Tag Archives: Teardrop Explodes

Off The Chart: 14 September 1981

Off The Chart: 14 September 1981

Brace yourselves, we’re going back a full forty years to this day in 1981 on this week’s Off The Chart! We’ll bring the usual mix of obscure and forgotten hits, three of the week’s new albums, a round-up of the day’s events, a look at the Swedish chart, a track from one of today’s John Peel sessions and the top five in full. All you need to bring is your ears.

  • Who did a live Top Of The Pops performance while tripping on LSD?
  • Who stayed silent on his biggest hit single?
  • And which song was so hard to dance to, it had to have its own dance invented?

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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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: 1 December 1981

Off The Chart: 1 December 1981

Hiding behind the first door of your Off The Chart Advent Calendar today: a trip back to 1981 for the usual two hours of forgotten and half-remembered hits, three of the week’s new albums, a look at the day’s other … 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: 21 May 1981

Off The Chart: 21 May 1981

Come all the way back to this day in 1981 with us on another Off The Chart! As usual we’ll have two hours of hits you might not remember, as well as some of the week’s new hit albums, a … read more

Virtual C90: March 2018

Virtual C90: March 2018

This month’s virtual mixtape brings you new music from Kim Wilde, Kylie, Tracey Thorn, Judas Priest, Sade, UB40, David Byrne, Erasure and Mel & Kim! Plus the usual mix of ’80s hits, misses and mixes. Give it a listen on … read more

Off The Chart: 10 September 1981

Off The Chart: 10 September 1981

It’s 1981 on this week’s Off The Chart as Steve and Julian play some of the week’s forgotten hits, three tracks from a featured album and the top five in full. Just how many terrible medley singles are there in … read more

Off The Chart: 18 June 1982

Off The Chart: 18 June 1982

Who did Malcolm McLaren ask to front the Sex Pistols before Johnny Rotten? Who is The Bald Detective? And what are those “things that a woman ain’t s’posed to see?” Find out in this week’s Off The Chart as Steve … read more

“Blow up the TV, blow up the car” – Top of the Pops, 21 May 1981

The Human League

If you had fond memories of late April and early May 1981 and were looking forward to reliving those memories via the BBC Four reruns of Top of the Pops, you’re probably feeling pretty short changed by now. What with … read more

“Stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme” – Top of the Pops, 30 April 1981

Tenpole Tudor

For all Michael Hurll’s efforts in dragging Top of the Pops kicking and screaming into the ’80s and turning it into a dazzling celebration of pop music instead of a dreary light entertainment show, he keeps coming up against one … read more

“You’re all corrupt, you’re all depraved” – Top of the Pops, 12 March 1981

Linx

Up next on BBC1, another edition of Let’s Pretend Nothing’s Wrong And This Is Just A Normal Edition Of Top Of The Pops Even Though It’s Painfully Obvious That There’s Another Strike On And We’re Desperately Stringing Pre-Recorded Clips Together … read more

“Like some New Romantic looking for the TV sound” – Top of the Pops, 5 March 1981

Duran Duran

Now then, here’s someone we haven’t seen since last September when he was playing second, in fact third fiddle to Leo Sayer and Russ Abbot. Now, six months later, Mike Read is Radio 1’s hottest property, having inherited the breakfast … 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