Thursday 23 October 2014

My Forbidden Top of the Pops

Well, it's not exactly a forbidden show this week, being hosted for the first time by Andy Peebles (who wouldn't be seen again on the show for over two years!)

See you at Christmas............ 1981!



Top of the Pops 11-10-79: Presenter: Andy Peebles

(15) AL HUDSON & THE PARTNERS – You Can Do It (and charts)
(16) THE DOOLEYS – The Chosen Few
(52) THE HEADBOYS – The Shape Of Things To Come
(4) MICHAEL JACKSON – Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough (danced to by Legs & Co)
(51) CHIC – My Forbidden Lover
(26) DR. HOOK – When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman (video)
(47) VIOLA WILLS – Gonna Get Along Without You Now
(27) CHARLIE DANIELS BAND – The Devil Went Down To Georgia (video)
(23) ERROL DUNKLEY – O.K. Fred
(54) CATS UK – Luton Airport
(18) DAVE EDMUNDS – Queen Of Hearts ®
(NEW) DANA – I Can’t Get Over Getting Over You
(1) THE POLICE – Message In A Bottle (video)
(30) FLEETWOOD MAC – Tusk (and credits)


Al Hudson & the Partners ~ prove they can do it over the charts, but they couldn't do it again, this was their only top 20 hit.

The Dooleys ~ with a colourful performance of their terrific follow up to Wanted, the band were at the peak of their success now, but The Chosen Few would prove to be their final top tenner.

The Headboys ~ got the chop from the 7.30 show.

Legs & Co ~ just had to dance to Don't stop 'Til you Get Enough, and were quite striking in black dresses set against a whiteout background.

Chic ~ another trip to the Top of the Pops studio, this time to perform a single from their second album of the year, Risqué, but their impressive run of top ten disco hits was over.

Dr. Hook ~ with a single that had 'been around for six months' according to Mr Peebles, although I have its release date as 22nd September 1979 ~ maybe it got radio play a long time before it came out? ~ but anyway it would soon be the number one.

Viola Wills ~ braves the Top of the Pops Orchestra this week for a rendition of her only top ten hit.

Charlie Daniels Band ~ the devil came and cut this one from the 7.30 show.

Errol Dunkley ~ gives a yagga yagga performace of Ok Fred, on its way into the top 20.

Cats UK ~ here we get a female Chris Difford, complete with sassy girl backing singers, telling a tale of a holiday to Malaga, with a rather large nod to Squeeze and Lorraine Chase.

Dave Edmunds ~ the Rockpile lads had all but moved into the Top of the Pops studio at this point, such was the frequency of their appearances.

Dana ~ a change of pace now, as Dana impressively slows things down with the TOTPs orchestra, but sadly a bit too slow to make it into the charts.

The Police ~ a third and final week at number one ~ but we won't get to see the Buggles replace them next week, not on BBC4 anyway.

Fleetwood Mac ~ drum us out this week with Tusk.

So next week then, the 18th October will be skipped, it's obviously still deemed too soon to show DLT again, so we will leap to the 25th October hosted by Peter Powell, with what is pretty much a repeat of tonight's edition.


38 comments:

  1. Haven't seen the show yet and won't until Sunday at the earliest, but a quick tuppence worth...

    The 45cat website shows a release date of 4th June for "A Little Bit More". Took a while to get into the charts, didn't it?

    For some reason, "The Chosen Few" reminds me of another song, possibly "Hang On Sloopy", and "Tusk" sounds like an alternative theme tune to "How!", complete with 'riveting' drum solo. The story goes it took at least a week to get the drum sound right for this song. Well worth it.

    PS - RIP Alvin Stardust. I know he didn't sing on the first two Stardust singles (in fact, the songs' author Peter "Love Me Love My Dog" Shelley had performed as Alvin in a white mask, purple or silver wig and purple jumpsuit(!!!) on "Lift Off With Ayshea" before deciding he didn't want the gig), but Bernard Jewry did a fine job of adopting an embryonic persona for the second time in his career, having taken over as Shane Fenton when the original passed away.

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    1. by sheer coincidence, two days ago a couple of chums and i were listing jewish pop stars (obvious examples: neil diamond/barbra streisand/marc bolan), and i suggested that with a given name of bernard jewry, alvin stardust may fall into that category... by the way, can anyone name less obvious examples?

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    2. Alvin was a committed Christian according to his obit. Probably just a different way of spelling Dury.

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    3. Another interesting Stardust fact - his son, Shaun Fenton, is now the Headmaster of Reigate Grammar School.

