THE WILD BOYS – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
21-Dec-84	26	New
28-Dec-84	24	+2
04-Jan-85	23*	+1
11-Jan-85	18	+5	Biggest climber/Star rater
18-Jan-85	14	+4	Star rater
25-Jan-85	8	+6	Star rater
01-Feb-85	7	+1
08-Feb-85	5	+2
15-Feb-85	1	+4**	Peak/Star rater
22-Feb-85	3	-2
01-Mar-85	3	0
08-Mar-85	3	0
15-Mar-85	4	-1
22-Mar-85	6	-2
29-Mar-85	9	-3
05-Apr-85	15	-6
12-Apr-85	17	-2
19-Apr-85	21	-4
26-Apr-85	24	-3

* Clocks up 7,000 weeks in the charts for UK acts, excluding hits where UK acts have collaborated with an act from a different nation.
** 26^th and second last song to reach the top spot with a climb of 4 or more (a star rater climb)

Written by: Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor & Nick Rhodes
Produced by: Nile Rodgers
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Parlophone

Hit number for artist	4
Peak position	1
Weeks	19
Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	4
Biggest faller awards	0
Top 20 points	181
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=498
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	1
Top 30 Points	358
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=388
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	1

Annual ranking:

1984	=115
1985	16

Other chart success:

Australia	3
Austria	2
Belgium	2
Canada	2
Finland	4
France	13
Germany	1
Ireland	2
Italy	2
Netherlands	3
New Zealand	5
Norway	6
Spain	3
Sweden	19
Switzerland	2
UK	2
US	2

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	1
Radio 5	1
Radio 702	1

The idea for the song came when Russell Mulcahy, who had collaborated with Duran Duran on a number of their videos, wanted to make a film based on a 1972 book by William S. Burroughs called ‘The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead’. Although the film never came to be made, Mulcahy would go on to make the film ‘Highlander’, bringing in Queen to create the soundtrack. Duran Duran were influenced by the sound of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Relax’ when writing ‘The Wild Boys’. The song would be the 11^th of 24 that would top the 3 local radio charts noted above as well as topping the main SA charts. It was 1 of 13 that charted that would peak at 2 on both sides of the Atlantic, denied the top spot in the UK by Chaka Khan’s ‘I Feel For You’ and in the US by Hall & Oates’ ‘Out Of Touch’ for a week and then by Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ for 3 weeks.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

A VIEW TO A KILL – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
14-Jun-85	30	New
21-Jun-85	21	+9	Biggest climber/Star rater
28-Jun-85	20	+1
06-Jul-85	14	+6	Biggest climber/Star rater
13-Jul-85	10	+4	Star rater
20-Jul-85	9	+1
27-Jul-85	9	0
03-Aug-85	4	+5	Peak
10-Aug-85	4	0	Peak
17-Aug-85	6	-2
24-Aug-85	6	0
31-Aug-85	7	-1
07-Sep-85	11	-4
14-Sep-85	21	-10	Biggest faller
21-Sep-85	25	-4
28-Sep-85	30	-5	Biggest faller

Written by: Duran Duran & John Barry
Produced by: Bernard Edwards, Jason Corsaro & Duran Duran
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	5
Peak position	4
Weeks	16
Biggest climber awards	2
Star rater climbs	4
Biggest faller awards	2
Top 20 points	131
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=851
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	3
Top 30 Points	269
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=795
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	3

Annual ranking:

1985

=34

Other chart success:

Australia	6
Austria	6
Belgium	2
Canada	1
Denmark	1
France	11
Germany	9
Ireland	2
Netherlands	3
New Zealand	13
Norway	2
Spain	1
Sweden	1
Switzerland	7
UK	2
US	1
Zimbabwe	6

