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May 11 2011

Why films on TV in their original widescreen ratio is good for you

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Jason Maloney reviews

Survivor: Greatest Hits Rising up to the top, Eye Of The Tiger gave 80s AOR legends Survivor their sole UK #1. Taken from the third Rocky film (sensibly titled Rocky III), it wasted no time in climbing up the chart; from its #21 debut, the single moved up to #6 and then #2 before easing its way past outgoing champ Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners. Survivor were US Billboard Hot 100 regulars throughout the decade, but rarely made an impact on this side of the pond. Their only other chart entry was again tied in with the Rocky franchise; Burning Heart (from Rocky IV) hit #4 in early 1986. Come On Eileen, the biggest Transatlantic smash of 1982, finally yielded its crown after a four-week reign. Officially credited to Dexy's Midnight Runners with The Emerald Express, the track which ushered in the most successful phase of the band was in fact the second release since frontman Kevin Rowland swapped bobble-hats and Northern Soul for dungarees and fiddles. The Celtic Soul Brothers single which preceded Eileen had fallen short of the Top 40 in March 1982 (although a later reissue in 1983 saw it finally make #20) but Come On Eileen was an instant success, reaching the Top 10 a week after entering the chart and hitting the very top a mere 14 days after that.

Toto Coelo: I Eat Cannibals Duran Duran would have to wait until April 1983 for the first UK #1, but Save A Prayer (up from #5 to #3 on the chart of 22 years ago) came mighty close to landing them a chart-topping single much sooner. Soft Cell, on the other hand, had seen their best days of chart action and What (down a notch from its peak of #3 to #4) would be their last acquaintance with the UK Top 3. Their next four singles made #21, #25, #16 and #24 before the duo split, only reforming some 18 years later. The early Eighties phenomenon that was Fame (the film, the TV series, the soundtrack) continued to exert a hold over the public; Irene Cara's title theme - #1 for 3 weeks in July - was still in the Top 10, dropping down from #6, while the small-screen spin-off series gave us the Kids From Fame. Hi-Fidelity, moving #7-#5, was the first of their three Top 20 hits. Daft band names were all the rage; Toto Coelo (I Eat Cannibals up to #8), Haircut 100 (Nobody's Fool at #9), Haysi Fantayzee (John Wayne Is Big Leggy stuck at #11) and Yazoo (tumbling 14 places to #22 with Don't Go) were all vying for the" silliest moniker" award.

The Very Best of Talk Talk The seriously-named Sting and Shakin' Stevens, meanwhile, both moved into the Top 20 with their latest singles. Spread A Little Happiness (up 12 places to #18), taken from the film Brimstone & Treacle, was the Police man's first solo outing but it would be three more years before Sting - by then freed of all band duties having dissolved The Police in 1984 - ventured out again on his own. Shaky had become a virtual shoe-in for the UK Top 10 with every release, but Give Me Your Heart Tonight was one of the very few that fell short; despite it's climb of 16 places to #12 it would fail to progress beyond #11. There was disappointment for Gary Numan, too. White Boys & Heroes, the first single from September 1982's I Assassin album, had come to a standstill at #20, Numan's lowest charting hit since his Top 40 breakthrough with Are 'Friends' Electric? in 1979. EMI's latest New Romantic hopes, Talk Talk, were finally in the Top 20 with Today after 5 weeks of loitering around the bottom end of the chart, its 11-place leap from #26 taking it to within a place of its eventual high of #14. Walking On Sunshine by Rocker's Revenge and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's The Message simultaneously put Hip-Hop on the chart map, the singles climbing 19-7 and 32-19 respectively. Following up a surprise #1 can be a tricky business, as former Damned bassist Captain Sensible discovered when, after Happy Talk's chart-topping achievements, Wot (up 2 to #29) came to grief in the mid-20s. It was a busy week for newcomers, with 9 in total, and the highest of them was Private Investigations by Dire Straits at #13. An unlikely hit single, the heavily atmospheric and largely instrumental track went on to reach the giddy heights of #2. At #28, the fourth single from ABC's UK #1 debut album The Lexicon Of Love arrived on the chart. All Of My Heart came hot on the heels of The Look Of Love (#4) and Poison Arrow (#6), and soon emulated their Top 10 success.

UB40: UB44 Depeche Mode were in a state of transition, original leader/songwriter Vince Clarke having departed to form Yazoo with Alison "Alf" Moyet at the end of 1981 and multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder yet to come on board. The three-piece Depeche Mode recorded A Broken Frame, from which Leave In Silence (in at #33) was the third single to be released, after See You (#6) and The Meaning Of Love (#12). Leave In Silence was arguably the first DM release to hint at the darker style the band would persue thereafter. 1982 was a watershed year for UB40 as well, their UB44 album proving a commercial failure after two similarily self-penned sets had marked them out as one of Britain's finest new bands. So Here I Am, new at #36, was another single from UB44 to underperform, and the next time UB40 appeared it would be with Labour Of Love, a collection of smartly-chosen and supremely-crafted cover versions. The success of that album not only turned their fortunes around but profoundly affected the perception of UB40. They would continue to have the odd hit with their own material, but their greatest success tended to be through interpretations of others' songs.

