'Don't be my enemy' was the band's first single to actually chart. Even if it only reached number 92 in the UK singles chart in 1983, it was just a taster of what was to come. The next year they would have the biggest hit of their career with 'Dance hall days'.
My collection: 5" single no. 7556
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 19 January 2025
Tracks: 'Don't be my enemy' / 'The waves (instrumental)'
Wang Chung's biggest hit was 1984's 'Dance hall days'. When subsequent singles turned out to be less successful, the band decided to revisit the track. Hence 'Dance hall days revisited', released in 1989.
After the third single from Wang Chung's second album 'Points on the curve', 'Dance hall days' had become a big hit, the record company decided to release a fourth single. It was a remixed version of 'Wait', another track on the album. The single managed to reach number 87 in the UK singles chart, but that was about it.
Huang Chung consisted of Jeremy Ryder, Nick Feldman, Darren Costin and Dave Burnand in 1982, when their debut album 'Huang Chung' was released. The second single from the album was 'Ti-na-na', a lightweight poppy track. Like their earlier efforts, the single didn't chart in any territory.
The band that found fame as Wang Chung originally started in 1980 as Huang Chung. Jeremy Ryder, Nick Feldman and Darren Costin chose this name as it refers to the standardized bass pitch of ancient China. The literal translation means 'yellow bell', the band summarized the definition as 'perfect pitch'.
In some circles, nothing spells 'dodgy eighties music' better than the British new wave band Wang Chung. Their biggest hit in the USA was 'Everybody have fun tonight', which contains the immortal line 'Everybody Wang Chung tonight', which earned them the accolade of the third worst song ever by Blender magazine.