CONCEPT
(US, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

One man keyboard wizard and vocalist who had a brief spell in the spotlight with "Mr DJ" in early '86. We don't recall it - do you?

Biggest Hit: "Mr DJ", No.27, 1986
Defining Moment: Nope.

CONWAY BROTHERS
(US, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

Four-piece soul-funk vocal shower who had bizarre basketball-related choreography when performing on TOTP with their one and only hit "Turn It Up" ("young man, would you pleeeeeeeease turn it up?") which just missed the Top 10. Jaunty and vibrant enough without making big waves, they once opened TOTP after John Peel asked Janice Long: "Which one of them is Russ?"

Biggest Hit: "Turn It Up", No.11, 1985

NORMAN COOK
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

Now of course firmly embedded in the gossip columns as master-stealer Fatboy Slim and Mr Zoe Ball, Cook's first post-Housemartins project was under his own name in the summer of '89 as he put out his first attempts to make a reputation as dance guru and remixer. For the time, he did a decent job of it with the one hit "Blame It On The Bassline" (on a double A-side with future Beats International hit "Won't Talk About It") which had that irritating "wooh! come on now!" dickhead vocal running through it from start to finish and sampled the Jackson Five to remind us just in time how exquisite "Blame It On The Boogie" was before Big Fun were let loose. Greater things would come to those who waited, and after fiddling around as Beats International and Freak Power, his moment arrived.

Biggest Hit: "Won't Talk About It"/"Blame It On The Bassline", No.29, 1989
Defining Moment: Ditching the Housemartins connection in one fell swoop.

COOKIE CREW
(US, two Top 40 hits, one Top 40 album)

Female harmonisers who had two middling hits in early '89 but did their best stuff as credited guest vocalists on the Beatmasters smash "Rok Da House". Unspectacular, from what sketchy details we recall, but you may know more. Bang us a mail.

Biggest Hit: "Got To Keep On", No.17, 1989
Defining Moment: Hmm....

COOLNOTES
(US, two Top 40 hits, no Top 40 albums)

Yank unisex soullies with two mega-warpainted female warblers who had an annoying habit of singing to each other rather than the audience when performing. Still, two likeable, if somewhat syrupy, singles hit the near-upper echelons in '85 - the slow-burning "Spend The Night" ("you know you do it right") and the eventual grower "In Your Car". Good fun while they lasted.

Biggest Hit: "Spend The Night", No.11, 1985
Defining Moment: Er, ladies - the audience are over there...

JULIAN COPE
(UK, three Top 40 singles, two Top 40 albums)

Worshipped former frontier of Teardrop Explodes who gained 'popular culture' status without really making headway in the charts, which frankly didn't matter. Non-educateds will still know his most successful tune, the acerbic "World Shut Your Mouth" ("put your head back in the ground and shut your mouth") which was followed by the lesser known "Trampolene" and "Charlotte Anne" past the 40 threshold. Millions of fans, but they all bought his albums rather than the singles, which is the right way to approach a purist like Cope, who probably only released singles because it was in his contract. The 90s saw less of him, though we particularly liked the early decade's "Beautiful Love".

Biggest Hit: "World Shut Your Mouth", No.19, 1986
Defining Moment: The favourite artist of Sean Hughes. If you're out there Sean...

COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

Basically the Style Council and a few showbiz mates clubbing together to record the unplayable "Soul Deep" in support of striking miners. Dunno how much it raised, or whether Arthur Scargill got a free copy.

Biggest Hit: "Soul Deep", No.22, 1985
Defining Moment: Scargill getting arrested while wearing a baseball cap. We think it featured in the video.

MICHAEL CRAWFORD
(UK, one Top 40 hit, two Top 40 albums)

Grinning actor with enormous lungs who almost shook off the tag of being accident-prone 70s sitcom dipstick Frank Spencer by starring in Lloyd Webber's OTT musical "Phantom Of The Opera". The hit was the admittedly breathtaking "Music Of The Night" ("slowly, gently...") which many people have sung since, but nowhere near as well. Ooh, Betty...

