Ghoulian

I couldn’t agree more - all stinkers!

It had to happen at some point that there’d be the first group of 1983 that isn’t so great. Still an excellent top end, with a fantastic relatively unknown winner and a runner up that looks about to re-enter the Top 20 this week! 9 Kissing The Pink Last Film Only hit for this group that formed at the Royal College Of Music and is still going: a fabulous wartime themed track 9 Michael Jackson Beat It The 3rd single from "Thriller" and a wonderful gang rivalry themed and rock style song produced by Quincy Jones 8 F.R. David Words Only Top 40 for this French singer: it's a very lovely, sincere and tender song sung in a gentle, part falsetto style 7 Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners The Celtic Soul Brothers {1983} A re-release of a #45 from last year, this is a fun, folky and pacey track and I like how the vocal lines interweave 6 Tracey Ullman Breakaway 1st hit for this actress and singer from her covers album and this is a '60s song re-worked in a very fun lively way 5 Culture Club Church Of The Poison Mind A #2 hit to follow a #1 and a #3, this has a soulful Stevie Wonder influenced sound and it's nice but not knockout 5 U2 Two Hearts Beat As One A fairly nice single but something of a let down compared to the dramatic statement of intent of "New Year's Day" 4 Kajagoogoo Ooh To Be Ah A follow up Top 10 that has the fun and quirkiness of "Too Shy" but it brings nothing new and the hook doesn't land 4 Wah! Hope (I Wish You'd Believe Me) A big comedown from a #3 hit and it isn't hard to see why: it's a heartfelt performance but the song's hook is weak 3 Twisted Sister I Am (I'm Me) 1st hit for this US heavy metal band: I find the lyrics to this quite basic and find it all power without much meaning 3 Sunfire Young Free And Single Only hit for this US soul group, and another of these nicely performed but not engaging or memorable funk songs 2 Tracie The House That Jack Built 1st hit for this UK singer who was discovered by Paul Weller: unfortunately it's quite a flaccid and lightweight song 1 Kenny Everett Snot Rap A Top 10 novelty hit for this UK comedian playing a character called Sid Snot: it's a dreadful rap over a disco track 1983 Group 7: #1030 09/04/1983 Eurythmics Love Is A Stranger {1983} 6 49-23-{6}-7-12-17-31-52->8 #1031 09/04/1983 Men At Work Overkill 21 55-34-30-25-24-22-{21}-30-49-61->10 #1032 09/04/1983 Bauhaus She's In Parties 26 42-35-{26}-28-38-56->6 #1033 09/04/1983 Toto Rosanna 12 50-36-19-{12}-15-20-30-57->8 #1034 16/04/1983 Cliff Richard And The London Philharmonic Orchestra True Love Ways 8 37-14-{8}-11-14-25-39-66->8 #1035 09/04/1983 The Kids From 'Fame' Friday Night (Live Version) 13 64-38-24-17-{13}-15-18-31-56-59->10 #1036 02/04/1983 Chill Fac-Torr Twist (Round 'N' Round) 37 51-43-39-{37}-39-37-41-60->8 #1037 16/04/1983 Thompson Twins We Are Detective 7 40-21-9-{7}-8-11-24-41-53->9 #1038 23/04/1983 Spandau Ballet True 1 10-{1}-1-1-1-2-10-16-29-35-49-73->12 #1039 23/04/1983 The Human League (Keep Feeling) Fascination 2 16-4-3-{2}-6-15-23-45-68->9 #1040 23/04/1983 Iron Maiden Flight Of Icarus 11 28-{11}-14-23-40-67->6 #1041 16/04/1983 Heaven 17 Temptation 2 43-31-14-8-3-{2}-4-9-14-25-32-41-59->13 #1042 09/04/1983 Sweet Dreams {1983} I'm Never Giving Up 21 45-41-34-23-{21}-28-53->7 #1043 23/04/1983 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Dancing Tight 4 39-20-6-5-{4}-6-16-22-31-44-58->11 #1044 30/04/1983 Tears For Fears Pale Shelter 5 22-{5}-6-8-18-25-41-69->8 #1045 30/04/1983 Fun Boy Three Our Lips Are Sealed 7 31-16-9-{7}-9-14-23-34-48-75->10

