1982
Week 46
WEEK ENDING 13TH NOVEMBER 1982

TOP 40 SINGLES

TW ..... LW ......   ......  
1   2   Eddy Grant   I Don't Wanna Dance
2   5   Dionne Warwick   Heartbreaker
3   3   Tears For Fears   Mad World
4   1   Culture Club   Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
5   18   Marvin Gaye   Sexual Healing
6   11   Kool And The Gang   Ooh La La La (Let's Go Dancin')
7   4   Kids From 'Fame'   Starmaker
8   8   Barry Manilow   I Wanna Do It With You
9   33   Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney   The Girl Is Mine
10   20   Daryl Hall & John Oates   Maneater
11   NEW   Clannad   Theme From 'Harry's Game'
12   6   Kid Creole & The Coconuts   Annie I'm Not Your Daddy
13   10   Shakin' Stevens   I'll Be Satisfied
14   13   Status Quo   Caroline (Live At The N.E.C.)
15   7   Beatles   Love Me Do
16   15   Melba Moore   Love's Comin' At Ya
17   22   Piranhas featuring Boring Bob Grover   Zambezi
18   9   Spandau Ballet   Lifeline
19   37   Blancmange   Living On The Ceiling
20   24   Sharon Redd   Never Give You Up
21   34   Blue Zoo   Cry Boy Cry
22   17   Pretenders   Back On The Chain Gang
23   28   Diana Ross   Muscles
24   NEW   Wham   Young Guns (Go For It)
25   30   John Cougar   Jack And Diane
26   19   Bauhaus   Ziggy Stardust
27   27   Raw Silk   Do It To The Music
28   21   Ultravox   Reap The Wild Wind
29   NEW   Donna Summer   State Of Independence
30   12   Chicago   Hard To Say I'm Sorry
31   23   Animals   House Of The Rising Sun
32   NEW   Duran Duran   Rio
33   38   Supertramp   It's Raining Again
34   14   Musical Youth   Pass The Dutchie
35   35   Abba   The Day Before You Came
36   31   Imagination   In The Heat Of The Night
37   25   Clash   Should I Stay Or Should I Go/ Straight To Hell
38   NEW   Renee And Renato   Save Your Love
39   16   Fat Larry's Band   Zoom
40   32   Julio Iglesias   Amor


1   Eddy Grant   I Don't Wanna Dance
Eddy's career had seemed to be on the wane again. That is until Rockers Revenge had covered one of his songs and recently taken it to number four in the chart. The song in question was "Walking On Sunshine", a song that Eddy finally had his own top forty hit with in late 2001 (fingers crossed that I don't need to re-write this in a few weeks). Now Eddy was back with this history making single. When it reached the top, it was the third successive reggae orientated number one, this is the only time that this has ever happened in the UK chart. Just like the previous two ("Pass The Dutchie" & "Do You Really WAnt To Hurt Me") it spent three weeks on top.
This was the last time that Eddy had a number one single, but it wasn't the first. He had also spent three weeks at number one while a member of the Equals in 1968 with "Baby Come Back" (later taken to number one again by 'Pato Banton').


2   Dionne Warwick   Heartbreaker
Dionne hadn't had a top ten hit for 14 years, in fact she hadn't had any kind of solo hit in that time. Then she teamed up with the songwriting of Barry Gibb for the 'Heartbreaker' album. This gave her two weeks at number Two with the title track and the biggest hit of her long career. I expected this to be an American number one, but it only reached number ten over there.


3   Tears For Fears   Mad World
A number three peaking single that brings back the same kind of memories as the 'Blancmange' one. But the difference with this one is that the album it later appeared on (The Hurting) is one that I could identify with in so many ways while going through my 'bad times' shortly afterwards. That album is one of my all time favourite albums, and even though their later albums were also good, they didn't get anywhere near 'The Hurting' for me. I finally got to see them live in 1993 and they closed the show with their rendition of Radiohead's "Creep" that sounded much better than the original (it always did sound as though it should have been a Tears For Fears song anyway). This band could have been more influential than many people realise.


