Head banger
15/05/86 (Simon Bates & Mike Smith)
Status Quo – “Rollin’ Home” (25)
New line up, same old sound! And Peaked at number 9.
Level 42 – “Lessons In Love” (3) (Montreux clip)
At its peak.
Joyce Sims – “All & All” (16)
Also at its peak.
Doctor & The Medics – “Spirit In The Sky” (17)
Heading for number one.
ZZ Top – “Rough Boy” (29) (breaker)
Peaked at number 23.
The B-52’s – “Rock Lobster” (20) (breaker)
Peaked at number 12.
Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer” (7) (video)
Peaked at number 4.
Spitting Image – “The Chicken Song” (1) (video)
First of three weeks at number one.
Van Halen – “Why Can’t This Be Love?” (13) (video/audience dancing/credits)
Peaked at number 8.
May 22nd is next.
Fornicate me, Angelo, that's a scary screen shot for this edition!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to change tack here for no good reason. Feel free if you want to join in or blow a raspberry. What was your first message on the TOTP forum overall? I was an interested onlooker for the first few weeks back on Simon's original blog back in 2011 but felt I finally had to chip in with a comment about a singer called Johnnie Taylor, who had a number 1 over the pond and a mid-20's over here, who wore an alarming string vest for his mugshot photo. Feel free to join in or ignore completely!
I remember making a couple of contributions to Simon's blog, mainly about the Kenny Everett-hosted 1973 show that BBC4 repeated. However, I didn't become a "regular" until we reached spring 1979 and Angelo had firmly taken the reins.
DeleteI think my first comment was about David Soul's Don't Give Up On Us on Simon's blog, I used part of his lyric as a screen name before adopting the easier to type THX.
Deletei have to admit that to my somewhat dim recollection (it was nearly 10 years ago now!) i was on board and submitting my own comments from the very beginning, having had the good fortune to learn about the blog starting up either elsewhere on the internet or perhaps via the telly or a magazine/newpaper (does anyone else remember them)? unlike angelo, simon was very thorough with his assessments of the show. so posts were usually add-ons rather than complete reviews that regulars contribute nowadays. i have to say i prefer it this way though!
DeleteI remember with Simon's blog, that is was too picture-heavy, so much so, that you had to do a lot of scrolling down to find people's comments, because the very large pictures stood out a mile over what looked like people's comments in miniscule text if you could actually find them!
DeleteI’m an extremely occasional contributor, but I’ve been there since Angelo’s first predecessor.
DeleteNoel Edmonds did a pained link between Soul City Walking and Boston Tea Party by mentioning a ‘Drell spoon’. I googled it to try and make some sense, and it led me to the blog. And only to the blog. :-)
it was simon's short-lived successor chris retro that used loads of clips from the shows to illustrate his reviews - with the result that the pages took forever to stream!
DeleteStarted watching TOTP repeats in 1979 and "think" Found the blog fairly quickly I stared contributing about 1981. May have been about Bucks Fizz. Been a regular since about 83???
DeleteMay have used the phrase "Wifey" once but I think I got away with it..
The thought of Smitty and Master Bates hosting a TOTP together is enough to fill you with dread, but both of them are actually in good form here, Smitty in particular toning it down considerably and coming over far better as a result. Perhaps he feared the Headmaster's disapproval?
ReplyDeleteSome 18 months after supposedly splitting up for good, Quo return with Alan Lancaster now out of the picture and a new rhythm section consisting of John "Rhino" Edwards (I'd like to know where that nickname came from) and bubble-permed Jeff Rich. I don't remember this one at all, and had long thought In the Army Now was their first comeback hit, but evidently not. As Angelo mentions the sound hadn't changed, but this is a pleasant enough tune with a mildly anthemic chorus, and certainly a notch above the final singles of the Lancaster era. Back to Montreux for Level 42, in a performance that I initially assumed was live but is I think just an amplified version of the record.
