what, time for my last top ten hit?
Top of the Pops 5th July 1979
As always, don't click the link if you are going to be offended by the host, Jimmy Savile.
5-7-79: Presenter: Jimmy Savile
(22) CHIC – Good Times (and charts)
(45) MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND – Don’t Kill It Carol
(6) AMII STEWART – Light My Fire (from Snowtime Special)
(54) THE KORGIS – If I Had You
(9) THE SEX PISTOLS – C’mon Everybody (video)
(12) EDDY GRANT – Living On The Frontline ®
(18) VILLAGE PEOPLE – Go West (video)
(21) THE RUTS – Babylon’s Burning ®
(41) THE KNACK – My Sharona
(27) THE DOOLEYS – Wanted
(30) PATRICK HERNANDEZ – Born To Be Alive ®
(1) TUBEWAY ARMY – Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
(29) DAVE EDMUNDS – Girls Talk (and credits)
Sadly, during the Sex Pistols song, I was wondering when safety helmets were made compulsory... How did a Rubette get in the Dooley's song?
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean - bassist Bob Walsh's white cap did remind me of The Rubettes.
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ReplyDeleteit does stream, you don't need to download it. The site's not as good as Vimeo, but unfortunately Darnall42 can't post them there anymore.
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DeleteI managed to see it OK, thanks for the tip
ReplyDeleteNot a great show this week, but a great jacket/top worn by Jimmy Saville.
ReplyDeleteHighlight of the show was the Dooleys again, but not much else to shout about.
Hmmm...some unfortunate links here, not to mention Jim introducing a song about lusting after an underage girl (a song which I used to like but am now a bit bored of, given that Vintage TV play it every time they do the hits of 79)
ReplyDeleteThat Manfred Mann's Earth Band song is unbelievably awful. And seemingly sung by a werewolf.
Nice to see yet more Snowtime Special footage for Amii Stewart! Though it was less interesting than the clip we got previously.
I know it's a bit naff, but I love the Korgis song.
By the way Jim, I don't think motorcycle safety was entirely at the top of Sid Vicious's priorities at this point...
OK then, since I like them all, do we ever get to actually see The Ruts (which at least was shown on the Big Hits 79 compilation) The Dooleys and Patrick Hernandez?
The last of those preferably in a 'not ruined by the orchestra' version.
The Dave Edmunds song is a cool tune - I know the video for that turns up as I've still got an edition hosted by Peter Powell in its entirety during which it gets shown!
Both showings of "Babylon's Burning" are Yewtreed. Patrick Hernandez fares even worse - all three viewings are banned and we'll only get him over the end credits of another show. "Wanted" does at least get some BBC4 airtime.
DeleteDave Edmunds' 'Girls Talk' was actually composed by Elvis Costello, who recorded it himself as a B-side in a much more subdued style.
DeleteTalking of B-sides, go to YT and check out Dave's 'Boys Talk' - a Rockpile original whose lyric consists almost entirely of girls' name song titles! It was originally on the flipside of Dave's hit 'Singing The Blues'. Great stuff!
I especially remember Jimmy warning us against going out on our motorbikes without a crash helmet ~ I guess if this edition had been on BBC4 they might have cut the Sex Pistols video out ~ wasn't it a clip from the Great Rock n Roll Swindle movie?
ReplyDeletei only remember the korgis' "everybody's got to learn sometime" - not this one, and thanks to the yewtree conspiracy i may now never get to hear it...
ReplyDeletei was doing "my sharona" at a karoake night in a boozer recently, and never having listened to the lyrics closely before was actually rather embarrassed to have to sing some of the lines alluding to the lady in question being jailbait - it was a good job the yewtree squad weren't passing by!
Don't worry, The Korgis will be on BBC4 next week.
DeleteThanks for the contraband. A curate’s egg of an edition, but very glad I could see it.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t like the white countdown names and numbers – they were almost illegible against some of those white-clad chart acts.
No wonder that was Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s last top 75 hit. A terrible song, a hideous singer (don’t have nightmares) and a talkbox – that was SO 1976!
Cue Harry Hill - who released the worst disco cover version? Was it Amii Stewart, or was it Linda Clifford? There’s only one way to find out…..
Unusual ‘tie over bass strings’ action by The Korgis’ singer. If I remember correctly, they had to pay royalties due to using part of a Rachmaninov symphony for the chorus hook.
Loved the “clunk click” type of advice by Jim’ll. I half expected the old Edward Judd ‘peach and hammer’ public information film after Sid too. Think once, think twice, think bike!
Repetitive but brilliant fayre by Southall’s finest. After Malcolm Owen died, the band carried on as Ruts DC (DC standing for Da Capo – from the beginning) and, after releasing a single I loved called “Different View”, they faded from view.
The Knack, zooming up the charts? At number 41? Remember they were heralded by one music paper as the new Beatles? Hmmm. Gratuitous UK Subs link number one – a poster for their album “Get the Knack” is clearly visible on the sleeve of “Tomorrow’s Girls”.
