We're rolling back the clocks to 1981 in the latest set of music polls, running on X. From the beginning of August, 200 singles released that year will be battling it out. There is a real eclectic mix, reflecting the music scene of the time. We have everything from The Exploited to Joe Dolce, The Fall to Shakin' Stevens, Discharge to Bucks Fizz and lots more in between.
Whilst the polls are running, I will be updating this page so please do bookmark and revisit.
If you're following the polls on X remember to use the hashtag #1981singlespoll so you don't miss out. And if you're reading this and you would like to follow me I can be found by tapping on the icon below.
Day 28 - Tuesday 2nd September
There was some good news for New Order fans tonight. After the disappointment of Procession being voted out yesterday, 'Ceremony' sailed ahead comfortably into the next round.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for those who voted for ABC's debut single. Jezza shared this fantastic photo of the band taken at the Rewind festival in Henley only the other week. Apparently they are "still going strong and superb".
The big winners of the night were Squeeze, Soft Cell, New Order and The Specials. The four tracks below were voted out:
The Pretenders - I Go to Sleep
ABC - Tears Are Not Enough
Simple Minds - Love Song
Grace Jones - Pull Up to the Bumper
Day 27 - Monday 1st September
Round four got off to a fantastic start last night! There were a couple of very close polls, the most nail biting being poll four. Motörhead and Toyah battled it out for second place from the outset. There was 0.2% between them in the finish.
Over in poll three there were a lot of disappointed Madness fans as 'The Return of the Los Palmas 7' was overtaken by OMD's 'Souvenir'. I hope this awesome little comic shared by Russell will soften the blow. It was issued with the 12" version of Los Palmas. Strawberry Switchblade Fan Site added the disc included an alternate take of 'My Girl' that wasn't available anywhere else. What a piece of treasure!
The clear winners of the night were The Jam, Go-Gos, Psychedelic Furs and Kraftwerk.
Here's a rundown of the four songs voted out:
Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut
New Order - Procession
Madness - The Return of the Los Palmas 7
Motörhead - Motörhead
Day 26 - Sunday 31st August
Round four has officially kicked off! Out of the original 200 songs, we are now down to 75.
There was a lot of disappointment tonight over 'Hitsville UK' by The Clash being voted out. At one point it was touch and go whether this or 'Doors of Your Heart' by The Beat would go through to the next round, but Dave Wakeling and others managed to rally the troops and propel The Beat into third place.
This could have posed a dilemma for Mick Jones, because Dave Wakeling told us Mick had told him that 'Doors...' is his favourite song by The Beat. As a sidenote, Dave's favourite song by The Clash is 'Lost in the Supermarket'.
All is not lost however, because an interesting little story emerged sparked by Hitsville UK, which I'd like to share.
Back in the noughties Mick Jones teamed up with Tony James to form rock duo Carbon/Silicon. Early in 2008 they played a run of shows at the Inn on the Green in London, which they named 'The Carbon Casino'. These intimate events increased in popularity quickly, and a host of artists joined the onstage party. Andy recalled how during one of the shows, Mick and his daughter Lauren performed a fine version of Hitsville UK.
At this point, Mama J joined in the conversation. She remembered the Carbon Casino days fondly and added that Lauren now works in Mick's Rock & Roll Public Library.
Then things took on a life of their own! Andy mentioned how he had visited the R&R Library earlier this year. Mama J asked if he remembered seeing a Snoopy phone whilst he was there. She had apparently given it to Mick and believed it was one of the exhibits. She lives in the US and has so far been unable to visit any of the exhibitions. Andy made her day by sharing the photo below. For more info about the library, check this link.
Also on the subject of Hitsville UK, Richard reminded us how Mick's former girlfriend Ellen Foley, (who Mick duets with on the track) had previously collaborated with Meat Loaf to provide vocals on the 'Bat Out of Hell' album.
Over 5700 votes were cast in yesterday's polls. Here are the songs we said goodbye to:
The Clash - Hitsville UK
Phil Collins - I Missed Again
Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Abba - One of Us
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
Day 25 - Saturday 30th August
We're into the final batch of songs in round three. A fantastic 5905 votes were cast in yesterday's polls. It's fantastic to see so many people getting involved!
Seeing as it would have been John Peel's 86th birthday today it seems like the perfect point to post this wonderful photo shared by Brian F of John's 1981 Festive 50.
Although not all the songs were released in 1981, there are a few mentioned that have featured in the polls, one of which was Scritti Politti's 'The Sweetest Girl'. Sadly it won't be featuring in the top 50 here.
