Best number one single from the 1989 UK indie charts

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_number-one_indie_hits_of_1989_%28UK%29

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Can't Be Sure - The Sundays 11
Getting Away with It - Electronic 11
Here Comes Your Man - Pixies 10
Monkey Gone to Heaven - Pixies 7
Fools Gold / What the World Is Waiting For - The Stone Roses 7
Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode 7
She Bangs the Drums - The Stone Roses 6
Street Tuff - Rebel MC & Double Trouble 5
Pure - Lightning Seeds 5
Hypnotised - Spacemen 3 5
Hey DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing) - Beatmasters feat. Betty Boo 4
Hey Music Lover - S'Express 3
Eye Know - De La Soul 3
Drama! - Erasure 3
Widowermaker - Butthole Surfers 1
Move - Inspiral Carpets 1
Regina - The Sugarcubes 1
Hand On Your Heart - Kylie Minogue 1
Run 2 - New Order 0
Find Out Why - Inspiral Carpets 0
Sealed with a Kiss - Jason Donovan 0
Ferry Cross the Mersey - The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden & Stock Aitken Waterman 0
Who's In The House? - Beatmasters feat. MC Merlin 0
Too Many Broken Hearts - Jason Donovan 0


State Attorney Foxhart Cubycheck (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:16 (fourteen years ago)

Were the Butthole Surfers really that popular in the UK?

State Attorney Foxhart Cubycheck (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:17 (fourteen years ago)

s'express

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:17 (fourteen years ago)

That's a rather good list. 'Personal Jesus'.

Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:18 (fourteen years ago)

it's the indie chart. butthole surfers have never appeared in the lamestream top 40.

xpost

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:18 (fourteen years ago)

That's a rather good list.

87 and 88 are good too, 87 helped by the reissue of Nina Simone's 'My Baby Just Cares For Me'.

State Attorney Foxhart Cubycheck (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:20 (fourteen years ago)

MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN-PIXIES

nakamura, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:22 (fourteen years ago)

I don't know what I'd vote for, there's about 7 or 8 I'm tempted by. May go for Rebel MC as I suspect no one else will

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo_AOoeV6uM&feature=related

State Attorney Foxhart Cubycheck (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:25 (fourteen years ago)

the first and last songs are the best.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:25 (fourteen years ago)

"Here Comes Your Man," with some competition from "Getting Away With It."

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:35 (fourteen years ago)

'Street Tuff' FTW

Jeff W, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:47 (fourteen years ago)

part of me wants to vote personal jesus but another more dark sinister part of me wants to vote Drama! - Erasure

goth (crüt), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:05 (fourteen years ago)

went with dark & sinister

goth (crüt), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:06 (fourteen years ago)

Can someone explain how Kylie is "indie"?

jaymc, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago)

i seem to recall that PWL records (ie. Kylies label at the time) was an independant set up.

my vote : betty boo.

mark e, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:11 (fourteen years ago)

"Can't Be Sure" for me, but I had dark & sinister thoughts as well actually

anatol_merklich, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:31 (fourteen years ago)

Can someone explain how Kylie is "indie"?

― jaymc, Tuesday, July 13, 2010 4:10 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

I think like 60-70% of 'pop' music was still on independent labels in the 80s

X-101, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:57 (fourteen years ago)

The indie chart was for record companies who used independent distributors, and I think counted only sales from independent record stores. One of the distributors was called 'The Cartel' but I can't remember the others. The #1 lists look quite cool because certain pop labels like mute, pwl or (I think) xl had such an arrangement, but lower down amateurism flourished.

I don't actually know what the benefit of these arrangements was supposed to be - the thing was mainstream music press by the time I got interested around 1991 - but it kind of ghettoised what came to be known as 'indie' music because bands had to aim to sign to indie labels to get any credibility, and then often got happy just to aim for that paltry level of success. The likes of Factory or 4AD following unique paths were the exception rather than the rule is my recollection - in fact a lot of the labels were just major label fronts iirc.

Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:11 (fourteen years ago)

iirc vital/chain with no name was another

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:15 (fourteen years ago)

i never got at what point an indie label (eg island? mute? virgin?) becomes, like, a label

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:15 (fourteen years ago)

Love that Spacemen 3 single.

Trip Maker, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:18 (fourteen years ago)

I love at least four of these but I think I need to go with She Bangs the Drums.

o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:19 (fourteen years ago)

xxpost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Indie_Chart

fit and working again, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:20 (fourteen years ago)

i never got at what point an indie label (eg island? mute? virgin?) becomes, like, a label

Always seemed a bit of an arbritary term, "indie". I suppose Island and Virgin were indie till they were taken over by or entered into some sort of partnership with a major label?

R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 16:23 (fourteen years ago)

move

the subject of many men’s thoughts (daavid), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 20:44 (fourteen years ago)

I understand why, but just lol @ Paul McCartney ever appearing on an "indie" anything list.

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 21:35 (fourteen years ago)

Can't decide between Sugarcubes, De La, and Lightning Seeds

oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:05 (fourteen years ago)

i really want to vote for the surfers, but i think i'm going to have to go with here comes your man...

please sb me (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:10 (fourteen years ago)

o look lots of my favourite records from being 15/16. Sundays, from a very strong field. It's only really the PWL stuff & Depeche Mode I don't care for there.

tetrahedron of space (woof), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:12 (fourteen years ago)

DRAMA! by Erasure. What an amazing, structurally insane pop hit it us

PaulTMA, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:17 (fourteen years ago)

IS!

Guilty!

PaulTMA, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:17 (fourteen years ago)

Haha that drawn-out neveeeeeeeerrrrrr...

'Not as good as 'Drama!'' was catchphrase for friends and me for a while back then. Started w/ Erasure singles, extended it to most stuff.

tetrahedron of space (woof), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:25 (fourteen years ago)

The answer is obviously Fool's Gold / What The World Is Waiting For, but for some reason I felt compelled to vote for Personal Jesus.

I Ain't Committing Suicide For No Crab (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:40 (fourteen years ago)

fuck me what a list of records. i can't choose just yet. there's only a half dozen tracks there that aren't classics

the dolly doctor movement (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:58 (fourteen years ago)

based on what i still listen to on the reg it's between drama!, can't be sure and run 2

the dolly doctor movement (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:59 (fourteen years ago)

kind of surprised there's no out-and-out dance (ie house) tracks

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:08 (fourteen years ago)

or, how is 'groove groove melody' not an indie label?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_on_Time

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:08 (fourteen years ago)

.. it will come to me later.

Mark G, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:14 (fourteen years ago)

(xp)

Looks like the hit release came out on BMG Arista?
http://www.discogs.com/Black-Box-Ride-On-Time/master/117300

tetrahedron of space (woof), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:16 (fourteen years ago)

I was ready to vote for "Monkey Gone to Heaven," but wow--"Eye Know" and "Getting Away with It" on the same chart. I guess the second.

clemenza, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:36 (fourteen years ago)

this is way, way too hard to choose

oh sh!t a ¯\⎝⏠___⏠⎠/¯ (sic), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:41 (fourteen years ago)

On the 'why no dance?' (because Soul II Soul & Li'l Louis are missing and maybe eligible?), my best guess: the sales figures were skewed by its being largely based on trad indie record shops with an indie clientele, ie, unlike HMV they'd sell three Cuds for every two Soul II Souls (because you couldn't buy the NME's Single of the Week anywhere else in yr provincial town). But then with something gigantic like Kylie/Jason, lots of non-regulars would buy a single that was technically indie. Rise of the dance specialist shop in mid-sized/university towns comes after this maybe?

