Top of the Pops

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.

504. Captain Sensible – Happy Talk (1982)

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The Intro

From punk axeman to pop star – Captain Sensible, guitarist for The Damned, shocked his fans with a number 1 cover of Happy Talk – that jolly old Rodgers and Hammerstein showtune from South Pacific.

Before

Sensible was born Raymond Ian Burns on 24 April1954 in Balham. London. Growing up, he went to Stanley Technical School for Boys in South Norwood, Croydon. He spent his formative years loving music, particularly Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Small Faces and Soft Machine.

Sensible became involved in the proto-punk scene, becoming a member of Johnny Moped and then Masters of the Backside, who were formed by future Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. They never recorded anything and allegedly only performed once, and consisted of Chrissie Hynde and the nucleus of what would become The Damned.

Ever wondered why so many punks had stage names? Sensible once said it was to keep their real names out of the music papers, otherwise it might stop them being able to claim dole. His name was an ironic comment on his reckless behaviour. And the iconic red beret and sunglasses were his attempt to stop getting covered in the spit of punks when performing.

The Damned formed in 1976 and consisted of Dave Vanian on vocals, Brian James on guitar, Sensible on bass and Rat Scabies on drums. Sid Vicious had been invited to audition for the singer role, but he didn’t turn up. They supported the Sex Pistols, and beat them to become the first punk band to release a single that October, with New Rose. They briefly split in 1978 and when they returned a year later, Sensible was their guitarist and keyboardist.

In 1982, Sensible found himself splitting his time between The Damned and a solo career. He had signed a deal with A&M to release an album in his own right, due to his band rejecting some of his tunes for being too melodic, but he was a track short. His producer Tony Mansfield suggested a cover version. Sensible considered See Emily Play or Waterloo Sunset, but knew he couldn’t top the originals, so he rifled through his parents’ records for ideas, and came across the record-breaking soundtrack to South Pacific.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein show premiered on Broadway back in 1949 and became the second-longest-running Broadway musical up to that point, behind their own Oklahoma!. Happy Talk is sung by Bloody Mary – originally played by Juanita Hall – to Lieutenant Joe Cable, who has begun courting her daughter, Liat. It was covered by Ella Fitzgerald in 1955, but the most famous version is from Hall reprising her role in the 1958 film, the soundtrack of which held the album chart number 1 for 115 weeks – 70 of those consecutively.

Sensible, who was ‘exceedingly drunk’ when recording his version, was backed by rock band Dolly Mixture on vocals. Sensible had recently helped produce the trio. Although it was meant to be treated as an album filler, A&M saw Happy Talk could have crossover appeal, but Sensible was having none of it. That is, until his label tricked him into thinking a pop star was intending on releasing a version. Fearing he might miss out on a hit, he relented. Little did he know he would actually end up going all the way to the top of the pops.

Happy Talk was the fifth time a Rodgers & Hammerstein song went to number 1 in the UK, and was the first since You’ll Never Walk Alone in 1963.

Review

Never underestimate the great British public’s love of latching onto a novelty track, whether good or bad. Thankfully, Sensible’s Happy Talk falls into the ‘good’ category for me. Yes, the track is annoyingly sprightly (I like few musicals) anyway, and I’ve no time for the original. And the backing music brings to mind John Shuttleworth. Actually, that’s a compliment, as I love Graham Fellows’ comic creation.

Sensible is very charismatic, and I feel few could fail to be won over by him drunkenly singing:

‘You’ve got to have a dream
If you don’t have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true?’

The visual element makes this even more so, whether it’s his Top of the Pops appearances, or the singalong video above, the sight of this lumbering punk swaying earnestly and comically at the same time captured the hearts of many. Including me – as a child, I thought Sensible seemed ace – just a big kid misbehaving and annoying ‘grown-ups’. He would have fitted in as a resident on The Young Ones very easily. However, he did appear performing with The Damned in the episode ‘Nasty’.

After

My brother and I were proud owners of Sensible’s follow-up, Wot, a Rapper’s Delight reworking in which the good captain tries his hand at hip-hop. Despite this being superior to his Happy Talk, it was clear that was a number 1 smash in large part due to nostalgia for the song. Wot only made it to 26, though it would have a second lease of life when it was reworked for an early 90s ad campaign for Wotsits (‘no that’s a whoosh because you only get a whoosh from a Wotsit!’).

After two years juggling The Damned and his solo career, Sensible left the band. He released his last hit, Glad It’s All Over, which peaked at number six. Surprising really, as it was an anti-Falklands War song, coming only a year after the 1983 General Election, won by Margaret Thatcher in large part due to the conflict.

Sensible released material throughout the 80s, before temporarily rejoining The Damned in 1988 for a series of intended farewell shows. That same year he released a cover of The Snooker Song, from Mike Batt’s musical The Hunting of the Snark. Three years later it became the theme tune to the hit BBC One snooker gameshow Big Break.

Sensible rejoined a new line-up of The Damned with Vanian in 1996 and has stayed ever since. He’s also continued to release solo material and he joined Kirk Brandon’s second incarnation of the supergroup Dead Men Walking, now known as The Jack Tars.

The Outro

Wotsits aren’t the only snack in a bag associated with Sensible. In 2006 he formed the political protest group The Blah! Party as a reaction to Tony Blair’s leadership of the country. Part joke and part serious, they entered into a sponsorship deal with Seabrook Crisps. The deal ended in 2008 and the party de-registered from the political party register.

The Info

Written by

Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

Producer

Tony Mansfield

Weeks at number 1

2 (3-17 July)

Trivia

Births

8 July: Playwright James Graham
9 July: Actor Toby Kebbell

Deaths

4 July: Early British AIDS casualty Terry Higgins/Multiple murderer Barry Prudom (see ‘Meanwhile…‘)
5 July: Surgeon Geoffrey Keynes
6 July: Screenwriter Alma Reville
10 July: Classicist GEL Owen
12 July: Kenneth More
13 July: Actor Evan Thomas
15 July: Actress Enid Lorimer

Meanwhile…

3 July: ASLEF train drivers go on strike over hours of work, returning on 18 July.

4 July: Following a 17-day hunt by North Yorkshire Police, fugitive multiple murderer Barry Purdom, AKA the Phantom of the Forest, dies by suicide before police open fire. 

