Pting Rollo

Well done John on that double 39. Round 1: 24 Choice, the year, Save The Last Dance For Me Round 2: 24 Stereophonics, I'm Every Woman, Barry Manilow Tie-break: 3 out of 4 3 in 10: 1 Elephant Stone

4. The Final Countdown - Europe Swedish band Europe were formed in 1979 and The Final Countdown was the title track from their third album. The keyboard riff that the song is known for dates back to about 1981 and it was finally used here with lyrics inspired by David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. The single spent two weeks at number 1 in December. It returned to the top 40 at the end of the millennium and has endured into this century with 1.4 billion youtube views and 828 million Spotify streams. Europe had four more top 40 hits from 1987 to 1992. Like David Bowie before them (with 'Ashes To Ashes'), they recorded a sequel to The Final Countdown, 'Pictures', in 2017. Their twelfth album will be released later this year. I've never really liked this song too much but it's good enough to finish in fourth place. The keyboard riff is instantly recognisable, there's plenty of energy to the song and the guitar solo is fabulous. It's one of the best 'hair metal' songs from the second half of the 1980s. Looking at the lyrics, the trip is to Venus but "there are so many light years to go". Sunlight takes only eight minutes to reach Earth and Venus is nearer than that so it would clearly take much less than one light year to get there. Maybe, Venus is just the first stop and they will go further after that. Reading the lyrics for the sequel, they are still in the Solar System but this seems to be down to some sort of mishap as the person in the song is drifting in space and wants to cut the cable.

What a fantastic final set that was.

Round 1: 27 Modern Romance, Want Me Round 2: 30 Honky Cat, the year 3 in 10: 3 Believe, If I Could Turn Back Time, Gypsies Tramps And Thieves

5. Chain Reaction - Diana Ross Up to this point, Diana Ross had twelve US number 1 singles with The Supremes and six as a solo artist but she had only hit the top of the UK chart twice, with 'Baby Love' in 1964 and 'I'm Still Waiting' in 1971. Her last top 10 hit had been 'Work That Body' in 1982 so Chain Reaction gave her a bit of a revival. The song was written by the Bee Gees and features Barry Gibb on backing vocals. It wasn't an instant hit, spending its first three chart weeks at 91, 69 and 44 before entering the top 40 at number 31. It then went 14-4-2 before spending three weeks at number 1 in March. A cover version by Steps reached number 2 in 2001. Chain Reaction is written in the style of the Motown songs of the 60s and has an infectious rhythm to it right from the start with that drum beat. The same pace is kept up throughout. There's nothing too complicated here, it's just a well written song by experienced hitmakers with a consummate vocal by an American icon.

I know Mona Lisa and would probably recognise some of the others if I played them. I'll look forward to seeing what else appears here.

What stamina Djokovic has for a 39 year old. I don't think he'll be able to beat Sinner in the semi-final.

Well done both of you for today's 39s. Round 1: 36 The year Round 2: 36 The year 3 in 10: 3 Moonlight Shadow, To France, Portsmouth

7th - 13th July 1966 37. Love Letters - Elvis Presley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnlXCS_JC88 A song that goes back to 1945, the Alison Moyet version is the one I know the best. Elvis does a good job with it, backed by a piano and double bass. It will be his first top 10 hit since his number 1 'Crying In The Chapel' a year ago. 40. Can I Trust You - The Bachelors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuZEUaPTffI This has more of a contemporary sound compared to their usual 40s/50s leaning songs. The vocals and production have some drama to them. Record of the week : 30. Goin' Back - Dusty Springfield There's no doubt that this is the one, a really beautiful song which has what I think is Dusty's best vocal performance on a single so far. The flute and strings are an added bonus. The song about missing the innocence of childhood was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. I also know versions by Freddie Mercury and Phil Collins. This one will peak at number 10 for two weeks.

Round 1: 27 Song For The Lovers, Rich, Cast Round 2: 27 King Rocker, the year, The Heart 3 in 10: 1 Loco In Acapulco

6. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna Papa Don't Preach was written by Brian Elliot after overhearing conversations of teenage girls through the open window of his recording studio. He intended the song for an unknown singer, Christina Dent, but Warner Bros. presented it to Madonna who liked it and changed a few of the lyrics before recording it. The single spent three weeks at number 1 in July, a second chart topper for Madonna after 'Into The Groove' the previous year. Like 'A Different Corner', the song starts with a string intro but this one is much chirpier. It was later sampled on the top 10 hit 'Everybody' by Progress presents The Boy Wunda which was shown on the Top Of The Pops 1999 repeats a few weeks ago. The rest of the song is from the point of view of a pregnant teenage girl who wants to keep the baby and has the support of her boyfriend but is afraid of what her father will have to say. It's this storytelling that makes the song stand out for me, it's quite a deep subject to address in a pop song and did cause some controversy at the time. I like the way she lengthens the word "please" every time it comes round as a way of emphasizing the way that the person in the song really wants her father's approval. The only line that I have a problem with is "I'm in trouble deep". I know it's to make it rhyme with "I've been losing sleep" but does that justify changing the order of words like Yoda does? The video does an effective job of illustrating the story and has a happy ending with the father hugging his daughter. Overall, this is a good number 1, much better than Madonna's second one from this year, 'True Blue', so it just misses my top five.

