Monster hit
13/08/87 (Simon Bates & Peter Powell)
Def Leppard – “Animal” (9)
Making their studio debut and getting tonight's show off to a rockin start with what became their first of three top ten hits when it peaked at number 6.
Motley Crue – “Girls Girls Girls” (26) (video)
A very raunchy video but the song went no higher.
Rick Astley – “Never Gonna Give You Up” (14)
Making his debut on the show with a song that will be number one in two weeks time.
Wet Wet Wet – “Sweet Little Mystery” (12)
The girls in the audience are clearly getting over excited to hear what became Wet Wet Wet's second of three top ten hits in 1987 when it climaxed at number 5.
Wax – “Bridge To Your Heart” (34) (breaker)
Became the allstar duo's only top 40 hit when it peaked at number 12.
Kim Wilde – “Say You Really Want Me” (33) (breaker)
Kim's getting rather saucy in this video but the song peaked at number 29.
Sherrick – “Just Call” (31) (breaker)
His only top 40 hit, peaking at number 23.
The Jesus & Mary Chain – “Happy When It Rains” (30) (breaker)
Peaked at number 25.
Pseudo Echo – “Funky Town” (24)
Fronting what Simon claims to be an imminent 'Australian invasion' of the charts, this Lipps Inc cover was their only hit, peaking at number 8.
Hue & Cry – “Labour Of Love” (6) (video/credits)
Wot? No number one this week? And no, it's not a BBC4 edit, they really did skip Michael Jackson's I Just Can't Stop Loving You in 1987 because they had no video to show, and had long since ditched the show's resident dance troupe. Even so, it was a bizarre decision - surely they could have shown the audience dancing to it at least? But, given the situation thirty two years later, maybe it's just as well they didn't! It was the first of two weeks at number one for MJ. The Hue & Cry tune by the way was at its peak.
Next up is 20th August.
Hair metal is here with a vengeance, I see. Def Leppard I was never a fan of at the time, their faux America posturing never quite rang true for me, but I had friends who were fans. With the passage of time, eh, this is not so bad, though Joe's tighter than tight jeans would have had him sounding like Demis Roussos if he wasn't miming.
ReplyDeleteDef Leppard are miles better than Motley Crue, mind you, has anyone watched The Dirt on Netflix yet? I have the book, haven't read it yet but might now there's a film, though SPOILER: they're all terrible people. Anyway, the song is their typically leery, coke and booze fuelled rawk. I do confess to a liking for Dr Feelgood - the Crue hit, not the band this time.
Rick, Rick, Rick, I've heard this so many times, and I've never even been Rickrolled. As it stands, a perfectly fine pop ditty, he has a good voice and endearing stage presence, but whatever effect it had on me has long since dissipated. It's just "there" now.
Wet Wet Wet, Marti still bouncing around like a diddy, but this is probably my favourite of theirs. Not saying much, but there you go. I remember in Smash Hits someone wrote in to the Letters page under the nom de plume Marti Pellow's "Fang" - watch out for it, real werewolf stuff.
Breakers, we won't hear Kim's effort again, and I'm not sure how it goes now! She went all raunchy for this video, but a decent tune would have helped. We don't hear JAMC's weather song again either, another one in the eye for those who said they couldn't write a tune, this is very creditable, even if it does sound a lot like their later Head On.
Let's hope there were better Aussie bands around than Pseudo Echo, with their weak cover. One hit wonders, and no wonder. The kind of thing that sounds heavy but on closer examination might as well be Sinitta. That keytar!
Hooray, no Whackson! Drippy ballad anyway. The talky intro is maximum cringe.
Hue and Cry again, only it's the video. Not a bad video, either, some imagination went into what's basically a performance item.
Just watched Kim's video for purely academic reasons... one for fans of her bottom and musclebound male models. Not sure if there's much crossover.
ReplyDeleteIt’s obviously contagious as Simon chips in with ‘The Pops’ along with PP. What a strange edition this is.