Week 18: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 984,000 2,080,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 841,000 1,530,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 688,000 930,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 669,000 1,280,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 610,000 2,790,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 588,000 960,000 7 7 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 572,000 1,320,000 8 8 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 571,000 1,900,000 9 9 Djo End Of Beginning 540,000 1,720,000 10 11 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 530,000 11 10 Zara Larsson Lush Life 518,000 3,560,000 12 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 492,000 620,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 458,000 1,230,000 14 14 Bruno Mars I Just Might 445,000 15 15 Sombr 12 To 12 418,000 940,000 16 16 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 412,000 580,000 17 17 Harry Styles Aperture 386,000 18 18 Taylor Swift Opalite 382,000 790,000 19 20 Sombr Homewrecker 356,000 20 19 Sombr Back To Friends 353,000 1,270,000 21 21 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 341,000 1,060,000 22 22 Tame Impala Dracula 341,000 480,000 23 23 Dominic Fike Babydoll 313,000 1,050,000 24 24 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 303,000 1,110,000 25 25 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 293,000 390,000 26 31 Alex Warren Fever Dream 291,000 27 26 The Killers Mr Brightside 290,000 7,090,000 28 27 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 283,000 1,000,000 29 28 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 282,000 1,420,000 30 29 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 281,000 2,090,000 31 32 Milky Just The Way You Are 279,000 390,000 32 30 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 274,000 450,000 33 37 Harry Styles American Girls 274,000 34 38 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 271,000 370,000 35 33 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 271,000 4,830,000 36 34 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 268,000 3,200,000 37 36 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 268,000 4,200,000 38 35 Sombr Undressed 266,000 1,150,000 39 39 Olivia Dean Dive 262,000 930,000 40 41 Dominic Fike White Keys 253,000 260,000 47 57 Justin Bieber Daisies 225,000 730,000 57 58 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 211,000 250,000 69 71 Alex Warren Carry You Home 189,000 1,230,000 72 74 Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me 185,000 470,000 74 77 Vance Joy Riptide 181,000 4,930,000 76 78 Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under 180,000 2,830,000 79 85 Kings Of Leon Sex On Fire 173,000 4,600,000 84 - Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 172,000 1,410,000 88 - Michael Jackson Billie Jean 168,000 3,690,000 97 98 Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 163,000 3,530,000 99 - The Verve Bitter Sweet Symphony 162,000 3,140,000 - 96 Tate McRae Sports Car 162,000 980,000 - 100 The Cure Boys Don't Cry 161,000 1,260,000 - 99 Esdeekid 4 Raws 158,000 280,000

7/5: 1 2 Rein me in (1) 2 3 Man I need (1) 3 4 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 4 1 Drop Dead (1) 5 5 Beauty and a beat (1) 6 6 Dracula (4) 7 8 Ordinary (1) 8 9 Fever dream (4) 9 7 Daisies (2) 10 11 Homewrecker (10) 11 12 So easy (5) 12 10 Where is my husband! (3) 13 13 Raindance (2) 14 16 Lush life (3) 15 14 Stateside (5) 16 17 Babydoll (12) 17 15 White keys (14) 18 - Doors (18) 19 18 Golden (1) 20 19 The fate of Ophelia (1) 21 - Billie Jean (1) 22 23 12 to 12 (8) 23 22 American girls (1) 24 25 Just the way you are (8) 25 20 I just might (7) 26 21 Nice to each other (5) 27 27 Choosin’ Texas (24) 28 - The great divide (13) 29 31 Midnight sun (27) 30 26 End of beginning (2) 31 38 Mr Brightside (10) 32 30 Back to friends (7) 33 35 No broke boys (3) 34 29 Manchild (1) 35 - Porch light (30) 36 - Beat it (3) 37 33 Die on this hill (12) 38 - End of August (38) 39 - Dashboard (39) 40 - American cars (40) 41 37 Opalite (1) 42 50 The hardest part (23) 43 42 Love me not (2) 44 32 Dreams (22) 45 45 Beautiful things (1) 46 - Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 47 48 Pink pony club (2) 48 46 Iris (3) 49 - OK love you bye (29) 50 - Dive (28)