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	1
Radio 5	1
Radio 702	3

This was the theme tune to the James Bond film of the same name. The story goes that the band’s bassist, John Taylor, who was a big Bond fan, approached the Bond film produced, Cubby Broccoli at a party. Taylor was somewhat inebriated and said, ‘If I give you a fiver, can I write a theme tune please.’ At the time of writing, this has been the only Bond theme to top the US charts. Using a top 20 points basis, the song would be the best performer of the 5 Bond themes that made our charts (6 themes if you include Herb Alpert’s ‘Casino Royale’ the theme to a spoof Bond film starring David Niven). However, using a top 30 points basis, it is beaten into second place by A-ha’s ‘The Living Daylights’.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

UNION OF THE SNAKE – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
20-Jan-84	28	New
27-Jan-84	25	+3
03-Feb-84	24	+1
10-Feb-84	21	+3	Peak
17-Feb-84	21	0	Peak
24-Feb-84	30	-9

Written by: Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor & Nick Rhodes
Produced by: Alex Sadkin, Ian Little & Duran Duran
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	3
Peak position	21
Weeks	6
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	0
Biggest faller awards	1
Top 20 points	N/A
Overall Top 20 points ranking	N/A
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	N/A
Top 30 Points	37
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=2248
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	6

Annual ranking:

1984

=99

Other chart success:

Australia	4
Belgium	19
Canada	2
France	8
Germany	37
Ireland	5
Netherlands	17
New Zealand	3
Norway	8
Spain	16
Sweden	16
UK	3
US	3
Zimbabwe	2

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	1
Radio 5	1

The song would follow up ‘Is There Something I Should Know’ which had been their first UK chart topper. Although it would peak at 3 on the Hot 100 in the US, it would reach the top spot on the US Cashbox chart, a rival magazine to Billboard which produced the Hot 100. It would be the 2^nd of 6 hits to chart that noted Alex Sadkin as the producer. Sadkin’s biggest hit as a producer was with Foreigner’s ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

NOTORIOUS – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
30-Nov-86	28*	New
07-Dec-86	23	+5	Star rater
14-Dec-86	16	+7	Star rater
21-Dec-86	14	+2
28-Dec-86	14	0
04-Jan-87	15**	-1
11-Jan-87	15	0
18-Jan-87	20	-5
25-Jan-87	20	0
01-Feb-87	16	+4	Biggest climber/Star rater
08-Feb-87	16	0
15-Feb-87	26	-10	Biggest faller
22-Feb-87	26	0

* Marks a 5 year run in the charts for Duran Duran.
** Marks a 6 year run in the charts for Duran Duran.

Written by: Simon le Bon, John Taylor & Nick Rhodes
Produced by: Duran Duran & Nile Rodgers
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	6
Peak position	14
Weeks	13
Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	3
Biggest faller awards	1
Top 20 points	43
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=1684
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	4
Top 30 Points	154
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=1450
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	4

Annual ranking:

1986	=89
1987	83

Other chart success:

Australia	17
Austria	14
Belgium	6
France	37
Germany	12
Netherlands	6
New Zealand	6
Norway	4
Spain	2
Sweden	2
Switzerland	4
UK	7
US	2

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	1
Radio 5	1

The song was the first release by the band as a 3 piece following the departure of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor. Chic’s Nile Rodgers’, who co-produced the track with the band, would also contribute guitars. Of the 11 charting hits that name Nile Rodgers as producer, this would rank 9^th for top 30 points.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW? – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
03-Jun-83	23	New
10-Jun-83	23	0
17-Jun-83	26	-3
24-Jun-83	26	0
01-Jul-83	29	-3
08-Jul-83	28	+1
15-Jul-83	23	+5	Star rater/Peak
22-Jul-83	23	0	Peak
29-Jul-83	25	-2
05-Aug-83	30	-5	Biggest faller

Written by: Simon le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor & Nick Rhodes
Produced by: Duran Duran & Ian Little
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	2
Peak position	23
Weeks	10
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	1
Biggest faller awards	1
Top 20 points	N/A
Overall Top 20 points ranking	N/A
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	N/A
Top 30 Points	54
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=2127
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	5

Annual ranking:

1983

=89

Other chart success:

Australia	4
Belgium	16
Canada	3
Finland	2
Germany	28
Ireland	2
Italy	20
Netherlands	24
New Zealand	5
Norway	10
Sweden	16
Switzerland	7
UK	1
US	4

