She may have been a manufactured act - but stuff was DECENTLY mixed back then - and sounded GOOD.

Ahhh - I'm still waiting for Netflix to get the rights to Can't Stop The Music. After seeing the writeup in the Razzies book - I'd like to watch it to see if it is as deliciously crap as they make it out to be.

I was 10 - it had an AA cert...

The last proper hit for Village People. Quite like it too.

I also miss good stonking catchy booming basslines in tracks. This period was full of them.

Hazel O'Connor, I've bought quite a few of her singles recently.

Cliff, one of his great 80's singles here.

Funny you should mention Hazel O'Connor... Eighth Day playing out...

Time to get the trousers manky - remember how the floor used to fill with rowers?

I bought Eighth Day a few months ago along with Will You? and also a lesser hit Hangin' Around, a Stranglers cover I believe.

George Benson, I've got his greatest hits. Pure class. Not only are the songs great, but they are by real enduring talents to this very day.

Tony namechecking Rod Temperton who has had masses of mentions at TOTP 1977/1978 in the past 18 months.

Er....oops, but no!

SURELY you remember that rowing dance that EVERY disco used to do...

Tony just mentioned this but I was only 11 in 1980 so the only disco I went to was the school one!

Ahhh - DIana Ross a la Chic...

Yeah - same here - but a few years on, used to go to Sams under-18 night in Exmouth..

This one is on the recent Nile Rodgers & Chic album that came out a few weeks ago after his entertaining Glasto set. Until then I had no idea he was connected to this wonderful track. I'd love Diana to have a couple more big hit singles.

Top 5's really never get much better than this one in late August 1980 although much as I like it, I cannot forgive Kelly Marie for keeping one of my all time favourite female singers, randy Crawford, off the top spot a couple of weeks later when Feels Like I'm In Love held One Day I'll Fly Away from the No1.

Oh dear God - this one. Written by Ray Dorset IIRC. He even performed it as the support act for Roy Wood at my last ever SJA duty in 1998.

The Winner Takes It All is one of the greatest No1 singles of all time without doubt. Feel the emotion coming out of this song. It always brings a lump to my throat, it's that powerful.

Ahhh - coming up next - the track that got MiniPops yanked and deep-sixed... quite rightly...

Two tracks played from the Americanised Scottish diva that is Sheena Easton. She's nothing like the 1980 version anymore that is for sure.

Mini Pops.... Not so mini anymore I guess.

Sheena Easton track - put it into the mouth of a 9-yr-old... Yewtree-tastic... and programme ditched. FAST..

IIRC didn't she get bottled with a can of Tennents Extra?

The only one of the 4 Jam singles to be No1 that did not debut at the top spot! Very Beatlesque.

Really? Tell me more!

And a perfect finish with David Bowie, Ashes To Ashes. It doesn't ever get much better than this. We were spoilt in 1980.

I think it was during this gig. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSfU5Zmgioc

ETA - have a look at the comments. Apparently she got the same reception Daphne and Celeste did in reading...

Split Enz on TOTP - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qbYhMb53b8 - sadly the ep'll be Yewtree'd.

I don't know what happened to the 1980 girl that was Sheena Easton. By some of the clips from a few years ago, and doubtless nowadays too, she looks extremely feisty, almost fierce, and full of attitude and many of the comments I have read are far from complimentary.

The last time I recall her having a single out in the UK must have been about 2001 when she did a cover version of Three Degrees (soon to be on TOTP 1978) hit Givin' Up Givin' In and I recall my surprise when going into a major record store and looking in the vinyl section to see that she had a very prominent display of the 12" vinyl version of the single that was out at the time. It barely scraped the Top 75 I think however.

I have a few of those 1962 tracks on my Ipod!

Summer 1980, top chart! I always like to try and guest the No.1 from memory, wrong this week, I guessed 'Start' would be number one. Since leaving school summer seems to end earlier, IMO wouldn't have thought Ashes To Ashes was this late in the Summer.


Totally agree, Crowded House they added to the post '86 decline in the standard of pop music, what went wrong?!

I bought what I think was the follow up single to I Got You, an A&M laser etched disc History Never Repeats in the summer of '81, a cracking track that didn't trouble the Top 40.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzuJXqgsiSM



I found this in my VHS collection the other day, recorded from Channel 4 in 1991, sat down and watched it, highly enjoyable it certainly captures the 'feel' of 1979/80. The 1991 adverts were quite entertaining as well...