REMEMBER WHEN - 26TH JANUARY 1980

No.	LW
1	1	Pretenders	Brass In Pocket
2	2	Billy Preston & Syreeta	With You I'm Born Again
3	4	Madness	My Girl
4	6	Nolans	I'm In The Mood For Dancing
5	3	K.C. & The Sunshine Band	Please Don't Go
6	17	Styx	Babe
7	12	Booker T And The MGs	Green Onions
8	14	Dr. Hook	Better Love Next Time
9	19	Dollar	I Wanna Hold Your Hand
10	5	Pink Floyd	Another Brick In The Wall
11	8	Beat	Tears Of A Clown
12	27	Joe Jackson	It's Different For Girls
13	7	Abba	I Have A Dream
14	11	Clash	London Calling
15	NEW	Special A.K.A.	Too Much Too Young (E.P.)
16	26	Bee Gees	Spirits (Having Flown)
17	25	Jon And Vangelis	I Hear You Now
18	32	Positive Force	We Got The Funk
19	13	Rose Royce	Is It Love You're After
20	22	Sheila B. Devotion	Spacer
21	30	Azymuth	Jazz Carnival
22	31	Regents	7Teen
23	15	Sugarhill Gang	Rappers Delight
24	9	Fiddlers Dram	Day Trip To Bangor
25	10	Tourists	I Only Want To Be With You
26	NEW	New Musik	Living By Numbers
27	38	Rupert Holmes	Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
28	20	Skids	Working For The Yankee Dollar
29	NEW	Kool And The Gang	Too Hot
30	NEW	Matchbox	Buzz Buzz A Diddle It
31	21	Chic	My Feet Keep Dancing
32	24	Mike Oldfield	Blue Peter
33	NEW	Kenny Rogers	Coward Of The County
34	NEW	Sister Sledge	Got To Love Somebody
35	NEW	Sad Cafe	Strange Little Girl
36	36	UFO	Young Blood
37	37	Fleetwood Mac	Sara
38	16	Three Degrees	My Simple Heart
39	NEW	Amii Stewart	Paradise Bird / The Letter
40	NEW	Commodores	Wonderland

The two previous singles by the Pretenders (Stop Your Sobbing & Kid) had peaked at numbers 34 & 33. When this single climbed just three places from 33 to 30 in the middle of December, it looked as though it wasn't going to fare much better. But it then amazingly climbed 20 places to number ten, before kicking off the New Year by climbing to five, to three and then finally to number one. As was the case with the first five number ones of 1980 (and with a further nine of that year's number ones), it stayed on top for two weeks. It then quickly dropped down the chart and it's last week on the chart was at number 19.

A very fast climber up the chart had looked odds on to hit number one after it's leap from 11 to 2. But it wasn't to be and it started to drop the following week. This was Billy's first appearance on the chart since the re-issued "Get Back" by 'The Beatles with Billy Preston' had gone to number 28 in 1976. Billy has only ever had one solo UK top 40 hit, and that was "That's The Way God Planned It", a number 11 hit in 1969.
Syreeta (for people who don't know, Stevie Wonder's ex wife) had two solo hits in 1975, the biggest being "Your Kiss Is Sweet" a number 12 hit. Neither hit the chart again after this big hit, though they did just miss out on a chart placing shortly afterwards when they again teamed up for the highly infectious "It Will Come In Time".

Could this really be the band that had recently given us "The Prince" and "One Step Beyond" ?
Yes it was. I was quite surprised at how good this actually was. It was the third hit in four months for Madness, and the biggest to date. It had just missed the top 40 in it's first week, but had then taken a huge leap into the 40 at number 14. Two weeks later it was spending the first of two weeks at number three. They would still have to wait a further two years before reaching number one, but only one of the eight singles released between now and then would fail to reach the top ten (and that was possibly due to problems with the compiling of the chart in early '82). Four years later the gender of the song was changed as Tracey Ullman took "My Guy" to number 23, and then in 1992 Madness reverted back to the original as a re-issue went to number 27.

Such a promising start to the decade was complimented by the transformation of these sisters from 'Grandparents favourites' into chart stars. They would have seven top twenty hits over the next two years, but this was the biggest, and spent two weeks at number three. Were they to be around now, The Nolans would no doubt be scorned upon in much the same way as the Spice Girls, Steps and boy bands are. But that would be a pity as these girls are gifted with something that has sadly become less important as each year rolls by, They are very talented Singers !

