Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 5, 2011 22:28:17 GMT 1
9TH MAY- STARS ON 45- Starsound (1 week)
From the sublime to the ridiculous- Starsound was Dutch producer Jaap Eggermont's brainchild after hearing a disco medley in a record shop he got the idea of compiling something similar himself legitimately. The idea segued together a selection of Beatles hits with a disco beat, and unbeknownest to him kicked of an, admittedly, brief craze in the charts of the 1981. Such was his success that not only are there more of this kind of thing to come in 81 but this record also managed to make the US No 1 spot where each record had to be cited in full due to legal copyright laws and thusly became the longest worded title in US chart history to be a No 1.
The songs are not direct samples but session singers brought in to provide vocals as similar to the actual singers themselves to get as authentic a sound as possible, and you thought Jive Bunny were the ones to invent medley's? It's a truely dire record now but i'm pretty sure as a 5 yr old I was loving it.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 5, 2011 22:30:19 GMT 1
16TH MAY- YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY- Shakin Stevens (4 Weeks)
This is gonna be a hard one to explain. Trying to explain why and how Shaky (the welsh Elvis) became a big star (with more weeks on the chart than any other star in the 80s) is a tricky one. It's not as if he was a youngster reliant on his looks, he was a 33 yr old man by the time fame came a knocking, and his contribution to the history of music is negligable, the vast majority of his cannon containing covers of 50's rock n roll songs. "You Drive Me Crazy" spent 4 weeks at the runner up spot all behind "Stand & Deliver" which I would call chart justice, and interrupted his run of chart toppers being bookended by "This Ole House" and "Green Door" in 1981.
Perhaps we can read the success of Shaky in a political context, in times of great turmoil and change (as Britain was in 1981 with a host of urban riots) we often resort to the safety of the past, nostalgia (the regurgitation of rock n roll), and the relative "safety" of the 50's, proved a decisive lure. There's nothing new or inspiring about Shaky, I'm sure he's a nice guy but he's not bringing anything new to the musical table, now that isn't unusual and it's an observation that can be levelled at 80% of acts but when a career consists of more covers than original recordings (and covers that don't improve/ change/ re-interpret the original) you have wonder what the point is. Presumably as a 5 yr old he was meant to be marketed at my peers (who weren't around for the originals) and possibly my gran but I don;t recall any love for Shaky.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 5, 2011 22:32:07 GMT 1
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jun 5, 2011 22:42:31 GMT 1
The video for "Vienna" was shot when the single was already at number 2, it seemed to be more a vanity project for the label than a serious attempt to promote the song. Kim Wilde's television debut came in 1980 - she was one of the guests in the Tiswas cage. One interesting thing about the thread is how many of these made number one in the NME chart. Ultravox certainly did, I think Phil Collins did, I know both "Happy Birthdays" did. A sign of there being less hype? I'm not sure how less accurate it was, given the concentration of chart hyping on the "official" chart...
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 5, 2011 22:48:08 GMT 1
Thanks Vas tariner I know there's lots of stuff I don't know about this time period, stuff you'd only know if you were into music at the time. I was just small lad in 1981 (well 5 yrs old). As for hype well I've always been suspicious of pre gallup stuff myself but hey you gotta go with history I suppose....
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jun 6, 2011 6:54:03 GMT 1
Incidentally, one reason why Shakin' Stevens became famous was because he had a residency on an ITV music show produced by Jack Good. Which in turn he got because he won the role of Elvis in a West End musical. Previous to that he'd been touring for 15 years or so with the rockabilly revivalist band The Sunsets - who were famous for the energy of their shows.
Also remember that post-punk there was an explosion of genres; anything and everything was making the charts. Acts like Matchbox, Darts and Rocky Sharpe & The Replays had had success with a similar sound, and there are strong elements of rock & roll in the sound of Mud. For a performer with a tremendous live reputation to make the breakthrough just needed the right song - and "This Ole House" was that song.
