REMEMBER WHEN - 24TH DECEMBER 1977

1977

Week 52
WEEK ENDING 24TH DECEMBER 1977

TOP 40 SINGLES

TW	.......	LW	.......		.......
1		1		Wings		Mull Of Kintyre / Girl's School
2		2		Brighouse And Rastrick Brass Band		The Floral Dance
3		3		Bee Gees		How Deep Is Your Love
4		4		Ruby Winters		I Will
5		12		Bing Crosby		White Christmas
6		13		Donna Summer		Love's Unkind
7		14		Bonnie Tyler		It's A Heartache
8		6		Darts		Daddy Cool
9		5		Jonathan Richman		Egyptian Reggae
10		17		Hot Chocolate		Put Your Love In Me
11		8		Boney M		Belfast
12		7		Showaddywaddy		Dancin' Party
13		9		Dooleys		Love Of My Life
14		19		Elvis Presley		My Way
15		16		Elvis Costello		Watching The Detectives
16		15		Boomtown Rats		Mary Of The Fourth Form
17		31		David Soul		Let's Have A Quiet Night In
18		20		Crystal Gayle		Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
19		22		Chic		Dance Dance Dance
20		21		E.L.O.		Turn To Stone
21		34		Yannis Markopoulos		Who Pays The Ferryman
22		10		Queen		We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You
23		29		Dooley Wilson		As Time Goes By
24		26		Julie Covington		Only Women Bleed
25		11		Status Quo		Rockin' All Over The World
26		25		Donna Summer		I Love You
27		NEW		Muppets		Don't Dilly Dally / Waiting At The Church
28		33		Bob Marley		Jamming / Punky Reggae Party
29		27		John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett		Really Free
30		23		Diana Ross		Gettin' Ready For Love
31		30		Carl Douglas		Run Back
32		24		Barron Knights		Live In Trouble
33		37		Boz Scaggs		Hollywood
34		NEW		Althia And Donna		Uptown Top Ranking
35		18		Abba		Name Of The Game
36		NEW		Banned		Little Girl
37		28		Santana		She's Not There
38		32		Baccara		Yes Sir I Can Boogie
39		NEW		Neil Diamond		Desiree
40		NEW		Emotions		I Don't Want To Lose Your Love

Wings

Mull Of Kintyre / Girls School

Well, we know all about this one. For seven years it reigned supreme as the biggest selling single of all time in the UK. It actually spent it's first chart week just outside the top 40, but then took a massive leap to number five, before spending nine weeks at number one. This song does tend to get ridiculed, but the fact still remains that it must have appealed to over two million people in order to have sold that many copies.

Brighouse And Rastrick Brass Band

The Floral Dance

Not to my taste and like many others, I did get sick of it at the time. But there were also many that did like it as it spent six weeks at number two, only being deprived of those weeks at the top by the (then) biggest selling single in the UK ever. Terry Wogan was to blame, he played it to death on his breakfast show, the most listened to Radio show in the country. It doesn't seem so bad now anyway.
I can't drive past junction 25 of the M62 (the Brighouse junction) without this tune entering my head.

