REMEMBER WHEN - 30TH AUGUST 1980

TW	.......	LW	.......		.......
1		1		David Bowie		Ashes To Ashes
2		3		Jam		Start
3		4		Sheena Easton		9 To 5
4		2		Abba		The Winner Takes It All
5		8		Kelly Marie		Feels Like I'm In Love
6		9		Piranhas		Tom Hark
7		5		Diana Ross		Upside Down
8		NEW		Gary Numan		I Die You Die
9		7		Gap Band		Oops Upside Your Head
10		13		Mike Berry		The Sunshine Of Your Smile
11		6		Roxy Music		Oh Yeah (On The Radio)
12		10		George Benson		Give Me The Night
13		27		Hazel O'Connor		Eighth Day
14		20		Cliff Richard		Dreamin'
15		11		E.L.O.		All Over The World
16		12		Tom Browne		Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.)
17		21		Village People		Can't Stop The Music
18		25		Sheena Easton		Modern Girl
19		24		Clash		Bank Robber
20		30		Billy Joel		It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
21		15		Gibson Brothers		Marianna
22		32		Shakin' Stevens		Marie Marie
23		14		Leo Sayer		More Than I Can Say
24		17		Grace Jones		Private Life
25		26		Sue Wilkinson		You Gotta Be A Hustler
26		19		Bad Manners		Lip Up Fatty
27		37		Black Sabbath		Paranoid
28		28		Nick Straker Band		A Walk In The Park
29		31		Ultravox		Sleepwalk
30		33		Beat		Best Friend / Stand Down Margaret
31		18		Odyssey		Use It Up Wear It Out
32		NEW		Olivia Newton John		Magic
33		39		Skids		Circus Games
34		NEW		Elvis Presley		It's Only Love / Beyond The Reef
35		23		Bob Marley & The Wailers		Could You Be Loved
36		29		Hot Chocolate		Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy
37		40		Barracudas		Summer Fun
38		NEW		Split Enz		I Got You
39		NEW		Ian Dury		I Want To Be Straight
40		38		Peter Gabriel		Biko

This single was complimented by one of the best video promos ever made. This single also saw a considerable upturn in fortunes for him after his last single "Alabama Song" had only reached number 23. This one spent two weeks at the top. But David is no stranger to this type of behavior. He's had three solo number one singles, and each one of them has been the follow up to a single that hasn't really done 'that' well (18, 23, 26).
There's something else about this single though. My Nana (Grandmother) passed away on Saturday August 9th 1980. Just three days later, this single entered the chart. As if that wasn't enough, two weeks later the highest new entry was Gary Numan's "I Die You Die", and two weeks later the highest new entry honours went to Queen with "Another One Bites the Dust". Conspiracy ?
Or did Black Sabbath get it right when "Paranoid" re-entered the chart the week after Bowie ?

What were the Jam doing ?
They had finally got the commercial success they deserved with the previous "Going Underground" single, but then they released this. It used the exact same riff as the Beatles' "Taxman", and while that kind of thing may be considered the height creativity these days, it was considered a little naughty back then.
As far as the success of the single went, it didn't really matter. At that time they could record any old rubbish and it was sure to go to number one, and sure enough, it did manage a single week at the top. On the other hand, the B Side was a much better song titled "Liza Radley" (Eleanor Rigby anyone ?).

Sheena Easton was having one of the biggest hit singles of the year with her number three peaking first hit single. This was retitled "Morning Train" when released in the USA, where it sped to number one. A strange bit of trivia about Sheena is that John Peel used to regularly play her new singles as they were released right in the middle of all his Indie stuff, and Christened himself and his listeners the 'Sheena Barmy Army'.

As a lot of the regular visitors to my site will know, I have reservations about a lot of Abba's work and also about the way in which they were regarded as being something special and the horrible way in which they would 'sing with 'that' accent'. But, I have to admit, this was a great single, one of the best of the '80s. Their previous attempts at ballads usually sucked, but this time they got it right and deserved their two weeks at number one. It's a pity the same couldn't be said about the video which looked like one of those awful subtitled films that Channel 4 often shows in the early hours of the morning (I half expected Benny or Bjorn to suddenly acquire a pair of breasts and then start chasing a dog which just happened to have a bra between it's teeth). But, Abba never did master the art of video anyway, apart from '82's "Head Over Heels".

On Channel Four's Disco Inferno broadcast in 1998, Kelly was included in a small section of acts that were described as Disco Criminals. The facts are, this Ray Dorset composition spent two weeks at number one, spent 12 weeks in the 40, was third best selling single of the year, sounded a lot like Tina Charles, and the 12 inch was bloody good. Sadly for Kelly she would not become a superstar for two reasons,
1: She did not look anything like Debbie Harry or Olivia Newton John
2: NO ONE was going to take her seriously while she had those two male dancers in tow (ask the Boystown Gang !)
2 1/2: Oh Yeh, she had fake bagpipes on her third hit.

