REMEMBER WHEN - 2ND MAY 1981

1981
Week 18
WEEK ENDING 2ND MAY 1981
TOP 40 SINGLES

TW	LW
1	1	Bucks Fizz	Making Your Mind Up
2	2	Ennio Morricone	Chi Mai
3	17	Starsound	Stars On 45
4	4	Sugar Minott	Good Thing Going
5	20	Madness	Grey Day
6	7	Jacksons	Can You Feel It
7	3	Shakin' Stevens	This Ole House
8	8	Graham Bonnet	Night Games
9	6	Landscape	Einstein A Go-Go
10	5	Stevie Wonder	Lately
11	9	Whispers	It's A Love Thing
12	10	Nolans	Attention To Me
13	15	Spandau Ballet	Musclebound / Glow
14	21	Keith Marshall	Only Crying
15	12	Saxon	And The Bands Played On
16	13	Bad Manners	Just A Feeling
17	18	Gillan	New Orleans
18	22	Eddy Grant	Can't Get Enough Of You
19	11	Linx	Intuition
20	16	Hazel O'Connor	D-Days
21	19	Dave Stewart & Colin Blunstone	What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
22	28	Beat	Drowning / All Out To Get You
23	14	Kim Wilde	Kids In America
24	26	Public Image Limited	Flowers Of Romance
25	25	Whitesnake	Don't Break My Heart Again
26	23	Barry Manilow	Bermuda Triangle
27	29	Quincy Jones	Ai No Corrida
28	30	Department S	Is Vic There
29	39	Reo Speedwagon	Keep On Loving You
30	33	Shalamar	Make That Move
31	NEW	Strat Cats	Stray Cat Strut
32	35	Girlschool	Hit And Run
33	27	Toyah	Four From Toyah (EP)
34	NEW	Clash	The Magnificent Seven
35	NEW	Freeez	Flying High
36	36	Gap Band	Humpin'
37	NEW	Ten Pole Tudor	Swords Of A Thousand Men
38	NEW	Level 42	Love Games
39	NEW	Shakin' Stevens	You Drive Me Crazy
40	38	Adam And The Ants	Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Bucks Fizz

Making Your Mind Up

The Eurovision winner of that year Bucks Fizz, spent three weeks at the top. They were formed especially for the Eurovision song contest, but continued to chart for seven years. Cheryl Baker said in a late '90s interview that having been with Euro hopefuls Coco in 1978, she had given up the music biz and gone back to being a secretary (I think), but then came out of retirement for one last crack. She said that if they had not won the contest, the band would have immediately split. She also said that she hadn't seen former member Jay Aston for many years, and doesn't care ! In my opinion Bucks Fizz were treated very unfairly by the music fascists. They had some brilliant catchy tunes. And so what if they couldn't play instruments, I could name quite a few 'music fascist approved' acts who can't sing (see UK newsgroups circa 1997), and unfortunately do not take the wise option of recruiting session singers *lol*
Anyway, Bobby Gee is the only original member still with the group, I saw them perform at the 'What A Weekend' festival in Wollaton Park, here in Nottingham in May 1998.

Ennio Morricone

Chi Mai (Theme From The Life And Times Of Lloyd George)

This beautiful instrumental from the man who gave us the music in all the best spaghetti westerns, was a hit largely due to it being used as the title music for a TV series named 'The Life And Times Of David Lloyd George'. It reached number two.

Starsound

Stars On 45

One weeks at number two and four weeks at number three for this medley of Beatles songs sang by session musicians under the guidance of Dutch producer 'Jaap Eggermont'. This all started when a bootleg 12 inch titled "Bits And Pieces" began circulating through the discos of Europe. "Bits And Pieces" was one of the earliest examples of what we call sampling today. The said Beatles songs, along with a snatch of "Last Train To London" by ELO, plus "Boogie Nights", "Funkytown", "Video Killed The Radio Star" and a few others were all put together in a medley and aided by a drum machine. Just for extra effect a song about smoking 'marijuana' was stuck on the end. Of course, sampling was illegal in those days (should be now too, judging by the current music scene), so Jaap had a brainwave, recorded most of it with session musicians and a new craze was born. Incidentally, the first time I ever visited a record fair was when I discovered one by accident in Liverpool, December 1983. While there, I picked up the original bootleg 12inch for just 30p, and yes, it's better than the Starsound version. Having said that, I did buy all of the Starsound 12 inch singles and two of the albums.

Sugar Minott

Good Thing Going

"Good Thing Going" had previously been recorded by Michael Jackson and released on his 1972 album "Ben", and would turn up on the b side of Michael's next single. This reggae version grated after a while and reached number four.

