When it's just too hot to wear your t-shirt
07/07/83 (hosted by David 'Jake' Jensen & John 'Elwood' Peel)
Roman Holliday – “Don’t Try To Stop It” (32)
The show has a holiday feel tonight so who better to get us underway with what became their only top 30 hit, peaking at number 14.
The Mary Jane Girls – “All Night Long” (24)
Also their only top 30 hit, making it to number 13. But edited out of tonight's 7.30 showing.
Iron Maiden – “The Trooper” (12) (video)
Loud, scary and at its peak.
Freeez – “IOU” (5)
At last a routine on BBC4 for Zoo! And with some human pyramid help from the Hassani Troupe, to help lift IOU up to number 2.
ELO – “Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King” (14) (video)
Went up one more place. But edited out of the 7.30 show.
The Cure – “The Walk” (34)
Became their biggest hit to date when it peaked at number 12. But a better song was soon to follow. Miaow.
Jimmy The Hoover – “Tantalise (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh)” (26)
Just the one hit, and this was it. Peaked at number 18.
Eurythmics – “Who’s That Girl?” (29)
The first single from their number one album, Touch, it peaked at number 3. This performance was pre-recorded in the studio on June 29th.
Funk Masters – “It’s Over” (15)
Their only hit, it peaked at number 8. I don't recall this one at all.
Rod Stewart – “Baby Jane” (1) (video)
Second of three weeks at number one.
Mike Oldfield – “Moonlight Shadow” (4) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
Tonight's telly.
— hinge_Xanderl (@hinge_xanderl) March 31, 2017Next up is July 14th 1983.
'83 was a vintage year for feel-good hits, was it not? Roman Holliday open with their exuberant mixture of swing and vintage rock. This highly accomplished outfit would enjoy only one more British Top 40 hit with 'Motomania', but with greater success in Japan to follow. Guitarist Brian Bonhomme is currently a professor of - believe it or not - Russian history at Youngstown State University in Ohio!
ReplyDeleteThe Mary Jane Girls - protégées of Rick 'Super Freak' James - deserved to be included in the 7.30 showing with their polished brand of immaculately harmonised R&B. I've just found their TOTP performance on YT.
Iron Maiden next...
Mum: "What a great band!"
Me: "I'm turning down the volume."
As I've mentioned before, most of my relations from Mum's side are hard rockers. Moving swiftly on...
I remember Morocco's Hassani Troupe appearing on several BBC TV variety shows around that time, including 'The Keith Harris Show' and 'The Paul Daniels Magic Show'. As for Zoo, I found the majorette and the juggler quite entertaining, as well as the male modern jazz hoofer in the patched jacket - but otherwise, there was too much gymnastic activity and not enough dance.
Jimmy The Hoover seemed to have all the right credentials, being managed by the legendary Malcolm McLaren and signed to the CBS-funded Innervision label, which was also home to Wham! With Culture Club maestro Steve Levine in the producer's chair, the band looked set for a bright future - but would turn out to be a one-hit wonder. The slightly irritating children's chorus apart, 'Tantalise' has held up well as a memorable summer singalong.
The Funk Masters' offering - competent enough, but not too inspired - reminded me somewhat of Mezzoforte's 'Garden Party', which had been a hit only a few months earlier.
As the credits roll, one of TOTP's more surreal moments occurs: the juggler from 'IOU' still doing his turn to the strains of 'Moonlight Shadow'! In a strange sort of way, I cannot help but suspect that John Lennon - the supposed subject of the latter song - would have found it amusing!
The Hasani troupe were overshadowed by the well represented Zoo dancer in the gold minidress (very mini) which was the highlight of the performance. Interesting that they used a dance troupe rather than get Freeez back into the studio at No.5 in the charts, but it seemed that by mid-1983, practically every song had a video, and Zoo were not getting much work as a result of the pop video invasion, so this was an exception it seems, as there was also a very good video for IOU.
DeleteJimmy The Hoover weren't helped by having a follow-up called "Kill Me Kwik". Awful spelling, awful song, and yet I remember it getting a spot on "Crackerjack" (CRACKERJACK!!!)
ReplyDeleteJimmy The Hoover was very slow to get going, and the children’s chorus of ‘oh wo wee yeh yeh, oh wo wee yeh yeh’ sounded very Carribean to say the least, and I was more entertained by the studio and podium dancers being very undressed for the summer, as Angelo quite rightly points out, and I would add with bikini tops galore. Now where is that beach towel?
