We have a timeslip moment to round off a long dreary week, dear reader, and we're off to the shifting landscape of 1979 - the year Margaret Thatcher became our first female Prime Minister; the year of Monty Python's Life of Brian, the fall of Pol Pot, and the murder of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA; and the year of Apocalypse Now, Donna Summer, Space Shuttles, Milk & Honey's Hallelujah winning the Eurovision Song Contest, Blair Peach, Jimmy Carter, Harvey Milk, Off the Wall, Anthony Blunt, and the eradication of the smallpox virus.

In the news headlines in July '79? The scandalous trial and aquittal of former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe on the charge of attempted murder of his gay lover still raised a lot of eyebrows, Skylab began breaking up and heading back to Earth, Sebastian Coe set a record time for running a mile - 3 minutes 48.95 seconds, the Sandinistas came to power after the civil war in Nicaragua, and the first Sony Walkman went on sale in Japan; in the ascendant were Saddam Hussein (who became president of Iraq), and Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands, which became independent of the UK), but we waved a sad farewell to the trill-voiced singer Minnie Riperton, aged just 31. In our cinemas: Moonraker, The Champ, The Muppet Movie. On telly: Sapphire & Steel, The Paul Daniels Magic Show, Shelley.

And in our charts this week forty-two years ago? The groundbreaking Are Friends Electric? by Tubeway Army (Gary Numan) was at #1, beating off the challenge of both Janet Kay and The Sex Pistols. Also present and correct were Dave Edmunds, the Beach Boys, Amii Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Squeeze and the Dooleys - but just entering the Top Ten - in the very same week as the infamous Redneck "Disco Demolition" rally took place in the good ol' "Land of the Free" - was a monster choon, from the coolest band on the planet in those decadent Studio 54 days. Thank Disco It's Friday, indeed!

Have a great (hopefully sunny) weekend, my dears!

It's a mini-"timeslip moment", dear reader...

We've been dropped off by The Doctor, Romana and K9 at a pivotal juncture for the UK - January 1979. For this was indeed the notorious "Winter of Discontent" - with strikes at the ports, hauliers, railways, hospitals and public services, and snowstorms that brought the country to a virtual standstill - and Prime Minister Jim Callaghan's quote "Crisis? What Crisis?" (as above, the banner headline on the front page of The Sun) made such a lasting impact that Maggie Thatcher swept to power a few months later, and Labour failed to regain government for the next eighteen years. Also in the news headlines: Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge regime were deposed in Cambodia by Vietnamese forces; The Bee Gees, Abba, Andy Gibb, Earth Wind & Fire, Olivia Newton John, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer and more all sang at the "Music for UNICEF" concert and donated the royalties from all the songs they performed to the cause; and the deposed Shah of Iran fled his country. In our cinemas: Superman; Jaws 2; Capricorn One. On telly: Blankety Blank, Life on Earth, Give Us a Clue and Danger UXB.

And in our charts in the post-Xmas period, this week forty-two years ago? Just evicted from the top slot [to a collective sigh of relief from discerning music lovers] was Boney M Mary's Boy Child, and also present and correct were Chic, the Bee Gees, Racey, The Barron Knights, Elton John, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond and Hot Gossip. But the year opened with a new Number 1 - and possibly the campest, gayest one Britain had ever had! All together, now...

Yes, it's a timeslip moment again - way back to an era of uncertainty and economic stagnation, 1979: the year Maggie Thatcher arrived to drag the country kicking and screaming into a new decade; the year of Ayatollah Khomeini, Jimmy Carter, The Muppet Movie, Disco Demolition, the Carl Bridgewater murder trial, Moonraker, the end of Pol Pot's reign of terror, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Donna Summer, the assassination of Harvey Milk, Life of Brian, Sandinistas, Pope John Paul II, Mad Max, the fall of Idi Amin, Off the Wall, SALT II, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, and the "fourth man" Anthony Blunt; the births of Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Will Young, Chris Pratt, Jamie Cullum, Shola Ama, Pink, Kerry Ellis, Cazwell, Jonny Wilkinson, Heath Ledger, Adam Levine, Sudoku, James McAvoy and the spreadsheet; and the year that Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Gracie Fields, Joyce Grenfell, Richard Rodgers, Stan Kenton, Minnie Riperton, Mary Pickford, Norman Hartnell, Barnes Wallis, Sid Vicious, Skylab, Merle Oberon, Peter Butterworth, Norrie Paramor, Van McCoy, Michael Wilding, Rhodesia, John Wayne, Barbara Hutton, Ted Cassidy ("Lurch") and Blair Peach all died.

