Now we're in the spring of 1991. The Gulf War was essentially over, with Saddam Hussein's troops vacating Kuwait. Meanwhile, in Britain, six men who were jailed for the 1975 for the IRA bombing of two pubs in Birmingham had their convictions overturned. In that climate, these were the hits.
40 - "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," Definition of Sound
The first and biggest of two U.K. Top 40s by this London hip-hop group wasn't, to my surprise, a cover of Donovan's 60s hit, but rather a double-entendre-filled rap come-on. It's pretty good, as these things go. Extra points for the opening sample of the preacher decrying "Long John Barleycorn, nicotine, and the temptations of Eve."
39 - "Cherry Pie," Warrant
This single and video was one of the defining moments of hair metal. The song is basic hard rock, with lyrics that are pretty much thematically the same as Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me," but more coded, and thus dirtier. The video is pretty blatant, including a scene where the band turns a fire hose on a scantily clad woman. It definitely throws the pie right in your face, so to speak. It's big and dumb and loud and raunchy, and there are times and places for that. And it was the band's only hit in Britain. Don't know what, if anything, it says about our friends across the pond.
38 - "I've Got News for You," Feargal Sharkey
This Northern Irishman first found success in the late 70s with the punk-pop band The Undertones, then began a solo career in the mid-80s. The last of his hits was this soul ballad about still loving someone who's with another and promising that you'll be there if she's available again. Well done, but I'd much rather listen to his biggest hit "A Good Heart," or The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks."
37 - "Not a Minute Too Soon," Vixen
Made up of two Minnesotans, a Michigander, and an Alaskan who met up in Los Angeles, this band was one of the few major female presences on the hair metal scene. Interestingly, they had twice as many Top 40s in Britain as they did at home (4 to 2.) Their last was this poppy rocker about love coming just in time. Listening to it makes it obvious why some called them "the female Bon Jovi."
36 - "Around the Way Girl," LL Cool J
Long before he was chasing bad guys on NCIS: Los Angeles, the man born James Todd Smith was one of rap's first superstars, and his third U.K. hit was this rhyme about his ideal woman, who among other things, should have "extensions in her hair" and "bamboo earrings, at least two pair." And when he finds this lady, he plans to "eat her like a cookie." Also, her name is likely either Lisa, Angela, Pamela or Renee. Or maybe that's her full name. Anyway, this is all right. And apparently, he's found time to make another album which is scheduled to come out this year. Not high on my future listening priority list, but good for him.
35 - "Here Comes the Hammer," MC Hammer
The fourth single from the monster that was Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em missed the Top 40 in America, but managed to hit #15 here. I think his countrymen were right. It's pretty basic and uninspired.
34 - "People are Strange," Echo and the Bunnymen
These Liverpudlians, led by singer Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant, were big stars at home in the 80s, racking up four Top Ten albums and ten Top 40 singles. They had broken up by the time this Doors cover from the soundtrack of The Lost Boys returned to the charts as a reissue. It sounds too much like the original to be at all necessary. Better to look up their originals, like "The Killing Moon," or "Bring On the Dancing Horses," to name just two.
33 - "In Yer Face," 808 State
This Mancunian electronic group broke through in 1989, and ended up being kind of a bridge between late-80s acid house and the early-90s "Madchester" dance-rock scene. Their biggest hit was this bit of trippy techno. It's probably make good workout music. Or it would be something to play if you were making some kind of getaway.
32 - "Bow Down Mister," Jesus Loves You
After his post-Culture Club solo career began to peter out, Boy George founded a new band, and their biggest hit was this track that combines acoustic folk, dance beats, and Indian sounds in a celebration of worship inspired in particular by his recent embrace of Hare Krishna. Not "My Sweet Lord" by any means, but actually pretty good for what it is. Plus he didn't get sued because of it, which is always a plus.
31 - "Outstanding," Kenny Thomas
London soul man Thomas carved out a decent career in the 90s, picking up eight Top 40s. His first was this Gap Band cover. Okay loverman lite-funk, but I'm sure the original is better.
30 - "Hangar 18," Megadeth
Dave Mustaine could have been a footnote in rock history a la Pete Best after he was fired by Metallica during the recording of their first album. Instead, he formed his own thrash metal band and became successful in his own right. Megadeth weren't much of a singles band in America, but in more metal-friendly Britain they found the Top 40 seven times. Their third such hit was this stomping five-minute mini-epic about the alleged government cover-up of an alien landing in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, and the subsequent hiding of the evidence in an Ohio Air Force base. A solid 4.5 on the Headbangometer (I wonder if I could trademark that), with an ending that involves plenty of guitar shredding.
29 - "Adrenalin," N-Joi
From Essex, the duo of Nigel Champion and Mark Franklin managed four hits in the early 90s. Their first was this zippy house track that reminded me a bit of Daft Punk, which is always good.
28 - "Don't Go Messin' With My Heart," Mantronix
This New York duo blended hip-hop and electro-funk into a concoction that, as we've seen before, was much more popular in Britain than at home. Straightforward lyrics, decent beats, a typical-for-the-time rap. The whistling was a nice touch, though.
27 - "3 AM Eternal," The KLF
We encountered these guys and this song about rocking you and Mu Mu and all that stuff when it hit in the States later in the year. It's still quirky dancefloor fun. And it's still hard to believe these guys were crazy enough to burn a million pounds sterling in the name of art.
26 - "This is Your Life," Banderas
The sole major hit by this female duo is this dance track about taking charge of your destiny instead of letting life pass you by. Good message, good song. Reminds me of the stuff fellow Brits Lisa Stansfield and Cathy Dennis were putting out at the time.
25 - "Loose Fit," Happy Mondays
Remember when I mentioned "Madchester" earlier? Well these guys, led by the Ryder brothers, Shaun and Paul, were at the centre of that scene, emerging from the Hacienda club and the Factory Records label (both of which were owned by TV presenter-turned-music mogul Tony Wilson, whose life was depicted in the film 24 Hour Party People). The peak of their success was between the springs of '90 and '91, during which they scored three Top 20 singles. The last of these was this spare dance tune that seems to be about doing your own thing whatever it may be, even if it involves purchasing military bases or committing genocide. I'm sure that last part was metaphorical or in character or something, not an endorsement. Anyway, after this, the band would go to Barbados to do lots of drugs and bankrupt their record label while recording a career-killing album in their spare time. They've since cleaned up and reunited a few times. And it always impressed me that this band had a member who did pretty much nothing but dance like a maniac.
24 - "I'm Going Slightly Mad," Queen
From Innuendo, their final album released before Freddie Mercury's death, this midtempo track is basically Freddie reciting a bunch of euphemisms for impending insanity ("one wave short of a shipwreck," "only knitting with one needle," etc.) Not one of their greats, but fun and charming.
23 - "Who Where Why," Jesus Jones
These Wiltshire techno-rockers had two Top Fives in America with "Real Real Real" and the sappily serious "Right Here Right Now." At home, they would have eight Top 40s, but none would reach higher than #7. This one shows some Indian influences and is about uncertainty and confusion. You almost forget it before it's even over.
22 - "Secret Love," The Bee Gees
The brothers Gibb continued their late-80s revival with this midtempo ballad about a clandestine love affair. It went Top Five
here, but I'm not sure why. It's nothing special. Very phoned in.
21 - "Go For It," Joey B. Ellis and Tynetta Hare
I really don't know much about either of these two people, but apparently this was the theme from Rocky V. It's basically the kind of dance-rap that was being peddled by Snap! and C+C Music Factory at the time, only not as well-crafted or catchy. Sly, you should have called Survivor again. But congrats on the Oscar nod for Creed.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Gloves Across The Water: UK Top 40 February 27, 1982 Part Two
And the rest.
20 - "Deutscher Girls," Adam and the Ants
For the first three years of the 1980s, Londoner Stuart Goddard and his insectly-named cohorts were one of the biggest bands in Britain, scoring 9 Top 40s, including two #1s. Their last Top 40, which only reached #13, was this tango-rocker about the pleasures of German ladies. Solid new wave.
19 - "Run to the Hills," Iron Maiden
These Londoners were arguably the brightest stars of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, accruing 35 Top 40 singles. This one, the first recorded with lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, would be their first Top Ten. It's a flat-out, foot-to-the-floor rocker about the injustices done to Native Americans by invading Europeans. The lyrics are unblinkingly vivid. A terrific song in any genre, and an easy 5 on the headbangometer.
18 - "Never Give Up on a Good Thing," George Benson
The smooth jazz king had a few more hits in Britain than he had at home. This one's pretty basic stuff about hanging on to quality love. Mildly funky. For when you want to dance but not look too excited about it.
17 - "Fool if You Think it's Over," Elkie Brooks
Our second encounter with our Miss Brooks is this cover of Chris Rea's 1978 song about the difficulty of getting over love. Rea's version was big in the States, but Brooks charted higher at home. I think both have their charms. But Elkie's voice grows on me with each listen.
16 - "Senses Working Overtime," XTC
These new wavers from Swindon have a cult following as kind of a junior Kinks, with Andy Partridge penning insightful lyrics and catchy melodies. They did manage six Top 40s, and their only Top Ten was this jaunty number about what happens to the innocent and the guilty, kicking the world like a football and/or eating it like a biscuit, bullies, bus accidents, and "trying to taste the difference between a lemon and a lime." Just really good pop music.
15 - "Dead Ringer for Love," Meat Loaf featuring Cher
In America, the man born Marvin Lee Aday pretty much disappeared from pop consciousness in the time between Bat Out of Hell dropped out of the charts and the 1993 release of its sequel. In Britain, however, he managed a handful of 80s hits, the biggest of which was this Jim Steinman-written-and-co-produced raveup about two people hooking up in a bar because "man doesn't live by rock n' roll and brew alone." Accompanying Meat is another 70s star going through a drought, Cher. They have real chemistry together. An underrated high point in both their careers.
14 - "Oh Julie," Shakin' Stevens
Born Michael Barratt in Cardiff, Wales. Stevens stared in bands during the 60s, but his big break didn't come until 1977, when he portrayed one era of the King's life in the West End musical Elvis! Beginning in 1980, his retro-rock stylings produced a run of 28 Top 40 singles, including four #1s. His third charttopper, unlike his first two, wasn't a cover, but rather a Stevens-penned original. It's toned-down rockabilly with a zydeco twist thanks to the prominent accordion. Simple lyrics, but still, a catchy enough pop number. A little better than I expected.