Madness

Grey Day

Madness were having their eighth hit since September 1979. "Grey Day" wasn't as nutty as previous efforts and reached number four.

Jacksons

Can You Feel It

This was a very slow climber, taking nine weeks to reach number six, and totalling 13 weeks in the chart. If the video had been completed in time for the chart run, it may have reached number one, but it wasn't shown on British TV until well after the single's demise. Such a shame that the 1998 bastardisation of the song peaked higher in the chart than the original, number one actually.

Shakin' Stevens

This Ole House

I was never over keen on Shaky, though most of his singles seem much better now than they did at the time. I suppose he did what he did very well, but I didn't like what he did (if you get my drift). I hated this one with a passion, so naturally it became his first major hit and spent three weeks at number one.

Graham Bonnet

Night Games

Having led Rainbow on the magnificant "Down To Earth" album before being sacked by Ritchie Blackmore, it was now time for Graham to make another Rainbow single, but without his former band mates. This was better than anything Rainbow did without him, and peaked at number six.
I always wondered about the line "He takes his pleasure in strange ways". I wondered if he was referring to someone who was maybe a bit of a perv, or was it someone who spends a lot of time in Strangeways prison ?
BTW - This song was available as a free flexi single with the magazine 'Flexipop' at the same time as it's release.

Landscape

Einstein A Go-Go

Landscape had been around for a while before this first hit. Their first single "U2XME1X2MUCH" had been released in February 1978, and had been followed by an album and four other singles before they finally achieved this hit. One of those singles "The Electronic Bride" needed a guitar, but none of the band could play one. So they improvised with an electric trombone, and it made a damn good guitar.
This single was taken from the album "From The Tearooms Of Mars To The Hellholes Of Uranus", the first album where a member of Landscape actually sang. Richard Burgess was chosen to handle the vocals as he was the only one with any experience.
This single began with a recording of phone calls they made trying to get in touch with the then US president "Ronald Reagan". It was the biggest of their two hit singles and reached number five.
Thanks to Peter Bibbs for most of the Landscape history.

Stevie Wonder

Lately

A third single from the wonderful "Hotter Than July" album, and the second of three top three hits from it. This spent two weeks at number three and spent ten weeks in the top 40.
There was also a reggae cover of this out at this time by Rudy Grant. It only reached number 58, but this was still better than his cover of "Space Oddity" which didn't chart at all.

Whispers

It's A Love Thing

Almost as good as 1980's "As The Beat Goes On", but it fell seven places short of the number two peak enjoyed by their biggest hit. That was almost it for the Whispers. All they managed afterwards was a brief top 40 appearance in 1987 with "Rock Steady".

Nolans

Attention To Me

A year on from their big breakthrough and a fifth top 12 hit. This was the last to make the top ten though and it made hard work of getting there. It peaked at number nine in it's eighth chart week. It only stayed in the chart for a further two weeks after that.

Spandau Ballet

Musclebound / Glow

"Musclebound" was nothing special, but "Glow" wasn't a bad song at all. This third hit in less than five months took them into the top ten for a second time when it peaked at ten.

Keith Marshall

Only Crying

Keith Marshall reached number 12 and spent nine weeks in the top 40 with this. Many think "Only Crying" was Keiths only hit, but they'd be slightly wrong. Keith was formerly the lead vocalist with Glam Rock band 'Hello', and had two top ten hits in the mid 70's with "Tell Him" & "New York Groove".

Saxon

And The Bands Played On

Another great single from Saxon. This one was a tribute to the Castle Donnington Monsters Of Rock Festival, and their biggest hit, reaching number 12.

Bad Manners

Just A Feeling

Boring single from Bad Manners. It reached number 13.

Gillan

New Orleans

Tragic rock cover of a classic rock 'n' roll song. It took six weeks to reach number 17.

Eddy Grant

Can't Get Enough Of You

Eddy Grant was having his third solo hit with the number 13 peaking "Can't Get Enough Of You". This was the second of three consecutive top 40 hits for Eddy, the only time that he ever managed a hat trick.

Linx

Intuition

Hopelessly catchy single that seemed a world away from their debut "You're Lying", entertaining video too. It was their highest charting single in reaching number 7, and while they had their moments after this, they never matched it.

Hazel O'Connor

D-Days

Not a terribly good single from Hazel. It reached number ten.

Dave Stewart & Colin Blunstone

What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted

This was Colin Blunstone's first appearance in the top 40 since 1972, and only his second ever inside the top 30 (with his name on the record). In reaching number 13, it also became his highest charting single.
Dave Stewart was a man with a synthesiser who liked to revamp old songs, and it worked a couple of times including this time.