Biggest Hit: "Music Of The Night", No.7, 1987
Defining Moment: That happened in 1973 when he put a beret and some roller skates on.

RANDY CRAWFORD
(US, four Top 40 hits, seven Top 40 albums)

Amusingly named ex-Crusaders collaboration pipestress for whom Radio 2 was made. Crawford hit the Top 40 four times with songs that everyone from the ten year old joyrider to the 70 year old bladderless Korea victim knows, and all four were perfectly delivered and of exceptional quality. The highest was "One Day I'll Fly Away" which scaled to No.2 in 1980 where it stayed for two weeks, where only the unspeakable Kelly Marie and then the slightly more respectable Police held her off. Then it was the turn of "You Might Need Somebody" ("you'll discover when you look around") which was respectfully covered by bus-stop-unearthed teenager Shola Ama in 1997. The timeless "Rainy Night In Georgia" ("I believe that it's raining all over the world") came next, then a five year gap before the musical blockbuster novel "Almaz" ("you lucky, lucky thing") came along and very nearly caused the shock of '86 by finally peaking at No.4. Crawford's appeal will never wane, her albums will always sell and easy listeners will always have her to turn to, and that is anything but a bad thing.

Biggest Hit: "One Day I'll Fly Away", No.2, 1980
Defining Moment: And no-one ever took the piss out of her name.

CREATURES
(UK, three Top 40 hits, one top 40 album)

GOOD GOING FOR the early 80s, but sadly we have little to no info on this band or their songs, and are interested to know more. DEREK has since enlightened us that it was Siouxsie and Budgie sans Banshees. Ta muchly.

Biggest Hit: "Right Now", No.17, 1983
Defining Moment: Who needs Banshees?

 KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS
(UK, seven Top 40 hits, three Top 40 albums)

Eccentric Yank tunesmith of the highest jaunty qualities who invaded a nation's ears with beautifully crafted pop tunes which sounded like a hell of a lot of fun to make. The second single was the mountainous "I'm A Wonderful Thing Baby" which shot to No.4 and made TOTP fun and eye-opening again, with Creole appearing truly to be enjoying the usually pedestrian task of miming. The next single was the outstanding supergrass story "Stool Pigeon" ("if you wanna squeal said the FBI, we can make a deal, make it worth your while") quickly consolidated by the mountainous "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy" which only the new sensationalism of Culture Club prevented from being No.1. Things tailed off afterwards, though only one subsequent release failed to puncture the Top 40, yet Creole had one more trick up his sleeve when, in a shock return to form in the spring of '89, he hit the less than dizzy but still admirable heights of No.29 with the blatantly lustful "The Sex Of It" which proved to be his swansong. Lively, attention-grabbing and gifted, he and his female backing singers the Coconuts will forever be remembered by the 80s muso as one of the greats.

Biggest Hit: "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy", No.2, 1982
Defining Moment: "Stool pigeon, a-cha-cha-cha!"

CHRISTOPHER CROSS
(US, one Top 40 hit, two Top 40 albums)

Serious music journalists and radio stations still harp on about the brilliance of Cross's signature tune "Ride Like The Wind" ("to be, to be free again"), but it only made a scandalous No.69 on release in '80, so we've broken our own rules by mentioning it. We do so with no shame, however, as it was his most famous moment creatively, even though his one commercial barnstormer hit No.7 in the early part of '82, which was "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" which remains indescribable by comparison, and needed a re-release to do the biz.

Biggest Hit: "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
Defining Moment: Kids thinking he was the bloke from Ultravox.

CROWD
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

Cross-board showbiz get-together to put "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the top in the summer of '85, raising money for the victims and bereaved families of the Bradford City fire. Gerry Marsden led things off, naturally, and Jim Diamond was also in there somewhere. Taken-aback factor was added by the sight of Bruce Forsyth and Bernie Winters singing along in the Feed The World-esque all-for-one crescendo. Raised a fortune.

Biggest Hit: "You'll Never Walk Alone", No.1, 1985
Defining Moment: It also heralded a return for Rene of "Save Your Love" fame.