Yeah, we're in a groove now. This time, we go to a period where Britain was just over a month away from a war over some islands near Argentina. But while peace still reigned, so did these songs.
40 - "Restless," Gillan
We start with metal, a genre that generally didn't do well on the American singles charts until it popped up, poofed out, and power balladed itself. Britain, however, was a different story, as this unapologetically heavy band fronted by once-and-future Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan hit the top 40 six times in the early 80s. Their last such hit was this tune that I think is about a kid named Jimmy who starts making money but then ignores his friends. I'd put it at about 3/5 on the headbang scale.
39 - "Turn Up the Night," Black Sabbath
More metal, this time from the band who were one of its founding entities. This one features the vocals of the man who replaced Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, the legendary-in-his-own right Ronnie James Dio. Fast, loud stuff about rumbling thunder and lurking evil, with Dio doing his unholy best to sound like a screaming demon. What you'd expect from Sabbath, and definitely a 5 on the headbangometer. Fun fact: Shortly after this, Dio would leave and be replaced for one album by none other than Ian Gillan.
38 - "Being Boiled," The Human League
The Sheffield synth stars released this as their first single in 1978, but it went nowhere. However, after they broke through in '81 with their Dare LP and the #1 "Don't You Want Me," it was re-released and went Top Ten. It's spare, spooky synthpop with lyrics that protest the killing of moths for silk. Not as poppy as the stuff that would make them famous, but there's still enough to attract the ear.
37 - "Queen of the Rapping Scene (Nothing Ever Goes the Way You Plan)," Modern Romance
One of many New Wave bands that had made it in Britain but not far beyond, these guys had nine Top 40s and incorporated different genres into their sound, including salsa and, in this case, rap. The first part of this song is just singing about romantic frustration, but the second his a rhymed exchange between singer Geoff Deane and Bev Page, who is apparently English but raps in an accent that I can't tell whether it's supposed to be German or French. Either way, she's not as good as the title she bestows upon herself. This is all right, but it won't make anyone forget about "Rapture."
36 - "You're the One for Me," D Train
Brooklyn-born James Williams has had a long career as a producer, songrwriter, and backing vocalist, but he's here with one of the three U.K. Top 40s he had with keyboardist Hubert Eaves III. It's love funk that sounds like poor man's Gap Band. It was a #1 dance hit in America. Good for them.
35 - "Showroom Dummies," Kraftwerk
Founded by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1970, this band started out as a traditional pop-rock band before embracing technology and becoming arguably the most influential force in the history of electronic music. This track about mannequins coming to life was first on the 1977 album Trans-Europe Express, but didn't chart in the U.K until five years later. It's the kind of robotic awesomeness you want from these guys.
34 - "Head Over Heels," ABBA
The ABBA run in Britain produced 24 Top 40s, including nine #1s. Hit # 21, from swan song The Visitors, has a synthpop backing track that, at least at first, one might almost mistake for Kraftwerk themselves. The lyrics are about a take-charge lady and the man who stands by her. It's very hooky. Too far buried in their catalogue, in my opinion.
33 - "I Won't Close My Eyes," UB40
Their sixth home hit was this slowed-down, traditional reggae track that advocated continuing to stand for justice in the world in the face of never-ending resistance. Even though these guys would start watering things down more and more starting about a decade into their career, back in the day, they were the real deal.
32 - "Get Down on It," Kool and the Gang
Robert Bell and co. backtrack a little to the funk that made their name after starting their slide into slickness. It would make me get my back up off the wall.
31 - "The Land of Make Believe," Bucks Fizz
Named after a cocktail of champagne and orange juice, this two-man, two-woman vocal group was formed to challenge to represent Britain at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. They won that right, and then the contest itself, with the song "Making Your Mind Up." It went to #1, and they would pick up twelve more Top 40s and two more #1s. The second of the latter was this bouncy pop number about imagination that namechecks Superman, Captain Kidd, outlaws, circuses, and for some reason "the corn in Carolina." I liked it much better than I thought I would. They hit the same sweet spot that I have for ABBA.
