DanChartFan

At #11 Eyes That See In The Dark - number 61 in 1983 gS4Kq_Kx-Oc

His 12th biggest hit was Christmas Without You - with Dolly Parton - number 88 in 1984 YMysXLZKsqM

Kenny Rogers is one of those artist where everyone knows and loves at least one of his songs. Sadly the BBC are reporting the breaking news of his death at 81 from natural causes, so I thought I'd countdown his UK hits, and apparently he only had 13 that made the UK charts in the first place, so here's #13. What About Me - with Kim Carnes and James Ingram - number 92 in 1984 JRp8QgFmfiE

The One Week Wonders - Episode 143 We start with two former members of Adam and The Ants, Gary Tibbs and Chris Merrick Hughes, under the guise Merrick and Tibbs, who had their only week of chart action in this guise at #95 on w/e 26th February 1983 with Call Of The Wild. z60DOS515r8 Next up is a Basildon based pop band called the Pinkees, who released four singles in 1982 and 1983. The second single, Danger Games, not only made the chart but peaked at #8. Their only other single to chart was their fourth and final one, I'll Be There, which had one week at #87 on w/e 5th March 1983. dAw1VQgIbl4 And we end this episode with Pal Of My Cradle Days by Scottish singer Valerie Dunbar. She was at #91 on w/e 19th March 1983. Ann Breen had entered the chart with the same song a month before, and was at a peak position of #69 in the same week, eventually notching up 17 weeks on chart accross 5 runs in 1983 and 1984. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a youtube video, or any other online video, for Valerie's version, but Spotify to the rescue, so I can at least link to an audio version.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 142 First up for this episode is American duo Yarbrough and Peoples, aka Calvin Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples. Their UK chart debut was back in the last week of 1980, with Don't Stop The Music, which went on to reach #7. This is their second charting single in the UK, Heartbeats, which was at #91 on w/e 19th February 1983, which happens to be the week of my birth! NsC4Oa0rKlQ Next is Leisure Process, who were experiencing their only week of UK chart action at #93 in the same week with Cash Flow. 9sIG9ALShyc Finally for this episode we have David, or to give her her full name Virginia David, who was previously a vocalist for the band Sailor of Glass Of Champagne fame. Here she attempts a solo career with Am I Normal? at #98 in the same week as the other two songs, but it would be her only week of solo UK chart action. tyWPChIR9ss

The fizzy drinks that were popular in the 70s and 80s, or the unpleasant Mexican lager that, to make it half palatable, you have to drink through half a lime wedged on the neck of the bottle?

The One Week Wonders - Episode 141 We start this episode with The Undertones, who were at #97 on w/e 29th January 1983 with The Love Parade. w0-9vFeP3nk Next up is Sensitive by Mick Karn, which was at #98 the same week, and was his chart debut. H2_JKFlRQWw Finally we have a TV tie-in single. The Boys From The Black Stuff was a five part Alan Bleasdale written series following a group of five Liverpudlian tarmac layers who had found themselves unemployed and were trying to find ways to eke out a living. The main character followed was Yozzer, played by Bernard Hill, whose catchphrases were 'Gis a job" and "I can do that!". The series was transmitted on BBC2 between Sunday 10th October 1982 and Sunday 7th November 1982. BARB were publising Top Tens by channel at this point, rather than the Network Top 20 of old, so the viewing figures can be found: Episode 1 - Unknown as not in the top 10 (but less than 3.4m people) Episode 2 - 4.45m (tied in 10th place with M*A*S*H) Episode 3 - 4.85m (4th place for BBC2, only Kenny Everett, Smiley's People and Horizon are ahead now) Episode 4 - 4.50m (now in tied 9th, but the other programme in the tie, and three above it are International Snooker coverage specific to this week) Episode 5 - 3.90m (still 9th, despite no International Snooker clogging the chart this week) The single is credited to Yosser's Gang and is called Gis A Job. It had one week at #100 on w/e 29th January 1983. Mzde4LVwE_I

I hope The Knack let them use My Sharona "Ooh it makes my body rock, my body rock, ooh you know you'll never stop, m-m-m my corona!" Sorry I know it's dark humour which won't appeal to everyone, and my thoughts are very much with every person and family affected, but I've found myself singing these alterntive lyrics I made up to this song during my last week in self-isolation (precautionary at this stage, due to a cough, no other symptoms and no diagnosis or anything).

