My Sweet George
26/11/87 (Simon Bates & Gary Davies)
Blue Mercedes – “I Want To Be Your Property” (24)
Their only top 40 hit and it went up just one more place.
Boy George – “To Be Reborn” (18) (video)
Peaked at number 13.
The Communards – “Never Can Say Goodbye” (4)
In the studio again but the song was now at its peak.
Shakin’ Stevens – “What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?” (27)
Became Shaky's 15th and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 5.
The Hooters – “Satellite” (28) (breaker)
Their only hit and it peaked at number 22.
Paul McCartney – “Once Upon A Long Ago” (23) (breaker)
Became his final solo top ten hit when it peaked at number 10.
The Housemartins – “Build” (19)
Peaked at number 15.
T’Pau – “China In Your Hand” (1) (rpt from 05/11/87)
Third of five weeks at number one.
George Harrison – “Got My Mind Set On You” (2) (video/credits)
Third of four weeks at number 2 for George. It's a shame he didn't make it into the studio to perform it.
December 3rd is next
Making up for my lateness last week!
ReplyDeleteFirst up – chart rundown by Simon. We had ‘Jan’ Hammer as in ‘Jan Leeming’ which was quite amusing. The Tams new entry (them that had a surprise no1 in 1971 with ‘Hey Girl don’t bother me’) announced as ‘there ain’t nothing’ when in fact the full title was ‘there ain’t nothing like shagging’. Apparently the ‘shagging’ refers to a dance popular on the Atlantic seaboard, not the then popular UK use of the term. The BBC decided to ban the record as a result. Finally we had Jennifer and Bill pictured rather than Jennifer and Patrick as shown last week!
Blue Mercedes – I want to be your Property – Not heard of this and it’s underwhelming. How many bands can you think of without looking up that start with ‘Blue’ ? Blue Mink, Blue Nile, Blue Angel…errr Blue.
Boy George – I want to be reborn – FF
Communards – Never can say goodbye – This was on my ‘Now 10’ video and it’s a good cover version but I still don’t get why that string quartet are there?
Shakin’ Stevens – What do you want to make those eyes at me for – Emile Ford and the Checkmates hit no1 in 1959 with this good song and it proved to be Shaky’s top10 swansong.
Housemartins – Build – Sounds vaguely 60s and it’s extremely pleasant. Yes, I really like this having vaguely heard it at the time. Probably my favourite ‘Martins hit.
T’Pau – China in your Hand – Does someone not like this as it’s chopped before the sax solo! Reminds me of how they used to chop ‘Fernando’ after one verse and chorus.
George Harrison – Got my mind set on you – Good way to end the show.
the presence of blue mercedes immediately made me think of another flash-in-the-pan act blue zoo, that were on the show a few years earlier
Deletebtw blue nile produced some of the greatest music of the 80's in my opinion, but sadly they never had a hit single so never appeared on the programme to my recollection
The BBC didn't ban The Tams, Janice Long played it - and if memory serves, she read out the entire title of the song on her TOTP hosting, which we should see later.
DeleteIt doesn't really count, but I think Justin Hayward and John Lodge did bill themselves as the "Blue Jays" when touring their album of the same name.
Deletethere was an 80's indie band called the blue aeroplanes that were NME favourites to my recollection (and they are still going according to wiki), although they never had any hits. also there actually two bands called blue: the 70's one that appeared on an early edition of these re-runs, and some more contemporary boy band. reg was actually connected with both, and apparently had to appear as some kind of witness when the former sued the latter for filching their name
Deletealso btw mention of the tams reminds me of when they appeared in an early 70's edition of the show, and one of the shape throwers went AWOL before the end of their performance. which also reminds me of the "benched" shape-throwing stylistics member (who presumably had twisted his ankle or something?) on one of the first shows in the re-runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-foXFEfog
Jacket Hangs is probably the best known Blue Aeroplanes tune, maybe because of its memorably weird title. But it's a good indie ditty.
DeleteSct, in answer to your question about T'Pau, I would say that I don't like it, cos she wears nothing but the same friggin' black dress every time, even at three weeks at No.1, and also in her previous visits to the TOTP studio with songs previous to this one.
DeleteGood Lord, I just noticed it is the same outfit the following week in a new studio performance for the 4th week at No.1. Doesn't she have anything else in her wardrobe?
wilberforce - Totally agree with you re The Blue Nile, they made some terrific songs. Tinseltown In The Rain is my favourite and that didn't even make the Top 75!
