I never even realised 'Oh Julie' was another No 1 for Shaky - they all sound the same after a bit!


Well - I've just got round to watching last night's episode & apart from The Stranglers & Haircut 100 it was a very average show. 5/10 for me! Let's hope 1982 starts picking up soon.

Yep, I meant to phrase it 'main' culprit.

It's similar to many people forgetting that John Lennon's 'Woman' was responsible for 1 of 'Vienna's 4 weeks at No.2. Poor Joe Dolce gets all the blame for that one.

Frontman Steve Grant didn't sing on The Lion Sleeps Tonight but interestingly he did sing on their next hit Fantasy Island and didn't sound at all bad on it.

OMD were really getting into their stride.
Some top tunes, great stuff.

Back at last, having done a huge 1,000 post catch up. Enjoy/endure this MEGA multi-quote of 46 posts.


It will be good to have you back. It just proves how powerful music can be. I tend to have my rose tinted glasses on during this period musically but from a personal perspective it really wasn't worth revisiting if I think hard about it. I'd have liked to have done quite a few things differently given a second chance.


Remember seeing Town Called Malice as No1 on TOTP and wondering where it had come from, having not heard it before it hit the top. A most unsatisfactory feeling. Poison Arrow is one of the best singles of 1982, and the decade. Detested Come On Eileen from the moment I first heard it and still do to this day.


Dislike Zoo quite a bit. They are just too anonymous. I have no real memory of them from the time though, which I find curious as I was now watching the show avidly by this time. There doesn't seem to be much choreography going on, unless it's meant to come over that way deliberately.


You could mute Zoo and pick some very different types of song and the routines all seem to be the basic set pieces. There is very little in the way of meaningful interpretation or connection to any of the singles they perform to.


Never been registered on Twitter fellow Rich. Not sure what gave you the idea I might be. Being on here is my one social media indulgence to date. I read tweets now and again though.


I'd happily be stuck in a lift all day with Shakatak playing.


What about those excellent groups Shakamar and Shalatak?


I've long had the 7 minute extended version of that Alton Edwards dance track but seeing it a couple of times on TOTP it has kind of diminished for me. The track itself reminded me more of something from the summer of 1980.

Drowning In Berlin by The Mobiles is another candidate for best singles of 1982 in my opinion. Just fabulous.



Those muscle men were naff in the extreme. Those kind of bodies rarely turn women or even gay men on much. I'd hate to look like that. I bet they're flabby now!

No way was it an average show though.


I was up all night on Referendum night. It got so exciting I missed TOTP entirely.

I found the video and audio clip of Foreigner to be very poor indeed and it hardly sold this wonderful track in the best light and must have affected some on the fence sales. For some reason I always thought there was a different video to Waiting For A Girl For You. I'm sure I recall something more polished, not a live stage one.


We need to have a referendum about your membership here, with a leave or remain choice.


Looks set to be another female Prime Minister like 1982 and the whole decade any time - Maggie May.

I'd quite fancy the interest rates of 1982 on my savings as well. Looks like a longer wait.


They should have been used far more sparingly. Overkill springs to mind. Did the BBC actually pay ALL of these people?


Love the Elkie version of Fool (If You Think It's Over). This was the first version of the song I heard when she had the hit with it. Totally disagree with you about Oh Julie by Shaky which I think is one of his strongest hits. A neighbour of ours had a baby the week this was at No1 and named her Julie. Coincidence but I bet she doesn't even know this great music fact either. I was obsessed with The Model by Kraftwerk at the time. Loved it to bits. My earliest blank chart tape from the radio is of Tommy Vance announcing them at No1 and saying the same about the switching of sides before the "Britain's No1" jingle. Wasn't that No1 jingle absolutely fantastic.


Fabulous Andy. Cannot hope to compete with that fine and amusing read.


Happy times for us on the winning side.


One of my absolute favourite ELO singles. A fantastic double A side of Ticket To The Moon / Here Is The News. Massively under performed in my view. Ticket To The Moon actually could have been done by Queen if you listen to it. Very Freddie Mercury vocally with Queen backing aspects. Shocking it never broke the twenty.


Also shocking that you don't remember it.


