Front cover: Phil Collins (Gen X, April Wine, The Who, Boomtown Rats)
NEWS. The Pretenders (Message of Love single), BA Robertson, Marvin Gaye album, Wendy O'Williams, The Stranglers Themeninblack album, Bruce Springsteen UK dates, Stray CAts new single and dates, Steve Winwood cassette single, Dance Craze movie release.
On Tuesday 7 July 1981 the single Ghost Town by Coventry group The Specials went to no. 1 in the UK charts.
The song spent three weeks at number one and 10 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Addressing themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for being a hit at the same time as riots were occurring in British cities, most recently in Toxteth, Liverpool.
Internal tensions within the band were also coming to a head when the single was being recorded, resulting in the song being the last single recorded by the original seven members of the group before splitting up.
By the end of the year the song had won over the critics to be named single of the year in Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, the UK's top three weekly music magazines at the time.
On Thursday 25 June 1981 two acts made their Top of the Pops: Kirsty MacColl with her single There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis and Depeche Mode with their second single New Life.
On Thursday 28 May 1981 Birmingham multi-cultural band UB40 appeared on Top of the Pops to perform their new single Don't Let It Pass You By. The single was at no. 16 in the UK charts that week as a double A-side with Don't Slow Down.
note: song starts at approx. 24 secs.
Both songs featured on the band's second album, entitled Present Arms, released a day later. The album would also spawn the Top Ten hit-single One in Ten later in the year.
On the weekend of 16 & 17 May, 1981 the British rock band Japan played two concerts live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
The tour, entitled the "Art of Parties" tour after their new single release, was the last to feature guitarist Rob Dean as part of the band. Although The Art of Parties failed to become a big hit in the UK, the band were to have a surprise hit later in the year with an old song Quiet Life, before enjoying further success in late 1981 with their cult Tin Drum album and related singles Visions of China and Ghosts.
The band effectively split at the end of 1982 when they were practically at the height of their commercial success. The group's final UK performances came in November 1982, culminating in a six-night sell-out stint at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Their last live performance took place, appropriately, in Japan.
Japan performing May 1981, l. to r.: Steve Jansen, Mick Karn, David Sylvian, Rob Dean. Keyboardist Richard Barbieri off shot.
On Thursday 30 April 1981, on a new edition of weekly BBC music show Top of the Pops, Sheffield group The Human League performed their new single The Sound of the Crowd.
Although The Human League had appeared once before on the show in 1980, this was the first time with their new formation, including two friends Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall who were still in school at the time. Famously spotted by lead singer Phil Oakey in a Sheffield disco in late 1980, they were promptly asked if they wanted to join the band on tour. The girls then became an integral part of the group itself.
The Human League went on to have a number of hit singles in 1981, including their most famous song Don't You Want Me which was the Christmas number one single in the UK that year. The group core members have continued to record and perform live. A tour entitled A Very British Synthesizer Group Tour is scheduled for November and December, 2016.
The Human League in 2014. l to r.: Joanne Catherall, Philip Oakey, Susanne Sulley
On Friday 17 April 1981 (Good Friday) budding pop star Madonna Ciccone (b. 1958) sends a letter to her brother Christopher in Detroit telling him of how her career in the music business is progressing in New York. She tells him how she is now working with new manager CAmille Barbone and getting her own band together.
She also tells him how she is now living near Madison Square Gardens, "where someday I'll play", further adding, "I've written some great rap tunes, they're great to dance to...''.
Madonna released her first single in late 1982, and her first album in July 1983. She went on to play two shows at Madison Square Gardens in June 1985.
On Saturday 3 April 1981, the 26th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Dublin.
The Europe-wide popular music competition was won by the UK's Buck's Fizz with their song Making Your Mind Up, beating Germany's Lena Valaitis into second place and France's Jean Gabilou into third. A total of twenty countries, including Turkey and Israel, participated in the contest, equalling a record set in Paris in 1978. Cyprus took part for the first time, finishing at a respectable 6th place. Switzerland gained the greatest number of the maximum '12 points', arriving in fourth with their Italian language song performed by trio Peter, Sue and Marc.
