My April 1986 Charts

1st April 1986

It’s a first week on top for the brilliant E=MC2, presiding over a rapid-moving upper-chart and sluggish lower-end. George Michael rockets up to 8 with his gorgeously touching A Different Corner, as 50’s oldie Peter Gunn gives Duane Eddy an updated 80’s top 10, his first since 1975, while Sam Cooke gets his first top 10 with the Jeans-advert oldie, and still definitive version of the much-covered song.

Stevie Wonder is Overjoyed at just missing the top 10, and Queen are magic at 13, with Stevie Nicks making it 2 top 20’s in a row. Heart get that elusive top 40 at last, as Bryan Adams adds to his, and Atlantic Starr leap up. Highest new entry is a Shellshocked New Order, as Tom Waits gruffly enters in the neighbourhood, trombones blazing. Jim Diamond extends his run to 4 years since PhD topped the chart, a-ha get a third, Bronski Beat a 5th-ish, Julian Lennon a 4th (or so), and Jermaine Jackson a 6th or 7th or 8th solo (I can’t be arsed to look it up) but a whole plethora of Jackson 5 tracks on top of that.

1 ( 8 ) E=MC2 Big Audio Dynamite
2 ( 1 ) CALLING AMERICA Electric Light Orchestra
3 ( 3 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING (REMIX) The Real Thing
4 ( 6 ) ROCK ME AMADEUS Falco
5 ( 5 ) LIVIN’ DOLL Cliff Richard & The Young Ones
6 ( 2 ) DIGGING YOUR SCENE The Blow Monkeys
7 ( 4 ) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush
8 ( 62 ) A DIFFERENT CORNER George Michael
9 ( 22 ) PETER GUNN Art Of Noise & Duane Eddy
10 ( 23 ) WONDERFUL WORLD Sam Cooke

11 ( 26 ) OVERJOYED Stevie Wonder
12 ( 9 ) LOVE COMES QUICKLY Pet Shop Boys
13 ( 38 ) A KIND OF MAGIC Queen
14 ( 16 ) ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS David Bowie
15 ( 11 ) MOVE AWAY Culture Club
16 ( 12 ) KYRIE Mr. Mister
17 ( 18 ) KISS Prince & The Revolution
18 ( 7 ) LOVE MISSILE F1-11 Sigue Sigue Sputnik
19 ( 21 ) TALK TO ME Stevie Nicks
20 ( 10 ) CHAIN REACTION Diana Ross

21 ( 17 ) CELEBRATE YOUTH Rick Springfield
22 ( 30 ) THEME FROM NEW YORK NEW YORK Frank Sinatra
23 ( 29 ) TOUCH ME Samantha Fox
24 ( 14 ) SILENT RUNNING Mike + The Mechanics
25 ( 15 ) HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL Tavares
26 ( 20 ) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-ha
27 ( 19 ) THE HONEY THIEF Hipsway
28 ( 28 ) CANDYMAN Siouxsie & The Banshees
29 ( 36 ) NO-ONE IS TO BLAME Howard Jones
30 ( 25 ) EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD Tears For Fears

31 ( 13 ) ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART The Mint Juleps
32 ( 32 ) LIVE IT UP Mental As Anything
33 ( 24 ) MANIC MONDAY The Bangles
34 ( 40 ) DARE TO DREAM Viola Wills
35 ( 35 ) SOME PEOPLE Belouis Some
36 ( 27 ) ANOTHER NIGHT Aretha Franklin
37 ( 45 ) THESE DREAMS Heart
38 ( 31 ) SYSTEM ADDICT Five Star
39 ( 42 ) THIS TIME Bryan Adams
40 ( 66 ) SECRET LOVERS Atlantic Starr

41 ( 41 ) JUST BUGGIN’ Whistle
42 ( 33 ) VOICES Russ Ballard
43 ( 64 ) IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH Bryan Ferry
44 ( 44 ) BEHIND THE MASK Greg Philinganes
45 ( 34 ) LOVE IS WAR Brilliant
46 ( 39 ) ELOISE The Damned
47 ( NEW ) SHELLSHOCK New Order
48 ( 43 ) HARLEM SHUFFLE The Rolling Stones
49 ( 50 ) MARLENE ON THE WALL Suzanne Vega
50 ( 37 ) ROCK ME TONIGHT Freddie Jackson

51 ( 49 ) WEST END GIRLS Pet Shop Boys
52 ( 55 ) THE LAST KISS David Cassidy
53 ( 46 ) ONE DANCE WON’T DO Audrey Hall
54 ( 75 ) HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE The Style Council
55 ( 51 ) YOU’VE GOT THE POWER Win
56 ( 48 ) JUST THE WAY YOU ARE/ SHE’S ALWAYS A WOMAN Billy Joel
57 ( 59 ) WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER The Beatles
58 ( 58 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
59 ( NEW ) IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Tom Waits
60 ( 60 ) WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH GET GOING Billy Ocean

61 ( 52 ) POWER OF LOVE/ DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE Huey Lewis & The News
62 ( 70 ) CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Lick The Tins
63 ( 57 ) DON’T WASTE MY TIME Paul Hardcastle
64 ( 61 ) THE CAPTAIN OF HER HEART Double
65 ( 68 ) COME HELL OR WATERS HIGH Dee C. Lee
66 ( NEW ) HI HO SILVER Jim Diamond
67 ( NEW ) HELLO DARLING Tippa Irie
68 ( NEW ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT a-ha
69 ( 71 ) UNDER A RAGING MOON Roger Daltrey
70 ( 69 ) I’M YOUR MAN Wham!

71 ( 74 ) BORDERLINE Madonna
72 ( 63 ) IT’S ALRIGHT (BABY’S COMING BACK) Eurythmics
73 ( NEW ) C’MON C’MON Bronski Beat
74 ( NEW ) STICK AROUND Julian Lennon
75 ( NEW ) DO YOU REMEMBER ME Jermaine Jackson

1st April Playlist Oldies

1 TEENAGE DREAM T.Rex
2 I CAN’T WAIT Stevie Nicks
3 HE’S GONNA STEP ON YOU AGAIN John Kongos

 

8th April 1986

It’s an utter gem on top as George takes his greatest track to the top for a second solo chart-topper, and a 4th in total (unless you count his contribution to David Cassidy’s The Last Kiss, in which case 5th). It’s a fab top 40, with Queen up to 5 for 12 years of top 5’s, and Bowie’s fab Absolute Beginners gives him 14 years of top 10’s, and 5 years since both of them topped my chart together. The Style Council make it 3 years of top 20’s as Have You Ever Had It Blue whoops up the chart 39 spots, and Sam Fox inexplicably makes my top 20.

It’s Immaterial have the highest new entry with the fab Driving Away From Home in at 21, and the fab Wax debut at 24 with the cruelly-flopped Right Between The Eyes. It’s a terrific pop track with impeccable credentials, being as it’s a joint Andrew Gold & Graham Gouldman effort. That’ll be 9 years since Lonely Boy for Andrew, and 20 pre-chart years since teenage Graham wrote a bunch of 60’s classics like Bus Stop, or 14 years since 10CC debuted with chart-topper Donna.

New Order and a-ha both are a bit shellshocked at riding the train into the top 30, and Bryan Ferry cruises smoothly in to boot, also 14 years on since he first did it. Spirit of 72! Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were already making great smooth, classy dance tracks, and this week they underlined they were the sound of the mid-80’s dance soul with Janet Jackson debuting with one of theirs, and the SOS Band returning with another cheek to cheek at 36 and 35 proving they The Finest.