Joyce Sims was evidently very keen to promote her song, as somewhat surprisingly she is in the studio again, looking very sparkly. As with Sam Cooke's Wonderful World, the reissued I Heard it Through the Grapevine was now on the way down without getting an airing - did the Beeb have an aversion at this point to featuring old songs that adverts had propelled back into the charts? Talking of old songs, here are Doctor and the Medics with a very faithful take (bar a few synth sounds) of Norman Greenbaum's classic 1970 chart-topper, for my money one of the greatest one-hit wonders. This version doesn't really bring anything new to the party, and I imagine it was the band's image, allied to the enduring strength of the song, that enabled them to follow Greenbaum all the way to number 1. At the time I used to confuse "Doctor" Clive Jackson with Pete Burns, thanks to the hair.
It's a great pity we won't see any more of Rough Boy, as this is arguably ZZ Top's finest moment. The song itself boasts some fabulous guitar, and the video, with the famous car now turned into a space vehicle and the band appearing like trophies on a wall with their disembodied heads, is something of a classic. The same label of course applies to this immortal Peter Gabriel promo, a true technical ground breaker which you couldn't escape from at the time, and which would inspire a number of other Claymation videos. I haven't seen it for a while and it still holds up, but it has rather overshadowed the song, which is a shame as it is an excellent mix of rock and soul, with a strong Stax influence in the horn section - Wayne Jackson, who had been a horn player at Stax, features on the record. Another chance to enjoy the Spitting Image video as The Chicken Song hits the top, and then Van Halen play us out. The video is cliched and boring, but as commercial American hard rock of this era goes, this isn't bad and has a decent chorus.
more name-dropping here i'm afraid, but in the mid 90's i was in a band that supported john "rhino" edwards and jeff rich's own spin-off band which they had when not playing with quo (of course the quo connection was the selling point, along with several other members of the band being sidemen of other rock superstars) in a large venue (actually called "the venue") in borehamwood. the irony of this single sounding regulation no-nonsense dandruff-dropping quo was that alan lancaster had actually left the band due to them experimenting with a more poppy sound to try and keep up with the 80's musical trends!
Deleteyes john i suspect the beeb very much had an aversion to promoting music that was selling on the strength of being used in commercial adverts. they were still very sniffy about such things back then, and i remember even quite some time after that when carol vorderman had to quit a show that she was presenting on the beeb because she had the temerity to sign up for an advert being shown on commercial television!
DeleteI think those golden oldies didn't feature on TOTP more probably because they didn't have clips available and there was no Legs & Co to dance to them.
DeleteTHX - yes, I think that is more likely to be the reason, but as Wilberforce points out the Beeb was very sniffy about its presenters sullying their hands with advertising until quite recently - it was in the mid-90s that Carol Vorderman got the boot from Tomorrow's World for taking the commercial shilling. The same fate befell Percy Thrower in the 70s, sacked from Gardeners' World for advertising plants.
Deletequo: i didn't realise that "rockin all over the world" had been re-released nearly a decade after being a hit?
ReplyDeletedr/medics: an utterly redundant and pointless copycat cover of a record whose popularity always escaped me. they've even duplicated the descending delayed guitar lick at the beginning that was by far the best thing about the original
zz top: not one i remember, and presumably this is all we'll see of it on the show? it's boring the pants off me listening on yt, but at least like quo they're not just regurgitating themselves over and over again for a change
peter gabriel: i remember liking this at the time, but i'm ambivalent about it nowadays thanks to over exposure (that was mainly thanks to that video). peter was looking quite normal at the time and as a result was almost pin-up material - as opposed to before in genesis with his long hair and shaved bit in the middle, and current bald and goatee'd gnome appearance. this came from his fifth studio album, and the first one that wasn't just rather confusingly entitled "peter gabriel"!
van halen: the third heavy/hard rock act on the show tonight - i don't think that happened even in the heyday of metal in the late 70's?
the above should have read "at least UNlike quo"!
DeleteStatus Quo are back with half a new lineup and a tune that sounds like a folk song only with Quo-i-fied guitar riffs. Not the worst thing they ever did, at least the melody is there, but not very invigorating either.
ReplyDeleteOh great, more atmosphere-free Montreux clips! Level 42 even miming here, which must have made it feel even more pointless for the crowd.
Joyce Sims is back, much the same as before, categorise as "in the country therefore available to fill a gap in the schedule".
