dandy*

Oh I don't pay any more attention to Trump than I absolutely have to (ie I literally turn anything off) so I don't even vaguely associate it with him, thank goodness!

12 | Village People - Y.M.C.A. Weeks at number one: 3 End of year position: 26 Rating: 7/10 Here's the first number one of the year in the form of camp disco classic Y.M.C.A... the song was released in 1978 and was already a big hit making #2 throughout the christmas period - and whilst it's difficult to know its sales from that period for the reasons Gezza has already explained earlier in the thread, the #1 at the time was the huge selling Mary's Boy Child by Boney M so there's a pretty good chance that this track had already sold a decent amount before it finally made the top in January - its relatively low end of year peak here explained by this sales split between the two years. Now I can't pretend that this is a song I find myself listening to often (if at all really) but when I was listening to everything I found it difficult not to accept that this is a really catchy slab of pop music. From the moment the intro begins and builds it is instantly recognisable and then it just explodes into a whole lot of fun - I'd say the moment of genius is the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 synth stabs that signal the arrival of the chorus as it just invites everyone to strike 5 poses before shamelessly exploding into the ubiquitous arm letter dance that has to accompany the chorus. ALTHOUGH I am AGOG to see that the dance doesn't actually appear in any of the videos of them so where on earth did that come from?!!! I need to know who was responsible for introducing the dance if it wasn't the band themselves! Dance talk aside, the band were instantly recognisable with their theming... I mean they're clearly the prototype Spice Girls with Cowboy Spice, Builder Spice, Red Indian Spice, Cop Spice, Biker Spice and Military Spice. I wonder if 70s children all had a favourite one? Perhaps there was a big bust up when Red Indian Spice left to pursue a solo career. On a slightly more sombre note, there's also something about this song that represents the period where gay culture was really coming into the mainstream (I could very well be wrong but in my mind I associate the track with this) - the song itself is so obviously about gay culture that it's great that it was so successful - and the sombre bit is that I recall reading years ago that it represents that period in history where LBGTQ+ people were beginning to become more recognised and everything was feeling more positive... before the sad times that we now know were not far around the corner as we moved into the 80s and the culture was hit so hard by AIDS and all of the traumatic actions that happened during that period. But let's not end on that downer as this remains one of the most fun tracks to grace the charts and I suspect is a guilty pleasure for many people.

Ooooo now this is a good idea, will definitely be following it <3

Exile out By far my favourite Taylor song, it’s stunning

13 | Anita Ward - Ring My Bell Weeks at number one: 2 End of year position: 20 Rating: 6/10 In 13th we have a song that started off life as a kids song being an innocent little tune about children ringing each other on the phone... but then Anita and her team came along and ramped up the sauciness factor changing a lot of the lyrics to create a bit of a stir as she invited everyone to ring her bell - and we all know that some mild controversy translates into sales in this world. Despite the comparative sauciness, this oddly feels a little tame as a disco tune to me as the backing slinks along but doesn't ever really take off. It's decent enough though and obviously the lyrics are pretty much harmless by today's standards. More interesting than the sauciness is the recent revelations that have come to light from the Matrix Hack Lady on TikTok who would not be at all amused with the songs unlucky 13th placing... upon watching the youtube videos whilst ranking these songs I couldn't help but notice that this one was starting to receive a flurry of comments over the past month or so and that these were all people talking about wealthy and money... well it transpires that if you've clicked on the video to watch it then I have provided you the gift of wealth via this very thread! You are welcome! The Matrix Hack Lady is absolutely certain that this song has the exact frequency and tone needed to successfully manifest wealth - you too can get all your debts cancelled, land an unexpected windfall or win the lottery if you play this song whilst manifesting these things in your mind matrix. Who am I to argue with this clearly scientific approach to success! More details linked below from the lady herself. https://www.tiktok.com/@goddessinanna15/video/7596112011407232311 Sadly the track didn't manifest any further hits for Anita as she became a one hit wonder pretty much worldwide, but in my ranking it did give her the good fortune of being bumped up above the Police at the last moment.

Ahhh thanks, I appreciate that comment! Especially as I'm not actually finding these as easy to write about as I thought I would do, not having any life experiences from the time to relate the tracks to is quite a hindrance as it makes it more difficult to personalise the commentaries

I was so focused on beating the confirmation rush when I hosted last that I quickly went to fill the form in and only then realised that the confirmation thread hadn’t posted correctly… then when I sorted that the link didn’t work in the image! I think it’s fair though. One of the perks of hosting is that you know when the thread is coming and you can (usually!) get in first

Thanks, I assumed it must have been something like that. And thanks Chris too for the Lena explanation!