13 - "The Model/Computer Love," Kraftwerk
More from the Germans. Originally, "Computer Love" was released as the A-side, as it was from the band's then current album Computer World, while the other side was from their previous LP The Man-Machine. In that configuration, the single reached #36. But DJs started playing the B-side more, and a re-release flipping the order became the group's only U.K. #1. "The Model" is definitely the more commercial track, with a more accessible melody and lyrics about a beauty who poses for magazines and to sell "consumer products." "Computer Love" is a little darker, with sparse lyrics about infatuation with technology. But both are great, and it was the latter's melody hook that Coldplay borrowed (with permission) for their song "Talk."
12 - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Christopher Cross
Topped the charts in America, was Top Ten here, won an Oscar, bored me to tears.
11 - "Mickey," Toni Basil
The renamed cover of Racey's "Kitty" went to #2 here in March, but didn't hit #1 in Basil's homeland until December. And I imagine that was fine with her. So fine, perhaps, that it may have even blown her mind.
10 - "See You," Depeche Mode
This was the third Top 40 for the Essex synth stars, and the first single without Vince Clarke, who left to form Yazoo. It's a plea for a former lover to allow the narrator to simply watch her, not to come in contact with her or engage her or anything, at least not yet. A little creepy and complicated. Kind of a bridge between their poppier "Just Can't Get Enough" beginnings and their darker, more gothy future.
9 - "It Ain't What You Do It's the Way You Do It," Fun Boy Three and Bananarama
Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Neville Staple were founding members of the pioneering Coventry ska band The Specials, but they left that group in 1981 to form a more minimalist pop band. The biggest of their seven home Top 40s was this shuffly cover of a jazz number first recorded in 1939 by, among others, Ella Fitzgerald. It featured backup vocals by the up and coming vocal trio of Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobahn Fahey. That's what got results.
8 - "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," Daryl Hall and John Oates
At home, these guys owned the 80s, with Top Tens and #1s galore. Here though, they only managed six Top 40s and two Top Tens. This one peaked at this spot, and I wonder how they felt when Simply Red sampled it and got one place higher with "Sunrise" 21 years later.
7 - "Maid of Orleans," Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
These Liverpudlians have been called "the Beatles of synth-pop." Not sure I'd go that far, but they had a nice run of hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Interestingly, this was the second of back to back singles about Joan of Arc. The first was called, um, "Joan of Arc." Haven't heard that one. This one is kind of waltzy, with very few lyrics. Anyway, both went Top Five, so good for them.
6 - "Golden Brown," The Stranglers
Pub-rockers turned punks turned new wave, this band from Surrey racked up 22 Top 40s between 1977 and 2004. Their biggest hit was this harpsichord-heavy tune that singer Hugh Cornwell has said can be both about heroin or a woman. I can relate to the latter, not gonna try to compare it to the former. Good song either way.
5 - "Say Hello Wave Goodbye," Soft Cell
The Leeds duo of Marc Almond and Dave Ball were red-hot at this point, as this was their third of five straight Top Fives (the first being the UK #1 and only American hit "Tainted Love."). This is a midtempo synth ballad about a relationship that was doomed from the start. Almond's impassioned vocals lift it to memorability.
4 - "Love Plus One," Haircut 100
Led by Kent's Nick Heyward, these guys blazed onto the scene with four straight Top Tens, the biggest of which was this catchy song about a missed connection that was also their only American hit. But by 1983, Heyward left for a solo career, and the rest of the band put out one more album that failed to chart. Oh well. This is fantastic, as I said when we encountered this in the USA. I still don't know what's so scary about going down to the lake, though.
3 - "Centrefold," The J. Geils Band
The tale of discovering an old crush in a nudie mag not only topped the U.S. charts, it was also the band's biggest U.K. hit. This memory was indeed sold, and a lot of people bought it.
2 - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," Tight Fit
This group was formed when British producer Ken Gold decided to put together some oldies medleys to follow in the wake of Starsound's success. In '81, they hit the Top 40 with two strings of 60s hits, then scored a #1 with this cover of the song that was first written in 1939 by South African Solomon Linda. This is absolutely inessential, but at least it added to the royalties that Linda would eventually rightfully claim. And the video is terrible, even by early 80s standards. As for Tight Fit, they scored one more Top Five, then their grip on the British attention span mercifully loosened.
And ruling the British airwaves 34 years ago was...
1 - "A Town Called Malice/Precious," The Jam
This Woking band led by Paul Weller combined punk and new wave with 60s rock and soul and a Ray Davies-esque eye for English detail. And England loved them for it, as all 18 of their singles between 1977 and 1982 reached the Top 40. Four went to #1, the third of which was this double-sided hit. The much better known A was this soul-rocker about smalltown desolation and desperation that is nothing less than classic. The B is almost-discoish funk about a desperate need for a lover, and is fantastic as well. The band would break up by the end of this year, but Weller continued having hits in the 80s with The Style Council, and in the 90s he began a solo career that continues to garner sales and acclaim to this day.
So there's another one. The next will follow soon. The Twitter thing has gotten off to a slow start, but it has started, and if you want to encourage me by becoming one of my first followers, feel free to check out https://twitter.com/MrBGlovehead . Bye for now.
20 - "Deutscher Girls," Adam and the Ants
For the first three years of the 1980s, Londoner Stuart Goddard and his insectly-named cohorts were one of the biggest bands in Britain, scoring 9 Top 40s, including two #1s. Their last Top 40, which only reached #13, was this tango-rocker about the pleasures of German ladies. Solid new wave.
19 - "Run to the Hills," Iron Maiden
These Londoners were arguably the brightest stars of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, accruing 35 Top 40 singles. This one, the first recorded with lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, would be their first Top Ten. It's a flat-out, foot-to-the-floor rocker about the injustices done to Native Americans by invading Europeans. The lyrics are unblinkingly vivid. A terrific song in any genre, and an easy 5 on the headbangometer.
18 - "Never Give Up on a Good Thing," George Benson
The smooth jazz king had a few more hits in Britain than he had at home. This one's pretty basic stuff about hanging on to quality love. Mildly funky. For when you want to dance but not look too excited about it.
17 - "Fool if You Think it's Over," Elkie Brooks
Our second encounter with our Miss Brooks is this cover of Chris Rea's 1978 song about the difficulty of getting over love. Rea's version was big in the States, but Brooks charted higher at home. I think both have their charms. But Elkie's voice grows on me with each listen.
16 - "Senses Working Overtime," XTC
These new wavers from Swindon have a cult following as kind of a junior Kinks, with Andy Partridge penning insightful lyrics and catchy melodies. They did manage six Top 40s, and their only Top Ten was this jaunty number about what happens to the innocent and the guilty, kicking the world like a football and/or eating it like a biscuit, bullies, bus accidents, and "trying to taste the difference between a lemon and a lime." Just really good pop music.
15 - "Dead Ringer for Love," Meat Loaf featuring Cher
In America, the man born Marvin Lee Aday pretty much disappeared from pop consciousness in the time between Bat Out of Hell dropped out of the charts and the 1993 release of its sequel. In Britain, however, he managed a handful of 80s hits, the biggest of which was this Jim Steinman-written-and-co-produced raveup about two people hooking up in a bar because "man doesn't live by rock n' roll and brew alone." Accompanying Meat is another 70s star going through a drought, Cher. They have real chemistry together. An underrated high point in both their careers.
14 - "Oh Julie," Shakin' Stevens
Born Michael Barratt in Cardiff, Wales. Stevens stared in bands during the 60s, but his big break didn't come until 1977, when he portrayed one era of the King's life in the West End musical Elvis! Beginning in 1980, his retro-rock stylings produced a run of 28 Top 40 singles, including four #1s. His third charttopper, unlike his first two, wasn't a cover, but rather a Stevens-penned original. It's toned-down rockabilly with a zydeco twist thanks to the prominent accordion. Simple lyrics, but still, a catchy enough pop number. A little better than I expected.
13 - "The Model/Computer Love," Kraftwerk
More from the Germans. Originally, "Computer Love" was released as the A-side, as it was from the band's then current album Computer World, while the other side was from their previous LP The Man-Machine. In that configuration, the single reached #36. But DJs started playing the B-side more, and a re-release flipping the order became the group's only U.K. #1. "The Model" is definitely the more commercial track, with a more accessible melody and lyrics about a beauty who poses for magazines and to sell "consumer products." "Computer Love" is a little darker, with sparse lyrics about infatuation with technology. But both are great, and it was the latter's melody hook that Coldplay borrowed (with permission) for their song "Talk."
12 - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Christopher Cross
Topped the charts in America, was Top Ten here, won an Oscar, bored me to tears.
11 - "Mickey," Toni Basil
The renamed cover of Racey's "Kitty" went to #2 here in March, but didn't hit #1 in Basil's homeland until December. And I imagine that was fine with her. So fine, perhaps, that it may have even blown her mind.
10 - "See You," Depeche Mode
This was the third Top 40 for the Essex synth stars, and the first single without Vince Clarke, who left to form Yazoo. It's a plea for a former lover to allow the narrator to simply watch her, not to come in contact with her or engage her or anything, at least not yet. A little creepy and complicated. Kind of a bridge between their poppier "Just Can't Get Enough" beginnings and their darker, more gothy future.
9 - "It Ain't What You Do It's the Way You Do It," Fun Boy Three and Bananarama
Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Neville Staple were founding members of the pioneering Coventry ska band The Specials, but they left that group in 1981 to form a more minimalist pop band. The biggest of their seven home Top 40s was this shuffly cover of a jazz number first recorded in 1939 by, among others, Ella Fitzgerald. It featured backup vocals by the up and coming vocal trio of Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobahn Fahey. That's what got results.
8 - "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," Daryl Hall and John Oates
At home, these guys owned the 80s, with Top Tens and #1s galore. Here though, they only managed six Top 40s and two Top Tens. This one peaked at this spot, and I wonder how they felt when Simply Red sampled it and got one place higher with "Sunrise" 21 years later.
7 - "Maid of Orleans," Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
These Liverpudlians have been called "the Beatles of synth-pop." Not sure I'd go that far, but they had a nice run of hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Interestingly, this was the second of back to back singles about Joan of Arc. The first was called, um, "Joan of Arc." Haven't heard that one. This one is kind of waltzy, with very few lyrics. Anyway, both went Top Five, so good for them.
6 - "Golden Brown," The Stranglers
Pub-rockers turned punks turned new wave, this band from Surrey racked up 22 Top 40s between 1977 and 2004. Their biggest hit was this harpsichord-heavy tune that singer Hugh Cornwell has said can be both about heroin or a woman. I can relate to the latter, not gonna try to compare it to the former. Good song either way.
5 - "Say Hello Wave Goodbye," Soft Cell
The Leeds duo of Marc Almond and Dave Ball were red-hot at this point, as this was their third of five straight Top Fives (the first being the UK #1 and only American hit "Tainted Love."). This is a midtempo synth ballad about a relationship that was doomed from the start. Almond's impassioned vocals lift it to memorability.
