Happy Christmas you 'ass'
17/12/87 (Gary Davies & Mike Read)
Wet Wet Wet – “Angel Eyes (Home & Away)” (21)
Became their third top ten hit of 1987 when it peaked at number 5.
Mel & Kim – “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (6) (video)
Peaked at number 3.
Simply Red – “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (17)
Peaked at number 11.
The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl – “Fairytale Of New York” (8)
Arguably the best ever Christmas record, but it couldn't quite get to number one.
Level 42 - "Children Say" (22) (breaker)
Got no higher.
Nat King Cole - "When I Fall In Love" (20) (breaker)
Had peaked at number 2 in 1957, 30 years later it made it to number 4.
Belinda Carlisle – “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” (19) (US TOTP clip)
Her first solo single and in the new year it will become her only number one hit.
Pet Shop Boys – “Always On My Mind” (1) (rpt from 10/12/87)
First of four weeks at number one, and this year's Xmas number one.
Madonna – “The Look Of Love” (9) (video/credits)
At its peak.
Christmas Day 1987 is next, but Mike Smith co-presented it, and so sadly BBC4 will skip it.
And unfortunately Angelo, they cut out the entirety of Mel & Kim.
ReplyDeleteMel & Kim skipped tonight and apparently they close tomorrow night's show - I wonder how BBC4 will get round that?
ReplyDeleteI wondered whether they would cut out that video - all because of a picture of Rolf Harris appearing on screen for five seconds, presumably. Happily this show is on YT (albeit split into three parts), so I have already watched it unedited.
DeleteThe song references Two Little Boys as well. I'm not bothered about seeing it but the Beeb could have pixellated Rolf's photo rather than snipping it, especially as it'a a regular on the music channels at Christmas. I suppose they didn't want to incur the wrath of the Daily Mail.
DeletePresumably they couldn't be bothered to pixelate it, or thought it would just look silly. It will be interesting to see what they do with the 31st December show - my best guess is that they will show the first bit of the video, and then fade it out before Rolf appears...
DeleteGood point John - probably easier to chop it especially as it was only the video.
DeleteNo-one for pumpkin pie, then! I might have mentioned this before, but one of the creepiest things I ever heard was Rolf Harris's cover version of Divinyls' "I Touch Myself". Yes, really!!
Deletewhat about egg nog? that popular stateside yuletide concoction certainly sounds rather vile to me...
Deletetalking of vile: by all accounts rolf still believes he is innocent of the crimes he was accused of. it would be interesting to know what percentage of his fellow inmates regard and treat him as a reprehensible pedo, as opposed to the cuddly family entertainer of yore?
No one for root beer either! If we get to 93 they'll be more snipping as Rolf makes a studio appearance for Stairway To Heaven.
Deletei remember eagerly trying out a root beer in mcdonalds or some other american-style fast food chain in london in the 80's, and what a let-down that was! i have to say in retrospect though i was lucky that american-invented non-alcoholic carbonated and sugar-loaded drinks were repellent to my taste without exception, otherwise i'd have no teeth left at all now!
Deletewith the technology of today, if they felt their viewers would be so offended at the sight of rolf's pic for a few seconds then why didn't the beeb just replace it with somebody or something else? surely that's no more revisionistic than chopping the video out completely for that reason?
Deletethey could also have made the offending lyrics difficult-if-not-impossible to detect - as the tom tom club did with "rude" words (© j. rotten esq. 1976) in their hit "wordy rappinghood" several years before this was released!
DeleteI wonder if the beeb would have had to ask permission to alter the video, and decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Still, they could have had some fun with it, maybe a picture of Bates...
DeleteBBC iplayer's caption for this edition says:-
DeleteMike Read and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 December 1987 and featuring Wet Wet Wet, Mel and Kim, Simply Red, The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Level 42, Nat King Cole, Belinda Carlisle, Pet Shop Boys and Madonna.
Does anonymous or anyone else have an uncut version of this edition they can upload? Much appreciated if they can.
ReplyDeleteHere it is, courtesy of Neil B:
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-6oTG3EYkLl
Thats brilliant. Thankyou. Really silly they continue to edit these editions but so grateful to the many uploaders who share the uncut versions. Many thanks again!
