REMEMBER WHEN - 26TH MAY 1979

TW	LW
1	10	Blondie	Sunday Girl
2	7	Roxy Music	Dance Away
3	2	M	Pop Muzik
4	4	Abba	Does Your Mother Know
5	5	Peaches And Herb	Reunited
6	1	Art Garfunkel	Bright Eyes
7	3	Boney M	Hooray Hooray It's A Holi Holiday
8	24	Earth Wind And Fire & The Emotions	Boogie Wonderland
9	19	David Bowie	Boys Keep Swingin'
10	9	Eruption	One Way Ticket
11	6	Amii Stewart	Knock On Wood
12	8	Gary Moore	Parisienne Walkways
13	12	Police	Roxanne
14	33	E.L.O.	Shine A Little Love
15	11	Dickies	Banana Splits
16	17	Undertones	Jimmy Jimmy
17	13	Supertramp	The Logical Song
18	25	Sparks	The Number One Song In Heaven
19	23	Monks	Nice Legs Shame About Her Face
20	27	Damned	Love Song
21	26	Shadows	Theme From The Deer Hunter (Cavatina)
22	16	Bee Gees	Love You Inside Out
23	35	Clash	I Fought The Law
24	29	Donna Summer	Hot Stuff
25	NEW	McFadden & Whitehead	Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
26	15	Racey	Some Girls
27	28	Mike Oldfield	Guilty
28	30	Linda Clifford	Bridge Over Troubled Water
29	NEW	Skids	Masquerade
30	39	Cheap Trick	I Want You To Want Me
31	14	Wings	Goodnight Tonight
32	37	Lene Lovich	Say When
33	NEW	Dollar	Who Were You With In The Moonlight
34	NEW	Elvis Costello	Accidents Will Happen
35	NEW	Tubes	Prime Time
36	NEW	Edwin Starr	H.A.P.P.Y Radio
37	NEW	Bombers	(Everybody) Get Dancin'
38	18	Jacksons	Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
39	20	Kandidate	I Don't Wanna Lose You
40	21	Gonzalez	Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet

This was the fourth single to be pulled from the 'Parallel Lines' album. This was still quite unusual at the time (Michael Jackson hadn't started his comeback yet), but even more unusual was that it spent three weeks at number one, and wasn't actually very good really. This was one of those rare occasions in the 70's when an act reached number one due to their popularity rather than the actual content of the single. Of course Blondie would start to give us good stuff again with their next single release.

And the comeback was complete. Roxy Music had split in 1976, but after three solo albums Bryan Ferry was starting to experience difficulty in selling his music. So the band reformed, but the first single "Trash" was considered just that by many people and struggled to number 40. But then "Dance Away" was quickly released and became their biggest hit to date spending three weeks at number two, and signal the beginning of the most successful period in their history.

Pop Muzik by 'M' made it's debut in April 1979 and got as high as number two. It went back to number 15 when re-released ten years later. The original 12 inch single was released as a special double grooved record which is a really weird concept that I still find difficult to get my head around (despite owning a copy). You put the needle down at the beginning of the record and never know whether you'll get "Pop Muzik" or "M Factor".
I preferred the follow up single, the much less successful "Moonlight And Muzak".

Abba's 14th hit was the first to feature the men (Benny and Bjorn) on lead vocals. They had previously sang vocals on quite a few tracks, including some on their "Greatest Hits" album, but none of them had been issued as singles and/or become UK hits.
I thought that it was quite a good track, but the B Side "Kisses Of Fire" was even better. It reached number 14, and was quickly followed into te chart by more tracks from the wonderful "Voulez-Vous" album. Yes, that's right, I'm praising an Abba album. Aside from "Chiquitita", I still think that this was one of the best albums of a year that produced more than it's fair share of great albums.

This classic duet reached number four and spent ten weeks in the chart. I love it, but a friend of mine claims that this is one of the worst five records ever.
Anyway, this was their second hit following their other '79 hit "Shake Your Groove Thing". I do have an earlier single by them called "Down Where It's At", but that didn't chart and neither did any other releases by them.

Art Garfunkel hit the top and had the biggest selling single of the year with this. "Bright Eyes" was taken from the film 'Watership Down', and spent a total of six weeks at number one. It was Art's second solo hit, and his second number one, his previous being "I Only Have Eyes For You" back in 1975.

