Julian_

A stacked group of songs here, including some songs like “Heartbreaker” and “Sexual Healing” which I have to acknowledge for being standouts of their genres without being favourites. The best discovery easily is “Cry Boy Cry” which absolutely ought to be a classic. But above that I’m giving a very rare 2 10s and a 9. “Maneater” is Hall & Oates at their very best and “Living On The Ceiling” is fabulous. But “The Day Before You Came” is one of ABBA’s very finest compisitions, and unlike all their big hits it doesn’t rely on a strong melody and rich vocal layers. We never find out who the person the lyrics are addressed to is and it’s left entirely to the imagination how they will turn Agnetha’s life upside down, and that’s what makes it so eerily powerful. 10 Abba The Day Before You Came The mundanity of the lyrics about the day in question contrasted with the eerie instrumental is what makes this brilliant 9 Blancmange Living On The Ceiling 1st Top 40 for this UK duo and a wonderfully quirky and Middle Eastern tinged track with a frenetic semi rapped vocal 9 Daryl Hall And John Oates Maneater A US #1 and their highest peak here: a brilliantly moody and soulful song written about the avarice of New York City 8 Blue Zoo Cry Boy Cry Only Top 40 for this UK new wave band: this is rather a forgotten gem as it's a fabulously dynamic and powerful track 8 Dionne Warwick Heartbreaker Her signature song is probably "Walk On By" but this is her biggest hit: it's Bee Gees penned and brilliantly performed 7 Marvin Gaye (Sexual) Healing His 2nd highest peak and one of his best known songs: I've always found the lyrics odd but it's a superbly written song 7 Supertramp It's Raining Again Their last and only 1980s hit as frontman Roger Hodgson will leave soon: a delightful and charming melancholy track 6 John Cougar Jack And Diane Only Top 40 for this US singer whose real name is Mellencamp: a good country song reminiscent of "Romeo And Juliet" 6 Eddy Grant I Don't Wanna Dance 510th #1: a strong catchy protest song but pales in comparison to the other single from the album coming next year 5 Kool And The Gang Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La, La) One of their bigger hits and fairly enjoyable, but it does feel like this could easily blend into many of their other tracks 5 Raw Silk Do It To The Music Only hit for this US group: this is a fairly standard disco number but quite pleasant and the vocals have a nice quality 4 The Piranhas Featuring Boring Bob Grover Zambezi Their 2nd and last hit covering this song: I prefer the Lou Busch instrumental version as the sung parts are a little clunky 4 Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney The Girl Is Mine Amazing that this was the 1st single from "Thriller": it's only OK but there will be a better collaboration from these two 3 Status Quo Caroline (Live At The NEC) A live version of a 1973 #5 hit: it's not a bad song though the instrumental sound we've heard so many times from them 2 Diana Ross Muscles Maybe these lyrics wouldn't have seemed strange at the time but I find this all brawn and not really very much of a song 1982 Group 19: #904 06/11/1982 Clannad Theme From 'Harry's Game' 5 46-11-{5}-8-20-25-44-53-53-67->10 #905 16/10/1982 Wham! Young Guns (Go For It) 3 72-48-52-42-24-10-4-{3}-4-8-13-13-14-18-29-41-66->17 #906 06/11/1982 Donna Summer State Of Independence 14 52-29-{14}-15-19-20-36-54-54-47-69->11 #907 13/11/1982 Duran Duran Rio 9 32-13-11-10-{9}-14-21-21-23-33-71->11 #908 30/10/1982 Renee And Renato Save Your Love 1 54-41-38-24-9-5-3-{1}-1-1-1-3-13-20-40-58->16 #909 20/11/1982 The Human League Mirror Man 2 9-{2}-2-2-7-12-12-20-29-57->10 #910 06/11/1982 A Flock Of Seagulls Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) 10 62-41-28-14-11-{10}-15-24-24-25-30-46->12 #911 20/11/1982 Musical Youth Youth Of Today 13 31-16-{13}-16-23-38-38-32-45->9 #912 13/11/1982 Modern Romance Best Years Of Our Lives 4 68-32-21-18-11-9-8-8-{4}-5-14-28-49->13 #913 20/11/1982 Yazoo The Other Side Of Love 13 34-20-14-{13}-16-25-25-28-34->9 #914 20/11/1982 Lionel Richie Truly 6 35-17-{6}-6-6-9-9-17-27-39-71->11 #915 13/11/1982 Simple Minds Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) 36 54-{36}-41-57-74->5 #916 13/11/1982 Talk Talk Talk Talk {1982 Re-Release} 23 65-39-26-{23}-31-32-35-35-53-60->10 #917 06/11/1982 Whitesnake Here I Go Again/Bloody Luxury 34 65-47-40-38-{34}-36-42-46-46-69->10 #918 27/11/1982 Ultravox Hymn 11 28-16-14-13-16-16-12-{11}-18-27-56->11