Lower down another reggae stalwart debut from Maxi Priest, always smooth n tuneful, a nice soul tune I’d forgotten from Lonnie Hill, a great Simple Minds stormer, and a very Jim Steinman-ish Bonnie Tyler effort. That’ll be because he produced it. If it sounds like Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name (which it totes does) that’ll be because Desmond Child rewrote for them after he wasn’t happy with the original song. Kerching!

Oldies faves of the week, my all-time fave Baker Street, the fab Rod Argent song from late 1971 when I first heard it on Fluff Freeman’s Pick Of The Pops, and the South African tribal gem from John Kongos of the same time – influenced his sons if no-one else, happily, check out the good recent KONGOS singles.

1 ( 8 ) A DIFFERENT CORNER George Michael
2 ( 1 ) E=MC2 Big Audio Dynamite
3 ( 2 ) CALLING AMERICA Electric Light Orchestra
4 ( 4 ) ROCK ME AMADEUS Falco
5 ( 13 ) A KIND OF MAGIC Queen
6 ( 6 ) DIGGING YOUR SCENE The Blow Monkeys
7 ( 10 ) WONDERFUL WORLD Sam Cooke
8 ( 3 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING (REMIX) The Real Thing
9 ( 9 ) PETER GUNN Art Of Noise & Duane Eddy
10 ( 14 ) ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS David Bowie

11 ( 11 ) OVERJOYED Stevie Wonder
12 ( 19 ) TALK TO ME Stevie Nicks
13 ( 12 ) LOVE COMES QUICKLY Pet Shop Boys
14 ( 7 ) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush
15 ( 54 ) HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE The Style Council
16 ( 17 ) KISS Prince & The Revolution
17 ( 5 ) LIVING DOLL Cliff Richard & The Young Ones
18 ( 23 ) TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) Samantha Fox
19 ( 15 ) MOVE AWAY Culture Club
20 ( 20 ) CHAIN REACTION Diana Ross

21 ( NEW ) DRIVING AWAY FROM HOME It’s Immaterial
22 ( 35 ) SOME PEOPLE Belouis Some
23 ( 16 ) KYRIE Mr. Mister
24 ( NEW ) RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES Wax
25 ( 47 ) SHELLSHOCK New Order
26 ( 68 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT a-ha
27 ( 18 ) LOVE MISSILE F1-11 Sigue Sigue Sputnik
28 ( 43 ) IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH Bryan Ferry
29 ( 34 ) DARE TO DREAM Viola Wills
30 ( 37 ) THESE DREAMS Heart

31 ( 26 ) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-ha
32 ( 25 ) HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL Tavares
33 ( 24 ) SILENT RUNNING Mike + The Mechanics
34 ( 40 ) SECRET LOVERS Atlantic Starr
35 ( NEW ) THE FINEST SOS Band
36 ( NEW ) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY Janet Jackson
37 ( 22 ) THEME FROM NEW YORK NEW YORK Frank Sinatra
38 ( 49 ) MARLENE ON THE WALL Suzanne Vega
39 ( 30 ) EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD Tears For Fears
40 ( 33 ) MANIC MONDAY The Bangles

41 ( 21 ) CELEBRATE YOUTH Rick Springfield
42 ( 61 ) POWER OF LOVE/ DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE Huey Lewis & The News
43 ( 27 ) THE HONEY THIEF Hipsway
44 ( 38 ) SYSTEM ADDICT Five Star
45 ( 29 ) NO-ONE IS TO BLAME Howard Jones
46 ( 28 ) CANDYMAN Siouxsie & The Banshees
47 ( 62 ) CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Lick The Tins
48 ( NEW ) STROLLIN’ ON Maxi Priest
49 ( 66 ) HI HO SILVER Jim Diamond
50 ( 36 ) ANOTHER NIGHT Aretha Franklin

51 ( 31 ) ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART The Mint Juleps
52 ( 32 ) LIVE IT UP Mental As Anything
53 ( 52 ) THE LAST KISS David Cassidy
54 ( 51 ) WEST END GIRLS Pet Shop Boys
55 ( 44 ) BEHIND THE MASK Greg Philinganes
56 ( 74 ) STICK AROUND Julian Lennon
57 ( 42 ) VOICES Russ Ballard
58 ( 45 ) LOVE IS WAR Brilliant
59 ( 67 ) HELLO DARLING Tippa Irie
60 ( 46 ) ELOISE The Damned

61 ( 41 ) JUST BUGGIN’ Whistle
62 ( 57 ) WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER The Beatles
63 ( 58 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
64 ( 48 ) HARLEM SHUFFLE The Rolling Stones
65 ( 39 ) THIS TIME Bryan Adams
66 ( NEW ) GALVESTON BAY Lonnie Hill
67 ( 59 ) IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Tom Waits
68 ( 73 ) C’MON C’MON Bronski Beat
69 ( 56 ) JUST THE WAY YOU ARE/ SHE’S ALWAYS A WOMAN Billy Joel
70 ( 53 ) ONE DANCE WON’T DO Audrey Hall

71 ( NEW ) LOOK AWAY Big Country
72 ( NEW ) ALL THE THE THINGS SHE SAID Simple Minds
73 ( 60 ) WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH GET GOING Billy Ocean
74 ( NEW ) IF YOU WERE A WOMAN (AND I WAS A MAN) Bonnie Tyler
75 ( 55 ) YOU’VE GOT THE POWER Win

Playlist Oldies Of The Week
1 BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty
2 HOLD YOUR HEAD UP Argent
3 TOKOLOSHE MAN John Kongos

 

15th April 1986

It’s a second week on top for George Michael as Falco and Queen move closer, It’s Immaterial get a fab top 10 worthy slot and Stevie Nicks gets her first solo top 10, though she had already been there before with Dreams, Gypsy and Sara amongst her many classic Mac tracks. Janet Jackson almost makes it a Jam & Lewis top 10, as do Andrew Gold & Graham Gouldman waxing lyrical.

Simple Minds rocket into the 20, up 54 places, while the highest new entry is Five Star’s Can’t Wait Another Minute at 28. Bonnie Tyler takes future Bon Jovi smash You Give Love A Bad Name If You Were A Woman into the 40, and Tavares get a decade-old belated new entry with It Only Takes A Minute, never a hit because I never got to hear it first-time round – though it did top my chart in the violin-riff-led version by Jonathan King working under an alias (100 Ton & A Feather) in 1976. Talking of JK, much of the chart was pushed by his No Limits show, and guess what – he’s also back in the pseudonym game covering It’s All In The Game in at 45, giving him 16 years-worth of chart action. Or 21 years if I had been charting in 1965 with kiddie fave Everyone’s Gone To The Moon.

In at 48, it’s another charity effort, a metal band get-together featuring stars like Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Check out the video, I guarantee you will never see a greater show of permed hair in your life in a music video, it’s the Olympic Event of 80’s hairdressing. Icehouse are back, with the fab No Promises – such an under-rated band – as is Sheila E with her latest Prince record, A Love Bizarre. Pretty much a Prince duet and joint songwriting credit. ZZ Top are back with their most touching track, and a fab scifi video, and Billy Ocean adds to his 12 years of hits with one of his most mundane singles. That leaves Gary Glitter and Girlschool, a cover of his 1973 top 10 (in my charts) – I can’t imagine what attracted Gary to want to duet with a band called Girlschool, but I’d suggest sticking to the original or preferably playing the HeadSchool duet Please Don’t Touch instead..

