Record of the Year 1978: Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

I have gone down the punk route for my record of the year for 1978 by picking a record by the Clash.

This was their fourth single and their first to move away from the raw punk sound by mixing it with reggae. It's a great example of what punk did for the music industry, it wasn't just about the fast 2 minute songs, but also about all the music which evolved from punk.

Sometimes mixing two styles of music you like doesn't work at all, some of the tunes which mix dance and rap music these days are pretty dreadful. This combination of punk and reggae though works really well.

The Clash had 11 top 40 hits overall and never reached the top 10 until "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" was re issued in 1991 a number of years after they split after it appeared on a certain jeans commercial.

UK Singles Chart: 1978

The first record listed on everyhit.com for 1978 is Terry Wogan's version of "Floral Dance" which is also the record that stands out from when they started repeating 1978 Top of the Pops. It was the first single for Terry Wogan, but it wouldn't be his last.

It was January 1978 when Johnny Rotten left the Sex Pistols, would this mark the end of Punk in the singles chart?

Well no, not at all. It didn't even mark the end of the Sex Pistols chart career. However, what we did see making more of a chart presence was New Wave. Whilst you do have some records which are clearly Punk and some which are clearly New Wave, the lines can be quite blurred between the two and not everybody will agree with what records fit which genre, so to avoid this issue I will treat both genres as one entity.

It was another former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, who would bring his new band to the charts in January. Also counting Midge Ure amongst its members, the Rich Kids has their one and only hit with the song "Rich Kids". We also saw Southend band Tonight score their one and only hit with "Drummer Man" in January.

February saw another one hit wonder, Radio Stars, score their only hit with "Nervous Wreck". There was also the debut of the Buzzcocks with "What Do I Get?". They would have another three hits this year and three more in 1979 before there chart career came to an end. Also scoring their first of four hits of the year in February was Blondie who debuted with "Denis".

March saw one hit wonders the Vibrators have their only hit with "Automatic Lover". April had X-Ray Spex debut with "The Day the World Turned Glo". They would have a further two hits this year and that would be it for their chart career. Squeeze made their debut with their only hit of the year "Take Me I'm Yours". They would be back the following year though.

Sham 69 debuted in May with "Angels With Dirty Faces ". They would have another two record this year and two the following year, and wouldn't be back until 2006 with their reworking of "Hurry Up Harry" called "Hurry Up England".

Sex Pistols returned to the charts in July with their only single of the year, the double a side "No-one Is Innocent/My Way" with Ronnie Biggs taking lead vocals on the former and Sid Vicious on the latter.

In August we had Rezillos score their only hit with "Top of the Pops". We also had Siouxsie & the Banshees debut with their only hit of the year "Hong Kong Garden".

John Peels favourite record "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones charted in October. We also saw Johnny Rottens new band Public Image Ltd make their debut with "Public Image". Then in November we officially had the first Punk/New Wave number one, "Rat Trap" by the Boomtown Rats.

There are two acts who could claim to be the biggest success story of 1978. This was the year of "Grease" which brought two number ones, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Both of them scored number twos with "Sandy" and "Hopelessly Devoted to You" respectively. However, out of the two of them it was Olivia Newton John who was more successful as her other hit "A Little More Love" (not from Grease) reached number 4 whereas John Travolta's other hit "Greased Lightning" reached number 11.

The other act who could have this claim was Boney M who had two number ones with "Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In the Ring" and the Christmas number one "Marys Boy Child", plus a number two with "Rasputin". Nearly half the year (25 weeks) had either Boney M or John Travolta/Olivia Newton John at number one.

The death of Elvis Presley the previous year didn't stop his run of having a top 40 hit every year since 1956. However, he had just the one hit this year with "Don't Be Cruel". Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan remained in 2nd, 3rd and 4th with none of them having hits this year.

With both Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross failing to chart this year, the only Motown act to have any hit singles this year was The Commodores who would have three hits including their number one "Three Times a Lady".

The two acts other than Elvis to have had a hit every year in the 70s so far now are Hot Chocolate who had hits this year with "Every 1's A Winner" and "I'll Put You Together Again", and the Carpenters who had a hit with "Sweet Sweet Smile".

