Soul

511. The Jam – Beat Surrender (1982)

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The Intro

Beat Surrender, the Jam’s final single and fourth number 1, bridged the gap between the band that shot Paul Weller to fame, and his future endeavours with The Style Council. And did so in fine fashion.

Before

Talk about going out with a bang. Earlier in 1982, The Jam’s last album, The Gift, had spawned their third chart-topper, Town Called Malice/Precious. This was followed by a number eight placing for Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero?. Not as impressive, you’d be forgiven for thinking. However, this 7-inch had only been officially released in the Netherlands. Such was the demand in the UK, it reached the top 10 here regardless, and became our highest-selling import single of all time.

Their next official single, The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow), almost made it to number 1, and it would have been deserved, but was held at bay by Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger and then Musical Youth’s Pass the Dutchie. This was a non-album single, and the modern soul sound was an early clue to Paul Weller’s next move.

Weller was 24 at the time, and had the pop world at his feet. His band had long since exceeded their Mod beginnings and become bona fide pop stars. Their five-year run was at its peak, with no signs of a decline. But he had had enough. Following a world tour he went on holiday to Italy. He came back and planned to announce he was splitting up the band, but when the news leaked, a hand-written press statement was released. He said:

‘At the end of this year, The Jam will be officially splitting up, as I feel we have achieved all we can together as a group. I mean this both musically and commercially. I want all we have achieved to count for something and most of all I’d hate us to end up old and embarrassing like so many other groups do.’

Weller’s decision had shocked bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler, who couldn’t see the sense in ending The Jam when they were riding so high. They may have recalled recording Beat Surrender, and wondered why their singer hadn’t said anything at the time, because with hindsight, it was clear this was his goodbye to The Jam.

The title was a play on Anita Ward’s 1979 disco single Sweet Surrender, and the military term of ‘beating retreat’. In a 2015 edition of Mojo, Weller revealed ‘I wanted it to be a statement, a final clarion call saying: Right, we’re stopping, you take it on from here.’ Despite this, there was still some indecision over what actually would become their final single. Weller had also been mulling over going with A Solid Bond in Your Heart, but that later surfaced as a single by The Style Council.

Review

Beat Surrender is my least favourite of The Jam’s number 1s – but that’s only because it’s competing with three of the finest chart-toppers of the era in Going Underground/The Dreams of Children, Start! and Town Called Malice/Precious.

It’s a great track, and the perfect bridge from the uptempo pop/rock of The Jam to The Style Council. Lyrically, it’s a call to arms like Going Underground, mixed with the inevitable feel of an epitaph to his much-loved power trio. The chorus urges The Jam’s fans to let the band go, but to take their energy and do something worthwhile. I love this verse, in which Weller looks forward to other artists carrying on their mission:

‘You’ll see me come runnin’
To the sound of your strummin’
Fill my heart with joy and gladness
I’ve lived too long in the shadows of sadness’

Of course, Weller already had plans to continue in music, but to expand the sonic palette of The Jam. Yes, there was more to them than post-punk – they had experimented with soul and psychedelia and done so with aplomb. But he wanted to explore further, and Beat Surrender points the way to a more mature, soulful sound, with more complex arrangements that just couldn’t be done as a threesome. The final verse says it all:

‘Wake me up with your amphetamine blast
Take me by the collar, throw me out into the world
Rock me gently and send me dreaming of something tender
I was brought here to pay homage
To the Beat Surrender’

After

With the news of The Jam’s demise still fresh, and painful, for many, it was inevitable that Beat Surrender would top the hit parade. Only Weller himself knows what he meant by standing with backing singer Tracie Young when they promoted the single on Top of the Pops – was he giving Foxton and Buckler the spotlight as a parting gift, or was he saying he really couldn’t be bothered to represent The Jam anymore?

The Jam played their final gig on 11 December 1982 at Brighton Conference Centre. Foxton and Buckler were deeply hurt by Weller’s decision to split them up. Foxton refused to speak to him for 20 years and as far as I can tell, Buckler never spoke to him again.

It’s understandable, really. Weller cited a need to get off the treadmill of fame – yet only months after the split, he announced the formation of The Style Council, with keyboard player Mick Talbot. Originally a floating line-up, The Style Council showcased a diverse mix of ‘blue-eyed soul’, pop, dance and hip-hop. They released some great material until they split in 1989, including Long Hot Summer, Shout to the Top! and Walls Come Tumbling Down!, and scored top 10 hits, but they couldn’t match The Jam’s success and never made it to number 1. I doubt Weller was too bothered, though. He also sang on the 1984 Christmas number 1, Do They Know It’s Christmas?.

The Style Council split in 1989, and two years later, Weller began releasing solo material. After a slow start, his album Wild Wood saw commercial and critical acclaim in 1993. In 1995, Weller was a star once more, releasing his most successful album, Stanley Road. He was ‘the Modfather’, and a much-loved but grumpy elder statesman of the Britpop movement. Over the next few years he enjoyed three top 10 hits with The Changingman, You Do Something to Me and Peacock Suit. His last album to date is Find El Dorado, a covers album, released in 2025.

After The Jam, Foxton recorded demos with Stiff Little Fingers, before venturing into a solo career. His debut single Freak climbed to 23 in 1983. An album followed in 1984, but without success. He and Buckler formed a short-lived new band, Sharp in 1986. In 1990, he joined Stiff Little Fingers officially and stayed with them for 15 years.

Buckler had started a new group, Time UK, in 1983. They lasted two years, and then after Sharp, Buckler tried his hand at production, before quitting music and became a carpenter in 1995. But 10 years later, he formed a band named after The Jam’s final album. The Gift exclusively performed material by The Jam. And then in 2007, Foxton joined the group and they changed their name to From The Jam.

One year before that, Weller and Foxton were reunited backstage at a Hyde Park gig by The Who. Following a 10-minute conversation and an embrace, they became friends again, and in 2009, Foxton sang backing vocals and played bass on Weller’s album Wake Up the Nation. He even joined him on stage in 2010.

Foxton released two more solo albums – one in 2012 and one in 2016. In 2025, From the Jam announced that due to poor health, Foxton was retiring from the music business and there would be no more tours. That February, Buckler died aged 69 following a brief illness. Weller, who had occasionally been critical of From the Jam, paid tribute to his former drummer. This year, Foxton revealed he has Parkinson’s disease.

The Outro

Although Foxton and Buckler’s hurt is understandable, Weller was right to end The Jam at the peak of their powers, and never reform them. They were one of the finest bands of the early 80s and Weller was on fire, writing hit after hit after hit. That he was able to change tack several times over after such a great band is testament to his versatility.

The Info

Written by

Paul Weller

Producer

Peter Wilson

Weeks at number 1

2 (4-17 December)

Trivia

Births

7 December: Actor Jack Huston
14 December: Footballer Steve Sidwell
15 December: Actor Charlie Cox

Deaths

16 December: Automotive engineer Colin Chapman
17 December: First woman to fly an aircraft around the world Richarda Morrow-Tait

Meanwhile…

6 December: The Irish National Liberation Army killed 17 people in a bomb attack at the Dropping Well Inn in Ballykelly, County Londonderry.

12 December: 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire.

15 December: The British colony of Gibraltar gains a pedestrian link to Spain, as the gates which separated the two states are re-opened by the Spanish government after 13 years.

509. Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (1982)

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The Intro

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me introduced the world to Culture Club, and their androgynous singer Boy George. Much like his idol, David Bowie, he was flamboyant and fearless when it came to breaking down sexual boundaries in pop.

Before

George O’Dowd had been one of the Blitz Kids – a group of people who frequented the Tuesday club-night at Blitz in Covent Garden, London during the early 80s. Along with Marilyn, Steve Strange (later the singer of Visage), Siobhan Fahey (one third of Bananarama) and others, they helped spearhead the New Romantic movement. Spandau Ballet were just one band who performed there in their nascent years.

In 1980, O’Dowd was spotted by former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren – no stranger to rising pop movements. McLaren saw charisma in abundance and invited O’Dowd to sing with his new wave group Bow Wow Wow. He took the invite and performed as Lieutenant Lush. However, there were clashes between him and lead singer Annabella Lwin, so he decided to form his own band.

O’Dowd enlisted Mikey Craig on bass first, then drummer Jon Moss, who had played with The Damned and Adam and the Ants. Guitarist and keyboardist Roy Hay completed the line-up. They were initially known as The Sex Gang Children, but they wisely dropped the name (although the name was adopted by a goth-rock band a year later). Noting they had a gay frontman of Irish ethnicity, a black Briton on bass a blonde Englishman playing guitar and a Jewish drummer, they adopted the much more commercially friendly name Culture Club. O’Dowd became Boy George.

Boy George had been experimenting with cross-dressing and make-up since his schooldays, but as a would-be pop-star, he was able to go further. Wearing his hair in dreads under a large hat, and with make-up that softened his handsome face, it became difficult to tell whether their lead singer was male or female – especially as he was blessed with a beautifully tender singing voice.

Although EMI funded the initial Culture Club demos, they weren’t impressed and opted not to sign them, However, Virgin Records were keen and signed the band up. In April 1982 they released Culture Club’s debut single White Boy, which failed to chart. Three months later came I’m Afraid of Me, which sank too.

Culture Club songs were jointly written, although Boy George came up with most of the lyrics. One song, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, had deep meaning for the singer. It was based upon his tumultuous relationship with Moss, which became a secret six-year affair. Musically, the song came together while they were rehearsing for Peter Powell’s BBC Radio 1 show. Unlike their typical upbeat material, it was a melancholy ballad with a soft reggae feel, courtesy of Craig’s bass.