1 ( 1 ) A DIFFERENT CORNER George Michael
2 ( 2 ) E=MC2 Big Audio Dynamite
3 ( 4 ) ROCK ME AMADEUS Falco
4 ( 5 ) A KIND OF MAGIC Queen
5 ( 3 ) CALLING AMERICA Electric Light Orchestra
6 ( 9 ) PETER GUNN Art Of Noise & Duane Eddy
7 ( 7 ) WONDERFUL WORLD Sam Cooke
8 ( 21 ) DRIVING AWAY FROM HOME It’s Immaterial
9 ( 12 ) TALK TO ME Stevie Nicks
10 ( 6 ) DIGGING YOUR SCENE The Blow Monkeys

11 ( 36 ) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY Janet Jackson
12 ( 24 ) RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES Wax
13 ( 8 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING (REMIX) The Real Thing
14 ( 15 ) HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE The Style Council
15 ( 10 ) ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS David Bowie
16 ( 11 ) OVERJOYED Stevie Wonder
17 ( 13 ) LOVE COMES QUICKLY Pet Shop Boys
18 ( 72 ) ALL THE THE THINGS SHE SAID Simple Minds
19 ( 26 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT a-ha
20 ( 14 ) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush

21 ( 35 ) THE FINEST SOS Band
22 ( 22 ) SOME PEOPLE Belouis Some
23 ( 16 ) KISS Prince & The Revolution
24 ( 28 ) IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH Bryan Ferry
25 ( 25 ) SHELLSHOCK New Order
26 ( 38 ) MARLENE ON THE WALL Suzanne Vega
27 ( 19 ) MOVE AWAY Culture Club
28 ( NEW ) CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE Five Star
29 ( 20 ) CHAIN REACTION Diana Ross
30 ( 18 ) TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) Samantha Fox

31 ( 17 ) LIVING DOLL Cliff Richard & The Young Ones
32 ( 47 ) CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Lick The Tins
33 ( 27 ) LOVE MISSILE F1-11 Sigue Sigue Sputnik
34 ( 34 ) SECRET LOVERS Atlantic Starr
35 ( 74 ) IF YOU WERE A WOMAN (AND I WAS A MAN) Bonnie Tyler
36 ( 31 ) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-ha
37 ( NEW ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE Tavares
38 ( 23 ) KYRIE Mr. Mister
39 ( 48 ) STROLLIN’ ON Maxi Priest
40 ( 32 ) HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL Tavares

41 ( 39 ) EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD Tears For Fears
42 ( 29 ) DARE TO DREAM Viola Wills
43 ( 33 ) SILENT RUNNING Mike + The Mechanics
44 ( 40 ) MANIC MONDAY The Bangles
45 ( NEW ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Man (aka Jonathan King)
46 ( 44 ) SYSTEM ADDICT Five Star
47 ( 30 ) THESE DREAMS Heart
48 ( NEW ) STARS Hear ‘n’ Aid
49 ( 37 ) THEME FROM NEW YORK NEW YORK Frank Sinatra
50 ( 59 ) HELLO DARLING Tippa Irie

51 ( 45 ) NO-ONE IS TO BLAME Howard Jones
52 ( 43 ) THE HONEY THIEF Hipsway
53 ( 53 ) THE LAST KISS David Cassidy
54 ( 54 ) WEST END GIRLS Pet Shop Boys
55 ( 49 ) HI HO SILVER Jim Diamond
56 ( 71 ) LOOK AWAY Big Country
57 ( 41 ) CELEBRATE YOUTH Rick Springfield
58 ( 68 ) C’MON C’MON Bronski Beat
59 ( 55 ) BEHIND THE MASK Greg Philinganes
60 ( 50 ) ANOTHER NIGHT Aretha Franklin

61 ( 58 ) LOVE IS WAR Brilliant
62 ( 57 ) VOICES Russ Ballard
63 ( 62 ) WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER The Beatles
64 ( 63 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
65 ( 42 ) POWER OF LOVE/ DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE Huey Lewis & The News
66 ( NEW ) NO PROMISES Icehouse
67 ( 46 ) CANDYMAN Siouxsie & The Banshees
68 ( 60 ) ELOISE The Damned
69 ( NEW ) A LOVE BIZARRE Sheila E
70 ( 52 ) LIVE IT UP Mental As Anything

71 ( 51 ) ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART The Mint Juleps
72 ( NEW ) I’M THE LEADER OF THE GANG Gary Glitter & Girlschool
73 ( 66 ) GALVESTON BAY Lonnie Hill
74 ( NEW ) ROUGH BOY ZZ Top
75 ( NEW ) THERE’LL BE SAD SONGS Billy Ocean

PLAYLIST OLDIES OF THE WEEK

1 EMMA Hot Chocolate
2 I CAN’T WAIT Stevie Nicks
3 GET IT ON T.Rex

 

22nd April 1986

It’s an otherwise hectic chart as George grabs a 3rd week on top, chased suddenly by a 1967 classic released as a single in the USA in 1968 and topped the UK chart in 1969. I Heard It Through The Grapevine made my top 5 that year but never got as high as 2 – with this jeans advert classic replacing the same company’s Sam Cooke track in the top 10. Levi 501’s I think. Everyone was wearing them. I know I was. Nick Kamen getting his kit off in the laundrette was enough for no-one to realise that the songs used were tatty soundalikes, not the originals.

Janet Jackson gets a first top 5, one of many, and Simple Minds keep their hot streak going with another top 10, and Five Star snatch a second in a row. New at 26, Madonna’s low-key debut single off the forthcoming True Blue album is the highest new song, Live To Tell being far and away her best ballad to date, what with being classy and all rather than dirge-like. Hear’n’Aid go top 30, which is ironically what several of the metal members now need after decades of ear abuse. The Grange Hill Cast also enter high – in my defence I enjoyed the show, and it was a good cause, and good advice that no-one heeded as the Aceeeeed generation loomed.

Princess gets another newie, Whitney covers George Benson, replacing jazz subtlety with foghorn volume, 9 years since the original made my top 30, and the ever-good OMD keep the initial-for-group-name flag flying with the sweet If You Leave, and PIL join in with Home giving them 8 years of action, and OMD 6 years. The Force MD’s debut with a nice soul number, and INXS storm in with a debut great, What You Need. Michael Hutchence was one of the great frontmen of all-time, and INXS’ funked-up rock anthems were just fab – I saw them in concert only once, in Bournemouth, but my word that man was a star and the band were rock-funking.

John Cougar is also back, with a goodie, albeit a superfluous Mellencamp – his original decision to drop the surname was the right one. Depeche Mode keep the sombre entries going, Fine Young Cannibals keep The Beat flag flying, and The Bangles get a 3rd top 75. Surprisingly, one of the lower debuts is for an absolute belting classic with a famous video – Sledgehammer, and Peter Gabriel peaking after 9 years of chart action solo, and 12 years including Genesis.

