Tag Archives: Rainbow

Off The Chart: 29 March 1982

Off The Chart: 29 March 1982

Not to worry you or anything, but we’re going back a full four decades on this week’s Off The Chart to look at the hits of this day in 1982! As usual we’ll be digging up the obscure, forgotten and neglected songs on that week’s chart, as well as dishing out tracks from three of the week’s new albums, stirring in a round-up of the day’s events, seasoning with a hit from the South African chart and garnishing it all with the UK’s top five in full.

  • Which band made their Top Of The Pops debut without their lead singer?
  • Who was the second German act to reach number one in the UK?
  • And who named their biggest album after a gay club in Basingstoke New York?

Tune in and find out!



Listen to Off The Chart on Noisebox Radio at 9pm every Tuesday! And don’t forget to tweet along using the hashtag #OffTheChart. If you’re not around, you can hear the show again on Noisebox Radio at 11am 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.

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: 9 February 1981

Off The Chart: 9 February 1981

Brace yourselves, Barnsley, we’re heading back to this day in 1981 for another edition of Off The Chart! As usual we’ve got two hours of obscure and forgotten hits, plus the day’s eye-watering news headlines, three of the week’s new … read more

Off The Chart: 21 April 1982

Off The Chart: 21 April 1982

Despite popular demand we’re back with another edition of Off The Chart looking at the UK singles chart of Wednesday 21 April 1982! Along the way we’ll uncover some forgotten hits, relive some of the day’s events, play tracks from … read more

Off The Chart: 25 February 1981

Off The Chart: 25 February 1981

We’re going back a terrifyingly long way to this day in 1981 for this week’s Off The Chart! Join us for another two hours of hits you don’t remember very well, plus tracks from three of the week’s new albums, … read more

Off The Chart: 30 July 1981

Off The Chart: 30 July 1981

After last week’s outbreak of royal wedding fever, come back to this day in 1981 on Off The Chart where we’ve just missed another one! Never mind, there’s still the usual two hours of hits, headlines and hot takes including … read more

Mixcloud Select: Now That’s What You Might, Hypothetically, Have Called Music

Now That's What You Might, Hypothetically, Have Called Music

This Virtual CD is actually a virtual double LP! As part of our celebrations of 100 Now That’s What I Call Music albums, we’ve come up with this hypothetical example of what the first Now of the 1980s might have … read more

Chart Watch and New Releases: 9 June 2017

Roger Waters - Is This The Life We Really Want?

Beautifully timed for the week of the General Election, Is This The Life We Really Want? enters the album chart at number 3 for Roger Waters, his highest ever solo placing and his first top ten album since Amused To … read more

Chart Watch and New Releases: 18 November 2016

The Human League: A Very British Synthesizer Group

It’s dΓ©jΓ  vu all over again in this week’s album chart as Cliff Richard‘s new oldies set Just… Fabulous Rock ‘n’ Roll enters the chart at number 4, one place above Elvis Presley’s latest repackaging. That’ll please him. David Bowie‘s … read more

“Too much fighting on the dance floor” – Top of the Pops, 2 July 1981

Bad Manners

Finally! After months and months of recycling the same tired joke, the powers that be at TOTP have finally taken my advice and commissioned a proper theme tune and title sequence. Don’t tell anyone though, because it’s still under wraps … read more

“Bless my cotton socks, I’m in the news” – Top of the Pops, 19 February 1981

The Teardrop Explodes

Doesn’t time fly? We’re certainly powering through the run on BBC Four now they’ve started showing two editions every week, and as they’re still skipping the ones hosted by Dave Lee Travis it’s possible to get through a short month … read more

“The sounds are too loud and there’s too much smoke” – Top of the Pops, 5 February 1981

Dire Straits

February already, so let’s pause and take stock of how 1981 is going so far. The charts are currently dominated by John Lennon (who remains dead) and Adam Ant (who is still very much alive), but the New Romantics are … read more