ReplyDeleteDef Leppard – Animal – Produced by Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange this is a fine sound albeit borrowing heavily from Bon Jovi.
Motley Crew – Girls Girls Girls – Anyone recall the Sailor song of the same name? I much prefer it to this.
Rick Astley – Never gonna give you up – Rick, of course had already reached no1 as part of Ferry Aid, but nobody had heard of him then. This still sounds pretty fine as a piece of dance fodder and I certainly don’t begrudge SAW the success with this one. Infinitely preferable to the Musical Youth song of the same name.
Wet Wet Wet – Perhaps they should have released ‘Girls Girls Girls’ too? As for this; no thanks.
Breakers – Disliked them all except for Wax who I don’t know was Graham Gouldman and Andrew Gold. Produced by Christopher Neil I see. Graham, of course, is effectively 10CC these days, and the band tour practically every year churning out their impressive hits. I really should go one year.
Pseudo Echo – Funky Town – Not too bad a cover. Australian bands and artists certainly were bombarding the UK charts….with one hit wonders, cf John Farnham, Mental as Anything and now this lot. For me the best Aussie band was the Seekers.
Lack of no1. Big relief for me that we didn’t have to ensure that syrup. The spoken intro to this song is truly awful. For the record, the artist credit was Michael Jackson with Siedah Garett. The latter artist popped up as a backing singer on numerous albums and songs e.g. ‘Papa don’t preach’.
Hue and Cry – Labour of love – Yawn, early finish!
The Seekers are probably my favourite Aussie group too, though The Easybeats' original version of Friday on My Mind is perhaps the best ever pop song to emerge from Down Under.
DeleteMy main memory of Siedah Garrett was her being on the quiz part of Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade answering questions on embroidery, and she was an absolute expert, got them all right as easy as pie. She went on to sing with... was it The Brand New Heavies? Something like that, which was why she was on the show.
Deletesiedah garrett also put in an uncredited duet appearance with dennis edwards on his club hit from a year or so earlier "don't look any further". but she never had a hit under her own name to my knowledge, which given her talent was a bit of a surprise (she pisses all over jody watley for example, and probably janet jackson too for that matter)
Deletesurprisingly, perhaps the biggest aussie act of the 80's (inxs) have yet to put in an appearance so far! my favourite-ever recording by an aussie band remains "hey little girl" by also-one-hit-wonders icehouse. one of my favourite 90's acts crowded house may have been led by a kiwi, but they had a couple of aussies in the band. and i think were formed and originally active in oz too. so do they count?
Honourable mentions for Gary Shearston's 'I get a kick out of you' and Kevin Johnson's 'Rock and Roll (I gave you all the best years of my life)'. Both one hit wonders.
DeleteSiedah Garrett did indeed have a stint in the Brand New Heavies, and she's one of many great singers who mostly didn't get credits but sang on many hit songs (see also Claudia Fontaine)
Deletewilby, when I was in Australia I made sure to buy an Icehouse Best Of CD and it's full of brilliant stuff. Their early incarnation as Flowers is worth investigating too if you like New Wave!
noax i did actually check out more icehouse on YT on the strength of "hey little girl" a while back, but the only other thing that did anything for me at all was this:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIgcgtMZzko
just in case anyone's unaware or forgotten: "icehouse" is aussie slang for the loony bin!
DeleteOh yes, I remember talking about them when 'Hey Little Girl' was on TOTP. Which seems like ages ago but must be what, about 2 years or so?!
DeleteI think I counted four mentions of "the Pops" in this show, mainly from PP, but even Master Bates got in on the act. That aside, it was another solid turn from our veteran hosts.
ReplyDeleteDef Leppard may have come from Sheffield, but they were trying their hardest here to make LA look like their home. Even so, for all their jumping on the poodle rock bandwagon this Robert "Mutt" Lange-produced number is very effective pop-rock, with a rousing chorus. Drummer Rick Allen had lost his arm following a car accident a little over two years previously, but he continues to perform with the band to this day. Some genuine American hair metal next, with a typically unsubtle effort from Motley Crue accompanied by a predictably sleazy video. The song does what it was designed to do, and is reasonably catchy, but no wonder grunge felt like a breath of fresh air to many rock fans when it came along a few years later.
