Best Song: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
I would have never guessed in a million years I'd be picking this record in 1982 because I had no idea it charted in 1982. It was originally recorded in 1973 and originally charted here in 1976 and then again in 1982. In the modern era of having pretty much every tune I'd want to listen to available on the internet, I like many have got a bit impatient when it comes to long songs. More often than not when playing music on YouTube I go for the shorter version when I can so I can fit more in. With "Free Bird" however, it's always the full 12 minute live version, that's how much I like this record.
Worst Song: Shalamar - A Night To Remember
It may fall under the "post-disco" category, but this sounds like it belongs in the 70s to me as one of the crappy watered down disco records. If I hear this when I'm out I hope it's a night to forget so I can erase any memory I have of hearing this record.
Top 40 Review
The best song is from the 70s and the worst songs sounds like it should be from the 70s. But there's also something a bit 60s about this chart with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones having hits. The Beatles one is a medley so has it's moments but not keen on The Rolling Stones one. The following week is the last week to date we've had both bands in the Top 40.
You can often rely on Roxy Music to have a good record, and here they are again with "Avalon". Sadly this was the last year they were in the Top 40 barring a remix of "Love Is The Drug" in 1996, but this won't be appearing in the Top 40 we look at then. Steve Miller Band have their second Top 40 hit and first in 6 years with "Abracadabra" which also gets the thumbs up from me.
Despite it seeming a bit 60s/70s so far, this is very much like an 80s chart for the bulk of it. We have some "post-disco" records that are pretty good. There's the excellent "Mama Used To Say" by Junior, "Do I Do" by Stevie Wonder and quite an obscure one in "Murphy's Law" by Cheri which is definitely worth checking out if you've never heard it.
The main genre we have though is synth pop. A bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality, but the ones I've given full marks to are "Night Train" by Visage and "Only You" by Yazoo. The Gary Numan and Soft Cell records do seem to have potential, but I've probably heard the latter enough times to conclude it will never be better than average.
By the time I got down to number 15 I didn't have much hope for this chart. Only one record got full marks and the total score at that point was 3. Thankfully things improved in the lower reaches of the chart to the point we end up with the same score as 1981.
Score: 14
Table
I can basically say the same for 1982 as I did for 1981:
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