Abba scored their seventh number one this year with "Take A Chance On Me" which put them on their own in fifth place, one behind fourth place Rolling Stones. This was knocked off number one by chart debutant Kate Bush with "Wuthering Heights".

Returning to the charts with just his second hit after a 19 year gap was Paul Evans with "Hello This Is Joannie" which would be his final hit.

It was the final year we would see 10CC on the charts, but they ended with a number one hit "Dreadlock Holiday".

Billy Joel made his chart debut this year reaching number 19 with "Just The Way You Are", a record that Barry White would cover later on in the year and reach number 12. This would however be Barry Whites last hit for 9 years, but Billy Joel would have several hits during that time.

We also saw AC/DC on the charts for the first time with "Rock N Roll Damnation".

There were three Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductees who would have their only top 40 hits this year. These were Jackson Browne with "Stay", Patti Smith with "Because the Night" and Funkadelic with "One Nation Under A Groove".

The first act from Switzerland to have a UK hit debuted this year. This was Patrick Juvet who had two hits with "Got A Feeling" and "I Love America". He would not return to the charts again.

With the 80s only being 2 years away, is there any sort of indication the 80s is on its way chart wise? Well to me there is just one group making their debut this year who I regard as an 80s group rather than 70s, that is Dollar who made their debut with "Shooting Star".

So with three acts having had a hit every year of the 70s so far, which if any will have a hit in 1979 and therefore every year in the 70s? and will there be any sign the 80s are about to begin?

Top of the Pops: 25/05/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

Just 5 eligible records this week, 2 new entries, 2 climbers which appeared two weeks ago and the same number one as last week. This is the second time we've only had 5 records on the show.

So 3 weeks after we have more than 9 eligible records for the first time without someone flooding the charts with multiple records, it looks very much like normal service has been resumed.

New (21) Maggie Lindemann - Pretty Girl
⬆ (12) Charlie Puth - Attention
New (11) Miley Cyrus - Malibu
⬆ (9) J Hus - Did You See
(1) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito

Record of the Year 1977: Mr Big - Romeo

My record of the year for 1977 is a record which got banned by the BBC because of the explicit lyrics. No not that one, it's "Romeo" by Mr Big.

Your probably wondering "what explicit lyrics?". Well according to an interview with band member Dicken the lyrics in question were “‘Step back inside me, Romeo,’ she said” and “Fall on me, make me grow” which the BBC said implied innuendo, but that wasn't the intention of the song.

The ban was lifted and the appeared on Top of the Pops and it was through the reruns that I heard it for the first time. It was early on in the year when there was a lot of rubbish on the shows, but this stood out as being one of the good songs for no apparent reason.

They had one more hit, "Feel Like Calling Home", later on that year but that didn't really leave an impression on my.

They are not to be confused with Mr Big from the 90s, they are a completely different group.

UK Singles Chart: 1977

There are many years which you can attribute to a certain style of music, but the most obvious one is 1977 being the year of Punk. Perhaps it's because of the Queens Silver Jubilee happening the same year. But did the charts reflect the Punk movement which was happening at the time?

The end of 1976 saw the Sex Pistols chart for the first time with the first Punk record to reach the Top 40. However we'd have to wait until April until we saw the next Punk record chart, "White Riot" by The Clash. The same month from the American Punk scene we had Television chart with "Marquee Moon".

Then in May we had debuts from The Jam with "In the City" and The Stranglers with "Peaches/Go Buddy Go", and from America we had The Ramones with "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker". So that's five Punk records prior to "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols which charted in June.

This opened up the floodgates in July with further hits from the Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Jam and Television, plus the only hit from Australian Punk band The Saints with "This Perfect Day".

In August we had The Ramones second hit "Shallow Is My Pride" plus debuts from The Boomtown Rats with "Looking After No1" and The Adverts with "Gary Gilmore's Eyes". We also had pub rockers Eddie & the Hot Rods have a Punk record with "Do Anything You Wanna Do" under the alias "The Rods".

September saw the debut of Generation X with "Your Generation", October saw Tom Robinson Band debut with "2-4-6-8 Motorway", November had Elvis Costello debut with "Watching The Detectives" and December had The Banned have their only hit with "Little Girl". During this period we had further hits from The Stranglers, Sex Pistols, Boomtown Rats and The Jam.

