Thursday, 30 May 2019

Turn Back Top of the Pops

This edition of Top of the Pops from Christmas Day 1987 will not be shown on BBC4 due to the Mike Smith contract dispute. I'm still away from home but hopefully some kind person will post a link to the show in the comments for everyone :-)

Happy Gibbmas!


25/12/87 (Gary Davies & Mike Smith)


The Bee Gees – “You Win Again”
Rick Astley – “Never Gonna Give You Up”

Jackie Wilson – “Reet Petite” (video clip)
Ben E King – “Stand By Me” (video clip)
M/A/R/R/S – “Pump Up The Volume” (video clip)
Starship – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” (video clip)
The Firm – “Star Trekkin’” (video clip)
Ferry Aid – “Let It Be” (video clip)

Pet Shop Boys – “It’s A Sin”
T’Pau – “China In Your Hand”

Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – “Jack Your Body” (video clip)
Aretha Franklin & George Michael – “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” (video clip)
Madonna – “Who’s That Girl?” (video clip)
Madonna – “La Isla Bonita” (video clip)
Whitney Houston – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (clip from 21/05/87)

Johnny Hates Jazz – “Turn Back The Clock”
Pet Shop Boys – “Always On My Mind”
Spagna – “Call Me” (Montreux clip/video/clip from 20/08/87/audience dancing/credits)


Next up is 31st December.

42 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting all these Angelo when you are on holiday - much appreciated. Neil B has provided a WeTransfer link to the show:


    https://we.tl/t-3wgG2Fo8Lb

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  2. bbc archive version2 50mins with usa bits included

    https://we.tl/t-e3rFxA1sW2

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  3. bbc archive version 1 45mins high res 25/12/87

    https://we.tl/t-5z0kGtuqmL

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  4. neil b's upload is exactly same as mine above for 50min version which i uploaded earlier in the week elsewhere

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  5. Thanks everyone - is the show shorter than previous years - isn't it normally an hour?

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    1. I recall there was some live concert or the like before that overran. I suppose the Queen's speech is fixed at 3pm, and TOTP was squashed. Strange thing is, the presenters talk about Los Lobos and MAARS so it couldn't have been edited late AND had them refer to the missing songs. Anyone?

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    2. According to the BBC Genome site it was 55 minutes long, running from 2.05 - 3.00, but I guess there could have been a few trailers either side of the programme on original transmission to pad out the slot.

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    3. Aha! All these years I was confused. I wonder why it was short in the first place? Seemed bizarre to not show four full number ones of 1987 but mess about with a chart and a current hit.

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  6. Poor old M/A/R/R/S. 'Shittied' for the entirety of their chart summit and they don't even get the consolation of a Christmas showing because of the idiot.

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  7. If Angelo's screenshot is anything to go by, Gary Davies was less than enthused as being in Smitty's company on Christmas Day!

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  8. Replies
    1. i suspect that radio one jocks who actually preferred listening to music than the sound of their own voice didn't have much time for the likes of shitty and slimy who were only interested in foisting themselves into showbiz in any way they could. for that reason i suppose we should be truly grateful that unlike mr smith the latter had a face for radio, otherwise surely he would have been plastered all over light entertainment shows of the era as well?

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    2. actually thinking about it it would have been better if slimy had gone down the same light entertainment path as shitty, as he might then have jacked in the radio 1 job far quicker as it had served his purpose of self-promotion to the mindless masses!

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    3. I suspect Bates would only have been interested in the likes of Panorama or Newsnight, given that he thought of himself as a serious journalist.

      There's a good story in Simon Garfield's book 'The Nation' s Favourite' about Bates trying to sell controller Johnny Beerling the idea of a 26 part history about World War One. Beerling's response was along the lines of 'are you out of your f****** mind?!'

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  9. Not the greatest Christmas show ever, with a small sprinkling of new studio performances adding a bit of interest to what is chiefly a video clip show. Unusually for Christmas Day we get a chart rundown, and for some reason a current non-big hit in the shape of Turn Back the Clock - what were JHJ doing there? I suppose it's only appropriate to have Smitty and Gazza helming proceedings, as they had been the most frequently recurring presenters in 1987, but they both got up my nose as they gradually divested themselves of bow-ties and dinner jackets during the show in what appeared to be a feeble running joke. Smitty, naturally, was the more annoying of the two, particularly with his silly voices during the rundown, but alas he did succeed in dragging the normally sound Gazza down to his level a bit.

    Nice to have The Bee Gees back in the studio, and that brief chat with a happy-looking Andy Gibb was very poignant, as he would die less than three months later - if he had lived, the plan had apparently been that he would become a Bee Gee. Not much to note about the other performances, though it was a shame during T'Pau's turn that the inflatable snowmen didn't come loose and start floating across the stage - at least Carol donned a festive red jacket this time, which made a change from her normal funereal black. Two performances from PSB, meanwhile, including plenty of shots of Chris' PC spelling out the duo's name.

    Angelo doesn't mention it in his playlist for this show, but we also got two extended clips from the TOTP USA festive special, one of Sting doing a surprisingly creditable take on the carol Gabriel's Message, and the other of U2 covering the classic Darlene Love/Phil Spector song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - not a patch on the original, but not a bad attempt either. In his intro to that segment Gazza seemed very upbeat about how TOTP was going down on the other side of the Pond, but the axe would fall on the American show not far into the New Year...

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    1. Incidentally, it was good to have the audience back dancing over the credits again, though sadly just for this show.

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    2. Indeed, I thought it was a trip back down memory lane, as I think the last playout with studio audience dancing was almost two years earlier in early 1986 when the curtain fell on this whole tradition.

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  10. Forced to argue with you over U2 cover of Christmas (baby please come home) - one of my my favourite covers of all time (closely followed by johnny cash - hurt, and joey ramone - what a wonderful world)

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    Replies
    1. I can certainly agree with you that Johnny Cash's version of Hurt is one of the all-time classic covers. Nothing particularly wrong with the U2 cover, it just didn't grab me that much.

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  11. seeing as the new year's eve edition is in effect the first show of the new year as opposed to a round up, i'll park my top 10 crackers and turkeys list from 1987 here. as i said before: in my view the quality of the first half of the year was the worst in the whole run, with barely anything to consider as cracker material. however fortunately in the last few months a lot more contenders rode over the hill like the cavalry to make it look a lot more respectable!:

    1987 crackers

    jets - crush on you
    cameo - back and forth
    def leppard - animal
    sherrick - just call
    pet shop boys & dusty springfield - what i have done to deserve this?
    level 42 - it's over
    fleetwood mac - little lies
    scarlet fantastic - no memory
    johnny hates jazz - turn back the clock
    level 42 - children say

    1987 turkeys

    michael crawford - music of the night
    club nouveau - lean on me
    judy boucher - can't be with you tonight
    tom jones - a boy from nowhere
    bruce springsteen - born to run (live)
    linda ronstadt & james ingram - somewhere out there
    the fat boys & the beach boys - wipeout
    ll cool j - i need love
    eric b & rakim - paid in full
    t'pau - china in your hand

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    Replies
    1. Didn't include an Level 42 in my crackers list as none of the songs massively stood out for me...BUT...I did like all the songs they released which I quite surprised by. A consistent band

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    2. I'll take two of your turkeys to go into my crackers lists, ie, Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram, and The Fat Boys & The Beach Boys, and put eight of your crackers to go into my turkeys. The only two crackers of yours I would agree with are The Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield, along with Scarlet Fantastic, cos those two were indeed fantastic.

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  12. A lively Xmas show with only a few new performances all of which were very good. Enjoyed seeing PSB twice (and Neil even smiled during AOMM) and seeing the snowman attack T'Pau, my son and I laughed out loud when the drummer hit the the nose in time to the beat.

    Time to start thinking about my favourite tunes of the year...here goes

    A-ha - Cry Wolf
    Paul Simon - The Boy In The Bubble
    Mel and Kim - Respectable
    Alison Moyet - Weak in The Presence of Beauty
    Peter Gabriel - Big Time
    Erasure - Victim of Love
    Depeche Mode - Strangelove
    ABC - When Smokey Sings
    Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin / What Have I Done To Deserve This / Rent/ Always On My Mind
    Boogie Box High - Jive Talkin'
    Spagna - Call Me
    New Order - True Faith
    Def Leppard - Animal
    Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
    Wax - Bridge To Your Heart
    T'Pau - Heart and Soul
    M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume
    Pseudo Echo - Funky Town
    Bee Gees - You Win Again
    Was (Not Was) - Walk The Dinosaur
    George Harrison - Set On You
    Donna Summer - Dinner With Gershwin
    Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel

    Surprises:
    Randy Crawford - Almaz (for some reason this really got to me having never heard it before)
    Stand By Me - Ben E King (my son loved this so much I had to buy him the film, a testament to it's staying power that it can make a 12 year ol in 2019 take notice)
    Westworld - Sonic Boom Boy / Mel and Kim - Respectable. Both have found their way onto my 12 year olds playlist recently. Bizarre but very proud!
    The Christians - Hooverville (was never a fan but I enjoyed this one)
    The Alarm - Rain In The Summertime (has gone onto the summer playlist at work)

    Turkeys:
    Bruce Willis/Temptations - Under The Boardwalk
    Beastie Boys - She's On It
    Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish – Male Stripper
    Pogues/Dubliners - Irish Rover
    Junior/Kim Wilde - Another Step Closer To You
    Sly and Robbie - Boops
    Zodiac Mindwarp - Prime Mover
    Kenny G - Songbird
    SAW - Roadblock
    Motley Crue - Girls Girls Girls
    Ray Parker Junior - I Don't Think Man Should Sleep Alone
    Steve Walsh - I Found Lovin (my personal nadir of the year)
    House Master Boyz & The Rude Boy Of House – House Nation
    Fat Boys / Beach Boys - Wipeout
    Eric B and Rakim - Paid In Full
    Simply Red - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye (what is with that apostrophe!!!
    And finally - because if I don't list this as the ULTIMATE TURKEY then Wifey will divorce me

    SHAKIN' STEVENS - A LITTLE BOOGIE WOOGIE (IN THE BACK OF MY MIND) for the song and the performance.

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  13. Top 10 of '87 for me:

    Carly Simon - Coming Around Again
    Pet Shop Boys - Rent
    T'Pau - Heart and Soul
    Terence Trent D'Arby - If You Let Me Stay
    New Order - True Faith
    Fleetwood Mac - Big Love
    Randy Crawford - Almaz
    Karel Fialka - Hey Matthew
    Curiosity Killed the Cat - Misfit
    John Farnham - You're the Voice

    Turkeys: Mirage's Jack Mixes were right down there, but Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish with Male Stripper was the bottom of the barrel for me.

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    Replies
    1. Sheez John, I could only agree on Fleetwood Mac's Big Love from your top 10. The other 9 would be turkeys for me.

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    2. 7 / 10 (non turkeys) for me John!

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    3. I think this exchange just goes to show how wonderfully subjective music can be! Incidentally, another great Mike Oldfield song that missed out on TOTP this year was Islands, featuring Bonnie Tyler on vocals and Roxy's Andy Mackay on oboe. Although I remember Mike performing the song on Wogan, it only managed to scrape into the chart at 100, but deserved a lot better.

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  14. Here goes from me. I guess nobody who reads my posts will be surprised by the first two turkeys!

    Crackers

    Starship – Nothing’s gonna stop us now
    Pet Shop Boys – It’s a Sin
    Heart – Alone
    Pretenders – Hymn to her
    Tom Jones – A Boy from nowhere
    Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram – Somewhere out there
    T’Pau – China in your Hand
    It’s Over – Level 42
    Coming around again – Carly Simon
    You’re the Voice – John Farnham
    Can’t be with you tonight – Judy Boucher
    The Alarm – Rain in the Summetime

    Turkeys

    Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – Jack your Body
    Pump up the Volume – Mars
    I just can’t stop loving you – Michael Jackson
    La Bamba – Los Lobos
    Star Trekkin’ – The Firm
    I wanna dance with somebody – Whitney Houston
    Didn’t we – Whitney Houston
    Full Metal Jacket – Abigail Mead and Nigel Goulding
    Everything I own – Boy George
    The Slightest touch – Five Star (could have picked any of their hits really)
    Man to Man Parrish – Male Stripper
    Stock, Aitken and Waterman - Roadblock

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  15. I'll be slightly different here to give the top 10 girlies of the year:

    1. Nancy Wilson of Heart (Alone video)
    2. Donna Summer (Dinner With Gershwin)
    3. The lead girl on Mirage (Jack Mix II & IV)
    4. Cher (I Found Someone video)
    5. The lead girl on Atlantic Starr (Always video)
    6. Shirlie Holliman of Pepsi & Shirlie (anything she appears in)
    7. Sarah Brightman (just about any video she appears in)
    8. Sheena Easton (You Got The Look video with Prince)
    9. The brunette girl on all the 1987 Whitesnake videos
    10. Sinitta (just about anything she appears in)

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    Replies
    1. No "Girlie Girlie" then? :-D

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    2. Definitely number one for me in '88 is Sabrina, both the swimming pool video and the studio appearance!