DeleteThe Mary Jane Girls - were they suggesting something by this song title, and did they really come all the way from LA to do so? Sorry to disappoint them, but I would have preferred an early night. These 'all night long' activities were a lot better represented by Phyllis Nelson a couple of years later with her No.1 hit Move Closer, and was better worth the trip from the USA to the TOTP studio in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteELO - good follow on from Freeez to keep the dance fever going. The song was a throwback to Roll Over Beethoven some 10 years earlier, which was diversion from their main sound, and the Rock 'n' Roll Is King video was the first of theirs to be released on iTunes some 10 years ago or so, and now many of their other videos are also available to purchase from there.
The Eurythmics – this was clearly not the video, and not a TOTP studio performance, so I would be curious to know where they performed this.
The Funkmasters – I don’t recall this at all, and like Mary Jane Girls, also coming from America into the TOTP studio I think, this sound was a throwback to 70s disco, and resembled the Oddysey sound I thought. Nice choice of white dress by the lead funkmaster.
Mike Oldfield - the playout in full can be enjoyed on the late night showing only, with The Hassani Troupe also having a go on this one, although not doing as well as they did earlier in the show on IOU by Freeez, but nevertheless as good finish to the show, and one of the best shows of 1983 so far.
According to my video copy, we got over two minutes more on the BBC4 playout than was originally transmitted (which fades out just as the credits end and the tumbler does his big spin). A Nice bonus!
DeleteYes, it is interesting that we had to wait 34 years to see the full playout when it could have been shown originally in 1983, but was not!
Deletei've now noticed that there is some guy who seems to make a habit of uploading a chart countdown compilation of each edition of totp onto youtube - without the rest of it, nor giving any explanation as to why not. i have asked for an answer on that front, but in the unlikely event of getting one this is the only way i have of assessing the hosts without having to leave home. kid... sorry, david's jimmy the hoover joke about cleaning up might actually have been quite amusing had peelie not warned us beforehand. and why does he refer to george michael & his chums as "the wham people"? this also gives me an opportunity to comment on the sylvian/sakamoto track that probably won't get exposure otherwise: this wistful elegy (that lyrically was probably the first-ever chart single that alluded-to if not outrightly referenced homosexual love by the way) hooked me from the off and remains an all-time favourite. and much later on i discovered there is another even starker re-recording of this (that came out as a b-side of sylvian's first solo single the following year) that i also rcommend giving a listen
ReplyDeleteroman holiday: taking the over-staffed ensemble award from tom robinson this week in the wake of some quite fierce competition, the only one not totally anonymous was the singer who had a rather annoying habit of wearing one of those sailor hats from "south pacific" on the back of his head. and now like then the overt jollyness of the music does absolutely nothing for me. but why was there an extra "L" in their name - were they worried that the producers of the film they nicked it from would sue?
mary jane girls: rick james was a superstar in america throughout the 80's, but as the producer and mentor of this lot it was the nearest he came to having a hit here - other than having talentless rappers sample his old recordings! deliberately picked and styled by james (even to the point of being allocated "sexy" names) to have differing appeal to different fans, they were a raunchier spice girls of their time. and the group name was inspired by james's notorious love of wacky baccy (i watched the "weeds" black comedy series recently and one amusing instance was that when the drug-peddling protagonist needed a law-deflecting pseudonym, someone came up with something so absurd that she suggested she might as well just call herself "mary jane dealer"!). were the male dancers part of the the act, or did the totp producer throw them in a bonus? musically it's quite a seductive dance groove, without ever quite luring one in unconditionally
maiden: i'm no fan of theirs by any stretch of the imagination, but it seemed they were being snubbed by the show up until now. perhaps because it was a case of "same old, same old" - i mean, could even their greatest admirer claim there was actually any musical development between this and their first recordings several years earlier? i can't help but think if the comic strip's classic "bad news" parody of a heavy metal band (actually made around this time), where the singer expresses his desire to the annie nightingale-style interviewer to expand their musical boundaries a bit with some "synth-metal" - whereupon the neanderthal guitarist overhears and is so appalled he ends up chanting "METAL! METAL!" ad nauseum and forces the singer to retract his diabolical delusions!
pt ii...
