Goodbye girls
05/06/87 (Gary Davies)
Erasure – “Victim Of Love” (7)
Getting tonight's show off to an energetic start, but the song went up no higher.
U2 – “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (13) (video)
This second single from the huge number one album The Joshua Tree peaked at number 6.
Pepsi & Shirlie – “Goodbye Stranger” (10)
A very bubbly studio performance and the song went up one more place, but it was to be the duo's final top 40 hit.
Jody Watley – “Looking For A New Love” (24) (breaker)
Her debut and biggest hit, peaking at number 13.
Suzanne Vega – “Luka” (23) (breaker)
Went up no higher.
John Farnham – “You’re The Voice” (22) (breaker – live clip)
His only hit, and it peaked at number 6.
Beastie Boys – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” (16) (breaker – Montreux clip)
Shouting their way to number 14.
Wet Wet Wet – “Wishing I Was Lucky” (6)
Back for a second studio performance but the song went up no further.
Whitney Houston – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (1) (video)
First of two weeks at number one.
Samantha Fox – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” (18) (video/credits)
Hot on the tail of Staship, this was her third and final top ten hit, and it peaked at number 8.
June 11th is next.
Some snippets of interesting info on this show:
ReplyDeletePepsi & Shirlie - did anyone notice that Pepsi forgot her lines in the second half of the song? Very embarrassing. Still, Pepsi & Shirlie were a whole lot better than the American comedy duo of the time called Laverne & Shirley (remember them?)
I remember having the hots for Shirlie Holliman of Pepsi & Shirlie, and didn't she look good on tonight's show?
Samantha Fox was back with a song title too similar to Starships recent No.1, with the only difference being the word "me" for Sam Fox, and "us" for Starship. Everything else was on equal ground of course.
Mirage with Jack Mix II - well, pity we didn't get to see them again for a second time (especially the cutie in the middle of the trio) even though they were still climbing at No.4 this week, but I did like the nice touch from TOTP to have the tune running in the background of the show when Gary Davies kept popping up to introduce the songs.
I remember Laverne and Shirley very well Dory. Wasn't it a spin-off from another US Comedy?
DeleteIn the early 90s I used to work afternoons (my first job) and L+S was shown on BBC1 in the mornings. I quite liked it at the time.
Yes, it was a Happy Days spin-off.
DeleteThat question was for me John, but thanks for covering for me with the correct answer.
DeleteGazza's white jacket could be seen as heralding the start of summer, though for some reason he didn't seem in the sunniest of moods this time out. The Dynasty references are there because this show went out on a Friday, to make way for an election interview with Norman Tebbit the night before.
ReplyDeleteNever ones to turn down a studio invitation, Erasure are back with a so-so effort that sounds as if Vince could have written it in his sleep. He is strumming a guitar again here, even though I can't hear any evidence of one on the record, while Andy is dressed much more conservatively than he was in that Montreux clip, perhaps on BBC orders. I was trying to work out what the image was on his t-shirt, but couldn't see it clearly enough - anyone else have any ideas? U2 next, prowling the streets of Vegas so that Bono can accost innocent passers-by and show them what a caring man of the people he is. Despite the rather stomach-turning video, I do like this song and think it is probably the best tune on The Joshua Tree - it features some very atmospheric guitar work from the Edge, who does a great job of ignoring Bono in the promo when the latter rather bizarrely starts to mime yelling at him...
I'm guessing Pepsi and Shirlie's initial success owed rather more to their Wham connections than it did to their music, as this is another functional but forgettable offering from them, though admittedly the chorus is a bit tougher and tighter than on the previous hit. Effectively the end of the road for the girls anyway, and what were they thinking pairing those dresses with clumpy white trainers? Once again Suzanne Vega makes the breakers, and sadly once again will feature no further. This bleak but affecting tale of domestic violence is another quality tune from her, very much out of kilter with the prevailing chart sounds but much more interesting than most of them. The video is understandably sombre and also takes an allusive approach to the subject matter, rather than depicting it directly.
The Wets return for a very energetic second performance, and then we get Whitney on video as she ascends to the top. It's a garishly colourful and fun affair, though I have always been mystified as to why she wore that awful curly wig for most of it. Sam Fox to finish, and I wonder if her record sales benefited from the close similarity of her title to Starship's dethroned chart-topper? This is unmistakably a SAW record - the formula was really starting to emerge now - and it sees Sam ditch the rock chick look for a glossy pop sound and an aspirational image in the video, as she boards boats, planes and Alfa Romeos. Apparently it was filmed in Marbella, which seems quite a good fit for Ms Fox...
Erasure were one of the most consistent pop bands in their heyday, with all of their hits making at least a decent mark of quality, and if Victim of Love is forgotten, maybe that's down to all their songs merging into one gigantic foot tapper in the memory.
ReplyDeleteU2, my, Bongo was a bit handsy, wasn't he? Leave them alone! More pompous, windswept rock from the deadening Joshua Tree album, I remember Annie Nightingale predicting a lot of 1987 babies being called Joshua, so do you know any 32-year-olds by that name?
Ah, that's more acceptable, Pepsi and Shirlie with their only other hit of note as a duo, it's odd how quickly they burned out, they were distinctive-looking, had a certain charisma, and the tunes were not too bad, but they couldn't sustain it.
I guess we don't see Suzanne Vega's Breaker again? Just what the world needed, a twee song about child abuse. I never got on with this one, surely a song with this subject matter needed to be a lot angrier, but Suzanne just accepts it as a fact of life.
Wee Wee Wee back in the studio, maybe the reason this went down the charts the next week was thanks to Marti's irritating antics? Lots of denim sold in Scotland, don't you know.
Whitney snags another number one, say what you like, she played the shiny pop star with some integrity. Now we're getting exposes that tell us the image was all a sham. Incidentally, if you try the comedy Isn't It Romantic on Netflix, there's an amusingly over the top karaoke version of this from Rebel Wilson in it.
Samantha Fox with a deeply naff video for a song that's not much better. All rather cheap and nasty, no matter the relatively exotic location. Still, she seemed to enjoy playing the pop star, and I won't begrudge her time in the limelight.
Good show, I remember this one. I always thought Jody Watley had a fantastic voice, had she left Shalamar at this point? Samantha Fox....another pop travesty.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jody was solo by this release, apparently they all fell out or something. Though they are still going without her, as a nostalgia act.
Deleteerasure: it's the new shakin stevens's with another of their many hits that few if any can even name now, let alone remember how it went
ReplyDeleteU2: "the joshua tree" was the musical shark-jumping time for me as far as this lot goes, as it was quite evident that reaching studium rock level meant they had lost what made them appealing in the first place. bonzo may have taken a little while longer to become the self-proclaimed ender of world poverty, but it irks that thinking of him as an complete tosser because of his messiah-complex makes me reluctant to listen to their good early stuff
pepsi and shirlie: ra ra skirts alert! a complete blank on this one, but it's actually quite good as a poppy dance number with strong vocal performances - if only kim wilde had had shirlie's voice (or better still, pepsi's), and shirlie had had kim's looks...
suzanne vega: it might sound strange to describe a song about child abuse as "pleasant enough", but that's certainly the case musically here. in more recent years i've heard much better stuff from the album this came from (and no, i'm not referring to "tom's diner"!)
samantha fox: what, she hasn't given up this pop star lark yet? does she get to have a go doing this in the studio? well if not then i won't be all broken up about it
The original acapella Tom's Diner is a compelling listen. The hit remix, where they basically added superfluous production to it, is not.
DeleteCount me as a fan of the Tom's Diner remix - it's how I first heard and loved my dance music at the time.
DeleteSam Fox will be having hits up until 1989 so a way to go yet
Yeah, I can't wait till she comes up with I Wanna Have Some Fun, and Naughty Girls Need Love Too.
DeleteNotice how BBC4 leaves Davies' plug in for Dynasty, which we obviously aren't going to see, but removes the mention of Smith every time!
ReplyDeleteThis is the episode where, after an explosion Blake loses his memory and Alexis tries to convince him that they've been married all along! No Krystle!
Deletehttps://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1124cb923be348679fd034fb936d275f
Gary hosts a line up featuring facsimile and almost song titles..
ReplyDeleteErasure – Victim of Love – I’m afraid this song title is never going to conjure up Erasure for me (nor Elton John for that matter), but it’s an OK song for the duo.
U2 – I still haven’t found what I am looking for - Made use of FF for this.
Pepsi and Shirlee – Goodbye Stranger - ….it’s been nice. Well The Gils ain’t Supertramp but another in the OK category for me.
Breakers – Jodie Whatley – Ugh!! They played so much of this too! Suzanne Vega – I tried to like Suzanne at the time as one of my friends was dead keen on her, but it doesn’t inspire me much…unlike John Farnham – One of the year’s megahits, and what a treat to see a live video. An excellent (live) cover of this was done a few years later by Heart who also produced one of 1987’s megahits. Beastie Boys – FF
Wet Wet Wet – Wishing I was lucky – FF
Whitney – Hasty FF. I’ve said all I am going to say about this.
