25 Years Since....July 1992

Now we've entered the second half of 2017, here's what I was enjoying when we entered the second half of 1992:

Electronic - Dissapointed

This is a great one to put into a music quiz, play the clip ask who the artist is and you will inevitably have some people say the Pet Shop Boys. I  must admit I did thing this was a Pet Shop Boys song myself at the time.

It does feature the Pet Shop Boys, but as guests of Electronic who consisted of Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of the Smiths. It could be argued that this fits better amongst other Pet Shop Boys songs than other Electronic songs.

Altern 8 - Hypnotic St-8

Little did I know at the time was this would be the last we'd see of Altern-8 in the Top 40. It did seem a bit more low key than Activ-8 or Evapor-8 and that's reflected in it's lower chart placing of 16.

I was just getting used to Altern 8 regularly releasing hits and they did have a further 3 singles that charted outside the top 40 which I didn't know about.

As I said when posting about Evapor-8, if you had asked me at the time which rave act would still be massive in 25 years ago I would have said Altern 8 instead of the Prodigy. Despite it being nearly a years since the Prodigy first charted, they only had two top 40 hits by this point.

Smart E's - Sesame's Treet

I remember this being the opening record on Top of the Pops and there were a group of kids singing this and doing rave dancing. Being a kid myself, it was good to see, what I didn't realise was that the kids were just there for the performance.

It was actually three grown men behind this and it was the actual Sesame Street theme music which had been sampled, something which they hadn't got permission for.

The three men in question would go onto because household names in the rave scene, one of them being Luna C who started up the legendary Kniteforce records, and the other two members forming Bang! who had one of the best known Happy Hardcore records in "Shooting Star".

Urban Hype - A Trip to Trumpton

Another record that samples children's TV music. This was a record that my mum couldn't stand, so naturally I liked it.

Later on in the decade when the Ratpack started doing old skool sets at raves, they had a tendency to play pretty much the same set all the time. This was one of the records they would feature, but minus the vocal samples. Was great to hear it again in the beginning until I listened to one Ratpack set too many.

Roy Orbison - I Drove All Night

I heard the Cyndi Lauper version of this first back in 1989 which I quite liked.

I knew that Roy Orbison passed away in 1988, so when this version was released in 1992 I assumed that he did the original back in the 60s and this was a reissue.

I was wrong. It was written for Roy Orbison originally and he did record it in 1987 but wasn't made into the record we know when this amongst other recordings were remixed by his Travelling Wilbury's bandmate Jeff Lynne for his posthumous album "King of Hearts".

Swearing In Pop Music

Warning, this post contains strong language.

First of all, I have no problem with swearing, I swear myself and personally I think if you get offended by swearing then you need to get a life. I've also never seen the point in censoring swear words for children, even with my sheltered upbringing in the countryside I knew pretty much every swear word by the time I was 8, and they're only words anyway.

What's prompted my to write this post is the amount of swearing I've heard on top 40 hits this year, the latest being this weeks new entry from a One Direction member. Maybe he's doing the Robbie Williams thing of being controversial post-boyband, but it certainly sounds like him and his collaborator are swearing just for the sake of it. I can say the same for some other records that have been hits in recent times.

The issue of swearing in pop music has been flagged in recent times, but is it really an issue?

First of all, what is pop music in a modern sense? This year we have had 4 acts flood the charts with multiple records at various points, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Stormzy and Kendrick Lemar. Three of those four are rappers, so one would expect swearing on their music. In fact I would hazard a guess we've had more records in the top 40 so far this year with rapping in them than not.

Although rap is the genre most likely to be associated with swearing, it's not the only one where you would expect it. When I was listening to rock and metal music back in the early 90s I think pretty much every band I listened to swore, some more so than others. It was my parents discovering "Get In The Ring" by Guns n Roses contained the lyric "suck my fuckin dick" that made them ban me from owning any Guns n Roses music. I did however own it courtesy of a copied tape from a mate at school.

Then there was Rage Against The Machine, who caused outrage with "Killing in the Name". Some people say this is just lots of needless swearing because of the "fuck you I wont do what you tell me" part being repeated multiple times, but every line in the song is repeated multiple times and it fits in with what the song is about.

When Green Day started to make a name for themselves in this country, they had the single "Longview", a song about masturbation with swearing in it. I knew somebody several years ago who wasn't familiar with Green Days music so I said he could borrow my "Dookie" CD. He said no, because he didn't like music with swearing in. Aside from "Longview" though, only three other tracks had swearing on them. What's more ironic though is that the man was a Pink Floyd fan who I've since discovered were swearing on records before it was commonplace to do so.

When I started getting into dance music I wasn't really expecting swearing, but there was. More often than not it was the MC's on the tape packs doing it. One particular MC, Junior, swore so often that some started calling him MC Fuckin Junior.

