WEEK ENDING 4th FEBRUARY 1984
TOP 40 SINGLES
WEEK ENDING 4th FEBRUARY 1984
TOP 40 SINGLES
Last weeks position in Brackets
1-(-1)----Frankie Goes To Hollywood------------------Relax
2-(10)----Cyndi Lauper----------------------------Girls Just Want
To Have Fun
3-(-3)----Joe Fagin-----------------------That's Living Alright
4-(---)----Queen---------------------------Radio Ga Ga
5-(14)----Matthew Wilder--------------Break My Stride
6-(12)----Fiction Factory----------------Feels Like Heaven
7-(-2)----Paul McCartney---------------Pipes Of Peace
8-(11)----Eurythmics---------------------Here Comes The Rain
Again
9-(17)----Echo And The Bunnymen-----------The Killing Moon
10(-8)----Big Country--------------------Wonderland
11(-5)----Shaky And Bonnie------------A Rockin' Good Way
12(---)----Duran Duran-------------------New Moon On Monday
13(29)----Madonna-----------------------Holiday
14(-6)----John Lennon-------------------Nobody Told Me
15(-9)----China Crisis---------------------Wishful Thinking
16(-4)----Howard Jones------------------What Is Love
17(13)----Gloria Gaynor------------------I Am What I Am
18(---)----Thompson Twins-------------Doctor Doctor
19(-7)----Snowy White-------------------Bird Of Paradise
20(26)----Smiths----------------------------What Difference Does
It Make
21(20)----Simple Minds-------------------Speed Your Love To Me
22(22)----Alarm----------------------------Where Were You Hiding
When The Storm Broke
23(31)----Rick Springfield---------------Human Touch
24(16)----Lionel Richie--------------------Running With The Night
25(---)----Juan Martin--------------------Love Theme From The
Thorn Birds
26(33)----Manhattan Transfer------------Spice Of Life
27(34)----Musical Youth-------------------Sixteen
28(15)----Status Quo------------------------Marguerita Time
29(35)----Thomas Dolby------------------Hyperactive
30(25)----Thompson Twins--------------Hold Me Now
31(19)----Icicle Works---------------------Love Is A Wonderful
Colour
32(24)----Kenny Rogers And Dolly Parton-------------Islands In
The Stream
33(40)----Elbow Bones And The Racketeers-----------A Night In New
York
34(18)----Billy Joel--------------------------Tell Her About It
35(---)----Shannon---------------------------Let The Music Play
36(23)----Kool And The Gang------------Straight Ahead
37(27)----Michael Jackson-----------------Thriller
38(---)----Nik Kershaw----------------------Wouldn't It Be Good
39(36)----Eartha Kitt-------------------------Where Is My Man
40(39)----ABC---------------------------------SOS
1-(-1)----Frankie Goes To Hollywood------------------Relax
Relax had entered the chart in the first week of January at
number 35 after six weeks of bobbing about between 41 and 75. It
had then climbed to number six, then to number two before being
banned by Radio One due to the sexual nature of the lyrics
(That's how I remember it anyway). That gave the single that
extra push (that it probably didn't need anyway) to number one. I
had first heard the song when they performed it on 'The Tube'
around the time it was released (they had performed an earlier
version of the song on the same show some time before), and liked
it straight away. I didn't actually buy it until the week before
it entered the 40, so I proudly hold my hand up as one of the
people responsible for its initial entry into the top 40. It
stayed at number one for five weeks, before falling down the
chart slower than most singles tend to. Seven weeks after it had
been number one, it took a small step back up two places to
number 21 before continuing it's descent. A month later in the
second week of May after falling as far as number 31, it started
to slowly climb back up the chart. A month later it was at number
16 as the long awaited follow up single 'Two Tribes' was
released. It continued to climb and spent two weeks at number two
in it's 27th & 28th weeks in the top 40. It then spent three
weeks at number three before again slowly slipping down until it
finally fell off the chart in the middle of September after 37
weeks. It wasn't the last we would hear of it though. Relax was
reissued and became a number five hit in 1993.
2-(10)----Cyndi Lauper----------------------------Girls Just Want
To Have Fun
Cyndi's first hit had taken just three weeks to reach number two,
but would begin it's descent the following week. What seemed a
very good single at the time, is now a song that can sometimes
seem annoying. But the reason for this is probably that she has
since recorded a lot of much higher quality music. Even though
they performed different styles of music, Cyndi was often
compared to Madonna in those early days, the reason being that
they both arrived on the scene at the same time (they even made
their chart debut in the same week). Even though I like, respect
and admire Madonna, I've always preferred Cyndi and saw her
perform live here in Nottingham four years ago. She's a very good
live performer and has the cutest voice !