He also reminds me of an actor who was in the 1968 anarchic school film "If?" called David Wood.

Senses Working Overtime is just a great title and a great single and it never dates. Liked this XTC appearance on TOTP very much.


Same here Ian. A great vocalist. Very emotive track actually.


I was looking at him thinking he reminded me of someone too. Never heard of Seth Rogan though so it wasn't him.


It could also be dangerous if you got stuck in the Van Allen radiation belt I guess.



They were indeed. I've never stopped feeling fond of Bucks Fizz. Everything they ever charted with is on my iPod. Another great No1 coming up from them soon. Christmas '81 and New Year '82 was The Land Of Make Believe and Easter '82 was My Camera Never Lies.


I think he'd be quite happy to be called "Kid" now he's 66 on Monday. I'm sure he began using it again in recent years as he got older.


To think we will never again see Abba in the UK top ten singles chart from now on. Hard to believe. It would have seemed incredible to say that in early 1982 when One Of Us left the top ten with Abba for the final time.


I'm intending to get that excellent Frida single, I Know There's Something Going On, from later in 1982. It just missed the top forty. I knew of the song vaguely from the past but only in recent year discovered who actually sang it and was surprised.


Quite simply one of the greatest singles ever to grace the charts. Delightful tune, awesome production by Vangelis and distinctive vocal by Jon Anderson. It often brings a lump to my throat, thinking of the snowy winter of 1981/82.


It had enough airplay to ensure it should have done. So much for the TOTP effect. Still mad I downloaded an inferior version. The one showing on TOTP is so much better than mine.


I didn't think you'd reached it yet JBO! You sound so young at heart. That's a compliment by the way.


Talk about an OTT comment, unpleasant and judgemental. He was not middle aged by the way. He was 30. Beautiful voice too. There was far worse MOR coming out of the States. What defines a track as MOR anyway? There should be room for all comers with talent in the charts, not just the pin up pretty boys.


I'm going to do just that in a moment. Perfect late night wind down music from Shakatak. I often call it coffee table music.


Generally agree with most of your post Clare, except the ELO track which is far from dreary. It's sublime.

It's surprising that some on here are unfamiliar with it, especially you Clare, as a big fan of the music of 1982 like me.


You really reckon that a quick TOTP segment propelled Centrefold all the way to the top three in the UK when it might never have been a hit at all otherwise?

Champagne D'orange, is that a joke or real?


A fun read. Haven't seen the 14th January 1982 show. Actually tell a lie, I probably have done, on the 14th January 1982 but cannot remember now. I take it these awesome comedic takes on TOTP are to become a regular 1982 feature now? Look forward to the next one Andy.


They seemed to like starting TOTP off with acts like Gillan. Poorest song of the edition but often the opener seems to be. The rest was indeed excellent throughout. Almost no genuinely duff singles anymore.


Liked it at the time. The chap in Tight Fit I always remembered. Not that he had any artistic input. He was on CBB Bit On The Side last year doing it. I disliked it a lot seeing it again and as has been mentioned I also cannot believe it managed to grab 3 weeks at No1 in retrospect, against so much other classy and classic contemporary pop of the time. Democracy isn't perfect as we know, even in music popularity contests, which it rarely is infact when you look at some of the big hit horrors and then the minor hit classics. This kind of single topping the charts in 1982 is a major retrograde step. Not for a minute does it compare to other chart topping recent covers such as It's My Party which was made into a bona fide 1981 hit single.




I'm with Andy on this Olivia Newton-John single, Landslide. This is a brilliant piece of power pop and much better than Physical for me. Adore the song. The video is a belter too for 1982.


Really? You surprise me. Nick Heyward really could not have looked cuter than on TOTP doing Love Plus One. He looks like the kind of boy every mum would want.


Oh Julie is not even close to being a poor 1980's No1 single. That accolade clearly comes six and a half years later for a week in mid June. You reading this JBO? I'm at it again, can't stop myself.


Simon Bates clearly needed a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word consecutive. His hits had gone to date, No1, No2, No1, No10, No1 so Shaky had not even had consecutive No1's, never mind a third in a row or hatrick as Simes said. At times it feels like they make some of this up off the top of their heads.


Well he did go from 3 - 1 this week eh.


