to the music and the humorous music video. I think the flute bits are my favourite parts of the song.

5. Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) - Paul Young Although Wherever I Lay My Hat was Paul Young's first solo hit, he had been seen on Top Of Pops as early as 1978 performing the novelty song 'Toast' with Streetband which was originally a B side but became the A side after Kenny Everett had started playing it on the radio. The Top Of The Tops team even went to the trouble of creating a kitchen in the studio for part of the performance. Paul was only speaking the lyrics so we didn't yet know what a good singer he was. Streetband evolved into Q-Tips who released two albums in 1979. They broke up after Paul got a solo record contract. Wherever I Lay My Hat was first recorded by Marvin Gaye (in 1962) who co-wrote the song with Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield. Paul Young's cover was his third single with the first two, 'Iron Out The Rough Spots' and 'Love Of The Common People', failing to reach the top 100. The latter would reach number 2 after being re-issued. It's one of four cover versions to reach number 1 in 1983 and the highest placed in my rankings. It spent three weeks at the top of the chart in July and August. Paul ended up with seven top 10 singles and three number 1 albums. He does seem to have vanished from the public eye in the 21st Century but did release a new album as recently as 2023. He's probably best known to the younger generation these days as being heard every Christmas delivering the opening lines of 'Do They Know It's Christmas' when it's played on the radio. Coming from Luton, he is the second act from Bedfordshire to appear in this countdown with Kajagoogoo hailing from Leighton Buzzard. This version is slower paced than Marvin Gaye's original and starts with Pino Palladino's fretless bass intro. The bass guitar continues to be a big highlight of the rest of the song along with the keyboard embellishments. The main reason this is in my top 5 is, of course, Paul's fantastic vocal. He has such a warm, expressive tone to his voice. I like all the singles from the 'No Parlez' album. I didn't buy it at the time but have listened to it on Spotify a few times and some of the other tracks are to the same standard.

RIP Terry Yorath and Martin Chivers

Thanks, and well done for your double 39. Round 1: 36 The year (one year out) Round 2: 36 Lynsey De Paul 3 in 10: 1 Brown Eyed Girl

6. You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins You Can't Hurry Love was a top 3 hit for The Supremes in 1966 and their seventh US number 1. It was inspired by the 1950 Gospel song 'You Can't Hurry God' written by Dorothy Love Coates which contains the lines "You can't hurry God, you just have to wait, trust and give him time, no matter how long it takes". Phil Collins' cover version was the second single to come from his second solo album "Hello, I Must Be Going!". It entered the chart in November 1982 but after running into the traffic of Christmas releases, didn't reach number 1 until the middle of January where it stayed for two weeks. It was a deliberate attempt to replicate the Motown sound with Phil describing it as a remake, not an interpretation. The three Phils in the song's video are an homage to The Supremes. You Can't Hurry Love kicked off a golden decade for Phil with three UK number 1s and seven Billboard chart toppers (or eight if you include 'Invisible Touch' with Genesis). He went on to record a full album of Motown and soul covers in 2010 called 'Going Back'. This cover keeps all the infectious rhythm and energy of the original and he does his own backing vocals by recording some of the lines in a higher register. The lyrics are a mother's advice to her daughter, or son, in the case of this version. There's nothing too complicated here, it's just a great pop song.

Good to see as many as 14 people voting. Congrats to Lando Norris.

@Scene @jszmiles @rio309 @Gary Feld @musicfan97 You've all voted for I Feel Love by Donna Summer. I'm just checking that you're all voting specifically for the 1995 Rollo and Sister Bliss remix which has new vocals by Donna. I didn't think it was that well known and it's getting some high scores. The number 8 list on the forum isn't showing it as a remix so I'm just checking if you were voting for the original 1977 version which is ineligible for this poll as it was a number 1 single. Thanks.

7. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson Billie Jean was the second single to be released from Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album. 'The Girl Is Mine', his duet with Paul McCartney, had been a strange choice for the first one and only reached number 8. Billie Jean spent just one week at number 1 in March. Michael said that the song wasn't about a particular person, the lyrics were based on groupies' claims about his older brothers when he was touring with them. However, Quincy Jones and his biographer have both said that it was about a woman who had been sending him letters claiming he was the father of her child. The video was belatedly the first by a black artist to be shown on MTV regularly, paving the way for others to follow. I think ranking this 7th would be lower than most of you would put it but I've never been a big fan of the song. I prefer 'Beat It' and 'Thriller' from the album. It's very well produced by Quincy Jones who uses the stereo sound to great effect. As well as the bassline, there are little touches being added in the background to keep it going for five minutes but I still got a little bored towards the end just listening to it now so I think ranking it 7th is the right place for it.

