REMEMBER WHEN - 6TH JANUARY 1979

No.	LW
1	2	Village People	YMCA
2	1	Boney M	Mary's Boy Child
3	6	Racey	Lay Your Love On Me
4	3	Barron Knights	A Taste Of Aggro
5	10	Elton John	Song For Guy
6	13	Ian Dury And The Blockheads	Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
7	5	Barbra & Neil	You Don't Bring Me Flowers
8	4	Bee Gees	Too Much Heaven
9	7	Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip	I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper
10	9	Chic	Le Freak
11	8	Rod Stewart	Do You Think I'm Sexy
12	12	Heatwave	Always And Forever / Mind Blowing Decisions
13	11	John Travolta	Greased Lightning
14	18	Dollar	Shooting Star
15	14	Chaka Khan	I'm Every Woman
16	23	Hot Chocolate	I'll Put You Together Again
17	16	Musique	In The Bush
18	24	Earth Wind And Fire	September
19	20	Clash	Tommy Gun
20	26	Buzzcocks	Promises
21	32	Olivia Newton John	A Little More Love
22	17	Blondie	Hanging On The Telephone
23	21	Leo Sayer	Raining In My Heart
24	35	Paul Evans	Hello This Is Joannie
25	22	Darts	Don't Let It Fade Away
26	25	Mankind	Dr. Who
27	19	Father Abraham & The Smurfs	Christmas In Smurfland
28	27	Funkadelic	One Nation Under A Groove
29	38	Barry White	Just The Way You Are
30	15	Elkie Brooks	Don't Cry Out Loud
31	33	Sylvester	Dance (Disco Heat)
32	37	Sally Oldfield	Mirrors
33	NEW	Anne Murray	You Needed Me
34	34	E.L.O.	E.L.O. EP
35	40	Rachel Sweet	B.A.B.Y.
36	31	Dan Hartman	Instant Replay
37	28	Boomtown Rats	Rat Trap
38	36	Billy Joel	My Life
39	29	Showaddywaddy	Pretty Little Angel Eyes
40	NEW	Driver 67	Car 67

This single had a three week stint at number two to close 1978. It then began 1979 with three weeks at number one. It was the first and biggest hit for the Village People and spent 13 weeks on the 40. A re-mixed version reached number 12 fifteen years later. It did get a little tiresome at the time, but it's a classic of the disco era.

There was no way on Earth that this wouldn't be the Christmas number one. It was released in November and entered the chart at number seven in the chart that was announced on Tuesday 28th November. Naturally, it then jumped up to number one for a four week stay. It wasn't unusual in those days for the Christmas number one to reach the top so early. In fact during my 'Golden Days' period (73-84), 1976 and 1980 were the only years in which the Christmas number one didn't make the top until Christmas week. And, it didn't happen at all between 1962 and 1972. This was also only the fifth time in chart history that a song had been taken to number one by two different acts, as Harry Belafonte had spent seven weeks at number one with it in 1957.

This first hit for Racey spent three weeks at number three in January. It had what would become the distinctive 'Racey sound' (or do I mean all of their songs sounded the same ?). That same sound was evident on a track called "Kitty" that was featured on theri album "Smash And Grab". Toni Basil later picked up on the track, changed a few words and renamed it "Mickey". She had a massive worldwide hit with it in 1982 reaching number 2 in the UK, and aa cover of her version was taken to number 4 in the UK in 1999.

Another one of those parody singles from the Barron Knights, this one parodied, Rivers Of Babylon, The Smurf Song and Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs. It didn't do as well as any of the originals, but it spent two weeks at number three. The album from which it came (Night Gallery) contained many gems including My Will (I Will), Little White Bum (Little White Bull), and the follow up single Boozy Nights (Boogie Nights).

Elton's previous single "Part Time Love" peaked at number 15 in the same week that this entered at number 22. "Song For Guy" quickly rose up the chart to number four becoming Elton's first top five hit in six years. It was a mostly instrumental track that was inspired by the death of a motorcycle messenger employed by Rocket Records.

