Popular '81

15! Twas a good year. Bear in mind “6” is a mark which I give things I can stand, and I never did enjoy Roxy’s “Jealous Guy”.

Still, I’m amazed there are still tracks that don’t get unanimous praise, even here!

15 for me too, a landmark year personally and good memories associated with a lot of the music.

Here’s the year-end top 30 bestsellers as broadcast by Radio 1 just before the New Year. Again the oddity that they must have compiled the list with a cut-off point before “Don’t You Want Me” had sold that many, because of the three 1981 hits that made the all-time top 100 DYWM is the highest placed at 25. “Tainted Love” was the 57th best seller of all time and “Stand and Deliver” 83rd.

1 Tainted Love
2 Stand and Deliver
3 Prince Charming
4 This Ole House
5 Vienna – Ultravox (number 2)
6 One Day In Your Life
7 Making Your Mind Up
8 Shaddap You Face
9 Birdie Song – Tweets (2)
10 You Drive Me Crazy – Shakin’ Stevens (2)
11 Ghost Town
12 Being With You
13 It’s My Party
14 Woman
15 Happy Birthday – Altered Images (2)
16 Hands Up – Ottawan (3)
17 Stars on 45 – Starsound (2)
18 Green Door
19 Imagine
20 Jealous Guy
21 Kids in America – Kim Wilde (2)
22 Japanese Boy
23 Chi Mai – Ennio Morricone (2)
24 Begin the Beguine
25 Hooked on Classics – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2)
26 Souvenir – OMD (3)
27 Can Can – Bad Manners (3)
28 Antmusic – Adam and the Ants (2)
29 Do The Hucklebuck – Coast to Coast (5)
30 Hold On Tight – ELO (4)

I voted for nine songs although there were a couple I could have given a 6 to if I were feeling a bit more generous. As I recall there was a feeling that things had changed by this year – away from rock to pop and from ‘authenticity’ to artifice.
Ian Penman and Paul Morley were in their heyday at the NME and IIRC Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing was the NME album of the year.

The NME Critics’ poll for 1981 singles is rather terrific;

1. Ghost Town – The Specials
2. Adventures on the Wheels of Steel – Grandmaster Flash
3. Me no Pop I – Coati Mundi
4. Fascist Groove Thing – Heaven 17
5. Love Action – Human League
6. Mama Used to Say – Junior Giscombe
7. Tears are Not Enough – ABC
8. Pull up to the Bumper – Grace Jones
9. O Superman – Laurie Anderson
10. Walking on Thin Ice – Yoko Ono
11. Burn Rubber on Me – The Gap Band
12. Tainted Love – Soft cell
13. Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag – Pigbag
14. Rapp Payback – James Brown
15. Wordy Rappinghood – Tom Tom Club
16. Let’s Groove – Earth Wind & Fire
17. The Razor’s Edge – Defunkt
18. Being With You – Smokey Robinson
19. Four Movements – Thomas Leer
20. Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode
21. Going Back to My Roots – Odyssey
22. Intuition – Linx
23. Rapture – Blondie
24. Plan B – Dexys Midnight Runners
25. Happy Birthday – Stevie Wonder
26. Chariots of Fire – Vangelis
27. Der Mussolini – DAF
28. Good Year for the Roses – Elvis Costello
29. Shoot the Pump – J. Walter Negro & the Loose Joints
30. Doors of your Heart – The Beat
31. Kitchen Person – The Associates
32. Can you Feel It? – The Jacksons
33. Favourite Shirts – Haircut 100
34. Pocket Calculator – Kraftwerk
35. Another One Bites the Dust – General Saint & Clint Eastwood
36. Launderette – Vivien Goldman
37. Genius of Love – Tom Tom Club
38. Chant No.1 (We Don’t Need This Pressure On) – Spandau Ballet
39. Out Come the Freaks – Was(Not Was)
40. W.O.R.K. – Bow Wow Wow
41. Flowers of Romance – PiL
42. Ceremony – New Order
43. Beggarman- Pablo Gad
44. The Longest Day – Sound of the Valleys
45. The ‘Sweetest Girl’ – Scritti Politti
46. Pretty in Pink – Psychedelic Furs
47. The Art of Parties – Japan
48. Computer Love – Kraftwerk
49. Too Drunk to Fuck – The Dead Kennedys
50. Show Me – Dexys Midnight Runners

The Sounds Critics poll for 1981 is less rockist than you might expect;