The One Week Wonders - Episode 140 There were no more one week wonders in 1982, and the repeated chart over christmas and new year doesn't throw up any bonus two week wonders, so we move on to the week ending 8th January 1983, and the first Gallup Top 100. The 76-100 wasn't a straight sales based listing, as singles that would be in that section but had been consistently dropping in sales and position were excluded to allow more upcoming hits to appear in that section. Nonetheless I've decided to embrace the full Top 100 at this point as it brings with it ever more obscure singles, and obscurity, whilst still technically charting, was the whole point of this thread. It will seem a little strange when we hit the point in 1991 when there is no public access to the full top 100, and it will make my research harder if I try to reinstate the 100 at the point when I can get them from ukmix (I think Sept 92?), rather than at the point in 1994 when they are returned on the OCC website, but the former issue is unavoidable, and as for the latter I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. We start by ignoring Snowman Melody by The Snowmen, which the OCC site shows at #57, as on closer inspection that turns out not to be a new release by them bu instead to actually be Xmas Party which had already been in the charts for the previous three weeks. We therefore start this episode with Nevada and In The Bleak Mid Winter at #71, which represents the only week of UK chart action for both that specific act, and the christmas carol in general. XsXDJxbH3UA We would then be listening to Loch Lomond by Runrig, which was at #86, were it not for the fact that a re-recorded, but fundamentally similar, version was issued to benefit Children In Need 25 years later in 2007 and reached #9. We therefore instead move to #92 and So Close To Me by Julio Iglesias. qvtlIxw-vzQ And finally the first ever top 100 gives us our first one week wonder to spend its only week on chart at #100. It's Ozzy Osbourne with a live version of Symptom Of The Universe, a Black Sabbath track from a few years previously, though it wasn't a charting single as a Black Sabbath track. 69RDJ38edR0

The One Week Wonders - Episode 139 We begin by correcting a third mistake I have made in the space of a week. Episode 137 should have begun with an EP called Don't Bring Me Down, which contained four live tracks, two by The Exploited, and two by Anti-Pasti. The EP was at #70 on w/e 5th December 1981. #NB The linked video, featuring the full EP, contains strong language throughout. Do not hit play if it is likely to offend you# _336Wvdsf-A Returning to 1982 again we carry on from where we left off last time. First up The Mood who were at #74 on w/e 30th October 1982. WkQhTWqpSoQ And concluding this episode with Gary Numan's former backing band Dramatis, who had previously been given equal billing with Gary on the #33 hit Love Needs No Disguise in late 1981, and now a year on, in w/e 13th November 1982 they had one week at #57 with I Can See Her Now. Maybe it's just me, but when the guitar kicks in it suddenly sounds similar to Poison by Alice Cooper, which was released a few years later. bykTcZddJiQ

Oops sorry, the mistakes seem to be coming from me thick and fast this week. There is also a song I completely missed out a couple of episodes back that I have to mention in the next episode too.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 138 We start this episode with the only week of UK chart action for Grand Prix, with Keep On Believin' at #75 on w/e 27th February 1982. nzoEYAL7uts In 1982 German singer Nicole won the Eurovision Song Contest with Ein Bisschen Frieden (A Little Peace), which then became a UK #1. The follow up, Give Me More Time, spent a single week at #75 in w/e 21st August 1982. ZxGhfhajAxQ Finally we have the first solo single for Robert Plant, following the disbanding of Led Zeppelin in 1980. Burning Down One Side was at #73 on w/e 9th October 1982. n_7abjQe3J0

