REMEMBER WHEN - 20TH OCTOBER 1979

TW	.......	LW	.......		.......
1		2		Buggles		Video Killed The Radio Star
2		1		Police		Message In A Bottle
3		4		Michael Jackson		Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
4		3		Blondie		Dreaming
5		9		Lena Martell		One Day At A Time
6		11		Sad Cafe		Every Day Hurts
7		6		Rainbow		Since You've Been Gone
8		5		Status Quo		Whatever You Want
9		26		Dr. Hook		When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman
10		16		Dooleys		Chosen Few
11		18		Dave Edmunds		Queen Of Hearts
12		23		Erroll Dunkley		Ok Fred
13		10		Kate Bush		Live On Stage
14		7		Gary Numan		Cars
15		15		Al Hudson & The Soul Partners		You Can Do It
16		8		Bellamy Brothers		If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me
17		28		Jags		Back Of My Hand
18		30		Fleetwood Mac		Tusk
19		14		Nick Lowe		Cruel To Be Kind
20		27		Charlie Daniels Band		The Devil Went Down To Georgia
21		36		Sex Pistols		The Great Rock And Roll Swindle / Rock Around The Clock
22		19		Madness		The Prince
23		NEW		Chic		My Forbidden Lover
24		21		Secret Affair		Time For Action
25		34		Earth Wind And Fire		Star
26		12		Dollar		Love's Gotta Hold On Me
27		NEW		Viola Wills		Gonna Get Along Without You Now
28		37		XTC		Making Plans For Nigel
29		NEW		Cats UK		Luton Airport
30		NEW		Abba		Gimme Gimme Gimme
31		RE		Skids		Charade
32		25		Squeeze		Slap And Tickle
33		NEW		Queen		Crazy Little Thing Called Love
34		17		Frantique		Strut Your Funky Stuff
35		40		Nolan Sisters		Spirit Body And Soul
36		20		E.L.O.		Don't Bring Me Down
37		NEW		Gloria Gaynor		Let Me Know (I Have A Right)
38		13		Commodores		Sail On
39		39		O'Jays		Sing A Happy Song
40		NEW		Stranglers		Nuclear Device (Wizard Of Aus)

The Buggles spent a week at number one with this very prophetic song. The Buggles were Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, both of whom were in the re-formed 'Yes' a year later. Geoff went on to be a member of 'Asia' and released at least one solo album, while Trevor went on to some great production work with 'Dollar', 'ABC', 'Art Of Noise' and 'Frankie Goes To Hollywood' amongst many others. Video hadn't killed the radio star at that point, but the video to this single was the first to be shown on 'MTV' and so ironically was part of the process.

The Police delved into Reggae quite a lot on their first two albums. It was still there on later albums but not as much. This was the first single from the 'Regatta De' Blanc' album, which of course translated as 'White Reggae'. The Police had managed two hits earlier in the year, but it was still a shock to many people when this single entered the chart at such a high position as number eight. It naturally went to number one the following week (as entries so high in the chart usually did when charts made sense) and stayed there for three weeks.

Michael's first solo hit for over seven years and it went all the way to number three. Michael had been considered a novelty act after his first four solo hits and all later singles by him had completely bombed. So naturally everyone thought that we'd seen the last of Michael's solo recordings. He returned to solo work with his single "You Can't Win" in the late spring of 1979, but again encountered failure. But from the release of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", there was no looking back for him. Whatever he may (or may not) get up to in his personal life (and business life as far as Mr McCartney is concerned), there's no denying the huge talent of this man.

A week after the 'Police' had entered the chart at number eight, Blondie entered at number seven. But this surprised no one, as Blondie had hit the top with their two previous singles. We all assumed that Blondie would keep the 'Police' to just one week at the top, but after moving up to number two they started to slowly slide down the chart. When I updated the commentary for this hit in the Autumn of 1998, Blondie had recently reformed and were about to play the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. I enquired about tickets, but was informed that only a few tickets remained. They were up in the gods at 18 pounds each. Call me old fashioned but I think that's disgustingly expensive for a band who'd released their last album in 1982. Especially when the said album (The Hunter) is less enjoyable than watching that divvy woman who was always in a white room on MTV UK (was it Sara Cox ?). So we didn't go

Three weeks at number one for Lena with this Kris Kristofferson song. Lena had been around for a number of years without ever entering the chart before now, and has been around since then without having any further hits. A true one hit wonder our Lena. Lena must be respected as a decent singer and she sure deserved at least one big hit in her life (just a pity that it was this one).