1. Ghost Town – The Specials
2. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
3. Is Vic There? – Department S
4. In God We Trust Inc – Dead Kennedys
5. Tears Are Not Enough – ABC
6. Favourite Shirts – Haircut 100
7. Absolute Begginners – The Jam
8. Mad Eyed Screamer – The Creatures
9. I’m In Love With A German Film Star – The Passions
10. Dreaming Of Me – Depeche Mode
11. Planet Earth – Duran Duran
12. The Art Of Parties – Japan
13. Glow – Spandau Ballet
14. (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang – Heaven 17
15. Stand And Deliver – Adam And The Ants
16. The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum – Funboy Three
17. Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag – Pigbag
18. Passionate Friend – Teardrop Explodes
19. Intuition – Linx
20. Chihuahua – Bow Wow Wow

Melody maker took a lowly view of singles, but did annoint Ghost Town as single of the year

Thanks Billy, must have been drawing up lists at the same time. Interesting how Plan B figures so high in the NME poll when it got a pasting all round at the time of release (February?).

The Sweetest Girl! Adventures On The Wheels of Steel!! And, errm, Norman Bates. Anyone else reckon the Landscape album that contained Einstein A Go Go to be the most disappointing album EVER with a top pop hit on it? Bloody jazzers.

Completely agree with Billy when he says that the best pop singles are often big hits but rarely number ones. New Pop (and electronic music from 87-92) are my best genres but I also found this year very disappointing Number One-wise even ‘Tainted Love’ I’m completely bored of now although I voted for it on the basis of what I thought of it back then.
Also for me 1982 easily surpassed 1981 as the peak year for New Pop.
And I’m sure we’d have soon be disussing what could well have been my best ever Number One in 1982 if Duran Duran had only gone ahead and released ‘The Chauffeur’ as a single.

Re 13: I suppose I’d take 81 over 82 because of the pop awakening of the post-punk generation and the electropop crossover. Postcard peaked, which in turn led to Haircut 100’s unique Monkees-funk; Scritti Politti reinvented themselves (gently); Depeche Mode hogged the Independent Chart, and still included Vince Clarke; New Order released a debut single with no announcement, no reviews, nothing – it just, as if by magic, appeared in the shops. A huge amount of development from glum old 1980: the NME/underground had finally got over the fact Ian Curtis was dead.

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.

So…what about the kids?

The Smash Hits Reader’s Poll for 1981

Top 10 Singles

1. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
2. Vienna – Ultravox
3. Stand And Deliver – Adam & The Ants
4. Souvenir – OMD
5. Love Action – Human League
6. Every Little Thing She Does- Police
7. Ghost Town – Specials
8. Prince Charming – Adam & The Ants
9. Girls On Film – Duran Duran
10. She’s Got Claws – Gary Numan

and, in the most important category (!)

The Smash Hits Reader’s Poll for 1981

Most fanciable human being

Male
1. Adam
2. Simon Le Bon
3. David Sylvian
4. Sting
5. John Taylor
6. Midge Ure
7. Gary Numan
8. Phil Oakey
9. Julian Cope
10. Suggs

Female
1. Toyah
2. Kim Wilde
3. Clare Grogan
4. Sheena Easton
5. Debbie Harry
6. Kate Bush
7. Bo Derek
8. Pamela Stephenson
9. Joanne Catherall
10. Olivia Newton-John

…slight deviation away from music in the female list there

Respect to the Smash Hits readership for the high placing of ‘Souvenir’ – such a yearning and hauted thing for such bright young listeners.

Toyah as most fanciable female strikes me as baffling though, especially against such competition as Kim Wilde and Kate Bush.

Hold on “6. Midge Ure”!!!! Those were different times.

Billy Smart. You think Toyah’s bad. In ‘Sounds’ at the time it would almost certainly have been Beki Bondage at Number 1 🙁

Lest we forget amongst such an embarrassment of synth and pop riches, ’81 was also the pinnacle of Oi! and the ghastly Anarchopunks. Not Killing Joke though, they were always great.

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).

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.

re 27: “in the nuddy” – that takes me back…Where on earth did that come from?

how does the Crimson Queen’s performance stand up?

Any chance of giving us the music press album charts for 1981 Billy?

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.

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)

Here’s a Spotify playlist for the NME singles poll. I’ve found 41 out of the 50.

http://tinyurl.com/nmesingles1981

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

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.)

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.

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.