ReplyDelete(the) cure: i now see why "blue monday" had two separate spells in the charts in 1983 - in order to allow the cure to keep the flag flying inbetween with this outrageous steal! perhaps the reason new order never actually sued them was because (as has been pointed out here) their own recording was hardly "original" in the first place. robert smith had decided that old chum lol's usefulness was at an end at this point, but out of (misplaced?) loyalty he moved him over to ineffective synth player rather than hand him his P45 (despite that, lol was somewhat bitter about the situation in later years). fortunately on the visual front there's still no sign yet of the crazed clown image that smith later contrived at the expense of his good looks
jimmy the hoover: being another talcy malcy mclaren project, hardly surprisingly the hype for this lot was in full effect. tantalisingly on paper they came over as and looked really cool (i loved the model-turned-singer's floppy blond bob, but it was mistake on mclaren's part to allow him to stick with his unglamourous given name of derek dunbar!), but sadly the highlife-lite sound of this single (ripping off the likes of king sunny ade, that had recently been in vogue) was a real let down to my ears. still, it's well-suited to the totp party atmosphere i suppose. if nowhere near as effective on the radio
eurythmics: i still have trouble spelling their name even now, so perhaps given that it was a surprise they became so massive? not as good as the best of their last album, but at least they were still doing synth pop as opposed to the rather tedious mainstream rock that followed. annie has obviously been watching "blade runner", as her make-up is a direct lift from the scene where daryl hannah's character shuts her eyes and then sprays paint all around them!
the funk master (or rather confusingly, "the funk masters" on some of their pressings): this one completely passed me by at time of release, and i only heard it many years later where i discovered it was not funk at all, but some decidedly wishy-washy brit post-disco. so you see, the good word "funk" was already being abused decades before twats like mark ronson came along!
Three episodes to blog next weekend, which means we will 'Hoover' up the rest of July 1983 in one fail swoop next weekend, with (would you believe) Jimmy The 'Hoover' opening the show of Jimmy The 'Saville.'
ReplyDeleteof course the word "hoover" has now gone into the english language (although strangely enough not in the land where it was invented) as a verb meaning to suck up stuff with a vacuum cleaner, even though it was originally a brand name. can anyone else think of other such instances? the use of the word in that context still persists, even though hoover machines are now outsold by the dyson models and others ("i'm just going to dyson the lounge" doesn't sound right to me!)
DeleteThis is the page you want:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks
Some surprises among the more obvious ones. Never knew trampoline was a trade name!
thanks for that thx - obviously some of the trademarked names that have become common usage are no surprise as they actually describe the product (video tape!), but what interests me are those that were originally the surnames of people that were involved in the creation and/or manufacturing process (biro, stetson). rather amusingly as a result of reading this, i have discovered that the brand name "durex" is a generic term in brazil for adhesive tape - when i was at school and sniggering at the back of class, it was of course a generic term for something made for a completely different purpose...
DeleteWhen I was a kid and found out what Durex was, I was surprised to see it advertised on the side of Formula One racing cars! "Are they allowed to do that?" I wondered naively.
DeleteThe Durex as Sellotape was also used by Jasper Carrott in a routine about a late 70's visit to Australia!
DeleteAs Alan Partridge once pointed out, 'Tannoy' is a brand name and we should really say 'public address system'!
DeleteRoman Holliday with the sound of the summer, or “A” sound of the summer, bright, sunny, breezy, all those feelgood adjectives. Really liked this at the time and it’s still a nostalgic tune. Health and safety would have a fit at Mr Holliday leaping up on the keyboards, mind you. There’s a fun video for this, incidentally.
ReplyDeleteThe Mary Jane Girls with their louche hymn to an all-night garage, something like that anyway, one for the hot summer nights, though they look too bright eyed to be living up to their name. The Muscle Marys are back, I note.
Iron Maiden break out the spandex and you realise how scarily accurate Spinal Tap was. The song sounds indistinguishable from many of their others to my ears, but I can’t argue with their success. No ballet werewolf this time? Shame.
Freeez, the record sounds better than their appearance recently, though the accompanying acrobatics are exhausting, with the tumblers, a human pyramid, someone doing a Donald O’Connor Make ‘Em Laugh impersonation, Laura Dern twirling a baton, and sundry other distractions. All sweating heavily, too.
ELO, not their best and the instrumental break is particularly horrible. Jeff was running out of ideas by this stage, that much was clear. Shakin’ Stevens would have done it better. Video’s pretty bog standard, too.
The Cure, cheerful as ever, with a relatively upbeat number for them as they moved into their poppier stage, though the misery pose was still present. Bob’s lipstick just the right side of unruly, how that would change as the years went by.
