Ghoulian

As expected quite a lot that isn’t hugely inspiring among the pre 2000 entries, but I’ve managed to pick out my favourite 10. Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Notes 1956 Fud Leclerc "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" French N/a N/a No semi-finals Top 20 1956 Mony Marc "Le Plus Beau Jour de ma vie" French N/a N/a This feels like a musical number with the "ding dong" refrain: it's quite nice 1957 Bobbejaan Schoepen "Straatdeuntje" Dutch 8 5 A jolly little ballad with some strange humming and whistling: it's OK 1958 Fud Leclerc "Ma petite chatte" French 5 8 A nice baritone voice crooning away at a fairly standard number 1959 Bob Benny "Hou toch van mij" Dutch 6 9 I like his rolled r - otherwise it's another nicely done but fairly unremarkable song of its time 1960 Fud Leclerc "Mon amour pour toi" French 6 9 Fred's back with quite a standard crooner effort: nothing much interesting to say 1961 Bob Benny "September, gouden roos" Dutch 15 1 2nd entry from Bob and their 1st last place: I prefer is other one as this is a little turgid 1962 Fud Leclerc "Ton nom" French 13 0 A 3rd entry from Fred: nil points for this as harsh but it's another very unremarkable one 1963 Jacques Raymond "Waarom?" Dutch 10 4 This has a little more impact that the last few but still isn't memorable 1964 Robert Cogoi "Près de ma rivière" French 10 2 A nice and very smooth romantic ballad, though nothing surprising 1965 Lize Marke "Als het weer lente is" Dutch 15 0 Another nil pointer and another sleepy ballad that leaves not much impression 1966 Tonia "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" French 4 14 "A bit of salt and pepper": it's a bit musical theatre but does stand out a fair bit 1967 Louis Neefs "Ik heb zorgen" Dutch 7 8 More energetic than most of the earlier entries but has a slightly seasick feel to it 1968 Claude Lombard "Quand tu reviendras" French 7 8 Top 20 1969 Louis Neefs "Jennifer Jennings" Dutch 7 10 His second appearance: it's quite nice but has something slightly jerky and awkward about it 1970 Jean Vallée "Viens l'oublier" French 8 5 He really gives the performance his all but the song is quite ordinary 1971 Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel "Goeie morgen, morgen" Dutch 14 68 A very unremarkable duet apart from the nice organ intro 1972 Serge and Christine Ghisoland "À la folie ou pas du tout" French 17 55 This sounds like it's based on the "Blue Danube" by Strauss - a very strange song 1973 Nicole and Hugo "Baby Baby" Dutch 17 58 This is a catchy duet, but it leans just a little towards the naff side 1974 Jacques Hustin "Fleur de liberté" French 9 10 An of its time number that's slightly repetitive and grating 1975 Ann Christy "Gelukkig zijn" Dutch, English 15 17 A sweet and well performed but unremarkable song 1976 Pierre Rapsat "Judy et Cie" French 8 68 Top 20 1977 Dream Express "A Million in One, Two, Three" English 7 69 Top 20 1978 Jean Vallée "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" French 2 125 Top 20 1979 Micha Marah "Hey Nana" Dutch 18 5 A danceable and well sung number that certainly didn't deserve last place 1980 Telex "Euro-Vision" French 17 14 I like the synth sound but otherwise this is a rather bewildering entry about the competition itself 1981 Emly Starr "Samson" Dutch 13 40 A somewhat melodramatic number about the biblical figure 1982 Stella "Si tu aimes ma musique" French 4 96 An accomplished performance of a nicely contstructed though of its time song 1983 Pas de Deux "Rendez-vous" Dutch 18 13 There was huge controversy about this minimalist effort winning the national final, but it's not bad 1984 Jacques Zegers "Avanti la vie" French 5 70 Top 20 1985 Linda Lepomme "Laat me nu gaan" Dutch 19 7 Their 6th last place with a slightly insipid, uninspiring ballad 1986 Sandra Kim "J'aime la vie" French 1 176 Their only victory: it's a catchy slickly produced track but nothing special and she was only 13 1987 Liliane Saint-Pierre "Soldiers of Love" Dutch 11 56 A powerful performance and quite an enjoyable song with a "Final Countdown" feel 1988 Reynaert "Laissez briller le soleil" French 18 5 Top 20 1989 Ingeborg "Door de wind" Dutch 19 13 Quite an endearing performance but a rather twee song 1990 Philippe Lafontaine "Macédomienne" French 12 46 Top 20 1991 Clouseau "Geef het op" Dutch 16 23 A spirited effort from this young trio but the song is rather limp 1992 Morgane "Nous on veut des violons" French 20 11 Nice violins on this but the song is rather clunky and not engaging 1993 Barbara "Iemand als jij" Dutch 25 3 A very serious and rather lifeless song without much going for it 1995 Frédéric Etherlinck "La voix est libre" French 20 8 12 45 An old fashioned and earnest feel to this : pleasant in its way 1996 Lisa del Bo "Liefde is een kaartspel" Dutch 16 22 No semi-finals A hummable, sweet and rather charming song: shame it resulted in relegation 1998 Mélanie Cohl "Dis oui" French 6 122 Top 20 1999 Vanessa Chinitor "Like the Wind" English 12 38 Top 20