4 - "Love Plus One," Haircut 100
Led by Kent's Nick Heyward, these guys blazed onto the scene with four straight Top Tens, the biggest of which was this catchy song about a missed connection that was also their only American hit. But by 1983, Heyward left for a solo career, and the rest of the band put out one more album that failed to chart. Oh well. This is fantastic, as I said when we encountered this in the USA. I still don't know what's so scary about going down to the lake, though.
3 - "Centrefold," The J. Geils Band
The tale of discovering an old crush in a nudie mag not only topped the U.S. charts, it was also the band's biggest U.K. hit. This memory was indeed sold, and a lot of people bought it.
2 - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," Tight Fit
This group was formed when British producer Ken Gold decided to put together some oldies medleys to follow in the wake of Starsound's success. In '81, they hit the Top 40 with two strings of 60s hits, then scored a #1 with this cover of the song that was first written in 1939 by South African Solomon Linda. This is absolutely inessential, but at least it added to the royalties that Linda would eventually rightfully claim. And the video is terrible, even by early 80s standards. As for Tight Fit, they scored one more Top Five, then their grip on the British attention span mercifully loosened.
And ruling the British airwaves 34 years ago was...
1 - "A Town Called Malice/Precious," The Jam
This Woking band led by Paul Weller combined punk and new wave with 60s rock and soul and a Ray Davies-esque eye for English detail. And England loved them for it, as all 18 of their singles between 1977 and 1982 reached the Top 40. Four went to #1, the third of which was this double-sided hit. The much better known A was this soul-rocker about smalltown desolation and desperation that is nothing less than classic. The B is almost-discoish funk about a desperate need for a lover, and is fantastic as well. The band would break up by the end of this year, but Weller continued having hits in the 80s with The Style Council, and in the 90s he began a solo career that continues to garner sales and acclaim to this day.
So there's another one. The next will follow soon. The Twitter thing has gotten off to a slow start, but it has started, and if you want to encourage me by becoming one of my first followers, feel free to check out https://twitter.com/MrBGlovehead . Bye for now.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Gloves Across the Water: U.K Top 40 February 27, 1982 Part One
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.
-
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.
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.
-
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.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Gloves Across the Water: UK Top 40 February 14, 1987 Part Two - Plus a Special Announcement
Big finish
20 - "Rock the Night," Europe
The follow-up to "The Final Countdown." They didn't rock any night as well as they soundtracked the last seconds before that microwave popcorn was ready. Ah, Geico, resurrecting figures from the 80s that would otherwise be lost to history. It's what they do. My life wasn't complete until I learned how excited Ickey Woods is by cold cuts.
19 - "Stand by Me," Ben E. King
More revived old soul, but this happened on both sides of the pond, thanks to the movie. A sequel wouldn't be a good idea, but I would pay to see a spinoff film featuring Lard Ass Hogan getting more and more revenge on his haters.
18 - "Running in the Family," Level 42
From the Isle of Wight, the British island where Paul McCartney said he wanted to rent a summer cottage when he was of a certain age, these jazzy popsters hit the Top 40 twenty times here compared to just twice in the States. This was their last single to even reach the Hot 100 there, peaking at #83, whereas at home it was their third of six Top Tens. I think the Brits got it right. This is bouncy synth-pop about the fun and consequences of sneaking out of the house and getting up to no good, and respecting the parental point of view with the passage of time. Easily my favorite by these guys.
17 - "Behind the Mask," Eric Clapton
It had been nine years since Slowhand had cracked the 40 in his homeland when he broke through with a song that was originally by Japanese electronic pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra, who wrote it in 1978 for a watch commercial. This version contains new lyrics written by none other than Michael Jackson, depicting a cheating lover. It's slick pop, kinda catchy. But I'd like to hear the original.
16 - "C'est La Vie," Robbie Nevil
The future songsmith behind Hannah Montana's biggest hit was Top #5 on both sides of the Atlantic. Its sophisticated white funk fits in well with some of the British-only hits here, so I'm not surprised.
15 - "Is This Love," Alison Moyet
We encountered the Essex-born former Yazoo singer in America with her only hit there, the powerful "Invisible." This, the fourth of here five Top Tens at home, is slick synthpop about a complicated relationship. It was produced and co-written by Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, and it shows. Moyet is a vastly different singer than Annie Lennox, but this still works well for her. I am shocked, however, that "Invisible didn't even go Top 20 here.
14 - "Once Bitten Twice Shy," Vesta
The daughter of a DJ from Coshocton, Ohio, Vesta Williams did her time singing backup for a wide range of artists before getting a record deal in 1986. Over the next five years, she would score six Top Tens on the U.S. R&B charts, but she never cracked the Top 40 on the Hot 100, and her only major hit in Britain was this soul-popper comparing romantic travails to vampirism ("Your name is Dracula, you suck the life out of me."). Snappy and cool. Sadly, Williams died from a heart condition in September 2011 at only 53 years old.
13 - "No More the Fool," Elkie Brooks
Born Elaine Bookbinder in Lancashire, Brooks' older brother drummed for the British Invasion footnotes Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and she followed him into music, first gaining notice with the R&B group Vinegar Joe, whose lineup also contained Robert Palmer. She then went solo in the mid-70s, and she scored 7 Top 40s between 1977 and 1987, the biggest of which being this heartbreak ballad. Her voice lands somewhere between Bonnie Tyler and Alison Moyet, and she uses it to great effect. I'm certainly interested in hearing more.
12 - "Shoplifters of the World Unite," The Smiths
My introduction to this highly influential Manchester band came in 1985, but it wasn't through their music, but rather their T-shirts, most notably ones depicting the cover of their album Meat is Murder. But the majority of those shirts were worn by people much higher on the high school popularity food chain than I, so my opinion of them was colored in a negative way before I heard a note. It was in the summer of 1986 when I first heard "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want," and while I appreciated Morrissey's artfully anguished desire to finally have something he desired, I still hesitated to get into them more, wondering if perhaps too much of that voice would grate on me. It was years later before I looked more closely, and now I fully appreciate what a special thing they had going. In their homeland, however, attention was not a problem, as they had fifteen Top 40 singles between 1983 and 1987, and Morrissey grabbed plenty of headlines with his opinions about meat, monarchy, and Margaret Thatcher. Their 11th big hit was this midtempo rocker that apparently isn't a plead for a unionization of the planet's petty thieves, but more about taking the things around you and using them to your own benefit. The singing's convincing, and Johnny Marr's sparkling guitar stands out. One of their best. Later that year they would release their final album, and what has followed has included lawsuits, Marr forming and joining multiple bands, and Morrissey embarking on a solo career and remaining a viable touring act to this day, despite his continued penchant to say outrageous and offensive things almost every time he is given a forum to do so. He's definitely in my "he makes good and sometimes great music, but..." pile.
11 -"Stay Out of My Life," Five Star
The five Pearson siblings from Essex became a pop band in the mid-80s under the management of their father Buster, a Jamaican-born musician and music executive. They had some success in the U.S., with a hand full of R&B Top 40s and a pop #41 in "Can't Wait Another Minute." At home they had a hot streak that gave them fifteen Top 40s between '85 and '88. The penultimate of their six Top Tens was this jazzy popper about finding out about a lovers unfaithfulness. Not bad, not special. More like Two and a Half Star.
10 - "You Sexy Thing," Hot Chocolate
The one they will always be remembered for. I do believe in miracles, and, on an unrelated note, where are you from, you...attractive object?
9 - "Male Stripper," Man 2 Man meet Man Parrish
New York brothers Paul and Miki Zone started out in the mid-70s in a rock band called The Fast, but became more of a dance/club music act in the early 80s and changed their name. /Their one major moment came with this collaboration with producer Manuel Parrish, a throbbing techno number about a "ladies' night Adonis" who entertains in "hot cop drag," and for whom "tips in my G-string made my living." It's suitably sleazy, and a club classic. Sadly, shortly before it peaked on the U.K. charts, Miki Zone died of AIDS-related spinal meningitis. Paul continued recording under the name "Man to Man," but he never reached these heights again. But now, he and his brother will be immortalized by me as an Uneasy Rider.
8 - "Jack Your Body," Steve "Silk" Hurley
Chicagoan Hurley originally pursued a career in engineering, but decided to switch to music full time at age 19. Five years later, he was an accomplished radio DJ and producer who was one of the key founders of house music, and this minimally-lyriced floor filler would top the charts here for two weeks. Definitely the superior of this week's "jack" songs. Hurley wouldn't release much under his own name after this, but he would have a prolific career as a producer and remixer to the stars.
7 - "The Music of the Night/Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman
Only months after its premiere on London's West End in October of 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel about a disfigured composer's obsession with a young singer was already a phenomenon, and this was the second single from the cast album to hit the Top Ten. Side A, sung by Crawford as the phantom, is his attempt to seduce the object of his desire, Christine, into becoming his muse and perhaps more. The B, by Brightman's Christine, is sung at her father's grave as she pleads for his guidance to help her through the entanglement she finds herself in. I had heard the former several times, and it is what it is, and it was clearly effective in selling people on the charms of the whole enterprise. The latter was new to me, and I thought it was nice, although I spent much of it thinking about how far Brightman had come from the days of "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper." Anyway, the show would be on Broadway a year from this time, and would become the longest-running production there ever. It also had a long run in Toronto, during which none other than Kiss' Paul Stanley donned the iconic mask. However, Webber's attempt at a sequel, Love Never Dies, flopped a few years ago. All he asked of the public was to love it, but they didn't. Too bad.
6 - "I Love My Radio," Taffy
New York singer Katherine Quaye had her only major success with a song about enjoying a disc jockey's work. It was produced by an Italian, and was bigger there than anywhere else. Not much more interesting to say. It's pop, it's okay, we're done.
5 - "It Doesn't Have to be This Way," The Blow Monkeys
These guys are best known for their only American hit, the wonderfully subversive "Digging Your Scene." At home, they had a few more hits, the biggest of which was this sophisticated funk-pop about romantic trials and tribulations. It's cool. Though I'm guessing that the band most profitable venture was their cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. If they had a nickel for every copy that record has sold...they'd have over $1.5 million. I wonder if that's above or below the actual royalty they get. Hmmmm...
4 - "Almaz," Randy Crawford
Georgia-born jazz singer Crawford only charted in America with the Crusaders on "Street Life," but had a handful of hits here, including two top fives. The second of these was this ballad Crawford wrote about her neighbors, a Ethiopian refugee couple, the wife of which had a name that meant "diamond." It's a sweet, affecting depiction of boundless love. Definitely a hidden almaz.