Bee Gees

How Deep Is Your Love

I must have seen my Mum cry more than once. I only remember one occcasion though, and it's relevent to this song.
After the chip shop business came to light, I was kept in for over a month (they call it being grounded these days). The day that I was finally released, I met up with a friend who's name I won't reveal. To cut it short, for reasons that I can't remember, I set fire to a car that was less than six months old. Thing is, the fire brigade were on strike and the Army had to come in their green goddess and put it out. There was a report in the Evening Leader the following night in which the owner said "I looked out of the window and the car was burning merrily away".
It took about four days this time for Mr C.I.D. (my pet name for him was Bulb Head) to knock the door. I denied it of course, that is until he asked me a second time, then I admitted it. Well, he wouldn't have come to my house if someone hadn't told him it was me would he ?
So, off to the cop shop again for another statement. Funny thing, my accomplice was not charged with anything (just as he wasn't for his part in the chip shop burglaries).
When I eventually went to court on Valentines Day 1978, I was charged with both offences as well as a charge of receiving 50p from someone who'd burgled another property. When it came to me, the magistrate announced the compensation that I had to pay for the chip shop and the 50p, before coming to the car. It was over two thousands pounds damage and he said that he couldn't see how there was anyway possible that I could repay that money and then took a long pause.
........
...........
You can guess what I thought was coming, I thought that I was going away to be a guest at her Majesties pleasure.
But I was lucky, he decided that I should be fined twenty five pounds instead. Yes, I had been extremely lucky and I didn't burn any more cars after that. I did get convicted of criminal damage to a JCB in late 1978, but I didn't do that, just got fined for it. I still maintain my innocence over that today. Four times over the last 8 years I have been stopped by the police while driving. Each time, they have come up with that one as last Criminal offence on the police computer. Each time, I have said "I didn't do that". But they've always argued with me about it.
Anyway, while this lovely record from the Bee Gees was being played on the top twenty while it was spending one of it's five weeks at number three, that was when my Mum cried. It was something to do with how I seemed to be turning out, even after the strict (but fair) way in which she'd brought me up.
I still feel guilty for that.

Ruby Winters

I Will

Very nice song. It finally reached number four in it's sixth week and spent three weeks there, taking it right through Christmas. In all, it spent 12 weeks in the top 40.
Billy Fury had previously taken this song to number 14 in 1964.

Bing Crosby

White Christmas

Would you believe that this was the first time Bing's "White Christmas" made the UK top 40 ?
Well it was, and I suspect that much of it's 1977 success can be attributed to his death a few months previous. It reached number five in time for Christmas, and that was where we had a unique situation. While this stood at number five, "Mull Of Kintyre" was at number one. This means that the best selling single in the world ever, and the soon to be best selling single in the UK ever, were both in the top five at the same time. Of course, both lost their status in the years to come, 1984 for Wings and 1997 for Bing. The next time that Bing made the top 40 with this single was in 1998 when he made number 29.
Incidentally, for many years, I hated this single, but I don't mind it at all now (must be what they call getting old).

Donna Summer

Love's Unkind

Donna Summer spent three weeks at number three in January, stayed in the 40 for 13 weeks with this track. It taken from the 'I Remember Yesterady' album, and also her first 'Greatest Hits Album' (there have been many). I received the 'Greatest Hits' album for Christmas that year. I remember being woken after my Mum got home that night. She'd brought back some of her friends and took them to sit in the front room (the room kept for best of course). I remember her best friend Anne giving me some lecture on why I should behave myself and keep out of trouble from now on. But the worst thing of all, the very worst, I had to unwrap the present that Anne had bought for me.
Surely not, it may have gone midnight, but it's not really Christmas Day until the morning (unless you're at a disco AND they play "Merry Christmas Everybody" at midnight). I don't open any presents now do I ?
Yes, I opened it and it was a Music For Pleasure 'Glitter Band' LP. It wasn't bad, I still have it to this day in extremely good condition and Anne was a lovely woman. BUT, this opening of the Christmas presents on Christmas Eve was well out of order. While I'm ranting, another thing I dislike is the dumping of the Christmas presents under the tree. Don't be lazy cheapskates. Get a sack, put them in, and put it at the end of your child's bed so that he/she discovers them upon waking.
So, the following morning I discovered the Donna Summer LP and thought that she looked very, mmmm, nice on the sleeve and I felt a bit funny when I looked at it ;-)
"Love's Unkind" was covered and taken to number 21 by soap star 'Sophie Lawrence' in 1991.

Bonnie Tyler

It's A Heartache

Another one that took seven weeks to reach it's peak, this time number four. This is when we discovered that Bonnie now had a gravel like voice following an operation.
She released a follow up to this called "Here Am I" that sounded almost identical.

Darts

Daddy Cool

In late 1976, Boney M made their chart debut and reached number six with a song titled "Daddy Cool". Twelve months later, and Darts were making their debut with an identically titled song. It sounded nothing like the other one of course. This was a rock 'n' roll type thing, and the first of eight top 40 hits. And, it reached number six of course.