It was going to be “Ain’t Nobody” topping this group, which I do love but “Wood Beez” has crept up the more listens I’ve given it. 9 Scritti Politti Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) 1st Top 40 after a few misses for this UK group: a track that's hard to describe as it fuses genres, but wonderful 9 Rufus And Chaka Khan Ain't Nobody Only UK hit for the US funk band Rufus, and 2nd for Chaka: a wonderful R&B track with a distinctive synth riff 8 Siouxsie And The Banshees Swimming Horses A big comedown in chart performance from "Dear Prudence" but a beautiful, atmospheric piano driven song 8 The Special AKA Nelson Mandela Their last Top 40 this decade: a notable protest song with South African influences and their usual ska charm 7 Simple Minds Up On The Catwalk Like many of their songs this has a really inescapable rhythm: their 1st Top 10 eludes them but that will change 7 Thompson Twins You Take Me Up Their 5th Top 10 with each peaking higher than the last: this has a lovely tune but isn't so compelling overall 6 Depeche Mode People Are People Their joint highest peaking hit but not a favourite: it is musically compelling as ever but I find the lyrics clunky 5 Michael Jackson P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) The 6th and last hit from "Thriller" until "Human Nature" enters belatedly: this is decent but lacks a strong hook 5 John Lennon Borrowed Time His last new solo Top 40: this has a slight reggae style to it and a nice carefree feel, but doesn't stand out 4 Madonna Lucky Star After this Top 20 she'll have 35 Top 10s in a row: she's beginning to find her style but this isn't a very strong song 3 Captain Sensible Glad It's All Over/Damned On 45 Their last Top 40 with quite an interesting anti war song paired with a lengthy spoof medley we didn't need 3 Shakin' Stevens A Love Worth Waiting For An original song from Shaky and his 7th Top 3 hit, but it's the usual not partciularly endearing rock n roll fodder 2 UB40 Cherry Oh Baby A cover of a 1971 song by Jamaican singer Eric Donaldson: this version ceratainly doesn't bring the song to life 2 Dead Or Alive That's The Way (I Like It) 1st hit for this UK group: this is a rather messy and not very enjoyable cover, but they'll be back with a bang 1984 Group 7: #1352 07/04/1984 Phil Collins Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) 2 26-10-4-{2}-2-2-3-8-10-22-28-39-51-70->14 #1353 07/04/1984 The Cure The Caterpillar 14 31-20-{14}-19-26-37-70->7 #1354 31/03/1984 Cliff Richard Baby You're Dynamite 27 44-34-{27}-31-41-66->6 #1355 31/03/1984 Cameo She's Strange 37 42-{37}-41-43-58-74-56-67->8 #1356 31/03/1984 The Psychedelic Furs Heaven 29 62-39-{29}-33-50-62->6 #1357 31/03/1984 The Gap Band Someday 17 56-40-22-{17}-25-34-45-63->8 #1358 14/04/1984 Queen I Want To Break Free 3 18-5-{3}-3-3-4-5-9-15-22-28-41-50-64-70->15 #1359 07/04/1984 Shannon Give Me Tonight 24 44-{24}-24-26-32-41-54->7 #1360 07/04/1984 The S.O.S. Band Just Be Good To Me 13 50-26-{13}-17-17-20-20-30-33-44-55->11 #1361 14/04/1984 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Locomotion 5 28-19-10-6-{5}-7-12-18-28-41-63->11 #1362 14/04/1984 Kool And The Gang (When You Say You Love Somebody) In The Heart 7 30-11-{7}-12-15-23-37-65->8 #1363 14/04/1984 Blancmange Don't Tell Me 8 32-15-11-{8}-8-9-15-26-40-65->10 #1364 17/03/1984 Propaganda Dr Mabuse 27 66-47-43-46-34-{27}-33-43-68->9 #1365 14/04/1984 Nik Kershaw Dancing Girls 13 35-25-18-14-{13}-14-27-37-50->9 #1366 24/03/1984 The Bluebells I'm Falling 11 65-49-41-36-26-15-{11}-14-19-33-51-74->12

