1983
Week 20
WEEK ENDING 14TH MAY 1983
TOP 40 SINGLES
| TW | ..... | LW | ...... | ...... | ||
| 1 | 1 | Spandau Ballet | True | |||
| 2 | 3 | Human League | (Keep Feeling) Fascination | |||
| 3 | 8 | Heaven 17 | Temptation | |||
| 4 | 2 | F.R. David | Words | |||
| 5 | 6 | Galaxy | Dancing Tight | |||
| 6 | 5 | Tears For Fears | Pale Shelter | |||
| 7 | 30 | New Edition | Candy Girl | |||
| 8 | 7 | Thompson Twins | We Are Detective | |||
| 9 | 16 | Fun Boy Three | Our Lips Are Sealed | |||
| 10 | 29 | Beat | Can't Get Used To Losing You | |||
| 11 | 4 | Michael Jackson | Beat It | |||
| 12 | 28 | Blancmange | Blind Vision | |||
| 13 | 9 | David Bowie | Let's Dance | |||
| 14 | 11 | Cliff Richard & L.P.O. | True Love Ways | |||
| 15 | 13 | Kids From Fame | Friday Night (Live) | |||
| 16 | 10 | Culture Club | Church Of The Poison Mind | |||
| 17 | 12 | Eurythmics | Love Is A Stranger | |||
| 18 | 17 | New Order | Blue Monday | |||
| 19 | 19 | Kissing The Pink | The Last Film | |||
| 20 | 15 | Toto | Rosanna | |||
| 21 | 26 | Creatures | Miss The Girl | |||
| 22 | 24 | Men At Work | Overkill | |||
| 23 | 14 | Iron Maiden | Flight Of Icarus | |||
| 24 | 35 | Daryl Hall & John Oates | Family Man | |||
| 25 | 18 | Tracey Ullman | Breakaway | |||
| 26 | NEW | Modern Romance | Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm | |||
| 27 | 25 | JoBoxers | Boxerbeat | |||
| 28 | 21 | Sweet Dreams | I'm Never Giving Up | |||
| 29 | 40 | Belle Stars | Sweet Memory | |||
| 30 | 33 | Pink Floyd | Not Now John | |||
| 31 | 20 | Twisted Sister | I Am (I'm Me) | |||
| 32 | NEW | D Train | Music | |||
| 33 | NEW | Bob Marley & The Wailers | Buffalo Soldier | |||
| 34 | 36 | Kiss | Creatures Of The Night | |||
| 35 | NEW | Hot Chocolate | What Kind Of Boy You Looking For (Girl) | |||
| 36 | NEW | David Grant | Stop And Go | |||
| 37 | NEW | Wham | Bad Boys | |||
| 38 | 23 | Sunfire | Young Free And Single | |||
| 39 | 22 | Tracie | The House That Jack Built | |||
| 40 | 27 | Kajagoogoo | Ooh To Be Ah |
| 1 | Spandau Ballet | True |
| They'd
already failed with one ballad "She Loved Like
Diamond", but they were never going to fail with
this one. Out went the silly clothes and in came the
suits for this smoochy ballad, the title track from their
third album. Easily one of the best singles of the
decade, I just wonder why they left it so late to release
it (the third track to be lifted from the album). Had it
been released before Christmas, Renee & Renato would
have been completely forgotten about by now and would not
be featured in various top ten shows. After entering at
the extremely high position of ten, it went straight to
the top where it reigned for four weeks. I bought the 12 inch of this in the week that I was discharged from hospital. I noticed straight away that the words "Pill on my tongue" were printed on the back. I wasn't the only one to notice this. The day after my discharge, Marcia and Richard called and I noticed Marcia pick up the record and point to the words as she showed it to Richard. She told me that the night I'd been taken into hospital, my Dad had gone to her house and asked if she knew what I had taken and what they had said to me. She said that he seemed very upset. Either both of them together or Marcia on her own came to see me quite often over the next few weeks. It was my 21st birthday on the 18th April and Claire came to see me with a card and a bottle of wine. She was going to babysit for a woman named Sue (of all the names !), who lived just around the corner from me, and she asked if I would like to go along. I thanked her for the invitation and said I may do. After a while I decided that I would, and after going to the garden gate, had a good look around to ensure that there was no one around, and then walked around the corner to Sue's as fast as I could without drawing attention to myself should someone be looking out of their window or coming out of the door. We spent a pleasant evening drinking wine and chatting, though she did drop a bombshell by telling me that the following week she would be going to France grapepicking and would be gone for a few months. I was quite distressed by this (though I didn't let it show). Claire was a really good friend, I felt really close to her. Even though Sue was the most important person to me at that time, I felt that Claire was the second most important person in my life, I loved her and used to tell her so (as she did me). I hoped that we'd always be close no matter what happened in our lives, I felt I really needed her to be around. But I couldn't tell her could I ? So, on the following Monday evening, Claire called to say goodbye, and it would be over a year before I next saw her. I then continued my meaningless existence, and the next dramatic event was just a few weeks away. To be continued with 'The Best' - "Can't Get Used To Losing You"-entering week ending 7th May 1983. I realise that some people may come to this page and wonder what the hell has happened and why I'm going through the things that I'm describing. So, I've put all relevant episodes onto one easy to read page here |
