UK Rock/Metal Charts (1980s and early '90s)

[Metalweb]

13 Apr 85

01(01) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen [20]
02(05) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar [23]
03(03) Somebody - Bryan Adams [36]
04(10) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon [19]
05 (-) That Was Yesterday - Foreigner [39]
06(13) Myzsterious Mizster Jones - Slade [60]
07(14) Piece Of The Action - Meat Loaf [57]
08 (-) Just Like An Arrow - Magnum [85]
09(02) Legs - ZZ Top
10 (-) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty [64]
11(08) Forever Man - Eric Clapton [77]
12(07) Run To You - Bryan Adams
13 (-) One More Night - Phil Collins [27]
14(18) Falling - Tobruk
15 (-) Turn Up The Radio - Autograph
16(11) I Want To Know What Love is - Foreigner
17 (-) Still Loving You - Scorpions
18(24) We Belong - Pat Benatar
19 (-) The Price - Twisted Sister
20(20) Animal (F*** Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
21 (-) Why Can't I Have You - Cars
22 (-) Only The Young - Journey
23(25) I Survive - Terraplane
24(15) You're the Inspiration - Chicago [92]
25 (-) White Lies - Jason and The Scorchers
26(30) Creeping Death - Metallica
27(19) Rockarama - Uriah Heep
28 (-) Manitou - Venom
29(27) Call To The Heart - Giuffria
30(21) Radioactive - The Firm

[Blondini]

As far as I remember that "Ex Pistols" single was generally acknowledged as an amusingly accurate pastiche on release.

Here's what the Kerrang! mag I've just been posting from had to say:

"This must rank as one of the more daring spoofs of recent years. They've ripped off the Sex Pistols name, logo and sound (the Johnny Rotten soundalike is, I'm told, a young Pakistani with a nifty ear for the punk mannerism!) the Virgin Records logo and Elgar to boot! This record is nothing if not brazen. It's a laff and the rip-off is so well executed that any Pistols fan should lap it up...."

Yeah - journalists would have known but clearly Guinness were still none the wiser for many years. The Ex Pistols name wasn't actually banned until a court case in 92.

[Metalweb]

Listening to it again for the first time in decades it now sounds pretty phony...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...6FORM%3DHDRSC3

[Metalweb]

27 Apr 85

01(13) One More Night - Phil Collins [4]
02(02) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar [17]
03(04) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon [21]
04(01) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen [42]
05(05) That Was Yesterday - Foreigner [28]
06 (-) So Far Away - Dire Straits [22]
07(03) Somebody - Bryan Adams [52]
08(10) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty [50]
09(08) Just Like An Arrow - Magnum
10 (-) Heartline - Robin George [72]
11(12) Run To You - Bryan Adams
12(06) Myzsterious Mizster Jones - Slade
13 (-) Hold On (To Your Love) - Shy
14(15) Turn Up The Radio - Autograph
15(11) Forever Man - Eric Clapton
16(07) Piece Of The Action - Meat Loaf
17(09) Legs - ZZ Top
18(16) I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner [98]
19(17) Still loving You - Scorpions
20 (-) Sunset Grill - Don Henley
21(29) Call To The Heart - Giuffria
22(22) Only The Young - Journey
23(14) Falling - Tobruk
24 (-) Along Comes A Woman - Chicago [96]
25(20) Animal (F*** Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
26(24) You're The Inspiration - Chicago
27 (-) High In Highschool - Madam X
28(26) Creeping Death - Metallica
29(28) Manitou - Venom
30(21) Why Can't I Have You - Cars

[Metalweb]

11 May 85

01(01) One More Night - Phil Collins [10]
02(06) So Far Away - Dire Straits [23]
03(02) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar [37]
04(03) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon [42]
05(05) That Was Yesterday - Foreigner [47]
06(04) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen [72]
07(08) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty
08(10) Heartline - Robin George [79]
09(07) Somebody - Bryan Adams
10 (-) The Knightmoves - Pallas
11(09) Just Like An Arrow - Magnum
12 (-) Rock And Roll Girls - John Fogerty [90]
13(14) Turn Up The Radio - Autograph
14 (-) Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody - David Lee Roth
15(13) Hold On (To Your Love) - Shy
16(11) Run To You - Bryan Adams
17(20) Sunset Grill - Don Henley
18(27) High In High School - Madam X
19(25) Animal (F*** Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
20(24) Along Comes A Woman - Chicago
21(16) Piece Of The Action - Meat Loaf
22(18) I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner
23(15) Forever Man - Eric Clapton
24 (-) This Ain't Love - Coney Hatch
25(23) Falling - Tobruk
26(12) Myzsterious Mizster Jones - Slade
27(19) Still Loving You - Scorpions
28(17) Legs - ZZ Top
29(21) Call To The Heart - Giuffria
30(22) Only The Young - Journey

