Thatcher-off: Number one

Well, before the final match of the season, we're going to present the winning team with their trophy. 1979 was better for music, and the best 1990 had to offer was conceived against the grain of Thatcherism. I'm not sure you can really lay claim to a legacy that really only existed because people wanted to force you into an industrial cheese grater. "I made people creative by the sheer force of their hatred for me" isn't a line you'd ever want to open a chapter of autobiography with, is it?

Anyway, it's a formality, but let's have one last round:

Number 1, April 1979: Art Garfunkel - Bright Eyes



Mike Batt went on from this to slaughtering rabbits. It is, he explained, the only language they understand. He's spent the bank holiday laying Womble traps.

Number 1, November 1990: The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody



Wow. Thatcher's career, bookended by sloppy soundtrack music. At least in 1979 they had the good grace to write something new, rather than disinter a track that should have been let lie after Jimmy Young had had a go at it.

Final scores: Music before Thatcher - 7; Music after Thatcher - 3.

1979 wins by four votes; 1990 just about keeps its deposit.

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