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  2. this week's report from the local library:

    host: a slick and smartly-presented presenter, but still best heard on radio

    charts: one member of sad café has been completely expunged and another isn't totally in frame!

    dooleys: someone may have said this before, but shouldn't this be "the chosen two" rather than "the chosen few"? i know what arthur means about this reminding the listener of something else, but I can't put my finger on it either (whoever wrote this song might say that was the whole intention so people would buy it through "false" familiarity). although there's more than a hint of cod-reggae going on, I have admit it's the least offensive dooleys' song on totp so far. and sartorially you can never go wrong with a DJ (that's dinner jacket - not disc jockey!), but the poodle perm hairstyles? no, no NO! by the way, keyboard dooley is still the fittest one...

    headboys: despite its title they sound and look like old prog-rockers trying to leap on the new wave bandwagon. the swathes of church-style organ are particularly unappealing

    wacko/legs: keep on to the post office! despite the lack of clarity in the diction department, this really should have been a chart-topper. and legs put in one of their best performances, especially at the end

    chic: our host pronounces the album title incorrectly in the intro but gets it right afterwards (maybe first-night nerves?). I note the chinese fiddle-playing lady is present again, plus a couple of backing singers so presumably this line-up was touring blighty at the time? unlike the chic classics i haven't heard this for a while and was reminded just how powerful the groove is in the verse sections (will have to listen to it again properly!). however the melody was naggingly familiar and eventually came to me: change ripped it off for "change of heart" released several years later!

    dr hook: disco-bandwagon jumping alert! and sadly even though they're 5 years adrift with the hustle rhythm they still pulled it off (commercially if not artistically). by the way the one with eye-patch isn't dr hook - maybe people erroneously think that thanks to captain hook in "peter pan"?

    viola wills: more insipid disco, although having long since heard the original record I don't know how much of that is down to the totp orchestra. on the fashion front viola seems to be wearing something halfway between culottes and harem pants, which is not a good look...

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  3. squeezing some more in before I get kicked off:

    errol dunkley: pleasant enough reggae but no more. probably at the time, like many I wondered what a yagga yagga was, but never got to find out - maybe I just presumed it was patois, but as I didn't have any acquaintances of west indian cultural heritage at the time there was no way of confirming that...

    cats uk: at a guess a cash-in on those lorraine chase campari ads that caught the imagination of joe public at the time (toff: "were you truly wafted here from paradise?" lorraine: "naah mate - luton airport!"). didn't those two end up marrying each other in real life? these "ladies" look like they came from the king's cross area rather than luton airport...

    dana: she's at least 30 years out of date with this, but give her credit, at least she's resisted clambering aboard the disco bandwagon

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  4. Arthur - you're spot on about "The Chosen Few" and "Tusk" bearing strong resemblances to "Hang On Sloopy" and the theme tune to "How!" respectively. The longest serving presenter on "How!" was Fred Dinenage MBE - who is rumoured to have been the inspiration for Steve Coogan's character Alan Partridge! A-haaaa!

    Both Dr Hook and Lionel Richie are the missing links between C&W and R&B.

    Cats UK's line-up included actress Deena Payne, who would later find fame as Viv Hope in 'Emmerdale'. Bea Rowley was Cats' lead singer, though - see their Wiki entry.

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    1. Fred Dineage can still be seen presenting the local news in the South and South East - his hair is as dark as it ever was, suspiciously so! His daughter is now a Tory MP.

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  5. i can't really see how a northerner like steve coogan would use fred dineage as his inspiration for alan partridge, as apart from doing "how!" and occasionally presenting "world of sport" in dickie davies' absence, his appearances were strictly limited to the hampshire-based independent regional channel "southern tv" and its successor. could it be that coogan was more likely influenced by his local (granada) equivalent i.e. tony "mr factory" wilson...?

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    1. I remember hearing that Partridge was an amalgamation of various presenters, but Adrian Mills was the chief inspiration.

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    2. No it was definitely Fred Dineage (with Wogan's wig of course), just watch an episode of the cheesy Anglia game show Gambit and you'll see it immediately

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  6. Come the nuclear boom, I reckon there'll be two things that will survive - cockroaches, and Fred Dinenage. Fred recently racked up 50 years on ITV and he's still a main news reader on "Meridian Tonight". However, Fred hasn't always stayed in the south. He moonlighted as football presenter for Yorkshire TV for a couple of years, fronted the pontoon-style game show "Gambit" for Anglia, hosted "How2" with Gaz Top (sounds like a lager) and Gail Porter for Scottish TV, and even swapped sides for a series of quiz show "Pass The Buck" for the BBC. OK Fred!