[Metalweb]

25 May 85

01 (-) Kayleigh - Marillion [7]
02 (-) Out In The Fields - Gary Moore & Phil Lynott [18]
03(01) One More Night - Phil Collins [34]
04 (-) Modern Romance - Francis Rossi & Bernard Frost [54]
05(02) So Far Away - Dire Straits [64]
06(03) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar [74]
07 (-) Like A Virgin - Lords Of The New Church
08 (-) Pink And Black - Robert Plant [96]
09(06) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen [88]
10(04) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
11(08) Heartline - Robin George
12(05) That Was Yesterday - Foreigner
13(07) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty
14(12) Rock and Roll Girls - John Fogerty
15(10) The Knightmoves - Pallas
16(11) Just Like An Arrow - Magnum
17(17) Sunset Grill - Don Henley
18(14) Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody - Van Halen
19 (-) Heart To Heart - David Knopfler
20(09) Somebody - Bryan Adams
21 (-) Celebrate Youth - Rick Springfield [80]
22(16) Run To You - Bryan Adams
23(23) Forever Man - Eric Clapton
24(13) Turn Up The Radio - Autograph
25(20) Along Comes A Woman - Chicago
26(21) Piece Of The Action - Meat Loaf
27(22) I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner
28(18) High In High School - Madam X
29(25) Falling - Tobruk
30(15) Hold On (To Your Love) - Shy

Marillion do a J.M.Barrie and crash in at the top...

W.A.S.P. (and their asterisks) finally depart after a record-busting year on the chart...

[Robbie]

I wonder how many copies the W.A.S.P. single sold? By modern standards (where singles "sell" 5,000 a week and still fail to make the unpublished top 200 Singles chart) it wouldn't be much but it must have sold a fair few by mid 80s standards for a single that failed to make the top 40. And it even got a re-issue (or was it a re-recording?) in 1988 which would have added a few thousand more.

David Knopfler joins brother Mark in the top 20. Although ultimately not as successful as his brother once he left Dire Straits in 1980, he has been more prolific in his output and has continued to release albums right up to this year.

[Metalweb]

^

The David Knopfler single doesn't do much for me but at least it's more enjoyable than the dreary So Far Away. I could never understand why that track was the first single off Brothers In Arms (or indeed, why it was the first track on the album).

Off topic but..... the B-side of So Far Away was Walk Of Life, which was a No.2 hit in it's own right less than a year later.

Is this a unique feat, chart fans? Has the flipside of another top twenty hit ever scored as the a-side of a separate release so soon afterwards?

[Robbie]

From the same era 'How Soon Is Now' by The Smiths was the B side of 'William, It Was Really Nothing' before becoming the A side (in a shorter version) of their next single. However, unlike 'Walk Of Life', 'How Soon Is Now' fell just short of the top 20 when promoted to the A side.

[Metalweb]

^

Ah, yes!

Forgot that one.

[jimmypages59]

Whitesnake Still Of The Night, a UK #16, had Here I Go Again (1987) as it's B side, which in a slightly remixed version made #9 later the same year.

[Blondini]

I wonder how many copies the W.A.S.P. single sold? By modern standards (where singles "sell" 5,000 a week and still fail to make the unpublished top 200 Singles chart) it wouldn't be much but it must have sold a fair few by mid 80s standards for a single that failed to make the top 40. And it even got a re-issue (or was it a re-recording?) in 1988 which would have added a few thousand more.

88 version was called Live Animal because it was a live recording. OCC site database doesn't recognise this.