Rick Astley's debut next, or should that be "Dick Spatzley," as I think he was christened by Smash Hits at the time. There's no denying that this is a very catchy, danceable pop record, but it's one of those songs that has been played so much over the years I really wouldn't complain if I never heard it again; furthermore, it is really the template for the ever more formulaic SAW sound that would dominate the charts for the next couple of years. At least Rick did have a decent voice, and he gives a confident if unexciting performance here. The Wets return with their second hit, not as good as the first but still at least lively and upbeat. Marti certainly seems to be enjoying their new-found success, perma-grinning more than ever as he moves ceaselessly around the stage.
There are two breakers we won't see again. Judging from her video Kim Wilde was trying to cultivate a more raunchy image at this point, but the song is one of her most forgettable hits. The J&M Chain's latest is another exercise in introspective gloom that doesn't really do anything new, which perhaps explains why it didn't climb much higher. In a way, Bates would be right about their being an imminent Aussie invasion of the British charts, but I don't suppose that he was thinking here about Kylie & Jason! I don't remember Pseudo Echo at all, and while they are clearly confident performers it's hard to build up much enthusiasm for this serviceable but rather pointless rocked-up version of a disco classic that was only seven years old at the time.
Given recent revelations, it's most definitely a stroke of good fortune for BBC4 that Jacko didn't bother making a video for his new number 1. It does seem strange though, given this was his first new single for ages, but as was the case with The Girl is Mine a decision seems to have been taken by Jacko and the record company that the first release from the new album should be quite low key. It also seems strange that TOTP couldn't have knocked up some kind of montage to accompany the song, but it's quite a bland affair anyway, so the viewers weren't missing much. Hue and Cry's video ensures a good end to the show, though I don't really get why they were all being covered in plaster of paris...
INXS was probably the biggest rock band out of Australia at this time, so Bates got that right.
DeleteI'd forgotten about INXS. Mind you, it would take until July 1988 for them to finally make an appearance on TOTP.
DeleteDef leppard - Very surprised to hear animal was their first totp appearance.
ReplyDeleteRick astkey - why did he say “have a look at this”, surely it should have been “have a listen to this”, unless he thought it was truly visually exciting...
What was the big cheer for in the background at about 20 in the countdown? - surely not wet wet wet taking the stage off camera!?
Kim wilde forgot to write a tune...
I was a fan of JAMC, and tapped my feet along fo this - shame it was so short.
Pseudo Echo - don't remember this, and totally pointless cover
Is this the first time they didn’t play a non=banned no 1? I guess they couldn't do the dancing audience, as it is undanceable to...
Well this isn't the first time that a number one record has been skipped on TOTP, only this time, an artist didn't have a "video", despite FGTH's first five weeks at number one with 'Relax' was not soon enough from three years earlier in where Mike Read banned the record on BBC Radio 1 and then it was lifted at the end of the year at the Christmas Day 1984 episode and the biggest-selling singles of the year on BBC Radio 1 and it will get another non-banned play in the 1993 repeats in 3-4 years time when it was prior to being re-issued as part of their greatest hits compilation being released.
DeleteThe other mention was Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je'T'Aime... Moi Non Plus' never got played in a TOTP episode as of because the BBC banned that one too due to "erotic noises", the ban had finally lifted for a made-up promo on TOTP2 in 2002.
As for MJ's 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You', may as well check it through YouTube as there is made up videos of it with some other MJ vids being put together... I'd guess the dancing audience at TOTP was behind them and they have to had the main music video idea.
Mike Read says he didn't ban Relax from Radio 1, he just didn't play it on his show. Mind you, he's changed his story so often that it's difficult to work out what actually happened.
