The sun goes down on Nik
05/12/85 (Mike Smith & Steve Wright)
Go West – “Don’t Look Down-The Sequel” (13)
At is peak.
Lionel Richie – “Say You Say Me” (9) (video)
Went up one more place.
Nik Kershaw – “When A Heart Beats” (27)
His final top 40 hit, and it got no higher.
Marillion – “Heart Of Lothian” (29) (breaker)
Got no higher.
Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (24) (breaker – 1985 video)
Got to number one last year - will get to number three this time round.
Madonna – “Dress You Up” (12) (breaker – live clip)
Her 7th and final hit of 1985! Peaked at number 5.
Pet Shop Boys – “West End Girls” (23)
Making their debut with a future number one.
The Top Ten:
Jennifer Rush - "The Power Of Love" (10) (video clip)
Lionel Richie - "Say You Say Me" (9) (video clip)
Talking Heads - "Road To Nowhere" (8) (video clip)
Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew - "The Show" (7) (TOTP clip)
UB40 - "Don't Break My Heart" (6) (video clip)
Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin - "Separate Lives" (5) (video clip)
Feargal Sharkey -"A Good Heart" (4) (video clip)
Dee C. Lee - "See The Day" (3) (video clip)
Whitney Houston - "Saving All My Love For You" (2) (video clip)
Wham! – “I’m Your Man” (1) (video)
Second and final week at number one.
Amazulu – “Don’t You Just Know It” (33) (audience dancing/credits)
Peaked at number 15.
Next up is December 12th.
go west: on the brink of going into the "where are they now?" category. was this subtitled "the sequel" because it was virtually a carbon copy of "we close our eyes"?
ReplyDeletelionel richie: more slush designed to pay for the greenhouse extension on the mansion
nik kershaw: like go west his 15 minutes were up too, but at least unlike him they recorded one really good single. don't remember this at all. more level 42-lite with the usual time-signature and./or modulation twists thrown in to try and make it a bit more interesting than it actually was
pet shop boys: i never really liked this at the time, and thought it a bit dreary - probably because neil tennant (who i was of course extremely familiar with thanks to his last job of being a staff writer for "smash hits" magazine - although i was surprised when he came over as a lot more fey in person than in the written word) chose to sleep-talk through the verses rather than bother to write an actual tune. it's more listenable these days, but much better was to come from an act that consistently impressed throughout both the pop nadir of the late 80's and its consequent revival in the early 90's. i have a personal anedote to relate here, as not long after this i got a phone call alleging to be from a GP practice in the office where i worked that kept confidential patient records. it seemed an iffy enquiry from the start, which was confirmed when the person in question asked for more information about 'neil tennant". unfortunately for that "scum" hack or whatever he was, he didn't get put through to one of my middle-aged female colleagues!
Go West did manage a mini-comeback in the early 90s, enjoying four more Top 20 hits. King of Wishful Thinking, from the Pretty Woman soundtrack, is probably the best remembered of those.
Deletethat obviously slipped my memory - i thought peter cox had been residing there all the way from the mid-80's until the early 2000's, when he took part in that reality/talent competition show with other has-beens such as tony hadley (whose now left the reformed spandau ballet and gone solo again by the way) and leee from imagination
DeleteI notice that Spandau's new lead singer wasn't even born when they were chart regulars!
Deletemaybe he got chosen regardless of his age because he's got a voice like a foghorn?
DeleteI've never heard the new guy sing, but quite possibly!
DeleteYeah, the middle aged female gatekeepers at the GP surgeries can spot fakes a mile off over the phone, so this is one occasion where you can say thanks a lot.
DeleteFamiliar elements reshaped with the same formula as before in the hope of scoring another hit: yup, that's this go West single. Backing singers very well synchronised.
ReplyDeleteThe only bit of this Lionel Ritchie theme song to a painfully contrived Cold War dance drama (yes, there was one - it was the 80s) I liked at the time was where Li speeds up, but hearing this again I notice it lasts about ten seconds! Very sincere in the video, Li.
