Tag Archives: Undertones

Off The Chart: 10 August 1980

Off The Chart: 10 August 1980

We’re safely back in the studio this week for a look at the UK singles chart from this day way back in 1980. As always we’ll be bringing you a wealth of obscure, forgotten and half-remembered hits, plus three of the week’s new albums, a round-up of the day’s goings-on, a look at the Italian chart and the top five singles in all their glory.

  • Which single features the sound of a guitar being chainsawed in half in lieu of a guitar solo?
  • Who released the UK’s first ever cassette single?
  • And which band’s fans started buying one of their old singles as a protest against their new one?

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.

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: 10 March 1983

Off The Chart: 10 March 1983

Please don’t panic buy this week’s Off The Chart, there’s plenty forgotten and half remembered hits from this week in 1983 to go around! We’re fully stocked with tracks from three of the week’s new hit albums, the day’s news … 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

Can I get a Rewind? 2019 Rewind Festival details announced

Rewind South 2018

Photo: Gobinder Jhitta The details of this year’s Rewind festivals have been announced, with acts such as Bryan Ferry, Foreigner and the Four Tops among the headliners of the three events across the UK in July and August. Michael Bolton, … read more

Off The Chart: 11 August 1981

Off The Chart: 11 August 1981

Things have changed on this week’s Off The Chart, but only ever so slightly. In fact you might not even notice the difference as Steve and Julian whisk you back to 11 August 1981 for two hours of not-very-well remembered … read more

Rewind Scotland, Scone Palace, 22-23 July 2017

Human League at Rewind Scotland 2017

It’s Saturday afternoon. A man in a neon T-shirt is offering me and my pal a water pouch full of rum, while Mark King slaps at his bass in the background. I get a strange feeling of dΓ©jΓ  vu, and … read more

Off The Chart: 17 June 1981

Off The Chart: 17 June 1981

We’re taking on the chart from this week in 1981 with two hours of hits, history and hilarity! Steve and Julian play some of the forgotten hits from the week’s singles chart, three tracks from a featured album, a hit … read more

“Always the sound in my brain, can you hear it?” – Top of the Pops, 30 July 1981

The Undertones

It’s Steve Wright – yes it is! You can tell because he’s wearing a huge badge bearing the slogan “YES IT IS”, dating this edition to somewhere in the brief period when he was trying ever so hard to popularise … read more

Off The Chart: 6 August 1980

Off The Chart: 6 August 1980

The past, present and future combine in this week’s Off The Chart – things get tense. Buh-boom. Steve and Julian go way back to the chart of 6 August 1980, playing some of the hits you don’t hear so often … 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

New Releases: 15 April 2016 and Record Store Day

Record Store Day 2016

New Releases Paul Young releases a new album Good Thing while Phil Collins continues his Take A Look At Me Now series of reissues with newly expanded editions of 1985’s No Jacket Required and his 2002 set Testify. If you’ve … read more

“The devil take your stereo and your record collection” – Top of the Pops, 7 May 1981

Ossie Ardiles

By this stage of the BBC Four reruns the audience has formed itself into two distinct groups. One one hand there’s the casual viewer who isn’t really following the timeline but will greet every deviation from the norm – anything … read more