I won't describe this as rubbish because I don't think that it was meant to be taken as a creative work of art. It's a song written and performed with the intention of appealing to children. Taking it in that context, yes, they did a good job of it, it was extremely popular with children and reached number three.
Now, if you want to look at it in a serious light - - - - -

I already knew this song, as it was on the B Side of one of my Mum's Neil Sedaka singles. It was a song that was almost entirely made up of song titles, quite clever really. And this was a very good cover of it. Or was it just that singer Precious Wilson's legs were good to look at ?
It reached number nine and that was the last we heard of them.

This is the highest charting version of this song. It reached number six as opposed to the previous highest, number ten by David Bowie in 1974. This was also Amii's last hit when re-issued in 1985 and peaked two places lower. Her Mother Miquel Brown made her chart debut in 1984, followed by her sister 'Sinitta' in 1986. Amii spent one week at the top in the US with this song.

Nice tune by Gary that was enhanced by the vocals of Phil Lynott. It was one of two occasions that Gary's name appeared in the top ten listings. This one reached number eight, then in 1985 he hit number five with "Out In The Fields" (also with Phil Lynott).
At this time I was working with Bramwell Jones maintaining the grass and shrub beds in the Hightown and Hermitage estate areas of Wrexham. Bram was in his mid 50s at the time and was convinced that the Shadows had originally recorded this song. I disagreed with him once, he wouldn't have it, so I left it at that. They did record it later though.

They'd been around for a couple of years and even many people not following the music scene with enthusiasm were aware of them. But it wasn't until 1st May 1979 that they finally entered the UK top 40. This was a full year after it's original release, and much of it's belated success was down to it being an American top 40 hit. It reached number 12 and set the scene for the huge success to follow.
It reached number 17 a year later as part of the "Six Pack" release, and the same position when remixed in 1997.

This was also their best year for commercial success. This was the first single from the 'Discovery' album, and had been their fourth consecutive (official) single release to peak at number six. Many of their diehard fans seemed to have abandoned them by this stage due to their commercial approach. But, I still liked them, and 'Discovery' is my favourite E.L.O. album.

While Boney M had recorded a new song especially for children, the Dickies had taken a children's song and turned it into a punk thrash. It was amusing the first couple of listens, but when it really comes down to it, the Boney M single was better whichever way you took it. Somehow it reached number seven.
"Banana Splits" was a childrens TV show that was broadcast on Saturday mornings in the early seventies. It was one of the worst children's shows of the time, and I only used to watch it for the 'Arabian Nights' cartoon (remember "Size Of An Elephant"), and that 'Mysterious Island' serial. I'm sure there was another cartoon on it too, but I can't remember.

This was the first single of the first successful comeback by Sparks. It reached number 14 to become their first hit in three and a half years, and their biggest since 1974. There was a really good longer version on the B side, but I think that was more down to Giorgio Moroder ( a member of the band for five years) than the Mael brothers.

This was Hudson Ford, the one time 'Strawbs' members who'd had a couple of hits in their own right in 73-74. It was a novelty hit that reached number 19, but still doesn't seem too bad even today.
I can't think about this song without remembering one Saturday night in Ruabon's Railway Club. A drunk who looked remarkably like the man who would become my supervisor two years later (and my best man five years later) Andre, seemed obsessed with the song and sang along with it all night. Even as he left the pub he shouted "Shame about the boat race".

After managing to release a single before the Sex Pistols in 1976 ("New Rose"), following it with two albums and three more singles, the Damned split in February 1978 without a hit single to their name. Later that year, they reformed as 'The Doomed' with Lemmy of 'Motorhead' on bass, only for him to quit after after one gig to be replaced by Henry Badowski of 'Chelsea'.
In 1979 three quarters of the original line up (Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible & Rat Scabies) recruited Algy Ward (ex-Saints), and decided to be called 'The Damned' again. At last a hit single !
Fully deserved too, this was a very catchy song (seems like they went out to have a hit). It reached number twenty and they didn't better that position until 1986.

Like Edwin Starr, the Shadows were also making a brief comeback. This was their last top ten hit ever. This track was featured on their highly successful 'String Of Hits' album. The other version was the only hit for Classical Guitarist John Williams who peaked at number 13 with his accoustic version. John should not be confused with the American orchestra leader with the same name.

I liked the "Spirits Having Flown" album, but thought that "Living Together" would have been a better choice of single to follow "Tragedy". And so, their run of top five hits came to an end as this stuttered to number 13. It was a different story in the States though as this became their record sixth consecutive number one single.

Another commercial cover by so called 'bad boys'. This actually sounded very good and they made it sound as though it was a true Clash original. But it climbed no higher than number 22, maybe due to it costing more than the average single (It was ironically called 'The Cost Of Living EP'). It was re-released in 1988 when it reached number 29.