“Nosedive” isn’t the ideal start to the flight.

This is such a ride! Shame it’s out. 😢

Hmm yeah Daniel can go.

Couldn’t bear to check any of this out live. 0/4 qualification predictions confirmed all our mental catastrophising but delighted and amazed to have in fact made it! Thanks for the votes for Alana. We lost: 5 Séyetana 4 Ennea 3 Jupiterdonia Sorry to those like Zanmatony who we couldn’t quite vote for as well. Also sad to lose Persephonia, Pophub, Deandria and Harmonica who would all have had good points.

No real feelings either way about “Candy” - interesting that it irks you that much!

Week 28: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 403,000 680,000 2 2 Michael Jackson The Essential 371,000 2,470,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 353,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 229,000 2,060,000 5 5 The Weeknd Highlights 191,000 1,780,000 6 6 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 181,000 690,000 7 9 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 172,000 8 7 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 168,000 470,000 9 8 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 166,000 470,000 10 10 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 152,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 147,000 2,560,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 143,000 540,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 141,000 860,000 14 14 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 137,000 1,030,000 15 15 ABBA Gold 133,000 6,280,000 16 17 Elton John Diamonds 131,000 2,060,000 17 16 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 130,000 3,680,000 18 18 Michael Jackson Thriller 127,000 4,880,000 19 20 BTS Arirang 125,000 20 19 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 122,000 21 21 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 121,000 760,000 22 22 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 119,000 5,730,000 23 24 Drake Iceman 114,000 24 23 Tate McRae So Close To What 114,000 370,000 25 25 Michael Jackson Bad 113,000 4,560,000 26 26 Arctic Monkeys AM 110,000 2,440,000 27 27 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 106,000 3,640,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 104,000 1,350,000 29 29 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 103,000 800,000 30 30 Sombr I Barely Know Her 102,000 190,000 31 31 Pitbull Greatest Hits 99,000 720,000 32 32 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 96,000 860,000 33 33 Maroon 5 Singles 95,000 1,090,000 34 34 Queen Greatest Hits 89,000 3,300,000 35 35 Calvin Harris 96 Months 86,000 320,000 36 36 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 85,000 2,400,000 37 37 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 85,000 2,120,000 38 38 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 83,000 680,000 39 39 Oasis Definitely Maybe 81,000 3,100,000 40 41 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 81,000 2,510,000 77 79 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 62,000 360,000 80 81 The Killers Rebel Diamonds 61,000 300,000 81 84 Dua Lipa Dua Lipa 60,000 1,280,000 87 93 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 59,000 99 - Lewis Capaldi Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent 53,000 1,930,000 - 99 Radiohead OK Computer 52,000 1,820,000

