Lessons from chart history

Having now collected all the 1980s UK number ones on 7" vinyl, I'm also almost at the end of my new quest to find all the available 12" number ones of the decade too. This is a slightly different challenge, given that my research via the website Discogs reveals that of the 190 number ones, only 146 were issued in the UK on 12" format. Allowing for the handful I have that are not in perfectly playable condition, I now need about 30 records to complete this list.

As mentioned in a previous post, collecting to a historical list (rather than personal taste or any other criterion), throws up interesting and, in some cases, frustrating issues. The fact that Jive Bunny jumps all over two of his 12"s just as badly as he does on five copies of the one 7" is probably just bad luck. But the staggering number of cases where the 12" version of a song is simply the 7" mix on a larger record is very frustrating. Still, where the collecting's concerned - I've started so I'll finish!

Obviously the music itself is also interesting - and again, not merely in terms of one's own taste or memories from the time. A decade of chart-toppers stands as a record of cultural trends, and the 80s went through many of them. A friend remarked that the 80s was the era of the power ballad; others have said it was the era of the saxophone solo in mainstream pop records. But in terms of the trends or movements these records represented, my revisionist view would be as follows:

Tail-end of disco and punk
Beginnings of synth-pop and the New Romantics
Reggae, classic 80s pop (Culture Club, UB40 Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Madonna)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Power ballads and charity records
TV and film tie-ins
House music from the clubs
Stock Aitken Waterman

Of course, there were the one-offs that don't fit into those categories. The single below deserves a special mention:

The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis (1988)

The Timelords were essentially the duo the KLF in disguise. This effort aimed to show how easy it was to get to number one. The initiative succeeded, is documented in the band's book The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way) and has apparently spawned hits for artists that came in the decades that followed.

If you like 80s music and you're interested in sharing your memories and comments, please visit my dedicated Number Ones of the 80s Facebook page and listen to my one-hour radio show of the same name via the Listen Live section (using the Tunein or Pure Connect apps) at www.only80s.co.uk or also on Facebook every Thursday from 9pm (GMT). Please let me know what you think of the show. Thanks very much.