5 July: In the World Cup, England draw 0–0 with hosts Spain and are eliminated. Manager Ron Greenwood would subsequently retire and be succeeded by Ipswich Town manager Bobby Robson. 

9 July: Michael Fagan breaks into Buckingham Palace for the second time. This time, he is apprehended after entering the royal bedroom and being reported by Queen Elizabeth II.

15 July: British GCHQ civil servant Geoffrey Prime is remanded in custody on charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911.

496. Tight Fit – The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1982)

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The Intro

The Lion Sleeps Tonight by manufactured group Tight Fit is a very 1982-sounding number 1. But the song dates back to 1939 and South African singer-songwriter Solomon Linda, who died in poverty.

Before

Linda was a Zulu migrant worker who led the a cappella sextet The Evening Birds, in which he sang soprano. He also worked as a packer at a record pressing plant owned by Eric Gallo. Linda’s group were invited to make music there and at their second session, without prior rehearsal, they recorded Mbube, in which Linda recalls chasing a lion while herding cattle as a child. Performed in four-part harmony, The Evening Birds chant ‘wembube’, while Linda yodels and howls over the top.

Gallo was impressed and rightly saw they had a hit (the first ever made in South Africa) in their hands. But he chose to take advantage of Linda, who couldn’t read and had no understanding of royalties. Linda sold Mbube to Gallo for 10 shillings, and despite it selling 100,000 over the next nine years, the songwriter saw out the rest of his life in poverty, in a house covered in cow manure. One of his son’s died of malnutrition, and Linda collapsed on stage in 1959 of kidney failure. When he died three years later, his family couldn’t afford a tombstone.

In the early, 50s, Gallo had sent a collection of vinyl to Decca Records in the US. Fortunately, ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax worked there at the time and rescued them from being thrown out. He handed them to Pete Seeger, singer in the hit folk group The Weavers. Seeger was fascinated by Mbube, and attempted to transcribe it word for word – but he misheard the chorus as ‘Wimoweh’. Seeger copied Linda’s wail, but to make the track more palatable for early 50s record buyers, bandleader Gordon Jenkins added a brass backing.

Released in 1951 and renamed Wimoweh, the song was credited to Paul Campbell, a pseudonym which meant royalties were shared among The Weavers, their publishers and their manager. It was a big hit, peaking at six, but began slipping down the Billboard when three of the group were accused of being affiliated with the Communist Party during the McCarthy era. Linda didn’t get credited, but Seeger later claimed he objected to this and directed his publisher to send the royalties Linda’s way. His daughters claimed this wasn’t the case.

Fast forward 10 years and doo-wop group The Tokens (Neil Sedaka had previously been a member) decided to create a new version of Wimoweh, which continued to go down a storm at Weavers’ gigs. Desperately in search of a hit for their third single, The Tokens approached songwriters and producers George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore to help them with an overhaul. They kept the chant, took Linda’s final notes from the original to become the main hook, wrote brand new English lyrics and had an interesting appearance from opera singer Anita Darian, who sounds almost like a theremin on her countermelodies.

Although The Tokens weren’t keen on The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which became the B-side to Tina, it became far more popular and became the first African song to reach number 1 in the US. It climbed to 11 in the UK. The Tokens went on to become a production team and were credited on He’s So Fine by The Chiffons. Weiss, Peretti and Creatore were credited on The Stylistics’ 1975 UK number 1 Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love). Linda once again didn’t get a credit.

20 years later, Ken Gold co-songwriter and producer on The Real Thing’s You to Me Are Everything, decided to capitalise on the craze for medleys. Dutch group Stars On 45 nearly made it to number 1 twice that year with medleys of 60s hits, and Gold fancied a go himself. He assembled a group of male and female session singers, christened them Tight Fit and they made the hit single Back to the 60s, which peaked at four. For their Top of the Pops appearance, a number of actors and singers were used to mime the record. Later that year they scraped in at 33 with Back to the 60s Part 2. It looked like Tight Fit were already over.

However, producer Tim Friese-Greene saw life in the name. He had recently produced Thomas Dolby’s debut album The Golden Age of Wireless and fancied updating The Lion Sleeps Tonight for an 80s audience. Perhaps figuring that Tight Fit was a readymade name that was associated with 60s covers, he took the name but used a different set of musicians. They included Roy Ward, the drummer and percussionist from rock band City Boy, on vocals. Finally, Linda received a songwriting credit, alongside the imaginary Campbell, plus Peretti, Creatore and Weiss.

Review

Yes, Tight Fit’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight is cheesy, but it’s still lots of fun. All the elements of The Tokens’ version are there but updated for a 1982 audience, featuring phased drums, effects on the ‘wimoweh’ chanting and keyboards replacing the operatic melodies of the 1961 version. Ward’s vocal is great – why was this guy relegated to drums with City Boy, and who discovered he could sing well?

This version has aged very well sonically, and hearing it now takes me back to playing it over and over as a young lad. I even confess to pretending I was the self-obsessed Tarzan in the video. However, once you learn about the cultural misappropriation through the years, you can’t help but be left with a bad taste in your mouth and a need to apologise on behalf of white people who can’t see a problem with cultural theft.

The video is cheap and tacky, but fits the mood of the song well, as Tarzan preens lazily among people in bargain-basement lion and gorilla outfits. The cast of the video featured dancer and model Steve Grant, plus singers Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris, who had been assembled by Friese-Greene to be the new Tight Fit for promotional purposes.

After

Tight Fit’s huge success resulted in Friese-Greene deciding to give Grant, Gyngell and Harris a shot at recording the next single. Fantasy Island, which had been an entry for The Millionaires in the Dutch Eurovision Song Contest heats, did very well, climbing to five in May (a very timely release, considering it coincided with the Falklands War – see ‘Meanwhile…‘). However, the appeal of Tight Fit ran out just as they found themselves recording an album and rehearsing to go on tour. The next single, Secret Heart, only got to 41, and Gyngell and Harris subsequently left, complaining over lack of royalties and poor wages. Two new female singers were brought on board, but it was over. A year later, in a bid to pacify Grant, a cover of Stephen Stills’ Love the One You’re With was credited to Steve Grant and Tight Fit. It made no difference to their chart prospects.