Two singles down, Culture Club were worried they were in danger of being dropped. But when Virgin asked for Do You Really Want to Hurt Me to become their next single, Boy George was so worried he threatened to quit. Not only was he worried about the personal nature of this song, he also felt it wasn’t representative of the band.

Review

While I can understand Boy George’s reticence, and fear that they may lose some of their edginess, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me is a really lovely song. Yes, the singer’s appearance will have turned heads – but would have also put off a mainstream audience, too. The New Romantic era broadened sexual horizons, but many will have been horrified at Boy George and even confused as to whether they were looking at a man or woman – which is a step up from Bowie putting his arm around Mick Ronson.

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me was the perfect introduction to Culture Club. A lilting reggae-soul song eases the listener in gently. As personal as Boy George’s lyrics might have been, they also have massive appeal. Everyone has felt that pain. Read with the awareness of what was going on behind the scenes, it makes the lyrics all that more poignant. And the singer’s gentle, plaintive vocal performance hits hard. I’m unsure as to whether Moss was aware the song was specifically about him, but if he did know, it must have been weird for Culture Club to find themselves as bona fide pop stars, performing the song over and over as its success spread.

What’s also weird is the video. Julien Temple, who had directed the Sex Pistols’ The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, conceived an elaborate video, opening with Boy George on trial. This makes it the second number 1 in a row to have a video set in a courtroom, coming straight off the back of Musical Youth’s Pass the Dutchie. Which also makes it the second reggae chart-topper in a row.

However, this was a more complicated video, with messaging that may have been lost on many. Temple wanted to comment on the singer’s outsider status and show him on trial for his sexuality. There are flashbacks to him being thrown out of the Gargoyle Club in Soho in 1936 and Dolphin Square Health Club in Pimlico in 1957. Controversially, Temple had the jurors made up of people in blackface, to portray the hypocrisy of gay judges and MPs who had enacted anti-gay legislation. In the UK, this was bad enough – The Black and White Minstrel Show had ended in 1978. But in the US, it was too much, and the jurors were edited out.

After

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me was released in September, and was derided as ‘weak, watered-down fourth division reggae’ by Smash Hits. Culture Club could well have been dropped. However, Radio 2 DJ David Hamilton made the single his record of the week, and in October, Top of the Pops threw them the lifeline that changed everything. Shakin’ Stevens had been forced to pull out of an appearance, so Culture Club stepped in. Wearing the same ‘תַּרְבּוּת אֲגֻדָּה’ t-shirt he wore in the video (Hebrew for ‘culture association’), Boy George was an instant hit.

The Outro

Culture Club’s third single went to number 1 in 12 countries, including the US. Not bad for fourth division reggae.

The Info

Written by

Boy George, Mikey Craig, Roy Hay & Jon Moss

Producer

Steve Levine

Weeks at number 1

3 (23 October-12 November)

Trivia

Births

26 October: Olympic boxer Nicola Adams
28 October: Actor Matt Smith 
4 November: Footballer Neil Mellor

Deaths

26 October: Witch Sybil Leek
29 October: Army general Sir Sidney Kirkman/Composer William Lloyd Webber
1 November: Composer Leighton Lucas
3 November: Historian EH Carr/Surgeon Alan Parks
4 November: Royal Navy captain Stephen Roskill
6 November: Novelist Frank Baker/Novelist Frank Swinnerton
12 November: Tennis player Dorothy Round

Meanwhile…

27 October: The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 comes into effect, decriminalising homosexuality in Northern Ireland for those aged 18 or older.
Also on this day, three RUC officers are killed by an IRA bomb near Lurgan, Northern Ireland.

28 October: By-elections are held in Birmingham Northfield and Peckham, due to the deaths of Conservative MP Jocelyn Cadbury and Labour MP Harry Lamborn, respectively. Labour win both – John Spellar and Harriet Harman are the respective new MPs.

1 November: Welsh language television station S4C launches in Wales.

2 November: The fourth terrestrial TV channel, Channel 4, begins broadcasting, with the game show Countdown.

506. Dexys Midnight Runners & The Emerald Express – Come On Eileen (1982)

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The Intro

Two years after their first number 1, Geno, Dexys Midnight Runners returned with a new look, a new sound, and a future wedding dancefloor classic in Come On Eileen.

Before

Hot on the heels of Geno, Dexys Midnight Runners’ debut album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels was released in July 1980. Pete Saunders was replaced on keyboards by Mick Talbot – future co-founder of The Style Council with Paul Weller. Although their next single There, There, My Dear was a hit, peaking at number seven, there was trouble afoot.

Frontman Kevin Rowlands insisted on rewriting the lyrics to Keep It, which was scheduled to be their next single. EMI weren’t happy, but there was no stopping Rowlands. When Keep It Part Two (Inferiority Part One) failed to even chart, the group splintered. Only two remained – Rowland and trombonist ‘Big’ Jim Paterson

After working on new songs together, Rowland and Paterson recruited new members. Kevin ‘Billy’ Adams on guitar and banjo, Seb Shelton on drums, Mickey Billingham on keyboards, Brian Maurice on alto saxophone, Paul Spear on tenor sax and Steve Wynne on bass.

Many assume that Dexys Midnight Runners went from the leather jacketed look of their first album, straight into the gypsy outfits of their second. However there was a short-lived phase inbetween, where the new group were decked out in hooded tops and boxing boots, and some wore pony tails. Rowland also instilled a fitness regime, insisting on working out and running together.

In 1981, the new Dexys Midnight Runners recorded a single, Plan B, but due to contractual wrangling with EMI, there was no promotion and it failed to break into the top 40. Rowland issued an ad stating his previous band had tried to throw him out of the group, but had failed and the new band were working on a new live show called The Midnight Runners Projected Passion Revue.

EMI let Dexys Midnight Runners go and they signed with Mercury Records. The first single for the label, produced by Tony Visconti, was Show Me, which reached 16. Wynne was sacked and replaced by Mick Gallick, who was given the stage name ‘Giorgio Kilkenny’.

Inspired by former bandmate Kevin ‘Al’ Archer, Rowland added strings to the Dexys Midnight Runners sound from his horn players and session musicians, but Liars A to E didn’t chart. When it came to recording their next LP, Rowland wanted better string players. Classical violin student Helen Bevington was poached from Archer’s band and renamed ‘Helen O’Hara’. She then in turn recruited fellow students Steve Shaw and Roger Huckle – now dubbed ‘Steve Brennan’ and ‘Roger McDuff’. The violin section was dubbed The Emerald Express. However, the horn section, fearing their role was diminishing, decided to quit after the recording of Too-Rye-Ay was finished. The new album was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who were behind the mixing desk for many Madness hits, including their recent number 1, House of Fun.

Come On Eileen had originally been calledJames, Van and Me. It was a tribute to James Brown and Van Morrison, whose influences are all over Too-Rye-Ay. Most likely lyrically similar to Geno, you can sing this title instead of Come On Eileen – and then be glad Rowland changed his mind. However, it perhaps explains the reference to Johnnie Ray in the first verse – left in from the original version?

Musically, Come On Eileen was credited to Rowland, Paterson and Adams. However, Archer was upset to hear Rowland had copied the breakdown and buildup from Archer. Check out the last few minutes of The Blue Ox Babes’ What Does Anybody Ever Think About and you’ll see what I mean. In time, Rowland admitted to the influence Archer had on the sound of Too-Rye-Ay.

Instead, Rowland came up with lyrics based on the true story of a girl Rowland grew up with. Their friendship turned romantic at the age of 13 and according to Rowland it became sexual a year later. He had been raised as a Catholic and served as an altar boy, so the thin line between love and lust, combined with the taboo of sex, interested Rowland, and he wrapped all these topics into one of the most endearing number 1s of the early 80s.

Review

Come On Eileen is so lovable that I simply don’t believe anyone who claims they’re sick of hearing it. Mind you, it could be that they’ve been to more weddings than me. Rowland is a wayward genius but when he hits – this, Geno, the cover of Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) – it’s a hammer blow that feels so good.

The lyrics are just perfect. Whether the opening line is a hangover from a first draft or not, it’s a compelling intro to a description of young love between the singer and the mythical ‘Eileen’. Of course it’s a perfect wedding song – the timestamp may be for adolescent love, that feels eternal at the time, and unstoppable if you’re lucky to find someone who feels the same way.

I love the lines about escaping a dreary existence:

‘These people ’round here
Were beaten down, eyes sunk in smoke-dried face
They’re resigned to what their fate is
But not us (no, never)
No, not us (no, never)
We are far too young and clever’.

That mix of adolescent arrogance and wistfulness brings to mind Morrissey at his best.

And it makes perfect sense for Come On Eileen to become a wedding classic, because getting married brings that feeling back – that together, you’re unstoppable. Anything is possible.

And now, a confession. You can get lost in the emotion of Rowland’s songs so easily, you’re not always concentrating on the actual words – and he sometimes yelps in such a way, it’s even harder to follow. But it’s no excuse that only now, writing this, have I learned that the chorus is:

‘Come on Eileen,
Oh, I swear (Well, he means)
At this moment
You mean everything’

The bit in brackets is interesting. Is that the singer’s mates interjecting that his promise shouldn’t be taken literally, and that she’s only important right now, to the lusty protagonist who wants her dress off ASAP? Or, are they saying, he really means it? I’m not sure. It adds deeper meaning… I’m just not certain what the meaning is! I’d be interested to know if everyone else out there knew about the bracketed bit, or whether this is news to anyone else.

