Sweet - The Ballroom Blitz

Let's start 2014 with a huge worldwide hit and a great power single

Sweet released this single in September 1973 after having huge success in the year with Blockbuster and Hellraiser. 1973 and 1974 were to be the band's biggest years and made some great singles in these years. Glam rock was in full force and there was no stopping the band, or maybe there was!

The track was partly influenced by an incident where the band were playing a gig in a ballroom in Scotland (the birth place of Brian Connolly, the lead singer) and were forced off stage due to bottle throwing from fans. Ballrooms and club were what venues were around in those days (a throwback from the 50's & 60's pre rock n roll days). Sweet didn't help the fact that they used to piss the fans off by not playing early hits as Sweet wanted to be a rock band not a bubblegum band they were more know for. The single was never featured on any album release in the UK (except Greatest Hits) but was featured on the US version of Desolation Boulevard

The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, a position that Sweet were used to but was really annoying as a lot of Sweet singles stuck at number 2 and was only Blockbuster that got to the top. Here is the single in all it's glory!

Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up

Bucks Fizz were chosen to represent the UK in the Eurovision song contest in 1981. They were put together in January of 1981 by the writers of Making Your Mind Up just for the contest and followed the old pattern (after Abba) of 2 boys and 2 girl format. The band members were Mike Nolan, Cheryl Baker (who had previous Eurovision contest experience as she was in the band Co-co who were the 1978 entry for the UK), Jay Aston and Bobby G.

The song was released on RCA Records and when the contest was staged the single was already number 2 on the UK charts. Complete with a good tune and a memorable skirt ripping dance routine, they won the contest and the single went to number 1 in the UK. It also was number 1 around several countries in Europe too, but the hardest thing was to continue after the contest without slipping into obscurity which they managed as the next single charted. In all the band were successful around the world, had 3 UK number 1 singles and are still touring today, but as two separate groups after years of legal wrangles. Here's the cover, sorry had trouble loading photo's in for some reason!

Sad Cafe' - Everyday Hurts

Mancunian band Sad Cafe' had been around since 1976 and although building up a small following never really did anything till this single hit the charts. Released in September 1979 it slowly climbed the charts to number 3 that year and also was a small hit in American where it was renamed Everyday. To help this gorgeous ballad hit the charts the record company released the single in blue vinyl and also a picture disc (a rarity, a song being released on 2 different formats to get it into the charts). It came off the album Facades (an anagram of Sad Café) which also was released in blue vinyl and got to number 8 in the album charts!

I have seen the band quite a few times and have met them several times and were a great bunch of guys and always happy to meet the fans. I followed the band for a few years before the lead singer Paul Young left the band to join Mike & The Mechanics. Here's the single, with the picture cover, blue vinyl and picture disc versions!

David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

Bowie's first big hit single of the 1980's and with more than a nod towards Major Tom (from Space Oddity) with the line about "a guy who's been in such an early song" and "my Mother said, to get things done, you'd better not mess with Major Tom" this was a huge number 1 in August 1980. It entered the top 40 at number 4 and went all the way to number 1 for 4 weeks and some say the song is quite introspective, but Bowie has given many an answer to what the song is really about.

The video to me is a very iconic video of the 1980's, from the drenched solarised colour, to the bulldozer with the New Romantic Blitz kids in front of it walking with Bowie, made it a classic piece of film, still one I can watch over and over! I never realised until now, the single didn't even get into the US charts, it peaked at 101.

Here's the sleeve and the label to the single, there were 3 different sleeves and this one has a set of stamps issued inside featuring photo's of him in the suit he wore for the video. Listen to the single and send yourself back to 1980

Sweet - Blockbuster

Up to this release, Sweet had been known more for their growing number of bubblegum hit singles but the group were almost like 2 bands in one, with poppy A sides but the B sides showed the band were more of a rock group (which confused the band's fans). Glam Rock had hit the UK in the early 70's and 1973 was Glam's biggest year. Written by Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman who penned hits for many a band in the 70's (in fact I guess they were the 1970's version of Stock Aitken & Waterman) this was their first number 1 and Sweet's first and only UK number 1. Blockbuster starts with a police siren, and a guitar riff that is similar to Bowie's Jean Jeanie and is a real rock record for the band and for the next 3 and a half minutes is a camped up rocker that was at the top of the charts for 5 weeks.

Nillsson - Without You

This song, is my all time favourite single. Released in 1972 and I must have been about 7 years old and I kept hearing this record on the radio. It was years later before I found out who sang it and I just think it is such an emotional song, with such a sad background to it.

Without You was first performed by Badfinger who were signed to the Beatles record label Apple records. Nilsson, heard it and thought it was the Beatles. he recorded his own version of it and it got to number 1 here in the UK charts in 1972. His heart wrenching vocals about a failed relationship, just make this song and the emotion is just so raw you can feel every 3 plus minutes of it as it plays. A classic song that has a sour ending to it. In the mid 70's there was a royalties row with the writers of the song and Nilsson, they claimed they wern't getting any royalties for the song. The stress of the court case was too much and Pete Ham hung himself, several years later on Tommy Evans hung himself as well. To make matters worse, in the 1990's Mariah Carey issued her version and completely murdered the track dead with her screeching awful vocals.