Just when I didn't think things could get any more nail biting, we came the closest we've come so far to needing a tiebreaker. ABC - 'Tears Are Not Enough', Siouxsie and the Banshees - 'Arabian Knights' and Stray Cats - 'Rock This Town' raced side by side throughout the whole of poll one. It wasn't until the final hour that Stray Cats dropped slightly behind the other two. However, fans of Stray Cats need not feel too despondent because over in poll four, 'Stray Cat Strut' strutted comfortably into the next round.
The five songs we said goodbye to tonight were:
Stray Cats - Rock This Town
Scritti Politti - The Sweetest Girl
Michael Jackson - One Day in Your Life
The Chords - One More Minute
The Damned - Limit Club
Day 24 - Friday 29th August
A fantastic 5746 votes were cast across yesterday's five polls and tensions were once again running high! I have a feeling this is how things are going to be through to the end of the contest.
When Ian Dury wrote 'Spasticus Autisticus' as a kick back against the Year of the Disabled. He found the whole idea patronising and offensive. He wanted to produce a record that he knew would be banned. He certainly achieved his aim. The irony of the lyrics was completely lost and a ban put in place by the BBC soon after its release. Sadly it will not be going any further in the polls beyond today either, but the rapturous reception Ian received when he played the song at the London Palladium shortly before his death spoke volumes.
Another song voted out tonight that I don't recall hearing too much about back in the day was John Foxx's 'Europe After the Rain'. JG recalls going on holiday to Majorca the following year and it being played everywhere. It would be interesting to know how well received it was in other countries.
A summary of all the tracks voted out tonight is as follows:
Ian Dury - Spasticus Autisticus
John Foxx - Europe After the Rain
Smokey Robinson - Being With You
The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up
Day 23 - Thursday 28th August
These five songs were voted out tonight:
Sheena Easton - For Your Eyes Only
The Associates - White Car in Germany
Toyah Wilcox - Thunder in the Mountains
Japan - Quiet Life
Simple Minds - The American
Day 22 - Wednesday 27th August
A fantastic 5318 votes were cast in the first set of polls of round three! Many thanks to everyone!
One of the songs voted out was the brilliant 'Homosapien' by Pete Shelley. I know quite a few people were disappointed to see it go, including me. I remember it was one of the songs Paul Weller played when he turned deejay and stood in for Kid Jensen on Radio One in October 1982.
Things got nail biting-ly close in poll two. The Voice by Ultravox and 'It's a Love Thing' by The Whispers battled back and forth throughout. Ultravox scraped through in the finish, but there was only 0.2% in it.
Echo and the Bunnymen's 'A Promise' was lagging behind in poll five to begin with, but picked up pace overnight.
The first five songs to go in round three were:
Pete Shelley - Homosapien
The Whispers - It's a Love Thing
Adam & the Ants - Prince Charming
The Beat - Drowning
Meat Loaf - Dead Ringer for Love
Day 21 - Tuesday 26th August
There were some tense moments in the last batch of polls in round two.
I know many were willing New Order's 'Everything's Gone Green' to nudge out Odyssey's 'Going Back to My Roots' but alas it wasn't to be. It was mighty close though.
Poll three caused the most headaches especially for fans of The Human League. Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love' gave The Jam's 'Funeral Pyre' a run for its money. This is almost unheard of in one of my polls! It has been said before that even if my polls were for songs from the 1950s The Jam would still win it.
Poll four was another nail-biter with Phil Collins and The Associates riding neck and neck all the way through.
The final batch of songs to be voted out in round two were as follows:
New Order - Everything's Gone Green
Whitesnake - Don't Break My Heart Again
The Human League - Love Action (I Believe in Love)
Phil Collins - If Leaving Me Is Easy
Gillan - New Orleans
Hope you enjoy round three!
Day 20 - Monday 25th August
I can't believe we're into the final batch of songs of round two tonight. Time flies when you're having fun! There were some shock exits and disappointments yesterday, and some close calls too. A lot of people expected Pigbag to go through to the final rounds and many people commented on how much they enjoyed Southern Freeez, a cool little jazz funk number which I for one was glad to be reminded of. Phil Collins and Elvis Costello battled it out for second place in poll four, with Elvis falling by the wayside in the final hours.
