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

Siouxsie had the first commercial success...77 or early 78. But Toyah was in the punk film Jubilee, the one with Adam Ant as well I think, from around the same time. Toyah didn't get chart success until 1980. I hadn't really thought of either being influenced by the other, somehow I felt Kate Bush was more akin to Toyah's approach. Maybe because Siouxsie was part of a band.

EG.

 

Yes, poor Roger Morton....Five Star skipped all the success and weirdness and went straight to the family dysfunction.

EG.

 

Pink Floyd review was spot on, dullsville since Syd Barrett went off the rails, and especially so in the 80's. One exception is "Another Brick In The Wall"

 

I loved that Floyd LP...was my first one, and straight on CD too. It felt very grown up to be doing that! Lots of nice synths on that album. Plus the artwork is fantastic. Sadly it was out the same day as Actually, so it was always in the shadows of something else. But I play it a lot. Just as well, since I've got about 4 versions of it (but not the latest boxset).

EG.

 

I actually liked flops. I always loved saying, "That should have been a hit! Are people nuts?" It made me feel... cool... alternative... in with the out-crowd... walkin' on the wild side... And now, the thrill is gone. Or it would be if it still mattered. And I'm rambling... Sorry.

 

Nobody has flops. Nobody even releases proper singles anyway. The albums chart is full of old stuff and compilations.

"It's all gone", as some bloke from Middlesbrough once sang.

EG.

 

Ah, The Boro... I'm very fond of Middlesbrough. Great memories.

 

A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the only Pink Floyd album that I like. All their other albums send me to sleep. 'Learning To Fly' is one of my favourite songs from 1987. I can't believe it flopped everywhere but New Zealand (#10).

 

And for comparison and contrast, the Top 40 within the U.S. "Hot 100" singles chart ( * = charted or would chart in UK; ** = did not chart in UK):

Week Ending 29 September 1984

09 - 02 - 01 - Prince And The Revolution - LET'S GO CRAZY*
15 - 01 - 02 - John Waite - MISSING YOU*
03 - 04 - 03 - The Cars - DRIVE*
11 - 03 - 04 - Cyndi Lauper - SHE BOP*
09 - 03 - 05 - Stevie Wonder - I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU*
20 - 04 - 06 - Tina Turner - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT*
14 - 07 - 07 - Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth - THE WARRIOR*
16 - 08 - 08 - Sheila E. - THE GLAMOROUS LIFE*
11 - 10 - 09 - Bananarama - CRUEL SUMMER*
08 - 11 - 10 - Bruce Springsteen - COVER ME*
11 - 06 - 11 - Huey Lewis And The News - IF THIS IS IT*
09 - 14 - 12 - Chicago - HARD HABIT TO BREAK*
06 - 16 - 13 - Madonna - LUCKY STAR*
12 - 17 - 14 - Night Ranger - WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES**
08 - 22 - 15 - Billy Ocean - CARIBBEAN QUEEN (NO MORE LOVE ON THE RUN)*
11 - 15 - 16 - Jermaine Jackson - DYNAMITE**
02 - 33 - 17 - Jacksons - TORTURE*
15 - 12 - 18 - Lionel Richie - STUCK ON YOU*
16 - 13 - 19 - Ray Parker Jr. - GHOSTBUSTERS*
09 - 25 - 20 - Laura Branigan - THE LUCKY ONE*
10 - 21 - 21 - Twisted Sister - WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT*
09 - 29 - 22 - Pointer Sisters - I'M SO EXCITED*
08 - 26 - 23 - Donna Summer - THERE GOES MY BABY*
07 - 32 - 24 - John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band - ON THE DARK SIDE**
10 - 27 - 25 - Lindsey Buckingham - GO INSANE**
07 - 28 - 26 - The Fixx - ARE WE OURSELVES?**
06 - 31 - 27 - Rod Stewart - SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK*
12 - 18 - 28 - Peter Wolf - LIGHTS OUT**
07 - 33 - 29 - Rick Springfield - BOP 'TIL YOU DROP**
05 - 35 - 30 - Diana Ross - SWEPT AWAY**
19 - 20 - 31 - Corey Hart - SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT**
04 - 36 - 32 - Elton John - WHO WEARS THESE SHOES?*
06 - 37 - 33 - Billy Idol - FLESH FOR FANTASY*
03 - 44 - 34 - David Bowie - BLUE JEAN*
04 - 39 - 35 - Dennis DeYoung - DESERT MOON*
13 - 24 - 36 - Billy Squier - ROCK ME TONITE**
06 - 40 - 37 - Sheena Easton - STRUT**
04 - 49 - 38 - Chaka Khan - I FEEL FOR YOU*
08 - 41 - 39 - Naked Eyes - (WHAT) IN THE NAME OF LOVE**
05 - 42 - 40 - Barry Gibb - SHINE SHINE*

And of course, the crossovers . . .