Howard Jones - Hide And Seek Billy Joel - An Innocent Man Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days Depeche Mode - People Are People Simple Minds - Up On The Catwalk

7. A Different Corner - George Michael A Different Corner was released before The Edge Of Heaven and so ended up on Wham!'s greatest hits album 'The Final' rather than George Michael's first solo album. It spent three weeks at the top of the chart in April and May and was the first number 1 to be written, performed and produced by the same person. George was also the first solo singer to reach number 1 with his first two singles although being already known as part of Wham! certainly helped him to do that. This is the highest placed of the four male ballads that I had to rank. It starts with a rather grandiose string intro that I don't remember so that was maybe left out of the radio edit. Then you have the Roland synthesiser combining with that lovely faraway piano tinkling before George's excellent vocal comes in, full of emotion and holding some long notes. There's also that Spanish guitar in the middle. I'm not a big fan of his music but looking at the list of his hit singles to come, I'd say this is my favourite song by him. It's really well put together. The lyrics are about how breaking up from a short relationship affected him. If he had turned a different corner, he would never have met this person.

Well done Arthur Fery getting through to the second week, still the last Brit standing in the singles.

Round 1: 36 Suzi Quatro Round 2: 30 Remind Me, Bon Jovi, the year Tie-break: 7 out of 8 3 in 10: 0

8. Rock Me Amadeus - Falco Falco's real name was Johann Holzel. By 1986, he had already released three albums which all topped the Austrian album chart. Rock Me Amadeus was written with the Dutch duo Bolland & Bolland who had previously had a number 1 single in Norway with 'In The Army Now', a song later made famous by Status Quo. It spent one week at number 1 in May, the first chart topper by an Austrian artist. The single was also the first German language number 1 in the US. Falco followed up Rock Me Amadeus with the top 10 single 'Vienna Calling' but had no further UK top 40 hits. In the 1990s, he moved to the Dominican Republic and sadly died there in 1998 following a motor accident. Falco raps his way through the verses so the only singing is on the chorus from the backing vocalists, I'm not sure if Falco is one of them himself, while the lyrics portray Mozart as an early punk and rock'n'roller. I'm not that keen on the rap part but the chorus is memorable and the post punk/synth pop sound is to my liking.

We all got 39 today. Round 1: 39 💥 Round 2: 36 The year 3 in 10: 3 Sometimes, Ship Of Fools, Blue Savannah

9. Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town) - Jackie Wilson Reet Petite was Jackie Wilson's first solo hit single after leaving The Dominoes, reaching number 6 in 1957. Its resurgence in 1986 was down to a claymation video for the song being shown on the BBC2 documentary series Arena. It was the Christmas number 1 and held on to that position for four weeks. Jackie had died three years before. The success of Reet Petite led to two more reissued singles reaching the top 20, 'I Get The Sweetest Feeling' (number 3) and '(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher' (number 15). Jackie's vocals combined with the brass section and double bass make this one of the better songs from the 1950s. It's always a fun song to listen to and the claymation video suits its light-heartedness. Jester included the single as one of the 1987 number 1s and ranked it 16th so it does a bit better here.

Well done John for today's double 39. Round 1: 30 Michael Bolton, Back Of My Hand Round 2: 36 The year 3 in 10: 3 You Don't Have To Say You Love Me, Son Of A Preacher Man, Goin' Back

I thought England might be going out there but Harry Kane and the second half changes saved them. Onwards to Mexico.

10. Caravan Of Love - The Housemartins Caravan Of Love was released as a single in 1985 by Isley-Jasper-Isley who were a splinter group from the Isley Brothers. Their original version reached number 52. I was expecting it to be a 1970s song so it's news to me that it preceded this cover by just one year. I don't think I've heard it before so I had a listen. It's a good, smooth R&B/soul version. The Housemartins were formed in Hull in 1983. After failing to reach the top 40 with their first two singles, they had a top 3 hit with 'Happy Hour' in the summer of 1986 which was followed by 'Think For A Minute' (number 18). They rounded off the year with their cover of Caravan Of Love which spent one week at number 1 just before Christmas. The Housemartins only lasted two more years but separately went on to have more number 1 singles, Paul Heaton with The Beautiful South and Norman Cook with Beats International and as a solo artist (Fatboy Slim). This is only the second a cappella number 1 after 'Only You' by The Flying Pickets which I put in 13th place in my 1983 rankings. I think the standard of songs in 1983 was higher so 10th place here is about the same as 13th there and I like both songs to the same extent. This one shows what a fine vocalist Paul Heaton can be while the other three back him up nicely on the harmonies which is impressive when you consider that they were primarily musicians. The song's positive message of hope and coming together would have made it a suitable Christmas chart topper but it wasn't to be.

France are looking like the very likely winners of this World Cup, so many talented players in their attack.

Round 1: 24 To Be With You (I could hear it in my head but couldn't think of the title), Lobo, Promise Me Round 2 33 Status Quo 3 in 10cc : I'm Mandy Fly Me, Good Morning Judge, The Dean And I

30th June - 6th July 1966 34. I Couldn't Live Without Your Love - Petula Clark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWTun8B1lHg I do recognise this one, it has a good chorus and the deep drum sound and expansive orchestration give it some scale. Her second top 10 hit of the year. 37. Mama - Dave Berry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--UybzpevdM This is reminding me of No Charge by J J Barrie except this time the list of things that the mother does extends all the way to the son's wedding. It will be the last of Dave Berry's seven top 40 singles. He's still going at the age of 87 and has not yet retired. 39. The More I See You - Chris Montez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXJIQNDC-N4 This will do much better than last week's version, reaching number 3, but I think I prefer Joy Marshall's out of the two. Record of the week : 35. Black Is Black - Los Bravos Los Bravos were a mainly Spanish rock band, the lead singer being from Germany. I'm more familiar with La Belle Epoque's disco cover of this song from 1977 but I have heard the original a few times and it's very good with a Gene Pitney style vocal, bass guitar, tubular bells and an additional horn section. It will reach a peak of number 2, the same position that La Belle Epoque will later take the song to.

Well spotted! I've corrected it now.