Robbie
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Posts posted by Robbie
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the album chart for 08/08/87 wasn't very inspirational either...
01 01 03 Hits 6 - Various Artists
02 02 03 Introducing The Hardline According To… - Terence Trent D'Arby
03 05 21 The Joshua Tree - U2
04 06 05 Sixties Mix - Various Artists
05 04 02 Who's That Girl - Original Soundtrack
06 03 09 Whitney - Whitney Houston
07 09 10 Bad Animals - Heart
08 07 60 Invisible Touch - Genesis
09 10 16 FLM - Mel And Kim
10 NE 01 Hearsay - Alexander O'Neal
11 11 14 Keep Your Distance - Curiosity Killed The Cat
12 08 17 The Return Of Bruno - Bruce Willis
13 13 28 License To Ill - Beastie Boys
14 12 57 True Blue - Madonna
15 15 10 Live In The City Of Light - Simple Minds
16 16 14 Solitude Standing - Suzanne Vega
17 17 06 Clutching At Straws - Marillion
18 14 12 It's Better To Travel - Swing Out Sister
19 NE 01 The Def Jam Sampler Volume 1 - Various Artists
20 20 10 Atlantic Soul Classics - Various Artists
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something of a so-so chart. A lot of music from 1987 just hasn't stood the test of time that well, for me. Part of the problem is that a lot of songs from then sound dated and / or tired.
That said, I like the following
3 5 Heart - Alone - a bit overplayed over the years but still a decent song
6 13 Hue And Cry - Labour Of Love - this song reminds me of The (Old) Swan pub on Kensington Church Street in London W8 - they had a video jukebox and this song always seemed to be on.
7 19 New Order - True Faith - quite the song back in the day and still good
16 34 Def Leppard - Animal - another song with a video that I remember from The Swan
17 30 Stock Aitken Waterman - Roadblock - before they became the butt of a thousand jokes, this was quite a credible club song
21 11 Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well
25 20 The Gap Band - Oops Upside Your Head {1987} - preferred the 1980 original but still OK
27 15 Black - Sweetest Smile - miserable sounding voice but the song was good
31 43 Wet Wet Wet - Sweet Little Mystery - another song that reminds me of The Swan, probably this more than any of the others as the video was on all the time. The song was irritating after a while but it reminds me of drunken nights!
32 Ne Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up - good at the time, catchy...
33 21 Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
38 23 Kenny G - Songbird - nice instrumental
39 46 Sherrick - Just Call - liked this at the time
44 37 Whitesnake - Is This Love - another song that was played on the video jukebox at The Swan, the video looks over the top these days, all white teeth and poodle perms...
45 53 Then Jerico - The Motive - loved this song, they never fulfilled their promise.
50 40 John Farnham - You're The Voice - alternates between being annoying and sing out loud brilliant!
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Top 20 albums 11/08/84
01 NE 01 Now That's What I Call Music 3 - Various Artists
02 01 13 Legend - Bob Marley And The Wailers
03 02 03 Diamond Life - Sade
04 03 07 Private Dancer - Tina Turner
05 04 42 Can't Slow Down - Lionel Richie
06 05 23 The Works - Queen
07 08 88 Thriller - Michael Jackson
08 06 49 An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
09 10 15 Breakout - Pointer Sisters
10 11 25 Into The Gap - Thompson Twins
11 09 23 Human Racing - Nik Kershaw
12 14 09 Breakdance - Original Soundtrack
13 07 06 Parade - Spandau Ballet
14 18 04 Purple Rain - Prince And The Revolution
15 15 07 Breaking Hearts - Elton John
16 12 03 Primitive - Neil Diamond
17 16 12 She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper
18 17 09 American Heartbeat - Various Artists
19 13 04 Victory - Jacksons
20 22 19 Now That's What I Call Music 2 - Various Artists
to complete the Now That's What I Call Music set, the original album was down to #56 on its 36th week on the chart.