Belated Week 27: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 395,000 670,000 2 3 Michael Jackson The Essential 353,000 2,450,000 3 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 345,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 222,000 2,050,000 5 5 The Weeknd Highlights 185,000 1,770,000 6 6 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 175,000 690,000 7 7 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 163,000 470,000 8 8 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 163,000 470,000 9 13 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 153,000 10 9 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 144,000 11 10 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 141,000 2,550,000 12 11 Linkin Park Papercuts 138,000 530,000 13 12 Noah Kahan Stick Season 136,000 860,000 14 14 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 134,000 1,030,000 15 15 ABBA Gold 129,000 6,270,000 16 16 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 126,000 3,680,000 17 17 Elton John Diamonds 126,000 2,050,000 18 21 Michael Jackson Thriller 121,000 4,870,000 19 18 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 120,000 20 20 BTS Arirang 120,000 21 19 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 119,000 760,000 22 22 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 114,000 5,730,000 23 23 Tate McRae So Close To What 111,000 370,000 24 25 Drake Iceman 109,000 25 26 Michael Jackson Bad 108,000 4,560,000 26 24 Arctic Monkeys AM 106,000 2,430,000 27 27 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 103,000 3,640,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 101,000 1,350,000 29 30 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 99,000 800,000 30 29 Sombr I Barely Know Her 99,000 190,000 31 32 Pitbull Greatest Hits 94,000 720,000 32 31 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 93,000 860,000 33 33 Maroon 5 Singles 92,000 1,080,000 34 34 Queen Greatest Hits 86,000 3,290,000 35 35 Calvin Harris 96 Months 83,000 320,000 36 36 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 82,000 2,390,000 37 38 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 82,000 2,110,000 38 37 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 81,000 680,000 39 40 Oasis Definitely Maybe 78,000 3,090,000 40 39 EsDeeKid Rebel 78,000 150,000 48 49 Green Day Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band 72,000 820,000 81 83 The Killers Rebel Diamonds 58,000 300,000 84 85 Dua Lipa Dua Lipa 58,000 1,280,000 93 - Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 53,000 98 - The Rolling Stones Forty Licks 51,000 1,430,000 - 98 Taylor Swift Reputation 51,000 1,130,000 - 100 Charli XCX Wuthering Heights (OST) 49,000

2026 song entering and replacing an old song shocker.

Week 28: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,420,000 2,520,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,307,000 1,990,000 3 3 Raye Where Is My Husband! 907,000 1,510,000 4 4 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 898,000 1,140,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 888,000 3,070,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 819,000 1,200,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 805,000 8 8 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 770,000 2,100,000 9 9 Zara Larsson Lush Life 767,000 3,810,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 761,000 1,510,000 11 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 698,000 830,000 12 12 Djo End Of Beginning 676,000 1,860,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 652,000 1,430,000 14 14 Tame Impala Dracula 626,000 760,000 15 15 Bruno Mars I Just Might 604,000 16 16 Sombr 12 To 12 592,000 1,120,000 17 17 Sombr Homewrecker 590,000 18 18 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 553,000 720,000 19 19 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 540,000 640,000 20 20 Alex Warren Fever Dream 527,000 21 22 Harry Styles American Girls 514,000 22 21 Taylor Swift Opalite 514,000 920,000 23 23 Harry Styles Aperture 500,000 24 24 Dominic Fike Babydoll 488,000 1,230,000 25 25 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 482,000 1,200,000 26 26 Sombr Back To Friends 481,000 1,390,000 27 27 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 477,000 4,000,000 28 28 The Killers Mr Brightside 467,000 7,270,000 29 29 Milky Just The Way You Are 460,000 570,000 30 30 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 444,000 480,000 31 31 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 429,000 1,240,000 32 33 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 419,000 4,350,000 33 32 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 418,000 1,560,000 34 34 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 417,000 4,980,000 35 35 Dominic Fike White Keys 415,000 420,000 36 36 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 409,000 3,340,000 37 37 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 406,000 1,130,000 38 38 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 405,000 2,210,000 39 39 Justin Bieber Daisies 395,000 900,000 40 40 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 379,000 41 42 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 378,000 1,620,000 52 54 Myles Smith Stargazing 323,000 2,130,000 73 79 Michael Jackson Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough 283,000 1,980,000 77 80 Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 280,000 920,000 83 84 Harry Styles Sign Of The Times 271,000 2,460,000 88 90 Michael Jackson Human Nature 260,000 680,000 90 94 Malcolm Todd Earrings 255,000 280,000 93 98 Chemical Brothers Go 251,000 690,000 97 99 Harry Styles As It Was 246,000 3,580,000 99 - Prospa & Cloonee Free Your Mind 244,000 - 100 Kate Bush Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 242,000 3,110,000