The One Week Wonders - Episode 137 Another Xmas, another repeated chart to cover a non-compiled one, and two more singles become two week wonders in the weeks ending 26th December 1981 and 2nd January 1982. Fogwell Flax and Ankle Biters from Freehold Junior School were at #68 with One Nine With Santa, whilst Johnny Mathis and Gladys Knight had a version of When A Child Is Born at #74. d-303miG0P4 d14OOfuDCGA Our first proper one week wonder in this episode is Tara's Theme from Gone With The Wind by the Rose Of Romance Orchestra, which was at #71 on w/e 9th January 1982. Unfortunately as with a previous BBC music release, The Theme from Henry VIII, I can't find any trace of this exact version of Tara's theme anywhere online, so feel free to let me know if you can find video or audio of it online anywhere. If you use the OCC site to research these one week wonders you'd be forgiven for thinking the next one was Groove Baby Groove by the Stargazers, which according to the site had one week at #57 on w/e 6th February 1982. However I believe, after further research, that it was actually tied at #56 with Flashback by Imagination, then the following week one of those tied records was at #61 before climbing the week after that to #56. The OCC website shows the weeks at #61 and #56 as being the last two weeks for Imagination, but I'm fairly sure that the wrong record from the original tie has been credited with those two weeks, and that actually Groove Baby Groove had three weeks on chart. Moving on we then have Vice Squad with Out Of Reach, which was at #68 on w/e 13th February 1982, and was their only week of chart action. m0LNKUiE0HQ And we end this episode with Brandi Wells' only week of UK chart action with Watch Out at #74 on w/e 20th February 1982. J74EXRqf6hA

The One Week Wonders - Episode 136 On 24th August 1980 Slade found themselves unexpectedly playing the 20th Reading Festival, after Gary Moore’s G-Force and Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard Of Oz had both pulled out of the line-up. It proved to be the stimulus for a revival of the band’s fortunes. The performance was recorded by the BBC, and Tommy Vance began to play the recordings on his show, creating a demand for them, so they were soon released on EPs. The first, Alive At Reading, entered the charts on w/e 18th October 1980, and peaked at #44. The second one was called The Xmas Ear Bender, which charted for one week on w/e 27th December 1980 at #70, and contained three more tracks, Merry Xmas Everybody, Okey Cokey and Get Down And Get On It. The third of those tracks was a genuine Reading performance, but Okey Cokey was their 1979 studio recording with audience noise added to fit the other two tracks on the EP. Merry Xmas Everybody was a mere 40 seconds long, and was the result of the band challenging the crowd at Reading to sing the song. Yes they literally recorded their audience then sold the recording back to them! Anyway the chart books don’t bother to mention the EP, and merely list the entry as ‘Merry Xmas Everybody (re-recording)’, albeit credited to Slade and The Reading Choir (the latter being a jokey name for the crowd). The EP was a two week wonder, as the xmas chart was repeated to fill the gap due to no new chart being compiled for the following week, so it is at best a bonus here. ZMcoe-TKJfo L5lZaxFFlHA The first proper one week wonder for this episode is by Cloud, who were at #72 on w/e 31st January 1981 with the double a-side All Night Long/Take It To The Top, which was there only single to chart. 3L_Kge3rgGI 3v-n3sU5gts The we have 999 with Obsessed, which was at #71 on w/e 16th May 1981. -p5TFsUbR0A And finally for this episode we have The Modettes with Tonight, which was at #68 on w/e 18th July 1981. AQQEZqX8E5Q

The One Week Wonders - Episode 135 We start this episode with the only week of UK chart action for Charlie Harper, whose Barmy London Army was at #68 on w/e 19th July 1980. 6hH1UeksYk4 Next up is Stretchin Out by Gayle Adams, which was at #64 on w/e 26th July 1980. Just over four years later, in October 1984, she reached #86 with I'm Warning You. OeWvZuXU-lU And we end this episode with The Zoo by The Scorpions, which was at #75 on w/e 20th September 1980. They would go on to have a #2 hit with Wind Of Change in 1991. X27IfAgzhTY