4   Culture Club   Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
This just seemed to come from nowhere to spend three weeks at number one. I didn't even hear it before it entered the 40 at a lowly number 38, but two weeks later it was at number three. Two weeks after that, it was spending the first of three weeks at number one. It even went to number two in the US a few months later.
There is a story that Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones was in a hotel room watching TV when this came on. He called Mick Jagger into the room to look at this 'fantastic bird' :-)


5   Marvin Gaye   Sexual Healing
Marvin's first hit for five years was also the last to make the top twenty during his lifetime. It moved quickly up the chart to number four to become his highest charting single since "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" spent three weeks at number one in 1969. When Tommy Vance announced this track on the top 40 show, he was instructed to refer to it as "Healing" due to the BBC's 'then' attitude to such matters. Marvin was shot dead by his father on April 1st 1984 after an argument about his lifestyle (his drug taking activities were well documented), just one day short of his 45th birthday. His only further hit was when a re-issue of "Grapevine" reached number eight in 1986.


6   Kool And The Gang   Ooh La La La (Let's Go Dancin')
Same old fodder, reached number six.


7   Kids From 'Fame'   Starmaker
The Kids From 'Fame's record company R.C.A. had it made. They didn't need to make a promo video because they already had the performance clip from the TV show. They didn't need to employ any promotion at all, as the 'Fame' TV show immediately followed the BBC's number one programme 'Top Of The Pops' every Thursday evening. The clip for this featured an old man sitting on a chair while just about all of the cast (including a young Janet Jackson) stood before him singing this song.
It was quite a good song on the whole, and I was told that it was another one that 'Tommy' loved (see "Zoom"). There were girls bursting into tears when this came on the jukebox in the Legion. It was a sad time.
It spent two weeks at number three.


8   Barry Manilow   I Wanna Do It With You
All those years, all those albums, all those singles, and this was Barry's only top ten hit in the UK. It reached number eight but probably wasn't the best single he ever released, it was ok though.


9   Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney   The Girl Is Mine
Paul had already had a good year that had included a number one duet with Stevie Wonder and a further solo hit. There had been no new singles by Michael since "Girlfriend" (a McCartney composition) had failed to chart in July of 1980, but an old Motown recording had taken him to number one in 1981. This was the first single to be taken from Michael's 'Thriller' album, and reached number eight. It was a better result than the solo single "Tug Of War" that Paul had released at the same time and failed to chart with.


10   Daryl Hall & John Oates   Maneater
The biggest hit for this duo and what a riff. It peaked at number six before quickly disappearing from the chart. The riff in question was later blatantly copied by Stevie Wonder for his 1985 hit "Part Time Lover" and I'm certain that another single during the eighties also sounded very similar but I can't recall it at this moment.


11   Clannad   Theme From 'Harry's Game'
This single had surprisingly crashed straight into the chart at number eleven due to it being the theme from a TV film/play. It then climbed to number five before even more surprisingly starting to fall. They had already released six albums before this hit and vocalist Marie's sister 'Enya' had joined the band on their previous album. Just prior to this single being released, Enya had left to pursue what would be a very successful solo career. They later won an 'Ivor Novello' award for the haunting piece of music that "Harry's Game' was. Their follow up single "I See Red" was a track that also appeared on a 1992 solo album by 'Frida' (from Abba). It knocked the socks off Frida's version, but still failed to chart. They still record to this day and hit with "In A Lifetime" with a little help from Bono, as well as the "Saltwater" thing with 'Chicane' that sampled "Harry's Game".


12   Kid Creole & The Coconuts   Annie I'm Not Your Daddy
The biggest hit for Kid Creole (number two), was also his last major hit. Strange how this climbed from nine to number two and then dropped to number six. A couple of minor hits followed over the following twelve months, and then a further minor hit in 1990. These days, Kid is living in the UK, married to one of his fans from Sheffield. Most of his working life has been spent in the stage musical "Oh What A Night" since it opened in Blackpool during the summer of 1997.


13   Shakin' Stevens   I'll Be Satisfied
Not bad for Shaky at all. I was in danger of actually liking him. It reached number ten.


14   Status Quo   Caroline (Live At The N.E.C.)
It reached number five in 1973 and was now back as a live version from that triple album set in a blue box. It sounded more or less the same as the original version, reached number 13.