Beat

Drowning / All Out To Get You

The Beat reached number 22 with this double A side, their sixth hit in 18 months. I liked the Beat a lot and "All Out To Get You" was typical of the band at their best, but I have to admit that I was disappointed with "Drowning".

Kim Wilde

Kids In America

Most people of my age would not have known of the existence of Kim's father 'Marty Wilde'. I did because my Mum had been a fan of his and had even seen im perform live a couple of times. She had three of his singles "Donna", "Sea Of Love" and his unbeatable version of "Endless Sleep". Marty's son "Ricky" attempted to make it as a singer in the mid '70s, but had failed miserably. So he turned his talents to helping his father write songs for his younger sister "Kim" (Actually, I can think of quite a few talented songwriters who ought to follow his example and give their songs to someone who can actually sing. But people seem to tolerate this, even if they are just looking ).

And so Kim just seemed to explode onto the chart and seemed to be a permanent resident in the chart for well over a year. Naturally, when we all saw what she looked like, we either loved or hated her. The women hated her (at least to begin with) and many wrote angry letters to the Record Mirror letters page. One such letter sticks in my mind as the nasty wench in question wrote "I bet she's never even been to America". As it turned out she was right, as Kim recently revealed in a TV interview. But what did that matter anyway, I bet Midge Ure had never been to Vienna ?
Kim spent two weeks at number two with this and followed it with a further 16 top 40 hits before the decade ended, more than any other British female soloist in the eighties. She is now apparently a gardener, just as I was when she first hit big.

Public Image Limited

Flowers Of Romance

Doing something different is often considered a really good thing to do if you're in the music business. Unfortunately, just because something is different doesn't always mean that it isn't crap. Get all of your Black Lace, Joe Dolce, school choirs, Red Sovine, even Mr Blobby records, put them on a crapometer scale. Put this on the other side and it will drop with a thud. No, this three minutes or so of wailing wasn't very good at all.
It reached number 24, but did provide a few minutes amusement on one occasion. This was when my Grandad came to tea one Sunday and I switched on the top 40. When this was played, he stared at the radio in disbelief all the way through it.

Whitesnake

Don't Break My Heart Again

Quite a good track, but maybe not as different to "Fool For Your Loving" as it should have been. I saw Whitesnake live at Deeside Leisure Centre while this was charting. I wasn't really that sure I wanted to see them, but Paul Evans (not the one who sang about telephone answering machines) persuaded me to go. They were good, even the songs that I'd not heard before sounded good. I still have the ticket stub and two T shirts I bought that night. I doubt that the T shirts would fit me now, the stub might though.
It reached number 17.

Barry Manilow

Bermuda Triangle

A potentially good song that is spoilt by some extremely dodgy lyrics (Gotta see it from my angle, Bermuda Triangle ! ). Very catchy all the same. It reached number 15.

Quincy Jones

Ai No Corrida

Quincy Jones, fresh from producing Michael Jackson's major breakthrough album, 'Off The Wall' had recorded an album of his own. The first hit single from "The Dude" was "Ai No Corrida" and featured 'Dune' on vocals. It was a good poppy disco track, peaked at number 14 and was the first song with a Japanese title to chart since Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" 18 years earlier.

Department S

Is Vic There

I bought this single quite a while before it charted, and even though the record books list the hit single as a 'Demon Records' release, I've a feeling that it was the 'Stiff Records' re-issue that actually charted, but don't quote me on that. It reached number 22 and had a decent cover of "Solid Gold Easy Action" on the flip. I presume that they took their name from the popular TV show of the 70's.

Reo Speedwagon

Keep On Loving You

Reo Speedwagon peaked at number seven with this, their only top ten hit. "Keep On Loving You" was taken from the huge album "Hi Infidelity" which spent something like 15 weeks on top of the US album chart. Something that always springs to mind when I hear the name 'REO Speedwagon' is something that a UK DJ/TV presenter named Richard Skinner said when going through a chart rundown on 'Whistle Test' in 1985. He said, "REO Speedwagon, the most exciting thing about them is their name".

Shalamar

Make That Move

Slightly better than average disco track, but slightly below average for Shalamar. I remember that it was naturally played a lot in discos, but only reached number 30.

Stray Cats

Stray Cat Strut

The Stray Cats were having their third hit in six months with the number 11 peaking "Stray Cat Strut". They apparently took their name from the fictional band in the David Essex movie 'Stardust'. This was their last top 20 entry.

