Silver discs(March 1983)
A one-off clickable look back at the top singles of 25 years ago
The Top 10 singles the day before I turned 18 (8th March 1983) 1) (↑1) Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart: Topping the charts in the week I turned adult was this classic histrionic epic from a raspy-throated Welsh singer. Bonnie's career had been up and down almost as much as her voice, but this Meatloaf-esque song sealed her fame. The video appeared to show her cavorting round a windswept boys' boarding school, but I could never quite be sure because I only ever saw the video once. Pre-YouTube, that is. Total Eclipse is still performed wherever a karaoke machine is installed, and was the first ever song by a Welsh artist to top the American singles chart. "Every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes, every now and then I fall apart" 2) (↓1) Michael Jackson - Billie Jean: Before this single was released, MJ was just another talented jumped-up former child star with a frizzy grin. And then here he was singing about disputed parentage, and moonwalking round a pavement of flashing lights, and looking sleek and just a little bit feral, and the nation suddenly loved him. Bilie Jean elevated young Michael to invigorated superstardom, and a series of hit singles off the mega-selling Thriller album sealed his fate. Nutter, obviously, but a damned talented nutter. "Billie Jean is not my lover, she's just a girl who claims that I am the one, but the kid is not my son" 3) (↑2) Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (are made of this): Blimey, it was a good week wasn't it? Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, no longer Tourists, launched their Top 3 career with this instantly arresting song. Its driving beat was utterly unlike anything else around at the time, and Annie's visual image didn't hurt either - all flame-haired red crop and piercing stare. The Queen and King of musical self-reinvention remain the UK's most successful ever female/male duo. "Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree? I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody's looking for something" 4) (↑8) Forrest - Rock The Boat: Formerly a Billboard #1 by the Hues Corporation, this was a typical mid-80s synthy cover version performed by Dutch singer Forrest Thomas. Sinitta appeared in the video, which I think tells you all you need to know. "Ever since our voyage of love began, your touch has thrilled me like the rush of the wind" 5) (↓1) Toto - Africa: Sometimes American rock bands get it spot on. Twinkly keyboards and understated maracas lay beneath this singalong African anthem, still a staple of cosy MOR radio to this day. And yes, they really did get away with rhyming "company" with "Serengeti". "She's coming in 12:30 flight, the moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation" 6) (↓3) Kajagoogoo - Too Shy: How Eighties is this? A bunch of make-upped blokes with scary haircuts and a pretentious name, and a lead singer with an even scarier haircut living life as an anagram. I guess that's what living in Leighton Buzzard did to you. Too shy shy - still catchier than a barbed wire fence. "Something's wrong, you're not naive, you must must be strong" 7) (↑14) Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) : Another top cover version, sung in one-part harmony, from the three girls nextdoor. You could easily imagine bumping into Siobhan, Keren and Sara on the pavement outside Top Shop, or waitressing at a Golden Egg restaurant, or appearing on Blockbusters with Bob Holness and a gonk. And hurrah for that. "He'll never love you the way that I love you, cos if he did, oh no, he wouldn't make you cry" 8) (→) Madness - Tomorrow's Just Another Day: Just another Madness record, from just past their peak, and just a little more downbeat than usual. "I need a moment to reflect on the friendships I have wrecked" 9) (→) Thompson Twins - Love On Your Side: At long last, after years of trying, the British public finally caught up with Tom, Joe and Alannah. With their former tribal rhythms replaced by a more commercial mainstream sound, two years of of well-deserved fame followed. I went to see them perform at the Oxford Apollo, at my very first gig, as an impressionable 18 year old. Hmm, they looked a lot smaller in public than on the telly, but maybe that's because I was jiggling away at the back of the balcony. And blimey, they could actually sing and play at the same time. Revelation. "I hear you laughing in some other room and it makes me feel locked out" 10) (↓4) Musical Youth - Never Gonna Give You Up: Cheery reggae beats from Birmingham's underage finest. Not really in the same league as Pass The Dutchie, but who could possibly argue with a band whose lead singer was called Dennis? "You take sugar and I have none, you take your coffee black and I have mine white"
20 other hits from 25 years ago: Communication (Spandau Ballet), Tunnel of Love (Funboy Three), She Means Nothing To Me (Phil Everly & Cliff Richard), Get The Balance Right (Depeche Mode), Change (Tears For Fears), Hey Little Girl (Icehouse), High Life (Modern Romance), Up Where We Belong (Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes), Genetic Engineering (OMD), Waves (Blancmange), Rip It Up (Orange Juice), Wham Rap (Wham), Shiny Shiny (Haysi Fantayzee), Sign Of The Times (Belle Stars), Drop The Pilot (Joan Armatrading), Oh Diane (Fleetwood Mac), Down Under (Men At Work), Christian (China Crisis), Fields of Fire (Big Country), Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Indeep) ...which hit's your favourite?
Silver discs (March 1983)
1) (↑1) Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart: Topping the charts in the week I turned adult was this classic histrionic epic from a raspy-throated Welsh singer. Bonnie's career had been up and down almost as much as her voice, but this Meatloaf-esque song sealed her fame. The video appeared to show her cavorting round a windswept boys' boarding school, but I could never quite be sure because I only ever saw the video once. Pre-YouTube, that is. Total Eclipse is still performed wherever a karaoke machine is installed, and was the first ever song by a Welsh artist to top the American singles chart.
