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
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 