Behind The Scenes At Eurovision 1981. pic. RTE archives
The four piece vocal group Bucks Fizz had been formed especially for the Eurovision Song Contest and had been selected from the UK's own Song for Europe contest in March. They created a memorable dance routine famous for the moment when the two male members in the group rip off the skirts of the two girls, revealing a shorter skirt underneath.
After winning the contest and gaining a British number one record, the group continued their career with further hits during the 1980s, such as The Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies.
On Thursday 2 April 1981 the full length move Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (We Children from Bahnhof Zoo) was released in West Germany and in the USA. The film tells the story of the Berlin teenager Christiana F. is who taken into the underground drugs scene through frequenting 'The Sound' a modern music club in the city, during the late seventies. The young girl eventually becomes addicted to heroin.
The film starred Natja Brunckhorst (b. 1966) as the young protagonist and was directed by Uli Edel.
His vivid depiction of the drugs scene and drug addiction shocked audiences and both the movie and the original book acquired cult status in Europe immediately after the film's release.
The popularity of the film was further boosted by the partecipation of singer and musician David Bowie, whose 'Berlin period' songs are included in the film soundtrack album. According to the original book, the real Christiane F. had had her first experience with heroin at a David Bowie concert.
On Tuesday 17 March 1981 a cover version of the John Lennon song 'Jealous Guy' by British band Roxy Music was at no. 1 in the UK for the second of two weeks.
The band had added the song to their live set during their tour following the death of Lennon in December 1980. It was intended to be a one off tribute performance at a show in Dortmund on 19th December. It has featured in every Roxy Music or Bryan Ferry solo tour since, including Live Aid in 1985.
Despite a long and successful career this single would be Roxy Music's only number 1 in the UK. The full length version of the song is 6:10 long. A live version can be heard on the Roxy Music album Heart Still Beating (1990)
On Thursday 12 March 1981 the debut single by British vocal group Bucks Fizz was released. Making Your Mind Up was the UK's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, which was to be held in Dublin in April.
The release of the single came the day after Bucks Fizz won the qualifying Song For Europecontest which had been transmitted live on BBC One the previous evening.
On Saturday 28 February 1981, upcoming Irish rock band U2 performed live on the Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2. The group played three tracks from their debut album Boy, released in October 1980: The Ocean, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock and I Will Follow.
Despite having achieved critical acclaim and attention from the British music press, the band failed to have a hit single in the UK until 1983. Their second album October would appropriately reach the Top 20 in October '81.
U2's lead singer Bono Vox on the cover of NME, February 1981
On Thursday 26 february 1981 pop singer Kim Wilde made her television debut on Top of the Pops on BBC One, performing her single Kids in America which was just outside the Top 40.
This was the start of a successful career for Wilde (b. 1960) who would go on to have several hit records throughout the eighties and into the nineties.
Kim was the eldest child of Marty Wilde who had also been a successful singer and songwriter in the late fifties and early sixties. Brother Ricky co-wrote and produced Kim's recorded output until she took a break from pop music to focus on her family and take up gardening.
On Friday 20 February 1981 pop group Depeche Mode issued their first 7" single on the independent Mute label.
Dreaming of Me (b/w Ice Machine) failed to make the Top 30 in the UK although was followed by two successful singles and a top 10 album Speak and Spell by the end of the year. Depeche Mode had been achieving critical acclaim in the UK music press as well as becoming live favourites in the club scene in and around the London area. The group's almost unique musical style of using only electronic instruments made them pioneers of the synth-pop music genre which would quickly become popular in 1981.
Depeche Mode, 1981: (l-r) Dave Gahan, Vince Clarke, Martin L. Gore, Andrew Fletcher.
Despite their commercial success, founder member and principle song writer Vince Clarke inexplicably left the band in early 1982 in order to pursue other projects. Deepche Mode went on to become one of the most successful internationl acts and continue to record and play live around the world.