Grant, Gyngell and Harris continued to chase fame separately – Grant released singles in his own name, then joined a three-piece group called Splash! (terrible name). Gyngell teamed up with her brothers to become He She Him (awful name). Harris formed Julie and the Jems (shit name), followed by Chopper Harris (so bad it’s actually a pretty funny name).

Gyngell and Harris reformed as Tight Fit in 2008 to tour the UK’s nightclubs, with Grant occasionally joining them before officially rejoining in 2010. They released the album Together in 2016. You don’t need me to tell you it failed to chart, but, to paraphrase the excellent podcast Chart Music, they’ve been on Top of the Pops more times than I have.

As for Friese-Greene, well, he was enlisted by Talk Talk to remix their 1984 album It’s My Life, then became an unofficial member of the band, producing and co-writing their classic trio of albums The Colour of Spring (1986), Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991).

The Outro

The Lion Sleeps Tonight continued to be a popular tune, and royalties remained a source of contention. In 1989, a judge ruled that The Tokens’ version should be considered a separate composition to Wimoweh, but that 10 percent of performance royalties should go to Linda’s family. In 1994, the use of The Lion Sleeps Tonight in Disney’s The Lion King made the song even more famous.

In 2000, South African Rolling Stone journalist Rian Malan wrote an essay telling the story of Mbube and explained that despite The Lion Sleeps Tonight earning $15 million in royalties, Linda’s family were still living in poverty. Two years later, the documentary A Lion’s Tail helped keep the background to the song in the public eye.

Finally, there was justice, to a degree. In 2004, with the backing of the South African government and the Gallo Record Company agreeing to pay legal fees, Linda’s family sued Disney for $1.5 million for using the song in The Lion King. The case was settled in 2006, with Abilene Music, who then owned The Lion Sleeps Tonight, agreeing to a lump sum payment, future royalties and a co-composer credit at long last. Not that this was the end of it, as the settlement with Disney ended in 2017 and since then the corporation has used the song for their live action remake of The Lion King in 2019.

The Info

Written by

Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George Weiss, Solomon Linda & Paul Campbell

Producer

Tim Friese-Greene

Weeks at number 1

3 (6-26 March)

Trivia

Deaths

7 March: Conservative MP John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham
8 March: Conservative MP Rab Butler
11 March: Author Edmund Cooper
13 March: Bridge designer William Fairhurst
14 March: Calligrapher Alfred Fairbank
15 March: Poet Edgell Rickword
16 March: Scientist Sir Geoffrey Vickers
18 March: Silent film actress Barbara Tennant
21 March: Actor Harry H Corbett
22 March: Motorcyclist Bob Foster/Actor Harold Goldblatt

Meanwhile…

18 March: Nosy old fuddy duddy Mary Whitehouse’s legal case against the National Theatre’s The Romans in Britain ends after an intervention from the Attorney General.

19 March: Argentine scrap metal dealers illegally arrive at South Georgia, Falkland Islands – a British overseas colony – and raise the Argentine flag.

25 March: Social Democratic Party co-leader Roy Jenkins wins the Hillhead by-election in Glasgow. At this point, the SDP were leading many opinion polls.

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

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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.’

484. Aneka – Japanese Boy (1981)

/ robbarker1979

The Intro

In some ways, early 80s pop was progressive. New romantics were blurring the gender lines and make up was worn by many men in music videos. But then you have this example of cultural appropriation set to an admittedly very catchy tune. But understandably, Scottish folk singer Mary Sandeman, AKA one-hit wonder Aneka, would rather forget Japanese Boy.

Before

Sandeman, born 20 November 1948 in Edinburgh, had released her first record on Thistle Records in 1965. Memories of the Mod wasn’t a Who-inspired record – it was a short selection of traditional Gaelic ballads, that she most likely sang at The Royal National Mòd, which was a Celtic version of the Welsh Eisteddfod.

A few more singles followed, and in 1979 Sandeman released her first album, Introducing Mary Sandeman, on Fleet. Sandeman was working with songwriter and producer Bob Heatlie, and expressed an interest in recording a commercial pop song. Heatlie was sceptical that Sandeman was suited to this, and so he put off the idea, despite constant reminders from Sandeman. Eventually, the frustrated singer told Heatlie she had set up an appointment to record a demo of his non-existent song. Heatlie cobbled together an oriental-sounding chorus with snippets of lyrics from previous material.

The demo of Japanese Boy was rejected by Berlin-based Hansa Records several times, but eventually they were signed. The duo figured Sandeman would need a new look, more in keeping with the song, and so they dressed her in a kimono and wig. And she would need a more fitting name, too, so they leafed through a German telephone directory. They liked ‘Anika’, but Sandeman insisted she became ‘Aneka’, as a link to her surname. The fact that this was a German name, not Japanese, didn’t seem to matter to them – or record buyers, for that matter.

Japanese Boy was released in July and soon climbed the charts, eventually toppling Green Door at the end of August.

Review

Conflicting feelings here. The politically correct me thinks Japanese Boy is a terribly dated song that should be consigned to history – which may well be how Aneka feels, considering she’s never attempted to go back to it. A Scottish folk singer, dressed up as a geisha, pretending to be Japanese, is really not a good look in 2024. The lyrics are pretty poor too – they read like something a teenager writing their first song might come up with.

But, but, but. It really is catchy as hell. Incredibly so. There’s hook upon hook here – however cliched they might be. The production is also great, sounding surprisingly modern for a 1981 potboiler. This is one of the most infectious number 1s of 1981 so far, which is amazing really, considering its up against some of the greatest chart-toppers of the decade. Both my daughters, 12 and nine, also now love it, despite the eldest understanding how tacky and dated the concept is. I would argue Japanese Boy deserves to be better known – but it’s incredibly obvious why it isn’t in this day and age.

The video to Japanese Boy is a bit of a disappointment, as I’d have hoped for some kind of terrible Carry On-style short film based around Aneka searching far and wide for her guy. Instead, it’s simply Aneka stood against a primitive backdrop. This Top of the Pops appearance, featuring backing dancers waving around Japanese paper parasols.

After

Japanese Boy was only number 1 for a week, but Hansa Records tried to capitalise, by commissioning an album. However, nothing else from the LP charted, including the unusual follow-up, Little Lady, for which Aneka dropped the oriental look and became an aristocratic lady. This clip is an interesting watch. Then came Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang, a total change of tack, in which Aneka sang from the point of view of a singer permanently relegated to backing vocals. It drops the early electro styles of the last two singles, and sounds more like a comedy song from The Two Ronnies. Although both Little Lady and Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang did quite well around Europe, they sank in the UK.

