REMEMBER WHEN - 20TH MARCH 1982

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1982
Week 12
WEEK ENDING 20TH MARCH 1982

TOP 40 SINGLES

TW	.......	LW	.......		.......
1		1		Tight Fit		The Lion Sleeps Tonight
2		8		Goombay Dance Band		Seven Tears
3		2		Toni Basil		Mickey
4		3		Haircut 100		Love Plus One
5		4		Fun Boy Three & Bananarama		Tain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It
6		10		ABC		Poison Arrow
7		9		Bow Wow Wow		Go Wild In The Country
8		18		Imagination		Just An Illusion
9		5		J. Geils Band		Centrefold
10		12		Adrian Gurvitz		Classic
11		6		Depeche Mode		See You
12		24		Julio Iglesias		Quiereme Mucho (Yours)
13		7		Iron Maiden		Run To The Hills
14		15		Madness		Cardiac Arrest
15		25		Associates		Party Fears Two
16		30		Derek And The Dominoes		Layla
17		14		Starsound		Stars On Stevie
18		16		Robert Palmer		Some Guys Have All The Luck
19		13		Adam And The Ants		Deutscher Girls
20		11		Jam		A Town Called Malice / Precious
21		22		Gary Numan		Music For Chameleons
22		21		Jets		Love Makes The World Go Round
23		33		Visage		Damned Don't Cry
24		17		Soft Cell		Say Hello Wave Goodbye
25		26		Abba		Head Over Heels
26		36		Pluto		Your Honour
27		19		O.M.D.		Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Joan Of Arc)
28		20		Daryl Hall & John Oates		I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
29		38		Nolans		Don't Love Me Too Hard
30		32		Kool And The Gang		Take My Heart
31		NEW		Chas And Dave		Ain't No Pleasing You
32		37		Foster & Allen		A Bunch Of Thyme
33		29		David Bowie		Baal's Hymn
34		27		Mike Post & Larry Carlton		Theme From 'Hill Street Blues'
35		NEW		Leo Sayer		Have You Ever Been In Love
36		NEW		Classix Nouveaux		Is It A Dream
37		NEW		Elvis Presley		Are You Lonesome Tonight
38		35		D-Train		You're The One For Me
39		23		Stranglers		Golden Brown
40		28		Elkie Brooks		Fool If You Think It's Over

Tight Fit

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

I thought that we'd seen the last of these after their two medleys of Sixties hits had charted the previous year. But now they were back with a whole song, a song that had reached number 11 for the Tokens in 1961, number 34 for for Dave Newman in 1972, and a bigger number four hit for Karl Denver in 1962 under it's other title "Wimoweh". But this version was even bigger, it unbelievably spent three weeks at number one for Steve Grant and two scantily clad women. Scantily clad women or not, Steve appreciated the more mature woman and took up with Eartha Kitt.

Goombay Dance Band

Seven Tears

I knew that this was a number one the first time I heard it. It's one of those that you just knew was going to appeal to kids, parents, grandparents, even anyone from our generation who hadn't fallen into the trap of only liking (or admitting to liking) what they're supposed to. I fell into the latter category (with brackets). A very catchy song that didn't really need the gimmick with the fire-eating, it displaced "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to spend three weeks on top.
My Grandad thought that the title of the B Side "Mama Coco" was very amusing !

Toni Basil

Mickey

Previously recorded by Racey on their album "Smash And Grab", this was a big number two hit for Toni. Much was made of the fact that Toni had taught David Bowie to dance, and also that Toni released a video of her album with promos having been made of all the tracks. It was shown on TV very quickly, but stopped a long way short of being thoroughly entertaining. The only other song I can remember is the track "Nobody", a much better song than "Mickey" but a failure as a single.
The 'Lolly' woman took this to number four in 1999.

Haircut 100

Love Plus One

This I did like, and still do. I'd rather not see them performing it, just listening can raise happiness levels very nicely thank you. It was their second and biggest hit peaking at number three, though it did falter a little on the way. After entering at number 36, it didn't move the folowing week, then shot up to number 12, up one to 11, two weeks at number four before peaking in it's seventh week.

Fun Boy Three & Bananarama

Tain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It

Fun Boy Three's second single and our introduction to Bananarama. Good catchy single that didn't seem to suffer from the chart disturbances as it shot up to a number four peak.

