Private Dancer's initial UK floppage in the singles chart, was just plain wrong. Thankfully time and hindsight has made it a much loved classic all the same.
UK Top 200 Best Selling Female Solo Hits Of The 80s
- Thread starter gezza76
- Start date
It was single Number 5 from the album!
True, but still was robbed!
I was shocked (DNA Mix) to discover only this year that Private Dancer wasn't a Top 10 hit in the UK! It's one of those iconic songs like Dolly Parton's 9 To 5 and Journey's Don't Stop Believin' that you just always assume were big hits.
Well, I think that until What's Love Got To Do With It came along, EMI hadn't really figured out what to do about a whole album, Let's Stay Together had been a surprise smash with the Heaven 17 guys producing, and then I suppose her A&R looked around for something else to follow it up with, and alighted on the Beatles song for some reason (it's still my least favourite Tina track). This is according to Tina, anyway, as told to BBC R1 for their Classic Album series in the early 90s.
Only when they got What's Love, and moulded it into something she was happy with, did they really begin the Private Dancer campaign. Even the cover shot was done off the cuff, during a dinner party with management and label people.
As promised some stats on the top 200:
All 30 of the decade's solo female No 1's are on the list but the lowest selling chart topper at the end of the 80s ("Orinoco Flow") is no longer the lowest seller!
1988 is the most represented year with 1983 coming in last place
There are a whopping 32 tracks which missed the top 10
There are 16 songs in the top 200 which weren't in the list based solely on 80s sales.
Sales required to be in the top 200 have risen from 117k to 168k
Only one song, "The Power Of Love" by Jennifer Rush, sold a million within the 80s- now there are double digit millionaire singles (I use "millionaire" instead of "million selling" to avoid the debate over streams not being sales).
All 30 of the decade's solo female No 1's are on the list but the lowest selling chart topper at the end of the 80s ("Orinoco Flow") is no longer the lowest seller!
1988 is the most represented year with 1983 coming in last place
There are a whopping 32 tracks which missed the top 10
There are 16 songs in the top 200 which weren't in the list based solely on 80s sales.
Sales required to be in the top 200 have risen from 117k to 168k
Only one song, "The Power Of Love" by Jennifer Rush, sold a million within the 80s- now there are double digit millionaire singles (I use "millionaire" instead of "million selling" to avoid the debate over streams not being sales).
I knew it existed but I never heard "Don't stop believin'" until the 21st century. Journey were not big at all in the UK in the 80's!
Like a lot of people in the UK I have Glee to thank for bringing it into my life!
1988, is pretty much Diva central, so not surprising to see it be the most represented year. Two back to back trilogy of Diva #1s after all:
Belinda/Tiffany/Kylie:
Whitney/Enya/Robin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqoDz3nxy20
Belinda/Tiffany/Kylie:
Whitney/Enya/Robin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqoDz3nxy20
Hang on, if Rooms on Fire is 202 on the list, what's at 201? or was 202 a typo?
I just discovered this thread, so bring it on. It'll be interesting to see how what streaming has done to things. I imagine it will have helped big songs by iconic singers, but those one hit wonders may have suffered.
I also share the love for Dinner With Gershwin. What a track! And two think that Tina Turner went to Brockley to film a video - how bizarre!
Lots of cool facts coming up in this thread, that's for sure!
The 10 songs featured so far are all outside the top 200 but have added 50,000 "sales" to their tally since the 80s so No 202 is the right position for it on the list. The top 200 starts tonight.
One advantage of the streaming age, is to see songs make up for their sometimes poor and unjustified chart peak back in the day.
Ou
Our work is not finished on that front sadly.....
Surly Enya has outsold Robin one hit wonder Beck by now?
Can't say I've heard First Time on the radio to be honest.
Well FINALLY. I thought I was going to have to start this without you which is surely some kind of Popjustice crime?