[Metalweb]

8 June 85

01(01) Kayleigh - Marillion [3]
02(02) Out In The Fields - Gary Moore & Phil Lynott [5]
03 (-) Heaven - Bryan Adams [38]
04 (-) In And Out Of Love - Bon Jovi
05(03) One More Night - Phil Collins [65]
06 (-) Needle In The Groove - Mama's Boys
07(21) Celebrate Youth - Rick Springfield [87]
08(05) So Far Away - Dire Straits
09(04) Modern Romance - Francis Rossi & Bernard Frost
10 (-) Rock Me All Over - Lee Aaron
11 (-) Secrets In The Street - Nils Lofgren [71]
12(08) Pink and Black - Robert Plant
13(07) Like A Virgin - Lords of the New Church
14(11) Heartline - Robin George
15(06) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar [90]
16 (-) One Lonely Night - REO Speedwagon
17(15) The Knightmoves - Pallas
18(09) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
19(13) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty
20(16) Just Like An Arrow - Magnum
21(30) Hold On (To Your Love) - Shy
22 (-) Poor Little Rich Girl - Uriah Heep
23(10) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
24(12) That Was Yesterday - Foreigner
25(14) Rock and Roll Girls - John Fogerty
26(20) Somebody - Bryan Adams
27(17) Sunset Grill - Don Henley
28(23) Forever Man - Eric Clapton
29 (-) Run To Your Lover - Randy California
30(19) Heart to Heart - David Knopfler

[Metalweb]

22 June 85

01(01) Kayleigh - Marillion [4]
02(02) Out In The Fields - Gary Moore & Phil Lynott [16]
03 (-) I'm On Fire / Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen [13]
04(03) Heaven - Bryan Adams [58]
05 (-) Knocking At Your Back Door - Deep Purple [78]
06(11) Secrets In The Street - Nils Lofgren [62]
07 (-) Shadows Of The Night - Pat Benatar [50]
08 (-) Hot For Teacher - Van Halen [89]
09(04) In And Out Of Love - Bon Jovi
10 (-) Wishing Well - Free
11(18) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
12(05) One More Night - Phil Collins [86]
13(10) Rock Me All Over - Lee Aaron
14(06) Needle In The Groove - Mama's Boys
15 (-) On A Storyteller's Night - Magnum
16(07) Celebrate Youth - Rick Springfield
17 (-) Animal (F*** Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
18 (-) See The Light Shining - Rising Force
19(08) So Far Away - Dire Straits
20(12) Pink And Black - Robert Plant
21(09) Modern Romance - Francis Rossi & Bernard Frost
22(17) The Knightmoves - Pallas
23 (-) Sentimental Street - Night Ranger
24(13) Like A Virgin - Lords of the New Church
25(16) One Lonely Night - REO Speedwagon
26(23) Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
27(19) Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty
28(14) Heartline - Robin George
29(15) Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
30(25) Rock and Roll Girls - John Fogerty

Well, it wasn't gone for long...W.A.S.P. return courtesy of a limited edition picture disc released to commemorate their year on the rock charts....

https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...x=8&ajaxhist=0

Meanwhile, strong new entries from Van Halen (best track on 1984), Deep Purple (best track on Perfect Strangers) and Bruce (best track on Born in the USA).

Free's Wishing Well, though, is a rather pointless remix of the '73 classic.

[jimmypages59]

Two of my favourite shaped picture discs, this the Pigs head anniversary edition and also the original codpiece/saw one. Remember my mother not being too impressed with the codpiece one, but liking the pig one!

[Metalweb]

You showed them to your mother ?!?!

[Robbie]

I agree that 'I'm On Fire' is the best track from 'Born In The USA'. It was around this time in 1985 (I've checked the date, it was actually either the 4th or 5th of June as he played both evenings) that I got to hear Bruce Springsteen live in concert. Bruce was undertaking a UK tour and on the 4th and 5th June he played at St James Park football ground in Newcastle. I didn't have a ticket but along with some friends (and many others gathered there) I stood outside the ground and listened to the entire concert. And magnificent it was too. While I would have preferred to have been inside and actually seeing Bruce performing this was the next best thing. The ground was open terracing back then so there was nothing to muffle the sound. And as the ground is on the edge of the city centre the sound would have travelled for miles in all directions.

[jimmypages59]

You showed them to your mother ?!?!

