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With their seventh chart hit Ghost Town, The Specials (or The Special A.K.A.
as they were sometimes billed) had reached the summit at the beginning of
the month and now continued to keep the likes of Starsound, Bad Manners and
Imagination off the #1 spot. Ghost Town was unquestionably the collective's
finest moment, but within 6 months lead singer Terry Hall had left to form The
Fun Boy Three and remaining members enjoyed limited success over the next three
years (the #9 hit Nelson Mandela notwithstanding) until 1984's sadly ignored
In The Studio album signalled the end.
Dutch medleyists Starsound had already notched up an unlikely #2 smash in
April 1981 with the Beatles-heavy Stars On 45, before repeating the trick with
an ABBA-influenced Stars On 45 Volume 2, a non-mover at #2 on the Top 40 of 23
years ago. The craze for this sort of thing reached even greater heights
shortly after; the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra (in at #33) would hit #2 with
Hooked On Classics while acts such as Lobo, Startrax and Gidea Park all cashed
in with varying degrees of success.
Bad Manners: Anthology
Bad Manners, fronted by Buster Bloodvessel, remained at #3 for a fourth
consecutive week with Can Can. It was the sixth hit of their chart career, and
equalled the peak position achieved by Special Brew the previous year. Body Talk
by Imagination dropped a notch to #5, making way for Spandau Ballet's Chant
No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) which soared 14 places from #18 to land
them their highest chart return so far.
The rest of the Top 10 was a strange mixture of Heavy Metal (Motorhead
sticking at #6 with the Motorhead Live EP), classic Pop (ABBA's
Lay All Your Love On Me moving #17-7) as well as Tom Tom Club's
Wordy Rappinghood at #8 and Dancing On The Floor by Third World
climbing 2 places to #10.
Inbetween the latter two records was the week's highest
debutant; Happy Birthday - in at #9 - was Stevie Wonder's fourth Top 10
success in a row, following Masterblaster (Jammin'), I Ain't Gonna Stand For It
and Lately. The song was dedicated to the assassinated Martin Luther King,
whose birthday would subsequently become a national holiday in America.
Kate Bush: The Whole Story
Bob Marley, whose song Jamming inspired Masterblaster, had died of cancer in
May 1981. A live recording of his 1975 single No Woman No Cry entered the Top
40 a month later, going on to reach #8 in early July. Now it fell back to
#12. One place above, Kate Bush moved up from #15 with the madcap Sat In Your Lap.
1980's Never For Ever set had seen her become the first British solo
female artist to score a chart-topping album, yielding a trio of Top 20 hits in
the process. These were followed by the non-album seasonal release December
Will Be Magic Again, which only made #29. Sat In Your Lap was another brand-new
recording, but was included on Bush's September 1982 commercially-disastrous
album The Dreaming which failed to produce another Top 40 entry with either
the title track or There Goes A Tenner.
Shakin Stevens: Greatest Hits
Also making gains this week were Sheena Easton's Bond theme For Your Eyes
Only (up from #21 to #16), Saxon's Never Surrender (up 8 from #26), Walk Right
Now by the Jacksons (climbing 10 to #20), Dexy's Midnight Runners' Show Me
(moving #33-23) and Take It On The Run by REO Speedwagon (up 6 to #28). The
first-ever hit single for Depeche Mode, New Life, was continuing to ascend the
Top 40 as well, rising another 4 places to #15, but after the Top 10 exploits
of Fade To Grey, Visage's eponymous follow-up was stuck at a modest #25.
Further down at #36 were Kraftwerk - the influence on so many synth outfits of the
early 80s. Computer Love, from their first album in over three years
Computer World, was joined by The Model (a track from 1978's The Man Machine) - as a
double-A sided release. At the start of 1982, the single would return to the
Top 40 in dramatic fashion; The Model was picked up by radio stations, given
top billing, and went all the way to #1. Green Door by Shakin' Stevens, new
at #22, took rather less time to hit the top. A mere 7 days in fact.
(Ralph Dring says: Boog-a-loo)
Last but not least, the Top 40 of July 25th 1981 saw the arrival of Duran
Duran's Girls On Film at #29. It only went as high as #5, but it began a
sequence of 10 consecutive UK Top 10 hits, including a brace of Number Ones, that
lasted until 1987's Skin Trade made #22.
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Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