Also on this day: Sheffield based electronic band The Human League release their first single Boys and Girls after the group had split in late 1980. Like Dreaming of Me, this single also failed to chart although was followed by a string of hits throughout the year.
On 19 February 1981, singer and musician Midge Ure was featured on the front cover of the new fortnightly issue of Smash Hits magazine in the UK. Ure was the lead singer with the group Ultravox who were enjoying success with their latest single Vienna.
pic scan: Like Punk Never Happened
Ure had joined the band in 1979 after the previous lead singer and founding member John Foxx had left to pursue a solo career. The new formation's debut album, also entitled Vienna, was released in the summer of 1980. Released as a single in 1981, the title track became a seminal eighties track, also thanks to its groundbreaking promo-video, although it was famously kept of the top of the charts firstly by the recently deceased John Lennon's Woman and then by Joe Dolce's novelty hit Shaddap You Face.
On Monday 21 January 1981 Manchester band New Order recorded their first live session for the John Peel Show at the BBC studios in London.
New Order perform live in 1981. pic: thelocal.de
This was their first recorded work under the name of New Order. The band was formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, the remaining members of post-punk group Joy Division, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis. Morris' then girlfriend Gillian Gilbert also joined shortly afterwards. This session features four tracks - Truth, Senses, I.C.B., Dreams Never End - which would all appear on their debut album Movement released several months later. Neither the session nor the album however featured their debut single Ceremony, released in March.
New Order would go on to become one of the most successful independent acts of the 1980s, with a groundbreaking mix of indie rock, pop and electronic dance music as demonstrated on hits such as Blue Monday, Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith. After various solo projects they have continued to record together although bassist Peter Hook has since left the band. Their latest album Music Complete was released in 2015.
The January 1981 session was eventually broadcast by John Peel on 16 February. It was not made publicly available as an official recorded release until 1987.
On 21 January 1981 a new issue of Smash Hits appeared in newsagents around the UK with a startling picture of Visage front-man Steve Strange on the cover.
Steve Strange (b. Stephen John Harrington , 1959) had been at the spearhead of the new fashion and music movement which had grown out of the London club scene in the late 70s. After performing in various post-punk bands, he eventually formed the studio based outfit Visage in 1979 along with Midge Ure and rusty Egan formerly of the Rich kids, and Barry Adamson, John McGeoch and Dave Formula of Magazine. They released their first eponymous album at the end of 1980 and eventually reached the singles charts at the beginning of 1981 with the single Fade to Grey which would become an 'eighties' standard and anthem of the 'New Romantic' movement.
The iconic video for Fade to Grey, directed by Godley and Creme, was also shown on Top of the Pops for the first time on the evening of 21 September. (watch it here)
Strange would continue to record and publish music under the name of Visage with various degrees of success throughout the early 80s. In his autobiography Blitzed! published in 2002, Strange openly talks about his sexuality and heroin addiction. He made critically acclaimed musical comeback in 2013 with the Visage album Hearts and Knives, although died in February 2015 from a heart attack.
On the evening of Monday 12th January, 1981 Radio One DJ John Peel started his show by playing Sheena Easton's new single Take My Time, and asking the question, "is it too early to nominate an album of the year for 1981?", clearly referring to Easton's eponymous album which had just been released.
Peel's surprising admiration for the Scottish chanteuse was midway between genuine and tongue-in-cheek sarcastic, although in 1980 he had openly expressed his appreciation of Easton's 9 to 5 single, a stark contrast to his usual music tastes and choices. Peel is better known for championing punk and new-wave bands such as The Undertones, Altered Images, The Fall and Joy Division.
John Peel in 1982. Pic: Peel Wiki
Take My Time as a single only reached no. 44 in the UK charts although the album got to no. 17 in mid-February, its only week in the Top 20 album chart. Easton was more successful later in the year lending her vocal talents to the theme song to 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes only.
