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Lionel Richie & The Commodores: The Definitive Collection
Once it debuted at #5, when such a feat was still a rarity, the odds on it
going all the way were very high and so it proved. Twice in a row it was
celebrating its place at #1 in the UK, a status it would continue to enjoy for a
further 3 weeks. Three Times A Lady, the single in question, was The Commodores'
only British chart-topper although their frontman and the song's writer Lionel
Richie went on to huge solo success in the 1980s.
A week earlier Three Times A Lady had been the record to finally bring to an
end the domination of John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John's You're The One That
I Want. For 9 consecutive weeks the pair had seen off all competition with
the first of their back-to-back #1s. You're The One That I Want and its
follow-up Summer Nights were both taken from the film Grease, which also yielded a
third major hit single in the shape of Frankie Valli's title song, new this week
at #31.
The setting for Grease, although you wouldn't have guessed from the sleek
funkiness of the Barry Gibb-penned effort from Valli, was 50s America; an era
which vocal group Darts drew on very successfully for a period between 1977 and
1979. Daddy Cool opened their account at the tail end of 1977, reaching #7,
followed by another Top 10 hit The Boy From New York City. Their third entry,
It's Raining, would become their highest-charting single to date; curently up a
notch to #3, it peaked at #2 in early September.
Boney M: Greatest Hits
The single occupying the #4 position 26 years ago holds a unique place in UK
chart history. Boney M's Rivers Of Babylon, released in May, reached #1 the
following month before going into gentle decline. By the end of July, it had
fallen down to #20 after 13 weeks on the listings. Then, something extraordinary
began to unfold. The B-side Brown Girl In The Ring began to attract enough
attention and generate significant popularity that it was give belated equal
billing with Rivers Of Babylon; nothing unheard of there, but the impact on the
single's chart fortunes was unprecedented. Now an AA-sided hit, the single
started to go back up the Top 20, all the way into the Top 5 again. In total, it
would clock up 26 weeks on chart, and on this - its 18th appearance - it was up
from #5 and on its way to falling just short of the top spot for what would
have been a second spell.
Although they originally made their name on the singles Top 40 in 1964 with
the chart-topping Go Now, the Moody Blues had long since become better known as
an album act. The hits tailed off after 1970's Question made #2, although
signature tune Nights In White Satin repeated its Top 20 successes of 1968 (#19)
and 1972 (#9) with another visit to the charts in the autumn of 1979. In the
meantime, lead vocalist Justin Hayward - who replaced the singer of Go Now,
Denny Laine, not long after their initial breakthrough in the mid-60s - had a
major solo hit courtesy of Forever Autumn. Taken from Jeff Wayne's musical
extravaganza based on H.G.Wells' War Of The Worlds, the track was at its peak of #5.
The album itself became one of the longest-running hits of all-time, spending
over 5 years on the UK chart.
The Very Best of 10cc
Among its star-studded cast, Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds included 70s
hearthrob and star of stage and screen David Essex. The singer/actor's other main
project at the time was Evita, the West End musical by Andrew Lloyd-Webber
based on the life of Eva Peron. Evita's first and biggest hit single had come
more than a year earlier; Julie Covington's Don't Cry For Me Argentina reaching
#1 in February 1977. Essex's Oh What A Circus didn't quite match that chart
performance, eventually peaking at #3, but on the Top 40 of August 26th 1978 it
was by far the highest climber, soaring 24 places from its debut position of
#36 right up to #12.
10cc, one of the most consistently successful singles bands of the decade,
were in the Top 10 yet again. With its now-legendary chorus of "I Don't Like
Cricket... I Love It", Dreadlock Holiday (rising 12 places to #6 on only its 2nd
week in the Top 40) set its unsettling lyrics of a tourist's experiences in the
Carribean to a almost jaunty reggae rhythm. The result was a late-summer
smash, as the single toppled Three Times A Lady from the summit in September.
For 60s icons such as Bob Dylan and The Who, significant singles chart
careers were beginning to wind down. Baby Stop Crying, down from a high of #13 to
#15, proved to be Dylan's last appearance on the UK singles rundown until the
mid-90s, when Dignity sneaked into the lower region of the Top 40. Meanwhile,
Who Are You (up 2 to #18) would only be followed by 1981's You Better You Bet
and the #40 hit Athena a year later.
The Rezillos: Can't Stand the Rezillos
Jilted John's eponymous single was one of the week's notable movers, climbing
15 places to #10. Also rising the same number of positions was Cold As Ice by
Foreigner. The AOR masters' second UK hit was experiencing a literally
up-and-down chart run; having entered at #30, it then fell back to #39 before its
climb to #24. Bizarrely, it would then drop out of the Top 40 completely for one
week, return at #39 and then disappear once more. Another odd sequence was
chalked up by Jackson Browne's classic Stay (rebounding 2 places to #20), which
after moving #32-#31-#12 - the sudden leap a common quirk of the pre-barcoded
era - spent the next few weeks bobbing to and fro between #13 and #22 before
this latest turnaround.
Naming your single Top Of The Pops is shamelessly inviting attention,
especially if said record fails to live up to its title by reaching #1, but The
Rezillos did so anyway; Top Of The Pops (the song) climbed from #34 to #26, earning
an appearance on Top Of The Pops (the music TV show) during its ascent to a
high of #17.
Highest entry to the chart was Forget About You, the Motors' follow-up to
their Top 5 smash Airport, in at #31. Clearly the record-buying public still
remembered them... for the time being at least. Immediately beneath them, an act
destined for a longer career debuted with one of the earliest in a distinguished
line of hits. The Jam's double A-side release David Watts/'A' Bomb In Wardour
Street only managed #25 in the end, but it continued their steady progress
from bright new things to fully-fledged national treasures. By contrast, Bryan
Ferry's dismal #37 showing with Sign Of The Times temporarily called time on
his previously lucrative solo escapades outside of Roxy Music. In 1979, Roxy Music
returned with a drastically altered line-up and, most importantly, a series of
major hit singles from the Manifesto album.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
