REMEMBER WHEN - 15TH AUGUST 1981

TW	.......	LW	.......		.......
1		1		Shakin' Stevens		Green Door
2		3		Royal Philharmonic Orchestra		Hooked On Classics
3		2		Stevie Wonder		Happy Birthday
4		10		Tight Fit		Back To The Sixties
5		4		Spandau Ballet		Chant No. 1
6		15		Duran Duran		Girls On Film
7		29		Human League		Love Action (I Believe In Love)
8		7		Jacksons		Walk Right Now
9		19		Electric Light Orchestra		Hold On Tight
10		8		Sheena Easton		For Your Eyes Only
11		20		Gidea Park		Beach Boy Gold
12		5		Specials		Ghost Town
13		17		Kim Wilde		Water On Glass / Boys
14		27		Lobo		The Caribbean Disco Show
15		11		Depeche Mode		New Life
16		6		Bad Manners		Can Can
17		12		Third World		Dancing On The Floor
18		16		Dexy's Midnight Runners		Show Me
19		NEW		Aneka		Japanese Boy
20		13		Imagination		Body Talk
21		36		Ten Pole Tudor		Wunderbar
22		28		Bill Wyman		Si Si Je Suis Un Rock Star
23		NEW		UB40		One In Ten
24		14		Abba		Lay All Your Love On Me
25		25		Reo Speedwagon		Take It On The Run
26		NEW		Soft Cell		Tainted Love
=27		9		Starsound		Stars On 45 (Volume 2)
=27		34		Startrax		Startrax Club Disco
29		18		Kate Bush		Sat In Your Lap
30		21		Visage		Visage
31		NEW		Enigma		I Love Music
32		24		Randy Crawford		You Might Need Somebody
33		30		Evelyn King		I'm In Love
34		37		Siouxsie & The Banshees		Arabian Nights
35		35		Carl Carlton		She's A Bad Mama Jama
36		32		Debbie Harry		Backfired
37		26		Saxon		Never Surrender
38		22		Tom Tom Club		Wordy Rappinghood
39		39		U2		Fire
40		NEW		Randy Crawford		Rainy Night In Georgia

Shaky had already been around forever before he had his first hit in early 1980. What happened in 1981 was just unbelievable. Considering that Showaddywaddy had been experiencing a decline in fortunes, it seemed that no one wanted 50's style songs anymore. But then, Shaky released "This Ole House", "You Drive Me Crazy" and "Green Door", three of the biggest singles of the year. He also built up a teen idol status, which was surprising considering he must have been near 30 years older than some of those teens. This single spent four weeks at number one. On it's first week at the top, it had the biggest climb up the chart to number one for Twenty years. The only other single to have ever climbed from a lower chart position to the top was Elvis Presley's "Surrender, which jumped from number 27 to number one in in 1961. Even though two singles made bigger jumps to the top in 1982, Shaky's climb from 22 to number one is still the fourth biggest climb to the top ever.
Even though this was far from my favourite single in the chart, I didn't begrudge Shaky his success after all those years of hard work, including his time with the TV show 'Oh Boy' and with his band 'The Sunsets'. In fact, in my most unworthy of opinions, he got better as the 80's wore on, apart from the odd dodgy single here and there.

You're going to see the word 'medley' mentioned a lot this week. Since 'Star Sound' had kicked it all off in April, the charts had become medley crazy, and the whole thing seemed to be at it's peak in August. This one was different to most of the others in that it used pieces of classical music set to the obligatory drum machine. Conducted by Louis Clark from E.L.O., this spent two weeks at number two, and had a quite amusing video made up of old film clips arranged so that they fitted in with the music 'Old Grey Whistle Test' style.

A great song from Stevie that gave him a fourth number two hit as he chased that elusive first number one single. It was the fourth single to be taken from the "Hotter Than July" album. The album had been a huge success, and all four singles had made it into the top ten (the only time that Stevie has ever had four consecutive top ten hits).

Tight Fit's very first hit reached number four but was not really the same Tight Fit who would have a number one in 1982. But, Jive records didn't want you to know that. The medley of song were recorded by session musicians, but when it became a hit, Steve Grant and Co were the faces for the Top Of The Pops appearances. Actually, Steve Grant wasn't really the singer on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" either, but that's another story.

I wasn't particularly impressed with Spandau Ballet's first three singles, in fact "Muscle-Bound" had bored me to tears ("The Freeze" had been a grower though). But this one simply blew my mind, it was that good. They brought in the horn section from Beggar and Co., and gave us one of the best dance singles of the 80's (if not all time), what a refreshing change from what had preceded. It was also bigger than their previous three hits, reaching number three.

This was Duran Duran's third hit of the year, but first to make the top ten, peaking at number five. This is the one with the banned video, even though the only exposure it would have got would have been on Top Of The Pops, Swap Shop and Tiswas anyway (unless The Old Grey Whistle Test was still Duran Duran friendly).

