West End dolls
16/01/86 (Dixie Peach & Mike Read)
Fine Young Cannibals – “Suspicious Minds” (17)
The Fine Young Cannibals are in the building getting the show off to a rubbery legged start with their second of five top ten hits. This Elvis cover peaked at number 8.
Dire Straits – “Walk Of Life” (4) (video)
Their fifth and final top ten hit, which had originally been released as the b side to So Far Away, now became their joint biggest peaking at number 2.
Cherrelle & Alexander O’Neal – “Saturday Love” (6)
The debut hit for both singers. For Cherrelle it was her only top ten hit, and for Alexander it was his first of two, but it got no higher than number 6. Was a very young Craig David listening to this?
A-ha – “The Sun Always Shines On TV” (2)
Will be number one next week, as predicted by Mike.
Mr Mister – “Broken Wings” (8)
Peaked at number 4.
Pet Shop Boys – “West End Girls” (1) (video)
Second and final week at number one for this dystopian tune.
Bronski Beat – “Hit That Perfect Beat” (3) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
January 23rd is next, but BBC4 will skip it because of Mike Smith.
Mike Read's hair is looking very bouffant here, but there is a sense of ennui about his presenting which gives you the feeling he would rather have been somewhere else. I don't think Dixie is ever going to be a TV natural, but makes up for it with plenty of enthusiasm that helps him to outshine his co-host.
ReplyDeleteDid Cox and Steele develop hip problems later in life, I wonder? They are up to their usual antics here on this taut, impressive version of an old classic, with some uncredited help on backing vocals from Jimmy Somerville. Truth be told, Jimmy's efforts pale in comparison to the female vocalists on the Elvis version. There was an earlier video for Walk of Life, featuring a busker in a subway, that I don't think ever got played at the time. We get here the familiar promo with various sporting mishaps, which I found hilarious as a kid but less so now - you can also tell from the choice of clips that they were blatantly pandering to the American market! As for the song, it chugs along pleasantly enough and is aided by some good production, but as tends to be the way with the more upbeat Dire Straits tunes it feels a little throwaway and insubstantial.
I don't remember Cherrelle at all from the time, and when I have heard this on the radio since I have always assumed Janet Jackson was the singer. Given this was a Jam & Lewis production, that is probably a pardonable error on my part, but this is definitely a superior sound from the time, immaculately produced and sung. Alexander O'Neal seems largely forgotten these days but was quite a big star for a while - as this performance makes clear, he was also pretty big in both height and girth, though that big chunky jacket probably makes him look more overweight than he actually was.
No breakers this week as we get the now-annual invitation to choose our video of the year - who thought Feargal's very conventional effort was worthy of being touted as a contender? A-ha are back in the studio, attracting a correct prediction of chart-topping glory from Mr Read and doubtless plenty of admiring glances at Morten's bare muscular arms from those of a female (and potentially also gay) persuasion. How many wrist bands was he adorning those same arms with? While I am not a great fan of American AOR, Broken Wings is a better example of the genre, with atmospheric production allied to a decent tune and some impressive vocals. The singer is wearing a leather jacket, perhaps in a bid to enhance his rock 'n' roll credibility.
The West End Girls video finally gets a full play, and Neil and Chris' somewhat unsettling odyssey around 80s London (those dolls at the start are particularly creepy) still holds up well. It seems a bit unimaginative finishing with Bronski Beat when the song had already featured on the show a couple of times, but I suppose it is a very danceable one for the audience.
With regard to the best pop video of 1985 competition, I find it irksome that TOTP put into the equation a couple of pop videos that never got aired on TOTP, i.e., Lean On Me by Red Box and Love & Pride by King. These bands performed in the TOTP studio on each outing, and we only got small clips of their videos in the top ten video rundown.
DeleteTaking into account the fact that in those days there was no internet, Utube, video channels, I remember at the time thinking that the only way I could see a pop video in full outside of TOTP is if it was released on some VHS compilation video that you could buy at Our Price or HMV. So how could anyone possibly vote for videos that they were never able to see in full if TOTP did not play these videos on the show? The mind boggles.
I remember pop videos being played on Saturday morning TV at the time, but most of the time you would only see a clip, rather than the whole thing.