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	4
Radio 5	4

The song was the 14^th to enter the UK charts at number 1. It would appear on the very first ‘Now That’s What I call Music’ compilation to be released in the UK.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

I DON’T WANT YOU LOVE – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
23-Feb-89	30	New	Peak

Written by: Simon le Bon, John Taylor & Nick Rhodes
Produced by: Duran Duran, Jonathan Elias & Daniel Abraham
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	7
Peak position	30
Weeks	1
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	0
Biggest faller awards	0
Top 20 points	N/A
Overall Top 20 points ranking	N/A
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	N/A
Top 30 Points	1
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=2528
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	7

Annual ranking:

1989

43

Other chart success:

Australia	23
Belgium	15
Canada	8
Germany	31
Italy	1
Netherlands	11
New Zealand	12
Switzerland	30
UK	14
US	4

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	2
Radio 5	3

The song was the lowest new entry on the final chart, making it the last song to enter the charts. At this point, Duran Duran were down to a 3 piece (the 3 song writers noted above). Warren Cuccurullo, who had played on their previous album, also played on this track and would join as an official member after the tour to promote ‘Big Thing’, the album from which ‘I Don’t Want Your Love’ came.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF – DURAN DURAN

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
03-Sep-82	17	New
10-Sep-82	16	+1
17-Sep-82	11	+5	Biggest climber/Star rater
24-Sep-82	9	+2
01-Oct-82	6	+3	Biggest climber
08-Oct-82	5	+1
15-Oct-82	4	+1	Peak
22-Oct-82	4	0	Peak
29-Oct-82	4	0	Peak
05-Nov-82	5	-1
12-Nov-82	7	-2
19-Nov-82	11	-4
26-Nov-82	13	-2
03-Dec-82	20	-7

Written by: Nick Rhodes, Simon le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor & Andy Taylor
Produced by: Colin Thurston
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): EMI

Hit number for artist	1
Peak position	4
Weeks	14
Biggest climber awards	2
Star rater climbs	1
Biggest faller awards	0
Top 20 points	162
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=621
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	2
Top 30 Points	302
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=620
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	2

Annual ranking:

1982

25

Other chart success:

Australia	5
Canada	1
Ireland	4
Netherlands	50
New Zealand	4
Poland	25
UK	5
US	3

SA Radio charts:

Capital 604	3
Radio 702	1

The song was written and recorded in a single day. The video for the song (shot in Sri Lanka) would help break the band in the US as it received heavy rotation on MTV there. The lyrics to the song were inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale and apparently the ‘do do do…’s at the end of each line uses a melody from Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘If You Could Read my Mind’.

Video:

Artist link: Duran Duran

DURAN DURAN (UK)

The band was formed in Birmingham in the UK when John Taylor and Nick Rhodes met working at a club called Rum Runner. They began performing together and took on the name Duran Duran based on the character Dr Durand Durand from the 1968 film ‘Barbarella’ which starred Jane Fonda. Barbarella’s was also the name of a nightclub near to Rum Runner. Their first recruits were Stephen Duffy and Simon Colley, but Duffey left soon afterwards and would eventually forge a relatively successful solo career as Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy and with a band called The Lilac Time. The band recruited Andy and Roger Taylor. Despite having 3 Taylors in the band (John, Roger and Andy), none of them were related. At the recommendation of an ex-girlfriend, the band recruited Simon Le Bon as lead vocalist and the line-up of what would be one of the most successful bands in the 80’s was complete. In 1980 they landed a supporting slot with Hazel O’Connor on her tour and this led to a bidding war from the EMI and Phonogram record labels. They opted for EMI as that had been The Beatles label and released their debut album called ‘Duran Duran’ in 1981. The lead single, ‘Planet Earth’, would get to 12 on the UK charts with ‘Girls’ On Film’, the second single, peaking at 5. They have gone on to see a total of 33 UK hits (to date) with ‘Is There Something I Should Know’ and ‘The Reflex’ being chart toppers. In the US they have managed 21 Hot 100 hits with ‘The Reflex’ and ‘A View To A Kill’ being their chart toppers there. Around 1985 they took a break from Duran Duran John and Andy Taylor teaming up with Robert Palmer and Chic’s drummer, Tony Thompson, to form The Power Station. This side project had hits with ‘Some Like It Hot’ and their cover of the T-Rex song ‘Get It On’. Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes meanwhile formed their own side-project called Arcadia and had a hit with ‘Election Day’. Duran Duran have continued to record and perform with Simon Le Bon, John Taylor and Nick Rhodes being the mainstay of the group.