1 ( 1 ) A DIFFERENT CORNER George Michael
2 ( NEW ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
3 ( 2 ) E=MC2 Big Audio Dynamite
4 ( 11 ) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY Janet Jackson
5 ( 8 ) DRIVING AWAY FROM HOME It’s Immaterial
6 ( 3 ) ROCK ME AMADEUS Falco
7 ( 18 ) ALL THE THE THINGS SHE SAID Simple Minds
8 ( 6 ) PETER GUNN Art Of Noise & Duane Eddy
9 ( 4 ) A KIND OF MAGIC Queen
10 ( 28 ) CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE Five Star

11 ( 5 ) CALLING AMERICA Electric Light Orchestra
12 ( 12 ) RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES Wax
13 ( 7 ) WONDERFUL WORLD Sam Cooke
14 ( 26 ) MARLENE ON THE WALL Suzanne Vega
15 ( 10 ) DIGGING YOUR SCENE The Blow Monkeys
16 ( 19 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT a-ha
17 ( 21 ) THE FINEST SOS Band
18 ( 22 ) SOME PEOPLE Belouis Some
19 ( 9 ) TALK TO ME Stevie Nicks
20 ( 13 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING (REMIX) The Real Thing

21 ( 14 ) HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE The Style Council
22 ( 17 ) LOVE COMES QUICKLY Pet Shop Boys
23 ( 20 ) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush
24 ( 16 ) OVERJOYED Stevie Wonder
25 ( 15 ) ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS David Bowie
26 ( NEW ) LIVE TO TELL Madonna
27 ( 48 ) STARS Hear ‘n’ Aid
28 ( 39 ) STROLLIN’ ON Maxi Priest
29 ( 32 ) CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Lick The Tins
30 ( 74 ) ROUGH BOY ZZ Top

31 ( 23 ) KISS Prince & The Revolution
32 ( 24 ) IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH Bryan Ferry
33 ( 35 ) IF YOU WERE A WOMAN (AND I WAS A MAN) Bonnie Tyler
34 ( 45 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Man (aka Jonathan King)
35 ( 37 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE Tavares
36 ( NEW ) JUST SAY NO Grange Hill Cast
37 ( 25 ) SHELLSHOCK New Order
38 ( NEW ) THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL Whitney Houston
39 ( 29 ) CHAIN REACTION Diana Ross
40 ( 27 ) MOVE AWAY Culture Club

41 ( 41 ) EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD Tears For Fears
42 ( 33 ) LOVE MISSILE F1-11 Sigue Sigue Sputnik
43 ( 36 ) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-ha
44 ( NEW ) I’LL KEEP ON LOVING YOU Princess
45 ( NEW ) IF YOU LEAVE OMD
46 ( 40 ) HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL Tavares
47 ( NEW ) TENDER LOVE Force MD’s
48 ( 30 ) TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) Samantha Fox
49 ( NEW ) WHAT YOU NEED INXS
50 ( 46 ) SYSTEM ADDICT Five Star

51 ( 56 ) LOOK AWAY Big Country
52 ( 43 ) SILENT RUNNING Mike + The Mechanics
53 ( 53 ) THE LAST KISS David Cassidy
54 ( 54 ) WEST END GIRLS Pet Shop Boys
55 ( 38 ) KYRIE Mr. Mister
56 ( NEW ) R.O.C.K. IN THE USA John Cougar Mellencamp
57 ( 44 ) MANIC MONDAY The Bangles
58 ( 69 ) A LOVE BIZARRE Sheila E
59 ( NEW ) HOME PIL
60 ( 31 ) LIVING DOLL Cliff Richard & The Young Ones

61 ( 66 ) NO PROMISES Icehouse
62 ( NEW ) A QUESTION OF LUST Depeche Mode
63 ( 42 ) DARE TO DREAM Viola Wills
64 ( 34 ) SECRET LOVERS Atlantic Starr
65 ( NEW ) SLEDGEHAMMER Peter Gabriel
66 ( 63 ) WE CAN WORK IT OUT/ DAY TRIPPER The Beatles
67 ( 64 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
68 ( 58 ) C’MON C’MON Bronski Beat
69 ( NEW ) THIS IS LOVE Gary Numan
70 ( 75 ) THERE’LL BE SAD SONGS Billy Ocean

71 ( 59 ) BEHIND THE MASK Greg Philinganes
72 ( 57 ) CELEBRATE YOUTH Rick Springfield
73 ( 49 ) THEME FROM NEW YORK NEW YORK Frank Sinatra
74 ( NEW ) FUNNY HOW LOVE IS Fine Young Cannibals
75 ( NEW ) IF SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WANTS The Bangles

Oldies
1 THE POWER OF LOVE Jennifer Rush
2 SUNSHINE The Archies
3 THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles

 

29th April 1986

It’s a first week on top, making it over 17 years from debut to topping the chart, a new record for Marvin Gaye. Simple Minds get a second top 3, Wax get a first top 10 as a duo, or rather Andrew Gold gets one 9 years after his first, and Graham Gouldman 14 years after his first. The Big Sky bangs right in at 9, giving Kate 4 in a row off The Hounds Of Love album, and 8 years of ’em. a-ha get a 3rd top 10 in a row.

Whitney outdoes George Benson’s original in chart performance as she hits the 20, Maxi Priest gets a first top 20, and Shalamar return A Night To Remember 4 years on from the first time it hit my top 10. From here-on the chart gets mega-volatile as last-week’s deluge of new entries climb, while a deluge of 20 enter this week, meaning loads of tracks plummet, including classics. OMD go top 30 in a big climb, ditto PIL, and Icehouse, as Peter Gabriel swoops into the 40. Newies include Blancmange extending their run to 4 years, The Cure re-doing a great oldie that didn’t hit, as Boys Don’t Cry joins Rough Boys and Bad Boys – the latter giving Miami Sound Machine, or Gloria Estefan as they essentially were by this stage, another chart hit ahead of her actual solo launch. One and the same, same vocalist, same husband writer-producer, same success.

ELO are seriously back for a last time for a few decades (at least with Jeff Lynne), Fuzzbox debut with a longer band name and more of an indie vibe, Elaine Page gets another Chess musical song in my chart, so that’s Benny & Bjorn of Abba making it two – Swedish protogee’s Gemini enter with Just Like That, the 1982 Abba song that was never released in a finished form (though it did top my chart a decade later when a shortened version was released). Ted Chippington amusingly talks a Beatles classic into a laidback entry, Jean-Michel Jarre is another Spirit of 1977 to return, since his debut Oxygene Part VI peaked at 2. Only another 40 years to wait to top my chart (with Cyndi Lauper)…

Patti Labelle has dropped the girls of Lady Marmalade, and the shiny spacesuits, now opting 11 years on for a smooth soul duet with Michael MacDonald, now Doobie-less, and On My Own is just beautifully sad and beautifully sung by both. Annabella covers Peggy Lee’s Fever a decade ahead of Madonna, Doctor & The Medics sneak in with a camp soundalike cover of Spirit In The Sky, 16 years on from the classic Norman Greenbaum, Level 42 start the great period rolling with Lessons In Love, Van Halen are David Lee Roth-less, and a bit toothless for me, and Limahl manages to drag another chart entry out 3 years on from Kajaverygoogooey acrimoniously splitting. Kaja who?