Sandeman, a mother of two young children at the time, was smart and continued to perform traditional material, performing at the Edinburgh Festival the night she went to number 1. Two more Aneka singles followed – Heart to Beat and Rose, Rose, I Love You, over the next two years, but Sandeman then dropped the name. She gave up music for good in the 90s.

In 2006, Justin Lee Collins tried to get Sandeman to take part in a performance of one-hit wonders for Channel 4, but she refused. She was interviewed by The Daily Record in 2011, who reviewed she was working as a tour guide in Stirling.

The Outro

Japanese Boy was rejected in Japan for sounding too Chinese. Heatlie went on to write for Shakin’ Stevens, and was the man behind his 1985 festive number 1, Merry Christmas Everyone.

The Info

Written by

Bobby Heatlie

Producer

Neil Ross

Weeks at number 1

1 (29 August-4 September)

Trivia

Births

2 September: Cricketer Chris Tremlett
3 September: Television presenter Fearne Cotton

Deaths

29 August: Billiards player Joyce Gardner/Radiologist James Ralston Kennedy Paterson
30 August: Actress Rita Webb
31 August: Motorcycle racer Dave Potter
3 September: Novelist Alec Waugh

    Meanwhile…

    1 September: Filling stations started selling motor fuel by the litre.

    478. Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up (1981)

    / robbarker1979

    The Intro

    One of the most enduring pop images of the early 80s is the skirt-ripping routine of 1981 Eurovision Song Contest winners Bucks Fizz. This is the story of how their entry, Making Your Mind Up, brought about their creation and became their first of three number 1 singles.

    Before

    Allegedly, songwriter Andy Hill wrote Making Your Mind Up in 1980 with a view to entering it in the UK’s Eurovision qualifying contest, A Song for Europe. Hill’s girlfriend, singer Nichola Martin, suggested Hill team up with a musician called John Danter, who she could sign up to her publishing company, which would enable her to own half the rights to the song, as Hill was signed elsewhere. Hill had been a member of Rags, a group who failed to win the 1977 A Song for Europe.

    That October, Hill and Martin recorded a demo with the singer Mike Nolan, who had worked with the latter before. Nolan had been in the boyband Brooks, who were put together by Freya Miller, who became Shakin’ Stevens‘ manager. Another original member of Brooks was Chris Hamill, later known as Limahl.

    Two months after the demo was recorded, Making Your Mind Up was selected out of 591 submitted entries to be one of the eight finalists. Martin had decided to name the performer as ‘Buck’s Fizz’, in honour of her favourite drink, so when she discovered the song had been picked, she needed to act fast and create a group featuring Nolan.

    In January 1981, Martin contacted Cheryl Baker, who she remembered from the 1978 Eurovision group Co-Co. Baker had previously been in the band Bressingham Spire, which also featured the soon-to-be Radio 1 DJ Mike Read. Worried that Baker, disillusioned after Co-Co’s loss, may say no, Martin also auditioned for another female vocalist, plus a second male singer. The winners were Jay Aston and Stephen Fischer. When Baker agreed to take part, Martin decided to keep Aston anyway, as her vocal complemented Baker’s well. Aston had trained to be a dancer and actress, as well as a singer, and had taken part in the 1978 Miss England contest, where the act during the interval had been Co-Co.

    Fischer threw a spanner in the works when it turned out he was contracted to appear in the musical Godspell, so he was out. A year later Fischer was the male member of the duo Bardo, who came seventh in Eurovision with the song One Step Further (a number two hit).

    Martin found a replacement in Bobby G, a singer/guitarist/actor who had impressed in previous editions. On 11 January 1981, Bucks Fizz (what happened to the apostrophe?) met for the first time and Jill Shirley, who had been in Rags with Martin, agreed to be their manager. This meant Martin and Hill could now concentrate on their own entry for A Song for Europe, Have You Ever Been in Love?.

    During rehearsals for Making Your Mind Up, the attention-grabbing skirt ripping routine during the lyric ‘see some more’ was hit upon. But by who, remains a mystery. It could have been routine choreographer Chrissie Wickham, formerly of Hot Gossip, who spent two days with the group. Martin, Baker and Aston have all laid claim to the concept too. I’d personally go with Martin, as the Top of the Pops performance that Rags made in 1977 when promoting Promises Promises has something rather similar as they remove their, er, rags.

    Martin and Shirley scored a recording deal for Bucks Fizz with RCA Records, and Hill went with the group to record Making Your Mind Up at Mayfair Studios in London. The record, featuring Alan Carvell on backing vocals, was done and dusted in a week.

    Review

    I have a lot of time for Making Your Mind Up and I feel no shame. It’s pure cheese of course, but it’s so bloody charming and fun. The lyrics are mostly nonsensical – aren’t most Eurovision entries? But, there is some meaning in there – it seems to be about someone playing the field that might have found someone to stick with, but they need to stop being indecisive.

    Not that the words really matter when you have a tune like this on your hands. Making Your Mind Up is so sugary sweet, it was always going to go down well at home, and abroad – and the latter is helped by what sounds like an accordion in the latter half.

    This is one of those songs that defies analysis, really. It’s pure pop and if you can’t enjoy it, you may be dead inside. It’s leagues ahead of the other UK winners before this point, and I prefer it to Waterloo, too. And Bucks Fizz were the perfect vehicle to promote this song. You’ve got the Ken dolls, Nolan and G, for the girls, Baker has mumsy appeal for the mums and grans, and Aston was very popular with the dads – as was the skirt-ripping when they sing ‘If you wanna see some more’ the last time.

    That routine of course featured in the official video for Making Your Mind Up, which starts with the group cheekily waving their arses for an adoring crowd before breaking into song and dance. There’s no bells or whistles here – it’s for all intents and purposes a Top of the Pops or Eurovision performance, really.

    After

    On 11 March, Bucks Fizz won A Song for Europe, beating even Liquid Gold, a popular act at the time. A Top of the Pops performance followed, which helped the single enter the charts at 24, before soaring to five a week later.

