REMEMBER WHEN - 14TH JUNE 1980

1980
Week 24
WEEK ENDING 14TH JUNE 1980

TOP 40 SINGLES

TW	LW
1	1	Mash	Theme From Mash (Suicide Is Painless)
2	4	Don McLean	Crying
3	3	Lipps Inc	Funky Town
4	2	Hot Chocolate	No Doubt About It
5	6	Roxy Music	Over You
6	14	Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway	Back Together Again
7	5	Specials	Rat Race / Rude Boys Outa Jail
8	9	Jermaine Jackson	Let's Get Serious
9	7	Gary Numan	We Are Glass
10	12	Crown Heights Affair	You Gave Me Love
11	8	Michael Jackson	She's Out Of My Life
12	21	Lambrettas	D-A-A-Ance
13	13	Average White Band	Let's Go Round Again
14	26	Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark	Messages
15	16	Matchbox	Midnight Dynamos
16	19	Jona Lewie	You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties
17	29	Teena Marie	Behind The Groove
18	23	Judas Priest	Breaking The Law
19	27	Korgis	Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
20	22	E.L.O.	I'm Alive
21	32	Liquid Gold	Substitute
22	35	Siouxsie And The Banshees	Christine
23	28	Junior Murvin	Police And Thieves
24	20	Mystic Merlin	Just Can't Give You Up
25	31	Manhattan Transfer	Twilight Zone-Twilight Tone
26	11	Beat	Mirror In The Bathroom
27	40	Rod Stewart	If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)
28	38	Surface Noise	The Scratch
29	34	Iron Maiden	Sanctuary
30	30	Thin Lizzy	Chinatown
31	NEW	Police	Six Pack
32	10	Johnny Logan	What's Another Year
33	15	Jimmy Ruffin	Hold On To My Love
34	NEW	Queen	Play The Game
35	17	Dexy's Midnight Runners	Geno
36	NEW	Elvis Costello	New Amsterdam
37	33	Elton John	Little Jeannie
38	18	Whitesnake	Fool For Your Loving
39	NEW	Stranglers	Who Wants The World
40	NEW	B.A. Robertson	To Be Or Not To Be

Mash

Theme From Mash (Suicide Is Painless)

I didn't like the film, I didn't like the TV show either, but this was alright. There didn't seem to be a good reason for releasing it as a single some ten years after the event, but it turned out to be a very wise decision. Two weeks after entering at number 23, it was spending the first of three weeks at number one.
But they were lying. I tried to cut my wrists with broken glass and it hurt. Explanation - I was drunk and on/off girlfriend Bridget wouldn't speak to me at a party, so I left and found some broken glass. YES, I still feel a bit of a dickhead when I think about that incident. It was three years later before I tried it for real.

Don McLean

Crying

Excellent cover of the Roy Orbison minor hit from 1961, but I did get fed up of it after a while. It spent three weeks at number one.

Lipps Inc

Funky Town

This single doesn't seem to be held in very high regard these days. I still like it myself and think that it was a deserved number two smash, very typical of the era. But, there was an awful cover of it by Pseudo Echo that reached number eight in 1987.

Hot Chocolate

No Doubt About It

Hot Chocolate had failed to make the top 40 at all in 1979 (they'd stopped just short a couple of times though) for the first year since they made their first appearance in 1970. "No Doubt About It" put them back in the picture with it's eventual number two placing. It was apparently written after vocalist 'Errol Brown' had an encounter with visitors from outer space. I'm only repeating what he said, besides I personally know someone who's also seen a UFO, so there :-P.

Roxy Music

Over You

Adequate single from the 'Flesh And Blood' album. Best listened to in the summertime, reached number five.

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

Back Together Again

This was Roberta's first top ten hit since "Killing Me Softly With His Song" had reached number six in 1973. It was Donny's only UK hit ever, but he hadn't lived to enjoy it. It was one of the sounds of that summer and peaked at number three.
Inner City reached number 49 with their cover of this in 1993.

Specials

Rat Race / Rude Boys Outa Jail

The fourth hit single for the Specials, and one that was involved in a chart battle with Gary Numan's "We Are Glass" in it's first week of release. Fifteen years or so later, these two singles would have entered the chart in the top two positions. But in 1980, debuts inside the top twenty weren't too commonplace, let alone the top five. While Gary entered at number ten, this entered at a respectable number 18. But the contest was deemed a draw as this matched the eventual number five peak of Mr Numan's single.

Jermaine Jackson

Let's Get Serious

One of the biggest disco singles of a great year for disco. It sounded great on the radio, and magnificent in the clubs, especially the 12 inch. It beat anything by Michael that year hands down. Reached number eight.

Gary Numan

We Are Glass

The last Gary Numan single to make the top five, and the last one from him that I rushed out and bought in the week of release. Upon entering at number ten, it looked like a future number one, but it stalled at number five the following week.