But yes, so strong is the music and the feel the band creates, I’m not going to get too hung up on it. And you know what, if Rowland stole the structure of the end section from a former bandmate, I’m not going to hold it against him, because he improves on it so well. The build-up from Geno-style chanting to the return of the chorus is fantastic and totally ageless. Take a bow, Rowland.

There are several versions of Come On Eileen. The single mix, which also features on some album versions, begins with a violin playing the first line of the folk song Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms. Some album versions skip this and start with the bass. Many of the re-releases add Rowland singing Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms at the end of the song.

The video is perfect. Opening with archive footage of Ray and bridged by pics of childhood sweethearts, we’re then taken to the ragtag misfits in wall-to-wall denim, performing on a street corner, while Rowland sings to Eileen, played by Maire Fahey, whose sister, Siobhan, was a member of future chart-topping acts Bananarama and Shakespears Sister. I remember thinking they looked like a cool bunch to hang around with – even if they looked like they hadn’t washed in weeks. In fact, as a young boy, it probably added to their appeal.

After

The Celtic Soul Brothers had been the first single from Too-Ry-Aye, but it failed to reach the top 40. Rowland knew the potential of Come On Eileen, and was worried it would also sink. Hedropped his imposed media blackout and gave a series of contentious interviews. The publicity helped rocket the single up the charts. Come On Eileen eclipsed the success of Geno and became a summer smash. It spent a month at number 1, becoming the best-selling single of 1982. And it also topped the Billboard chart, too.

Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) was a deserved follow-up, yet it peaked at number five. This was in despite of the famous Top of the Pops appearance in which they performed in front of a giant picture of darts player Jocky Wilson (this was a deliberate joke by the band).

Despite the success of Dexys Midnight Runners in 1982, the horn players did indeed leave afterwards. Saxophonist Nick Gatfield and session musicians were added to the ranks, with Rowland, O’Hara and Adams became the core trio, and brand new single Let’s Get This Straight (From the Start) was released, but it only made it to number 17.

The next two years saw Rowland, O’Hara, Adams and Gatfield work with numerous session musicians and a series of producers on sessions that would become their third album. Don’t Stand Me Down finally saw the light of day in 1985 and showcased a less commercial, more introspective sound. This was emphasised by their new appearance – they smartened up and wore sharp suits. Only one single was released – a heavily edited version of the epic This Is What She’s Like – and it didn’t chart. Critics panned the new LP. Rowland turned to drugs and the band was done – apart from one wonderful single, the tender Because of You, which was the theme to the BBC One sitcom Brush Strokes. It only reached 13.

Dexys Midnight Runners were disbanded, and in 1988 Rowland released his first solo album The Wanderer, which flopped. He went into freefall, suffering from depression, drug addiction and money problems. On the day he signed on for Jobseeker’s Allowance, someone on the dole sang Come On Eileen at him. He spent most of 1993 and 94 in rehab.

A few years later, he felt well enough to sign with Creation Records. He had been shunned by most other labels, and being on the same label as Oasis could have boded well, but it didn’t work out that way. Although a remastered and expanded version of Don’t Stand Me Down helped the album to be re-evaluated, the problems came with his new album.

In 1999 he released My Beauty, an album of cover versions that was panned and only garnered ridicule due to the cover, in which he crossdressed. It was the height of lad culture, and this was perceived as a terrible mistake. I saw him at Leeds Festival that year, and his short set was laughed at. At one point I remember watching him singing The Greatest Love of All into an almost naked dancer’s crotch. Plans to reform Dexys Midnight Runners were put on ice and he left the label.

Rowland was in a better place by 2003, and admitted publicly that his time on Creation was a mistake. With a new Dexys Midnight Runners compilation on the way, Rowland assembled a new version of the band to record a couple of new songs. Manhood and My Life in England were recorded with original bassist Pete Williams on vocals and Talbot back in the fold, plus Welsh classical violist Lucy J Morgan, trombonist Paul Taylor and Neil Hubbard on guitar. In 2004 a ‘Director’s Cut’ edition of Don’t Stand Me Down was released, and Rowland officially announced they were back in action and looking for a record deal.

It took some time, but in 2011, they were back, with their name shortened to simply Dexys. The new line-up, with Taylor gone and another new singer – Madeleine Hyland – plus the returning Paterson, worked on a new album. One Day I’m Going to Soar was released a year later and Talbot left soon after.

In 2016 they released Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul, a collection of covers and new material that had originally been planned in 1984. The core members now consisted of Rowland, Morgan and guitarist/saxophonist Sean Read. It also featured a returning O’Hara.

Rowland was a self-confessed perfectionist and had never been happy with the sound of Too-Rye-Ay, so in 2022 he, O’Hara and longtime Dexys engineer Pete Schwier released a reworked version – Too-Rye-Ay As It Should Have Sounded. It isn’t too different to my ears, to be honest, but it’s overall warmer and more organic sound, perhaps. In 2023 they released their latest album, The Feminine Divine, with keyboardist Michael Timothy joining their ranks.

The Outro

Difficult, troubled, eccentric, brilliant – Rowland has been all these things and more, but it’s good to see him come back from hard times and seemingly happy with Dexys once more. He can be more than proud of being the man behind some true 80s classics. Blessed with a voice as unmistakable as the heroes he sings about, maybe one day someone will do the same about him.

The Info

Written by

Kevin Rowland, Jim Paterson & Billy Adams

Producers

Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley

Weeks at number 1

4 (7 August-3 September) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR*

Trivia

Births

10 August: Snooker player Shaun Murphy
14 August: Journalist Benjamin Cohen

Deaths

14 August: Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee
15 August: Second World War spy Jacqueline Nearne/Motorcycle racer Jock Taylor
1 September: Pianist Sir Clifford Curzon
2 September: Labour Party MP George Chetwynd

Meanwhile…

30 August: St David’s Hall opens in Cardiff as the National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales.

505. Irene Cara – Fame (1982)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

Irene Cara’s infectious theme to the musical Fame failed to chart in the UK when released in the summer of 1980 as a preview to the forthcoming film. However, the movie became huge, and the title track won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Two years later, the spin-off TV series was so popular in the UK, a re-release saw the song become top of the pops.

Before

The film had been conceived by producer David De Silva in 1976, inspired by A Chorus Line. He hired Christopher Gore to write a film about the lives of ambitious students at the real-life High School of Performing Arts, based in Manhattan, New York City. It was directed by Alan Parker, an English director who had worked on some of the most memorable UK television advertisements of all time, before making his first movie, Bugsy Malone, in 1976. He named the film after David Bowie’s 1975 song. Taking the lead role of Coco Hernandez was a young singer and actress called Irene Cara, who Parker was initially sceptical of.

Irene Cara Escalera was born on 18 March 1959 in the Bronx. Her father was Puerto Rican and her mother was Cuban. She began dance lessons as a five-year-old and was only eight when she recorded her first album, Ésta es Irene. She also appeared on The Tonight Show.

As a teen in the 70s she attended the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan and went on to appear in Broadway shows, before making the move into TV. Critical acclaim came with her role in the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations in 1976. She was originally cast in Fame as a dancer, but when De Silva, co-producer Alan Marshall and Gore heard her voice, they made her character a singer.

The musical supervisor on Fame was Michael Gore, brother of Lesley Gore, who sang the original hit version of It’s My Party – a cover of which became a UK number 1 for Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin in 1981. Gore worked with Dean Pitchford on the songs for the movie, and when he played him the chorus melody for the theme, Pitchford instantly replied ‘Fame! I’m gonna live forever!’ However, the rest of the theme came less easily, and it took a month to write.

It made perfect sense to write the song from the stardom-hungry Hernandez’s perspective, so Cara sang the funky title track. Among the backing singers was Luther Vandross, who was yet to become a star, but had provided backing vocals on Bowie’s soul album Young Americans – which featured Bowie’s Fame. It was Vandross that came up with the winning idea to chant ‘Remember’ over and over, as well as contributing other ideas.

The title track was originally released in the UK in June 1980, the same month as the film hit US cinemas (it hit UK cinemas the following month). The single sank and initially the critical response to the film was mixed, but it became a box office hit, and then came the accolades. Out of six Oscar nominations in 1981, Fame won Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Another song from the film – Out Here on My Own – had also been nominated.

Two years on from the film, a TV series sharing its name began on NBC in the US and BBC One in the UK. Many of the cast returned – but Cara had declined, with her role taken by Erica Gimpel, who sang the theme tune too. Nonetheless, it was Cara’s version that was rereleased and subsequently became number 1.

Review

I was too young to want anything to do with Fame at the time, and to be honest, even from a young age I would recoil a bit at stage show children and teenagers showing off. And there was certainly a lot of it about back then. So it’s hard to judge the theme song on its own merits.

However, I’ve always appreciated it’s very good at what it does – e.g., it makes you want to fly – high – and, as John Shuttleworth would say, ‘punch the air’. And listening with a fresh pair of ears, it’s great really. Slickly produced, a passionate vocal from Cara, and well arranged too – props to Vandross, who was spot on in inventing the ‘remember’ hook. I still don’t think I’d ever choose to listen to it, but I wouldn’t complain if I heard it for the millionth time, either.

To promote the re-release, Cara starred in a new video, with scenes filmed mainly on and around Broadway. It’s interspersed with clips from the film. Considering it coincided with the TV series, which didn’t feature Cara, this may have been rather confusing to some. It did the job though, and Cara on top of a taxi is an iconic 80s pop moment.