Didn't think I recalled Nik's last hit (as himself), but when it reached the chorus I thought, oh yeah, vaguely familiar. Sounds like he's been having lessons from Go West, not a good move. No surprises this failed to stick around, and he's still reluctant to play that guitar.
Breakers, and right enough, there's Dave the Barman in the Marillion video, though we don't get a good look at him. Song didn't leave much of an impression, though I remember Tom Ferrie on Radio Scotland liked it a lot. Band Aid with a new improved video, wisely not using the sound for the singalong at the end of Live Aid - what a shambles. Then Madonna, proving she could sing and dance at the same time.
Pet Shop Boys, one of the great British singles acts who happened to sell well in the album department too. Confident in their debut, probably overplayed now but the line "How much have you got?" raised eyebrows at my school. He was probably talking about bank accounts!
Wham! continue their Autumn years, when did black and white videos become such a big thing? Sure sign of pretension.
Then Amazulu, think this one's a cover? Basic 80s pop, inoffensive but not much to write home about.
Glad to see The Whole of the Moon didn't get played, as it slips out of the charts. For some reason almost every station in the land started playing this every hour from the 90s onwards, and I'm still absolutely sick of it. Liked it at the time (1985), but that's ruined.
The Amazulu song is indeed a cover, originally released in 1958 by Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns.
DeleteI knew we could rely on you! Thanks for the info.
DeleteThe assistant male vocalist on Go West, i.e., on the left of the lead singer, and on the right of our screens, looks uncannily like Andrew Ridgeley of Wham. Anyone also noticed this? Crap song though.
DeleteI'm with you on 'Whole Of The Moon', THX. One of those songs I don't get the love for at all (file alongside 'American Pie' and 'The Joker') and not a patch on the band's finest moment, 'Fisherman's Blues'. Anyway...
ReplyDeleteOur favourite pair in charge for a show that has just one performance we'd actually like to see, and we all know which one that is. And will someone please tell Steve Wright that the Breakers are all in the Top 40 and not underneath as he constantly claims...
Go West - As I said in my comments in the previous show, pretty average stuff.
Lionel Richie - Nothing interesting here either.
Nik Kershaw - Oddly tuneless, and the guitar bits give me a headache. They took a punt on this being a big hit and stuck it on NOW 6 before it was out. Whoops.
Breakers - Marillion's song is a dirge, I had no recollection of the different Band Aid video, and hooray for an under-rated Madonna song that's much better than many of the better known ones we've had in 85.
Pet Shop Boys - What's 'unusual' about them and their song, Wrighty? Presumably the fact that both are light years ahead of most of the dross in the chart in this year? I have to declare that they are one of my favourite bands ever, and although this song is overplayed commpared to some of their other singles it clearly outshines everything else in this show.
Amazulu - I can't decide whether this is just catchy or mildly irritating.
"the whole of the moon" is in "bohemian territory" for me i.e. i never understood the appeal of it at first when everyone else went gaga over it, but through constant exposure over the years i have grown to at least respect if not love it. waterboys' member karl wallinger recorded a couple of excellent tracks in the early 90's under his own band alias of world party:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCqcGIwu0l8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tyLGi2LtlU
Fisherman's Blues is a terrific track, that whole album is a bit of a folk rock classic in fact.
DeleteAmerican Pie is basically a whinger complaining music isn't as good as it used to be - in 1959!
American Pie has been horrendously overplayed down the years, but the parent album is still well worth a listen for superb tracks like Winterwood, The Grave and Empty Chairs. I still enjoy Vincent too, even though it has been almost as overexposed as American Pie.
Deletei agree with the comments on "american pie" competely, although as a 10 year old kid i seem remember people thought there was something wrong with you if you didn't like it. of course we never bought albums back then as we only got pocket money, but my chum had the single so as a result we had to listen to it split over two sides - probably the first instance of "parts 1 & 2" on a 45 whereas the whole track could be listened to on an album without interuption. in my opinion the best track on the "american pie" album (that i only got to listen to many years afterwards) by some distance is "sister fatima"
DeleteFleetwood Mac's Oh Well was an earlier example of a single split over two sides - it appears as one long track on the Then Play On album.
