This week on Top 40 Classic we look back to May 16, 1981. Bucks Fizz rose to number one with their Eurovision Song Contest hit Making Your Mind Up, in the week the world said goodbye to an icon.

Bob Marley died on May 11, 1981. In 1977, the Jamaican reggae legend was diagnosed with melanoma on his toe. In 1980, metastases were found in his head and throughout his body, leading to his death at the age of 36. Bob Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica and remains present in the collective memory with his music. Posthumously he would score major hits with One Love/People Get Ready (#2 in 1984), Iron Lion Zion (#4 in 1992) and Turn Your Lights Down Low (#5 in 1999).

Bucks Fizz climbed to number one in the Top 40 with Making Your Mind Up. It came a month after the British group won the Eurovision Song Contest with its song. BZN had another big hit with Chanson D’Amour, which was the Volendam line-up’s third consecutive Top 5 hit. Champaign made the Top 5 with How ‘Bout Us, which eventually spent eight weeks at No. 1. That was a huge number at the time. In the 1980s, only Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life (nine weeks in 1988) had spent longer at the top. But there was more to come in the Top 10.

1 (3) MAKE UP THE MIND – Bucks Fizz

This is the fourth time that the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest has reached number 1 in the Top 40. The striking detail is that three of the four number 1 hits have won the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the UK. After Sandie Shaw (1967) and Brotherhood Of Man (1976), it was Bucks Fizz’s turn in 1981. In 1997, Katrina & The Waves scored well with Love Shine A Light, but they didn’t get past fourth place.

6 (12) THE BURNED CITY – Frank & Mirella

While K3 is today a shining example of a group whose name no longer applies (Klaasje Meijer is the only member whose name begins with the letter K), this was the case in 1981 for Frank & Mirella. The duo consisted of Frank Mortiers and Marjan Kampen. Kampen replaced the departed Mirella Jacobs. The move didn’t hurt, as with Marjan Frank & Mirella they scored their only top 10 hit. The Sunken City eventually reached number 4 in the Top 40.

7 (16) DANCE – Doris D and Pin

Doris D’s (stage name Debbie Jenner) career took off in 1980. First she was the face of Lipps Inc in the Netherlands when the disco line-up had their number 1 hit Funkytown in the Netherlands, after which the group Doris D and The Pins was built around her. They were in first place for two weeks in February 1981 with Shine Up and their follow-up Dance On was also a big hit with second place. After that things went south for Doris D and The Pins and in 1985 the group ended.

8 (15) THIS OLE HOUSE – Shakin’ Stevens

Welsh singer Michael Barratt was the lead singer of Shakin’ Stevens & The Sunsets under the alias Shakin’ Stevens for many years, but without much success. He had more success as a solo artist in the 1980s. At the age of 33, he made his Top 40 debut with This Ole House. The song peaked at number 5 and was the first of five consecutive top 10 hits. His tally would remain at eleven Top 40 hits and eight Top 10 hits. Today, the Christmas classic Merry Christmas Everybody is probably his best-known song, but it never reached the Top 40.

10 (11) IT’S HARD TO STAY HUMBLE – Peter Blanker

It was hard for Peter Blanker to stay humble in 1981, as he had a top 10 hit in the Top 40! This was achieved with the Dutch version of MAC Davis’s It’s Hard To Be Humble. Blanker remained a one-hit wonder in the Top 40, but that didn’t mean we didn’t hear from him again. For example, he produced the song Children For Children and sang on the song Maja De Bij.

(05-16-2020)