| 2 | Human League | (Keep Feeling) Fascination |
| A new single from the Human League was always an event in those days, such was the irregularity of the releases. This was something of a grower and it showed in it's chart performance. After entering at 16, it climbed to four, then to three and then to it's number two peak. But in all, it only spent seven weeks on the top forty, a surprisingly short time for a disc that was standing at two in it's fourth week. And i wonder how many people checked that their turntable was operating correctly after putting it on for the first time. |
| 3 | Heaven 17 | Temptation |
| I thought it was criminal that their previous single "Let Me Go" had not been a top forty hit. But here was where Heaven 17 came into their own, with help from Carol Kenyon of course. One of those truly great singles that could be a hit at any time. Indeed, it's 1992 remix reached number four. This first time around, it displaced rivals Human League at number two and spent ten weeks in the top 40. |
| 4 | FR David | Words |
| One of those Euro crossover hits that I should have found extremely annoying, but instead was just a little indifferent towards. There was another version of it by the Tremeloes that was doing the rounds, but this is the one that hit the top 40, spending two weeks at number two. |
| 5 | Galaxy | Dancing Tight |
| Simple disco song by the Phil Fearon led group that you just couldn't help humming along to. It was never going to change the world, but it was err 'Nice' I suppose.It reached number five and spent nine weeks in the chart. |
| 6 | Tears For Fears | Pale Shelter |
| The
third hit to be taken from the excellent 'The Hurting',
one of my top ten albums of all time. they continued
their trend of peaking one place lower with each hit from
the album, by reaching number five this time around. This
track had previously been issued as a single in March of
1982 when it had failed to chart, and this was a slightly
different version. The original version was re-issued in
1985. Funny how all three of the hit singles taken from this album featured Curt Smith on lead vocals. There were five much better tracks on the album in which Roland Orzabel took the lead. These were, the title track, "Start Of The Breakdown", "Suffer The Children" (a flop single), and two that would feature in my top 100 tracks of all time, the intense pair of songs named "Memories Fade" and "Watch Me Bleed". |
| 7 | New Edition | Candy Girl |
| I thought that it was a nasty little Jackson Five rip off myself. Made number one for a week, they didn't do much else chartwise, but then members of the band were big late in the decade through various other projects (most notably Bobby Brown). They reformed in the mid -90s, but didn't do much over here (despite more huge success in the US). |
| 8 | Thompson Twins | We Are Detective |
| It was a bigger hit than "Love On Your Side" (the Thompson Twins single that it replaced at number forty in it's debut week). It climbed two places higher to number seven. But I always thought that it was vastly inferior. Different though, I suppose. |
| 9 | Fun Boy Three | Our Lips Are Sealed |
| Terry had bowed out of the Specials after their seventh (and best) single, the number one hit "Ghost Town". He was now repeating the trick with the FB3's seventh and best single "Our Lips Are Sealed". Terry co-composed it with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos, and it was they who had a number twenty hit in the States with it. Over here, it was the Fun Boy Three and the B side featured an 'Urdd' version (apparently, that isn't Welsh !). It reached number seven, and Terry wouldn't appear in the top 40 again until 1985. |
| 10 | Beat | Can't Get Used To Losing You |
| After
a couple of years in the wilderness, the Beat were back
with a track taken from their 1980 debut album. It was a
cover of Andy Williams' 1963 number two hit, and to be
honest, it almost sounds as though Andy 'is' singing it.