15   Beatles   Love Me Do
Twenty years after it's original release, this debut release from the world's biggest band ever had been issued as a picture disc. First time around it had only reached number 17, but had spent 14 weeks in the top 40. This time around, many expected it to give the Beatles their 18th number one, a feat that would have given them a clear lead over Elvis Presley in the most number ones table. But it failed to do so when it stalled at number four, and spent just six weeks in the top forty. To be honest, I've never thought that this was a very good song anyway, it only seems to consist of eight lines that are repeated over and over again. EMI/Parlaphone/Apple continued to release Beatles singles on picture disc on the 20th anniversary of their original releases, right through to 1970, and there were even a couple of 'new' singles in the mid '90s. But they still haven't captured that 18th number one. They do however hold one record that doesn't look likely to be broken, the feat of having eleven successive number ones between 1963 and 1966. Some are in favour of re-writing the history books to make it look better for modern acts, by no longer crediting the Fab Four with that achievement. Why anyone would want to make Westlife look better is beyond me, but if anyone tries to tell you that the Beatles didn't have eleven successive number ones, just you tell them that they don't know what they're talking about and that "My Bonnie" and "Ain't She Sweet" WERE NOT Beatles records, WERE NOT official releases and WERE NOT promoted by the Beatles.


16   Melba Moore   Love's Comin' At Ya
Here was a sight for sore eyes. Over six years after her debut hit "This Is It", Melba returned to the top Forty. This was quite a good one and peaked at number 15.


17   Piranhas featuring Boring Bob Grover   Zambezi
Piranhas had reached the top ten with "Tom Hark" in 1980, but I doubt that anyone really expected to see them in the chart ever again. But they did it with this cover of a tune that had been a top ten hit for both 'Lou Busch' and 'Eddie Calvert' in 1956. The Piranhas reached number 17 with their version, after which they did disappear for good.


18   Spandau Ballet   Lifeline
After seeming as though they may have been on the way out after two of their previous three singles had failed to go higher than number 30, while the other despite making number ten, was very ordinary, they came back with one of their best ever. This turned out to be the first single pulled from their most successful album 'True', and really should have gone higher than number seven.


19   Blancmange   Living On The Ceiling
On hearing this, I thought "What an amazing single !". After a couple of near misses, Blancmange finally had their first hit and they spent three weeks at number seven. I still think it's a great single now, but my reasons for thinking it was so amazing back then were not good ones. I'd started smoking anything offered to me back in 1980 because 'someone else was doing it, so it seemed a clever thing to do'. After my Grandad dying and then 'Tommy', I turned to harder things and was experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs (Magic Mushrooms in particular). I thought it was fantastic because I didn't have any bad trips on whatever substance I took, and this single just seemed to tie in with the whole experience. I began reading books about drugs such as Timothy Leary's "Politics Of Ecstacy", I wanted to try everything, I would have even taken Heroin had someone offered it to me. I even had a bag of magic mushrooms confiscated by the police officer who'd broken the news to me about my Grandad's death. I ought to have been ashamed of myself. And that's what smoking a little 'weed' now and then led to.
For those that don't know, Magic Mushrooms go out of season when the frost arrives. They were said to be non-addictive, but I craved them. I wanted to go back into happy mushroom land, but I couldn't. That's when depression started to kick in.


20   Sharon Redd   Never Give You Up
What a great disco hit. I can't remember for sure, but I'm almost certain that this was number one in the club charts for quite a few weeks. They can keep their Ibiza stuff while I still have gems like this in my collection. Only number twenty, but so what, the standard was so high in those days anyway.


21   Blue Zoo   Cry Boy Cry
This sole hit for Blue Zoo peaked at number 13 and was a typical 1982 single. There's nothing more that can be said about this song.


22   Pretenders   Back On The Chain Gang
Oddly, this was the only single that the Pretenders released in 1982. It was a good one, but only reached number 17.


23   Diana Ross   Muscles
This single marked the end of Diana's run of early '80s success. It peaked at number 15 and was written by Michael Jackson. It was apparently about his pet snake. But as it seemed to be some kind of love song, maybe further questions should be asked about Michael's behaviour :-0


24   Wham   Young Guns (Go For It)
The first hit for Wham contained lyrics that seemed to be preaching the direct opposite to the 'monogamy' attitude that George Michael would later adopt. Whatever anyone's feelings on that, it was still a catchy song and gave them a deserved number three hit.