DeleteThe full, unedited final link has been made available here by Neil B:
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/75WJYCr27n
Fine Young Cannibals take an option that would succeed for many an artiste seeking a hit after their originals stopped selling, the cover version. At least this was a different take on the King's source material, apart from the middle eight which remained the same. Invisible Jimmy Sommerville assists from the ether, and Roland seems to be sporting a plastic shirt.
ReplyDeleteDire Straits, a very popular video and Mark's American twang suited the sporting stadium clips, some of which still make me laugh. I recall Mr Knopfler on a Radio 1 show discussing the Brothers in Arms album, and basically slagged it all off as not what he wanted it to sound like at all, Walk of Life came in for particular stick as having too many "woo-oohs".
Cherelle and Eck, back in the days before reality TV could disgrace him. Ultra-slick, sung very fast stuff, yeah, yeah, sounds great in a club, but not too bad over the radio either. I'm not one to pick up on a lady's looks, perish the thought, but Cherelle: what a North and South!
A-ha gearing up for taking the top spot, I note we haven't seen the shop dummies video yet.
Mr Mister, I far preferred their other hit, so naturally this was the one that made Top Ten. All very moody, but it drags on for bloody ages with very little variation other than a guitar solo. Also: black leather jacket, denims, and... white boots?!
Hey, the urban hell of the Pet Shop Boys video at last, must have cost peanuts to make but it's very effective. Like Chris's little dance he briefly breaks into while following Neil.
We've heard Bronski Beat before, but we haven't seen a blonde woman dressed as Cilla Black introducing Blind Date before. So there's that.
with regard to his negative comments on "brothers in arms", mr knopfler obviously cried all the way to the bank a la liberace!
Deletei have to disagree regarding the two mr mister hits - "kyrie" started off really promisingly with lots of interesting atmospheric synth patterns, but then imploded on itself with a bombastic chorus that sounded not disimilar to "we built this city"!
Deleteregarding "blind date": one of the most memorable episodes quite early on in its run featured a guy who worked with my sister in a branch of natwest bank, and whose fame actually transcended the show to a national level thanks to his impression of bruce forsyth. however when it became clear that all this "breakout star" had to offer was pulling a face and saying "good game, good game" ad nauseum, he soon dropped off the sleb radar and presumably went back to doling out fivers from behind the counter. does anyone else remember that?
DeleteI used to work with the chap who was part of the first actual Blind Date wedding. The problem was he and his future wife weren't chosen - they hit it off in the 'green room' and discovered they lived five miles apart - so they weren't the "Do I need a new hat?"couple though, in fairness, LWT did pay for their entire wedding.
DeleteRe Knopfler's dissatisfaction with Brothers in Arms, Mike Oldfield was never happy with the production on Tubular Bells, and he re-recorded the whole thing for the 30th anniversary in 2003 to "put it right" (and doubtless to cash in, of course). Needless to say, the new version was forgotten about almost as soon as it was released...
DeleteChris Rea was also unhappy with the production on his early songs, and re-recorded many of them for the New Light Through Old Windows album in 1988.
THX, I would agree with you that Cherelle had a fine North and South as you call it (damn good Scot), but apart from that, her hair looked like something resembling my kitchen mop, but to her credit, surrounded by clean water, and before mopping the floor. It seemed that she mopped up Alexander O'Neal in that TOTP studio performance, who could easily have been something out of the muppet show, and thankfully he arrived late in that performance, keeping Cherelle waiting, and giving us viewers a chance to admire her fine North and South, so it wasn't all that bad in the end!
Deleteyou could argue that oldfield had a right to be disappointed with the original recording of "tubular bells", as he was practically a callow youth and completely unknown at the time. and thus probably had little control over things. however knopfler had no excuse as not only was he practically middle-aged with several years experience in the biz at that point, he had also produced several more hit albums previously. perhaps the reason for his disatisfaction was that he was too distracted by the production baubles of the era? although to be frank, "brothers in arms" sounds like it could have been recorded at any time in the previous ten years prior to its release
Deletei should mention here that having blown people away with his picking on "sultans of swing" knopfler came to the attention of donald fagan and walter becker of steely dan and was invited to contribute a guitar solo to one of their tracks they were recording (probably the only brit ever to have that honour). however knopfler had recently recorded the entire dire straits debut album in a single day, so the duo's notoriously meticulous approach to recording (whereby they would spend several hours making a session player play a solo over and over again, then debate the merits or otherwise of each take in the control room whilst the player sat in the studio out of the loop) perhaps not surprisingly came as complete culture shock to him! mind you, despite their legendary dedication to their craft, even the dan guys complained that some of their stuff could have been better-recorded!
