Record Mirror First Hi-NRG Chart

24th July 1982

Throughout most of the 1980s, the British musical weekly magazine, Record Mirror, published a chart of the most popular Hi-NRG and Boystown Disco tracks being played in some nightclubs in Britain. These charts were compiled from DJ returns by James Hamilton and Alan Jones.

Record Mirror had been publishing world renowned weekly Disco Charts since September 1974. However, during 1982 James and Alan noticed a very different sound being played by DJs in underground British gay clubs, where the BPMs were faster, between 120 and 140 BPM. Much of this music was American, Canadian and European import 12″ singles that were not within the conciousness of mainstream British pop or dance culture. This faster, more synthesiser based, and less funky dance music was eminating in the fabled nightclubs of New York and San Francisco, and crossing the Atlantic bringing a new sound to the UK.

American record labels such as Moby Dick and Megatone from San Francisco; underground American producers such as Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley; and Canadian groups like Lime were already popular on this scene, as evidenced by the very first Boystown Chart published in the UK in Record Mirror on 24th July 1982, and reproduced below.

Here are videos from my YouTube channel of some of the tracks from this chart to set the scene in July 1982.

Record Mirror Boystown Disco Charts 1982

Billboard Hot Dance Chart 24th July 1982

It’s quite interesting to compare the Billboard Hot Dance Chart with the UK and European Hi-NRG and Italo Charts. The Billboard Dance chart would often have a very good showing of San Francisco Boystown and Hi-NRG, as well as Synth Pop tracks, unlike the British mainstream dance clubs, which focussed their music policy mainly on soul and black music. In this Billboard chart, there are tracks from Paul Parker, Laura Branigan, Viola Wills and Yazoo that, apart from Laura Branigan, that firstly made their mark in gay club DJ sets and then remained firmly in the gay clubs in the UK, mostly failing to get any mainstream interest or play at all. Some of the rock and synth pop tracks, like A Flock Of Seagulls ‘I Ran’ and Thompson Twins ‘In The Name Of Love’ from this chart, would also find their way into Boystown Disco D J sets, especially in the larger American gay clubs.