I love your use of the word "slight" to describe songs you think don't cut it. Have to disagree on Shaky though. His chart career was not on the slide in early 1982, are you kidding! He was just getting going.

You talk about disposable pop in this period. I agree on Tight Fit. The worst kind of sham group. Disposable pop music is hardly new is it Jedikiah. Surely there was just as much disposable pop way back in the 1960's too. It's nothing unique to the 1980's. Wasn't all pop music meant to be ultimately disposable though at the beginning? It was never meant to be Mozart or Beethoven being heard down the centuries. Clearly some will indeed do so though.

I think Shaky's sound increasingly begins to seem watered down, though. I believe his first two hits, "Hot Dog'', and "Marie Marie", have more to offer than "Oh Julie". There is some interesting more technical country slide guitar sounds that always grab me on "Hot Dog", and "Marie Marie" definitely has a harder rock 'n' roll edge. "Oh Julie" strikes me as merely a whimper by comparison. The public, though, went for his more lean take on rock 'n' roll more than anything. His biggest hits don't appear to show much diversity to his sound. "It's Raining" was different, and for me, was perhaps more satisfying than "Oh Julie". I wouldn't argue with the likes of "This Ole House" and "Green Door" making No 1, or "You Drive Me Crazy" reaching No 2, during 81, because i found them all highly effective, if they did lack a little of the more interesting instrumental sounds of, say, "Hot Dog". They had a little more rawness and vitality about them, which i think Shaky's later hits begin to lack. His most successful year was most definitely 1981. His success becomes more spotty thereafter.

Shaky's fourth and final No 1, will be "Merry Xmas Everyone" from Christmas 1985, although the original release date of 1984, was put back because of clashing with the Band Aid single.

^
that was some mega-quoting post by Rich Tea! I still can't work out how to multi-quote despite trying my best several times over the years I've been posting here at DS!

I only learned that trick lately - it's quite tricky to explain though!


Regarding Rich's mega quote post - I haven't got time to re quote it - but I must admit I found the forum referendum quote quite funny!
Also - I would like to say I'm proud to be one of the few who remembers the great 'Ticket to the Moon' by ELO. - I am surprised they haven't included it on their latest Greatest Hits CD.

Funnily enough - I preferred Shaky's later hits to his earlier rockabilly ones - even though I prefer the early 80s to the later 80s!!
I enjoyed his duet with Bonnie Tyler & his Christmas hit isn't too bad either!

I seem to remember the JK segment as being quite influential to our charts at the time - would Hall & Oates have had their run of hits over here without having been featured several times in that slot? The Kinks hadn't had a top 40 hit in over a decade before JK featured "Come Dancing" as a US hit - indeed it had even been released over here the year before without success - but after the JK feature it became a hit.

I wouldn't say that the JK feature propelled Centerfold all the way into the top 3, but it got it the necessary exposure to get into the top 40, and picked up from there.

Finally getting the chance to comment on Friday's edition. Better music than Thruday's and dare I admit I don't mind Simes, despite his mistakes. So it gets an 8 out of 10 from me. I got hold of a copy of this edition a couple of months ago when it was clear we wouldn't be seeing in full.

It's always better to start of the edition with something upbeat and fun, rather than something like Gillan's Restless, and Tight Fit certainly fit the bill. I thought Simes might have mentioned the change of line up from their last appearance. I still can't help but like The Lion Sleeps Tonight even though we now know it was a sham and they don't even sing on the record. At least they made up for this with the excellent Fantasy Island.

I do like ONJ's Landslide, though I think its fair that it didn't make top 10 like Physical did. As for the video, I haven't made up my mind yet if it falls into the "so bad its good" category or if it's just bad!

Simes seemed genuinely pleased that Haircut 100 were back with their second hit and I won't argue with that. The intro is so memorable and that alone makes it an 80s classic. I read that Love Plus One is supposed about the Falklands Conflict.

I don't think we'll be seeing Golden Brown again and, great song it is, I'm not sorry about that. I've seen/heard it enough for the time being.

I was struggling to remember the Stiff Little Fingers song until it got to the chorus, which is quite melodic. It's a shame the rest of song isn't as memorable as that.