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Post by evansabove on Jun 6, 2011 9:17:56 GMT 1
haha- get your own idea- I'm doing that next! ;D All the better - it means I get to read it without having to research it! I think I'll have more personal memories of the 90s ones, but I'm enjoying this already. You could always do all the #3s of the 80s
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Post by Earl Purple on Jun 6, 2011 12:46:14 GMT 1
I already said I was tempted to do the #3s so I could get "My Girl" and "Baggy Trousers" by Madness. Far better than "Wings Of A Dove" that you are going to end up with..
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 6, 2011 12:50:47 GMT 1
I'm not a madness fan anyway so I doubt it will be a glowing review but i'll listen objectively before I review!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 6, 2011 12:57:25 GMT 1
13TH JUNE- MORE THAN IN LOVE- Kate Robbins (1 week)
We're in obscure territory here kind of. Now chartstats don't have a cover for this record, nor does wikipedia, and youtube hasn't got anything on it either so I had to spotify this one, it's a nice enough ballad, nothing special, so how did it get to No 2?
Well if you were around in the 80's you certainly knew who Kate Robbins was! She's a comedienne, singer and impressionist, who is a relation of Paul McCartney and represented the UK in Eurovision in 1980 as part of Prima Donna (we'll meet another member next year). She then landed a role in prime time 80's soap "Crossroads" as a singer that was recording a single iin the basement of the hotel (you couldn't make it up really- and presumably the record was made in between the near constant fires that started there!), and that song was "More Than In Love" which was duely given it's UK release. It was her only UK hit and spent just 10 weeks in the chart in total which accounts for it having no impression upon me at all.
All the interesting facts about this surround the non- musical elements of Robbins' career, she also provided nearly all of the female voices in "Spitting Image" come the late 80s/ early 90s, she wrote the theme to "Surprise Surprise", and provided the "hilarious" female voice over dubs on "Eurotrash"- perhaps I can forgive her for this song- let's just move on quickly!.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 6, 2011 13:00:02 GMT 1
18TH JULY- STARS ON 45 VOLUME II- Starsound (2 weeks)
MMM, not content with the complete trashing of Beatles records Holland's "Finest" production team were back to slaughter Abba hits (quite frankly i'm surprised they let them) for the "Stars on 45" phenomenon. Thankfully it's the final time they ever got this high and just thank god for the Specials at number one for holding them off otherwise we'd have a far bigger injustice than the "Shuddup Ya Face"/ "Vienna" fiasco.
I can't really find the words, surely the pop audience of 1981 must have thought the joke was wearing way too thin already?- most assuredly the worst No 2 i've yet come across doing this survey and I have no memory of this from the time (even if I did I suspect my sub- conscience eradicated most of it for self preservation purposes) Mind you I suppose it does give some kind of blue print for Jive Bunny- was that a good thing?
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Post by Earl Purple on Jun 6, 2011 18:02:10 GMT 1
I was going to say that More Than In Love was not quite Kate Robbins's only hit. She was the female (backing) vocal on "The Chicken Song".
Stars On 45 Vol II may not have kept the Specials out of #1, but it was higher in the chart than Abba's own single at the time, Lay All Your Love On Me, which peaked at a lowly #7, their lowest peak since the run of hits that started with a #6 peak for S.O.S and subsequently saw all the rest go top 5. During that run, up to and including One Of Us, they therefore had 8 of their 9 number ones, two #2 hits, four #3 hits and one each peaking at 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Starsound were not the first act to chart with medleys, and I'm not referring to the two-song-medleyed-together idea like Boney M did putting "Oh My Lord" into Mary's Boy Child or Darts "The Girl Can't Help It" into the middle of Daddy Cool, I mean the medley of lots of songs. Winifred Atwell's "Let's Have A Party" and "Let's Have Another Party" were both medleys, featuring lots of tunes that she played on the piano, moving from one to the next. They reached #2 and #1 respectively.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 6, 2011 18:16:33 GMT 1
and the Barron Knights if I recall correctly, though I forgot all about Atwell......