After

Fame was the third bestselling song in the UK of 1982. Surprisingly, neither the original release nor the 1982 single did the same feat in the US, peaking at number four only.

Cara had continued to release music and star in TV and films after the success of Fame, with mixed results. Several series she hoped to star in failed to get picked up, and her album Anyone Can Dream, released in 1982, was a commercial failure.

In early 1983 she was working on a follow-up when she was contacted by Paramount Pictures to provide lyrics for the soundtrack of a new film called Flashdance. Ironically, Giorgio Moroder, the genius producer behind the project, had approached Cara after Fame, but she declined as she didn’t want to be compared to Donna Summer, who of course was best known for I Feel Love, her number 1 collaboration with Moroder.

Moroder had tasked his session drummer Keith Forsey, who played on I Feel Love, to write the lyrics to what would be the title track to the new film, which starred Jennifer Beals as a dancer who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. Forsey had stalled, so he and Cara set to work. Having been shown the film’s final scene, in which Beals auditions in front of a panel of judges, they were inspired to write a euphoric song about achieving your dreams through dancing. Not too far removed from Fame, then, but with a more modern sound, thanks to Moroder. Cara sang Flashdance… What a Feeling, and it became number 1 in the US and around the world – although it was held off the top spot in the UK by Rod Stewart’s Baby Jane.

Cara sang Flashdance… What a Feeling, and it became number 1 in the US and around the world – although it was held off the top spot in the UK by Rod Stewart’s Baby Jane. Nonetheless, the single also won many accolades. She shared the Academy Award for Best Original Song with Moroder and Forsey, becoming the first black woman to win an Oscar in a non-acting category and the youngest to receive an Oscar for songwriting.

Cara never charted in the UK again, though she had a few more US hits. Her next album What a Feelin’ continued her collaboration with Moroder, and its single Why Me? reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. She starred as herself in the 1983 comedy movie DC Cab, and her song The Dream (Hold On To Your Dream), which played out over the end credits, reached 37. Her final US hit, Breakdance, peaked at number eight in 1984.

She continued to act, appearing in films including City Heat (1984), Certain Fury (1985) and Busted Up (1986). The following year she released the LP Carasmatic.

In the 90s, Cara starred in a touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, released Eurodance singles and worked as a backing vocalist. 1993 saw her awarded $1.5 million from her 1985 lawsuit in which she claimed royalties from Flashdance and her first two solo LPs had been withheld from her. She later claimed this stopped record labels from working with her.

Cara appeared in the 2005 NBC TV series Hit Me Baby, One More Time, and in 2011 she released her last album, Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel

The Outro

Cara died of arteriosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease on 25 November 2022, aged 63.

The Info

Written by

Michael Gore & Dean Mitford

Producer

Michael Gore

Weeks at number 1

3 (17 July-6 August)

Trivia

Births

18 July: Actor Andre Alexander
28 July: Footballer Michael Rose
30 July: Cricketer James Anderson
6 August: Actor Karl Davies

Deaths

19 July: Actor John Harvey
21 July: Bible translator John Bertram Phillips
22 July: Anti-apartheid activist Sir Robert Birley
27 July: Olympic swimmer Hilda James/Olympic runner Jack Powell
29 July: Engineer Maysie Chalmers/Army general Sir Richard Gale
2 August: Cathleen Nesbitt
3 August: Art historian David Carritt
5 August: Orthopaedic surgeon Sir John Charnley

Meanwhile…

19 July: Home Secretary William Whitelaw announces that the Queen’s bodyguard, Michael Trestrail, has resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service over a relationship with a male prostitute.

20 July: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regents Park, Central London. Eight soldiers are killed, 47 people are wounded, and seven horses die.

21 July: The Falklands War Royal Navy flagship HMS Hermes returns home to Portsmouth to a hero’s welcome.

22 July: Production of the Ford Cortina ends after 20 years and five generations.
Also on this day, the exclusion zone around the Falklands is lifted, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rejects calls in parliament for a return of the death penalty for terrorist murder.

23 July: A coroner’s jury returns the verdict of suicide on Roberto Calvi.

1 August: The Conservative government creates Britoil as the privatised successor to the British National Oil Corporation.

3 August: The Queen Elizabeth 2 returns to civilian use.

4 August: The first child of The Prince and Princess of Wales is christened William Arthur Philip Louis.

6 August: The Kessock Bridge in Inverness is opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

503. Charlene – I‘ve Never Been to Me (1982)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

When US easy listening singer Charlene originally released I’ve Never Been to Me for Motown in 1977, it left little mark. In 1982, she was working in a sweet shop in Ilford when the song was rereleased and subsequently went to number 1.

Before

Charlene Marilynn D’Angelo was born on 1 June 1950 in Hollywood, California. In 1973, she was signed to Motown, aged 23. Using her married name, Charlene Duncan, she released two singles. Neither Relove or All That Love Went to Waste a year later made any impression.

She then spent some time writing her own songs and recording demos – including One Day in Your Life, which became Michael Jackson’s first UK number 1 in 1981.

In 1976 she dropped her surname and recorded her eponymous debut album with producer Ron Miller, who had worked with Stevie Wonder, co-writing his hit For Once in My Life. I’ve Never Been to Me, which had been released by Randy Crawford earlier that year, was the second track.

The song had been written by Miller, with Kenneth Hirsch, and appears to come from the viewpoint of a bohemian woman, addressing a ‘discontented mother and a regimented wife’ who longs to escape her mundane existence.

Charlene’s second LP, the boringly named Songs of Love, came out a year later. It was basically a reshuffled version of Charlene. I’ve Never Been to Me was issued as a single, with the spoken-word section edited out. It only made it to number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although another album was planned, it never materialised, and following the failure of the 1980 single Hungry, from the musical Daddy Goodness, Charlene was dropped by Motown.

Fast forward three years, and Scott Shannon, a disc jockey for Tampa radio station WRBQ-FM (and former Motown employee), played the album version of I’ve Never Been to Me at the behest of his girlfriend. It became so popular, Shannon contacted the label’s president Jay Lasker. Seizing the opportunity, Lasker somehow tracked Charlene down. She had married an Englishman in March and was living in Ilford, working in a sweetshop. Of course, Charlene was more than willing to re-sign with Motown and then the album version of I’ve Never Been to Me was issued as a single.

Review

I’ve Never Been to Me is a terrible song. It’s patronising, slushy tripe with terrible lyrics. Basically, the lyrical conceit revolves around this woman listing all these incredible things she’s done – she’s travelled the world, slept with kings, sipped champagne, all kinds of things that the poor wife and mother could only dream about. But, hey, guess what? She’s ‘never been to me’, which is a crap way of saying she isn’t fulfilled and that, really, the mother is the lucky one, because she has done the most meaningful thing a woman can do.

Except, it’s all to easy to argue back, why can self-fulfilment for a woman only happen if you serve others, as a wife and mother? None of that ‘subtle whoring’ the narrator has been up to! It’s offensive to both women in the song. Lazy, stereotypical crap. And just in case you haven’t grasped the message of the song, there’s a cheesy spoken-word section to really hammer it home.

Oh, and when the lyrics do try to be symbolic, they’re so bad they create unnecessary controversy. ‘Sometimes I’ve been to cryin’ for unborn children/That might have made me complete’ made many understandably wonder if the narrator is revealing she had undergone multiple abortions. That’ll teach the subtle whore! Turns out, the intention was simply that she was mourning unborn children she may have had if she hadn’t been so bohemian.

For the video, the recently remarried Charlene wore her wedding dress, sauntering around Blickling Hall forlornly.

After

I’ve Never Been to Me became inexplicably huge, reaching number 1 in the UK, Canada, Ireland and Australia. It went to three in the US, becoming the first top 10 hit for Motown by a white singer. An album was released with the same name, containing a mix of old and new recordings. However, Charlene couldn’t repeat her surprise success. Her third single, It Ain’t Easy Coming Down, was reissued, but sank, despite appearing in the film The Last American Virgin.

Later in the year, she teamed up with Stevie Wonder on the single Used to Be. Despite Wonder’s number 1 success with Paul McCartney, this also tanked. Although that may have been due to its controversial lyrics – Wonder may have been commenting on the way he feared society was heading, but singing ‘Have another Chivas Regal/You’re 12-years old and sex is legal.’ resulted in an outright ban in the UK.

In 1984 Charlene released the LP Hit & Run Lover, which had a more modern sound, but it bombed. After an appearance in the Motown martial arts film (!) The Last Dragon, she was dropped by her label again.

In 2002, Charlene, now back in the US, released a dance remix of her hit, and has been sporadically releasing material online as Charlene Oliver since 2012.

The Outro

I’ve Never Been to Me has surfaced many times since 1982, including appearances in Will & Grace, Desperate Housewives, Shrek the Third (2007) and most memorably in the opening of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).

The Info

Written by

Ron Miller & Kenneth Hirsch

Producers

Ron Miller, Don Costa & Berry Gordy

Weeks at number 1

1 (26 June-2 July)

Trivia

Deaths

26 June: Snooker player Kingsley Kennerley/Comedian Sandy Powell
30 June: Children’s author Malcolm Saville

Meanwhile…

2 July: Roy Jenkins, former Labour Party Home Secretary and Chancellor, is elected as Leader of the Social Democratic Party.

499. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder – Ebony and Ivory (1982)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

Ebony and Ivory started out as a demo for Wings inspired by a marital tiff. It mutated into a well-intentioned but often-ridiculed number 1 duet between Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, two of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time.