DeleteFully agree with you Noax 100% with regard to The Pet Shop Boys. Wrighty's comments while strange in themselves, is poignant 30 years later because isn't it the 'unusual' that captures the public's imagination, and paves the way for success and stardom? Suffice to say that The Pet shop Boys certainly achieved all this, with a sustained 30 years or so of constant new album releases.
DeleteI'm pleased to say that I have always been a fan of theirs to this day, but lost track of their new music after 2003 or so, as I was then in my mid-30s and the ravages of time were starting to set in and still being single then, I had to turn my attention to the softer things in life (not hard pop music) to keep my parents happy.
That said, the single life still gives time to waste (ahem enjoy) reading these blogs and contribute towards the comments, as nothing has changed in that department since, and still finding it to be a minefield!
Smitty's got a nerve talking about there being a load of weirdos in the studio, when the only two I can see are hosting the show! For the most part they are both tolerable, though they lose marks for the mugging to camera at the end and Wrighty's lamentable Doug E Fresh impression.
ReplyDeleteAs has already been remarked, the Go West tune is very much a sequel to We Close Our Eyes. I actually prefer this one, as it just seems to have a bit more passion and energy to it than their previous releases. Not much really to mark this performance out from their previous studio appearances, though Peter Cox seems to have been taking fashion tips from Midge Ure with his long coat, which paired with the matching trousers makes him look like a Doctor Who wannabe. Another better-than-usual song for the artist concerned up next, with Lionel upping his game to produce a very tuneful and sincere ballad. The only thing I don't like about it is the fast rocky bit, which jars totally with the rest of the song and seems to have wandered in from somewhere else altogether. For the second show in a row we get some clips from White Nights, including a few glimpses of Helen Mirren in her pre-National Treasure days.
It's time to say farewell to Nik Kershaw, though he would of course top the charts as a songwriter courtesy of young Chesney Hawkes a few years later. On the evidence of this he had run out of ideas by now, a reasonably catchy chorus the only saving grace of what is otherwise an overproduced, overly mechanical record with a horrible guitar solo thrown in. At least Nik had acquired a sensible haircut by this time, but maybe that affected his creativity? We won't see Marillion's song again, which is no great surprise as it is nondescript and overly wordy, like so much of their music - a definite step down on the last two singles. Seems a bit silly having Band Aid as a breaker when it had so recently been a hit first time around.
I can only assume Wrighty had been living in a cave since about 1979, if he thought the Pet Shop Boys sound and look was in any way unusual, though I suppose Neil's understated semi-rapping was a bit different at the time. Anyway, the first of a glorious run of hits for the duo over the next three years, providing a welcome shot in the arm for synthpop at a time when it had been growing stale. While this has been played to death over the years, it is so good and full of atmosphere that I never get tired of listening to it. Another glimpse of Dee C Lee's video in the Top 10 - who on earth thought she would look good rollerskating outside the Albert Hall? In any case, shame the song didn't get another full play on the show. Amazulu's irritating cover of a song that was equally annoying in its original form ends proceedings on a musical low note, though it does generate a definite hen party vibe in the studio...
Dame Helen met her husband Taylor Hackford making White Nights, so she probably has fond memories of it at least. It is awfully clunky, with only the tap dancing sequence worth a look (as pointed out in Clarke Peters' rather excellent tap dance documentary on BBC 4 a few weeks ago).
DeleteI'm willing to bet any man apart from Michael Parkinson already thought she was a national treasure if they'd ever seen her in Savage Messiah back in the 1970s.
I had to look up "Savage Messiah". My my! Someone once told me he saw Helen in "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" where, in his words, she got banged on the table more times than a Terry's Chocolate Orange!
