This week in 1980
1 Coward of the County Kenny Rogers
2 Too Much Too Young EP The Specials
3 I’m In The Mood For Dancing The Nolans 4 Someone’s Looking At You The Boomtown Rats 5 Captain Beaky/Wilfred The Weasel Captain Beaky 6 And The Beat Goes On The Whispers
7 It’s Different For Girls Joe Jackson
8 I Hear You Now Jon and Vangelis
9 Babe Styx
10 My Girl Madness Few top tens from the era better illustrate the state of flux in music in the late seventies/early eighties than this UK chart from the second week of February, 1980. Country, ska, pop, post-punk, rock ballad, soul, and novelty songs battle for position in a top ten that reflects changing times and tastes at the start of the eighties.
One of the best selling artists of all time, country singer Kenny Rogers was 41 when ‘Coward of the County’ gave him his second UK number one (he had already been to the top with ‘Lucille’ in 1977). A major crossover hit in many countries, it was particularly popular in Ireland where it stayed at number one for six consecutive weeks.
‘I’m In The Mood For Dancing’, a half million-plus seller for The Nolans, marked the start of a couple of years of chart success for the Irish sisters. On the other hand, the Boomtown Rats were coming to the end of their glory days and would enjoy just two more UK top ten hits.