Friday 14 October 2016

I've Never Been to Top of the Pops

June 1982 is upon us already and David 'Kid' Jensen is once again the choice to host a live edition of Top of the Pops!




3-6-82: Presenter: David Jensen (Live)

(5) ABC – The Look Of Love
Martin and his boy band get the show underway with pretty much the same routine as last time, and The Look of Love went up one more chart position.

(2) ADAM ANT – Goody Two Shoes (video)
A case here perhaps of an expensive video not being quite as eye catching as the studio performance? And  Goody Two Shoes was still being stamped on by Madness, but not for much longer...

(27) ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN – The Back Of Love
Making their Top of the Pops debut here with a song produced by a young Ian Broudie, which became their breakthrough hit peaking at number 19. And a certain member of their audience was obviously born in a greenhouse!

(22) SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – Fire works
Susan's transformation from punk to goth seems complete now, though fire works didn't quite set the chart alight, peaking at 22.

(21) FUN BOY THREE – The Telephone Always Rings
It looks like Neville and Lynval were doing their own version of Jane Fonda's workout here, with Terry doing his slightly embarrassed to be here routine. The song peaked at 17.

(15) CHARLENE – I’ve Never Been To Me
This was quite a story ~ a long forgotten record from 1976 is suddenly rediscovered and soars up the charts, whilst the singer is working in a newsagents in Ilford! It sounds like the TOTPS orchestra came out of retirement here to back her live vocal, missing out that talky bit on the record, and putting Charlene in the queue for number one.

(1) MADNESS – House Of Fun (video)
The Nutty Boys, live from Japan, introduce their second and final week at number one.

(7) JUNIOR – Mama Used To Say (and credits)
And another terrific live vocal here from Junior to end the show.



June 10th 1982 was hosted by Jimmy Savile and so obviously BBC4 will skip it in favour of June 17th with Simon Bates.

64 comments:

  1. It's another live show but it's also another shorty but in the capable hands of Kid Jensen it goes fairly smoothly. No sign of Mr Fairbrass this week or last week come to that. Perhaps he moved on to pastures new. Or perhaps he was sacked because he refused to wear one of Odile Dicks-Mireaux's mad creations. He seems to have been replaced by a short gommy looking bloke in tight denim shorts with no discernible genitals. Come back Craig, (almost) all is forgiven.

    Whew ABC kick things off with another performance of Look Of Love which is perhaps better than the first. The dance moves are still a bit awkward but it works for all that. Martin's special "look", ie holding his hand across his brow, never did take off did it.

    Caroline Munro, Graham Stark. Dandy Nicholls, deejay Jay Strongman and what looks like Derek Martin (Charlie Slater from EastEnders) all join Adam Ant in his video where only Marco is held over from The Ants. I have seen this on a few '80s video compilations and it still makes me smile. The good thing about Adam was that he never took himself too seriously and that shows in the videos he made. There is an strange edit in this song which is almost as weird at the key change in Godley and Creme's Wedding Bells.

    I never realised Mr Echo (copyright, Rik from the Young Ones, 1982) and his Bunnymen had their own version of The Happy Mondays' Bez in the shape of a bloke on stilts. I bet the crowd were pissed off with him stepping on their toes with his giant wooden feet. God this was good. I didn't discover the band until a few years later and somehow missed this at the time.

    Siouxsie and The Banshees are a month early for us with their Fireworks, or is it a tribute to a Kenneth Anger film? I remember having this on 12 inch and it ends with the sounds of fireworks exploding. I liked it at the time but it sounds a bit average now. I like what Siouxsie has done with her fringed tablecloth, she can wear a tablecloth.

    The Charts and sadly Kid doesn't get to introduce Kid Creole and The Coconuts who were a new entry this week. Instead we have to endure the Fun Boy Three again who have only reached number 21. While I liked this at the time it's appeal does wear off quickly. I note the band were joined by two girls in sailor suits who suddenly appear near the end.