    Eurovision was held at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin on 4 April 1981. Bucks Fizz performed 14th that evening, and despite a rather off-key performance (which may or may not have been down to nerves or a mic mix-up), they became the fourth winners from the UK, after Sandie Shaw, Lulu and Brotherhood of Man. Two weeks later, Making Your Mind Up became the third UK winner to then become number 1. The record eventually sold four million worldwide, and Bucks Fizz were one of the hottest groups of 1981.

    The Outro

    In 2013, BBC Radio 2 listeners voted Bucks Fizz’s debut the best Eurovision entry of all time. The skirt-rip routine was spoofed endlessly, has appeared in numerous Eurovision entries since 1981, and was even copied by Mick Jagger and Tina Turner at Live Aid in 1985.

    The Info

    Written by

    Andy Hill & John Danter

    Producer

    Andy Hill

    Weeks at number 1

    3 (18 April-8 May)

    Trivia

    Births

    23 April: Actress Gemma Whelan
    25 April: Paralympian sprinter John McFall
    3 May: Charlie Brooks
    5 May: Singer Craig David

    Deaths

    19 April: Labour Party MP Colin Jackson
    21 April: Antiques caretaker Dorothy Eady/Pianist Ivor Newton/Electrical engineer Lesley Souter
    22 April: Liberal Party politician Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea
    23 April: Olympic rower Sir James Angus Gillan
    24 April: Mathematician JCP Miller
    25 April: Indologist Isaline Blew Horner
    26 April: Robert Garioch
    28 April: T Rex bassist Steve Currie/Educationalist Marjorie Rackstraw/Businessman Bernard Mason
    1 May: Actor Barry Jones
    2 May: Unionist politician Joseph Foster
    4 May: Zoologist Alan William Greenwood
    5 May: IRA member Bobby Sands (see ‘Meanwhile…‘)
    6 May: Film director Gordon Parry

    Meanwhile…

    20 April: Steve Davis, 23, wins the World Snooker Championship for the first time.
    Also on this day, skirmishes break out in Finsbury Park, Forest Green and Ealing in London. 100 people are arrested and 15 police officers are injured.

    23 April: Unemployment passes the 2,500,000 mark.

    29 April: Peter Sutcfliffe admits to the manslaughter of 13 women, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

    5 May: 27-year-old republican and Provisional IRA member Bobby Sands died following his hunger strike in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison, one month after becoming MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
    Also on this day, Peter Sutcliffe’s trial begins at the Old Bailey in London.

    7 May: Labour’s Ken Livingstone becomes leader of the Greater London Council.

    476. Roxy Music – Jealous Guy (1981)

    / robbarker1979

    The Intro

    The final number 1 tribute to John Lennon in 1981 didn’t come from Double Fantasy, and it wasn’t from his classic album Imagine. Except it was, in cover form. Jealous Guy was released as a tribute by one of the most influential glam rock and art-pop bands of the 70s – Roxy Music.

    Before

    In 1970, when 25-year-old Bryan Ferry from County Durham lost his job at at a girls’ school for holding record listening sessions, he decided to form a new band. He had been in groups before, including the Gas Board, with bassist Graham Simpson. Ferry and Simpson advertised for a keyboardist and decided to enlist Andy Mackay. Although Mackay owned a synthesiser, rare in those days, he preferred to play saxophone and oboe. He persuaded Ferry and Simpson to also add a fellow lover of avant grade music that he had met at university. And so Brian Eno, who wasn’t a musician but could manage to operate the synth, as well as a reel-to-reel tape machine. was brought in as ‘technical adviser’. Next up was guitarist Roger Bunn and finally. classically trained timpanist Dexter Lloyd on drums.

    Mark one of Roxy Music was complete, with the name derived from Ferry picking ‘Roxy’ out from a list of old cinemas. He decided the word conjured up ‘some faded glamour’ but ‘didn’t really mean anything’. After discovering there was already a US band called Roxy, so was born Roxy Music.

    The band was in danger of being over before it had begun when Ferry auditioned late that year to become the new singer for King Crimson. Although Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield decided Ferry didn’t suit their band, they saw talent, and helped him to get Roxy Music a contract with EG Records.

    After recording demos in early 1971, Bunn left the group. He was replaced by David O’List, former guitarist with The Nice. One of the unsuccessful applicants, Phil Manzanera, was employed as a roadie. At the end of the year, Roxy Music finally made their live debut, at the Friends of the Tate Gallery Christmas Show. Ferry’s band were not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill band.

    O’List didn’t stick around long, quitting Roxy Music in February 1972 after a fight with Thompson at their audition with EG Management. When he failed to turn up for the next rehearsal, his job was given to Manzanera, who had been privately learning the band’s repertoire.

    Roxy Music signed with EG Management, who financed the production of their eponymous debut LP. Although unimpressed at first, Island Records boss Chris Blackwell relented and the album was released in June. Weird and occasionally wonderful, Roxy Music was avant grade glam that captured the imagination of record buyers, housed in a seedily glamorous cover that would become their trademark. However, Simpson left after it was recorded, and was replaced by Rik Kenton.

    Kenton was around long enough to take part in the recording of one of the most impressive debut singles of all time. Virgina Plain shot to four in the charts and made Roxy Music pop stars – albeit unusual ones. David Bowie’s appearance on Top of the Pops that year to promote Starman is rightly feted as a great TV moment, but the sight of Roxy Music on the same show also left its mark.

    In January 1973, Kenton left the band and was replaced by John Porter, who had been a member of the Gas Board. Second album For Your Pleasure, released two months later, saw Chris Thomas replace Sinfield on production duties. Their second single, Pyjamarama, was a non-album release and peaked at 10.

    Eno departed after Roxy Music toured the album, due to increasing differences with Ferry. Fans lamented the loss, but he did pretty well for himself, as we know. Eno’s replacement was 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson from Curved Air. What he lacked in experimentalism, he made up for in technical accomplishment. Porter also left, becoming a successful producer for The Smiths and Ferry in his solo years. John Gustafson of The Merseybeats briefly took up bass duties.

    Third album Stranded, released in 1973, saw Mackay and Manzanera joining Ferry as songwriters. Ferry also began to seemingly become the posh sophisticate figure he had previously adopted ironically, and has been ever since. The single Street Life was a number nine smash. The next LP, Country Life, was the first to enter the US album chart, and featured the UK number 12 single All I Want Is You. The sexy, slinky Love Is the Drug deservedly became their biggest hit to date in 1975, peaking at two behind the reissue of Space Oddity. But a year later, following their tour of its parent album Siren, Roxy Music went on hiatus.