In reaching number three, it became their biggest and
final top 40 hit. When buying this single from Woolworths, I was very drunk and was escorted to the record counter by a policeman, who then made sure that I left the store and got on a bus back to Ruabon. It was a Thursday morning and I was still on sick leave from work, there was something wrong with my bike and I needed to get to town. So, I tried to get across the road to the bus stop and get a bus to town inconspiciously. But who should also turn up at the bus stop, but John Dodd. Now John was a bit of a rogue, but I'd always got on quite well with him. So, after my initial embarrassment at being 'caught' by someone, it was nice to be actually talking to a friend again. When we got to town, he came with me to cash my cheque and then we went to the pub and got drunk. At some point in the afternoon we used the public toilets near Wrexham's Guild Hall. As we were going down the steps, a big man in leathers carrying a crash helmet was coming up. John apparently said something to him, but I didn't hear it. Nest thing I knew, I was pushed into a cubicle and John got a bit of a smacking. He didn't seem to mind too much anyway. We then began walking up to King Street bus station, but as we passed Woolworths, we saw someone we recognised in there. It was Gary Roberts and a mate of his (think his name was Martin). Doddy told them about what had just happened etc, Gary said that I was stupid for what I had recently done (the suicide attempt). Not really a helpful thing to say to someone who's felt low enough to do that, but on the whole, people are like that aren't they ? Anyway, we were apparently too drunk and too noisy to be in Woolworths, and the police were called. A young policeman came in and asked us to leave the store. I said that I wanted to buy a record first, so he escorted me to the record counter, I bought the Beat single, and he then escorted us to the bus station and put us on a bus (I later learnt that Sue's mother had seen me drunk in town that day). Now, as previously documented, I had become very self consious and had been avoiding people for weeks. But my drunken state gave me some new confidence, so later on I walked up the village to the chip shop. I bumped into Kenny Baker. Kenny was also seen as something of a rogue, but I'd known him since I started school at the age of three, and there had been times when I'd had a lot to do with him and his brother Michael, most notably during the summer of 1978. I had also not shunned him the previous summer when he had been released after serving a few months in a detention centre. Kenny was quite adult in his attitude about what had happened to me. He had actually seen me being taken into the ambulance that night and feared that I was dead. We had a good chat sitting on the seat near the car park. There was a moment when the cheeky son of the Newsagent shouted something to me out of the window. It was something along the lines of "Have you taken your Anaddin today ?". I said nothing, but Kenny shouted a load of abuse at him. I could so easily have come out of my shell from that day onwards. But the next day when I was sober, I was back to my reclusive self. The downward spiral began to gain momentum and this story continues with Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier", which entered the chart in week ending 14th May 1983. I realise that some people may come to this page and wonder what the hell has happened and why I'm going through the things that I'm describing. So, I've put all relevant episodes onto one easy to read page here |
| 11 | Michael Jackson | Beat It |
| Much better single than "Billie Jean" was this glorious effort, even if I did get sick of being told that it featured the guitar of Eddie Van Halen, and the genuine street gangs video was boring by the third time I watched it. It reached number three. |
| 12 | Blancmange | Blind Vision |
| I was never too sure about this one. It wasn't what I expected after only recently buying the 'Happy Families' album. Some may see that as a good thing, but I didn't. I wanted the craziness of "Living On The Ceiling" and "Feel Me", or the moodiness of "Waves". But while this was certainly energetic and had a neat echo effect, it did seem hollow in a way that they didn't intend. The video wasn't easy on the eyes either. It reached number ten. |
| 13 | David Bowie | Let's Dance |
| It
was quite a surprise when this entered the chart at
