MUSIC
In 1979 the
Ska revival dominated the charts thanks to bands like The
Specials and Madness, who had hits with 'A Message To You
Rudy' and 'One Step Beyond'.
Jerry Dammers, a member of The Special A.K.A., founded the influential British
record label known as 2Tone this year. Other bands
like Bad Manners, The Beat and Selecter emerged to
consolidate the Ska movement. Another revival also proved
popular this year as 1979 saw the re-emergence of the
Mod. Bands like Secret Affair and the Merton Parkas had
their brief moment in the chart spotlight.
| On
Jan 6th the UK had a
brand new number one record. The group in
question were The Village
People, six men dressed as a GI,
Biker, Cop, Construction Worker, Cowboy and Red
Indian. "YMCA" was a
fine anthem extolling the virtues of the Young
Men's Christian Association, with absolutely no
camp sexual overtones whatever. It
shot to the top of the pops and spent 3-weeks
there. Follow up hits 'In The
Navy' and 'Go West' also became party classics. |
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Ian Dury and the Blockheads eventually
replaced the group. Their song
"Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" remained seated
for just one week however, due to the second hit by the
latest UK chart sensations. The act in question was
Blondie, featuring the gorgeous Debbie Harry on vocals.
"Heart Of Glass" gave them their first taste of
the UK chart highlife in the shape of a 4-week residency
at number one. The track was eventually displaced by
another disco anthem. "Tragedy" from the Bee
Gees remained at the top for a fortnight before
being ousted by Gloria Gaynor. Her karaoke anthem for the
broken hearted titled "I Will Survive" went on
to survive 4-weeks on the throne.
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Elvis Costello entered
the chart on Feb 10th
with his song "Oliver's Army". A week
later Scottish group the Skids charted with
"Into the Valley" and rose to number
10. March 10th saw the
chart debut of Dire Straits and their
"Sultans Of Swing", which secured a
number 8 hit for them. Supertramp charted on
March 31st with
"The Logical Song", the track was taken
from their best-selling "Breakfast in
America" LP. The song made it to number 7. |
Art Garfunkel returned to the
top of the UK chart on April 14th. The song was taken
from the hugely successful cartoon film "Watership
Down". "Bright Eyes" lasted for 6 weeks at
the top before being removed by Debbie Harry and her
mates. Blondie's "Sunday Girl" became
their second successive UK chart topper. Three weeks
later another American female secured her place in chart
history. One hit wonder Anita Ward lasted at the top of
the pile for a fortnight with "Ring My Bell".
Her short reign ended on June 30th.
Another new act arrived on the scene and took the UK
music scene by storm. "Are 'Friends' Electric"
was the debut song from an outfit called Tubeway Army.
Gary Numan's synthesizer classic stayed the top for a
month.
Away
from the top and M, fronted by Robin Scott, charted on
April 2nd. "Pop Muzik"
eventually rose to number 2. The novelty song of the year
was supplied by Quantum Jump. "The Lone Ranger"
galloped up to fifth place after entering on June 2nd.
Also in June The Beach Boys experienced a chart revival
with the exquisite "Lady Lynda". The song
eventually reached the sixth spot. Dave Edmunds also
resurfaced on the chart and took the Elvis Costello song
"Girls Talk" to fourth place. That month also
saw the UK chart debut of The Knack. "My
Sharona" rose to a healthy sixth position but did a
lot better across the water.
The
next Number one was based on one of the biggest news
stories of the time. A 16-year-old Californian student
shot some of her classmates at school with her father's
gun. When asked why she did it, she uttered the immortal
words "I Don't Like Monday's ". This became the
title of the biggest hit song that the Boomtown Rats ever
had and it remained on top for 4-weeks. Bob and co were
finally ousted by a chart veteran. It had been over a
decade since Cliff Richard had his last number one
record. However, with a little help from a classic
song, The Peter Pan of Pop revived his chart career with
"We Don't Talk Any More". Cliff lasted at the
top for a month ensuring that he equalled Elvis Presley's
record of securing UK number one hits in 3 different
decades.
He
was eventually replaced by Gary Numan who was enjoying
his second consecutive chart topper. "Cars"
only reigned supreme for a week before The Police arrived
to take over. "Message in a Bottle" was
their third UK hit. The record remained on top for
3-weeks commencing September 29th.
Some
more minor hits from this period included another chart
veteran. Johnny Mathis took "Gone, Gone, Gone" to number 15 on the UK chart after entering on August 11th.
B. A. Robertson made his chart debut on July 28th
with the song "Bang Bang". Brian Alexander
secured an eventual number 2 placing. The very same week
that he entered, the Specials made their debut with
"Gangsters". The track made it to number
6 and heralded in the 2-tone sound that was to become a
major feature of the early '80's music scene.
There
were two different songs on the chart with the same title
during this period. Abba were the first to secure a hit
on July 14th with "Angel
Eyes". Roxy Music followed them on August 11th.
The songs peaked at numbers 3 and 4 respectively. Abba's
offering was actually a double A-side, "Voulez
-vous" being the other track!
Joe
Jackson was another chart debutant on August 4th.
The superb "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"
peaked at number 13. The unfortunately named Randy
Vanwarmer began his sole UK chart outing on the same day
with "Just When I Needed You Most". In
September Madness arrived to rival the Specials
with their own nutty version of the 2 - tone brand of
music. Their debut offering "The Prince" peaked
at number 16. This month witnessed the UK chart debut of
Sad Cafe with their own weepy "Everyday Hurts",
an eventual number 3 hit. Swindon's finest XTC peaked at
11th place with "Making
Plans For Nigel".
The
curiously named Buggles arrived to dislodge the Police on
October 20th "Video Killed
the Radio Star" only managed one week on top despite
remaining a classic until today. Trevor Horn and co were
removed from grace by Lena Martell. Her version of
Kris Kristofferson's "One Day at a Time"
reigned supreme at the top of the UK chart for three
weeks. Dr. Hook also spent 3-weeks at the top of the pile
with the memorable "When You're in Love With a
Beautiful Woman" before being ousted by the
Police. The chart champs managed to stay there for
a week with "Walking on the Moon" before being
replaced by the final number one of this decade. Pink
Floyd had originally made their name during the flower
power era of the sixties before becoming an
"album" group in the early seventies.
"Another Brick in the Wall" commenced its
5-weeks run at the top on December 15th.
Away
from the top and November saw the Jam secure their
first top ten hit. "Eton Rifles" was the
bands ninth hit and it eventually reached number 3.
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