@Dory: I was more referencing Tommy Steele's hit song:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h5MbndXTS0
I remember Dire Straits' Italian-American second guitarist Jack Sonni well, but I remember his bandannas even more vividly. Was he trying to outshine Little Steven or Nils Lofgren, both Springsteen sidekicks? Anyway, Mark Knopfler serves up another solid slice of stadium rock, featuring some of Terry Williams' tightest drumming.
ReplyDeleteCherrelle and Xander team up on a slick Jam & Lewis composition that illustrated the increasing significance of Minneapolis as the home of (then) contemporary R&B. According to their Wiki entry, Jam & Lewis have had more No.1 hits in the US (counting pop and R&B chart-topers together) than any other songwriting/production team - ever!
Like THX, I preferred Mr Mister's follow-up 'Kyrie' - but 'Broken Wings' is still one of the most captivating power ballads ever released. John "Music was my first love" Miles has covered this song at an annually staged classical-pop fusion concert known as 'Night of the Proms', which is one of continental Europe's biggest indoor events. He has appeared so many times at these concerts that he has become known as "Mr Proms"! Check out his excellent cover of 'Mr Blue Sky' with full orchestra, as well as 'Broken Wings'; both are on YT.
One puzzling feature of 'West End Girls' - reportedly the song that prompted Dusty to get in touch with the Pet Shop Boys - is the way Al Stewart soundalike Neil Tennant delivers the title line "West...End...Girls". Is he meant to sound as though he comes from Paris, or Berlin? Methinks somewhere in Alsace-Lorraine.
Bronski Beat finish with what would be their final Top 10 hit despite its inclusion in the cult Brit-flick 'Letter To Brezhnev'. While John Foster's GPA at the Emlyn Hughes Vocal School was well below that of his predecessor, the blond singer nevertheless proved to be a competent if unspectacular replacement for Jimmy Somerville. Vocally, Foster is akin to the band's former collaborator Marc Almond, though without the latter's slight tuning issues.
i suspect that mr knopfler's headband/bandanna was an attempt to try and deflect from the fact that he was fast-receding (and of course only served to actually highlight that). i don't know if steven van zandt did so for similar reasons, but apparently when he had a regular role in "the sopranos" he wore a syrup! also, i did wonder why nils lofgren joined the e street band when all he seemed to be was a little steven clone and thus rather surplus to requirements?
Deletealso: regarding "letter to brezhnev": margie clarke went on to capitalise on the 80's trend for all things scouse, but whatever happened to her co-star (the unfortunately-named) alexandra pigg?
John Miles playing loads of pop prom concerts? Well, music was his first love, and it will be his last....
DeleteWhoops, I've just spotted a typo: chart-TOPPERS.
DeleteMister Mister's Broken Wings stands out as one of the finest American rock ballads of all time, and one of the reasons why I feel I need to stay on this blog to see out the 80s at least. The cool breeze feeling of a summer evening night drive in a open air convertible is really what gives off the vibe of this song, and to this day I could hear it numerous times and never get fed up of it. Absolutely brilliant stuff, and please keep the good music coming.
Deletefine young cannibals: i have to admit that i did quite like their debut single when i first heard it, although i soon came to realise that take out the beefy production tricks and there wasn't much much left over. i don't think i was even aware that this was a cover of a later king track at the time, and so thought much the same i.e. a case of muscular style over content, with roland's rasp begging to be parodied. plus the triple-time breakdown in the middle killed it stone dead. i remember charity shops being full-to-bursting with that album that had a huge "FYC" on the cover around 15-20 years back - i suspect the donators thinking (when they having a clearout): "why ever did i buy this?"