This was the first picture disc I ever bought, and it was by a band who'd been championed by many Radio One D.J.s for quite a few years prior to them getting this first hit. They didn't get any higher than number three, and never climbed into the top ten again. In fact, just over a year later they would be spending their last ever week in the chart. Check out the album from which came this and their next two hits, it's called 'Facades' and it's excellent.
Lead vocalist Paul Young (not THAT one) was later a member of Mike & The Mechanics, but sadly died of a heart attack in July 2000 at the age of 53.

This 'Russ Ballard' song had previously been recorded by South African band 'Clout' on their 1978 album, and that was in my opinion much better than this version. I'm not trying to say that this didn't deserve to reach number six because it did. In fact, this single was seemingly the one that started the '80s heavy/hard rock revival in the UK. After this, Rainbow hit the upper reaches of the chart with regularity for a while, AC/DC Judas Priest and Whitesnake broke through big time, Saxon had a few hits as did a few other bands who'd been trying for some time. And to think, it all started with a song previously on a very 'poppy' album !
This song was also played by Brian May on his 1998 tour as part of his tribute to Cozy Powell, who of course was the drummer on this track.

Another one of The classic Quo tracks. This number four hit was the title track from their 1979 album, which had a fair amount of tracks that were worthy of being released as singles. But as was normally the custom with pop star types in those days, they didn't rip the fans off (too much), and pulled just two singles from albums before giving us some new material the following year.

This single by Dr. Hook had been around for about six months before finally becoming a hit over here. I remember hearing it every week on Paul Gambaccini's US chart show, and wondering why it had done nothing here. It finally got released and hit the top for a three week stay making it the band's biggest ever hit. It also launched the bands most successful spell in the UK.

Dave Edmunds was another singer going through his most successful period. He had had a very stop/start career before 1979 with only four hit singles in a nine year period. But, from the middle of this year (when "Girls Talk" climbed to number four) until the middle of 1981, Dave had another four chart hits plus two near misses. This song was later covered by Juice Newton and was a US hit, but she failed to chart in the UK.

The lead track on this was "Them Heavy People", originally a track on Kate's 1978 debut album 'The Kick Inside'. This live EP was recorded on the only tour that Kate has ever done. It was apparently a very good show, but Kate didn't like doing it at all, and so promptly retired from live performance (save for the odd guest spot in charity shows). This EP reached number ten.

I'm clueless as to why this keeps hitting the chart. It reached number one for a week this first time around, and hit number 16 in 1987 and 17 in 1996. That's as well as stopping short at number 53 in 1993 and featuring on the number 27 peaking live EP in 1985. It seemed an ok kind of song when originally released, but one I tired of very quickly. It even reached number nine in the US.
It was number one in the week that I had the house to myself for a whole week, and we all know what happens when a seventeen year old has that kind of power. The result was that I was sleeping rough the following week after my Mum had discovered the damage that a spoon had done to a window, as well as pheasant feathers blocking up the hoover !

I'm sure you all know this one. The Bellamy Brothers were finally following their 1976 hit "Let Your Love Flow", and slowly climbed the chart before finally settling at number three in it's seventh week. It then spent five weeks falling down the chart until spending it's 12th and last week in the chart at number 40. Myself, I prefer the Barron Knights' parody of the song, "If I jump into the back of your lorry, will you take me to Finchley", and that's weird because I'd never been to Finchley until the day after I wrote most of my comments about this song back in 1997.

