I'm your girl!
21/11/85 (Paul Jordan & Janice Long)
Madness – “Uncle Sam” (24)
Getting this November 21st show underway is Madness, with their 21st top 30 hit, which peaked of course at number 21!
Wham! – “I’m Your Man” (2) (video)
Straight in at number 2, it will be number one next week.
Dee C. Lee – “See The Day” (18)
Sporting this season's latest autumn fashion, this became the former Wham girl's biggest solo hit when it peaked at number 3.
Whitney Houston – “Saving All My Love For You” (23) (breaker)
Our first sighting of Whitney, with what would become the first of her four number ones.
Dionne Warwick & Friends – “That’s What Friends Are For” (19) (breaker)
With what would be her final top 30 hit when it peaked at number 16.
Lionel Richie – “Say You Say Me” (14) (breaker)
Always reminds me of Easy does this one, and it peaked one place higher, at number 8.
Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew – “The Show” (12)
Performing their only hit, which peaked at number 7. Will Smith was probably watching somewhere.
The Top Ten
Talking Heads – “Road To Nowhere” (10) (video clip)
Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin – “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” (9) (video clip)
Level 42 - "Something About You" (8) (video clip)
Queen – “One Vision” (7) (video clip)
Elton John - "Nikita" (6) (video clip)
A-ha - "Take On Me" (5) (video clip)
Jennifer Rush - "The Power Of Love" (4) (video clip)
UB40 - "Don't Break My Heart" (3) (video clip)
Wham! – “I’m Your Man” (2) (video clip)
Feargal Sharkey – “A Good Heart” (1) (video)
Second and final week at the top.
Midge Ure - "That Certain Smile" (28) (audience dancing/credits)
This second single from his number 2 album The Gift, got no higher in the charts.
Next up is November 28th.
I like the fact you got some football-style stats into your Madness piece, Angelo, to further the World Cup theme! Janice seems to get on with just about anyone she hosts with, but she did appear to have a genuine chemistry with Paul Jordan here. His scarf was a bit annoying, but he once again came over as both confident and competent, if still prone to St Vitus’ Dance on occasion. The “banter” over the Top 10 videos also became forced and grating, which Paul at least had the good grace to acknowledge by the time they reached the number 1.
ReplyDeleteIt’s sailor hats at the ready for Madness - did they bring them to the studio? A rather more jaunty outing than their last few singles, with a performance to match, taking them back to their ska roots while throwing in some satire, but it is not especially memorable and it does feel as if the creative well was running dry at this point. After almost a year away, Wham return with another heavily Motown-influenced single, and while it is lively enough it isn’t quite up to the standards of their 1984 hits. You can tell the split isn’t far away as in the video George is sporting the famous designer stubble that became such a trademark of his early solo career. Where were Pepsi and Shirlie?
I remember Diane Catherine Sealy’s moment of solo glory very well, as my Dad loved it and bought the single - one of the last 45s he ever did buy, I think. She wrote this herself, and I think it still stands up very well with its lush production and arrangement, though Dee C would have been well-advised to leave the headscarf and chavvy earrings at home! Breakers next, and mercifully this is as much as we will have to endure of the hideously saccharine That’s What Friends Are For - Paul also makes the first ever mention of AIDS on TOTP while introducing it. Speaking of firsts, Dionne's cousin Whitney makes her debut appearance on the show, but we will hear more of this and of Lionel presently.
Doug E Fresh and co provide an unwelcome reminder of the musical future, though they come across themselves as a bizarre mixture of Bobby McFerrin and Black Lace. At least this doesn’t take itself too seriously, unlike so much of the rap to come. Feargal is still at number 1, and this time we get the disappointingly conventional video, which is not very far removed from the studio performances we have already seen. Midge to close with a forgotten hit, but it has an understated grandeur that grows on you as the song progresses.
Back then, That's What Friends Are For seemed one of Miss Warwick's better efforts, however I would agree in hindsight that it does now come across as mawkish.