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I liked the following...
*2 12 George Michael - Careless Whisper - still like this, great sax
5 4 Prince - When Doves Cry :)
*6 3 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax - I didn't really care for Two Tribes but I loved this
*10 7 Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Do It) - excellent song that i still love to this day
12 15 The Kane Gang - Closest Thing To Heaven :)
*13 25 Laura Branigan - Self Control - excellent, still sounds good
16 8 Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time :)
17 11 The Bluebells - Young At Heart
19 18 Billy Idol - Eyes Without A Face :)
20 21 Windjammer - Tossing And Turning :)
21 14 Alison Moyet - Love Resurrection :)
38 31 Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
39 29 Jacksons With Mick Jagger - State Of Shock
40 43 A Flock Of Seagulls - The More You Live, The More You Love
*45 38 Sister Sledge - Thinking Of You - excellent song, this was on the B side of Lost In Music in 1979
49 35 Shannon - Sweet Somebody :)
* songs I owned
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There was no set date when this happened as the norm, it was something that grew throughout the 80s. On 01/01/80 nearly all singles were released on a Thursday or more usually a Friday and by 31/12/89 it was a Monday. In between, singles began to be released on all days of the working week, not only Mondays but Tuesdays and Wednesday too. Back then singles were just released when they left the pressing factory, so a store could sell them the minute the stock arrived. The idea behind a Friday release back then was just to ensure that all stores who wanted to sell a single from day one would have the stock at the start of the following chart week (ie from the Monday), certainly by midweek at the most. But major towns and cities tended to get their stock on the Saturday though not all stores would sell the stock on the Saturday (my local HMV didn't, unless it was by a big act).Want to end with a question (I don`t know the answer, because I didn`t do much in radio, between 1979 - 96). I recently got caught up in a conversation. Someone asked me "When did singles first start to get released on Mondays?" Now, I would say it was in the late 80s. As to when I haven`t got a clue. During the 50s, 60s, and 70s, all new releases came out on a Friday. Even the demos given to radio stations, had the Friday dates stamped on them. So, Robbie or anyone..Do you know the exact week, for the Monday release????The first single I can recall being held back was Going Underground by The Jam in March 1980 which was delivered to my local store on the Saturday but the assistant said they had been told by the reps to not sell the single until the Monday, as had all other stores. The result - an instant number one. But that was an exception. However labels began to use this ploy for the bigger acts and that is why by 1984 there were several high new entries / instant number ones. Gradually, release dates for most other records moved from later in the week to the middle of the week, then to a Monday or Tuesday until finally most singles were released on the Monday by the late 80s. One important factor was better distribution as the motorway network improved during the 80s, especially once the M25 had opened in 1986. Records could be released and in stores the same day, or the following day, for most parts of the UK.
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see
http://www.theofficialcharts.com/chart_rules.php
there is a PDF file called "BPI Barcoding"
which may help.
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I think 20 years is a bit too far back too, I reckon the forum would sooner or later run out of topics or at the very least enough posters who want to respond!
I personally think 10 years ago is actually a good cut off point, but that is simply because 1998 and 1999 are fairly similar to me in musical styles as 2000 and 2001. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't participate in a thread about 1999 if one appeared. To be honest, soon 2000 will be far enough in the past to be retro in itself... we are closer to 2016 now than we are to 2000... what a frightening thought.
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There was a fast and furious turnover even before 1995. In fact, by 1990 it was rare for a single to climb into the top 40 - the turning point for that was about 1987. Of course, by 1995 to 2005 standards, the charts of the early 90s were slow, and had climbers, but in 1991 Music Week carried an article about the fast turnover of the singles chart, so there were concerns even then.I don't mind a slower turnover. Before mid 1995 it was always like this.From 1995 until about 2005 the quick turn over was due to physicals being deleted after a few weeks.
I hated this. Why should everyone have to buy the single quickly just for a high chart position and a quick chart turnover.