Samantha Fox – Nothing’s gonna stop me now – As Dory mentioned another facsimile title almost, but there the similarity ends as this is a routine piece of SAW pop, enlightened only by the appealing video.
Erasure - Not much love for this it seems but I think this is one of their catchy tunes and I really like it.
ReplyDeleteU2 - Boring drivel which is vastly over-rated.
Pepsi & Shirlie - Sounds like a cross between their previous single and Laura Branigan's 'Gloria' and not particularly convincing. As for the dress sense, oh dear....
Breakers - The best song here is Suzanne Vega's, shame we never get to hear her stuff in full. THe Beastie Boys are shouting their usual rubbish and it's the first solo appearance for Jody Watley or - as I like to call her - 'Shop's Own Janet Jackson'.
Sam Fox - As one of the few lovers of SAW on here unsurprisingly I find it a perfectly good pop song!
My word, that was dull...
ReplyDeleteErasure track was quite weak compared to many of their other tracks - i have several compilations, and still didn’t remember this.,,
Jody Watley sounded like a karaoke Madonna...
It’s something when Samantha Fox was the highlight of the show - I assumed that this was a SAW production, and I see from previous comments that it was indeed. Rather crude key change in the middle - was the video cut?
Good grief, four days late and I still make number 13!
ReplyDeleteThis was a quick show for me. Due to all the acts I whizzed past, you could have re-named it “Skippy”!
Erasure with Bovver Boy Andy, Vince miming with yet another guitar not on the song and another yawny identikit performance (apart from the lack of a sub-Cameo outfit this time, thank goodness).
Dear God, it’s Bonio. FF. Don’t agree with your opinion of them, Gaz.
Junior’s glasses glare in the mugshots makes him look like that AutoSergei in the adverts.
Pepsi and Shirlie with a half decent song, better than their footwear. Bye gals!
Jody Watley with tambourine size earrings, dress sense half Pepsi and Shirlie and half Madge, and a song 100% Janet Jackson rip-off.
Suzanne Vega with a wonderful and understated song. My fave of the show and happy to go against the flow of the crowd here.
John Farnham, 100 per cent pushy and 200 per cent sweaty. What was the bill for all those backing singers? Again, Gaz, I don’t agree with your critique.
Christ, it’s the return of the Thunderbirds puppet.
Another FF for the plastic pop-soul horror number one.
Sam, how can you drive in those stilettoes? Health and safety alert! This song sounds a bit dischordant, what with the truck drive gear changes between verses and choruses.
It almost took me as long to type this as to watch it!
Only 13 comments? Has everyone gone on a June holiday? Gladly Smithy has so we get the full BBC4 experience
ReplyDeleteIt's Gary warming up for Dynasty, never watched it, we were a Dallas house.
Erasure with a guitar! STOP THE PRESS!
I love love love Victim Of Love, it's one of my favourite pop songs. Great performance as well. Always one of the most played bands on the Now cassettes I had. Great crowd dancing too, they are really getting into it. I want a TOTP t-shirt.
Vince sporting the same hairdo as me nowadays
U2. Now in their "worlds biggest band" stage and this is a belter of a song. Before they started their gimmick led tours, they were quality song led. Simple video that works very well with the song.
Pepsi Cola with their second and final top ten hit. Nice dresses and trainers combo. This is not as catchy as their first hit but it's still not bad and hugely radio friendly which is probably why it was such as big hit. Not a classic and although I like it I won't be digging it out for a re-listen anytime soon.
Breakers:
Jody Watley - no recollection of this at all. Is she trying to be Janet Jackson? Hmmmm…
Suzanne Vega - now this is a quality tune. Hated it at the time but discovered it later on and it's a lovely song. Tom's Diner will be with us in a few years time which I love as well.
John Farnham - Australia National Anthem (I'm not kidding, he's treated as a god out there). Always sing along on the radio. So well known and over played that even Bucks Fizz used to cover this in their tour
Beastie Boys - Crap of the highest order. Rap music as "shouting" Goodbye
Wet Wet Wet back again. Marti still smiling. Great interview with the band in this months Classic Pop Magazine. Apparently the rest of the band have no idea why he smiles so much when miming on TOTP. They think it might be nerves..
Mirage at number 4! Hilarious
NEW NUMBER ONE - Whitney. Iconic video, fabulous song, fabulous voice, fabulous hair. Great number One.
Sam Fox in various forms of transport and far more clothing than usual to play out. This is actually a decent pop song. She was BIG star at the time.
Good show this one.
morgie it seems now all the palaver over freshly-discovered editions of the show has died down, normal service (in other words radio silence) has been resumed on the collector/completist front...
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