30 - "Some Guys Have All the Luck," Robert Palmer
Palmer's second hit at home is and isn't the same song originally recorded by The Persuaders in 1973 and covered by Rod Stewart in 1984. The chorus has the same melody, but the lyrics and the verses are very different. There's a lot more innuendo in this take. I like it. It's funky and sexy.
29 - "Stars on Stevie," Starsound
This is Stars on 45, but Starsound is the name they went by in the U.K. It's the Stevie Wonder medley we encountered in America. Unnecessary, but listening to it brought me to the revelation that Stevie is the one artist I would pay arena concert prices to see. What a catalogue.
28 - "Cardiac Arrest," Madness
The ska-poppers from Camden Town are only known for "Our House" in the USA, but at home they are an institiution that has scored 29 Top 40 hits since 1979. This one's about a guy whose stressing out about whether the bus will get him to work on time results in him having a fatal heart attack. Apparently, the BBC decided to limit its airplay because of deaths in the families of two of their DJs, and this is why it became only the second (of ten to date) of their singles not to reach the Top Ten. Can't judge that decision one way or the other, but the song is great as a vivid three-minute snapshot of the end of a man's life.
27 - "Landslide," Olivia Newton-John
This third single from Physical missed the Top 40 in America, but didn't in Britain. Advantage: U.K. It's a fast dance track about falling in love that I like much better than the album's monster title track. There's even vocoder on it, and it works.
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26 - "Easier Said Than Done," Shakatak
The first of six Top 40s for these London jazz-poppers was this groove about a hard-to-let-go relationship. It's like Chic lite, but in a charming way. And despite their name, this wasn't what Marge Simpson told son Bart to watch out for when she played basketball with him. She warned him that she was no Harvey Globetrotter. If you made sense out of those last two sentences, I love you.
25 - "Theme from Hill Street Blues," Mike Post and Larry Carlton
The scene-setter from the groundbreaking 80s cop show. And "Let's be careful out there" remains good advice.
24 - "Drowning in Berlin," The Mobiles
The only hit by these New Wavers from Eastbourne was this dramatic semi-waltz that seems to be about something horrible that happened in Germany. There's carousel music in it for some reason. It sounds like it could be from some futuristic reboot of Cabaret. A very cool discovery, and weird enough to get an Uneasy Rider.
23 - "Go Wild in the Country," Bow Wow Wow
After all the attention and controversy of his previous creation The Sex Pistols, impresario Malcolm McLaren formed a band with three former members of Adam and the Ants and teenage Anglo-Burmese singer Anabella Lwin. Three Top 40 hits would follow, the biggest of which was this beat-heavy number that espouses going back to nature; giving up bacon and strawberry milkshakes for a life "where snakes in the grass are absolutely free." Fun pop, but of course, there was an uproar about the single's cover, which featured a then-15-year-old Lwin posed tastefully yet completely nude with her clothed bandmates in a recreation of the Edouard Manet painting Luncheon on the Grass. McLaren led his artists to lots of attention and headlines, but long careers were never part of the deal.
22 - "Classic," Adrian Gurvitz
North Londoner Gurvitz had his first major success when his band The Gun had a Top Ten hit with the song "Race With the Devil." Since then he has been in a number of bands and had been a prolific producer and songwriter, but his biggest solo hit was this MOR ballad about wanting to write a song to get back his lost love. For some reason, it has to be written "in an attic," and it can't just be a good song, it has to be one of the all-time greats. Kinda cheesy, but I get why it was a big hit. The song makes me feel like I'm in a waiting room getting ready to have a physical. And maybe, in Adrian's eyes, that does make it a "classic."
21 - "Let's Get it Up," AC/DC
We end where we started with METAL!!! The Aussie legends have had 21 Top 40s in the U.K (compared to a mere three in America). One of their biggest was this track from For Those About to Rock. Pounding, double entendre-filled rock. Prime AC/DC, in other words. And a solid four on the headbang scale.
In Part Two: meat, martyrdom, and more METAL.
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