Thursday 24 August 2017

Let's Hear It For Top of the Pops

A big round of applause from 8.75 million viewers for our favourite show on its return from a mini summer break!

When that number you've been waiting for at Bingo is finally called out



17/05/84 (Simon Bates & Peter Powell)

Break Machine – “Break Dance Party” (16)
With their mixture of acrobatics and whistling, Break Machine get the show underway with their second and final top ten hit, peaking at number 9.

Deniece Williams – “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” (8)
Featuring some enthusiastic waving, this was Deneice's first hit for six years and was also her fourth and final top ten hit, taken from the movie Footloose, but it didn't quite make it to number one, as Simon so confidently predicted, stalling instead at number 2.

Marillion – “Assassing” (22) (video)
At is peak.

Hazell Dean – “Searchin’ (I Gotta Find A Man)” (28)
The first of three top ten hits for former Song For Europe contestant Hazell, peaking at number 6.

Womack & Womack – “Love Wars” (25)
The first of four top 40 hits for the husband and wife duo, Love Wars reaching number 14.

Ultravox – “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” (29) (video)
With a nuclear power station about to go into meltdown, Midge decides to direct the video and Simon thinks it should win an award, for a single that became their third and final top ten hit, peaking at number 3.

Duran Duran – “The Reflex” (1) (rpt)
Third of four weeks at number one.

Kenny Loggins – “Footloose” (6) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.



Next up should be May 24th but Mike Smith is a host. And a the following week, May 31st has DLT, so BBC4 will now skip two weeks and show June 7th 1984 next.

63 comments:

  1. SB has SB clinging onto him on the left as he introduces Marillion. She pulls a slightly strange face which seems to suggest “Oh no!” when he says the name ‘Marillion’…

    Break Dance – Forgettable start to the show. FF

    Deniece Williams – Let’s hear it for the Boy – Footloose was all conquering at this time and I much prefer lively number to ‘Free’.

    Marillion – Assassing – Complete contrast. Love the song but it isn’t singles material. This is horribly edited too with the moody intro chopped, but mercifully still retains Steve Rothery’s guitar solo followed by Mark Kelly’s excellent keyboard break.

    Hazel Dean – Searchin’ – Not to be confused with the Hollies hit of the same name. It’s a bouncy number that sounds like something else but I cannot put my finger on what….hang on reminds me of Kelly Marie actually...it’s the two dancers that do it.

    Womack x 2 – Love Wars – This ain’t bad at all. Don’t really recall it but it’s vaguely like ‘Teardrops’ which I really like….

    Ultravox – Dancing with tears in my eyes – Their second biggest hit but one of my least favourites. Midge and Chris really have grown their hair long! Hated this video which was splashed all over the gatefold booklet that came with the single; surprised that they showed it. Who remembers those vertical record players?!

    Duranies – The Reflex – After a few weeks of the video we’re back to that studio appearance.

    Kenny Loggins – Footloose playout – What a great record to dance out to! Bonnie Tyler’s hit ‘Holding out for a Hero’ from ‘Footloose’ bombed on initial release but then reawakened a few years later when it was used in a TV Series called ‘Cover up’ and people realised how good it was.

    Murder not proven – I’ve forgotten that series but recall it now thanks to this TV listing prompt.

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    1. Cover Up is best recalled because the star Jon-Erik Hexum shot himself as a joke on the set with a blank, not realising how dangerous that is - he died, but the show limped on for a little while.

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    2. His replacement Antony Hamilton also passed away young, aged 42.

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    3. Not to be confused with the snooker player Anthony Hamilton from Nottingham, currently ranked No.26 in the world, according to worldsnooker.com

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  2. Hope you had a nice holiday, Angelo!

    Break Machine, proving if it ain't broke, don't fix it with a suspiciously similar follow up. Remembered it when the whistling kicked in. A bit of fun.

    Deniece (or is it Deneice?) Williams with an even bigger hit from Footloose. Also a good time tune, liked her signature "hand" gesture as alluded to above. Bit disappointed the director didn't elect to recreate the film's opening titles with the dancing feet. Only one boy, Simes.

    Marillion, ooh, someone got a Quantel Paintbox for their birthday. Again, strictly for the initiated, can't recall a note of it - is there supposed to be a "G" on the end of that title? Shouldn't it be Arsearseing?

    Hazel Dean movin' and a groovin' and a searchin' with this pretty respectable club track, like the liquid synth and she reminds one of Boystown Gang in her staging (possibly intentionally?).