ABC

Poison Arrow

When ABC had their debut hit with "Tears Are Not Enough", I thought that they were going to be one of those bands to release a few singles that don't appeal to me, and then disappear. But no, this follow did appeal to me, very much so. ABC became the perfect pop group of 1982. If you didn't like any of their three top ten singles, then good morning Mr Hangman.
This one came complete with a glossy video and reached number six.

Bow Wow Wow

Go Wild In The Country

This is where the law of averages worked out. After all those plant pot contenders, they finally released a single that wasn't half bad. Still not sure about her hair with the mohican though, or the line "Where snakes in the grass are absolutely free".
It was their biggest ever hit, reaching number seven.
Oh yeah, Annabella Lewin was naked in the pic on the sleeve in a pastiche of a painting by Manet titled "Dejeuner Sur L'herbe. But as Annabella (Myant Myant Aye) hadn't quite reached her 16th birthday, it is possibly a criminal offence to have that sleeve in your possession, and you MUST NOT scan it if you intend taking your PC to PC World for repair (at anytime in your life).

Imagination

Just An Illusion

Their previous three singles were pretty much ok, if not outstanding. This was their masterpiece, the peak of their career. It gave them a richly deserved number two hit. It also meant that Lee John seemed to be appear on every TV show broadcast for the next couple of years.

J. Geils Band

Centrefold

Not bad, but the video wasn't as sexy as they thought it to be. It reached number three.
Now, if those young women had been dressed as St. Trinians schoolgirls instead of American schoolgirls, then that would have been a different matter.

Adrian Gurvitz

Classic

Adrian had recorded with Ginger Baker in the 'Baker Gurvitz Army', and had also released a good single called "The Way I Feel". But now he was giving us this,
"Gonna write a classic,
Gonna write it in an attic,
Babe I'm an addict
An adict for your love"
An awful song that reached number eight.

BUT, as this had only just dropped out of the chart on the occasion of my 20th birthday, it was still quite a popular choice for last dance at discos. For some reason, the Legion had started having discos on Sundays recently. That was good because my birthday was on a Sunday that year. The two Happy Birthdays were played for me (Altered Images & Stevie Wonder), and I had last dance with a young lady (who shall remain nameless), a smooch outside, and got to walk her home. Quite a successful birthday really.

Depeche Mode

See You

Slightly different, a cleaner sound than their previous two, looked as though they may survive without Vince Clark after all. Sure enough, it became their highest charting single to date when it reached number six. They only bettered that position three times in the remainder of the 20th Century, but at least they did survive into the 2000s.

Julio Iglesias

Quiereme Mucho (Yours)

Not as good as "Begin The Beguine", but a whole lot better than the rubbish his son gave us two decades later. It reached number three.

Iron Maiden

Run To The Hills

At last, I liked an Iron Maiden single. This was the first of four successive singles that I liked by them. It was also their first top ten hit and reached number seven. Their second top ten hit didn't come until 1988.

Madness

Cardiac Arrest

Madness suffered a major setback due to the chart compiling cock up that was present for the first few months of 1982. After entering at number 26, the extremely entertaining video was shown on TOTP, but the single then dropped to number 28. It climbed to number 14 the following week, dropped to 15 and then back to 14. Had the charts been running properly, it would undoubtedly been their tenth successive top ten hit, and their final total would have been 16 in a row.

Associates

Party Fears Two

This entered at number 38, in the same week that Goomday Dance Band's "Seven Tears" entered at 39. Few have shown any compassion to "Seven Tears" over the years, yet "Party Fears Two" was no better. The Associates were in the unfortunate position of having a lead vocalist who simply could not sing a note. His vocals suggested that he had severe pains in his stomach (My grandad said something like that when he heard it), and that someone should put him out of his misery. I'm sorry if that sounds cold considering that he is no longer with us, but that's what I felt about it (and still do). I think they should have drafted in that Bobby person from Boney M to handle the vocals because the actual melody was very good. You may think I was a sucker for buying the forthcoming Bucks Fizz single, but let's not forget, "Party Fears Two" reached number nine, so there were bigger suckers than me in the world.

Derek & The Dominoes

Layla

This Eric Clapton track was originally a number seven hit in 1972, this 1982 re-issue went to number four. Excellent song of course, can't find fault with it all. But it's subject matter is said to be Patti Boyd, the ex wife of George Harrison who was apparently enticed away from George by his good friend Eric. I wonder if George smacked him one, and I also wonder whether Eric has been feeling any pangs of guilt lately.