DeleteThanks for uploading this, it's outrageous to cut a novelty Xmas song for just a one liner on Rolf Harris,especially knowing what we now know about him makes the joke reference even funnier.
DeleteIt's also here on YT:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxBAP_BsEE4
It's the last show before Christmas, and Mike Read finally returns to the roster; it may not be a coincidence that this happened just as Michael Hurll was preparing to step down from TOTP. Mike puts in a solid performance, but his attempts at humour fall flat, and clearly bemuse Gazza.
ReplyDeleteFirst up, the first of many ballads that the Wets would inflict on us over the years. This is probably the best of the bunch, as it does have a bit of energy and passion to it. Thankfully, Marti keeps still for once and cuts out the permagrinning, and the performance is all the better for it; I thought at one or two points that he might be singing live, but I wasn't sure. On to the "controversial" Mel & Kim video, another duo of that name where the Mel is no longer with us, alas. Ms Wilde is looking particularly gorgeous here in her 60s dress, and Mel's normal partner Griff shows up for a cameo too. It's all harmless stuff (Rolf excepted), but neither is it especially funny - it doesn't help that this has never been one of my favourite Christmas songs, either.
Mick Hucknall is definitely singing live, but looks a bit like a tailor's dummy stiffly standing there in an ill-fitting suit. Ella Fitzgerald's version of this Cole Porter classic is so definitive that it was rather foolhardy of Mick to take it on, and he doesn't really get away with it, as the arrangement and the vocal are both very dreary and completely unChristmassy into the bargain. Fairytale of New York is the complete opposite in that regard, of course, despite its caustic lyrics. It's funny how the memory cheats, but I vividly remember watching this performance at the time and I could have sworn that it got shown more than once, but it obviously didn't. It's still a true festive classic, anyway - I liked it from the start, though it didn't seem to be until many years later, after Kirsty's tragic death, that it started being hailed as a masterpiece and became completely ubiquitous. I was always fascinated by Shane McGowan's shambolic appearance, but rather like Joe Strummer he came from a much more well-heeled background than his persona would lead you to believe...
It's notable that only Mark King and Mike Lindup appear in this Level 42 video, as both the Goulds had quit by this point. It's rather pointlessly set in Paris, and the song is quite bland and forgettable, harking back to past glories rather than doing anything new or interesting. I have no recollection of Madge's closing song whatsoever, and it's far from being one of her best, merely OK. The video probably scared off any last remaining punters who may have considered going to see Who's That Girl, so naff are the clips presented here.
Should have said as well, a good, energetic and live TOTP USA performance here from Belinda Carlisle. While this is a decent, well produced piece of pop-rock, I do prefer some of her later and lesser-played hits.
Deletejohn i agree with you that kim wilde's retro dress is lovely. however it is in the full-skirted style that was popular in the "western world" throughout the 1950's and into the early 1960's (especially in north america), rather than the mary quant/twiggy swinging sixties mini skirt era that followed!
DeleteOh, I'm well aware of that, Wilberforce. I said "60s dress" because the song was originally a hit in the early 60s (although Brenda Lee actually recorded it in 1958), and as you say, that style of dress was still fashionable then.
Deletethat's right john - in terms of both fashions and pop music, the 1960's never really began until 1963 at the earliest. if i were the head of the fashion police, then i would try my best to persuade women of today to wear retro dresses like kim's - as opposed to the utterly dreadful tunic and leggings look they seem to go for most of the time!
DeleteAs Philip Larkin famously put it: "Sexual intercourse began
DeleteIn nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the "Chatterley" ban
And the Beatles' first LP"...
I'm eternally grateful to Peter Powell for pointing out this Wet Wet Wet tune has a burp in it after the first line - listen for it and you'll never be able to un-hear it. Anyway, that's the most interesting thing about a ballad that lets the strings do all the work, though I suppose the boys' harmonies are acceptable on the chorus.
ReplyDeleteThe other Mel & Kim next, or they were supposed to be. Well, they weren't to know back then. Rolf still protests his innocence, of course, but I expect it's too late for any rehabilitation. The song, well, as Kim says, "This is so corny!" But it was for charity, so bulletproof.
Another cover next, a decidedly anaemic version of yet another old standard, with Charlie Drake emoting to little effect, and the piano decidedly plinky-plonky. Way to bring down the party mood, guys - but was anyone in the band on the record except Mick?
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, I did really like this at the time, but after hearing over and over the billionth experience of it begins to pall. Apparently in 1987 the word "arse" was far worse than the word "faggot". No wonder Neil Tennant dismissed this as "two drunks shouting at each other." Again, the strings make their major contribution, but Kirsty's vocal is typically impeccable. Who'd have thought at the time Shane would outlive her by decades?
Level 42 in the Breakers, running out of ideas rather than running in the family, mediocre stuff. The Nat King Cole clip is from the film Istanbul, I think, one of Errol Flynn's last before his liver gave out.
Belinda Carlisle, like John G there are tunes from her I prefer, but there's no denying this is a cast iron pop song, does everything right, and a good vocal from her here, even if her hair proves unruly. Everyone remembers the Diane Keaton-directed video, so nice to see a lesser-spotted version.
PSB made it to Christmas number one, beating Rick Astley, and wasn't my sister furious? She was just as furious when the Nat King Cole record was re-released. I must admit I don't remember the video for the PSB's hit, maybe it was never on the show? The Chart Show must have played it, I suppose.
Then Madonna with a nothingy track from one of the most obnoxious films of the 1980s, another case of her cinematic efforts spawning hit singles but nobody but the diehards wanting to see the film itself. They had to make their money back somehow.
Further to the Pogues & Kirsty McColl, fully agree with what you say, and I would add that Shane McGowan's miming at the beginning of this clip was quite appalling, as he struggled to keep in tune with the words, ie, while on the piano at the beginning, and before he got to the main standing part with McColl.
Deletethx with your wet wet wet burp reference you have reminded me of when i recorded some demos around this time with a female singer who was somewhat pretentious - when we were mixing after she left, the engineer remarked "if it were fashionable to put a fart on the recording, then she'd insist on it". i found the thought of that highly amusing, so he dug out a tape of himself and a mate farting whilst they had been recording, which we listened to and then sampled one and mixed it into the track a few times to see if she would notice when she listened to it!
DeleteThe video for Always on my Mind is a real oddity. It's from a film the PSB released called "It Couldn't Happen Here" starring Gareth Hunt and Barbara Windsor.
DeleteMore info here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Couldn%27t_Happen_Here
My memory of the video, without checking YT, is that Neil and Chris are in a car with Joss Ackland - Joss even sings along at one point!
Deletebbc archive version 17/12/87
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-hA6pOu0jNR
bbc archive version 31/12/87
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-aVQt1SfFut
It goes without saying...your a star! Very very kind of you to share these uploads anonymous. Fantastic that you have 17/12/87 and 31/12/87 as no doubt BBC Four are going to rip to shreds that new years eve edition as they have done already with the 17th December show.
DeleteHow bizarre that earlier in the repeat run they went to the effort to edit The Crowd video and pixelated out an offending poster in a Tracy Ullman video which then allowed both songs to be shown..yet have completely removed the mel and kim video without any such thought. All very strange!
Either way..many many thanks for these uploads! As always..good love to you and all the fellow bloggers/uploaders on here and I raise a glass to 1987 and wish you all a very happy (hopefully edit free) 1988!
it almost goes without saying that "you're" is incorrectly typed as "your". doesn't anyone know how to spell properly these days?