1 ( 2 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
2 ( 1 ) A DIFFERENT CORNER George Michael
3 ( 7 ) ALL THE THE THINGS SHE SAID Simple Minds
4 ( 4 ) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY Janet Jackson
5 ( 3 ) E=MC2 Big Audio Dynamite
6 ( 6 ) ROCK ME AMADEUS Falco
7 ( 12 ) RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES Wax
8 ( 10 ) CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE Five Star
9 ( NEW ) THE BIG SKY Kate Bush
10 ( 16 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT a-ha

11 ( 5 ) DRIVING AWAY FROM HOME It’s Immaterial
12 ( 14 ) MARLENE ON THE WALL Suzanne Vega
13 ( 8 ) PETER GUNN Art Of Noise & Duane Eddy
14 ( 9 ) A KIND OF MAGIC Queen
15 ( 27 ) STARS Hear ‘n’ Aid
16 ( 38 ) THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL Whitney Houston
17 ( 17 ) THE FINEST SOS Band
18 ( 28 ) STROLLIN’ ON Maxi Priest
19 ( NEW ) A NIGHT TO REMEMBER Shalamar
20 ( 11 ) CALLING AMERICA Electric Light Orchestra

21 ( 13 ) WONDERFUL WORLD Sam Cooke
22 ( 45 ) IF YOU LEAVE OMD
23 ( 26 ) LIVE TO TELL Madonna
24 ( 61 ) NO PROMISES Icehouse
25 ( NEW ) I CAN SEE IT Blancmange
26 ( 30 ) ROUGH BOY ZZ Top
27 ( 36 ) JUST SAY NO Grange Hill Cast
28 ( 15 ) DIGGING YOUR SCENE The Blow Monkeys
29 ( 59 ) HOME PIL
30 ( NEW ) BOYS DON’T CRY The Cure

31 ( 20 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING (REMIX) The Real Thing
32 ( 18 ) SOME PEOPLE Belouis Some
33 ( NEW ) BAD BOY Miami Sound Machine
34 ( 49 ) WHAT YOU NEED INXS
35 ( 23 ) HOUNDS OF LOVE Kate Bush
36 ( 19 ) TALK TO ME Stevie Nicks
37 ( 47 ) TENDER LOVE Force MD’s
38 ( NEW ) SO SERIOUS Electric Light Orchestra
39 ( 65 ) SLEDGEHAMMER Peter Gabriel
40 ( 44 ) I’LL KEEP ON LOVING YOU Princess

41 ( 34 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Man (aka Jonathan King)
42 ( 22 ) LOVE COMES QUICKLY Pet Shop Boys
43 ( 41 ) EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD Tears For Fears
44 ( 31 ) KISS Prince & The Revolution
45 ( 25 ) ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS David Bowie
46 ( NEW ) SWEETEST THING Gene Loves Jezebel
47 ( 21 ) HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE The Style Council
48 ( NEW ) XX SEX We’ve Got A Fuzzbox & We’re Gonna Use It
49 ( 62 ) A QUESTION OF LUST Depeche Mode
50 ( 24 ) OVERJOYED Stevie Wonder

51 ( 29 ) CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE Lick The Tins
52 ( NEW ) NOBODY’S SIDE Elaine Page
53 ( 43 ) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-ha
54 ( 56 ) R.O.C.K. IN THE USA John Cougar Mellencamp
55 ( 39 ) CHAIN REACTION Diana Ross
56 ( NEW ) RENDEZVOUS Jean-Michel Jarre
57 ( 42 ) LOVE MISSILE F1-11 Sigue Sigue Sputnik
58 ( 58 ) A LOVE BIZARRE Sheila E
59 ( 46 ) HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL Tavares
60 ( NEW ) GODSTAR Psychic TV

61 ( 40 ) MOVE AWAY Culture Club
62 ( NEW ) SHE LOVES YOU Ted Chippington
63 ( NEW ) ON MY OWN Patti Labelle & Michael MacDonald
64 ( 53 ) THE LAST KISS David Cassidy
65 ( 54 ) WEST END GIRLS Pet Shop Boys
66 ( 32 ) IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH Bryan Ferry
67 ( NEW ) FEVER Annabella
68 ( 69 ) THIS IS LOVE Gary Numan
69 ( NEW ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Doctor & The Medics
70 ( 33 ) IF YOU WERE A WOMAN (AND I WAS A MAN) Bonnie Tyler

71 ( NEW ) LESSONS IN LOVE Level 42
72 ( NEW ) WHY CAN’T THIS BE LOVE Van Halen
73 ( NEW ) JUST LIKE THAT Gemini
74 ( NEW ) MASUKA DAN The Flaming Mussolinis
75 ( NEW ) LOVE IN YOUR EYES Limahl

FAVE OLDIES OF THE WEEK
1 YOU SEND ME Sam Cooke
2 (I’LL NEVER BE) MARIA MAGDALENA Sandra
3 SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue

My 1975 Charts – March

gloucester and Toby’s bookshop

buzzjack youtube 1975 links

4th March 1975

6th and final week for Helen Reddy’s Angie Baby on top, but who will topple her – Wigan’s Chosen Few play footsie at 2, Shirley says Shame Shame Shame at only going up to 3, and there are 2 big new entries: Gloria Gaynor follows up her big number one with a cover of a Motown classic in at 4, the Four Tops Reach Out I’ll Be There, and it’s a thumping frantic disco anthem, for me the best version apart from the original. At 5, it’s a long-missing 50’s guitar instrumental legend, Duane Eddy, who gets some help from a chorus of girl Rebelettes to twang along in the 70’s: Play Me Like Your Guitar is great, though not as great as his old classics like Peter Gunn, Rebel Rouser and Because They’re Young. Close thing, though.

Bowie goes top 20 with his funky Young Americans, ditto Supertramp and Moments and Whatnauts, while in at 26 it’s a 60’s Northern Soul-inspired hit for Gary Lewis And The Playboys, My Heart’s Symphony. They had a whole run of big US hits, and were notable for Gary being the son of comedian Jerry Lewis, and being pretty good pop, especially the fab This Diamond Ring, which was never a UK hit (like almost their entire career). The strings on this one add a bit of 60’s pop interest and I still love it, should have been bigger. Meanwhile Hamilton Bohannon smoothly funks his way to 28, the Average White Band do the same at 29, and Sweet return with their first self-written hit Fox On The Run, and it’s pretty good, in at 30! Giving them 4 years of hits, non-stop.

In at 43, it’s Barry Manilow debuting with the OTT Mandy, a cover of the much-better original sitting at 10 for Scott English – Brandy. It just came over as a bland, if mildly pleasant version of a great song, to me at the time. At 44, the Bay City Rollers ditch their songwriters and go it alone – by covering a Four Seasons non-UK-hit, Bye Bye Baby – they do it effectively, and the song wasn’t that well known in the UK, but it was the start of a loooooong list of acts getting much bigger hits than the brilliant Four Seasons originals in the UK – in the USA it was the other way round, for the most part. Which leaves Helen Reddy getting a follow-up entry as she drops off the top, Free And Easy, and Nosmo King and The Javells getting another chart entry (albeit unlikely) at 46. Finally Jim Stafford has a 3rd entry, with Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne – he certainly never was predictable!