Before

Wings had hit their commercial peak in 1977 with the Christmas number 1 double A-side Mull of Kintyre/Girls School. It had eclipsed even The Beatles singles chart figures to become the biggest-selling single ever at that point. However, only two years later, McCartney was growing weary of maintaining the band. He decided his next album would be the first to be billed as a solo effort since 1970’s McCartney, which had caused controversy by being accompanied by a press release that had resulted in the break-up of the Fab Four.

It made sense for the 1980 LP to be named McCartney II, as it was a return to eccentric, loose songs featuring only McCartney. However, this time the instrumentation heavily featured synthesisers. When Coming Up peaked at two, and even impressed John Lennon, he must have felt vindicated in his decision. History (sort of) repeated itself when Denny Laine quit Wings in April 1981, and the band dissolved. Around the same time, McCartney was already working on his next solo album, Tug of War, which saw him reunited with Beatles producer George Martin. Sessions had been cancelled earlier that winter after the shocking murder of Lennon.

One of the songs, Ebony and Ivory, had originally been conceived for Wings in 1978, after an argument with his wife Linda. ‘It was like, “Why can’t we get it together? Our piano can.”‘, as he succinctly but unrealistically put it during a 1997 interview with Record Collector.

However, McCartney more recently said in his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present that he wrote and demoed the track in 1980, during the unrest that was starting to take place in the UK, which included a riot at the Black and White Café in Bristol that April. He recalled hearing comedian Spike Milligan say: ‘Black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!’. Of course, he may be misremembering one or the other, or there’s truth in both stories.

Either way, he knew Ebony and Ivory‘s naive messaging would have more resonance if he turned it into a duet with a black male singer – who better than Stevie Wonder?

Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born in Saginaw, Michigan on 13 May, 1950. He was six weeks premature and developed retinopathy of prematurity, which left him blind. We’ll have none of that conspiracy theory claiming he isn’t, here. When he was four his mother divorced and the family moved to Detroit, and he began singing at Whitestone Baptist Church, becoming a soloist aged eight.

Judkins totally fell in love with music and surprised everyone by learning an array of instruments at such a young age. He formed a partnership with a friend, and Stevie and John became known for singing on street corners and performing at local parties.

In 1961, aged 11, Judkins sang his own song, Lonely Boy, to Ronnie White of The Miracles. White could see massive potential and took the boy and his mother, Lula Hardaway, to Motown. CEO Berry Gordy signed him to Tamla and his surname was legally changed to Morris, an old family name. However, he was christened ‘Little Stevie Wonder’ by Gordy and co.

Two albums followed – Tribute to Uncle Ray and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, released in reverse order in 1962. The following year, Wonder released the live LP Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, which featured a performance of the largely instrumental Fingertips. Split across two sides as a single, Fingertips – Part Two rocketed to the Billboard number 1 in the US. Wonder was only 13 when he became the youngest ever act to top the chart.

However, the novelty of ‘Little Stevie’ was in danger of fading as his teen years began, inevitably. His voice was changing and Motown executives were considering dropping him. In 1964 he appeared in two films – Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach, and also released a concept album of sorts, Stevie at the Beach, full of lacklustre surfing songs. Wonder was not The Beach Boys, and was floundering.

Fortunately, producer and songwriter Sylvia Moy reckoned it wasn’t over for Wonder yet. Together, with arranger Henry Cosby, they co-wrote the storming single Uptight (Everything’s Alright), which was a very well-deserved hit in 1965. This classic Motown stomper reached three in the US, and was his breakthrough UK hit, reaching 14. His stock having risen once more, he had a few more hits over here, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind (36) and A Place in the Sun (20) in 1966. This was the same year that McCartney and Wonder met for the first time, after the latter had played a gig in London.

Wonder branched out into songwriting for others, co-writing Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ beautiful The Tears of a Clown in 1967, which became a UK chart-topper three years later. For the rest of the 60s, he would release several classic singles, which featured on albums of otherwise average material. these included I Was Made to Love Her (five in 1967), For Once in My Life (three in 1968) and My Cherie Amour (four in 1969).

The 70s began very promising, with the LP Signed, Sealed & Delivered spawning another classic, his first self-produced song Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours, which surprisingly only reached 15. It also contained that rare feat – a Beatles cover that is perhaps better than the original – We Can Work It Out (27).

In September 1970, Wonder married songwriter Syreeta Wright. They worked together on his next album, Where I’m Coming From, which showcased a more mature sound and themes akin to his labelmate Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. Inevitably the two were compared, and Gaye won out. Wonder’s album was considered a little weird for audiences at the time. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting bridge between Wonder’s earlier work and what was to come, including the lovely ballad Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer and the sweet If You Really Love Me (20).

Wonder’s contract with Tamla was coming to an end, and he was becoming increasingly interested in synthesisers. He used recordings of new material produced alongside Tonto’s Expanding Head Band to leverage a new contract with the label that gave him full artistic control. This was released as Music of My Mind. Hot on its heels was the more successful Talking Book, which came the same year and featured songs recorded at the same sessions. The phenomenally funky Superstition and tender You Are the Sunshine of My Life went to 11 and seven respectively in the UK, and of course the former in particular is among his best work and something I’ll never tire of.

The golden period of Wonder’s music was in full flow, and in 1973 came Innervisions, perhaps his best LP, which spawned excellent singles Higher Ground (29), Living for the City (15) and He’s Misstra Know It All (10).

That August, Wonder was seriously injured. While on tour, a car he was in hit the back of a farm truck, resulting in the star suffering a fractured skull and cerebral contusion. He fell into a coma for four days, but was soon performing once again.

In 1974 came yet another brilliant album. The tongue-twisting Fulfillingness’ First Finale spawned the angry, funky You Haven’t Done Nothin and bouncy Boogie On Reggae Woman, which went to 30 and 12 respectively. Later that year he jammed with McCartney and John Lennon, which eventually surfaced on the bootleg album A Toot and a Snore in ’74.

Anyone would be forgiven for thinking Wonder was simply taking a very well-earned year off in 1975, as no new material was released. But no, he was actually working on double album (and accompanying EP) Songs in the Key of Life. I’m going to be a little controversial here and say it’s possibly a little overrated – but when it’s good, it’s magnificent. Among the considerable highlights are hit singles I Wish (five) and Sir Duke, which sadly just missed out on reaching the top spot – it peaked at two in 1977 and really should have become his first UK number 1. Wonder’s 70s ended with Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through ‘The Secret Life of Plants’. Yes, it was a film score, but it’s hard work and his first misfire in a long time.

The 80s began with a return to form in Hotter Than July. His last great album, it included 1980 singles Master Blaster (Jammin’), which deservedly soared to two, and I Ain’t Gonna Stand for It, which reached 10. The following year, Lately went to three, and Happy Birthday did one better.

That February, Wonder travelled to Montserrat to meet McCartney at AIR Studios. The latter later recalled that his guest had been annoyingly evasive but at last they could begin working together. Sessions took place from 27 February to 2 March. As well as being two of the greatest songwriters of all time, McCartney and Wonder are also adept multi-instrumentalists. On this track, the former played acoustic and bass guitars, piano, synths, vocoder and percussion. The latter played electric piano, synths, drums and percussion. Wonder left McCartney at it to perform overdubs – but not before the two jammed on the funky and far superior What’s That You’re Doing?.

Review

Ah, Ebony and Ivory. Well, first off, I’m not stupid enough to call it either legend’s finest 7-inch, but I’m not here to run it into the ground, either.

The good: I’ve no doubt McCartney and Wonder’s hearts were in the right place. Perhaps the former felt Ebony and Ivory would replicate Lennon’s Imagine? Both are piano-led, both long for a better world, and both have been derided for naive, simplistic, even (in Lennon’s case) hypocritical messaging. McCartney was of course still in the very early days of grieving for his lost songwriting partner. It is of course catchy as hell, and I really like the middle eight instrumental section, straight before the ‘Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony’ chanting.

The bad: Yes, the simplicity is patronising and at worst you could accuse McCartney of being treating his audience as morons. It’s a lovely thought to compare white and black people and say, hey, why don’t we all just get on, eh? But it’s also pretty bloody insulting to look past centuries of suffering, of bloodshed, and hatred. It plays into both artists at their worst – that saccharine and cheesy side both can be guilty of. The 80s were of course a rough time for many musical legends, and definitely was the case for McCartney and Wonder. The very fact this song was in effect the first chart-topper for McCartney on his own (we’re not counting Wings’ Mull of Kintyre here) and Wonder is a sad indictment on record buyers in the UK.

The silly: I remember as a very young boy being fascinated by seeing the video on TV. How big must that giant piano that those two men are walking on actually be. Aged 46, it’s hilarious. It’s very clear that both musicians were filmed separately, so with 21st century eyes, they look awkward and that adds another layer to the song’s messaging. The silhouettes of the Rastafarians dancing are embarrassing – and why does McCartney get to portray himself as playing loads of instruments (reminiscent of the video to the way cooler Coming Up), but Wonder is relegated to keyboard only? Possibly McCartney’s ego and/or revenge for Wonder being unavailable at times?

McCartney also recorded a version minus Wonder. Not sure why – it certainly wouldn’t have been to keep racists happy.

