Well it made it, but only just, “Relax” tops the chart for a fifth week but its sales dropped 12% to 80,000, but for a song to be such a hit whilst being widely avoided by the normal media outlets is something of a testament to the strength of the song. They have confirmed that whilst they tackled the subject of sex for this release it’s politics that will be handled by their next release “Two Tribes” though as yet no release date has been given- who needs TOTP when you have press outrage!
Two records almost caught “Relax” at the death though, The Thompson Twins hold at No 3 with “Doctor Doctor” which sold 77,000 and was doubtless defeated by the release of their own album as much as anything else but “Into The Gap” dutifully debuts at No 1 this week so I guess they won’t be complaining.
Alternatively FGTH were also almost caught by a record which was released 11 months ago in their native Germany, “99 Red Ballons” was originally entitled “99 Luftballoons” and topped the charts over there last March. The band and the lead singer share the name Nena (though the lead vocalists real name is Gabriele Susanne Kerner) and the German version of this track currently sits at No 3 in the US (historically a country less inclined to foreign tongue tracks than the UK even) but the re-recorded English version of the track expands 11-2 (79,000) was just under a thousand copies behind “Relax” at the end of play.
Further down the charts we welcome Rockwell, a guy you may not know though you’ll certainly recognise the voice on the chorus of “Somebody’s Watching Me” as that of a Michael Jackson. How did he end up on the record? Well if I tell you that Rockwell is the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy and a childhood friend of Jackson then it should become clear. Jermaine Jackson is also present on backing vocals as the song climbs 15-7 (38,000).
Once employed at the dole office Nik Kershaw is now swapped his benefit forms for the charts and hits the big time with “Wouldn’t It Be Good” as it accelerates 14-9 (33,000). His first single “I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” fizzled out at No 47 last year but proved only a minor blip to his pop career, for those who like the sound of the single Kershaw’s debut album is out in a fortnight.
Very recently a US No 2 hit (held off by Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon” in fact) Kool & The Gang now have their fifth top 10 here with the double A-Side “Joanna/ Tonight”. The group have had a very consistent career since their first hit back in 1979 racking up 14 hits on the trot, all but one making the top 40 with their current single rocketing 26-10 (31,000).
The Style Council fly 8-5 (46,000) but still can’t quite overcome Queen who drop 2-4 (59,000), also dropping are Matthew Wilder 5-6 (40,000) and Cyndi Lauper 4-8 (36,000).
https://forum.popjustice.com/thread...k-by-week-1984-1985.38232/page-6#post-3568482