ReplyDeletedire straits: seeing that everyone and his dad bought the parent album, how come this rubbish almost managed to top the charts as a fourth - yes, fourth! single from it?
cherrelle/alexander o'neal: this mid-tempo dance track instantly grabs you with the huge crunching drum intro, and then never really lets go with its smooth synth hooks and catchy backing vocals. that's despite the somewhat corpulent laydeez man-wannabe o'neal's best attempts to ruin it as he's clearly on the edge of his range, alternating between a rather peircing chest voice and feeble falsetto. cherrelle also did the original version of "i didn't mean to turn you on" that was a hit for robert palmer later in the year. but although it was far-better suited lyrically, it wasn't a patch on palmer's version musically
mr mister: a bit like the cars' "heartbeat city", here comes along a belated synth-pop effort by an american band that oozes sophistication and style despite or maybe because of that. a nice touch of modulation too when the first chorus gives way to the second verse. pat mastelotto later became robert fripp's drummer of choice, so he was obviously no slouch. but here much of the percussion seems to be curtesy of machines rather than him. if singer richard page ever watches this appearance on youtube now, he must be thanking his lucky stars that he didn't patronise the same then-trendy hair salon as his mulleted colleagues
bronski beat: one has to ask why this was being used as playout music, when they had already made two studio appearances and were riding high in the charts? couldn't they have picked a breaking dance track like "new york eyes" by nicole (no, not the same one that won the eurovision song contest a few years earlier) and timmy thomas (yes, the same one who had a bit with the over-rated "why can't we live together" a lot more than a few years earlier) instead?
I can confirm it was the Mums who caused Wall Of Life to chart so high. Mine and all the other school mums had it.
DeleteBBC4HD restored version: https://we.tl/6KNJ2Gsor7
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to James2001, who has provided an MP4 version of the 23 January show:
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/BBaOCYylDr
Nice one :-)
DeleteI must admit that I fast forwarded through most of this lot, most of what I did watch having already been featured previously (a-ha, PSB - how ironic that they finally get shown on BBC4 and it's the video!)
ReplyDeleteFYC - I don't actually mind this cover at all, and it's better than the mostly forgotten one that Candi Staton did just a few years earlier.
Dire Straits - Tedious MOR drivel. I wonder how many people effectively bought it twice, not knowing it had already been a B side?
Cherrelle / Alexander O'Neal - Nicely produced, well sung, just not for me really.
Mr Mister - I much prefer 'Kyrie' to be honest, this one is just too dull.
i wonder how many people owned "walk of life" not only on two singles, but on the "brothers in arms" album as well? maybe even perhaps four times, as they had the album on a new-fangled CD (that in itself basically blew that particular market wide open) as well as on vinyl?
DeleteI probably had 'Walk of life' 5 times at one point:-
Delete1) So far away 10"
2) Brothers in Arms LP
3) Walk of Life 7" double pack
4) Brothers in Arms CD
5) Money for Nothing compilation
sct were they all exactly the same version? it could well have been edited down for single release, but i don't suppose they called in someone like jellybean or francois kervorkian to do a dance remix? or maybe they did, and they just couldn't do a thing with it ha ha
DeleteAll the same version.
Deletesct i hope you played it in all the different formats you owned, otherwise it would have been a case of "money for nothing" boom boom!
DeleteGreat edition tonight from Mike and Dixie bar a couple of skips…
ReplyDeleteFine Young Cannibals – Suspicious Minds – Elvis? Roland? Not too sure what this version adds to the original but it’s a lively and tuneful start to the show. Every time I see Gift now I just think ‘Christine!’.
Dire Straits – Walk of Life – As Angelo reminds us, this was the B Side to ‘So far away’ which nobody bar the fans bought. Whoever thought this was only good enough for a B Side must have been eating humble pie. Seeing THX’s comments about Knopfler’s interview, maybe he had a hand in the decision? Seeing the band walk out at Wembley brings back memories of the ‘Brothers in Arms’ tour. I recall stopping off for a curry on the walk to Wembley Arena from Wembley Park Station on the way to that concert. Could have done without the American baseball stuff interspersed but I guess they had to chop up the bits of the band as they were clearly playing the song live and showing snippets where the voice was in time with the single version. Timeless.
Cherrelle & Alexander O’Neal – Saturday Love – Prefer the Saturdays. FF
A-Ha –The Sun always shines on TV - Deserved second showing for this mega track. Again shorn of the intro and the ‘huh’ being edited out of the single version, this doesn’t quite hit the heights but nevertheless is in a class of its own.
Mr Mister – Broken Wings – Nice to see Mr Mister in the studio. Don’t recall this, but certainly do recall buying this and the follow up ‘Kyrie’. The USA record buyers were spot on taking these two singles to the top and thank goodness the UK woke up to them…unlike some other USA no1s that sank without trace (“hi there Starship and Boston with their two ‘girls name’ US no1s”). After that for Mr Mister, (in the words of Monty Python) “duh-duh…..nothing happened”.
Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls – Great video! WH Smith in all its ‘brown logo’ glory which I much prefer to the blue they use these days (although the ‘box’ WHS logo has made a retro comeback on carrier bags; a bit like the old Co-op logo). What’s the London station? Waterloo perhaps? A Titan bus A981SYE appears on route 42 also.
Bronski Beat – Hit that perfect beat playout….FF
Question: with all the editing that BBC4 do to avoid mentioning DJs who cannot be named, you’d think they’d edit out the bit about where to send competition entries to? My vote goes to Feargal btw.
It is Waterloo Station.
DeleteAnd the WHS logo made a comeback for the 225th birthday last year. Celebrated by making loads of carrier bags with the old logo on just as everyone stopped buying them so they'll probably be available until the 250th
There is also a 500pc jigsaw of all the old shop fronts is you have a spare tenner .. Amazingly there are a few left. 😀
Did anyone else notice the chap with the glasses and false nose combination in the audience? What was that all about? If you don't want to be recognised, why go on TV?
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing aha Track again. I used to get a magazine called Flexipop. It woukd have a cover mounted flexidisc of a track unavailable anywhere else. One of them was a really good remix of Sun always shines On tv
ReplyDeleteLots of pointing to stage by our hosts, and why did Mike bother with that ridiculously low slung tie?
ReplyDeleteThe return of Roland and the Rubberlegs, with an okay cover – much better than their execrable take on “Ever Fallen In Love”.
Dire Straits. Dire. FF.
Cherrelle there with a mush which could probably take a Terry’s Chocolate Orange in one (unwrapped , of course), though Alexander O’Neal (who should have come on stage during his first line for greater effect) looked like he’d eaten the rest of the box.
I FF’d the video comp quicker than I did Dire Straits.
Wonderful stuff by A-Ha, with almost more wristwear than singlet on Morten.
White cowboy boots, sir? American, are we? I can see why people liked “Broken Wings” but it did nothing for me, sorry.
A fit inducing start to the Petties’ video, an unusual ghostly effect for Chris, and Waterloo station when the trains either ran or ran on time (i.e. before South Worstern Railways took over last August).
A frenetic ending with the Bronskis sounding like they were at 78 rpm speed yet they weren’t. Phew!
ReplyDeleteMike and Dixie a good pairing.
I love this version of Suspicious Minds. Not sure 11 year old me would have known this was a cover.
Is Roland's shirt made of plastic. He's got the full Jimmy Somerville dance as well. Since when have Guitarists worn cardigans..
Dire Straits with the hugely annoying Wall of Life. After an innovative video we go back to a boring concert video with sports clips. Very US Jock. Next...
Are the end captions supposed to be artistic. They just look broken
And now I remember this Cherelle song. Wondered when Alex would turn up. I enjoyed this. Its a good song. 😀
Mon Feb 10th. Got it. BEST VIDEO TIME.
AHA should be allowed in. Special dispensation.
Speaking of Aha. Tune... 😀😀😀
And it will deservedly be number one Mike. One of the best songs of the 80s
Muscley Norton, Pretty Pal and Henry from Neighbours in fine form.
Mr.Mister. Beautiful record. This is turning into a great show this week.
Sing a long time..
Another band I know nothing about. Google (or Wilberforce as he's known around here) will have to come to my rescue.
So PSB finally get a showing and it's the bloody video.. Oh well at least it's a good one. Used to use Waterloo Station as lot as a kid, my Dad worked in London so used to visit London during the school holidays.
Plus I get a look at Retro WHSmith. 😀
Bit of Bronski to play us out..
Fab show..
morgie thanks for making out i'm the human equivalent of google! sadly of course thanks to the internet none of can properly show off our retentive memories these days (unlike back then, when i used to regularly clean out trivia machines ha ha). but i still try and rely on a 30-odd year-old memory for my recollections rather than just click a few keys for confirmation (sometimes to my embarrassment as i'm not always on the money, but i'm proud to say far more often than not!)
Deleteregarding mr mister: as i've already mentioned above, drummer pat mastelotto went on to play for robert fripp/king crimson. but other than being american and the singer being called richard page, i know nothing about them!
Thanks Wilberforce, it's a bit of a mystery. ..
Delete