    In 1979 a new line-up released the album Manifesto. Ace’s Paul Carrack replaced Jobson on keyboards, while Gustafson was also gone, with bass duties split between Alan Spenner and future Adam and the Ants member Gary Tibbs. Luther Vandross featured on backing vocals. Manifesto contained two of Roxy’s biggest hits in Angel Eyes (four) and Dance Away (two).

    Thompson was injured during the recording of their first album of the 80s, Flesh + Blood, and quit soon after its release. From then on, the core trio of Ferry, Mackay and Manzanera were joined by session musicians. Their seventh LP featured Oh Yeah and Over You, which both reached five. Any sense of experimentalism in the group’s sound had been gradually removed and replaced by smooth sophistication, in keeping with Ferry’s look.

    After Lennon’s murder in December 1980, Roxy Music added a cover of Jealous Guy to their live set while they toured Germany. This 1971 plaintive ballad was perfectly in keeping with Roxy’s repertoire.

    Jealous Guy began in 1968 as a spiritual Beatles song called Child of Nature. Lennon was inspired by a lecture from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and was one of a plethora of tunes considered for The Beatles and demoed at George Harrison’s Esher home. Although it wasn’t selected, the song was also performed in 1969 during the Get Back sessions, where it was referred as On the Road to Rishikesh. The tune was fully formed, but the lyrics felt unfinished, and the song disappeared.

    Two years later, Lennon reworked the song for Imagine, creating a personal, confessional soft rock song about his failings and inadequacies towards his wife Yoko Ono… although there are theories out there that consider it may really be about his feelings for Paul McCartney during their bitter post-Beatles years. Despite being one of his most famous solo songs, Jealous Guy was not released by Lennon in his lifetime as a single.

    Review

    Roxy Music were at their best in the early years, when their music was more adventurous. Eno leaving was a big loss, and the more Ferry seemed to transform into a real-life posh playboy, the less interesting his band were.

    This version of Jealous Guy is inferior to the delicate original. Phil Spector was not exactly known for his subtlety, but his production on Lennon’s version is light and even a little ethereal. Whether because they rushed this out or not, Roxy’s version is pure 80s schmaltz, particularly due to Mackay’s sax on the chorus line. Watching Ferry crooning away in the video like an early 80s catalogue model just makes me want to laugh, rather than enjoy or appreciate this alleged tribute. Whether this cover was well-intentioned or not, it comes across a rather cynical cash-in – and one which obviously paid off. But then, when it comes to Roxy Music, I’m more of an In Every Dream Home a Heartache kind of guy than a Jealous Guy.

    After

    In 1982, Roxy Music released their eighth and last LP, the critically acclaimed Avalon. The first single, the decent ballad More Than This was their final top 10 hit, peaking at six. The title track reached 13, followed by Take a Chance with Me, which soldiered on to 26. After they toured the album, Roxy Music dissolved in 1983 and the core trio all went solo – Ferry having had a parallel solo career since 1973.

    In 2001, Ferry, Mackay, Manzanera and Thompson reunited and toured to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary. The latter two, and Eno, contributed to Ferry’s 11th solo album Frantic the following year. Roxy Music reformed in 2005 to play at the Isle of Wight Festival and Live 8 Berlin, and announced a new album was on the cards – with Eno contributing too. Instead, material from the album was used for Ferry’s 13th solo album, Olympia, released in 2010. Manzanera later claimed the Roxy reunion album was permanently shelved.

    Despite this, Roxy Music continued to tour in 2010 and 2011. They teamed up once more in 2022 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

    The Outro

    Roxy Music are an acquired taste and a lot of it depends on how much Ferry you can stomach. Nonetheless, there’s gold littered throughout their career.

    The Info

    Written by

    John Lennon

    Producers

    Bryan Ferry & Rhett Davies

    Weeks at number 1

    2 (14-27 March)

    Trivia

    Births

    27 March: Northern Irish footballer Terry McFlynn

    Deaths

    14 March: Cricketer Ken Barrington/Screenwriter Billie Bristow
    17 March: Actor Nicholas Stuart Gray/Literary critic QD Leavis
    19 March: Journalist John Deane Potter
    22 March: Journalist Dudley Carew
    23 March: Motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood (see ‘Meanwhile‘)/Football administrator Bob Wall
    24 March: Organist George Charles Gray
    26 March: Biologist CD Darlington

    Meanwhile…

    17 March: The Conservative government, already unpopular, was met with anger when Chancellor of the Exchequer Geoffrey Howe revealed further public spending cuts in the Budget.

    21 March: Home Secretary William Whitelaw allows Wolverhampton council to place a 14-day ban on political marches, due to growing problems with militant race riots.
    Also on this day, Tom Baker is replaced by Peter Davison in Doctor Who, and ‘Mike the Bike’ Hailwood is seriously injured in a car crash.

    22 March: A minority of Tory MPs are reported to be planning a leadership challenge against the increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

    23 March: The government imposes a ban on animal transportation on the Isle of Wight and southern Hampshire following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
    Also on this day, Hailwood dies from his injuries two days earlier.

    26 March: The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was formed by ‘Gang of Four’ Labour Party defectors Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers, Roy Jenkins and David Owen.

    472. St. Winifred’s School Choir – There’s No One Quite Like Grandma (1980)

    / robbarker1979

    The Intro

    The shocking death of John Lennon in December 1980 saw the singles chart understandably awash with his material, old and new. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) was among them. And yet, this novelty song by St Winifred’s School Choir become Christmas number 1. Lennon’s murder proved the world could be an awful place. There’s No One Quite Like Grandma was the icing on this shit cake.

    Before

    St Winifred’s School Choir was formed at St Winifred’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Stockport in 1968. A local newspaper cutting from 1972 reveals that the choir first recorded that year, at 10cc’s local Strawberry Studios. Miss Olive Moore was their conductor, with Miss Terri Foley on guitar.

    In 1978, the choir were selected to provide backing vocals on Brian and Michael’s Matchstalk Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs (Lowry’s Song). Pupils sang The Big Ship Sails on the Alley-Alley-O as a counterpoint to the song’s chorus as it draws to a close. When the single became a surprise number 1, St Winifred’s School Choir got to appear on Top of the Pops. And that should have been the end of it.