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Post by rubcale on Jun 6, 2011 18:22:40 GMT 1
9TH AUGUST- UPSIDE DOWN- Diana Ross (2 weeks)"I got Love for you, if you were born in the 80s" sang Calvin Harris- he was probably thinking of this record when he sang it. Written & produced by Disco royalty Edwards & Rodgers of group Chic, this has a bassline and a groove it's almost impossible to not tap along to, if you can manage it you're probably dead. For the song Diana had a minor change of image, out went the afro and a more street, softer slickback look came in, as demonstrated by the cover. It had number one written all over it as indeed it did get to in the US but here only the truly magical "Winner Takes It All" by Abba managed to hold it off in the UK. I can't sing it's praises too highly to be honest, a dancefloor filler in a truer sense that the "disco" we have met up until now, and indeed one that has stood the test of time considerably better... Bang on. There were several different charts going on at the time and because all the others were compiled before the weekend when Abba passed it Upside Down made #1 in them.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jun 6, 2011 18:52:07 GMT 1
I wouldn't call the Barron Knights ones medleys of the same format though as they changed the lyrics to all of them to make them funny. It was more of a comedy sketch, put on record.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 7, 2011 13:16:38 GMT 1
8TH AUGUST- HAPPY BIRTHDAY- Stevie Wonder (1 week)Pop Music eh! It doesn't really do much apart from entertain right? Well how wrong you'd be. "Happy Brithday" is of course a song dedicated to Martin Luther King but formed part of Wonder's participation in the campaign to get a public holiday in America called "Martin Luther King day" dedicated to the man himself. Such was the power of Wonder at this time that it worked! President Reagan eventually signed it into being in 1983 and is still celebrated the third Monday in January. It was another track from his "Hotter Than July" album which had already flung up the No 2 hit "Masterblaster" but Wonder never again peaked at No 2. Again it's a catchy enough tune but as far as Wonder is concerned i'm certainly a 70's fan of his music but the 80s get a bit too syrupy for my liking apart from the ace "Part Time Lover" in 1985...
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jun 7, 2011 13:17:29 GMT 1
15TH AUGUST- HOOKED ON CLASSICS- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2 Weeks)
Yes it's wearing very thin now this medley business. You don't expect it from the BBC but here are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra doing a medley of classical hits to a disco beat- honestly i'm kind of speechless. Of course it's horrendous but I suspect by this time even the pop music buyer of the day was getting tired of this- Haven would have been up in arms had it been around at the time. Along with Starsound it's hard to argue that this kind of thing wasn't the craze of 1981, along with Adam & The Ants and Shaky obviously. Co-Incidently it was Shaky who held this off No 1 with "Green Door"- wow what a top 2 that was but for once I'm in the Shaky camp on this one.
Looking through the list of No 2's however it's our last encounter with the medley craze so we'll put this down to summer madness (was it a particularly warm summer that year?) actually having seen what's to come before 81 is out this song isn't that bad....
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jun 7, 2011 21:40:18 GMT 1
Of course, the best of the medleys was the top forty smash hit (maybe take away the sma) from the Portsmouth Sinfonia.
Then there's Doc Cox of That's Life, who recorded under the name of Ivor Biggun, and his NSFW singles were just as subtle. He hit the charts with "Bras On 45".
Not forgetting of course the immortal Star Turn.
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Post by raliverpool on Jun 7, 2011 22:01:36 GMT 1
I keep reading this thread, so it feels rude not to post.
A brilliant nostalgic read. What makes me sad is the sheer VARIETY of music that was in the charts back in 1981 good, bad or indifferent .... all a far cry from the Urban/Dance/Rap fusion that we have now with the odd Adele track & X-Factor monstrosity thrown in for good measure.
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vya
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Post by vya on Jun 8, 2011 0:29:29 GMT 1
Not forgetting this....
This was the only one of the big medleys from '81 that I recall (as a 6-year old) hearing at the time, but everyone was doing it. Tight Fit (who did, briefly, go on to do better things, not they were every really a real band rather than a producer's plaything) had some medley hits that year, too.
I think the Starturn on 45 Pints one must be the worst of them all, though! Their 1988 comeback singles (there were at least 2, both flops, after their hit "Pump Up The Bitter") were rather atrocious too....flat beer.
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