Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Don't you want me, baby?
Forty years ago, this week, we certainly did because Britain had just received its Christmas Number One for 1981, thanks to the Human League's song of that name, which had hit the top spot by seeing-off the humongous challenge of Cliff Richard's Daddy's Home.
This was, of course, a near-miracle, as Cliff is virtually the living embodiment of Christmas.
Not that we knew, right then, that the League were going to be the Christmas Number One, as it was only the second week of the month, and we weren't psychic.
Over on the British album chart, it was less-precise fare which held sway, as Chart Hits '81 by my favourite act of all time - Various Artists - hit the top of the charts.
Various Artists have had so many hit albums. Why does no one ever talk about them when discussing the greatest bands of all time? Have Various Artists been labouring in vain for all these decades?
And what about Trad? He's written so many famous songs and yet he's all but forgotten!
As for the singles chart, these are the tracks I approved of on that week's Top 75:
Bedsitter - Soft Cell
It Must Be Love - Madness
Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie
Cambodia - Kim Wilde
I Go to Sleep - The Pretenders
The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum) - Fun Boy Three
The Voice - Ultravox
The Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz
Joan of Arc - Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark
Never in A Million Years - The Boomtown Rats
Labelled with Love - Squeeze
Waiting on A Friend - The Rolling Stones
and
A Good Year for The Roses - Elvis Costello.
If you wish to pursue matters further, that week's UK singles chart can be found here:
while that week's album chart resides here:
From what? I cannot even venture to guess.
If he does, though, surely it can only help him in his quest to get the law enforcement agencies off his back.
It seems we can also win Kodak instant cameras, which is exciting.
Now what's a man without fear supposed to do?
Not only has Foggy suddenly gone blind, so has half of New York!
It's all the fault of the Smasher, and Daredevil enlists a group of blind folks to help him thwart the villain.
Elsewhere, Thor's confronting Loki, as the god of mischief goes on about Ragnarok and what it'll involve.
And, on Earth, Cap's still up against the wheelchair-bound menace of Deathwatcher.
Loved that Stones album Tattoo You! Glad to see we'll be seeing it mentioned for at least several more months? (My first Stones concert was for Tattoo You, so I am partial!)
ReplyDeleteGents - my PC has been a bit of a dog lately. So, following a recommendation I cleared out the cookies cache. But honestly, I don't see w.t.h. eating my two boxes of chocolate chip cookies is going to do for my PC. Help?
Charlie, what browser are you using?
ReplyDeleteSteve - I am using Chrome.
ReplyDeleteI got a massive sugar high off the cookies... wow...
Charlie, press ctrl+H then click, "Clear browsing data."
ReplyDeleteThen change, "Last hour," to, "All time."
Then press, "Clear data."
Thanks amigo!
DeleteSteve, some classics from that 1981 singles chart you didn't mention:
ReplyDeleteOne Of Us - ABBA
Dead Ringer For Love - Meatloaf
I'll Find My Way Home - Jon & Vangelis
I Could Be Happy - Altered Images...
...and how could you ignore The Birdie Song by The Tweets???
I Wanna Be A Winner by Brown Sauce (at #75) was actually the gang from
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.
I've just been watching 'I Wanna Be A Winner' on YouTube and it's Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin on vocals with Noel Edmonds in the background. The song is actually rather catchy!
ReplyDeleteCharlie, you should clear your browsing data on Chrome every time you use it - that's what I do.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Charlie.
ReplyDeleteColin, I have a feeling that Brown Sauce record was written for them by BA Robertson.
Great selection of singles there, again I can't believe that it was 40 years ago I bought so e of these in Woolies and my local record shop ( both now long gone) seems more like 15 years tops, scary.
ReplyDeleteSteve , yep B A Robinson wrote that song seemingly with Noel Edmunds. I had totally forgotten about it until Colin mentioned it and I watched the video, I suspect they may not have played those instruments 😁
My favourite B.A. Robertson song was his Shakespeare homage 'To Be Or Not To Be' which I've just watched on YouTube. The lyrics are hilarious but the best line has to be:
ReplyDeleteWho cares if Will dressed his guys as chicks.