    Womack and Womack, now here's a real classic, what a brilliant record. Love the sparse, menacing production, their voices complement each other perfectly, they never did better than this for my money.

    It's the 80s, so it's nuclear war time again courtesy of Ultravox with their deadly earnest (so we had to take it seriously) doomladen ditty. It does stick in the mind, I'll give Midge that - mine was blown when someone told me what it was really about when I was a kid.

    Check out the Durannies in the audience singing along to The Reflex!

    Ah, now here was the perfect place to recreate those Footloose titles. Opportunity missed once again.

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    1. Definitely "Deniece", I would say - "i before e except after c," and all that...

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    2. aren't there actually a couple of genuine exceptions to the "I before E except after C" rule? although i'm a stickler for getting english spelling right (as part of my OCD condition ha ha) if i ruled the world (well, at least the english-speaking/writing part of it), then i would replace "hard" C's with K's and "soft" C's with "S's", and the letter would only be used in conjunction with an H to get a "ch" sound (or even C on its own would be used for that purpose)...

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    3. Yes indeed THX, Utravox were jumping on 1984 bandwagon that was 'there's gonna be nuclear war, and we're all gonna die'. I remember at the time people's mood in 1984 was one of impending death and disease with nuclear war and the first knowledge of a new disease called AIDS that made things even worse. We're in for the long haul with these morbid themes, as we're only a few shows away from the 'ground-breaking' (excuse the pun) 9-week No.1 from Frankie GTH called Two tribes, ending up blowing up the planet.

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    4. Wilberforce - there are quite a few exceptions, "seize," "weird" and "feisty" for starters.

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    5. I before E except after C isn't taught in schools anymore because it's so inaccurate. I suppose it's like French, you have to learn what's ie and ei like what's la and what's le. Or getting your apostrophes correct. There's no shortcuts!

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  3. I notice Huckleberry Finn and His Friends is on those listings, presumably the first episode of about fifty billion. I suspect it's still on somewhere.

    And The Hunter, unfunniest cheapo 5 minute cartoon ever.

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    1. Huckleberry Finn was a staple of school holidays in the 80s - I always remember being creeped out by the scenes where Tom Sawyer was trapped in a cave with Injun Joe.

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  4. Hosts: PP didn't look too upset at being paired with Slimes. Master Bates was tolerable tonight with just the one inaccurate number one prediction.

    Marillion: I liked this at the time but both video and song have aged badly. They would produce better.

    Hazell Dean: Must remember to get some Bacofoil when I go shopping.

    Womack & Womack: Too much purple. Were they trying to merge with the lighting? It looked like Bob Carol Gees was dancing in the audience behind them.

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    1. Carolgees is spelt as one word Steve.

      With regard to Womack & Womack, I thought it was just the right amount of purple, not too much, not too little, and agree totally with THX that it's a real classic and brilliant record. I remember when this came out and I really loved it, and now seeing this husband-wife couple, it did look like they had total synergy, but not in a slushy way like we have seen with other husband-wife acts through TOTP history.

      sct353, Love Wars was their first track of note in the UK, and although I remember Teardrops by then a couple of years later, it was nowhere near as good as Love Wars, so let's enjoy this one again before it goes down the charts eventually.

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    2. Oh yes, and a few months later at the start of 1985, we would get Ashford & Simpson with Solid, where they were another type of Womack & Womack, but this husband-wife couple looked more commercial savvy than the Womacks, with brilliant video to boot, but just as good on music offering.

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    3. I stand corrected Dory! I much preferred 'Teardrops' but I'm sure 'Love Wars' will grow on me.

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  5. Whatever was eating PP earlier in the year, it would seem that Master Bates was not the cause, as he seems very relaxed and affable in the headmaster's company on this occasion - the Janice effect, perhaps?

    Break Machine were certainly determined to milk the breaking craze for all it was worth, and who can blame them? The song is OK, but the music here is very much secondary to some impressive moves. A hyper Deniece next, her first hit in years coming courtesy of this bouncy but extremely bland film tie-in. Give me the soulful and sensuous Free any day - this tune, as well as being dull, largely fails to exploit the undoubted power of Deniece's voice.

    Oh dear, yet more forgettable rubbish from Marillion, and what was the superfluous "g" in aid of? The endless repetitive split screen in the video was a chore as well, and there were far too many close-ups of Mr Dick. Things improve with Hazell Dean and a quality club track enlivened by the "searching" hand movements accompanying each chorus. As noted above, the presence of the two backing dancers does recall Kelly Marie performances of yore, but this kind of staging would become increasingly common in the years to come.