3-(-3)----Joe Fagin-----------------------That's Living Alright
YUK !
I liked the TV show 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet', but this song was
another of those singalong songs that many so annoying. Walk into
any pub with a jukebox, and half an hour wouldn't go by without
it being played. It could have been worse though, Jimmy Nail
could have sang it !
4-(---)----Queen---------------------------Radio Ga Ga
When this entered the chart at number four, it was the highest
new entry that Queen had ever achieved. No single by any act had
entered the chart higher than this since September, when
"Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club had entered at number
three before spending six weeks on top. Yet Queen surprisingly
didn't manage to reach number one and had to settle for two weeks
at number two. Some didn't quite get the message of the song (I'm
pretty sure Radio One didn't), and thought the song itself was Ga
Ga. Funny thing is, considering the lyrical content (and the
current state of UK radio, particularly Radio One), a release now
would be much more suitable than it was at the time !
5-(14)----Matthew Wilder--------------Break My Stride
A nice inoffensive pop single from one hit wonder Matthew. He
spent the following week at number four before starting to fall.
Although he failed to have a successful follow-up hit himself, he
did go on to produce for other acts, the most successful probably
being No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom" album.
Thanks to Sarch from Australia for that last piece of
information.
6-(12)----Fiction Factory----------------Feels Like Heaven
Hands up who thought this was Ultravox when they first heard it ?
It was another single that had quickly climbed the chart, but
after this week it also quickly fell. Another pleasant single at
a time when there was a lot of melodic stuff in the chart. As
I've previously mentioned, 1984 was to me the last great year for
music. I'm not condemning all years since (in fact there was
still a lot of great music in 85 + 86, though not up to the
previous standard), and I will concede that even 1998 had it's
(rare) moments, but things never seemed the same particularly
after 'Live Aid' in the summer of 85.
7-(-2)----Paul McCartney---------------Pipes Of Peace
Paul had already had 17 number ones as part of a band (the
Beatles), One chart topper as part of a trio (Wings), and another
number one as half of a duo (with Stevie Wonder). Now he had just
had his first number one as a solo artist with this simple but
very meaningful song. Quite a contrast to his previous solo
single "Tug Of War" (from over a year previous) in both
title and chart positions (Tug had peaked at number 53). Pipes Of
Peace wasn't the first single to be lifted from the album of the
same name though, a duet with his (then) friend Michael Jackson
called "Say Say Say" had been a number two hit. No
further singles were lifted.
8-(11)----Eurythmics---------------------Here Comes The Rain
Again
A very atmospheric single from the Eurythmics gave them their
fifth top ten hit inside a year. It was peaking this week at
number eight, and was the last single from them until the
following November.
9-(17)----Echo And The Bunnymen-----------The Killing Moon
Even though this band had already had four top 40 hits prior to
this one, this was the first that I actually liked. It was more
laid back than their previous work, and was representative of
most of their later work.
10(-8)----Big Country--------------------Wonderland
Amazing that this quite ordinary single from Big Country should
in reaching number eight, be their biggest hit so far despite the
magnificence of "Fields Of Fire", "In A Big
Country" and "Chance". It had entered the chart at
an unusually high position of number 13 before reaching it's peak
the following week.
11(-5)----Shaky And Bonnie------------A Rockin' Good Way
My intolerance towards Shakin Stevens had mellowed with his
previous single "Cry (Cwy) Just A Little Bit", and it
was just as well because I'm a big fan of Bonnie. It isn't a
particularly outstanding single, in fact to me it's as
predictable and cliche ridden as most of Elvis's '50's Rock
singles. But Shaky was no more trying to be Elvis than Oasis are
trying to be the Beatles *lol*. And of course I must respect
everyone else's opinion of Elvis.
12(---)----Duran Duran-------------------New Moon On Monday
What a disappointment. I don't mean the song because I liked it a
lot, I mean it's chart performance. It even had an attention
grabbing video, but after entering at number twelve could only
climb to number nine. It was also criminally left off the audio
and video compilations 'Decade' in 1989.