At #7 on this week's album chart in 1981 was 'The Best Of Blondie' which was the first album I ever bought!
Other than Sheffield's finest, and Soft Cell I can't say those singles really do much for me Steve.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly Kim Wilde's 'Cambodia' was an attempt to show she was a serious artist who could do songs about issues, so I checked it out. Its not much of a commentary on the American bombing at all, let alone a protest about Thatcher sending military aid to the Khmer Rouge - what a delightful person she was, eh? - and it sounds terrible.
And as for 'Land Of Make Believe' by Bucks Fizz... the lyrics might have been by the same fella as King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man' - you can see the similarity - but that doesn't make it any good.
Looking at the single chart, I was surprised to see Bowie's version of 'Wild Is The Wind'. I didn't remember that being a hit - years after 'Station To Station' - at all.
It made a bit more sense when I saw 'Changestwobowie' in the album chart. Presumably his management wanted to keep him in the public consciousness after the comeback hits from 'Scary Monsters', so put out a compilation and an oldie while waiting for more new stuff. People have forgotten Bowie was a bit of a has-been in the late 70s - 'Heroes' might be popular now, but it wasn't even included on 'Changestwo...'
-sean
On the subject of Boris Johnson's troubles (which admittedly nobody has actually mentioned) - I'm currently reading the latest issue of 'Fortean Times' and every issue for the last couple of years has featured a full-page ad for a Boris toilet brush and toilet paper. Apologies for lowering the tone of the blog but this ad makes me chuckle every time I see it. "Have fun making him do a U-turn by showing him down the bend" it says (I assume it means SHOVING him down the bend). Phillip reads FT too so he knows what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteGents - as I toil away today, I am going to try to listen to those hits I can't recall by memory.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is that Cambodia sure starts out like a very well known Abba song? You folks are way more familiar with Abba than me... help me out here! Which Abba song?
I'm wondering if Comedians play a much larger role in your culture than in the USA?
- You mentioned songs by comedians being in the charts.
- We had the question about your favorite comedy show a week ago and one of us (b.t.?) said we would not even be able to come up with a comparable question here b/c we had very few comedy skit-based shows (Carol Burnett being the obvious one).
- I listen to your venerable Talk Sport show here, they near-daily have an interview with a comedian it seems.
I think here in Chicago-land, with around 10 MM folks, there are only 2-3 comedy clubs? I've actually never been. You guys ever been?
As for the comics this week, what can you say?
ReplyDeleteEven by Marvel UK standards those are terrible covers. Who ever signed off on that Captain America cover - the drawing is bad enough, but yellow word balloons and a bright green background? - should have been fired.
-sean
Sean - when you mentioned "Captain America" I thought my old-timers was kicking in again, lol. I had to go back to realize it was a Daredevil cover.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes me wonder why the heck Marvel UK just didn't name the mag something like "Marvel Feature" or "Marvel Anthology" or such?
Obviously you guys would know better than us but did you ever buy the mag for the "Cap America" title per se or was it the cover and innards? I.e., calling it Marvel Feature would not have hurt sales?
Sean, I mentioned Boris Johnson's problems but you only care about a Captain America cover from 40 years ago??
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I've just listened to Kim Wilde's Cambodia and the ABBA song you're thinking of might be S.O.S.
ReplyDeleteColin - I've never ordered Bojo bog roll from FT. However, some years ago, I did send two or three letters in, on different topics. One was a photo of the 'Green Chapel', for Simulacra Corner (unsuccessful, as photo not distinct enough). Another was a photo of a jellyfish cloud (I think this was unsuccessful, too). Thirdly - unless my memory's playing tricks on me - FT was doing something about historical figures who were buried standing upright, so I wrote a letter in about one such case. One of these attempts got me a Fortean Times notepad, & a copy of the book, 'Left At East Gate', about Rendlesham. Sending a letter in to a (now defunct) aircraft magazine ('Jets'), I once won a big bottle of whisky!
ReplyDeleteI liked 'Land of Make Believe'. Then again, M.P. & myself were younger at the time than everyone else, except Dave, so maybe the lyrics still meant something.