DeleteI have never rated Dionne Warwick as a singer, so I find it hard to get enthused about any of her records, but this is definitely one of the worst!
Deleteby chance i've just watched an episode of "the rockford files" where ms warwick was a guest star - surprise surprise she played a nightclub singer (and as such was obviously miming to a pre-recorded track when doing her act in front of rockford and her boyfriend (played by isaac hayes, although his character was a tough guy that demonstrated no musical ability whatsoever). as an actress i actually thought she did quite a good job, which as such surprises me she never did more of it. i also like her as a singer too, but i can see why her unique style might not be to all tastes. by the way, her "guvnor" burt bacharach (she was his "muse" for his classic songs of the 60's - which shows up this drivel here for what it was!) has just celebrated his 90th birthday - he may have lost his mojo as a songwriter by the 80's, but is actually still active as a performer!
DeleteYes, I think Burt Bacharach did a show at the Albert Hall quite recently. No question that he and Hal David wrote some classics in the 60s, but I tend to prefer them when they don't feature Ms Warwick's reedy vocals!
DeleteNo matter what you think of Dionne's singing of Bacharach songs, she's a hell of a lot better at it than Bacharach is at singing Bacharach songs.
Deleteyes, even at his viril peak bacharach was as bad at singing ("croaking" might be a more accurate description) as he was as good at songwriting. but as a man with a reputation as anything but a shrinking violet, his lack of ability in that department never seemed to bother him a jot
Deletehe and hal david fell out after their golden era together over the split of royalties from the songs where he wrote the music and david the lyrics - possibly because however good the words may have been, the fact was that a lot of cover recordings were done as instrumentals. but hal still got his cut anyway!
i'm with burt on this one by the way - if none of the lyrics are being used in an instrumental cover version, then why shouldn't he get 100% of the royalties?
DeleteJimmy Webb is another who kept trying to sing his own songs, with grisly results, and who can forget Simon May's blood-curdling vocals?
DeleteMaybe it's me, but I can hear a verse for "See The Day" and sing "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preston and Syreeta over it and they fit.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not Arthur. It is not a jot on the Preston/Syreeta classic
DeleteI mean I can hear one tune interacting with the other. Not making a judgement about the actual songs.
Deletewhether somebody thinks one recording is better than the other is purely a matter of personal opinion. but in the interests of ascertaining similarity i've now taken a listen to both, and like arthur i completely agree that the melodies are interchangable. however when it comes to establishing and protecting copyright, its usually the melody that matters rather than the chords used to support it. so i'm not sure that the writers of "with you i'm born again would be able to plead their case if they sued for plagiarism (although the stranglers' publishing company managed to do so with regard to that elastica track where they basically lifted the riff for "no more heroes" hook line and sinker!)
Deletewatching the dee c lee totp spot for the above purpose, i noted mr jordan was prattling on in a rather heavy-handed way about her having "played" with wham and still "playing" with the style council - and there was me thinking that she sang with them (although she almost certainly "played" with the modfather in a manner of speaking ho ho. but probably not george michael!)
Interesting discussion here. When I heard the dc lee song I thought it was a cover. Having listened to When Im born Again I can hear the similarity, but it is not as close as i expected. Looking at wiki i see Girls Aloud covered see the day - maybe that is why i think hers is the cover :-)
Deletetalking of songs with different melodies on top of the same chords: next year brings us a hit by an act called ca$hflow called "mine all mine", which copied the riff (but not the tune) from the fatback band's "i found lovin" (which was released in 1985, but not a hit until 1987) note-for-note! what made it even more scandalous was the the guy behind it was larry blackmon of cameo fame/red codpiece infamy, who would surely have already been familiar with the fatback recording?