Voted out were these five songs:
Abba - Lay All Your Love on Me
Pigbag - Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag
Freeez - Southern Freeez
Elvis Costello - Watch Your Step
Divinyls - Boys in Town
Day 19 - Sunday 24th August
Phew! We had the closest result of the contest so far in one of yesterday's polls! Rainbow's 'I Surrender' and Earth Wind & Fire's 'Let's Groove' jostled for second place in poll three. In the last few minutes, Rainbow sneaked ahead with 25.3% of the vote whilst EW&F finished on 24.5%.
One of the winning songs was Tenpole Tudor's 'Swords of a Thousand Men'. Saleiron shared a video of TV presenter and former companion of Basil Brush, Roy North's version on TV programme 'Get it Together'. Umm..
John Winn shared an interesting nugget about SLF's 'Silver Lining'. The song had a different feel to many of the band's other tracks which probably had something to do with it featuring the brass section of Q Tips. An additional piece of info is Q Tips were formed from the remnants of Streetband. (Remember 'Toast'?) Paul Young was a former member.
A summary of the songs voted out tonight...
The Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
Stevie Wonder - Lately
Earth Wind & Fire - Let's Groove
Bauhaus - The Passion of Lovers
Stiff Little Fingers - Silver Lining
Day 18 - Saturday 23rd August
A few interesting little nuggets emerged from yesterday's polls, some of which will be included at a later stage so stay tuned. Please do keep them coming! My aim is that the finished post will be an overall celebration of 1981 music.
One of the songs nominated that I personally had forgotten about was Berlin's 'Metro'. Having refreshed my memory and with the benefit of hindsight I can see it was something of a forerunner. What I didn't know is US punks The Alkaline Trio did a rather cool cover of it on their 2007 compilation album 'Remains'. They certainly put their own spin on it! Have a listen and see what you think.
The inclusion of Shakin' Stevens once again prompted a mix of comments and confessions. I was laughing out loud at some of them! (Sorry Shakey!) I shouldn't knock him really as he was the UK's biggest selling singles artist of the 1980s and who remembers a relatively unknown Vic Reeves appearing in the video for 'What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me for?'
Kevin was particularly sad to see Slade voted out tonight. His uncle went to school with Noddy Holder and played in a band with him when they were kids. They used to practice in Kevin's nan's lounge. An early version of Slade maybe? Apparently he got a mention in Noddy's autobiography.
The clear winners of the night were:
Madness - Grey Day
The Police - Spirits in the Material World
The Human League - Don't You Want Me?
The Clash - Hitsville UK closely followed by Smokey Robinson - Being With You The Specials - Ghost Town.
We said goodbye to:
Slade - We'll Bring the House Down
Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
Shakin' Stevens - Green Door
Berlin - Metro
U2 - Gloria
Day 17 - Friday 22nd August
Just a brief update with the five songs voted out tonight.
Au Pairs - Inconvenience
Kim Wilde - Cambodia
The Rolling Stones - Waiting on a Friend
The Undertones - Julie Ocean
Heaven 17 - Play to Win
Day 16 - Thursday 21st August
There was a great response to the polls yesterday. 5000+ votes were cast.
In poll four, mixed feelings were expressed over Ultravox's atmospheric classic 'Vienna' and there were waves of disappointment over the lack of support for the dandy highwayman.
The clear winners were Queen and David Bowie's 'Under Pressure', Toyah's 'Thunder in the Mountains' and Kim Wilde's 'Kids in America'.
Tonight we said goodbye to...
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Jon & Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home
Theatre of Hate - Rebel Without A Brain
Adam and the Ants - Stand And Deliver
Genesis - No Reply At All
Day 15 - Wednesday 20th August
Wow! I didn't realise how many headaches I was going to cause with last night's polls, especially #2, which saw The Teardrop Explodes' 'Reward', Squeeze's 'Labelled With Love' and 'It Must Be Love' by the Nutty Boys vying for a place in the next round. The Teardrops ruled supreme in the end with Madness just nudging ahead of Squeeze.
Over in poll #4 quite a few people expressed disappointment at Godley and Creme's 'Under Your Thumb' falling behind OMD's 'Joan Of Arc' and Hazel O'Connor's 'Will You?'
There was a lot of love for 'Stray Cat Strut', 'New Life' and 'Girls on Film', but not so much for the five songs below, all of which we said goodbye to tonight:
Angelic Upstarts - Kids on the Street
Squeeze - Labelled with Love
Killing Joke - Follow the Leaders
Godley and Creme - Under Your Thumb
Japan - The Art of Parties
Day 14 - Tuesday 19th August
It was another interesting set of polls yesterday. If the support expressed for The Fall and Laurie Anderson in the comments had translated into votes Lie Dream of a Casino Soul and O Superman would have won hands down. As it was, the reverse happened.
