Just another manic mummy
09/10/86 (Gary Davies & Simon Mayo)
Bangles – “Walk Like An Egyptian” (20)
Flying in from LA to get the show off to a pharoah-ly good start with what became the second of their three top ten hits when it peaked at number 3.
Nick Berry – “Every Loser Wins” (4) (video)
Will be number one next week.
Julian Cope – “World Shut Your Mouth” (28)
Clearly having far too much fun with that microphone, this arousing tune became his biggest solo hit, peaking at number 19.
Paul Young – “Wonderland” (24)
A bit of a slow builder this one, but once it got going it didn't sound half bad at all. However, number 24 was its peak.
Howard Jones – “All I Want” (35)
Loyal dancer Jed is back, this time sporting a quite nightmarish mask, for what would be Howard's final top 40 hit, and it got no higher than number 35.
Madonna – “True Blue” (1) (video)
Just the one week at number one for 50's throwback True Blue.
Paul Simon – “You Can Call Me Al” (5) (video/credits)
A quirky video to end the show starring Chevy Chase for what became Paul's third and final solo top ten hit, taken from his mammoth number one album Graceland, when it peaked at number 4.
16th October is next.
My, the Bangles look cool here, all in a row and taking turns with the vocals and spotlight. There's a case here they are among the most underrated hitmakers of the 80s, and they did better than the Go-Go's success-wise. This is a rockin' tune, never been very sure what they're singing about but with its insistent bassline and bursts of sonic colour, a top tune.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have Nick Berry. In a saner world, he wouldn't have had one hit, never mind two. Soon to be number one for a ridiculous amount of time. Maybe I'll even watch the video all the way through one of those times.
Ah, that's better, Saint Julian to spice things up, I suppose we should be glad he didn't start climbing the set. Great, put everyone in their place rocker with weird synth noises lest you think he was growing too conventional, one of the brighter spots on the radio of 1986.
Paul Young next with Wonder if there's a tune? Land. Nothing-y sound, building to more nothing, though at least his voice is intact at this point (I know he was miming). This won't keep you at the top.
Sheesh, more of the same, this time from Howard Jones and Alternative Carpark. He seems to have a bee in his bonnet about something lyrically, but musically this is painfully dull. This won't keep you at the top either.
Madonna with her perky, cute little love song, another Number One, the video's simple but effective, though the tension between innocent lyrics and sexpot image is always going to be interesting. Do women still get called "sexpots"? Anyway, if only she had been able to hold back Nick for a while longer.
Paul Simon, one of the first albums I got was Graceland, just loved it, and still give it a spin occasionally. Nowadays he'd be lambasted for cultural appropriation. OK, he was lambasted for it then, too. But this is a terrific pop ditty, sort of him proving he could still write a catchy tune. How many kids thought Paul was Chevy Chase after seeing the video, though? Unlike Chevy, however, a lot of people like Paul.
Oh, and Simon Mayo's prediction was correct: he is happily married to the same woman, decades later.
Count me in as one of those kids (I was 7) who thought Chevy Chase was Paul Simon at the time. Even when I discovered he was the other bloke in the video, I had difficulty reconciling the middle-aged bespectacled Simon with his younger self, complete with long hair and moustache, on the cover of my dad's Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits album...
Deletei remember at the time thinking how young paul simon looked in the mid-80's compared to 15 years earlier. what i didn't stop to consider until some time later that it was in no small part down to either having had a hair transplant or (more likely) wearing a syrup!
DeleteI recall Danny Baker on his radio show a while back describing Paul's tonsorial arrangement as one of the "wigs nobody mentions"!
Deletewhat about richie blackmore's?
Deletei think this may have been an inspiration for "walk like an egyptian":
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq7DGvfnr3U
Oh, I think Richie's hairpiece is legendary - there's that story of him being chucked in a swimming pool and his hair surfacing before he did, in a different part of the water than its owner.