Deleteto demonstrate the similarity, i actually did a combined mix of them (and a second mix in each stereo channel) - which you can find here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/wilberforcemixes/cashback-meet-kool-co/
Madness with a tune I liked at the time, but was not too far away from what Amazulu would be having hits with over the course of the next year, ironically dropping the politics from their act just as the Nutty Boys were including them. Doesn't seem right for one of the band to sport long hair!
ReplyDeleteWham! with almost their swan song, Gary Davies on Sounds of the 80s last week mentioned DJ-ing for their last gig at Wembley where the support included another Gary, Mr Glitter (thought it was brave of him to bring that up). Anyway, we'll be hearing this again.
Drama! Dee C. Lee with her histrionic and plaintive solo hit, always thought it was odd she never really followed this up with more, she certainly had the talent for it. Seems to be singing live, brave soul.
Breakers next, and I'll just say I can no longer take Dionne and pals seriously after Radcliffe and Maconie pointed out how utterly half-arsed the ending of this record is. Elton practically says, "Was that it, then?" All in a good cause, I suppose.
Then the real highlight, best thing on the show was... The Show. Doug E. Fresh and the boys getting the party started with their Inspector Gadget melody and good times mucking about, the sense of humour is infectious. Still like hearing this on the radio, as I did this week, where I learned the composer of the Inspector Gadget theme tune also wrote the themes for He-Man and Mysterious Cities of Gold.
Feargal displaying very poor telephone etiquette at the beginning of his video, but this bit of business leads precisely nowhere as we get a concert video not too far removed from Wham's, only in colour. Tune's still a cracker, though.
Midge Ure to end on as the crowd have been adorned with Madness's sailor hats - so much for that bit of marketing. As for the song, sounds like he's trying to be U2, and failing (not sure how I feel about that).
I loved Inspector Gadget and He-Man as a kid, and my long-suffering parents bought me a large number of the He-Man toys - I still have Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain up in the loft somewhere. I did of course come to realise later on that the TV series was just an extended animated advert for the merchandise...
DeleteYeah, they got nicknamed advertoons, didn't they? Blame Star Wars for the power of merchandising (which was the actual Power of Grayskull).
DeleteYes, Star Wars turbocharged that kind of thing, though it had been around earlier - look at all the Dalek merchandise the BBC licensed in the 60s when Doctor Who first took off.
DeleteOr Davy Crockett hats!
DeleteVery soon after Davy Crockett breathed his last, the publication of The Pickwick Papers spawned a big merchandising industry, as various enterprising types started flogging Pickwick hats and canes to eager punters. Meanwhile, opportunistic hacks took advantage of weak to non-existent copyright law to steal Dickens' characters and use them in stories of their own. Needless to say, Dickens himself missed out on this bonanza!
Deletemy ex-landlord told me how much he loved going to the cinema to watch the "davy crockett" films starring fess parker when he was a kid (i don't know if he got a hat or not though). so a few years ago i got them on dvd for him and i to watch. and i have to say that never having seen them before, i found them highly enjoyable as good old-fashioned boys own adventure!
Deletehosts: paul jordan is already starting to become rather tiresome on his second appearance
ReplyDeletemadness: it seems funny that the later these shows get, the more i've forgotten about the music on them. this is a typical example of that. listening now it's quite clear they were long past their best at this point, and this is only notable for adding to the cod-reggae canon. was chrissie boy's barnet really that long at this point, or was he wearing a syrup? sadly like several of his colleagues he now has no hair whatsoever these days
wham!: more mock-motown piffle, that only escapes my top 10 turkey list of 1985 as a: it's already over-crowded (see below) and b: they made it last year with some other rubbish of that ilk
dee c lee: i recall this being a pleasant enough waltz-time cod-soul ballad at the time, but not too much regarding how it actually went. nor bothered about trying to refresh my memory in that regard either
doug e fresh: i thought i'd got my 1985 top 10 turkeys listed sorted for by now, but i had forgotten about this abomination. come on in dougie - you're going to replace russ abbot, which really does say how bloody awful you are
midge ure: yet another one forgotten about, but even at this point i'd had my fill of midge's whiny vocals anyway. so there's no chance of me giving this a listen again now
Sad news: it's recently been announced that Luan Peters of 5000 Volts fame, seen on the earlier repeats, died a few months ago. She was 71. RIP. If you watch Talking Pictures TV enough you'll catch her acting in Not Tonight, Darling, which seems to be on almost permanent late night rotation there.
