Graduation singles
Way back in the days before blogs, people would sometimes receive an email from a friend which contained a questionnaire. Most often in the form of “end of year round-ups” (there was a big spate just before the millennium) they’d usually be a mixture of pop culture stuff; favourite song of the year, top 10 movies of the 90s, top 10 Buffy villains… interspersed with more personal and/or vaguely psychoanalytical questions; favourite food, what’s under your bed, your happiest moment of the year, the one thing you wished you’d said this year and to who…
Fast-forward to the present day however, and enough of the people who sent and received those emails are now bloggers to have pretty much killed off the phenomenon of the questionnaire email. It evolved into blog-memes.
Once in a blue moon, however, I’ll still receive one of those old-school emails. Usually from A. Today her email came with a Word document attached…
List the Top 50 singles from the year you graduated highschool. This website can be used:
[URL here]Highlight the list as follows…
Italicise all those you like. Bold all those songs you own. Strike-out all those you hate. Mark in red all those you liked then, but cringe at now.
There then followed the list of Top 50 UK singles from 1990 (the year A graduated 6th form). Plus instructions to do the same, return it to the sender and mail it to your friends. The thing is; it turns out that 1990 happened to have several quality singles that sold well. So A could write a short paragraph about the first time she heard Groove Is In The Heart or Nothing Compares 2 U.
Step back two years to when I graduated highschool though. To the cultural desert that was 1988…
- 6 of the most popular songs of the year feature Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, or both.
- 4 were by Bros.
- 1988 was the year Prince’s Alphabet Street was released. It doesn’t feature in the Top 50 though. It was outsold (by the shedload) by singles from Tiffany, Glenn Medeiros, Robin Beck, Brother Beyond, Taylor Dayne, Billy Ocean, Sabrina, Milli Vanilli, Climie Fisher, Rick Astley. And Krush.
- Also let’s not forget Phil Collins and Chris de Burgh.
- Alphabet Street isn’t the only conspicuous absence. Also missing from the top selling singles of the year are Nick Cave’s The Mercy Seat, Morrissey’s Everyday Is Like Sunday and People Have The Power by Patti Smith.
- But it’s the year Enya got really famous.
- To top it off though, the best-selling record of the year was… wait for it… Mistletoe and Bastid Wine by Lord Cliff Fucking Richard.
There’s just no excuse for it. So yeah, I decided against continuing that particular meme. But if any of my fellow bloggers discover their graduation year contained some singles worth writing about, then please feel free to take this meme and run with it.
I finished my GCSEs in 2000. Best I can do is “The Bad Touch” by the Bloodhound Gang, and maybe Public Domain’s “Operation Blade”… Not classics though.
http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/UK/uk00.htm
July 12th, 2006 | 11:22pm
by Snooo
Yeah, that was a pretty lean year too, Snooo. Though Stan by Eminem is a classic.
July 13th, 2006 | 2:29am
by Jim
I was 1990 too. Have to give a special mention to ‘Love Shack’ by the B-52’s. It lent its name to the student union disco at the college I went to straight after 6th form (and I’m sure it lent its name to many others). It was where I first did E.
Yeah, there was amazing stuff in 1988, but it was all just seething below the charts…
July 13th, 2006 | 9:45am
by Gyrus
There was a lot worth listening to in 2000 (off the top of my head, it was the year At The Drive In released their last album, And You Shall Know Us By The Trail of Dead released Madonna, Shellac produced the insane 1000 Hurts…) but none of it charted. Sigh…
July 13th, 2006 | 9:51am
by Snooo
Yeah, ‘let’s not forget Chris De Burgh’, eh Jim?
How could you, when you’re the proud owner of that live version of Lady In Red? If I ran the world you’d forfeit ownership of your ears for ever listening to that one.
Not only that, but by voting every fucking day you are single handedly responsible for the runaway success of the most DeBurgh-positive answer winning the poll in my blog’s sidebar.
You only didn’t do the Graduation Singles thing cos you were embarrassed that you’d have to put that you own the frigging De Burgh record.