So in summary we have 9 punk acts from the UK, 2 from America, 1 from Ireland and 1 from Australia plus a pub rock band having a punk tune in the charts this year.

As well as punk though, we had the very music Punk was trying to kill off in the charts, Progressive Rock. Their was a return to the charts for Genesis with "Spot the Pigeon EP". We also had the debut of former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel with "Solsbury Hill". Also debuting despite being around for almost a decade was Yes with "Wondrous Stories".

There are two acts which you could say enjoyed the greatest success in the charts this year. There was Abba who had two hits "Knowing Me Knowing You" and "The Name of the Game" which both made number one. This meant Abba were now level with Slade in fifth place for most number ones with 6.

Also scoring two number ones this year was David Soul with "Don't Give Up On Us" and "Silver Lady". He also had a number two with "Going In With My Eyes Open" and a number 8 with "Lets Have A Quiet Night In", though this wouldn't peak until the following year.

The year 1977 was also as year remembered for the death of Elvis Presley. This didn't stop his chart career though, he scored his 17th number one with "Way Down" to equal the Beatles in first place with most number ones. He also had hits with "Moody Blue" and "My Way" bringing his total number of hits to 97 and continue his streak of hits every year since 1956.

Cliff Richard had one hit this year bringing his total to 69, whilst Frank Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan remained in third and fourth place, neither adding to their total this year.

From Motown, Stevie Wonder kept his streak of hits every year since 1966 and Diana Ross kept her streak of hits every year since 1970. This year would mark the end of the run for both artists though. We also had Marvin Gaye return with his final hit for Motown with "Got To Give It Up". Also returning for the first time since their debut in 1974 was the Commodores with "Easy" which they followed up with "Sweet Love/Brick House". We also saw Thelma Houston have her only top 40 hit with "Don't Leave Me This Way".

The Carpenters and Hot Chocolate kept their run of hits every year of the 70s going with Hot Chocolate having their only number one with "So You Win Again".

After being one of the chart heavyweights earlier on in the decade, this year would be the last we'd so of Slade in the 70s with the number 32 single "My Baby Left Me - That's All Right". They would return again in the 80s. Also charting not only for the last time in the 70s, but last time full stop was Bay City Rollers, their final hit being the number 34 "You Made Me Believe In Magic".

This was also the year 1952 debutant Bing Crosby died and he would return to the charts after a 20 year absence with "White Christmas". This was the first time his version charted as it was originally released before the charts existed.

After a 15 year absence we saw the return of Danny Williams with his final hit "Dancin Easy".

The disco scene was still going strong, this was the year Donna Summer reached number one with "I Feel Love". We also had debuts from Earth Wind & Fire with "Saturday Nite" and Chic debut with "Dance Dance Dance".

Given this was the year the Sex Pistols were at the height of their success, plus having 12 more punk acts make their debut, calling this the year of punk seems quite accurate. As you would expect though, it wasn't the only thing happening in the charts. The music which dominated the early part of the 70s was dying out by this point. The acts who have continued to have hits since the start of the decade aren't acts which you would say are music that defined any part of the decade, this may be why they had longevity.

The question is whether punk would go from strength to strength in 1978 or would it be in decline? how would disco fare? and is their any sign that the 80s aren't too far away?

Top of the Pops: 18/05/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

We have a new number one which features someone who was actually on Top of the Pops several years ago, Daddy Yankee. He appeared on the first Sunday night Top of the Pops in 2005 which was co presented by Jeremy Clarkson. After his performance, Jeremy took out some earplugs stating how dreadful it was.

We have 8 eligible records this week, 4 more climbers and 3 new entries


New (40) Kyle ft Lil Yachty - Ispy
⬆ (24) Cheat Codes - ft Demi Lovato - No Promises
⬆ (23) Disciples - On My Mind
New (29) Jonas Blue ft William Singe - Mama
⬆ (8) French Montana ft Swae Lee - Unforgettable
New (25) Niall Horan - Slow Hands
⬆ (5) Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holdin Me Back
⬆ (1) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito

Top of the Pops: 11/05/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

So after being spoilt for choice last week by 2017 standards, normal service has resumed and we are down to just 6 eligible records. My exclusion from last week, "No More Sad Songs" by Little Mix is now going down the charts so is not eligible this week. Had I excluded "No Promises" by Cheat Codes - ft Demi Lovato, "Unforgettable" by French Montana ft Swae Lee or "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee, then we would have 7 on this week.