Deleteif pushed i would also pick "tinseltown in the rain" as my favourite blue nile track, although several from their first two albums run that one close
Deletetalk of them gives me a chance to say i was playing in a band also called blue nile in 1983. i mentioned to our manager that i had read of a acottish act of the same name in one of the weekly rock mags, and should we consider changing ours? he replied "dont' worry - i'm going to make sure that they legally have to abandon that name, not us!". result: my band split up within about 3 months, whilst they released an album approximately every 5 years across two decades!
Re acts with 'Blue' in their name, I sat down for 10 to 15 minutes and came up with The Swinging Blue Jeans, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Barry Blue, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and, er, Deacon Blue. I'll get my coat.
DeleteGreat to see you back, Arthur!
DeleteOh, and Screaming Blue Messiahs, anyone? Should be on the show soon...
DeleteThanks, THX. It's been a stressful last two months, and I might be here one week and not the other due to life getting in the way but, as Lena Martell once sang, one day at a time. :-)
Deletei'm not criticising your absence arthur as we all deal with stress and crises in different ways. however when i went through one such phase a few months back (in my case facing the possiblity of packing a bindle and hitting the streets), carrying on following and making contributions to this blog was one of the few oases in what was otherwise a very vast and arid desert!
Deletehosts: a rare clip of an introduction to this week's show on yt. watch out for gazza's brief look of disdain (if not repugnance) as slimy mock-chummily places his hand on his co-presenter's shoulder
ReplyDeleteblue mercedes: and just when you thought keytar-type "instruments" couldn't look any wackier than that thing maurice gibb had on the show a few weeks back - was this supposed to be some kind of keyboard equivalent of a double bass? musically i have only the vaguest recollection of what is pretty standard pop-dance fare for the era
boy george: this one is completely forgotten, and with good reason as it sounds to me like utterly dreadful cod-gospel
shakin' stevens: people have been moaning here that 5 star have outstayed their welcome, but compared to this guy they hadn't even got their feet in the door. hopefully this is finally the last we see of him?
hooters: a bit more synthy than i thought it would be, but still very much an american sound (with a video that's even more-so). which was probably why they were massive to my recollection over there, and meant diddly squat here. i suspect we didn't miss much though, if this was anything to go by
housemartins: pleasant enough and certainly preferable to theie more thrashing efforts, if no match for the single version of "think for a minute". drummer hugh has left (to presumably have more time to put set-alight things through people's letterboxes?) and been replaced by paul heaton's future beautiful south collaborator (is that they they're wearing matching polo shirts?). mr heaton's bobbing about gets annoying very quickly
Bad news - Shaky would continue to turn up on TOTP as late as 1990!
Deletebah!
DeleteYeah, even Status Quo were appearing in the TOTP studio in 1990 with new material, so those looking to leave the blog, there is still lots more of the 70s and 80s chart regulars dipping their toes in the early 90s with new material and videos. I remember Genesis in 1992 with I Can't Dance, and with a wacky beach video!
DeleteBlue Mercedes mildly infamous for me because this naff performance put a friend of mine off watching TOTP for a good few years. They do look like total berks, especially the one with the piano plank, though the running around his mate does is pretty ludicrous too. SAW strike again.
ReplyDeleteBoy George, the video annoys me because when the hand turns the first page of protective paper on the photo album, he accidentally folds it over, then turns the rest of the pages onto it, surely making it crease, thus ruining his precious book. All of which is more interesting than the song, apparently sung to a "little baby" - would you want George as your babysitter in the depths of his heroin phase?
Communards is a repeat, first repeat we've seen in a while, No 1s notwithstanding, then Shaky back on his safe ground with a cover. It's a catchy song, but he adds little to it, and his over the top antics look desperate - he nearly boots someone in the face, too.
Breakers we'll see next time, so onto The Housemartins, again taking aim at an unlikely target, this time architects. Though I would say, it's the architects who design the buildings, they don't commission them. Anyway, typically great slice of indiepop from the boys, just as they were winding down. There's a whispered bit right at the end on the record (you don't hear it here) that I could never decipher.
To end on, about half of T'Pau and we've seen George Harrison before too. Why don't his slippers "tap their feet" in time? Everything else moves about in the room.
The Communards choosing a song title like this, must have been aimed at their critics who wanted to see them long gone out of the music business!
DeleteSlightly awkward chemistry here between Gazza and a rather bleary-eyed Master Bates, who looked as if he had been out on the town all night and also needed a good haircut. Having said that, he managed to almost match his co-host for professionalism, though his shortening of some (admittedly long) song titles during the Top 40 rundown was a bit annoying.