25   John Cougar   Jack And Diane
Excellent single that made it to the top in the US. Over here it only made number 25, but was still his biggest hit. Simply Red somehow managed to combine it with "The Air That I Breathe" to have a top ten hit in 1998.John next hit the UK top 40 in 1994 with "Wild Night". This was despite his release of a tremendous single (Paper In Fire) and album (Lonesome Jubilee) in 1987.


26   Bauhaus   Ziggy Stardust
Sounded just like Bowie's original and so it's hard to knock it really. It reached number 15 and only spent five weeks in the top forty.


27   Raw Silk   Do It To The Music
Peaked at number 18 and had an eight week chart run. As the title suggests it was a disco track, and if my memory isn't failing me, it was a disco chart number one.


28   Ultravox   Reap The Wild Wind
Great comeback for Ultravox after almost a year away. This was the first of the quartet of singles to be lifted from the album erm "Quartet". The video featured Aeroplanes and the construction of a giant version of the symbol that appeared on the album sleeve.


29   Donna Summer   State Of Independence
There are many who believe this is an inferior cover to the original by Jon And Vangelis that had failed to chart in 1981. I bought the album 'Friends of Mr Cairo' containing the original and yes, it's very good. But for me, it just doesn't have the punch of Donna's version which included the 'All Star Choir" at the end. Of course I can't use chart positions to suggest that Donna's version was in fact superior, as Donna was always going to have more chance of airplay than Jon and Vangelis. It still didn't become the massive hit it deserved to be as it peaked at number fourteen. But, in the spring of 1996 a remixed version of the track peaked one place higher at number 13 (I know, I know, a number 13 in 1996 was no big deal).


30   Chicago   Hard To Say I'm Sorry
Six years after the magnificent "If You Leave Me Now", they were back in the UK charts with something almost as good. They reached number four with this one and I like it a lot, despite it reminding me of dark nights and dark times in general.
Az Yet hada top ten hit with their cover in 1997 and Peter Cetera decided that it was a good idea for him to help them out.


31   Animals   House Of The Rising Sun
Originally a number one single in 1964, and a number 25 hit in 1972, here it was again thanks to a re-entry of the 1972 re-issue on RAK. It reached number eleven this time around.


32   Duran Duran   Rio
The final single from Duran Duran's best ever album could only reach just inside the top ten peaking at number nine. Considering the success of it's parent album, it's hardly surprising that the title track didn't repeat the success of the previous two singles. No matter what the chart positions tell us, this single was still one of the stand out tracks of the decade.


33   Supertramp   It's Raining Again
Supertramp's first hit in over three years and was also their last. It boasted a very entertaining video but could only reach a peak of number 26 during it's nine week top forty run.


34   Musical Youth   Pass The Dutchie
In the week ending 2nd October 1982, Musical Youth took the third biggest leap to number one in chart history when "Pass The Dutchie" climbed from 26 to the top (the record for biggest leap to the top had been set just three months previous by 'Captain Sensible'). They spent three weeks at the top with it, and I can't really say that I ever liked it.


35   Abba   The Day Before You Came
One of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life. "I must have done this, I must have done that", " I must have had my dinner watching something on tv, there's not I think a single episode of Dallas that I didn't see" !!!!!!!!!
And the lyrics were that bad all of the way through. It's a pity that Abba's career should have petered out in this way. When it peaked at number 32, It was their first single not to make the top thirty since "I DO I Do I Do I Do I Do" in the summer of 1975.


36   Imagination   In The Heat Of The Night
Good track, but maybe a little too much like "Body Talk". This reached number 22 and their top twenty days were over.


37   Clash   Should I Stay Or Should I Go/ Straight To Hell
At the time "Straight To Hell" seemed to be the one favoured by the BBC and was usually the track played on the top 40 show. I liked that one, but preferred "SISOSIG". It reached number 17, which was a little lower than I felt it deserved, but the Clash never had top ten hits anyway, so it wasn't that surprising. Out of 16 top 75 hits, only four had made the top twenty.
Nine years later "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" was re-issued after appearing in a jeans commercial. It took just two weeks to hit number one where it stood for two weeks. These days, I prefer "Straight To Hell", maybe it's the over exposure.


