Tag Archives: Jacksons

Off The Chart: 14 July 1981

Off The Chart: 14 July 1981

We’re on a road trip back to the summer of 1981 on this week’s Off The Chart, picking up a carload of forgotten and half-remembered hits on the way, and squeezing in three of the week’s new albums; grabbing a look at the day’s news, TV, radio and gig highlights; filling up on the Spanish top ten, and back home in time for the top five singles in full.

  • Who declared “we don’t play gigs, we perform shows”?
  • Who formed a band to perform covers of 1940s swing songs “for a laugh”?
  • And who had to wait 38 years between their last number one single and their first number one album?

Tune in and find out!

Listen to Off The Chart on Mad Wasp Radio at 9pm every Tuesday! You can stream Mad Wasp Radio via their website, their apps for iOS or Android, or through TuneIn and MyTuner – and don’t forget to tweet along using the hashtag #OffTheChart. If you’re not around, you can hear the show again on Mad Wasp Radio at 10am on Friday, or catch up on Mixcloud after that.

Get the Extended Mix!

If you enjoy Off The Chart but find it’s just not long enough, why not join us on Patreon or Mixcloud Select? For a small monthly subscription you get access to the exclusive Extended Mix of the show every week with bonus 12″ mixes, additional chatter and the week’s top ten singles in full!

Our subscribers also get access to exclusive shows including Further Off The Chart in which we play some of the records that come up in conversation on the regular shows. You can even download shows to listen offline in the Mixcloud app! Please consider backing us – we really appreciate it and your subscription allows us to keep producing a new episode every single week.

There’s a podcast too!

For those of you who enjoy the nonsense we talk but don’t have time to listen to the music, we’ve put the talky bits together with some exclusive extras to make a podcast! This week we touch on Julian’s Nigel Mansell anecdote, some of the worst Mr Men books ever written, and an update on our plans for Off The Chart underwear. It’ll all make sense if you listen.

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Spotify playlists

If you’ve missed a previous edition they’re all on our Mixcloud page, or for a taster of the music we play, listen to our Spotify playlist Way Off The Chart including one track from each show!

We also have a Spotify playlist for our #ICEOTWF feature, including all (well, most) of the international hits we’ve played since the feature began in March 2017. There are all sorts of oddities in here, all of which were hits somewhere in the world but not in the UK!

Off The Chart: 12 November 1980

Off The Chart: 12 November 1980

We’re going all the way back to today in 1980 on this week’s Off The Chart for another two hours of hits you’ve forgotten about – or never heard in the first place – plus the usual look at the … read more

Off The Chart: 11 June 1989

Off The Chart: 11 June 1989

We’re going back a mere thirty years on this week’s Off The Chart to revisit this week in 1989. Tune in for a brace of hits you might have forgotten (or never knew about in the first place), three of … read more

Sound of the Crowd – a Discography of the ’80s: Fourth Edition available now!

Sound of the Crowd - 4th Edition cover

Sound Of The Crowd: a Discography of the ’80s is the ultimate record collector’s guide to the 1980s. In the era of multi-formatting, picture discs, coloured vinyl, multiple remixes, funny shaped records and tiny CDs you could lose down the back … read more

Off The Chart: 8 September 1984

Off The Chart: 8 September 1984

Come back to this week in 1984 as Off The Chart takes another look at some less obvious hits! There’s also three tracks from one of the week’s biggest (and most controversial) albums, a look at the day’s events, a … read more

Off The Chart: 24 March 1981

Off The Chart: 24 March 1981

We’re rewinding to 1981 on this week’s Off The Chart for another two hours of forgotten and half-remembered hits, three tracks from a featured album, a look at the day’s events, a hit from the German chart and the top … read more

Off The Chart: 9 December 1980

Off The Chart: 9 December 1980

We’re going all the way back to 1980 on Off The Chart to take in one of the most depressing days in musical history. That’s just the way the dates fall. But never mind, it makes the featured album very … read more

Off The Chart: 15 July 1984

Off The Chart: 15 July 1984

Is it still nostalgia if you’re listening to old records you don’t remember? Here’s your chance to find out as we go back to 1984 to dig out some of the week’s forgotten hit singles, as well as three tracks … read more

Off The Chart: 27 May 1988

Off The Chart: 27 May 1988

We’re arriving back in 1988 this week on Off The Chart with two hours of half-remembered hits, vague reminiscences, a featured album of the week and the top five singles in full – all six of them. The launderette is … read more

“You think you only know me when you turn on the light” – Top of the Pops, 16 July 1981

Dexys Midnight Runners

“Hi folks, welcome to this week’s edition of Top of the Pops, it is jam packed with good music!” Peter Powell there, rudely jabbing his finger into your face to emphasise just how jam packed the show is. As well … read more

“The more we know, the less we show” – Top of the Pops, 16 April 1981

Department S

“Hi.” Hi yourself, Peter Powell, in your monogrammed shirt, white blazer with the sleeves rolled up and, let’s not beat about the bush here, beige slacks. Powell seems to have taken on the mantle of “senior presenter” of TOTP recently, … read more

“Strong are the bonds that we make” – Top of the Pops, 2 April 1981

Shakin' Stevens

Another week, another two editions of TOTP on BBC Four as we attempt to crack on through the whole year before the Proms, the Olympics and whatever else has been displaced by the closure of BBC Three as a linear … read more