ReplyDeleteher wiki entry says she is still alive, amd they don't usually drag their heels. maybe there are shadowy circumstances in that her decomposing corpse was found in her flat months after her death, a la benny from "grange hill"?
DeleteAlso, Luan Peters was with 5000 Volts only on their British TV appearances (including TOTP) to promote 'I'm On Fire' in late '75. She was subsequently replaced by Linda Kelly, who fronted the band on 'Dr Kiss Kiss'.
DeleteTina Charles did front 5000 Volts on a few German TV appearances, including this clip, before legal complications forced her to make way for Luan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVMvOSkmM8U
P.S. If you refer to 45cat, you'll discover that 5000 Volts' label in Germany was Epic - sister label to CBS, to which Tina was signed as a soloist, so there were no contractual issues as far as that country was concerned. In Britain, however, the group was signed to Phiiips.
DeleteI just read on a blog that she had died last year, and that guy usually knows what he's talking about.
DeleteRather than Terry Sue Pat, maybe a better analogy would be poor old Mynah Bird? They were in the same sorts of films. Anyway, no idea about the circumstances at the moment.
i wasn't aware of minah bird (her given name btw), but apparently she died in very similar circumstances to benny/terry in that her corpse was eventually discovered in a council flat in our capital city several weeks after she expired - as i actually experienced when i lived there as a single person, london can be a very lonely place!
DeleteIt can happen to anyone who falls through the cracks - the American star of B-movies Yvette Vickers was dead in her house for a year before her body was discovered. It's disturbing that even someone who achieved a fair level of fame can be forgotten and neglected.
DeleteWhile we're on this gloomy subject, I'd recommend Carol Morley's documentary Dreams of a Life, about a woman who was found dead in her flat three years (!) after she passed away. Sobering stuff.
Deletejust to add a touch more macabre: i've read reports where pet owners who live alone die at home, and nobody finds out for quite some time afterwards... but in the meantime said pets start eating the corpse!
DeleteWhat a vintage year 1985 was for alumni of the Emlyn Hughes Vocal School! Feargal (singing above his female backing trio) had a No.1, Morten 'In a day or TWOOOOO' Harket stormed to No.2 as A-Ha's frontman, and further down the chart we find the school's valedictorian: Jimmy Somerville, along with fellow chief Communard (The Rev) Richard Coles. Both the duo and the Norwegian trio would pace the pack the following year, while Feargal would reach No.5 with Benmont Tench's composition 'You Little Thief' - reputedly the answer song to Maria McKee's 'A Good Heart'. Never before had an answer song followed its predecessor into the British Top 5 - and it would not happen again until 2003, when Eamon and Frankee both scaled the summit with "**** It" and "F.U.R.B." respectively.
ReplyDeleteDee C Lee deservedly cracked the Top 3 with the self-composed 'See The Day' - which was actually her FOURTH single for Epic. It reminds me a little of Debby Boone's 'You Light Up My Life' as well as 'With You I'm Born Again', which Arthur mentions above. The follow-up, a cover of Judie Tzuke's 'Come Hell Or Waters High' (penned by the latter's collaborator Paul Muggleton), was highly polished but maybe too MOR for the era, hence its peak position of No.46. Dee's only major label album 'Shrine', while not a classic, contained some fine original compositions. Had she not been so indelibly associated with Wham! or The Style Council, she might well have become a bigger star - cf. Kiki Dee in relation to Sir Elton. Nevertheless, Diane Sealy would achieve a further Top 40 placing in 1993 as guest singer on the late rapper Guru's 'No Time To Play'.
