I give every song on Popular a mark out of 10 – these polls are your chance to nominate which YOU would have given 6 or more to. Pick as many as you feel qualify! My highest mark this year went to “Ghost Town”, my lowest to “Woman”.
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Tom in FT /Popular • Pop/popular year poll • 1,542 views
All, 1–25, 26–59.Back up to post. More comments: All, 1–25, 26–59.
All the UK number ones since 1952, reviewed in order and rated by whim. As featured on Radio 2, The Times, Metro, Paul Cornell's LiveJournal, etc etc.
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I think my Mum fancied Midge Ure a bit. Pretty sure she didn’t vote in the Smash Hits poll tho.
Anyone else remember seeing Toyah in the nuddy in a production of “The Ebony Tower” circa 1983? She starred with Greta Scacchi (also in the nuddy, which was rather nice) and Laurence Olivier (who got to keep his kit on).
i don’t remember anything about tv’s the ebony tower except that mrs michael winner as was proved to be an EVEN WORSE actress than mrs robert fripp as would be
the only thing sir larry’s any good in is WORLD AT WAR
Aha! I got the vast ‘Lawrence Olivier at ITV’ Network DVD box set a couple of years ago for professional purposes (I’m writing a PhD thesis about television adaptation of stage plays). You present me with a reason to watch ‘The Ebony Tower’ tonight.
I shall report back.
you will sleep well i promise
re 27: “in the nuddy” – that takes me back…Where on earth did that come from?
Well, I won’t be watching THAT ever again. The combination of the John Fowles portrait of an aged artist as a priapic lord of misrule, being filtered through the genial lechery of a John Mortimer screenplay is doubly indigestible.
how does the Crimson Queen’s performance stand up?
The part is a bit underwritten, so its not easy to judge. She conveys naughtiness and mischief, without encouraging much in the way of understanding, I suppose you could say.
Any chance of giving us the music press album charts for 1981 Billy?
No sooner said than done! NME Critics’ albums for 1981;
1. Nightclubbing – Grace Jones
2. Computer world – Kraftwerk
3. Red – Black Uhuru
4. Wha’ppen – The Beat
5. Penthouse and Pavement – Heaven 17
6. Dare – Human League
7. Trust – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
8. Alles ist Gut – DAF
9. Red Mecca – Cabaret Voltaire
10. Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places – Kid Creole & The Coconuts
11. Gold und Liebe – DAF
12. Mutant Disco – Various artists
13. Slates – The Fall
14. Black President – Fela Kuti
15. Flowers of Romance – PiL
16. Raise! – Earth Wind & Fire
17. Playing With a Different Sex – Au Pairs
18. Rock ‘n’ Groove – Bunny Wailer
19. East Side Story – Squeeze
20. Almost Blue – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
21. Being With You – Smokey Robinson
22. Heaven Up Here – Echo & The Bunnymen
23. See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah City All Over Go Ape Crazy! – Bow wow wow
24. The Electric Spanking of War Babies – Funkadelic
25. Odyshape – The Raincoats
26. Gang War – Prince Charles & The City Beat Band
27. Sings the Wailers – Bunny Wailer
28. Positive Touch – The Undertones
29. Get Down Attack – General Caine II
30. Blythe Spirit – Arther Blythe
31. Tin Drum – Japan
32. 7 – Madness
33. Defunkt – Defunkt
34. Tattoo You – The Rolling Stones
35. Alan Vega – Alan Vega
36. Intuition – Linx
37. Dreamtime – Tom Verlaine
38. In Our Lifetime – Marvin Gaye
39. New Chapter – Aswad
40. Greatest Hits – Throbbing Gristle
41. Something Special – Kool & The Gang
42. Dolmen Music – Meredith Monk
43. Miracles – Change
44. Wild Gift – X
45. The Man With the Horn – Miles Davis
46. Pleasant Dreams – The Ramones
47. Psychedelic Jungle – The Cramps
48. It Must be Magic – Teena Marie
49. Sleep No More – The Comsat Angels
50. The Many Faces of Roger – Roger
While Melody Maker only offered a paltry top 5 albums for 1981;
1. Penthouse & Pavement – Heaven 17
2. Trust – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3. Almost Blue – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4. East Side Story – Squeeze
5. Ghost in the Machine – The Police
- A good year for Elvis Costello – he produced ‘East Side Story’, too.