Deletehelen mirren is a strange one in my view, in that sometimes she looks really foxy/milf-like and yet at other times quite plain. but i suppose she's earned her reputation based on her acting talent rather than her looks? i think sct mentioned this a while back, but she put in an extraordinary performance in an episode of the early 70's anthology drama series "thriller"
DeleteJohn, I can't say I'm disappointed to see the last hurrah of Nik Kershaw. While his 1984 stuff was better, the 1985 stuff from him was quite dire, new haircut or not!
DeleteThanks once again to Neil B. I hugely appreciate the efforts, if not this actual edition, an FF whizz-through for my taste.
ReplyDeleteGo West, definitely not with “Don’t Look Back”, followed by Lionel Richie with “Say Dear Oh Dear”.
It’s Nik Kershaw with “When A Career Stalls”. Not even a free gift percussionist could make up for this abstract collage masquerading as a proper song.
Marillion with a song almost providing the full name of Edinburgh-based Hearts FC.
Fish should have braved it and worn his military clobber in that pub setting.
Band Aid with a new video advertising the same old mush.
Madonna in a mini and leggings combo. More interesting than the song.
Probably the Pet Shop Boys track I hate most, due to Neil Tenant’s phone directory delivery.
Not that bloody clip of Doug E Fresh massacring “Michelle“ again.
No Dee C Lee repeat or new studio performance despite now being in the top 3? Poor show.
We finish with Amazulu’s iffy cover of an iffy tune.
Do you get the feeling I didn’t enjoy this show much?
Did Band Aid's new video for 1985 really help it up the charts, or would they have still got to no.3 this time round with the original video? Seems like a desperation move by Geldof and co to coerce it to no.1 for the second Xmas in a row. Erm, sorry lads, I don't think this was worth the money for making a new video for 1985 for a song only a year old since making No.1 the previous Xmas!
DeleteNot sure the video helped but as I only started buying singles in late 85 I was one of the people who bought this.
DeleteHad a weird B-side I remember called something like "one year on" which was an instrumental with someone listing all the things Band Aid had bought with the money
i'd like to think that the list of things band aid had bought with the money included: guns, ammunition, jeeps, stockades, palaces, etc
DeleteJust a little thought Angelo, I would have preferred the blog title this week to be Say You Say Top of The Pops, it sounds more flowing than Top of The Pops Say Me
ReplyDeleteA couple of things to add regarding this excellent show, mainly thanks to The Pet Shops arrriving on our TV screens for the first time in December 1985.
ReplyDelete1. Elton John climbed back up to No.11 this week with Nikitta. This was a fine achievement considering it is very rare that a No.3 song that had already tumbled well outside the top 10 the week before, was now almost back into the top ten again!
2. Marilyn Martin now at No.5 in the charts and on the top ten video rundown, while being new to the British record buying public on this unlikely duet with Phil Collins, had actually made her solo American debut a year or so earlier in 1984 with the brilliant 'Sorcerer' from the Streets Of Fire movie soundtrack. Suffice to say that Sorcerer was one of my favourite songs of the 80s, and still sounds so good.
Check out this clip from the movie with the Sorcerer single here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXa3rffask
Not much love for the show from the blog this week (with one notable exception)
ReplyDeleteThought the hosts were fine - Wrighty still a prat but I just ignore him now..
Go West - well this has grown on me since last week and I was tapping along but couldn't remember it the second it finished.
Mr Rich-Tea - I like this song, much better than Hello. Don't remember the video though, what film was this from?
Nik Kershaw on his way out and this wasn't a bad number.
Breakers:
Marillion - dull
Band Aid - Clearly remember the video for this with the additional footage.
Madonna - one of her better early efforts, certainly the best for months.
Pet Shop Boys - I, like others, am a huge fan. This for me is the best song of the 80s full stop. Never tire of it. Can't wait to see it get all the way to the top.
Amazulu - nice party tune to end on - bet that got spun at a few NYE parties (along with Atmosphere!)
Lionel's song was from White Nights, the Cold War buddy movie for dancers Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov, or it would have been a buddy movie had it not been VERY SERIOUS.
Delete