Not sure if the JK segment has shown up online yet. If it hasn't I'm sure it will. The Hall and Oates interview is cringey and the only thing of note to me is that it was filmed at World Trade Centre.

I'm glad that Elkie Brooks wasn't completely yewtreed. I'd say hers is my fave version of Fool If You Think Its over. The Popscene site doesn't have it listed as a repeat, but it looked like the same performance to me.

Mr Ikea fraudester back in the studio again. When he was singing I Just Wanna Spend Some Time With You, I'm sure he wasn't referring to prison cell!

While Oh Julie is by no means by fave Shaky hit, I don't begrudge him his week at No. 1 with this. At least this was a song he wrote himself and not a cover.

Always enjoy hearing Don't Walk Away, though it would've been nice to see the vid again instead of it being danced as the playout song.

I think that whoever came up with the idea of Love Plus One being about the Falklands is overlooking the fact that it was released in 1981....a full six months or more before the conflict!

It was released in 1982, the same year as the Falklands War though it was a bit before the war happened, though just by just under three months... either way, as you posted, it wasn't about the war.

'Shipbuilding' by Robert Wyatt (and written by Elvis Costello) which made number 35 a year later in 1983 was though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Res3-YX4X8g

Shaky released an EP at the end of 82, who's lead song was "Blue Christmas" which seemed almost an exact copy of the Elvis version. It wasn't bad, and made No 2 (with Rene and Renato hogging the No 1 spot). However, Shaky's version was never going to match the version by Elvis. Those two versions really do highlight how far Elvis was ahead in the vocal stakes. Shaky did a great impression of Elvis in the musical from the late seventies, mind, without ever quite possessing the depth. I was not sure why Shaky had decided to follow the Elvis template so closely for "Blue Christmas" at the time.

Yeah I didnt like JK and his sad self centered shows. Him and his little assistants really used to grate and made it hard to enjoy the music. He didn't hide his favouritism to some acts and then not disguising his blatant sneering at others music.

Unless I'm mistaken, there was no video made for 'Being Boiled' in 1978 (it was on Fast, an independent label), plus the line-up that recorded that version (or indeed the 1980 remake) was no more …*so Zoo or a play-out were the only options open to TOTP. Given the kind of thing Zoo did, I'd say the play-out was possibly the better option …

There was a huge gulf between the UK and US charts around this time, which 1982 would soon remedy with the 'second British invasion'.

Personally, 'Arthur's Theme' leaves me cold (certainly not Burt Bacharach's or Carole Bayer Sager's finest, by a long chalk) - but I do like Cross' 'Ride Like The Wind' from 1981. Cross may have better heard than seen, but that is a great track, which has just been made even greater by Joey Negro on a recent remix compilation (very sympathetically done, in case CC fans are worried …)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEBGZn-FqDs

BIB - Just because it was sampled by De La Soul?

I'm not sure Hall & Oates can really eclipse the Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow or Grandmaster Flash … or even Bondie and The Clash, for that matter!

The original version of 'Xanadu' is another one that never seems to appear on compilations, apart from 'Light Years' about 10 years ago.

A later ELO Greatest Hits compilation featured Jeff doing his own vocals on a slower version.

A contractual issue between ELO & Livvy's management, or is Jeff being a bit precious, as he never had a number one with his own vocals?

(He doesn't perform his version live either!)

It's on this CD, which I have …

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olivias-Gre...ia+newton+john

And also on this, more recent ONJ compilation …

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gold-Olivia...ia+newton+john

As previously discussed, UK audiences didn't fall hook, line and sinker for many of the big US rock acts of the early eighties - disco may have died there, but it didn't here, and there was something resembling a chasm in transatlantic tastes, even when many big US hits were being played on the radio here (and falling on deaf ears). Hall & Oates had been darlings of many a Radio 1 DJ ever since 'She's Gone' in 1976, yet failed to make any real chart headway here (they couldn't even crack the Top 30 with their big US hits in 1980/1981).

What opened up British audiences to those acts was the sudden advent of promo videos, with white rock acts targeted at a male audience benefitting most from them … so King's US charts features on TOTP were a perfect platform for them. Radio listeners clearly weren't responding to multiple plays - but a distinctive video could hook an audience in … and duly did, in many cases.

