Chartography - Yello

So, finally, something not out of the UK😀 Yello are probably the biggest Swiss musical export, and rightly so - they are legitimate pioneers of electronic music who also managed to fuse their experimental leanings with commercial pop aspirations into one intriguing mix. And not only they got overground rather quickly, their music managed to travel all over the world, giving them hits in nearly all important countries on all continents! Truly a wondrous journey with a distinctive brand of pop. They are very deservedly revered now and their releases still attract attention so this list goes right up to the present decade! Let's see how they went about here, there and everywhere.

Yello

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Chartography - Heaven 17

Having featured The Human League, it's only natural to represent the successes of their friends/rivals Heaven 17. Those are nowhere near the peaks of The League, of course, but the trio managed to reach a respectable level of chart recognition around the world. Given their long-time aversion for touring it's a small miracle they did, but wonders of the new technology (primarily video) aided them quite a bit. But perhaps more important is the fact that they managed to create an album that has as much of a "classic" status as that of The League, and that ensures their place in the history of pop music. To me they are all about the first two albums, after which something went wrong and there's little of interest on later offerings, sadly. The general public seems to agree, judging by the charts, but they still had enough ammunition to go on for quite a while, and since they started touring in the late 1990s they never had trouble attracting audiences. Today they are respected elders in the field of electronic music and hopefully new "stuff" is in the pipeline.

Heaven 17

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Chartography - Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby is another curious success story of the early 1980s. Initially a session player, he quickly established himself as a songwriter of note and even managed to get a bit of commercial attention in UK. But it was the US and MTV that catapulted him to his breakthrough and created an audience for him across the ocean that he never could reach in his homeland. Unlike most UK performers that had their greatest success in the US, he managed to break the home market too - not as spectacularly but enough to have chart entries well into the 1990s. Of course hits dried up but he stiff retains his cult popularity and a level of respect and attention. He also worked with other artists (with varying degrees of success) and had an outstanding carrier in hi-tech.

His autobiography "The speed of sound" is well worth a read, not least because of his various run-ins with chart compilers in various countries over the years, so the mechanics of the music industry are covered in nice detail. And what a fascinating life he had!

Thomas Dolby

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Chartography - Wang Chung

There's not much to say about Wang Chung, really. A minor band in the grand scheme of things with only a couple of outstanding (at least commercially) songs to their name. What, perhaps, distinguishes them the most is the fact that, while originating in Britain, they found their biggest and most enduring success across the ocean, in the USA. For some reason their ideas were better appreciated there (as was the case with quite a few bands over the decades), which of course was ultimately for the better - both financially and as regards longevity in the collective memory of the masses: the US success is, for better or worse, the ultimate in showbiz and you seem to only need one fair-sezed hit to be fondly remembered by many and referenced regularly. Wang Chung had a string of successes (even the often UK-centric Canada appreciated them quite a bit), which enabled them to go strong for years of inactivity (through soundtracks, commercials, video broadcasts etc) and even to reform, make new music and tour on a regular basis, with much love being thrown their way every time. Little in a way of chart showing recently, but why bother when your place in history is secure?

Let's have a look at their achievements:

Wang Chung

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Chartography - Men at Work

Here's the list of successes from, probably, the biggest commercial sensation of the early 1980s - Australian band Men at Work. Their rise was nothing short of meteoric and knew no bounds, reaching all parts of the globe. For a couple of years they were the trusty hitmakers on a worldwide scale, but after a well-deserved break from late 1983 to early 1985 things were never the same again. In fact their comeback went nearly unnoticed and they couldn't deal with it, breaking up soon afterwards, with various band members attempting solo carriers to little returns. Such is a price of a total early success, it seems. Still the Men are fondly remembered and their grandes exitos are an indelible part of mass culture. That's some achievement and should not be taken lightly.