Jonathan Richman

Egyptian Reggae

Good instrumental and much easier to listen to than "Roadrunner". Reached number five just before Christmas and spent 11 weeks in the 40.

Hot Chocolate

Put Your Love In Me

Probably my least favourite Hot Chocolate single, it just tended to drone on and on without getting anywhere. Pity, as it was the follow up to their only number one hit. It reached number ten in time for Christmas.

Boney M

Belfast

In hindsight, it seems unbelievable that the group who gave us "Rivers Of Babylon" and "Mary's Boy Child" gave us this slice of politics about the situation in Northern Ireland. But we should also remember their 1981 single "We Kill The World", a song that may have been a huge hit if it didn't have the stigma of being recorded by Boney M attached to it.
"Belfast" struggled a little and took seven weeks to reach it's number eight peak. In all, it spent 12 weeks in the top forty.

Showaddywaddy

Dancin' Party

Horrible, even by Showaddywaddy's standards. I can't imagine that Chubby Checker's 1962 original was much better either. It reached number four.

Dooleys

Love Of My Life

Second hit for the Dooleys, and though I didn't think it was as catchy as the first one, it reached number nine to become a bigger hit.

Elvis Presley

My Way

Excellent cover, I'm not saying that it was better than Frank's, but this is the kind of thing that I feel Elvis did best. I was surprised that it didn't make number one for Christmas, instead it peaked at nine in the first chart of 1978.

Elvis Costello

Watching The Detectives

He'd already released better singles than this debut hit, and he would release many other superior ones over the next few years. But, that doesn't make this a song to be sniffed at. It was still better than most of the records surrounding it in the chart. It reached number 15 and was the beginning of a long chart career that saw him having hits right up to the end of the century. And who'd have thought from this, that he would later chart with a cover of the Charles Aznavour hit "She" ?

Boomtown Rats

Mary Of The Fourth Form

A very disappointing follow up to "Looking After Number One". The B Side "Do The Rat" was awful. Peaked at number 15.

David Soul

Let's Have A Quiet Night In

Seemingly released with the intention that it would be poised nicely within striking distance of the number slot in the New Year clearout. But this time it didn't work and he had to settle for number eight. Not a bad thing as it wasn't very good anyway.

Crystal Gayle

Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

Very pleasant song from a beautiful lady. It was a slow burner though, not reaching it's number five peak until the second week of January, it's tenth week in the chart. It spent a total of 14 weeks in the chart.

Chic

Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)

The debut hit for the team responsible for so many hits during the following five years or so. It took seven weeks to climb to it's number six peak and spent eleven weeks in the top 40.

E.L.O.

Turn To Stone

This brought an end to their run of three successive top ten hits when it peaked at a lowly number 18. But this first single from the double album 'Out Of The Blue' was just a blip on their pregress. The other three singles from the album all peaked at number six.

Yannis Markopoulos

Who Pays The Ferryman

A Greek orchestra with the theme to another TV show that I didn't watch. It reached number eleven and I could take it or leave it.

Queen

We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You

I could have been in the video for this you know !
I'd been in the fan club for a couple of years when I received a letter inviting me to travel down to London to take part in the filming of a promotional film for Queen's forthcoming single "We Are The Champions". Of course, I would have loved to have gone, but we didn't have a car and the rail fare from North Wales to London was very expensive (no, expenses would not have been paid). So I missed out on three minutes of fame.
It was a massive hit and spent three weeks at number two, the third time in four years that Queen had a number two peaking single in the last few weeks of the year (the year that they didn't do it, 1975, they had a nine week number one). They did it in 1979 too.
Over in the US, some DJs played both tracks as though they were one track, got to admit it did seem that way. I think it made number one on some charts there, but in the important Billboard one, it peaked at number four.
Since then, it has been played at the end of many sports events, including the World Cup Final.