Unfortunately, as mb@2day rightly says, it was all coloured by King's own predilections, at a time when much of the more inventive US music wasn't in the Billboard Top 20, yet would often find popularity here (Kid Creole & The Coconuts spring immediately to mind). Those segments also denied exposure to UK acts who arguably had greater need of it. Personally, I don't think they ever felt a real part of the TOTP format, and I'd've been happier had they never come to pass. The only upside of the edits now being made to the BBC Four repeats is that we won't see them, thanks to King's misdemeanours (alleged or otherwise).

I can't help but disagree with you on these points, ClareB, with ''Love Plus One'' undoubtedly being recorded and released before the Falklands conflict began, and ''Golden Brown'' definitely deserving a higher profile than just one Top Of The Pops performance (minus yewtree). In fact, we do get to see the video on the Tommy Vance episode in a week or two, which i am pleased about. Of course, i do appreciate we all have differing tastes!

Tight Fit's ''The Lion Sleeps Tonight'' being immediately followed by The Goombay Dance Band's ''Seven Tears'', at the top of the charts, got me wondering at the time whether the number ones of 1982, were seriously going to pot for a while. Then a little later it was the turn of Captain Sensible's ''Happy Talk'', followed at the end of the year by Renee And Renato! I actually don't mind Renee And Renato, and it was Christmas also. However, a little like 1981, 82's No 1's weren't very representative at times of the quality 1982 had to offer. Not a vintage year for No 1 singles (although there is the odd cracker here and there along the way)!

I'm often very good at remembering times & dates of certain songs & when they were in the charts etc - I can even recall events from my past, due to when a certain song was out/released - however with 1982, I seem to have some strange memory lapses:-

1) I honestly thought the Goombay Dance band came out at the end of 1982 (around Christmas time) rather than near the beginning.
2) I had no idea 'The Model' by Kraftwerk was out in 1982 & always thought it was 1983 &
3) I was convinced 'Rio' by Duran Duran was a No 1 hit single, when it never even made the Top 5!!

Anyway, I now find out I am wrong on all three facts & can only blame my 12 year old hormones, at the time for confusing things!

Ursula, being a little older, i can perhaps remember 1982 a little better. However, The Goombay Dance Band track, does have a novelty feel, which is often associated with songs released around Christmas time.

After experiencing a bit of a barren patch with regards to me appreciating many of the sounds of the latter half of 1981, i can recall my ears pricking up significantly in early 1982, especially with the single releases of Kraftwerk's ''The Model'', The Jam's ''A Town Called Malice'', Soft Cell's ''Say Hello, Wave Goodbye'' and The Stranglers ''Golden Brown''. I can remember distinctly thinking things in pop were getting very interesting again. Not that i dislike the likes of Bucks Fizz, and The Human League etc. but these early 1982 single releases were really more to my taste (not that ''The Model'' was a new track, of course). It will be interesting to see, though, in more general terms, how these episodes will stack up with me now, compared with my thoughts in my teens. The first three episodes of 1982, i have enjoyed immensely, with just the last one i feel being a little mediocre. It is noticeable, though, how the dance troupe, Zoo, appeared to completely pass me by back then. They failed to garner any kind of recognition, or warm memories, for me. I agree with Rich Tea completely, in that their dancing conveys very little meaning, or connection to the songs, and that appears to be the real problem. It is like listening to, in a sense, many of these power ballad singers today, who go for spectacle over any type of emotional investment. It is all just flash over substance, which pretty much sums up Michael Hurll's interpretation of what Top Of The Pops should have been all about, too.

I believe Duran Duran's title track, ''Rio'' was a late single release from their album, hence the reason it only made No 9 in the charts. Many fans by its October release date, had had close on six months to buy the album, so interest for the single wasn't so high.

I know I was young then - but I can remember songs from even earlier in 1977 & 1978 quite clearly and know exactly when they were in the charts & I would've only been 7 or 8 at the time! It is just strange how your memory can play tricks on you sometimes.


Ah - that could be it - I remember 'Rio' the album selling well & a lot of my school friends owning it - so maybe that is what I thought was No 1 (although it only reached No 2)!