Deleterichie never came over as a barrel of laughs at the best of times, so i bet he was fuming about that! in fact it wouldn't surprise me if someone pushed him in the pool on purpose, just to see if he and his syrup would separate as a result?
DeleteTHX - IS your referance to 'Alternative Carpark' meant to be to this? I still find it hilarious years later having watched it countless times!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td58HHfl1Rk
@SCT: Yes, that's it! Classic sketch, one of the funniest things they ever did in NtNOCN! I'd rather see an Alternative Carpark movie than another Johnny English one.
Delete"I am a mime. My body is my tool." - love it, and only Rowan Atkinson could really carry that off.
DeleteTo answer the original question, I too thought that Chevy Chase was Paul Simon, even though my parents definitely owned the 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' album!
Count me in to the Paul Simon is actually Chevy chase club.
DeleteMy Dad had the Bridge over troubled water album as well so put me straight eventually.
An excellent if slightly off the boil set of studio artistes, a fine presenting duo, and an assured young Mister Mayo, fitting in seamlessly and virtually spending his stag night presenting the show.
ReplyDeleteA very confident start by The Bangles. Nice to see them all lined up so the keyboard whistle miming drummer gets equal status, though it was clear by this time Susannah knew her place, and it showed pretty quickly with following releases. Shame this didn’t reach the top of the chart pyramid. Ahem!
If ever Autotune was cried out for. Of the ‘Enders cast, I think only Wellard the dog failed to release a single – even Pete Beale did, and Lofty (not asked to do one officially) released his own independent single, a dreadful re-working of “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. Nick Berry wasn’t the only hit artist in “Heartbeat”, by the way - under the guise of Heartbeat Country, Bill Maynard reached number 75 with a crack at the title song.
Julian Cope there with “Nick Berry Shut Your Mouth”. The crowd loved this, and so did I. A wonderful blast of tuneful noise washing away the humdrum. Great balancing act on that mic stand. What a showman.
Oh dear, Simon, your only faux pas of the night. The first bit of the countdown goes as far as 11 – it isn’t 40 to 1.
My cat was watching the show with me (honestly, he likes telly) and as soon as Paul Young started he turned to me and screwed his face up as if to say “What’s this shit?”. He wasn’t wrong. Paul eschews the smart suit and The Tarts for a leather and polo neck combo and a drone before they became those privacy invading saucers.
Good grief, I’d forgotten Howard Jones was on once more. He’s turned up with the Howard Jones Big Band, old Nightmare Face, a dreadful new image, and a song I actually liked and bought though it’s clearly too high for his vocal range. Howard probably thought “They wanted me in the studio again – this is it, I’m back in the game”. How ironic this turned out to be his very last mugshot week in the UK top 40. Bye and thanks, mate.
FF Madge for an enjoyable vid, well acted by Chevy and nicely choreographed, though Paul forgets to stop miming in the second chorus and he blows his straight man persona by finally cracking into a big grin near the end.
The video for Tom Watt's Dylan cover is on YT - all these years, I remembered it being on The Chart Show, but had no idea it was a Dylan cover! And it's every bit as good as you'd expect a rapping Cockney version would be.
DeleteI did think that while watching this Bangles studio performance, that TOTP at this stage of the decade had put fewer studio audience members behind the group performing on the main stage with the video screen, ie, if you compare with the early 80s where they would allow a lot more of them to dance and wiggle their stuff behind the group performing. The stage looked too bare when only a small number of audience were allowed onto the back of the stage.
DeleteGazza had evidently forgotten - or was unaware - that young Mayo had already made one guest appearance on TOTP a few months earlier. The new boy is professional enough with his links here, but is clearly tense and seems completely unable to banter with his co-host, despite Gazza's best efforts at encouraging some interaction. As with Bruno Brookes, it would take a while for Simon to establish himself as a regular presenter, though he would eventually do so in 1988.