Week 18: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 293,000 570,000 2 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 272,000 3 3 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 153,000 1,980,000 4 4 The Weeknd Highlights 125,000 1,710,000 5 5 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 120,000 430,000 6 6 Michael Jackson The Essential 119,000 2,220,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 117,000 630,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 111,000 420,000 9 9 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 97,000 990,000 10 10 Noah Kahan Stick Season 96,000 820,000 11 12 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 94,000 2,500,000 12 11 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 93,000 730,000 13 13 Linkin Park Papercuts 92,000 490,000 14 16 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 88,000 15 15 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 87,000 3,640,000 16 14 Tate McRae So Close To What 87,000 350,000 17 17 ABBA Gold 87,000 6,230,000 18 18 BTS Arirang 86,000 19 19 Elton John Diamonds 80,000 2,010,000 20 20 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 76,000 5,690,000 21 21 Arctic Monkeys AM 75,000 2,400,000 22 22 Sombr I Barely Know Her 72,000 160,000 23 23 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 71,000 3,600,000 24 24 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 67,000 1,320,000 25 25 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 65,000 830,000 26 27 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 64,000 760,000 27 26 EsDeeKid Rebel 63,000 140,000 28 28 Pitbull Greatest Hits 61,000 680,000 29 29 Maroon 5 Singles 61,000 1,050,000 30 30 Queen Greatest Hits 57,000 3,260,000 31 32 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 56,000 650,000 32 - Noah Kahan The Great Divide 56,000 33 34 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 55,000 2,370,000 34 31 Mumford & Sons Prizefighter 54,000 35 33 Sam Fender People Watching 54,000 330,000 36 36 Oasis Definitely Maybe 54,000 3,070,000 37 35 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 54,000 2,480,000 38 40 Calvin Harris 96 Months 53,000 290,000 39 37 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 53,000 550,000 40 41 Charli XCX Brat 52,000 580,000 41 42 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 52,000 2,080,000 43 44 Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad 51,000 2,580,000 45 46 The Beatles 1967-1970 50,000 1,380,000 52 53 Lady Gaga The Fame 48,000 3,640,000 67 69 Avicii Avicii Forever 43,000 110,000 71 72 Kanye West Graduation 43,000 1,100,000 83 85 The Killers Rebel Diamonds 39,000 280,000 88 - Michael Jackson Bad 38,000 4,490,000 99 - Michael Jackson Thriller 35,000 4,780,000 - 96 Raye My 21st Century Blues 35,000 270,000 - 99 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 35,000 380,000 - 100 Lewis Capaldi Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent 35,000 1,910,000

Not sure I’d quite put “Love Is All Around” last but fairly low certainly.

I would prefer Human League not to win even though I did like the track. There were plenty of great less obvious choices in here.

There are a quite a few where I agree with Jim’s placing exactly or very close, but a few winners and losers in mine. 1 Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - Bonkers 2 Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name 3 Lady Gaga - Bad Romance 4 Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone 5 The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling 6 Lily Allen - The Fear 7 La Roux - Bulletproof 8 Lady Gaga - Poker Face 9 The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow 10 David Guetta feat. Akon - Sexy Chick 11 Lady Gaga feat. Colby O'Donis - Just Dance 12 The Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway 13 Dizzee Rascal - Holiday 14 Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love 15 David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over 16 Jay-Z feat. Rihanna & Kanye West - Run This Town 17 Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor 18 JLS - Beat Again 19 Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) 20 Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band - The Official BBC Children In Need Medley 21 Flo Rida feat. Ke$ha - Right Round 22 Tinchy Stryder feat. N-Dubz - Number 1 23 Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart 24 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You 25 Chipmunk - Oopsy Daisy 26 Tinchy Stryder feat. Amelle - Never Leave You 27 Alexandra Burke feat. Flo Rida - Bad Boys 28 JLS - Everybody In Love 29 Pixie Lott - Boys And Girls 30 Joe McElderry - The Climb 31 Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah 32 Vanessa Jenkins and Bryn West feat. Sir Tom Jones and Robin Gibb - Barry Islands In The Stream 33 X Factor Finalists 2009 - You Are Not Alone

Oops at already being featured as a low scorer when I gave several lower ones. 😅

Thanks very much for this Jim! Great to have Rage as high as #2 and it’s hard to argue with that winner. I’ll do my own ranking in due course. I’m pleased to announce the continuation of the series with some more lovely posters: 2010 @Iz様 🌟 2011 @Paddington James 2012 @RabbitFurCoat 2013 @Jaz13music