Ian's second hit and it went all the way to number one. Many bought it for the B Side "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards" but the A Side was the song that will always be remembered. Strange how Ian never really built on the success of this. It was nice to see him on the comback trail at Wollaton Park in May 1998. But the comeback was cut short by his death in early 2000.

After what seemed like an eternity since the last single "Night Fever", the Bee Gees were back with a return to ballads. After taking a leap from 14 to 3, they surprisingly dropped to number five. They didn't just disappear though, as they climbed back to number four for a couple of weeks. It was also the fourth of six consecutive number ones in the States for them.

This was very different to the music we would be hearing from Sarah during the '80s & '90s. At this time Sarah was a pin up girl (well, I had a saucy poster of her on my wall anyway) and part of risqué dance troupe 'Hot Gossip'. They had made a name for themselves while appearing regularly on 'The Kenny Everett Video Show', an innovative show that was first broadcast on the day I started work (July 3rd 1978). I remember that because everyone was talking about the show the following day. Why they decided to record a single, I don't know, but they were rewarded with this number six hit. Soon afterwards Sarah split from the rest and recorded her own singles including "The Adventures Of The Love Crusader" and "Love In A UFO", which all failed to chart (though the former was included on a K Tel compilation album called 'Hi Energy'). The rest of Hot Gossip actually released an album of their own a few years later, an album that included their cover of the Human League's "Circus Of Death".

A single that seemed to be around forever on both sides of the Atlantic (it actually hit the top three times in the States). Over here it peaked at number seven in the middle of December. But after spending the next four weeks between number 9 & 10, it then climbed back up to it's peak before dropping for the rest of it's 14 week run. Even then, it wouldn't fall out until the follow up was ready to chart in the last week of February 1979.

Rod has received a lot of criticism for this song. It has been said that Rod should not have gone disco, he sold out.
I know it's no "Maggie May", but I strongly disagree. On this, Rod took the piss out of both disco music and himself, and came up with a song that the public loved and sent to number one. It was taken from the album 'Blondes Have More Fun', his last great album for 13 years.

The fifth hit in under two years for Heatwave was their second and last top ten hit . It took six weeks to reach it's peak position of number nine, and hung on for a while longer to register 12 weeks on the chart. The superb "Mind Blowing Decisions" had been a great Summer hit and reached number 12 during it's original nine week run. A re-mixed version of that song appeared on the B.Side here. "Always And Forever" was taken to number 20 in 1995 when covered by 'Luther Vandross'.

The final hit from 'Grease' was also the worst performer in the chart. Two weeks at number eleven was the best it could manage before falling to 13, then 15 before vanishing altogether. Coincidentally, the same day that I bought this single it disappeared. I never did find out where it went, and bought it again for half price after it had fallen out of the chart.
Ooops-I admitted buying it not once, but twice. I've gone off it since if that will help my case.

A lovely song from Hot Chocolate that was regularly heard at the end of the night in discos at that time. It peaked at number 13 in it's seventh chart week.
Speaking of Disco's, I went to my first Disco on licensed premises on Christmas Eve in 1978. It was at the British Legion in Ruabon. I remember that night so well, my favourite memory being at midnight when the DJ played "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade.

Three weeks at number 16 for this single and it spent a total of ten weeks in the chart. Isn't it strange how a single that could only climb this high can still be remembered clearly over 20 years later, yet many top ten hits from just six months ago have already been forgotten ?
Musique had no further hits, but their "Keep On Jumpin'" became a top ten hit twice in 1996, courtesy of 'Todd Terry' and 'Lisa Marie Experience'.

The first of Earth Wind And Fire's three consecutive top five hits and also the biggest with a number three peak, though it took seven weeks to reach that position. It was a hell of a way for them to kick off their most successful year with them also having their 'Best Of' album released at this time, and the huge 'I Am' following six months later. A re-mix of this song reached number 25 in the summer of 1999.