Men at Work

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Chartography - Howard Jones

Here's a peculiar case of a performer who at the top of his game seemingly appealed only to English-speaking market. Howard Jones, one man band of a synth variety, hit big immediately in the fall of 1983, taking by storm first his home country then the USA. His ascendancy was somethin to behold, and yet, the mainland Europe barely took notice, for some reason. Still he could safely ignore that, having secured the most lucrative market in the world. His fall, unfortunately, was equally as fast, he was no longer a going concern in the UK by the end of 1986 already, while in the US he continued to score hits up until (and including) 1992. During the 1990s, conversely, it was Europe that provided him with any kind of commercial acceptance, which only goes to show that mass attention moves in mysterious ways. Nowadays he's an esteemed senior gentleman of (synth)pop, still filling arenas, releasing albums and even having chart entries here and there, while his "one of a kind" legacy is proven and universally recognized. Let's see how he went about chart-wise.

Howard Jones

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Chartography - Berlin

With the recent mammoth success of a sequel to "Top gun" it's interesting to take a look at the band that became almost inseparable from the original movie. One of the most successful US purveyors of synthpop, they had a long and illustrious carrier, releasing the best-selling EP in the US music history, working with Giorgio Moroder on several occasions (including releasing his song "Take my breath away" that went on to score heavily chart-wise all around the world), disbanding and reforming on several occasions, reuniting the "golden era" line-up (to very mixed results), establishing the brand as a touring force, creating songs that turned out to be enduring cult and mainstream successes etc. Judging by the charts they are close to "one hit wonder" status, with that song trumping everything else, but locally they were going strong for several years, not only in their homeland but in other markets too. Overall an interesting, if not wholly original band, and their story deserves attention - its twists and turns are truly remarkable.

Berlin

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Chartography - The Thompson Twins

Sadly the blog goes stale more often than not which is a shame as I have quite a lot of stuff to share. If I only had as much time and will... Well, let's try to change the situation. Here's a new chartography - for The Thompson Twins. This interesting bunch started off as underground noisemakers but within a couple of years proceeded to reinvent themselves, both in numbers and image, to become one of the brightest "New Pop" stars of their era. They impacted North America especially and managed to have bona fide hits there right into the late 1980s, while their success in other regions had waned already. It's there where TT's main man Tom Bailey still headlines the stadium-sized shows and he even managed to resurrect his recording carrier in the process, releasing his first solo album in 2018. The band occupies a curious position in the history of the 1980s pop music, being among performers who milked the opportunities presented by MTV to the fullest and yet not being much talked about from the creative angle. Yet their place is firmly established and from the chart file, I think, you can see why.

The Thompson Twins

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Chartography - Ultravox/Midge Ure/Visage/John Foxx

In the newest UK official album Top 100 there's a new entry at #48 - a deluxe reissue of the LP "Rage in Eden" by Ultravox. Midweek chart showed an even better result - #16! I'm sure we all agree that's more than respectable for the album that only recently celebrated its 41th anniversary. That also gives me a chance to present the chart collection of my favourite musicians. Ultravox are perhaps the most underrated band of their era, constantly trashed or overlooked by the press and "tastemakers" and yet they are among the very influential, perhaps the most influential of the bunch, be it music, cover design, videos etc, creating templates, setting the bars and so on. It's really quite hard to overstate their importance to the music of the last 50 years or so.

And they even managed to become pretty successful commercially almost all around the world. Their main undoing was not being able to conquer the all-important US market - much lesser bands are much better known and celebrated for having a string, or even one or two hits there. Still, their legend lives on and resonates with generations of listeners - first the 2020 reissue of "Vienna" entered the UK Top 50, now "Rage in Eden", their most artistic and experimental album. That's quite a feat.

I also included in this file chart information about the satellite acts. First for their frontmen, John Foxx and Midge Ure. The former himself created at least one highly influential album ("Metamatic"), which is now rightly praised as a milestone in the development of electronic music, while the latter had an illustrious carrier that yielded him several international hits and a growing respect with both colleagues and the public. Also, there's an info on Visage, an act of, if not equal, then clear and distinct importance and influence itself, despite sharing members with Ultravox. Of course here is the case of one huge hit trumping everything else, but their first two albums are widely held in high regard and their reissues still meet with waves of appreciation. Even their reappearance in early 2010s as a touring and recording act drew attention and received quite a bit of praise.

All in all, a very creative bunch of guys that did more than their fair share to change the music as we knew it, for better and for worse, but undoubtedly with all the best intentions in the world! Let's see how they fared in their day and beyond.

Ultravox & Co.

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Chartography - Vangelis

Sad news of Vangelis's passing. One of the most esteemed and long-standing figures of electronic music, creator of some of its best pieces, with carrier spanning close to six decades, at several points he had tremendous commercial success in every part of the world. To honour his memory I'd like to offer an overview of his (sometimes quite stunning) chart action.

Vangelis

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Chartography - Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears have reunited and released their new album "The Tipping Point" recently. Now there's a success story that in theory was highly unlikely, if not impossible - two aloof young lads singing mightily depressing songs about childhood traumas, neuroses, death. And yet millions of records sold all over the world, triumph in the, possibly, hardest market in the world to break - the USA, legendary status and numberless tributes. There must be a lesson or moral here, but let's not go there now. Instead let's have a look at their chart victories and marvel at the sight of them:

Tears for Fears

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Chartography - Propaganda

Seeing how there's a new album out by frontwomen of the German synth band Propaganda - under the title xPropaganda, let's see how they fared chartwise originally. This band is something of a footnote in music history of the 1980s, being overshadowed by their ZTT labelmates - Frankie Goes to Hollywood and (The) Art of Noise, but is arguably the must musical of the whole bunch, with their debut album "A secret wish" held in high regard to this day and re-released numerous times over the decades. Interestingly, for a seeming "flash in the pan" they had quite a bit of success in their time, impressing over countries and continents with varied, even clashing tastes. I wish the frontladies luck with their new venture and invite dear readers to check their past glories.

Propaganda

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Chartography - OMD

Not only Soft Cell are aiming for a restart. The last year saw a new compilation release from OMD in preparation for their new album in 2022. Looks like just the time to check how they did over more than four (!!!) decades of their carrier. Overall they did marvelously, remaining a presence in the international charts for an enviable stretch of time. To add to that their status as pioneers of popular electronic music - and we have an outstanding band deservedly hailed among the most important of their era. Personally I had a bit of a hard time getting into their body of work (beyond hits, that is), mainly because of the vocals, but things progressed eventually☺ Nowadays they are highly regarded and respected and perhaps their stature is at its all-time peak. So, a good time to check the lengths and breadths they went

OMD

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Chartography - Soft Cell

Soft Cell reactivated recently for a new album. The duo seems to undergo a wave of reappraisal recently, spurred by the 40th anniversary of their influential debut "Non-stop erotic cabaret" (a very interesting article about the creation of which you can read here and less interesting but more upfront one here) and accompanying tour. So it seems a good time to cast an eye over the carriers of the duo itself and, as usual, of its members separately. And a good way to restart this blog after too long an absence!

Oh yeah, there's also chart info on Marc Almond, The Grid etc. Thought it should be mentioned too😉

Soft Cell

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Chartography - Falco

Only a third act from Europe on this blog (but thankfully not the last one). This time it's Falco - the original white rapper who took (most of the) the world by storm, and twice at that, in early-mid 1980s. Far from a one- or two-hit wonder, he's still fondly remembered. His autobiography, though, is a heartbreaking reading - story of an artist haunted by his inner demons, unable to get to grips with success, freewheeling soul unwilling to conform and do what's right. In some ways an archetypal "New Wave" guy - outsider who chanced upon worldwide success but wasn't ready and didn't know how to exploit and prolong it (and probably cared little). Still, for a guy from Austria to break so many barriers is unprecedented and he's deservedly a national hero of the country to this day.

A necessary note: there were so many posthumous releases under Falco's banner that charted only in Austria (compilations of various kinds) that I dispensed with those and only included the releases that at least charted in Germany and Switzerland too.