Jimmy the Hoover take a few African rhythms and melodies in what would be raged against as cultural appropriation now. But while Mr Hoover looks like a prannet, this was a tuneful, catchy song that would pop into your head at various times of the day.
Eurythmics, better than Madonna’s Who’s That Girl, and the performance here is better than the entire film Who’s That Girl, but it’s a bit stern for the plaintive tune. Not bad, they were in their pomp right then.
Funk Masters, didn’t think I recognised this till the funk mistress started singing (or miming), but oh yeah, that one. Didn’t sound all that funky, though, the MJ Girls had more of the right idea, this was too lightweight for the mission statement in their name.
Rod Stewart, is that Scottish blue lemonade he’s imbibing? Never as popular as Irn Bru, of course, and you can’t seem to get it now.
Mike Oldfield to end on, with the most inappropriate dance move imaginable from the tumbler. You wouldn’t get Maggie Reilly busting that move, would you?
Oh, and DO NOT cut The Good Old Days, you don't need to, it runs 50 minutes so just put it on at 8:10pm. TGOD is one of my TV highlights (when it's on), it's just as fascinating as TOTP in its way.
ReplyDeleteJust need to axe World News Today/100 Days & instant saving to the Beeb paying it's editors to bother chopping random acts twice a Week.
DeleteBBC Four is probably my favourite channel, but even I struggle to see what the point of the news is on it when there's already a dedicated BBC News channel.
DeleteSo we have reached the 1st April, and it was exactly six years ago on 1st April 2011 that BBC4 began these TOTP reruns with the 1st April 1976 edition of TOTP, and whereas we should have been now at 1st April 1982 with The Goombay Dance Band at no.1, we are instead catapulted more than a year ahead to July 1983 with Rod Stewart at No.1 with Baby Jane.
ReplyDeleteI must say that despite the glee of the BBC being able to hasten this process by knockout-punching the editions of JS, DLT and Mike Smith, in order to get the shows nearer to the mid-80s by now, and at times making this blog a chore instead of a fun hobby, I have throughly enjoyed the whole nostalgia trip and Angelo's good work at least since the 1979 episodes where I came on board to his blog.
Is it really six years - wow - I'm getting nostalgic about the nostalgia now! Most of those 1976 shows would be yewtreed these days too. And lots of editions are coming up soon to blog over a short time.
Deletei still have fond memories of fox doing "s-s-s-single bed" on the first show of these re-runs:
Deletehttp://yesitsnumberone.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/1476-where-is-beatles-band.html
i had to go back to the original blog by simon to make sure i was right here, as no matter now much you delude yourself otherwise the mind can play tricks with you. i'm tempted to start going through these blogs again to see if my thoughts are still the same or not, but like the rest of us sadly i only have one life to live!
of course the original two hosts gave their own views in detail, as opposed to angelo's now-standard overview. but the format now is in fact preferable in my opinion, as it give the rest of us the opportunity to ramble on at length! once again i thank you angelo for what must be a chore at times, although never one that gets forgotten about or pushed to one side. however: even though you are the consumate host, never feel you can't join in and chew the fat with us once we get started!
Yes, thanks again Angelo for being so diligent in keeping the blog up to date and allowing us all to witter on! I never dared hope that we would get this far when the reruns first started, and even though I do think BBC4 are now rushing through the years too quickly, which can make commenting a chore at times, it is still a great thing that we are getting to see these shows at all. Mind you, it looks like we might have five to slog through again over Easter week...
DeleteYes I'm very glad everyone weighs in with their own views and insight in the comments because I certainly couldn't keep up writing regularly as thoroughly as the previous two blog hosts! It would be hard enough with one edition per week, let alone two, and often more than two! So I'm always delighted to see lots of knowledgeable contributions, saving me hours of research :-)
Deletea few comments on what was on bbc1 that evening:
ReplyDeletebest of the west: i had no recollection of this at all, and assumed due to its early time slot it was a british thing. but it turns out to be american, and something i wouldn't mind watching now. but perhaps not surprisingly there appears to be no trace of it on dvd...
if you want to stop smoking: i don't remember watching this either. but although i didn't exactly want to stop at the time, i thought i was doing it a bit too much. therefore i spent that summer limiting myself to one cigarette a day, choosing the moment when i knew i would enjoy it most as on its own it gave me a mild cannabis-like hit! not surprisingly that couldn't last for long, and it took another 15 years and the onset of smoker's cough before i took serious steps to "pack it in" (which was via the alan carr* method, and i haven't smoked since)
* no - not the camp so-called comedian!
sgt bilko: as it was known by all and sundry when it got oft-repeated in the early 80's... even though it was actually called "the phil silvers show". although it was always on last thing at night before the closedown (do they still do that?), it gained such a cult following (including clare grogan of altered images fame, who i remember raving about it in an interview) that one newspaper even did a "where are they now" article - the answer being that those that were still alive were at that point without exception "retired"!