Doctor and the Medics with a synthed-up cover of the old Norman Greenbaum hit. Fun fact about Norm: when he staged a one-off comeback gig many years after his success, the audience demanded he play Spirit in the Sky about twenty times in a row rather than any of his other material. Went down very well, but it is a bit like the Big Train Ralph McTell sketch.
ZZ Top show their sensitive side with a rock ballad, contrasting the hardman lyrics with the gentle drone of the guitars. Not a bad formula, but the results are merely average, and you kind of want them to get back to rockin'. Clever video, though.
Can't work out if the B-52's video is a new one or one from about five years before, anyone know?
Played to death on The Chart Show, and looking a bit clunky now, but the sheer amount of detail and effort that went into the Sledgehammer video still impresses. Loved the song at the time, too, though hearing it so many times has taken the appeal off a bit these days. "I've been peeing in the river!"
Spitting Image learn the meaning of irony, then Van Halen with a tune I quite liked at the time, and it's nice to hear this instead of Jump for a change.
'McTell'does attempt another song 'The Highwayman' in that Big Train sketch. But he soon gets shouted down by Simon Pegg and Tracy-Ann Oberman and has to segue back into 'Streets'!
DeleteIndeed, I most remember the Sledgehammer video for it's never ending appearance every week on The Chart Show on Channel 4, which was a new show in 1986 to rival TOTP, but on a Friday late afternoon/early evening. That was the only show that you could see this video in full, cos it was quite a long one, nothing short of 5 minutes I think!
DeleteInteresting coincidence with ZZ Top. I play my music in the car on shuffle, and on Tuesday a track came that I recognised, but couldn’t place until the chorus. It was from a ZZ Top trubiute album, and was wyclef Jean singing Rough Boy. Amazing to see the original pop up today!...
ReplyDeleteOne thing I forgot to mention - they are finally spelling Atlantic Starr correctly!
ReplyDeleteThanks once again to our contraband provider.
ReplyDeleteThe Shitty and Slimes combination is only one rung up from Blond Buffoon and Nodding Dog but, thankfully, we were left virtually unscathed after this show.
Such a shame David Jensen wasn’t there, though, as he used to have a jingle which went “You’re rolling home with the Kid” and he could have shoehorned that into the first intro. I think we last saw Rhino Edwards with a remarkably large acoustic guitar accompanying Judie Tzuke.
I preferred Level 42’s dodgy ship video to the Montreux borefest.
“I’m not playing this disco rubbish on my show” implies Slimes before we see Joyce give it her all (& all) with a zippy performance.
Finally, as John points out, we get Atlantic Starr with two ‘r’s in the mugshots!
I saw Doctor & The Medics once, at Feltham Assembly Halls on a Sunday. They were a very good ‘good time’ band and I can see why this identikit version of “Spirit” did well. Clive going for it big time there.
Oo! A ZZ Top ballad! And it’s good, and accompanied by an unusual video to (car) boot.
Why is “Rock Lobster” a hit, Mike? Because it’s great, you knob! Probably the first time Joe Public had heard the dulcet tones of Fred “I’ll talk all my lyrics” Schneider.
Just how many hours did it take to make that “Sledgehammer” video? Good grief!
I don’t know how many people have heard of The Heebeegeebees, Slimes. Their epic Bee Gees mickey-take “Meaningless Songs (In Very High Voices)” wasn’t a hit here but made number 2 in Australia. They included Angus Deayton in their ranks but, of the trio, only Michael Fenton Stevens appeared on “The Chicken Song” – in fact, he’s the lead singer.
I have the same band billed as Status Quid' playing a song called 'The Boring Song'. The outtro never fails to make e laugh! Makes an interesting contrast to 'Rollin' Home'.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvYLJfm6qlI
I love the ZZ Top video, and I remember it well at the time, most notably because of the foresight of plasma screens TVs which were still 18 years in the future, as they did not come out until 2004 for general purchase.
DeleteI remember buying a new Sony 32 inch TV at the beginning of 2003 which was the last year of the old-style TV with deep tube, and you can imagine it was very heavy, that you needed two people to lift it. Contrast this to a year later in 2004 when the first plasma screens appeared in the high street stores, and nowadays you see people standing on a bus stop waiting for a bus, having just left a store with a plasma TV to take home under their arm, so light are the large TVs now!