I cannot say anything in defense of Captain America's cover. Any Marvelite, for whom that was their first ever comic, would assume that Captain America is Daredevil.
Incidentally, like Daredevil, Elric led a squad of blind warriors, in 'Elric of Melibone', as Yrkoon's mirror machine couldn't affect them.
I'll get my coat...
Phillip
Phil, I've had two letters printed in 'Radio Times' - the first in 1984 when I was just 18 and the second in 2014. I've only written to RT three times in total so getting two letters printed is a 66% success rate. Either they think my letters are absolutely magnificent and MUST be printed or they don't get many letters and they'll print any old crap :D
ReplyDeleteI also had a letter printed in SFX magazine and a few years ago Radio 4 had a special programme all about the NHS and they read out a text I sent to the programme!!
Colin - With your 66% & my 33%, if we had written a joint letter, it would have been 100% - a dead cert! To be honest, I kind of thought Fortean Times was just sending me the FT notepad & book out of sympathy!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Colin, unlike some people I try to stay on topic here (;
ReplyDeleteBut since you asked, the thing that really makes me laugh about the current controversy is that the police are claiming they don't have enough evidence to do anything about this party in Downing Street.
I mean, come on - its Downing Street!
The cops would have been doing the door at any party!
-sean
Charlie, I can't speak for others but I never bought the UK Captain America comic. Until a few months ago, I never even knew it had existed.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Steve.
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand the commercial logic behind doing a Captain America comic, let alone then putting Daredevil on the cover. Especially as DD was often on the cover of Marvel Super Adventure which they only just cancelled a bit over a month ago!
-sean
Elton John & Ed Sheeran's 'Merry Christmas' is the new #1 on both the official singles/streaming chart and the physical singles chart. And good news for Charlie - the official Top 100 contains entries for Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Perry Como.
ReplyDeleteThe physical singles chart is mostly very different from the official singles chart. ABBA's Christmas song 'Little Things' only makes #61 on the official chart but #2 on the physical singles chart! And the physical chart contains such songs as 'Yuletide Throwdown' by Blondie and 'Run Rudolph Run' by Keith Richards. I've never heard either of them but I'm off to YouTube for a listen.
ReplyDeleteSo I've listened to both those songs - the Keith Richards one was OK but the Blondie one was dreadful because it mostly featured some godawful rapper droning on with Debbie Harry reduced to a backing singer.
ReplyDeleteColin, what is the appeal of Ed Sheeran, exactly?
ReplyDeleteIs it because he looks like a muppet from Sesame Street?
He reminds me of one of these guys who seem all sweet and gentle and then the cops find a shitload of corpses buried under the cement in his basement.
Something doesn't add up with Ed. If I was Scotland Yard, I would be keeping a close eye on his house.
At some point they're gonna find him in the act of skinning a groupie alive with that mindless grin on his face.
On another note, Nat King Cole's rendition of O Holy Night always gives me goose bumps, and I ain't even religious. Nobody sounds like that guy.
And, finally, on a lighter side, I gotta listen to the Grich song and Heat Mizer/Cold Mizer on the U-tubes at least a couple times before Christmas. The holiday must be observed.
M.P.
That CAPTAIN DAREDEVIL cover is seriously one of the most eye-searing, wretchedly colored covers on a Marvel UK EVER — and that’s a pretty high bar to clear!
ReplyDeleteb.t.
People who want to stay 'on topic', avert your eyes!
ReplyDeleteScott Edelman's just posted an interview with Bob Budiansky. Interesting info about early Captain Britain; plus, Ghost Rider, the bullpen, & other things, too. Great stuff!
http://www.scottedelman.com/2021/12/10/bob-budiansky/
Phillip
MP, it's funny you call Ed Sheeran "a muppet from Sesame Street" because I was reading some of the YouTube comments on the 'Merry Christmas' video and somebody called Ed Sheeran a "ginger muppet" who has teamed up with "that old queen" in a bid to stay relevant. I'm not sure if the comment was meant to be a joke or not!
ReplyDeleteFascinating fact: I share a birthday with Ed Sheeran (February 17th) but in a different year obviously!
Colin I share a birthday (day and month only) with Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) Graham Norton and the late Heath Ledger pretty cool crowd..... and Graham Norton .