3 - "Down to Earth," Curiosity Killed the Cat
These Londoners were yet another band on the "sophist-pop" scene, and this was the beginning of a brief but successful run of hits for them. It's cool slick pop about not wanting a lover to drag one down with them. Very nice.
2 - "Heartache," Pepsi and Shirlie
Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman were first brought together as backing singers for Wham! (You will likely remember them dancing in "Choose Life" shirts from the "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," video). After the boys broke up, they had a brief career on their own, and this was the first of their two Top Tens. They do okay on this dance-popper about romantic strife. They seem to pop up sporadically in British pop culture since. That's cool.
And 29 years ago, Brits were mad for...
1 - "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," George Michael and Aretha Franklin
Pepsi and Shirlie's former boss teamed up with the Queen of Soul and did the transatlantic charttopping double. I've covered this before, obviously. Song's not much, but George holds his own with a legend. He's a legit talent.
And now, my announcement. Perhaps years too late, Bobby Glovehead is now on Twitter. It just happened. What will I do with it? I imagine I'll flash back to charts I've previously covered, preview future posts, link to songs that catch my interest, maybe give some "bonus material," share my thoughts on anything and everything pop music, and who knows what else. Or maybe I'll do it for a week and give up. But you won't find out unless you follow me. Follow me, minions! If you are interested, look me up at https://twitter.com/MrBGlovehead #Irememberwhenthiswascalledapoundsign #getoffmylawn
20 - "Rock the Night," Europe
The follow-up to "The Final Countdown." They didn't rock any night as well as they soundtracked the last seconds before that microwave popcorn was ready. Ah, Geico, resurrecting figures from the 80s that would otherwise be lost to history. It's what they do. My life wasn't complete until I learned how excited Ickey Woods is by cold cuts.
19 - "Stand by Me," Ben E. King
More revived old soul, but this happened on both sides of the pond, thanks to the movie. A sequel wouldn't be a good idea, but I would pay to see a spinoff film featuring Lard Ass Hogan getting more and more revenge on his haters.
18 - "Running in the Family," Level 42
From the Isle of Wight, the British island where Paul McCartney said he wanted to rent a summer cottage when he was of a certain age, these jazzy popsters hit the Top 40 twenty times here compared to just twice in the States. This was their last single to even reach the Hot 100 there, peaking at #83, whereas at home it was their third of six Top Tens. I think the Brits got it right. This is bouncy synth-pop about the fun and consequences of sneaking out of the house and getting up to no good, and respecting the parental point of view with the passage of time. Easily my favorite by these guys.
17 - "Behind the Mask," Eric Clapton
It had been nine years since Slowhand had cracked the 40 in his homeland when he broke through with a song that was originally by Japanese electronic pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra, who wrote it in 1978 for a watch commercial. This version contains new lyrics written by none other than Michael Jackson, depicting a cheating lover. It's slick pop, kinda catchy. But I'd like to hear the original.
16 - "C'est La Vie," Robbie Nevil
The future songsmith behind Hannah Montana's biggest hit was Top #5 on both sides of the Atlantic. Its sophisticated white funk fits in well with some of the British-only hits here, so I'm not surprised.
15 - "Is This Love," Alison Moyet
We encountered the Essex-born former Yazoo singer in America with her only hit there, the powerful "Invisible." This, the fourth of here five Top Tens at home, is slick synthpop about a complicated relationship. It was produced and co-written by Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, and it shows. Moyet is a vastly different singer than Annie Lennox, but this still works well for her. I am shocked, however, that "Invisible didn't even go Top 20 here.
14 - "Once Bitten Twice Shy," Vesta
The daughter of a DJ from Coshocton, Ohio, Vesta Williams did her time singing backup for a wide range of artists before getting a record deal in 1986. Over the next five years, she would score six Top Tens on the U.S. R&B charts, but she never cracked the Top 40 on the Hot 100, and her only major hit in Britain was this soul-popper comparing romantic travails to vampirism ("Your name is Dracula, you suck the life out of me."). Snappy and cool. Sadly, Williams died from a heart condition in September 2011 at only 53 years old.
13 - "No More the Fool," Elkie Brooks
Born Elaine Bookbinder in Lancashire, Brooks' older brother drummed for the British Invasion footnotes Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and she followed him into music, first gaining notice with the R&B group Vinegar Joe, whose lineup also contained Robert Palmer. She then went solo in the mid-70s, and she scored 7 Top 40s between 1977 and 1987, the biggest of which being this heartbreak ballad. Her voice lands somewhere between Bonnie Tyler and Alison Moyet, and she uses it to great effect. I'm certainly interested in hearing more.
12 - "Shoplifters of the World Unite," The Smiths
My introduction to this highly influential Manchester band came in 1985, but it wasn't through their music, but rather their T-shirts, most notably ones depicting the cover of their album Meat is Murder. But the majority of those shirts were worn by people much higher on the high school popularity food chain than I, so my opinion of them was colored in a negative way before I heard a note. It was in the summer of 1986 when I first heard "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want," and while I appreciated Morrissey's artfully anguished desire to finally have something he desired, I still hesitated to get into them more, wondering if perhaps too much of that voice would grate on me. It was years later before I looked more closely, and now I fully appreciate what a special thing they had going. In their homeland, however, attention was not a problem, as they had fifteen Top 40 singles between 1983 and 1987, and Morrissey grabbed plenty of headlines with his opinions about meat, monarchy, and Margaret Thatcher. Their 11th big hit was this midtempo rocker that apparently isn't a plead for a unionization of the planet's petty thieves, but more about taking the things around you and using them to your own benefit. The singing's convincing, and Johnny Marr's sparkling guitar stands out. One of their best. Later that year they would release their final album, and what has followed has included lawsuits, Marr forming and joining multiple bands, and Morrissey embarking on a solo career and remaining a viable touring act to this day, despite his continued penchant to say outrageous and offensive things almost every time he is given a forum to do so. He's definitely in my "he makes good and sometimes great music, but..." pile.
11 -"Stay Out of My Life," Five Star
The five Pearson siblings from Essex became a pop band in the mid-80s under the management of their father Buster, a Jamaican-born musician and music executive. They had some success in the U.S., with a hand full of R&B Top 40s and a pop #41 in "Can't Wait Another Minute." At home they had a hot streak that gave them fifteen Top 40s between '85 and '88. The penultimate of their six Top Tens was this jazzy popper about finding out about a lovers unfaithfulness. Not bad, not special. More like Two and a Half Star.
10 - "You Sexy Thing," Hot Chocolate
The one they will always be remembered for. I do believe in miracles, and, on an unrelated note, where are you from, you...attractive object?
9 - "Male Stripper," Man 2 Man meet Man Parrish
New York brothers Paul and Miki Zone started out in the mid-70s in a rock band called The Fast, but became more of a dance/club music act in the early 80s and changed their name. /Their one major moment came with this collaboration with producer Manuel Parrish, a throbbing techno number about a "ladies' night Adonis" who entertains in "hot cop drag," and for whom "tips in my G-string made my living." It's suitably sleazy, and a club classic. Sadly, shortly before it peaked on the U.K. charts, Miki Zone died of AIDS-related spinal meningitis. Paul continued recording under the name "Man to Man," but he never reached these heights again. But now, he and his brother will be immortalized by me as an Uneasy Rider.
8 - "Jack Your Body," Steve "Silk" Hurley
Chicagoan Hurley originally pursued a career in engineering, but decided to switch to music full time at age 19. Five years later, he was an accomplished radio DJ and producer who was one of the key founders of house music, and this minimally-lyriced floor filler would top the charts here for two weeks. Definitely the superior of this week's "jack" songs. Hurley wouldn't release much under his own name after this, but he would have a prolific career as a producer and remixer to the stars.
7 - "The Music of the Night/Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman
Only months after its premiere on London's West End in October of 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel about a disfigured composer's obsession with a young singer was already a phenomenon, and this was the second single from the cast album to hit the Top Ten. Side A, sung by Crawford as the phantom, is his attempt to seduce the object of his desire, Christine, into becoming his muse and perhaps more. The B, by Brightman's Christine, is sung at her father's grave as she pleads for his guidance to help her through the entanglement she finds herself in. I had heard the former several times, and it is what it is, and it was clearly effective in selling people on the charms of the whole enterprise. The latter was new to me, and I thought it was nice, although I spent much of it thinking about how far Brightman had come from the days of "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper." Anyway, the show would be on Broadway a year from this time, and would become the longest-running production there ever. It also had a long run in Toronto, during which none other than Kiss' Paul Stanley donned the iconic mask. However, Webber's attempt at a sequel, Love Never Dies, flopped a few years ago. All he asked of the public was to love it, but they didn't. Too bad.
6 - "I Love My Radio," Taffy
New York singer Katherine Quaye had her only major success with a song about enjoying a disc jockey's work. It was produced by an Italian, and was bigger there than anywhere else. Not much more interesting to say. It's pop, it's okay, we're done.
5 - "It Doesn't Have to be This Way," The Blow Monkeys
These guys are best known for their only American hit, the wonderfully subversive "Digging Your Scene." At home, they had a few more hits, the biggest of which was this sophisticated funk-pop about romantic trials and tribulations. It's cool. Though I'm guessing that the band most profitable venture was their cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. If they had a nickel for every copy that record has sold...they'd have over $1.5 million. I wonder if that's above or below the actual royalty they get. Hmmmm...
4 - "Almaz," Randy Crawford
Georgia-born jazz singer Crawford only charted in America with the Crusaders on "Street Life," but had a handful of hits here, including two top fives. The second of these was this ballad Crawford wrote about her neighbors, a Ethiopian refugee couple, the wife of which had a name that meant "diamond." It's a sweet, affecting depiction of boundless love. Definitely a hidden almaz.
3 - "Down to Earth," Curiosity Killed the Cat
These Londoners were yet another band on the "sophist-pop" scene, and this was the beginning of a brief but successful run of hits for them. It's cool slick pop about not wanting a lover to drag one down with them. Very nice.
2 - "Heartache," Pepsi and Shirlie
Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman were first brought together as backing singers for Wham! (You will likely remember them dancing in "Choose Life" shirts from the "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," video). After the boys broke up, they had a brief career on their own, and this was the first of their two Top Tens. They do okay on this dance-popper about romantic strife. They seem to pop up sporadically in British pop culture since. That's cool.
And 29 years ago, Brits were mad for...
1 - "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," George Michael and Aretha Franklin
Pepsi and Shirlie's former boss teamed up with the Queen of Soul and did the transatlantic charttopping double. I've covered this before, obviously. Song's not much, but George holds his own with a legend. He's a legit talent.