It's probably fair to say that most genres outside of pop have their fair share of swearing and have done for quite some time now. But what about swearing in pop music itself?

Around the turn of the century I was part of an Alisha's Attic e-mail group. I sent out my first e-mail to the group and then received an e-mail from one of the moderators giving me a bollocking for swearing in the e-mail. I thought the no swearing policy for the group was a bit ridiculous, particularly as Alisha's Attic had a song called "Angel Eyes" which had the lyric "fuckin bitch". So there is an example of a pop song with swearing from over 20 years ago.

Back in 1994 though, East 17 had a track on their "Steam" album called "MF Power". Whilst the track had the swearing edited out, the lyric sheet contained the lyric "Love ain't nothing but mother fuckin power". So there you have it, a boy band put swearing on their lyric sheet 23 years ago.

So whilst I do see some of the swearing on current pop records a bit pointless and there is arguably more of it than there used to be, it certainly isn't anything new.

I shall leave you with the East 17 track in question, MF Power.

Top of the Pops: 27/07/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

We have a new number one which comes from DJ Khaled who "Despacito" knocked off number one in the first place. Only two additional artists feature this time as opposed to the army of people he had on the last one.

We also have 11 eligible records, meaning I have to eliminate two, quite surprising given the highest new entry is number 25. So I've eliminated number 29 because it's on it's second chart run and number 20 because it's only one place higher than it's previous peak and was previously going down.

This leaves 5 new entries and 3 additional climbers.


New (38) Yungen ft Yxng Bane - Bestie
⬆ (25) Alma - Chasing Highs
New (36) Dua Lipa - New Rules
⬆ (16) Rudimental ft James Arthur - Sun Comes Up
New (33) Selena Gomez ft Gucci Mane - Fetish
⬆ (13) Camila Cabello - Crying In The Club
New (26) Script - Rain
New (27) Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry
⬆ (1) DJ Khaled ft Rihanna & Bryson Tiller - Wild Thoughts

Record of the Year 1984: Phil Fearon & Galaxy - What Do I Do

Apparently back in 1984, my young self would stand up in front of my family and sing "I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder, something I have absolutely no memory of. Fortunately my music tastes have moved on since then, it was never even a consideration for my record of the year.

My choice is "What Do I Do" by Phil Fearon & Galaxy. This is thanks in part to the Top of the Pops reruns. I already knew this record beforehand but the one from Phil Fearon & Galaxy that's always stood out to me is "Everybody's Laughing", also from 1984. However, I've been enjoying this record so much from the Top of the Pops reruns and have since listened to "Everybody's Laughing" a few times, but have decided I now prefer this one.

Despite the name suggesting there is a group behind this, there isn't, it's just Phil Fearon himself. This was the third top 40 hit for Phil Fearon & Galaxy, but he had previous chart success back in 1979 as a member of Kandiate. Prior to that he was one of the founding members of Hi-Tension.

One of the backing vocalists on this is Dee Fearon, who as you may have guessed is Phil's wife. But she was also the singer for Baby D in the 90s.

He would go on to run the Production House Records label who's acts included Baby D plus other acts from the rave scene such as Acen and The House Crew.

UK Singles Chart: 1984

We are currently at the end of March in the Top of the Pops reruns for 1984, so a quarter of it will be fresh in my mind and the rest of it will be predicting what will happen as it's still a bit early for me to remember.

As you probably know, the Liverpool group who were just outside the top 40 at the end of 1983 were Frankie Goes To Hollywood with "Relax". This was the first record to be played on Top of the Pops this year and go banned shortly after, meaning it didn't get played during it's 5 weeks at number one. Their follow up, "Two Tribes", fared even better spending 9 weeks at number one, the longest of the decade. Their third hit "The Power Of Love" was also number one making them the second act to reach number one with their first three singles. It spent one week at number one, before being knocked off be the Christmas number one "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood was clearly the success story of 1984, but not far behind them was Wham! who scored their first number one with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and second number one with "Freedom". They were only denied their third number one by Band Aid who kept "Last Christmas" off the top. Additionally we had George Michael get to number one with his first solo record "Careless Whisper".

Duran Duran had their second and final number one with "The Reflex" and scored a number two with "The Wild Boys" and number nine with "New Moon On Monday2. Meanwhile, after a solid start to the year, both Spandau Ballet and Culture Club were starting to decline in popularity towards the end of the year having record outside the top 10, with Culture Club only reaching 32 with "The Medal Song" having reached the top 4 with all their previous releases.

Cliff Richard was the only 50s debutant to have a hit this year meaning midway through the decade only him and Elvis had hits in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. He had one hit bringing his total to 83.

David Bowie continued his streak of hits every year since 1972 with "Blue Jean" keeping him in third place with 36 hits. Elton John became fourth outright adding two to his total bringing it to 33. Stevie Wonder had a number one with "I Just Called To Say I Love You" putting him in fifth place with 32, leaving Frank Sinatra sixth with 31 and Lonnie Donegan seventh with 30, who is now joined by Status Quo who had two hits this year.