number five. His four previous solo singles had failed to
reach the top 20. Ok, one of them had been the fourth to
be lifted from the 'Scary Monsters' album and one had
been a five year old album track. But "Baal"
and "Cat People" had been new songs (even if
one had been on a different record label, and the other
had seemed unusual coming from Bowie, but that was
nothing new). He had now turned to the 'Chic organization' for help and it resulted in not only his most commercially successful album in ten years, but also the first Bowie album to produce three top two singles. In fact, very few (if any) albums by anyone could boast such a feat prior to this. This single reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic and revitalized what many thought was a flagging career. I like it, but I didn't think that it was much better than a very ordinary song. Safe ground from someone who normally took risks. |
| 14 | Cliff Richard & The London Philharmonic Orchestra | True Love Ways |
| Good rendition of the old Buddy Holly 1960 minor hit by Cliff. It quickly soared to number eight before descending. |
| 15 | Kids From Fame | Friday Night (Live) |
| Never very keen on this one, though I normally had no problem with Kids From Fame singles. This was released at around the same time that the Kids were over here. If I remember correctly, BBC even broadcast one of their concerts. It reached number 13 and was their last hit. |
| 16 | Culture Club | Church Of The Poison Mind |
| Much
better than both of their number one singles in my
opinion. Helen Terry's screeching being one of the high
points of it. The worst thing about it was the video, now
didn't they all look a sorry state in that Plane and car
? It reached number two. |
| 17 | Eurythmics | Love Is A Stranger |
| I'd
heard and bought this when it was originally released in
November of the previous year. This was thanks to
'Whistle Test' showing the video. At a time when there
was a higher than usual amount of fresh sounding music
around (TFF, Blancmange, Talk Talk), this was one of the
freshest. Strange that Dave and Annie had previously hit
teh chart as members of the Tourists, a band that seemed
to adopt a deliberate '60s sound. But this only made
number 54 on that original release. Now after the success of the inferior "Sweet Dreams", it was re-promoted and became a deserved hit. It even looked a possible chart topper as it shot from it's debut number 23 position to number six. But surprisingly, it then dropped to number seven and then twelve. |
| 18 | New Order | Blue Monday |
| Were
it not for this single, New Order may never have advanced
beyond cult status. I'd liked their previous three
singles, and even bought "Temptation", but
there was nothing there to make me want to go out and buy
an album by them. But then came this one. It sounded very
familiar the first time I heard it, and that can mean one
of two things. Either, it's a cover version or contains
elements from another song, or, it's an extremely good
song that is going to be massive. I've always had a
feeling that both are true of this song, the second one
certainly was. It just so happens to be one of my
favourite ten singles of all time. It climbed to number 12, then come back six months later and reached number nine. Some doing, considering that it was only available on 12 inch single, but it is the biggest selling 12 inch single in the UK ever. It finally got a seven inch release courtesy of a 1988 remix that reached number three. Yet another re-mix reached number 17 in 1995, but neither of the remixes could compare to the original. |
| 19 | Kissing the Pink | Last Film |
| I know very little about this band. But I do know that this was a song I liked a lot. It also had an original sound to it, probably one of the last ever singles to have that. An educated guess would be that they got their name from Snooker commentary, as snooker was very popular and hardly off the TV in the early 80's (if it had been as popular in the '50s and '60s, then my Grandad would have been very famous because he was brilliant, but I didn't like it much). The single spent it's 5th, 6th & 7th week in the chart at it's number 19 peak. But it's 8th week was spent at number 36 and to prove to be the last they ever spent in the top forty. |
| 20 | Toto | Rosanna |
| This
was the big winner at that year's Grammies. It had
originally been released in April 1982, but had failed to
chart here, despite hitting number two in the States.