And now, my announcement. Perhaps years too late, Bobby Glovehead is now on Twitter. It just happened. What will I do with it? I imagine I'll flash back to charts I've previously covered, preview future posts, link to songs that catch my interest, maybe give some "bonus material," share my thoughts on anything and everything pop music, and who knows what else. Or maybe I'll do it for a week and give up. But you won't find out unless you follow me. Follow me, minions! If you are interested, look me up at https://twitter.com/MrBGlovehead #Irememberwhenthiswascalledapoundsign #getoffmylawn
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Gloves Across the Water: U.K. Top 40 February 14, 1987 Part One
Here I am again. This time we're jumping even farther ahead, as I've decided to see what was playing in merrie olde Blighty around the time I turned sixteen. Let's visit, shall we?
40 - "This Wheel's on Fire," Siouxsie and the Banshees
Susan Ballion and her friend Steve Severin were dedicated and notable fans of the Sex Pistols in 1976 when they took up the punk ethos that "anyone can do it" and formed a band themselves. From there, with a lineup that first included future Pistol Sid Vicious, they landed a spot at a punk festival on a bill with both their heroes and The Clash, and after a few lineup changes, they would become influential fixtures in both the punk and goth scenes (The Cure's Robert Smith had two stints as a full-time member). They were also frequent hitmakers, as this cover of this 1968 song by The Band (co-written by the man they were backing up at the time, one Bob Dylan), was their fifteenth U.K. Top 40. The lyrics seem to be about a complicated romance, and the Banshees convey that in their dance-rocking way. Great stuff. Siouxsie has one of the great distinctive female voices in all of music.
39 - "Live it Up," Mental as Anything
These Aussie New Wavers had a long career at home, but their lone international success came with this charming pop-rocker about trying to cheer up a lonely lady. The main impetus for its breakthrough was its inclusion in the surprise hit movie Crocodile Dundee, the film that showed the world what a knife really looks like. But I already did, because I'd played knifey-spoony before. Nope, the Simpsons references aren't stopping anytime soon.
38 - "IOU," Freeez
This U.K group's biggest hit was this dance tune that converts the common vowel mnemonic into "A E I O U I sometimes cry." Clever. Typical synth/hip-hop production for the time, but catchy enough.
37 - "Love is Forever," Billy Ocean
But Billy Ocean 80s ballads are not. "Love Really Hurts Without You," on the other hand...
36 - "Jack the Groove," Raze
The electronic dance music known as house originated in Chicago in the early 80s, but it hit biggest in Europe. This track, put together by producer Vaughan Mason, is quite minimalist, consisting mostly of drum-machine beats and the title phrase, didn't do much for me. But we will here more of this genre later.
35 - "Forgotten Town," The Christians
These Liverpool purveyors of "sophisti-pop" consisted of three brothers whose last name was Christian, and an unrelated guy who conveniently had that as his middle name. The first of their ten Top 40s was this reggaeish number about trying to get out of a dead-end burg. Nothing special
34 - "Cross That Bridge," The Ward Brothers
More brothers, this time Dave, Derek and Graham of Barnsley. Their only hit is bland, uptempo pop about love seeing a couple through come what may. Boring.
33 - "Wasteland," The Mission
This Leeds band was formed by singer Wayne Hussey and guitarist Craig Adams after they split from the goth-rock group Sisters of Mercy. Their second, and biggest, U.K. pop hit has lyrics about war and God and conflicting feelings. To me, it's blend-in-the-background 80s alternative rock. Maybe I'm missing something.
32 - "Hymn to Her," The Pretenders
Chrissie Hynde and co. didn't chart in the U.S with this, but it became their fifth British Top Ten. It's a midtempo pop song that seems to celebrate the mysteries of femininity. It's enigmatic, the imagery is lovely, it's just good. The main comparison point in the band's catalog would seem to be "I'll Stand by You," and I like this waaaay better.
31 - "Something in My House," Dead or Alive
In America, this dance group are pretty much only remembered for "You Spin Me Round." At home, they cracked the Top 40 seven times in the 80s. Their last single to hit these heights was this song about getting over a breakup that sounds a lot like their biggest hit. I-I-I-I find it inessential. But looking this up allowed me to learn that The Mission's Wayne Hussey was in this band in its early years, so there's that.
30 - "Crush on You," The Jets
This was the Wolfgramms first hit at home, and their only major hit here. That seems fair, because this is their best song. It's not great, but it's nice enough disposable bubblegum.
29 - "Gigolo," The Damned
The Damned are considered one of the U.K.'s big three original punk bands, alongside The Sex Pistols and The Clash. Their "New Rose" was the first British punk single, and they would go on to hit the Top 40 nine times in the subsequent decade. Their penultimate hit was this rocker that seems to be about the life of some kind of playboy/spy/man of mystery. It's good, but I ought to look up their earlier stuff with founding member Captain Sensible, whose stage name I'm not sure I like better than his colleague Rat Scabies. Both have their charms. It's close.
28 - "When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge
Alabama soul star Sledge's biggest and signature hit was written after his model girlfriend left him when he lost his construction job. It was a #1 at home in 1966. In the U.K, it hit #4 in it's original release but then made it two places higher this time after it was used in a jeans commercial. It's just unimpeachable. And Michael Bolton should have stayed away from it.
27 - "Magic Smile," Rosie Vela
Texas-born model Vela was a successful fashion model in the 70s. In the mid-80s, she built a home recording studio, got a record deal, and made an album that was not only produced by Steely Dan producer Gary Katz, but also had both members of the then-disbanded Dan playing on it. The backing track of this tune about conflicting feelings over a lover is very Steely. The album, Zazu, flopped in America but got some attention over here, and I side with the Brits on this. It's sleek and groovy, and Vela has a sultry voice reminiscent of Sade and Everything but the Girl's Tracey Thorn. It was her only hit, and a second album she recorded was never released, but she has frequently done backing vocals for others, and that led to a brief relationship with ELO's Jeff Lynne. Anyway, this was a nice discovery, and I would have liked it if there was more of her music to discover.
26 - "Big Fun," The Gap Band
These Oklahoma funk vets had only two pop Top 40s and home, but four times as many across the pond. The last (non-remix) and biggest of these was this simple pop-funk number about love and sex and other enjoyable pastimes. I'm not sure I'd call it big fun, but it's at least larger-than-average.
25 - "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," Timbuk 3
The electro-folk classic about an optimistic science geek. I would make it the star of a "nerd" playlist, should I ever make one. "She Blinded Me with Science" is too cliché.
24 - "Rat in Mi Kitchen," UB40
The 17th of 35 U.K. Top 40s for the British reggae institution came about when band members Astro and Ali Campbell discussed the rodent problem in Campbell's new house. Astro then used that imagery to write a song about people who lie about others. Catchy fun, not as slick as their future efforts, and not as overplayed as "Red Red Wine.
23 - "Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)," Jackie Wilson
The R&B legend's first solo single after leaving the Dominoes was written by Wilson's cousin Billy Davis and siblings Gwen and Berry Gordy. It only hit #62 in America, but was a Top Ten across the ocean, and that success helped Berry Gordy fund the start of a little label called Motown. Twenty-nine years later, a London clay-amimation studio made a video for the song, and after it was played on the BBC, the song was re-released and went to #1. And deservedly so. It's fun, it's infectious, and Wilson's performance lives up to his "Mr. Excitement" nickname.
22 - "Coming Around Again," Carly Simon
This portrait of a couple trying to hang on to their relationship is arguable her last great song. Kind of the long-gestating sequel to "That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be."
21 - "Surrender," Swing Out Sister
More sophisti-pop, this time from the group best known in America for "Breakout." That was their biggest hit at home as well. This was the second, a song about "waiting for love to take revenge." I'm rooting for Corinne Drewery to have gotten her request from Karma.
In Part Two: more resurrected old soul, some dirty dancing before Dirty Dancing, and a band that I couldn't stand until I heard them.
40 - "This Wheel's on Fire," Siouxsie and the Banshees
Susan Ballion and her friend Steve Severin were dedicated and notable fans of the Sex Pistols in 1976 when they took up the punk ethos that "anyone can do it" and formed a band themselves. From there, with a lineup that first included future Pistol Sid Vicious, they landed a spot at a punk festival on a bill with both their heroes and The Clash, and after a few lineup changes, they would become influential fixtures in both the punk and goth scenes (The Cure's Robert Smith had two stints as a full-time member). They were also frequent hitmakers, as this cover of this 1968 song by The Band (co-written by the man they were backing up at the time, one Bob Dylan), was their fifteenth U.K. Top 40. The lyrics seem to be about a complicated romance, and the Banshees convey that in their dance-rocking way. Great stuff. Siouxsie has one of the great distinctive female voices in all of music.
39 - "Live it Up," Mental as Anything
These Aussie New Wavers had a long career at home, but their lone international success came with this charming pop-rocker about trying to cheer up a lonely lady. The main impetus for its breakthrough was its inclusion in the surprise hit movie Crocodile Dundee, the film that showed the world what a knife really looks like. But I already did, because I'd played knifey-spoony before. Nope, the Simpsons references aren't stopping anytime soon.
38 - "IOU," Freeez
This U.K group's biggest hit was this dance tune that converts the common vowel mnemonic into "A E I O U I sometimes cry." Clever. Typical synth/hip-hop production for the time, but catchy enough.
37 - "Love is Forever," Billy Ocean
But Billy Ocean 80s ballads are not. "Love Really Hurts Without You," on the other hand...
36 - "Jack the Groove," Raze
The electronic dance music known as house originated in Chicago in the early 80s, but it hit biggest in Europe. This track, put together by producer Vaughan Mason, is quite minimalist, consisting mostly of drum-machine beats and the title phrase, didn't do much for me. But we will here more of this genre later.
35 - "Forgotten Town," The Christians
These Liverpool purveyors of "sophisti-pop" consisted of three brothers whose last name was Christian, and an unrelated guy who conveniently had that as his middle name. The first of their ten Top 40s was this reggaeish number about trying to get out of a dead-end burg. Nothing special
34 - "Cross That Bridge," The Ward Brothers
More brothers, this time Dave, Derek and Graham of Barnsley. Their only hit is bland, uptempo pop about love seeing a couple through come what may. Boring.
33 - "Wasteland," The Mission
This Leeds band was formed by singer Wayne Hussey and guitarist Craig Adams after they split from the goth-rock group Sisters of Mercy. Their second, and biggest, U.K. pop hit has lyrics about war and God and conflicting feelings. To me, it's blend-in-the-background 80s alternative rock. Maybe I'm missing something.
32 - "Hymn to Her," The Pretenders
Chrissie Hynde and co. didn't chart in the U.S with this, but it became their fifth British Top Ten. It's a midtempo pop song that seems to celebrate the mysteries of femininity. It's enigmatic, the imagery is lovely, it's just good. The main comparison point in the band's catalog would seem to be "I'll Stand by You," and I like this waaaay better.