I agree with wilberforce about Doug E Fresh, whose farcical offering would give rise to a plethora of undistinguished rap hits.
Midge's 'That Certain Smile', while less memorable than its chart-topping predecessor, was melodic enough and immaculately produced as per usual. His subsequent minor British hits 'Dear God' and 'Cold Cold Heart' - both of which made the Alternative Top 20 in the US - deserved more recognition.
Paul Muggleton is, of course Judie's husband, and father to her dughters Bailey and Tallula, who sing backing vocals on her live shows.
Deleteone can't help but think students at the emlyn hughes vocal school were taught how to speak in an extremely high cod-scouse accent!
Deletealso: julie has inadvertently given me a pop trivia idea, whereby you link last names of pop stars to the first names of the next one i.e. kiki dee, dee c lee, lee morgan, morgan fisher. sadly that particular trail runs out there, unless you expand it to showbiz slebs in general and actor fisher stevens!
i'm pleased to see you feel likewise about doug e fresh julie - apart from "the message" (which i did actually quite like) and melle mel's diabolical follow-up to the excellent "white lines", the shows have been mercifully (c)rap-free up until now. but this is surely the first sign that the floodgates are about to to open? which is a good reason why i won't be around here for that much longer!
I think 1986 was the year rap really started to move into the mainstream, with the Run DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on Walk This Way. My memory is that it became increasingly prevalent on TOTP from 1987 onwards, especially once The Beastie Boys arrived on the scene. Its rise was certainly a major factor in my complete loss of interest in the charts - and TOTP - by the end of the 80s.
DeleteThanks, sct1353 - I'd forgotten that Judie and Paul were, and still are, a married couple. The talented Bailey Tzuke was the featured singer on Freemasons' Top 10 hit 'Uninvited' in 2007.
DeleteHeard No Time to Play on the radio the other day, sunny little ditty.
DeleteI was just the right age for the Beastie Boys, still have most of their albums.
Janice and who? presenting on this one….but my what chemistry they have together! The ‘did you know?’ on the top10 countdown is a nice touch too.
ReplyDeleteMadness – Uncle Sam – I’m just not getting this one? Is it pro US or tongue in cheek? A quick check on the sleeve finds the lyrics printed in Russian so I am well confused. The album ‘Utter Madness’ quotes Lee saying “About a certain brand of grain nobody wants anymore”. Anyway, just an ordinary madness track for me.
Wham! - I’m your Man – This had no1 written all over it. An impeccable piece of pop. Check out the 12” version with the “boy – I just want to be your big boy..this is a magic car…m-m-magic car” middle section plus an extended intro. Not sure there would have been room for all the fans in the Marquee when Wham! were at their peak.
Dee C Lee – See the Day – A silky smooth piece of music with some nice smoochy instrumentation. Great song and totally different from her usual Style Council stuff.
Breakers – Oh dear, Whitney has descended upon us. For the record this was the third single from the album, the first two having sank without trace, so goodness knows why this took off. Ugh! Dionne Warwick and Friends I quite liked whereas Lionel’s ‘Say you say me’ was a truly irritating record as it was a ‘slowie’ that wasn’t quite, as near the end the tempo takes off unexpectedly and you’re left awkwardly in your loved ones arms not knowing if you should disengage or bide your time. Much prefer the other track in the charts from ‘White Nights’ that wasn’t featured on this show. Now that was a true slowie!
Doug E Fresh – The Show – Prefer the song of the same name by Steve Hackett and Girls Aloud! FF
Feargal Sharkey – A good Heart – What a great video! Full of energy and played right through to the end bit when the backing singers sing “A good Heart” – glad they included that bit this time as they’d chopped it on the previous two showings. Interesting that they did show the video after just one week at no1 as Jennifer Rush’s video never got a full airing in the five weeks at the top…and the rundown once again showed a clip from the original mix video.