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    1. was that errol dunkley song a tribute to mr dineage?

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    2. gaz top had the same problem as kid jensen i.e. trying to ditch the juvenile nickname as he got older (in his case so he could move on from childrens' tv shows) but having difficulty doing so. i think he was lumbered with the moniker gareth "gaz top" jones for a while, but obviously to no avail as he nowadays seems to be in the "where are they now?" category...

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  7. The Dooleys with special guest Paul Nicholas! And The Headboys with Roy North on keyboards! They wanted to be the Boomtown Rats, right?

    Think Legs & Co were lifting a few of Whackson's dance moves for their routine this time, but it suited them. Simple but effective, as they say.

    Chic, absolute class, and I liked seeing the string section chair dancing. What was the radio show who used this as a "bed" for the DJ to... announce the Top Ten over, maybe? Radio 1, anyway. Someone jog my memory.

    Dr Hook, do we really have to have this kind of smut broadcast into our living rooms? They knew what they were saying.

    A full-throated Viola Wills, the TOTP orchestra seemed to have thought they were playing the original, but on the single this is a great disco version when disco covers were all the rage. Was a nascent M.C. Hammer taking notes on seeing her trousers?

    Charlie Daniels, bit of a novelty tune but really well done for all that. Notice when the Devil starts playing the fiddle the song goes all "evil disco"? Bit of editorialising there from Chas. The crowd were incredibly into this judging from the cheering on that clip.

    The superbly named Errol Dunkley, here's a catchy ditty, and all these years later we have no idea what he was on about. Maybe this one was about Fred Harris?

    Cats UK, check out the dumbfounded audience, obviously strictly Beeb watchers who never bothered with the other side and didn't get the reference. Apparently Lorraine Chase was set to record this to cash in on her newfound fame but decided against it, which is a slight pity.

    Dana grinding us to a halt with something that seemed to have been recorded for Saturday Night at the Mill or Val Doonican. Nice enough, but it's no Something's Cooking.

    Will we get to see the marching band-tastic video for Tusk? Always liked that song, the album too, such a weird direction after a colossal success.

    So farewell, Andy Peebles, off to your wild blue yonders of mixing sport and soul on a Friday night. He just didn't look comfortable, did he? Could have been because he knew he was getting almost twenty million viewers what with the strike on ITV, it's enough to put anyone off.

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  8. I actually thought Andy Peebles was very good. He didn't look entirely comfortable, but he was personable, delivered the links well and was considerably more informative than a number of his colleagues - I also liked the appropriate hat link into Luton Airport. Presumably it was decided that his face simply didn't fit, or maybe he decided it wasn't for him. Either way, a shame he didn't become a regular.

    A decent show too, with Luton Airport the only real duffer. Chic were the obvious highlight - given how many visits they made to the TOTP studio, why do clip shows only ever seem to feature the Le Freak performance? Legs appeared to have invaded the Tomorrow's World studio, but they did Jacko justice with a simple but effective routine. Although it's not my kind of music, I also thought Dana's performance was rather good, with the Orchestra once again demonstrating that they were much more comfortable with this sort of thing. The Devil went Down to Georgia is a song I always feel I shouldn't like, but the musicianship is very strong and this was an impressive live performance.

    I thought the Dr Hook video had a touch of the homoeroticism notoriously present in the A Little Bit More promo - I think it was the open shirts of the two frontmen that did it! Still, this is a great pop song and a deserved chart-topper. As far as the Headboys are concerned, I thought the keyboard player looked a little like Mark Ellen, music journo and future Whistle Test host...

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    1. Forgot to mention - I also liked the weird swirly patterns on this week's playout. They matched the strangeness of Tusk rather well!