31 - "Something in My House," Dead or Alive
In America, this dance group are pretty much only remembered for "You Spin Me Round." At home, they cracked the Top 40 seven times in the 80s. Their last single to hit these heights was this song about getting over a breakup that sounds a lot like their biggest hit. I-I-I-I find it inessential. But looking this up allowed me to learn that The Mission's Wayne Hussey was in this band in its early years, so there's that.
30 - "Crush on You," The Jets
This was the Wolfgramms first hit at home, and their only major hit here. That seems fair, because this is their best song. It's not great, but it's nice enough disposable bubblegum.
29 - "Gigolo," The Damned
The Damned are considered one of the U.K.'s big three original punk bands, alongside The Sex Pistols and The Clash. Their "New Rose" was the first British punk single, and they would go on to hit the Top 40 nine times in the subsequent decade. Their penultimate hit was this rocker that seems to be about the life of some kind of playboy/spy/man of mystery. It's good, but I ought to look up their earlier stuff with founding member Captain Sensible, whose stage name I'm not sure I like better than his colleague Rat Scabies. Both have their charms. It's close.
28 - "When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge
Alabama soul star Sledge's biggest and signature hit was written after his model girlfriend left him when he lost his construction job. It was a #1 at home in 1966. In the U.K, it hit #4 in it's original release but then made it two places higher this time after it was used in a jeans commercial. It's just unimpeachable. And Michael Bolton should have stayed away from it.
27 - "Magic Smile," Rosie Vela
Texas-born model Vela was a successful fashion model in the 70s. In the mid-80s, she built a home recording studio, got a record deal, and made an album that was not only produced by Steely Dan producer Gary Katz, but also had both members of the then-disbanded Dan playing on it. The backing track of this tune about conflicting feelings over a lover is very Steely. The album, Zazu, flopped in America but got some attention over here, and I side with the Brits on this. It's sleek and groovy, and Vela has a sultry voice reminiscent of Sade and Everything but the Girl's Tracey Thorn. It was her only hit, and a second album she recorded was never released, but she has frequently done backing vocals for others, and that led to a brief relationship with ELO's Jeff Lynne. Anyway, this was a nice discovery, and I would have liked it if there was more of her music to discover.
26 - "Big Fun," The Gap Band
These Oklahoma funk vets had only two pop Top 40s and home, but four times as many across the pond. The last (non-remix) and biggest of these was this simple pop-funk number about love and sex and other enjoyable pastimes. I'm not sure I'd call it big fun, but it's at least larger-than-average.
25 - "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," Timbuk 3
The electro-folk classic about an optimistic science geek. I would make it the star of a "nerd" playlist, should I ever make one. "She Blinded Me with Science" is too cliché.
24 - "Rat in Mi Kitchen," UB40
The 17th of 35 U.K. Top 40s for the British reggae institution came about when band members Astro and Ali Campbell discussed the rodent problem in Campbell's new house. Astro then used that imagery to write a song about people who lie about others. Catchy fun, not as slick as their future efforts, and not as overplayed as "Red Red Wine.
23 - "Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)," Jackie Wilson
The R&B legend's first solo single after leaving the Dominoes was written by Wilson's cousin Billy Davis and siblings Gwen and Berry Gordy. It only hit #62 in America, but was a Top Ten across the ocean, and that success helped Berry Gordy fund the start of a little label called Motown. Twenty-nine years later, a London clay-amimation studio made a video for the song, and after it was played on the BBC, the song was re-released and went to #1. And deservedly so. It's fun, it's infectious, and Wilson's performance lives up to his "Mr. Excitement" nickname.
22 - "Coming Around Again," Carly Simon
This portrait of a couple trying to hang on to their relationship is arguable her last great song. Kind of the long-gestating sequel to "That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be."
21 - "Surrender," Swing Out Sister
More sophisti-pop, this time from the group best known in America for "Breakout." That was their biggest hit at home as well. This was the second, a song about "waiting for love to take revenge." I'm rooting for Corinne Drewery to have gotten her request from Karma.
In Part Two: more resurrected old soul, some dirty dancing before Dirty Dancing, and a band that I couldn't stand until I heard them.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Gloves Across the Water - UK Top 40 January 13, 1979 Part Two
Finishing.
20 - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," Rod Stewart
Rod's disco opus. Is it dumb trendhopping? Yes. But I still derive joy from it.
19 - "Shooting Star," Dollar
Brit native David Van Day and Canadian-born Thereza Bazar met in 1975 when they both successfully auditioned for a pop group called Guys n' Dolls. They left the group three years later to form their own act, and their first single, this synth-lite number that I think is about friendly aliens, began a career that included ten Top 40s and five Top Tens. This doesn't make me enthusiastic about hearing more from them.\
18 - "One Nation Under a Groove," Funkadelic
One of George Clinton's finest moments. The whole funk, and nothing but the funk
17 - "Always and Forever/Mind Blowing Decisions," Heatwave
This disco UN had a double-sided hit here. The A-side ballad also charted in the U.S. and was covered here, so I turn my attention to the B, another ballad. This one follow's a man's thought process from the beginning of a relationship, from whether to hold her hand or put his arms around her, up to "marriage or shacking." The conclusion: "Mind blowing decisions causes (sic) head-on collisions." Can't argue with that. Don't even know what it means, exactly.
16 - "I'll Put You Together Again," Hot Chocolate
Errol Brown's funksters were done having American Top 40s, but they were smack in the middle of their run at home when they hit with this big ballad promise to come to a friend's rescue. Better than I would have imagined.
15 - "Greased Lightning," John Travolta
The number from Grease where the T-Birds imagine the beater they're working on as the ultimate hot rod, a "real pussy wagon" that will make "the chicks cream" and result in them "gettin' lotsa tit." Apparently, the lyrics will be toned down for Fox's upcoming live production. Understandable, but kinda sad. And will Murdock (played by Brady kid Eve Plumb) even get to say "Haul ass, kid"?
14 - "I'm Every Woman," Chaka Khan
Chakachakachaka''s future Whitney cover object and Oprah theme. Still some quality empowerment nonetheless.
13 - "Hello This is Joannie," Paul Evans
American singer songwriter Evans had success in the late 50s and early 60s with the U.S, Top Tens "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat" and "Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky." Then he re-emerged in the U.K. and Australia with this country-pop tune about a guy who has a fight with his girlfriend, then desperately tries to phone her and apologize but only gets her answering machine. He finally gets a call back, but it's Joannie's friend telling him that Joannie crashed her car on the way home and died. As pop tragedy songs go, it's okay.
12 - "A Little More Love," Olivia Newton-John
Like I've said before, this is the real life equivalent of her Sandy donning the tight pants and halter top. It gets attention, but I still prefer what came before.
11 - "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper," Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
Miss Brightman began her theatre career at 13, then was recruited into a TV dance troupe called Hot Gossip. Among the group's numbers was one performed to an original disco song, sung by Brightman, that uses multiple sci-fi references (Star Wars, Star Trek, Flash Gordon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), as sexual innuendo. It was a hit, and launched Brightman on a career that would fly to it's greatest heights, not coincidentally, during a seven-year marriage to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I wonder if he made her "feel the force"? Anyway, I've decided that this is strange and campy enough to share the Uneasy Rider with the Smurfs. Congrats.
10 - "Too Much Heaven," The Bee Gees
Am I alone in thinking this is a better ballad than "How Deep is Your Love"? It's okay if I am.
9 - "Le Freak," Chic
Between this and "Good Times," they made disco sophisticated. An impressive feat.
8 - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand
How did this not end up in an FTD commercial? Or did it and I missed it?
7 - "Mary's Boy Child," Boney M.
The first Frank Farian group to be caught lip-synching other people's voices had their second and last U.K. #1 at Christmas of '78 with their disco-reggae take on a song first popularized by Harry Belafonte. It was my first introduction to the song as a child, and I liked it. Not as much as "Rasputin," though.
6 - "A Taste of Aggro," Barron Knights
These guys from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire had been having parody hits since 1964, acting as kind of a British precursor to "Weird" Al Yankovic. One of their last was a medley of spoofs of three recent #1s: Boney M.'s "Rivers of Babylon" (now about a visit to the dentist), "The Smurf Song" (in which the Smurfs are escaping from prison), and Brian and Michael's "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" (about a spraypainting vandal instead of a British artist). Didn't really get it, but I'm not British.
5 - "September," Earth, Wind and Fire
Joy encapsulated. I will never not rememBAH this.
4 - "Song for Guy," Elton John
This mournful, mostly instrumental piano piece was written by Sir Elton when he was in a place where he was imagining himself dying. The very next day, 17-year-old Guy Burchett, a messenger boy for John, died in a motorcycle accident, and Elton dedicated the song to him. Beautiful and poignant, and it's a shame it was a hit everywhere else but North America.
3 - "Lay Your Love on Me," Racey
The first of four hits for this London pop band was this jaunty love song in a Bay City Rollers vein, Catchy, disposable, okay.
2 - "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," Ian Dury and the Blockheads
From Middlesex, Dury survived a childhood battle with polio, and, after forming The Blockheads, became one of the most respected and influential artists of the British New Wave. He topped the charts with this jumpy pop-rocker where he name checks various worldwide locales on the verses and asks to be beaten with the titular implement on the choruses. What does it mean? I have no idea. And I don't care. Hit me. Hit me! HIT ME!!!
1 - "YMCA," The Village People
I would like to know if even one person on Earth ever found one of these places as fulfilling as these guys made it sound. I'm sure it's provided millions with affordable recreation and cheap housing, but the costumed ones made it sound happier than a thousand Disneylands.
And another one's gone. I'll be back again. Hopefully soon. That's all I can say. Take care in the meantime.
20 - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," Rod Stewart
Rod's disco opus. Is it dumb trendhopping? Yes. But I still derive joy from it.
19 - "Shooting Star," Dollar
Brit native David Van Day and Canadian-born Thereza Bazar met in 1975 when they both successfully auditioned for a pop group called Guys n' Dolls. They left the group three years later to form their own act, and their first single, this synth-lite number that I think is about friendly aliens, began a career that included ten Top 40s and five Top Tens. This doesn't make me enthusiastic about hearing more from them.\
18 - "One Nation Under a Groove," Funkadelic
One of George Clinton's finest moments. The whole funk, and nothing but the funk
17 - "Always and Forever/Mind Blowing Decisions," Heatwave
This disco UN had a double-sided hit here. The A-side ballad also charted in the U.S. and was covered here, so I turn my attention to the B, another ballad. This one follow's a man's thought process from the beginning of a relationship, from whether to hold her hand or put his arms around her, up to "marriage or shacking." The conclusion: "Mind blowing decisions causes (sic) head-on collisions." Can't argue with that. Don't even know what it means, exactly.