The biggest surprise about this was when I discovered that it wasn't 'Elvis Costello' because it sure sounded like him. This peaked at number 17 and that may surprise a lot of people as it is quite a well known song. I certainly can't imagine many of todays number 17 peaking hits being remembered in two years time, never mind Twenty plus years. The Jags failed to make the top 40 with their follow up "Woman's World" and then disappeared forever.

A welcome return to the top ten for 'Fleetwood Mac' after a gap of six years. Their last single to get as far up the chart as this had been the re-issue of "Albatross" in 1973, so we would have to go back to the middle of 1970 for their last 'new' top ten hit. "Tusk" was the title track of their new album which was the follow up to one of the top albums of all time 'Rumours'. The single peaked at number six.

I'm no fan of Country music either, but I do like quite a few that have crossed over and become chart hits. Unlike many country songs, this one didn't have anyone's pet dog being put to sleep, or anything tragic happening to a child. Instead, it was an enthralling tale of the Devil going down to Georgia (namechecking Georgia usually guarantees a hit for any single) where he challenges Johnny to a fiddle duel. It rose no higher than number 14 and like most artists associated with country music, Charlie had no further hits. He did release a single called "The Devil Went Back To Georgia" (I think it was called that) in the early '90s, but due to Radio One's (by then ridiculous) music policy it didn't get the airplay.

Even though John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) had left the band almost two years previous and Sid Vicious had died at the beginning of the year, 1979 was the most successful chart year for the Sex Pistols. They had already had two number three singles as well as a number six, when this double A side single was released. In truth, "Rock Around The Clock" with vocals by 'Ten Pole Tudor' was much worse than the original version, while "The Great Rock And Roll Swindle" seemed ok to me, but failed to get airplay due to a couple of lines of strong language. There was a great fuss made about the sleeve of this record too. One side featured a credit card that looked very similar to an 'American Express' one, while the other featured a clock. But instead of numbers, dead rock stars were featured in the appropiate places with syringes instead of clock hands. Apparently, the sleeve was withdrawn a couple of weeks after release, but not before I got my hands on a copy. The single peaked at number 21.

The first single from Madness and the only one that they released on Two Tone. I didn't like it at first, but it seemed better after they'd had a few more hits (if that makes sense). It reached number 16, and their next 17 singles all reached higher positions in the chart. In fact, it was the first of twenty consecutive top twenty hits.

This was the sixth of Chic's seven hits, but though I loved the band and most of the rest of "Chic" productions, I found this a little disappointing. As it turned out, it was their lowest charting to date, and had to settle for a number 15 peak. After this, they didn't appear in the top twenty ever again apart from spending a week at number 19 with a remix of "Le Freak" entitled "Jack Le Freak" in 1987.

This was the most successful year for the band who also released their most successful album this year ('I Am'). This was the third hit single from the album (the other two being "Boogie Wonderland" & "After The Love Has Gone"), but unlike the previous two didn't make the top five and dropped after reaching number 16. I remember attending a disco at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel one night when this was charting. I was chatting to a girl named Mandy who was the girlfriend of my friend "Tony Waters", when the DJ walked past. She stopped him and asked if he had the new Earth Wind And Fire record. He gave it a spin a few minutes later.
Two further outstanding tracks from the album were released as singles ("Can't Let Go" & "In The Stone"), but both failed to chart.

Dollar had those first two hits with "Shooting Star" and "Who Were You With In The Moonlight", and even though I did like both of them, I didn't expect them to have a third hit. I thought that they were just another hit and run pop band that would soon be forgotten about. I certainly didn't expect anything as good as this. A love song that had some class about it. It didn't even go straight into the top forty when released, it didn't enter those upper reaches until it's third week. But eventually, it reached number four and spent nine weeks in the top forty.

An old song given the disco treatment. The song had originally reached number 22 for 'Patience And Prudence' in 1957, and a cover by 'Trini Lopez' had fallen just short of the 40, ten years later. Viola had the biggest hit with the song by reaching number eight, and I was quite surprised to see her performing the song on Channel Five's 'Night Fever' in the late '90s. Viola returned to the chart when a cover of "Both Sides Now" reached number 35 in 1986.
The estranged wife of footballer Dean Holdsworth tried to launch a singing career with a cover of this song, but failed miserably on both counts. No success with the song, and unable to get along without Dean, she took him back.