ReplyDeleteA repeat-heavy edition, but it starts with something new in the shape of Blue Mercedes. The camp singer in his shorts and singlet and the absurd keyboard-cum-double bass were far more notable than the song itself, a highly generic piece of late-80s pop fodder. Not surprising really as though it was not produced by SAW themselves, it was the work of associates of theirs. Another solo Boy George hit next that completely passed me by at the time. This was clearly aimed at the Christmas market, and the title presumably alludes to George's triumphant recovery from his drug hell as well as to the festive season, but the song is just too ponderous to touch the heart in the way it was doubtless hoped it would. The video is quite technically accomplished, however, the "moving photos" effect being well achieved.
Shaky, or his record company, had evidently decided by this point that cover versions were more likely to provide hits than original material. At least this old tune (which had been the last UK number one of the 50s for Emile Ford) is more suited to Shaky's style than his previous couple of covers, and he is able to easily run through his whole gamut of moves in this performance. Unsurprisingly, his version hues close to the doo-wop style of Ford's, though the song was actually written in 1916. More to come from The Hooters and Macca shortly, so on to The Housemartins and another song, as Bates observes, that had been released with Christmas in mind. Sadly for the boys this would get nowhere near as close to being the festive chart-topper as Caravan of Love the year before, but it is a rather lovely song, particularly during the intermingling of Dave Hemingway and Paul Heaton's vocals in the chorus. This may be the last time we see the band on TOTP, as their next single would be their last and only reached 35; in contrast with most of their studio appearances, they are in a very mellow and still mood here, as befits the song.
Incidentally, what was George Harrison's video filmed on? Linoleum? Even in HD it looked dreadful.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment by Angelo regarding George Harrison not coming to the TOTP studio to perform, considering this was his third week at No.2. It would mean also having Jeff Lynne on the TOTP stage with him, and considering that Harrison was last in the studio in 1967, and Lynne in 1976; no chance!
DeleteAlso, on next week's show, it turns out that Paul McCartney makes his first performing appearance in the studio since the days of the Beatles, as I don't know if he performed in the studio with Wings in the 70s, so TOTP could have had both McCartney and Harrison in the same show, both in the studio, and both in the top 20 with their solo hits. How good would that have been?
Dory - Macca's previous studio performance had been with Wings in November 1974, performing Junior's Farm.
DeleteOk, so it took him another 14 years to come back! Anyway, I guess the November 1974 appearance is on a wiped show, unless someone has a clip of it?
DeleteThe performance does still exist, though it comes from a wiped show. I found this clip on YT, but I'm not certain if it is from TOTP:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEil2e_bUvg
Good Lord, what a good find John G. I did like that performance of Junior's Farm, and so glad it survived as a clip despite the 1974 TOTP show being a wiped one. Certainly Linda McCartney enjoyed herself too, with her neat dance moves!
DeleteSuffice to say they came back together to perform in the studio a whole 13 years later for Once Upon A Long Ago, although the song not as energetic as Junior's Farm. Still can't believe it was so long between the two appearances in the studio!
The Wings clip is from TOTP on 21/11/74. They performed it just before the Number 1 and then made a very brief appearance during the song that was top of the charts on the day:
Deletehttps://youtu.be/CNnWvRbMvYI
Many thanks for confirming that, Unknown, and for the David Essex clip - amusing to see Macca and co acting as his backing vocalists!
DeleteBlue Mercedes - I remember this lot getting a surprising amount of publicity on Blue Peter, though it clearly didn't help the song's chart performance. That pretend double keyboard thing doesn't help, and although there was never a Milli Vanilli style scandal over the vocals, I will be amazed if that prancing pretty boy is really singing it!
ReplyDeleteBoy George - Maybe it's my mood at the moment as often I would run a mile from songs like this but I rather like it.
Shaky - A better choice of cover version this time, though I agree that it's amazing that he's still going through the same routine at this point.
The Housemartins - Not about architects as such, more about the disappearing green belt I believe, for me this is their finest moment and if there was any justice would be remembered as their great legacy rather than 'Happy Hour'. I'm not convinced it really was a stab at the Christmas No.1 mind, it was released far too early to be a contender.
Back in the saddle, at least for a short while. Not read any other comments so apologies for any repeats and here goes.
ReplyDeleteHow long has Slimes been rocking that quiff for? Well done to Gary for not giving away the chart topper early doors.