Not a lot to say so far really - think I agree with the order of those 3 stinkers. “You Are Not Alone” is horrific. “Barry Islands In The Stream” is at least not taking itself seriously. “The Climb” wasn’t such a bad choice for an X Factor cover really as the original was a decent song but not exactly a classic, and I do like Joe’s voice.

How did you decide what to rank 11th based on those notes? 😅

Lukuzz is Kitten I’m fairly sure. Joseph likely Conan.

Surely it’s high time we had some of these favourites from the Pop Princsses compilation like “Ladies’ Night”, “Miss Independent” and “Born To Try”? 😇

Thanks as ever Rollo! I hadn’t clocked that we’d had 6 group winners in a row actually, so definitely nice to have a solo artist and the first winner from the 2010s. I still wonder if there’ll ever be a winner from before I was born but I’ll look forward to it whatever.

I was thinking HAIM was probably Josh! or elgornio, but really surprised at Troye not being Jay and Kelly not being Tafty! Well played Josh! - like I said it’s been a great run of songs from HAIM and I’m sorry this one didn’t connect so well. And Tafty thanks for showing me more of Troye -even though I haven’t enjoyed the latest ones so much it’s still been nice to get to know him more. Happy for Bowie though, and also ROSALÍA who again can’t have been safe by all that much!

Just in time for The Pop Factor flop round!

1 Blondie - In The Flesh 1 ROSALÍA - Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti (it’s exciting how this is pushing the boundaries of pop) 2 ABBA - Chiquitita (turns comforting a friend into a glorious epic) 3 Florence + the Machine - Cosmic Love (beautiful and shimmering) 4 Scissor Sisters - Mary (a lovely emotive ballad) 5 David Bowie - Five Years (really enjoy the rhythm and build; a good discovery) 6 Conan Gray - Forever With Me (a good song and he really gives it a lot of welly) 7 Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece (Idol Version)(not my usual thing but this is very personal and it does really hit) 8 Atomic Kitten - The Last Goodbye (have a soft spot for this: the lyrics are very sweet) 9 Lily Allen - Pussy Palace (a good track and a focal point of the album) 10 Chappell Roan - Casual (a little too casual, though it has a nice beat) 11 Delta Goodrem - Not Me, Not I (I think this is ordinary, but this competition has shown me that her songwriting improved over time) 12 HAIM - Gasoline (I’ve mostly really enjoyed their entries but find this pedestrian) 13 Troye Sivan feat. Betty Who - HEAVEN (this doan’t have much light and shade for me)

FYI the lower part is the group I’m reviewing next. 😃

I’d love Amy to win, especially as Robyn has won ROTD twice. Either way my presumption that the winner always comes from 1985-2005 has been proved wrong!

