Thursday 17 December 2015

Feels Like I'm Top of the Pops

Once more a huge thanks to Manorak for uploading this final instalment of Top of the Pops 1980 to vimeo. Again, it won't be shown on BBC4 because one of the hosts is Dave Lee Travis.

Though watching this you wonder if BBC4 could have edited DLT out. Tommy Vance does introduce quite a few of the acts on his own. But there you go.


It feels like 1981

1-1-81: Presenters: Dave Lee Travis & Tommy Vance

https://vimeo.com/128824696


 (-) STATUS QUO – What You’re Proposing ®
We get underway with a repeat showing of the Quo's recent number 2 hit which was also the year's 31st best selling song. But at least we do have a new studio audience for our presenters!

(73) OTTAWAN – D.I.S.C.O. (video)
Still in the top 75 at the time and the 5th biggest selling single of 1980, though it never quite made it to number one.

 (67) MADNESS – Baggy Trousers
Also still in the charts and the 13th biggest selling single of the year, peaking at number 3. And a new studio performance here from a snowy Madness.

 (-) THE JAM – Going Underground
A big fuss was made of this going straight in at number one in the spring, though it was (only) the 16th biggest seller of the year. Another new studio performance here, there's no pinny this time but there is a guitar seemingly predicting the rise of Wham!

 (-) BILLY PRESTON & SYREETA – With You I’m Born Again ®
Had peaked at number 2 at the beginning of the year. A repeat but a tremendous live rendition. One last hurrah from the TOTPs orchestra.

(-) THE DETROIT SPINNERS – Working My Way Back To You – Forgive Me Girl (Medley)  ®
A repeat showing of the Legs & Co routine from earlier in the year. And that's it for the Leggers in these festive specials ~ this time next year they would be but a memory.

(-) UB40 – Food For Thought
1980 was the breakthrough year for UB40, and appropriately enough this was the 40th biggest selling single of the year.

 (-) KELLY MARIE – Feels Like I’m In Love
This may be a much maligned song but it was the 3rd biggest seller of the year, only Barbra Streisand and The Police outsold this. And the final new studio performance of this edition.

 (-) HOT CHOCOLATE – No Doubt About It ®
Another number 2 hit from the spring. It's a shame this can't be shown one more time on BBC4 in the year of Errol's death.

(-) THE BOOMTOWN RATS – Banana Republic (video)
Perhaps something of a surprise inclusion this one. It had recently peaked at 3 but wasn't one of the years top 40 best sellers.

 (-) STEVIE WONDER – Masterblaster (Jammin’) (video)
This number 2 hit was the 25th best selling single of the year.

 (-) ABBA – The Winner Takes It All (video)
The band's penultimate number one from the late summer was the 18th best seller of 1980.

 (-) THE PRETENDERS – Brass In Pocket ®
The first new number one of the 80's was also the years 35th biggest hit.
Then comes a crowd invasion and the return of the swirly camera effects over the credits!


So that's it for 1980, arguably one of pop music's best ever years. On Top of the Pops the transition from the 70's to the 80's was there to see and it left a fair few casualties behind, especially at the end of the bitter Musician's Union strike in the summer, after which the show was revamped. But even bigger changes were on the way in 1981...

On BBC4 over Xmas this year there are repeat showings of the Christmas Day editions from 1978 and 1979, and for the first time, 1975.
And also over on BBC1, proving the old show still isn't totally dead, there's Christmas Day 2015 and New Years Day 2016!

I'd like to thank everyone for all their comments and input this year, including Stephen Murphy and his team for filling in those strike filled nine weeks in the summer with Game of Top of the Pops, and here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

See you in 1981!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As a late Xmas present for you all, here is the 1980 strike Xmas Special from Stephen Murphy and team ~ how many of your suggestions did they include? find out here at 4shared:

http://www.4shared.com/video/ZlY4CW-Tce/TOTP_1980_Strike_Xmas_Special.html

or here at Dropbox;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ah4jfk65bsznab6/TOTP%201980%20Strike%20Xmas%20Special.mp4?dl=0

123 comments:

  1. angelo, i hope from what you've said above that you will continue to be our host for TOTP 1981? i very much hope so as otherwise it's like having to keep moving house (and i like this particular abode)

    in any case thanks for your commitment and diligence over this year (the only fault i can find is that to my recollection you don't weigh in with reactions to the comments left as much as you did before you took over hosting), and also to those who helped tide over the strike with their own versions of the programme. this has perhaps been the best year yet of these re-runs, and it continues to help me relive my youth in a way i would never have imagined before it all started. so here's to even greater 1981!

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    1. Thank you yes I wouldn't want to miss out on 1981! Possibly an even better pop year than 1980?
      But I guess I'll need a new title for the blog - shame really coz Turn it on Again is so perfect, but its so 1980 and I need something that's 1981 now.

      Any suggestions anyone.... ?

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    2. How about The Sound of the Crowd?

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    3. Don't You Want Me Baby sounds better, or Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode. Or How about Shaddap Your Face, or Making Your Mind Up.

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    4. I still like The Sound of the Crowd myself, but each to their own! Just Can't Get Enough would work well.

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    5. without doing further research, i would say "the sound of the crowd" would be most appropriate as the 1981 totp blog title

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    6. I think there already is a blog out there called Sound of the Crowd ~ I think I prefer Just Can't Get Enough because it also alludes to so many of the 1981 shows being yewtreed! (17 I think)

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    7. It will be interesting to see if BBC4 show Christmas Day 1981. I've never seen it, but as it was hosted by the Radio 1 DJs en masse presumably Savile and DLT only appear in a couple of links, and so there might be a chance they could edit them out fairly easily. We'll find out this time next year...

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    8. BBC please make your mind up.

      I know, bit too long winded.

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    9. john, the fact is that the beeb could probably easily edit the "offending" DJ's out of any edition of the shows that they hosted, and then broadcast the musical acts in a "totp2" or "bigs hits" compendium. but they haven't so far, so i don't see why they would do so now...

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    10. I fear you are right Wilberforce, I just cling to the hope that if it's a case of editing out a couple of links they might be more inclined to do so. Pigs will more likely fly first, though.

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    11. As the current blog title is culled from a chart hit performed on ToTP it seems only right to continue that. So . . .some apt titles that pop up in the 81 repeats include. . .

      I Am The Beat
      Whose Gonna Rock You
      Don't Stop The Music
      Turn Me On, Turn Me Off

      All of these appear in the first couple of episodes in the new year.

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    12. How about - Don't Stop The Music (Yarborough and Peoples), it would double up as a plea to the BBC,

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    13. Good Song. Yeah Don't Stop The Music Top Of The Pops 1981. Turn Me On Turn Me Off sounds better. Even better than Good Year For The Roses

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    14. "don't stop the music" is quite a good suggestion, although that single had already got into the charts in december 1980 (and to be honest is probably not one of the more iconic hits of the time). looking at the charts website to confirm this, i noticed that there were two covers of "white christmas" in the lower reaches of the charts at that time: one by darts, and another by jim davidson (that perhaps mercifully got no further!)

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    15. been listening that 1 tonight. It's On Now Millenium 1980. Wot about good year for the roses. Or Making you're Mind Up lol, Stars On 45,Wired For Sound, Wired For Telly And Just Can't Get Enough Totp. PS Merry Christmas Everyone.

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    16. Turn Me On Turn Me Off would have the benefit of perpetuating the "Turn" theme of Angelo's blog titles for the last couple of years.

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  2. What's with the Star Trek background at the beginning of the show, and just before getting on to DLT and Tommy Vance? The pair seemed to have a good on-set chemistry and gelled a hell of a lot better than Saville & Powell in the first of these two Christmas shows.

    This case in point can be seen when they introduce Legs & Co doing the Detroit Spinners, and then later in the show when introducing Stevie Wonder's Masterblaster, and then their funny ending of the show. Absolutely brilliant! Such a shame we have all this Yewtree shite.

    Billy Preston & Syreeta - one of my all time favourite love songs, if not the favourite. So angelic and pure, may these two heavenly souls rest in peace in that TOTP in the sky. Such a shame they departed our dear world too soon, and before their sixtieth birthdays.

    UB40 - this only got to No.4 and it gets played in preference to some No.1's of the year on these Christmas shows. Well cop that will you.
    Anyway, in the lyrics they say "waiting for the Manna". Did you know that Manna is a biblical word for food dropping from the sky when the Israelites were apparently starved, and grace came from the sky in the form of food for the starving. Hence "food for thought" as the title track.

    So as we say goodbye and good night to 1980, all I can say is that I'm ready for 1981, and the final year of Legs & Co where I am not ready to say goodbye (weep, weep - will miss ya girls!)

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    1. according to wiki, billy preston was certainly no angel: as well as being an insurance fraudster and cocaine addict, he was also convicted of sexually assaulting a 16 year old boy. unlike one of the hosts of the previous xmas show, who as far as i know has still never been convicted of anything. but unlike him, to my knowledge any totp shows billy appeared in never got the chop!

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    2. If someone is acclaimed and famous enough, they will get indulged no matter what they do - look at Roman Polanski. I know Michael Jackson was acquitted, but even if he had been found guilty I find it hard to believe his music would have suffered the blanket radio ban handed out to Gary Glitter.

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    3. Indeed, Billy Preston was also sometimes called the fifth Beatle, because of his close links to the Beatles and his work with them, so let's not look on the dreary side Wilb, as he did lots of good things for pop music.

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    4. despite being subjected to the usual xmas pop shite whenever i visit emporia at the moment (if i hear that fucking shaking stevens record one more time i'll start smashing up the place!), for some reason i still haven't heard "another rock and roll christmas"...

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    5. i actually checked out a few billy preston albums in the past hoping for some funky hammond organ grooves, but "outa-space" apart he never did the business for me. but would i have wanted to have listened to his work knowing he was a convicted rapist (and a paedophile one to boot!)? what do others think? for example, can one still listen to a gary glitter record and just appreciate it for its musical value? apparently in america (where he was relatively unknown) they still play "rock and roll part 2" (known over there as "the "hey!" song") at sports events, so presumably he still gets royalties a a result?

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    6. I think the problem with listening to Glitter is the suggestiveness of some of his lyrics and song titles, which immediately puts you in mind of his extra-curricular activities. Do you wanna touch me there? Do you wanna be in my gang? No thanks Gary! It's a shame though, as some of his big hits still sound really good today.

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    7. i suppose you could say with titles and lyrics like that, it was a case of the guy "hiding in plain sight"...

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    8. i wonder: if somebody did a cover version of "another rock and roll christmas", and mr glitter agreed to waive his royalties with the proceeds going to "charidee", would it get any airplay?

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    9. Haven't we suffered enough?! You still hear a snatch of it whenever someone's foolish enough to play the Jive Bunny Christmas tune.

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    10. maybe that's why the jive bunny xmas single doesn't get played either nowadays? personally i wish there was a bit of gary's stuff on all the xmas pop stuff... and then none of it would get played!

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    11. What about Mel Smith & Kim Wilde's version of 'Rocking Around The Christmas Tree'?

      Has that popped in audio or visual form at all this time round or has the brief reference to Rolf & 'Two Little Boys' scuppered this one too?

      Surprised Kim's new version with Nik Kershaw on her new Winter album hasnt got any radioplay?

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    12. What about Mel Smith & Kim Wilde's version of 'Rocking Around The Christmas Tree'?

      Has that popped in audio or visual form at all this time round or has the brief reference to Rolf & 'Two Little Boys' scuppered this one too?

      Surprised Kim's new version with Nik Kershaw on her new Winter album hasnt got any radioplay?

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    13. Not sure about radio stations, but most of the music TV stations chop that bit out extremely badly. However, in Danny Baker's show on Sky Arts it was (correctly, in my opinion) shown in full.

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  3. First of all, many thanks to Angelo for another year of great blogs, and to everyone for their comments, sometimes amusing, sometimes fascinating, but never dull. Particular thanks to those who have enabled us to plug the Yewtree gaps during the year, and who created the strike period "shows that never were" to tide us over during the summer.

    This was the more enjoyable of the two Christmas shows, largely because DLT and Vance had much better chemistry than Jim'll and PP. Can't say I was too enamoured with DLT's Bobby Ball impression, mind you, or his other attempts at being a comedian. Vance was also wrong to say The Pretenders were at no.1 exactly a year earlier - it was still Floyd at the top then, Tommy!

    It helped a lot that there was an audience this time, though the poor souls only got to see three acts. It looked as if Madness were in an empty studio, which leads me to suspect this performance may have been held over from the Christmas Day show. It was a good one though, the hats and fake snow conjuring up a Dickensian feel that rather suited the song. UB40 were solid and classy, and Kelly Marie did her normal thing for what felt like the 550th time - hopefully this will be the last we see of her. Nice to see The Jam back in the studio, though Weller seemed out of sorts, miming half-heartedly and looking as if he'd rather be somewhere else. I share Angelo's puzzlement at the inclusion of Banana Reopublic, when you consider the number of chart toppers which failed to make the show.

    I think 1980 has been the most consistently strong musical year we have had in these repeats, though the whole period from about 1978-84 is one of pop's great eras, and there is plenty to look forward to next year as synth pop takes centre stage and the 80s move into top gear. Merry Christmas everyone!

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    1. Lucky you, John! We get to see all three showings of Kelly Marie's not-quite-so-big-hit follow-up in 1981. Not a single Yewtree among them!

      I'd also like to thank Angelo for steering the ship effortlessly through this year, and huge thanks to everyone for sorting out the chart show during the strike weeks. It's been quite a journey. Having been rubbish for most of the first seven weeks (partly 'cause I thought they might show stuff like Bill Nelson and The Regents), I was astounded to finish with quite a flourish.

      I think Angelo almost gets it spot on with this blog. While I enjoyed and still miss Simon's satirical critiques and appreciated Chris's rather more verbose efforts, Angelo's 'here are the songs, say what you like' approach works very well, though I'd like to see a few more quips and opinions from the master himself. Very much hiding his light under a bushel!

      There is indeed a very good 80's blog called Sound Of The Crowd - it was mentioned briefly on this blog about three months back - and my vote for the 1981 strapline also goes to "Just Can't get Enough".

      I won't be watching the end-of-year shows (I can't believe so many number ones, especially those strike-hit ones, were missed out and made way for songs which weren't even runners-up), but I'm looking forward to next Monday on BBC4, when they're showing a number of old kids' programmes (Play School, Newsround, Blue peter and Grange Hill) followed by an hour-long appraisal of BBC kids' programmes. Hark at me...53 getting on 10!

      If I forget to say so later on, can I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, be it 2016 and / or 1981!

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    3. I also spotted that More4 (Freeview tv channel) is showing tomorrow night at 9pm "It Was Alright In The 70s", where they will be focussing on smoking on prime time panel shows, and I thought this would be topical for our regular bloggers, considering that this topic came up recently on one of Angelo's TOTP blogs this year.

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    4. Thanks for the "warning" re Kelly Marie, Arthur - I can't believe she got on the show another three times!

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    5. Also worth setting the VCR for is the Runaround 1979 Christmas Special on Talking Pictures TV, Christmas Day, just to marvel at how shoddy it is and Mike Reid barely restraining himself from yelling at the kids to shut up. Musical guest: Barbara Dickson doing her film theme Caravan.

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    6. runaraaaannnndddd..... NAAWWWHHHH!

      my cousin (who lived in southampton) once competed on this show, which was one of the few produced by southern television to get broadcast nationally (so no surprise it was shoddy). what was funny about it was when the kids got a chance to change thier minds for the answers, most would go to wherever the majority were standing, in the often-deluded hope that if there were so many choosing that option then it must be right! i remember a similar thing happening in junior school when my class were asked in turn what was indicated when litmus paper turned blue: once a few chose the "acid" option, the rest did likewise as they didn't want to be seen as idiots if they answered differently and ended up choosing incorrectly. i on the other hand chose the "alkali" option just be contrary... and it turned out i was the only one to get it right!

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    7. Southern Television had a pretty good record in getting children's programmes networked, such as "How", "Freewheelers" and "Worzel Gummidge".

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    8. yes arthur, but generally their output was a pretty poor show compared to other regional ITV companies such as ATV, tyne tees and granada. however, they did make the ace phil redmond cult life-on-the-dole series "going out" (that was first broadcast around "this time" i.e. 1980/81. the whole series was on youtube a while back, but currently there's only the opening titles:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_E289aPQ6s

      i got hold of a dvd copy of it a few years back, and was even inspired to write a screenplay for a contemporary sequel (working title: "going out again"), but sadly nothing came of it, as the guy who i was collaborating with (who had a website dedicated to the programme, now sadly also no more) couldn't get any response from phil redmond's production company (they were obviously too busy with their cash cow "hollyoaks"!)

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    9. The 'big five' ITV companies - Thames, LWT, ATV, Granada and Yorkshire - more or less held a monopoly on peaktime network viewing and stopped several good shows from 'lesser' ITV regions making the grade, for example, Anglia's wartime comedy "Backs To the Land" which never got fully networked but deserved to. As a result, the 'lesser' ITV regions had to specialise in networked shows at lunchtime (Border managed a couple of hits this way), children's time, or specialist areas like wildlife or drama, Anglia's "Survival" and "Tales of the Unexpected" being prime examples.

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  4. And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Well, ToTP producers, you've only gone and made a massive improvement on the Christmas Day edition, thats what.

    First off, we get an actual audience which helps massively with the atmos. Then a decent pairing on mic duties with DLT and TV. And the cherry on the cake - a fair smattering of good to excellent songs. Obviously there are a few duds (I'm looking at you Kelly Marie and Ottawan) but mostly this was the show that 'last weeks' could have been, featuring the newer acts in new performances.

    Madness - as ever- turn in a top contribution although this sounded a tad faster than normal. Was that a recording problem or where Camden's finest just eager to get to the BBC bar?

    As mentioned above Paul Weller pretty much phoned in his contribution - so much so that halfway through the song Bruce Foxton (who was giving his usual 100%) gives him a 'what-the-hell's-wrong-with-you' look.

    The other new performance is UB40, which when you add in The Rats and Stevie Wonder made this possibly the most reggaeish Top Of The Pops ever. No bad thing.

    So, to the scores. An excellent 8 for the show which could so easily have been a 9 but for the agonisingly awful Ottawan and Kelly Marie.

    A solid 7 for DLT/TV (which sounds like a Barron Knights version of a David Bowie hit). The links were smooth and thankfully brief with DLT reigning in his wackiness and TV imparting the occasional interesting fact.

    So that's it - 1980 is mothballed in favour of its younger, cheekier, more exhuberant brother 1981. It's been a hugely enjoyable and interesting year, so many thanks to Angelo and all you fellow ToTP viewers. See you on the other side.

    I'm not a robot.

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  6. The image on Paul Weller's guitar is taken from one of the most famous works of Pop Art: Roy Lichtenstein's 'Whaam!'

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaam!

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    1. So its not that he was one of George Michael's most earliest fans then?

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    2. i think the bowie tune in question is "TVC15" (that i recall the short-lived ruby flipper danced to in the early days of the re-runs) - if so then a nice one shaky...

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    3. Even if Andrew Ridgley had that guitar you still wouldn't have been able to hear him....

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  7. Here's a message from our strike edition maker Stephen Murphy ~
    "I am Getting The Christmas Special Underway. But The Thing Is We Are Thinking Of Doing A New Year 1. The Rules Are Anything That Got Top 30 But Not Number 1s.A Kind Of Snapshot Of 1980. We Need Suggestions?
    Any suggestions for Stephen to imclude in his 1980 compilation?

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    1. All Out of Love - Air Supply
      All Over The World - ELO
      If You're Looking For A Way Out - Odyssey
      Spacer - Sheila B Devotion
      Sexy Eyes - Dr Hook
      There There My Dear - Dexy's Midnight Runners
      Special Brew - Bad Manners

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  9. Good suggestions Dory.Another 1 to start the decade Madness My Girl

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  10. Peter Gabriel Games Without Frontiers
    The Brothers Johnson Stomp
    Grace Jones Private Life
    The Piranhas Tom Hark
    Dennis Waterman I Could Be So Good For You l. If somebody has already picked a song it does'nt Matter Suggest it the more suggestions for a song means it will make it. Wilberforce are you having a go. TOP 30 Only & no number 1s

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    1. alison, i leave the choice to stephen and his compadres. but i can suggest that they pick stuff that made the top 30 but never got a showing on totp - other than barry manilow that is!

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  11. Stacy Lattisaw - Jump To the Beat
    Teena Marie - Behind the Groove

    PS- Great idea!

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  12. Joe Jackson - Different For Girls
    Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
    Dexys - There There My Dear
    Me Myself I - Joan Armatrading
    Gene Chandler - Does She Have A Friend
    Kate Bush - Babooshka
    Ian Dury - I Wanna Be Straight

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  13. Joe Jackson - It's Different for Girls
    Cliff - Carrie
    Peter Gabriel - Games without Frontiers
    OMD - Messages
    The Korgis - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime
    Joan Armatrading - Me Myself I
    Split Enz - I Got You
    Odyssey - If You're Looking for a Way Out

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    1. Forgot to mention Hazel O'Connor - The Eighth Day.

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  14. We Are Now Allowed To Vote For 3 Number 1 Singles From 1980. The Song That Gets The Most Nominations Will B Featured.Strike Ones Not Allowed.
    Here Is My Choice

    1, The Jam Going Underground
    2, Dexy,s Geno
    3, Kelly Marie Feels Like I'm In Love

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    1. Definitely The Jam with Going Underground; and I reckon Blondie with The Tide is High; and yes DMR with Geno :-)

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    2. I'll go for Fern Kinney, St. Winnie's and Kenny Rogers...just mucking about, I'm plumping for "Going Underground", "Geno" and "Ashes To Ashes".

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    3. Blondie - Atomic
      ABBA - The Winner Takes it All
      David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes

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  15. So that's 1980 done and dusted. I've finally watched all the shows and I'll have to admit that I found those from the last three months of the year rather heavy going. It's not that there was a new Executive Producer who wanted to take the show in a new direction but wasn't sure where, or a downturn in music sales meaning that despite less music featured there were still plenty of repeat performances, or not knowing what the 'right-on' PC BBC had cut out as unfit for viewing in the 21st century. It wasn't even, it has to be said, that the comments on this blog have been by and large negative. No, it's just that it was a peculiarly blank period in my life. The musical backdrop to my everyday comings and goings (which lasted until my late teens/early 20s when I started to lose interest in chart music) just wasn't there. I've never liked autumn, particularly during my schooldays when it was more clearly lineated, but 1980 seemed worse than usual.

    So roll on 1981, where I know that things got better for me (and I'm looking forward to the 26/02/81 show with a certain debut performance - yes I know it's been on YouTube for years but it will be nice to see it in context again!). Indeed, I feel that things have started to pick up again on the last couple of 'normal' shows.

    May I wish you all a Happy Christmas, a prosperous 2016 and an enjoyable 1981.

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  16. Compliments of the season to one and all, hope Santa's good to you and have a happy 1981...

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  17. OK here is my choice
    Barbara Dickson January February
    The Vapors Turning japanese
    Hot Chocolate No Doubt About It
    Judas Priest Breaking The Law
    Motorhead Ace Of Spades
    Adam And The Ants Ant Music
    Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart
    Genesis Turn It On Again.
    And finally Dexy's Midnight Runners Geno for the number 1 slot

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  18. Good L-rd, already tonight BBC4 are showing the Xmas Day 1979 TOTP edition - welcome back in time to David Jensen then, with my pick of the bunch being Blondie (how could we not), The Bee Gees, Dr Hook and Racey.

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  19. Following up the 1979 Christmas TOTP, tonight BBC4 is showing the 1978 Christmas TOTP with Noel Edmunds, and it will be interesting to see if the original copy with the Grease and Saturday Night Fever movie clips will be shown, as was done when this show was first repeated on BBC4 in 2008, before the current reruns.

    Within the current BBC4 re-run period since 2011, this Xmas 1978 show was shown in 2013 with Legs & Co edited in as the replacement for Saturday Night fever and Grease footage. Let's see what we get, but it does appear that the restriction may have been lifted, judging by the fact that this year for the 1980 shows, BBC4 did not edit out movie footage as they did for the 1978 and 1979 reruns.

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  20. as some of you may already be aware, i was the DJ for my school reunion a few years back, and i've now finally got around to putting together a "disco special" mix of what i played at the event - most of the tracks have been featured in the TOTP rerun series up until now:

    https://www.mixcloud.com/wilberforcemixes/class-of-73-school-reunion-party-mix-part-four-disco-special/

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  21. Great to see the first airing of the Christmas 1975 TOTP last night on BBC4, and I'm not sure why it has taken 40 years for the BBC to repeat this edition for the first time.

    Anyway, no Yewtree issues here, with squeaky clean Noel Edmunds and Tony Blackburn presenting the show.

    Guys & Dolls - big No.2 hit There's A Whole Lotta Loving, including a young David Van Day and Theresa Bazaar, before they went on to form Dollar in 1978. The highlight of the show for me.

    The Stylistics - the last full year of Pans People, and their lovely red costumes doing The Stylistics. Only Sue Mehenick of Pans People was to stay on all the way to Legs & Co till 1981.

    10CC - I'm Not In Love - wow, what a classic, and cannot say enough words to commend this masterpiece of a 70s hit. It was also the track of my first slow dance in 1984 as a 16-year-old, and completely shy at the time with that sort of thing.

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    1. It could have been repeated 20 odd years ago on Uk Gold, but Tidybeard put the block on repeating his shows at that point.

      Now 20 years later, the situation is reversed!

      (Mike Smith was also another Uk Gold blocker, who sadly left us in the last few years. Noticed his widow Sarah Greene was featured in the BBC Four kids tv doc the other day.
      Would this be her first tv appearance since then?)

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    2. It could have been repeated 20 odd years ago on Uk Gold, but Tidybeard put the block on repeating his shows at that point.

      Now 20 years later, the situation is reversed!

      (Mike Smith was also another Uk Gold blocker, who sadly left us in the last few years. Noticed his widow Sarah Greene was featured in the BBC Four kids tv doc the other day.
      Would this be her first tv appearance since then?)

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    3. although i can't say i was that big a fan of their music, i certainly have some respect for 10cc (if for nothing else then for "i'm not in love"), so i watched the recent bbc4 doc on iplayer and it was well worth it. i couldn't help but think that lol creme comes over as such a friendly guy, and yet he's now fallen out with all his 10cc colleagues. kevin godley has also done likewise, but even though he's a brilliant interviewee it's fairly obvious that's probably no surprise on his part!

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    4. does anyone know why

      a: tidybeard chose to veto his hosted shows being shown on uk gold?

      b: he was allowed to do so?

      c: why he changed his mind when it came to them being broadcast again on bb4 in more recent times?

      d: does he or any other host hold sway on whether their shows get repeated on bbc4?

      with regard to the last question: obviously if we ever get to mike smith's shows then that now doesn't matter. but what if someone like gary davies objects?

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    5. The weird thing is, I distinctly remember watching the Edmonds-Blackburn Christmas Day 1973 show being repeated on BBC2 in 1991, before UK Gold began broadcasting, so presumably at that point Edmonds didn't raise objections. Perhaps by the time of the UK Gold repeats his star was in such an ascendant thanks to the House Party that he considered it somehow embarrassing to be reminded of his earlier career, or maybe UK Gold's repeat fees weren't deemed good enough?

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    6. It's quite sad and somewhat shocking that the BBC wiped most of the Doctor Who and TOTP shows of the early 70s, and in fact 44 out of the 52 TOTP shows of 1975 were wiped and thrown in the bin!

      We will therefore never see the two shows which featured Laurel & Hardy, making it eventually to No.2 in December 1975 with Trail of The lonesome Pine, which to this day is one of their most outstanding contributions in pop music history.

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    7. well, i certainly can't say i'm all broken up about the beeb wiping "the trail of the lonesome pine" (i never really understood why it was such a big hit at the time). and anyway wouldn't that have been featured in one of their films that as far as i know are (despite being of much greater age than any TOTP shows) mostly still in existence, and therefore ironically one of the few things from 1975 TOTP's that actually remains? unless of course they were in the studio performing it, which seems unlikely as both had been dead for at least 10 years by then!

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    8. Yes, Laurel and Hardy performed The Trail of the Lonesome Pine in Way Out West, their best feature film, so there's no chance that'll be wiped, barring apocalypse.

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    9. Laurel and Hardy were on the 1976 Christmas day edition of TOTP. I'm not sure if the bbc removed the clip when the show was screened in 2011, but it was included on the einsfestival edition that was on german tv in 2009.

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    10. Has anyone got a link to the Christmas Day 1976 edition with Laurel & Hardy in it?
      THX, I just checked out Way Out West, and you're right, it is L&H at their very unprecedented best and I found the song in full, so it seems they charted at No.2 on TOTP a mere 38 years later in 1975.

      Incredible indeed, and I can only guess that it was probably because L&H comedies were shown regularly on the BBC in the Seventies, and sadly have now in this century been overlooked and forgotten, cos I certainly have not seen them on TV since the 80s.

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    11. A quick look at the BBC Genome reveals Laurel and Hardy were being regularly shown on the BBC as recently as ten years ago.

      It's a pity they got out of the habit, but you hardly ever see black and white material now, unless it's one of the dedicated vintage movie channels. THe L&H DVDs seem to sell well, though, and they're popular on YouTube, so I doubt they will be completely forgotten. They were once two of the most famous men in the world.

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    12. I was reading on wiki that Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston, Cumbria, with a blue plaque to this day on the house where he was born 125 years ago in 1890.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Laurel#/media/File:Ulverston%27s_most_famous_son_-_geograph.org.uk_-_151570.jpg

      I wonder if it has survived the Cumbria floods this month. What a shame if this famous house would have been a victim of the recent floods that have submerged the county.

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    13. thx your comment about apocalypse has me wondering if somebody has set up some kind of archive video library in space where laurel and hardy might live on, even if the earth is destroyed either through nuclear war, meteorite or aliens?

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    14. I was getting at the fact that if the floods in Cumbria have catastrophically hit the house of birth of Stan Laurel in Ulverston, then 2015 will bring down 125 years of movie memorabilia.

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    15. @Wilberforce: Ah, but who would be left to watch them, apart from a little Silent Running drone roboty guy?

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    16. Regarding THX comments about the pair being two of the most famous men in the world, I did find some archive footage showing them being completely mobbed by the masses in their first tour of the UK in 1932, and gained even more attention than King George, our monarch at the time.

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    17. thx, presumably all the rich and/or powerful people who would still be alive having had the means to escape the earth in special emergency vehicles (as seen in many disaster movies)?

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    18. Here's the link for the 1976 christmas day edition of TOTP:
      https://vimeo.com/150101387

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    19. Firstly, wasn't it just great to see the Xmas Day 1975 edition! After every song I heard a little voice saying 'this is why punk had to happen!' but what the hell I loved it!

      Secondly, BBC4 definitely showed the full Laurel & Hardy clip in the 1976 Xmas Day re-run, I remember it being a real highlight of the show.

      And thirdly, Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston, Lancashire! it wasn't until 1974 that Cumberland stole it, along with the whole of the Furness!

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    20. with regard to tidybeard : how could anyone be more embarrassed by old top of the pops appearances in deference to a show that featured a guy dressed in what looked like a pink and yellow-spotted condom, and buckets of gunge being thrown over people?

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  22. Back to December 1980, and I'm just watching now the Horror Channel (Sky channel 319) where they are showing the three original episodes of The Incredible Hulk, aired in December 1980 at the same time as our current Xmas TOTP blog.

    It's interesting to see the picture quality of these episodes from Universal at the time were nowhere near the HD quality we have recently become accustomed to, but still the December 1980 memorabilia continues today, and yes, on the Horror Channel, while we wait for TOTP 1981 to begin.

    A January '81 episode of The Incredible Hulk will be on tomorrow morning at 10.00 on The Horror Channel. Bill Bixby (RIP) and Lou Ferrigno can be proud that we are still getting their original 1980/81 episodes now.

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    1. I also recall Bill Bixby from a mid 70s series called The Magician that my brother and I used to watch a lot.

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    2. i remember watching "the magician" once or twice in the 70's and thinking it was pretty cool. sadly to my recollection it never got given a regular slot, and (unlike "the incredible hulk") seems to have been totally forgotten about now (with apparently no dvd's of it available). as regards the hulk, i remember thinking how sad it was when bill bixby always had to leave town in the end credits (accompanied by appropriate poignant music)

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    3. The Incredible Hulk re-runs are currently being shown every day on The Horror Channel (Sky 319) at 10am and repeated at 6pm.

      We have reached February 1981 with today's episode, and this is the last full year of the series, as the show eventually folded in Mid 1982, after a successful 6 years on our screens.

      Nice to see it is more or less currently in tandem with the TOTP repeats, now also about to start 1981, so for me The Hulk makes good holiday viewing while we wait for the TOTP 1981 shows to resume in the coming weeks.

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    4. It's quite possible that as The Incredible Hulk wasn't networked on ITV, different regions would have been showing different eps.

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    5. And also probably on different days of the week. While I recall some of these episodes at the time, I was only 13 in 1981, and I cannot seem to remember if my local ITV, i.e., Thames TV or LWT showed these during the week or at weekends from 1977-1982.

      I do remember it was ITV, and it could even have been on a Thursday night competing with TOTP for viewers. Anyone know from the archives if The Incredible Hulk was on at the same time as TOTP on any of the different regions?

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    6. I was also thirteen in 1981 and lived in the London area, though I was at boarding school in South Devon as well. LWT began showing the Hulk on Sat nights from Oct 78. My memory is hazy from 79 as I went away to school. TSW showed them Sat teatimes I remember.

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  23. Sad to hear of the death today of Lemmy, lead singer of Motorhead. His contribution to music was undoubtedly unmatched, displayed by his classic Ace of Spades among many others, which we were able to see on the 1980 TOTP re-runs recently.

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    1. Aye - it seems that every Christmas some much-loved celebrity shuffles off and leaves us poorer for their absence. Lemmy was probably more loved than some, and will be more missed than most.

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    2. having today read of the demise of the legendary lemmy (who is featured on a couple of tracks), i thought this an appropriate moment to notify you of my just-completed-and-now-uploaded "rock special" mix from what was played at my 2012 school reunion:

      https://www.mixcloud.com/wilberforcemixes/class-of-73-school-reunion-party-mix-part-five-rock-special/

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    3. Good grief. Now it's RIP Specials drummer John Bradbury.

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    4. Sad to hear about John Bradbury. Also Motorhead drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor died in November, so that two Motorhead members in a month.

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    5. Also just heard that Paul Walden, better known as 'Guru Josh' died this week aged only 51.
      A sad week all round for Brits in music.

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    6. Good Lord, now we hear that today Natalie Cole, daughter of the great Nat King Cole, has died at the age of 65. What a morbid week has just gone by.

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  24. Stephen Murphy's strike 1980 Xmas Special is now ready ~ links at the bottom of this blog (above) - did your suggestions make it on the show?

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    1. Just had the pleasure of watching this, and the most important additions here which were bizarrely left out of the two BBC Christmas 1980 shows, were:

      Too Much Too Young - The Specials (No.1)
      Call Me - Blondie (No.1)
      Crying - Don Mclean (No.1)
      Xanadu - ONJ & ELO (No.1)
      There There My Dear-Dexys (Brr,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes)
      Use It Up Wear It Out - Odyssey (No.1)
      Start - The Jam (No.1)
      The Tide is High - Blondie (No.1)

      I'm pleased that at last we can get to see the original Darth Vader video, and Blondie flashing her left boob at 1:00:22 into this show, which seems to solve the puzzle as to why the Beeb didn't show this video when at No.1, and instead made their own patch-up video with stills, which most of us remember, and probably thought was the video, cos there was no music video channels at the time, and all we had was TOTP.

      Also, I don't understand why we get a top 30 countdown for this show, cos the show is supposed to be a look back at the year, and not for a countdown of the current charts as of Xmas day??


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  25. Is It Not Having A Separate Blog Angelo?

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    Replies
    1. No that's it for 1980 blogs, the next new one will be for The Story of 1981 :-)

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  26. As the Christmas chart was different to the 18th December 80 & 8th January 81,I think it's a nice addition. As the original episodes never had a rundown. Bit like a best of album something new at the end IE John &Yoko playout

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  27. Thanks Stephen and co for the video. It was good to see most of the no.1s that were strangely overlooked by the real Xmas shows (I think only Coward of the County and Suicide is Painless got left out, but that's no great loss), and it was a nice touch to feature a rundown of the Christmas chart given that it never happened in reality - I did skip the no. 1 though!

    I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed so few of my personal favourites made the selection, but watching this was still a pleasant way of filling an hour of holiday downtime. Happy New Year, everyone!

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    Replies
    1. You're Welcome John. That Christmas Special Was A Compilation Of Top 10 Hits During The Strike Period Plus Some Of The Number 1s Never Featured. Hopefully Some Of You Favorites Will B On The Top 30 1980 Show

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    2. Talking of 'Mash', it was sad to hear of the death yesterday of Wayne Rogers (age 82) who played the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre on the TV series.
      A golden era of recent times seems to be taken away from us all in one week.

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    3. by coincidence i've just recently watched the first three seasons of M*A*S*H on DVD - which were the only ones rogers appeared in, as (like mclean stevenson) he then quit due to the frustration of being perceived as one of the supporting players in what he saw as turning into "the alan alda show". later on when asked if he regretted that decision, he replied "if i knew how long it was going to last, i might have stayed!"

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    4. does anyone else remember rogers' post-M*A*S*H series "city of angels" where he played a los angeles private eye in the 1930's? like "the magician" i only saw it a couple of times as it also never got given a regular spot. and like "the magician" it seems to have been forgotten about now, with no sign of it on DVD...

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    5. It's a shame that there is no footage or DVD's of The Magician as Bill Bixby's pre-Incredible Hulk career, which seems to have overshadowed the rest of his acting career, and which probably none of us have ever seen before on TV.

      Any ideas on how to get hold of The Magician series would be warmly welcomed.

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    6. The Magician is due on DVD sometime this year, in an American release, so if you have a multi-region player you're laughing.

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  28. I Will Upload The First New Year Installment Later. It Is Not An Actual Episode But More Of A Compilation TOTP Top 30 1980 Pt 1. Featuring The Like Of Martha And The Muffins Echo Beach In The TOTP Studio Genesis Turn It On Again Peter Gabriel Games Without Frontiers And A Whole Lot More

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    1. Thanks for this - I hadn't realised that you were planning to make further videos. Looking forward to seeing them.

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  29. Does anyone know when BBC4 will resume their re-runs with TOTP 1981? There seems to be nothing in the schedule for this Thursday the 7th.

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    1. The Story of 1981/Big Hits 81 is on BBC4 this coming Friday (8th Jan) then we get 8/1/81 on Thurs 14th and then a day later on the 15th we get 22/1/81 :-)

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    2. At last, it's upon us tonight, The Story of 1981, and Big Hits 1981, it's on 10pm-12 on BBC4.
      Great viewing just before bedtime.

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  30. i have just looked at the wiki deaths page, where i saw that peter powell had croaked! however i was relieved to see it wasn't our fave totp presenter, but some namesake who made kites...

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