I would think that ZZ Top, a bit like ELO, were influence by Star Trek, where in the case of ZZ Top, Star Trek was the first phenomenon of our time that predicted a TV screen flush with a wall, ie, the bridge screen. In the case of ELO it was their iconic starship on their videos which is likely to have been influenced by the Star Trek's USS Enterprise.
DeleteStar Trek also predicted doors that opened when you walked towards them. The Klingons or the Romulans have yet to appear...
DeleteOn the note of Star Trek, and the current TOTP chart, I was watching Star Trek V: The Final Frontier recently, and I thought that Michael McDonald & Patti Labelle looked uncannily like Sybok (Spock's half brother) and Lieutenant Uhura from that movie!
DeleteBack to a double host affair and a few strange comments (and inaccurate in one case).
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo – Rollin’ Home – Sounds just like Status Quo but it’s none the worse for that. Not written by the Quo duo but by one John David. In the early 70s I used to think that Quo were so heavy!
Level 42 – Lessons in Love – Live in Montreux eh? Didn’t anybody actually play live at those gigs? Looks better than that insipid video we saw the other week though.
Joyce Sims – All in All – So no radio play? I wouldn’t play it either. FF
Dr and the Medics – Spirit in the Sky – 1986 was a real mixed bag. We have this week’s dreadful no1 coming up but then fabulous songs like this reached the top. Norman Greenbaum’s original was good enough but this is probably an even better version. However, this was not from the 60s. May 1970 this reached the top for Norm.
Breakers – ZZ Top – Rough Boy – very unlike ZZ this song. Never heard it before. B52s Rock Lobster. Originally released in August 1979 and reaching no37, it was indeed a surprise to see it back in the charts, this time listed as a double A Side with ‘Planet Claire’. The video looks like it was not 1979 vintage.
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer – So unlike PGs usual output, it was a very big departure, but very lucrative. The ‘So’ album that it came from was certainly one of his best and took PG mainstream for a short while until reverting back to type with subsequent releases (although ‘Steam’ did make no10 in 1993).
Spitting Image – The Chicken Song – Three weeks of this to endure…FF
Van Halen –Why can’t this be love? Now this really does sound heavy. Another great tune. I prefer their first minor hit ‘Runnin’ with the Devil’ from 1980 though. Now, that’s mighty!
No feature for Dire Straits with ‘Your latest Trick’. Straits were probably one of the biggest bands on the planet at this point in time so it’s odd that the only mention this single gets is on the chart rundown, but perhaps that was because there was no video to promote it. A worthy charity benefitting from its sales also. After this release Straits would never hit the dizzy heights singles-wise again.
I don't remember this Status Quo comeback single, but as someone noted above, they were out of the charts for a couple of years, not seen since 1984, which probably explains their very upbeat style to open the show this week.
DeleteThey certainly looked happier on this performance than I have ever seen them being, looking somewhat reinvigorated after a couple of years off our screens, so you gotta take your hat off to them not giving up after 1984 was 20 years of chart hits for them.
It seems that this new single was the start of the next twenty years up to 2006, if indeed they lasted that long with new chart material!
Dory, I checked and found it staggering that Status Quo managed a further 34 UK chart hits up to 2010, though at least half of those peaked between 31 and 51. Their next hit took them to the halfway stage of their hit singles catalogue!
DeleteGood Lord, the first thing that comes to mind is how they could sustain a record label for 46 years from 1964 to 2010. With a new generation of record buyers from 1990 to 2010 over a 20-year period, I cannot think that the generation buying records of the Spice Girls, Take That, Steps, Boyzone, Atomic Kitten, etc, could ever get into the music of Status Quo right up until 2010, which is also when Vintage TV was launched.
DeleteNot exactly my favourite show ever with another gruesome twosome fronting it.
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo - I don't remember it from the time but didn't need to listen to much of it as I knew exactly what it was going to sound like.
Level 42 - Hooray, the Montreux clips are back! Just getting out the ticker tape...