ReplyDeleteA true mixed bag of a show kicks off with some irresistible pop-rock from The Bangles. While not their best song, it is still very catchy and enjoyable and is enhanced here by the performance, with the girls looking very self-confident and pleased to be there as all but one of them takes a share of the vocals. I agree with THX that they are underrated, and for me they were certainly one of the best American pop groups of the 80s. For every high there is a low, which brings us to Wicksy's execrable offering. Sung by somebody with some talent, this might have been palatable if unexceptional, but Nick's patent lack of vocal ability - he is even worse than Simon May, which is saying something - makes it an excruciating listen. The naff video, which tries hard to play up his "heartthrob" status, includes a scene where he looks as if he is trying to impersonate George Michael in the Careless Whisper promo; even in the looks department I think he is wanting, particularly when he opens his rather large mouth.
Julian Cope is thankfully on hand to provide some relief after that, returning to TOTP with the teardrop long since having exploded. He had originally used this title for his debut solo album in 1984, and evidently liked it so much he deployed it again for this lively, upbeat tune. Presumably that quirky mic stand was designed to his specifications, but there wasn't really much he could do with it beyond standing on it. Lots of leather on the show this week, as Julian is followed by Paul Young. He was about to become the latest in a large number of popular British acts from the previous few years to discover that the fickle public was losing interest, though he didn't really help himself with this pleasant but ultimately nondescript effort. The same adjectives apply to Howard Jones' attempt to inject new momentum into his fading career - it's nice enough, but just not memorable in any way. I thought we had already seen the last of Howard, but this must surely be his final appearance? At least the performance makes up for the deficiencies of the song, with a masked Jed up to his usual antics - pity they couldn't have stuck a mask over Howard's perma-grinning visage too...
You Can Call Me Al is a decent song with some lively African rhythms, but I think it is a long way short of Paul Simon's best work and is one of the weakest tracks on the Graceland album; I don't think it helps that it has been considerably overplayed down the years. The video is still quite enjoyable, Chevy Chase taking over Art Garfunkel's role of reminding us how short the maestro is...
john i know what you mean about "wicksy" somewhat curiously being considered a heart-throb at the time - he may have had puppy dog eyes, but to my recollection he had a desperate dan jaw as well!
DeleteHe certainly did!
DeleteIt's amazing how American groups were still flying across to Britain to perform on TOTP by 1986. I wonder what was so alluring when you think of The Bangles living in a place like LA, and why they would want to come over to Britain instead of sending the video across. I mean LA to London is not exactly a step forward is it? I wonder whether TOTP would pay performance fees for performers to come over, or just their expenses?
DeletePerhaps The Bangles just liked us? They may also have calculated that they might gain some extra kudos - and extra sales - if they performed in person. It's also possible that they did some other European TV shows at the same time.
Deletehosts: although i remember simon mayo being one of the more credible and likeable radio jocks of the era, he always had a strange squinting look about him that didn't really make him suitable to appear on the telly
ReplyDeletebangles: i really loved this at the time, and yet not only have i not heard it for ages but i don't even have it in my music collection. that is certainly something that has to be rectified, as listening again not only does it sound as great as i remember, this is also probably the most dynamic moment of the year in terms of studio performances with all the girls giving everything it they've got. bassist michael (like female author lionel shriver, it seems she preferred to use a male forname professionally) is probably the strongest vocally, but of course it was the cute susannah who got all the attention with her pouting and eyes darting left and right
nick berry: from one extreme to the other with yet more simon may drearyness. i was actually watching the show at the time, and of course as a wannabe pop star i was interested in the plot line where he and some of his mates such as sharon and the black guy played by paul medford formed their own band. apparently this song was relegated to the b-side of their debut single on the programme... which was where it should have stayed in real life
julian cope: although not really my cuppa, this is listenable enough indie-style rock with the rousing chorus being the best bit. i certainly remember julian cope mounting that weird mic stand at the time, but i had already seen jin kerr use a very similiar implement when i went to see simple minds live a couple of years earlier. wasn't this around the time he brought out an album called "fried" that featured him crawling along with a giant tortoise shell on his back?
paul young: unlike julian i have no memory of this appearance, or even the song itself (it's decent enough but hardly breaks new ground, and the rock guitars get a bit too loud as it goes on). mr young's fifteen minutes was now already up as far as the big hits were concerned, and his last unsucessful stab at keeping himself in the public eye was a year later when he appeared as the support act for genesis at wembley stadium - to general indifference, and even a touch of abuse. i note that johnny turnball has now been replaced by the lyle lovett-lookalike that he originally replaced himself
howard jones: like paul young he has a sidekick (jed i mean - not the hairy drummer who is also back having accompanied the last few hits) who helped kick-off in his own brief time in the spotlight returning for a last hurrah. however i'm only saying hurrah as in good riddance, for in my view he was a lightweight at best. and despite losing the plant pop haircut, the sound of this is about as cutting-edge as the monitor screen on display
madonna: i forgot to review this the last time around, and watching the video now i would say it's one of her better efforts for the time - yes, it might have a 60's retro-pastiche feel to it, but the 80's-style production is very apparent yet without being obviously intrusive
paul simon: whilst his earlier material was very melodic, he seemed more interested in cramming as many rambling and seemingly semi-improvised words into his later solo work as he could at the expense of that. thank goodness then for the african/world music thing that he leapt onto, otherwise i suspect this would have been as unsuccessful as the likes of "one trick pony". the video with comedian and oversized lookalike chevy chase miming whilst he played silent straight man obviously also gave it a big leg-up too
re: howard jones - the should have read the plant POT haircut!
DeleteIf you ever want to see the ultimate in rock star self-indulgent pity, check out Simon's film One Trick Pony. I'm sure those millions of dollars will dry your tears, Paul.
Deleteregarding the paul simon video: it has now occurred to me that perhaps that was the inspiration for mini-me in the "austin powers" films?
DeleteI have a vague memory of Paul Young performing at Wembley again during the opening ceremony of Euro 96. He was on the comeback trail at the time, but was dropped by his record label not long afterwards!
DeleteIt's a pity that Madonna enjoyed only one week at no.1 with this tune, as it is far better a song, and even video, than Nick Berry which swept her off the no.1 spot the following week. I guess it was the Eastenders euphoria at the time that contributed to his success, rather than the quality of the song, but hey, that was probably all he needed for a guaranteed No.1, as Eastenders always followed TOTP at this point in the decade, and seemed to be the rage at the time. I never had any time for that show, and always found it demotivating and morbid in nature.
DeleteAfter appearing in BA Robertson's Bang Bang and Depeche Moses's See You videos Trisha Tate's sister gets to appear in yet another video (Every Loser Wins).
ReplyDeleteNot sure of her name but she was quite a looker.
Gary and new boy Simon Mayo – weird, a person of that name was Head Boy when I was in the upper 6th form. This Simon Mayo does OK save for announcing the chart rundown as 40 to 1.
ReplyDeleteBangles – Walk like an Egyptian – An iconic single which was chosen by Leslie (Debs from ‘Men behaving badly’) Ash as one of her personal faves on a show I watched a while ago….and she did that dance! Destined to be the US Christmas no1 whilst we got an unexpected reissue from Jackie Wilson instead.
Nick Berry – Every Loser wins – Ah, Nick showing Anita Dobson what a great record is! I recall hearing this for the first time when running on a treadmill and I was blown away. A few more things to say about it but suffice to say I loved it and rushed out and bought it. I’ll save further comment for a later edition.
Julian Cope – World shut your mouth – Great title (not). Never really liked this much so didn’t dwell on it here.
Paul Young – Wonderland – Better or worse than the Big Country song of the same name? Probably better in my opinion. Nice to see and hear Pino Palladino again. I like the way the song builds up.
Howard Jones – All I want – Lucky to get an airing given nothing for the likes of Ultravox recently. Not a patch on his big hits despite the eerie masks and not surprised it was his last hit of any size….and it’s got that irritating ringing sound on it like ‘Material Girl’ by….
Madonna – True Blue – Once again the best bit of the video is chopped at the start! Written about Sean Penn according to our friend on the 80s no1 website which is why it was not included on ‘The Immaculate Collection’ nor played live thereafter…and more the pity. I’m searching on YT but cannot find the original album version that didn’t have the “Hey what” at the start but all versions are the single mix.
Paul Simon – You can call me Al – vague connection to the Bangles here in that they later recorded a cover of Paul Simon’s ‘A Hazy shade of Winter’ which I liked considerably more that this.
The best song with the title of Wonderland was not the two that you mention, but rather the one by Simply Red in 1991. I don't think it was released as a chart single, but it is the best song on the Stars album from that year.
DeleteHazy Shade of Winter is also my favourite of the Bangles, and it flopped here in Britain if it was at all ever released here, but I remember it was a US no.1 on Paul Gambaccini's weekly American chart show on Radio 1.
Hazy shade of Winter actually made no11 !
DeleteActually, this leads me to a nice little segue here...
DeleteMy favourite song entitled 'Wonderland' is by Judie Tzuke. Last Friday I had the privilege of enjoying a unique 'Girl Band' - one with real talent and pedigree. Judie Tzuke, Beverley Craven and Julia Fordham at the Union Chapel, Islington. Given the wealth of music appreciation on show on this forum, I did stop to wonder if anyone else was there?
The 'Woman to Woman' tour will pause now whilst Bev has some more grueling treatment, but is planned to resume in the summer. I urge anyone undecided to get a ticket. All the individual hits were played e.g. 'Promise Me', 'Holding On', 'Happy ever after', 'Love moves in mysterious ways', 'Stay with me 'til Dawn', and Judie's moving 'If' received a standing ovation at the end of the first half when sung as a harmonious trio. No 'Wonderland' in the set, but hope you'll forgive me the diversion.
It's OK, all is forgiven lol
Deleteah, julia fordham - my home town's only claim to musical fame (she was in the same class at junior school as my cousin). i remember some wag critic pointing out how ironic it was that by the time she released a single called "woman of the eighties", the decade in question was almost over. mind you, as a small seaside town in the south west we were always a bit behind the times!
DeleteChrist, that's very bad luck for Beverly Craven. Hope those five months off do the trick big time.
DeleteWilby, remember "She's So Modern" by The Boomtown Rats, with the lyric "She's so 1970's" just as the decade was changing!
DeleteI wasn't at that concert but I certainly like the music of all 3 ladies in question!
DeleteBranching out on the Wonderland theme, anyone else hear or remember a very short lived Irish five-piece girl group called Wonderland managed by Louis Walsh? They ran into problems early doors when the singer thought to be the best in the group was elbowed out and replaced by the wife of one of Westlife (who possibly had the weakest voice), then their first single in 2011 was released with just two days' worth of weekly sales accruing causing the single to only just make the UK top 150. They reached number 57 with their second single but were dropped after the third and then spluttered out.
DeleteHi Anonymous, if you are still looking at these pages, I wonder if you have access to the following archive shows 03/04/75, 17/07/75, 09/10/75.
ReplyDeleteIt would great to see them
Sorry none of those are avalible
ReplyDeleteIt's wiped editions
DeleteIt's a pity that there was no digital era in those days, where shows could easily be stored without physical space in basements, as in those days you would have to store BBC shows as reels in cans, so with the huge number of TV shows going out on the BBC in those days, I wonder what the criteria was if a show would be wiped or not, ie, why were some TOTP shows kept while most were wiped during the 70s?
DeleteThe main problem was they were recorded on video tape which was very expensive so they got wiped and reused unless there was an obvious reason to keep them.
Deletei'm sure i read somewhere a while back that the beeb used to give a copy of the show (presumably on film stock?) to each of the artists that appeared on the shows (or their management) for their own personal use, which is probably why "wiped" editions now keep resurfacing on youtube. if so then thanks to those who had the nous to keep them, more and more will presumably pop up as time goes on?