    We then finally get to the really good stuff. Love Wars is a superb track, unusual in terms of production and vocal arrangement, but weirdly compelling. Good chemistry too between the happy couple on this performance - they had known each other since they were children, but had only married a few years previously after Cecil Womack divorced Mary "My Guy" Wells. A storming return to form for Ultravox follows, as they deservedly scored their biggest hit since Vienna with this powerful tune. I think the tragic video also stands up pretty well, and it was chillingly prescient as the Chernobyl disaster occurred just two years later. Mind you, I'm not sure why Midge and his wife didn't try to get as far away as possible, rather than meekly accepting their fate and having a final bonk. Another week at the top for Duran Duran, and we conclude with a studio audience who look considerably more awkward than footloose...

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    1. I noticed on the Footloose playout that a few of the studio audience members were returning from previous shows also as studio audience members dancing on the playout, especially a couple at the front of the audience this week as the picture faded out.

      Also noticed a regular TOTP blonde with a light pink dress this week, has been in the same studio audience every week since summer 1983 when she also did the regular podium girl dancing, such as on Jimmy The Hoover's Tantalise. She is still studio dancing a year later in summer 1984!

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    2. Although the dance troupes had been phased out by this point, Michael Hurll was still using paid cheerleaders to liven up the audience dancing and create a "party" atmosphere. I noticed that chap who looks like Duncan Norvelle was present once again this week - he's been around for at least six months or so now.

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  6. No sign as yet of a complete 24th May show, though it can be virtually reconstructed in full through various clips on YouTube. D42 has made the 31st May show available here:

    https://vimeo.com/183231210

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    1. Got the 24th May here. Poorly de-interlaced but watchable.
      https://mega.nz/#!ZaZ1CCoK!5dn12RQyqTZkr97TDHXQlZVZJPo27mX6F5qrUjHdE0g

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    2. Thanks Sean - it's possible a higher quality version may turn up in the next couple of days.

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  7. 1984 had hit its stride by this time, this week's edition boasting some slick new wave, R&B and Hi-NRG courtesy of Ultravox, Womack & Womack and Hazell Dean respectively. I notice Evelyn Thomas's name in the rundown - here's hoping her appearance will be neither 'Yewtreed' nor legally blocked.

    In 2011, I had the pleasure of being entertained by Midge Ure - among several other famous Scottish pop acts - at 'The Big Gig', a charitable event held at Glasgow's Barrowland nightclub. His performance of 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes' brought the house down, honestly.

    Whatever your opinion of Duran Duran, it cannot be denied that they were one of the era's foremost singles bands. 'The Reflex' is one of 19 classic hits that can be found on the 1998 compilation 'Greatest', which every home should have.

    Finally, I would like to bring you the news some of you have been awaiting since last autumn: I have passed GCSE English Literature at Grade 7, which would have been a borderline Grade A in the O-level era! Not bad for someone who failed the examination first time around, in 1980! This takes my total of O-levels/GCSEs to 9, though I also have Level 3 technical qualifications in Microsoft Office and Sage Accounts, as well as ABRSM Grade 5 in Music Theory.

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    1. Congratulations, Julie, that PhD can't be far away!

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    2. what's the yewtree link with evelyn thomas? there was nothing mentioned on her wiki page, so i assumed it might have related to her producer ian levine. but there was nothing about that in his either...

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    3. Having researched Evelyn's appearances on TOTP via YT, I am pleased to inform you that at least one edition on which she appeared was not hosted by Mike Smith, DLT or Savile.

      Here's the relevant link:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8oCWldei5c

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    4. oh right, i get you now - she could just be a victim of yewtree'd editions, as opposed to being a target herself. i have to say i don't share your enthusiasm as i'm not a fan of ian levine's productions, or of the man himself - he was essentially a rich kid/spoilt brat who did whatever he wanted in the entertainment business because he had the means to do so, rather than the talent!

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    5. I know he's a science fiction anorak, but 'High Energy' deservedly reached No.1 in Germany, No.5 in the UK and No.1 on the US club chart. That point in the song when she sustains the word "high" on C5 for 11 seconds, and then soars from Ab5 to Db6 on the next "high", remains one of the most thrilling moments in the history of the discotheque. It should not be forgotten that she also had a British Top 30 hit in '76 with the Northern soul classic 'Weak Spot'!

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    6. Ian Levine is perhaps better known as a rabid Doctor Who fan than he is as a producer. He has long taken the credit for saving the first-ever Dalek story from being wiped from existence, and for much of the 80s he acted as an unofficial fan adviser to the production team. This led many fans to blame him for encouraging continuity-heavy, anorakish stories that only appealed to other fans and turned off the mainstream audience, contributing to the original show's eventual cancellation.

      He also co-wrote and produced the appalling Doctor in Distress, a Band Aid-style effort protesting at Michael Grade putting Doctor Who on hiatus for 18 months in 1985. If anyone is masochistic enough to have a listen, here it is:

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

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    7. I didn't realise Ian Levine was as Doctor Who fan. I recall that he had two of his Northern Soul discoveries in the Top 30 in early 1976 just before they started these re-runs - LJ Johnson and Evelyn Thomas.

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    8. Levine has written much about the missing episodes who-ha over the years and was responsible for saving some from the scrap heap. He appears on the 'Lost in Time' DVD set where he famously stated that of the 106 missing episodes; "If they were out there we would have found them by now". Luckily he was wrong and five missing episodes of 'The Enemy of the World' and four of 'The Web of Fear' were recovered in 2013 from Nigeria.

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    9. it's notable (but perhaps not surprising) that "dr who" crops up on a fairly regular basis, on what is meant to be a blog about 70's/80's pop music!

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  8. hosts: pp draws the short straw once again, but from what i can make out he does most of his intros solo - perhaps by request? for the marillion link his "partner" slimy is gazed upon lovingly by a meryl streep-alike, but not surprisingly he ignores the attention as it's clear there's only one person that matters in his life ie. himself

    break machine: sadly no sign of this performance on yt, so not able to comment on the moves. but although the production is pretty good, the tune is not

    deneice williams: rather tragically this lightweight dance pop number was not only deneice's decline from the giddy heights of "free", but also the fall from grace of the producer who was the mega-talented george duke (Who sadly never got to appear on the show in his own right)

    marillion: not one i have the slightest recall of, although by their standards it's actually quite listenable as it's more steve hackett solo-influenced than gabriel-era genesis. in fact, fish's vocals make it sound more like something by fellow scot alex harvey. but what exactly does "assassing" mean? and is the first line "i am the assassin, with tongue for some elephants"?

    hazell dean: the third pretty lame dance number on the this particular show. apparently it was big in gay clubs before it broke through as a pop hit, but as far as i'm concerned it should have stayed there. as for her, i always thought she looked far more like a dowdy secretary than a glamourous gay icon

    womack & womack: yet another dance track that does little for me. cecil must surely win the award for all-time most-obvious air guitar playing?

    midge ure band: wasn't this their last hurrah chart-wise? i certainly hope so

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    1. Fish's notes for the 'Fugazi' remaster album state "why I put the 'g' on the end (of 'Assassin') remains a mystery to me".

      The first line of lyrics runs "I am the assassin with tongue forged from eloquence".

      Ultravox never troubled the charts big time again after this and became a three piece for their next album.

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    2. ....oh yes and meant to say that the Meryl Streep look alike is none other than Sandy Borne who I have mentioned previously. Hence my comment "SB has SB clinging onto him...." above!

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    3. i did consider that "assassing" might be the verb for "assassin" i.e. "i'm just off to do a bit of assassing before dinner", although i thought it unlikely. it's quite ironic that fish actually sings the word "eloquent" and yet his delivery is muffled to the point of being misheard. also yes i got the reference to the meryl streep-alike being some minor sleb audience member that one of us here knew personally in some way (although i'd never heard of her before). maybe she asked slimy if she could give him a bj after the show in order to use his connections to break further into showbiz? although if he had a dick long enough, i'm sure he would have declined any such offers as he would have preferred doing the job himself!

      although ms borne is apparently not famous enough to have her own wiki entry, i've discovered that she does have her own website for anyone interested:

      http://www.sandyborne.co.uk/

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    4. With all this hoohah regarding the Marillion track's interesting title/name, can I just say that video was really good with its use of early day computers, considering in those days the technology was still analogue and not digital for a further 10 years.

      I did like the office secretary in the video, no doubt born in the late 1950's or early 1960's by the look of her, and I did like that fresh-faced look with what was at the time 'classic' office attire of white blouse and grey skirt, and she did fit the part very well. Oh and Marillion were not bad either.