Squeeze's 'Tempted', ELO's 'Hold on Tight', Kim Carnes' 'Bette Davis Eyes', Billy Idol's 'Dancing with Myself' and The Human Leagues 'The Sound of the Crowd' were the clear winners, whilst these songs were voted out tonight:
The Fall - Lie Dream of a Casino Soul
The Stranglers - Let me Introduce you to the Family
Laurie Anderson - O Superman
The Cure - Primary
The Members - Working Girl
Day 13 - Monday 18th August
Yesterday's polls resulted in yet more lively debate and some excellent photos, There were some fantastic shots of Toyah Wilcox on stage in Dundee in July this year and a cool photo of The Selecter doing their stuff shared by Richard Watson.
In addition to this was the usual fine array of gifs to accompany each poll from Mike. I particularly liked the one of The Exploited as it brought back fantastic memories of my fanzine writing days. If you're a fan and you haven't already read this page dedicated to the band, here's the link.
The songs we said goodbye to tonight were...
The Exploited - Dead Cities
Foreigner - Urgent
Jon & Vangelis - State of Independence
The Selecter - Celebrate the Bullet
Kate Bush - Sat in your Lap
Day 12 - Sunday 17th August
Round two got off to a great start yesterday. Over 4700 votes were cast and there were some lively discussions going on.
Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face' featured in poll four, resulting in a mixture of interesting comments and even a gif of Joe singing! He was up against Bucks Fizz and The Undertones. The latter dominated from the get-go much to the relief of quite a few voters.
Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough' stormed into the lead in poll three. There was a whisker between the other two songs, i.e. Sheena Easton's 'For Your Eyes Only' and Ultravox's 'The Thin Wall'. Sheena managed to sneak ahead... but only just! Lou shared an interesting little nugget about Sheena's song, which was the theme song to the James Bond film of the same name. She was the only Bond theme artist to appear in the opening credits.
And over in poll five, Black Sabbath's 'Mob Rules' didn't get a look in. It was up against The Clash's 'Radio Clash' and The Jam's 'Absolute Beginners' though. Say no more!
To summarise, we said goodbye to these songs tonight:
Japan - Visions of China
The Teardrop Explodes - Passionate Friend
Ultravox - The Thin Wall
Joe Dolce - Shaddap You Face
Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
Day 11 - Saturday 16th August
Round two has kicked off. 50 songs were voted out in the first round, leaving 150 to battle it out.
The final five songs to be voted out in round one were...
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
The Sound - Sense of Purpose (What are we going to do?)
Slim Dusty - Duncan
UK Subs - Keep on Runnin' (Til you Burn)
Linx - Intuition
Odyssey's 'Back to my Roots', The Human League's 'The Sound of the Crowd', Godley & Creme's 'Under Your Thumb', Haircut One Hundred's 'Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)' and The Teardrop Explodes' 'Reward' were the winners of the night.
Day Ten - Friday 15th August
It's the last set of polls in the first round today, so now seems a good point to say thank you to everyone who has taken part so far. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!
We clocked up just short of 5000 votes yesterday and some amazing memorabilia was shared, which I will be adding to the blog in due course. It's a privilege to have Dave Wakeling of The Beat/The English Beat on board. He has shared some fascinating snippets of info which will also be featured a little further on down the line, so do stay tuned.
Ultravox, Madness, Squeeze and ELO were the clear winners in four of the polls. It was a closely fought battle for first place between The Clash and Adam and the Ants in the other.
The shock exit of the night was Ramones' 'The KKK Took My Baby Away'. One of the earliest second wave of punk singles was voted out also. Discharge's 'Never Again'. This song inspired a piece of artwork in one of my fanzines.
To summarise, we said goodbye to these five songs tonight:
Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'em)
Genesis - Keep it Dark
Discharge - Never Again
Central Line - Walking into Sunshine
Ramones - The KKK Took my Baby Away
The final set of You Tube links is as follows:
Poll One
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
Poll Two
Divinyls - Boys in Town
The Sound - Sense of Purpose (What are we going to do?)
Poll Three
The Exploited - Dead Cities
Slim Dusty - Duncan
Poll Four
UK Subs - Keep on Runnin' (Til You Burn)
Poll Five
The Stranglers - Let Me Introduce You To The Family
Day Nine - Thursday 14th August
Yesterday's polls closed with a fantastic 4700+ votes.