July 20th, 2006 | 11:20am
by Merrick
I was 18 in 1984, which was , I think, the year I left school. Possibly, but it’s the year that springs to mind.. but it could be one year either way.. it was 22 years ago…. so…
Anyway.. in the top 100 , which I actually liked…
1. “When Doves Cry”…..Prince
3. “Jump”…..Van Halen
7. “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”…..Yes
10. “Ghostbusters”…..Ray Parker, Jr.
15. “Missing You”…..John Waite ( cringe-worthy now)
17. “Time After Time”…..Cyndi Lauper
18. “The Reflex”…..Duran Duran
23. “Let’s Go Crazy”…..Prince & The Revolution
39. “Drive”…..The Cars
45. “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”…..Cyndi Lauper
53. “Purple Rain”…..Prince & The Revolution
79. “Nobody Told Me”…..John Lennon
81. “Wrapped Around Your Finger”…..The Police
89. “Round And Round”…..Ratt ( cringe-worthy now)
A fairly poor showing, apart from Prince and Van Halen I’d say.
July 25th, 2006 | 10:19pm
by RA
That was US of course.. thought there were some good ones missing.. here’s the ones from the UK top 50 i will admit to liking…(still a meagre selection)
1. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid*
26. “Radio Ga Ga,” Queen
2. “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” Stevie Wonder* 27. “Together In Electric Dreams,” Giorgio Moroder with Philip Oakey
3. “Relax,” Frankie Goes to Hollywood*
28. “When Doves Cry,” Prince
4. “Two Tribes,” Frankie Goes to Hollywood*
5. “Careless Whisper,” George Michael*6. “Last Christmas”/”Everything She Wants,” Wham
32. “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” Cyndi Lauper
9. “Ghostbusters,” Ray Parker, Jr.
10. “Freedom,” Wham!*
36. “Nellie The Elephant,” The Toy Dolls
37. “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” U2
13. “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” Grandmaster & Melle Mel*
14. “We All Stand Together,” Paul McCartney & the Frog Chorus*
16. “The Power Of Love,” Frankie Goes to Hollywood* 23. “I Want To Break Free,” Queen
July 25th, 2006 | 11:02pm
by RA
I still like Love Shack, Gyrus. It’s a classic summer pop tune. Not as good as their pinnacle… Rock Lobster… but groovy nonetheless.
Look Merrick, we all know your cruel and psychotic campaign of hatred towards donkeys has led to this weird obsession with Chris de Burgh (known almost as much for his tireless donkey-charity work as for his generally bland music). I do not deny that the man has released a succession of vacuous sub-easy-listening albums since the early 80s. That doesn’t, however, take away from the fact that his first couple of albums have nice tunes on, which is more than you can say for Huey Lewis.
RA, 1984 was a good year for the singles charts by the look of it. Of course, it was the year of Purple Rain, which counts for a lot. When the biggest selling album of the year (by a long way) is by Prince, then clearly a large slice of the public is on the right wavelength. That was also the year I bought my first record (Ghostbusters) though it was another two years before I bought my first album.
Also, am I the only person to think the FGTH version of The Power of Love is one of the most beautiful records ever released? It’s almost a straight cover, which I usually hate (I tend to think “what’s the point?” See Robbie Williams version of She’s The One for the most extreme example of this) yet Holly’s voice adds a gorgeous and haunting undertone to the song. Just lovely.
July 29th, 2006 | 10:09pm
by Jim
Er, what do you mean The Power of Love is a cover? It’s a FGTH original (and every bit as beautiful as you think and then some).
Are you perhaps confusing it with the identically titled Huey Lewis song?
Is it that subconsciously you really think that Huey made ‘one of the most beautiful records ever released’ (which is more than you can say for Chris De Burgh)?
July 31st, 2006 | 2:59pm
by Merrick
Actually Merrick… I haven’t the faintest idea where I got the idea that The Power of Love is a cover. For some reason I’ve got a near-identical version with a female lead vocalist in my head… but I’m now convinced that I either dreamt it or subconsciously invented it for reasons unknown.
(And no, I wasn’t thinking of the Huey Lewis song… or the Jennifer Rush song… I’ve obviously just gone completely mad).