At last, the Human League were having the success they deserved. They had been trying for three years before they had a number 12 hit with "Sound Of The Crowd" earlier in 1981. They had even got a mention in someone else's hit the previous year when the Undertones referred to them in "My Perfect Cousin". But this was the real breakthrough hit, and was coupled with the equally good "Hard Times" on the b side. It reached number three and spent 11 weeks in the top 40.

After the legendary slow climbing success of "Can You Feel It", this follow up took just four weeks to reach it's peak of number seven. For all those who believe Michael reached his creative peak with Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, or History, take a listen to his two 1981 hits with his brothers, much better aren't they ?

E.L.O.'s final top ten hit didn't stall at number six as five of their previous singles had done. This last top ten hit for the band, went on to reach number four, a position that they had only bettered once (not including the ONJ collaboration). It was from their last truly great album 'Time', an album that was full of potential hit singles, all pieced together to form a concept album.
I remember on one of my then regular Mansfield trips being in a town centre pub where this playing on the jukebox. Two men were having an argument about who was performing this song. Eventually, one turned to me and asked who was singing, is it Alvin Stardust or Shakin' Stevens ?

Almost unheard of 12 months previous, here was Sheena being given the honour of recording the title song for the latest 'James Bond' film. Things had certainly moved quick for Sheena, five top 40 hits and one near miss in a year. This number eight peaking single had a good chart run lasting ten weeks, but was her last top ten hit ever. She did a great performance of this at the Oscars.

Gidea Park was Adrian Baker, who had hit number ten with "Sherry" as a solo act back in 1975. This dreary medley of Beach Boys hits peaked at number eleven, but the oddest thing is that Adrian later joined the Beach Boys. His first single with them "Come Go With Me" had a b.side entitled "Don't Go Near The Water". Before any more Beach Boys recordings were released, drummer Dennis Wilson drowned in his swimming pool, Spooky !

This eerie three week number one, summed up the Summer of '81 in Britain. Inner city riots all over the country, and I don't think most of us knew the cause of them. It seemed to me, that most of them were started for the sole reason that they were happening elsewhere, particularly the ones in Liverpool. Still, it gave the hooligans an excuse to have a go at the police. But enough of the politics. This was the seventh and last hit for the Specials, of which all seven made the top ten. I had been collecting the entire Two Tone catalogue, but it's fortunes declied rapidly after the Specials split up, and it became increasingly hard to keep up with the releases.

Another good single from Kim, that just failed to reach the top ten by one place. It was the third single from her debut album, and it's biggest fault was that it did resemble her previous single "Chequered Love" a little too much. "Boys" is listed as a double 'A' with "Water On Glass", and I must have listened to it as flip sides were often worth hearing then. But I couldn't have been over impressed, or I would have kept playing it and remember it now.

No, this isn't the same Lobo who hit with "You And Me And A Dog Named Boo", and "I'd Love You To Want Me". This was a gentleman from Holland, and was one of the most annoying records of the good half of the 80's. It was a medley of stuff like
DAYO, DAYO O O O O,
and climbed all the way to number eight, before going down the chart again very slowly.

First hit for the boys from Basildon (well, everyone else makes a point of mentioning Basildon, so why not me, even if I was involved in a traffic accident there in 1995 ?), and they went as high as number 11. This was the first of 30 odd successive top 40 hits to date (not including an import).
Incidentally, I've been in the home of a woman in Essex who's son grew up with Dave Gahan, and Dave was often around at the house, so there.

A welcome return to the top 40 for Third World after a two and a half year gap. This equaled the number ten placing of their first hit "Now That We've Found Love", but they had no more hits (apart from a re-issue). I think that's a great pity as Third World (as well as Inner Circle) were producing some great stuff during the late 70's/ early 80s. They did look a little silly in the video though, strolling over sand dunes in a line.

This was a Scottish woman (old enough to know better) dressed and made up to look like a Japanese woman, with one of those machines that go "poo, poo, poo,poo", just like the one Kelly Marie used a year previous. But, it was catchy, had novelty appeal, and spent a week at number one. At the time I was still helping out at the Chinese Restaurant that I've previously mentioned, and guess which song some of the punters used to get a kick out of selecting on the jukebox ?
What they didn't realise was that Andy (the Chinaman), liked this song. They probably didn't realise that China and Japan are different countries either.

This first of nine hits for Imagination reached number four and spent 11 weeks in the top 40, but it spent 18 weeks in the top 75. Imagination were very much an 'Earth Wind and Fire' copycat band (except there was only three of them !). Most of their singles were very good anyway, but they were embarrassing to watch.

I don't want to seem unkind, but this was the pits, it really was. It's worse than "Tele Tubbies", worse than all of Radiohead's whingy ditties, not worse than "No Charge" but almost there, hell, it's even worse than quite a few of the singles in todays chart. Yes, after "Swords Of A Thousand Men", it was a little disappointing and after it climbed to number 16, they disappeared forever from the top 40 chart. Eddie later re-emerged as presenter of the TV show 'Crystal Maze'.

