r/UKRetroCharts

📺 TV Drama Flashback: Grange Hill (1981)

This weekend, we're heading back to the school corridors of Grange Hill as we revisit the start of Series 4 in 1981(this one aired in late December 1980).

The new term brings a change at the top, with the formidable Mrs McClusky arriving as the school's new headmistress. Meanwhile, the appearance of Booga Benson hints at some of the trouble still to come! For anyone who remembers watching BBC children's television in the early eighties, Grange Hill remains a classic slice of British school drama, capturing the friendships, rivalries and mischief that made it such a talking point.

https://youtu.be/VU9itKaoGx8?is=veKcE2iMs\_4FpW57

New entry: 54

Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) - XTC

https://youtu.be/mRDGAnWdJgE?is=7AHXZA3s9g47ZxND

Peak: 16 | Weeks: 9

Album: Black Sea

One of the real growers of the week. XTC's Sgt. Rock arrives at 54, but, has considerably further to travel, eventually reaching 16. It's an amusingly off-kilter new wave song about a fictional soldier, offering rather dubious romantic advice.

Nine weeks on the chart makes this a much more substantial run than its modest debut might suggest.

New entry: 68

Zerox - Adam & the Ants

https://youtu.be/dkwHapwfZ6w?is=yA_Va46Tf0RV7oTm

Peak: 45 | Weeks: 9

Album: Dirk Wears White Sox

And the Ants story gets even stranger. Zerox was another older recording dragged out by Do It Records at precisely the moment Adam & the Ants were becoming one of Britain's hottest new bands.

So, for this week, the chart contains four Adam & the Ants records, Antmusic, Young Parisians, Cartrouble, and Zerox. Not bad going for a band who were still very much in the process of taking over.

New entry: 14

Rapture - Blondie

https://youtu.be/pHCdS7O248g?is=BxsgSOEnzeAa_Zx2

Peak: 5 | Weeks: 8

Album: Autoamerican

Now we're talking. Blondie's Rapture doesn't creep into the chart at the bottom — it arrives at #14.

It's one of those records that sounds like virtually nothing else around it: disco, rock, funk, and an early taste of rap all thrown into the same musical pot. Debbie Harry's spoken-word section would become particularly famous, while the song's strange mixture of styles seemed to sum up just how unpredictable pop had become by 1981.

It would climb to #5, giving Blondie another major British hit. This would be their final top 10 hit of the 1980s, which signals the end of an era, following a consistent 1979 and 1980.

It was also their fourth and final US number 1.

New entry: 45

The Freeze - Spandau Ballet

https://youtu.be/ahIN_jHIniE?is=-7b_MkgDw5GUJ65c

Peak: 17 | Weeks: 8

Album: Journeys to Glory

Spandau Ballet weren't finished with To Cut a Long Story Short yet, which was still sitting at #55, but here comes their follow-up.

The Freeze initially enters at #45 before making a considerable leap into the Top 20, peaking at #17. It's another step in the band's rapid transformation from the Blitz-era club scene, into genuine chart contenders.

New entry: 38

The Return of the Los Palmas Seven -Madness

https://youtu.be/EAUhSuI_8lU?is=NTj0LktxTj1m9hcd

Peak: 7 | Weeks: 11

Album: Absolutely

Now we're into serious chart territory. Madness had already given us Baggy Trousers and Embarrassment, and their largely instrumental Return of the Los Palmas Seven arrives at #38 before marching all the way to #7.

It's an unusual single: there isn't really a conventional vocal performance, and the track grew out of the band's earlier instrumental sound. Stiff Records boss Dave Robinson, had been keen for another instrumental after the success of One Step Beyond. It worked — and the record even picked up considerable BBC Radio 2 airplay, helping Madness reach an older audience.

Definitely one of their best since they first appeared on the charts, with The Prince back in September 1979.

New entry: 69

Cartrouble - Adam & the Ants

https://youtu.be/LdiKO0gAQwA?is=SNqJMBio7BwYzrE6

Peak: 33 | Weeks: 9

Album: Dirk Wears White Sox

There's a slightly grubby bit of record-company history behind this one. Cartrouble wasn't a brand-new Adam & the Ants release at all. Their old label, Do It Records, rushed it out after the band had moved on and Antmusic was becoming a sizeable hit.

Hoping to cash in on the sudden Antmania, it did fairly well commercially, with the single eventually reaching #33.

New entry: 63

Twilight Cafe - Susan Fassbender

https://youtu.be/3siuKcGC1nM?is=w9yjYaXg5oBntg50

Peak: 21 | Weeks: 8

Album: No album released at the time

This was Susan Fassbender's only UK hit, although it would prove to be a rather memorable one, climbing from No.63 all the way to No.21 in February.

Fassbender was a Bradford-born singer and musician who had studied classical piano before teaming up with guitarist Kay Russell. "Twilight Cafe" had originally been released independently on Criminal Records before CBS picked it up after Radio 1 airplay began to build. The pair never actually got around to releasing an album during their original run — a collection of their demos wouldn't appear until 2012.

New entry: 52

Vienna - Ultravox

https://youtu.be/hKAT3Kp56Yg?is=LnxkfYHfWs_gmLxA

Peak: 2 | Weeks: 18

Album: Vienna

Here's one of the really important arrivals of this particular week. "Vienna" was the title track of Ultravox's 1980 album and marked the group's first appearance in the UK Top 10.

With Midge Ure now fronting the band, Ultravox had moved into a much more atmospheric synth-driven sound, and although "Vienna" would famously be kept off the top spot, it eventually reached No.2 and became the band's signature song.

It would also be one of the biggest sellers of 1981.