Silver discs(February 1981)
A monthly look back at the top singles of 25 years ago
The three best records from the Top 10 (17th February 1981) Ultravox - Vienna: If you had to pick just one single to represent the 1980s, I suspect many people would choose this. From the very first bar the ominous drumbeat and haunting synth heralded a hypnotic pop milestone. The string arrangement throughout was almost classical, and the accompanying video with its atmospheric foggy streets and swirling staircases matched the melody to perfection. This was Ultravox's first big single with new vocalist Midge Ure, at the time sporting a very dodgy 80s tache which looked perhaps more Berlin than Vienna. And yes, the track remains one of the best records to almost but not quite reach number one, held back both by a re-released dead Beatle and that ghastly Italian novelty record. Boy, it make-a me sick.
"We walked in the cold air, freezing breath on a window pane, lying and waiting. A man in the dark in a picture frame, so mystic and soulful. A voice reaching out in a piercing cry" Rainbow - I Surrender: Alas not featuring Zippy on vocals, Bungle on bass and Rod, Jane and Freddy on backing vocals - this was a top rock anthem from ex Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Unusually melodic, impressively singalong and, I suspect many of my shaggy classmates at the time would have agreed, utterly air-guitar-tastic. Tommy Vance undoubtedly raved about it at the time, but I was tucked up in bed before his Friday Rock Show seared the airwaves. But oh dear, look at the nursery-level rhyming in the chorus...
"I surrender, I surrender. I'm giving up the role of pretender. Oh be tender, girl be tender. Can't you feel the love that I send ya?" Dire Straits - Romeoand Juliet: I can't believe I'm recommending Dire Straits as one of the best records in the Top 10 twenty-five years ago. But then this was back when they were still raw and heartfelt, before they went all stadium. Mark Knopfler sings (and mumbles) his way through this heartfelt romantic folk song, perfect for the Valentine season, with just a nod at the Shakespearean. And if the gibbon in the flat above me were to play this track at high volume instead of bloody Brothers In Arms, I might not get my earplugs out.
"A lovestruck romeo sings the streets a serenade, laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made. Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade, says something like - you and me babe, how about it?"
My three favourite records from February 1981 (at the time) Duran Duran - Planet Earth: Every music giant starts somewhere, and the pouting Brummie kings of mascara started here, unknown. The day this record crept into the lower reaches of the chart Tony Blackburn announced the name of the band as 'Durren Durren', a pronunciation error which nobody in the country could possibly have made two years later. And I was chuffed to have spotted this pretentious talent right from the very beginning.
"Only came outside to watch the night fall with the rain, I heard you making patterns rhyme" Passions - I'm In Love With A German Film Star: One can only wonder which elusive Teutonic movie god the band's lead singer Barbara Gogan had fallen for. Max Schreck, perhaps, or Conrad Veidt, or perhaps some moody blond pornster in a leather trenchcoat. I guess we'll never know, because the band never troubled the charts again, but I'm in love with this record.
"Sitting in a corner and in perfect clothes, trying not to pose for the cameras and the girls, it's a glamorous world" The Jam - That's Entertainment: Paul Weller may have looked becalmed and content at the Brits last week, but he was once the outspoken voice of the suburbs. This import-only single perfectly portrayed the boredom and frustration of life on Thatcher's breadline, and all to a tune that even yuppies could hum. A work of lyrical genius from Woking's Poet Laureate.
"A police car and a screaming siren, a pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete, a baby wailing and stray dog howling, the screech of brakes and lamp light blinking - that's entertainment"
15 other hits from 25 years ago: Shaddap You Face (Joe Dolce Music Theatre), Southern Freeez (Freeez), The Oldest Swinger In Town (Fred Wedlock), Once In A Lifetime (Talking Heads), Do The Hucklebuck (Coast To Coast), We'll Bring The House Down (Slade), Somebody Help Me Out (Beggar & Co), Rock This Town (Stray Cats), Car Trouble (Adam and the Ants), St Valentine's Day Massacre (Motorhead), Message Of Love (Pretenders), Jones V Jones (Kool & The Gag), Mutually Assured Destruction (Gillan), Hot Love (Kelly Marie), Elephants Graveyard (Boomtown Rats) ...which hit's your favourite? ...which one would you pick?
Silver discs (February 1981)
Ultravox - Vienna: If you had to pick just one single to represent the 1980s, I suspect many people would choose this. From the very first bar the ominous drumbeat and haunting synth heralded a hypnotic pop milestone. The string arrangement throughout was almost classical, and the accompanying video with its atmospheric foggy streets and swirling staircases matched the melody to perfection. This was Ultravox's first big single with new vocalist Midge Ure, at the time sporting a very dodgy 80s tache which looked perhaps more Berlin than Vienna. And yes, the track remains one of the best records to almost but not quite reach number one, held back both by a re-released dead Beatle and that ghastly Italian novelty record. Boy, it make-a me sick.