Starsound

Stars On Stevie

Even I wasn't very keen on this one. It was Starsound's fourth and final hit, a medley of Stevie Wonder songs that reached number 14. I think that they released a Rolling Stones titled "The Greatest Rock & Roll Band In The World" afterwards, but it failed to chart. The medley era was almost over.

Robert Palmer

Some Guys Have All The Luck

Well, I suppose that it was about time Robert had a major hit. I think that he'd already done much better then this track on numerous occasions, but this was the one. and it reached number 15.
It could be said that it already sounded like a Rod Stewart track, and sure enough, two years later Rod went one place higher with his version.
Three years after that, Maxi Priest had an even bigger hit with it in reaching number 12.

Adam And The Ants

Deutscher Girls

Somwhere there will be someone telling all who will listen, all about the days when he used to run a record company. The record company in question (EGO records) had the distinction of releasing the last ever Adam & The Ants single to make the top Forty. This one seemed to be from the "Young Parisians" era, wasn't bad at all, but there is no way it would have charted for an unknown. It reached number 13.

Jam

A Town Called Malice / Precious

This did shock me. After the two very disappointing singles they released the previous year, the last thing I expected was for the Jam to enter the chart at number one with their first release of 1982. "A Town Called Malice" was nowhere near as good as 1980's "Going Underground" and what had come before it, But it was 'almost' worthy of it's number one position anyway. The other track must have helped to keep it there for three weeks. "Precious" introduced a dance element to the Jam's music, and was a much better track in my opinion. One historic week, they performed both tracks on Top Of The Pops.
The 1993 re-issue reached number 73.

Gary Numan

Music For Chameleons

After a few disappointing singles, here was a vast improvement from Gary. The trouble is, he followed it with two that seemed to be deliberately trying to sound like this, but were nowhere near as good. This only reached number 19 though.

Jets

Love Makes The World Go Round

Unbearable. Entered at 28, dropped out of the 40 (Hurrah !), Re-entered at 26 (Groan), climbed to 21 (winge), and then spent it's final two weeks falling (Ah, sanity prevails). But why did they have to do it ?

Visage

Damned Don't Cry

The weakest of their singles to date, but still quite good. It almost became their second top ten hit, but stopped short at number 11.

Soft Cell

Say Hello Wave Goodbye

Different tempo to the first two, but another good single. Strange that the object of Marc's affection seemed to be a woman all things considered. It reached number three.
The very unexciting David Gray covered this in 2001.

Abba

Head Over Heels

Abba's best single since, since, well, since the one before it anyway. An unusually low entry position of number 34 for this one. After all, Abba were still big two months ago, so it wasn't as if they'd fallen out of favour or anything like that. But that's exactly what was happening. It took three further weeks to reach a peak of number 25 (a position they would never again rise above with a new song) and then disappeared forever.

Pluto

Your Honour

Much better than his number 1976 hit "Dat", but not as good as his 1976 near miss "Ram Goat Liver". This one was about him hiding in a closet minding his own business, a sort of early version of Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me". It reached number 19 and that was the last we heard from him.

O.M.D.

Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Joan Of Arc)

THIS is the one that went "Joan Of Arc had a heart", not that other one, you know, th one that was actually called "Joan Of Arc". It was the third of a trio of excellent singles form the "Architecture And Morality" album, and it peaked at number four.

Daryl Hall And John Oates

I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

Over five years after they'd first entered the lower reaches of the UK chart, and they finally achieved a 'real' hit with this one. As far as I'm concerned, it's nowhere near Hall & Oates at their best, but I like it anyway. It reached number eight.

Nolans

Don't Love Me Too Hard

My favourite from them to date and didn't Colleen look and sound sweet in the video ?
I do think they shouldn't have been hitting that bellboy around the head though, they didn't know where he'd been.
Actually, I was quite excited about this single because the vocals were the best so far. It looked as though they'd have a long hit career ahead of them. So what happened ?
They spent eight weeks in the top 40 reaching number 14, and then the follow up single "Dragonfly" flopped and they had no more top 40 hits. The closest they came was with a re-recording of "I'm In The Mood For Dancing" that reached number 51 in 1995.

Kool And The Gang

Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)

One of Kool And The Gang's better efforts, but unfortunately this was not reflected by it's sales. It only reached number 29.
Robert Palmer covered this in the summer of 1983, but fared even worse, he only reached number 66.

Chas And Dave

Ain't No Pleasing You

There was actually, this was quite pleasant on the ears, especially after the way most of their previous efforts had assaulted my ears. You can imagine someone singing it in a pub (very badly), but it wasn't like their previous East End singalong ditties. A deserved number two hit.