The One Week Wonders - Episode 134 First up is Woman's World by the Jags, which was at #75 on w/e 2nd February 1980. Their only other charting single was Back Of My Hand, which reached #17 in 1979. cKRxzE6bm-o Next up is the first of 4 charting singles for Christopher Cross. Ride Like The Wind was at #69 on w/e 19th April 1980. Two other versions of the song have also charted, a metal version by Saxon which reached #52 in 1988, and a dance version by East Side Beat, which was a #3 hit in 1991. 9eHh7qI8OtI Then we have the first of many charting singles for Echo and the Bunnymen. Rescue was at #62 on w/e 17th May 1980. IXuFVtPCZUo Finally for this episode we have Sweet Danger by Angelwitch, which was at #75 on w/e 7th June 1980, and was their only week of UK chart action. zD8eRBI9Qt4

Oh phooey! I used the 3rd edition of Guinness' Hit Singles to compile my initial list from 1952 up to the end of 1980, so that's how the error came into being, but in theory I've been cross-referencing against other sources, including the OCC website, which does show it on 2 weeks, so I've no idea how I missed that. I'll have to put four singles in the next episode to make up for it then.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 133 We start with the fifth and final charting single for the Lurkers, New Guitar In Town, which was at #72 on w/e 17th November 1979. aytARSW92vg Then we have the only week of chart action for Lori and the Chameleons, who were at #70 on w/e 8th December 1979 with Touch. w5-H_Lqfm24 And staying with the same chart week for the final song of this episode, we have Dr Feelgood at #73 with Put Him Out Of Your Mind. This was his last single to reach the Top 75, although a couple of singles reached #93 and #97 respectively in 1986 and 1989. SjMS5EgTDh4

The One Week Wonders - Episode 132 First up is Franco-Romanina composer Vladimir Cosma's David's Song, which was the theme to the 1979 HTV co-production of Kidnapped, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same name, which aired between April and June 1979 on ITV, but didn't reached the National Top 20 TV charts. It charted at #64 on w/e 14th July 1979, and was his only week of UK chart action. QxbKlxJMqX8 Staying with the same chart week we have Light Of The World at #72 with Midnight Groovin'. hl_us61IcW8 Finally for this episode it's the third and final UK hit for the Rezillos, who had come to fame with the song Top Of The Pops, which criticised the music show on which they were then asked to perform that single. Can't Stand My Baby and I Wanna Be Your Man had actually been the first single they released in 1977, but had missed the charts and was now being reissued. It charted at #71 on w/e 18th August 1979. I Wanna Be Your Man was the Lennon McCartney song that had been a #12 hit for the Rolling Stones in 1963-4. Ld8zm--u0R0 aAlPhmBvclo

The One Week Wonders - Episode 131 We start by skipping over Karen Young's Hot Shot, which had a week at #75 on 24th February 1979, as this was a reissue of a single that had charted the previous year. We also skip over two candidates for the list from w/e 14th April 1979. The first, at #64 was a reissue of Bobby Darin's 1959 charttoppers Dream Lover and Mack The Knife as a double a-side. The other, at #66, was another double a-side, pairing up the 1958/9 #2 hit To Know Him Is To Love Him by The Teddy Bears with Jody Reynold's Endless Sleep, the latter of which was a million selling #5 hit in the US, but had never charted in this country previously. Endless Sleep was the forerunner to a run of other 'death songs' in the years that followed, and was Jody's only week of Uk chart action in 1979, albeit probably with more than a little help from the much better know other side of the disc, so I include it here as a bonus. p7lZYoiVl30 Our three true one week wonders in this episode are from w/e 9th June 1979. The first, at #72 is Out In The Dark/Cyanide by The Lurkers. Xxyl7L47Hb8 -tZkb87vn2g Next, at #73, is Women In Uniform, which is the only week of chart action for Skyhooks. IeOtJ09FD-8 And finally tied at #74 was J Geils Band with One Last Kiss. This was their first time on chart, and the next time they reached the singles chart was in February 1982, with Centrefold, which got as far as #3. ytytqELCehA

