11 September 1982 Anyone who's a member of a sports club has probably been asked to fill out a Q&A or profile for the club website or newsletter, a get-to-know-your-teammates sort of thing. One of the standard questions is along the lines of 'What music do you listen to for motivation?' — the expectation being … Continue reading Survivor – ‘Eye Of The Tiger’
Dexys Midnight Runners – ‘Come On Eileen’
14 August 1982 If 'Fame' was huge in 1982, 'Come On Eileen' was stratospheric. It was everywhere then and, unlike any other non-Christmas '80s record, it still is. At any family gathering or celebration you know the DJ will play it, and this is probably how people have experienced it most. At the time, being … Continue reading Dexys Midnight Runners – ‘Come On Eileen’
Irene Cara – ‘Fame’
24 July 1982 The lasting legacy of Fame is a wry smile at the notion of legwarmers. There had been a film two years earlier, but the TV series is what caught the world's imagination. Not being an avid watcher as a small child—it was a serious drama—I can only speculate at why it was … Continue reading Irene Cara – ‘Fame’
Captain Sensible – ‘Happy Talk’
17 July 1982 I don't get it. Was there a big 'South Pacific' revival that year? A Captain Sensible cargo cult? Or is it simply that the critical mass of 'children's record' plus 'stage musical record' plus 'novelty record' overheated into a number one hit? Obviously as a small child back then I was aware … Continue reading Captain Sensible – ‘Happy Talk’
Charlene – ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’
26 June 1982 Karma, as the Catholic clergy probably don't say; last week's ode to buying your first condoms is replaced at number one by a woman telling another woman to be glad she's a stay-at-home housewife and mother. Our narrator even calls out her own "subtle whoring", a stringent line on unmarried sex that … Continue reading Charlene – ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’
Madness – ‘House Of Fun’
19 June 1982 The sale of contraceptives had finally been legalised in Ireland in 1980 - but to buy them at a pharmacy you needed a prescription from your doctor. Only in 1985 were they finally permitted for general sale. So, a song about buying condoms topping the Irish charts in 1982 should really have … Continue reading Madness – ‘House Of Fun’
Nicole – ‘A Little Peace’
15 May 1982 Later on in the '80s I would hear this song from the folk group that occasionally accompanied whatever mass I was dragged along to as a child. Also in their repertoire was 'The Rose', whose baked-in melodrama always blew 'A Little Peace' out of the water. Even for a folk group at … Continue reading Nicole – ‘A Little Peace’
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder – ‘Ebony And Ivory’
24 April 1982 There is good and bad in everyone. Can we say the same about this, perhaps the most reviled pop hit of the '80s? Well, the chorus is catchy. But that's what ensures 'Ebony And Ivory' lives on in infamy; no one who hears it can forget its horrors. This is a song … Continue reading Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder – ‘Ebony And Ivory’
Goombay Dance Band – ‘Seven Tears’
3 April 1982 Okay, I get that in 1982 there was a market for schlager-friendly, disco-fied Caribbean-sounding pop. At least with Boney M you could get your gladrags on, bop around the place, and still learn about Russia's greatest love machine. But this is dreadful. I guess the pitch for this was Boney M meets … Continue reading Goombay Dance Band – ‘Seven Tears’
Tight Fit – ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’
27 February 1982 I haven't seen The Lion King in any of its iterations, but I understand it includes a version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'. Hopefully not this version, which wears the song's Zulu origins and culture like a leopard-skin loincloth. The low, rumbling refrain is still residually catchy and if you search online … Continue reading Tight Fit – ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’
