I started compiling a list of the 80s charts that haven't been played on POTP since Tony took over. I've only got to the middle of 1982 so far and there are 84 charts that have not yet been played yet one week from 1980 and one from 1981 have been featured twice. I'm sure I'll find a lot more examples as I go on.

ETA interesting fact I read on the Popscene site. The 1990 chart was the first ever to feature a top 3 with no UK or US acts.

Absurd I agree, and I didn't realise yesterday was an exact duplicate from last year, which is very poor form, especially as it was a far from inspiring chart overall. In the 90's out of the 500+ charts published there will have been a majority that were better than that first week of February 1990 one, so just what is this mental block the show producer has about going much further than the 1990 to 1992 period when some of the middle or later 90's charts are far superior and Radio 2 listenable. Indeed many from less than a decade ago are better and listenable too. Alan Freeman was playing 1990 on POTP back in 1992! Yet here we are all this time later and daring to enter the 90's nowadays seems like being too recent by the producer. For example, in the run up to Christmas the charts of 1992 to 1995 would have been excellent considerations, '95 especially so. This isn't commercial radio, it's the BBC and POTP does not need to be so damned safe and cautious every single week of the year surely. It's not as if we are asking for very recent charts is it, the ones I've mentioned are still 20 years or more old now!


Keep up the good work Clare. Your top three is an interesting revelation. Along similar lines, maybe in the first week of June POTP could play our beloved 1982. Why? I don't know if you know this but that was a rare top ten in the UK singles chart (not sure if it was the first?) to have no American acts and the top nine was British only.

Fair play to Tony for featuring 2 rare years yesterday, 1957 and 1990. As neither was a year of special musical interest, I gave PoTP a rest yesterday but normal service will be resumed next week, even though I have forgotten which years he will feature.

Did you not read Darnall? Nothing at all rare about 1990.

By the way I will go through my PM's and find your one where you sent me that 1982 list and honour my promise, if you still care after quite some time that is.

You will still be welcome to reply Rich.

I listened to Tracie Young's Pure 80s show on Radio Essex this morning. A fluke was that she played my no 18 followed immediately by my number 19!

For the rest of you, these were Altered Images' Happy Birthday and Madonna's True Blue respectively.

I know the 1957 chart would be a big hit with certain folk but I never really like it when Tony goes into the 50s. Maybe I'm from the wrong era but it doesn't do an awful lot for me and it makes me sigh when the first hour is a 50s chart because usually the 2nd hour is early too.

Not this week though - Tony impressed me bouncing up from 1957 all the way to 1990. Although the chart had some diabolical songs in it (the face, hanging tough) it was refreshing to hear a 90s chart again.

For me I always enjoy late 70s early 80s charts but like other posters I feel it always seems to be the same weeks featured.

On the subject of Madonna, Live to Tell is by far the best song she ever did. I enjoyed 'dress you up' but Live to tell had a power ballad sound about it that the others didn't...

Is she the same Tracie Young who had the top ten hit in 1983 with The House That Jack Built?

True Blue is one of Madonna's worst singles in my opinion, along with Who's That Girl. But we're all different!

I've never bought a Madonna album, and have only ever bought two of her singles, Frozen from 1998 and Music from 2000. I'm not so keen on either much anymore. Rather partial to Lucky Star from early '84 and Sorry from almost precisely ten years ago in 2006. So a very early and a much later track. I also rather like her two saucy singles, Justify My Love and Erotica!

It is indeed the same Tracie Young!

'True Blue' is OK, I wouldn't call it one of her worst but neither is it one of her best.

Yeah, True Blue ain't great, but I quite like it, and agree Who's That Girl is probably her worst, a weak re tread of La Isla Bonita. Don't forget Hanky Panky though (although I can't remember how it goes!). As for wakey and Live To Tell, that would be way way down my list of Madonna singles.

Completely agree with you that Phil Swern needs to sort himself out!

Plus of The Jam and Style Council fame.

Completely agree with your assessment of True Blue!