    Charlene. Oh no, not this. Hearing it again puts me in mind of an episode of Ab Fab where Eddie starts quoting the lyrics to gain sympathy from Saffie. But she left out the line about "I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that cost too much to be free". What ever that means?! Answers on a floaty Laura Ashley top with tons of blusher.

    A lively link from Japan and Madness with Chas frantically producing handwritten notes for people at home which unfortunately we can't read due to the glare. Hearing the video play on the show and on Youtube I just noticed how distorted it sounds in places and not just in the fairground parts where it's supposed to. Was it always like that?

    We're back to the playouts with a performing act again in this case Junior singing live. And it's an unwelcome return from the bearded twit in the zoot suit, a bright orange one this time. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind.

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    1. Thanks for identifying Graham Stark, Bama. I thought the butler looked familiar, but I couldn't put a name to the face.

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    2. That's Graham "Did you know I was friends with Peter Sellers?" Stark to us.

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    3. i remember reading kenneth anger's book "hollywood babylon" back in the 80 or 90's - it was one of those "celebrity expose" things that are now quite commonplace, so it was actually quite ahead of its time in that respect

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    4. I have both Hollywood Babylon I and II on my bookshelves, an entertainingly gossipy read in their day, but once I learned that when he couldn't find a juicy scandal he just made one up (esp. in II) they lost some of their allure.

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    5. another one of sellers' what's 'is name/familiar face cronies (who was also frequently cast in his films) was david lodge, who had a trademark 'tache and usually played heavies of a sardonic nature

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    6. Don't you mean David "I was in "Cockleshell Heroes" " Lodge?

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    7. There's a rather unsavoury news story from a couple of years ago about Stark online, I see. Seems he took a fancy to a teenage schoolgirl in the 60s. No idea if it's true, looks like it just went as far as some dodgy letters, but not good.

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  2. I'm starting to feel increasingly sorry for Kid, who seems to get lumbered with the most attention-seeking and hyper cheerleaders each time he hosts. He must have been strongly tempted to push that absurd blonde off the stage as she shrieked all over his intro to Adam Ant, but it's testament to his professionalism that he kept it going, as he also did when having to put up with jugglers and fire eaters in close proximity.

    ABC are back with an identical performance - and suits - to last time, but they seem slicker on this occasion, perhaps helped by more practice and by being on the big stage. The guy with the baggy yellow outfit is back dancing behind them, and also turns up with Junior at the end - he must have loved those clothes. I agree with Angelo that Adam's video suffers a bit in comparison to the studio performance, but it's still a fun watch. The references to the pound note would date very quickly, as they would be superseded by the coins the following year.

    Echo and the Bunnymen are a band who have always completely passed me by. I couldn't name you a single song of theirs, until now, but this had some good driving energy to it. A shame, then, that the band get completely upstaged by the dancing stilt walker in the audience, whose antics are magnified by the fact that the performance is confined to a small corner of the studio. Perhaps Michael Hurll didn't like them much, and did it deliberately! It wasn't a great sequencing choice going from this to Siouxsie, as both bands come from a similar place on the musical spectrum. Fireworks isn't a bad effort, with more great drumming, but is not really breaking any new ground for the group. The most memorable thing about this is the two dead birds seemingly dangling from Siouxsie's ears...

    The FB3 continue their domination of the show as they get a song played for the fourth time in five weeks. This performance was certainly energetic, and I was wondering if the giant springs on the stage were supposed to be telephone cords - I don't understand what possessed Terry to wear that girly headband, though! By rights The Associates ought to have been on again this week, as it was now three weeks since their last appearance. Alas, instead we have Charlene inflicted on us together with her ghastly, saccharine little ditty. I really, really hate this song and so quickly pressed the FF button. Who was responsible for dragging it out of its well-deserved obscurity, and Charlene out of her newsagents? Hard to believe that this was released on Motown, of all labels.

    All that remains in another short show is for Madness to make a rather stilted intro "live by satellite" for their chart topper, before Junior seranades us once again with some decent live vocals and dubious knitwear...

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    1. With regard to ABC and their slick suits, I believe they were the first in the 80s to start this trend which was then copied by Spandau Ballet who initially did not wear suits in the TOTP studio, and then as we know later in the decade the new concept of 'boy bands' evolved from this new trend set by ABC.