Falco

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Chartography - Men Without Hats

Now a band from the other side of the globe - Canada. Men Without Hats shone briefly but brightly, releasing one of the catchiest songs of the decade ("The safety dance") and one of the finest synthpop albums ever ("Rhythm of youth"). As with too many of the early MTV favourites they weren't able to capitalize on this sudden surge in popularity, yet unusually they didn't simply disappear, but gained considerable traction with their second biggest hit ("Pop goes the world") and album of the same name. And while worldwide they only had two hits, in their homeland they were more consistent throughout the 1980s. After a break two two decades they returned in 2012 with a new album "Love in the age of war", which easily rivaled their finest work. More of a live proposition nowadays, they are fondly remembered and consistently referenced in the media (like A Flock of Seagulls and some other distinctive 1980s bands). Not much of a world charts-busting machine, still it's interesting to check how they fared commercially.

Men Without Hats

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Chartography - Icehouse

Striving for geographical variety, here's a band from outside the world's main music markets of the 1980s - Icehouse from Australia. The country usually neglected, during the 1980s it became the source of constant stream of great music and definitely put itself on the music map. Many of those successes proved to be short-lived but quite a few artists endured. Icehouse were among them, having hits outside of their home base on a regular basis during the decade. And fine hits they were, too! The band usually described as a Roxy Music copy - but that's far from the truth and anyway, what a fine model to copy (or take inspiration from). Icehouse made some of the great music of the 1980s, excelling at ballads, but also doing superb mid-tempo atmospheric stuff and not shying away from engaging faster stuff. All-round professionals, in short, and their regular worldwide success was completely justified. Of course they faded at the dawn of the 1990s, like so many fine bands, but their legacy is still alive and invites a regular revisits. Here's what I've been able to find regarding their chart successes, of course the bulk of them is in Australasia, but quite a few songs had success, sometimes in rather surprising places. Let's see!

Icehouse

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Chartography - Grace Jones

Time to restart the blog. New chart file is for Grace Jones - one of the most outstanding and outrageous performers in a decade filled with colourful individuals. Starting out in music as a disco singer, she was able to reinvent herself for the new era and accomplish two not at all easy tasks at once - creating some groundbreaking work and gaining widespread success, including a couple of worldwide hits (apart from the US, where she was only a minor star on the market, eclipsed by her own celebrity status and acting successes). By the end of the 1980s it was over, of course, like with so many of her peers from late 1970s, but she remained an illustrious figure in show business and her comeback in late 2000s was met with both critical and commercial acclaim. And she's a figure of a massive influence to lots of modern-day female performers and pop culture is littered with references to her image(s).

Grace Jones

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Chartography - Johnny Hates Jazz

Johnny Hates Jazz seem to be seen as one of the better (if not the best) bands that sprung from "sophisti-pop" movement of mid to late 1980s. They certainly were the most commercially successful - the string of successes for their first singles is practically unparalleled, encompassing numerous countries, and the first album became a big seller worldwide. They were poised for superstardom, but the pressures of success were too much for their vocalist and main writer Clark Datchler, and his leaving practically stopped their progress. The remaining members tried to soldier on with a new singer, a noted producer Phil Thornalley, but all their effort resulted in very little. Not that Datchler's carrier took off in any way, though. The name has been briefly resurrected in early 2010s and the band seems to be ready to get back on track once again, but of course no one expects them to better their excellent results of 1987-1988.

Johnny Hates Jazz

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Chartography - Adam Ant

Adam Ant became the UK's biggest pop sensation of the early 1980s. Yet it's interesting how a man with such a counter-cultural background, playing a rather strange kind of music, and in unenviable circumstances (sneered at by the press, dumped by the manager and band-mates etc), could become a teen idol with such a strong impact on the pop culture. What's more, he actually managed to transfer his homeland success outside, resulting in several years of full-on international stardom - including the USA, usually resistant to the UK's latest fads. It didn't last, of course, and the decline was rather rapid, not helped by the artists's attentions wandering elsewhere (not to mention his too-well-publicized mental health struggles). But unusually he managed a couple of comebacks (with varying, but decent success) and is still on the scene. A truly unique figure that stood out in an era full of unique figures and remains a source of inspiration and respect.

Adam Ant

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