This was Diana's biggest hit for nine years, and peaked at number two. It was also her first visit to the top twenty for over four years, but she couldn't fail this time. The parent album had been written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers who'd been responsible for all those Chic and Sister Sledge hits of the last couple of years. This set Diana up for another two year run of hits, before the next fallow period followed. Strangely, this happy upbeat single reminds me of my first real experience of death, as my grandmother died while it was charting.

On first listen, "What a crap single !". Later, "Hey, this is ok", and it was. It went to number six and started a new dance craze, rowing. It was a fun thing to do in discos at the time, and this song was usually followed by the Black Slate single "Amigo" to carry on the rowing dance. It must be said though, that there was more to the Gap Band than novelty hits. They released quite a few good singles over the next seven years, some of which charted, some didn't. Their chart career ended with a remix of this reaching number 20.

This was Mike's first hit for over 17 years, and he peaked at number nine with it. His only other appearance inside the top ten was when "Don't You Think It's Time" made number six in January 1963. This wasn't quite Mike's last chart hit, but I can't help feeling that he was better suited to his role in the TV Sitcom 'Are You Being Served'.

George had been having minor hits since 1975 never rising above number 26. But this was the big one, it rose majestically to number seven, and was one of the big disco hits of the year. This was a song that everytime I hear it, reminds me of a club I often went to at the time known as 'The Erbistock' (after the village where it was situated), or sometimes 'The Country Club' (because it was in the Country, not because of the type of music played).

The trend for making music orientated films that had followed Saturday Night Fever and Grease continued into 1980 with 'Xanadu', 'Can't Stop The Music' and the best of the bunch 'Breaking Glass', from which this song came. The principle characters were Phil ("Park Life") Daniels and the singer of this song, Hazel O' Connor. It made an instant star out of Hazel, and she deserved it for this number five peaking single alone. Some kind of rivalry grew between Hazel and Toyah, but one year and just two more hits later, most had forgotten about Hazel. She was still performing in the mid 90s and we had tickets to see her at Notts County football club's social club. But we had a really bad day with lots of expense and so didn't bother going.

Since "We Don't Talk Anymore" had taken Cliff to number one 12 months previous, he had again become a chart regular. This was just a run of the mill Cliff song that received loads of airplay on both Radios One & Two and peaked at number eight. I got fed up of hearing it at the time, but it seems OK now.

Brilliant ! One of the singles of the year for me was this great dance track that also reminds me of the 'Country Club' (see elsewhere). It peaked at number Ten, got regular play in clubs for about 12 months, and just failed to chart again when re-mixed in 1992. He also just failed to chart with the follow up single "Thighs High" in October 1980.
Mariah Carey used this melody as the central theme to her track "Don't Stop" in 2001.

Surprisingly the Village People were not included in the 'Disco Criminals' section of Channel Four's 'Disco Inferno'. Maybe it's because the wally-like "YMCA" & "In The Navy" had been followed by "Go West" and this final hit. It was the title track from their film and not a bad song at all. It just failed to reach the top ten by peaking at number Eleven. Not sure about "Milkshake" on the B Side though.

Sheena hit the big time after being the subject of a TV show titled 'The Big Time'. Her first single had been this one, but it had only managed to get as high as number 56. But after the success of the second single, it had been re-promoted and had entered the top 40 the same week that "9 To 5" had reached number three. It went on to peak at number eight.

For reasons that I can't remember, this was a long awaited release. Surprising then that there wasn't really anything special about it. It certainly didn't have me queuing outside Woollies on the day of release (I waited for it's debut in the bargain bin). Still, I suppose that we were getting spoilt in those days and in hindsight it was better than just OK. It peaked at number 12.

It was very rare that Billy could get more than one big UK hit single from any of his albums, and this was his hit from the excellent 'Glass Houses' album. In the words of this song, Billy seemed to be saying that it doesn't matter what you call it, Punk, New Wave, Hard Rock or whatever, it's still Rock & Roll. I wonder what he thinks these days. Billy peaked at number 14.

Shaky's first ever top 20 hit, and it peaked at number 19. Shaky caused me great embarrassment a few years ago. I bought his 'Greatest Hits' cassette for 99p a few years ago and my Hi Fi tape deck decided to stop functioning while that tape was inside it. Try as I might, I just couldn't get the thing out. So a few months later, I finally plucked up the courage to take it for repair (I was so embarrassed). The man got the tape out and handed it to me with a smirk on his face, but said that he couldn't do anything with the tape deck. So I went through all that for nothing !