8. Is There Something I Should Know? - Duran Duran Named after a character from the film 'Barbarella', Birmingham group Duran Duran were formed in 1978 and started with Stephen Duffy as their singer. He would go on to have two top 20 hits as a solo artist. Simon Le Bon joined in 1980 and they had a string of hits from 1981 to 1982 with 'Save A Prayer' being the closest to number 1, stopped by Survivor's 'Eye Of The Tiger'. By the time Is There Something I Should Know? was released, they were at the peak of their popularity and it went straight to number 1, staying there for two weeks in March. As part of the British invasion of the American chart at this time, the single got to number 4 over there. Duran Duran now have thirty top 40 hits to their name and have released sixteen studio albums, the most recent being 'Danse Macabre' in 2023. The song starts with four "Please, please tell me now"s before going into its intro. It then follows the conventional verse, bridge, chorus structure. Simon's lead vocal is backed up by vocals from the other members in a deeper register on most of the lines. I like the instrumental break with the harmonica being played over the synths. The lyrics seem to be about a relationship that's going wrong and the need to talk about it to resolve the situation. They include the line "you're about as easy as a nuclear war" which is often quoted as being one of the worst lyrics in a song. Simon's vocal is a bit strained in places but overall this is good song but not one of my favourites by them which would be 'Save A Prayer', 'Ordinary World', 'Rio' and 'Planet Earth'.

Round 1: 39 💥 Round 2: 33 New Kid In Town Tie-break: 5 out of 6 3 in 10: 3 Angels, No Regrets, Millennium

Round 1: 33 Anita Baker Round 2: 27 Showaddywaddy, Secret, Alanis Morrissette Tie-break: 11 out of 14 3 in 10: 3 Born In The USA, Dancing In The Dark, Streets Of Philadelphia

9. Too Shy - Kajagoogoo Named after the first sound that many babies make, Kajagoogoo had already gone through a previous incarnation from 1978 to 1981 as Art Nouveau, recording avant-garde music. This was before Limahl had joined them as their lead singer. It was quite unusual in the 80s for a group to reach number 1 with their debut single but this is what happened with Too Shy, entering the chart at number 33 and then going 10-5-2-1. It spent a fortnight at number 1 in February and also topped the charts in Belgium, Ireland, Japan and Germany. Everything quickly fell apart with Limahl being sacked by the other members a few months later and bass player Nick Beggs taking over as lead singer. A couple of more hits followed but unable to find any more, the group disbanded at the end of 1985. A couple of brief revivals happened in the 21st Century. Nick Beggs has been part of Steven Wilson's touring line-up since 2011, also contributing to his studio albums, and has even filled in for an injured Pete Trewavas on Marillion's 2024 tour. This takes a different approach to Uptown Girl and Red Red Wine which went straight to the chorus by starting with a 39 second intro which highlights Nick Begg's bass guitar prowess. This is followed by Limahl warming up his voice with a long note but that part was kept in by the producer, Colin Thurston, who liked it. Elsewhere, we have synths, piano and more bass guitar. Limahl's vocal is competent but not outstanding. I do like the instrumental break and the song is well put together with Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes co-producing. The lyrics are self explanatory, I like the word 'dilate' being used as we don't often hear it in a song's lyrics. The repeated line "too shy, shy, hush-hush, eye to eye" is certainly the main hook.

West Ham United 1-1 Nottingham Forest AFC Bournemouth 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur Brentford 2-1 Sunderland Crystal Palace 1-2 Aston Villa Everton 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Fulham 2-2 Chelsea Manchester City 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley 1-2 Manchester United Newcastle United 2-1 Leeds United Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool

6th - 12th January 1966 31. England Swings - Roger Miller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuSwnnoW1Js A song encouraging Americans to visit England. I think he could have mentioned more than Westminster Abbey and Big Ben as places to see and then change the next line as well as children is rhyming with Big Ben each time. 33. Bye Bye Blues - Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOG8x8vkyzg An enjoyable, relaxing, easy listening instrumental with the trumpet part standing out. It will be the only hit single for the German who produced 'Ain't She Sweet' for the Beatles when they were in Germany in 1961. 35. Farewell Angelina - Joan Baez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fcEd38XQU8 Now I know Marillion were not the first act to write a song about Angelina. This cover of a Bob Dylan song is well sung and I like the addition of a double bass to the usual acoustic guitar. 37. Girls! Girls! Girls! - The Fourmost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV5yucHgrbA This is what I thought I'd get when I saw the title, a 'Carry On' style depiction of women. The lead vocal is sung in a comical way and we even have Pinky and Perky turning up in the middle. The song was actually written by Leiber and Stoller so not one of their best efforts. This will be the last of The Fourmost's six top 40 hits, they are still going and their tour dates for this year are on their website if anyone wants to go and see them. Record of the week : 39. I Hear A Symphony - The Supremes This is not one of the Supremes' best songs but it still beats the rest of this week's new entries. It has a strong chorus and another fine vocal from Diana Ross who said it was one of her favourite songs to perform with its many key changes. The single will drop out of the top 40 next week but will do much better in the US where it will be the group's sixth number 1.