So we have a new number one by lots of different people going straight in at the top. The next highest new entry is at 31 and there are two further new entries featuring.

This leaves two climbers, both of which were on two weeks ago and includes "Skin" by Rag n Bone Man, which first appeared at the start of February, it's very gradually making its way up the charts.

New (40) Katy Perry ft Migos - Bon Appetit
⬆ (34) J Hus - Did You See
New (34) Kygo ft Ellie Goulding - First Time
⬆ (13) Rag n Bone Man - Skin
New (31) Charlie Puth - Attention
New (1) DJ Khaled ft Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne - I'm the One

Record of the Year 1976: Eddie Drennon & BBS Unliited - Let's Do the Latin Hustle

As they started the Top of the Pops repeats in April 1976, I decided to listen to the records I didn't know in the first 3 months of the year on YouTube.

There were actually 2 versions of this, the other being by the M&O Band. At the same time there was "(Do The) Spanish Hustle" by Fatback Band.

This was the one which stood out to me out of that little lot. I had a few candidates for my record of the year, but when listening to them when trying to decide I kept leaning towards this one.

It was the only top 40 hit for Eddie Drennon & BBS Unlimited, but Eddie Drennon has seemlingly remained active behind the scenes as well as teaching music at some universities in America.

UK Singles Chart: 1976

Although I didn't live through 1976, this was the year that BBC4 started their reruns of Top of the Pops from and I have seen every episode they have shown.

Before they started the rerun they showed a documentary about what music was like in 1976. The general consensus was that it wasn't a good time for music, there was lots of rubbish coming out and it wasn't going in any sort of direction.

From watching the actual episodes I could see they had a point. The number one record on the first episode they repeated was "Save Your Kisses For Me" by Brotherhood of Man which seemed to be number one for eternity (was just 6 weeks though). The charts were also flooded with Beatles songs, 6 of them to be exact, which were 5 rereleases plus "Yesterday" charting in this country for the first time. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the Beatles, but having a group that had been split up for 6 years take so many positions with records that had charted before doesn't say much for the music that was happening there and then.

Away from the top spot there was no shortage of records appearing that no doubt the 70s kids thought they'd never hear again. The ones which stick in my mind early on in the run for being awful were "S-S-S-Single Bed" by Fox, "Reggae Like It Used To Be" by Paul Nicholas and "Convoy GB" by Laurie Lingo & the Dipsticks which was a parody of "Convoy" by CW McCall done by Top of the Pops presenters DLT and Paul Burnett.

Brotherhood of Man were eventually knocked off number one by Abba with "Fernando" which was top for four weeks. So 10 weeks into the run, 2 number ones which I'd known and hated ever since I can remember, but week 11 saw a chart topper I'd not heard before. This was "No Charge" by JJ Barrie, a spoken country record which I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a novelty hit or not. The following number one most certainly was, "Combine Harvester" by the Wurzels.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though. The next number one was "You To Me Are Everything" by The Real Thing.

What I found great quite early on with these reruns is for example on one episode we heard "Don't Stop It Now" by Hot Chocolate and "I'm Mandy Fly Me" by 10CC. Both groups are known for more than one hit, but these were ones you don't normally hear today but both good records and I liked the fact it gave the opportunity to hear such records.

The most successful act of the year was Abba. They had the first number one of the year with "Mamma Mia" and also reached the top with "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen" whilst their other hit this year "Money Money Money" reached number 3.

Last years success story, Bay City Rollers, would have a solid year with two number 4s. After dominating 1974, this year would mark the end of Muds chart career with their final single being a cover of "Lean On Me". Likewise the band of 1973 Slades popularity was in decline managing just one hit reaching 11 appropriately titled "Lets Call It Quits". Although there popularity had already been in decline, this was the last year of T Rex in the charts with "I Like To Boogie" having had a hit every year of the 70s until that point.

This would be the last year of the 70s we would have an Osmond in the charts, the final hit being "I Can't Live a Dream" by the Osmonds which reached number 37.

Elvis kept his streak of hits of a hit every year since 1956 adding three more to his total bringing it to 94. Cliff Richard was back in the charts with four more singles bringing his total to 68. No change in third or fourth place with Frank Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan remaining in their respective positions.

