Julian_

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 Wang Chung Dance Hall Days Only hit for this UK group whose name means "yellow bell" in Chinese: an excellent Simple Minds-esque song 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 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.

25,954 feels like the lowest at #2 for a very long time! I see “Afterglow” did 25,725 at #2 at the beginning of 2021 which was generally a shockingly low week - otherwise I wonder if it’s the lowest since the noughties.

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.

Went for Joey Negro - had forgotten that actually won!

Yay at this final! I absolutely love both but I’ll go for Snoop as M.I.A. has won before.

The ridiculous level of scores so far this year was never you g to last and there’s nothing quite at the 9 level here. There’s still a lot to enjoy though, especially a couple of very fine ballad discoveries from Billy and Howard. 8 Billy Joel An Innocent Man This is a rather excellent ballad as well as an outstanding vocal performance: what a contrast with "Uptown Girl" 8 Van Halen Jump 1st Top 40 for this US rock band and a Stateside #1 about a suicidal jumper: it's anthemic with an incredible riff 8 Howard Jones Hide And Seek His only Top 10 miss in his 1st 7, but very undeservedly as it's another beautifully intense and striking ballad 7 Re-Flex The Politics Of Dancing Only hit for this UK new wave band about people coming together and letting go: this has a great energy to it 7 The Style Council My Ever Changing Moods Another big hit for them: this reflects on life's highs and lows and has a lovely, gently flowing and soulful feel to it 7 Henry Mancini And His Orchestra Main Theme From 'The Thorn Birds' Mancini's 2nd and last Top 40, also from this drama: a beautiful track with the theme led by guitars and violins 6 Matt Bianco Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed 1st hit for this band whose name is a fictional spy: this is an enjoyable slice of jazz with a throwback feel to it 6 Carmel More More More Their 2nd and last Top 40: this doesn't have the uniqueness of "Bad Day" but is another enjoyable throwback 5 Kool And The Gang Joanna/Tonight Their highest peaking hit coming deep into their career: both tracks are good but very much in the MOR lane 5 Richard Hartley And The Michael Reed Orchestra The Music Of Torvill And Dean EP I'm not a fan of Ravel's "Bolero", but otherwise this is a fun collection of pop and classical skating related tracks 4 Soft Cell Down In The Subway Their last hit before their split although they will eventually be back: Marc's vocals almost feel too full on here 4 Hot Chocolate I Gave You My Heart (Didn't I) Their last new hit though they'll have some reissues: I find this breaks no new ground and is on the boring side 3 Alexei Sayle 'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor? Only hit for this UK comedian: it is rather grating but has a certain rhythmic power and isn't the worst of novelty 2 Marilyn Cry And Be Free He's clearly trying for something epic here with the gospel choir and big emotive style, but it ends up being turgid 1984 Group 5: #1324 18/02/1984 The Fraggles Fraggle Rock Theme 33 74-46-37-{33}-36-44-64-73->8 #1325 03/03/1984 Julia And Company Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba) 15 38-19-{15}-19-24-35-46-71->8 #1326 18/02/1984 Mel Brooks To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) 12 67-57-39-31-17-{12}-18-24-42-66->10 #1327 10/03/1984 Lionel Richie Hello 1 25-5-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-4-10-15-29-39-47-60->15 #1328 10/03/1984 Phil Fearon And Galaxy What Do I Do 5 27-13-7-{5}-8-11-23-37-51-75->10 #1329 03/03/1984 Tracey Ullman My Guy's Mad At Me 23 46-32-24-{23}-34-63->6 #1330 28/01/1984 Wang Chung Dance Hall Days 21 73-55-56-46-43-42-34-26-{21}-22-28-53->12 #1331 27/08/1983 The Weather Girls It's Raining Men 2 73-74-73-47R(25)-36-11-5-{2}-6-8-18-27-42-61->14 #1332 25/02/1984 Sade Your Love Is King 6 59-43-37-20-9-{6}-10-15-30-42-61-75R(2)->12 #1333 03/03/1984 Bananarama Robert De Niro's Waiting 3 48-38-22-8-{3}-3-5-12-23-39-64->11 #1334 10/03/1984 Afrika Bambaataa And The Soul Sonic Force The Renegades Of Funk 30 39-{30}-32-54->4 #1335 25/02/1984 Tina Turner Help 40 54-49-{40}-40-40-47->6 #1336 03/03/1984 Kajagoogoo The Lion's Mouth 25 50-41-37-{25}-25-38-65->7 #1337 24/03/1984 Culture Club It's A Miracle 4 14-{4}-7-7-16-28-44-63-66->9

I’m feeling much more enthusiastic about 10-7 than 6-4 overall. “Papa Don’t Preach” is very good though - it has an exciting build to match the hard hitting lyrics. “Chain Reaction” is objectively an excellently written song but I can’t find myself getting excited about it. “The Final Countdown” is brilliantly over the top and has a great riff. It’s enjoyable rather than great I think.

“Goodies” is decent but a bit plodding. “Trouble” is quite repetitive but despite that it does work well.