16 - "I'll Put You Together Again," Hot Chocolate
Errol Brown's funksters were done having American Top 40s, but they were smack in the middle of their run at home when they hit with this big ballad promise to come to a friend's rescue. Better than I would have imagined.
15 - "Greased Lightning," John Travolta
The number from Grease where the T-Birds imagine the beater they're working on as the ultimate hot rod, a "real pussy wagon" that will make "the chicks cream" and result in them "gettin' lotsa tit." Apparently, the lyrics will be toned down for Fox's upcoming live production. Understandable, but kinda sad. And will Murdock (played by Brady kid Eve Plumb) even get to say "Haul ass, kid"?
14 - "I'm Every Woman," Chaka Khan
Chakachakachaka''s future Whitney cover object and Oprah theme. Still some quality empowerment nonetheless.
13 - "Hello This is Joannie," Paul Evans
American singer songwriter Evans had success in the late 50s and early 60s with the U.S, Top Tens "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat" and "Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky." Then he re-emerged in the U.K. and Australia with this country-pop tune about a guy who has a fight with his girlfriend, then desperately tries to phone her and apologize but only gets her answering machine. He finally gets a call back, but it's Joannie's friend telling him that Joannie crashed her car on the way home and died. As pop tragedy songs go, it's okay.
12 - "A Little More Love," Olivia Newton-John
Like I've said before, this is the real life equivalent of her Sandy donning the tight pants and halter top. It gets attention, but I still prefer what came before.
11 - "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper," Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
Miss Brightman began her theatre career at 13, then was recruited into a TV dance troupe called Hot Gossip. Among the group's numbers was one performed to an original disco song, sung by Brightman, that uses multiple sci-fi references (Star Wars, Star Trek, Flash Gordon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), as sexual innuendo. It was a hit, and launched Brightman on a career that would fly to it's greatest heights, not coincidentally, during a seven-year marriage to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I wonder if he made her "feel the force"? Anyway, I've decided that this is strange and campy enough to share the Uneasy Rider with the Smurfs. Congrats.
10 - "Too Much Heaven," The Bee Gees
Am I alone in thinking this is a better ballad than "How Deep is Your Love"? It's okay if I am.
9 - "Le Freak," Chic
Between this and "Good Times," they made disco sophisticated. An impressive feat.
8 - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand
How did this not end up in an FTD commercial? Or did it and I missed it?
7 - "Mary's Boy Child," Boney M.
The first Frank Farian group to be caught lip-synching other people's voices had their second and last U.K. #1 at Christmas of '78 with their disco-reggae take on a song first popularized by Harry Belafonte. It was my first introduction to the song as a child, and I liked it. Not as much as "Rasputin," though.
6 - "A Taste of Aggro," Barron Knights
These guys from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire had been having parody hits since 1964, acting as kind of a British precursor to "Weird" Al Yankovic. One of their last was a medley of spoofs of three recent #1s: Boney M.'s "Rivers of Babylon" (now about a visit to the dentist), "The Smurf Song" (in which the Smurfs are escaping from prison), and Brian and Michael's "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" (about a spraypainting vandal instead of a British artist). Didn't really get it, but I'm not British.
5 - "September," Earth, Wind and Fire
Joy encapsulated. I will never not rememBAH this.
4 - "Song for Guy," Elton John
This mournful, mostly instrumental piano piece was written by Sir Elton when he was in a place where he was imagining himself dying. The very next day, 17-year-old Guy Burchett, a messenger boy for John, died in a motorcycle accident, and Elton dedicated the song to him. Beautiful and poignant, and it's a shame it was a hit everywhere else but North America.
3 - "Lay Your Love on Me," Racey
The first of four hits for this London pop band was this jaunty love song in a Bay City Rollers vein, Catchy, disposable, okay.
2 - "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," Ian Dury and the Blockheads
From Middlesex, Dury survived a childhood battle with polio, and, after forming The Blockheads, became one of the most respected and influential artists of the British New Wave. He topped the charts with this jumpy pop-rocker where he name checks various worldwide locales on the verses and asks to be beaten with the titular implement on the choruses. What does it mean? I have no idea. And I don't care. Hit me. Hit me! HIT ME!!!
1 - "YMCA," The Village People
I would like to know if even one person on Earth ever found one of these places as fulfilling as these guys made it sound. I'm sure it's provided millions with affordable recreation and cheap housing, but the costumed ones made it sound happier than a thousand Disneylands.
And another one's gone. I'll be back again. Hopefully soon. That's all I can say. Take care in the meantime.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Gloves Across The Water : UK Top 40 January 13, 1979 Part One
I'm back early! Well, by recent standards. Although there has been quite a lot of death in the musical realm in my relatively brief absence. So I'm going to open with RIPs for Natalie Cole, Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Frey, and of course, the chameleonic genius that is David Bowie. They all impacted the music world greatly, and all will be missed
So anyway, what I'm doing now is, I'm picking a year at random and looking at the chart around the same time that I'm writing, and if I like it, I'll cover it. So I tried 1979, thought it looked interesting, and here we go.
40 - "The ELO EP," - Electric Light Orchestra
We start with our first introduction to the British chart quirk of allowing extended play mini-albums on the singles chart. This one by Jeff Lynne and co. contatined two songs that were already big hits on both sides of the Atlantic ("Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman"), a track that had broken them in the U.S. but hadn't hit at home ("Can't Get it Out of My Head."), and one song that had only been a hit in Britain, "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," a threatening-sounding lust-rocker which I enjoyed. Although I'm not sure how it relates to the phone company.
39 - "Dance (Disco Heat)," Sylvester
The first U.K. and U.S. Top 40 for the L.A disco icon. Fun, but dated. "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real") holds up much better.
38 - "Instant Replay," Dan Hartman
The ex-Edgar Winter sideman who wrote and sang the smash "Free Ride" had a hit on his own by hitting the dance floor. Good for what it is. But the sad thing is that he makes back to back artists on this chart who died from AIDS-related illnesses. The consequences of the bacchanal that was the 70s were just around the corner.
37 - "B-A-B-Y," Rachel Sweet
From Akron, Ohio, Sweet was singing in commercials at age 6, opening for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas at 12 (a more dangerous-seeming gig in hindsight than it was at the time), and then, at 16, going to England to sign with the up-and-coming independent label Stiff Records, for which she recorded this bubblegummy cover of a 1966 Carla Thomas hit. She sounds girlish and lightweight, and it's not surprising that this didn't climb much higher. After two albums, she returned home and scored her only American hit duetting with Rex Smith on a cover of the oft-remade "Everlasting Love." Then she gave up on pop, dabbled in movie and TV music and acting, and eventually found success behind the scenes as a television writer and producer.
36 - "Could it Be Magic," Barry Manilow
Barry's riff on Chopin charted in the U.S. two years after it was recorded, then had to wait three more years to hit in Britain. It's a song I want to like for the drama of the performance, but some of the lyrics are just distracting. "High up where the stallion meets the sun." Huh?
35 - "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," The Shadows
Created in 1958 to back up Cliff Richard, these guys had a long and prosperous career of their own as an instrumental group, racking up twenty U.K. Top 40s and five #1s between 1960 and 1980. Their last Top Five was this somnambulant take on the signature song from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita. After hearing it once, I certainly plan on keeping my distance from it in the future.
34 - "Cool Meditation," Third World
While its influence had been felt on multiple Top 40 hits there, genuine Jamaican reggae had yet to break through on mainstream U.S. radio. In Britain, however, it was a different story, largely due to the U.K`s significant West Indian population. Bob Marley led the way, but these Kingstonians (whose membership included the brother of a former Jamaican deputy prime minister) were right behind him. Their second hit here was this laid back groove about getting away from the city to go somewhere quiet to "get your head together" as was the style at the time. Like this a lot, and was charmed by the harmonica solo. I don't think I'd ever heard that instrument in a reggae song before
33 - "Theme from Superman," The London Symphony Orchestra
This was around the time the first major superhero was selling out cinemas in the first major superhero blockbuster, so it's not surprising that its John Williams-composed and conducted opening theme got some attention. I use to confuse this with Williams' Star Wars theme, but I can now easily tell them apart, and I like this better. As for old Supe, I saw the first three films as a kid, wisely sat out IV, didn't bother with Returns, but really liked Man of Steel. Don't know about the upcoming Batman teamup though. Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight? We shall see.
32 - "You Needed Me," Anne Murray
Annie M.'s best known hit was #1 in the U.S., but only got this high here. I agree with the Brits.
31 - "Take That to the Bank," Shalamar
The funk-pop group's first hit after it's lineup was completely overhauled was fiduciary fidelity metaphor. "My interest is strong," "Good insurance you have found in me," and "Our contract can't be torn apart that easily" are among the promises made. It's decent, but I get why it only hit here and not in America. But I also don't get how they had three times as many Top 40s in Britain as they did at home.
30 - "Mirrors," Sally Oldfield
The older sister of Mike "Tubular Bells" Oldfield, this Irishwoman's only major hit is a swirly folk tune about singing and dancing and love. Reminds me of a less interesting Kate Bush.\
29 - "My Life," Billy Joel
Owning his own existence gave Bill his biggest British hit to date. Still can't hear this without thinking about Tom Hanks in a dress.
28 - "Christmas in Smurfland," Father Abraham and the Smurfs
Sometime in the late 70s, my parents came home from a fair and brought me and my brother buttons that had a weird little blue guy on them and the caption "Do you smurf?" This was my first introduction to the creations of Belgian cartoonist Peyo that would go on to be a lucrative phenomenon on television, movies, and merchandise. Around the time I discovered them, they were already a musical sensation in Europe, thanks to Pierre "Father Abraham" Kartner, a Dutch musician who performed in a suit, a bowler hat, and a long grey mustache and beard. "The Smurf Song" was an international charttopper in 1977, and among its follow-ups was this holiday number where he and a smurf (depicted with a sped-up voice a la The Chipmunks), sang about all the typical Christmas things, including bells announcing the birth of Jesus. Abraham's heavily accented voice makes the proceedings sound more ominous than they should, but that's just one of the reasons this is the clear winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
27 - "Car 67," Driver 67
A one-off collaboration between British producer Paul Phillips and American musician Pete Zorn, this is a reggaeish number about a taxi driver who is being sent by his dispatcher to pick up a woman at "83 Royal Gardens." The driver refuses, eventually revealing that this is the address of the girlfriend he had just broken up with the night before. It's catchy, and I feel like it could have done well on the other side of the Atlantic if it had been pushed enough.
