Gary New Year!
01/01/87 (Gary Davies)
Status Quo – “Dreamin’” (15)
The Quo get tonight's live New Year's Day celebrations off to an upbeat start, but the song got no higher.
A-ha – “Cry Wolf” (5) (video)
Also at is peak.
Alison Moyet – “Is This Love?” (8)
She was stuck at number 8 but this studio performance got the song on its way to number 3.
Elkie Brooks – “No More The Fool” (18) (video)
Became her third and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 5.
Gary Moore – “Over The Hills & Far Away” (31)
A lively blast of celtic rock from Gary and the song peaked at number 20.
Spitting Image – “Santa Claus Is On The Dole” (22) (video)
Their second and (thankfully!) final hit, now at its peak.
Jackie Wilson – “Reet Petite” (1) (video)
Second of four weeks at number one.
Madonna – “Open Your Heart” (4) (video/credits)
At its peak.
Next up is January 8th.
It's appropriate that Gazza sees us into the New Year, as he would end up presenting about half the shows in '87, and he is on relaxed, affable form here despite it being a live edition. No great surprise that the chart was behaving oddly given the low sales over the festive period, and inevitably we get a number of retreads here, though at least the packaging is mostly different.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should have told Quo that suit jackets and denim really do not mix, but they are having a good time and this is a fun performance to start the year, even if the song isn't much cop. From a distance, Rick looks like he could be Noddy Holder in disguise! Another A-ha video with some ambitious effects work next, plus some attractive countryside (it was filmed in Burgundy, apparently) and a rather ugly boy who cried wolf. Alf puts on another shift in the studio, giving her arms and legs a workout while swaddling her neck in a scarf - perhaps she knew that it would turn bitterly cold about 10 days later, as a genuine Big Freeze took hold.
We finally get something new next, if we ignore the breaker appearance before Christmas, as new mum Elk emotes her way through a simple but effective video, in which she shows no sign of being pregnant. This was her last hit of any significance, but it is a powerful, slow-building tune which made for a good way to sign off, and the defiant lyrics make it sound like a superior equivalent of I Will Survive. Incidentally, Elk herself is still happily married after more than 40 years. Gary Moore seems to be straying into Big Country territory here, but after a promising start the chorus falls very flat and this is ultimately quite forgettable, eclipsed in the memory by the keyboardist's huge mullet.
Given that Christmas was now over, who thought it was a good idea to feature the Spitting Image festive offering, which was a non-mover, over the excellent Eurythmics song one place below which had actually climbed since the previous week? The decision is made all the more baffling by the fact this is pretty feeble fare, nowhere near as funny as The Chicken Song and lacking any real satirical bite, though I liked Norman Tebbit as Marley's Ghost. We've seen the rest before, Madge's video closing out the show for a second time.
Elkie Brooks had given birth at this point at the age of 41, and a few weeks short of 42. Her second child, and never too late, she seemed to balance her music career and personal life perfectly. This tune was pretty much the only one of hers I really liked, and it holds up really well all these years later. The video was not that great, but then videos for her were secondary to her singing talents, so no great loss here.
DeleteThe Spitting Image Christmas video was shown a bit late after Christmas, and unusually not shown before Christmas, so they had to show it now while still climbing, and before it was too late. I guess TOTP banked on the fact the The Eurythmics would still be rising up the charts the following week, so it was probably a good call to favour the Spitting Image video.
Happy new year! Or happy old year, anyway, as Status Quo enrage Alan Davies with their jacket and jeans ensemble. It's a bright enough tune, I suppose, but sounds like it's one lyric rewrite away from a kid's TV theme. Well, Chas and Dave had done Crackerjack.
ReplyDeleteThat snazzy effect where the image centres on the runners' eyes, then the runner himself, in the A-ha video reminds me of the time they did that with the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage to make it look even more like a bloke in a gorilla suit. Anyway, nifty little tune.
Another we've heard before, Alison does the hitchhike in the first snood seen on the show since Nik Kershaw was in his pomp. That can't be Richard Coles on keyboards, can it? Great to hear this again, er, again, since it's never played these days.
Elaine Bookbinder on video, I guess Joseph will be 32 now? Hope he was watching. Remember this from the time, bit of a plodder but it's impassioned enough in its "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" emoting. Anyone know who the bloke in the video was?
Gary Moore with a song I haven't heard since, well, the start of '87, trying to do for Ireland what Big Country did for Scotland, and only partially succeeding. That's some barnet on his keyboard player.
