Try some, buy some, fe, fi, foe, fum

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...

M - Pop Muzik

Pop, pop, pop.

Indeed.