Retrospectacle: The Best of Thomas Dolby Sneaking in at #37 was Windpower, the debut entry from Thomas Dolby. Previous singles such as Europa & The Pirate Twins and Urges created a buzz but themselves fell short of the main 40. Windpower eventually reached a creditable #31, to be followed by a Top 5 US smash She Blinded Me With Science, Dolby's defining moment as a recording artist but, despite two bites at the cherry, never a UK Top 40 hit. Also arriving on the chart were the funky likes of Shalamar's There It Is at #34, Eveyln King's Love Come Down at #39 and Why, the Nile Rogers-produced classic from a rejuvenated Carly Simon at #40.

Page Content copyright © Jason Maloney, 2004.

The following is a list of Jason's Jukeboxes online for week ending:

Vol.40: The 40 Best Singles That Missed The UK Top 40 (20/12/2004)
Vol.39: November 12th 1977 (12/11/2004)
Vol.38: October 29th 1984 (29/10/2004)
Vol.37: October 15th 1987 (15/10/2004)
Vol.36: October 6th 1973 (08/10/2004)
Vol.35: September 30th 1995 (30/09/2004)
Vol.34: September 22nd 1979 (24/09/2004)
Vol.33: September 13th 1986 (16/09/2004)
Vol.32: September 9th 1989 (09/09/2004)
Vol.31: September 4th 1982 (02/09/2004)
Vol.30: August 26th 1978 (26/08/2004)
Vol.29: August 21st 1976 (19/08/2004)
Vol.28: August 13th 1983 (12/08/2004)
Vol.27: August 3rd 1985 (06/08/2004)
Vol.26: July 25th 1981 (29/07/2004)
Vol.25: July 21st 1979 (22/07/2004)
Vol.24: July 4th 1992 (08/07/2004)
Vol.23: June 24th 1965 (01/07/2004)
Vol.22: June 16th 1984 (17/06/2004)
Vol.21: June 11th 1977 (10/06/2004)
Vol.20: June 8th 1967 (03/06/2004)
Vol.19: May 29th 1971 (27/05/2004)
Vol.18: May 18th 1991 (20/05/2004)
Vol.17: May 14th 1969 (13/05/2004)
Vol.16: May 8th 1982 (06/05/2004)
Vol.15: May 3rd 1980 (29/04/2004)
Vol.14: April 19th 1986 (20/04/2004)
Vol.13: April 14th 1990 (13/04/2004)
Vol.12: April 8th 1989 (08/04/2004)
Vol.11: April 2nd 1983 (06/04/2004)
Vol.10: March 24th 1979 (23/03/2004)
Vol.9: March 19th 1988 (16/03/2004)
Vol.8: March 9th 1985 (09/03/2004)
Vol.7: March 3rd 1973 (02/03/2004)
Vol.6: February 28th 1987 (24/02/2004)
Vol.5: February 20th 1993 (17/02/2004)
Vol.4: February 11th 1978 (10/02/2004)
Vol.3: February 3rd 1966 (03/02/2004)
Vol.2: January 31st 1981 (27/01/2004)
Vol.1: January 21st 1984 (20/01/2004)

And in chronological order:

June 24th 1965: Vol.23 (01/07/2004)
February 3rd 1966: Vol.3 (03/02/2004)
June 8th 1967: Vol.20 (03/06/2004)
May 14th 1969: Vol.17 (13/05/2004)
May 29th 1971: Vol.19 (27/05/2004)
March 3rd 1973: Vol.7 (02/03/2004)
August 21st 1976: Vol.29 (19/08/2004)
June 11th 1977: Vol.21 (10/06/2004)
November 12th 1977: Vol.39 (12/11/2004)
February 11th 1978: Vol.4 (10/02/2004)
August 26th 1978: Vol.30 (26/08/2004)
March 24th 1979: Vol.10 (23/03/2004)
July 21st 1979: Vol.25 (22/07/2004)
September 22nd 1979: Vol.34 (24/09/2004)
May 3rd 1980: Vol.15 (29/04/2004)
January 31st 1981: Vol.2 (27/01/2004)
July 25th 1981: Vol.26 (29/07/2004)
May 8th 1982: Vol.16 (06/05/2004)
September 4th 1982: Vol.31 (02/09/2004)
April 2nd 1983: Vol.11 (06/04/2004)
August 13th 1983: Vol.28 (12/08/2004)
January 21st 1984: Vol.1 (20/01/2004)
June 16th 1984: Vol.22 (17/06/2004)
October 29th 1984: Vol.38 (29/10/2004)
March 9th 1985: Vol.8 (09/03/2004)
August 3rd 1985: Vol.27 (06/08/2004)
April 19th 1986: Vol.14 (20/04/2004)
September 13th 1986: Vol.33 (16/09/2004)
February 28th 1987: Vol.6 (24/02/2004)
October 15th 1987: Vol.37 (15/10/2004)
March 19th 1988: Vol.9 (16/03/2004)
April 8th 1989: Vol.12 (08/04/2004)
September 9th 1989: Vol.32 (09/09/2004)
April 14th 1990: Vol.13 (13/04/2004)
May 18th 1991: Vol.18 (20/05/2004)
July 4th 1992: Vol.24 (08/07/2004)
February 20th 1993: Vol.5 (17/02/2004)
September 30th 1995: Vol.35 (30/09/2004)
The 40 Best Singles That Missed The UK Top 40: Vol.40 (20/12/2004)

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: