When I was 17, err 18

I was tagged a little while ago by Letha over at A Stitch in Time. Sorry for not doing this sooner Letha!

In this meme you should:-

1. Go to www.popculturemadness.com
2.Pick the year you turned 18 (look to the side bar and there are tabs for Billboard number 1 hits for each decade)
3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of the year
4. Write something about how the song affected you
5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

Popculturemadness is a US site so some of the songs that went to number 1 may not have been huge hits here in the UK (I don’t think Eddie Rabbit’s I Love a Rainy Night was a hit here). I turned 18 on 29 March 1981. The US number 1 was Rapture by Blondie. I loved Blondie and they had been huge here in the UK. Sadly their 1981 album Autoamerican was a clinker and Rapture had a silent C in my view!

Number 1 in the UK when I turned 18!

It could have been worse though the UK number 1 was Shakin’ Stevens’s This Ole House, (a cover of a Rosemary Clooney song) so I can’t be that smug!


I was a mixture of gloom and exuberance as an 18 year old, with a predilection for alcohol and angst in equal measure. I was a lot more political in those days (although I wasn’t dour and humourless about my politics) so the Specials second chart topper Ghost Town was one of the songs of the year for me:

Ghost Town

The summer of 1981 was a gloomy time: there were riots in several UK cities, the recession was biting – unemployment was rising, there was massive disaffection with the Tories. At the time it seemed that the Thatcher would be consigned to the dustbin of history, certainly not that she would dominate the political scene in the 80s. Ghost Town felt like the soundtrack to that time.

While I loved punk and new wave, I was also a bit of a grob. One of the concert highlights of the year was seeing Motorhead and Ozzy at Port Vale FC (I know, I know but I am glad to be a saddo!). It was a great day and I got my hearing back within 5 days. Motorhead was noise, noise, noise but for me it reminds me of laughs with old school mates (one of the poor sods ended up working for me a few years back!) and too much beer and rock bands at the Ruskin Arms

Ace of Spades featuring Lemmy with "Fast Eddie" Clarke and "Philthy Phil" Taylor

Despite my predilection for noise in more reflective moments I would like something far more melodic. The Garden by John Foxx was one of the best albums of 1981. Europe after the Rain was a minor hit. Foxx had a break from music from the mid 80s to the later 90s. He is still going strong and the not-wife and I had a great night last July seeing him live at the Scala in London.

Europe after the Rain as performed on TOTP

So who gets this next?

1. Elasticwaistbandlady
2. Alison over at Eleanor and I
3. Shaz at Us Danes
4. Tyger
5. Roland at But I am a liberal