I read Phil Silvers spent his last years as a recluse, watching his old TV shows over and over, which is sad.
Deleteapparently groucho marx did much the same, although in his case it would often be in company where he would point out his female co-stars and boast how he'd "had" them all!
Deletephil silvers was actually still alive at this point, so i wonder if he ever knew he had become a belated cult figure in blighty? of course silvers was no stranger to thse shores, as a result of somewhat bizarrely starring in "carry on, follow that camel" (that for some reason i've never actually seen) in the twilight of his career...
If THX's story is true that's incredibly sad. I have the Bilko Box Set and it's truly a work of pure genius by Phil Silvers, with a fantastic supporting cast and beautifully written.
DeleteI agree, Bilko was a brilliant creation, apparently they only stopped when they did because they ran out of scams for him to operate, not because they were tired of the show!
DeleteAnother great Nat Hiken show was Car 54 Where Are You? It's on US DVD, both series, and like Bilko features a terrific comedy ensemble.
The Rhythm Pals transform themselves into The Blues Brothers this week, but it's not enough to save a very dull show full of debutants who make it very clear very quickly that they were not the future of music. I can't say I have any recollection of Roman Holliday - JP's favourite band, alleges Kid - though judging from their outfits Sailor would have been a better name, if it hadn't already been taken by the 70s group. This is pleasant enough, but eminently disposable, while their efforts to make themselves look as if they are all great mates naturally arouse my suspicions! The band name also reminds me of a Flintstones-style cartoon series called The Roman Holidays, which got shown endlessly on the BBC a few summers later...
ReplyDeleteAs with the preceding act, The Mary Jane Girls' effort does not linger in the mind for long, though the vocals are nice and soulful. The dreaded musclemen are back, heralding another problem with this show, the return of all those wretched circus performers I was hoping we had now seen the back of. At least they aren't present in the Iron Maiden video, very much a standard issue metal promo. The song starts off with some nicely melodic guitar which reminded me a bit of Wishbone Ash, but as soon as Bruce opens his mouth it degenerates into the normal predictable fare.
The circus acts are then out in full force for the Zoo routine, which does at least enable us to hear the proper version of IOU. However, as Julie notes above once again the emphasis here is very much on tiresome acrobatics rather than proper choreography. The ELO video shows that Jeff was now shifting back towards his more normal look, and this solid but unremarkable promo, complete with jiving couples, is a good match for the equally uninspired song.
I liked JP's jibe about The Cure making their annual TOTP appearance, at this point an accurate enough comment but one that would not hold true for much longer. Their most famous hit was just around the corner, but I thought this was more interesting musically. Robert had by now fully embraced the Goth look, and another member of the band appears to be sporting a man bun a good three decades before they became fashionable. Speaking of "ahead of their time" hairstyles, the same could be said about the Jimmy the Hoover singer's barnet, which looks like it has travelled back in time from the early 90s! While this record had a vaguely summery sound, it was all very low key and forgettable, and was certainly a lot less adventurous than you might have expected from a Malcolm McLaren-backed outfit, particularly with a name like that...
Even the Eurythmics fail to enliven this show, as I've always thought Who's that Girl was a bit of a boring plodder, and I haven't changed my mind. This very static performance does not help matters - as Dave seems to be playing the organ grinder, they could have done with having a monkey onstage! As with Roman Holliday and The Mary Jane Band, I have never heard of The Funk Masters, who should have automatically been prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act - the only thing vaguely funky about them is the large number of band members. Moonlight Shadow is by far the best song on the show, but even this is spoilt by being relegated to the credits and being subjected to the totally inappropriate gymnastics of the Hassani Troupe - let's hope we never see them again...
Jimmy the Hoover's lead singer's crowning glory was very 1983 indeed. If you're He-Man.
DeleteI thought Dave Stewart was printing off copies of his newsletter with a Banda duplicator.
It looked more Chesney Hawkes than He-Man to me, but I can see where you're coming from!
