Post by Panda on Jun 6, 2020 23:55:32 GMT 1
Part 8 (5-1):
5(5) CULTURE CLUB - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? (369 points)
Top 40 run: 38-15-3-2-1-1-1-4-7-18-30
Another huge debut chart hit and one that set the tone for the next couple of years as the group regularly appeared towards the top of the charts. This wasn't actually their debut single. "White Boy" failed to chart and "I'm Afraid Of Me" peaked at no.100. Rather than go back and re-release their early singles, the band forged ahead with their second album "Colour By Numbers", releasing stand-alone single "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" in the meantime. "Kissing By Numbers" produced four top 10 hits, including the massive "Karma Chameleon" but their decline started with the disappointing, rushed third album "Waking Up With The House On Fire". With tensions rife within the band after the end of Boy George's relationship with drummer Jon Moss, and the former's lapse into a much-publicised drug addiction, the band split in 1986. After an aborted reunion in 1989, the band finally returned in 1998 with the top 5 hit "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and have embarked on several tours in between George's successful career as a DJ.
4(4) TIGHT FIT - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (386 points)
Top 40 run: 29-8-6-2-1-1-1-2-6-20-31
Tight Fit was initially an attempt to cash in on 1981's medley craze with producer Ken Gold hiring a group of session musicians and singers to record "Back To The 60s" under the name Tight Fit, with a group of models/actors appearing to "perform" the song on TOTP. The following year, another producer, Tim Friese-Greene, used the Tight Fit name to record a cover of this old South African song. When it started getting attention, he also hired a group of models/singers to front the single: namely Steve Grant, Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris. The single ended up being a great success, climbing its way to no.1 in February. With Grant's background in musical theatre and the two women already established as professional singers, they ended up performing the follow-up "Fantasy Island" themselves, giving them a genuine top 5 hit. Subsequent releases flopped and Gyngell and Harris quit but were swiftly replaced. The new line-up didn't enjoy any further success and that seemed to be the end. Except in 2008, Gyngell and Harris began performing around the country as Tight Fit, with Grant later joining them and the "classic" Tight Fit line-up was reborn, even releasing a new album in 2016.
3(2) IRENE CARA - Fame (421 points)
Top 40 run: 4-1-1-1-2-2-3-6-10-20-29-37-40
A smash hit that was the theme tune to the film (in which she starred) and TV series of the same name. The track had already won the Oscar for Best Original Song a year earlier, a feat Cara would repeat with the theme from Flashdance. That song would give Cara her second and last UK top 40 hit, reaching no.2, though she would enjoy hits more regularly in the US during the early 80s.
2(3) SURVIVOR - Eye Of The Tiger (435 points)
Top 40 run: 29-6-2-2-1-1-1-1-4-11-19-32
An 80s rock classic and another whose success was partly down its use in a film. This was the main theme to Rocky III (the one with Mr. T) and topped the UK chart for four weeks. The band would continue to have hits regularly in the US, but their only other UK top 40 appearance was "Burning Heart", which reached no.5 in 1986 and also happened to be the theme from Rocky IV (the one with Dolph Lundgren). It's sometimes mistakenly believed Frank Bruno covered the song and had a hit with it in 1995. While a version of the song did chart under his name, it was recorded by another band as a tribute to him winning a version of the world heavyweight title (the version featured commentary clips from the fight in question) and he didn't appear on the record at all apart from a short interview clip.
1(1) DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Come In Eileen (457 points)
Top 40 run: 31-9-2-1-1-1-1-2-3-9-14-20-36
No repeat of 1981's shock result as the year's biggest seller also tops the points chart. This song actually had a pretty similar chart run to "Eye Of The Tiger", enjoying a quick climb to the top and spending four weeks there ("Eye Of The Tiger" actually knocked this off the top) but its slower fall down the charts means it finishes no.1 on points. This was the group's second no.1 after "Geno" in 1980, though this was effectively a completely different band with Kevin Rowland the only constant factor. Dozens more line-up changes followed and the hits eventually dried up with Rowland suffering mental and financial issues, as well as drug problems. After his solo career failed spectacularly, Rowland eventually reformed his old band (name now shortened to simply Dexys) with some of the old members returning, and released new albums in 2012 and 2016, their most recent one "Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul" reaching no.10 in the album chart.