Dooley Wilson

As Time Goes By

More commonly known as "Play It Again Sam" from the film 'Casablanca'. Complete with the famous dialogue from Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, the release of this single must have been very pleasing for fans of films from a bygone age. Not really my thing, but I don't dislike it. It reached number 15.
It is said that the film 'Casablanca' can be synched with the Pink Floyd album 'Animals' to make it seem as though the music was written for the film. But having been disappointed by the Wizard Of Oz/Dark Side Of The Moon & Longest Day/Final Cut synchs, I haven't bothered trying this one out. But if you want to try any of them go here for more info http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/3528/

Julie Covington

Only Women Bleed

A cover that WAS superior to the original, much better than the Alice Cooper original. I also thought that it was better than her big hit "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", but it was nowhere near as big. It took seven weeks to peak at number 12. Julie didn't chart again, though she did release a really food cover of "I Want To See The Bright Lights Again" in late 1978. She later went back to the boards in London's West End.

Status Quo

Rockin' All Over The World

THE classic Quo track. Who would have thought when they heard this song for the first time, that it would herald the beginning of the greatest show ever, featuring most of the biggest rock acts ever ?
Even though they have only had one hit in the USA (and that was over 30 years ago !), they are one of the biggest bands in the World ever. This was their 13th hit and although not their highest charting, is probably their best known. It finally reached number three in it's seventh week on the chart, and then spent three weeks there. Like many, I dismissed the Quo as a bit of a joke (even though I happily bought their singles, a few albums too), until I saw them support Queen at Knebworth in 1986. They were tremendous, and they re-affirmed my opinion of them five years later while supporting Rod Stewart in Manchester. I promise you, you will not see many bands perform live better than Status Quo do. While I was still naive about their ability, I often compared them as a British version of 'The Beach Boys' (only MUCH more bearable and without the surfing). It seems I must have got something right, as they joined up with the happy surfers for a hit with "Fun Fun Fun" in 1996.

Donna Summer

I Love You

Here was the latest Casablanca Records contribution to the continued chart residency of Donna Summer. Here was another excellent single (if you like this sort of thing), and it debuted just a week after the chart debut of GTO's latest Donna single "Love's Unkind". In my opinion this should have at least matched the number three peak of the other, but it struggled to begin, and after reaching number 25, dropped for two successive weeks to find itself at number 30. Then, in the second week of January, it suddenly moved back up twenty places to peak at number ten.
This was the first single to be taken from the 'Once Upon A Time' album, the first of four successive double LPs to be released by Donna, and that's not including her contributions to the 'Thank God It's Friday' soundtrack.

Muppets

Don't Dilly Dally / Waiting At The Church

I know it was the silly season and all that, but the charts around Christmas 1977 did seem to have more than it's fair share of old and unusual songs. These were covers of the songs sang by cockneys in 1960s' British films that were set in the early decades of the Twentieth Century. The Muppets were of course puppets who before having their own show, were featured in Sesame Street. I used to watch it when it began, and now over thirty years later, it's still going strong and my daughter loves it.
The single reached number 19.

Bob Marley

Jamming / Punky Reggae Party

I'm going to be truthful about this. Just as I think Nirvana's 'Bleach' is worse than all of the Bros albums, and I would rather listen to Cilla Black than most of the Beach Boys surfing songs, I didn't like Bob Marley very much before this single. Most of his pre "Jamming" stuff just passed me by as very repetative, but above all 'Boring'. That changed with this single. It became his first top ten hit and reached number nine. As far as I was concerned he didn't put a foot wrong from then on, and it's a great pity that he passed away just over three years later.

John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett

Really Free

I suspect that most had similar thoughts to me when they first heard this. Thoughts not too different from "What the hell is this" ?
But after a few listens, someone of an impressionable age (ie still a bit of maturing to do), would decide that they like it. So there I was, I mean someone was, liking it for the rest of it's chart run before forgetting about it for many years. Then some ten years later, 'Whistle Test' would show it as an archive clip and that someone would again realise just how bad it really was and wonder what possessed anyone to buy it.
It reached number 27. The B side "Beware Of the Flowers ('Cos I'm Sure They're Gonna Get You, Yeah)" was slightly amusing and much better.

