M – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

Beat, Booker T & The MGs, Cabaret Voltaire, Clash, David Bowie, Lori & The Chamelons, M, Monochrome Set

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (December)

The final part of what has been one of the most time-consuming series, in terms of research, referencing and cross-checking, that I’ve ever pulled together, with just short of 200 singles featuring, with the final 8 coming your way today. As December’s releases are on the low side, especially on the non-chart side of things with the indie labels quite rightly steering well clear of the festive madness, I’m combining the usual Parts 1 and 2 into a single posting, starting with the Top 75 covering 2nd-8th December.

The highest new entry was at #56, an indication that not much was actually being released and that the record-buying public was happy to just shell out on the tunes that had been around for a few weeks, or indeed months. I’ve picked up on three new entries at the very low end of the chart, one of which I have to admit I was really surprised to see.

mp3 : M – Moonlight and Muzak

Pop Muzik had been one of the biggest and best-selling 45s of the year. The fact it took more than six months for its follow-up to be released kind of gives the game away that nobody, including himself, really expected M (aka Robin Scott) to have enjoyed such success. My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I’m sure that Moonlight and Muzak wasn’t actually written until after Pop Muzik had been a hit. This one came in at #64 and peaked a couple of weeks later at #33.

mp3: The Beat – Tears Of A Clown/Ranking Full Stop

1979 was the year in which 2-Tone Records had come out of nowhere. The first four singles on the label – Gangsters by The Specials, The Prince by Madness, On My Radio by The Selecter and A Message to You, Rudy by The Specials – had all been massive hits. The 5th single came courtesy of another multi-racial band from the English Midlands, in this instance the city of Birmingham.

This 45 has been part of Dirk‘s superbly entertaining 111 single series, featuring back in January 2023. As he pointed out, The Beat would not only enjoy a few years of chart success from the outset, but there would also be a number of good bands that rose from the ashes of (former members of) The Beat: General Public, Fine Young Cannibals, Two Nations as well as the solo material from the late Ranking Roger.

The debut came in at #67, eventually climbing as high as #6 just after the turn of the year. It was the first of what would be thirteen chart hit singles going through to the summer of 1983.

And now….here’s the one which surprised me

mp3: Lori and The Chamelons – Touch

In at #70 and back out of the chart the following week in a ‘blink and you’ll have missed it’ style. My surprise is that I would have bet a great deal of money that Zoo Records never had any chart success. OK, some of the band of their roster would become chart mainstays in future years, but that was after the label had folded, and they had signed elsewhere.

It was back in January 2015 that I featured all nine 45s issued by Zoo. Touch was the label’s sixth single with the group being a trio consisting of label owners Bill Drummond (guitar) and David Balfe (bass and keyboards), along with vocalist Lori Lartey. As I said, I had no idea it ever charted!

Moving on to the chart of 9-16 December.

There were three new entries in the Top 40, one of which was I Have A Dream by Abba, widely tipped to be the Xmas #1. Spoiler alert….it ended up spending four weeks at #2, kept off the top by Pink Floyd! One of the other new entries was a novelty number of the sort December charts no matter the year are full of, but the third, coming in at #23, was of some interest.

mp3: David Bowie – John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)

Originally dating from 1972, the song had been re-recorded in 1974 as David Bowie was keen to come up with a soul/disco hit for the American market. It was slated to be included on the album Young Americans, and almost certainly as a single to be lifted from that album, only to be replaced late on by Fame. Five years on, and the record label, RCA, decided to take advantage of the increasing interest in disco and issue it in the run-up to Christmas on the back of Bowie’s success earlier in the year with Boys Keep Swinging and DJ, as well as the album Lodger.

John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) spent eight weeks in the chart, peaking at#12, and in doing so, matched the chart position of the original 1972 version.

Just outside the Top 40 was this:-

mp3: The Clash – London Calling

The band’s ninth single, that’s if you include The Cost Of Living EP. It was released on 7 December 1979 with the album of the same name hitting the shops seven days later. The single came in at #43, and eventually reached #11, the highest ever 45 for The Clash during the time they were actually together. The album came in at #9, stayed at the same position the following week, fell to #21 in its third week and then back up to #9 in week 4, no doubt benefitting from the spending power of Record Tokens given to young people as Xmas gifts from grandparents, aunties and uncles.

Also coming into the chart this week, another example of why 1979 was so special and different.

mp3: Booker T & The MGs – Green Onions

It might have dated back to 1962, but this was the first time the tune had been a chart hit in the UK, with the 2 Tone movement playing a big part in its success. It came in at #74 in mid-December, but went all the way to #7 by the end of January, as part of a twelve-week stay in the Top 75.

There were just a handful of new entries in the Top 75 in the final two charts of 1979, none of which merit even a passing mention. And with that, it’s time for one final flick through the big book of indie singles.

mp3: Cabaret Voltaire – Silent Command

Catalogue Number RT 035. The release back in June 1979 of Nag Nag Nag has the number RT018, which just goes to show how active Rough Trade had been throughout the year. It’s not one I can recall from back in the day, and I’m not sure if I would have fallen for it, given how unusual and unorthodox a tune it is.

mp3: The Monochrome Set – He’s Frank (Slight Return)

The third single from the band in 1979. The previous two had been on Rough Trade, but this one wasn’t. Well sort of…..

He’s Frank had been the band’s debut, a self-release on cassette only. The interest in the band in recent times led to the decision to reissue it on vinyl, via a new imprint called Disquo Blue. It was, however, a joint release with Rough Trade. The next release on Disquo Blue wouldn’t be until 2012, when The Monochrome Set released their tenth studio album Platinum Coils, their first in nearly seventeen years.

And with that, Shakedown 1979 comes to a close. I’m thinking I’ll re-hash the feature in 2025, looking in depth at the singles chart from one of the years that made up the 80s.

Thanks for all your views, opinions and thoughts throughout the series. Much appreciated.

JC

Damned, M, Members, Police, Sex Pistols, Sparks, Undertones, X-Ray Spex

SHAKEDOWN, 1979 (April)

I trust that the first three months of this series has helped to convince any of you who happened to be non-believers that 1979 was very much the greatest year for hit singles in the UK. So, what did April shower upon us??

While I wasn’t overly keen on the Sex Pistols singles on which Sid Vicious took on the duty of lead vocals, (which is why Something Else was left out previously and C’Mon Everybody will not appear in future), the cash-in this month did hold some appeal.

mp3: Sex Pistols – Silly Thing

Virgin Records really didn’t care too much about facts when it came to Sex Pistols. The info attached to the 45 states that it’s from the album The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, when in fact it’s a totally different version. The album track has Paul Cook on lead vocals and had been recorded in mid-1978. The single version has Steve Jones on lead vocals, and had been recorded in March 1979, with Bill Price on production duties.

It entered the charts in the first week of April 1979 at #24, and in due course climbed up to #6 as part of what proved to be an eight-week stay in the Top 75.

mp3: The Members – Offshore Banking Business

The wonderful follow-up to Sound of The Suburbs was a reggae-tinged attack on white-collar crime. Sadly, things have only got worse with the passing of time.

Offshore Banking Business was, in comparison to ‘Suburbs’, a minor hit, only reaching #31, and it would prove to be the last time that The Members troubled the chart compilers.

mp3: M- Pop Muzik

Some folk will argue that this was a novelty number and a bit of an annoyance. I’ll accept that it did become over-exposed somewhat back in the day and became a bit of an irritant, but the passage of time has more than convinced me that it’s a bona-fide pop classic.

M was the recording name taken by Robin Scott, a man with a fascinating backstory in that he’d been in and around the creative industries for much of the 70s as a singer, recording artist and record producer, as well as being a friend of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. He also worked with the then emerging film director Julian Temple.

Pop Muzik came into the charts at #53, and would go on to spend 14 weeks in the Top 75, peaking at #2. It was also a huge hit in many other countries, and probably sold enough copies that ensured its composer would never again have to have any financial concerns, and enabled him to indulge in various creative projects over the next forty-plus years.

mp3: Sparks – The Number One Song In Heaven

I’ve previously written at length about this song, back in December 2016. I summed it up by saying that it was where prog met glam met disco met film soundtrack on one piece of 7″ black vinyl. I also declared it as the celestial song which cleared the decks for the likes of Soft Cell, Pet Shop Boys, Human League and Heaven 17 (as well as many other inferior versions of electro-pop) to come along in the 80s and make a fortune. The one difference from 2016 and now is that I have since picked up a second-hand copy of the 45, having been without one for more than 30 years. This one entered the charts at #60 on 21 April 1979. It peaked at #14 in June 1979 while spending a total of 12 weeks in the Top 75.

mp3: X-Ray Spex – Highly Inflammable

Highly Inflammable was the first new song from X-Ray Spex since the release of the debut album Germ Free Adolescents at the end of the previous year. It turned out to be their last piece of music for almost 16 years, as the group came to an end when lead singer Poly Styrene announced her departure shortly afterwards. They would reform for live shows in 1991 and a second and final album would appear in 1995. Highly Inflammable was their fourth chart 45, but where each of The Day The World Turned Dayglo, Identity and Germ Free Adolescents had all hit at least the Top 30, the final single stalled at #45.

mp3: The Police – Roxanne

Yup, it’s now 45 years since Sting & co. first tasted fame. If they had had their way, it would have been a full year earlier, as Roxanne was initially released in April 1978 to great indifference. But America went nuts for the song in early 79 and this led to A&M Records giving it a re-release over here. The rest, as you might say, is history.

Roxanne came into the charts at #42 on 22 April. It hung around for 9 weeks and peaked at #12. I bought the re-released version of the single and that same time, having convinced my parents that going to new wave/post-punk gigs at the Glasgow Apollo wasn’t as dangerous as some tabloid papers would have you believe, I bought a ticket for my first ever live show.

The Police. Thursday 31 May 1979. There were two support acts. Bobby Henry, followed by The Cramps. I haven’t kept count, but I reckon I’ve been to over 1,000 gigs all-told now. I still very much remember the first time.

mp3: The Undertones – Jimmy Jimmy

Get Over You had been a flop, so there was quite a lot riding on the next single from Derry’s finest. Thankfully, the radio stations and record-buying public really took to Jimmy Jimmy over the spring and summer of 79. It came in at #57, spent 10 weeks in the chart, and peaked at #16. For all that it’s such an upbeat and anthemic number, it really is a very sad lyric. One of the band’s finest three minutes, if you don’t mind me saying.

mp3: David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging

I wasn’t quite at the stage where I was acquainting myself with David Bowie albums. For now, I was more than happy to make do with the singles. I had liked most of what I heard on daytime radio, but had never actually bought anything of his until Boys Keep Swinging. It’s one of those that I can’t quite really put my finger on exactly why this really appealed to the then 15-year-old me, but there’s no denying that seeing it performed on the Kenny Everett TV show proved to be what would now be described as a water-cooler moment, albeit in may case it was in a school playground the next day when a fair bit of homophobic language was involved. Little did we know the official video would create even more of a buzz.

Boys Keep Swinging came in at #31 on 29 April. It climbed all the way to #7, and in doing so, gave Bowie his first Top 10 hit since Sound and Vision some two years previously.

mp3: The Damned – Love Song

Another of the new entries on 29 April. This was the sixth single by The Damned, but proved to be the first time they hit the charts, and is all the evidence you need that the post-punk/new wave sounds had really become part of the mainstream. It came in at #44, and before too long it had cracked the Top 20.

As I said earlier, and the whole point of this series, 1979 was a great year for singles (albeit the really big sellers were dreadful).

JC

M, Tricky

THE LARGELY FORGOTTEN FOLLOW-UP

I reckon that just about everyone who is from my generation will be very familiar with the song Pop Muzik, which was an absolutely massive hit for M in in the summer of 1979. It reached #1 in at least ten countries and went Top 10 just about everywhere else. It sold 1 million copies in the USA alone.

But I wonder how many remember the follow-up, which totally flopped in the States and only reached a very moderate #33 in the UK:-

mp3 : M – Moonlight and Muzak (12 inch version)

It’s another early version of synthpop, and if you have a listen to the first 45 seconds of intro you’ll find it to be very reminiscent of the sort of tunes that would bring The Human League huge success a few years later. And with the vocal delivery from Robin Scott not being far removed from many of guitar-led new wave songs that were so prevalent in 1979, a case can be made for Moonlight and Muzak being one of the cleverest pop songs of 1979 in what was a tremendous year for music.

Albeit, I’m willing to admit that the 12″ version, of which a copy still sits in the cupboard more than 36 years later, has perhaps been stretched out by two minutes longer than necessary.

Here’s a bonus cover of the big hit from a very surprising source:-

mp3 : Tricky – Pop Muzik

b-side to his 1999 single For Real

Enjoy.