13(29)----Madonna-----------------------Holiday
After listening to this quite ordinary disco single, I doubt that
anyone could have predicted that Madonna would be the biggest act
of the decade. She managed to climb to number six this time
around, but this wasn't the last we heard of this particular
single. 18 months later Madonna was reaching superstar status,
and while "Into The Groove" was at number one,
"Holiday" re-entered the chart and went all the way to
number two. And yet again it re-entered the chart (but through
being re-issued this time) and went to number five in 1991. In
all this song has spent 21 weeks inside the top 40.
14(-6)----John Lennon-------------------Nobody Told Me
Three years after his death, the tracks left over from the
'Double Fantasy' sessions were released as 'Milk And Honey'. Most
of the tracks were sub-standard, but there were some highlights
most notably this number six peaking single. The lyrics to this
song (particularly the chorus) make it almost seem as though John
had found peace and recorded it from beyond the grave. Maybe he
did, strage things happen in this world.
15(-9)----China Crisis---------------------Wishful Thinking
Another wonderful laid back single from China Crisis. It's always
reminded me of "Your Song" by Sir Elton, but that's
purely because of the "Sat On The Roof" line. But it
does have something else in common with the said Elton single,
they are both beautiful songs. It was the biggest of the band's
five hits and peaked at number nine.
16(-4)----Howard Jones------------------What Is Love
Another beautiful song and the biggest of Howard's ten hits. It
was a slow climber that eventually reached number two and spent
11 weeks in the 40.
17(13)----Gloria Gaynor------------------I Am What I Am
Here was something of a surprise. After more than four years away
Gloria was back in the chart with a song from the musical 'La
Cage Aux Follies'. Gloria reached number 13 and is the only act
to have hit the chart with the song, but many associate the song
with Shirley Bassey instead. Gloria didn't hit the chart again
until 1993 when her song "I Will Survive" reached the
top five again ,albeit with the dreaded 'remix' word attached to
it .
18(---)----Thompson Twins-------------Doctor Doctor
30(25)----Thompson Twins--------------Hold Me Now
The Thompson Twins were big news in 1984. After having a couple
of sizable hits in early 1983, they suddenly became VERY big for
just a few months. 'Hold Me Now' was a classic single that
reached number four spending seven weeks inside the top ten, and
a total of 13 in the top 40. "Doctor Doctor" had
entered this week and was an eventual number three hit.
19(-7)----Snowy White-------------------Bird Of Paradise
Another great single from a great guitarist. Snowy had replaced
Midge Ure in Thin Lizzy in early 1980 and recorded a couple of
albums with them, before going back to work with Pink Floyd with
whom he'd done some previous work . He was now having his first
solo hit with very 'Pink Floydish' guitar playing. He reached a
peak of number six. The only time he ever came close to charting
again was with another great song called "For You" at
the end of 1985.
20(26)----Smiths----------------------------What Difference Does
It Make
I must confess that I hated this song when first released, and I
wouldn't say it was one of my favorites even now. At the time I
hadn't yet got the joke as far as the Smiths were concerned. I
dismissed this as a lyrically challenged song by a band with a
vocalist who droned rather than sang. Still, he must have made
some people happy as it eventually rose to number 12
21(20)----Simple Minds-------------------Speed Your Love To Me
I'd liked this band's output during 1982, but they disappointed
me a lot with their 83/84 music. They'd already hit number 13
with the abysmal "Waterfront", and it looked as though
they would climb even higher with the equally bad "Speed
Your Love To Me" when it entered at number 20. But
thankfully this single then dropped to 21, and then only had one
further week on the chart before dropping out. There was one
further bad single from them before they went away, had a
rethink, then returned with a much better (and more successful)
sound.
22(22)----Alarm----------------------------Where Were You Hiding
When The Storm Broke
A worthy follow up to the "68 Guns" single from just a
few months ago. At this time the Alarm were being compared to the
Clash, but they later developed a sound not too dissimilar to U2.
As they were from the North Wales town of Rhyl, they often did
PAs at Phase One record shop in Wrexham town centre, but I wasn't
lucky enough to catch any of them. This single peaked at number
22, but one final thing - I highly recommend their second album
'Strength'.
23(31)----Rick Springfield---------------Human Touch
Rick's only UK hit was at it's highest position this week. He
made an appearance on Top Of The Pops to promote this single, and
his management expected the teenage girls to fall in love with
him just as their American counterparts had done. But it wasn't
to be, and Rick slipped back into obscurity and acting roles in
dodgy soaps.