tetrahedron of space (woof), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:48 (fourteen years ago)

soul II soul / lil louis both major distro iirc

the dolly doctor movement (electricsound), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:54 (fourteen years ago)

Ah, makes sense - list doesn't really fit my hypothesis - Rebel MC, Beatmasters, etc neither indie pop nor PWL Juggernauts, so it is registering chart/dance crossover sellers I guess.

tetrahedron of space (woof), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:58 (fourteen years ago)

Sample 1989 indie chart.

tetrahedron of space (woof), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 01:06 (fourteen years ago)

pixies fans be buyin records

the dolly doctor movement (electricsound), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 01:09 (fourteen years ago)

I know it won't win but "Hey Music Lover" is crazy wonderful.

the aztec mystic pizza (Stevie D), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 01:20 (fourteen years ago)

It's between S'Express and the Rebel MC for me.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Mañana? (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 08:16 (fourteen years ago)

"Street Tuff" - fun raps, awesome electro beat, picked this one without a second thought.

Tuomas, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 08:28 (fourteen years ago)

Rebel MC, Beatmasters, etc neither indie pop

Street Tuff was pretty popular amongst grebo/crusty acquaintances iirc

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 09:07 (fourteen years ago)

I think I remember arguments in the early 90s music press about pwl and dance music crowding out the proper indie, and then an 'alternative' chart being set up instead so the likes of Five Thirty could qualify. Lot of fun in those days.

Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 09:18 (fourteen years ago)

"Can't Be Sure" vs "Monkey Gone To Heaven" (maybe this has been worn out a little by repeated plays) vs "Street Tuff" (can't claim this one has the personal resonance of the other two, but if the question is "which of these do you most want to hear right now" then it takes it)

Read somewhere that you were allowed in the indie charts if you were no more than 51% owned by a major, so in the 90s there was a proliferation of major label boutique sublabels and former real-indies who were exactly 51% owned by a major (whatever "owned" means)

Wd listen to all these. And complain about the Stone Roses and Jason Donovan while secretly enjoying them.

atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:37 (fourteen years ago)

The indie bands on this list are all genuine indie canon, eh? All except the Inspirals, who seemed like total clunkers even back then, but ushered in a long, dark era of t-shirt indie.

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:41 (fourteen years ago)

were the lightning seeds seen as indie?

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:43 (fourteen years ago)

Nah, not really. Ian Broudie had produced Icicle Works, Pale Fountains etc, so he was recognised at the time iirc as coming from that world of major label melodic jangle (despite connections with greater nme credibility - Bunnymen, The Fall, & Drummond).

tetrahedron of space (woof), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:53 (fourteen years ago)

I saw "Can't Be Sure," and I thought, "Why even look at the rest of the list"?

Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:54 (fourteen years ago)

only just noticed this but the guitar solo (kinda) on 'pure' is a str8 new order rip

off of temptation i think

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 11:03 (fourteen years ago)

It's a steal from Love Vigilantes iirc

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 11:36 (fourteen years ago)

yeah that's it

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 11:37 (fourteen years ago)

Street Tuff = all of the awesome. FTW!

byebyepride, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 12:09 (fourteen years ago)

The indie bands on this list are all genuine indie canon, eh? All except the Inspirals, who seemed like total clunkers even back then, but ushered in a long, dark era of t-shirt indie.

― WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:41 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

What's t-shirt indie?

skip, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 12:11 (fourteen years ago)

indie music you don't like

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 12:12 (fourteen years ago)

I kind of made it up and haven't decided quite what it means yet, but somewhere around 1989 you started seeing indie kids all in exactly the same t-shirt at a level that I never really noticed before e.g this one...

http://michaelgreenwell.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/getimagephp.gif

or this one...

http://firebrand.sandbag.uk.com/Content/2016.jpg

or this one...

http://www.rocknrollstuff.co.uk/t-shirts/carter_layered_longsleeve_red_tan.jpg

and whether that was due to indie bands starting to play at massive festivals or whether it was just baggy aesthetics or whether it was the bands upping their marketing efforts or what I dunno but all of a sudden it was blatantly obvious that you were surrounded by people with terrible taste. So basically what nrq said.