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  9. Host Andy Peebles. Great on the radio but like a rabbit caught in the headlights in front of the cameras. Not hard to see why he only laid claim to a couple of TOTP international caps.
    Onto the music.
    The dooleys. Oh dear. Whilst Wanted had a bit of Guilty Pleasure quality to it this is mere pap. Dispose of, and strike from the memory.
    The Headboys. Nope, don't remember this. And what was so naughty about the boards behind them that they had to be pixellated?
    Jacko and Legs & Co. Not my favourite Jackson track. Not my favourite Legs performance. Next!
    Chic. Now this is more like it. The effortlessly cool-looking Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards leading the girls through a high quality romp. Bliss.
    And we're back down to the dross with Dr Hook and the slightly-odd looking Viola Wills before an absolute belter - Charlie Daniels Band's Devil Went Down To Georgia. Now I'm not a great lover of good ol' country music but this I like. Rapid-fire screechy violins, a disco-ish guitar interlude, a story-song featuring the devil. Yee-hah! I presume this was one of those songs that charted thanks to Terry Wogan's sponsorship on R2. I seem to recall the radio edit blanking out the end of the phrase 'son of a bitch' and yet TOTP appear to have had no such compunction. Go figure.
    Of the final five songs:- Errol Dunkley, no; Cats UK, god, no; and Dana; no no no. Which leaves the Rockpile boys to pubrock their way through Queen of Hearts, and Sting & Co to horseplay and mime Message In A Bottle.
    Very much a parson's nose of a show then.

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  10. Lorraine Chase might have turned down the Cats UK record, but she did make a record based on her other catchphrase from the Campari ads, It's Nice 'Ere Innit?

    Listen here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzseWukQXUs
    Is this Lorraine inventing rap before Debbie Harry?

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  11. Andy Peebles was quite good at the presentation I thought, he did try to throw some actual facts in for a change.
    Unfortunately, his eyebrows made him look permanently surprised, perhaps that's why he didn't get a regular gig?

    The Dooleys - I love the tune, and it's good to see that Mrs. Keyboard Dooley still seems inordinately pleased to be there.

    The Headboys - It's odd this. I have no recollection of it from the time, and yet I played it on my radio show last year and it didn't sound out of place with the other 79 stuff. And yet...something doesn't quite gel. Even more so when you see the band and they don't seem to know what they want to be!

    Legs & Co - All very nice, but the background did make me think that Sid Snot was going to walk on at any moment.

    Chic - I think it was Paul Burnett that might have used it when announcing the new chart on his lunchtime show? Or was it Bates on the actual chart show? Good tune anyway.

    Dr. Hook - It only seems like yesterday that we were guffawing at the 'A Little Bit More' video. I've always liked this song, especially in its longer from with the mad keyboard bit in the middle.

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  12. Viola Wills - Doesn't look at all like I expected her too. A reasonable rendition of this decent pop-disco tune.

    Charlie Daniels Band - What a belter this is! And a video that doesn't turn up very often on the music TV channels.
    Most of the versions on compilations use 'son of a gun' instead of 'son of a bitch'. Amazed that we got the latter on TOTP!

    Cats UK - Oh dear, well as cheap cash-ins go this is alright I guess. I'm sure we've seen a lot worse. Haven't we?!

    Dana - She was at my Father-in-law's church down the road the other week. However, there was such a scrum around her that he couldn't be bothered to hang around and meet her. Fair enough I reckon.
    And that anecdote is more interesting than her song.

    Fleetwood Mac - I think 'Tusk' has been unfairly ignored, probably because of the massive expectation heaped on the follow-up to 'Rumours'. However, I rather like the unusual sound of it (even if the length of time to make it might not be entirely justified!)

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  13. Still no Andy Peebles on BBC iPlayer at 11.00 pm the Sunday after transmission. Will I ever get to witness his majestic presentation skills? Yes, I know I should watch the show 'live' but I prefer to watch the uncut version and at a time that suits me and not a security guard.

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    1. I usually record the late night Thursday version to watch on Friday, unless it's on early enough to stay up for, if that makes sense.

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    2. Certainly makes sense. The problem is that I used to have an ordinary telly with Freeview / VCR attachments and, when the 'old girl' moved in, we replaced my TV with her slimline set which doesn't have recording facilities as far as I know, and I wouldn't have a clue how to set them up anyway.

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  14. Oh no! Stretchyvision! Must be a seasonal thing - I recall that we had these problems this time last year. And the new version of iPlayer doesn't seem to have a 'report issue' function. Not to worry though, I obtained a correctly-proportioned picture by adjusting the monitor itself - now why didn't I think of that before?

    Anyway, a not-to-be-missed show, featuring the one-and-only appearance of an all-time fave from the Headboys, lots of other quality items and some very scary women - not least that one on Andy Peebles' left when he introduced the Charlie Daniels Band!

    Purple spangly top and pink fluffy thing Dooley is my fave (I'll have to find out their names!). I can also remember them performing this on the Basil Brush show!