It was mighty close between ELO's 'Ticket to the Moon' and The Fall's' 'Lie Dream of a Casino Soul', much to the annoyance of some fans of the latter. Hopefully sighs of relief were breathed all round, because The Fall managed to sneak into third place at the 11th hour.
Funboy Three, Meatloaf, The Undertones, The Beat and Altered Images were the clear favourites of day eight's polls. Memories of teenage crushes on Clare Grogan dominated poll one.
There was also a lot of support for Mobiles. 'Drowning in Berlin' was a stirring slice of synth pop which I always assumed was about the Berlin Wall, though I stand corrected. I wonder what happened to them. The song battled it out with Ultravox's 'The Thin Wall', but the love expressed for Mobiles' only hit sadly wasn't enough to get them through to the next round.
Here's a list of the songs voted out tonight:
Elaine Paige - Memory
Roger Taylor - My Country
Mobiles - Drowning in Berlin
Styx - The Best of Times
ELO - Ticket to the Moon
And here are tonight's YouTube memory refreshers:
Poll One
Greg Kihn Band – The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)
Poll Two
Poll Three
The Associates – White Car in Germany
Poll Four
Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty - Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
Central Line – Walking Into Sunshine
Poll Five
Ramones – The KKK Took my Baby Away
Dexys Midnight Runners – Plan B
Day
Eight – Wednesday 13th August
Voted out today were...
Gary Numan & Dramatis - Love Needs No Disguise
Showaddywaddy - Footsteps
The Tweets - Birdie Song (It is now a closed chapter!)
ELO - Twilight
D.A.F. - Der Mussolini
Today's YouTube links are as follows:
Poll
One
Elaine Page – Memory
Heaven 17 – Play to Win
Poll
Two
Roger Taylor – My Country
The Members – Working Girl
Poll
Three
Mobiles – Drowning in
Berlin
Ultravox – The Thin
Wall
Poll
Four
Styx – The Best of
Times
Poll
Five
The Fall – Lie Dream of
a Casino Soul
ELO – Ticket to the
Moon
Day
Seven – Tuesday 12th August
Phew!
One of yesterday’s polls was scarily close! Genesis, Toyah and Bauhaus jostled
for third place. It wasn’t until the 11th hour that 'Abacab' dropped into fourth place, with 10% of the vote, and 'Thunder in the Mountains' scraped into third place with 11.1%.
Madness, The Human League, Adam and the Ants and
The Jam stormed ahead from the get-go. You can’t think 1981 without thinking
Adam Ant, so a big thank you to everyone who shared a gif/photo of the inimitable
Mr Goddard.
These
songs were voted out tonight:
The
Jones Girls – Nights Over Egypt
Genesis
– Abacab
Rush
– Tom Sawyer
Bow
Wow Wow - W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah No! No! My Daddy Don't)
Motorhead/Girlschool
– Please Don’t Touch
Here
are today’s YouTube links.
Poll
One
Gary Numan &
Dramatis - Love Needs No Disguise
Kate Bush - Sat in YourLap
Poll
Two
Showaddywaddy – Footsteps
Stiff Little Fingers –Silver Lining
Poll
Three
Kraftwerk – Computer Love
Poll
Four
Simple Minds - TheAmerican
ELO – Twilight
Killing Joke - Follow the Leaders
Poll
Five
D.A.F. - Der Mussolini
Theatre of Hate - RebelWithout A Brain
Day
Six – Monday 11th August
It was pretty
obvious from the outset which songs were going to go by the wayside in each of
yesterday’s polls. Romping ahead in style were tracks from Blondie, Pigbag and
Depeche Mode, with Phil Collins, The Selecter, The Teardrop Explodes, Stray Cats
and Smokey Robinson not far behind.
Several people commented on female trio Dolly Mixture, whose 1981 single ‘Been
Teen’ was the first to be released on Paul Weller’s Respond label. My earliest
memory of DM was seeing them playing 'Been Teen' on an episode of ‘Something Else’ broadcast in October 1981. Paul
Weller and friends wrote the content of that particular show. There’s a little
piece dedicated to it on this page of my blog. Barry also recalled the show and said he recorded it on a VHS
tape, which subsequently got played to death. He has fond memories of seeing Dolly
Mixture supporting The Jam and is a fan of their version of ‘Walk Away Renée.
