Top Ten Tuesday: Springbok Radio, 8/31/84

Top Ten Tuesday 2 Minutes

We’ve visited our friends at Springbok Radio in Johannesburg, South Africa a couple of times in the past, but not recently, so let’s remedy that. Here’s their Top Ten from 36 years ago yesterday…

# Song/Artist Comments
10 Robert DeNiro’s Waiting
Bananarama		 The second single off their eponymous second album, it peaked at #3 on the British chart, but only made it to #95 in the US. It was written by Bananarama, Tony Swain, and Steve Jolley.
9 Colour My Love
Fun Fun		 Fun Fun was an Italian disco group (sorry, Dan) that was active from 1983 to 1994. This actually reached #9 on the US Dance chart, so it might be familiar to some of you.
8 The Runner
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band		 Manfred Mann was from Johannesburg, so he’s a local favorite, at least it would seem that way. The song made it to #22 in the US, so it had a little traction worldwide.
7 Breakdance
Irene Cara		 We were just talking about Irene last week with “What A Feeling,” weren’t we? The song was written by Girgio Moroder, Bunny Hull, and Irene and was on her album What A Feeling. It made it to #4 in South Africa as well as #8 on the Hot 100. All I could think of was middle-school boys spinning on their heads on a sheet of cardboard. Ah, the Eighties…
6 Big In Japan
Alphaville		 Alphaville were a German synth-pop band, as you’ll hear here. This was their first single, and it did well: in the Top 10 in most of the world, including #1 in Germany and on the US Dance chart.
5 Catch Me (I’m Falling In Love)
Marsha Raven		 I wasn’t able to find a lot about Ms. Raven, except for this blurb on Last.fm: “Marsha Raven is an American Hi-NRG music singer. She released her first hit single ‘I Like Plastic’ in 1982. Raven’s other hits include ‘Catch Me (I’m Falling In Love)’, ‘False Alarm’ and ‘Stranger In Disguise.'”
4 Clap-Clap Sound
The Klaxons		 From Wikipedia: “The Klaxons were a Belgian accordion-based band founded by Burt Blanca who had a minor UK hit in 1983 with “Clap Clap Sound”, which reached number 45 in the UK charts, and number 18 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The track is considered to be a holiday favourite, and is often accompanied by a dance routine, involving clapping.”
3 To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before
Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias		 I used to do a pretty good impression of these two singing this song, if I say so myself. Albert Hammond (“It Never Rains In Southern California”) and Hal David wrote this, and Albert recorded the original version. Willie and Julio’s cover went to #5 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the RPM Hot Singles chart in Canada. This was Julio’s breakthrough single in the US and Willie’s breakthrough in Europe.
2 Self Control
Laura Branigan		 A followup to her megahit “Gloria,” Laura took this to #4 in the US and #1 in Canada and Germany.
1 I Want To Break Free
Queen		 From Queen’s 1984 album The Works, while the single didn’t reach the Top 40 in the US, it reached the Top 10 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

That’s Top Ten Tuesday for September 1, 2020.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

10 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Springbok Radio, 8/31/84”

  1. Pingback: The Week That Was, Labor Day 2020 Edition – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  2. This brings back good memories. My brother dislikes the 80s music but I enjoy them. Did you ever see Julio and Johnny Carson sing this song? Carson is playing Willie Nelson and it is hilarious

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    1. I never saw that, but I’ll bet it was funny. Johnny also did a send-up of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” You think of him as a standup comedian, but he did a lot of sketch comdy, such as the “Tea Time Movie” and “Carnac The Magnificent.”

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  3. Hi John – I was there then … incredible to think it was that long ago … interesting to see the charts … Iconic Springbox radio … I’m enjoying it – cheers Hilary

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