26 - "In the Bush," Musique
The disco era produced a number of songs that could be considered bordering on audio pornography. "Love to Love You Baby" and "More, More, More" immediately spring to mind. But those are on the mild end of softcore compared to this lascivious track, masterminded by New York producer Patrick Adams, which featured singers getting more and more...exicted with every word of the bridge, and then giving us the immortal, unmisinterpretable chorus "Push, push, in the bush!" The song was considered too hot for many U.S. radio stations, limiting its success to the nation's discos. It fared somewhat better in the U.K. mainstream, making it to #16. For me, it's joyless, mechanical porn on wax. More dirty than sexy.
25 - "Doctor Who," Mankind
This British group had they're only hit by following Meco's "disco version of a sci-fi theme" template and applying it to the signature music of the long-running British saga of a time-traveller. It's a cool theme, I admit, but I've never gotten into the good Doctor in any of his incarnations. Though I do find Alex Kingston quite attractive, she's not enough to pique my curiosity.
24 - "Rama Lama Ding Dong," Rocky Sharpe and the Replays
While 50s musical revivalism in the States during this decade was for the most part limited to movies and TV shows that fetishized the old songs and recordings, contemporary-sounding covers, and Sha Na Na, in Britain there were artists who built substantial careers by aping both the songs and the style of the dawn of the rock era. Among these were Showaddywaddy, Shakin' Stevens, and this band led by a singer born Robert Podsiadly. Their first hit was this cover of a 1958 song by The Edsels about loving a girl with an unusual name. Inessential. That's all I can say.
23 - "Tommy Gun," The Clash
In the U.S., punk was attracting attention and curiosity but very little mainstream success. In Britain, it was a regular visitor to the singles charts, and the genre's most prominent band was already on Top 40 single number five with this blast of rock about the attraction and futility of terrorism. The conclusion: the attention brought to a cause isn't worth the damage done. I can't say they were "the only band that mattered" at the time, but they probably were the one that mattered the most.
22 - "Just the Way You Are," Barry White
Although he was done for the decade in the U.S. when it came to the Top 40, Barry managed to eke out one more here with a Billy Joel cover. He adds a spoken word intro and his usual silky delivery. Both are clear improvements.
21 - "Raining in My Heart," Leo Sayer
Leo kept up his hit string at home with a bland MOR cover of Buddy Holly's gorgeous loneliness ballad. It makes me feel like...nothing.
In Part Two: more disco, another Christmas leftover, and a song with "a beat" in more ways than one.
So anyway, what I'm doing now is, I'm picking a year at random and looking at the chart around the same time that I'm writing, and if I like it, I'll cover it. So I tried 1979, thought it looked interesting, and here we go.
40 - "The ELO EP," - Electric Light Orchestra
We start with our first introduction to the British chart quirk of allowing extended play mini-albums on the singles chart. This one by Jeff Lynne and co. contatined two songs that were already big hits on both sides of the Atlantic ("Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman"), a track that had broken them in the U.S. but hadn't hit at home ("Can't Get it Out of My Head."), and one song that had only been a hit in Britain, "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," a threatening-sounding lust-rocker which I enjoyed. Although I'm not sure how it relates to the phone company.
39 - "Dance (Disco Heat)," Sylvester
The first U.K. and U.S. Top 40 for the L.A disco icon. Fun, but dated. "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real") holds up much better.
38 - "Instant Replay," Dan Hartman
The ex-Edgar Winter sideman who wrote and sang the smash "Free Ride" had a hit on his own by hitting the dance floor. Good for what it is. But the sad thing is that he makes back to back artists on this chart who died from AIDS-related illnesses. The consequences of the bacchanal that was the 70s were just around the corner.
37 - "B-A-B-Y," Rachel Sweet
From Akron, Ohio, Sweet was singing in commercials at age 6, opening for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas at 12 (a more dangerous-seeming gig in hindsight than it was at the time), and then, at 16, going to England to sign with the up-and-coming independent label Stiff Records, for which she recorded this bubblegummy cover of a 1966 Carla Thomas hit. She sounds girlish and lightweight, and it's not surprising that this didn't climb much higher. After two albums, she returned home and scored her only American hit duetting with Rex Smith on a cover of the oft-remade "Everlasting Love." Then she gave up on pop, dabbled in movie and TV music and acting, and eventually found success behind the scenes as a television writer and producer.
36 - "Could it Be Magic," Barry Manilow
Barry's riff on Chopin charted in the U.S. two years after it was recorded, then had to wait three more years to hit in Britain. It's a song I want to like for the drama of the performance, but some of the lyrics are just distracting. "High up where the stallion meets the sun." Huh?
35 - "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," The Shadows
Created in 1958 to back up Cliff Richard, these guys had a long and prosperous career of their own as an instrumental group, racking up twenty U.K. Top 40s and five #1s between 1960 and 1980. Their last Top Five was this somnambulant take on the signature song from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita. After hearing it once, I certainly plan on keeping my distance from it in the future.
34 - "Cool Meditation," Third World
While its influence had been felt on multiple Top 40 hits there, genuine Jamaican reggae had yet to break through on mainstream U.S. radio. In Britain, however, it was a different story, largely due to the U.K`s significant West Indian population. Bob Marley led the way, but these Kingstonians (whose membership included the brother of a former Jamaican deputy prime minister) were right behind him. Their second hit here was this laid back groove about getting away from the city to go somewhere quiet to "get your head together" as was the style at the time. Like this a lot, and was charmed by the harmonica solo. I don't think I'd ever heard that instrument in a reggae song before
33 - "Theme from Superman," The London Symphony Orchestra
This was around the time the first major superhero was selling out cinemas in the first major superhero blockbuster, so it's not surprising that its John Williams-composed and conducted opening theme got some attention. I use to confuse this with Williams' Star Wars theme, but I can now easily tell them apart, and I like this better. As for old Supe, I saw the first three films as a kid, wisely sat out IV, didn't bother with Returns, but really liked Man of Steel. Don't know about the upcoming Batman teamup though. Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight? We shall see.
32 - "You Needed Me," Anne Murray
Annie M.'s best known hit was #1 in the U.S., but only got this high here. I agree with the Brits.
31 - "Take That to the Bank," Shalamar
The funk-pop group's first hit after it's lineup was completely overhauled was fiduciary fidelity metaphor. "My interest is strong," "Good insurance you have found in me," and "Our contract can't be torn apart that easily" are among the promises made. It's decent, but I get why it only hit here and not in America. But I also don't get how they had three times as many Top 40s in Britain as they did at home.
30 - "Mirrors," Sally Oldfield
The older sister of Mike "Tubular Bells" Oldfield, this Irishwoman's only major hit is a swirly folk tune about singing and dancing and love. Reminds me of a less interesting Kate Bush.\
29 - "My Life," Billy Joel
Owning his own existence gave Bill his biggest British hit to date. Still can't hear this without thinking about Tom Hanks in a dress.
28 - "Christmas in Smurfland," Father Abraham and the Smurfs
Sometime in the late 70s, my parents came home from a fair and brought me and my brother buttons that had a weird little blue guy on them and the caption "Do you smurf?" This was my first introduction to the creations of Belgian cartoonist Peyo that would go on to be a lucrative phenomenon on television, movies, and merchandise. Around the time I discovered them, they were already a musical sensation in Europe, thanks to Pierre "Father Abraham" Kartner, a Dutch musician who performed in a suit, a bowler hat, and a long grey mustache and beard. "The Smurf Song" was an international charttopper in 1977, and among its follow-ups was this holiday number where he and a smurf (depicted with a sped-up voice a la The Chipmunks), sang about all the typical Christmas things, including bells announcing the birth of Jesus. Abraham's heavily accented voice makes the proceedings sound more ominous than they should, but that's just one of the reasons this is the clear winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
27 - "Car 67," Driver 67
A one-off collaboration between British producer Paul Phillips and American musician Pete Zorn, this is a reggaeish number about a taxi driver who is being sent by his dispatcher to pick up a woman at "83 Royal Gardens." The driver refuses, eventually revealing that this is the address of the girlfriend he had just broken up with the night before. It's catchy, and I feel like it could have done well on the other side of the Atlantic if it had been pushed enough.
26 - "In the Bush," Musique
The disco era produced a number of songs that could be considered bordering on audio pornography. "Love to Love You Baby" and "More, More, More" immediately spring to mind. But those are on the mild end of softcore compared to this lascivious track, masterminded by New York producer Patrick Adams, which featured singers getting more and more...exicted with every word of the bridge, and then giving us the immortal, unmisinterpretable chorus "Push, push, in the bush!" The song was considered too hot for many U.S. radio stations, limiting its success to the nation's discos. It fared somewhat better in the U.K. mainstream, making it to #16. For me, it's joyless, mechanical porn on wax. More dirty than sexy.
25 - "Doctor Who," Mankind
This British group had they're only hit by following Meco's "disco version of a sci-fi theme" template and applying it to the signature music of the long-running British saga of a time-traveller. It's a cool theme, I admit, but I've never gotten into the good Doctor in any of his incarnations. Though I do find Alex Kingston quite attractive, she's not enough to pique my curiosity.
24 - "Rama Lama Ding Dong," Rocky Sharpe and the Replays
While 50s musical revivalism in the States during this decade was for the most part limited to movies and TV shows that fetishized the old songs and recordings, contemporary-sounding covers, and Sha Na Na, in Britain there were artists who built substantial careers by aping both the songs and the style of the dawn of the rock era. Among these were Showaddywaddy, Shakin' Stevens, and this band led by a singer born Robert Podsiadly. Their first hit was this cover of a 1958 song by The Edsels about loving a girl with an unusual name. Inessential. That's all I can say.
23 - "Tommy Gun," The Clash
In the U.S., punk was attracting attention and curiosity but very little mainstream success. In Britain, it was a regular visitor to the singles charts, and the genre's most prominent band was already on Top 40 single number five with this blast of rock about the attraction and futility of terrorism. The conclusion: the attention brought to a cause isn't worth the damage done. I can't say they were "the only band that mattered" at the time, but they probably were the one that mattered the most.
22 - "Just the Way You Are," Barry White
Although he was done for the decade in the U.S. when it came to the Top 40, Barry managed to eke out one more here with a Billy Joel cover. He adds a spoken word intro and his usual silky delivery. Both are clear improvements.
21 - "Raining in My Heart," Leo Sayer
Leo kept up his hit string at home with a bland MOR cover of Buddy Holly's gorgeous loneliness ballad. It makes me feel like...nothing.
In Part Two: more disco, another Christmas leftover, and a song with "a beat" in more ways than one.
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