While Sounds offered a top 20 albums of the year;
1. Dare – Human League
2. Heaven Up Here – Echo & The Bunnymen
3. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret – Soft Cell
4. Playing With A Different Sex – Au Pairs
5. Tin Drum – Japan
6. Pretenders II – Pretenders
7. The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent – UFO
8. Author! Author! – Scars
9. Once Upon A Time – Siouxsie & The Banshees
10. See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Ape Crazy! Go Join Your Gang City All Over, yeah! – Bow Wow Wow
11. Prince Charming – Adam & The Ants
12. Duran Duran – Duran Duran
13. No Sleep Till Hammersmith – Motorhead
14. Kilimanjaro (Remix) – Teardrop Explodes
15. Thirst – Clock DVA
16. For Mad Men Only – UK Decay
17. Fair Warning – Van Halen
18. Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call – Simple Minds
19. Singles Going Steady – Buzzcocks
20=. Assault And Battery – Rose Tattoo
20=. For Those About To Rock AC/DC
I’m going to my parents’ house this weekend, so I’ll look up the readers’ polls when I’m there.
Smash Hits Independent Singles 1981
1. The Passage – Troops Out/Hip Rebels (Night and Day)
2. Dead Or Alive – Number Eleven (Inevitable)
3. Wire – The Swimmer (Rough Trade)
4. Scritti Politti – The ‘Sweetest Girl’ (Rough Trade)
5. Thomas Dolby – Urges/Leipzig (Armageddon)
6. The Fall Out Club – Dream Soldiers (Happy Birthday)
7. New Order – Ceremony (Factory)
8. Aztec Camera – Just Like Gold (Postcard)
9. Robert Wyatt – At Last I’m Free/Strange Fruit (Rough Trade)
10. It’s Immaterial – A Giant Raft In The Philippines (Inevitable)
Since we’re getting into lists in a big way: the top 30 chart acts of the year according to the standard points system (30 pts no.1, 1 pt no.30):
1 Adam and the Ants
2 Shakin’ Stevens
3 John Lennon
4 Madness
5 Ultravox
6 Human League
7 Kim Wilde
8 Toyah
9 Stevie Wonder
10 Bucks Fizz
11 Starsound
12 Bad Manners
13 Soft Cell
14 Police
15 Specials
16 Cliff Richard
17 Spandau Ballet
18 Imagination
19 OMD
20 Jacksons
21 Duran Duran
22 Phil Collins
23 Tweets
24 Godley & Creme
25 Michael Jackson
26 Depeche Mode
27 Nolans
28 Linx
29 ELO
30= The Jam / Hazel O’Connor / Smokey Robinson
Here’s a Spotify playlist for the NME singles poll. I’ve found 41 out of the 50.
