Top of the UK Pops: 1984 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jim Diamond

No, not the Lennon/McCartney song "I Should Have Known Better", but one co-written by Jim Diamond and Graham Lyle. Jim Diamond was born in Glasgow and was lead singer of the band PhD before going solo. (Graham Lyle was part of the successful Gallagher and Lyle duo and was a noted songwriter. He co-wrote "What's Love Got To Do With It", a huge hit for Tina Turner.)

"I Should Have Known Better" was Diamond's top solo hit, although he had a UK number five with "Hi Ho Silver Lining", the theme song from the television show "Boon".

Answer: Phil Collins

"Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" was written and sung by Phil Collins. He had been well respected as drummer and singer with the band Genesis, but some people blamed him for breaking up the band. Many people were dismissive of his solo career, even though he had three number ones among 27 entries into UK top 40.

Answer: Nena

"99 Red Balloons" had been released by the German singer Nena in her own country as "99 Luftballons". The very catchy melody made it a hit in the USA, reaching number two on the Hot 100.

In the UK, a version translated into English topped the charts. Nena continued to perform and record and her records sold well in Germany, going her 13 top tens over the years.

Answer: Grandmaster & Melle Mel

The 'white lines' in the song title referred to cocaine. While urging people not to use it, the song also made the claim that drugs laws in the USA were harsher towards black people than whites. The song was a UK number seven, but halted at 101 on the Billboard charts.

While the artists were billed as Grandmaster & Melle Mel, the song was entirely that of the co writer Mell Mel - Melvin Glover. Grandmaster Flash was a disc jockey who formed Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five. That band broke up before the single was released. Flash and Glover embarked on a legal action over the original use of the name "Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel". The "Flash" had to be dropped.

Answer: Wham!

Wham! were the British duo of Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael. They got together in 1981 after being in another band. Their first album produced four top ten singles but earned them no money due to a pernicious recording contract. With a new recording contract, their second album "Make It Big" spawned three transatlantic number ones.

In 1986, George Michael ended the collaboration to start a solo career. Ridgeley was philosophical, telling one interviewer that it had never been intended to last long term.

Answer: Wham!

"Freedom" was the second UK number one from Wham! In 1984 and reached number three on the Hot 100 in August 1985.

Also, in 1985, Wham! became the first western pop group to play in China and footage of that trip was used on a music video for the song.

Answer: Duran Duran

"The Reflex" became a simultaneous number one on both sides of the Atlantic. Some people were confused about what it meant. Simon Le Bon admitted that he was one of them - and he wrote the song.

This was one of two UK number ones among 30 singles that charted in the Official Charts Company top 40. They also had two number o nes in the Billboard Hot 100; "The Reflex" and "A View To A Kill", title song of the James Bond movie of the same name in 1985.

Answer: Chaka Khan

This was a song written by Prince, but was recorded by Chaka Khan in a more elaborate arrangement than he had used. It also changed the viewpoint to first person. In mid song came a rap, performed by Melle Mel. Chaka Khan was said to hate it.

The song topped the charts in the UK and reached number three on the Hot 100.

Answer: Ray Parker Jr

Ray Parker Jr. wrote this for the movie of the same name. The movie's producer, Ivan Reitman, insisted that the name of the film be in the lyrics. Parker later said: "It sounds easy now because you've heard the song. But if somebody told you to write a song with the word 'Ghostbusters' in it, it's pretty difficult. That was the hard part - getting the title in the song."

The song topped the Hot 100 and was a number two in the UK.


Answer: Black Lace

"Agadoo" was a UK number two for the novelty band Black Lace. In 1979, the band had finished seventh with the Great Britain entry in the Eurovision songs contest. Against all odds, two Black Lace entities continued into the 21st Century.

Answer: Wham!

"Careless Whisper" was the second of three UK number ones off the same album. Some people believed that George Michael had written this love story from a personal experience, but he admitted it was totally fictitious.

The song was a simultaneous number one in both the UK and USA.

Answer: Lionel Richie

It may have seemed like a big jump when Lionel Ritchie went solo after so many hits with the Commodores, but any reservations were assuaged with two number ones from his second solo LP. "Hello" was actually written before his first solo LP, but left off.

The song became a huge hit despite, rather than because of, a video that was savaged by critics and fans alike as being cheesy, or even maudlin. It topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Years later Ritchie named a perfume after the song title.

Answer: Stevie Wonder

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" became an international hit and also Stevie Wonder's biggest seller. It also won an Academy Award. Stevie Wonder was sued by two songwriters who claimed he had stolen a song they had played to him in 1976. Wonder claimed the song was entirely his and that he had John Lennon in mind when he wrote it. Eventually all legal actions were either dropped or dismissed.

Answer: Frankie Goes To Hollywood

For a few brief years in the 1980s Frankie Goes To Hollywood were a band that could do no wrong on the charts, as can be seen in having the two biggest selling records of 1984. The Liverpool combo got together on the punk scene in the late 1970s.

"Two Tribes" was their second number one, going on the charts while the first, "Relax", was still there. A third single "The Power Of Love" also topped the UK charts in 1984. They became only the second band on the British music scene to reach number one with their first three singles.

Answer: Frankie Goes To Hollywood

What would have become of Frankie Goes To Hollywood if the British Broadcasting Corporation had not banned "Relax"? The Beeb had a problem with one word that had a sexual connotation. The band sang it on Top of the Pops on January 5 when it was at number 35 and it rose to number six. First radio one presenter Mike Read said he would not play it again - he called it "disgusting" - and then the official BBC ban came in. Despite this it rose to number one and stayed there for six weeks.

Ironically in the USA where radio stations were notoriously strait-laced few had any problems with it. The BBC eventually caved in, prompted no doubt by the glee that commercial stations were finding in playing the song that Auntie had banned. In all the song spent 52 weeks on the UK charts. The song peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

If you have an interest in musical censorship, try the quizzes "Banned By The Beeb: Songs They Wouldn't Play" and "Banned In The USA: Songs They Wouldn't Play" also on this quiz site.