Deleteby chance i was actually playing "je t'aime" a couple of days for reseach reasons. and the fact is that if one listens carefully there's not actually that much in the way of heavy breathing or other "erotic noises" (and doesn't even begin to happen until well into the recording - at which point jocks could have either faded it out or yacked over the top), and is mostly a case of jane singing and serge croaking along in unison with the hammond organ melody. so what was the fuss all about?
DeleteI think Je t'aime's reputation was so filthy that no station in Britain could have gotten away with playing it. And Jane is certainly very breathy from the off - didn't you know they were having sex while recording it?! (spoiler: they weren't).
DeleteJuly 1975...Bay City Rollers at no1 and at no9 was Judge Dread with his 'unique' cover of 'Je t'aime'! Tom Browne certainly didn't play that one!
Deletei may have said this before: but as a young teenager when i listened to the radio 2 top 40 chart countdown on a sunday evening in the early/mid 70's, i was always bemused as to why judge dread's records were never played (mr browne would announce the artist and chart position, and then move swiftly on to the next record without explanation). then circa 1977 i came across one of his singles in a bargain bin called "y viva suspenders" (yes, a bawdy pastiche of "y viva espana"!), which i had to buy - just to try and solve the mystery. and that, and in particular the smutty b-side ("is that a gun in your pocket, are are you pleased to see me") made it abundantly clear why the judge's efforts were always censored!
DeleteI actually have a CD compilation of Judge Dread's hits, and have never been able to listen to more than a couple, they were, well, dreadful.
DeleteDid Judge Dread arrive before Judge Dredd (in 2000 A.D. comic)? What was the connection?
the "oo er missus" lyrical element of the judge's work may have been somewhat cringeworthy in retrospect, but some of his earlier musical efforts such as "big six" and "big seven" (presumably a continuation of a theme?) were actually quite competent pieces of (white) reggae - and certainly more authentic-sounding than the reggae-lite rubbish by those of jamaican origin that's been on the show of late!
DeleteBig Seven does indeed stand up (Judge Dread would like that one!) as a decent bit of reggae, and I must admit that the 'great balls of fire!' bit does always make me laugh.
DeleteIn a few years we will get Lil Louis "French Kiss" which has a lot of erotic noises and I think got a heavily edited play on the Radio 1 chart show. Unlike Je T'aime though French Kiss is utter crap.. 😀
DeleteI seem to remember French Kiss was played in full on the Radio 1 Chart Show, to my surprise. I always think Lil Louis missed a trick by not including some bloke grunting away on the record too.
Deleteleppard: curious in a way that they had been around since the NWOBHM in the late 70's and yet were debuting on the show. however it may have been relatively-recent recruit phil collen (who had actually previously appeared once on it with long-forgotten glam-metal act girl to my recollection) who gave them the commercial x-factor they previously lacked? funnily enough phil is the only one not keen to embrace the girlie poodle rock image, despite being a southern softie in contrast to the tough tykes comprising the rest of the band. musically this is almost as good as heavy metal gets for me (although "ace of spades" always stands alone without peer in that respect) and so goes straight into my still very scrawny top 10 crackers list for this year. by the way: i remember when i was lot younger being curious as to which if any rock stars i shared a birthday with, and was most disappointed to discover the only one was their one-armed drummer!
ReplyDeleterick astley: i remember the raving going on about what an incredible voice this young protege (and former tea boy) of the SAW stable had. however not only did it sound rather foghorn-like to me (hello tony hadley!), but he didn't have a charismatic face to match either (despite his cool quiff). regardless of all that, i still never actually despised this in the manner i did of efforts by other SAW clients/puppets such as kylie minogue, and that remains the case today
wet wet wet: whilst their first single had a more funky feel about it, this is definitely going in the direction of the 60's motown sound (and thus sending me in the opposite one). although i have to admit that the chorus is catchy. has anyone ever discovered why mr permagrin chose the silly stage name of "marti pellow"?