Stevie Wonder wasn't the only Motown act to have a number one this year. Lionel Richie scored his only number one with "Hello". We saw a return to the charts after an 11 year gap for the Temptations with "Treat Her Like A Lady". There was also a couple of Motown debutants this year. Dazz Band had their only hit with "Let It All Blow" and Berry Gordy's son had his only hit with "Somebody's Watching Me" which featured the vocals of Michael Jackson who himself had a couple of Motown hits in the charts this year which he recorded in the 70s when he was on the label.

We have a solitary Punk record in the charts this year from the Toy Dolls with their Punk version of "Nellie the Elephant". Disco meanwhile was finally starting to fizzle out with the only ones of note being "Fresh" by Kool & the Gang and "Thinking Of You" by Sister Sledge which was actually recorded in the 70s.

It could be argued that there were two types of music Disco was making way for. First was Funk, most notably with Chaka Khan having hits this year with "Ain't Nobody" and the number one "I Feel For You" having previously done disco music. There was also the chart debut of Cameo with "She's Strange".

The other type was Hi NRG music which is what Frankie Goes To Hollywood is considered to be. We had the Weather Girls chart in March with "It's Raining Men" and a pre Stock Aitken & Waterman Dead Or Alive debut with their cover of " That's The Way (I Like It)".

In April we had the first Stock Aitken & Waterman record in "Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man)" by Hazell Dean. We also had the Ian Levine produced, and appropriately titled "High Energy" by Evelyn Thomas.

In June we saw the debut of Bronski Beat with "Smalltown Boy", whilst July saw the second Hazell Dean record "Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)" and the debut of Divine with "You Think You're A Man", both Stock Aitken & Waterman produced.

We also had Freddie Mercury jump on the bandwagon with "Love Kills" and Kim Wilde with "The Second Time".

When watching the story of 1984 prior to the current Top of the Pops reruns, they mentioned a style of music I honest had never heard of before, Sophisti-pop. It was said to be inspired by Roxy Music, who had split up by this point.

One of the notable groups of this genre, the Style Council, had debuted the previous year and would have further hits this year. We had the debut of Matt Bianco with "Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed" and Sade with "Your Love Is King" already appear on Top of the Pops.

Also debuting this year from that genre is Scritti Politti with "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" and Everything But the Girl with "Each And Everyone", plus Level 42 return with "Hot Water" and are now considered to be a part of this genre. There is also the only hit of Animal Nightlife with "Mr. Solitaire".

As we had the debut of Howard Jones in 1983, it was only a matter of time before we saw the debut of Nik Kershaw which we did in January with "Wouldn't It Be Good".

There was no shortage of Synth Pop in 1984 of all varieties, but towards the end of the year we get the debut of Art Of Noise with "Close (To The Edit)" which takes it in a completely different direction.

The synths are making their way into the Rock world too, with Van Halen making their chart debut with "Jump". This would be the only UK hit for the band from the David Lee Roth era.

We have Whitesnake, Iron Maiden and AC/DC from the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal scene continue to have hits, but we also see the debut of Dio with "Mystery".

Despite forming back in the 60s, its wasn't until 1984 that we saw the chart debut of ZZ Top with "Gimme All Your Lovin" followed up with "Sharp Dressed Man". This made them the first act beginning with Z to have more than one hit.

The most notable debutant of the year in the pop world though was Madonna. She debuted with "Holiday" which reached number 6 and followed up with "Lucky Star" and "Like A Virgin". She would have to wait until next year for her first number one though, and "Lucky Star" failed to reach the top 10, it would be another decade until the next Madonna record failed to do so.

There was also the debut of Cyndi Lauper with "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" which reached number 2 and followed up with "Time After Time" which reached number 3. Based on their first two hits, it seemed like Cyndi Lauper had the upper hand on Madonna, but her other two releases that year failed to reach the top 40 and would only have two further top 10 hits including a remake of her debut hit.

After a 20 year absence, Henry Mancini returned to the charts this year with his second and final hit "Main Theme From The Thornbirds". There was also a return after 15 years for Sandie Shaw courtesy of the Smiths, who had her final hit with "Hand In Glove".

Also bidding farewell to the charts this year, not taking re entries into account, is John Lennon who's final hit is "Borrowed Time" and Hot Chocolate who's final hit was "I Gave You My Heart (Didn't I)". You may have noticed that Mike Read said on Top of the Pops that Hot Chocolate had hits every year since 1970, but that applies to the top 75 rather than top 40, they failed to reach the top 40 in 1979 and 1981.