24(16)----Lionel Richie--------------------Running With The Night
The second single from the 1983 album that would be the biggest
selling of 1984 'Can't Slow Down'. It couldn't match the number
two peak of "All Night Long", but still managed to make
the top ten position of number nine. Good single.
25(---)----Juan Martin--------------------Love Theme From The
Thorn Birds
I can't even remember how this one goes, but it did make it to
number ten. It was the theme from one of those T.V. mini series
that all the women watch while the men read the newspaper, go to
the pub, or even wash the dishes, anything in fact to avoid it. I
believe Richard Chamberlain was one of the actors involved.
26(33)----Manhattan Transfer------------Spice Of Life
It was nice to see this lot back in the chart after an absence of
almost five years. Once again they were showing how versatile
they can be with another single that resembled none of their
previous hits. It reached number 19 to become their biggest hit
since "Walk In Love" in March 1978.
27(34)----Musical Youth-------------------Sixteen
We were almost rid of this lot. This was the last of their six
hits and was about to peak at number 23. If newspaper reports
were true, 60% of this band were soon afterwards imprisoned for
burglary and similar charges. I wonder if the one with the
unnaturally long arms kept at arms length from the law (sorry,
couldn't resist it).
28(15)----Status Quo------------------------Marguerita Time
The Quo had just had their first top three hit in over three
years with a slightly toned down version of their special brand
of rock. They spent one week of their nine week chart run at
number three.
29(35)----Thomas Dolby------------------Hyperactive
A remarkably original song, and (rather oddly) the only Thomas
Dolby single to break into the top twenty. Just like many of his
other singles it boasted a highly entertaining video, but had to
settle for a number 17 peak. This song is another of those hits
from the past that had the misfortune to be re-mixed in the
'90's. The resicks of this hit number 23 in 1994.
31(19)----Icicle Works---------------------Love Is A Wonderful
Colour
The Memories !!!!
I'd been out around Wrexham town centre on Christmas Eve 1983 and
as getting a taxi home to Ruabon (five miles away) was virtually
impossible without a very long wait, and not really feeling like
the walk (I'd been attacked by a drunk when doing that exactly a
year previous - I know, I know I seem to attract that kind of
trouble), I accepted the offer to stay at the home of a friend
(Chris Hatton) in the Queens Park area of the town. The following
morning I managed to get a taxi home, and Radio One was playing
on the car radio (it wasn't unusual for people past puberty to
listen to Radio One back then). That was the first time I heard
this single, and I'll forever associate it with Christmas Day
1983. It entered the chart a couple of weeks later and soon sped
to number 15. The band were still around for another seven years
or so before Ian McNabb embarked on a fruitless solo career.
Perhaps their biggest claim to fame is that one of DJ Mike Reid's
ex girlfriends claimed in a national newspaper that he enjoyed
listening to their music during 'intimate' moments. She also
revealed quite a few kinky details, but they have nothing at all
to do with the Icicle Works, so I shan't tell you :-)
32(24)----Kenny Rogers And Dolly Parton-------------Islands In
The Stream
Another hit from the pens of the Gibb brothers. This was the last
week of an 11 week run that had seen this single peak at number
seven. Neither of these acts ever had another week in the UK
chart. However the melody of this song was back when Pras Michel
employed it on one of 1998's biggest hits 'Ghetto Superstar'.
33(40)----Elbow Bones And The Racketeers-----------A Night In New
York
A very nice disco (ish) single that was spending the first of
four consecutive weeks at it's peak position of 33. They had no
further hits, but the album wasn't bad.
34(18)----Billy Joel--------------------------Tell Her About It
Billy was having his most successful spell in the UK. Uptown Girl
had been to number one for five weeks. He followed it by
re-releasing the previously flopped 'Tell Her About It' which
went to number four. They were both taken from the wonderful
'Innocent Man' album, which would produce a further three hit
singles.
35(---)----Shannon---------------------------Let The Music Play
A great disco single was giving Shannon her chart debut this very
week. Amazing that such a good single should only reach number
14, but it still managed nine weeks in the chart. Shannon had two
more hits over the next five months, but then nothing was heard
from her (at least chartwise) until she re-appeared in late 1997.
Don't be at all surprised to see "Let The Music Play"
back in the chart very soon, I just hope it isn't re-sicked.