14 | The Police - Walking on the Moon Weeks at number one: 1 End of year position: ?? Rating: 6/10 Next up we have the first of two appearances for The Police and the first of three acts to have multiple number ones in 1979. The eagle eyed among you will notice that there's no end of year position for this one, I can't find any record of how well it sold sadly and it seems to me as though the songs that made #1 in December possibly haven't had their sales included as neither this, nor the eventual christmas number one feature in the published lists. I'm guessing that @Gezza will be able to tell us more about what went on here... This is actually a song I like less these days than I used to. I remember my dad buying the best of Sting & the Police back in the 90s and I was surprised by how many songs I knew and liked, and this was one of them. So I was quite surprised when I have been ranking these that I've dropped this down the list several times as I was expecting it to be top 10... but the more I've listened to this set of songs, the more I realised that I found myself getting a bit bored by this track. It seems to take a particularly long time to get to the chorus and that's emphasised by the verses essentially being variants on the same line set to the same tune over and over - the chorus does lift it and I do quite enjoy the generally relaxed vibe to the track, it's quite nice to listen to in the background. Also, I think that I've only just realised that Waking on the Moon was actually about just feeling happy and being light footed as a result of being in love (well I think it is anyway!) and that's quite a cool way of expressing that feeling. The interesting thing about the track is it really feels quite relaxed and kinda spacious in a year where most tracks are crammed full of production and soaring vocals. I can definitely see why the reggae-lite vibes would have stood out from the crowd at the time... but even so I do find this quite a surprising song to have topped the charts that year, I assume it got there largely out of who it was as the Police were becoming one of the most consistently successful bands of the times. This one only a spent a week at the top so it possibly was a little lucky and it didn't really have chance to deny anything from reaching #1, the nearest was No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) which was busy stalling at #3 for Donna & Barbra but I can't say I massively prefer that to this track either.

Hmmmm the characteristics of someone who would send album tracks by ABBA in early rounds

^^ That’s my logic too, plus I’m not sure who else would choose ace of base, possibly gooddelta may but I’m not sure anyone else would

She did multiple nights last time though so in theory she may be able to do it - although she only did London last time so those of us who travelled down could easily be spread elsewhere. Also I’m not sure if she’s quite as popular now as she was back then

I’m gutted as I’m away from 24th June to 8th July!

I think I can remember that, wasn't it won by Gorillaz with Feel Good Inc?

Not enough hats

15 | Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore Weeks at number one: 4 End of year position: 3 Rating: 6/10 Cliff can probably count himself a little unlucky to feature so soon as I really don't mind this track but it turns out that we're already up to songs that I don't mind now - there aren't many years where I'd be on board with the top 15. I'm not really a fan of many of Cliff's songs, some of his early ones are kinda okay for what they are, but after that there's only really this and Wired for Sound that I'd not turn off, with the latter probably being my favourite of his. Considering how successful he was, it's perhaps surprising that he had to wait until 1979 before getting a #1 in the 70s, and he did it in some style as it finished in the end of year top 3 to boot. I feel like this track was probably a shift in direction for him as the production definitely feels loosely inspired by the trend for disco and synths that was so prominent in the charts at the time - albeit it does somehow sound a little bit more tinny than the real classics from the era. I say 'probably a shift in direction' because I don't actually know and have definitely got no intention of subjecting myself to Cliff's earlier 70s singles to find out. But anyway, this one is okay - I think the bridge is the strongest bit and the bits that immediately follow the chorus, it also has the unexpected moment of Cliff suddenly going a bit falsetto out of nowhere - possibly because his clothing is far too tight in the video. I've had a look back at the charts that month whilst Cliff was on top and I can't make a case for any of the other songs that were realistically in with a shot to have made it instead... and I'm out of ideas for what to write about this one now, it's okay but as it happens nothing to write home to buzzjack about.

Maybe I should watch the film in that case - I can imagine it suiting the story well I can hear the David Essex one, quite a similar vibe in a way... more surprised by the Wombles!!! 😂

Oh! I have no recollection of this at all but yes I am easily bought

I know and like the David Bowie one, I can remember the George Michael one existing even if I can't recall how it goes, and I suspect I'll recognise Fred Again when I hear it - but everything else is unknown to me too I'm actually surprised that people in the other groups who did really well in round 1 haven't just gone for songs that are more unknown as quite a few seem to have still gone for really popular choices

Agreed - great choice from whoever is behind Haim. I also feel the need to shout out whoever is behind ABBA for sending songs that aren't completely obvious - they're still not my favourite band in the world, but ABBA singles are so omnipresent in society that I very much appreciate them not sending songs that I already know incredibly well.

Haha, fair point! I actually think it's something to do with how often I type the word 'poster' on here that my mind sort of just expects it to have an e there

Queen of Peace!!! That's one of mine and Mr D*'s favourite songs, lots of memories attached to it for us <3

I struggle with it too tbh - although the best way to remember it is that it's such a fitting word to not look quite right when spelled correctly

I think the twist was a good idea, it's nice to find a way that gives everyone who entered a chance to send more than one song by their act without making the first round totally pointless either.

Woo hoo! I got that one! Although not from the clue directly, instead I got it because when I first looked at the groups thread I thought "Who in their right mind would send A1 to a contest with more than one round?!!!"