kim wilde: never heard this before, but blow me down with a feather it's turning out to be something by miss weedy that i am actually really getting to like! yet another change of style as she goes down the club/dance route (and her voice is actually quite suited to it), but in turn that was what probably put paid to this single's chart success. more cool quiffs in the video - sadly although unlike many of my peers i still have a full head of hair in my old age, that was one style it was never cut out for!
jesus and mary chain: did these oiks ever bother to learn a fourth chord?
pseudo echo: i thought the original version of this (with no gap between the words "funky" and "town" btw) was a crass disco cash-in at the time of release, although i have re-evaluated that opinion for the better in more recent times. this version might be slightly more rocked-up, but otherwise it rather pointlessly remains fairly faithful to that. and as pointed out above, it was that long since the original was a hit!
wacko: like "thriller" the first single from "bad" is inexplicably a lame and weedy duet, rather than one of the stronger dance tracks from the album. i agree it's odd that the producers didn't at least put a montage of wacko pics together to show over the track (even if it was only behind the end credits), as they were doing that from time to time for no-show artists in the days when videos were not always available and they had already used up that week's legs & co spot
According to Wikipedia, young Mark McLachlan got his stage name from a combination of his mother's maiden name (Pellow) and his school nickname (Smarty).
DeleteJust noticed that there will only be one show to review this coming Easter weekend, as there is no TOTP on Thursday thanks to The Sky At Night. Soon after, I see that Mike Smith is back in full force presenting from the September 1987 shows onwards, after about four months away from the show in mid-1987 (anyone know why?), so no doubt it will speed up again by BBC4.
ReplyDeleteSmitty was presenting a series of Seaside Special that summer, which presumably accounts for his absence from TOTP. As you say, he'll be back very soon now, including on four consecutive shows in September/October. Thankfully BBC4 will be repeating the editions either side of that on a Friday and a Thursday respectively, so we will have a few days to digest the ones in between...
DeleteDef Leppard - Bates gets things half right in that the band had been around for ages, though the reason they hadn't been on 'The Pops' before is unsurprisingly because they hadn't had any Top 40 hits previously. I'm really not keen on their music but 'Animal' is the one song of theirs I do actually like.
ReplyDeleteMotley Crue - Not brilliant scheduling by the producers here, and as I've said previously this is abysmal.
Rick Astley - Loved it at the time but it's been seriously overplayed since.
Wet Wet Wet - Mrs Noax is going to disappear shortly to see the band on several tour dates with new singer Kevin Simm. Who would have believed Marti could have been so smug based on this performance? Oh, everyone. I like the song though.
Breakers - Wax's video is seriously headache inducing if you try to sit through the whole thing. I'm not keen on the Kim Wilde or JAMC tunes. Pity poor Echo & The Bunnymen who - in the one week where they remember the songs lower down - don't get a look in!
Pseudo Echo - I remember rather enjoying this but it's dated horribly.
Who remembers the editions of...ooh...10 whole years before when the likes of Donna Summer and David Soul had No.1 hits that were played in the studio when neither artist nor 'film' was available? Not the 87 team evidently....
PP and Slimes back again.
ReplyDeleteDef Leppard. Lovv them. Not my sort of thing normally but they are a very poppy rock band and this track is great. Whatever happened to them... Will enjoy seeing them on these repeats
Wifey and JT amazed by the one armed, barefoot drummer. Wifey thought they were American! Think the greatest hits will get a play later in this house.
JT singing along.... 😀 😀 😀
Next up Motley Crue with some very average heavy metal. Sexist, out dated and dull. Next...
Rick has arrived!!! Big hit alert! Actually one of SAW finest songs. Even my 11 year old knows this one. They could have given Rick some dancers at least, poor lad looks terrified. 😀
Thoroughly nice guy of pop and deserved his comeback a couple of years ago, even if his new stuff is a bit religious for my tastes.
The Wets now at the peak of their powers. Martin's cheesy chops all over every TV show that'll have em.