16/7: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 3 Stupid song (2) 4 6 Hate that I made you love me (1) 5 8 Ordinary (2) 6 4 Billie Jean (1) 7 12 Choosin’ Texas (7) 8 9 Midnight sun (8) 9 5 American girls (1) 10 13 Lush life (3) 11 10 I knew it, I knew you (1) 12 7 The cure (3) 13 11 Drop dead (1) 14 14 Dracula (4) 15 15 Homewrecker (10) 16 16 Free your mind (16) 17 18 Fever dream (4) 18 17 IloveitIloveitIloveit (2) 19 19 Where is my husband! (3) 20 - Wonderwall (2) 21 21 So easy (5) 22 20 Beat it (3) 23 38 Dai dai (23) 24 34 Talk to you (24) 25 28 The fate of Ophelia (1) 26 26 Mr Brightside (10) 27 22 Stateside (5) 28 24 Golden (1) 29 25 Raindance (2) 30 30 Material lover (30) 31 23 Janice STFU (3) 32 27 Nice to each other (5) 33 29 Beauty and a beat (5) 34 32 Earrings (26) 35 31 On 2nite (31) 36 - Die on this hill (12) 37 40 Boston (37) 38 48 I just might (7) 39 39 12 to 12 (8) 40 42 Dreams (22) 41 33 Go (5) 42 36 Honeybee (9) 43 - Three lions (1) 44 - Movin’ to the sun (44) 45 45 Babydoll (12) 46 35 Human nature (9) 47 41 Sign of the times (1) 48 37 Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 49 46 Beautiful things (1) 50 47 Just the way you are (8)

Our 15th favourite in Semi 1 would have been ahead of our 10th in Semi 2. There’s really quite a lot of dance-pop isn’t there? Almost to the point where not entering that is a statement. We’re pleased that our entry sounds nothing like any of the other 59 whatever the outcome.

Country 8: Belgium Belgium is one of the founding members who have participated since the original 1956 contest when everyone entered 2 songs. They missed the contests in 1994, 1998 and 2001 due to relegation, but that still gives them 69 entered songs, one of the highest. Like Austria who came before they racked up a large number of last places in the 20th century, 8 in total. They’ve also had a rather torrid run since the semis were introduced, qualifying 10 times and failing to qualify 12 times. Their only top 3 finishes are 1 win and 2 second places, though they have come 4th 4 times. Like many Western European countries I think they have struggled to find a unique identity in the contest in the 21st century. However they have produced quite a bit of quality over the years, some of which has underperformed.

The Corrs now - sweet but nothing that special.

The point that’s being made is that even if we still had the death penalty, the punishment in this case was never suitable given the abusive circumstances. And officially making the distinction between the punishment given and what should have been given clearly has been of some help to the family.