DeleteI see from next weeks TV Guide that the late night repeat of 14/7/83 is only 30 minutes long when it was originally 35. With no JK section in it I wonder what's been cut out this week?
ReplyDeleteI would guess that they may have removed the Sylvian & Sakamoto video this time round, as there are some scenes of violence in it, which while acceptable in 1983 on TOTP, it may not be the case in 2017.
DeleteThe Saturday repeat for that edition is in a 35 minute slot, so I'm guessing unedited it'll be about 32 minutes or so.
DeleteOk, great, so the Saturday repeat is the must-watch edition this week. Thanks for the heads up THX.
DeleteCan anyone come to the rescue with the 21st July edition which will not be shown by BBC4 this week, cos the presenter is Jimmy Saville? I think this edition was also shown on UK Gold, and is also the first week at No.1 for Paul Young.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure someone will produce the full-length show by Friday, but in the meantime roughly half of it can be seen on YouTube:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bewg7uXM2xg
Some great summer songs this week.
ReplyDeleteRoman Holliday-A favourite on the Radio One roadshow that year along with Jimmy The Hoover and the great song from The Funkmasters.
Good to see the Mary Jane Girls as well one of those bands who had different hits in the UK and USA. All night long in the UK and in 1985 In my house which failed to hit the UK Top 40
Talking with a friend last night, he observed (rather unkindly) The Mary Jane Girls all looked like prostitutes. Probably intentional, knowing Mr James.
ReplyDeletei remember once watching an interview with rick james, where he complained about accusations that one of his videos was too salacious ("so there are breasts in it - so what? so there are but-tocks in it - so what?")...
Deleteof course there were several comparisons drawn with rick and prince i.e. they were black musicians with a bit of a rock background (james once played in a band with neil young!), they were multi-instrumentalists that played practically everything on their albums... and they also formed and mentored extremely provocatively-attired female vocal groups - in the latter's case it was vanity 6 (the number was allegedly based on the "breast count"!)
talking of which: there is a peer of mine who somewhat curiously has a liking for k-pop (and even more curiously claims it's because he loves the music, and not the scantily-clad near-jailbait that fronts it!). so i felt it was my duty to report to him an article i'd read where one such group were in a los angeles airport, where they were arrested on suspicion of being "sex workers"!
I recall an interview with Rick on Wired or APB where he was accused of being tasteless and exploitative for including attractive ladies doing lesbian things in his video, and he was confrontational, asking "You too straight for that?!" Hmm, I didn't see any blokes kissing each other in that video, Rick...
DeleteWhat is the big deal about Rick James? OK, so he was the 80s phenomenon in the US for ladies doing those things, but Cerrone made him look very lame with this video called Souvenir from Paradise:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L3txRuMX3c
Kpop has been fashionable for some, just like Japanese music has in the past for those looking for pop more exotic. Arguably neither are in their better periods, which would arguably be 70s/80s. Korean music is largely about style and generic ballads now, not much of an improvement really on modern Western chart music, and not even that dissimilar.
DeleteIronically Thailand which is better known for it's sex industry actually produces pop which normally isn't overproduced and has more classic melody. Melding local and Western influences like Jpop and Kpop used to in those earlier decades. But as it's not hyped most outside the region don't follow it. People are mainly bandwagoners with music (as with other stuff), they follow the crowd.
For me this was a case of (in the words of Vanessa Williams) save the best ‘til last. Gosh there was a lot of FF on this one and I won’t bother commenting on most of the stuff that wasn’t to my taste. I did enjoy the usual double act banter from messrs Jensen and Peel however.
ReplyDeleteMary Jane Girls – All Night Long – I don’t think I have ever heard this before and whilst it has a certain appeal to it, we’re going to get Lionel Richie’s song of almost the same name soon and in any case I prefer Rainbow and Joe Walsh.
Iron Maiden – The Trooper – They named an ale after this racket?
Freez – IOU – A little respite from the Zoo acrobats to a thoroughly pleasant dance track.
ELO – Rock n’ Roll is King – Definitely reigning over most of the artists we see ELO with Mik Kaminski playing his violin on an ELO track for the first time in several albums and Louis Clark once more in charge of the orchestration. I know that the late Kelly Groucutt played on this track before he was fired from the band but I can’t tell if he’s in the video. Anyhow, still sounds (and looks) great. BTW the ‘Secret Messages’ album was conceived as a double originally.
Speaking of ELO, the Funk Masters track ‘It’s Over’ which warranted me pressing FF was also a song title on ‘Out of the Blue’, and pretty damn fine the ELO song is too.
Rod Stewart was maintaining his appeal via his quirky video in the same way as David Bowie did a few weeks ago.
Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow – How fine this sounds, even on extended dancing playout and it’s a shame that the fireside video wasn’t shown this time. Nevertheless, a great way to end a disappointing show that could have featured Sylvian and Sakamoto, and Malcolm McLaren.
Hi folks! Back for one night only at the mo – Dad’s been in hospital for three weeks now and, in terms of my life at present, to quote a Booker T and the MG’s hit, time is tight.
ReplyDeleteOur hosts' garb made me hungry for six whole chicken and ten slices of dry white toast.
Always loved that Roman Holliday song and, yes, I’m sure they added an extra letter in their name to avoid copyright problems. I remember an indie band releasing a single called “Debbie Harrry” for the same reason. This performance was the very epitome of a band thinking “This could be our only ever TOTP so let’s enjoy it”.
The Mary Jane Girls. Not exactly something for everyone. Where was the ginger for starters? This was as funky as the Trade Descriptions Act baiting Funk Masters.
One of the best Iron Maiden songs in my opinion. Loved Bruce’s harlequin spandex trews, points lost for the bloke wearing a T-shirt advertising his own band.
Oh Christ, it’s those bloody acrobats again. Next!
Sorry, that ELO song was as close to rock‘n’roll as The Funk Masters were to funk. Too much like “Hold On Tight” for my liking. I miss Kelly Groucutt's mutton chops while I'm at it.
Oooo! The Cure with go-go dancers. Who’d have ever thought?
Decent Afro-lite with Jimmy The Hoover, but the lead singer looked a right prawn with his lack of shirt and decent dance moves.
Eurythmics with a very (f)arty offering visually. Sooooo clever. The video with (shock) that Marilyn character was better.
So, The Funk Masters. You know what? It was wafer thin soul disco, but I remembered it straight away and loved it. I think the band are actually British - lead singer Julie Roberts definitely is. Special award to her for the sneakiest ‘checking themselves out in a monitor’ by any act in the whole re-run thus far.
Sandpaper voiced male (the female equivalent, of course, being Bonnie Tyler) at number one with a half decent vid and a half decent song. Prefer this to that Police effort any day.
What, no re-run of Mike Oldfield’s appearance? Could’ve swapped this for Freeez. Oh Christ, it’s those bloody acrobats, Again!!!!!
i'd forgotten that marilyn was one of the "girls" in the eurythmics video - it was probably his first mainstream exposure, so no doubt most who saw it thought he was a real girl! wasn't dave's then-current squeeze siobhan from bananarama also one of the girls in it?
Deletei suspect the funk masters were so-named because they actually did try and do some funk to start with. but i wouldn't advise listening to any of it on yt, as it's not very good (their xmas offering requires a particularly wide berth!). julie roberts (who sang on "it's over", although i'm not sure that's her in the studio) later became juliet roberts and a member of british jazz-pop collective working week (and also did some vocal tuition in the ace "rock school" series!)
With its eclectic mix of artists, appropriately enough perhaps this show was almost a throwback to those early TOTP repeats where someone 'light ent' like Ken Dodd or Cilla might turn up at the end.
ReplyDeleteNo Cilla (thank god) but sadly loads of dancers getting in the way of the acts again, blus bloody acrobats and Muscled Marys.
Roman Holliday - A good, upbeat song to start with. I actually like their earlier single 'Stand By' more but that didn't make the Top 40.
Mary Jane Girls - To me they looked more like a female Village People than a prototype Spice Girls but either way the song is merely average.
Iron Maiden - OK if you like this sort of thing. If I have to listen to heavy rock, it may as well be Maiden!
ELO - Middling song and video from them, no surprise that their best days were behind them.
The Cure - Strange to think as we watch these shows in context that they were soon to be chart regulars. I think this is one of their best, I prefer it to 'The Love Cats' actually.
Jimmy The Hoover - Completely passed me by at the time - I remember a friend, on knowing that I loved 80s music, chatting away about this until I pointed it out that it was not something I was familiar with. As a result, the singer didn't look at all like I expected him to. The song's OK, reasonably catchy but no surprise that it was their only hit.
Eurythmics - Not one of their best, if you ask me.