A rather mixed bag here but what a debut hit from Tears For Fears. 9 Tears For Fears Mad World 1st hit for this UK new wave band, and a wonderful brooding synth pop track with dark intriguing lyrics: a big selling #3 hit 8 Toyah Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard) Their hit making power is diminishing but not the strength of their singles: this is a very empowering and uplifting track 8 The Pretenders Back On The Chain Gang Their biggest US hit recorded after their guitarist died of a drug overdose: it's a very well written, lovely and tender song 7 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Annie I'm Not Your Daddy Their earlier material had been less commercial, but this is their biggest hit and a catchy and witty calypso style song 7 Japan Life In Tokyo More of a disco style to this as Giorgio Moroder was involved: very good but not mysterious like some of their earlier hits 6 Hot Chocolate Chances The underperforming 3rd single: not as good as "It Started With A Kiss" but a romantic song with nice instrumentation 6 The Who Athena Their 24th and last new Top 40 which just scraped in: you can tell they're a legacy act by now but it's a charming track 5 Spandau Ballet Lifeline It feels like they're starting to become more poppy and commercial at this point: a pleasant but not a very special song 4 Bauhaus Ziggy Stardust After a few non Top 40 hits, this Bowie cover makes it for the UK goth rock group: it's competent but nothing original 4 Sharon Redd Never Give You Up Her biggest solo hit: this has some fairly nice post disco style features, though it's quite long and not really memorable 3 The Kids From 'Fame' Starmaker Their 2nd and biggest hit: this is quite a slushy and turgid ballad, though not the worst of its kind and nicely performed 3 Melba Moore Love's Comin' At Ya Her 1st hit in a long time: I find this another of those funk hits that is not bad but fairly uninteresting and goes on a while 2 Barry Manilow I Wanna Do It With You This is his only Top 10 hit: an upbeat number though still very much radio friendly soft rock with not very engaging lyrics 2 Julio Iglesias Amor A big comedown in chart performance from 2 Top 3 hits, the main version is in Italian and it's his usual rather flaccid fare 1 Shakin' Stevens I'll Be Satisfied Originally a Jackie Wilson song from 1959: I find the over the top performance rather unpleasant and the vocals grating 1982 Group 18: #889 16/10/1982 Eddy Grant I Don't Wanna Dance 1 63-30-11-2-{1}-1-1-4-8-25-30-30-33-43-67->15 #890 16/10/1982 Kool And The Gang Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La, La) 6 64-31-16-11-{6}-11-22-28-62->9 #891 16/10/1982 The Piranhas Featuring Boring Bob Grover Zambezi 17 70-37-27-22-{17}-20-27-36-59->9 #892 16/10/1982 Raw Silk Do It To The Music 18 61-38-33-27-27-{18}-24-31-40->9 #893 16/10/1982 Blue Zoo Cry Boy Cry 13 65-39-35-34-21-21-{13}-22-30-41->10 #894 23/10/1982 Dionne Warwick Heartbreaker 2 52-29-5-{2}-2-3-8-15-37-41-41-51-66->13 #895 23/10/1982 Abba The Day Before You Came 32 41-{32}-35-35-37-46->6 #896 23/10/1982 Diana Ross Muscles 15 49-36-28-23-{15}-19-26-34-72->9 #897 30/10/1982 Status Quo Caroline (Live At The NEC) 13 38-{13}-14-17-25-45-61->7 #898 23/10/1982 John Cougar Jack And Diane 25 54-39-30-{25}-27-37-46-72->8 #899 30/10/1982 Daryl Hall And John Oates Maneater 6 40-20-10-{6}-10-21-26-53-61-61-66->11 #900 30/10/1982 Marvin Gaye (Sexual) Healing 4 50-18-5-{4}-5-12-17-33-37-37-37-40-47-67->14 #901 06/11/1982 Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney The Girl Is Mine 8 33-9-{8}-12-24-32-62-71-71-75R(2)->10 #902 30/10/1982 Blancmange Living On The Ceiling 7 51-37-19-12-{7}-7-7-11-22-22-27-28-37-59->14 #903 30/10/1982 Supertramp It's Raining Again 26 61-38-33-33-29-27-28-{26}-31-31-43->11

Sorry don’t want to derail the thread as it turns out it was quite a different situation - yes it was a pupil but over the age of consent.

I think the problem is that you can decline a long way without having three consecutive declines - all it takes is the market to bounce every three weeks or so. Plus there’s the double lock that a decline by less than the market counts as an increase while an increase by less than the market is also an increase. I’ve long said they should find an alternative to requiring consecutive declines.

Great work with this Jade. I’d have loved the Top 2 the other way round but generally everything wasn’t far off my own ranking.