6th August 1988 for five weeks

I can remember not liking this song when I was younger. I don’t even know why as it is a great song!

The Only Way Is Up is definitely a song that, for me, has improved with age. It’s a fun song and I have hazy recollections of it being fun to dance to in a cheesy nightclub.

The song was at Number 1 for five weeks in 1988. It has occurred to me that I can vividly recall many of these songs that were in the chart over the summer of that year. I was 9 at the time and my brother was 12. This means that he was probably beginning to listen to music more and so it meant that I was being ‘exposed’ to pop music more often. 

8/10

9th July 1988 for four weeks

I can remember hearing this song – we were on holiday in a guest house in 1988. I can vividly remember hearing the song on the radio. It was the same guest house where we watched the movie La Bamba and I can also remember hearing The Loco-Motion by Kylie Mingoue whilst I was there. I can also remember hearing the song Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson which we thought was funny because my mum’s name is Diana.

NGCMLFY is a fabulous pop song. It sounded great when I was a child and I love it just as much in 2023. I am unaware of any other songs released by Glenn Madeiros, so if this was his only song then he excelled himself as it is pop perfection.

10/10

25th June 1988 for two weeks

I can remember absolutely hating Bros. It all seemed a bit weird really – twins and then one of their mates. I don’t think I liked the fact that girls apparently loved them. I can remember starting an I Hate Bros club with a friend. They had previously had a hit with When Will I Be Famous? and I Owe You Nothing became their first and only Number 1.

At the time I hated the records. As I grew older and began to like both of the songs. When Will I Be Famous? was probably the better of the two, but I Owe You Nothing is actually a great song too.

You never hear these songs any more, but that could be because Bros made numpties of themselves on a documentary in 2018.

6/10

18th June 1988 for one week

A bit of a mess of a record, Doctorin’ The Tardis was the work of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, who we’ll meet again as The KLF in a few years.

The song has some catchy elements, but unfortunately they involve a sample of Gary Glitter so we won’t discuss them too much.

Like most of the dance records at the time, Doctorin’ involves sampling various songs, including the theme tune to TV show Doctor Who, who the song celebrates.

The song hasn’t aged well. I think I thought it must have been quite fun when I was younger. As an adult, it’s not.

3/10

21st May 1988 for four weeks

I used to love watching That’s Life on Sunday evenings. Back when I was younger, That’s Life, presented by Esther Rantzen, was a magazine show which used to make my brothers and I laugh as well as teach us some serious stuff too. I can remember that Esther Rantzen launched Childine, a free phone line for children who needed help or someone to talk to. It was launched alongside a record to help raise awareness.

So, yes, another charity record was released. I can remember Wet Wet Wet’s version of With A Little Help From My Friends – I enjoyed it, although listening back to it it their version brings nothing new. It’s just a nice song. I do love Marti  Pellow’s voice though!

I cannot ever recall hearing Billy Bragg and Cara Tivey’s She’s Leaving Home until just now. And I hope that I never hear it again. Both songs were released side by side as a double A-side. WALHFLF was clearly the one that was pushed to the radio stations as I can remember hearing it a lot.

This is not the last we’ll hear of Wet Wet Wet, nor of With A Little Help From My Friends…

5/10

14th May 1988 for one week

I can clearly remember hearing Perfect on the TV when I was a child. I remember quite liking the song.

I think I like the song less now than I used to. Probably because it was used in an advert that was used constantly, back in the days when you couldn’t skip adverts. I can’t remember what it advertised, but whatever it was meant that the song was overused and lost its appeal.

These days you never hear this song played anywhere. Shame, as it deserved better.

*Having said this, I’ve come back to edit the post before it goes live as I literally heard the song being played in Morrisons yesterday and noticed a few people singing along to it! Maybe there’s more affection for the song than I thought!

5/10

30th April 1988 for two weeks

I was completely unaware of this song until 1996 when the Theme From S’Express – The Return Trip reached Number 14. I was hugely into dance music time so went out of my way to buy dance singles as they were released. I loved the remix.

It was at this point, as the original version was a track on the CD that I finally heard it. It’s just a good song. 1980s hits seemed to enjoy sampling lots of other records and this was no exception. It is a great song, but, if I’m honest, I preferred the remix in 1996.

6/10

9th April 1988 for three weeks

Heart is not one of the better Pet Shop Boys songs. I don’t think I have heard it in decades.

It is pretty average compared to some of their songs.

2/10

26th March 1988 for two weeks

I can remember this song clearly when I was a child but have no specific memories of it. I didn’t know that Aswad’s version was a cover version. I can remember a few years later Ace Of Bass released a version of it. I liked them both.

It’s a nice song but it’s fairly average really. I don’t think it’s aged well.

4/10

20th February 1988 for five weeks

I have vivid memories of hearing I Should Be So Lucky for the first time when I was in my godfather’s pub and the song came on the radio. My mum said that this was the song from Charlene from Neighbours.

I Should Be So Lucky was a fabulous pop song that launched Kylie Minogue as a megastar. Our family were huge Neighbours fans and watched the show pretty much from when it first came out. Charlene was one of our favourite characters.

ISBSL reached Number 1 after being on sale for a few weeks, and then stayed there for five weeks! The song was everywhere. I can remember literally hearing it everywhere. Friends at school sang it. It was on the radio, the TV and played in shops. Everywhere.

Kylie began to dominate the charts. We will definitely meet her again on this blog, in 1989, but between now and then she will have three Number 2 hits – Got To Be Certain, The Loco-motion and Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi. I can remember them all. I can remember being on holiday when The Loco-motion was a big hit.

ISBSL was a sign that the Stock Aitken and Waterman producing team was beginning to get into their stride. They had enjoyed four Number Ones previously – You Spin Me Round, Respectable, Let It Be (this god-awful charity record shouldn’t really count as they didn’t write it) and Never Gonna Give You Up. I Should Be So Lucky would be their only one of 1988. They were really just warming up for a prolific 1989.

I Should Be So Lucky continues to sound great, but perhaps hasn’t aged as well as some of her other hits.

9/10