Deletethat reminds me of that tv ad back in the 90's (i think) where some guy takes his old cinefilm reel into a camera shop for conversation to the then-latest format, and a callow youth behind the counter stares at it incomprehensively whilst muttering "funny-looking video!"
sadly none of the bands that i played with in the early 80's were ever filmed in action. however i did once record a another local band on a video camera that was owned by the PA guy as they did a soundcheck for a gig. i then kept the video for the next 15 years - at which point i had to severely downsize, so i saw no reason to hang on to it as i never watched it any more. however instead of throwing it out i thought it would be a good idea to pass it on to one of the band, and so gave it to his parents as he had moved away. then of course youtube came along about 10 years after that, and i was howling with frustration that i no longer had it to upload as a piece of cultural nostalgia. i even tried getting in touch with the guy via facebook in order to try and get a copy sent on to me for that purpose, but the guy (who seemingly now has no interest in his musical past) just ignored my requests!
DeleteThe Bangles - My recollection is that this was given endless promotion by Blue Peter. I can't remember if the band appeared on the show but the 3 presenters definitely did the 'sand dance' to it a couple of times. It's not their best song and to me Susanna Hoffs is the weakest singer but we all know why she was there....
ReplyDeleteNick Berry - I'm not going to say I love this song but it's aged much better than other 86 chart toppers we've had recently (I'm looking at you, De Burgh & Gardiner!)
Julian Cope - Great song but weirdly I didn't remember the mike stand gimmick at all (apparently it was also in the video?)
Paul Young - Extremely dull indeed.
Howard Jones - Only marginally better. Doctor Who fans could be forgiven for thinking that the mask is the one that Tom Baker is seen to throw aside in studio footage from 'The Leisure Hive' when he calls it a "****ing dreary prop"
Madonna - A fine song, if not her best chart topper by any means.
Paul Simon - My Dad was obsessed with 'Graceland' (it's easy to forget how hyped it was at the time) so there was no escape from any of its songs from me. Fortunately I can still tolerate this one from time to time.
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your amazing uploads.They are fantastic.
Would it be possible for you to reupload the link with 5/10/78, 27/12/79, 30/04/81, 21/5/78 and 14/7/83 as I cannot now find the download anywhere on my PC and the link is now deleted.
Thank you again for all the uploads.
Sorry, that should be 21/5/81.
DeleteOctober 1986. Year 2 in senior school, a scout, watching Colin Baker as Dr Who and taping the charts off the radio on my new ghettoblaster I had for my birthday.
ReplyDeleteA bedroom starting to fill up with C90 tapes...
...and on a Thursday evening. ...
Mayo...Simon Mayo....My favourite R1 breakfast show host. And Ooh Gary now of R2 Sounds of the eighties. Great combination.
The Bangles up first looking and sounding fantastic. Sussanah has forgotten to put her dress on, now hugely overplayed, at the time I loved, and bought, this song. Great way to open the show.
Confession time. I actually like this song. Yes it's cheesy as hell but who cares. Video is very naff though. Amazed he had no other hits until Heartbeat in the 90s. Queue key change and drums...
Welcome back Julian Cope. Not sure humping the microphone stand is a good look mate. Tune is fabulous though. Sing a long now.,
Bit of a punk hangover this one. Sounds great still.
Bless Mayo looks so nervous.
Why were The Police back in the charts???
Paul Young. Wonderland not a title I remember. Seems to have gone for a harder sound for this follow up album. Was wondering if this song would ever get going. ..answer eventually but far too late. Not a fan of this one.
Howard Jones gives us a flashback to 83 with this one. Few more people on stage this time. This lacks the charm and hook of his earlier stuff. Don't think we will hear this one again.
No breakers this week?
New number one. Madonna with her self Penned love song (sorry)..
And it was Mr Mayo only Pyne wedding...
Hooray we get the Paul Simon video. Brilliant.