This was Howie and the boys' biggest hit to date. Completely different sounding to their eight previous hits, which was a good move for them as people seemed to be tiring of their brand of disco music judging by the chart positions of their last four hits (and the ones that were not hits). Even so, they would have to wait over three years before they hit the chart again, and that was with their number one smash "Give It Up". "Please Don't Go" was revived and given the dance treatment by KWS in 1992 and taken to number one, but it isn't the only KC song to have been revived over the years. "That's The Way (I Like It)" was taken to number 22 by 'Dead Or Alive' in 1984, and was charting again early in 1998, courtesy of a cover by 'Clock'. At the same time, a cover of "Get Down Tonight" renamed "Bamboogie" was taken to the upper reaches of the chart thanks to 'Bamboo'.

It had taken over seven years and eight albums, but Styx were finally having their first UK hit. They were a band very much in the same mould as 'Reo Speedwagon', and had been formed in 1964 as 'The Tradewinds'. This American number one single surprisingly had to settle for a number six peak in the UK, and to date the band have not entered the UK top 40 again.

Booker T And The MG's had originally released this single in 1962, when it had reached number two in the USA, but failed to chart at all in the UK. They had to wait until the 1968 release of "Soul Limbo" before finally cracking the UK chart albeit only a number 30 peak. Over the following eight months, they had two further hits, the biggest being the number four "Time Is Tight". Now over ten years later, the re-emergence of the mods (and the Quadrophenia movie) had prompted Atlantic records to re-issue this single, and it peaked at number seven. Not a lot has been heard of Booker T chartwise since then, but there have been a few recent 'remixes' with his name stamped on them.

I always had a soft spot for Dollar, and this cover of (what was at the time) the second biggest selling single in the UK, was done in such a way that it barely resembled the Beatles original. After entering the chart at number 39 just before Christmas and obviously still there in the week that no chart was published, it then dropped out in the first new chart of the year. It then re-entered at number 30 and just two weels later had made it to number nine. But that was as far as it got. It was Dollar's fourth hit in the space of a year, but they would have to wait until August 1981 for their next one.

This five week number one single was the last number one of the seventies and the first of the eighties. Quite an unusual single to be the Christmas number one considering the type of singles that usually achieve the honour. It had been Pink Floyd's first single release in the UK for 11 years, and their first hit single for 12 years. They weren't eager to follow it either, as they didn't release their next single until August 1982.

Another release from the 'Two Tone' label, and one that peaked at number six. This was of course a Ska cover of the Smokey Robinson And The Miracles hit, and was the first of seven top 40 hits for the band in an eighteen month period. Rather annoyingly they had to change their name to 'English Beat' for the release of their records in the States to avoid confusion with another band.

A classic single from Joe, and the one that would be his biggest hit after peaking at number five. With two hit singles in six months to his credit, Joe looked to have a long successful chart career to look forward to. But, his only other hit single was to come three years later.
Isn't it depressing when you realise how many years have passed since we were listening to this on the Top 40 show ?

When the 'Voulez-Vous album had been released the previous May, this track always looked a probable single. But by the time October arrived a single release looked unlikely, as six of the album's ten tracks had already been lifted as singles and b.sides. Then came December and a rush release in time for Christmas saw it spend four weeks at number two. Funny the afore mentioned album was the only one by Abba to produce four hit singles, yet not one of them reached number one.
Twenty years later, this song finally made number one when covered by Westlife.

This track had the honour of being the first song heard on Top Of The Pops in the Eighties. They didn't actually appear of course, but it was played as the chart was counted down at the beginning. In reaching number 11, it also held the honour of being the Clash's highest charting single until the re-release of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" in 1991. It's parent album (also titled "London Calling") was released in time to feature on the last Album chart of the '70's and is many people's choice as the best album of the '80's (others choose it as their best of the '70's). Personally, I don't find it to be anything more than an average album, I much prefer the first two albums.

The third single from the original 'Two Tone' band surprisingly entered at number 15 and then leapt straight to number one the following week for a two week stay. It was a speeded up version of a track from their eponymous debut album, and caused quite a bit of controversy. Eventually, Radio One chose to play it but cut it just short of the last line ("Try wearing a cap").

The title track of the Bee Gees album that had been released almost 12 months earlier had seen a very belated release. Much of the reason for this was that it was included on a recently released 'Bee Gees Greatest' compilation. But, what was the best track on the album for me, could only get as high as number 16 in the singles chart. Around the time that the track had originally been available, there had been talk in the music press about a film starring the Bee Gees called 'Spirits', I wonder if it ever saw the light of day ?
The Bee Gees didn't hit the top 40 again until the Autumn of 1987, when they returned with the number one "You Win Again".

Something of a surprise pairing at the time. Jon Anderson was the former vocalist with 'Yes', while his new partner was a synthesizer wizard who's major claim to fame (as far as we were concerned) was writing music that was used with ice skating quite a lot (though he had with Demis Roussos also been a member of Aphrodite's Child who'd had a minor hit with "Rain And Tears" in 1968). It worked, and this single climbed to number eight.