We are now getting more Rap/Hip Hop records in the charts. There are two from Grandmaster Flash with "White Lines (Don't Do It)" and "The Furious Five Step Off (Part 1)", the latter not being listed in the 1000 No.1 Singles edition of British Hit Singles. We also had Break Machine have their three chart hits with "Street Dance", "Breakdance Party" and "Are You Ready". Then there is the debut of Afrika Bambaataa with "Renegades Of Funk". We also have a novelty rap record from Mel Brooks with "To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap)".

The Afrika Bambaataa record was said to inspire the Freestyle genre of music, and we had our first Freestyle hit in the UK in "Let The Music Play" by Shannon. She followed this up with "Give Me Tonight" and "Sweet Somebody". This would be the last we'd see of Shannon in the charts expect for a couple of dance records where she was guest vocalist in the 90s.

No new nationalities on the charts this year, but a mention needs to go to German group Nena who scored a number one with their only UK hit "99 Red Balloons", a style described as being "Neue Deutsche Welle".

So that brings us to the mid-point of the 80s. Stock Aitken & Waterman have arrived, will this set the scene for the rest of the 80s?

Top of the Pops: 20/07/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So two of last weeks eliminations are eligible this week, but despite this there are only a total of 7 eligible record this week. There is one more climber included this week from Sigala ft Ella Eyre.

We still have "Despacito" at number one, whilst Simon Cowell has helped preserve Bryan Adams record for consecutive weeks, it's now half way to catching Frankie Laines total weeks record.

The rest of the show is taken up by the three new entries.

Had the four records I eliminated been different, we could have had just five records feature this week.

New (38) Jax Jones ft Demi Lovato & Stefflon - Instruction
⬆ (23) Selena Gomez - Bad Liar
New (26) Zedd ft Liam Payne - Get Low
⬆ (19) Major Lazer ft Travis Scott, Camilla Cabello & Quavo - Know No Better
New (30) Kesha - Praying
⬆ (6) Sigala ft Ella Eyre - Came Here For Love
(1) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito

Record of the Year 1983: Depeche Mode - Everything Counts

When I was younger, Depeche Mode were a bit of a mystery group to me. I'd always heard of them but wasn't sure whether they were a cheesy 80s group or one you're supposed to take more seriously. The two record that would spring to my mind when they were mentioned was "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Personal Jesus", so one that's very much pop and another which is quite dark.

Around a decade or so ago I was getting into the darker side of electro and listened to "Enjoy the Silence" for the first time in years and realised how good it was. This is turn lead to me listening to other Depeche Mode hits, and like "Enjoy the Silence", I realised just how good this record was too.

This record showcases the light and dark side of the group, the verses sung by Dave Gahan being dark and the chorus sung by Martin Gore being light, but with a darker lyrical content about corporate greed and corruption.

To my original question when I was younger, well they are still going, releasing new music and playing to big crowds all over the world, definitely more of a group to take seriously than a cheesy 80s group.

UK Singles Chart: 1983

The Top of the Pops reruns for 1983 only finished a couple of months ago, so this is still fresh in my mind. From reading discussion about it, some people say that 1983 was the 1976 of the 80s.

In some ways they have a point. There is no longer music in the charts you would describe as Punk, and the music considered new wave is quite far removed from the likes of Rich Kids and Tonight. The only acts left from the Punk movement of 1977 are Elvis Costello whose music has now gone in a completely different direction, and the Stranglers who's singles this year include the 10 minute long "Midnight Summers Dream", the type of song Punk went against in the first place.

Although we established that Punk didn't harm the presence of Prog Rock in the charts, it is worth noting we have the likes of Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd in the charts this year. We also saw Prog Rock super group Asia have their only top 40 hit "Don't Cry" this year. Then we had the debut of Marillion with "He Knows You Know". After a decade away, the Moody Blues returned to the charts with their final hit "Blue World".

Elvis Presley added to his total this year with the single "I Can Help" bringing his total to 102, though this would be his final hit of the decade. Cliff Richard added four to his total bringing it to 82.

The success story of the year though was David Bowie. He had a number one with "Lets Dance" and two number twos with "China Girl" and "Modern Love". This brought his total number of hits to 35 and he remained third in terms of most hits, and remained the act with the longest current streak of hits every year dating back to 1972.

There were no hits for Stevie Wonder this year and he remained in fourth place alongside Frank Sinatra and now joined by Elton John who had four hits this year bringing his total to 31. So Lonnie Donegan was now seventh place with 30.

We did have the presence of Motown this year though with Lionel Richie having two hits for the label with "Running With The Night " and "All Night Long". There was also the only hit from Mary Jane Girls with "All Night Long", a different record to the Lionel Richie one of the same name. We also had a Rap/Hip Hop record on Motown, "The Crown", which was the only hit from Gary Byrd & the GB Experience and feature uncredited vocals from Stevie Wonder.

This was also the year the Rocksteady Crew had their only hit with "(Hey You) The Rocksteady Crew" whilst we also had novelty rap records from Kenny Everett with "Snot Rap" and Roland Rat with "Rat Rapping".

This was quite possibly the year the so called big four of the pop world became just that. Spandau Ballet scored their only number one with "True", Duran Duran scored their first number one with "Is There Something I Should Know" and Culture Club scored their second and final number one with "Karma Chameleon" and were yet to have a hit that didn't reach the top three. Wham! were yet to have their first number one, but I guess it's a bit like in the world of tennis Andy Murray was considered one of the big four players long before he won his first grand slam.

It was the year Kajagoogoo had their moment in the spotlight reaching number one with their debut "Too Shy". It was also the year Limahl left the group and began his brief solo career with "Only For Love". Both Kajagoogoo and Limahl would have one more hit the following year before their chart career was over.

Having released what proved to be the biggest selling album of all time, "Thriller", at the end of the previous year, Michael Jackson had five top 40 hits from that album this year including the number one record "Billie Jean".

Disco music still hadn't disappeared from the UK charts. Returning to the charts after four years away was KC & the Sunshine Band who had the number one record "Give It Up" which was also their final hit. Also returning after four years for their final hit was Gloria Gaynor with the record "I Am What I Am". After a 28 year absence, Eartha Kitt returned to the charts with a disco number "Where Is My Man" which was just here second hit, but not her final one.

It is however true to say Disco was starting to go full circle and make way for Funk. Although he failed to make much impact this year, it was the year Prince made his debut with "1999" which reached number 25. His follow up "Little Red Corvette" failed to reach the top 40, but the two record would be released as a double a side two years later and make number two.

In the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal world we would have the final hits from Thin Lizzy with "Thunder And Lightning", Rush with "Countdown / New World Man" and Saxon with "Power And The Glory". Meanwhile, the Americans were starting to hit the UK charts, Twisted Sister had their only two UK hits with "I Am (I'm Me)" and "The Kids Are Back", whilst Kiss had two hits this year with "Creatures Of The Night" and "Lick It Up", but they would return to the charts in later years. We also had Ozzy Osbourne start his solo top 40 career with "Bark At The Moon".

The 2 tone scene was now being kept going by Madness with the only other 2 tone act to chart this years being the Beat who had their final hit with their cover of "Can't Get Used To Losing You".

The genre which had a really strong presence on the charts this year though was Synth Pop. The year began with the debuts of China Crisis with "Christian" and Thompson Twins with "Love On Your Side". Then in February came the debut of Eurythmics with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)".

In March we had arguably the most significant record of them all chart, "Blue Monday" by New Order. We also saw the last of Japans hits with "All Tomorrow's Parties". Three years after Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left the Human League to form Heaven 17, they final made their chart debut in April with "Temptation".

Vince Clarkes time in Yazoo proved to be as brief as his time in Depeche Mode with their final 80s hit "Nobody's Diary" charting in May. Vince Clarke though would return to the charts in November as part of the Assembly who had their only hit with "Never Never".

September saw the debut of Howard Jones with "New Song" which he followed up in December with "What Is Love".

Away from the synths though, we had the debut of Aztec Camera with "Oblivious" and The Smiths with "This Charming Man".

We had the first act from Iceland this year in the charts. Mezzoforte had their only UK hit with the instrumental "Garden Party".

Despite their being several new significant acts in the charts this year, its probably fair to say most of the music was nothing new, which is probably why 1983 is viewed quite negatively by some people. The fact the most successful act of the year was someone who had been around since the 60s didn't help either.

To give an idea of what is to come in 1984, there was a record just outside the top 40 at the end of the year by a group from Liverpool who were yet to make their chart debut. I think you know who that is, but if you don't you will find out when I post about 1984.

Top of the Pops: 13/07/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

Have the new chart rules paved the way for Top of the Pops to return?

If you hadn't heard, to prevent a repeat of Ed Sheeran flooding the charts again, only three records per album will now be included in the charts. This week there are 13 eligible records, so I have to eliminate 4 of these.

Lets begin with what I need to include. We have "Despacito" at number one still, we have Rudimental ft James Arthur who are the highest new entry and number 24, and the highest climber from Calvin Harris and chums at number 6.

There are four more new entries which I've included, which leaves two from six I need to pick. The first elimination is the Drake one as it isn't on YouTube. Two of the climbers at numbers 25 and 31 are in their second run in the top 40 so I've eliminated them too. Then the number 26 features Quavo who has a new entry this week, and Camilla Cabello who has another climber, so I've eliminated that one too.

New (40) Hailee Steinfeld - Most Girls
New (39) Post Malone ft Quavo - Congratulations
⬆ (16) Camila Cabello - Crying In The Club
New (32) Olly Murs ft Louisa Johnson - Unpredictable
⬆ (7) Rita Ora - Your Song
New (30) Alma - Chasing Highs
⬆ (6) Calvin Harris ft Pharrell, Katy Perry & Big Sean - Feel
New (24) Rudimental ft James Arthur - Sun Comes Up
(1) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito

Record of the Year 1982: PHD - I Won't Let You Down

Once upon a time there were two types of compilations you were guaranteed to find in the record shops, love compilations and 80s compilations. The reality was you only really needed one of each as you'd never really get much variation between them.