Midge Ure – That certain Smile danceout – Second single from the excellent ‘The Gift’ album (an instrumental version of the title track is on the B Side of this) and it’s the best danceout track for me in many weeks. A good chunk played too.
I'd forgotten about Girls Aloud's The Show! What a great pop group they were (or their producers were). Their last two albums were superb (not that final rehash they released that went down like a lead balloon).
DeleteActually, speaking of Girls Aloud, nobody has mentioned their cover of 'See the Day'....
DeleteMust admit, as much as I admired GA's originals, their covers were pretty poor.
DeleteHave we all got tiny memories? What about "The Show" by Rebecca Storm which was on and quickly forgotten (and I can see why) a few weeks back?
Deletei remember sct mentioning the steve hackett track of the same name before, but i thought it was when that doug e fresh shit was featured in the beeb's 1985 totp comp at the start of the year. i'd certainly already forgotten about rebecca storm ha ha
DeleteRebecca was obviously a storm in a teacup.
DeleteHackett's 'The Show' is certainly better remembered than Doug E Fresh's despite the former not troubling the charts! For those who don't know what all the fuss was about, here's the somewhat bizarre video:-
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIbdloOsZI
sct i've finally got around to listening to hackett's second album "please don't touch", but i have to say i wasn't impressed with a lot of it (especially the stuff with guest singers such as richie havens and randy crawford!). although there were flashes of the good stuff to come from "spectral mornings" and "defector". i also listened to the genesis album "wind and wuthering" for the same reason (i borrowed several genesis & hackett albums off a chum to record to cassette back in 1980, but the above were not among them) - nothing stood out as special (maybe because i find it difficult to listen to phil collins singing these days without thinking about his dreaded solo stuff like "one more night"?), but there were a couple of decent tracks in "blood on the rooftops" and "wot gorilla" (perhaps not surprisingly, the latter is an instrumental!)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteGlad you've checked out 'Please don't Touch' wilberforce. I think the Randy Crawford track 'Hoping love will last' is her best ever recording....and most RC fans probably have never even heard it!
DeleteAs for 'Wind and Wuthering'; look no further than track two; Tony Banks' classic 'One for the Vine'.
Just read on Digital Spy that TOTP 1986 kicks off on July 6th with Story of '86 and Big Hits '86.
ReplyDeleteYes, that looks to be the case. We will get the 28 November and 12 December shows on BBC4 next week, but I haven't seen yet if the JK-blighted Christmas Day show will get an airing - if it does, Thursday 5 July would seem the likely date.
DeleteApparently Friday 6th July would be the date if it does air. We should know imminently as tv listings are finalised today (Wed 20th).
DeleteThe Radio Times have confirmed now that it will be shown in a cut-down 30-minute form on 6 July - doesn't look as if there will be a longer version shown late at night.
DeleteApart from the frankly incomprehensible opening link, Janice Long and Paul Jordan made a good presenting pair, even if the latter appeared to be auditioning for a role in Miami Vice based on his attire!
ReplyDeleteMadness - Not much love for this here it seems but I think it's perfectly decent and something of a return to form.
Wham - A great pop song even if it is still played quite a lot now.
Dee C Lee - A smouldering mini-masterpiece proving that she was wasted as a Style Council backing singer. Maybe Weller didn't like the idea of her having a solo career and making better songs than them? Certainly the follow-up (which made the lower reaches of the Top 75) wasn't great.
Breakers (or the Soul section) - 3 songs I'd gladly never hear again.
Doug E Fresh - Oh dear. I remember everyone raving about this at school but I just didn't get it. Still don't.
Midge Ure - Nothing special and particularly unsuitable as a playout song.
I have to say, having seen the track listing, I was part dreading and part lacking motivation to watch this.
ReplyDeleteStill, Janice and Paul definitely had chemistry. Good to hear Janice’s love for the excellent Prefab Sprout track, but Madness, speeding up the chart? A jump of one whole place from last week. A motley concoction of smart attire, uniforms, long hair and an unmemorable attempt to trap the old ska lightning in a bottle.