What the F was that singer for Blue Mercedes up to? In terms of duos, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine would have done for Funk Ass shorts gimp and his gormless looking keybass mate in the second round. What a waste of a slot.
Boy George has got his voice back. A good vocal performance. Shame it’s for a slug of a song.
The Communards’ vicar looks trendier this time, but did it really take eight people to attempt this sub-Gloria Gaynor karaoke?
Ah, the mugshots. Bugger! In my absence, along with other songs I don’t want to know I’ve forfeited, I’ve missed Scarlet Fantastic (the remnants of Swans Way) and a classic by Was (Not Was), plus it appears The Smiths are now down to one member.
Oh God, it’s Camper Van in the car park Shaky with an inferior cover and not even bothering to mime properly. Bring back Showaddywaddy.
The Hooters (Yankee slang for breasts) with an okayish rock song whose video briefly mimics the classic “American Gothic” picture and also gives us a bloke getting an arrow in his mouth. Nice.
You’d hope Macca’s effort would be hard rock to match his surroundings, Ah well.
The Housemartins with an unlisted fifth member, and when was a TOTP act last fully seated? A gentle lilting number but never a chance of a festive chart topper despite Slimes’s betting odds.
Glad I caught the T’Pau epic at its peak despite the song being chopped, I assume because the plethora of people on stage didn’t include a sax mimer.
Finally, we get George looking down chartwise at his old guvnor, with a song I’ve never liked as it sounds to me like a second rate “If I Had A Hammer”. Where’s Ringo when you need him?
welcome back arthur - given that the completist pests are still highly active here, your unexpected return is a most pleasant and refreshing change!
Deletei never knew that hooters was american slang for the mammary glands (okay, a pair of tits for those who don't know what that means!) - i bet they thought it was a right hoot when they came up with that name for the band?
Hooters is also the name of a chain of bars in the US where men go to pretend the young and attractive waitresses are in any way interested in them.
DeleteOh, and I think the bloke getting an arrow in his mouth is Shemp Howard, as the black and white clips in the video are from a Three Stooges short.
Thanks, Wilby. I'd wanted to come back earlier but wasn't in the zone so to speak. When I heard my wife berate The Proclaimers on Friday night's TOTP while trawling channels I thought "Right, that's it! Back I go!"
Deleteso the proclaimers have their uses after all!
DeleteGreat to have you back Arthur, and I hope that life is taking an upward swing for you.
DeleteI mentioned in my comments for the next show that "hooter" is a nickname for the melodica, and the band apparently took their name from that. They could have been lying, of course...
Thanks John. Still a bit of a rollercoaster but I think I'm getting there now. I watched this show before the one with your Hooters definition, so I bow to your knowledge if indeed I, erm, made a tit of myself!
Deleteha ha arthur - good to see that whatever problems you might have are not affecting your sense of humour!
DeleteWhat the hell is this. Straight from the Gym to the TOTP studio. Can we work out why this was a hit?? What the hell is the ugly one playing. Looks likes it's made from chipboard, that's never a real instrument.
ReplyDeleteI have no recollection of this, or the song.. Hmmmm.
Next up we get to see more of the Boy George video. Its a nice tune. A reminder that the man has a great soul voice. Shame this wasn't a bigger hit.
Communards get a repeat showing of their current cover version. Very good it is too. When you are onto a winning formula..
Wow. A ton of new enteries with week. Bet we dont get to see quite a few of these.
Shaky. No backing singers this time and back to the rock n roll covers he does so well. Oh the legs are on the move...
Best selling male solo artist of the 80s everyone. 😀 😀 😀
Breakers :
The Hooters. Satellite TV getting lampooned. Shame they forgot the tune.
Macca goes all twee on us. Can't stand it when he does this type of song. Pass.
The Housemartins back with a song that is absolutely a forerunner for The Beautiful South. It's actually quite a pleasant tune......
Top Five very static with T'Pau still at the top and re showing the studio performance..
The fabulous George Harrison to play out.
Sadly a bit late in the day with this, but it's goodbye and thanks to Stan Cullimore, the only member of this Housemartins lineup we never see again. The band's last single only peaked at 35 and didn't get a studio turn, and we all know what happened to Stan's bandmates in the future....
ReplyDeleteBlue Mercedes - not a tune that I remember, or will remember again.
ReplyDeleteCommunards - nice cover...
Shakey - ...poor cover (poor karaoke)
Paul McCartney - not a tune that makes it onto compilations, but it was pleasant enough.
Housemartins - i don’t remember this being so bit dreary
George Harrison - and finally the best cover on the show...