My Favourite 45s of the Year: 1980 Quiz

Answer: The Pretenders

After "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket" in 1979 The Pretenders were rapidly becoming one of my favourite bands. "Talk of the Town" is just a wonderful literate song - restrained but with a lot of emotional depth. Chrissie Hynde's lyrics are beautifully sung, the melody is ever-present and the instrumentation is relaxed. All-in-all it's a terrific pop song.

It went to number eight in the UK Singles Chart; it didn't chart in the US.

Answer: U2

In 1979 and 1980 things were happening in the music scene down in the Republic of Ireland. Bands like The Atrix, the Radiators from Space and the Virgin Prunes had taken off in Dublin, but the leading light in the pack was a band called U2. I'd liked their first three singles, especially "11 O'Clock Tick Tock", but I thought that the fourth, "I Will Follow", was a cracker. I was especially impressed with the Edge's slashing chord guitar work.

However, the song didn't chart anywhere, not even in Ireland - but this was the last time that was to happen! I have a U2 story: in February 1980 a tour promoter in Belfast asked me to drive a van to Sligo to meet up with a band from Dublin that were playing a gig at the Blue Lagoon.

Then the next day I drove them to Dun Laoghaire for another gig that evening.

The band was U2, very early on in their career. I have to say that I didn't take to them, apart from Adam Clayton who was easy-going and friendly. I also remember that the band I worked with, the Tearjerkers, played at the Blue Lagoon a few weeks before U2 did and got a bigger crowd. Ah well - what might have been!

Answer: Jermaine Jackson

Jermaine Jackson was very much in the huge shadow cast by his brother Michael. He had an eight-year gap from working with the Jackson 5, from 1975 to 1983, and during this time his major chart success was the wonderful "Let's Get Serious" in 1980, which got to number eight in the UK Singles Chart and number nine in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Written by Lee Garrett and Stevie Wonder, the latter's input is obvious.

It's a great track, bubbling and optimistic, with a great melody and a catchy hook line.

The brass section does an excellent job, too. It's a great dance record: I used to go to a disco every Saturday night and as soon as I got on the dance floor I'd ask Billy the DJ to play it. After a while he'd put it on as soon as he saw me.

Answer: Squeeze

Squeeze from South-East London were a terrific band with a great pair of songwriters in Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook. They'd had two number two hits in the UK in 1979 with "Cool for Cats" and "Up the Junction", but by far my favourite track of theirs is the 1980 release, "Another Nail in My Heart".
One of the wonderful things about the song is the way Tilbrook's guitar solo comes in immediately after the first verse - and what a solo it is, one of the best I know. Another good thing is that Jools Holland's contribution to the song is limited to a piano arpeggio at the very end - a fact exploited in the rather entertaining official video for the song.
Despite its breezy sound it's actually an "I've just been dumped" song, as the singer's girlfriend has just left him. The "nail in the heart" is the song being played on the piano in the bar that brings back memories of the relationship. I can empathise with this - I can't hear "Arms of Mary" by the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver without a tear coming to my eye, and that relationship ended nearly 50 years ago.
It went to number 17 in the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.

Answer: Dexys Midnight Runners

In mid-1980 Dexys Midnight Runners sprang from more-or-less nowhere (aka Birmingham) to a number one hit in the UK with "Geno" - a rousing soul song with a great brass section and Kevin Rowland's - distinctive? - way of singing. I bought the album "Searching for the Young Soul Rebels" as soon as it came out, and I was rewarded with a listening experience that to this day keeps this classic album in my personal top three albums of all time.
The follow-up to "Geno" was a stone-cold soul classic, "There, There, My Dear". Great lyrics: "If you're so anti-fashion, why not wear flares?". And the power and tightness of the brass section was unbelievable. An absolutely great single from an absolutely great album, it got to number seven in the UK Singles Chart but wasn't released in the US.
And thankfully Kevin Rowland is still around and still recording!

Answer: The Jam

The Jam were going through a terrifically successful time in 1980. As the follow-up to their first one UK single, "Going Underground", their next single "Start!" replicated that success. The song is actually a bit of a lift from the Beatles' song "Taxman" on their "Revolver" album, with both the bass guitar riff and the lead guitar riff being very similar to those produced by the four moptops in 1966. However, it's still a very good record!
It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart but it wasn't released in the US.

Answer: Christopher Cross

I realise that this quiet, melodic song is not the kind of track that I'd normally go for, but I just find "Sailing" by Christopher Cross to be mesmeric, with that wonderful guitar figure repeated over and over again in different keys. Cross's very restrained, wistful vocal fits very well into the atmosphere that the song generates.

It's said that this song gave rise to a type of soft rock that's now referred to as "Yacht Rock". Selling more than five million copies, the song went to number 48 in the UK Singles Chart and number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It won Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, while Cross won the Best New Artist award.

Answer: Japan

Japan got together in South London in the early 1970s as a glam rock band, but weathered the storms of the Punk explosion to come out into the 1980s as a New Romantic-style group heavily influenced by electronic music and all sorts of foreign cultures. I thought they were great, always inventive and surprising. Imagine my surprise when in 1980 they released a cover of the wonderful 1967 Smokey Robinson song, "I Second That Emotion". And what a cover version it is, slowed down and moody, and with David Sylvian's louche looks and singing it has a remarkable atmosphere. The record failed to chart when it was first released in 1980, but a remix released in 1982 got to number nine in the UK Singles Chart.

It wasn't released in the US.

Answer: Martha and the Muffins

Toronto's finest, Martha and the Muffins, travelled to England in 1979 to record their first album, "Metro Music", and it contained an international hit, "Echo Beach". It's a nice, upbeat song with a good riff and a nice saxophone solo - it's the kind of song that reminds you of the good times.
It went to number ten in the UK Singles Chart but failed to chart in the US, although it did get to number five in the Singles Chart in Canada. There were actually two Marthas in the band, both keyboard players.

Answer: The Clash

A good single by The Clash, "Bankrobber" was a great example of Joe Strummer's singing and the ability of the band to assimilate reggae influences - mainly due to Paul Simonon, the bass guitarist. There were two excellent B-side remixes, "Robber Dub" and "Rockers Galore... UK Tour".
For the majority of their career The Clash refused to appear on BBC TV's "Top of the Pops", but one thing I remember about this song is the show's in-house dance group Legs and Co performing their worst-ever dance routine to it - watch it on YouTube if you want to see a really bizarre culture clash!
It went to number 12 in the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.