http://tinyurl.com/nmesingles1981
A bit late replying in defence of 1982 to Wichita’s choice of 1981 but in 82′s defence (and hopefully without upsetting the bunny too much)I’d offer ABC’s ‘Lexicon of Love’, Duran Duran ‘Rio’, Visage ‘the Damned Don’t Cry’ and the 12inch of ‘Night Train’, two sets of Japan singles (rival record companies)in charts for most of the year, the Instinction remix, ‘Torch’ 12inch, Fashion ‘Streetplayer’, Culture Club, the Dollar classics, Human League and Soft Cell remix albums and loads more
… plus not exactly New Pop but also in the charts in 1982 the first electro hits as well as probably the penultimate (good) year for old style soul and funk…
NME Readers’ poll for 1981;
1. The Specials – Ghost Town
2. New Order – Ceremony
3. The jam – Absolute Beginners
4. Soft Cell – Tainted Love
5. Human League – Love Action
6. Heaven 17 – Fascist Groove Thing
7. Scritti Politti – The ‘Sweetest Girl’
8. Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure
9. The Teardrop Explodes – Reward
10. Pigbag – Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag
11. Ultravox – Vienna
12. Laurie Anderson – O Superman
13. The Jam – Funeral Pyre
14. New Order – Procession
15. The Birthday Party – Release The Bats
16. Siouxsie & The Banshees – Spellbound
17. The Stranglers – Let Me Introduce You To The Family
18. The Rolling Stones – Start Me Up
19. Echo & The Bunnymen – A Promise
20. ABC – Tears Are Not Enough
Can’t believe Julio and Joe got that many votes
Here are my 50 personal favourites from the 1981 Top 40:
1 - Linx – Intuition
2 - Public Image Ltd – Flowers Of Romance
3 - Teardrop Explodes – Reward
4 - Jam – That’s Entertainment
5 - Yoko Ono – Walking On Thin Ice
6 - Human League – Love Action (I Believe In Love)
7 - New Order – Ceremony
8 - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Souvenir
9 - Human League – The Sound Of The Crowd
10 - Soft Cell – Tainted Love
11 - Madness – It Must Be Love
12 - David Bowie – Up The Hill Backwards
13 - Human League – Don’t You Want Me
14 - Specials – Ghost Town
15 - Abba – Lay All Your Love On Me
16 - The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
17 - Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Me No Pop I
18 - Adam & The Ants – Kings Of The Wild Frontier
19 - Blondie – Rapture
20 - Kim Wilde – Kids In America
21 - Sharon Redd – Can You Handle It
22 - Soft Cell – Bedsitter
23 - Elvis Costello – Good Year For The Roses
24 - Spandau Ballet – Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
25 - Kraftwerk – Pocket Calculator
26 - Dollar – Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)
27 - The Undertones – It’s Going To Happen!
28 - Freeez – Southern Freeez
29 - Smokey Robinson – Being With You
30 - Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Show Me
31 - New Order – Procession / Everything’s Gone Green
32 - Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough
33 - Teardrop Explodes – Treason (It’s Just A Story)
34 - Barbara Jones – Just When I Needed You Most
35 - Hi Gloss – You’ll Never Know
36 - Tom Tom Club – Wordy Rappinghood
37 - Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime
38 - Haircut 100 – Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)
39 - Bucks Fizz – The Land Of Make Believe
40 - Kool & The Gang – Get Down On It
41 - Whispers – It’s A Love Thing
42 - Laurie Anderson – O Superman
43 - Dollar – Hand Held In Black And White
44 - The Passions – I’m In Love With A German Film Star
45 - Sugar Minott – Good Thing Going
46 - Japan – Quiet Life
47 - Blue Rondo A La Turk – Me And Mr Sanchez
48 - Pointer Sisters – Slowhand
49 - The Nolans – Attention To Me
50 - Stevie Wonder – Lately
(Yes, the #1 is a strange choice – but it still retains the power to make me happier than the rest.)
And I somehow missed ‘Thriller’ (albeit towards the end of the year)out of my resume of the amazing wonders of 1982!
Here’s one we’ve all missed so far – THE breakthrough arriviste indie act pop chart stormer of 1981 – Reward by Teardrop Explodes. Top 10 (was it number 7) and no one could quite believe it.
Andy Pandy’s case for 1982 is pretty solid (apart from dragging in remix albums of 1981 classics – cheat!), but nah! 1981 wins – both the alternative charts and the proper charts were on fire.
42: Good argument Andy, it’s a cracking year. Guess it’s the post-punk atmos (see the Teardrop Explodes’ Wilder for instance) of ’81 that nudges it for me. 1982 was one of the best years of my life, too, so it was neat to have such an upbeat soundtrack.