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    3. Yeah, I remember the cheeky video when Sabrina revealed some nipple out of her white bikini top in the holiday swimming pool, and it depended on whether you had the edited or unedited version of the video.

      Back in those days, you could only get the full videos if they happened to be on a VHS compilation, and i happen to still have the VHS compilation with the unedited Sabrina video, nipple and all!

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  16. A few thoughts on the Christmas day show;

    First of all I recall watching this and taping it onto VHS! Ironic isn’t it that the 1987 Documentary featured Mars but none of the showings were shown on BBC4 due to Smitty! No loss really for BBC4 viewers who were only aware of it on the chart rundowns. Smitty does seem to like it though as well as Whitney – both feature in my turkeys list.

    The Bee Gees must have showed up with their entourage again for this performance.

    Smitty mentions that Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley reaching no1 was a surprise. He wasn’t kidding!

    Nice to see Johnny hates Jazz and ‘Turn back the Clock’ again amongst all the chart toppers and Spangna. Actually one chart topper was missing; Michael Jackson, ho hum!

    One more 1987 show and then we’re into 1988 already. Looking at the no1s up ahead we’re in for a rough ride!

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  17. My thanks to Angelo for hosting another year, the commentators for the extra dimension they added to each show and those who have uploaded the Smith editions. By my reckoning, it was almost a third of the 1987 shows that weren't broadcast on BBC4 and it would have been disappointing to miss them.


    I didn't have high hopes for the music quality of this year, however I've been very pleasantly surprised overall. My crackers are:


    Christians - Forgotten Town
    Communards - Tomorrow
    Prince/Sheena Easton - U got the look
    Siouxsie and the Banshees - Wheels on Fire
    Smiths - Shoplifters of the World Unite
    Carley Simon - Coming around again
    New Order - True Faith
    Run DMC - It's Tricky
    Madonna - Who's that Girl?
    Pet Shop Boys - Rent

    TURKEYS

    Pogues/Kirsty McColl - Fairytale of New York
    Tom Jones - It's not Unusual
    Hue and Cry - Labour of Love
    Wet Wet Wet - Sweet little Mystery
    Def Leppard - Pour some sugar on me
    Blue Mercedes - I want to be your property
    Lionel Ritchie - Ballerina Girl
    Sam Fox - Nothings gonna stop me now
    Shakin Stevens - Boogie Woogie
    Steve Walsh - I found Lovin

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    1. I like your choice of Prince/Sheena Easton, which would be right up there in my top 5 of the year

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    2. Strangely, I was non-plussed by it back in 87 but regard it in a totally new light having seen the video in these re-runs. Sheena Easton looks amazing in that video.

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    3. Totally agree, with the addition that I liked the video just as much in 1987 as I do now, so it is yes-plussed for me on both counts. Absolutely brilliant!

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    4. Good to have you on board, Sonny. I agree that 1987 was a pretty decent year musically, definitely the strongest of the latter half of the 80s in my view. I did come close to putting Forgotten Town into my Top 10 as well, as it was probably my biggest "discovery" from the repeats, never having really listened to it before. Labour of Love also came close to making my list, but in the gems section rather than the turkeys...

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  18. Ok. My twenty pennyworth...

    Crackers

    Heart – Alone
    Starship – Nothing’s gonna stop us now
    Pet Shop Boys – It’s a Sin (though it could be any - a good year form Them)
    New Order - True Faith
    Sabrina - Summertime Love
    MARRS - Pump up the Volume
    Man to Man Parrish – Male Stripper
    Stock, Aitken and Waterman - Roadblock
    Fleetwood Mac - Big Love
    A-ha - Cry Wolf

    Turkeys

    Hue and Cry - Labour of Love
    Wet Wet Wet - Sweet little Mystery
    level 42 - Its Over
    Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – Jack your Body
    I just can’t stop loving you – Michael Jackson
    La Bamba – Los Lobos
    Everything I own – Boy George
    Five Star - All of them!
    Mirage - Jack Mix (any!)
    Curiosity Killed the Cat - Misfit

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    Replies
    1. Brave of you put Male Stripper in your top 10. Good Lord, you must be their only fan!

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    2. Nonsense, I like Male Stripper too, lots of fun. The fact their performance on the show was so naff makes it all the better!

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