The Specials A.K.A – Too Much Too Young

Too Much Too Young

2nd February 1980 for two weeks

As I type this I am hearing Too Much Too Young for the first time.

I swear that I haven’t heard it before, but I must have listened to Kasabian’s version of it on the Radio 1 Established 1967 album which was released in 2007.

There’s a style to this that reminds me a bit of Madness. The song is a live recording which Wikipedia tells me was the first live recording single to reach Number 1 since 1972.

I don’t think I get it. Sure, it’s a bit catchy, but is it a good song? No. Do I want to listen to it again? No.

I don’t get how it ever reached Number 1. Maybe it is of a song of its time. But I wasn’t of that time, so I don’t get it.

2/10

Pretenders – Brass In Pocket

Brass In Pocket

19th January 1980 for two weeks

It’s hard not to like Brass In Pocket. It’s such a happy sounding, catchy song and starts the 1980s with a bang.

Apparently this was The Pretenders’ big single and it was certainly their only Number 1.

I remember this being a Morrisons tune. I worked at Morrisons for five and a half years. They seemed to have CDs with music on which they would play for weeks at a time. Over the years you would hear the same songs again and again and again. Brass In Pocket was one of them. This means I first heard it at some point between 1996 and 2001. And to be a Morrisons song and still be liked means it must be great.

8/10

Thoughts on 1979

Had I been old enough to be aware of the music in 1979 I think I’d have been both impressed and appalled by the Number Ones of the year.

The Number Ones seemed to range from the cheesiest pop to the coolest rock with everything in between. It seemed to be a year when music was massive with several million sellers released and all genres of pop seemed to be thriving. Teenagers would have loved it!

The best songs of the year were probably Cars and Message In A Bottle, although I have a secret love for Bright Eyes and YMCA.

The worst song of the year, by a landslide, is Lena Martell’s One Day At A Time. I cannot understand what happened there.

So that’s the end of the Seventies and on to the Eighties where there are 191 Number Ones to write about…

Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2

15th December 1979 for five weeks

Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) is probably the coolest song to top the charts in 1979. On the face of it its one for the rebels – “We don’t need no education”. Apparently Margaret Thatcher hated the song for this reason. And if she didn’t like it then that suits me! That’s probably why it has sold over a million copies!

The song is amazing, to be fair. The guitars and vocals all sound brilliant and its instantly engaging and you can see why teenagers at the time would have loved it.

I remember reading in the Nineties that the children singing on the record formed a group claim for royalties.

8/10

The Police – Walking On The Moon

walking on the moon

8th December 1979 for one week

This is not one of The Police’s songs that I’m very familiar with. I know I’ve heard it at some point. But have no strong recollection.

I can see why – it’s not one of their best. You wonder how it ever came to be a Number 1 record. It’s probably simply down to people buying it because it was recorded by The Police and it was their next single after Message In A Bottle.

There’s no real tune but lots of nice guitar playing.

2/10

Dr Hook – When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman

17th November 1979 for three weeks

Judging by the single cover picture I doubt that any of these guys were real doctors.

When You’re In Love With a Beautiful Woman is a nice song. It’s so nice that its the sort of song you hear a lot on supermarket tannoys. It was definitely a Morrisons song and I heard it regularly when I worked there.

How does it hold up in 2019. It’s not too bad. I wouldn’t choose to listen to it but then I wouldn’t switch it off if it came on.

5/10

Lena Martell – One Day At A Time

one day at a time

27th October 1979 for three weeks

What the hell is this? I’ve not heard of it ever before two minutes ago. And I hope to God I never do again.

It was Number 1 for three weeks! After some of the classics of the year, what were people thinking in buying this?!

Even Wikipedia can’t be bothered with the Lena Martell version, giving three other versions a higher profile, reducing this version to almost a footnote.

Screenshot_2

1/10

The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star

20th October 1979 for one week

Such a fun pop song – it’s almost impossible to join in!

Oh-wah-oh!

I don’t know much about the background of the song but I like the way that parts of it sound like it has been put together in a garage-type studio by a group of students.

Obviously I didn’t really notice the song until later in life. But I recall hearing that the song was the first song which was played on MTV when it was launched in 1981. It feels like the perfect song.

7/10

The Police – Message In a Bottle

Message In A Bottle

29th September 1979 for three weeks

I think I’d have really loved to have been around when The Police were around. For as long as Sting has been around I’ve generally found him and his music to be a bit of a hippy and a bit naff. But The Police made some brilliant music.

Message In A Bottle is great. A classic pop song which is really catchy – great vocals, great accompaniment and a fun message in the song!

The song still sounds current and holds its own against guitar-based songs that have been released since.

This was apparently The Police’s first of five Number 1s so there are more to come – and better!

8/10

Gary Numan – Cars

Cars

22nd September 1979 for one week

Cars is instantly recognisable. The synth, keyboards and guitar still sound new and fresh today.

Almost like a dance music song of its day, I reckon the song holds its own.

The worst part of it is the vocal. It doesn’t really add anything to the song. Maybe Numan himself agreed as he stops singing half way through and just leaves an instrumental. The song is so much better without him

The song was sampled in Koochy by Armand Van Helden in 2000. I remember buying Koochy on CD, but on reflection Koochy is quite poor really. Again – the vocal is just totally naff. The message is clear – Cars and it’s amazing hook is better on its own without anything spoiling it.

8/10