This might be my 2nd favourite Ultravox song after the obvious, but the winner of this group was never in doubt and I’m going to have to bring out the 10 paddle again. 10 New Order Blue Monday An enormous chart run and a million seller with the later remix; it's the ultimate indie disco hit and synth perfection 9 Ultravox Visions In Blue One of their very best hits here and that's a high bar: this has a stark, wonderfully intense and dramatic feel to it 8 David Bowie Let's Dance 519th #1: Nile Rodgers helped produce this and turn it from a folk number into a funky and very striking dance track 8 Altered Images Don't Talk To Me About Love The lead single from a new album giving them another Top 10: this is such a pretty track and excellently performed 7 Nick Heyward Whistle Down The Wind 1st solo hit for the former Haircut One Hundred lead: it's a rather lovely, gentle and wistful track with lovely strings 6 The Style Council Speak Like A Child 1st hit for Paul Weller's new group: not as great as most of the Jam's big hits but nice and in a similar style to those 6 Duran Duran Is There Something I Should Know? 518th #1: unfortunately their 1st chart topper isn't as great as many of the hits that came before it, but still good 5 JoBoxers Boxerbeat 1st hit for this UK group: it's new wave pop but has a slight rockabilly flavour with its relentless rhythm: not bad 5 Mari Wilson Cry Me A River Quite an interesting version of the jazz classic with nice instrumentation, but I prefer Julie London's from 1957 5 Mezzoforte Garden Party Only Top 40 for this Icelandic instrumental jazz fusion band, which indeed would be a pleasant party backing track 4 Leo Sayer Orchard Road His last solo Top 40: I like the warm production and the vocals are strong, but the song itself is quite forgettable 4 Japan All Tomorrow's Parties Their last Top 40 and unfortunately much weaker than all the other ones: a Velvet Underground cover that's only OK 3 Foster And Allen Maggie An old folk tune given a new lease of life by this duo who won't appear here again: it's sweet but nothing inspiring 3 Band AKA Joy The only Top 40 for this changing line up of session musicians with a serviceable but not a memorable funk track #1017 19/03/1983 Tracey Ullman Breakaway 4 48-38-18-6-{4}-5-10-18-25-39-66->11 #1018 19/03/1983 Wah! Hope (I Wish You'd Believe Me) 37 54-39-{37}-44-59->5 #1019 02/04/1983 Kajagoogoo Ooh To Be Ah 7 20-{7}-7-8-16-27-40-70->8 #1020 02/04/1983 U2 Two Hearts Beat As One 18 24-{18}-22-42-68->5 #1021 26/03/1983 Kenny Everett Snot Rap 9 56-27-10-{9}-13-26-45-67->8 #1022 26/03/1983 Twisted Sister I Am (I'm Me) 18 45-32-29-19-{18}-18-20-31-56->9 #1023 02/04/1983 Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners The Celtic Soul Brothers {1983} 20 36-24-{20}-22-32-54->6 #1024 26/03/1983 Tracie The House That Jack Built 9 61-38-23-12-{9}-15-22-39->8 #1025 02/04/1983 F.R. David Words 2 39-21-8-4-{2}-2-4-9-17-22-39-50->12 #1026 12/03/1983 Sunfire Young Free And Single 20 58-45-43-40-34-28-{20}-21-23-38-65->11 #1027 09/04/1983 Culture Club Church Of The Poison Mind 2 9-{2}-2-5-10-16-29-43-63->9 #1028 09/04/1983 Michael Jackson Beat It 3 30-5-{3}-3-4-11-16-26-38-52-72-72->12 #1029 05/03/1983 Kissing The Pink Last Film 19 69-52-51-49-44-39-32-29-24-{19}-19-19-36-57->14

I actually think the chorus of “Just Dance” is a little weak and lets it down - the verses and middle eight and the production are brilliant though. I know you’ve said several times that it’s your favourite Gaga song so I’m surprised to see it behind the other one - but not complaining as I agree that one is the best.

Both #5 and #4 are very much late 00s records. I don’t think they’re as ageless as some other songs here, but both very much bangers. Not sure which of “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” I prefer these days but I was always more of a “Paparazzi” girl.

Why are the public lapping up this rubbish from Justin when he does actually have a fair number of decent songs?

Of course “The Doors” not played 🫠

“Porch Light” is growing on me actually - maybe his best from this campaign.

Aww “Baby Steps” has to wait 9 months for its moment and is skipped. 😔

“Potential” is slowly growing on me - certainly not a bad track at all but not quite good enough to really keep up the momentum of interest.

The Sienna tracks seem to have all dropped away pretty quickly.

It’s the 00s indie darlings for me! Muse, Strokes and Weezer.

My mum is an unlikely fan of “I Gotta Feeling” and I can see why. It’s one of those songs like “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Mr Blue Sky” that’s just so effortlessly happy. The verses are quite messy but I don’t mind that. It would probably be in a similar position for me. “I’m Not Alone” is beautiful - one of his very best for me and would be in my Top 5.