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
03-Sep-1982	Hungry Like The Wolf	4	14
03-Jun-1983	Is There Something I Should Know	23	10
20-Jan-1984	Union Of The Snake	21	6
21-Dec-1984	Wild Boys	1 (1)	19
14-Jun-1985	A View To A Kill	4	16
30-Nov-1986	Notorious	14	13
23-Feb-1989	I Don’t Want Your Love	30	1
		Total hits	7
		Total weeks	79

Biggest climber awards	6
Star rater climbs	13
Biggest fallers	5
Weeks with oldest in the charts	1
Longest run in the charts (weeks)	19
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts	0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)	105
Top 30 points ranking	98
Top 20 points ranking	128
Top 30 points	1175
Top 20 points	517

Power Station hits featuring Andy and John Taylor:

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
17-May-1985	Some Like It Hot	10	17
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	17

Limahl’s hit produced by Nick Rhodes:

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
11-Jan-1985	Never Ending Story	2	17
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	17

Total chart involvement by the group and its members:

Number of hits	9
Weeks	113
Number 1’s	1
Weeks at 1	1

Bond Themes/Eurovision/Grammys/Oscars

The best performing Bond theme on our charts – Duran Duran’s A View To A Kill

There were 13 James Bond movies released during the years that the charts ran for. Of those, we saw 6 of the theme tunes make our charts. This includes the non-official ‘Casino Royale’ which starred David Niven as Bond. These 6 were (based on their top 20 points):

Year	Song	Act	Points
1985	A View To A Kill	Duran Duran	131
1987	The Living Daylights	A-ha	123
1981	For Your Eyes Only	Sheena Easton	73
1965	Thunderball	Tom Jones	67
1983	All Time High	Rita Coolidge	61
1967	Casino Royale	Herb Alpert	22

The following Bond themes (looking at films from 19965 to 1989) did not make our charts:

• 1967 You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)
• 1969 We Have All The Time In The World (from ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’) (Louis Armstrong)
• 1971 Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
• 1973 Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings)
• 1974 The Man With The Golden Gun (Lulu)
• 1977 Nobody Does It Better (from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’) (Carly Simon)
• 1979 Moonraker (Shirley Bassey)

No Bond Theme made it to the top of our charts.

EUROVISION WINNERS

We had 7 Eurovision Song Competition winners make the charts. These (in top 20 points order) were:

Song	Act	Points
Come What May (Aka Aprés Toi)	Vicky Leandros	321
Waterloo	Abba	223
Puppet On A String	Sandie Shaw	207
Save Your Kisses For Me	Brotherhood Of Man	142
All Kinds Of Everything	Dana	82
Making Your Mind Up	Bucks Fizz	51
What’S Another Year	Johnny Logan	31

There were 3 other songs that made our charts which were entries into the competition but did not win and those were:

• Congratulations – Cliff Richard (came 2^nd)
• Knock, Knock Who’s There – Mary Hopkin (came 2^nd)
• Beg, Steal Or Borrow – New Seekers (came 2^nd)

All 3 of these were the UK’s entry into the contest.