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    5. I suspect the lady looking lovingly at Slimes was a paid actor - surely no-one would willingly look at the lego haired one without some sort of incentive?

      As Dory notes above the Assassing video was really good for its time but like most videos making use of computer technology they age quickly. TOTP'S own graphics no doubt looked good back in the eighties (well, maybe not the Weather Girls lightning strike).

      I did like Marillion at the time at still like some of their later eighties stuff - and they were one of the firsr bands I saw live (Wembley Arena in 1987).

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    6. I did notice in the last few appearance of Simon Bates presenting TOTP that he had young girls either doting on him or holding him, which I would say was imposed on them in order to be in front on the camera when he presented each song on the show. I agree that he was not a male magnet for girls, so the 'contrived' way was the only way he would get this attention. Pathetic really, as well as fake.

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    7. btw 'Fugazi' was a charming term originating from the Viet Nam war meaning f***ed and screwed up. The album was also an absolute nightmare to record according to the extensive recollections on the remastered edition. It did however contain some of my favourite Marillion tracks including the wonderful 'Jigsaw'.

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    8. I did see a comment on another forum a few weeks ago which suggested that Bates was born with a lego haircut, leather blouson and large glasses, a particularly scary image...

      One of my favourite Marillion tracks is 'Dry Land' from 1991 although it's a long way from their musical style of the early eighties.

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    9. 'Dry Land' is a great track. Steve Hogarth took over from Fish in 1989 and debuted with the fabulous single 'Hooks in you'. He's still with them nearly 28 years later along with founder members Steve Rothery, Pete Trewas and Mark Kelly plus drummer Ian Moseley who joined for the 'Fugazi' album.

      Incredible really that people tend to think Marillion/Fish when the man was only with Marillion for a relatively short spell. I really ought to check out the band's more recent output as its supposed to be really good.

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    10. They were innovators too, one of their albums had its production costs funded by their fans. They also continued to have hits long after Fish had stopped troubling the charts when most people would've expected it to be the other way round.

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    11. Ultravox made number 12 with Love's great Adventure, which was a sizeable hit.

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    12. Fugazi were also an excellent 80s American rock band ("Waiting Room" is their best known track). Don't know if they predate Marillion, though.

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  9. Did anyone notice that in the chart rundown this week, we had The Cocteau Twins and The Thompson Twins side by side in the charts at No. 35 and No.34 respectively. Yes, two sets of twins tumbling out of the charts side by side. Suffice to say that they sounded nothing like each other.

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    1. you forgot to mention that neither act were actually twins. or maybe you didn't realise?

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    2. I did know that Wilberforce, I was just stating an interesting observation of two sets of 'twins' side by side in the charts

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  10. The whistling on the second Break Machine hit saved it for me and their moves have improved a lot, not sure I care for the designs on their tops which look the opening titles from a 1980s game show.

    I quite liked the Deniece Williams song but not enough to buy it. One of the problems with working in a record shop was that you quickly grew tired of hearing some songs and this was one of those songs. Note a bad performance but she needs to find something better to do during the instrumental break.

    I could never fathom why these early Marrillion singles were hits, they lack any real melody, Fish is incredibly unattractive and has a horrible voice to match and the video is depressing. Couldn't wait for it to end.

    I remembered a lot of the Hi NRG hits of the time but Searchin' had slipped my mind. Hazel Dean performs like a latter day Kelly Marie with the two black male dancers overcompensating for her lack of movement. Some of the idiot cheerleaders are doing the same moves in the background. This has the same mad percussion on the instrumental break as on So Many Men by Miquel Brown, except it doesn't go one for two minutes as it does on that.

    I don't understand why they bothered to include the whole Top 40 rundown when they regularly ignore records in the bottom 10. The poor Cocteau Twins still in the chart and never featured. Yep, Pearly Dew Drops still, er dropping and The Bluebells Falling is still falling.

    The patchy show is saved by Womack and Womack which was a superb track and I'm glad they played nearly 4 minutes of it. I discovered Bobby Womack not long after this and bought a lot of his albums.

    Dancing With Tears In My Eyes was a song that I liked a lot at the time and I think I even got into the vibe of the video but viewed today after 33 years it seems a bit naff and the video message forced. And it was a bit mean to leave the kid in bed alone and scared while Midge and his missus had one last shag before the blast.

    Gag reflex still at the top and playout with Footloose which we've already seen. Why not play out with one of the other new entries?