Following the success of "Africa" it was issued
here as a Grammy shaped disc and reached number 12. It's
subject matter was said to be actress Rosanna Arquette
(so were tracks on Peter Gabriel's 1992 album 'Us'). This is one song that I clearly remember hearing in the early hours of the morning while lying in bed at Wrexham's War Memorial hospital. The other that I remember is Clannad's "I See Red", a really atmospheric piece when heard in those circumstances. I also remember listening to some show about the history of Reggae, but can't remember who hosted it. Once I'd found my bearings after waking up in that bed on Sunday April 10th, I realised that I had a drip connected to me and a machine that made a bleeping sound. Not long after my sister and disgusted mother had left the hospital, the bleep machine was taken away. I had a sore throat, and when I mentioned it to a porter, he said that he wasn't surprised, but on the plus side, I shouldn't get a headache for a while. I felt embarrassed that I recognised the porter as someone from Ruabon who I often used to see in the pub. I think his name was Jimmy. Through the day I was asked lots of questions about what I'd actually taken besides Paracetemol, why I'd done it, all the usual stuff. The man in the next bed was very elderly, and late in the afternoon his family came to visit and the curtains were drawn around the bed. Not long afterwards, he was covered over and taken away. He had died and I thought that if his family had known why I was there, they would hate me. Later in the evening, the drip was disconnected. The needle part of it was left in and a stopper put over the part where the drip had been attached. I was the only patient still awake on the ward as I listened to the radio on headphones. That was when I heard "Rosanna" & "I See Red". The bed was getting damp after a while and I looked at the hand. Then I did see red ! There was blood pouring out from one of the holes in the contraption that didn't have a stopper on it. I thought about saying nothing, after all, it didn't hurt, so bleeding to death didn't seem to be bad a option. I put my arm back under the covers and continued to listen to the radio for 20 minutes or so. But then I realised that someone would get into serious trouble if I did bleed to death because of a Nurse's innocent mistake. That wouldn't have been fair becuase all of the nurses were very nice and I've always liked nurses anyway. So I got out of bed and went to the office where the night nurse was sitting reading a book. Blood was dripping from my hand onto the cold floor as I stood in the doorway and said, "Is blood supposed to be dripping like this ?" She jumped up with a look of horror on her face and said "God No !" She rushed to sort me out and changed all of the bed linen. I then got back into bed and she made us both a cup of tea. She sat on the bed and we chatted for over 90 minutes. I told her what had happened, why I'd done what I had, and she was very sympathetic. She told me that she had recently gone through the breakup of a relationship and she had felt pretty much the same as I had for a while. She was a really nice person and considering what had pushed me to do what I had done, I thought it was strange that I fancied her, almost hoping that I had the nerve to ask her if she'd like to go out sometime. After the second cup of tea, she left so that I could get some sleep, but not before telling me that she had a night off the following night, but would have another chat with me on Tuesday evening. I was looking forward to that, but when she gave me a smile and said "See you tomorrow night" just before 8:00am the next morning, that was the last time I saw her. That morning, I was able to get out of bed and go to the table in the middle of the ward for my meals, so I got talking to the other patients, all quite older than me. They were a friendly bunch and one of them was a smoker and gave me a few cigs in the TV room as I didn't have any until my 'calmed down' Mum arrived. A psychiatrist came to see me that day. She was Egyptian and gorgeous. She asked me the questions that you would expect, "Why did you do it", "How was your childhood", "Have you taken drugs" (yes, I more or less lied about the drug thing, thought I may get in trouble). But I didn't expect her to ask "Do you masturbate ?". Here was this very attractive woman with lovely eyes and great legs asking if I played with myself. I meekly replied "Sometimes" and probably blushed while trying to look anywhere but at her face or legs (fight it, do not get aroused). She asked would I be willing to go and see her at the Maelor Hospital. Of course I said Yes, can you blame me ? That night, I sat in the TV room and the TV film "The Day After" was on. I chatted to my new but short term friends and one in particular (a man in his mid 50's or possibly older) told me that I should never do what I'd done again. I sometimes wonder whether he is still alive. Strange how people go in and out of your life. The next morning a doctor came and said that I could go home. I felt like saying "Do I have to ?". I was quite enjoying being in hospital and was so looking forward to my favourite nurse coming back on duty that night. I even wouldn't have minded if I was still there for my 21st birthday on the 18th. But no, I had to go home. I really didn't want to go back to normality. This story continues with Spandau Ballet's "True" which entered in week ending April 23rd. I realise that some people may come to this page and wonder what the hell has happened and why I'm going through the things that I'm describing. So, I've put all relevant episodes onto one easy to read page here |