In the news in March forty-one years ago? MP and Thatcher confidant Airey Neave was murdered by an IRA bomb in the underground car park at the House of Commons, the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was signed, Scots voted for a separate assembly (but were defeated by the electoral rules) and Welsh voters rejected devolution in referenda, a general election was announced in May following a vote of no confidence in the Jim Callaghan government, Voyager 1 sent back impressive photos of Jupiter and its rings, and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident caused mass panic Stateside; in the ascendant (literally) was the brand new Space Shuttle Columbia, and the compact disc was launched; but we waved a fond farewell to the beauteous Richard Beckinsale, who had a heart attack aged just 31. In our cinemas: California Suite, The Deer Hunter, Damien: Omen II. On telly: Tales of the Unexpected, Worzel Gummidge, Mork & Mindy.

And our charts this week in March 1979? Now That's What I Call A Top Ten:

10: Boney M - Painter Man
09: Abba - Chiquitita
08: Edwin Starr - Contact
07: Sex Pistols - Something Else/Friggin' In the Riggin'
06: Blondie - Heart Of Glass
05: Real Thing - Can You Feel The Force?
04: Lene Lovich - Lucky Number
03: Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
02: Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army
01: Bee Gees - Tragedy

However, lurking just outside the higher echelons were a few songs destined to upset this line-up; as eclectic a mix as what was already there, including Chic, Dire Straits, Art Garfunkel, Queen and Gary's Gang... and this lot!


Gosh. Did we actually still do the "pogo dance" in '79?! That audience doesn't seem too enamoured [then again, half of them had probably spent the evening trying to avoid Jimmy Savile in the corridors].

Time flies, etc...

Timeslip moment again...

We've been ejected from the Moonraker space shuttle into the weird and wonderful wilderness of 1979 - the year of Maggie Thatcher's rise to power after "the Winter of Discontent", the overthrow of both Pol Pot (in Cambodia) and Idi Amin (Uganda), eradication of the smallpox virus, Life of Brian, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Baader-Meinhof gang, the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, Anthony Blunt, Off the Wall, the notorious "Disco Demolition Night" at a baseball field in Chicago, Blair Peach, the Music for UNICEF Concert, Ayatollah Khomeini, the murders of Lord Mountbatten of Burma and Airey Neave by the IRA, Sebastian Coe, Sandinistas, "I don't like Mondays", the Unabomber, military coups in Ghana and Bolivia and the Central African Republic, Quadrophenia, the Iran hostage crisis and the Polish Pope; the births of Chris Pratt, Will Young, Leo Varadkar, Pink, James McAvoy, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Saint Lucia, Kiribati, Adam Levine, Robyn, the compact disc, the Sony Walkman and the McDonald's Happy Meal; and the deaths of John Wayne, Sid Vicious, Richard Rodgers, Gracie Fields, Michael Wilding, Richard Beckinsale, Mary Pickford, Van McCoy, Joyce Grenfell, Joan Blondell, Minnie Riperton, Stan Kenton, Merle Oberon, Nino Rota and Donny Hathaway.

In the news headlines in May of that year: Mrs Thatcher formed her first government and announced a wave of privatisations of national industries, former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe went on trial for attempted murder of his secret gay lover, London's Jubilee line came into service, a fire in Woolworth's store in Manchester city centre killed ten people, the fall of the notorious Idi Amin was celebrated, in a horrific air disaster in Chicago more than 270 people were killed, and Thorpe Park theme park in Surrey opened; in the ascendant were Arsenal (who won the FA Cup) and Elton John (who became the first Western artist to play in the Soviet Union), but we bade a sad farewell to the troubled heiress and socialite Barbara Hutton. In our cinemas: Animal House; The Boys from Brazil; California Suite. On telly: Two Up, Two Down; Tales of the Unexpected; The Muppet Show.

And in our charts this week forty years ago? The seemingly unmoveable Art Garfunkel and Bright Eyes (on week #5 of six in prime position) was leading the pack, and also present and correct in the Top Ten were Boney M, Abba, Racey, Peaches and Herb, Wings, Amii Stewart, Supertramp and - erm - The Dickies.

However, an eternal favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers had launched a serious challenge at #2 for the rabbit-themed-ballad's crown (it was never to get there, but it's still a winner in my eyes) - Robin Scott aka M, with a song that was launched by Kenny Everett on his Video Show, and was destined to be one of the mainstays of the early days of MTV...


Pop, pop, pop.

Indeed.