      On the Adam Ant subject, indeed the new pound coins came out in 1983, and these 1983 ones are still in circulation I believe, as are the 20p coins which I think were also released in 1982 or 1983.

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    2. i had some difficulty in putting one of those new plastic five pound notes into the self-service machine in a supermarket yesterday - the trouble is that if you fold them up (as most people will to put them in their wallets) then the reader has a problem identifying them! why oh why didn't they make them the same size as credit cards so they don't need to be folded? and not only that, they would have saved on more than half of the material they used to make them!

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    3. Dory - Yes, the original 1983 pound coins are still in circulation, as are the first 20p ones from '82.

      On the subject of suits, they had of course come back into fashion in the pop world with the New Wave acts of the late 70s, notably Blondie, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. The first 80s group to really embrace suits that I can think of are Heaven 17, who dressed up as proto-yuppies for the Penthouse and Pavement album in 1981, just before ABC broke through.

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    4. Strangely the giant pound notes Adam hands to Marco and Dandy Nicholls was brown and I seem to remember them being green.

      To risk being outdated a year later perhaps he should have sung "Send a treasure token, token, Write it on an old ten pound note".

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  3. I once saw Echo and the Bunnymen at Guildford Civic Hall, supported by a pretentious band called Now Is The Time To Stop The Whimpering, Child, And become A Warrior!

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    1. Ha, ha, ha! Here are some other outrageously, or at least laughably, named British bands from that era:

      * I Like Danny's Hair
      * Our Pete & The Wage Slips
      * Bingo Reg & The Screaming Jeannies
      * Jumping Jeannie & The 4 1/2 Garden Gnomes
      * Ken Wood & The Mixers
      * Ray Gunn & The Lasers
      * Secretaries From Heaven
      * Crispy Ambulance
      * The Buttermountain Boys
      * A Popular History of Signs
      * I Thought I Saw God But It Was The Hammersmith Flyover
      ...and the most ludicrous band name of all time, which may or may not have been inspired by Jacko's Pepsi commercial -
      * Ow! My Hair's On Fire, Are You Bothered?

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    2. my favoutite silly band names from that era are bogshed, birds with ears and men without hats. unfortunately the latter actually went on to have a hit single with something that was nowhere near as weird/scratchy/unlistenable as i imagined it would be!

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    3. julie i'm surprised you haven't yet given us some background info on the bunnymen i.e. that echo was the name of their drum machine...especially as they're from your neck of the woods!

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    5. wilberforce - I've known since the post-punk era that Echo was originally the name of the Bunnymen's 'Eko' drum machine! I also remember the episode of 'The Young Ones' in which the late, great Rik Mayall vows to write to his MP - only to be reminded by Neil the hippy (Nigel Planer) that anarchists don't have MPs! Undeterred, Rik then announces that he will write to the lead singer of Echo & The Bunnymen, beginning his letter thus: "Dear Mr Echo..."

      Guest musicians on the Bunnymen's albums have included Food Records founder David Balfe (who also had at least two stints in Teardrop Explodes), recorder virtuoso Leslie Penny (who featured on Mike Oldfield's 'Portsmouth'), the jazz-rock violinist L Shankar - and even The Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek, no less! Balfe's staccato piano can be heard on 'Villiers Terrace' from the debut album 'Crocodiles'.

      Furthermore, the arrangers on the Bunnymen's 8th album 'What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?' included film composer Ed Shearmur and Nick Ingman - who conducted the orchestra for Olivia Newton-John at Eurovision '74 and also wrote the theme tune to the BBC TV sitcom 'Keeping Up Appearances'! RICHARD!!

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    6. Julie, I already referenced Rik Mayall above but The Young Ones are always worth repeating.

      And Nick Ingman, he's a legend! I have a great jazz-rock album he did from 1973 under the group name Moody called The Gentle Rain which includes some brilliant, wild arrangements of tracks such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Family Affair, etc.