Deletebbc archive version 1 45mins 25/12/87
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-5z0kGtuqmL
bbc archive version 2 with usa bits in middle 50mins
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-e3rFxA1sW2
wet wet wet: oh dear, another song title that's already been used at least twice before to my recollection. and by far the worst one in that regard as they are now firmly blowing away any potential they might have had with their debut single with this cod-soul slush. mysterious fifth guy is to the fore here, which makes me wonder why he never appeared in promo shots or anything as he's hardly a bruiser in the way the rolling stones unofficial member ian stewart was
ReplyDeletemel & kim (ii): i always thought smith and jones were the under-rated half of the "not the nine o'clock news" comedy team, and also enjoyed watching their own shows (that might have been a bit patchy, but also contained some moments of high-quality - "walter and smike try to make a cup of tea" is a classic of the pre-pc era in my view), perhaps that was why i seem to remember being quite amused at this pairing at the time, although the song in question never did anything for me. it's actually a high point for ms weedy vocal-wise, but then again she barely gets any competition from mel who labours in his role as the comic turn to her straight-woman
simply red: instead of tackling this old tin pan alley chestnut (without adding anything new to it), it would have been more appropriate for mr hucknall to have done another cole porter tune called "you go to my head", as quite clearly being told he was a great blue-eyed soul singer was going to his. porter may have been a pin-sharp wit and one of the greatest songwriters of the last century, but unlike everyone supposes the chords don't actually change from the major to the minor equivalent at said lyrical point
pogues: i must be the only person on the pop planet who never understood what the appeal of this was, as not only could shane magowan not carry a tune in a bucket but i also thought ms mccoll was vastly overrated as well. fortunately for them though, my top 10 turkey list for this year is already well-stuffed
level 42: in my view this should have been the second or third single off the "running in the family" album rather than the fifth (especially given "to be with you again" was by far the worst track on it), as i'm sure it would have got a lot higher in the charts as a result. it's equally annoying that it got released at the end of this year, rather than the beginning of the next one - as a result of that, i feel compelled for the first time to have two tracks by the same artist in my top 10 crackers list. this is a really well-produced, compact and smart pop groove with a slightly wistful emotional feel about it thanks to both the lyrical theme and mike lindup's soaring falsetto refrains in the choruses. i especially like the way the chorus is re-worked for the run out coda. i also remember driving along with my girlfriend of the time, with me singing the call and her the response in the middle eight!
WHAT !!!!!! You had a girlfriend, did she come with a pump
DeleteI also do not see the appeal of "Fairytale of New York" and dislike it greatly. I think I may be the only person on the Island of Ireland who does.
DeleteFirst up a huge thanks to everyone who has provided the full editions of the next three shows. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMike Read is back but Gary doesn't look too pleased to see him and is a bit subdued this week.
The wets get us underway with a suitably sloppy ballad for Xmas. The chorus is fine but the verses are awful and this is one of their weaker efforts. I'll still take it over "With a little help.." that I am really not looking forward to going through next year.
The Mel and Kim video is actually quite different to the song (in terms of the comedy moments) so less familiar to me. Griff gets a raw deal as his middle bit goes completely and the song is cut off early by TOTP. They could easily have chopped out the RH reference, even I could have done that!
Run for the hills it's a Top Ten Turkey from Simply Red, this is a bloody awful song anyway and Mick gives it the last rites. What is happening with his hair??? Did he actually pay someone to look like that!
Mike's favourite song up next. Shane can't mime (but was probably drunk/stoned or both so we'll forgive him) however always nice to see Kirsty again. It's a really good song though and a true Xmas classic although it is a very marmite record. Some years I like it, some years I hate it, depends on my mood.
Breakers:
Level 42 are in Paris. That seems to be the gist of the video. A good song though.
Nat King Cole - The definitive version of WIFIL. Sorry Rick but you've been shafted.
Belinda Carlisle. This is one of my all time favourite pop songs and I was a HUGE fan of this at the time as well. Belinda enjoyed a lot of success in the UK and rightly so, looking forward to seeing some of her hits again.
The villians have arrived at Number 1 to see off all the Xmas competition. As a lifelong PSB fan I am very happy this was at Number One. I understand that most of the world hates them for depriving The Pogues the top spot for Xmas.
Should have all gone out and bought it then!
Madonna next. Another film, another song, another video that is basically a promo for the film. Not really a fan of this one and I can quite see why it's a forgotten hit.
Now then....Christmas time....
Mick Hucknall's hairdo back then (long on top, short at the back and sides) wasn't really all that dissimilar to how a lot of young men have their hair now, the big difference being that Mick didn't tie the long part up in a man bun!
