WHEN THE CLOCKS STRUCK THIRTEEN (March – Pt 2)

Following on from yesterday’s witterings………

18 – 24 March

The first two weeks of this chart hadn’t seen any spectacularly high new entries.  Nothing changed this week, although It’s A Miracle by Culture Club did arrive at #14 en route to its eventual peak at #4.

I’ll mention in passing that Depeche Mode, another of the big 80s bands who I’ve never managed to really take a liking to (certainly in the post Vince Clarke era), would enjoy a tenth successive success with People Are People coming in at #29.  It would eventually reach #4, which incidentally is the highest position any Depeche Mode single would ever reach – they would achieve similar with Barrel Of A Gun in 1997 and Precious in 2005.  I reckon that would make for a good question in a pub quiz….

mp3: Siouxsie & The Banshees – Swimming Horses (#33)

Another of the chart regulars throughout the 80s. This was the 14th successive single to reach the Top 75, but only three of which had gone Top 20 – Hong Kong Garden, Happy House and Dear Prudence.  (Later singles This Wheel’s On Fire and Peek-A-Boo would do likewise – some facts to form another decent pub quiz question?).

Swimming Horses is not among my favourites from Siouxsie et al, and its experimental non-commercial nature set the tone for what would emerge on their sixth studio album, Hyæna, which would emerge in June 1984.

mp3: Simple Minds – Upon The Catwalk (#36)

It was a long way removed from the sounds that had first attracted me to Simple Minds a few years previously.  It was the third and final single to be lifted from their sixth album Sparkle In The Rain, which had entered the charts at #1 the previous month.  An album which helped propel the band to arenas and stadia the world over.  It wasn’t for me….as evidenced by the fact that ICA 72, penned in May 2016, was drawn exclusively from the band’s first five albums.

mp3: The Bluebells – I’m Falling (#65)

I don’t think anyone would have imagined The Bluebells would still be going strong 40 years after I’m Falling became their first ever ‘big’ hit, eventually reaching #11.  But they are, with recent (2023), and critically acclaimed material emerging on Last Night From Glasgow along with a series of sell-out gigs in their home city here in Glasgow.  They remain very good value in the world of indie-pop.

25 – 31 March

As with last week’s, the highest new entry was courtesy of an 80s chart staple with You Take Me Up by The Thompson Twins coming in at #13 en route to peaking at #2 (a victim of Lionel Ritchie’s seemingly never-ending stay at the top).

Michael Jackson released a fifth single from the nine songs which had made up his 1982 album Thriller, but such was the demand and desire for his material that P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing) entered the singles chart at #20; this was a full 69 weeks after it had first been heard on the album.

Having said that, Can’t Buy Me Love by The Beatles entered this particular chart at #53….a full 1,500 weeks (30 years) 1,000 weeks (20 years) after it had been a #1 hit.

Another act associated with Liverpool (albeit he’s not from that city) sneaked in at #75

mp3: Julian Cope – The Greatness and Perfection Of Love

The second and final single lifted from his debut solo album, World Shut Your Mouth, which had peaked at #40 when issued at the end of February 1984.  It’s long been one of my favourite 45s of his.

I think it’s fair to say that the singles chart of 1984, on the whole, is proving to be a lot more mundane and bland than 1979.  And I fear it’s going to get even more dull, but I hope you’ll stick with the series for the occasional gem such as that from St Julien.

JC