Boney M – No Woman No Cry
Conspicuous by their absence no longer, it's the one, the only (apart from the numerous versions appearing in a club near you) Boney M!
Dolly Parton – Here You Come Again
Dolly! Dolly! Dolly!
ABBA – If it Wasn’t For the Nights
A fun discussion when ABBA fans get together is "what singles would YOU have chosen from 'Voulez Vous'?" Before you know it 37 years will have passed and no consensus will have been reached.
Donna Summer – The Hostage
It's 1974 and Donna Summer, prior to becoming the first lady of everything, speaks out on terrorism and police incompetence. Wait, come back!
America – Sister Golden Hair
California, here we come.
Andy Gibb – Shadow Dancing
When a fourth musical Gibb brother appeared, America was like "OMG YES", but over here we were more "we'll just leave it, thanks" - which was patently a mistake because "Shadow Dancing" is absolutely bloody amazing.
Kate Bush – Hammer Horror
1978's Hammer Horror - one of the few occasions on which we decided Kate Bush was just a little too strange for the charts.
Heart – Magic Man
America had loved them for a decade, but in the UK there was a total eclipse of Heart until 1987.
Diana Ross – No One Gets the Prize
Niall takes us back to the last days of disco, and Diana Ross isn't going down without a fight...
The Men – I Don’t Depend On You
How an incognito Human League predicted both their own future and all of the 80s in one record. Amazing.
Carpenters – Rainy Days and Mondays
Easy Listening. No two words have inspired more hate and derision amongst rock hipsters and the pop music cognoscenti than these – frankly, for the most part with good reason. […]
Barry Manilow – Daybreak
One of the joys of being little is that you have absolutely no idea about concepts of cool. I’ve tried to retain that in my adult life, believing that if you […]
Hall & Oates – She’s Gone
Given that they only ever had moderate success in the UK, it may surprise you to learn that blue-eyed soul outfit Hall & Oates are the biggest selling duo of […]
Donna Summer – Last Dance
One of the most interesting things I’ve discovered as the US Envoy/contributor for this column has been the often wide discrepancies between the US and the UK as to what […]
Randy Newman – Short People
What makes a song so horrific or offensive that is worthy of being banned from radio airwaves? In the UK, it has been a variety of things, from singing in […]
Into the Popvoid 