THE 10 BEST SINGLES

New Order Thieves Like Us (Factory FAC103, 12”, UK, 4/84, No 18) £3

A flawless non-album track which soundtracked that summer.

Grandmaster & Melle Mel White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It) (Sugar Hill SH 130, 12”, UK, 10/83, No 7) £5

Not a UK hit until summer ’84, but this hiphop landmark made up for it by sticking around for ages, outselling numerous No 1s.

Pet Shop Boys West End Girls (Epic A 4292, 7”, UK, 4/84, No 133 [this version]) £30

The Stephen Hague-slowed 1985 re-recording was their big British career-maker, but the (faster) original Bobby Orlando-produced take was a US West Coast club hit.

Womack & Womack Love Wars (Elektra E 9799, 7”, UK, 3/84, No 14) £1

Lifted from the 1983 album: the Womacks’ knack for setting marriage counselling to slinky grooves charmed all. Live that year, they were a sight to behold.

Dennis Edwards ft. Siedah Garrett Don’t Look Any Further (Motown TMGT 1334, 12”, UK, 4/84, No 45) £5

Sampled frequently ever since, the former Temptations’ vocalist’s seductive gem perfectly expressed R&B’S new temperature, which was, without doubt, sultry.

Chaka Khan I Feel For You (Warner W9209 T, 12”, UK, 10/84, No 1) £3

After late ’83/early ’84’s Ain’t Nobody cleared the way, this Prince song was a doublegrammy winner. Fascinating fact: Patrice Rushen had turned it down. She should have sent a forget-me-not.

David Bowie Blue Jean (EMI America EA 181, 7”, UK, 9/84, No 6) £2

Nobody’s claiming Tonight was Bowie’s best album, but the lead single (like Loving The Alien) was a consummate flash of the old magic. “It’s just a piece of sexist rock’n’roll,” he winked.

April Showers Abandon Ship (Chrysalis CHS 12 2787, 12”, UK, 6/84, N/A) £120 Half-forgotten twee-pop jewel from a Glaswegian duo, the late Beatrice Colin and Jonathan Bernstein, which trembles with feeling. Produced by Anne Dudley.

The Sisters Of Mercy Walk Away

(Merciful Release MR 033T, 12”, UK, 10/84, No 45) £15

Building up to the First And Last And Always debut album, the goth gods fanned the flames of anticipation with this jet-black jaunt.

Flesh For Lulu Subterraneans (Polydor FFL1, 2x7”, UK, 5/84, N/A) £5

If you were young, gothically inclined and partying in the city in ’84, this is what you thrashed about to after dark.