The Tracks of My Years

Dear Judith

I did a variation on your last post – I checked on what all the No.1 British singles were for the year I did my A’Levels and left school. These were the results, and what I thought of them:

1. Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace. Don’t care for the song, but I had the LP.
2. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Relax. Ah, the song that got banned from Radio 1 because of the lyrics and therefore became an instant hit. I had the LP.
3. Nena, 99 Red Balloons. German Eurovision winner from back in the day when normally if the song was good, it won.
4. Lionel Ritchie, Hello. What a classic slow smoocher. Yes, I had the LP.
5. Duran Duran, The Reflex. Not their best, but as a confirmed Durannie, I’m glad they got in.
6. Wham!, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. Don’t you yearn for the innocent days when George Michael was a teenybop idol and we didn’t know what he got up to in public toilets? Plus this is one of the all time great tracks to fill a dance floor at a Christmas disco.
7. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Two Tribes. Just to remind us of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and the fear of imminent nuclear destruction.
8. George Michael, Careless Whisper. I know every, tortured, word.
9. Stevie Wonder, I Just Called To Say I Love You. I will probably be struck down for saying it, but I detest this song.
10. Wham! Freedom, George Michael again. Oh, how I loved him back then.
11. Chaka Khan, I feel for you. Where did this one come from?
12. Jim Diamond, I Should Have Known Better. Classic one hit wonder and again, I know every word. Gorgeous song.
13. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Power of Love. People thought they were taking the mick out of the Nativity Story. I liked it. Now it smacks of rampant commercialism in the hunt for the exalted Christmas No. 1. Of course they were denied by:
14. Band Aid, Do They Know It’s Christmas. What a charity fundraiser that was. I still remember Bob Geldof demanding we gave money “Now!”
    

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I guess 1984 wasn’t such a bad year after all!