However, a decade or so ago I came across an 80s love compilation which had several good tracks you wouldn't typically find on love or 80s compilations, and as such I bought it.

My record of the year for 1982 was one of those tracks. I honestly can't remember if I had heard it before buying the CD, but it certainly stands out as one of the better tracks on there. What makes it for me is when the synth hook kicks in.

This was the only top 40 hit for PHD who took the name from the first letters of the band members surnames, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas and Jim Diamond.

Jim Diamond would go onto have a solo number one with "I Should Have Known Better" in 1984, but he reformed PHD with Tony Hymas in 2006 and sadly died in 2015.

UK Singles Chart: 1982

First of all, I thought I should mention something I should have done for 1981, the chart debut of Duran Duran with "Planet Earth". As we have roughly 300 records per year in the charts around this period, it's inevitable that not everything will be covered in these review, but as Duran Duran were considered one of the so called "big four" pop groups of the early 80s its something which should be mentioned.

So with Spandau Ballet debuting in 1980 and Duran Duran in 1981, the other two groups of the so called "big four" debuted this year. There was Culture Club who became the first of these groups to score a number one, their debut hit "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me". Then there was Wham! who debuted with "Young Guns (Go For It)".

The success story of 1982 though was The Jam. In what was to be their final year as a band, they scored a number one with "Town Called Malice/Precious", then they scored a number eight on import sales alone with "Just Who Is the 5 O'clock Hero", then a number two with "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow", and finally a number one with their final hit "Beat Surrender".

The Jam weren't the only band from the 1977 explosion of Punk bowing out the charts this year. It also saw the Boomtown Rats have their final hit with "House On Fire". Meanwhile The Clash had arguably their two best known hits this year with "Rock The Casbah" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go". This was the last we'd see of them with Mick Jones in the group and would be three years until their next hit which would be their last aside from re-entries.

We also had arguably The Stranglers best known hit this year "Golden Brown". Along with Elvis Costello, they would be the only ones from the 1977 explosion of Punk who would have several more hits beyond this year, although Elvis Costello failed to make the top 40 with five different singles this year.

The popularity of Blondie had seemingly lessened this year with both their hits "Island Of Lost Souls" and "War Child" failing to reach the top 10 and the latter just making 39. It would be 17 years before they would have another hit.

After a year away, Elvis Presley returned to the charts this year with his 101st top 40 hit with a live version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight". Cliff Richard have two hits bringing his total to 78. We now have a new act in third place. David Bowie had three hits this year bringing his total to 32. Then joining Frank Sinatra in fourth place with 31 was Stevie Wonder who like David Bowie, had three hits this year, with Lonnie Donegan now in sixth with 30, now 20 years since his last hit.

As well as taking third place in terms of number of hits, David Bowie now has the longest streak of hits every year going back to 1972 after Rod Stewart failed to score a top 40 hit this year. One of his hits was his collaboration with 1952 debutant Bing Crosby "Peace On Earth - Little Drummer Boy". Bing Crosby became the third 50s act to have a hit in the 80s, but as he failed to have a hit in the 60s its still just Elvis and Cliff who have had a hit in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s so far. This would be the last we'd see of Bing Crosby on the charts.

One of Stevie Wonders hits this year was his first number one "Ebony & Ivory" with Paul McCartney. This was not released on Motown, but Motown did have a number one this year which was "I've Never Been To Me" by Charlene. The only other Motown top 40 hit this year was "Truly" by Lionel Richie.

If disco music was killed off in 1979 then nobody told the record buying public over here. The likes of Shalamar, Odyssey, Donna Summer and several more disco acts would continue to have hits this year.

It did however seem to be the end of the road for Jazz Funk music, with Shakatak being the only Jazz Funk act to have hits this year.

This was the year Madness has their only number one with "House Of Fun", but aside from Madness, the only 2 tone we had this year was "My Girl Lollipop (My Boy Lollipop)" by Bad Manners and "The Boiler" by Rhoda.

The 50s style music was now heavily relying on Shakin Stevens this year with him have five his including a number one with "Oh Julie". It was the last year we'd see Showaddywaddy on the charts with "Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp-A-Bomp-A-Bomp)".

The medleys had also gone out of fashion, with just the one medley charting this year which was "Stars On Stevie" by Starsound.

From the hard rock/heavy metal scene we saw the final hits from Motorhead with "Iron Fist", Rainbow with "Stone Cold" and Gillan with "Restless", whilst Black Sabbath has their penultimate hit and last one for 10 years with "Turn Up The Night". It also marked the beginning of the Bruce Dickinson era Iron Maiden with their first top ten hit "Run To The Hills". The years also saw the only top 40 appearance for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts with "I Love Rock 'N' Roll".