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    7. Here is an addendum to my list of outrageous band names from the 80s:

      * 14 Iced Bears
      * Peter & The Test Tube Babies
      * Twelve Drummers Drumming
      * Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
      * Flesh For Lulu
      * Flowers In The Dustbin
      * The Dead Kennedys

      The latter outfit, a punk band from San Francisco, did manage a British Top 40 placing in '81 with 'Too Drunk To ****', which was - understandably - banned by the BBC.

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    8. The Kennedys' singer was Jello Biafra (not his real name). They really were setting out to offend weren't they?

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  4. The Fun Boy Three's hit, with its music-hall feel, could well have been an obscure track from one of The Kinks' lesser known albums. I suspect the former Specials front liners were trying to compete with fellow 2-Tone refugees Madness, but the Nutty Boys were well ahead by this time. Already touring the Far East, and with US success (albeit brief) to follow, Suggs and Co could do no wrong.

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    1. Madness were big in Japan. In 1982 they did a series of TV commercials for the Honda City, rewriting Driving In My Car and the B-side of Cardiac Arrest (In The City) as jingles:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzInpoS5xuk

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  5. Kid looks like he wants to jump in and join ABC with their synchronised routine, or maybe just a respite from the shrieking lady to his left. Anyway, ABC perfecting their moves this time, well, if they'd learned them they might as well use them.

    Adam Ant, with a fresh list of British celebs in his new video. This time he fulfils the fantasies of a generation of men (and maybe some women) by being lusted after by Caroline Munro. Amusing that the top 2 of the chart should both have wacky, "don't take it seriously folks" videos. I don't know if you get those anymore.

    Echo and the Bunnymen make their debut with a different version of their tune that usually gets played (no violins). Ian is either too cool for school or too terrified to move - maybe he's scared of the prannett on stilts? Last time I heard them in session on the radio, Ian was massively pissed, which was a bit worrying (he didn't swear, but...).

    Siouxsie and the Banshees get back together with an OK song, but more (doomy) style over substance. Who's that lovely lady on drums? Oh.

    Springing into action (well, two of them do) are the FB3, rapidly becoming the Showaddywaddy of 1982. Like the contrast between the dramatic, borderline hysterical verses and the morbidly jolly choruses.

    Charlene, well, every dog has its day, not that she was a dog, but you know what I mean. But disappointed she missed out the talky bit and she was gripping that microphone like grim death, but this one's a feast for lyrics obsessives. We'll have ample time to pick over it in weeks to come.

    Ah, so that's why Madness weren't in the studio when they achieved their coveted number one. They sounded a bit homesick. Were they big in Japan (to coin a phrase)?

    To commemorate the new Breakfast TV, Junior dresses up like Frank Bough. Good live vocal, but the popping balloons aren't great percussion.

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    1. Breakfast Time didn't begin until January 1983, but maybe Junior had experienced a vision of the future...

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    2. Or maybe Frank was a big Junior fan?

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    3. Yes, this seemed to be the first comeback single of Siouxie & The Banshees, after their recent temporary project as The Creatures.

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    4. You could be right there, THX!

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  6. i was too busy to get to the library for this unexpected second helping of totp this week, so checked on youtube in the hope it might be there. strangely enough "parts" 2 & 3 were, but not "part" 1 (why not load it up in its entirety?)! so nothing to say on the abc appearance. however:

    adam ant: most pop videos are on yt these days, and this is no exception. adam obviously hasn't learned yet that it's not a good idea to turn in without taking your make-up off first. the butler is the familiar face-but-not-name/stalwart support actor from various british comedy films and tv programmes, that even i could only remember as graham something (bama got in there first with stark). thanks again to bama for identifying caroline munro as i probably wouldn't have done otherwise... despite having the hots for her as a pre-pubescent in the early 70's when i saw her in one of those ray harryhausen "sinbad" films! she actually released a single around this time that was written and produced by none other than gary numan - on the sleeve she's wearing a red rubber dress and impossibly high red stilettos, so dory might possibly want to take a look. but if "derek martin" is one of the press gang then i'm pretty sure that's a case of mistaken identity (mr martin would already have been pushing 50 by then, so much too old to be that guy)

    echo & the bunnymen: this lot were always highly-thought-of in the likes of the NME, but rarely tranlated their hipness into hit singles. on this evidence one can see why (although it has to said i do like their live version of "crocodiles"). ian mcculloch was always considered some cool kind of indie pin-up, but i always thought visually (as well as musically) he was the weak link of the band. yes he has luscious lips, but his barnet that was a precurser to that pathetic "bed head" look that was tragically fashionable about 10 years ago always looked rubbish to me (i remember reading he "achieved" that by using loads of hair spray and then hanging the back of his head over the edge of his bed to blow-dry it - all that effort for such little return!). in contrast the bassist and drummer have classic quiff styles, whilst the guitarist had a floppy-fringe wedge-cut that i also aspired to (probably because like him i not only had fine hair but acne too!)

    siouxsie: not one i remember, but fairly typical of what they were doing at that time. the stand-out things in it being the strings and siouxsie's backing vocals. what happened to "israel" which i think is probably their best effort - is it yet to come?

    fb3: presumably there was a stand-by system whereby if act A couldn't make it then act B would step in. this can surely only be the reason for yet another bite of the cherry for this dirge. at the risk of inviting (further) ridicule i'd like to point out that i think the verse and chorus are in two different keys, although i can't be bothered to check properly!

    charlene: i always get this woman mixed up with nicole, the reason being i despised both these one-hit wonder anomalies in equal measure and did my best to forget them accordingly. does anyone know how this cod-country rubbish came to be released on the motown label?

    junior: "part 3" of the yt video got cut-off near the end of charlene so i never got the chance to see him again. not that i'm bothered, although for some strange reason i'm disappointed i've missed out on mr baggy yellow suit-thing!

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    1. I've noticed in the past on YouTube that multi-part posts of old TOTPs are not always available in full. I would imagine that certain parts get taken down for copyright reasons.

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    2. Caroline Munro's finest 90 minutes remain the Italian Star Wars rip-off Starcrash. She was better looking that Princess Leia. Although Princess Leia was more appealing than David Hasselhoff in blue eyeshadow...

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    3. Only 3 chords are used throughout 'The Telephone Always Rings', but they're all quite exotic: C minor and C diminished in the verse, and G-flat major in the chorus.

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    4. I'm just pleased that the Fun Boy Three did not invite Banarama on this new single, as I think by the the two previous singles were enough to get Banarama solo status out on their own.

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  7. A couple of answers to readers' questions.

    Firstly, Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Israel" was actually three singles back and didn't get a TOTP, only reaching number 41.

    Secondly, Charlene had managed to get signed to Motown way back in 1973. By the time "I've Been To Nice And The Isle Of Greece" got second wind thanks to a Floridian DJ playing it at his girlfriend's request (so we know who to thank), Charlene had lost her record contract some years back.

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    1. Thanks Arthur. I think I read somewhere that when this a hit again she had given up the music business and was running a sweet shop.

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  8. As for why Charlene ended up on Motown, it looks like they wanted to give a country pop artist a try. They signed R. Dean Taylor, and The Planets of "Lines" fame were also on Motown at one stage, so Motown were happy to dabble in other types of artist every so often.

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    1. Motown also signed Stoney and Meatloaf and The Four Seasons on to to their Rare Earth and Mowest offshoot labels, and even wonder Woman herself Lynda Carter. Her single was produced by Kenny Rogers.

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  9. Re: Adam's chum Graham Stark, if anyone can point me online to the public information film he did where he spoke pidgin French to the reversing lorry driver, I would be much obliged. One of those things that was never off the TV when I was a kid, and now there's no sign of it on YouTube whatsoever!

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    1. Could this be it (the same channel has some other brilliant films):

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8CoZo0h-Uo

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    2. That is indeed it! A thousand thanks! I've been looking for that since YT started and now I've finally seen it again after decades.

      Now I need to find the hypothermia PIF with the guy stumbling through the snow, it was on every winter and I've searched many a closedown clip on YT for it to no avail.