1 ( 1 ) ANGIE BABY Helen Reddy
2 ( 3 ) FOOTSIE Wigan’s Chosen Few
3 ( 4 ) SHAME SHAME SHAME Shirley & Company
4 ( NEW ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE Gloria Gaynor
5 ( NEW ) PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR Duane Eddy and The Rebelettes
6 ( 2 ) HITCHIN’ A RIDE ’75 Paper Lace
7 ( 6 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
8 ( 7 ) HEY GIRL DON’T BOTHER ME The Tams
9 ( 8 ) THIS OLD HEART OF MINE The Isley Brothers
10 ( 9 ) BRANDY Scott English

11 ( 11 ) DON’T BE CRUEL Mike Berry
12 ( 5 ) THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP Mud
13 ( 13 ) I CAN DO IT The Rubettes
14 ( 14 ) OUR NATIONAL PASTIME Rupert Holmes
15 ( 24 ) YOUNG AMERICANS David Bowie
16 ( 10 ) THEN I CHANGE HANDS Mick Robertson
17 ( 12 ) MAKE ME SMILE (COME UP AND SEE ME) Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel
18 ( 26 ) DREAMER Supertramp
19 ( 23 ) GIRLS Moments and Whatnauts
20 ( 18 ) #9 DREAM John Lennon

21 ( 20 ) REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE OLD SCHOOL YARD Linda Lewis
22 ( 36 ) SNOOKEROO Ringo Starr
23 ( 17 ) PLEASE MR POSTMAN The Carpenters
24 ( 16 ) YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY Ohio Express
25 ( 15 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
26 ( NEW ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY Gary Lewis And The Playboys
27 ( 27 ) I’M ON MY WAY Dean Parrish
28 ( 44 ) SOUTH AFRICAN MAN Hamilton Bohannon
29 ( 43 ) PICK UP THE PIECES The Average White Band
30 ( NEW ) FOX ON THE RUN Sweet

31 ( 19 ) THE QUEEN OF 1964 Neil Sedaka
32 ( 33 ) GAMES UP Hello
33 ( 21 ) I’LL TAKE A MELODY The Hues Corporation
34 ( 22 ) I’M HER FOOL Billy Swan
35 ( 25 ) IT MAY BE WINTER OUTSIDE (BUT IN MY HEART IT’S SPRING) Love Unlimited
36 ( 30 ) BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN Stevie Wonder
37 ( 28 ) YOUR KISS IS SWEET Syreeta
38 ( 29 ) GET DANCIN’ Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
39 ( 46 ) DOWN DOWN Status Quo
40 ( 45 ) LOVE IS ALL Roger Glover and Guests (featuring Ronnie Dio)

41 ( 31 ) SHOORAH SHOORAH Betty Wright
42 ( 32 ) ROLL ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY Bachman-Turner Overdrive
43 ( NEW ) MANDY Barry Manilow
44 ( NEW ) BYE BYE BABY The Bay City Rollers
45 ( NEW ) FREE AND EASY Helen Reddy
46 ( NEW ) LOVIN’ YOU IS EASY Nosmo King and The Javells
47 ( 40 ) LEGO SKANGA Rupie Edwards
48 ( 41 ) MY LAST NIGHT WITH YOU Arrows
49 ( 42 ) DOCTOR LOVE The Pearls
50 ( NEW ) YOUR BULLDOG DRINKS CHAMPAGNE Jim Stafford

11th March 1975

Gloria Gaynor gets her 2nd chart-topper in a row, Reach Out I’ll Be There getting there in 2 weeks flat, and a new disco queen arrives. Not me, no. It’s all about Gloria’s vocal, the fab percussion, the backing singers and especially the heavy drumbeat on the chorus. Excited me no end at the time, and still does. Shooting up to 2, Supertramp’s best record Dreamer, it still sounds fresh, urgent and original, well beyond the normal single format. Duane Eddy has a veteran top 3 hit when few from the 50’s were still going, bar the odd Cliff and Elvis. Bowie gets his first top 10 since Sorrow, and his 7th to date, while The Rubettes get a 3rd, cos they can do it. The Rollers rocket up to 12, rather unexpectedly, as my early love for the Rollers in 1971-73 was well on the turn to annoyance what with all the screaming pre-teen girls all over the place, and Gary Lewis gets a 9-years-late top 20 hit.

It’s all about the 19 new entries though, as the music scene hits overdrive and my chart has an almost 40% clearout. 19 is a new record, and is headed by an old-fashioned Eurovision-styled boy-girl singalong, and it’s fab – There’s A Whole Lot Of Loving is schmaltzy, overdoses on the backing singers and strings, and has a killer chorus…yes it’s a real guilty pleasure! The group had TV host Bruce Forsyth’s daughter in it, not to mention Thereza Bazar and David Van Day, future hit duo Dollar. Talking of Eurovision, Radio Luxembourg was busy plugging Geraldine’s English-language version (You) of her French-language entry, Toi, and here it is at 28, making it 4 years in a row that Luxembourg had charted. It’s also one place higher than the UK’s entry, the last one under the system where an established act is chosen to sing 6 songs, then the public vote – and this time Cliff’s backing band, and UK instrumental heroes The Shadows join Duane Eddy on the comeback trail and also get a debut rare vocal hit, Let Me Be The One. It’s not bad at all.

At 30, a dance cover of The Beatles’ George Harrison song Something, from The Miracle Workers, gives it 3 hit versions in 6 years, while a Dutch duo cover of the 60’s childhood fave of mine Swinging On A Star (by Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva, itself a 40’s Bing Crosby cover) enters at 41 for the badly-named Spooky And Sue. An actual 60’s song I liked enters at 47 for The McCoys, Hang On Sloopy, while a 40’s styled gorgeous gentle ballad (and tribute to Fred Astaire) enters at 35 for Don McLean, his first hit in 3 years – Wonderful Baby.

At 32 and 33, two big US hits for two big UK-based stars, and two big UK-flops as they moved to the States and got ignored by UK record-buyers. Idiots. ELO’s Can’t Get It Out Of My Head is a touching emotive ballad, and a singles departure for the band that eventually charted 3 years later on an EP in the UK, while Olivia Newton-John was moving out of country into melodic pop ballads, and one of her best: Have You Never Been Mellow, lovely. At 34 a late glam rock entrant from Shabby Tiger (too late for the UK to chart it, but not in Europe), Slow Down is decent enough, and at 36 The Goodies get a thrid hit with a Funky Gibbon. Yes, well, hmmm, it was catchy for a couple of weeks! David Bowie’s guitarist, the legendary Mick Ronson gets a quirky solo entry at 45, Billy Porter, Alice Cooper gets 3 years of chart entries at 48, Department Of Youth. Also 3 years on, Peter Skellern gets a follow-up entry at 50, the laid-back Hold On To Love, and 2 years on ex-teacher Clifford T. Ward keeps the gentle folk ballads coming, gets a 4th entry with the delightful Jigsaw Girl at 49.

Phew! That leaves just the great new ones, from K.C. And The Sunshine Band, and a third hit (and a 6th song) with Get Down Tonight, as the fabulous funky dance grooves get notched a peg or two, even over chart-topper Queen Of Clubs. The basis of more than one future sampled hit, and still brilliant, and in at 37. Then there’s Elton John, with a Band attached, a new sound of Philadelphia, strings, soul, fabulousness, and a song dedicated to gay tennis player Billie-Jean King, Philadelphia Freedom. In at 42, 4 years of chartdom, and Elton had yet to miss the chart since Rocket Man hit 2, and was followed up by 2 number one’s in Crocodile Rock and Bennie And The Jets in 1972 and 1974. Elton, it should be stressed, was the biggest star in the world at this point and could do no wrong, especially in the USA, and was mightily prolific, 2 albums a year, and singles not necessarily on albums, and album tracks that should have been singles but weren’t. Phew!