A kind of breakthrough hit for the Clash was this. They had already had four minor hits that had vanished from the chart as quickly as they had appeared, but this was the first to crack the top twenty. It spent three weeks at number twenty, before rising one more time to number 19. It totalled eight weeks in the chart and was taken from my favourite Clash album. The album "Give 'Em Enough Rope" just has the edge on their eponymous debut album for me. "London Calling" doesn't come near.

Olivia's success in the UK has always been patchy. After six hits from countless releases between the Spring of '71 to the Autumn of '74, she was absent from the chart until the Summer of '77 when she had her biggest hit to date with the number six peaking "Sam". She then had to wait almost a year before her next hit, but what a hit !
It was the duet with John Travolta "You're The One That I Want" that spent a whopping nine weeks at number one, swiftly followed by seven further weeks on top with "Summer Nights", also with John. the time looked set for more Olivia solo material, so after her solo effort from the 'Grease' soundtrack "Hopelessly Devoted To You" had been to number two, EMI released this brand new track and watched it climb the chart to number fou,r and spend a total of nine weeks in the 40. It was another of those singles that took a huge drop out of the chart, as it's last chart week was spent at number 16. Olivia's performance of this song is quite comical for the way in which she swiftly turns her head in time with the music.
It's parent album "Totally Hot" is the only ONJ album that I can comfortably listen to (my sister has them all) in it's entirety without wanting to smash it to pieces for having the nerve to enter my life, but no further singles from the album made it into the top 40.

Blondie had become quite popular over the course of the year, this was the last one before they became 'really' popular. This didn't do too bad though and reached number five. I was quite confused about the opening line to this song for a while. It sounded to me like "I'm in the phone booth, I'm the one you call a whore", but I eventually realised that "It's the one across the hall".

Leo's second single from the "Leo Sayer" album was a cover of a song that was originally on the B Side of Buddy Holly's 1959 number one "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". It was a simply brilliant cover and promised so much, but sadly got caught up in Christmas and could only reach number 21 during it's eight week run.

Another novelty hit here. "Hello This Is Joannie (The Telephone Answering Machine Song)" made it to number six in January. It told the story of someone trying to contact his girlfriend (Joannie) that he'd had an alcohol fueled argument with the previous evening. But he kept getting her new fangled answering machine. Near the end of the song he discovers that Joanie has been killed in a car crash. I may have described this as a novelty hit, but had it been first recorded by an established band of the 90s, it could be regarded as a classic in some minds. This had been his first UK hit for over 18 years, so brace yourself, he's overdue another one !
By the way, is there a difference between an answering machine and voice mail ?
If not, then what is the point ?
Besides, everytime I've heard someone use the expression 'Voice Mail', the guilty party has either been a Cliff, Cliffess, or someone pretending to be something they're not !

This was the third and last hit that Father Abraham had with the Smurfs and it reached number 19. After this, internal wrangling within the band led to Father Abraham leaving to go solo with no success at all. The Smurfs took some time off to rest for a while, and eventually came back 18 years later with two top ten hits.
Here's some food for thought:
The Smurfs made music for kids. They were good at what they did and kids loved them. Others thought that they were crap.
Led Zeppelin made music for rock fans. They were good at what they did and rock fans loved them. Others thought that they were crap.

Another disco record, but with a much heavier sound than most of the others around. I recall this being around for quite a few weeks before Christmas, but that's probably because it was getting a lot of airplay on Radio One (and I did listen to it all day as I did all kinds of gardening work in the freezing cold). It peaked at number nine towards the end of January. I remember seeing an article about the band in the quite new 'Smash Hits' magazine at that time. The title of the article was "What Is A Parlia - Funkadelic ?", and it was all to do with the two bands 'Parliament' and 'Funkadelic' being basically the same band led by George Clinton but each with a slightly different sound. There was also a poster of the band, and there were over 30 members !