Girlschool

Hit And Run

Girlschool had done a good cover of "Race With the Devil" and collaborated with Motorhead on the top five hit "Please Don't Touch". But this was the only time they ever hit the top 40 in their own right. It wasn't much to get excited about and only made number 32.

Toyah

Four From Toyah (EP)

She'd had a number one in the Indie chart with "Sheep Farming In Barnet", and it was now time for Toyah to appeal to the majority, have a few hits, well ok, make some money. The lead track from this "It's A Mystery" is the one that most associate Toyah with. It was her biggest ever hit, reaching number four and spending ten weeks in the top 40.

Clash

The Magnificent Seven

The best single that the Clash had released for around three years. They employed a dance beat and more or less rapped over it. Very brave choice of single release and not a great success with it's number 34 peak. But it did pave the way for other gems such as "Radio Clash" and "Rock The Casbah"

Freeez

Flying High

The follow up to "Southern Freeez" was much better in my opinion. It was mostly instrumental with a jazzy feel, the only vocals being "You and me flying high". Most will have forgotten this (if they ever did hear it) as it spent only one week in the top 40. But if you need a reminder, I now have an MP3 available for download.

Gap Band

Humpin'

This was the closest in sound they ever got to repeating "Oops Upside Your Head". It didn't repeat it's chart success though and spent just two weeks in the 40, both at number 36.

Ten Pole Tudor

Swords Of A Thousand Men

Ten Pole Tudor was having the first 'unshared' hit of his career with the number six peaking "Swords Of A Thousand Men". I say unshared because his "Who Killed Bambi" was a double A side with "Silly Thing" by the Sex Pistols, and "Rock Around The Clock" was a double A with "Rock And Roll Swindle", also by the Pistols. Both were hits in 1979 and were not the work of a musical genius, this was much better if not brilliant.

Level 42

Love Games

Just two weeks in the chart with a peak of number 38 for this first top 40 entry for Level 42. I could usually take or leave Level 42, but this was pretty good, and I'm surprised that it didn't get a re-release at the same time as one of their compilations. They had to wait almost two years before they next hit the top 40.

Shakin' Stevens

You Drive Me Crazy

Shakin Stevens spent four weeks at number two with this. If Adam And The Ants were the band of 1981, then Shaky was easily the solo artist of the year.
From May 1981 until February of the following year, I did a little bit of waiting tables and washing up in the evenings at a small Chinese restaurant in my home village of Ruabon. It wasn't so much for the money (I already had a day job), but more for the money I saved from having something else to do instead of going to the pub every night. Going to the pub had started to become a tedious affair once the initial euphoria of being legally old enough to consume alcohol had died down. For no apparent reason, non UK citizens have a very romantic view of 'The English Pub'. The truth is, they are usually either particularly dull places, occupied by regulars who sit in the same seats each evening, having the same conversations night after night. But most have now become extremely noisy places where you can't have a conversation with anyone above the knob head Ibiza music unless you're prepared to shout all evening. When the weekend arrives, the conversations take a new slant, namely "How many have you had ?". At this point the men claim to have consumed more alcohol that they actually have in an attempt to give the impression that they can 'hold their beer' and so prove their manhood ! On a Sunday morning, claiming that you have short term amnesia concerning the previous evening marks a highly successful Saturday night. Rather immature really !
Back to the Chinese, Andy and Jane were more friends than employers, and I really enjoyed my time there. The reason I'm mentioning this, is the restaurant had a juke box, and this song was one that was played over and over again, particularly by a contract worker from South Wales who came in early every evening. Incidentally, Andy and Jane left the restaurant to go and live in the Sudbury area of Suffolk early in 1982. I had a phone number for them but lost it before I could phone them. Their surname was Tsui (sp), and the eldest son 'Samuel' would be about 23 or so now, so if anyone knows them, please say hello from me, I'd love to get in touch.

Adam And The Ants

Kings Of The Wild Frontier

I don't think that this deserved to reach number two. It was hard to spot a melody in there, never mind work out what the hell he was on about. Should have given it to Bow Wow Wow

This single was in the top 50 this week, but failed to reach the top 40.

Roger Taylor

Future Management

The lead single from Queen drummer Roger's solo debut album "Fun In Space" had a definite spacey feel to it. In fact it was a great song to act as a soundtrack while playing 'Defender'. It only managed to climb as high as number 49, and Roger had to wait until 1994 before his first solo top 40 entry.

Some 1981 MP3s

Tony Capstick - Capstick Comes Home
Freeez - Flying High
Roger Taylor - Future Management

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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THE REMEMBER WHEN ARCHIVES
GOLDEN DAYS INDEX

Email: nige@innotts.co.uk

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