Diana Ross

Gettin' Ready For Love

This had a cabaret sound to it (like "The Happening"), but I liked it all the same. Remember hearing this playing in Woolworths and deciding I'll get that when it drops out of the chart and becomes budget priced (I had to save for my impending court fine). I didn't have to wait too long, it peaked at number 23 and was gone by the first week of January.

Carl Douglas

Run Back

Forget the Kung Fu stuff from 1974, here was a really good single (even if it did lean a little towards Northern Soul). It only reached number 25 though, and that was the last we heard of Carl until 20 years later when his vocals were sampled for Bus Stop's 'cover' of "Kung Fu Fighting".

Barron Knights

Live In Trouble

This was the first time that the Barron Knights were in the UK chart since 1968, and the first time that they made the top 40 since "Under New Management" made number 15 at Christmas 1966. This band are the all time masters of the parody record and it was great to have them back. This single treated us to their interpretations of "Angelo", "Float On", "Loving You", "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." and "Lucille" spread over both sides of the disc. Very funny at the time, can still raise a chuckle now, it reached number seven.

Boz Scaggs

Hollywood

And this was it for Boz. It reached number 33 and he never made the top forty again.

Althia And Donna

Uptown Top Ranking

This duo were one of the Ultimate One Hit Wonder acts. They spent one week at number one but then had nothing else, not even a top 75 entry. But they do have another claim to fame, this single displaced the biggest selling single of all time ("Mull Of Kintyre" by 'Wings') at the top of the chart after a nine week run at pole position. IT has also been claimed that they stole this song from someone else.
Ali & Frazier took their cover of this to number 33 in 1993.

Abba

Name Of The Game

Now, this WAS a good one, still is. It gave Abba their second number one of the year, and it's four week reign took their total for the year to nine weeks. This meant that for the second year running, they spent more weeks on top than anyone else, even if it was three weeks less than the previous year.

Banned

Little Girl

Another one that I remember from Luxembourg's early charts of 1978. It seemed to be in there for quite a while, certainly got inside the top thirty. But on this chart, it entered at 36 in time for the chart that was repeated because of Christmas, and then dropped out. I thought that it had a very good sound to it, pity it wasn't bigger.

Santana

She's Not There

Very good cover of the Zombie's number 12 hit from 1964. For my money, this was a much better version, and this was reflected in it's number 11 peak. It remained Santana's biggest hit until "Smooth" reached number three in March 2000.

Baccara

Yes Sir I Can Boogie

Opinions have always seemed to be divided on this one. Baccara were a Spanish duo of lovely ladies who took to wearing little more than their underwear when performing on Top Of The Pops. Their biggest fault was in employing the Abba trick of exaggerating their accents as they sang (it's so false, don't you think ?). Despite this, I still like this single, and it's a shame that they only had one more hit after this number one. They did go on to represent Luxembourg in the 1978 Eurovision song contest with the song "Parlez Vous Francais",but came in a disappointing seventh.

Neil Diamond

Desiree

Expected this to be bigger, sadly not, just this one week (and the repeated one).

Emotions

I Don't Want To Lose Your Love

Much funkier and better than "Best Of My Love", but sadly not as big a hit. Just this and the repeated week in the chart.

In the top 50 this week, but failing to reach the top 40.

Debby Boone

You Light Up My Life

It was quite reasonable to expect this to be a massive hit. Her Father Pat had been constantly in the chart from 1955-1962, this single spent ten weeks at number one in the States, and it received massive airplay. But, it only reached number 48 over here and she was never heard of again on these shores and only three minor hits followed in the US.

Some MP3s

Disclaimer All comments concerning the quality of the songs in this and any other chart, are purely my opinion and not a statement of fact. I believe that we are all equal when it comes to deciding what makes a good song. I do not believe that good songs have to be serious or dull. I am of the opinion that if a single sells many copies, then many people like it, so it must be good whether I like it or not. Good music is everything YOU like, and it's also everything I like.

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Email: nige@innotts.co.uk
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You Will Get One