Going strength to strength though was Synth Pop music.

The year marked the beginning of Depeche Mode after Vince Clarke had left. They had three hits this year with "See You", "The Meaning Of Love" and "Leave In Silence".

Vince Clarke was back in the charts himself with his new group Yazoo with Alison Moyet. They debuted with "Only You" followed by "Don't Go" and "The Other Side Of Love".

It would be the final year in the charts for Visage with their final hit being "Night Train". Midge Ure's other group, Ultravox, still had plenty more hits in them and had two this year with "Reap The Wild Wind" and "Hymn". We also saw the start of his solo career with the single "No Regrets".

There were other notable debutants this year including Simple Minds with "Promised You A Miracle", A Flock Of Seagulls with "Space Age Love Song", Talk Talk with "Today", Tears For Fears with "Mad World" and Blancmange with "Living On The Ceiling".

After 30 years and several different nationalities having hits, we have the first act from Zimbabwe have a hit. Alton Edwards had a hit with "I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)" which was his only hit. At the time of writing, he is one of just two acts from Zimbabwe to have a UK top 40 hit. I'll give the other one a mention when their time comes.

After having the first two Rap/Hip Hop records chart in 1970, we saw none in 1980 and in 1981 we had three Punk/New Wave acts have Rap/Hip Hop hits plus a novelty act. This year we had someone else from the Punk/New Wave scene do one, Malcolm McLaren with "Buffalo Gals". We also had "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five chart this year, which some will say was the third proper Rap/Hip Hop record to chart.

So this was the year some scenes were dying down, Synth Pop was gaining momentum and Disco still refused to die. What will we see in 1983?

Top of the Pops: 06/07/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So we have 8 eligible records this week but feature only 7. This is because one of the new entries this week comes from Drake, and like most of the records he flooded the charts with earlier this year, it isn't on YouTube.

Meanwhile "Despacito" returns to number one so is therefore back on the show. We have one new entry feature and the rest are climbers.


⬆ (26) Imagine Dragons - Thunder
⬆ (19) Sigala ft Ella Eyre - Came Here For Love
New (28) Liv N G - Smile For Bradley
⬆ (12) Maggie Lindemann - Pretty Girl
⬆ (9) Little Mix - Power
⬆ (5) Jonas Blue ft William Singe - Mama
⬆ (1) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito

Record of the Year 1981: Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood

I first heard my record of the year for 1981 in the most unlikely of places, a school assembly. It was one of the assembly's where a class would do a mini play with a message in it, and they started playing this as we walked in.

I've long forgotten anything else about that assembly, maybe the message was the importance of spelling and grammar or something along those lines. This tune though had a lasting effect, even though I had no idea what it was. I was singing it for some time afterwards, that's how catchy it was.

A few weeks later I heard it again on some channel 4 schools show when I was off sick one day, but still no idea what it was.

Fast forward a decade or so and I purchased Fabriclive 9 by Jacques Lu Cont and it appeared on that mix, I finally found out what it was. As a side note, if you haven't heard that mix then take a listen, it's one of the best mixes you'll ever hear.

The Tom Tom Club were a side project for a couple of members of Talking Heads. This was one of just two top 40 hits for them, the other being their cover of "Under the Boardwalk".

They have another quite famous tune called "Genius of Love" which is at least equally as good, but this never made the top 40 over here.

UK Singles Chart: 1981

In 1981 for the first time in 25 years, we have no Elvis Presley singles in the top 40. The honour of having the longest current streak of top 40 hits every year went to Rod Stewart, who's streak began in 1971.

Cliff Richard did however have three hits this year bringing his total to 76 and was the only 50s debutant to have a top 40 hit this year. Frank Sinatra remained third place with 31, Lonnie Donegan remained fourth with 30, but joining Frankie Vaughan, Everly Brothers, Nat 'King' Cole and Supremes in fifth place with 29 was David Bowie who's hits this year included his third number one "Under Pressure" with Queen.

There were two acts who could claim to be the success story of 1981. Shakin Stevens had number ones with "This Ole House" and "Green Door", a number two with "You Drive Me Crazy" and a number ten with "It's Raining"

Then there was Adam & the Ants who had number ones with "Stand And Deliver" and "Prince Charming", a number two with "Kings of the Wild Frontier", a number three with "Ant Rap" and a not so successful number 33 with "Cartrouble". There would only be one further Adam & the Ants hits beyond this year before Adam Ant went solo.

"Ant Rap" was as close as you'd get to rap music being in the top 40 this year, but it wasn't alone. We also had "Rapture" by Blondie and "The Magnificent Seven" by the Clash charting this year, both raps records in a loose sense from groups from the Punk/New Wave scene. Then there was "Wikka Wrap" by the Evasions, a novelty rap record in the charts this year.