Spitting Image with a cleverer tune than their big hit, lyrically anyway - Philip Pope was an expert at the parody song, though this perhaps suffers from not parodying anything. Should have been Max Headroom on the show! But that wasn't a big enough hit.
Plasticine Jackie and pneumatic Madge to end on, but we've seen them before. Not the worst start to '87, but it was all fairly '86, if you see what I mean.
thx at first i was asking myself "who's this alan davies?". the only alan davies i could think of was that footballer who briefly played for man united in the 80's and later topped himself. then i realised it was that popular curly-haired actor/comedian whose appeal completely escapes me, and who i avoid like the plague!
Deletethe only thing i've seen mr davies in for many years now was a documentary he did a while back about growing up in the 80's. but that was because of the subject matter rather than anything to do with him, and the fact that he revealed himself as a disciple of the modfather hardly helped his cause with regard to my anathema towards him. also it was quite strange at one point where he went on about some unrequited love from back then, to the point where it sounded like he was still carrying a torch even now!
DeleteAlan Davies had a hilarious Radio 1 show in the 90s, about the time he was on Room 101 where he consigned "jacket and jeans" to the vault. But then I saw a stand-up show he did on TV and it was rubbish. Fortunately, I do think he's funny on QI, nobody lowers the tone quite like him.
DeleteJonathan Creek anyone?
Deleteisn't that strictly for the "midsomer murders"-types i.e. telly for people who don't like telly very much? i suspect that is very much mr davies' pension plan. btw i thought it was quite sad when i noticed when channel-hopping that rik mayall was reduced to making a guest appeanance what was one of his last roles in the above series, set in a sleepy middle-class village where the death rate happens to be higher than the bronx!
Delete... and i meant violent death rate, as opposed to well-heeled wrinklies dying of old age!
DeleteJonathan Creek is waaaay quirkier than Midsomer Murders, thanks to David Renwick's way with a script. It's more like for the Doctor Who crowd to move onto when they're old enough.
DeleteI love the way these threads sometimes meander down lengthy routes discussing someone who's never had a hit single. Part of the engaging fabric. :-D
DeleteThe last episode of 'Jonathan Creek' aired on 28th December 2016. That's over two years with no new 'Creek'.
DeleteIronically the Dr Who connection was made with the story being called 'Daemon's Roost'. Most people will rate 'The Daemons' as one of the finest Dr Who stories ever.
Come to think of it, there was no new 'Midsomer Murders' at Christmas. Instead we got that dreadful Agatha Christie adaption and Torvill and Dean.
Although The Daemons was traditionally a Doctor Who fan favourite, I think its reputation suffered a bit once it became widely available to view on VHS and DVD. It's a decent story, though it wouldn't come near the top of my own list of favourites.
DeleteYou could be right John. Only ranked no38 in the DWM Readers Poll 2014.
Deletehttp://doctoroo.blogspot.com/2014/06/from-doctor-who-magazines-first-50.html
I thought that Agatha Christie adaptation was great, really mean and moody, much better than the twee Suchet Poirot. John Malkovich was an inspired choice - though I have to take it as read that he really was doing a Belgian accent...
DeleteWhile I don't approve of all the liberties that Sarah Phelps has taken in her Christie adaptations, I think she has done a signal service in bringing out the darkness that is very much part of the books, but has been largely erased by many of the earlier film/TV adaptations. I thought Malkovich was good - he wasn't really playing Christie's Poirot, and I didn't buy the invented backstory, but it was an interesting reimagining of the character.
DeleteYou just have to see the 1960s film of The ABC Murders starring Tony Randall to realise the "dark" version was no bad thing.
Deletei'm getting way-off topic now of course, but mention of tony randall reminds me of him starring in one of my favourite swinging sixties spy/bond cash-in movies called "our man in marrakesh"
DeleteYeah, Tony Randall was great, especially in those Doris Day comedies, but as Poirot? Hmm, not really.
DeleteI thought Albert Finney was a pretty awful Poirot too, though I do have a soft spot for Peter Ustinov.
DeleteI was cheered to see on the Goodies DVDs there was an episode devoted to taking the piss out of Finney's Murder on the Orient Express, a film the team clearly all hated. Good for them, it's one of the most boring "classic" films of the 70s.
Deleteso thx: in your opinion do the goodies stand up to contemporary postmodern-retro viewing, or are they now very much of their time?
DeleteObviously some of The Goodies jokes would need to be explained now, and despite their right-on reputation some of their material doesn't play too well today, but I laughed a few times every episode, and some are absolutely hilarious. The punk episode was truly fantastic. They really were incredibly inventive. Wisely, the DVDs are unedited, so even the Rolf Harris episode is intact.