1 ( 4 ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE Gloria Gaynor
2 ( 18 ) DREAMER Supertramp
3 ( 5 ) PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR Duane Eddy and The Rebelettes
4 ( 1 ) ANGIE BABY Helen Reddy
5 ( 2 ) FOOTSIE Wigan’s Chosen Few
6 ( 3 ) SHAME SHAME SHAME Shirley & Company
7 ( 15 ) YOUNG AMERICANS David Bowie
8 ( 13 ) I CAN DO IT The Rubettes
9 ( NEW ) THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF LOVING Guys and Dolls
10 ( 11 ) DON’T BE CRUEL Mike Berry

11 ( 6 ) HITCHIN’ A RIDE ’75 Paper Lace
12 ( 44 ) BYE BYE BABY The Bay City Rollers
13 ( 26 ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY Gary Lewis And The Playboys
14 ( 14 ) OUR NATIONAL PASTIME Rupert Holmes
15 ( 19 ) GIRLS Moments and Whatnauts
16 ( 8 ) HEY GIRL DON’T BOTHER ME The Tams
17 ( 9 ) THIS OLD HEART OF MINE The Isley Brothers
18 ( 10 ) BRANDY Scott English
19 ( 20 ) #9 DREAM John Lennon
20 ( 7 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox

21 ( 30 ) FOX ON THE RUN Sweet
22 ( 29 ) PICK UP THE PIECES The Average White Band
23 ( 28 ) SOUTH AFRICAN MAN Hamilton Bohannon
24 ( 22 ) SNOOKEROO Ringo Starr
25 ( 31 ) THE QUEEN OF 1964 Neil Sedaka
26 ( 12 ) THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP Mud
27 ( NEW ) FANCY PANTS Kenny
28 ( NEW ) YOU Geraldine
29 ( NEW ) LET ME BE THE ONE The Shadows
30 ( NEW ) SOMETHING The Miracle Workers

31 ( 32 ) GAMES UP Hello
32 ( NEW ) CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD The Electric Light Orchestra
33 ( NEW ) HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW Olivia Newton-John
34 ( NEW ) SLOW DOWN Shabby Tiger
35 ( NEW ) WONDERFUL BABY Don McLean
36 ( NEW ) FUNKY GIBBON The Goodies
37 ( NEW ) GET DOWN TONIGHT K.C. And The Sunshine Band
38 ( 17 ) MAKE ME SMILE (COME UP AND SEE ME) Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel
39 ( 25 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
40 ( 23 ) PLEASE MR POSTMAN The Carpenters

41 ( NEW ) SWINGING ON A STAR Spooky And Sue
42 ( NEW ) PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM The Elton John Band
43 ( 43 ) MANDY Barry Manilow
44 ( 41 ) SHOORAH SHOORAH Betty Wright
45 ( NEW ) BILLY PORTER Mick Ronson
46 ( NEW ) SWEET MUSIC Showaddywaddy
47 ( NEW ) HANG ON SLOOPY The McCoys
48 ( NEW ) DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH Alice Cooper
49 ( NEW ) JIGSAW GIRL Clifford T. Ward
50 ( NEW ) HOLD ON TO LOVE Peter Skellern

18th March 1975

After the deluge of last week, only 2 new entries and Gloria Gaynor gets 2 weeks reaching out on top. The rest of the chart is busy though, Elton up 40 places to 2 outdoing all his previous singles bar 3, just lovin’ that Philadelphia Freedom. Bowie also does better here than any other chart, hitting 5 with Young Americans – Bowie fans struggled with the new “plastic soul” sound, but not me, loved it. The Sweet get an 11th Top 10 hit, Neil Sedaka stops yo-yo-ing and hits 8 for his annual top 10 hit, now allied with Elton John on his label, and ELO get a 4th top 10.

The 2 Eurovision songs keep pace with each other at 14 and 15, Geraldine still having the edge, while Livvy goes top 20, and Shabby Tiger slow down at 19. New at 44 it’s Polly Brown getting a second solo hit, dialling L for Love, though it’s now 5 years since she debuted with Pickettywich. Finally, at 48, The Hues Corporation have a 4th chart entry with the Love Corporation, diminishing returns but they still sound good.

1 ( 1 ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE Gloria Gaynor
2 ( 42 ) PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM The Elton John Band
3 ( 3 ) PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR Duane Eddy and The Rebelettes
4 ( 2 ) DREAMER Supertramp
5 ( 7 ) YOUNG AMERICANS David Bowie
6 ( 9 ) THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF LOVING Guys and Dolls
7 ( 21 ) FOX ON THE RUN Sweet
8 ( 25 ) THE QUEEN OF 1964 Neil Sedaka
9 ( 32 ) CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD The Electric Light Orchestra
10 ( 4 ) ANGIE BABY Helen Reddy

11 ( 5 ) FOOTSIE Wigan’s Chosen Few
12 ( 6 ) SHAME SHAME SHAME Shirley & Company
13 ( 8 ) I CAN DO IT The Rubettes
14 ( 28 ) YOU Geraldine
15 ( 29 ) LET ME BE THE ONE The Shadows
16 ( 13 ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY Gary Lewis And The Playboys
17 ( 15 ) GIRLS Moments and Whatnauts
18 ( 33 ) HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW Olivia Newton-John
19 ( 34 ) SLOW DOWN Shabby Tiger
20 ( 10 ) DON’T BE CRUEL Mike Berry

21 ( 11 ) HITCHIN’ A RIDE ’75 Paper Lace
22 ( 19 ) #9 DREAM John Lennon
23 ( 37 ) GET DOWN TONIGHT K.C. And The Sunshine Band
24 ( 36 ) FUNKY GIBBON The Goodies
25 ( 12 ) BYE BYE BABY The Bay City Rollers
26 ( 22 ) PICK UP THE PIECES The Average White Band
27 ( 27 ) FANCY PANTS Kenny
28 ( 30 ) SOMETHING The Miracle Workers
29 ( 20 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
30 ( 31 ) GAMES UP Hello

31 ( 16 ) HEY GIRL DON’T BOTHER ME The Tams
32 ( 17 ) THIS OLD HEART OF MINE The Isley Brothers
33 ( 18 ) BRANDY Scott English
34 ( 23 ) SOUTH AFRICAN MAN Hamilton Bohannon
35 ( 35 ) WONDERFUL BABY Don McLean
36 ( 26 ) THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP Mud
37 ( 14 ) OUR NATIONAL PASTIME Rupert Holmes
38 ( 46 ) SWEET MUSIC Showaddywaddy
39 ( 39 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
40 ( 40 ) PLEASE MR POSTMAN The Carpenters

41 ( 41 ) SWINGING ON A STAR Spooky And Sue
42 ( 45 ) BILLY PORTER Mick Ronson
43 ( 50 ) HOLD ON TO LOVE Peter Skellern
44 ( NEW ) DIAL ‘L’ FOR LOVE Polly Brown
45 ( 49 ) JIGSAW GIRL Clifford T. Ward
46 ( 47 ) HANG ON SLOOPY The McCoys
47 ( 24 ) SNOOKEROO Ringo Starr
48 ( NEW ) LOVE CORPORATION The Hues Corporation
49 ( 43 ) MANDY Barry Manilow
50 ( 38 ) MAKE ME SMILE (COME UP AND SEE ME) Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel

In Gloucester days, I was seriously buying every vinyl single I could get afford and find, and every old and new DC comic I could find. I scoured all the record shops (and there were plenty in those days) and newsagents that stocked American comics, and had a weekly Saturday bus ride, or walk of a few miles (to have extra money to spend on them) to do the rounds, especially the second-hand bookstore Toby’s which had stocks of recent DC comics printed with their name on the cover – much cheaper for me and I picked up loads I’d missed. Hooray! We also had a family ride, after some snowfall, to see our Singapore family friends the Wainwrights, after not seeing them for a year or so – I have the trip there fixed in my mind to some of the Radio 1 playlist tracks of the time, so I associate them with crisp snow and sunshine, for instance Fox On The Run and Young Americans, and especially Philadelphia Freedom. Odd the things that stick in the mind sometime. It was great seeing them all again.