Grammy Song Of The Year

15 of the winners of the Grammy Song of the year made our charts. Again in top 20 points order, these were:

Song	Act	Points
Every Breath You Take	Police	310
We Are The World	USA For Africa	299
What’s Love Got To Do With It	Tina Turner	242
Bette Davis Eyes	Kim Carnes	241
You Light Up My Life	Debby Boone	225
That’s What Friends Are For	Dionne & Friends	217
Just The Way You Are	Billy Joel	189
Bridge Over Troubled Water	Simon & Garfunkel	186
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face	Roberta Flack	168
Don’t Worry, Be Happy	Bobby Mcferrin	156
Games People Play	Joe South	150
I Write The Songs	Barry Manilow	136
What A Fool Believes	Doobie Brothers	111
Killing Me Softly With His Song	Roberta Flack	99
Somewhere Out There	James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt	1

The following were the songs that won the award, but did not make our charts:

1966	The Shadow of Your Smile	Tony Bennett
1967	Michelle	The Beatles
1968	Up, Up, and Away	The 5th Dimension
1969	Little Green Apples	O. C. Smith
1972	You’ve Got a Friend	James Taylor & Carole King
1975	The Way We Were	Barbra Streisand
1976	Send in the Clowns	Judy Collins
1978	Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)*	Barbra Streisand
1981	Sailing	Christopher Cross
1983	Always on My Mind	Willie Nelson

* Shared the award with Debby Boone’s ‘You Light Up My Life’

Oscars

Each year there is an award at the Oscars for the best original song in a film. The award does not note the singer, but in all cases, the charting version was the version which appeared in the film. There were 13 of these songs which made our charts:

Song	Act	Points
You Light Up My Life (from ‘You Light Up My Life’)	Debby Boone	225
Say You, Say Me (from ‘White Nights’)	Lionel Richie	420
I Just Called To Say I Love You (from ‘The Woman In Red’)	Stevie Wonder	390
Up Where We Belong (from ‘An Officer & A Gentleman’)	Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes	305
(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life (from ‘Dirty Dancing’)	Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes	304
Flashdance…What A Feeling (from ‘Flashdance’)	Irene Cara	241
Take My Breath Away (from ‘Top Gun’)	Berlin	217
The Morning After (from ‘The Poseidon Adventure’)	Maureen Mcgovern	203
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head (From ‘Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid’)	B.J. Thomas	164
Fame (from ‘Fame’)	Irene Cara	141
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (from ‘Arthur’)	Christopher Cross	126
Born Free (from ‘Born Free’)	Matt Monro	125
The Windmills Of Your Mind (From ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’)	Noel Harrison	65

Those that didn’t make the charts were:

• 1965 – The Shadow Of Your Smile (from ‘The Sandpiper’)
• 1967 – Talk To The Animals (from ‘Doctor Doolittle’)
• 1970 – For All We Know (from ‘Lovers And Other Strangers’)
• 1971 – The From Shaft (from ‘Shaft’)
• 1973 – The Way We Were (from ‘The Way We Were’)
• 1974 – We May Never Love Like This Again (from ‘The Towering Inferno’)
• 1975 – I’m Easy (from ‘Nashville’)
• 1976 – Evergreen (from ‘A Star Is Born’)
• 1978 – last Dance (from ‘Thank God It’s Friday’)
• 1979 – It Goes Like It Goes (from ‘Norma Rae’)
• 1988 – Let The River Run (from ‘Working Girl’)
• 1989 – Under The Sea (from ‘The Little Mermaid’)