Hair got a bit out of control, though (mine included). ’81 Edwyn Collins wore his fringe like Roger McGuinn. ’82 Terry Hall went for that pineapple/white rasta thing. Zoinks.
I only voted for six, one of which was Shakin’ Stevens. Bloody great year though. I turned 19, was in a 2-year gap between school and college when I had a full-time job, was still living at home and had nothing to spend my wages on but records, concerts, booze and fags.
Greta Scacchi got nuddy in everything she did, didn’t she? She was like Jenny Agutter in that respect – always reliable.
Hi Bow Wow just want u to know i am one of your greatest fan and i am still hoping that i will meet u some day.Bye bye
Meanwhile 1982 was a great year, no question, but more about consolidation. It seems to me most of its biggest names and greatest moments had first made a footprint, and maybe their greatest records, in ’81. Apart from Toto Cuelo. But I’d love to stand corrected.
Bit late coming in on this but I didn’t comment at the time. I’m going to be a stickler and say that the period July 1981-June 1982 was the peak year; everyone at their best, unbelievable new entries every week, a joy to live through.
As far as 1982 on its own is concerned I scribbled this commentary some while back but am always happy to link it. Not sure that I absolutely agree with all of it now but it was written in the space of one lunch hour (it’s there somewhere on ILM in real time) and it alerted a certain female resident of Toronto to my existence… :-)
Absolutely brilliant piece on 1982 Marcello. I was horrified to find that I agreed with you on about 95% of the entries, including some of the more “off the wall” comments.
Did you carry out this exercise for any other years – or just 82 because of its obvious importnace/”specialness”?
I just thought it would be a nice thing to do since back then there wasn’t too much in terms of writing about this period to be found online (or elsewhere for that matter).
I’ve done some other “year” exercises:
1985: http://nopunctum.blogspot.com/2004_01_22_archive.html
1969: http://nopunctum.blogspot.com/2004_04_07_archive.html
…and I started an epic 1974 trek here but never got around to finishing it and only some of the entries that I did are on the blog (there are others in draft form which I’m happy to reprint if there’s a demand):
http://hemingwoid.blogspot.com
(in truth much of what I would have written here is likely to turn up on TPL or has already turned up on Popular)
All of these come with the caveat that the opinions expressed do not necessarily concur with the author’s opinions in 2010; in some cases my views have quite dramatically reversed.
I enjoyed that too Marcello – Phil Collins and Bob Fripp as the ‘Tory Improvisors’ made me smile
Why are my comments being held in moderation?
Ah thanks for sorting that out.
The spam filter gets hinky when non-registered posts have a lot of links in them. But I don’t know why the second one was held, unless the filter had decided you must be a wrong’un, because the first post had four links! Sorry about that.
It’s not strictly speaking moderation — admin really only look in it when we’re asked to. (Because the amount of span being caught is huge…)
The most dramatic Punctum reversal must be ‘The Power of Love’!
I’ve always really wanted to read the promised Alan Price piece – Jarrow Song is a tremendous Billy favourite, but I couldn’t quite predict what the Punctum position would be on that. If I remember back to when you were writing the 1974 pieces, it was the prospect of writing thousands of words about the Goodies that caused you to abandon the project, but that would have been great, too.
Yes, for some reason I just couldn’t get going on Tim, Graeme and Bill. Did three or four paragraphs then thought: why I am doing this? It was probably exhaustion more than anything else and the whole exercise was plodding along more slowly than I would have liked (whereas TPL is proceeding VERY slowly but I don’t mind that since I’m learning about things I haven’t heard before or at least not for a long time – there’s a greater purpose to it).
I wrote the bare bones of an Alan Price piece and do intend to get back to that; thankfully the wonder of K-Tel may re-kickstart me in this respect since he does turn up on at least one of their chart-topping compilations.
There is also a completed 60,000 word entry on Lena Zavaroni which will most likely never see the light of day, partly because it overlaps with Andrew O’Hagan’s novel Personality and partly because it cuts a little too sharply to the bone about my younger days.