Before 1995 there were only physicals but they weren't deleted so quickly.
Today's charts reflect the way people buy/download singles these days. As and when they can afford them.
Now the charts are so slow, the charts of the 1950s seem fast and furious!
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Top 10 Compilations of 2008 (so far)
01 Now 69
02 Now 70
03 Clubland Classics
04 Chilled 1991-2008
05 Ministry Of Sound - Anthems 1991-2008
06 Dreamboats & Petticoats
07 Dave Pearce Trance Anthems 2008
08 The Very Best Of Euphoric Dance
09 Mamma Mia (OST)
10 101 Driving Songs
all credited to Various Artists, except #9
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1974 is a strange year for me. It was the year I got into music and the charts and I remember 49 out of the 50 songs here (the only one I can't recall is Light Of Love by T Rex) but it isn't a year that has stood the test of time. Most of the songs here certainly take me back to then but it's a strange sort of nostalgia. Most of the songs seem insipid, poppy, disposable songs that have long been forgotten.
I guess the songs I liked the best back then were by the likes of Mud (my favourites in 1974...), First Class, The Drifters (I had the single) and - embarrassingly - The Stylistics (I had that single too). But now I'd go for R Dean Taylor and Wings. but it's a poor chart. The one song that does take me back to then is that Intruders song as I remember hearing it on Radio Luxembourg which seemed to be the only station that played it and in those days I would listen in every night on my little radio... there was little competition on a night time, Radio 1 closed early, except for John Peel and I was too young to get into the sort of music he played and my local ILR station, Metro Radio, had just started up two weeks before this chart and was playing US rock music and specialist country, jazz etc shows rather than pop songs. It was literally Luxy on a night or nothing...
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fair enough, but i was just going by the singles.Then, I have to ask you, how can you possibly judge an artist who's done something like TEN solo albums..... I wont pretend to have liked everything that they guy has done, but when you look at his whole career, well, frankly, you have an artist with an incredibly formidable body of work that about 99.9999999% of artists out there would quite literally KILL to have.... His status as one of UK's music greats is fukkin' absolutely earned and the fact that he's still without a Lifetime Achievement award is frankly fukkin' disgraceful..... To somehow imply that the bloke is a "disappointing" solo artist when it's based on the ownership of one album is a joke tbh, and it shows your lack of knowledge of the man's work..... -
I thought Sting's mid to late 80s solo stuff was fine, especially The Dream Of The Blue Turtles from 1985. However, I bought Soul Cages in 1991 and was disappointed by it. I think there's only the Fields Of Gold single since then that I've liked.
I'm a big Paul Weller fan and, his later Style Council releases, from mid 1985 onwards to his early solo material (1991 to 1992) aside, I've liked much of what he has done.
I don't think Freddie Mercury really took his solo career seriously, it was more or less a little diversion for him away from Queen. At least I don't think he took it seriously...
My one big disappointment is John Lennon. There's only two songs by him that I like - Imagine and No. 9 Dream. I've not heard any album tracks, just the singles, but on the whole they just disappoint. I didn't like Starting Over when he was still alive and didn't change my mind when he died either, it's a rather insipid track, as is Woman, although the latter is slightly better. I preferred McCartney's Wings material, up to the abomination that was Mull Of Kintyre. After that, he just lost his way.
I think that Morrissey has been somewhat of a disappointment since the break up of The Smiths. One or two decentish singles doesn't make for the hero worship that he still seems to get. Again, I haven't heard much of his album material (I only own You Are the Quarry).