The second hit for 'Sugarhill Records' had a couple of weeks in the bottom ten of the top 40 before taking an impressive leap from 32 to number 18. It surprisingly fell to number 25 the following week and kept falling. It wasn't anything above an average dance track, but was in fact sampled four months later on a single called "Calibre Cuts". That particular single could only make number 75 for two weeks and quite frankly, even though I'm guilty of helping it to chart (I was very 'with it' back then) it was a bit of a mess.

Two years on from the disco cover of "Singing In The Rain", the beautiful Sheila was back with a more polished sound courtesy of the 'Chic' organization. This single was a very slow climber and took nine weeks to reach it's peak of number 18, take a look at it's chart run, 35-37-33-33-33-28-22-20-18-19-30.

These one hit wonders peaked at number 11 with this quirky song and no, they didn't spend a week at number 17.
Whatever happened to these ?
I asked that question in my 1999 newsgroup posting of the chart for 26th January 1980,and no-one seemed to know. The following week Steve Wright not only featured the song on Top Of The Pops 2, but also quoted "No one seems to know much about the Regents". This wasn't the first or last time that Top Of The Pops 2 had included a track that I had featured in the days when I did a different year each week. , All I can say is that I'm very honoured if someone I hold in such high regard for not only his days with the 'then' fantastic Radio One, but for the shows that he does now too is a reader of my humble web site or newsgroup postings. Keep up the good work Steve.

Back in the early days of rap I was a big fan and in the minority. In fact I liked all this stuff until the latter part of the eighties when they decided to just start shouting unintelligible lyrics and throw in a few "Everybody In The House"s and "Put Your Hands In The Air Like You Just Don't Care"s (and start shooting each other of course). "Rappers Delight" is credited as being the first Rap hit in the UK (though there had been a few singles that weren't far away from rap in the past, including the recent "Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt. 3" by Ian Dury), and had shot quickly up the chart to a number three peak.
This genre has never been far away from controversy, and there was a problem back then too. This single had used the bass line from "Good Times" by 'Chic', and the Chic organization were not too pleased about it. Eventually a compromise was reached and the label credited Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards as writers, with no mention of Sylvia Robinson who'd written the rap. The label also clearly stated "Based on the song Good Times by Chic". As well as the regular 7 inch single with 3 minute and 6 minute versions, a 12 inch was released with a mammoth 15 minute version. That version is so good that I still listen to it in it's entirety very often.

This had been the novelty hit of the Christmas period, but it wasn't what it seemed. The Bangor in question is a small city in North Wales that doesn't have ferris wheels and the like. All it has is a University and a couple of nice bridges. Apparently, the song was really about another North Wales coastal town called Rhyl, but changed to Bangor for the sake of Rhyme. Coming from that area myself, I can see how that could in fact be true. I went to Rhyl on daytrips so many times as a child that I now don't care if I never see the place again. Shortly after this hit had charted my local newspaper 'The Wrexham Evening Leader' ran an article about a band from Rhyl who had decided to get their own back by releasing a single called "Rhylsville", it sank without trace !

This was the first top ten hit to feature the talents of 'Annie Lennox' and 'Dave Stewart'. Just like the two previous hit versions by 'Dusty Springfield' & 'Bay City Rollers', this single had peaked at number four. A later cover by 'Samantha Fox' in 1989 didn't keep up the success though, and peaked at number 16.

This was the single that ended the seventies at number one in the States. What at first seems an unremarkable song to have such an honour, is actually a very listenable and well written song, and I don't find it as crass as many others do. It didn't repeat anything like it's American success over here, and it struggled to peak at number 23.

The Fourth hit inside a year for the Skids, and the last one to reach the top twenty. It was another single with very slow chart movements as follows, 34-32-28-27-24-24-23-21-20-28. Lead vocalist Richard Jobson is now better known for being a movie critic on Sky TV and for presenting shows on VH1.

The last of their run of consecutive hits was their fourth in less than a year. But it surprisingly dropped from it's debut position of number 34 to number 39 the following week and then disappeared altogether.
I thought that it was quite a good single, as were their next two non-charting singles "All American Girls" & "Easy Street"
It was over four years before they charted again (and that was with an old B.Side)

The follow up to their huge "Everyday Hurts" single had nothing in common with the former, except that they both came from the excellent 'Facades' album. It resembled the sound of 'Inxs' from a few years later (as did their next single), and had nothing like the same success peaking at number 32.

After two recent top ten hits, the chart progress of this single was disappointing. Just one week at number 40 was the only reward for their efforts. It was slow like the previous two, relaxing like the previous two, Lionel's vocals were just as they were on the previous two. Oh right, that's it !

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.