1983 continues to deliver: big power ballads aren’t especially my thing but “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” is absolutely one of the very best, and it makes sense to find out that it has the same writer as Meatloaf. But it is popped by the glorious “Waves”. 9 Blancmange Waves A stunning, emotionally powerful and reflective track with a rich building orchestral sound and expressive vocals 9 Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse Of The Heart 517th #1: her 1st hit of the decade and a wonderful power ballad by Meatloaf's writer James Steinman done her way 8 Orange Juice Rip It Up 8 Top 75s but only this Top 40 for the Scottish group and an excellent, jangling, bright and breezy piece of guitar pop 8 Joan Armatrading Drop The Pilot She'll have more minor hits but this is her last and 2nd highest peaking Top 40: it's a really lovely heartwarming song 7 Big Country Fields Of Fire (400 Miles) 1st hit for this Scottish rock band: the bagpipes give it an authentically Celtic sound and it's a lovely dynamic track 7 The Stranglers Midnight Summer Dream A broody track with mostly spoken poetic vocals: it's very effective though perhaps didn't fully pay off commercially 6 Soft Cell Numbers/Barriers Neither of these tracks reach the lofty heights of earlier big hits but both are enjoyable and beautifully performed 6 Malcolm McLaren Soweto Quite a minor 2nd hit for him: this isn't as good as the 1st but has interesting and eclectic international influences 5 Bananarama Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye A higher peaking cover of Steam's 1970 hit: it is a polished up to date version but the original sounds more authentic 5 Bucks Fizz Run For Your Life This is very similar in style to "My Camera Never Lies" but not as compelling as that: still it's quite a pleasant listen 4 Modern Romance High Life It's their usual jolly and Latin inspired sound, and a Top 10 hit thanks to the catchy melody, but not remotely special 4 Forrest Rock The Boat 1st hit for this US singer with a cover of the 1974 #6 hit: this outperforms the original but doesn't really add anything 3 David Joseph You Can't Hide (Your Love From Me) 1st solo hit for this UK soul singer who had led the band Hi Tension: like many hits of this style it isn't very distinctive 2 Kenny Rogers And Sheena Easton We've Got Tonight The Bob Seger original only reached #41 though will re-chart in future; this soppy cover lacks the original's soul 1983 Group 5: #1003 05/03/1983 Band AKA Joy 24 59-38-{24}-25-26-36-46->7 #1004 19/02/1983 Foster And Allen Maggie 27 47-46-43-39-{27}-28-33-38-65->9 #1005 05/03/1983 Mezzoforte Garden Party 17 61-40-29-{17}-19-26-30-50-72->9 #1006 19/03/1983 The Style Council Speak Like A Child 4 6-{4}-4-4-11-23-36-68->8 #1007 19/03/1983 Ultravox Visions In Blue 15 30-{15}-22-31-45-74->6 #1008 19/02/1983 JoBoxers Boxerbeat 3 62-61-51-42-32-21-6-{3}-6-7-19-25-27-47-70->15 #1009 12/03/1983 Leo Sayer Orchard Road 16 61-35-27-{16}-19-26-35-61->8 #1010 19/03/1983 Altered Images Don't Talk To Me About Love 7 36-12-{7}-11-17-33-55->7 #1011 19/03/1983 New Order Blue Monday 9 37-24-17-14-14-12-13-17-18-26-32-45-51-57-65-62-62-74R(5)-57-60-53-44-37-20-12-10-{9}-12-15-18-25-38-50-58-65R(5)-52-57-75->38 #1012 12/03/1983 Japan All Tomorrow's Parties 38 41-{38}-42-56->4 #1013 26/03/1983 Duran Duran Is There Something I Should Know? 1 {1}-1-2-3-11-27-34-44-66->9 #1014 26/03/1983 David Bowie Let's Dance 1 5-2-{1}-1-1-6-9-13-24-37-44-54-61-74->14 #1015 19/03/1983 Nick Heyward Whistle Down The Wind 13 43-26-15-15-{13}-17-30-47->8 #1016 19/03/1983 Mari Wilson Cry Me A River 27 42-36-30-{27}-27-38-58->7

5 Dracula 4 Lush Life 3 Homewrecker 2 White Keys 1 Babydoll -1 Daisies -2 Drop Dead -3 Rein Me In -4 Fever Dream -5 Beauty And A Beat