    The Headboys - awesome, just awesome. The perfect rock/pop hybrid. Don't actually remember it from 1979, it was some 3-4 years later when I got seriously into buying (and, erm, borrowing and taping) records when I came across it. I believe it was on 20 Of Another Kind Volume 2. Interesting lighting effect here, taking all the colour out of their clothes as it did (except, peculiarly, the drummer's T-shirt).

    Couldn't understand why only Sue had that triangle marking. Was it covering up a bruised knee?

    Were Chic in the TOTP studio? Although this has a definite 'BBC' look to it I don't recognise the set.

    And then Dr. Hook with what must be the greatest pop music lyric ever. I too remember the longer version with the keyboard bit, but I haven't heard it since 1979 or very shortly afterwards. I might have it on tape....

    Now this Viola Wills performance was undoubtedly the TOTP Orchestra (in sharp contrast to the record version which is very glossy), but I'm not sure if she was actually singing live, looking at the way she was waving the mic about.

    Then what on earth did we have next? A singing hat and a keyboard player with a broken arm! Great record though. The version on CDs today is "son of a bitch", but I think the single was "son of a gun", or was that just the radio edit?

    More lyric changing/omission from Cats UK. The single contains the line "Sod it you can walk", but I think there was a radio version with "Push off you can walk" and I can also remember hearing "[ding dong] you can walk", presumably a radio station's own creation.

    At least Dana wasn't scary. Not being familiar with the record, I couldn't tell if this was the TOTP Orchestra on particularly fine form or she was doing a Cliff. Not something to set the charts alight though. Blankety Blank beckons, followed by politics.

    And if you watch the Police promo carefully you can see the film crew in the mirrors!

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  15. Note the BBC have now taken to telling us that music shows are BBC Music at the start of each programme in case we're too stupid to realise.

    Andy Peebles looks like startled dildo, no wonder he wasn't seen again for such a long time.

    Ah Al Hudson, the song with the lyric that rhymes Thing with Ashamed. I remember at the time my dad saying that this was one of those disco songs with bossy black girls telling us what to you - "You can do it", etc, and he's probably right.

    This week there are no less than 6 (count 'em) number ones in the Top 30 - Cliff Rrichard, Gary Numan, Lena Martel, Dr Hook and The Buggles and Police (7 if you count Michael Jackson who top in the USA) - is that a record?

    The Dooleys have finally stolen the crown from Brotherhood Of Man. I must admit I had very little time for them back in '79 but now I like it for what it is, a harmless piece of disco-pop. A polished performance with a few theatrical gestures from Jim.

    I also thought it was Roy North on keyboards in The Headboys, or possibly Mark Ellen who used to present Whistle Test in the1980s. He was in a band with Tony Blair of course. This has Genesis written all over it, especially at the end where the vocals are pure Phil Collins. Not a bad thing but one Genesis is enough thank you very much.

    Jacko live on the show? No chance, not even the cheap video instead we have to watch Legs cavorting in naughty frocks inside a ping pong ball.

    Chic with the lesser hit My Forbidden Lover which is pure class. Is that Luther Vandross on backing vocals? They should buy the left hand keyboard player a chair, he's about 8 foot tall and all that bending over must have been really bad for his back.

    Dr Hook, a performance hat I have seen to many times and don't really need to see again. Put those maraccas down your eye-patch adorned twerp.

    Oh dear Viola Wills in silver disco pants mugging to the camera at every opportunity. Well she seems to be enjoying herself but no one else is apart form the lone wally dancing at the back. Not sure it helps with Mr Peebles telling us this was previously a hit for Trinni Lopez.

    Doesn't Charlie Daniels have fat legs but a good fiddle player nevertheless. I must admit always preferred the Devil's bit to the violin bit but I guess as Charlie is playing both it doesn't really matter. A nice touch is the keyboard player's arm in a sling, which reminds me of when I saw the Human League doing Heart Like a Wheel on a TV special in the 1990s and one of the girls had sprained her arm and had it in a sling, a gold lame sling naturally, it was showbizz darling.

    The remote and awkward fashion that Peebles introduces Errol Dunkley is so naff it's scary. Smash and Nicey missed a trick and should have spoofed him. I read that OK Fred was a reference to West Indian cricketer Lawrence George Rowe whose nickname was 'Yagga', so named because he tears the other players up.

    Why is Peebles wearing a straw boater. What has that got to do with Luton Airport? I'm totally confused.

    Dave Edmunds and co bringing some sanity to the proceedings, even if Nick Lowe is somewhat ignored by the camera. It was at this time that Nick was working with Elvis Costello on his mighty Get Happy album., not long to go before we see I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down.

    I Can't Get Over Getting Over You, by the time I've worked out what Dana's talking about the song was over and good job too. Time to start appearing in Panto love. As Lily Savage said "42 and still playing Snow White!".

    Police again and then Tusk the most dissappointing follow up to a triple platinum selling album. which somehow gets to number 6.

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    1. Luton has a long association with hat manufacturing, hence Peebles' straw boater. Luton Town FC are nicknamed "the Hatters."

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    2. if fleetwood mac had released "metal machine music" (and some might say that "tusk" is not far off that) they would still probably have cracked the top 10 in the wake of "rumours"! "sara" was a classic in my opinion ("dreams" part II but even better) however, inexplicably it didn't even warrant a totp mugshot. so i don't suppose we'll see it in these re-runs...?

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    3. Oh of course Luton Town, I know little about football but I'm a Eric Morecambe fan so I should have got it.

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  16. bama, i think chic's male backing singer was fonzi thornton, who kind-of followed in luther vandross's footsteps as an in-demand sessioneer for both soul and rock acts before starting a solo career. sadly for him though unlike luther his never took off...

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  17. That Cats UK single would have to be called "London Luton Airport" if it was released now, as these days any airfield within 75 miles of the capital seems to be allowed to stick London in front of its name.

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  18. talking of luton airport: i once played a football match at kenilworth road, home of luton fc! that was about 20 years ago when they had the artificial pitch, and anyone could hire it if they had the dough. my works team got thrashed about 12-2, but at least i hit the bar from a 25-yard free kick...

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  19. Finally got round to watching this. Andy was okay, he gave us some good facts, but he was a bit starchy, looked like a bank employee and presented the show with the sort of voice he’d have used if it was a radio show.

    Lena Martell must be smiling at a sweet little puppy in her mugshot. Either that or she’s having a sinister, smug dream about chart domination. I wish it had just been the puppy.

    Which parent did all those Dooleys look like? Wonder if the parent without the dominant genes ever thought “I wish just one of the kids looked like me”?

    No spare suit or tie for The Headboys’ drummer, then. I enjoyed this tune though it could have been produced a bit punchier. I thought the keyboard player looked like Julian Lloyd Webber myself.

    Didn’t anyone at the Beeb know their Highway Code? That was an accident / hazard warning side on Sue’s leg. The “no stopping” sign is a red X within a red circle with a blue background. I’’ll get my coat.

    Chunky boy Charlie Daniels wins the biggest hat-to-head ratio award thus far for the re-run. I visited an American friend some years back and she took me to a country and western evening, where I was cajoled into attempting some yeehah dancing to this song under the ‘mirrorball”, which was actually shaped like a saddle and stirrups!

    Dana’s effort was at least forty years too late. I half expected a sepia tinged camera lens or, at least, Robin Sarstedt or Guy Marks to sidle up next to her for a duet.

    Leaving the worst to last – Cats UK, dear God! Surely the prototype for Toto Coelo. I didn’t recognise any of the ‘singers’ as that Viv from “Emmerdale”. I couldn’t understand why the one really attractive girl in the line-up, the middle backup singer in maroon, wasn’t the lead singer. Sorry, touch of the Cosmo Smallpieces there!

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  20. I saw the tattoo on Sue's knee - thought it had always been there, but that I had not noticed!

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  21. The Dooleys – as they climb steadily up the charts during October 1979, I just love the harmony of this tune, and the band seemed to be getting ready for Christmas turkey already in early October, judging by their outfits on this show. Maybe they peaked too early for a Christmas No.1.

    Michael Jackson – Legs & Co in their first video by the looks of things, as this was an unusual performance with the typical white background used in many of the era’s music videos, and so not a typical TOTP studio performance by the girls.

    The Charlie Daniels Band – absolutely brilliant tune, with a big Charlie with the huge frame of Meat Loaf, having both been from the south of North America, but Charlie does play good on that fiddle, if I do say so myself. It’s amazing what you can do with a fiddle.

    Cats UK – was this supposed to be cockney version of Grease, with the pink ladies wearing other colours?

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  22. The Dr Hook song was released on 2nd March 1979 according to 45cat.

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  23. I started hearing Cats UK's Luton Airport and thought "Oh no!" But then I heard the chorus, which for some reason sounded very catchy and familiar. "Luton Airport, Oooo eee oooo!"

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  24. The Headboys ~ got the chop from the 7.30 show. what do you mean they got the chop from the 7.30 show was there two TOTPs

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