The
songs voted out today:
Gary
Wright – Really Wanna Know You
Cheap
‘n’ Nasty – Covergirl
Dolly
Mixture – Been Teen
Roger
Taylor – Future Management
Magazine
– About The Weather
And
here are YouTube links corresponding to some of the songs in today’s polls
Poll
One
Scritti Politti – The SweetestGirl
New Order – Everything’sGone Green
Poll
Two
Bow Wow Wow - W.O.R.K.(N.O. Nah No! No! My Daddy Don't)
Poll
Three
John Foxx – Europe AfterThe Rain
Rush – Tom Sawyer
Poll
Four
Genesis – Abacab
Bauhaus – The Passionof Lovers
Poll
Five
The Jones Girls –Nights Over Egypt
Things got pretty intense in yesterday’s polls! There were serious battles for third place going on in two of the polls.
The Cure’s ‘Charlotte Sometimes’ and Simple Minds’ ‘Love Song’ pushed each other back and forth for a place in the next round from start to finish, causing headaches for some. In the end 'Love Song' nudged ahead.
The other tussle was something I never thought I’d see. The Damned versus Shakin’ Stevens! ‘Limit Club’, taken from The Damned’s Friday 13th EP overtook ‘This Ole House’ in the finish. But fear not fans of Shakey, because 'Green Door' has made it through.
There was a show of support for pioneers of 80s experimental music – Sheffield based Clock DVA, but alas it wasn’t enough to carry them through to round two. Digressing slightly, but through searching for a little background info about the band I discovered founding member Adi Newton is a gifted artist. It’s well worth seeking out his work when you have some time.
A summary of the tracks voted out today is as follows:
Clock DVA – 4 Hours
Slade – Wheels Ain’t Coming Down
Shakin’ Stevens – This Ole House
Billy Squier – In The Dark
The Cure – Charlotte Sometimes
The YouTube links accompanying tonight’s polls are…
Poll One
Magazine – About The Weather
Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl
Poll Two
Ultravox – The Voice
Roger Taylor – Future Management
Poll Three
Dolly Mixture – Been Teen
Genesis – No Reply At All
Poll Four
The Selecter – Celebrate The Bullet
Cheap ‘n’ Nasty - Covergirl
Poll
Five
Gillan – New Orleans
Gary Wright – Really
Wanna Know You
Au Pairs - Inconvenience
Poll Two
Elvis Costello - Watch Your Step
Slade - Wheels Ain’t Coming Down
The Passions - I’m In Love With A German Film Star
The Damned - Limit Club (Friday 13th EP)
Billy Squier - In The Dark
Berlin - Metro
Poll Five
New Order - Ceremony
Simple Minds - Love Song
Day Three - Friday 8th August
Well things got off to a fantastic start last night! Over 4600 votes were cast across all five polls and there was the usual sprinkling of lively comments. I can’t tell you how heartwarming it is to see people getting behind the polls and riding the nostalgia train with me! Thank you to everyone who voted and interacted.
Rather than posting on X, I shall be updating here on my blog each day with the songs voted out the previous night. The first five casualties were:
Gang of Four – To Hell With Poverty
Sugar Minott - Good Thing Going
Foreigner – Juke Box Hero
Material/Nona Hendryx – Bustin’ Out
Here are today’s YouTube memory refreshers.
Poll One
Third World – Dancing on the Floor (Hooked on Love) I defy you not to tap your feet to this!
Angelic Upstarts – Kids on the Street
Poll Two
The Who – Don’t Let Go The Coat
Depeche Mode – New Life
Poll Three
Japan – Quiet Life (I’d forgotten how good this one was!)
George Harrison – All Those Years Ago
Poll Four
The Chords – One More Minute
Japan – The Art of Parties
Poll Five
The Undertones – Julie Ocean
Tony Capstick – Capstick Comes Home (I did warn you there was an eclectic mix of songs!)
Day One - Wednesday 6th August
For the next ten days I'll be posting five polls each night at around 19:00. There will be four songs in each poll. The three songs with the most votes will go through to round two. I've included YouTube links to some of the tracks, which I hope act as a memory refresh - or maybe even an introduction. All of the links open in new windows.
Poll One
Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty
Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
Poll Two
Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need) This Fascist Groove Thang
Saxon - And The Bands Played On
Poll Three
Sugar Minott - Good Thing Going
The Beat - Drowning
Poll Four
Foreigner - Juke Box Hero
Dexys Midnight Runners - Show Me
Poll Five
Material With Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out
Whitesnake - Don't Break My Heart Again
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