      But anyway, thanks again! I'll see what else that guy has.

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    3. It might nit be there, but try the TV Ark website where, amongst a multi-storey tuck shop of TV treats, they have a plethora of PIFs.

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    4. I hadn't looked at TV Ark in years, but I'm glad it's still going. Anyway, I had a search but nope, no sign of it. That bloke stumbling through the snow (who was NOT DRUNK!) still eludes me, as does that Navy helicopter training film where they all went underwater in a special tank, then had to do it again (or something). Still, it's nice to have goals.

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  11. Good Lord, I just realised there'll be four blogs this week, i.e., 10, 17, 24 June & 1st July editions to be put up between now and Friday. It's like going to work. Any chance of getting started today on the JS show of 10th June if anyone can come to the rescue?

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    1. I don't think the 10 June show was ever repeated on UK Gold, so it's not likely to be in wide circulation. If anyone has it, it will probably be Neil B, but he has not made anything available as yet - I'm keeping a look out...

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  12. I met Charlene at a New Year's Eve do in 2007 an am reliably informed that she's "never been" to Ilford. Lovely lady. I only asked her about that story as I was living a mile from Ilford when that song came out.

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  13. Not Kid’s finest half hour. Telling us what acts are coming up at the start thus spoiling the surprise, still plugging the naff ‘hitsound countdown’ catchphrase, and calling Junior’s hit “Mama Said”. While I’m at it, those mugshot titles were so smudged there were barely any triangular gaps in the A’s.

    Great hair flicks and reclining by Martin Fry. How to tell the leader of a group – he has a different tie to the minions.

    Can’t believe the lack of mention for Lamb’s Navy Rum, visually promoted by Adam Ant’s video co-star (no, not that Marco, festooned in pound notes). Caroline Monro released a single on the Aquarius label (which, strangely, was red instead of blue) with her then husband Judd Hamilton, who was holding her unbuttoned top together in the promo photo. “You Got It (The Boobly-Boop Song)” by Judd and Miss Monro got lots of daytime Radio 1 airplay but still stiffed.

    Talking of labels, Echo and the Bunnymen were on Korova, named after the fictitious milk bar in “Clockwork Orange” and whose only other TOTP act was Strawberry Switchblade. I love this song, and wondered whether the stiltman’s shirt was a reference to Liverpool indie band Big In Japan, which included several artists who became big after they’d been in the band.

    Nice sideburns, Siouxsie. Oh, they’re pigeons. You and the lads carry on, I’ll just wait for the tune to start.

    Dear God, not the Fun Boy Three again. Next! Ah….

    Actually, a decent live vocal for “I’ve Never been To Leeds” from Charlene. Not many songs include subtle whoring in their lyrics. Absolutely loved the stroppy looking, arms folded girl looking away from the stage near the song’s end.

    If only Madness had known, they could have said “thanks for our only number one”. Hindsight and all that.

    A fine outro live vocal from Junior – far better than his jumper – but he should have joined in those choruses more. I noticed the absence of Zoo (hooray) and the mention in the end credits of troupe member Dijon – I bet they’re mustard!

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    1. There was a third Korova act that managed to appear on TOTP: R&B singer Lydia Murdock with 'Superstar', which was a response to Michael Jackson's worldwide smash 'Billie Jean'.

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    2. Aha! Thanks for putting me right on that one.

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    3. The only other Korova act who made the Top 40 was Airhead in 1991 but they were never on the show.

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  14. A bit more detective work on the Charlene mystery shows the song was first recorded by Randy Crawford, and several others (including Mary McGregor of “Torn Between Two Lovers” fame - whose radio promo version changed the ‘subtle whoring‘ line - and Marti Caine) released it as either an album track and a single.

    “Me” originally peaked at 97 in the US chart, Charlene’s third single to peak in the lower 90’s, and it took off again when that pesky Tampa DJ who, fatefully, had previously worked for Motown, contacted them and advised their long deleted single was getting lots of interest, hence Motown tracked down and re-signed Charlene to allow a re-release. The rest, sadly, is history.