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    1. The Cocteau Twins were invited onto TOTP but turned it down. Their loss as well as ours.

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    2. I didn't know that but was there a video they could have shown (it's on YT).

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    3. Maybe TOTP thought, sod 'em if they don't want to be on and skipped them entirely. Can't remember if they ever made it to the studio - for Bluebeard, maybe?

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  11. No-one's mentioned th3 incredibly poor picture quality on this edition, particularly noticeable on the chart rundown pictures. Maybe John Peel had got this one almost to the bulk eraser before he was stopped.

    Break Machine - OK, it's 'Street Dance' in a slightly different order but I always cheer up when I see them, there's something that's so enjoyable about their performances.

    Deniece Williams - HOUSEWIFE CLASSIC! Bloody hell, there are so many of them in this year, no wonder I went off music in 84.

    Marillion - Blimey, Fish has got the slap on again. Not sure about this song, and it's a nice try at a 'futuristic' video but it doesn't quite come off.

    Hazell Dean - A good pop track, though she has better singles still to come. Also the victim of PP emphasising random syllables yet again. Who on earth says 'SearCHING' other than him?

    Womack & Womack - Lots of love for this here, and also from plenty of other people I know. I just don't get it, I'm afraid. I find it extremely bland, though nowhere near as annoying as 'Teardrops'.

    Ultravox - I like this song, and the video is more successful than Marillion's. I presume the ending is a bit gruesome which is why they faded it early?

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    1. The video ends with home movie footage of Midge and his family which eventually burns up. Heavy stuff.

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    2. what made the pp (mis)pronounciation of the hazell dean track even more annoying was that it's actually called "searchin'" i.e. american-style with the final letter replaced by an apostrophe

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  12. I missed PP's syllable randoMISER but Bates came up with a bleedin' obvious comment after the Ultravox video: 'Maybe it will sell a few records too.' Well I don't think they were aiming for a flop Slimes...

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  13. I noticed in Angelo's summary that the show had only 8.75 Million viewers. I think this may be the first time the number fell below 9 Million. Was this the start of a trend toward TOTP becoming less popular in time?

    I do recall from Angelo's weekly TOTP viewing figures, that it has always been above 9 Million up to this point, even 12 Million in earlier shows, but where was this all heading?

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  14. Nope, just checked, only the one UK chart topper ever on this show. Bad luck, Slimes!

    I wonder why Break Machine didn’t have a lengthy run of chart singles? That bloke was surely restricted by the mic and stage riser. This rehash would have been better without that obvious pesky whistling rip-off refrain.

    I can’t hear Deniece’s song without thinking of its inclusion in the first episode of one of Peter Kay’s lesser series, “Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere”. No love here for “That’s What Friends Are For”, which I think is lovely and Niecy’s best hit.

    It’s Brian Pern! Nice use of the fish medallion (geddit?) and the sec’s self-painted stripe and tie. Terrible muddy sound, though, and did anyone else notice the mis-spelling of “immediate” (with only one ‘m’) during one of the green code alerts?

    It’s Ker-CHING for Hazell Dean, Pete, not SearCHING. Funny how a pre-Eurovision song gave Hazell a better and longer career than Belle and the Devotions. Good chorus hand moves and nice black, white and silver group livery.

    Home and away kits there for Linda and Ceeeecil “Dairy Milk” Womack with his left handed air guitar. I seem to recall Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. were another in-love wed pairing who showed it on their TOTP outing.

    Poor baby! I hope he didn’t hear Midge Ure grunting away. Those were certainly uncertain and worrying times back then.

    The less said about slappable Le Bon and that bloody Heart FM classic after it the better.

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    1. arthur why is ceeeecil womack referred to as "dairy milk"?

      for better or worse, all those armageddon alerts by pop stars such as the midge ure band & frankie goes to hollywood went in one ear and out the other as far as i was concerned. in fact i don't remember ever being remotely worried about that kind of thing at the time - i was far more troubled by things closer to home, such as having a shit job and no girlfriends!

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    2. Isn't one girlfriend enough for you?

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    3. even one was too much to hope for at the time. actually i wasn't that concerned about lack of girlfriend(s) at that point, as i was still hopeful that i was going to make it as a pop star... in which event they would then be queueing up for me!

      the shit job was a real problem though - i remember around this time actually drinking a load of cheap scrumpy before going off to work in the morning (on my motorbike!) in the hope that it would make the day pass quicker. sadly though it made no difference!

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