Funk Masters - Again, not one that stuck in the memory. When Clock did a version of this in the late 90s, I assumed it was an original song rather than a cover!
I've seen pictures of Juliet Roberts when she had solo hits in the 90s (most notably 'Caught In The Middle') and I am 99.9% certain that is not her on stage.
It's a shame that Mike Oldfield didn't get a return appearance or repeat as it's not the most suitable song for an end of show dance to!
i thought that about julie(t) roberts too noax - she wasn't that much of a looker and also a touch on the porky side to my recollection. so maybe the funk master thought a foxier chick miming on totp might generate more sales? if so, the ploy worked!
DeleteI was about to mention Stand By. I'm surprised it wasn't a hit as the melody is vaguely familiar to me, it must have had decent airplay. I do prefer Don't Try To Stop It, but both songs are decent for me.
DeleteI'm not sure if 'Stand By' got much radio play but for me it was favourite because (recurring theme alert!) it was featured on the Chart Runners compilation.
DeleteChecked out the Stand By video, my, they seemed like such wholesome boys on TOTP, too. Don't Try was a lot better to my ears. The lead singer reminds me of someone, anyone care to speculate who?
Deletesomewhat spookily by utter chance i started playing the keni burke 80's club favourite "risin' to the top" a moment ago. and i don't know if one ripped the other off or it was just coincidence, but the groove and bass riff on that and "all night long" are pretty much identical!:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieevQ9RrDc
Neil B has put most of the 21st July show on WeTransfer, though The Police performance is missing - it can be seen on YouTube.
ReplyDeletehttps://wetransfer.com/downloads/bbbee27b1f0a9d883f3c9bf88dac8fc920170403074235/5e229e
Which Police song is missing?
DeleteA studio performance of Wrapped Around Your Finger.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIf anyone has the UK Gold edition of this show, then it would be the preferred option, especially as they would not delete the Police song!
DeleteI expect that the reason why people deleted a song or two from their TOTP VHS recordings is much like what BBC4 are doing for their early evening showing, i.e., that by keeping the show to 30 minutes, you can get six episodes of TOTP in a 3-hour VHS tape, so Neil B, I understand.
Neil's copy is a UK Gold one. They did delete the Police performance from it.
DeleteOh dear, how pathetic of UK Gold. Hope someone has a VHS copy of the original show then.
DeletePeelie and The Kid as The Blues Brothers. Yep, they've reached the dressing up stage.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many of these records I have forgotten about. When I first saw Roman Holiday I remember dismissing them as a poor man's Joboxers but this was actually not bad. There appears to be about 12 of them in the band but with all the dancers/cheerleaders it's hard to tell.
I remember the title of the Mary Jane Girls song but had forgotten what a slinky groove it was. Iron Maiden on the other hand left me cold then and nothing's changed.
The dance routine for Freeze is dreadful and was clearly recorded earlier presumably in case someone got hurt in the process. The Zoo members seem to be doing as little as possible apart from a lot of folding and unfolding arms and pointing while the Hassani acrobats are focussed on at all the wrong moments. A good idea but badly executed. They do OWE us something, a dance routine, a proper one.
I don't remember seeing this ELO video so I must have missed the shoe at the time (I was still working at Brent Cross at this time and didn't get home until 9pm). I bought the Secret messages album many years later and played it a lot, some great songs there including The Stranger, Bluebird and Four Little Diamonds.
I never really got into The Cure but they did make a few great singles and this was one of them.
I liked Tantalise a lot at the time and bought the single. The Lead singer looks like a long haired Martin Fry.
I thought this was video for Who's That Girl at first but it was a very odd studio performance with Annie dressed as Dick Emery's skinhead character, Dave as an automata playing a barrel organ while some bloke in a boiler suit bangs two pipes with a hammer in the background. What's not to like?
Like the MJG it had slipped my mind how good the Funk Masters track was. The producer does his usual trick of cramming a large band in a small space but it's a god performance.
Rod (again) and playout with Mike Oldfield with the tumblers finally doing some tumbling, at least one them, albeit reluctantly
Mary Jane Girls - I was hoping for a cover of the a Rainbow track. Sub-standard disco fodder.
ReplyDeleteIron Maiden - nothing new here, but they do it well.
Freeez - Weird choice of dance group accompaniment...
ELO - very knicker fixated camera work
Cure - no idea what this was about (even having visited the lyrics)
Funk Masters - 10 years too late with this. Never heard it before - not surprised. Glad when it was over (did you see what I did there?)