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up to October 2006 the best selling albums in the UK were
1
GREATEST HITS
QUEEN
5,407,587
2
SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
BEATLES
4,811,996
3
WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY
OASIS
4,314,715
4
BROTHERS IN ARMS
DIRE STRAITS
3,956,704
5
GOLD - GREATEST HITS
ABBA
3,943,950
6
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
PINK FLOYD
3,781,993
7
GREATEST HITS II
QUEEN
3,644,619
8
THRILLER
MICHAEL JACKSON
3,578,107
9
BAD
MICHAEL JACKSON
3,554,301
10
THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION
MADONNA
3,402,160
11
STARS
SIMPLY RED
3,361,115
12
COME ON OVER
SHANIA TWAIN
3,344,280
13
RUMOURS
FLEETWOOD MAC
3,135,844
14
URBAN HYMNS
VERVE
3,054,374
15
NO ANGEL
DIDO
3,002,194
16
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
SIMON & GARFUNKEL
3,001,062
17
TALK ON CORNERS
CORRS
2,944,547
18
SPICE
SPICE GIRLS
2,920,669
19
BACK TO BEDLAM
JAMES BLUNT
2,895,874
20
WHITE LADDER
DAVID GRAY
2,851,429
there is a more up to date list somewhere on my computer but I can't find it at the moment...
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Top 20 albums w/e 14/07/79
01 01 05 Discovery Electric Light Orchestra
02 04 06 Replicas Tubeway Army
03 22 02 Live Killers Queen
04 02 43 Parallel Lines Blondie
05 08 03 Bridges John Williams.
06 05 04 I Am Earth Wind And Fire
07 11 16 Breakfast In America Supertramp
08 06 09 Voulez Vous Abba
09 03 14 Last The Whole Night Long James Last
10 07 04 Back To The Egg Wings
11 09 04 Communique Dire Straits
12 14 07 Sky Sky
13 10 07 Night Owl Gerry Rafferty
14 18 03 The Best Of The Dooleys Dooleys
15 12 07 Do It Yourself Ian Dury And The Blockheads
16 13 06 Lodger David Bowie
17 15 20 Manilow Magic Barry Manilow
18 20 05 Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones
19 19 16 The Very Best Of Leo Sayer Leo Sayer
20 17 17 Manifesto Roxy Music
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slap bang in my era!
I had the following singles...
1 Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric
2 Janet Kay - Silly Games
3 The Sex Pistols - C'mon Everybody
4 Squeeze - Up The Junction (on purple vinyl)
5 Amii Stewart - Light My Fire / 137 Disco Heaven
8 Chic - Good Times (12")
17 Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
20 Slick - Space Bass
21 Donna Summer - Bad Girls
22 The Knack - My Sharona
23 Public Image Ltd - Death Disco (12")
24 Edwin Starr - HAPPY Radio
26 The Police - Can't Stand Losing You (on white vinyl)
35 Blondie - Sunday Girl (12")
as well as having the above I also liked these...
10 The Ruts - Babylon Burning
11 The Dooleys - Wanted
12 Eddy Grant - Living On The Front Line
13 Thin Lizzy - Do Anything You Want To
27 Earth Wind & Fire With The Emotions - Boogie Wonderland
30 Rickie Lee Jones - Chuck E's In Love
31 Siouxsie & The Banshees - Playground Twist
33 Abba - Angeleyes / Voulez Vous
34 The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
40 Teena Marie & Rick James - I'm A Sucker For Your Love
the song at #15, Maybe by Thom Pace was the theme tune to "The Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams".
Physical Singles Going To Go Up ?
in UK Charts
Were you making the song available for others to also download? That will be how you were caught, not because you downloaded something yourself but rather because you made it available for others to download. The BPI are running an exercise and are capturing IP information as well as timestamps of people sharing specific songs, which they then use to approach the ISP, to have the ISP send out the warning letter. That's all it is at the moment, a warning letter, but that may change in the future and in future warnings to file sharers could be met with the added threat of disconnection by the ISP or ultimately prosecution by the BPI.
see these reports
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7522334.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7522962.stm
When someone is downloading from you, you will never know if it is another file sharer or someone from the BPI...
Who is your ISP? BT and Virgin are the most active at the moment in sending out these letters.