| 21 | Creatures | Miss The Girl |
| Different
! It was Siouxsie singing about NOT missing the girl and wrapping her "Around your burning wheel", and Budgie playing a xylaphone. Simple, but quite likeable all the same, number 21. |
| 22 | Men At Work | Overkill |
| Best single they ever released in my opinion. It didn't have the novelty appeal of "Down Under", but seemed a very well written song to me. True that Colin Hay acted strangely in the video again, but maybe he WAS strange and that's all there was to it. The fact that it came in a limited edition shrink wrapped double pack with their US number one single "Who Can It Be Now" (mine are still attached to each other), should have guaranteed another top five hit. But it climbed very slowly, reaching a peak of number 21 in it's 6th chart week. It only had one more week in the top 40 after that. |
| 23 | Iron Maiden | Flight Of Icarus |
| Maiden were producing a high standard of rock music at this time and this was no exception to the rule. Not that I bought it of course, but I liked listening to it, and the video was quite entertaining too. Reached number eleven it it's second week, but only spent a total of five weeks in the forty. |
| 24 | Daryl Hall & John Oates | Family Man |
| A cover of a Mike Oldfield track from the 'Five Miles Out' album. Not a bad cover, but not the best thing that Hall & Oates ever did. It reached number 15 and was the last time that they entered the top twenty. |
| 25 | Tracey Ullman | Breakaway |
| Tracey Ullman had been having a successful career as a comedienne in the shows 'A Kick Up The Eighties' and 'Three Of A Kind', before she decided to try her hand at singing. "Breakaway" was her first hit, and reached number four, and she followed it with five further hits by the end of 1984. She then went back to comedy with the sit com 'Girls On Top'. Unfortunately, she then gave up the UK to star in US sitcoms that I didn't find particularly amusing. |
| 26 | Modern Romance | Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm |
| This is where Modern Romance seemed to parody themselves. But they did it so well that most probably didn't even realise they were doing it. For those people, I'll give it 2 out of 10. For those of us who did get the joke, I'll give it 10 out of 10. Reached number 14. |
| 27 | JoBoxers | Boxerbeat |
| Jo Boxers were having the first of three hits and quickly reached number three. A year later we had all forgotten about them, and I'm still confused as why this was a hit. |
| 28 | Sweet Dreams | I'm Never Giving Up |
| Not the Sweet Dreams that hit the chart with "Honey Honey" in 1974, but there is a loose connection. The 1974 Sweet Dreams (featuring Polly Brown) were covering a song by that year's Eurovision Song Contest winners 'Abba'. This Sweet Dreams were the UK's representatives in the 1983 contest. It was just an average what you would expect sort of thing really, and if I remember correctly, the two women and a man sat on stools for most of the song before getting up and dancing towards the end of the song. It was never going to win and finished sixth in what was quite a weak contest. The winner was the Luxembourg entry by Corrine Hermes titled "Si la Vie Est Cadeu". It got nowhere in our chart and was selling for 20p a copy in Woolies by the beginning of July. This set a trend for Eurovision winners. For the previous three years, the winner had reached the top of the UK chart. In fact, since 1970, only the 1977 winner "The Bird And The Child" by Marie Myriam had failed to reach the top 40 (it stalled at #42). But for ten contests from 1983 onwards only Johnny Logan's 1987 winning song "Hold Me Now" goit inside the top 40. Even in the contests from 1993 onwards, only one winner has made the UK top ten, and that was only because it was a British winning entry from Katrina And The Waves. Even the British entries went through something of a bad time in the UK charts. This single from Sweet Dreams only reached number 21, and it would not be until 1995 when the next British entry made the UK top ten. SAys a lot about the quality of the songs we were entering doesn't it ? |
| 29 | Belle Stars | Sweet Memory |
| Surprisingly, the Belle Stars did not follow up the top three hit "Sign Of The Times" with a track from their very recently released eponymous album. They went for a completely new track, and it was a good one that sounded like another top ten hit to me. But it struggled to a number 22 peak and that was the last time the top 40 featured the Belle Stars. |
| 30 | Pink Floyd | Not Now John |
| It's
parent album 'The Final Cut' was slated by the music
press, and that was the clearest indication yet that I
should ignore the opinions of journalists. I think that
it is an excellent album. Not as good as "The
Wall", Dark Side Of The Moon" or "Wish You
Were Here", but they are the only three albums in
the history of recorded music that I like more than this
one. Indeed two of my top ten albums of all time were
released within a fortnight of each other in the spring