    The choir’s brush with fame (pun intended) saw them signed to EMI’s Music for Pleasure (MFP) in 1979. MFP was a budget label, often releasing cheap compilations or re-recordings of popular film and TV soundtracks. Popular with the older record buyer, and families, it was a natural home for St Winifred’s School Choir. Referred to as ‘The Matchstalk Children’ on the sleeve of their debut single, Bread and Fishes, the children were arranged in a circle – boys in blue, girls in pink – with Miss Foley (now credited as Chorus Master) strumming away next to Sister Aquinas – the ‘Management’. MFP were so cheap, the sleeve was reused for their debut LP, And the Children Sing – which featured covers of Any Dream Will Do and Mull of Kintyre.

    In 1980, their second album, My Very Own Party Record, featured wall-to-wall bangers like If You’re Happy and You Know It and London Bridge. Most likely with one eye on the Christmas market, and remembering how well 1971 number 1 Grandad had performed, they chose There’s No One Quite Like Grandma.

    Gorden Lorenz had been a travelling evangelist before turning to music, where he learned his way around the recording studio by writing music for Border Television to be used between their daytime shows. In 1980, Lorenz saw an opportunity to cash in on the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday. He wrote There’s No One Quite Like Grandma and sent a demo to EMI, despite not being convinced himself that it was any good. At first they turned it down. However, one day he received a call from the managing director, who said they couldn’t get the chorus out of my mind, and he suggested they put it out at Christmas. Using St Winifred’s School Choir, fresh from their Top of the Pops appearance, was an evil masterstroke, designed to tug at the heartstrings.

    Review

    There are no positives to mention when discussing There’s No One Quite Like Grandma. The worst number 1 in many years, and the worst festive chart-topper of the 80s, is an abomination, plain and simple.

    It’s painful to listen to, with wretched production, and is an example of how shameless and cynical the music business could be and would become. That it kept Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and Stop the Cavalry from the Christmas number 1 spot makes it even more awful.

    The lyrics are abysmal, and read like one of those awful poems you occasionally see on Angry People in Local Newspapers. The children singing on the record could probably create better rhymes than Lorenz did. Your honour, I give you:

    ‘There’s no one quite like Grandma,
    She always has a smile,
    She never hurries us along,
    But stays a little while’

    Worst of all is the lead vocal by Dawn Ralph. Of course, that’s not her fault, she was just a little girl with the kind of sickly sweet, short-tongued voice that fitted the bill perfectly. But without getting too personal, her performance on that Top of the Pops appearance above reminds me of the twin girls in The Shining. It gives me chills, and I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way.

    Dreary, vapid and queasy, There’s No One Quite Like Grandma is a throwback to the novelty number 1s of the early years of the charts, such as Lita Roza’s (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?. 1980 was a bumper year for chart-toppers – 25 in fact. There’s No One Quite Like Grandma is easily the worst of the year and the earliest frontrunner for worst of the decade. On the plus, side, my youngest daughter asked me what I was writing about, so I showed her the clip, and she thought Ralph was singing ‘No-one fights like Grandma’. Now there’s an idea for a sequel.

    After

    St Winifred’s School Choir’s reign was mercifully short – lasting only a fortnight. Such was the magnitude of Lennon’s death, the end of the festive season saw his records ruling the roost again. But at least their Christmas number 1 helped to pay for new carpets and classroom facilities at the school.

    Thankfully, St Winifred’s proved to be a one-hit wonder, though the choir continued recording albums until 1985’s 20 All-Time Children’s Favourites.

    However, in 1986 came It’s ‘Orrible Being in Love (When You’re 8 ½), credited to Claire and Friends. Claire and her pals went to St Winifred’s, and the song was written by Mick Coleman and produced by Kevin Parrott, AKA Brian and Michael. St Winifred’s School Choir provided backing vocals, though they were uncredited. The single reached 13, and is no doubt also hard work, but because I was seven when it was released, I can’t help but have a soft spot for it. That’s nostalgia for you.

    In 1990, St Winifred’s School Choir teamed up with Ziba Banafsheh to record the single A Better World, in aid of Mother Theresa of Calcutta’s charity. Three years later they were uncredited for their performance on Bill Tarmey’s (Coronation Street‘s Jack Duckworth) cover of Barry Manilow’s One Voice, produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman.

    In 2009, 14 of the 1980 line-up teamed up to re-record There’s No One Quite Like Grandma, produced by drinks company Innocent in aid of Help the Aged and Age Concern.

    The Outro

    Among the choir responsible for the original There’s No One Quite Like Grandma were two who became actresses. Most famous is Sally Lindsay, who starred in Coronation Street as Shelley Unwin. The other, Jennifer Hennessy, starred in The Office and Doctor Who. Neither were involved in the remake, and nor was Ralph, who refuses to give interviews. Can’t blame her.

    The Info

    Written by

    Gordon Lorenz

    Producer

    Peter Tattersall

    Weeks at number 1

    2 (27 December 1980-9 January 1981)

    Trivia

    6 January 1981: Novelist Andrew Britton

    Deaths

    27 December 1980: Golfer Eric Green/Golfer Arthur Havers
    29 December: Jazz pianist Lennie Felix/Businessman John Wall, Baron Wall
    31 December: Marxist philosopher Maurice Cornforth
    2 January 1981: Actor Victor Carin
    3 January: Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
    4 January: Royal Navy captain Gordon Charles Steele
    5 January: Aircraft engineer Sir James Martin
    6 January: Aristocrat Ernestine Bowes-Lyon/Scottish novelist AJ Cronin/Labour Party MP Tom Litterick
    7 January: Broadcaster Alvar Lidell
    9 January: Racing driver Sammy Davies/Scottish artist William MacTaggart

    Meanwhile…

    28 December 1980: The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) awarded TV-am the first ever breakfast television contract.

    2 January 1981: 34-year-old lorry driver Peter Sutcliffe, from Bradford, was arrested in Sheffield. After two days of questioning in Dewsbury, he admitted he was the serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper.