The start of the year technically saw three chart debutants for Motown. Smokey Robinson had now left Smokey Robinson & the Miracles so the group known simply as The Miracles had a hit with "Love Machine". Then there was former Temptations singer David Ruffin who had a hit with "Walk Away From Love". Finally there was Yvonne Fair with "It Should Have Been Me". None of these would have further top 40 hits and there was just four more Motown hits this year, three from Diana Ross and one from Stevie Wonder. This meant Stevie Wonder kept his run of a hit every year since 1966 going, though he had been absent from the charts for almost 2 years as his 1975 hit "Boogie On Reggae Woman" came in January and his 1976 hit "I Wish" came in December. Diana Ross was also on a roll herself with a single every year since 1970.

Aside from Elvis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and T Rex, there were two more acts who had a hit every year in the 70s so far. This was Hot Chocolate and the Carpenters who both made their chart debuts in 1970.

Having made his return to the charts the previous year after a long absence, Johnny Mathis had the Christmas number one this year with "When A Child Is Born".

There were two more acts returning after a lengthy absence this year. After a 16 year absence, Manuel & His Music Of The Mountains returned with his most successful hit "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez". After a 13 year absence came Mr Acker Bilk with "Aria". Neither act would return to the charts again. Also after returning to the charts 3 years prior, the Drifters would have their final hit with "You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book".

Disco music was still very much at the height of its success and arguably the biggest act of them all made her debut this year. That was Donna Summer with "Love To Love You Baby". She followed this up with "Could It Be Magic" and then with "Winter Melody".

Other notable acts from the disco scene making their debuts this year included the Tavares with "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" followed up by "Don't Take Away the Music", and Rose Royce with "Car Wash".

The Beatles weren't the only Liverpudlians that had success in the 60s to return to the charts this year. Former members of the Merseybeats formed a group called Liverpool Express who had hits this year with "You Are My Love" and "Every Man Must Have A Dream". They would only have one further hit after this year.

There was a new nationality in the charts this year. Romanian Georghe Zamfir had his only hit with "(Light Of Experience) Doina De Jale".

The end of the year saw two notable chart debuts from acts that would have a big presence the rest of the decade. Boney M made their debut with "Daddy Cool" and the Sex Pistols made their debut with "Anarchy In the UK".

Like 1975, this year also seemed like a year of transition. A lot of early 70s acts were clearly declining in popularity and few new acts were taking their places. There were many acts around who were short lived and long forgotten and arguably more novelty records around than there perhaps should be.

However, given the debut of the Sex Pistols in 1976 we can see what is coming in 1977.

Top of the Pops: 04/05/2017

Here is the Top 40 Countdown

Lets just recap why I am making these posts each week.

Basically when it was Christmas there were the usual calls for Top of the Pops to come back. I said it shouldn't come back because of the nature of the charts these days. I then looked at the 6 previous weeks to see how many records would fit the criteria to appear on the show. The post can be found here but basically some shows didn't have enough eligible records to be included.

As this was just a 6 week sample which included the Christmas period, I thought I would continue to see what each show would look like. So far, the only times we have had 9 eligible records, which I assume to be the desired number to fill the show, have been when Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, Drake or Kendrick Lemar have flooded the charts thanks to their new album.

This week for the first time since doing these posts we have no single act flooding the charts and more than 9 eligible records, we have 10. So I genuinely have a selection dilemma, which record do I exclude?

I have decided to exclude "No More Sad Songs" by Little Mix on the basis it's been on before and only climbed one place. The same could be said of Bruno Mars, but I had to pick one so went for the lower placed one.

Meanwhile we have a new number one with Clean Bandit getting revenge on Ed Sheeran knocking them off all those weeks ago.

Then we have 6 new entries by 6 different acts. Could this be the best episode of the year?


New (34) Paramore - Hard Times
New (38) Lana Del Rey ft The Weeknd - Lust For Life
New (39) Cheat Codes - ft Demi Lovato - No Promises
⬆ (28) Disciples - On My Mind
New (24) French Montana ft Swae Lee - Unforgettable
New (22) Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber - Despacito
⬆ (12) Bruno Mars - That's What I Like
New (7) Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holdin Me Back
⬆ (1) Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson - Symphony