The U.K. 80s Singles & Albums Chart General Discussion Thread.

I picked up a secondhand vinyl copy of Elton John's The Fox album today. I didn't know anything about it but it was only $5 so I thought I'd give it a shot. Surprise, surprise, I really liked it!

I did a bit of research afterwards. I didn't know that Elton really struggled on the UK charts at the start of the 80s. 'Blue Eyes' (#8) was his only Top 10 single (I'd thought 'Little Jeannie' was a hit everywhere, but it only reached #33 in the UK) and none of his 1980-82 albums (21 at 33, The Fox and Jump Up!) reached the UK Top 10. I knew that Too Low For Zero was a comeback for Elton, but wow, he really needed a hit record in the UK by 1983!

I'm surprised that 'Nobody Wins' wasn't a bigger hit — not only in the UK, but everywhere. I mean, it's hardly in the same league as his classic singles, but it's got that 1981 electronic sound and I really like Elton's vocal.

 

All Elton’s 80s albums have something to offer really. Those early 80s ones like The Fox, Jump Up!, 21 At 33 are some of my favourites by him. Not as overplayed as the Breaking Hearts/Too Low For Zero stuff either.

Nobody Wins is on none of the Elton comps I own. I’m sure given his distaste for flop records he’s made, NW is something he’s totally forgotten about now. Shame. Always liked the “and it’s the innocent who pay when broken dreams get in the way” hook in the chorus.

 

Yes, from Song For Guy until I Guess.... (Blue Eyes aside), Elton was down the dumper here.

Wasn't it said that Blue Eyes was doing really well until he went on TOTP and people realised it was him?

EG.

 

They made the sleeve for The Fox while Don Henley was next door in the kitchen...

EG.

 

And Empty Garden, arguably the high point of Jump Up!, sank like a stone here.

Guess people in the U.K. were over John Lennon’s passing by 1982.

 

One thing I will say for Elton in the 80s, his album artwork was consistently awful throughout the decade. He worked hard at that.

 

I suspect that the laundry is probably dirty.

 

I liked the die-cut Too Low For Zero sleeve.

EG.

 

Cocaine, I suppose, could have a massive detrimental effect on one’s judgment on album covers . . .

 

I know the 70s Elton fans will be horrified by this comment but for me and i do carefully say for me Too Low For Zero is his best ever album.
Just so many classic songs on that album, and the best part is that the non singles are often better than the singles example Crystal was a way better song that Kiss The Bride. Its just a classic 80s album and even if you do not agree with the best ever part i think its his best 80s album for sure.
The stuff that came after only Sad Songs and Passengers came close in the 80s.

 

Did Elton ever have a good album cover?!

(Don't Shoot maybe).

EG.

 

I wonder if 1979's disastrous foray into disco killed Elton's career for a few years? I've never heard Victim of Love but it seems to be universally reviled.

But maybe people in the UK had just lost interest in Elton by the 80s?

 

Captain Fantastic was pretty cool, way before my time but a cool cover.

 

@Talisman954, I'm not a big Elton fan and don't know all his albums but I suspect I'm more of an 80s Elton guy, too. During lockdown I bought Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across The Water and I can say with absolute certainty that I much prefer The Fox, even though I've only listened to it once!

 

I think Sleeping With The Past is his best album of the 80s. Atrocious cover to one side. Great songs and, Sacrifice to one side, not as overplayed as Too Low.

 

I think Jump Up! is a strong contender for Elton's worst album cover. He's striking such an awkward pose and those pointy shoulder pads make him look hunchbacked. The graphics and colour scheme are bloody terrible, too. The whole thing looks so cheap!

 

At least it had a gatefold sleeve though.

 

For some reason i thought that was a 90s album but it was probably 89
Yeah that album also has some amazing music on it, Again some of which never ended up singles.
TLFZ pips it for me, but without question those 2 albums were his best by far of the 80s.

 

It was bigger here in 1990 than 1989.

Debuted at 6 in Sep 89, after Healing Hands missed the Top 40. Sacrifice then also flopped. The album lasted about 9 wks on the chart first time around.

But once the AA-side reissue went to #1, Sleeping re-entered and spent a few weeks at #1, going toe-to-toe with the Three Tenors that summer.

That laid the foundations for The Very Best Of to sell over 2 million copies that Christmas. Only outsold by The Immaculate Collection.

EG.

 

Sacrifice was such a brilliant Elton John single.
I think it’s still his only proper U.K. no 1 single excluding duets, remixes, collaborations etc

 

I personally love the cover for "A Single Man". But then, I love everything about this album, so... I am biased.

 

The whole day dedicated only to Elton John ?
Not while I`m around......



Here is Boogie Box High - an Andros Georgiou project.

Boogie Box High - Wikipedia


Their biggest hit was this:




Reached no.7 in 1987.


Its still somewhat unclear as to how much of a contribution did George make to Jive Talking.

 

David Austin also contributed to the album by singing lead vocal on one of the other singles.

By that time his solo career was already finished without expected results.

After Turn To Gold in june 1984, his second solo single was released in august 1984

 

Deon Estus (original Wham! bassist and frequent G.Michael collaborator) released his solo album Spell in 1989.

The first single was the unforgettable Heaven Help Me



released under the title Deon Estus with George Michael in the US it reached no.5 on the Billboard chart.
In the UK only no.41.

 

I really didn't care much for Wham!, I found some of their hits borderline unbearable and so I struggled with George Michael's solo stuff over the years with only a handful of exceptions. This on the other hand I really liked, reminds me a lot of a fantastic summer. We boomboxed it round our local pool...