Liverpool was putting itself back on the music map this year with the debuts of Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen. Teardrop Explodes hit the charts in January with their best known hit "Reward" and followed up with "Treason (It's Just A Story)" and "Passionate Friend". These would be the only top 40 efforts of the group, but singer Julian Cope would return as a solo artist. Echo & the Bunnymen has just the one hit this year with "Crocodiles" but would have many more hits to come.

Whilst new wave was still going strong in the charts, the music you would consider simply punk was on its way out. By my reckoning, the only two purely punk records in the charts this year were "Dead Cities" by the Exploited and "Too Drunk to Fuck" by Dead Kennedys.

There was also less Heavy Metal this year, with Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Saxon keeping it going with five hits between them. There was a greater presence of hard rock though with the like of Gillan, Whitesnake and Rainbow having multiple hits. There was also the return of Slade to the charts with "We'll Bring The House Down" and "Lock Up Your Daughters" which both had a more hard rock sound than their 70s material.

Michael Jackson had his first solo number one this year with "One Day In Your Life". He probably didn't celebrate it though as this was released by Motown who were seemingly chashing in on his success by releasing music from his time at the label. There was another Motown number one this year, "Being With You" by Smokey Robinson which would also be the last time we would see him in the top 40. We also had a couple of hits from Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross from the label. The second hit from Diana Ross was "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie. This would be the final Diana Ross top 40 hit for Motown and the first for Lionel Richie as a solo artist. The last Diana Ross hit of the year "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" was with her new label , Capitol Records.

Although there was as many disco record this year as there had been the previous year, it still had a strong presence on the charts with records like "Can You Feel It" by the Jacksons, "Let's Groove" by Earth Wind & Fire and "Get Down On It" by Kool & the Gang all charting this year and all records I was surprised to learn were from the 80s rather than the 70s.

There was the rise of Synth Pop on the charts this year. It started with the infamous moment where "Vienna" by Ultravox stalled at number two being held off the top by "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce Music Theatre. Then March saw the debut of New Order with "Ceremony", though this record wasn't as synth driven as their later hits.

Human League made their debut in May with "The Sound Of The Crowd" and they would go on to have the Christmas number one with "Don't You Want Me". They also had hits with "Love Action (I Believe In Love)" and "Open Your Heart" in between.

Depeche Mode made their debut in June with "New Life" and followed up in September by their best known 80s record "Just Can't Get Enough". Also in September we had the debut of Japan with "Quiet Life" which they followed up in November with "Visions Of China". September also saw Soft Cell reach number one with their debut "Tainted Love" and they followed this up in November with "Bed Sitter".

From the Jazz Funk would, 1981 would be the only year we would see Light of the World in the charts with "I Shot The Sheriff" and "I'm So Happy", Beggar & Co with "(Somebody) Help Me Out" and "Mule (Chant No2)", Arthur Adams with "You Got The Floor" and Blue Rondo A La Turk with "Me And Mr Sanchez".

We also saw the debut of Freeez with "Southern Freeez" followed up with "Flying High" and also the debut of Shakatak with "Easier Said Than Done". Also coming from that scene was Level 42 who made their chart debut that year with "Love Games".

From the 2-tone world we had the Specials have a number one with their final hit "Ghost Town" with the three front men who would go on to form Fun Boy Three later in the year and debut with "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)". There were no hits for Selecter, but the Beat, Madness and Bad Manners would all continue to have hits this year.

Shakin Stevens had plenty of company with 50s style music in the 80s with groups like Coast To Coast, Stray Cats, Polecats and Jets all having hits. There was also a return to the charts for Alvin Stardust with the hit "Pretend", whilst Showaddywaddy were still going and had a hit with "Footsteps".

If we had to pick a music style to associate with 1981 though, it would be the medley. It began in April with Starsound who had a hit with "Stars On 45" and had later hits with volumes 2 and 3. Then in May came Enigma with "Ain't No Stopping" and followed up in August with "I Love Music". Then July we had Gidea Park with "Beachboy Gold" a medley of Beach Boys songs which they followed up in September with "Seasons Of Gold", a medley of Four Seasons hits.

Also in July came Tight Fit with "Back To The Sixties" and followed up in September with volume 2. Then we had Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with "Hooked On Classics". August saw Startrax chart with "Startrax Club Disco". Also in August we saw a return to the charts for the Hollies with their medley of hits called "Holliedaze (medley)". In September we had the rather bizarre "Classical Muddley" by Portsmouth Sinfonia.

After September it looked like the medley era was over, but it came back via a couple of records at Christmas. There was Chas & Dave with "Stars Over 45" and there was Holly & the Ivys with "Christmas On 45".

So that was 1981. Will 1982 be the year David Bowie will overtake Frank Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan in terms of number of hits? Will somebody else? and will we have some proper rap music back in the charts?