#1 UK = #5 U.S.
#2 UK = #19 U.S.
#6 UK = #34 U.S.
#30 UK = #17 U.S.
#37 UK = #3 U.S.
(#12 UK = #85 U.S.)
(#24 UK = #97 U.S.)
(#48 UK = #6 U.S.)
(#55 UK = #27 U.S.)
(#65 UK = #33 U.S.)
(#70 UK = #2 U.S.)
(#95 UK = #40 U.S.)
and
(#62 UK = #52 U.S.)
(#99 UK = #63 U.S.)

Other notes:
- Elton John's "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" is at #64.

 

I have quite a few Pink Floyd albums I would prefer over "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", but "On the Turning Away" is one of my favourite songes ever.

 

What an amazing chart. There are only three songs in the Top 20 that I don't love (it shouldn't be hard to guess which ones).

While I think 1982 is the best year for albums (especially for UK acts), 1984 is the greatest year for singles. I'll die on that hill.

A question for those of you in the UK: what precipitated the Sister Sledge revival during 1984? It only seemed to happen in the UK and Ireland and was kickstarted by 'Thinking of You', which was five years old in 1984 but reached #11. Was there any reason behind it?

It's one of my favourite songs of all-time. Just wondrous.

 

With the exception of Stevie Wonder, that's a killer Top 10.

 

I don’t remember why this happened. I could have understood it if Thinking Of You had followed Frankie, but that was year later. Lost In Music also apparently reached #4 in 1984!

 

It did, although it seems to have been a new Nile Rodgers '84 remix.

'Thinking of You' wasn't even released as a single in 1979 (it was the B-side of 'Lost In Music') which makes its 1984 success in the UK even more puzzling. It's an incredible song, but why it was chosen for single release? Maybe it got traction in the London clubs?

 

That was like a pattern for them over a decade. In the summer of '75, they had a top 20 hit with 'Mama Never Told Me', then came the We Are Family singles of 1979 and finally, the 1984-85 period culminating in 'Frankie', a number one hit in the summer of 1985. They continued to appear on UK TV for many years afterwards, though. I stopped listening to radio in 1984, but maybe some DJ picked up on 'Thinking Of You' and played it often enough for it to take off. Terry Wogan, for example, was quite influential in that way. It was down to him that the ten-year-old 'Theme From M*A*S*H' became a number one UK single in the early summer of 1980. He used to plug the TV show Dallas a lot too.

 

Ahhh, radio makes sense. I forgot that back in the 80s, a DJ had the power to make a song a hit!

 

I first discovered them in 1984 when "Castaway" and the Where Do They Go? album was released here; I believe a full 2 years after the Australian release? Then I went back and discovered some of their older stuff such as "Computer Games."

 

They are a pretty under the radar band - a version of which apparently played here in Melbourne just this week. An old friend got in touch to say he went. Only 1 original member but - that’s time for you.

 

And it's more a solo Gilmour album. maybe it's Waters who sends you to sleep!

Have you listened to Piper At The Gates Of Dawn? British Psych at its best (well equal best with Sgt. Pepper)

 

Way unlike in the U.S. where the power lay with station program and music directors and, increasingly as the '80's wore on, consultants. Plus, at the start of the decade, a huge diversity of station ownership, unlike the concentrated situation in the UK with the BBC and the ILR stations.

As for "Theme From 'M*A*S*H'," that version never charted in the States at any time, but in 1970 (when the original film came out), a version by Al De Lory (Glen Campbell's then-producer) did manage to scrape to #70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

 

Disagree with the review of "No More Lonely Nights", one of Paul's few great 80's singles.

 

We'd just gone back to school...well, started secondary school....and I remember having this issue to read at lunchtime...and then all those big climbers in the top 40. The charts had been in a slump for me over the summer, nothing really was capturing my imagination (maybe just post-Two Tribes and Purple Rain fatigue). But you had the return of Bowie, Big Country, U2, Adam Ant, Heaven 17, Depeche etc.

EG.

 

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" is such a crap song from a truly great artist, just a few years removed from the brilliant "Master Blaster"

 

I cannot listen to it. Just abysmal.

EG.

 

Tonight was reviewed in this issue.