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    1. i was under the impression that marti caine's (unfortunate) real name was something like linda crapper, but it turns out that's wrong. so was it an urban myth a la bob holness playing the sax on "baker street"?

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  15. I think Mr.Hurll was a bit tanked up on something this week, given that the studio was like a bloody circus big top and Charlene was somehow allowed to sing the not usually BBC friendly word 'whoring' but seemingly advised not to do the talky bit..
    Sadly Kid was also a bit all over the place with song titles, unusually.

    ABC - It might have been slicker than the previous performance, but you could barely hear the song over the studio audience!

    Echo & The Bunnymen - I like some of their songs, but not this one unfortunately. Still, I don't suppose they were impressed with the stilt walker so that evens things up.

    Siouxsie & The Banshees - It's a goth segue! Not keen on this either.

    Fun Boy Three - Why is this on so often when it's not very good?!

    Charlene - I know it's clearly rubbish, but I do have a soft spot for this. It's a hoot to do karaoke too as well.

    Madness - I take back what I said about their lack of studio appearance last week. Excused! Still a shame they didn't get to do this one though.

    So here's the real shame, especially given that this was such an average show - as someone has already said, we could have had The Associates on this one. In fact we could have had it on the Peelie show today. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but what a downer that it's on the Savile show.
    That clip is at least on YT and from memory, it's even more enjoyable than the other one!

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  16. YT TOTP 10 june 1982 here's the show www.4shared.com/video/7OHSeubqba/TOTP_1982-06-10.html

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    1. Any chance of uploading this to WeTransfer or Vimeo, cos 4shared easily transfers viruses.

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    2. I hope that Neil B. will do it to WeTransfer very soon

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    3. Just watched the show - thanks for the link!

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  17. Charlene - delightfully 1970s in both looks and sound. But she needs to be seen in the context of these re-runs to be appreciated.

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  18. Angelo, something seems to have gone wrong with the screen grab at the top (unless it's just my computer) but the text in place of it is giving away the fact that it's Carrie Grant (Mrs David Grant not the American actor) who is one of the cheerleaders in this episode.

    I thought it was her I spotted a few weeks back but no one seemed to give a monkeys, we were all too obsessed with Mr Fairbrass.

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  19. Shakey Shakerson18 October 2016 at 10:56

    Just back from a court appearance - or someone's wedding - it's the best thing to come out of Canada in forever, David 'Kid' Jensen, getting us up and running this week with ABC. It may be a new performance but, Jesus, they haven't improved their dancing have they? I can only imagine what Len Goodman would have to say about it.

    Adam Ant on video featuring a trio of male sexual fantasies; schoolgirls, sexy secretaries, and Dandy Nichols dressed as a charwoman. Also featuring Graham Stark as a butler when what Mr Ant really needed was a Manservant because that is NOT how to buckle a belt or wear a shirt, young man!

    Echo & The Bunnymen. One of my favourite bands of the era, and about as cool a band as its possible to get, but this was one of Mac's weakest songs. Much, much better is to come.

    Charlene - Yet another record that owed its place on the charts to hefty Radio 2 backing. According to 'Kid' it's five years old. Certainly sounds it.

    Madness at number one preceded by a frankly awful bit of VT, and Junior doing it live to see us out.

    'Kid'. A couple of errors marred his usual comfortable appearance this week. But he looked good, managed to ignore some of the more annoying audience members, and had to contend with the circus acts as well, so gets a 7.

    The show. Points awarded for not having Zoo on. Points deducted for replacing them with a variety of circus acts for no discernible reason. Charlene was a bit of a black mark on an otherwise up-to-date edition. But just cos we are full to the gills with current acts doesn't mean it was a great show. Almost all the acts featured have had, or will go on to have much better songs.It's a 5.

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  20. A bit more info on our fave current Bond girl (and Pirelli calendar girl), Caroline Munro. Turns out she released three singles with her then husband as Judd and Miss Munro - they divorced in 1982 - and she released at least two solo singles, in 1967 and 1984, the latter very much piloted by Gary Numan as it was on his own label!

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