    4 January 1981: British Leyland workers voted to accept a peace formula in the Longbridge plant strike.

    5 January: Sutcliffe was charged with the murder of 13 women and attempted murder of seven more between 1975 and 1980.
    Also on this day, the TV adaptation of Douglas Adam’s radio series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy began on BBC Two, while Norman St John-Stevas departed the Conservative Party Cabinet, to be replaced by Leon Brittan and Norman Fowler.

    7 January: A parcel bomb addressed to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was intercepted.

    8 January: A terrorist bomb attack happens on the RAF base at Uxbridge.

      428. The Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap (1978)

      / robbarker1979

      The Intro

      After a total of 16 weeks at the top of the charts in 1978, suddenly John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were served notice. In a real changing of the guard moment, The Boomtown Rats became the first new wave act (and first Irish band) to have a number 1. They commemorated this on Top of the Pops (as seen below) by yawning and ripping up photos of Travolta. Enough of the 50s revival – the groundwork laid by punk finally paid off with Rat Trap.

      Before

      So what actually is new wave? It’s not as straightforward as explaining psychedelia or punk. It’s basically used as a loose term to describe what punk evolved into. However it dates back to before then.

      Music critics like Nick Kent were using it as early as 1973 to describe acts including The Velvet Underground and New York Dolls. Other US acts that came later, including Blondie and Talking Heads, have little to do with punk but are certainly described as new wave.

      To me, new wave is an effective way of describing the new underground (soon to turn mainstream) pop acts that wanted to shake up the staid pop scene of the mid- to-late-70s. Not as stylised as punk, they often came from pub-rock acts that brought some much-needed excitement to music.

      It’s interesting to note that often decades are said to not ‘begin’ until several years after they have, ie, the 60s started with The Beatles in 1963, the 70s began with glam in 1973. If so, you could argue the 80s began several years early thanks to new wave. There’s certainly a very welcome injection of excitement and quality in the number 1s I’ll be reviewing from here on in for some time to come. Even as early as 1978 though, some bands didn’t like being referred to as new wave. XTC’s single This Is Pop took aim at the concept – to singer-songwriter Andy Partridge, his group were simply a new pop band.

      The Boomtown Rats began as The Nightlife Thugs in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin in 1975. Guitarist Garry Roberts and keyboardist Johnnie Fingers had decided to form a band and recruited Bob Geldof, a former New Musical Express journalist, as singer, plus bassist Pete Briquette, guitarist Gerry Cott and drummer Simon Crowe. Roberts hated their name and threatened to resign unless they changed it. Geldof came up with the name that stuck – he’d been reading Woody Guthrie’s autobiography Bound for Glory, in which Guthrie mentioned a gang of children called The Boomtown Rats.

      The Irish music scene was moribund at the time and The Boomtown Rats shook things up with exciting performances of covers by The Who, Bob Marley and The Rolling Stones. Thanks in part to Geldof’s media contacts, by the summer of 1976 the band were performing in the UK and were signed to Ensign Records soon after.

      In August 1977 The Boomtown Rats released debut single Lookin’ After No. 1 and they were an instant hit. It reached two in Ireland and 11 in the UK. A month later came their eponymous debut album, which also spawned Mary of the 4th Form. It peaked at 15 here. The Rats transformed from a pub rock band to one heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen thanks to Geldof’s songwriting. And it’s worth noting that their producer was a young Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange – future husband of Shania Twain. Producing The Boomtown Rats was his first taste of success, with much more to come.

      Second album A Tonic for the Troops came out in 1978 and they continued to do well, with She’s So Modern reaching 12 and Like Clockwork made it to six. Which left one more single to come.

      Review

      Despite the importance of Rat Trap as a sign of pop morphing once more into something new, it’s rather forgotten about. Obviously, Geldof’s later career as one of the men behind Band Aid/Live Aid has overshadowed anything The Boomtown Rats did but I Don’t Like Mondays is much better remembered than this track. And I can kind of see why.

      While listening for research it occurred to me the only thing that’s ever stuck with me from this song (and I can imagine it’s the case with everyone else) is the sax refrain, played by Alan Holmes. It’s a great opening, before the song settles down and starts to sound rather similar to Squeeze’s Cool for Cats, also recorded in 1978.

      Rat Trap is the tale of bored teenagers Billy and Judy and the track is clearly indebted to Bruce Springsteen both lyrically and sonically. Billy and Judy are bored of their lives and longing for escape. It’s epic in scale and you could also argue it’s progressive rock in the way it changes tack into several different sections. Yet I guess the main difference is the simplicity of the different parts and the youthful energy is more indebted to punk than prog. Scanning the lyrics, there’s some great stuff, especially in the second verse:

      ‘Billy don’t like it living here in this town,
      He says the traps have been sprung long before he was born,
      He says “Hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors,
      And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores”

      And yet, yes I can think of a fair few new wave songs from around this time that might have been more deserved than Rat Trap. I’ve listened to it again several times and it’s one to admire and interest rather than really love. It was perhaps a case of ‘right place, right time’, with young record buyers deciding enough was enough and deciding to get behind anything that could get rid of that bloody Grease film.

      The Outro

      The video featured The Rats reading Rat Trap by Craig Thomas, which didn’t actually have any link to the song other than its name. It was directed by up-and-coming filmmaker David Mallett. In 1978 he made this, Bicycle Race by Queen and Blondie’s Hanging on the Telephone. Over the next few years he made some of the most imaginative videos for some of the greatest pop of the era, particularly with his work for David Bowie. We’ll be hearing more from those two.

      The Info

      Written by

      Bob Geldof

      Producer

      Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange

      Weeks at number 1

      2 (18 November-1 December)

      Meanwhile…

      20 November: Buckingham Palace announces Prince Andrew is joining the Royal Navy.

      23 November: Birmingham nightclub Pollyanna’s lifts its ban on black and Chinese revellers, after a one-year investigation by the Commission for Racial Equality concluded the nightclub’s entry policy was racist.

      29 November: 22-year-old Nottingham Forest defender Viv Anderson becomes England’s first black international footballer, appearing in their 1–0 friendly win over Czechoslovakia at Wembley Stadium. Six months previous he had become the first black player to feature in an English league championship winning team and was also on the winning side in the Football League Cup final. And yet here I am 43 years later writing in a week in which several black England players were bombarded with racist messages after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final.

      30 November: An industrial dispute closes down The Times newspaper until 12 November 1979.