25th March 1975 part 1 (Eurovision)

It’s a new number one, but dropping from 6 and completely out of the chart it’s Guys & Dolls with one of the shortest ever chart runs for a record that peaked at 6 – 2 weeks, peak, and out! It’s a guilty pleasure, but one that I got over quickly, until a decent amount of time had passed by (years), and then I loved it again. Anyway, new at 1 it’s Elton, yay! His 3rd number one in 4 years, a brilliant Philly soul record by a white British rock star, joining Bowie in crossing some genre boundaries, and also commenting at the time about his domination on USA radio where his singles just would not leave the chart – he wished they would stop playing them and let them leave the chart, even he was getting fed up of it! This, of course, is now how the whole music business works: overkill, monotony, and dominated by a huge few stars. Elton was also presiding over another chart invasion, though, chock full of good new singles, led by the Eurovision winner, Teach-In, at 10. Ding A Dong! Or Dinge Dong, take your pick. It was an immediate hit with me while I babysat, and my clear favourite, though the chart placing just ahead of the UK and Luxembourg might say otherwise. The Shadows did well, and Geraldine, Toi, so there’s a mini-1975 Eurovision section to enjoy. Or ‘enjoy’! The Netherlands deserved to win though, and they had clearly learnt the Abba lesson and gone uptempo pop. So here the three are…

25th March 1975 (part 2)

Back in March 1975, 25th, and K.C. is up to 3 for his 3rd successive top 3 hit, with one of the great instant instrumental funk intros, do a little dance make a little love, get down tonight! The Sweet hit 4, fox-chasing, and Olivia hits 6 with her biggest ever hit in 4 years, so she must have been feeling pretty mellow about that. The second highest new entry is the record that came 2nd in the Radio 1 All-Time Top 100 singles, as compiled in 1974 – Young Girl won it (and charted all over again) but runner-up was Bobby Goldsboro’s 1968 UK number 2, which was reissued in the UK and hit 2 again, having been 2 on the 100. A case of the 2’s if ever I heard it! The sickly-sweet sentimental tragedy song enters at 14 here. It’s both touching and OTT laughable, depending on mood. It fit in with tragic news of the death of a classmate in a motorbike accident, Martin Milliard, who’d been getting interviews with football clubs. His best mate Davvy was a mate at school, and I was shocked and sad all round for Davvy and Milli’s family. The song came up in group classroom conversation, and Davvy took it’s side, so did I.

In at 16, Jim Gilstrap’s lovely gospel soul shuffler Swing Your Daddy, and in at 17 another Wigan band, Wigan’s Ovation with an actual NEW recording and northern soul cover hit, the Invitations’ Skiing In The Snow. Northern Soul was cool in the working class circles. Lulu’s back with another image change at 26, this time soul funk, one style she was to return to most frequently over the years. The record? Take You Mama For A Ride, and 7 years of hits. Missing for 2 years, and it’s a welcome return for Middle Of The Road, with the flop single Hitchin’ A Ride In The Moonlight, which managed to grab a couple of plays on Radio Luxembourg, and nothing in the UK, but it gives them an 8th bubblegum chart entry for me. I haven’t heard it for decades, and it’s not on itunes, boo!

Ralph McTell’s back at 34 with a forgotten, non-itunes, follow-up El Progresso, not that folky, while Hot Chocolate return with new single Blue Night, in the style of Emma at 48. Pretty good, a flop, no airplay, but it had a B Side you may have heard of, a ditty called You Sexy Thing. Come back in 7 months when it gets flipped, and Blue Night is the B Side. 49, Caston And Majors, a Motown act, and a fantastic record in Child Of Love, fab song, should have been a hit. Finally, at 50, it’s another oldie reissue from the late Jim Croce, one which would have charted in 1972 had my charts allowed non-UK-chart records: Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Big US hit.

1 ( 2 ) PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM The Elton John Band
2 ( 1 ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE Gloria Gaynor
3 ( 23 ) GET DOWN TONIGHT K.C. And The Sunshine Band
4 ( 7 ) FOX ON THE RUN The Sweet
5 ( 3 ) PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR Duane Eddy and The Rebelettes
6 ( 18 ) HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW Olivia Newton-John
7 ( 9 ) CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD The Electric Light Orchestra
8 ( 4 ) DREAMER Supertramp
9 ( 5 ) YOUNG AMERICANS David Bowie
10 ( NEW ) DING A DONG Teach-In

11 ( 15 ) LET ME BE THE ONE The Shadows
12 ( 14 ) YOU Geraldine
13 ( 16 ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY Gary Lewis And The Playboys
14 ( NEW ) HONEY Bobby Goldsboro
15 ( 19 ) SLOW DOWN Shabby Tiger
16 ( NEW ) SWING YOUR DADDY Jim Gilstrap
17 ( NEW ) SKIING IN THE SNOW Wigan’s Ovation
18 ( 10 ) ANGIE BABY Helen Reddy
19 ( 11 ) FOOTSIE Wigan’s Chosen Few
20 ( 12 ) SHAME SHAME SHAME Shirley & Company

21 ( 28 ) SOMETHING The Miracle Workers
22 ( 8 ) THE QUEEN OF 1964 Neil Sedaka
23 ( 27 ) FANCY PANTS Kenny
24 ( 13 ) I CAN DO IT The Rubettes
25 ( 45 ) JIGSAW GIRL Clifford T. Ward
26 ( NEW ) TAKE YOUR MAMA FOR A RIDE Lulu
27 ( NEW ) HITCHIN’ A RIDE IN THE MOONLIGHT Middle Of The Road
28 ( 21 ) HITCHIN’ A RIDE ’75 Paper Lace
29 ( RE ) THEN I CHANGE HANDS Mick Robertson
30 ( 22 ) #9 DREAM John Lennon

31 ( 31 ) HEY GIRL DON’T BOTHER ME The Tams
32 ( 32 ) THIS OLD HEART OF MINE The Isley Brothers
33 ( 33 ) BRANDY Scott English
34 ( NEW ) EL PROGRESSO Ralph McTell
35 ( 43 ) HOLD ON TO LOVE Peter Skellern
36 ( 24 ) FUNKY GIBBON The Goodies
37 ( 35 ) WONDERFUL BABY Don McLean
38 ( 26 ) PICK UP THE PIECES The Average White Band
39 ( 34 ) SOUTH AFRICAN MAN Hamilton Bohannon
40 ( 29 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox

41 ( 39 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
42 ( 40 ) PLEASE MR POSTMAN The Carpenters
43 ( 44 ) DIAL ‘L’ FOR LOVE Polly Brown
44 ( 20 ) DON’T BE CRUEL Mike Berry
45 ( 42 ) BILLY PORTER Mick Ronson
46 ( 41 ) SWINGING ON A STAR Spooky And Sue
47 ( 48 ) LOVE CORPORATION The Hues Corporation
48 ( NEW ) BLUE NIGHT Hot Chocolate
49 ( NEW ) CHILD OF LOVE Caston And Majors
50 ( NEW ) BAD BAD LEROY BROWN Jim Croce