Bill had virtually no success with two solo albums that he released in the 70's. But the Rolling Stones Bassist, got it right with this one. There have been a few different stories claiming the song was about this or that woman, and the favourite is Bianca Jagger. It doesn't matter anyway, and the single was Bill's biggest solo hit reaching number 13.

UB40 were still making good music in those days, and this was one of their best, peaking at number seven. The hits dried up a little for a couple of years after this, until they resorted to cover versions. Eleven years later, they re-worked this song with '808 State', but even though '808 State' were making quite decent music at the time, it just didn't work for me.

Abba were running out of time, but they could still turn out the occasional song that was a fully deserved hit. This was different in that it was available on 12 inch only (apart from jukebox copies). Both sides of the single were typical of Abba at their best. The B side was "On And On And On" and it did a bit, but was still good. The A side sounded as if they were going to perform a hymn for the first few seconds, but then developed into a great dance track, it peaked at number seven. The song was revived by Erasure for their "Abba-esque E.P". and taken to number one in 1992, but I won't knock Erasure as that single was a significant improvement on the boring rubbish they'd been giving us for the previous couple of years.

Soft Cell turned this little known Gloria Jones Northern Soul track into the biggest single of the year. It only spent two weeks on top, and 13 weeks in the top 40. But, it was never very far from the top 40 until the following March. In all, it spent 36 weeks in the top 75. It's success in the year end chart defies all belief considering that TEN other singles spent more time on top of the pile. It did re-enter the top 40 in 1991, when it reached number five, but that was in a re-recorded version that just didn't pack the punch of the original.
It was some kind of record breaker in the US, where it reached number eight. Over there, it spent 43 weeks in the Hot 100.

Following their first hit with the Beatles medley, Starsound put together a medley of Abba songs for their second hit. Just like the first one, this went all the way to number two, and they weren't finished yet.
This is at it's best on the second Star Sound album, and the 12 inch version was particularly good too.

This was one of the best releases of the 1981 medley craze, even though it climbed no higher than number 18. The title doesn't exactly give much away, but it was in fact a 'Bee Gees' medley and had been done quite well. That well in fact that I bought the album which comprised of a side long Bee Gees medley, with the other side a medley of well known disco hits. It was issued on CD under the title "Night Fever Disco Megamix" in 1999, but the second album, a medley of reggae songs, doesn't seem to have seen the light of day on CD.

Enigma were one of the few medley merchants to have more than one hit. After the number eleven success of "Ain't No Stopping", they released this follow up, another medley of recent disco hits. It got as high as 25, and they were never heard of again, apart from vocalist Tracy who teamed up with Massivo in 1990, to again peak at number 25 with "Loving You".

Aww, didn't young Randy seem nice ?
Strange name for a woman though, and let's be honest, you couldn't imagine her actually feeling randy, far too nice for that kind of nonsense.
I always think of this as being a top ten hit, but despite it's nine weeks in the chart, it stopped one place short of the top ten. It was the first single to be taken from the hugely successful "Secret Combination" album.

Debbie's first solo hit wasn't as good as we may have expected it to be. She'd got away with rapping on the recent Blondie hit "Rapture", but was now trying it again on this single from her 'Chic Organization' produced solo album. She peaked at number 32 with this single, and a further single failed to chart. This project possibly also had an adverse effect on the next Blondie releases as they didn't have the same impact as the previous four years and the band folded shortly afterwards.

Another great single from Saxon, and one that I often used to select on the Jukebox at the Cuckoo Birch in Mansfield while visiting my Mum, that I did a lot of that Summer. The trouble with the jukeboxes in most of the Mansfield pubs at that time was that the volume was far too low, so it was a struggle to hear them. Don't get me wrong, I don't like music blaring out to the extent that you have to shout to have a conversation with someone, but if you're going to have it on, you should at least be able to hear it.
As for Saxon, they reached number 18 with this, but it was the last time they climbed above number 32. This was despite having top 75 entries right up until 1988.

Very catchy single from this Talking Heads spin off that was better than most of the singles issued by the Heads, though that's probably because David Byrne's vocals couldn't be heard on it. It deservedly reached number seven, didn't seem to stay around for very long, but was actually in the top 40 for eight weeks, which is of course better than a poke in the eye with a pointed stick.
One thing that I didn't like about this was the part in the video where there's a drawing of a cowboy with a speech bubble saying "Howdy Pals". I just didn't like it, that's all, but I don't like cowboy films much either.

A rather modest start in chart land for U2. This first hit only climbed to number 35 for a band who some of us thought may have a couple more minor hits before disappearing. They certainly sounded very different then to what they do now, and their next two singles failed to make the top 40 at all. There was certainly nothing to suggest that they would suddenly become one of the biggest bands in the world just a few years later.

This reeks of 1980/1981, it couldn't have been released at any other time. An above average synth pop song about Lawn Chairs that reached number 49. I've never heard of a lawn chair, but as they were an American band, it's probably an alternative name for what we would call a deck chair.

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.