of 1983, this one and Tears For Fears ''The Hurting'. This album was more or less a Roger Waters solo project, and dealt with Roger's Father's death and the futility of war with numerous digs at Maggie Thatcher and the Falklands campaign. Just like 'The Wall' could have been made into a film (a video EP was released a few months after the album's release). The disappointing thing about it was that "When The Tigers Broke Free" was not among it's tracks, as the sleeve to the said single had claimed the previous year. The best choices for single release would have been "The Gunners Dream", "The Hero's Return", the title track or "The Post War Dream". The latter track included the following lyrics, "If it wasn't for the nips, being so good at building ships, the yards would still be open on the Clyde, and it can't be much fun for them beneath the rising sun, with all their kids committing suicide, What have we done Maggie what have we done, What have we done to England" But the least commercial track on the album was lifted for release instead. True that "Not Now John" did feature some extremely sarcastic lyrics in, "F**k all that we've got to get on with these, got to compete with the wily Japanese no need to worry about the Vietnamese got to bring the Russian bear to his knees well maybe not the Russian bear, maybe the Swedes we showed Argentina, now let's go and show these make us feel tough, and wouldn't Maggie be pleased. But it was never going to be the big hit that "Another Brick In The Wall" had been. It only reached number 30 and the name Pink Floyd was then missing from the top 40 until June 1994. And by then, it wasn't Pink Floyd, it was a Rogerless band that just happened to be using the name. |
| 31 | Twisted Sister | I Am (I'm Me) |
| I was well aware of this band for almost a year before they debuted on the UK chart. For a start they had made their live UK debut supporting Motorhead at Wrexham FC's "Racecourse Ground" in 1982. Then they had appeared on the Tube in the previous November performing their rendition of the Rolling Stones' "It's Only Rock And Roll". I think that they were supposed to be some kind of heavy metal band, but to me they always came across as a Glam Rock band. Still, they weren't bad whatever they were supposed to be. This spent two weeks at number 18 amongst it's seven week top 40 residency. But the burning question is, does anyone else think that lead singer Dee Snider body doubled for Christine Aguilera in the "Lady Marmalade" video ? |
| 32 | D Train | Music |
| Not bad, but not as good as "You're The One For Me" (even if there was no mistaking that it was the same band). Reached number 23. |
| 33 | Bob Marley & The Wailers | Buffalo Soldier |
| Old
Marley track that had been discovered in a vault or
something, and one of the best singles ever released
bearing the name 'Marley'. Indeed, it became Bob's
highest charting single when it peaked at number four.
It's chart position wasn't bettered until "Sun Is
Shing" hit number three in the cheap chart of 1999. I remember hearing this on the radio at work while it was charting. Yes, the doctor told me that I should return to work after five weeks on the sick. I found it quite difficult going in that first day because of people knowing why I hadn't been there. But everyone seemed pretty ok with me. I was still based in the Moss Valley as I had since September 1981. But just before I had gone on the sick, the chargehand 'Andre' had been promoted to foreman, and so was now based at the main depot in Acton. A girl I'd known since starting work in 1978, Carol, had taken over as the first female chargehand at Wrexham Council's Parks Department. She had been based in the nurseries for a couple of years before moving to my favourite work location 'Belle Vue Park' circa 1980. I'd always got on with Carol, and it seemed to work out that I was working with her a lot over the next few weeks, so we had many long conversations. We were often working near the boating lake, and sometimes actually 'doing' the boats. We would often go up to the nearby pub 'The Halfway' at lunchtime instead of going back up to the main building where the other's were. But, I didn't tell Carol (or anyone else for that matter), what I was doing when I got home at night. I decided to try the Paracetamol thing again, thinking that I would take them and go to bed, surely I wouldn't be saved if I did that. But I didn't like the taste anymore, they made me feel sick. So I got myself a pint of water and emptied 200 of the tablets into it, and stirred it around until they sort of dissolved. I then drank the lot in one go, but to my horror, it all immediately came straight back up. Next time, I thought gassing myself would be a good idea. We had a gas oven, so I switched the gas full on and put my head in it. After a while, my head began to hurt, it wasn't very comfortable. So I went and got a cushion from the couch, put that in the oven and lay on that. But after a while, the gas just switched off. Apparently it does that for safety reasons. I even tried hanging myself, but the tie I was using ripped. I really wanted to die, but couldn't seem to achieve it. I should have considered a painful way I suppose. I had seen the Egyptian Psychiatrist women a couple of times since leaving hospital, but hadn't told her what I'd been doing. I had my next appointment on June 10th, and that was a crunch appointment. This story continues with 'Police' "Every Breath You Take" which entered in week ending 28th May 1983. I realise that some people may come to this page and wonder what the hell has happened and why I'm going through the things that I'm describing. So, I've put all relevant episodes onto one easy to read page here |