The One Week Wonders - Episode 130 All three of this episode's acts were experiencing their only week of UK chart action. First up we have Sarr Band and Magic Mandrake, which was at #68 on w/e 16th September 1978. wuOnIooWTic Then we have Cirrus and Rollin' On, which was at #62 on w/e 30th September 1978. This song had been used in a Yorkie advert, with some lyrics changed, and was released at this time on chocolate brown vinyl for that reason. 7pvpdP_emks or as it sounded on the advert. DCeQNPJtMWY Finally we have Aquarian Dream with You're A Star, which was at #67 on 24th February 1979. Abv7HHLrVP4

Sorry for the wait since the last episode. Gonna try to catch up again. The One Week Wonders - Episode 129 First up is Devo, who were at #71 on w/e 12th August 1978. 3tR2d7vtMO8 One week later and the Patti Smith Group were at #72 with Privilege (Set Me Free). 2n-QwLaYblM Finally for this episode is the only week of UK chart action for Platinum Hook, with Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On), which was at #72 on w/e 2nd September 1978. 0f63NIDYZck

I wonder whether those people who have any tendency to watch or listen to things in strict order (of which I am one) are, almost by definition, more likely to ignore pre-compiled playlists and instead construct their own playlists, so as to achieve the 'correct' order they crave. e.g. I have randomly created playlists for certain week's singles charts (trying to find the time each week to do one for the chart from exactly 25 years previously), or chronological through say an artists career (perhaps if they have just passed) or through something else (e.g I have one for my birthday number ones through time). If there isn't a pedantic order to put the songs in, like those I mentioned, then I don't use playlists at all and just search for and select each song as I go.

That's interesting, but I notice two things that have me wondering about it. One is that it mentions singles 'previously listed' between 41-50, and the other is that the small print is shown under the heading 'Star Breakers see page 4', which creates the impression to me that the rule applies to the Star Breakers section, and that any records that had previously been in the 41-50 section were excluded from reappearing in the star breakers, though that rule would then beg the question of if there was a different rule for anything that had previously made the Top 40, or at least for anything that fell directly from the Top 40 to below 50. But then I guess 'previously listed' could instead refer to previous chart practice rather than individual singles which had already been on chart, and the reference to Star Breakers may not have been intended to be a heading. I checked a scan of Record Mirror from the same week, http://scans.chartarchive.org/UK/1975/28%2...es%20Albums.jpg , which has no equivalant note, but does show the Star Breakers list, which oddly enough was topped by Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her.

You Light Up My Life is an odd one, it has one genuine week on chart, then that chart is repeated to cover the week when no chart was compiled, then when a new chart is compiled it is a Top 30 only for one week, so a false 31-50 has been created on the OCC site, using the ordering of the repeated chart, so the OCC shows it as 3 weeks on chart. It's hard to say whether it would have got a least one more genuine week had full charts been compiled for those weeks, but still a marked contrast, as you say, to its performance in the US. I'm writing this from memory, having seen it discussed either here or on digitalspy some time ago, so I could be remembering wrong but somewhere in the early 1970s Woolworths started supplying their sales data to the BMRB to be included in the charts. They sold a lot of singles, including, I presume, holding stock of older singles after the smaller record shops had sold through, so the inclusion of their data had the effect of slowing the chart down, and of causing bigger and more middle of the road singles to stay in the charts longer, at the expense of smaller and more niche hits who would struggle to even break into the Top 50. The BMRB eventually decided to apply an exclusion rule to the 41-50 positions by striking out (i.e. listing without a numbered position) any single that was below the pure sales Top 40 and had dropped in sales for, I think, three weeks. This effectively makes the 41-50 a bit like a Breakers section in that era. I believe this exclusion rule wasn't publically acknowledged at the time (the BBC only using the Top 40 anyway, and Record Retailer and Record Mirror presumably never mentioned it), so it only emerged in the internet era that it had happened.