Barry White was enjoying a brief comeback with his version of Billy Joel's hit from the previous March. It's a classic love song that says so much, so the king of seduction (ha) could hardly go wrong could he ?
The 12inch (White Vinyl of course) was worth buying for the excellent "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" on the flip. In early January 1979 the whole of the counry was white. The snow had began on Christmas Eve, and it seeemed to snow almost everyday afterwards until the end of February. When returning to work after the new year, I had to go and help out the highways department by clearing snow from the footpaths in Wrexham town centre. I was working in Regent Street and Hope Street with Chris Squires and Rob Jones (I went out with Rob's sister 4 years later, but let's forget that for now). As well as not wanting to be recognised by anyone I knew, It was also freezing cold. So we took turns at going into shops for a warm. I took my turn when we reached Woolies, and came out with this record.
It reached number 12, but it was to be almost nine years before Barry returned to the top 40.

Anne Murray only reached number 22 with this song, and then after falling, climbed back up to reach number 23, 4 weeks later. In all this slow burner spent 9 weeks on the 40. This had been her first top 40 hit since "Snowbird" in 1970, and the last one that she's had to date. Though she did release a good follow up to this called "I Just Fall In Love Again". This kind of song wasn't particularly fashionable then let alone now, but you can't keep a good song down. Boyzone covered it and spent a week at number one in May 1999, yet I wouldn't be surprised if they sold less copies than Anne in the UK (Anne hit number one in the US).

ELO had a great 1978 with three number six singles all taken from the "Out Of The Blue" album. While we awaited some new material 'Jet Records' decided to cash in by releasing a box set of three early albums called 'Three Light Years'. It was comprised of the albums 'On The Third Day', 'Eldorado' and 'Face The Music', and it was also decided to release this single to promote the set. The EP featured the previous hits "Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle", "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic", but the lead track was the 1974 flop "Can't Get It Out Of My Head". It looked promising and got a lot of airplay but all it could manage was four weeks at number 34.

Another classic of the disco era. This was Dan's first and biggest hit, and spent three weeks at number eight. It stayed in the chart for twelve weeks, not falling out until his follow up single entered. Dan of course recorded the original of the 'Take That' hit "Relight My Fire", while 'Yell' had a number ten hit with their abysmal cover of "Instant Replay" in 1990.

Some would say that this was about to become the first punk number one, but at the risk of re-opening an old (and pointless) debate on the newsgroups, I won't go down that road. Quite a shock number one really, not because of the quality of the song (it's one of my favourites from the 70's),but due to it being the third track to be pulled from the album 'Tonic For The Troops'. The previous two had reached number 12 (She's So Modern) and number six (Like Clockwork). All of a sudden the 'Rats' had become big news, and for a while (certainly during the following summer) were the most popular band in the land. Something that many will remember this for, is in the week that this knocked "Summer Nights" off the top, Bob tore up a photo of Travolta & Newton John at the beginning of the Rats' performance on Top Of The Pops. But no one would have guessed how much good lead singer 'Bob Geldof' would do for mankind just over six years later.

A low new entry position for Billy at number 40, but so what, this was 1978 not 1998. Three weeks later Billy had matched the number 36 peak of his previous single ("Movin' Out") and fallen to number 38. But he then started moving up again and peaked at number 12 in his ninth week of a 12 week run. Of course the Americans have always had much better taste where Billy Joel is concerned, and it hit number three over there.

The last of their run of seven consecutive top five hits, and also the last Showaddywaddy single to appear in the top ten. It was a cover of an old Curtis Lee single and peaked at number five. I worked with someone named Wayne who loved this song. I hated it, and thought Wayne was a dickhead. Although he did give me some amusement. Once he persuaded me to try and ride his moped, I crashed it into a fence, he didn't ask me again. He also told so many lies that we all called him Billy Liar behind his back. More on him later.

Driver 67's novelty hit "Car 67" reached a high of number seven and he was to have no more hits. This was a song about a taxi driver being ordered to do a pick up at the home of the woman he'd broken up with the previous evening. Interesting concept, and I remember a follow up single being released, and I think it was called "Headlights" and available on luminous vinyl. Actually, I think I have it, but don't have time to check.

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.