| 34 | Kiss | Creatures Of The Night |
| The first time that Kiss entered the UK top 40, but they were only in it for two weeks, peaking at number 34. They were still four years away from breaking the top thirty. |
| 35 | Hot Chocolate | What Kind Of Boy You Looking For (Girl) |
| It's hard to find fault with Hot Chocolate singles. They tend to be excellent sing-a-long pop songs with which little fault can be found. This one was a case in point. They were never going to change the world with it, but they made it obvious that all they wanted to do was have a good time. Even looking at the title puts the song right back into the mind, and it doesn't want to leave. It reached number ten, their final top ten hit save for re-ssues/re-mixes. |
| 36 | David Grant | Stop And Go |
| Looking like a totally different person, the former chubby lead singer with Linx was back in an extremely slimmed down version with his first solo hit. "Stop And Go" was a below average disco track that grated after a few listens. Made number 19. |
| 37 | Wham | Bad Boys |
| This became Wham's biggest hit to date when reaching number two, but George Michael has since said that it's his least favourite of all his hits. Well, I suppose it was quite a good single for it's time, but lyrically, it was not a patch on their previous two hits. But Wham were by now building up a fanbase among teenage girls, and for that reason, it's actually surprising that it didn't make number one. Had it been released a week sooner, then it probably would have, but it hit number two in the same week that the Police hit number one with "Every Breath You Take". |
| 38 | Sunfire | Young Free And Single |
| Nice except for one thing, it gave Radio One DJ Gary Davies a catchphrase that I wouldn't be surprised he still uses (wherever he is). Nice summery sound that made number twenty and I have every intention of digging out and playing sometime over the next few weeks. The thing is, I was "Young Free And Single" and not very happy about it at the time ! |
| 39 | Tracie | The House That Jack Built |
| She said that WE own the house that Jack built. I can't say that I care really. I found it a really boring single, and were it not for the Paul Weller connection, I don't think that it would have got as high as number nine. The song's composer 'Alan Price' had taken it to number four in 1967. |
| 40 | Kajagoogoo | Ooh To Be Ah |
| Had it not been for the huge success of "Too Shy", I don't think that this single would have charted at all. It wasn't exactly anything above very ordinary. But, Kajagoogoo were big news, they filmed an entertaining video that featured Kenny Everett and a shadow character following Nick Beggs around and a hit it was. But it peaked in only it's second chart week at number seven. They released their debut album "White Feathers" on April 18th, my 21st birthday. |
In the news this week
| The Human League were now said to be patching up their differences with Virgin Music. |
| Saucy Australian band 'The Divinyls' were releasing a single entitled "Science Fiction" and as well as playing two gigs at 'The Marquee', were supporting 'Men At Work' at their 'Lyceum' shows. |
| Other Charts number ones |
| Album
- Spandau Ballet - True Indie singles - New Order - Blue Monday Indie LPs - New Order - Power Corruption And Lies 12" single - Spandau Ballet - True Cassette - Michael Jackson - Thriller Nightclub - Michael Jackson - Beat It Disco - Booker Newberry III - Love Town Boystown Disco - Norma Lewis - Maybe This Time Video - Duran Duran - Duran Duran US singles - Michael Jackson - Beat It US LPs - Michael Jackson - Thriller |
| Some
very low down new entries on the singles chart; 69 - Forrest - Feel The Need In Me 95 - Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train 96 - Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow |
| Some
New Entries on the album chart 4 - New Order - Power Corruption And Lies 9 - Imagination - Night Dubbing 14 - Kids From Fame - Songs 30 - Bill Nelson - Chimera And look what else was in the top 100 3 - David Bowie - Let's Dance 37 - David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust 50 - Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell 59 - Jane Fonda - Workout 64 - David Bowie - PIn Ups 72 - David Bowie - Hunky Dory 73 - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane 76 - David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World 77 - Dire Straits - Makin' Movies 81 - Joni Mitchell - Wild Things Run Fast 84 - Carlos Santana - Havana Moon 87 - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 89 - Jeff Wayne - War Of The Worlds 95 - ZZ Top - Eliminator 97 - David Bowie - Diamond Dogs |
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.
THIS
WEEK IN 1973
THIS
WEEK IN 1974
THIS
WEEK IN 1975
THIS
WEEK IN 1976
THIS
WEEK IN 1977
THIS
WEEK IN 1978
THIS
WEEK IN 1979
THIS
WEEK IN 1980
THIS
WEEK IN 1981
THIS
WEEK IN 1982
THE
REMEMBER WHEN ARCHIVES
GOLDEN
DAYS INDEX
Email: nige@innotts.co.uk
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