Donna reached number 11 with this wonderful track from the 'Bad Girls' album. Such was Donna's workrate that during this period she seemed to be releasing a new album every six months (most of them double albums). This album could have spawned at least eight hit singles had they been released. But that didn't happen and by the time the second single was charting, she was probably already hard at work on her next project.

This is one of the all time great dance records and went as high as number five. This has been covered so many times. It was used at the beginning of, and as the title of Enigma's number eleven peaking 1981 hit, was taken to number 22 by Luther Vandross in 1995. The melody was used as the backing track for Jocko's "Rhythm Talk" Rap single in 1980, and was even on the CD single of Wet Wet Wet's huge 1994 hit "Love Is All Around".

You're probably not going to like this, but I love this cover version AND prefer to hear this to the original. Linda had such a great voice and the recording has a big happy feel to it (despite the opening lyrics). It reached number 28 and the 12 inch version is available on 'The Greatest 70's Album Of All Time part 2' on 'Dressed To Kill' records (www.dressedtokill.co.uk).

This was their second hit in this, their best year for chart success. It climbed to number 14.
I had a portable radio at the time, it was the 'Masquerade' model. One day Harry asked me if the radio was related to the Skids. Daft question really, I can't see how a radio could be related to anyone, but I humoured him anyway. Harry was a few years older than me, and I'm not sure whether Harry was his real name, or whether he earned the nickname due to his likeness to "Flash Harry" from the St. Trinians films (played by "George Cole"). He lived up to the "Flash Harry" thing for a while, he drove a replica of the John Player Special car. I had something of a run in with him a couple of years later though. One Saturday night there was a disco on in the Ruabon Community Centre, so myself and a friend went to see if we could get in. Harry wasn't someone you would think of straight away when it comes to choosing a doorman, but there he was. He seemed so full of his own self importance as he told us that we couldn't go in, but that was that, we went elsewhere. That night, someone stole the brake lights from his car. The following day and everytime I saw him afterwards, he accused me of being the culprit. I always protested my innocence and even suggested that he reported it to the police, but he wouldn't have it. I haven't seen him since the beginning of 1983, but if I bumped into him tomorrow, he'd still accuse me. I should have taken his new ones and slashed his tyres.

I already knew this track from one of those free albums that one of the music weeklies gave away in exchange for collecting tokens over a number of weeks. It had originally been a track on their 1977 album 'In Colour' and an unsuccessful single at that time. But this was a live version from their album 'At Budokan', and gave them their only UK top 40 hit, peaking at number 29. There was anotehr good single from that album later in the year, their cover of "Ain't That A Shame". The band were still recording in the late '90s.

After missing the top 40 with "I've Had Enough" and "London Town", Wings were happy to be back on the hit trail with the disco influenced "Goodnight Tonight". In reaching number five, this was the last Wings single to reach a reasonable chart position, before Paul McCartney went solo. This single took just three weeks to reach number 13 in the States, but it took a further five weeks to reach it's peak of number five, a position it held for three weeks.

This was the second hit for Dollar, and also the second to peak at number 14. I clearly remember on one particular Sunday as the record faded out (with the song's title being repeated), Simon Bates quipped "Not telling you, ner ner ner ner ner". I can never hear this song without thinking of that.

With their 1977 hit "White Punks On Dope", the 'Tubes' seem to have done exactly what they were supposed to have done. One year earlier and it would have been a song that stood out from the crowd, instead, it was just a song from another band trying to fit in with the current trend.
But this was different. It was a so called New Wave band doing something that wouldn't have sounded out of place in a cabaret bar. They weren't supposed to do this, but it worked for me. Reached number 34.

This number nine peaking single was Edwin's second top ten hit of the year. The 12 inch extended version of this track is brilliant, and I have a story behind it. In 1996, I was at a record fair in my local area, and who walked in, but Edwin. He was there for the sole purpose of buying this 12 inch single, and he got it.

Gonzalez peaked at number 15 with this song. This was another one of those songs that I had first heard on Paul Gambaccini's Billboard countdown on Saturday afternoons, and had bought it weeks before it charted. The trouble with this one, I liked hearing it on the radio and also enjoyed listening to the record. But when I eventually saw them performing it on Top Of The Pops, I was put off it a little. The group looked like understudies for the Dooleys, and nothing like a hot disco band.
However, the highest charting version of "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" was the awful cover by 'Pat And Mick' 10 years later.

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.

Email: nige@innotts.co.uk
Please be patient waiting for my reply :-)
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21		Shadows		Theme From The Deerhunter (Cavatina)
00		John Williams		Cavatina