Tag Archives: Specials

Off The Chart: 19 October 1980

Off The Chart: 19 October 1980

Brace yourselves, we’re going all the way back to 1980 on this week’s Off The Chart! Join us for two hours of obscure and unfamiliar hits, tracks from three of the week’s new albums, a round-up of the day’s events, a quick jaunt to France to look at their chart, and back home for the top five in full.

  • What was the first rap record to go Gold in the US?
  • Who had three “consecutive” number 1 hits with other hits in between?
  • And which punks were turning goth and Going for Gold?

Tune in and find out!


Listen to Off The Chart on Noisebox Radio at 9pm every Tuesday! You can stream Noisebox Radio via their website, their apps for iOS or Android, or through TuneIn and MyTuner, or ask your smart speaker to “play Noisebox Radio” – 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 10am on Friday, or catch up on Mixcloud after that.

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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: 29 June 1981

Off The Chart: 29 June 1981 (with a red triangle in the top left corner)

Listeners are advised that this week’s Off The Chart includes strong language and scenes of a sexual nature. Yes, even more so than usual. It also includes a brace of obscure hits from this day in 1981, as well as … read more

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 … 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 II

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

Our ongoing alternate universe series of Now albums that never existed carries on with this Virtual Double LP or Cassette. Using the same template as the real world Now albums – two records or cassettes, 7 or 8 tracks per … 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

Off The Chart: 5 February 1980

Off The Chart: 5 February 1980

We’re going all the way back to 1980 on this week’s Off The Chart for another two hours of hits, headlines and hokum. As always we’ll bring you a brace of forgotten and half-remembered hits, three tracks from one 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 ’80sΒ 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: 17 February 1980

Off The Chart: 17 February 1980

We’re going so far back on this week’s Off The Chart we’re practically in the ’70s! Join Steve and Julian for two hours of hits, half-hits, headlines and hysteria from way back in February 1980. There’s three tracks from the … read more

Off The Chart: 13 January 1981

Off The Chart: 13 January 1981

We’re heading back to January 1981 on this week’s Off The Chart as Steve and Julian bring you another selection of forgotten and half-remembered hits, a look at the day’s events, three tracks from a featured album, an international hit, … read more

Off The Chart: 23 September 1984

Off The Chart: 23 September 1984

Back to this week in 1984 on Off The Chart as Steve and Julian unearth some forgotten hits, play three tracks from a featured album, pick a song from an international chart, discuss the day’s events and run through the … read more