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I love Domino Dancing but I'm convinced that Left to my own devices would have gone #1 had it been the lead single from Intro (and had a decent video).

Palpatine wrote:I love Domino Dancing but I'm convinced that Left to my own devices would have gone #1 had it been the lead single from Intro (and had a decent video).

Yeah, i think Domino Dancing could have been the song that put some people off PSB at the time. However, the song is timeless now. Although i thought it was quite brilliant when it was released. The chart life of Left to my own devices kinda proved that Domino dancing turned some away. If i remember correctly, Devices entered at 4, then dropped quite rapidly (i think it went to 11) The first signs they were now just a fan base only act. I remember it quite well because i turned the radio on and they were playing the top ten. No Devices anywhere. I thought it was going to be number 1. Gutted when i heard thatit had dropped like a stone.

Domino dancing had to be released first because it's a summer song. Left to my own devices is moodier and more autumnal.

PSB's imperial year was 1987. Heart followed in its tailwind (helped by being such a simple pop song), but they were in an inevitable commercial decline after that whatever they released. IMO Domino dancing is their most perfect single anyway. Their only massive hit since has been Go West which is a bit of a novelty single (to the uninitiated) but who is still having big hits from 1988? Kylie and Madonna to an extent - two traditional pop stars whose appeal is more reliant on the simple pop song and latest hair style than PSB ever were.

Undertaker wrote:Yeah, i think Domino Dancing could have been the song that put some people off PSB at the time. However, the song is timeless now. Although i thought it was quite brilliant when it was released. The chart life of Left to my own devices kinda proved that Domino dancing turned some away. If i remember correctly, Devices entered at 4, then dropped quite rapidly (i think it went to 11) The first signs they were now just a fan base only act. I remember it quite well because i turned the radio on and they were playing the top ten. No Devices anywhere. I thought it was going to be number 1. Gutted when i heard thatit had dropped like a stone.

Nah, pretty similar to Domino dancing really. Entered at 7, climbed to 4, then down to 11. lol at the Burghster at number 3.

http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=15939

Domino dancing: 9-7-9-12

http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=15742

It's alright: 5-5-7-12

http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=16594

Their chart positions for the singles from Introspective were all pretty decent. For instance in the week that Left to my own devices fell to number 11, Especially for You and Suddenly by Angry Anderson were in the top three. That's simply the nature of pop culture rather than anything anti-PSB.

http://www.chartstats.com/chart.php?week=19881210

Undertaker wrote:If i remember correctly, Devices entered at 4, then dropped quite rapidly (i think it went to 11) The first signs they were now just a fan base only act. I remember it quite well because i turned the radio on and they were playing the top ten. No Devices anywhere. I thought it was going to be number 1. Gutted when i heard thatit had dropped like a stone.

It entered at 7, climbed to 4, and then fell to 11. That was better than Domino Dancing, though, which entered at 9, climbed to 7, and then fell back to 9 - but the third week drop was significantly larger than before and confirmed the feeling that they had peaked.

Domino Dancing was released far too late (September) to work as a summer record. As much as I love it, the timing was all wrong. Heart had been number one as late as April, so any earlier release for Domino Dancing would have given the impression that they'd never been away and would have dulled the sense of a big return somewhat.

Edit: Oh, Bateman's beaten me to it.

Drico.

Drico One wrote:It entered at 7, climbed to 4, and then fell to 11. That was better that Domino Dancing, though, which entered at 9, climbed to 7, and then fell back to 9 - but the third week drop was significantly larger than before and confirmed the feeling that they had peaked.

Left to my own devices was competing against the Christmas market too: Mistletoe and Wine was already at number one the week it fell to 11, then the two Neighbours singles, Bros (briefly imperial), the Coke ad, Buster at 6, Erasure new at 7 , Rick Astley (post-imperial), Smooth Criminal, and erm, the Burghster at 10. Pop music tends to be safe and cosy; Left to my own devices is just too damn weird. Always on my mind was always going to be a Christmas number one; Left to my own devices never would have been, even in 1987.

I think people also forget that for all of it's caché, Introspective was a relatively poor performer in the UK when compared with Please and Actually. As you pointed out, it was really a remix album - or an album of long mixes - rather than something traditional like its predecessors. It had more in common with Disco than Actually. By the time of its release, Domino Dancing, Always On My Mind, I Want A Dog, and I'm Not Scared had all been out in one form or another. It wasn't quite the essential mass-market record that was going to capitalise on the commercial conquests of Actually. In that sense, it's arguable that they missed their moment with Introspective and that Behaviour merely confirmed the fact.

Drico.

Cheers.

Domino Dancing was still a bit of a stitch up peaking at 7. It's a better single than that.

Did any of PSB's number 1's enter straight at number 1? Songs did tend to chart low and then climb?

Undertaker wrote:Did any of PSB's number 1's enter straight at number 1? Songs did tend to chart low and then climb?

No. I think that Go West is still their highest entry ever at 2. Songs rarely entered the charts at number one back in the days of yore. I always remember that Going Underground by The Jam was one of the few, and Band Aid.

*summons spirit of Bruno Brookes*

Highest new entries in the days when it was almost impossible to go in at the top were It's A Sin at 5 in 1987, Always On My Mind - when they were at their peak - at number 4 that December, It's Alright at 5 in 1989, and So Hard (in at number 4) in 1990 - which shows you that their hardcore had become even more rabid by Behaviour. The difference, by then, however, was that there wasn't as much beyond the fanbase to keep them mainstream and keep the record climbing (sales-wise) into weeks two and three. They mentioned as much in Literally when referring to It's Alright and the "Paul Weller" syndrome of having their singles peak in the first week.

Drico.

Drico One wrote:I think people also forget that for all of it's caché, Introspective was a relatively poor performer in the UK when compared with Please and Actually. As you pointed out, it was really a remix album - or an album of long mixes - rather than something traditional like its predecessors. It had more in common with Disco than Actually. By the time of its release, Domino Dancing, Always On My Mind and I'm Not Scared had all been out in one form or another. It wasn't quite the essential mass-market record that was going to capitalise on the commercial conquests of Actually. In that sense, it's arguable that they missed their moment with Introspective and that Behaviour merely confirmed the fact.

I always consider Introspective to be their imperial monument, erected at the peak of their commercial powers and standing as their legacy to the pop acts yet to be born: "My name is Introspective, six-track album: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" I love the fact that they didn't just chuck out Actually 2.

Patrick Bateman wrote:

Undertaker wrote:Did any of PSB's number 1's enter straight at number 1? Songs did tend to chart low and then climb?

No. I think that Go West is still their highest entry ever at 2. Songs rarely entered the charts at number one back in the days of yore. I always remember that Going Underground by The Jam was one of the few, and Band Aid.

*summons spirit of Bruno Brookes*

Didn't the Jam have about half a dozen songs all entering the charts at the same time? I probably dreamnt that as well.

It did get very boring in the late 90's until recently, when there was a new number 1 every week. It's almost as bad now with the top 5 staying unchanged for weeks and every artist being 'somebody featuring somebody'

Going back to Behaviour, does anyone have that edition in the white velvety case? What's the difference to the normal release?

I honestly could probably identify about two tracks in the current chart - Alejandro and Kylie. It's probably right that a thirty-six year-old has no interest in the charts but they really do look god damn awful. We basically have the same urban crap as America dominating our charts now but far worse because we get all the UK urban crap too.

I think that if artist X released a track featuring artist Y and artist Y released the same track featuring artist X, the f*cktards would send both of them up the chart.