After a hitless 1979, Leo was back with one of the biggest hits of his career. It was his fourth single to peak at number two, and his second consecutive hit to be a cover of a 'Crickets' song. He would have to wait two years for his next hit, even though he released a great follow up single to this, "Once In A While"(also recorded by Cliff Richard this year).

I've never rated Grace very highly. Her "Do Or Die" single from 1978 was good, but I've not been impressed with any of her other work (but I wouldn't tell her to her face *lol*). This was her first hit and Grace spoke/growled her way through a Pretenders album track taking it to number 17. She waited five years for her second hit.

Brilliant ! One of the best singles of not only the 70's, but (thanks to this re-issue) the 80's too. One of the most recognisable set of opening bars to a song ever, and a true classic. Yes, it's one of my favourite songs of all time, sitting right up there alongside "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Blue Monday", "The Message" & "A Day In The Life". It had originally been a number four hit in 1970, but had now been re-released to cash in on the new wave of heavy metal, and the renewed interest in the band that were now without the sacked Ozzy Osbourne. This time around it reached a creditable number 14, and it's 12 weeks in the chart took it to a total of 30 weeks. Black Sabbath were featured on 'Rock Family Trees' a few years back, and I was surprised to learn that they'd appeared on 'Live Aid'. This is news to me as I didn't see them and I thought I had it all on tape. I wonder if by any chance they appeared right after The Who while technical difficulties were being experienced. Something that made me laugh but in retrospect also sad, is that on a 1998 edition of 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks', current Radio One DJ Chris Moyles failed to recognise the opening bars to this song. Where do Radio One get these people ?

I have only seen one other act looking so chuffed with themselves that they were appearing on Top Of The Pops, that was Bass-O-Matic who hit with "Fascinating Rhythm" in 1990. Funny how neither act managed another top 40 hit. This was a good single that spent three weeks at number 20 and nine weeks inside the top 40. I preferred his follow up "Leaving On The Midnight Train" (I Know - yet another bloody midnight train).

First ever hit for Ultravox, and it reached number 29. Most of the band had been together since 1975 when they were known as Tiger Lily, but despite changing their name to Ultravox!, being name checked in every Gary Numan interview, and releasing three albums, had gained no chart success at all. It seems that John Foxx's decision to quit and go solo, along with the band's decision to appoint ex Slik singer (and one time member of Rich Kids & Thin Lizzy) 'Midge Ure' as new vocalist were very good decisions for both parties. Ultravox started a six year run of success, while John also had some minor chart hits.

"Best Friend" was a good typical Beat song and this number 22 hit is probably remembered by very few. On the other hand "Stand Down Margaret" was a vicious attack on the then Prime Minister 'Margaret Thatcher'. It appears that our 'lovely' Prime Minister didn't listen to the radio much back then. But ten years later she was listening to Alan Freeman on a Sunday afternoon playing the chart from 1980. The rest is history.

We all thought that Odyssey had disappeared following their brilliant number five hit "Native New Yorker" at the beginning of 1978. But they were back with a bang. Obviously, part of the reason for the size of the success for this single was the TOTP strike, just as George McCrae had taken advantage in much the same way six years previous. Heavy play in discos had given it a great advantage over it's competitors. Although Odyssey singles did not sound the same as one another, you always knew when you were listening to Odyssey by the lovely vocals of Lillian & Louise Lopez. This was number one for two weeks, in a year that had so far seen 10 out of the 15 number ones spend two weeks at the top.

If we discount "Way Down" on account of the fact that it was a single going nowhere until it shot to number one after Elvis died, then this was Elvis's first proper top three hit since "The Wonder Of You" had been at number one in 1970. I'm not sure where or when it actually came from, but it peaked at number three and was rather a nice song. Don't know about "Beyond The Reef", I've never bothered to listen to it.

Great single that reached number five to become Bob's biggest hit to date. It reminds me of a party I went to, and how I was given the cold shoulder by someone called Bridget, who'd been a big part of my life for the previous two years. That night was virtually the 'final straw' as far as that relationship was concerned.

A disappointing follow up to "No Doubt About It" dithered a little before climbing to peak at number 17. There was a cheeky play on words in the title, but it wasn't really enough to save it and so, the following year became the bands' least successful year since they'd first hit the chart in 1970.

People may be surprised to learn that this single used to get played a lot in Clubs (at least in the ones that I frequented). It was the only hit for the band that contained the Finn brothers of later Crowded House fame. After a long climb it eventually peaked at number twelve and was very good.

After a year away, Ian had returned with a single that had quite an ironic title considering his disability. But it wasn't about that, and neither was it about his sexuality. No, this number 22 peaking single was about having a straight mind, free from the effects of drugs and drink. And I always thought that Ian looked as though he often used a pint and a couple of dodgy substances.

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.