Lots of very good tracks here but only one I think is unusual enough to reach the outstanding level. 9 Afrika Bambaataa And The Soul Sonic Force The Renegades Of Funk 1st Top 40 for this US rapper and producer: an incredible avant garde and genre fusing electronic hip hop track 8 Sade Your Love Is King 1st and highest peaking hit for this UK band: a gorgeous, beautifully delivered and soulful piece of smooth jazz 8 Wang Chung Dance Hall Days Only hit for this UK group whose name means "yellow bell" in Chinese: an excellent Simple Minds-esque song 7 The Weather Girls It's Raining Men Only hit for this US duo and a camp classic with a lyrical theme, arrangement and dynamism that really work 7 Bananarama Robert De Niro's Waiting After 4 hits peaking at #4 or #5 they finally reach #3 with a very strong pop song with quite dark lyrical content 6 Tracey Ullman My Guy's Mad At Me An interesting gender reversal of the Madness song: as always Tracey's covers are striking and well produced 6 Lionel Richie Hello 533rd #1: one of the biggest hits of the year and much maligned for its cheesiness, but I quite enjoy it really 5 Kajagoogoo The Lion's Mouth Last of their 5 Top 40s as the follow up will miss: while not hugely distinctive this is a rather enjoyable track 5 Julia And Company Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba) Only Top 40 for US R&B singer Julia Nixon and the band she formed, and a nice Latin inspired post disco track 4 Phil Fearon And Galaxy What Do I Do Another big hit for Phil and his group: it's pleasant enough to listen to but an unremarkable post disco track 4 Culture Club It's A Miracle I love the intense drama of "Victims" so much that the light R&B style of this was never going to do much for me 3 Tina Turner Help A slowed version of the Beatles song, which doesn't work for me as the song needs to be urgent and desperate 2 The Fraggles Fraggle Rock Theme Written for the Jim Henson TV series, this is barely a minute in length but nice enough for a children's theme 2 Mel Brooks To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) Only hit for this US comedian with a novelty track from Hitler's perspective: the song itself is actually quite dull 1984 Group 6: #1338 24/03/1984 Shakin' Stevens A Love Worth Waiting For 2 22-7-{2}-2-3-6-15-27-39-57->10 #1339 17/03/1984 UB40 Cherry Oh Baby 12 42-28-15-{12}-16-28-44-71->8 #1340 24/03/1984 Depeche Mode People Are People 4 29-9-5-{4}-6-9-20-36-50-74->10 #1341 17/03/1984 Madonna Lucky Star 14 47-30-27-16-{14}-20-34-37-65->9 #1342 24/03/1984 Siouxsie And The Banshees Swimming Horses 28 33-{28}-33-52->4 #1343 24/03/1984 Simple Minds Up On The Catwalk 27 36-30-{27}-31-53->5 #1344 17/03/1984 The Special AKA Nelson Mandela 9 68-38-29-14-{9}-9-16-22-34-55->10 #1345 17/03/1984 John Lennon Borrowed Time 32 51-39-33-{32}-43-69->6 #1346 31/03/1984 Thompson Twins You Take Me Up 2 13-4-3-{2}-4-10-21-34-55->9 #1347 31/03/1984 Michael Jackson P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 11 20-{11}-12-21-32-40-48-58->8 #1348 24/03/1984 Captain Sensible Glad It's All Over/Damned On 45 6 72-36-15-{6}-7-8-16-29-37-68->10 #1349 31/03/1984 Rufus And Chaka Khan Ain't Nobody 8 37-18-13-{8}-12-13-19-26-38-54-62-61->12 #1350 10/03/1984 Scritti Politti Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) 10 50-43-43-38-25-17-{10}-14-23-33-49-72->12 #1351 24/03/1984 Dead Or Alive That's The Way (I Like It) 22 54-40-30-25-{22}-24-35-53-74->9

Yeah usually I defend the oldies but “Wooden Heart” isn’t great.

Billy Joel - An Innocent Man Afrika Bambaataa And The Soul Sonic Force - The Renegades Of Funk Rufus And Chaka Khan - Ain’t Nobody Scritti Politti - Wood Beez Sade - Your Love Is King

“What’s My Name” is great. A lot of pop / rap crossovers from the time seem so formulaic now but this is just effortlessly lovely. I don’t actually love either of the top 2, but they’re both very solid, critically acclaimed megahits.

Thank you - that means a lot! Not expecting to qualify - I feel like the new one in the class who has turned up in the wrong uniform.

The burglary gone wrong sounded more likely but whatever imagine being attacked like that in your own home. Absolutely horrific.

Another pretty nice track from Sienna. I haven’t loved anything by her to date.

“Danceteria” sounds pretty good on first listen - harks back to vintage Madonna.

“On The Floor” is good and works very well in a club indeed.I still think I prefer “Lambada” though. “Don’t Hold Your Breath” was certainly a surprisingly strong pop song. I like “Right There” too.