This song is not as strong as their debut but pleasant enough and very radio friendly. This lot still going of course, minus Mr Smiley Chops.
Breakers:
Wax. I love this song. Don't recall the video which is quite odd. Know nothing about Wax, someone here will help I am sure. 😀
Kim Wilde with a chart buster. PP getting very excited, do you think he fancied her? Don't recall this one at all and I can see why. Its a bit generic and missing a real hook.
Sherrick. Some smooth rnb without a tune. Much better around than this. Forgettable.
Jesus and Mary Chain. Not the more famous Garbage rain track but a plodding indie number that doesn't really appeal. Sounds very early 90s.
Pseudo Echo. Superb. Adore this. Bought this. Sang this in my bedroom. One of my favourite hits of the late 80s. Sure its not everyone's cup of tea but hey ho. I like it. 😀
Start of an Aussie Invasion hey Slimes. I think he's means more INXS than Kylie and Jason but they are coming...
MJ. No video of the number one. Very poor. Oh well we get to see the fabulous Hue and Cry number again. 😀
2 good shows in a row. Still loving 1987. When's Smithy back?
i'm sure someone has mentioned this already, but wax was a "supergroup" comprised of andrew gold (of "never let her slip away" fame - remember that video he made with his weird mates in it?) and graham gouldman, previously of 10cc. and now 10cc again, although to be more accurate 2.5cc, as none of the other original quartet are involved. also mr gouldman probably sang lead on less of their hits than any of the others. so does he sing them in their place now, or get someone else to do that? still, it's not quite so desperate as wet wet wet touring without marti pellow!
Deleteregarding the aussie "invasion": don't forget (although i try ha ha) that kylie and jason were followed into the charts by their "neighbours" co-stars craig mclachlan (presumably no relation to mark mclachlan aka marti pellow?), and stefan dennis!
Kylie's sister Danii would also go on to have some hits, of course, after serving her own soap apprenticeship in Home and Away. By the way Morgie (or is it Morg now?), Smitty is back on the 3 September show.
DeleteSounds complicated. Thanks for the clarity...
Delete"Dont it make you feel good is one of 89's cheesiest ever moments. ..an absolute classic of the cheese genre...
I liked Mona by Craig McLachlan who of course was a star of home and away and neighbours. .
Morgie, Morg....either will do...
Whilst at University during the mid 1990's, I had the dubious pleasure of being the Student Union Social Secretary for a year, during which we had Craig MacLachlan play 'live' for us. I don't have many memories of this some 25 years later, but I o seem to recall that the amount of Columbian marching powder that was knocking around backstage was second only to a certain pianist who performed 'Later' on that year ...
DeleteHasn't Craig been caught up in a sex scandal recently? Seemed like such a nice, clean cut boy, too.
DeleteI remember Craig Mclaclam being in both of the well know Aussie soaps. Does everyone remember his character in each of the soaps had the same Surname of Mitchell? This was before the Neighbours story line about whose Grandfather or someone Ramsey St was named after. The entire Mitchell family (Madge, Charlene and Henry) changed their Surname to Madge's Maiden name of Ramsey to reaffirm the family connection.
DeleteDoes anyone remember Mclaclan's character in Home and Away was named Grant Mitchell? I may be wrong but I'm sure it predated the character of the same name in East Enders.
I did watch Home and Away during the time Craig McLachlan was in it, which must I think have been early 90s. I remember that the character's first name was Grant, but I don't think I ever realised his surname was Mitchell. The EastEnders character made his first appearance around the same time, so not entirely sure who came first.
DeleteTHX - yes, Craig has been charged in Australia with several counts of indecent assault. If he is convicted, and the repeats continue for long enough, it looks like BBC4 might be getting out the scissors again...