I did show the pig head one to her and she thought it was cool. She likes pigs! She actually had (maybe still has) a couple of Pink Floyd live posters with the floating pig.The other one she came across on the turntable! She was into rock, hard rock, got me into stuff like Zep, Purple, Nazareth, Aerosmith and even Guns N Roses. She bought Appetite For Destruction (with the original cover) when it came out, after hearing a few tracks on the radio, I didn't even know who they were at that point.

[Metalweb]

Wow!

[Metalweb]

I agree that 'I'm On Fire' is the best track from 'Born In The USA'. It was around this time in 1985 (I've checked the date, it was actually either the 4th or 5th of June as he played both evenings) that I got to hear Bruce Springsteen live in concert. Bruce was undertaking a UK tour and on the 4th and 5th June he played at St James Park football ground in Newcastle. I didn't have a ticket but along with some friends (and many others gathered there) I stood outside the ground and listened to the entire concert. And magnificent it was too. While I would have preferred to have been inside and actually seeing Bruce performing this was the next best thing. The ground was open terracing back then so there was nothing to muffle the sound. And as the ground is on the edge of the city centre the sound would have travelled for miles in all directions.

It's a cliché but a true one - back in his day Springsteen was unsurpassed as a live performer.

I saw him at The Brighton Centre on 27 May 1981 (during The River Tour) and it's still the best gig I ever went to.

He actually opened with Born To Run - how brave was that!

Happier times...

[Robbie]

It's a cliché but a true one - back in his day Springsteen was unsurpassed as a live performer.

I saw him at The Brighton Centre on 27 May 1981 (during The River Tour) and it's still the best gig I ever went to.

He actually opened with Born To Run - how brave was that!

Happier times...

The setlist for Bruce's performance on the 4th and 5th June 1985 at St James Park looks impressive! Given the passage of time I can't remember whether it was the 4th or the 5th June I heard him but both nights had an impressive line-up of songs. And with 'Born In The USA' to kick off proceedings!

4 June: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce...-33d7b01d.html

5 June: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce...-3bd7b01c.html

and the concert you saw, from 27 May 1981!: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce...-5bd7afe4.html

[Metalweb]

^

Thanks. Glad to find my memory wasn't deceiving me!

[Robbie]

and for the final bit, I found this on Youtube, Bruce Springsteen singing at St James Park back in 1985! It's Bruce's introduction of his concert on one of the two evenings...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXkEYD12uo

Though I'm not sure I agree with the introduction by the TV commentator of the "potentially melancholy surroundings of Newcastle United football ground"! Pah!

[Metalweb]

6 July 85

01(03) I'm On Fire/Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen [8]
02(01) Kayleigh - Marillion [10]
03(02) Out In The Fields - Gary Moore & Phil Lynott [35]
04 (-) Cold As Ice (Remix) - Foreigner [79]
05(05) Knocking At Your Back Door - Deep Purple
06(06) Secrets In The Street - Nils Lofgren
07(07) Shadows Of The Night - Pat Benatar [63]
08(08) Hot For Teacher - Van Halen
09(10) Wishing Well - Free
10(17) Animal (F*** Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
11(04) Heaven - Bryan Adams
12(11) Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
13(09) In And Out Of Love - Bon Jovi
14(13) Rock Me All Over - Lee Aaron
15(23) Sentimental Street - Night Ranger
16 (-) Black Night - Deep Purple
17(12) One More Night - Phil Collins
18 (-) Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple
19(14) Needle In The Groove - Mama's Boys
20 (-) Fireball - Deep Purple
21 (-) Strange Kind Of Woman - Deep Purple
22 (-) Dance With The Devil - Phenomena
23(19) So Far Away - Dire Straits
24 (-) Heaven Tonight - Waysted
25(16) Celebrate Youth - Rick Springfield
26(15) On A Storyteller's Night - Magnum
27 (-) When You're Hot - Terraplane
28 (-) Sole Survivor - Heavy Pettin'
29 (-) Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody - David Lee Roth
30 (-) I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner

The Deep Purple re-entries were Limited Edition 12 inch singles.

[Robbie]

I don't recall a remix of 'Cold As Ice' charting. Is there any reason why the single was remixed and released? I can't find any Best Of type album being released around this time.

[Metalweb]

Judging by the picture sleeve it's a cash in on the then recent success of the Agent Provocateur album.

To be fair it's a good remix - the original production was a tad on the sparse side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2overOLrVU