After

Ebony and Ivory was always destined to be a hit initially. Two huge stars, together for a good cause. It went to number 1 in many countries and in the US, it meant Wonder had now topped the Billboard chart across three consecutive decades. And it marked the start of a very 80s phenomenon – the pop star duet, in which stars whose stars were in danger of falling would work together to keep in the public eye. The sum usually being great than the parts, at this point in the careers of these artists…

The Outro

McCartney and Wonder’s duet was spoofed and ridiculed right from the start, with Saturday Night Live getting in there first in a sketch featuring the rising comic Eddie Murphy as Wonder. In 2007, listeners to BBC 6 Music voted Ebony and Ivory the worst duet in history. 2025 saw the release of a bizarre biopic under the same name, which plays fast and loose with the making of the song.

But remember this when you laugh at Ebony and Ivory – apartheid was still a thing in 1982, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned it – so job done, in a sense.

The Info

Written by

Paul McCartney

Producer

George Martin

Weeks at number 1

3 (24 April-14 May)

Trivia

Births

24 April: Television presenter Laura Hamilton 
26 April: S Club 7 singer Jon Lee
28 April: Reality TV star Nikki Grahame
1 May: Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan
3 May: Actress Rebecca Hall
4 May: Comedian John Robins
10 May: Footballer Adebayo Akinfenwa

Deaths

24 April: Historian Hilda Stewart Reid
25 April: Actress Celia Johnson
28 April: Cricketer Nobby Clark
30 April: Unionist MP Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby
1 May: Violist William Primrose
4 May: Liberal/Labour MP Barnett Janner, Baron Janner 
5 May: Scottish footballer Bob Shankly
12 May: Scottish Labour MP James Dempsey/racing driver Edward Ramsden Hall/composer Humphrey Searle
13 May: Scottish footballer Billy Steel

Meanwhile…

24 April: The Eurovision Song Contest is held in Harrogate, Yorkshire. The winning song is Germany’s Ein bißchen Frieden by Nicole. A UK version – A Little Peace – would be the next UK number 1.

25 April: The Royal Marines recapture South Georgia during the Falklands War.

29 April: Daniel and Christopher Smith are Britain’s first twins conceived through in vitro fertilisation, born to Josephine and Stewart Smith at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

30 April: The Conservatives return to the top of the opinion polls for the first time since late-1979. The Falklands bounce had begun.

1 May: Operation Black during the Falklands War saw a Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber bomb Port Stanley Airport.

2 May: The most controversial moment of the Falklands War saw nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sink the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano. Two years later, a furious Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher was questioned on TV by a teacher who pointed out the ship was sailing away from the exclusion zone.

4 May: The Sun newspaper runs the simple – moronic, sensationalist, some might say – headline ‘GOTCHA’ to sum up the Belgrano‘s sinking.
Also that day, the Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is badly damaged by an Exocet missile. It sinks six days later.

495. The Jam – Town Called Malice/Precious (1982)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

In early 1982, the future looked very bright for The Jam. They were at their commercial peak – Town Called Malice/Precious became a well-deserved instant number 1, and was their third chart-topper. However, by the end of the year, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler had split up.

Before

The Jam’s second number 1 was the excellent (thought not entirely original) Start!, from the 1980 LP Sound Affects. However, despite the follow-up also being more than worthy, That’s Entertainment was perhaps too wistful for mass consumption – it only reached 21 in 1981. Two standalone singles came up next, and although they fared better, Funeral Pyre (their first jointly written 7-inch) and Absolute Beginners both peaked at four.

Work on what was to become their final album started in October 1981. The Gift saw The Jam work with new producer Pete Wilson, who helped point the way forward for Weller, showcasing a smoother, Northern Soul, funk and jazz sound, akin to the next project they worked on together – The Style Council. That didn’t sit well with Foxton and Buckler, however, who could probably see the writing on the wall. As Mods, The Jam were always in thrall to these sounds – but they’d never tried making these types of music themselves.

The title to Town Called Malice came from Nevil Shute’s famous romantic 1950 novel A Town Like Alice – however, there’s no link to the song and book other than the rhyming wordplay of the titles. The real inspiration comes from Weller’s working-class youth in Woking.

Precious was unlike any single The Jam had released up to this point – a psychedelic-funk-based love song, partly derived from Pigbag’s Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag.

This was also the first Jam single to move beyond the power-trio line-up, with extra help from producer Pete Wilson on organ, plus Keith Thomas on saxophones, Steve Nichol on trumpet and Russ Henderson on percussion and steel drums.

Reviews

Urgent, poetic and angry, Town Called Malice is Weller’s finest song. It updates his fixations on class, disaffected youth and striving to escape a society that’s left him out in the cold and brings them all strutting onto the dancefloor. And it’s a change in tack from his first number 1, Going Underground. This time, Weller warns his followers not to hide from society if they’re not happy – they need to work together to improve their lives: ”Cause time is short, and life is cruel/But it’s up to us to change this town called Malice’.

I’ve always loved Town Called Malice for its sound, but researching more in-depth here as proved to me how fine a lyricist Weller also is. There’s some great lines about urban decay and Thatcherism’s ‘no such thing as society’ here, including:

‘Rows and rows of disused milk floats,
Stand dying in the dairy yard
And a hundred lonely housewives
Clutch empty milk bottles to their hearts.’

Righteous anger you can dance to. Beautiful. And I love Foxton’s bass breakdown too. All The Jam’s number 1 singles are excellent, but this reigns supreme.

As always with videos by The Jam, you only get a bare bones performance, but it does the job nicely. The Jam perform against a black background, with the occasional dada-style speech bubbles popping up – ‘Anti Complacency League! Baby!’ and ‘If we ain’t getting through to you – you obviously ain’t listening!’.

Weller, as a huge fan of The Beatles, liked to ape their double-A-side single approach. However, while I always enjoy hearing the lesser-known songs such as The Dreams of Children and Precious, I don’t think they really stand toe-to-toe with their ‘real’ A-sides. It’s not like Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out, where both songs deserve top billing. They’re better classed as great songs in which The Jam can test the waters for experiments in their sound. And Precious does fit that bill nicely – I wish I’d heard it sooner. Weller analyses his love over a sprawling funk sound that sounds particularly interesting on the 12″ version. There’s nothing lyrically to match Town Called Malice, though I do like:

‘Lonely as the moors on a winter’s morning
Quiet as the sea on a cool, calm night
In your tranquil shadow, I’ll try and follow’.

It’s impossible to ignore the resemblance to Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag – but that’s no bad thing at all.

There’s no surprises to be found in the video for Precious. Like it’s flip side, it’s simply The Jam and extra musicians performing against a black background.

After

Town Called Malice/Precious shot straight to number 1 and The Jam celebrated by performing both songs on Top of the Pops. While the latter is now somewhat of a curio, the former will most likely fill dancefloors everywhere for evermore.

The Outro

EMI argued that Town Called Malice/Precious kept another classic – The Stranglers’ Golden Brown – from the top spot by having its sales aggregated. It’s a sign of just how strong the singles chart was in 1982 that Golden Brown wasn’t a chart-topper – although the quality control of 1982’s number 1s was about to drop for a while…

The Info

Written by

Paul Weller

Producers

Pete Wilson & The Jam

Weeks at number 1

3 (13 February-5 March)

Trivia

Births

25 February: Footballer Chris Baird
26 February: Gymnast Lisa Mason

Deaths

20 February: Arctic traveller Isobel Wylie Hutchison
21 February: Writer WE Shewell-Cooper 
22 February: Suffragist Annie Barnes
23 February: Author Elisabeth Kyle
24 February: Artist Keith Henderson
27 February: Henry Gage, 6th Viscount Gage 
2 March: Air chief marshal Sir Donald Hardman
3 March: Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland

Meanwhile…

19 February: The DeLorean car factory in Belfast is put into receivership.

23 February: The Glasgow coal ship St Bedan is bombed and sunk by an IRA unit driving a pilot boat that was hijacked in Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland.

25 February: The European Court of Justice rules that British schools cannot allow corporal punishment against the wishes of parents.

3 March: Queen Elizabeth II opens the Barbican Centre in London.

485. Soft Cell – Tainted Love (1981)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

It’s rare for a cover version to be better than the original. But by slowing down the tempo, stripping the elements back to sparse synthesisers, and adding a big dollop of sleaze, Soft Cell’s Tainted Love became one of the best number 1s of the early 80s.

Before

Tainted Love had been written back in 1964 by Ed Cobb, a former member of US folk-pop act The Four Preps, for Gloria Jones, the young soul singer he had discovered while she was still a teenager. With lead guitar by the then-unknown Glen Campbell, it became the B-side of her flop single, My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home.

Despite great lyrics detailing a toxic relationship (Cobb later said he wrote it from the point of view of his girlfriend), a driving riff and catchy horns, this original version was mid-level 60s soul at best, missing that Motown magic, and would have most likely been forgotten about.

However, in 1973, UK club DJ Richard Searling bought a copy of the single while in the US, and thought Tainted Love had all the ingredients needed to become a Northern Soul stomper back home. He was right, and Jones’s original became one of the most popular songs played at Wigan Casino.

In the meantime, Jones had joined the writing team at Motown, before become a backing singer in T Rex, and subsequently, Marc Bolan’s girlfriend. In 1976 they co-produced her third LP, Vixen, and among the tracks was a new version of Tainted Love. Jones and Bolan sped the song up, hoping to ramp up the coked-up feel that had helped it become so popular in clubs. But despite this – and the addition of the classic hook that comes in before ‘run away’ in the first line – Northern Soul was on the wane by then, and the remake also failed to chart. A year later, Jones was driving the car that crashed into a tree, killing Bolan. She survived, after fighting for her life.

That same year, students and occasional DJs Marc Almond and Dave Ball met at Leeds Polytechnic University. In 1978 they became the synth duo Soft Cell, combining Ball’s mix of industrial, new wave, electro and pop on cheap synths, with the camp shock aesthetics of Almond. They gained local notoriety for their shocking, surreal shows, in which Almond could be seen smearing his body with cat food, simulating sex with himself in a full-length mirror, or dragging up. A very Yorkshire mix of Suicide, Throbbing Gristle and David Bowie.

Using a £2,000 loan from Ball’s mother, they recorded debut EP Mutant Moments on a two-track recorder for Big Frock Records in 1980. The following year, they gave the track The Girl with the Patent Leather Face to Some Bizzare Records (backed by Phonogram Records). It featured on their compilation Some Bizzare Album, which also featured other tracks by unsigned artists including Blancmange, Depeche Mode and The The.

Soft Cell signed to the label and released debut single Memorabilia, produced by Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records. It was popular in clubs, but when it failed to chart, Phonogram let the duo know that, should the follow-up do the same, Soft Cell would be dumped.

Ball was a Northern Soul fan, and had introduced Almond to the 1976 version of Tainted Love. Almond was a big T Rex fan (hence ‘Marc’ Almond), and fell in love with it too. They decided to rework it with a view to using it as an encore track for their live shows. When performed live, Ball used a tape recorder for backing, while he played a keyboard and bass synth, while Almond performed in a padded cell.

Phonogram decided Soft Cell should add bass, guitar and drums to a recorded version, as they found the demo too odd. However, producer Mike Thorne had been working on a number of unusual singles at the time, and the trio decided to keep it faithful to the live version.

Soft Cell joined Thorne at London’s Advision studio, where they decided to incorporate another cover into the 12-inch version – The Supremes’ 1964 hit Where Did Our Love Go. As DJs, Almond and Ball were well versed in mixing appropriate songs together, which was more than obvious here – with the Where Did Our Love Go section sounding like Almond questioning the end of his torrid relationship.

For the Thorne borrowed a drum machine from singer Kit Hain as the duo’s own had broken, and Thorne added Synclavier sounds to Ball’s keyboard. It was Almond’s idea to add the immortal ‘Beep-beep’ ringing sound that makes the intro so memorable.

Almond’s performance is incredible. He sounds angry on Tainted Love – he’s had all he can take and is determined to get out. But by the second half of the 12-inch, he’s had time to reflect. Despite five vocal takes, they decided to keep the very first take, even if Almond was occasionally off-key. It didn’t matter that he was, because he adds humanity to the cold precision of the backing.

Review

Soft Cell’s Tainted Love is both very much a product of its time, and yet timeless. It’s aged incredibly well, despite the primitive electronica on display, much like their beloved Kraftwerk. Like Hutter and co, it’s a brilliant example of how the melding of man and machine can make for truly magical pop. In fact, Ball’s atmospheric backing actually creates more humanity than either of Jones’ versions.

It’s not just the change of key and pace that makes this version better than the original. It’s the added dimension of the fact it’s being sung by an overtly gay man. It was nearly 10 years since David Bowie made his iconic appearance on Top of the Pops where he placed his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson. Since then, glam rock continued to be camp, but more often than not, it was simply a case of laddish rock band members dressing up.

Almond was real, and caused a stir himself when Soft Cell debuted on the BBC’s flagship music show. Compared to his shocking behaviour on stage, the sight of Almond in eyeliner and wearing bangles doesn’t seem that surprising in 2024. But in 1981, it was still shocking, and the BBC asked him to wear neither. Almond refused to budge, and sales of mascara and bangles went through the roof as Tainted Love climbed the charts. Culture Club were just around the corner.

Tainted Love‘s lyrics have added poignancy when sung by a gay man in a world in which homosexuality was still considered dirty and seedy by the mainstream. That this version was released four months after the first newspaper article about AIDS adds even more meaning.

After

Tainted Love was mixed to just over two-and-a-half minutes for the single version that everyone knows and loves, but hearing the 12-inch back in my uni days really blew my mind. I love the way the switch from one song to the other takes place and Almond’s breathless, yearning vocal is just glorious. What a voice.

The single was huge, becoming the second-biggest-selling 7-inch of 1981. It became one of the flagship songs of the Second British Invasion, spending a record-breaking 43 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

Despite the success of Tainted Love, Soft Cell’s debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, was also recorded on a shoestring budget. Which suited the music perfectly. The LP was a very Soft Cell combination of sleaze, melodrama and innovative synth-pop. Two further singles, Bedsitter and the beautiful Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, were also hits, the former reaching four and the latter peaking at three the following year.

1982 also saw Soft Cell release a video version of their first album. Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Exotic Video Show featured a bizarre promo for Tainted Love, in which Almond, dressed as a Roman emperor, angrily shouts the lyrics at a smiling little girl, watched on by Ball in cricket whites.

Also that year, the duo released the single Torch, which stalled at two, and the mini-album Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing, which featured number-three hit What, which was another Northern Soul cover.

It was highly appropriate that their third album was called The Art of Falling Apart, as by that point, Almond and Ball were weary of Soft Cell, and it seemed the audience were feeling similar, as sales dwindled. The singer, who was struggling with drugs, formed the offshoot Marc and the Mambas.

In 1983 their single Soul Inside made it to 16, but Soft Cell announced they were to split after the release of final LP, This Last Night in Sodom.

Almond started a solo career, and unexpectedly scored a number 1 in 1989 with his duet cover of Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart with Gene Pitney. A new version of Soft Cell’s biggest hit, Tainted Love ’91, peaked at five that year.

Ball became part of experimental group Psychic TV, where he met Richard Norris. Together they became dance duo The Grid in 1988, and are best known for their 1994 hit Swamp Thing.

Soft Cell reformed in 2000 for live dates, and released a new album, Cruelty Without Beauty, two years later. Over the next few years came compilations of demo tracks and a remix album, Heat, in 2005.

Despite an announcement they would play one final gig in 2018, another album followed in 2022. Happiness Not Included featured a collaboration with one of the other most important electronic pop duos of the 80s – Pet Shop Boys.

The Outro

Marilyn Manson’s rock version of Tainted Love from 2001 was a decent stab, but the title has proved sadly ironic following allegations made against the controversial star.

The Info

Written by

Ed Cobb

Producer

Mike Thorne

Weeks at number 1

2 (5-18 September)

Trivia

Births

7 September: SNP MP Natalie McGarry
11 September: Singer Mark Rhodes
15 September: Field hockey defender Richard Alexander
16 September: Field hockey defender David Mitchell

Deaths

5 September: Writer Emery Reves
8 September: Football manager Bill Shankly
14 September: Painter Mary Potter

Meanwhile…

8 September: Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp is set up by protesters of the plans to site US nuclear missiles there.
Also on this day, 16 Labour councillors in Islington join the SDP, and a sitcom called Only Fools and Horses starts on BBC One.

14 September: Cecil Parkinson is appointed the chairman of the Conservative Party.

16 September: Children’s TV series Postman Pat is first broadcast on BBC One.

18 September: Liberal Party leader David Steel overoptimistically tells delegates at conference to ‘go back to your constituencies and prepare for government.’

481. Michael Jackson – One Day In Your Life (1981)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

By 1981, Off the Wall turned Michael Jackson into a bona fide solo star. And he became so popular that One Day In Your Life, a song that dated back to 1975, earned him the first of his seven UK number 1s. Here’s how one of the biggest celebrities of all time started on the path from precocious childhood talent to deeply troubled ‘King of Pop’.

Before

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on 29 August 1958. He was the eighth of 10 children raised by musical parents – Katherine had wanted to be a country and western performer, and Joe played guitar in a rhythm and blues band.

In 1964, aged only six, Jackson and elder brother Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers, which was Joe’s first attempt at grooming his children for stardom. Jackie, Tito and Jermaine were already there when Jackson took up the congas.

Joe was a tough taskmaster, and Jackson suffered particularly. His father would ridicule his ‘fat nose’ and he was more sensitive than his brothers when it came to disciplinary whippings. However, Joe could see Jackson had great potential, and in 1965 he teamed up with Jermaine as a vocalist in the newly christened Jackson 5. The group started winning talent shows, and performed on the Chitlin’ Circuit, opening for great acts including Sam & Dave, Gladys Knight and Etta James.

As covered in my review of The Jacksons’ sole number 1, Show You the Way to Go, the Jackson 5 released their first recording in 1968 and the same year, singer Bobby Taylor was so impressed by Jackson, he got the group an audition with Motown Records. The Jackson 5 became sensations, releasing four US number 1s, but it was child prodigy Jackson that really captured the public’s imagination. He became their lead singer.

In 1972, aged 14, Jackson released his first two solo albums – Got to Be There and Ben. The title track of his first LP was his first solo single, reaching five in the UK, and Rockin’ Robin followed closely after, peaking at three. A cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine was a number eight hit.

The title track to Jackson’s second album was the title track to a film of the same name, and perhaps the first example of Jackson’s weirdness, as it was a love song for a rat. Nonetheless, it was his first solo number 1 in the US, and reached seven on these shores.

The Jackson 5 continued to perform and record in this time, but the initial success had dampened somewhat, and Jackson’s solo career soon followed suit. He had no artistic control, and his albums mostly contained a mix of run-of-the-mill Motown production line tunes and average covers. To make matters worse, Jackson could see labelmates Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye doing extremely well since they had wrestled control from Berry Gordy Jr, but his father wouldn’t help. Not a single release from third LP Music & Me charted.

Jackson’s fourth album, Forever, Michael, was to be his last on Motown and was released in 1975. A year previous, the Jackson 5 had made a comeback of sorts with the disco smash Dancing Machine in the US. But Forever, Michael consisted of the usual average soul and light funk material. One Day in Your Life was track three.

Review

It’s fair to say that had One Day in Your Life been released as a single back in 1975, it wouldn’t have become Jackson’s first number 1. It’s a pretty unremarkable Philly soul-style track, apart for one element – Jackson’s soaring vocal. Here was a unique talent, waiting to be set free by his label and allowed to work with the best songwriters and producers. It took just that to make demand for his material so high, this track would top the charts while fans waited for one of the biggest albums of all time.

One question remains – what with this and previous number 1 Being With You, why was there such an appetite for tepid soul in the summer of 1981?

After

In 1975, the Jackson 5 (bar Jermaine, who was replaced by Randy) left Motown behind and signed with Epic Records as The Jacksons. They released their eponymous album a year later, which showcased a more sophisticated sound, courtesy in part to Philly hitmakers Gamble and Huff. Seven years since storming the UK charts, The Jacksons finally scored a number 1 with the charming Show You the Way to Go.

Jackson starred in 1977 musical fantasy The Wiz as the Scarecrow, and although it bombed, he did at least work with Quincy Jones, who would be instrumental in his imminent success. Now 21, Jackson frequented hip nightclub Studio 54, immersing himself in the latest disco, funk, and even early hip-hop.

In 1978, the third Jacksons’ LP, Destiny, was a smash, featuring two of their best tracks, Blame It on the Boogie (number eight) and Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)(number four). Jackson grew increasingly unhappy with his looks, and had a nose job.

1979 was the year Jackson broke new ground. As The Jacksons, he sang on the epic number six single Can You Feel It. But eclipsing that was his first solo album with Epic. The award-winning Off the Wall, produced by Jones, was massive, eventually selling more than 20 million. Two of the greatest disco singles of all time – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough and Rock with You – both deservedly made it to the top of the Billboard chart in the US, but peaked at three and seven respectively in the UK. The title track also reached seven here, and She’s Out of My Life climbed to three. And yet, Jackson felt Off the Wall could have done better, and was determined to prove this with his next LP.

The Outro

In the meantime, Motown decided on a cash grab, plundering the back catalogues of the Jackson 5 and their lead singer. One Day in Your Life concentrated on their later years, and the title track whetted the appetites of Jackson’s ever-growing army of fans. It would be a while longer yet, but was certainly worth the wait.

The Info

Written by

Sam Brown III & Renée Armand

Producer

Sam Brown

Weeks at number 1

2 (27 June-10 July)

Trivia

Births

27 June: Actor Sam Hoare
28 June: Field hockey midfielder Joanne Ellis 
30 June: Actor Tom Burke

Deaths

27 June: Author Paul Brunton/Publisher Gordon Fraser/Businessman Charles Jewson
4 July: Cricketer Herbert Blagrave
6 July: Guide leader Alix Liddell
9 July: Golfer Leonard Crawley

Meanwhile…

2 July: Four members of an Asian Muslim family (three of which were children) are killed by arson at home in Walthamstow, London. The attack is suspected to have been racially motivated.

3 July: Hundreds of Asians and skinheads riot in Southhall, London. This follows disturbances at the Hamborough Tavern public house, which is severely damaged by fire.

5 July: When the Toxteth riots break out in Liverpool, CS gas is used for the first time by British police. Riots also occur in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, Wolverhampton city centre, parts of Coventry, Leicester, Derby and High Wycombe.

7 July: 43 people are charged with theft and violent disorder following rioting in Wood Green, North London.

8 July: Yet more rioting, as more than 1,000 people besiege Moss Side, Manchester police station.
Also on this day, Joe McDonnell becomes the fifth IRA hunger striker to die, and British Leyland ends production of the Austin Maxi.

10 July: Widespread riots break out in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Ellesmere Port, Luton, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Preston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Derby, Southampton, Nottingham, High Wycombe, Bedford, Edinburgh, Wolverhampton, Stockport, Blackburn, Huddersfield, Reading, Chester and Aldershot. The two-day rioting in Moss Side ends.

480. Smokey Robinson – Being With You (1981)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

11 years after Smokey Robinson and The Miracles had a UK number 1 with the classic The Tears of a Clown, their frontman was a solo star and perhaps surprisingly became a chart-topper once more with Being With You.

Before

Robinson had been ready to quit The Miracles back in 1969 and concentrate on being Motown Records vice president and a family man. But the unexpected release and success of their 1967 recording The Tears of a Clown caused him to hang on a few more years.

Although he eventually retired in 1972, and The Miracles continued, Robinson couldn’t stay away for long. A year later he released his debut solo LP, Smokey, featuring contributions from former Miracles guitarist Marv Tarplin. In 1974 the track Just My Soul Responding became his first solo hit in the UK – but it only reached 33. Next to the likes of former collaborators Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, who were releasing great records, Robinson looked a little old-fashioned. And he was still Motown vice president, too, so perhaps too busy to do his own material justice.

In 1975, Robinson’s Baby That’s Backatcha reached 26 in the US, but other than that, most of his 70s material was poorly received critically and commercially. His fortunes finally changed when Tarplin presented him with Cruisin’. Robinson wrote some lyrics, and this smooth and sexy single took him all the way to four in the US.

Robinson was impressed by the singer Kim Carnes’ cover of the Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ track More Love, and penned her the ballad Being With You. However, Robinson didn’t know that Carnes’ and her producer George Tobin had parted ways. When Tobin heard Robinson’s demo, he told him he should keep it for himself, and Tobin would produce it. Good idea. Tobin wasn’t actually much of a producer, but got guitarist Mike Piccirillo to help out.

Review

There’s no denying Robinson is a musical legend, blessed with the voice of an angel that you can hear on a number of classics such as You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, The Tracks of My Tears and The Tears of a Clown. Not only does Being With You come nowhere near to these hits, it’s also the least memorable chart-topper of 1981 to date. It’s silky smooth and well-produced, and Robinson’s voice is as great as always – but the tune is bland and insubstantial. Being With You washes over you in the same way as buying milk in a supermarket does. The most interesting aspect is the video, in which Robinson hangs around a beach house.

Actually, it’s also interesting to note that Being With You was kept from the top of the Billboard chart in the US by Kim Carnes’ far superior Bette Davis Eyes – and both featured the synth work of Bill Cuomo.

After

Gordy wasn’t very keen on Being With You, and probably even less keen on a Motown release being produced by somebody who wasn’t on his label. But as Being With You began to climb the charts, he started throwing money at the single, and it paid off.

Robinson and Tobin continued to work together for several albums, but to little success. He duetted with Rick James in 1984 on Ebony Eyes, but his hits dried up.

In 1987, Robinson made another comeback with the album One Heartbeat, which saw a return to commercial form, scoring top 10 hits with the title track Just to Hear. That same year, Sheffield pop band ABC paid tribute to the great man with When Smokey Sings, which peaked at 11 in the UK.

The following year, there was some controversy when Robinson found himself inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – minus The Miracles. Robinson didn’t take kindly to this, considering it an affront to his group. It took 24 years before he was able to introduce Tarplin, Bobby Rogers, his ex-wife Claudette Rogers Robinson (they divorced in 1986) and Ron White.

Motown was sold to MCA Records in 1988 too, so Robinson resigned as vice president. A year later he made his final appearance in the UK top 40, recording Indestructible with the Four Tops. Robinson left Motown as an artist in 1991 for SBK Records, but returned in 1999 for the album Intimate.

He left Motown once more in 2003, this time for good. Three years later came his album of standards – Timeless Love – for Universal Records. In 2009 he released Time Flies When You’re Having Fun on his own label, Robso Records. It was his most successful in 22 years.

Robinson experienced something of a comeback over the next few years, with each album charting higher than the last, peaking with Smokey & Friends in 2014, which featured Elton John and Linda Ronstadt.

As a singer best known for romantic, often slushy material, Robinson shocked many with his most recent album, called, er, Gasms. This concept album dealt primarily with, surprise surprise, sex! Behind the scenes, Robinson was known as a bit of a ladies man, indulging in many affairs while with Claudette, including Diana Ross.

The Outro

For a much better example of later period Motown Robinson, try Cruisin’, not Being With You.

The Info

Written by

William Robinson Jr

Producers

George Tobin & Mike Piccirillo

Weeks at number 1

2 (13-26 June)

Trivia

23 June: Blue singer Antony Costa
25 June: Actress Sheridan Smith

Deaths

13 June: Actress Joan Benham
15 June: Author Philip Toynbee
17 June: General Richard O’Connor/Welsh rugby player Ike Fowler
18 June: Rugby player Stan Brogden/Actor Richard Goolden/Novelist Pamela Hansford Johnson/Conservative MP Robert Taylor
20 June: Labour MP Gordon Lang

Meanwhile…

13 June: Marcus Sarjeant shoots six blank cartridges at Queen Elizabeth II as she enters Horse Guards Parade.

13–14 June: 80 people are arrested when fighting breaks out between white power skinheads and black people in Coventry. 

15 June: Lord Scarman opens an enquiry into the Brixton riots.

16 June: The SDP-Liberal Alliance is formed.

17 June: War hero Sir Richard O’Connor dies shortly before his 92nd birthday.

20 June: The HMS Ark Royal is launched.

21 June: One person is killed and 16 are injured due to a fire at Goodge Street tube station.

23 June: Unemployment reaches 2,680,977.