Yes, I would walk into a room and people would sing it to me. Now we've got that out of the way, I can continue.
This was XTC's sixth single but very first hit. It was taken from their third album 'Drums And Wires'. Initial copies of the single included a free board game apparently inspired by 'Snakes And Ladders'. It was enough to help them secure a number 17 chart position. The song has since been covered by Robbie Williams and he didn't do too bad with it at all.
XTC were never consistent in terms of hit records. They released many records right up into the nineties including "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead" (later revived by 'Crash Test Dummies'). They also released two albums and two singles under the pseudonym of 'Dukes Of Stratosphear' which was a kind of 'Beatles' parody band in much the same vein as 'The Rutles' (or should that be 'Oasis' ? ).

Abba were in disco territory again with one of their few singles that I rate highly. Were it not for the release of their second Greatest Hits album this very month, this would probably have been their eighth number one single, instead of stalling at number three. It also included one of their best B.sides "The King Has Lost His Crown".

"Never chew a pickle with a bit of slap and tickle" went the line in this song. I always took it that they were referring to a pickled onion when they sang that line, but I've never found out for sure.
After both of their previous singles had made number two, it was surprising that this only reached number 24. Even more surprisingly, their next single "Christmas Day" didn't even enter the top 75, despite being one of the best Christmas songs of the era.

This was Queen's first top five hit for two years, and the fourth of six singles by Queen to peak at number two. It was a slight change of style for the band with a song that wouldn't have seemed out of place in the '50s. It was a good single but all the same, I'm glad that it wasn't a sign of things to come. A nice coincidence is that I saw Brian May at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall the night before I updated this commentary in 1998, and got more than I bargained for. Being such a big Queen fan, I was terrified of being disappointed with Brian out on his own. But I had no need to worry at all, he was ten times better than I expected. Not only did he perform a great selection from the Queen back catalogue, some of his solo stuff, a tribute to Cozy Powell (including the playing of "Dance With The Devil" as he came out on stage), but he's still one of the greatest guitarists in the world.

The third single from E.L.O. in less than four months, and this seemed to be everyone's favourite. I wasn't so sure. I liked the other tracks on the 'Discovery' album, and I did like this really, but it just wasn't E.L.O. was it ?
Ironic that in reaching number three, it gave them their highest chart position ever (not including the O.N.J. thing). It even gave them a surprise number four hit in the U.S.

Not very exciting at all. The vocals seemed more suited to country music than soul, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if this has been covered by a country act. It still managed to give the Commodores their first top 40 hit since the five week number one "Three Times A Lady" a year previous. It reached number eight.

Just two weeks in the chart, both at number 39 for this single. The very last top forty hit for the O'Jays coming seven years after their first "Back Stabbers". They'd hardly been prolific in that time anyway, just seven different top forty entries, only four of which had made the top twenty, and just one the top ten. But they were all of a high standard and this was no exception.

I hope none of my Australian friends are offended, but this is one of my favourite songs by the Stranglers. The lyrics spoke about Nuclear testing in Australia and how Aborigini's were being killed off one by one, and how all the animals in Australia looked strange. I'm sure it was all meant as tongue in cheek (they usually reserved their anger for the Swedes), and it had a great video. Anyway, not many agreed with me as the single only got to number 36.

In the late '70s/early '80s Paul Burnett presented the lunchtime show on Radio One. He naturally unveiled the new chart each Tuesday, and I've mentioned his 'Fun At One' feature elsewhere on this site. He also had a little feature at midday called 'Is, Was, Should Have' where listeners named their favourite song from the current chart, their favourite all time hit, and a song that should have been a hit, but wasn't. This song was picked as the 'Should Have' on more than one occasion, and quite right too, it should have been a huge hit. It reached number 45 and spent eight weeks in the top 75.

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
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