5(5) CULTURE CLUB - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? (369 points)
Top 40 run: 38-15-3-2-1-1-1-4-7-18-30
Another huge debut chart hit and one that set the tone for the next couple of years as the group regularly appeared towards the top of the charts. This wasn't actually their debut single. "White Boy" failed to chart and "I'm Afraid Of Me" peaked at no.100. Rather than go back and re-release their early singles, the band forged ahead with their second album "Colour By Numbers", releasing stand-alone single "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" in the meantime. "Kissing By Numbers" produced four top 10 hits, including the massive "Karma Chameleon" but their decline started with the disappointing, rushed third album "Waking Up With The House On Fire". With tensions rife within the band after the end of Boy George's relationship with drummer Jon Moss, and the former's lapse into a much-publicised drug addiction, the band split in 1986. After an aborted reunion in 1989, the band finally returned in 1998 with the top 5 hit "I Just Wanna Be Loved" and have embarked on several tours in between George's successful career as a DJ.
4(4) TIGHT FIT - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (386 points)
Top 40 run: 29-8-6-2-1-1-1-2-6-20-31
Tight Fit was initially an attempt to cash in on 1981's medley craze with producer Ken Gold hiring a group of session musicians and singers to record "Back To The 60s" under the name Tight Fit, with a group of models/actors appearing to "perform" the song on TOTP. The following year, another producer, Tim Friese-Greene, used the Tight Fit name to record a cover of this old South African song. When it started getting attention, he also hired a group of models/singers to front the single: namely Steve Grant, Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris. The single ended up being a great success, climbing its way to no.1 in February. With Grant's background in musical theatre and the two women already established as professional singers, they ended up performing the follow-up "Fantasy Island" themselves, giving them a genuine top 5 hit. Subsequent releases flopped and Gyngell and Harris quit but were swiftly replaced. The new line-up didn't enjoy any further success and that seemed to be the end. Except in 2008, Gyngell and Harris began performing around the country as Tight Fit, with Grant later joining them and the "classic" Tight Fit line-up was reborn, even releasing a new album in 2016.
3(2) IRENE CARA - Fame (421 points)
Top 40 run: 4-1-1-1-2-2-3-6-10-20-29-37-40
A smash hit that was the theme tune to the film (in which she starred) and TV series of the same name. The track had already won the Oscar for Best Original Song a year earlier, a feat Cara would repeat with the theme from Flashdance. That song would give Cara her second and last UK top 40 hit, reaching no.2, though she would enjoy hits more regularly in the US during the early 80s.
2(3) SURVIVOR - Eye Of The Tiger (435 points)
Top 40 run: 29-6-2-2-1-1-1-1-4-11-19-32
An 80s rock classic and another whose success was partly down its use in a film. This was the main theme to Rocky III (the one with Mr. T) and topped the UK chart for four weeks. The band would continue to have hits regularly in the US, but their only other UK top 40 appearance was "Burning Heart", which reached no.5 in 1986 and also happened to be the theme from Rocky IV (the one with Dolph Lundgren). It's sometimes mistakenly believed Frank Bruno covered the song and had a hit with it in 1995. While a version of the song did chart under his name, it was recorded by another band as a tribute to him winning a version of the world heavyweight title (the version featured commentary clips from the fight in question) and he didn't appear on the record at all apart from a short interview clip.
1(1) DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Come In Eileen (457 points)
Top 40 run: 31-9-2-1-1-1-1-2-3-9-14-20-36
No repeat of 1981's shock result as the year's biggest seller also tops the points chart. This song actually had a pretty similar chart run to "Eye Of The Tiger", enjoying a quick climb to the top and spending four weeks there ("Eye Of The Tiger" actually knocked this off the top) but its slower fall down the charts means it finishes no.1 on points. This was the group's second no.1 after "Geno" in 1980, though this was effectively a completely different band with Kevin Rowland the only constant factor. Dozens more line-up changes followed and the hits eventually dried up with Rowland suffering mental and financial issues, as well as drug problems. After his solo career failed spectacularly, Rowland eventually reformed his old band (name now shortened to simply Dexys) with some of the old members returning, and released new albums in 2012 and 2016, their most recent one "Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul" reaching no.10 in the album chart.