15 February 1985

TW	LW	Weeks	Song		Artist
1	5	9	Wild Boys	–	Duran Duran
2	1	20	Careless Whisper	–	George Michael
3	6	6	The Neverending Story	–	Limahl
4	8	5	One Night in Bangkok	–	Murray Head
5	2	15	Sounds Like a Melody	–	Alphaville
6	3	20	I Just Called to Say I Love You	–	Stevie Wonder
7	10	12	Why?	–	Bronski Beat
8	4	20	Agadoo	–	Black Lace
9	11	10	Freedom	–	Wham!
10	7	13	The War Song	–	Culture Club
11	9	11	Smooth Operator	–	Sade
12	16	5	I Want to Know What Love Is	–	Foreigner
13	13	12	Blue Jean	–	David Bowie
14	14	14	Missing You	–	John Waite
15	20	5	Do They Know it’s Christmas?	–	Band Aid
16	18	4	We Belong	–	Pat Benatar
17	15	16	She Bop	–	Cyndi Lauper
18	19	6	Drive	–	Cars
19	12	22	Ghostbusters	–	Ray Parker Jr.
20	17	7	Left in the Dark	–	Barbra Streisand
21	24	4	All Cried Out	–	Alison Moyet
22	21	29	Manuel Goodbye	–	Audrey Landers
23	22	18	African Queen (No More love On The Run)	–	Billy Ocean
24	26	3	Too Late for Goodbyes	–	Julian Lennon
25	23	14	Passengers	–	Elton John
26	27	2	Body Rock	–	Maria Vidal
27	28	2	The Riddle	–	Nik Kershaw
28	30	2	Dr. Beat	–	Miami Sound Machine
29	29	2	Bouncing off the Walls	–	Matthew Wilder
30	25	18	I Can Dream About You	–	Dan Hartman

Duran Duran’s ‘Wild Boys’ became the 26^th song to jump to the number 1 spot from position 5 or lower in the charts as it made a star rater climb from 5 to 1. The previous song to do this was Bob Marley’s ‘Buffalo Soldier’ which jumped from 9 to 1 (the second biggest jump to 1 of all-time after Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Why My’ which jumped from 10 to 1). The previous number 1, George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ dropped to 2 after 3 weeks at 1. It was celebrating its 20^th week in the charts and was the 108^th song to clock up 20 weeks in the charts.

There were 2 other songs getting to 20 weeks and they were Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ and Black Lace’s ‘Agadoo’ (what were we thinking???). This was the 3^rd time we had seen a record 3 songs hitting 20 weeks in the same week. All 3 of these occasions had been in the top 30 era, but this was the first where all 3 songs reaching 20 weeks were inside the top 20.

The climber of the week was Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ which moved up 5 from 20 to 15 to be the climber both within the top 20 and the top 30.

Apart from the biggest climber and the new number 1, there were 2 other star raters and these were Murray Head’s ‘One Night In Bangkok’ which climbed 4 from 8 to 4 and Foreigner’s ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ which moved up 4 from 16 to 12.

Ray Parker Jr’s ‘Ghostbusters’ took the faller of the week award as it fell 7 from 12 to 19 which meant it was the faller in both the top 20 and the top 30. It was, however, still the oldest in the top 20 for a second week as it became the 76^th song to clock up 20 top 20 weeks.

Audrey Lander’s ‘Manuel Goodbye’ moved on to 29 weeks in the charts (the 6^th song to manage this) and this now became the longest run for a song by a solo female act, moving past Laura Branigan’s ‘Self Control’. ‘Manuel Goodbye’ was enjoying its 6^th week as the oldest in the top 30.

Not only was there no movement on or off the top 20, there was also no movement on or off the top 30. This was the 29^th time we had seen no movement on or off the charts.

It was however, the best top 20 week for acts from a nation that we had seen so far. Using a points basis (i.e. 20 points for a number 1, 19 for number 2 etc) and applying this to nations as opposed to songs or acts, then the Brits scored 155 points. The previous record had been 149 points which the British acts had managed on 20 December 1968. Using this points basis, the Brits had seen the top 7 times with the American’s best being 142 points on 16 September 1966. The best local acts had managed was 123 points on 10 September 1976.

Germany caught up with The Netherlands for weeks on the charts by acts from those nations. The 2 countries sat at the top of the list for non-big 3 nations with 386 weeks each.

We also saw a new record longest run with no local acts in the charts as we had now been 9 weeks with no South African in the top 30.

George Michael and Black Lace both celebrated 20 weeks in the charts (their hits mentioned above which made 20 weeks being their only ones to date) while Culture Club hit 50 and David Bowie made it to 80. Bowie sat 35^th overall for weeks. Using a top 30 points basis we saw both Culture Club and Foreigner hit the 1,000 points mark. They sat tied 96^th and 94^th respectively for this.

Youtube playlist: