Thursday 29 September 2016

Ever So Top of the Pops

It's April 29th 1982 already and Richard Skinner is this week's host of Top of the Pops!


My appendix, right, was well swelled



29-4-82: Presenter: Richard Skinner

(26) HOT CHOCOLATE – Girl Crazy
Getting an 80's Jane Fonda's Workout makeover, Hot Chocolate return to the studio after almost two years away, with a tune that peaked at number 7.

(2) BARDO – One Step Further
They lost to the Germans (and 5 others) at Eurovision and couldn't quite go one step further and top the charts. And also edited out of tonight's 7.30pm showing.

(17) SUZI QUATJOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS – I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll (video)
Crikey, these American videos are getting even worse, someone needs to put another dime in the electric meter! This Arrows cover peaked at number 4.

(31) YAZOO – Only You
The debut of the fabulous Yazoo and our first sighting of post Depeche Mode Vince Clarke. This gorgeous song made it to number two and was the first of three top ten hits for the all too short lived duo.

(19) SIMPLE MINDS – Promised You A Miracle ®
Peaked at 13.

(NEW) NICOLE – A Little Peace
Nicole Hohloch was just 17 when she became 1982's Eurovision winner and her song was soon to become the UKs 500th number one.

(22) SPANDAU BALLET – Instinction (video)
On its way to number 10.

(16) MONSOON – Ever So Lonely
Former Grange Hill actress Sheila Chandra was another 17 year old on tonight's show, forming some lovely Indian dance shapes as Ever So Lonely made its way up to number 12.

(1) PAUL McCARTNEY & STEVIE WONDER – Ebony And Ivory (video)
Second of three weeks at the top for the 499th number one.

(34) ROCKY SHARPE & THE REPLAYS – Shout Shout (Knock Yourself Out) (and credits)
Our first sighting of this rockabilly lot for over three years performing what would be their final top 30 hit, peaking at 19.


It's May 6th 1982 next.

44 comments:

  1. Hot Chocolate - talk about a band evolving with the times. Good Lord, in a career spanning back to 1970, it was now their 13th year of releasing singles and from the start of the 70s to now in 1982 the music machine continued, with Errol Brown starting the exercise craze that would ensue the following year with the launch of breakfast TV in the UK.

    Bardo - third and final appearance on TOTP, and with Richard Skinner introducing it as a certain No.1 for the following week, alas he was wrong, as No.2 was all it could achieve right here this week. The dancing by this pair was choreographed as well as Legs & Co or Zoo in my opinion, whoever was their choreographer.

    Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I wonder why they chose a black & white video, considering we were now about 12 years into colour since the 60s. Anyone know why?
    Nevertheless, this is one of the very best dance classics of all time and a superb record, not to mention timeless in its appeal.

    Chart rundown - was that Cilla Black in the caption at No.24 for the new entry of The Scottish World Cup Squad. Cilla isn't Scottish, so if not her, who was it? Please someone clarify, as this is bugging me now.

    Spandau Ballet - really liked this video, and in my opinion one of their best videos, breathing fresh air into the video concept. Even Richard Skinner said "what a good video" at the end of it.

    Monsoon - was the lead singer really Indian, or merely embracing the traditional Indian look and style with accompanying music? Whatever, I really liked this at the time, and also Zoo's dance to it a couple of weeks earlier on the show in the absence of Monsoon themselves on debut in the charts.

    So it was football frenzy this week in the charts - with the Scottish World Cup Squad at No.22, and The England World Cup Squad at No.4, with the World Cup still a couple of months away! But wait, I see in next week's line up that both these two as well as the Spurs FA Cup Final Squad will be on the show. Good Lord, now where are those old football shoes of mine?

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    1. I think 'Cilla' could be John Gordon Sinclair from the movie Gregory's Girl, or perhaps even BA Robertson!

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    2. From her website, Monsoon singer Sheila Chandra was born in South London to a South Indian immigrant family.

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    3. David, Ulverston6 October 2016 at 21:50

      According to Wikipedia, the video for I Love Rock 'n' Roll was originally made in colour, but was changed to black-and-white because Joan Jett disliked how her red leather jumpsuit looked.

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  2. Crikey, just realised that the next edition is today, as we seem to be going back to two episodes a week on these re-runs, so the three football squads will be at it today on TOTP in the first of the May 1982 shows.

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  3. A fair to middling episode, the highlights being Spandau Ballet, Joan Jett and - with the same line-up as before and still signed to Chiswick - Rocky Sharpe & The Replays.

    I can remember The Arrows' original version of 'I Love Rock & Roll'; it was a reasonable, if unremarkable, glam-rock offering. Joan and her Blackhearts gave it the hard edge it needed to become a major hit.

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  4. My, they missed a trick by not getting Peter Powell to present, he could have led the dancers to Hot Chocolate with his Shape Up and Dance moves. Jolly little ditty, a bit lightweight to what they were capable of, mind you.

    I don't know why the invited Bardo back, aside from the clobber they could have just shown a repeat, so faithful are they to those dance steps. Richard Skinner diplomatically doesn't mention their utter defeat at Eurovision.

    Joan Jett, when I was little I thought this was the hardest rock imaginable, like Slayer or something. Er, it's not, but it's a good stomping tune and Joan used her grounding in punk to really sell it. Is that George Michael in the video?

    Yazoo, an impeccably crafted song, one of the best of the synthpop examples, such a sad one though. Vince jazzes things up a bit by playing behind a bank of coloured lights that really should have spelled out his name.

    Simple Minds, Jim's outfit looks like it takes ages to put on, not sure if it did. Yeah, not bad, not their best, but with a hint of the pomposity that would overcome them.

    Nicole, as relevant today as it was thirty-five years ago, sadly, yeah, right on Nic! We knew where you were coming from! Anyway, a charming plea for world peace, when she sang in all the languages on the big night it was quite something. Think she's miming that guitar.

    Next, Chariots of Fire makes a return to the charts - oh, no, its ver Spands, with a very accident prone runner in their video. Pretty energetic song, so that does suit the physical jerks, but those hats!

    Monsoon, bringing some exoticism to the show, let's hope Sheila found a friend shortly after the programme. Loving the Bollywood moves, always like to see them in the films too.

    Then Paul and Stevie living in perfect harmony, but no girls allowed - there's not one female in the entire video.

    Rocky Sharpe and his Replays still plugging away, the 50s revival never went away according to TOTP. Some precarious acrobatics here, and so many key changes I thought the Rockster would end up singing falsetto.

    Another good programme, this is a really enjoyable run at the moment.

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    1. I don't think Sheila would have been lonely for long, considering she was only 17 on this single.

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    2. thx that line about joan jett being like slayer or something really cracked me up!

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    3. Thanks! Bear in mind I also at the time thought Kim Wilde's Kids in America was hard as nails.

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  5. Another dark and dingy soft focus show with Dickie Skinner bathed in pink light.

    A good opener with Hot Chocolate doing a song I had completely forgotten about. I can't quite see the connection between being girl crazy and aerobics but it gave he band, and more importantly the grinning cheerleaders, a chance to dress up like extras from The Kids From Fame, even Mr Fairbrass who the last time I looked isn't a girl.

    Bardo go though the (dance) motions, again. I think I've heard this one enough now than you.

    Then Joan Jett on video. I see Mr Gravity agrees with me that she owes more than a little to Suzi Quatro but at least she doesn't play bass which made Suzi look even smaller than she is. This is a good video and could be filmed in the same bar Meatloaf used for his recent video but with younger trendier people in it.

    In 1982 I socialised, and for a while lived with, a female friend who looked and dressed like Alison Moyet and I had a dyed blond flat top and a leather jacket and looked a bit like Vince Clark so we wee often mistaken for Yazoo. We never benefitted from it though. I loved this to bits when it came out although the synth sounds very clunky now. But it's a good song covered by The Flying Pickets of course the following year.

    Jim Kerr again nicking Bowie's, or is it Kim Carne's dance moves again, or is he just wiping the floor?

    Hello Fairbrass is back with his shirt on, cheering on the Eurovision singers again. I hated Nicole with a vengeance at the time but when you were young and trendy you had to didn't you. But having just heard it again for the first time in 34 years I still hate it. The end of this sounds very odd like it was never going to finish.

    Oh no it's the Spandex video - The Teardrop Explodes meet Chariots Of Fire. As Uncle Bryn from Gavin and Stacey would say the young man running in the video is a lovely looking lad. I just checked out the lyrics to this and in their bit the Kemp boys sing "Cheap bed, in the red, You cry, justify, Post boom, second doom, Stealing cake to eat the moon. What does it all mean? Answers on a tartan table cloth, worn round the shoulders of course.

    Then the Top 21 or Top 22 as Dickie calls it. Silly nit keeps forgetting the chart placing saying things like "it's a hit, it really is a hit" to compensate for his memory loss.

    And then Monsoon brew up a storm in the studio at least what we can see of them. It's hard to see who's who and who's playing what as the lighting is so low. But a good performance but sadly this proved to be treated as a novelty hand was their only it.

    The Top Ten and then Macca and Stevie on video again. Anyone asked the elephants yet what they thought about the ivory?

    The end song by Rocky Sharpe I never cared for much but they certainly put a lot of energy into the performance. Sad to read that Rocky Sharpe has MS now and gave up performing. I feel a bit sorry for the girl doing the lyric boards, she can't lift them off in time and almost gives up at one point. She doesn't knock herself out about it.

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    1. Ebony is an endangered hard wood as well, so perhaps Sir Macca should have called his song "Black Plastic and White Plastic". Mind you, you can't ask trees anything, they won't answer back. Even Clint Eastwood failed there.

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    2. when i was a kid i used to get sent to a rather posh lady up the road from me for piano lessons (that's not a euphemism by the way!), and her piano actually had keys made of ebony and ivory! despite its elegance, out of principle i wouldn't play or even touch such a thing now...

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  6. Richard Skinner returns to the fray, but still seems a little too stiff and self-conscious in front of the camera, and he also overdoes the enthusiasm in some of his links - perhaps this is why he would not appear again for the rest of 1982...

    Hot Chocolate get us off to a colourful start with this bright and breezy - if rather slight - effort. The performance is clearly jumping on the Jane Fonda-inspired Keep Fit craze, with Fairbrass and co all working out to the music. Incidentally, Errol should really have left the legwarmers at home! As mentioned above, Skinner tactfully avoids all mention of Bardo's underwhelming Eurovision performance as he introduces them, but they still seem chipper enough as they run through their well-worn routine once more. I assume that the Joan Jett video is in b/w in order to evoke a 50s vibe, and also to make it feel more moody and atmospheric. I think it succeeds admirably, and the song is also excellent - I bet Suzi Q was seething that she had never recorded it!

    The highlight of the show next, as Yazoo - and Alison Moyet in particular - make their debut. This is one of the finest songs of the decade, Alf's bluesy vocals perfectly complementing Vince's minimalist synths, and it was the start of a short but very sweet run of first-rate hits. I like The Flying Pickets' version too, but the original remains definitive.

    I wonder how Bardo and Nicole got on in the Green Room? This is one of the better Eurovision songs, it's pleasant tune making up for the slighty trite (though undeniably well-meaning) lyrics. Nicole was also the third German act to reach the top of the UK chart in 1982, nobody of that nationality having ever achieved the feat before. It is ironic that a German song about peace should get to number 1 just as Britain was fighting a war in the South Atlantic - indeed, the sinking of the Belgrano was just a few days away at this point.

    The Spandau video was very slick, and seemingly inspired by Chariots of Fire, before Sheila from Monsoon belies her recent surgery by giving us an hypnotic dance display which comfortably eclipsed Zoo's efforts from two weeks earlier. A quick fast-forward through Ebony and Ivory, and Rocky Sharpe and the Replays play us out with a catchy, deliberately repetitive number. I notice that they tried to repeat Joe Dolce's trick of displaying the lyrics for the audience to sing along to, but sadly for them this single would not enjoy the same level of success...

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  7. By the way, if anyone is wondering why Dickie's link into Joan Jett seemed rather abrupt, it seems (shock, horror) that he mentioned DLT during the course of it and so BBC4 got their scissors out. Will the Beeb ever grow up?

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    1. That's pathetic. If they show re-runs of Dalziel and Pascoe and a character says the line "I've made Dalziel tea" they'll have to cut that line as well in case anyone complains.

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    2. John, thanks for clarifying. I was wondering why it was not a smooth flow from Bardo to Joan Jett. Anyway have the full show to see what Skinner said about DLT?

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    3. vimeo.com/117125658
      The DLT bit is at 6.33.

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    4. Good Lord, he only said "here's one for DLT" when introducing the Joan Jett video. What is it with BBC4? Looks like they'll never grow up, and will stay childish to the end.

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    5. bama i salute you on your brilliant "dalziel tea" gag!

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  8. At the start of the Yazoo performance it looks like Alf had a problem and couldn't hear herself as she isn't miming to the vocal until a little way in. It could have been an All About Eve moment.

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  9. host: he's a lumberjack and he's okay? "okay" pretty much sums up dicky's efforts here - he will never irritate me in the way that slimy does, but not one of his better efforts (and he mentions yazoo twice in their intro, which is a schoolboy error in my book)

    hot chocolate: a lukewarm effort even by their standards. i mentioned that last week the producers seemed to have got the balance of the audience right with little if any sighting of the ringer we all love to hate. but he's making up for it in spades this week, not only lurking right behind dicky's intro but also prominent among the aerobics dancers for this. someone please offer the bastard a starring role in a sitcom or something so we see the back of him! despite the bright colours of most of the dancers, the monitor is still in black and white

    joan jett: and her absurd 10-years-out-of-date haristyle - even suzi quatro had moved on from that by now

    yazoo: this was not one of my favourites at the time as it was too simple and maudlin for my taste, although like other songs that have since become "classics" i suppose i don't mind hearing it these days. has alf just come from an audition for "cats"?

    nicole: oh, here's a cod-country thing from a female european singer that got to number one - it might as well be pussycat from several years earlier! as far as i'm concerned the only record i'll listen to by an act called nicole is "new york eyes" which was an excellent 80's downtempo dance duet with timmy thomas of "why can't we live together" fame

    spandau: the split screen video reminded me of the titles for "dallas"! the kemps obviously got a BOGOF deal for their hats. as someone else has pointed out the lyrics are indecipherable to put it mildly, and if the guy running around the countryside has some connection to them then i for one can't see it

    macca: i actually watched a bit more of this than usual and actually liked the modulated instrumental bit where stevie does his patented "keyboard-sounds-like-an-elastic-band" thing. the rest of it is still complete shit though. surprisingly no sign of the lovely linda in drag among the "coming up"-style multiple maccas

    rocky sharpe: the lady in this group had the monicker helen highwater - possibly not her real name? i'm pretty sure the guy on the right in (hardly vintage) specs and boxing gloves is mike vernon, last seen on the show as the jumpsuited prat with the olympic runners. mike obviously thought that disco was dead in the water by now and (along with fellow olympic runner peter sutcliffe - sorry, pete wingfield) decided to tie their colours to the rock n roll revival sound that was still improbably cluttering up the early 80's charts. not only is there plenty of modulation going on, the noticeboard even warns viewers of it! and despite this stuff hardly appealing to me, it has to said that was an impressive balancing act on the shoulders of his colleague there by mr sharpe



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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I'm guessing but I think the Replays' female vocalist's name is a pun on the phrase "Through Hell and high water".

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    3. Coincidentally there's a film out at the moment called Hell or High Water (as opposed to "and").

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    4. yes of course that's right arthur. and don't forget macca's similar pun "helen wheels" (my poor sides!). and not surprisingly there has also been a song (by some american act called ADULT) titled "helen bach"...

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    5. Jennifer Saunders was on The Young Ones as a character thankful she wasn't called Helen Back. She was called Helen Mucus.

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  10. Some nice songs on the show tonight with a polished presentation as always from Mr Skinner.

    Hot Chocolate – Girl Crazy – As Dory points out, Hot Chocolate could never be accused of standing still and this certainly ain’t another ‘Love is life’ or ‘So you win again’. It’s actually a pretty good sounding song for the times with the enthusiastic crowd joining in the moves, but although Harvey Hinsley is there, I can’t hear his distinctive guitar on this track at all.

    Bardo – One step further – This has really grown on me this time around having not heard it since 1982. I checked out the actual Eurovision rendition on YT as I was quite surprised that we didn’t win again as I think the song is better than Nicole’s effort (admirable though that is). However, the song balance sounds thin and just lacks the power of this studio recording and doesn’t do the song justice I feel.

    Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – I love Rock n’ Roll – SEVEN weeks at no.1 in the States already by the time it charted here. The Arrows version was on the B-Side of ‘Broken down Angel’ (which didn’t chart) although 45cat features a ‘flipped’ version onto the A side (which also didn’t chart). Apparently the producer, the late Mickie Most, wasn’t keen on the song and he let them record it during a lunch break. Good job its ‘DLT’ and not ‘BLT’ btw otherwise a whole genre of sandwiches would need censoring!

    Yazoo – Only you – in contrast, Yazoo had zero hits in the States. How could this wonderful song not be a hit all over the world? Simply a class pop record that even survived the Flying Pickets reworking, such is the strength of the melody. As noted by John G above, this is the definitive version. Calling America….

    Simple Minds – Promised you a Miracle – An OK song for me, nothing more.

    Nicole – A little Peace – An admirable effort.

    Spandau Ballet – Intuition – Everything happening here. Busy melody, busy instrumentation and the runner interjecting bringing back memories of ‘Chariots of Fire’ (which was about the reach no.1 in the States belatedly). Quite an impressive package and in complete contrast to more famous hits that were to follow.

    Monsoon – Ever so lonely – Someone’s been playing ‘Within you, without you’ from ‘Sergeant Pepper’ a little too much I fear. Different.

    Paul & Stevie – Ebony and Ivory – Yawn……

    Rocky Sharpe & the Replays – Shout shout – Didn’t Showaddywaddy record this? Love the routine with the shoulder stand and the flip chart. Key change indeed!

    Quick plug for David Gilmour at the RAH this week; anyone go? It was awesome – set lasted from 19:50 – 23:15 with a 25 minute break. Unfortunately I wasn’t there for Benedict Cumberbatch’s cameo on ‘Comfortably Numb’. Floyd were about to graze the charts later in 1982 with the minor hit ‘When the Tigers broke free’ from ‘The Wall’ film, but that was not on DGs set list this week.

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    1. Monsoon - they've also been listening to The Kinks' See My Friends:

      https://www.youtube.com

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    2. whether or not this affected their ability to get a hit in the states or not i don't know, but i do remember that (like several other british acts that preceded them) they had to change their name in some way so as not to get confused with someone or something else that already existed over there. in their case they went with "yaz"

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    3. i'd never even heard of the kinks track before, but having listened to it now i would say with regard to monsoon it more of case of influence (the sitar sound was so unusual and distinctive that use of it would invariably lead to comparison) than plagiarism. but i am very surprised for two reasons: that it was actually a top 10 single yet unlike their other big hits quickly headed for obscurity, and that it could well be regarded as the first-ever psychedelic recording!

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    4. See My Friends came out several months before Norwegian Wood, and has been hailed as the fist Western rock song to incorporate Indian sounds. It's a brilliant record, and I'm surprised it doesn't get played more these days, given how pioneering it was.

      Yazoo were named after an American blues record label, and had to shorten their name to Yaz over there after being threatened with a lawsuit.

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  11. Many thanks to 'xrayfour' for the link and to 'aud meer' for posting this edition on Vimeo. A bit fuzzy and contaminated with a DOG, but free from the BBC and its digital scissors. So an innocent reference to DLT has been removed? Ye gods, this is where the mind even fails to boggle.

    The theme of this show would appear to be putting a dime in the jukebox, although Mr. Sharpe decided to show his True Brit credentials by altering the lyric to 'coin'. Some top tunes on this show, the first four plus Monsoon all being faves of mine from this period. So why was the Joan Jett video in black & white here (as well as on the JK slot a couple of weeks earlier) when it's in colour on YouTube?

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    1. The Joan Jett video originally released was in black and white, hence on the JK segment last week on TOTP, and then this week in full on TOTP. This is backed up by the fact that the video on iTunes for download and purchase that is in my pop video collection, is the same black and white one, so if there was any colour video, i.e., as you say on Utube, it could have been re-worked by any Joe on the street and put on Utube, so I wouldn't get too excited about the colour video which is not how it was released by Joan Jett and her team.

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    2. If it was indeed 're-worked by any Joe on the street' then it's a fantastic piece of colourisation (or colorization) and I'm sure that the Doctor Who Restoration Team would be very interested in their services!

      On this clip:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6CqLyiGJU

      it's apparent that it's part of something bigger. My guess is that it was mastered in black & white for the single video and then in colour for a later 'Greatest Hits' video compilation.

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    3. Do you know if the greatest hits video is available on DVD? Or even VHS?

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    4. Amazon is your friend (but it ain't cheap!) :o)

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Wild-Child-Video-Anthology/dp/B000AKH0TY/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1475451401&sr=1-4&keywords=joan+jett+and+the+blackhearts

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    5. Some observations here 20th:
      The compilation content details confirms that the black and white video of I Love Rock 'n' Roll is the original video.
      Secondly, although it says 35 videos from Joan Jet on this DVD, some of these 'videos' are live performances, TV ads and remixes, and not 35 pop videos.
      Thirdly, I wouldn't pay £78.50 for this DVD, even though there is only one left in stock!

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  12. Richard Skinner starts with infringement of John Peel’s “my old mate” copyright when introducing Hot Chocolate. That aerobics action reminded me of an ages old BBC1 fitness programme called “Boomph With Becker”, introduced by a leotard-clad middle-aged woman who was usually in Keith Floyd sobriety mode.

    Bardo were a well drilled machine, though Sally was so happy and smiley that you’d think they’d actually won Eurovision.

    Joan Jett mimed very well in that monochrome video – plenty of feeling the lyrics in her facial movements. You can find a video of her earlier band Runaways (complete with lead singer wearing a basque and suspenders- ahem!) performing “Cherry Bomb” on the 45cat website.

    It’s All About Alf! Well spotted, Bama! Plenty of laughing by Alison and, charmingly, Vince when they realise the monitor error. An absolute classic. B-side “Situation” was an A-side in America and was good enough to have been a single in its own right over here as, I think, was ”In My Room”.

    A little piece of “A Little Peace” was enough for me. Why was Nicole looking frantically upwards at the start? I bet Bardo loved seeing that Eurovision Winner caption if they watched this episode!

    No no NO, Tone, a lumberjack shirt with a tie doesn’t go! Have you not learnt anything from last time? That runner must have loved falling in that many puddles for the video. The weird cake / moon lyrics reminded me of that advert where the teacher eats a Jaffa Cake and demonstrates full moon, half moon and total eclipse.

    Neat and effective moves from Sheila Monsoon, so soon after her appendicitis. Eat that, Zoo! So nice to have an edition without them. Nice rain effect with the post-song band logo.

    Richard was almost knock knocked out by a flailing arm introducing Rocky Sharpe et al. Good thing they weren’t on in June and upset someone of a certain religion – there could have been a Ramalan dingdong. See what I did there?

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    1. Arthur; funny you should mention 'Boomph with Becker'. In my circa 1971 scrapbook, on the reverse of a Basil Brush article is a piece about Sue Becker's show. Described as "a comfortable brand of keep fit for the double jointed consisting of exercises with compelling titles like 'Abominable Abdominal', 'Rising to the Occasion' (what was that I wonder!!), 'the Bohemian Coffee Pot' and 'Elastic Giraffe'".

      The thing is, I do remember the show!!! Overdue a repeat I declare!

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  13. I forgot to say, I reckon Bardo's Steven Fischer set the new record for thinnest tie.

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  14. I didn't realise until I checked the 'Polyhex' chart stats website today that Yazoo had as many as five separate hits, one being a 1990 re-mix of "Situation" and another being "The Other Side Of Love" which I don't remember at all.

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    1. The Other Side Of Love is great! As it wasn't a Top 10 hit like the others they released during their lifetime, you never hear it though. I bought the remix of 'Situation' in 1990 - that's pretty good too.

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  15. Richard Skinner is back - hooray! Well, no, because he's still dull. Better than Bates and Steve Wright though, admittedly.

    Hot Chocolate - I've always loved 'Girl Crazy', partly because it was on the Chart Hits 82 LP so got plenty of airplay in my bedroom! I only recently saw the video on Vintage TV - it is very silly indeed.

    Bardo - I like the song, but even I said 'they're back for another performance?!' at this one!

    Joan Jett - It's OK, this one. I think I've heard it too often over the years to enjoy it that much. I'm pretty sure that the colour video gets more airplay now, I was surprised to see it in B&W to be honest.

    Yazoo - Good song, and I do wonder if Vince & Alf are laughing at Skinner's ridiculously long intro. It's almost like he was padding it out even though he ends up crashing into the vocal. Perhaps there was a problem with the camera or the director had forgotten to pan or something.

    Nicole - Ahhhh, bless. I've said before that this my first year of watching Eurovision so I have a soft spot for this one. As I'm seemingly the only fan no-one else has noticed that she makes a complete hash of the first verse - she picks random lines from the first 3 verses and you can see that she knows she's cocked it up. In fairness, I bet this is the first time that she's sung it in full in English.

    Spandau Ballet - Still a mess. With added twatty hats.

    Monsoon - Goodness me, Sheila Chandra has great stage presence doesn't she? Surprised the single didn't make the Top 10 off the back of this performance. One of those forgotten songs that is surprisingly good.

    Rocky Sharpe - I'm not really that keen on it, I suppose it's a while since we've had a band play out though!

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