36(23)----Kool And The Gang------------Straight Ahead
The twelfth hit for Kool And The Gang was an improvement on their
last few singles that had started to sound indistinguishable from
each other, and had an eight week chart run that had peaked at
number 15. The follow up 'Joanna' would enter the chart two weeks
later and become their biggest hit.
37(27)----Michael Jackson-----------------Thriller
Everyone knew the song, hell everyone had the song already due to
all of the copies of the 'Thriller' album already sold. But,
being the greedy sod that he is, Michael still made the most
expensive video ever made and released this fifth single from the
album. He was probably hoping for the Christmas number one, but
had to settle for a number ten peak and a 12 week chart residency
38(---)----Nik Kershaw----------------------Wouldn't It Be Good
A great debut hit from Nik with a video that was just as
enjoyable as Mr Jackson's even though it cost considerably less
to produce. It spent three weeks at number four and a total of 11
weeks in the chart. Nik would have a further seven hits over the
next two years.
39(36)----Eartha Kitt-------------------------Where Is My Man
What a long time to wait for a second hit !
Eartha Kitt had her first hit with the number seven peaking
'Under The Bridges Of Paris' in the spring of 1955. Now almost 29
years later she was back with a favorite of the gay disco scene.
Unfortunately for Eartha she could only reach number 36. Still,
she had current beau former Tight Fit frontman Steve Grant's
shoulder to cry on. Eartha waited just five years for her third
hit, a collaboration with Bronski Beat called 'Cha Cha Heels'.
40(39)----ABC---------------------------------SOS
Just twelve months earlier ABC seemed to have a great future
ahead of them. They had already achieved four hit singles (three
of them top ten) and the huge selling 'Lexicon Of Love' album.
But they then took a year off before returning with the Beauty
Stab album. As if the poor quality of the music wasn't enough,
the album cover was adorned by a picture of a bullfighter with a
bull. OK, the title suggests that they didn't approve of this
poor excuse for a sport, but that wasn't immediately apparent to
everyone. Not content with that, the first single from the album
was the awful 'That Was Then But This Is Now' which included that
awful line "Mustn't Complain, Mustn't Grumble, Help Yourself
To Another Piece Of Apple Crumble". How they thought they'd
get away with that I don't know, but their good name was enough
to take it to number 18. They were now following it with the only
really good track on the album, 'SOS'. But the damage to their
good name had already been done and they couldn't proceed beyond
number 39. Over the next three years the best ABC could manage
was the number 26 peak of 'Be Near Me' (despite the beautiful
'Ocean Blue' single in 1986), until they finally returned to the
top twenty with the number 11 hit 'When Smokey Sings' in the
summer of 1987. After that they never went beyond number 31. They
are still recording today and released three very good singles in
1997, but Radio One apparently consider them too melodic to
feature on their playlist, and so they didn't get anywhere near
the top 40.
Here are the other singles that had charted since 12th November
1983 -
A Solid Bond In Your Heart (Style Council #11), Love Of The
Common People (Paul Young #2), That's All (Genesis #16), This
Charming Man (Smiths #25), Let's Stay Together (Tina Turner #6),
Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes #28), Waterfront (Simple Minds #13),
Bark At The Moon (Ozzy Osbourne #21), Thank You For The Music
(Abba #33), Please Don't Fall In Love (Cliff Richard #7), My Oh
My (Slade #2), Rat Rapping (Roland Rat #14), Listen To The Radio
(Tom Robinson #39), Only You (Flying Pickets #1), Move Over
Darling (Tracey Ullman #8), Club Fantastic Megamix (Wham #15),
That's Love That It Is (Blancmange #33), The Way You Are (Tears
For Fears #24), Victims (Culture Club #3), 2000 Miles (Pretenders
#15), Many Rivers To Cross (UB40 #16), Read 'Em And Weep (Barry
Manilow #17), Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade #20), Cold As Christmas
(Elton John #33), What Are We Gonna Ger 'Er Indoors (George Cole
And Dennis Waterman #21), Sweet Surrender (Rod Stewart #23),
Christmas Countdown (Frank Kelly #26), I Can Help (Elvis Presley
#30), Christmas Spectre (Jingle Belles #37), Singalong-A-Santa
Again (Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees #39), King Of Pain
(Police #17), Give Me More Time (Whitesnake #29)
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Email: nige@innotts.co.uk