Deletebill oddie used to insist on doing all the location shoots in or nearby my home town, so he could study the local wildlife when not working - when they did the disco/saturday night fever episode, they actually filmed in two venues that i used to frequent at the time!
Deleteas is usual, it's the "phony war" of the first edition of the new year whereby much on show is the dregs from the end of the previous year. and what is new is hardly anything to get excited about either. not to mention the absurdity of not for the first time featuring an xmas record well after the event. i am looking forward to the impending appearance of "jack your body" though - not because i like it (i can't even remember how it went, actually), but because sct has been ranting on about how awful it is for at least the last couple of years now!
ReplyDeleteI have to bow to the immortal words of our friend Nigel for this! Can't recall when I first read it, but the phrase is well worth recording as we finally approach the big moment:-
Delete"1987 saw the introduction of House Music to the chart, and Tuesday 20th January 1987 was a very sad day for music. It was the day that Steve 'Silk' Hurley hit number one with "Jack Your Body". I can still barely believe that such an awful noise could get to the summit of the UK Chart."
Just read Dianne Oxberry from Simon Mayo's Radio 1 Breakfast Show has died, aged 51. She fell off my radar after the early 90s, but I always remember her, especially her barely contained disdain for Mark Goodier trying to be funny.
ReplyDeleteDianne was part of the only 'zoo gang' radio format I liked - her, Simon Mayo, Cybil Ruscoe and Rod Mackenzie. I remember the crew going to an England match and Mayo egging 'Oxers' on to do some commentary for the breakfast show, whereupon the best she could manage was an Alan Partridge style "It's a goal!". Good on her for retraining and becoming a pillar of regional TV weather for 20 years.
DeleteThere was Carol Dooley too, who everyone forgets. No idea what happened to her! It was a great show.
Deletecan't say i remember dianne oxberry, but someone notable from the early days of these re-runs has also passed on: larry (laaaarrryyyy!) from the floaters! i wonder if he died from cancer (caaannncerrr!)?
DeleteI never heard her on the radio, but I remember Dianne Oxberry as a co-presenter of the summer Saturday morning kids' show The 8.15 From Manchester, which for me was chiefly memorable for its Inspiral Carpets theme tune and repeats of Rentaghost. Simon Parkin, who we will be seeing on these repeats if we get to 1989, is another one-time kids' presenter who became a regional weather forecaster.
DeleteSimon Parkin's always larkin', too.
DeleteWatching a programme about Dianne Oxberry today, they mentioned 8.15 from Manchester, and I said “that’s interesting, there is an Inspiral Carpets song called that” - didn’t realise it was a theme tune :-)
DeleteIt was actually a rewritten version of an earlier Carpets song called Find Out Why.
DeleteFirst up in 1987 and Gary solo hosting a show with a nice selection of tunes and no hint of the horrors to come…
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo – Dreamin’ – As Angelo observes, a nice upbeat way to get 1987 off to a rocking start. Everyone looks to be having a good time dancing round the Christmas tree. Cliff and Blondie were previous advocates of the sleepy imagination.
A-Ha – Cry Wolf – Ingenious video and pleasant enough song without hitting the heights of the curiously obscure ‘I’ve been losing you’.
Alison Moyet – Is this love? – It’s certainly one of her best releases. Nice performance without too much emphasis on the keyboard player this time.
Elkie Brooks – No more the fool – The creme de la crème on this show for me. Russ Ballard wrote some fantastic songs and this was right up there. Can’t believe that it only made no5 and…..no, I won’t say it!!
Gary Moore – Over the Hills – Close your eyes and it’s Big Country!! Like others, I’ve not heard this since 1987.
Spitting Image – Santa Claus on the dole – Like the dreadful ‘Make a daft noise for Christmas’ and ‘Renta Santa’ this is one we’re mercifully spared in the Shopping Malls. FF
Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite – Novelty wearing off. Amazing how powerful videos were in 86/7.
Madonna – Open your Heart – Continuing the ToTP tradition of chopping the first bit of Madonna’s videos, but check out YT and you’ll see why in this case!
“Plenty of non-movers in the chart this week” eh Gary?!
"Plenty of non-movers" - it's almost as if the shops were shut.
DeleteI don't remember Carol Dooley from Simon Mayo's show - I started listening when Dianne was on and Confessions had just started - but Carol Dooley was signed up by my local radio station County Sound to do afternoons in 1989. They signed up someone from Capital to do breakfast at the same time, but binned them both 18 months later when the recession started to bite.