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:00 (fourteen years ago)

"t-shirt indie" was definitely a thing. it made the inspiral carpets famous coz theirs had a swear on it.

and yeah every fucker had a james t-shirt. ride were t-shirt hot too, irrc.

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:02 (fourteen years ago)

they just figured out that you could make 'mad bank' by selling t-shirts at gigs

nothing more complicated than that

I’ll put you in a f *ckin Weingarten you c*nt! (history mayne), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:03 (fourteen years ago)

it made the inspiral carpets famous coz theirs had a swear on it.

Some lad even got arrested for wearing a Cool As Fuck shirt iirc, so you kind of had to wear one if you wanted to be a rebel like everyone else.

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:07 (fourteen years ago)

This evil poll puts two of my biggest obsessions pitched right up against one another and this is a hard choice, to choose Boom or Barneywaves.

But Run was a shitty single, and Hypnotised was one of the best things Spacemen 3 ever did. I did twinge a little at not picking Getting Away With It but hey.

Cow Bingo (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:28 (fourteen years ago)

A toughie but had to go with "Can't Be Sure" in the end. But, yeah, this is stuffed with gold. The only duds as far as I can see are:

Too Many Broken Hearts - Jason Donovan
Ferry Cross the Mersey - The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden & Stock Aitken Waterman
Sealed with a Kiss - Jason Donovan
Find Out Why - Inspiral Carpets
Widowermaker - Butthole Surfers
Move - Inspiral Carpets

I did have that Inspiral Carpets t-shirt though.

Born too beguiled (DavidM), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:38 (fourteen years ago)

...then an 'alternative' chart being set up instead so the likes of Five Thirty could qualify

Ah, Five Thirty. There's a group that actually suffered from being on a major label at the tail end of the period when anyone gave a fuck about that. If they'd turned up in 1994 instead of 1990 they could have been massive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwk2dcIPbS8

I Ain't Committing Suicide For No Crab (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 13:58 (fourteen years ago)

i was conflicted until i came to the second to last thing posted. "Fools Gold / What the World Is Waiting For" is almost perfect. it seemed to tower over everything else that was out at the time. that being said this list is pretty damn good and i have a hard time picking the second best song.

Bee OK, Thursday, 15 July 2010 03:42 (fourteen years ago)

Vital Distribution was another label that contributed; my brother worked for them.

I'd love to say something challopy like Kylie, but really I'm such a Fools Gold stan that I have to be honest and vote for that.

Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 15 July 2010 07:03 (fourteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:01 (fourteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Monday, 19 July 2010 23:01 (fourteen years ago)

Yes!

Even if only alphabetically.

Mark G, Monday, 19 July 2010 23:05 (fourteen years ago)

sad that run 2 is so unloved, but at least i backed the winner for once

the drummer from bits of shit (electricsound), Monday, 19 July 2010 23:13 (fourteen years ago)

I love Run 2. Think I actually prefer the album version but love them all really. Did you get the Run 2 demos that leaked? Instrumentals etc.? Really cool. I bought 2 copies of the 12" on the same day last year. Never saw it turn up then found two in one day. What are the odds?

brotherlovesdub, Monday, 19 July 2010 23:54 (fourteen years ago)

i never got at what point an indie label (eg island? mute? virgin?) becomes, like, a label

I believe Virgin or Island records would never appear in the indie charts. I guess they might have if indie charts existed in the early 70s.

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 01:06 (fourteen years ago)

Getting Away with It - Electronic 11
Eye Know - De La Soul 3

jesus fucking christ ilm

zvookster, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 01:11 (fourteen years ago)

this dude > electronic dude

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV7jMZkBOcQ

zvookster, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 01:16 (fourteen years ago)


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