TWO! Is that the name of the next act, Janice (or Jan as Paul calls her later in the show)? To think The Marquee used to be a celebrated rock venue. Andrew Ridgley now clearly relegated to band member status.
Obvious highlight of the show with DC Lee. Get the audience waving their arms in time to the song! Nice tights! An even nicer performance of a Cilla-style 60’s-ish pop soul number and showing the Yanks on the show up in the process. Starting with...
Whitney Houston. Bitch died on my 50th birthday. Might not be the only time I mention it about this awful plastic soul shrieker.
No relatives in the next ‘song’, Paul? It’s Whitney’s aunt with a turkey released just in time for Christmas. Paul’s mention of the charity reminds me of the Lucozade factory in Brentford which had to take down its massive illuminated sign which said “Lucozade aids recovery” as it didn’t help you recover from you-know-what.
Say you, say me, say no no no!
That “Oh my God” sample described perfectly my views about Doug E’s rap with a capital C. If this really is the future of TOTP, I might actually have to consider doing a “Wilby” some time in the distance, or at least offer shorter critiques covering just the songs I like in the shows.
Yawn, Feargal with another ‘in concert’ video, though at least it was in colour unlike that Wham! one.
We finish with the only other tune I liked on the show apart from Dee C Lee. I’d have much preferred to see and hear Midge Ure’s spritely ‘Vox lite offering in the show itself.
See? I knew I was right to dread watching that tripe. To run with Angelo's World Cup theme, it was as bad as the first half of Poland v Senegal.
i went to a steely dan tribute concert last weekend, and noticed two or three male peers sporting boyish floppy haircuts similar-to-mine amongst the sea of close-cropped grey/slaphead middle-aged guys there. i went up to one and pointed that out, and he said "yeah, i'm doing a feargal sharkey". to which i replied "i'm doing an early 90's paddy macaloon"!
DeleteDid anyone ever go to famous The Marquee Club in those days? I think it closed down a few years later after this Wham video, but not quite sure why.
DeleteSorry Arthur, but I'm inclined to agree with Sct353 that the Feargal Sharkey video was just brilliant, and not yawn. I just loved the large stage for the band full of sexy backing singers, as well as the large audience in front of the stage enjoying Sharkey's moves. It's one of those feelgood videos in my opinion, and oe of the best No.1 songs (and videos) of the 80s
I guess Feargal's video's good, it's just that getting two 'in concert' videos in one show is a bit too much for me. By the way, what does Feargal say when he throws that phone down? Is it "bastard"?
DeleteWhat, no TOTP at all this week on BBC4? I see that BBC4 have some programme called Up The Women on Thursday at 7.30, instead of the customary TOTP. That is hardly The Sky At Night or The Proms. What is the reason for this I wonder?
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, seems like we'll have to delve deeper into the 21st Nov show to keep the comments going for another week!
It's part of the "Hear Her" strand celebrating women's rights and 100 years since women were allowed to vote.
DeleteSo, the good news is that BBC4 will be screening the 25th December 1985 edition of Top of the Pops - although edited down to 30 minutes. It will be shown on Friday 6th July at 7.30pm.
ReplyDeleteStraight afterwards at 8.00 will be The Story of 1986 followed by Big Hits 1986. So quite a night!
Seems very odd that they are effectively putting out only half the Xmas Day show - JK wasn't in it that much! I wonder if there is a longer version being shown later? I am also surprised that BBC4 didn't put it on the night before, given the presence of the '86 launch programmes on Friday, but I have no doubt that the full, unedited show will be made available when the time comes...
DeleteI believe that Savile, DLT and Mike Smith all put in an appearance on the Christmas show so the sediting scissors will be in overdrive!
DeleteI didn't think any of them appeared on that show, but we will find out for sure when the full version turns up!
