As the son of a New Jersey DJ, Kerri Chandler started mixing records in public in his early teens, and so many of the tunes in this chart – published when he was 14 years old – are part of the soundtrack of his formative years. Then again, as we discover, there was often a disparity between the UK and the USA in terms of which tunes became successful: a high-charting track on the Record Mirror chart was sometimes only a minor entry on the Billboard chart, and some of the biggest tunes in New York were ignored by British DJs. In this chart, more traditional post-disco soul/funk material was being challenged by the continuing wave of electro-funk releases, with breakdancing becoming so popular that even our future king tried joining in.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: 

* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year before his first single "Theme From S-Express" topped the UK charts, Mark Moore was DJ-ing at Philip Sallon's Mud Club, and at Pyramid (formerly Asylum), Heaven's midweek alternative gay night. He joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson to take a look at a Record Mirror Disco Top 20 from May 1987: a time where London was still "rap city", while the rest of the country was becoming a "house nation". You can see both factions in this chart, as old school hip hop mingles with Chicago jack tracks, and "rare groove" funk rubs shoulders with modern funk.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: 

* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before co-founding Defected Records in 1999 and Glitterbox in 2014, Simon Dunmore was working behind the counter at Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre in 1989, where James Hamilton was one of his regular weekly customers. In this Club Chart Top 20 from March 1989, you'll hear about some of the tunes that opened Simon's ears to soulful garage house, which was in the ascendancy in the aftermath of 1988's acid house explosion. Hip house was also exploding around this time, while hip hop and street soul tunes were also charting. Simon was in the thick of it all, receiving all the hot new imports and serving DJs and dance music specialists alike, so he is able to speak with authority on the records, and with passion for the music.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

NEW: Record Mirror Disco Charts Merchandise Store

Further listening: 

* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Curtis joins Greg WIlson and Mike Atkinson for a countdown of the first Disco Top 20 of 1983: a time when electro-funk was in the ascendant, and even long-established soul/funk acts were incorporating electronic elements. Scratching was this month's new thing; jazz-funk was on the wane, club hits weren't always guaranteed pop crossover hits, a superstar's follow-up was briefly struggling, and a couple of formative underground classics from the 1970s were being repurposed to new audiences.

In the vanguard as ever, as he had been since starting his career in 1967, Colin was breaking new tunes at places like Manchester Ritz, Birmingham Powerhouse and Nottingham Rock Citty, and embracing the changes as eagerly as he had done at Blackpool Mecca with Ian Levine, before pivoting to jazz dance, electro and eventually early Chicago house. Always a tastemaker and never a follower, he casts an expert eye on a chart that reflects an ever-changing scene, at a particularly transitional time.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graeme Park joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson for a look at the dance music of October 1986: a time when Graeme was the resident weekend DJ at The Garage in Nottingham, blending Chicago house with hip hop, soul/funk and Washington DC go go. Listed in James Hamilton's columns as the first British DJ to routinely feature house music in his sets, Graeme provides us with expert guidance through this eclectic era, with stories to tell and memories to share.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having spent all of summer 1987 in Ibiza, dancing to Alfredo at Amnesia and experiencing an epiphany, Lisa Loud returned to London with a new-found determination to break into the music industry. By the time of this chart, she was DJ-ing at major venues and working in promotions for Virgin Records, where she was responsible for breaking acts such as Neneh Cherry, Massive Attack, Soul II Soul, and the act at Number One on this particular Club Chart. While the first wave of acid house was reaching its peak, Lisa was also travelling around the UK, delivering acetates to tastemaker DJs and generally "having the time of my life".

Joining Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson for our first episode based on the second volume of James Hamilton's columns, Lisa guides us through a pivotal time for UK club culture, where acid house, hip hop, soul, funk and Balearic beats intermingled, and sampling was rife, as yet unburdened by copyright concerns.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill Brewster – DJ, writer, music consultant and dance music historian – joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson for a look at the Record Mirror Disco Chart of 26th May 1979.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening:

* Other tracks mentioned in this episode (Spotify)

* James Hamilton at Gullivers, 18 August 1979

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* Bill Brewster on Patreon

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Morales - remixer, producer, DJ, and best known in the 1980s for his M&M mixes with the late Sergio Munzibai - joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson for a look at the Record Mirror Disco Chart of 12th April 1980.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode.

Further reading:James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Coming soon: James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, The Light) joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson for a countdown of a Record Mirror Disco Top 20 from the fabled long hot summer of 1976. As the country sweltered, Peter was finding his true path, having witnessed the Sex Pistols at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall a month earlier. Meanwhile, this chart mixes pop and rock crossover hits with disco classics, funk tracks, three slowies and a couple of obscurities. But can we persuade Greg to bring back the “erection section”? The campaign starts here…

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode.

Further reading:James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our second visit to 1982, Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson are joined by Arthur Baker: producer, remixer, songwriter, DJ, and one of the prime architects of electro-funk (Planet Rock, Walking On Sunshine, Play At Your Own Risk, Confusion, IOU etc). In this Top 20 countdown, we can see these electronic elements starting to emerge, with some well-established funk acts already embracing the changes. Elsewhere, jazz-funk and Britfunk rub shoulders with pop crossovers, in a typically diverse snapshot of the times. Along the way, Arthur shares memories of the Paradise Garage, Better Days, a pre-fame Madonna, and collaborations with Tee Scott, Leee John, New Order and many more key figures of the era.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode.

Further reading:

• James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)
• Greg Wilson's interview with Arthur Baker (2022)
• Arthur Baker: Looking For The Perfect Beat (Faber, 2025)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.