I know it's music you hate Rich, but I did like the play on words 1988 Jack n Chill single, The Jack That House Built!

Thanks for that Robbie, thought it might be, considering the show was an 80's thing.


Well now you've demanded it I'm sure he will do so!

I always set my default position with regards to you Boz that I expect the polar opposite opinion to my own thoughts on any given track, and still remain mildly surprised when you tend to agree. Not sure why I should be though as that 10% or 20% we disagree on is often magnified more than the 80% we ultimately agree with.

That is one I actually rather liked at the time and still think is okay. Good pun I agree.

That would be a great game on the music thread, swapping two words around in a song title to create a new amusing one. I haven't looked in on those games for a couple of years now. I did start a game that was to replace one letter of a word in a song title to create an amusing or funny new one which still gets people adding to it I believe - one which proved popular was taking the R from ribbon and replacing it with a G to make the song title Tie A Yellow Gibbon Round The Old Oak Tree. There were also many far ruder or crude ones, such as swapping the L for an N in Walking On The Moon!

True!

It's been a while since I visited this thread ... I had a family health scare that thankfully turned out to be a false alarm!

I've been keeping an eye on POTP. There's been some good stuff since December, but I was a little surprised about yesterday's 1990 chart .. as already mentioned in this thread ... it's identical to last year . As Rich Tea mentioned, 1991 would have been good


From everyhit.com

Anyone spot TB on one of the Wogan Blankety Blank repeats today?

Sorry to hear about your family health scare Darren. I'm glad it turned out to be a false alarm.

Thanks for listing that 1991 chart. By conicidence a full TOTP from 31/1/91 has turned up on youtube which I plan on checking out when I get the chance.

Truly shocking no 2 and 3, but quite a few decent tracks in there. Cry For Help is gorgeous and I love Hippy Chick too. All Together now is fantastic too. Like the Kylie song, but the vid is awful. I saw Chris Isaacs on Saturday Kitchen on, er, Satrurday, and he seemed a bit out of it to me.

Westy, I haven't seen any of the Blankety Blank repeats, but I keep meaning to dig out the show where Kenny Everett bends his mic, which I've got on disc somewhere.

On 20th February the show will feature the charts from that week in 1966 and 1974.

Damn, yet another 60/70s show

Out of interest does anyone know what chart between 1980-1990 has been featured the most? 1990 seems to feature quite a lot, but I'm sure 87/89 get played the least

Going back to the hits of this week in mid February 1969 and 1983 on Pick Of The Pops today - Radio 2 @ 1pm.

Rather fond of this period in '83. It had just dropped out of the top twenty 13 to 23 this week so will not get a play unfortunately but one of my favourite singles from early 1983 is the Maisonettes No7 hit Heartache Avenue, a kind of 80's synth meets 60's style hybrid track I've always thought. Gem of a single.

The spring and early summer of 1966 is one of my favourite periods ever for pop charts. Music was at its very peak then IMO.

Just had a scan of the 83 chart, that's a cracking chart. Looking forward to it.

Trailers during POTP are irritating at the best of times but never more so than when they are played accidentally through a playing record, not once but twice during the first hour today.

A very good 1969 chart. Liked the different version of Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett. I could have done without hearing the re-release of You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by Righteous Brothers which was originally No1 exactly four years earlier. That might have confused some listeners with regards to their memories. Why the re-release again so soon I wonder?

This 1969 chart was the very first 'official' industry computerised chart that was actually based on sales rather than a points system.

Agree about the playing of trailers over records. This happened a couple of weeks ago too.

Is that what we were hearing? I only heard it once and couldn't quite make out what was happening! I thought they'd left the studio mike on or something and it was someone talking to Tony in the background.

Regards that Ken Bruce trailer and if I heard it right, "Gilbert O'Sullivan was the UK's best selling artist of the 1970's". I immediately thought, "what about Elton?".

That aside. Apart from a minor blip with Peter Sarstedt I thought that 1969 chart was absolutely brilliant. Really enjoyed that.