DeleteScissors out again on this one! Up goes a shout, a horse dashes out…..
ReplyDeleteWet Wet Wet – Angel Eyes – Look into his angel eyes you think you’re in paradise…..oh angel eyes am I deceived or did you sigh…well I think both of these fine songs top the Wets, um, wet effort here. Would have been happy for this to have been cut. Instead….
Mel and Kim – Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree – Disgraceful to edit this fun Christmas hit out just for something that blink and you’d miss it. Plenty of protest already in the comments above I note! Kim did look lovely in this video and I note that Griff makes a brief appearance too. Great song which I never tire of hearing, if only the Brenda Lee version, as this doesn’t get played at the seasonal time these days.
Simply Red – Every time you say goodbye – Bearable stuff from Mick and the band, um, hang on, what band? Not too keen on the hair ‘cut’. Sort of like Phil Oakey but curly.
Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York – Great record and enjoyed hearing it again in May (!), but hang on, a few visual seconds of Rolf is not OK but ‘Happy Christmas your ass’ is perfectly acceptable viewing?
Breakers – Level 42 – Last single off the ‘Running in the Family’ album. Chorus is in a funny time signature compared to the verses. NKC – From the film ‘Istanbul’ Nat shows Rick just how this song should really be sung.
Belinda Carlisle – Heaven is a place on Earth – Having already topped the US charts, this Rick Nowels / Ellen Shipley song would go on to top ours and well deserved it was too. A great album, surpassed in my view by the follow up ‘Runaway Horses’ featuring my favourite ‘Bel’ track ‘Vision of You’ which should have been massive!
PSB – Always on my mind – Just am not keen on this version and much prefer the Elvis recording, so I skipped it!
Madonna – Look of love – Not in the ‘Papa don’t preach’ league at all. One of her worst singles released at this point since her hits started.
Who invited Mike Read back? Gary Davies spends most of this edition (quite rightly) looking like he wants to slap him.
ReplyDeleteWet Wet Wet - Not much love for this and even Mrs Noax the huge Wets fan isn't that keen. Um..I quite like it!
Mel & Kim - At Christmas time the music video channels usually air a version that has the Rolf bit (admittedly badly) chopped out. Not sure why the Beeb didn't follow suit though they may have just thought that nobody would care since we're 6 months away from it being relevant. As for the song, it's fine but not one of my top festive favourites.
Simply Red - Pointless attempt to emulate Ella.
Pogues / Kirsty - A great tune sure, but see my review of the previous show for my take on the fan worship that goes on.
Breakers - Good to hear the Level 42 song, it's very under-rated. Forgot to mention it before but how on earth did the brilliant Prince song come and go without even getting a breaker slot?
Belinda Carlisle - Mrs Noax hates her and says she sounds like a sheep. She has a point. Certainly the quality of the songs always outweighed the quality of her voice, as evidenced here.
Damn right on Prince, that's a brilliant pop record. It just got lost in the seasonal rush, it seems.
DeleteMike Read’s back and trying way too hard, putting him perilously close to Shitty and Nodding Dog territory. Poor Gary.
ReplyDeleteWWW with JHJ dress sense and, at last, Marti plays it straight and does a good job, apart from that non-mimed belch. Reminded me of the Smith and Jones sketch where Mel plays a soprano who can’t finish recording a song without saying the “W” word. Talking of whom, daft snipping ahoy.
Then we get Simply Boring. FF’d within ten seconds.
“Yeah, great.” Superb withering put down there, Gaz!
The Smiths’ final official single in the mugshots, plus Jellybean celebrating a new entry with a face like a slapped arse, and New Order showing a sense of humour by looking like Motley Crue.
Oh, God, FF Shane’s pension song.
The Eiffel Tower was last on TOTP for “A View To A Kill”, now here for “A View To An Anonymous Level 42 Single”.
Nat King Cole with a lovely voice, silky yet deep.
OUR LA studio, Gary? Did taxpayers here pay for a Yankee Beeb annexe, then? Great live performance of a song I love by Belinda and gang.
If anyone else had released that beige Madonna single instead of her it would have flopped. Name equals fans equals forgettable hit.