Crown Heights Affair

You Gave Me Love

And this was another of those great disco singles sounded good on the radio, great in the clubs and made you feel happy. It reached number ten.
This song was sampled by Utah Saints on "Believe In Me" in 1993 (I liked that too).

Michael Jackson

She's Out Of My Life

First things first, yes, it is a good song and deserved to reach number three. BUT, Michael's performance in the promo made me cringe. Were we really expected to believe that he was genuinely crying because of the song ?
It wasn't as if it would have been the first time he heard the song would it ?

Lambrettas

D-A-A-Ance

The second of the two top forty hits enjoyed by these 'new mods'. Better than "Poison Ivy", but that doesn't say much for it. It reached number 12.

Average White Band

Let's Go Round Again

Average White Band were in the top 40 for the first time in Four years. "Let's go Round Again" got as high as number 12, then they vanished again. This song was later a hit all over again when recorded by 'Louise' in 1997.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

Messages

The first hit for a band that would continue to chart right to the end of the following decade. Great name for a band, and a great debut hit (even though they did better it a few times). It reached number 13.
Twenty years later vocalist Andy McCluskey was the man behind girl group 'Atomic Kitten'.

Matchbox

Midnite Dynamos

They claimed to be the "Midnite Dynamos". Can't think of a much better place for them, than dangerously close to the spokes of the back wheel of a bike. It reached number 14, but they did get better after this one.

Jona Lewie

You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

I don't know whether I should call this number 16 peaking hit a novelty record or not. It was bearable anyway. It was also the first time that many will have seen Kirsty MacColl on Top Of The Pops as she was one of Jona's backing singers. I don't know whether she was on the actual recording though.
Kirsty and the other girl backing singer used to do a funny dance about two thirds of the way through the song. Steven Jones used to take great delight in persuading me to do it after a few pints as it played on the Vaults jukebox (maybe that was the real reason for the "Mash" thing).

Teena Marie

Behind The Groove

Tina's biggest ever UK hit, and the only one to make it beyond number 28. This excellent disco single from the white Motown star reached number six, but surprisingly didn't make a dent on the chart in her native USA.

Judas Priest

Breaking The Law

Great single from Judas Priest that had more of a punk feel to it than metal. Sadly it only spent five weeks in the 40 and peaked at number 12. It was their second consecutive single to peak at their all time highest placing.

Korgis

Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime

The inspiration behind at least two big dance hits. This original version was of course a really nice song that reached number five. It was then sampled by someone on an underground dance track that did the rounds for a couple of years. Baby D later sampled it and took it to number three in the summer of 1995. I can't get it out of my head that someone else sampled it at around that time too. But still they won't leave it alone, it was sampled yet again in the early twenty first century, but I can't remember who by.

E.L.O.

I'm Alive

Just another E.L.O. single, and the first from the "Xanadu" soundtrack. Having said that, it did sound good in the film as the paintings on a wall came to life. It peaked at number 20.

Liquid Gold

Substitute

A little too similar to "Dance Yourself Dizzy" which was a shame, as they were quite capable of doing something different as their previous singles proved. Still, it got them into the top ten with a number eight peak.

Siouxsie & The Banshees

Christine

A regular on the jukebox at the Great Western Inn (known locally as "The Nant"). We used to play a game there, that I think was called Bar Billiards and it had these mushroom shaped things on the table (I think). There was also a drink that many favoured called "Top Hat", I never saw it anywhere else.
Anyway, I don't know why Siouxsie called "Christine" a "Strawberry Girl", but she did, and that's all there is to it.

Junior Murvin

Police And Thieves

I wasn't very keen on the version that the Clash did on their debut album. I liked this even less. It reached number 23.

Mystic Merlin

Just Can't Give You Up

This was just another of those disco songs that happened to be there and that was it. It sounds ok now, but I'd probably have a different opinion if I was hearing it everyday. It reached number 20.

Manhattan Transfer

Twilight Zone - Twilight Tone

They always seemed to come along with something different didn't they ?
It began with the familiar Twilight Zone theme, and then we were told some Twilight Zone type stories in song. Surprisingly, it only reached number 25.

Beat

Mirror In The Bathroom

Another song that reminds me of Saturday afternoons in the Duke Of Wellington pub. It's also (in my opinion) the best single that the Beat released. It reached number four, and a re-mix hit number 44 in 1996.

Rod Stewart

If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)

Belated release for this track from 1977's "Footloose And Fancy Free" album. Reached number 23 and spent seven weeks in the top 40. Funny how I hardly noticed it tucked away on the album, but when released as a single, I thought that it was a really good song.

Surface Noise

The Scratch

An instrumental very much in the Shakatak way of thinking. This was another track associated with that summer's "Freeze" dance fad. It was better than than the Rodney Franklin effort, but didn't chart as high, only reaching number 26.

