The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

This was the Rats second number 1 coming after Rat Trap in 1978. This track was released in 1979 and was based on a tragic shooting in America by Brenda Ann Spencer who killed two adults and injured several children and a policeman. When questioned about why she did it, she said "I Don't Like Mondays." Bob caught the story and built the song around the story. Known for being more of a punk band, this was quite a step away from their normal stuff, with the track being more string based and Johnny Fingers piano helping out turned this into a classic track.

The single also came with a lavish video which was quite ahead of all the videos at that time (I think they paved the way of how videos would be made for the next couple of years, till the New Romantics made them more of an art form). It was number one for 4 weeks in the UK but for obvious reasons it didn't get much radio play in America and suffered as a result. The song was performed at Live Aid when the band took the stage and Bob sang the line "What Reason Do You Need To Die" to a cheering stadium crowd!

Tom Robinson Band - 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 Motorway

Tom Robinson formed the band in 1976 and within a few months of gigging and riding the current wave of Punk music, the band were spotted by EMI Records and within a few short months of forming, they had a record deal and 2-4-6-8 Motorway was the band's debut single. It was released in October 1977 and managed to climb up to number 5 and earn the band a silver disc. It is one of those singles with the chug along beat and singalong chorus that still makes the single a great listen today and is featured on many of the driving compilation cd's that get released every so often. They released several singles afterwards, but nothing was successful as this one, the debut album was a hit but never contained the single, they managed another album before the band split in 1979.

My memory of this single was of a late Saturday night listening to the very missed Radio Luxembourg, with a mono earpiece connected to a radio. I shared my bedroom with my younger brother and couldn't listen to the radio until he had gone to sleep, then I had my chance to listen to the stations chart, which I heard this gem on, as the frequency kept drifting in and out, something you no longer get in this age of digital broadcasting!

The Police - Roxanne

Fresh from their record contract with Illigal Records, the band were signed to A&M Records after the label heard this track. Roxanne was first released in the UK in 1978 but never achieved much success and had to wait until the next single, Can't Stand Losing You had been a hit and then Roxanne got a reissue and the rest is history. The song was based around a guy falling for a prostitute and falling in love with her. The single originally was banned by the BBC because of the subject matter but I think the reissue recieved airplay and got to number 12 in 1979.

Here is the single in blue vinyl and complete with the picture cover, it was reissued again in 1980 as part of the Six Pack in a different sleeve and a different shade of blue!

Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen

There's quite a story behind this single, released in 1977 which was the Queen's silver Jubilee year too. After the problems with the last single Anarchy In The UK, EMI had dropped the band and they signed to A&M who quickly dropped them after a few copies of this single were pressed. God Save The Queen on A&M can earn you a lot of money if you have an original although Ebay is full of fakes. Virgin took the band on and gave the single a full release.

Rumour has it that the single actually reached number 1 during the Jubilee week, knocking Rod Stewart off the top spot but the powers at the BBC (and who knows where else) made sure the single stayed at number 2 in all the charts of that period including Top Of The Pops chart run down. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the single, there was a call for everyone to buy the reissued single and get it to number 1, but I don't think it even got in the charts. The same happed this year as a Facebook campaign to get it to the top again, but even Johnny Rotten didn't want anything to do with it either!

I remember hearing and readiing all the fuss about the trouble with the band and Punk rock which was just exploding on the scene and my Mother saying to me "if you ever buy a Sex Pistols record I'll smash it up" well it just makes you want to buy it doesn't it! This scan is actually the limited edition 30th anniversay copy of the single, an exact copy on heavyweight vinyl.