July 31st, 2006 | 3:12pm
by Jim
Hello “Merrick”,
do you mind if I ask what you hold against Chris and Huey? Are you jealous of there financial success and musical genious? Do you wish you had there talent? Lady in red is one of the best rcords ever made, and Huey was a great funky voice in all the crap of the early 1980’s. Power of Love is a great record, and still stands up to this day. The fact that it was used in a film about a cereal killer just show’s it’s enduring appeal. Let’s not even talk about Frankie goes to Hollywood’s song of the same name. Gay’s shouldn’t be allowed to make records. I don’t want to know about there love, powerful or otherwise.
Anonymous
August 1st, 2006 | 12:05am
by Alan
I’m unsure whether “Alan” is a genuine wingnut (my first since David Duff used to pop in!) or a clever parody. The dire spelling and grammar makes me think the former, but the sheer absurdity of the content makes me think the latter.
August 1st, 2006 | 11:33am
by Jim
I really love it when anyone defends criticism of a band by noting their financial success. My recent online tussle with a Simple Fucking Minds fan had that accusation more than once.
By that line of thinking, Agadoo is several orders of magnitude greater than The Killing Moon.
I also love Alan’s use of a name and then actively signing it ‘anonymous’.
The concept of a ‘cereal killer’ really tickled me too; menacingly stalking the Shredded Wheat before leaping out in a frenzied attack, axing the box until it was a shower of golden powder.
But above all these, for some reason it’s the use of my name in quotes that I like the most.
Alan, let me educate you in the ways of music. Come round my house and I’ll get you pissed, put you on all fours with a speaker either side of your head, put Relax on repeat play at volume 10 and do you hard and ungreased up the dirtbox until you like it. You know the very idea gives you warm feelings inside.
August 1st, 2006 | 2:08pm
by Merrick
Hello again “Merrick”. Now what the Hell do you have against Black Lace? Alan Barton (RIP) was a friend of my dads, who I am named after. I dont think there music eg Agadoo was good just because it made money, although that’s more than you’ve done probably.
How many people know the words of “killing moon” compared to the words of Agadoo? How much more fun have people had to Agadoo? Thats musical sucsess because its a great song, not just about the money side, which was a lot. How many people even know who Echo the Bunnyman was? Well anyway I do know, I saw donny darko and I think the Nouvelle Vague did a better version than he did.
And so what that I cant spell as good as you can. does that make me wrong? I know more about music than you reckon, and I’m not stupid just because I can’t spell sereal. I put your name in quotes because it’s not a proper mane is it. I bet your really called dave or something. You should get a proper name like you’re mate jim. Although I don’t know what he mean’s by wingnut.
As for your last comment, well, I’m not going to dignify it by talking about it. I thought you might be a bit bent by the way you talked about frankie goes to hollywood, and talking about showers of golden powder which sounds a bit suspect, but you are oviously very queer. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re sort don’t get records out. you can do what they like as long as you do it in the dark, behind locked doors, in an empty house out in the middle of nowhere, and don’t mention what you did to anyone afterwards. After all its a free country.
Alan
August 3rd, 2006 | 2:28am
by Alan
Alan you saucy minx,
I’m sorry to inform you that I have in fact made some money. Though not as much as Agadoo garnered, I’m sure. Then again, I have also grown blackcurrants, which Agadoo never did. It all depends on what yardstick you use to measure the value of your life.
Also, you are wrong on another count. I do have a proper mane. I know you’d like to weave your fingers into it and ride me like a crack addled rodeo jockey chewing a live wire. I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.
I like the tantalising flirtatious subtlety of your posts. The allusion to American Psycho juxtaposed with a homophobic comment is just lovely; I get the message loud and clear. You really want to invoke American Beauty, because of the guy who kills Kevin Spacey. You’re saying that we all know what homophobia really says about a man.
So, my rampant teasy big boy, the time for playing is over. Let’s get busy and doing the jiggy. My empty house in the middle of nowhere or yours?
August 8th, 2006 | 7:26pm
by Merrick
Hi Merrick. I feel like I owe you an apology. I think youre right and I probably am a bit gay really. Where can we meet for sex?
Alan
August 26th, 2006 | 7:49am
by Alan