Malcolm McLaren – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (12)

Chart dates 27 November – 3 December

Before I even pull up the charts for December 1983, I’m anticipating this being a post where not too many songs will feature as the record companies were almost certainly pushing hard forthe Christmas market through the perenials and novelty records. I’ll take a few deep breaths and dive in…..

mp3: Tears For Fears – The Way You Are (#40)

I had forgotten all about this one. Tears For Fears had enjoyed a very decent year, with three singles going Top 5 and debut album The Hurting reaching #1. As a new and young group, they would have been on the receiving end of ‘advice’ from the record label execs, which is why they came to write and record a new song for release in the period just before Christmas, with one eye on giving the album a little extra promotional boost.

As wiki records, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith have been uncompromising in their dislike for the song in the years following its release, Orzabal stating it was “the point we realized we had to change direction”, while Smith was even more direct in proclaiming it “the worst thing we’ve done”.

I agree that, at this point in time, it was their worst song. But future releases down the line would eclipse it.

Chart dates 4-10 December

First thing to mention is that Uptown Girl by Billy Joel had its five-week stay at #1 ended by the Flying Pickets a cappella take on Yazoo’s Only You, which itself would stay at the top of the charts for the next five weeks, gaining the coveted ‘#1 at Xmas ‘title.

Here’s who came into the charts this week with new entries.

#11: Culture Club – Victims
#22: Billy Joel – Tell Her About It
#36: Status Quo – Marguerita Time
#38: UB40 – Many Rivers To Cross
#40: Barry Manilow – Read ‘Em And Weep
#44: Adam Ant – Strip
#49: Kool and The Gang – Straight Ahead
#51: Chas and Dave – My Malancholy Baby
#58: Elton John – Cold As Christmas
#63: Santa Claus & The Christmas Trees – Singalong-a-Santa Again
#70: Rod Stewart – Sweet Surrender
#72: Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
#74: The Klaxons – The Clap Clap Sound
#75: Dayton – The Sound Of Music

I don’t think I ventured near a record store that week….or indeed the rest of the month.

Those of you who live outside the UK probably don’t fully get the horror of the singles charts in the months of December. That new entry at #63 is about as awful as it gets. It was a follow-up to a single from exactly 12 months previous, one which got as high as #19 and earned an appearance on Top of The Pops.

Feel free to stop right there and go find something better to do than read the rest of this rubbish.

Chart dates 11-17 December

A few record labels had been a bit slow in getting their novelty records into the shops and missed out on the bonanza of the first couple of weeks of the month. But it’s never too late to fleece the punters.

#48: The Jingle Bells – Christmas Spectre

I’ve just looked at Discogs. It was a 12″ only release on Passion Records. There’s 38 copies up for sale, ranging from 50p to £15, plus postage and packaging. It’s a medley of the following songs. Frosty The Snowman, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and White Christmas. How can you resist?

#52: Dennis Waterman and George Cole – What Are We Gonna Get ‘Er Indoors

The following week, this would hit #26. As introduced on Top of The Pops by John Peel. His look of horror as he worries that it might make a late run for a spot on his show’s Festive 50.

#54: Paul McCartney – The Pipes Of Peace
#61: Frida and BA Robertson – Time
#63: David Essex – You’re In My Heart
#70: Malcolm McLaren – Duck For The Oyster

I wonder what John Lydon was thinking?

#71: Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly – True Love
#73: The Jets – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
#74: Bucks Fizz – Rules Of The Game

Chart dates 18-24 December

It still wasn’t to late to inflict pain:-

#34 : Frank Kelly – Christmas Countdown

I had to look this one up.

And yup, it was a hit single for the bloke who would later, and quite brilliantly, play the role of Father Jack in the 90s comedy series, Father Ted. I had no idea, and until now have never heard it. It eventually climbed to #26, and led to a rather surreal Top of the Pops appearance in the first week of January 1984.

But seriously, people bought this shit?????

There were other equally awful singles that crept into the charts this week and indeed the following week. But I’ve had enough, as I’m sure you have too. Just to mention in passing, that among all this nonsense, the following singles were still listed in the Top 75 of the final week of 1983.

Waterfront – Simple Minds
Oblivious – Aztec Camera
This Charming Man – The Smiths
Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
The Sun and The Rain – Madness
The Love Cats – The Cure
A Solid Bond In Your Heart – The Style Council

Thanks for sticking with me through this series. It’ll be back next year, but this time will involve a 45-year look back at the 45s that were making all the noise in 1979 (but don’t worry, I won’t be looking at the full charts in any depth!)

JC

Bananarama, Bruce Foxton, Creatures, Cure, David Sylvian and Riuichi Sakamoto, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Lotus Eaters, Malcolm McLaren, Tom Robinson

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (7)

Slight change of tack this month, and indeed for the remainder of this series, in that instead of looking at one week’s chart in a particular month, I’m going to go through each of them to highlight and recall some great 45s from the latter half of 1983.

Chart dates 3rd – 9th July 1983

The top end of the chart still had the June hangover, but one of the former new wave heroes found himself in the Top 10 with a bit of an MOR classic:-

mp3: Tom Robinson – War Baby (#6)

I could have included this in last month’s posting as it was kicking around the charts in June 1983, but held it back. TRB had, with 2-4-6-8 Motorway and the Rising Free EP, enjoyed a bit of success in the new wave era, but Robinson’s next venture, Sector 27, had failed dismally. He went away to live in Germany, wrote some new songs, including War Baby, and returned to the UK with the aim of becoming purely a solo artist. War Baby was the only big hit he would enjoy, albeit there was a minor hit later in 1983. He’s remained very well-known here in the UK as a result of broadcasting shows on all various BBC Radio stations since the late 80s.

mp3: Malcolm McLaren – Double Dutch (#19)

The inclusion of this one might annoy a few of you, but I remain quite fond of it. The svengali had enjoyed an unexpected Top 10 hit in 1982 with Buffalo Gals, one of the first hit singles to feature hip-hop and scratching, but that was reckoned to have been the last anyone would hear of him. He returned in 83 with a single which celebrated a skipping game that was highly popular among many African American communities, particularly in New York. It’s one of those songs which entertains and annoys in equal measures, depending on your take. It would eventually climb to #3.

mp3: David Sylvian and Riuichi Sakamoto – Forbidden Colours (#20)

The vocal version of the main theme to Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, one of the most critically acclaimed films of 1983. This was not the first time that the former frontman of Japan and the award-winning composer had collaborated on a hit single, as the double-A sided Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music, which was part of the first solo project undertaken by Sylvian, had been a Top 30 hit in 1982. Forbidden Colours would rise up the charts over the next couple of weeks, peaking at #16.

mp3: The Cure – The Walk (#34)

The eleventh single to be released by The Cure. This was the week it entered the charts, making six in a row to make at least the Top 50. However, The Walk would go on to spend 8 weeks in the charts, and in reaching #12 would give the group its breakthrough into the Top 20.

mp3: Bananarama – Cruel Summer (#36)

There’s no way I’m not including this in the feature. Bananarama were great fun back in 1983, and would remain so for many more years to come. This was another new entry and, during a 10-week stay, would eventually peak at #8.

mp3: Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Everyday I Write The Book (#40)

Having been in the charts earlier in the tear as The Imposter, the release of the first new single off what would be the band’s seventh studio album, took Elvis Costello & The Attractions back into the Top 40 for the first time since High Fidelity in 1980 – four singles in the intervening period had all stalled in the 40s or 50s. This one would be a real slower burner in that it spent 8 weeks in the charts but never got any higher than #28.

Chart dates 10th – 16th July 1983

Rod Stewart and Paul Young continued to bore everyone rigid at the top of the charts. Baby Jane was at #1 for a third successive week, but was poised to lose its place to Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) which was sitting at #2 but would end up itself spending three weeks at the top.

All of those that had come in as new entries the previous week made progress up the chart, joined by a few more excellent 45s.

mp3: Echo & The Bunnymen – Never Stop (#30)

This was the first new release since the success of the album Porcupine, as well as the hit singles taken from it (The Back of Love and The Cutter). Its absence from any future albums sort of makes Never Stop one of the more forgotten 45s from the Bunnymen, but it’s one of my favourites, particularly in its extended 12″ format which was given very regular airings at the Student Union discos. It would rise to #15 the following week, before slowly drifting out of the chart.

mp3: The Lotus Eaters – The First Picture Of You (#36)

The debut single from The Lotus Eaters had been on sale for a few weeks before it reached the Top 40. It had come in at #71, climbed to #42 and now got to #36. The good news would continue as it would rise in each of the next five weeks, which also led to a couple of appearances on Top of The Pops, reaching #15. It would prove to be the only occasion that the group had a Top 40 hit.

Chart dates 17th – 23rd July 1983

mp3: The Creatures – Right Now (#32)

The side-group of Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie was now enjoying a second Top 40 hit in 1983, this time with a cover of a jazz song from the early 60s. There was a brilliantly written review from Paul Colbert in Melody Maker:-

“The Creatures slipped through an unlocked back window, ransacked the place and left with the best ideas in a fast car. Like all the greatest criminal minds they strike without a warning and only they know the plan. We have to piece the clues into a cover story. From the earliest seconds of ‘Right Now’ you know you’re on shifting ground. Siouxsie baba da baping away to the noise of her own fingers clicking until Budgie barges in with congas on speed. Christ which way is this going? The one direction you don’t expect is a vagrant big band coughing out drunken bursts of brass in a Starlight Room of its own making. Budgie and Siouxsie – the Fred and Ginger of the wayward world”.

Right Now would end up spending 10 weeks in the charts, peaking at #14.

Chart dates 24th – 30th July 1983

mp3: Depeche Mode – Everything Counts (#26)

I’m no fan of post-Vince Clarke DM, but it’s only fair to acknowledge the amount of time they’ve been around. Everything Counts might have been 40 years ago, but it was already their seventh Top 30 single, going back to New Life in June 1981. It would eventually reach #6, which matched their previous best chart performance, which had been achieved with See You. I was surprised to learn that only one further DM single would ever get higher in the charts, and that came the following year, when People Are People reached #4.

mp3: Bruce Foxton – Freak (#34)

The bass player of the band formerly known as The Jam finally got his solo career underway. His debut single came in at #34 and after a couple of weeks had climbed to #23, but he never again replicated this success, very much overshadowed by what Paul Weller was achieving with The Style Council. To be honest, Freak isn’t a very good song, and probably owed its success from the loyalty of fans of his former band.

I’ll be back with more of the same in four or so weeks.

JC

Malcolm McLaren

ALL OVER THE WORLD HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS TAKE TO THE ROPES AND TURN THEM SLOW

I was very very very pleasantly surprised with the positive responses to a previous posting, back in June 2017, on a hit single for the ex-manager of the Sex Pistols.

The interesting thing to note is that, in the UK at least, Buffalo Gals wasn’t the biggest hit for Malcolm McLaren – that accolade was taken by Double Dutch, released in July 1983 (some sources claim that it was the follow-up 45 to Buffalo Gals, but there was a minor hit with Soweto (#32) in February 1983.

Double Dutch was one of those tracks which seemed to hang around for ages – it actually spent six successive weeks in the Top 10, ensuring it was on heavy rotation on daytime radio and that the promo video (or at least snippets of it) got aired every other week on Top of the Pops. It actually turns out that there was an actual performance in the TOTP studio on one occasion – something I can’t recall seeing at the time

It certainly did the trick as it climbed to #3 the following week – its peak position in the charts (it was held off the #1 spot by Paul Young and the #2 spot by Freez)

Wiki informs that Double Dutch is all about the skipping game of the same game, one which really took off as a competitive sport in the 70s in the New York area and became associated strongly with hip hop culture as it was gaining momentum beyond the black ghettoes. The lyrics to the Malcolm McLaren single make mention of a number of NYC Double Dutch teams by name, most notably the Ebonettes which is used as a something of a chant within the chorus and who were also credited as being the co-vocalists.

It turns out the Malc wasn’t just appropriating NYC street culture to bag himself millions of record sales. The Boyoyo Boys, from South Africa, took legal action about the similarity with the song 3 Mabone. The info within the 45 claimed the music was ‘traditional’ but had been arranged by McLaren and uber-producer Trevor Horn.

There was seemingly a lengthy legal battle, eventually settled out of court, with an undisclosed payment made to the South African copyright holders but Malc and Trev being able to retain their songwriting credits.

Judge for yourself:-

mp3 : Malcolm McLaren & The Ebonettes – Double Dutch
mp3 : Lulu Masilela & The Boyoyo Boys – 3 Mabone

JC

Malcolm McLaren

INSPIRED BY YESTERDAY’S POSTING

The inspiration was not from Nag Nag Nag but the fact that listening to Sensoria reminded me of The Art of Noise which bizarrely made me think of this Top 10 hit from 1982:-

mp3 : Malcolm McLaren and The World’s Famous Supreme Team – Buffalo Gals

Here’s the story as told elsewhere on t’internet:-

“Buffalo Gals” is a traditional song that dates back to the 1800s, where it was often played at minstrel shows. The “Buffalo” refers to the city of Buffalo, New York, but the lyrics were altered to fit the place where the song was performed. McLaren changed the refrain from “Buffalo gals, won’t you come out tonight” to “Buffalo gals, around the outside.”

McLaren was the manager of The Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow, leading them to the forefront of the British Punk scene. Ever the opportunist, when McLaren heard rap music emerging from the US, he capitalized on the opportunity and released this song, which featured McLaren calling lyrics in a Square Dance style.

This was credited to “Malcolm McLaren And The World’s Famous Supreme Team.” In the 1984 BBC documentary Beat This! – A Hip Hop History, McLaren explains that he was in New York looking for a support act for Bow Wow Wow when he went to an outdoor concert (known as a “Block Party”) by Afrika Bambaataa and Zulu Nation. This is where he was exposed to Hip-Hop for the first time and discovered the scratching technique he would use on this song.

In the liner notes for the LP Duck Rock, McLaren wrote that this track was “recorded with the World’s Famous Supreme Team and Zulu singers backing them up with the words “she’s looking like a hobo.” The performance by the Supreme Team may require some explaining but suffice to say they are DJs from New York City who have developed a technique using record players like instruments, replacing the power chord of the guitar by the needle of a gramophone, moving it manually backwards and forwards across the surface of a record. We call it scratching.”#

This song was groundbreaking because it helped introduce the UK to Hip-Hop culture. Not only did it sound like Hip-Hop (but with a white, British MC), but the video showed breakdancing (courtesy of the Rock Steady Crew) as well as rapping, scratching and graffiti.

It was really the input of Trevor Horn and Anne Dudley that made this bit of music work. The following year they formed The Art of Noise and when I first heard that group’s music I was immediately reminded of what had been done in tandem with Malcolm McLaren. OK, it has dated somewhat and sounds way more gimmicky than it did back in the day, but there was no denying that it was different and that it did act as a gentle introduction to hip-hop for millions of folk living a long way away from its spiritual home.

The b-side of the 7″might well have influenced Kevin Rowland a little bit:-

mp3 : Malcolm McLaren – Buffalo Gals (Trad Square)