Foster And Allen

A Bunch Of Thyme

A lot of variety in this chart, and there was room for all, well, most of it anyway. This was a beautiful song in an Irish folk style, and while I may not have liked it the first time I heard it, it was a grower (just like Thyme really). Twenty years later it would have easily been the best single in the top 40. But in 1982 (as I look through my rose tinted spectacles, there, beat you to it :-P) there was stiff competition and it peaked at number 18.

David Bowie

Baal's Hymn (EP)

For about ten years or so, David Bowie had the knack of being able to do something original and making it good. This was about the last time that he did it. It was taken from a BBC TV play about someone named Baal. I forget who Baal actually was, but it was a very enjoyable programme that unfortunately hasn't seen a repeat. Neither have the tracks from this EP ever been released on CD. The whole thing is made even more disappointing by David going through a lean time between 1981-1982. So this single only reached number 29.

Mike Post & Larry Carlton

Theme From 'Hill Street Blues'

Quite a nice piece of music, but it's biggest fault was that it sounded like exactly what it was, a TV theme. It reached number 25.

Leo Sayer

Have You Ever Been In Love

And a big welcome back to Leo Sayer with his first hit in almost two years. Another pleasant song that richly deserved to be a hit. Number ten peak.

Classix Nouveaux

Is It A Dream

At last, Classix Nouveaux made the top 40. Another one that may have been better as an instrumental, but it was ok as these things go. It reached number 11 and the band then faded into obscurity. Sal Solo of course returned with a solo hit in 1985, but that's another story.

Elvis Presley

Are You Lonesome Tonight

Elvis mixed his words up and then couldn't stop laughing on this live version of his 1961 number one. I found it amusing but the title of the album "Having Fun On Stage With Elvis" makes me cringe. The single made number 25.

D-Train

You're The One For Me

A great dance track, though I don't remember actually seeing anyone getting up to dance when it was played at the Legion, Wynnstay, or Community Centre discos. It peaked at it's number 30 debut position.
Paul Hardcastle later informed the world that it was his favourite single ever, and he remixed it in 1985 and it reached number 15. Paul looked very pleased with himself when he appeared on TOTP with them.

Stranglers

Golden Brown

Change of sound from the Stranglers, but was it really OK for the Stranglers to release singles that my Dad liked ?
There was in fact a sinister underlying side to this. The song was about heroin, but no one said anything at the time, and the BBC completely missed it (as did the rest of it). Had they known, this wouldn't have had a cat in hells chance of ever getting airplay. But it became the Stranglers' biggest ever hit spending two weeks at number two.

Elkie Brooks

Fool If You Think It's Over

Chris Rea was still virtually unknown in the UK despite having a minor (#30) hit with his original bersion of this in the Autumn of 1978. Elkie on the other hand, had plodded along with a few semi-major hits between 1977-1978 before seemingly running out of steam. So it was a little surprising to see her back in the top 40 amongst the Synth and New Romantic boys. Due to the crazy nature of the chart at that time, she entered at number 30, dropped out of the top 40, and then re-entered at number 29. She followed that with a couple of climbs to peak at number 17.
It was almost five years before she next bettered that position, but the single in question "No More The Fool", gave her her biggest ever hit with a number five peak.

In the top 50 this week, but failing to reach the top 40.

Adam And The Ants

Ant Music EP

A collection of three B Sides "Friends", "Kick" and "Physical". Quite pointless considering that all had been available as the flip side of hits during the past 18 months. But it would have been a better record if "Friends" and "Physical" had been replaced by "Press Darlings" and "Beat My Guest". It reached numnber 46.

Quarterflash

Harden My Heart

A very good single that I bought after Jonathan King featured it on his look at the American charts during TOTP. It reached number three over there, but only reached number 49 here.

Bauhaus

Kick In the Eye (EP)

Bauhaus added an electronic dance beat this time around, and I think it worked. Elements of Gary Numan to begin with, but that didn't last long as it moved into Visage territory. Yes, rather good really, but only climbed to number 45.

Blue Rondo A La Turk

Klactoveesedstein

Can't say I've ever heard it, should I have ?
It reached number 50 and they were not heard of again afterwards. But didn't they become Matt Bianco or someone like that afterwards ?

Some MP3s

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.

ON TO THE FOLLOWING WEEK
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BACK TO THE 1982 INDEX
THE REMEMBER WHEN ARCHIVES
GOLDEN DAYS INDEX

Email: nige@innotts.co.uk

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