DeleteLook forward to the delights (or otherwise) of 1986, There are some cracking number ones to come.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably thinking about arrival of The Communards and Dr & The Medics, both having No.1's from their debut single.
Deletethat was actually the third communards release, their previous two singles having barely scraped into the top 30. and i would hardly describe a couple of re-hashed virtual note-for-note covers of tunes at least 10 years old as "cracking" anyway
DeleteFunnily enough it wasn't those two that sprung to mind at all! Instead I was thinking of A-Ha's production extravaganza 'The Sun always shines on TV', Madonna's fabulous 'Papa don't Preach' and Europe's much played at events even to this day; 'The Final Countdown'.
DeleteI'll be hanging around on this blog for a while yet...it's not until January 1987 that Steve 'Silk' Hurley emerged, and if I'm allowed to quote our good friend Nigel on here; "I can still barely believe that such an awful noise could get to the summit of the UK Chart".
sct, don't forget marrs and s-express!
DeleteI'm sure Angelo probably has something up his sleeve already, but any suggestions for the title of the 1986 blog? The Final Countdown, Holding Back the Years and Livin' on a Prayer came to my mind, as did The Edge of Heaven.
Deleteperhaps the best out of those suggestions would be "holding back the years", but given my intent i think it more appropriate to go with "the final countdown"!
DeleteHow about The Sun Always Shines On TV?
Delete"Spirit In The Sky" was at least Doctor and the Medics' fourth single and their second on a 'big' label. Their first indie single was released back in 1982.
Deleteyes arthur, now you mention it i have a dim memory of dr and the medics appearing in the likes of the NME from time to time as a fairly-credible indie act before they had their big hit
Deleteso that in fact means that neither of those two no.1 hits of 1986 mentioned were debut singles
Good grief! Now it’s been announced the UK singles chart will accept views of YouTube videos in its make-up from this week. I lived in different times.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with that strategy is that one person can view the same video for hours on end, in order to influence its chart position, for example a record producer, and so it is not a reflection of the number of different people purchasing a record, which is what a chart position should be reflective of.
DeleteThe singles chart as we know it died a death a few years ago. This is just digging up the body for a reburial.
Deletethis youtube chart thing reminds me of when i was at uni in the late 90's and put some of my own music on a site called mp3.com. every play triggered a tiny payment of the sponsorship money, so i used to be in the university's libraries and other places where they had banks of computer consoles connected to the internet (either late at night or early in morning when hardly anyone else was around), and play all my music on loop on as many machines as i could for up to several hours! despite that, after about 6 months "work" i still only made about £150. so it felt a bit like filling up a bath with teaspoon!
DeleteGreat to have Madness back. Unfortunately the song is not one of their finest but pleasant enough.
ReplyDeleteWham back and I think this is a great pop song. A worl colleague in the 90s was big into George and Wham so we used to play this regularly over the sound system in whsmith whilst we worked.
Dee C Lee getting her moment in the spotlight. Great singe. Also a great song and this is a good version, real sixties vibe to it. Reminds me of Dusty.
Communards, did we miss them...
Breakers:
Whitney arrives. Such a good song. What a way to start a career.
Elton, Gladys, Dionne, Stevie, Cheese all combine for this bore fest.
I think this is my favourite Lionel song. Says me.
Doug E Fresh. Very Will Smith. Loving the Inspector Gadget sample. Would have hated this at the time but it's not too bad, as a one off. Certainly the liveliest thing on the show tonight.
Loving the fact off. Very humourous. Love it when Janice is in charge.
Video time for A Good Heart. And it's a performance video so not much different to showing it really.
Midge ends the show. Fairly generic number.
The audience have stolen uncle sam hats.
Some sad news here about forum favourite Jay Aston - let's hope she can keep performing:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44612782
She has been miming at the gigs for a while apparently, but was back in studio this week to finish the vocals for the next 2 The Fizz albums.
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