Iron Maiden

Sanctuary

Horrible thrashy kind of thing that peaked at number 29.

Thin Lizzy

Chinatown

It took a long time, but it finally reached number 21 in it's seventh chart week. It was the title track from the last really good Lizzy album to be released.

Police

Six Pack

Not content with having five big hit singles in just over a year, they had to release the lot of them all over again. But with the added bonus of an extra single, namely "The Bed's Too Big Without You". Personally, I think that was the best track of the lot, but this fan fleecing exercise was way out of order. Incredibly, it sold enough to reach number 17.
The expression Six Pack is used in a different way these days of course. But what exactly a six pack is on a male torso I don't know. I may have one, I may not. That's the trouble with new words and expressions that come into the English Language. We're just expected to know what they mean, and if we just see the words in print before we've heard them, we're expected to know how to pronounce them. Take 'Modem', I was on-line for over a year before I knew the correct way of pronouncing that, I was pronouncing it the obvious way. I think that everyone speaking the English language ought to have a newsletter with all new words and expressions explained and delivered free of charge every week.

Johnny Logan

What's Another Year

This was the Eurovision Song Contest winner of 1980 and was the first of three consecutive years where the Eurovision winning song was to go on to top the UK charts. This was on top for (you've guessed it) two weeks. I have to admit that I like this song and it doesn't really sound like a typical Eurovision thing.

Jimmy Ruffin

Hold On To My Love

Jimmy Ruffin was on the comeback trail with this Bee Gees produced, Robin Gibb/Blue Weaver written song. This first hit in six years reached number seven, but no further singles charted.
The women allways selected this on the Duke Jukebox.

Queen

Play The Game

The worst track on Queen's "The Game" album and a surprising choice for single release. It reached number 14, and the rest of the album was extremely good, their best since "A Night At The Opera".

Dexy's Midnight Runners

Geno

Dexy's Midnight Runners had been to number 40 in February with their previous single "Dance Stance". This time they made it to the opposite end of the top 40 and spent two weeks there. A strange fact about 1980 is that 14 of the 24 number ones this year resided at the top for two weeks.

Elvis Costello

New Amsterdam

Elvis had never had the singles success that I thought he deserved, and this case was no exception. The third track to be pulled from the wonderful "Get Happy" album was the best in my opinion. But sadly, it peaked at it's debut position of number 36.

Elton John

Little Jeanie

Very nice song from the "21 At 33" album. It only reached number 33 over here, but did much better in the US where it peaked at number three.

Whitesnake

Fool For Your Loving

Whitesnake were making their top 40 debut with this, and it peaked at number 13 . This sounded not unlike the recent Rainbow hit "All Night Long". I wonder why this was so :>
In a Record Mirror interview at the time, Whitesnake leader "David Coverdale" said something along the lines of "If I ever see Ritchie Blackmore (Rainbow) again, I'll kick his head in".
I mentioned this to Rainbow fan Martin Roberts (one day older than me) in the Vaults pub one Saturday afternoon. He replied that Rainbow were better than Whitesnake. No, I didn't get it either.

Stranglers

Who Wants The World

For a while, it seemed as though this would be the final week that we'd ever see the Stranglers in the top 40. It was an improvement on the previous couple of singles, but it did remind me a little of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" in the first few lines (that's probably just me though). Anyway, I'm happy to say that the Stranglers did return to the top forty 18 months later.

B.A. Robertson

To Be Or Not To Be

This is another song like "January February" earlier in this year, that seemed to get more than it's fair share of airtime on Radios One And Two. It was his fourth and last solo hit, and peaked at number nine. Some of the rhyming was awful though, the way he added "eo" to the end of words.

These were in the top 50 this week, but failed to reach the top 40.

Freeez

Keep In Touch

I don't remember hearing this one, but I would expect it to be in pretty much the same vein as "Southern Freeez". It reached number 49.

Hoyt Axton

Della And The Dealer

Hoyt was the son of songwriter Mae Axton ("Heartbreak Hotel"). He was no mean songwriter himself, having written hits for Steppenwolf ("The Pusher"), Three Dog Night ("Joy To The World" & "Never Been To Spain"), and Kingston Trio ("Greenback Dollar"). He only had one hit as a performer in his native US, that was 1974's number 54 peaking "When The Morning Comes", a track that also featured vocals by Linda Ronstadt.
He finally got close to the UK chart with this one, and peaked at number 48. You just know from his name and the song title that it's got to be a country flavoured song. It was quite good though, and the cat named "Kalamazu" was cool !
He had no more hits, but did appear on our screens in the film "Gremlins".

Brothers Johnson

Light Up The Night

Similar to "Stomp", but we'd already bought that. Reached number 47.

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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