ReplyDeleteSorry that should have been a reply to earlier comments - getting used to a new phone!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to everyone here and welcome to 1987!
ReplyDeleteThis year I am in my 2nd year at senior school and in 6 months time will become a teenager. My love of Pop music has really kicked in with my PSB obsession well under way. I am taping every chart and watching TOTP every week. Dance music is starting to impact the chart and by the end of 1988 I will be a full convert to the genre...but for now...SAW are about to take over my listening life!
Happy "Live" New Year Gary...
Kicking off with TOTP faves Status Quo going back to their by numbers rock tunes. They knew what their audience liked didn't they. I can imagine this was played a few New Years shindigs. Good start to the show...
A-ha. A chance to see the video to one of my favourite A-ha songs. Not played nearly enough nowadays. A great song and a clever video again that has dated much worse than Take On Me. That young boy looks like Silas (a kids TV show from the 80s)
ALF back again. Like this. Thrown on the nearest baggy jumper I see. Dressed for NYD.
Post Xmas chart - what have people spent their Xmas money on (Europe, Aha, Paul Simon and Bucks Fizz "Keep Each Other Warm" for me)
New mum Elkie on video. Nice song to wave your torches to. Not quite as powerful a song as I remember. Was expecting to love this but didn't.
Gary Moore - now he IS hungover. Nice but of fiddling going on there. I'm waiting for the tune to kick in...this is not great. Tapping my foot along to it though so no need to FF
Why do we need to see this - Works well at the end of an episode of Spitting Image but does not really work as a standalone single. I had actually never heard it before. Fine with never hearing it again.
Not much happening in the Top Ten. So we get Jackie Wilson still at the top.
Nice TOTP made an effort to show some new tunes..see you next week Gary.
Great Madonna song to play out. Not a bad little show.
I remember Silas! Always get him mixed up with the boy whose laugh was stolen. He was kind of a smug git, IIRC.
DeleteMy memory of 80s summer holidays is that you would get endless episodes of something like Silas, or Heidi, clogging up the kids TV schedules for weeks. I guess the Beeb bought those shows cheap and could then extract a lot of mileage from them, regardless of whether the kids actually liked them or not...
Deletei remember watching the beeb's production of "heidi" (probably the first time it was broadcast, some time in the early/mid 70's), and that one of her young chums was a pre-"only fools and horses" rodders!
DeleteThe Heidi that I saw was a 26-episode Swiss-German production, dubbed into English, which seemed to go on forever. Silas was another German import.
DeleteAh, "Heidi", responsible for all televised American Football matches on US telly to be shown in their entirety after the incident known as "Heidibowl". In November 1968 a particular gridiron game overran horribly and, being on a Sunday with most of the TV execs at home, a 'rabbit in headlights' decision was made at the station to switch the game off with just over a minute left and stick with the allotted on-time screening of the premiere of a new version of "Heidi". Trouble was, the team who were losing scored two touchdowns in the last minute to win so viewers missed the exciting ending, and the winning score was scrolled across the screen during what was meant to be the most moving part of the film which incensed viewers.
DeleteSilas and Heidi were on constant repeat didn't they. It was that or Black Beauty on ITV so no contest really.
ReplyDeleteSorry I’m late again!
ReplyDeleteI wonder just how difficult it was to drag a load of possibly hungover artists into the studio to perform on New Year’s Day? Gary seemed to cope well. Maybe lots of sleep in the daytime or a handload of Alka Seltzers?
New year, same old Quo with Rhino’s annoying ‘heels up on the beat’ time keeping.
A different video for A-ha, though I didn’t get the connection between the torch parade and the boy with the book. Not a song that, ahem, pops up on the radio much these days.
Alf loitering within tent (very big number, that) and a fine pre-vocal workout before a joyous performance unfortunately smeared by that bloody whistler.
Come on, Elkie, no excuses, haul yourself into the studio! After a number of flops on A&M and one on EMI, Elkie had by now moved to the Island-assisted Legend label and delivered this well performed ballad. A video obsessed with desks and leaves there.
Next up it’s Gary Moore definitely sounding there like Big Country with fiddles. That keyboard player wanted to be noticed, didn’t he?
An utterly pointless after the event showing of the Spitting Image video.
Blimey, no new entries in the top ten and eight non-movers!
Madonna looked her best here in my opinion, and one of my fave songs of hers too – and we only get a snippet, yet we suffer that Spitting Image bilge in full!