Joyce Sims - As I said before I think, that has an awful, dated production.
Dr & The Medics - Oh, how I loved this at the time. It's all style and no substance though, as I recognise now. I dared mention that they turn up to the opening of an envelope to perform this these days on Twitter (and presumably their other hit?) and Clive Jackson jumped straight down my throat with a reply. Maybe the truth hurts.
Smitty asks 'Why' about Rock Lobster, the utter tit. Well, why not? It's more interesting than about 90% of the rest of the chart. Which is more than can be said for their big hit as I would gladly never hear 'Love Shack' ever again.
Peter Gabriel - It's difficult to convey exactly how exciting this was at the time. We've all seen and heard it many times since but I still like it.
I'm sure this show isn't the first time that Mike Smith has announced the hosts of the next one and then said 'Make of that what you will'. Anyone got any ideas what the hell he's on about when he says this? Some Radio 1 in-joke perhaps?
am i the only one here who doesn't despise "love shack"? i thought it was brilliant at the time, but maybe over-exposure back then has done for it now?
Deletei admit i hadn't heard it for quite a while of late (probably for that reason), so i'm having a listen again now... and i still think it's pretty good!
that reminds me of "groove is in the heart" by dee-lite that you also couldn't get away from around the same time, whether it was on the radio or in a club (with people going mental accordingly) - and likewise, i suspect it damaged its popularity and credibility in the long term?
They would be the two biggest dance floor fillers of 1990, and we got a long way to go from 1986, but at this rate, we will be at 1990 by the end of 2019 if BBC4 continue with these reruns into the 90s.
DeleteI didn't like Love Shack much to start with, but in recent years in particular it seems to have received saturation airplay on certain radio stations, to the point where I switch the radio off or over if it comes on. Groove is in the Heart, by contrast, is a song I could happily listen to again, not least because you hear it nowhere near as often.
Deletewhat took the shine off "groove is in the heart" for me was when i discovered quite some time later that basically the whole thing was built on a sample from an obscure herbie hancock instrumental called "bring down the birds". at least the B-52's didn't rip anyone off in that shameful manner!
DeleteThe best part of Groove Is In The Heart is the hot lead singer in it. Very cute, and certainly knows how to groove. Difficult to think she is 28 years older now, and must be in her 50s now I reckon, but probably still gorgeous.
Deletewell, there's a surprise. there were rumours that she was a transexual, although nothing was ever proved. ditto the "singer" in another early 90's sampling/dance act black box
DeleteUtter nonsense
Delete"Love Shack" and "Groove Is In The Heart" are both great 1990 tracks. Think "Groove" especially has aged really well and still sounds good today.
DeleteI love 'Groove Is In The Heart' and certainly haven't got tired of it, whereas 'Love Shack' I think I hated almost instantly, and it's one of those that the hen night brigade always holler along to when it gets played in clubs / weddings / whatever.
ReplyDeleteWell BBC4 has missed a treat as this is one of the best 86 editions so far. Neither Slimes nor Smithy annoying at all.. happy days
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo - Amazingly I really liked this (shoot me now). Thought it was a great start to the show and one of their best efforts despite it being new to me.
Montreaux is back (probably for the next 3 months) and kicking off with Level 42. Not sure how much was "live" and what was pre-recorded but the vocals sounded live through my headphones.
Great song. Very much in with a chance of making my Top 10 of 86.
Joyce Sims gets a second appearance, much the same as the first but very happy to hear it again as it's a cracking record.
All hail "Dr and the Medics" with possinly the finest 60s cover version ever. 11 year old me adored this pop song and 44 year old me has to agree. Still find those 2 red-clad girls with the odd hand movements creepy. On it's way to the top of course.
Breaker:
Great video for a mediocre tune from ZZ Top.
B-52's - WOW, Rock Lobster one of their odder efforts and no idea why it was a hit now, but great to hear something a little different in the charts.
The "award-winning" Sledgehammer video. Excellent as always and a great tune as well.
Yes I will be "humming it for weeks" which is rather annoying but a bit of fun does us no harm.
Van Halen video is crap but the song is OK so no harm done.
Great show. Next....