Esther Chilton

Lady in Red

When I was fourteen, we used to visit my nan most Sundays. She lived a good hour or so away so Mum, Dad and I travelled by car to see her. I didn’t like travelling by car as I’d often feel car sick, but I coped with it by listening to music on my Walkman on the way there and then, on the way back, was the highlight of the day (sorry Nan, up in heaven, but it was!) – listening to the Top 40 on BBC Radio 1.

I remember being pretty miffed if we left Nan’s late and I found I’d missed some of the show. But, equally, I was also put out if we arrived home before the all-important No.1 had been announced. It was clearly all about priorities (well, I was a teenager!).

Now, I absolutely loved Madonna and her Papa Don’t Preach was number one in the summer of that year – 1986. She’d had three weeks at number one and I recall being so excited at the thought of tuning in to see if she’d made it to the top for a fourth week in a row.

And had she? No, she hadn’t. I wasn’t best pleased. To make matters worse, she’d been pushed out of her spot by Chris DeBurgh and a song I absolutely hated – Lady in Red.

Mum and Dad really didn’t help either when I asked them to switch the car radio off.

“I like this song,” Dad said, turning it up.

I was outraged and huffed and puffed, folding my arms in protest. I’m sure I saw a glint in Dad’s eye as he turned round to look at me, sat in the back, a scowl plastered across my face, as he cranked the volume up all the more.  

I must have been traumatised by this whole chain of events as I can’t bear to listen to the song even to this day!

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