Def Leppard had been around a while by the time of this appearance, however it was not their first time on the show. A previously recorded appearance was never broadcast due to the song from their 1980 debut album, and fortuitously titled Hello America, failed to reach the Top 40.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/9NULOICYL1c
Animal and its parent album Hysteria was the one to finally break them in the UK, however they had massive success in then U.S.A. with the previous album Pyromania.
Motley Crue - This is the reason Grunge needed to happen.
Rick Astley - Everyone knows this, and there is not much more to say about it.
Wet Wet Wet - I liked it at the time and I will still sing along when it is played on 80's music stations.
Wax - Great song from the Gouldman and Gold collaboration. Graham Gouldman will always be a respected songwriter and performer. Gold's Slip Away was a massive hit in the late seventies, and is one of my guilty pleasures.
Kim Wild - Not her most memorable song and I was surprised at the video. A far cry from Kids in America.
Sherrick - Who?
JAMC - I enjoy some of their stuff including this.
Pseudo Echo - I actually bought this and still have it. What can I say? I was at an impressionable age. I remember Phillip Schofield giving the follow up single, Lies are Nothing a favourable review in Smash Hits. I also remember him saying the album was one of his favourites in an end of year Poll. Also in Smash Hits.
Michael Jackson - A lot pf fuss was made about this not having a video at the time. As someone else has pointed out it was probably intentional to have a low key release before the big budget video for the follow up single and album, Bad was unleashed.
Hue and Cry - This is a great song, and I have not seen this video in years. I loved it.
hello joeantboy - good to see a new name contributing a full review. i was going to mention that def leppard had indeed been big in the states for a few years prior to this, but i didn't know that they were actually filmed in the totp studio back in the early 80's but never broadcast. it makes one wonder how many other "unused" performances there were, and if the beeb has any of them in the their vaults. and if they have, then why don't they show it?
DeleteHello Wilberforce. After lurking as a reader for a few years I have finally made a contribution.
DeleteI was a Lepps fan during that period, hence me knowing about their previous TOTP performance. However I had not thought about it it until you mentioned it, but there may will be many filmed performances that never saw the light of day. After all if they filmed Def Leppard, it may have been standard practice to film acts lurking around the outside of the Top 40 while they were available so they could use the footage if needed.
It reminded me of a controversial Mick Jagger studio performance, even though his song (Let's Work) had not reached the Top 40. We may even get to see it soon, provided it is not a victim of the Smitty cuts.
It showed that if the act is big enough, they would find a slot for them if they make themselves available.
I will try to contribute more often now. However I mainly watch the episodes on catch up, and sometimes a week or two later when the threads have already moved on to the next eposode by the time I am able to contribute a review.
Don't worry about contributing late. I'm the past master at that. Welcome to the blog.
DeleteThanks Morgie. I will post my views more often now, even if it is two weeks after everyone else. :-)
DeleteI remember Philip Schofield's Pseudo Echo infatuation, too! He had a Radio 1 show at the time and always took the opportunity to play them. Maybe because he'd started his career in New Zealand, and Australia is, er, closer to there than Britain!
Deletethe comment on big names like jagger managing to jump the queue to get on the show despite not actually being in the charts reminds me of when chris sullivan of the then super-hip but still hitless new romantic latin spin-off band blue rondo a la turk mentioned in one of the docs that they were all set to appear on the show, and then suddenly they were pulled thanks to veteran beeb associate ken dodd (who was quite obviously in wiv da kidz - not!) being allowed to push his latest as-yet non-chart single!
DeleteI remember Bis appearing as part of a very short lived ‘new band slot’ in the first slot when their single hadn't even been released. You will have to wait until 1995 for that ditty.
DeleteBis were heralded as being the first unsigned act to appear on TOTP, when they performed Kandy Pop in March 1996. However, this claim is disputed.
DeleteI think Bis were already signed to Chemikal Underground but their debut TOTP appearance was prior to the release of their first single. There is a documentary about this that you may still catch on iPlayer if you are quick.
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00043vn
Menswear were also on TOTP before they had released anything. This was about a year before Bis and I'm sure they were also signed at this point.