ReplyDeleteAh, now I know when your birthday is Paul. I also share a birthday with Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paris Hilton.
ReplyDeleteSteve - Do you get a warm feeling all over knowing the home team (Human League) was # 1 40 years ago?
ReplyDeleteCharlie was born on the 4th of July.
ReplyDeleteAs the other great Charlie said, "I am France!" so this Charlie says,
"I am America!"
How in the heck did Kim Wilde's Cambodia not get hit with a copyright infringement suit from Abba (S.O.S.)???
ReplyDeleteIf it was not plagiarizing, well I don't know what is!
UK Gents - just a naïve question, of which I have many, lol.
ReplyDeleteWas there a bit of magic to you guys if something was labeled 'America" as in the Captain America logo?
I know I was a bit attracted to Spitfire, etc. in the Invaders to them being British.
Thanks!
Charlie America
Charlie - Only with CA # 215 & it wasn't the word, but the symbols!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Thanks for that Bob Budiansky link, Phillip.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I don't get a warm feeling now but it was certainly exciting at the time to see a Sheffield act at Number One. I think it was the first time I'd ever experienced it, as Joe Cocker getting to Number One had been too early in my childhood for me to remember.
Charlie, I don't recall there being a sense of magic if something was labelled, "America," although America did always seem a more glamorous and exciting country than Britain.
Yeah, American comics were exotic, but there wasn't anything particularly appealing about Captain America.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I found Captain Brexit annoying from the start (although his comic reprinted Steranko's SHIELD so I had to put up with him).
Same goes for Union Jack (but thankfully being in the Invaders made him easy to avoid). And Spitfire too, now you've reminded me about her Charlie.
-sean
Charlie - Decades ago, there was a UK children's tv show, called 'Record Breakers'. In the 70s, 'Record Breakers' had a slot featuring 'Record Breakers' in the USA. At this point, the show would switch to a graphic with a collage of typically American things, including superheroes, and play 'I like to live in America', from 'West Side Story', before covering records being broken in the USA. As Steve said, to a little kid, America seemed very glamorous & interesting, compared with overcast, rainy winter UK! (By the way, to clarify, the show was about Guinness World Records - not breaking vinyl!)
ReplyDeleteThe term 'Captain Brexit' sounds anachronistic, as Brexit is decades in the future (although with the UK's 70s big economic decline, maybe the concept was harking back to supposed former glories - hence anachronistic, too? - if nevertheless a good character). 'Captain Common Market' instead, perhaps?
Phillip
Also Philip, CB is apparently a Remoaner -
ReplyDeletewww.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/21/captain-britain-remain-eu-marvel-superhero-creator-chris-claremont
Which is only to be expected with a southern metropolitan elitist like Brian Braddock (;
Seriously though, it still amazes me how Brexit became such a big deal - people on both sides of the argument can get really worked up about it - so I think it really tells us something about Bri... sorry, Englishness.
So there you go, thats why I call him that.
-sean
Thanks for the link, Sean. So, he's Captain anti-Brexit! CB also seems to have turned into a take on Moorcock's Eternal Champion - weird!
ReplyDeletePhillip
I don't know about that Philip - the various CBs of the Moore/Delano era seem more like the different versions of a character you'd get in old DC comics than the 'eternal champion' concept.
ReplyDeleteAlthough of course that generation of British comic writers were all influenced by Moorcock.
Grant Morrison MBE's contribution to the 80s CB might interest you, especially if you've read the Runestaff books -
www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/captaingranbretan.htm
-sean
ReplyDeleteI have indeed read the Runestaff books, Sean. 'The Jewel in the Skull' was the first Moorcock book I ever read. Dorian Hawkmoon's a weaker character than Elric, but it's an okay book.
The 'Granbretan' thing is obviously lifted from Moorcock, but a battlesuit righting wrongs after its wearer is dead (!) - even Moorcock would balk at that!
For Charlie, the French aspects of Count Brass's castle/lands, & that French-named CB (Monsieur Peltier) might be of interest! As you know, Moorcock has/had? a place in Paris, & his father was based in France, too.
Phillip