Wham! - Fantastic - 1983

09/05/21 • 89 min

A special episode recorded by the sea in not so sunny Sandsend, North Yorkshire, with our close friends David and Ann Whittle as guests, or 'Pop Dave' and '80's Ann' as they will be known from here on in! Knowing all the words to Wham Rap was a good qualifying skill to appear on the episode (Ann and Kate) and although there was no rendetion for us to enjoy, find out what we all thought of the LP that has been the soundtrack to meal times on our holiday and what we rated it out of 10. Although it's the 5th debut album we've covered, it's unusual in that there were 3 singles that appeared on the LP, all resleased ahead of the album release in July 1983. We all pick our favourite Wham song and go on to look at how the singles from this album compared to their subsequent 7" releases. We also discover that Ann's heart lies elsewhere when it comes to Wham connections... Kate was happy that we finally finished the 'Top 50 American Bands of all time' list courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock magazine, covering the top 5. It was a pretty unanimous verdict on whether it was close to what any of us would have chosen, what about you? 1983 is covered in some detail recalling the top 10 UK singles and albums for the week of release of 'Fantastic!' along with UK cinema box office charts, what was happening in the world of toys and video games, what we were watching on the telly and what was hitting the news. Our random single of the week is from a little later in the 80's, 1986 to be precise. It reached number 5 in the UK singles chart and US music Magazine 'Blender' ranked the song at number 339 on its list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" (although how it knew when we were born, I'm not sure!). Find out what the song is by tuning in... Please follow us on Twitter @Memorabiliapod1 (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod1), like us on Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793), or if you've got a question or comment, send us an email: [email protected] - we'd be chuffed to hear from you!

Previous Episode

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman - 1988

A retrospective on Tracy Chapman's eponymously titled debut LP from 1988. We look at how Tracy went from playing small venues to 72,000 people in a short space of time and the massive impact on her career that her performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert had. Not only was it a huge live crowd at Wembley, but she performed to a global audience of over 60 million TV viewers across more than 60 countries.

The legacy of her huge hit single 'Fast Car' comes under the spotlight including a look at some of the cover versions that have been released and materialised in recent years.

The album introspective also includes a look at the other singles released and their performance, the album sales and how it stacks up against other debut albums written and performed solely by female artists, the award nominations and wins, and the usual track by track review and album rating from both Rick and Kate.

The top 50 American bands of all time countdown continues, moving in to the top 10 with 'Ultimate Classic Rock's' rankings 10 - 6 being scrutinised.

The LP was released on the 5th of April 1988, so we look at the other songs troubling the UK single and album charts, what was performing well at the UK box office, what was being watched on TV (and for this episode, specifically BBC1 on the date of release) and what was being reported in the news from April 1988.

Finally, discover what our 'random single of the week' is...

You can follow us on Twitter @Memorabiliapod1 (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod1), like us on Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793), or if you've got a question or comment, send us an email: [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Next Episode

The Beatles - Help! - 1965

What can you say about The Beatles that's not already been said?! Well, we have a crack at disecting their 5th studio LP released in the UK from August 1965 which we don't believe has had too much previous in-depth analysis. So, we provide a track by track guide and discuss the album in general, and give our thoughts on the movie that featured seven of the songs from the record. The iconic cover of the Beatles using their arms in flag semaphore to spell out the word 'Help!' in fact doesn't spell out 'Help' at all! Find out what it does spell and why they didn't run with the spelling of the album name by tuning in.

Rick's Mum and Dad were visiting earlier on the day of recording (25.9.21) and so we took the opportunity to talk to Rick's Mum about her musical recollections, what she was up to in 1965 and what she thinks of The Beatles. Surprisingly, both she and Kate aren't big fans and have their reasons why, although rumours that Rick is drawing up the divorce papers as a result of this revelation are unfounded!

1965 gets the Memorabilia treatment for the month of relsease and Kate tells us what were the best selling albums and singles in the week that 'Help!' hit the shops, along with what was in the news headlines for the month, including three Beatles related stories.

Rick's random single of the week is from 1963 and co-written by the late, great and ever so lively Freddie Garrity. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, but two years later, in the Spring of 1965, it reached the summit of the US Billboard hot 100 - we explain why there was such a gap in the chart success on both sides of the pond.

Finally, we reveal what our next episode LP will be, selected from Kate's collection and released in May 1989.

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Email: [email protected] - we'd love to hear your thoughts on the podcast and would be delighted to answer any questions!