Aha, The Dooleys, now transformed into the Essex Abba with “Voulez Vous Mate”! I still preferred the theme tune to “On The Move”, though.
Why was there a smattering of applause from the pavilion before Patrick Hernandez showed us he’d nicked Paul Nicholas’s cane? Gratuitous UK Subs link number two – Patrick was a labelmate of theirs at the time, both songs released in some form or other under the Gem Records umbrella.
I loved the way the UK Gold announcer didn’t crash Dave Edmunds’ vocals with his announcement. Shame he didn’t have time to give Dave the namecheck Jim’ll forgot to.
It does appear likely that The Dooleys and Brotherhood of Man changed their style following the success of Abba, by giving their women the lead vocals, and this appeared to work instantly with The Dooleys, as the girls had great voices, probably better than Abba.
DeleteThis Wanted hit soared up to number 3 by the beginning of August, so we will have it on the show for a fair few weeks to come through the summer!
I was impressed with the announcer too, Arthur. Usually they just gabbled all over the last song.
DeleteTerror of the Zygons next on UK Gold too - what a great Doctor Who story!
I think the 'tie over bass guitar' thing has been done before - see Rat Trap.
DeleteI think Jim'll did namecheck Dave Edmunds, it was just rather indistinct. I am pretty sure the announcer at the end was none other than Radio 2's Alex Lester - I had no idea he had moonlighted at UK Gold!
Deletei remember the gem label - the only artists who seemed to be on it were patrick hernandez and the uk subs, who were strange bedfellows to put it mildly. i don't think it's been mentioned here that the former has a kind of claim to fame in that around this time he hired a young american called madonna ciccone as part of his dance troupe/revue...
DeleteI thought Mr Mann was singing "Cool it Carol" in tribute to the legendary Robin Askwith movie of the other end of the decade, but alas no. Not a million miles away, though...
ReplyDeleteI was put off The Doors by Oliver Stone's terrible film about them and never reassessed them since, so I don't mind Amii's version at all, it skips along quite nicely.
Yes, The Korgis were a bit weedy and naff, but this is a really nice tune in a "don't admit it to your mates" kind of way. Rather this than ELO's Diary of Horace Wimp.
That Sex Pistols vid was indeed a clip from their misbegotten movie, a bit I'll always remember Alex Cox comparing to Marianne Faithfull in Girl on a Motorcycle for its unconvincing motorbike riding closeups. Jim's advice would be better suited to her.
I notice Mr Ruts sported a black polka dot blouse this time instead of a yellow one. Did he have a rainbow of colours in his wardrobe?
I've heard My Sharona too many times as well, but I still like the guitar solo at the end where they change the tune.
I've never liked The Doors. Vastly over-rated music (maybe one good song?) with a singer who was a total idiot.
DeleteSee also Amy Winehouse.
I quite liked Amy, Tears Dry On Their Own was a great song, but she was her own worst enemy like too many in the creative arts.
DeleteThe Doors, well, I don't hate them, they just do nothing for me. Jim was a bit of a prannet, as Annie Nightingale is wont to observe on the basis of having met him.
i agree the guitar break mentioned is the best bit of "my sharona" - unfortunately though whoever produced the backing track for my karaoke effort actually made the solo longer than the original single, so i was left high and dry for what seemed forever (in reality about a minute) wondering what was more uncool: standing there like a lemon or doing an air guitar solo (in the end i did both!)...
DeleteThanks for this - my (now very jumpy) UK gold recording was an edited down version excluding the Korgis and Dooleys, I hadn't realised until now that they did this as well as BBC4
ReplyDeleteA fair quantity of stuff seen before, plus fresh performances from the Ruts and the Dooleys, but worth it for two things:
ReplyDelete(1) that very memorable crash helmet bit, and (2) all-time fave time! If anyone asks you "what is power pop?", just point them in the direction of My Sharona. It's about as sublime as you can get! Oh, and Sharona was 17 at the time - it says so in Wikipedia so it must be true!
Thanks very much to Darnall for finding another way of letting us see this show - I had already tracked most of it down on Youtube, but great to see the complete programme.
ReplyDeleteThere was some good new stuff featured, particularly Dave Edmunds' superb take on Elvis Costello, which we will hear more of on BBC4 next week. I really like the Korgis' song too, even if their front man isn't exactly a looker! It is a lovely tune, and even better would come from them the following year - they were actually a spin-off band from quirky prog-rockers Stackridge. It was also quite exciting watching The Knack do My Sharona in context; while somewhat overfamiliar these days, it is a classic slice of New Wave. I believe it was at number 1 in the States the week I was born, which I suppose was quite appropriate given that my Mum is called Sharon!
Dud of the week was undoubtedly MM's Earth Band. The principal singer looked like that other annoying hairy bloke out of City Boy, while Manfred's shirt appeared to have been purchased circa 1973, which would also have been a better release date for this song! I guess this must have been one of Manfred's final appearances on TOTP, some 15 years after his debut.
Finally, it is nice to be reminded of a more innocent time when Jim'll could be regarded as the right kind of man to teach you about motorbike safety...