38   Renee And Renato   Save Your Love
The favourites for the Christmas number one this year included 'The Jam', 'Culture Club', 'David Bowie and Bing Crosby', 'Madness', 'Human League', while the red hot favourite was 'Shakin' Stevens'. But like so many other years, a completely unknown act came along with what is usually described as a 'novelty record' and took the honours. In this particular year it was 'Renee And Renato' who managed a four week stay at the top, and although it seemed irritating for a while, it was a really good song that could have been a hit in any decade. Describing it as a 'novelty hit' probably isn't a fair description as it was just the type of song that would have topped the chart before 'Rock And Roll' kicked in. They followed it with "Just One More Kiss" the following February but just failed to secure a second hit. They were never heard of again.


39   Fat Larry's Band   Zoom
This was the only major hit for 'Fat Larry's Band' and it rerached number two. But "Zoom" will forever be known as "Tommy's Song" to me.
Tommy (real name Mark) had been one of the bike gang and had been with us on all of those trips during the summer. He often used to get words mixed up and say things that didn't make much sense, and we often laughed at him. But he never took offence, he would laugh with us. He didn't live in Ruabon, and was from a village named Rhostyllen three miles away, but even though most of us hadn't known him for more than a couple of years, we felt that we'd always known him.
As mentioned elsewhere, My Grandad had died suddenly on August Bank Holiday holiday, and I had to identify his body. That ended my summer and I didn't go anywhere but work for the following six weeks. Then one Saturday afternoon, I decided that enough was enough, I was going to go out and see my mates that night, got to get myself back into circulation. That afternoon I went for a ride into town and even popped into the Kawasaki centre to see if the gang were there, as they often were on Saturday afternoons, but they weren't. On the way home I had to pass Tommy's house, and as I approached I could see him about to get onto his bike. He saw me approaching and tried to wave me down. I was freezing cold and so slowed down and shouted "See you in the Legion, I'm coming out tonight". He replied with something along the lines of "Ok see you tonight". I don't remember his exact words, and I feel guilty about that, but not as guilty as I later felt about not stopping for a chat.
I got home had a bath, got myself something to eat (my Dad was away and I was fending for myself as I did most weekends at that time), Watched a little TV, probably "Noel Edmond's Late Breakfast Show", and then went out of the door. For no reason that I can remember, I decided to go into the Vaults before going to the Legion. As I first entered a couple of people told me that they had been sorry to hear about my Grandad, and I made my way to the bar. Just after being served a friend of quite a few years that I hadn't seen much of since I'd bought my bike, came over. His first words were "Have you heard about Tommy ?". I replied "What, I saw him this afternoon ?". "He's Dead !"
As I later learnt, he had gone into town to a shop called "Two Wheelers" just after I'd seen him, but on his way home a car had pulled out in front of him, just yards from his home. This had happened just 20 minutes after I'd spoken to him.
I left my drink and rushed to the Legion. I will never forget the look on people's faces, all sat there in the usual seats except for the one person who would never be there again. The girls were crying, the boys were fighting it. The girls were putting soppy songs on the jukebox, and this one was in heavy rotation. I learnt that during the previous few weeks, Tommy had often sang along to this while others laughed at him. But I had missed all of that.
The funeral was the biggest I had ever been to. We all clubbed together to buy a wreath in the shape of a motorbike (my idea), and his helmet was placed on top of the coffin for the church service. Over 70 bikes followed the procession from the church to the crematorium, and we all removed our helmets as we rode into the grounds.
The events of that week were what Roger Waters would have described as "Another Brick In The Wall". That is, they were part of the process that led to the events of the following year, ultimately leading me to becoming the person that I now am. Part of growing up ?
No, it's much more than that.
And what has this got to do with music ?
A lot. I connect most events in my life with music, it may even be the music that keeps so many of these events clear in my mind.


40   Julio Iglesias   Amor
I quite liked this one, very catchy. But it did remind me of something I would expect to hear on the Benny Hill show as he did one of those sketches where every one would walk a little faster than normal. It reached number 32.




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.


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