Golden oldie
07/01/88 (Simon Bates & Mike Read)
Sinitta – “GTO” (20)
Getting the New Year underway with a slinky song that peaked at number 15.
Jellybean – “Jingo” (17) (video)
Not much lyrics but quite a rocker and it peaked at number 12.
Depeche Mode – “Behind The Wheel” (32)
Still another two years to wait until their next top ten hit - this one peaked at number 21.
The Stranglers – “All Day & All Of The Night” (19)
This Kinks cover became their seventh and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 7.
George Michael – “Father Figure” (35) (breaker)
This third single from is number one album 'Faith' peaked at number 11.
GOSH – “The Wishing Well” (34) (breaker)
This charity single for Great Ormond Street Hospital peaked at number 22.
Terence Trent D’Arby – “Sign Your Name” (29) (breaker)
Became his biggest hit when it peaked at number 2.
Pet Shop Boys – “Always On My Mind” (1) (rpt)
Fourth and final week at number one.
Joyce Sims – “Come Into My Life” (21) (video/credits)
Became her only top ten hit when it peaked at number 7.
January 14th is next.
Given that so many new presenters debuted on TOTP during 1988, it’s ironic that the year starts with two of the oldest of the Old Guard. Mike Read seems more comfortable here than in his comeback appearance pre-Christmas, but the penchant for obscure humour continues – was that window cleaners “joke” something to do with the fact both our hosts are wearing glasses? Master Bates is relatively competent by his standards, but doesn’t seem to be enjoying Mr Read’s company very much…
ReplyDeleteAppropriately, we commence a SAW-dominated year with one of their songs, a fluffy, throwaway effort that nevertheless contrives to be more likeable than Sinitta’s previous hits. Sin is dressed for summer rather than January (though I do recall the winter of 1987-88 was unusually mild), and I still don’t reckon much on her figure, but she and her car mechanic henchmen put on a decent enough show. Jellybean was fair churning out the singles at this point in time, and he gives us quite a lively instrumental here, even if it does end up outstaying its welcome. A snazzy, colourful video, too, but why did he call the track “Jingo”?
A leather-clad Depeche Mode next, though despite their moody dress code they seem quite happy to be there. Not a bad effort, with an atmospheric production, but not exactly top drawer either. I have no memory of The Stranglers still having hits as late as this, but looking at Wikipedia I see they would make the Top 20 again in 1990. This is a decent enough cover of a 60s standard, though it adds nothing to the original, and suggests they were running low on inspiration at the time. Like Depeche Mode, the band are dressed in very sombre tones, as are the brass section they have brought with them.
We’ll be seeing two of these breakers again, but happily not this ghastly Great Ormond Street charity record, featuring a bizarre mix of Boy George (was there a charity single in the 80s he wasn’t involved with?), Noddy Holder and the Doctor Who duo of Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford. A great cause, no doubt, but on the basis of this clip a horrible song. Incidentally, it looks as if TTD (himself a lover of wishing wells, of course) goes into the world’s worst bar in his video. PSB enjoy one final week at the top, and we finish with a classy tune from Joyce Sims, who also scrubs up pretty well in her promo. Despite the prominence of the piano, I struggled to hear any evidence of it on the record…
There was only a few more months for these two presenters on TOTP before finally leaving after around 10 years or so of presenting the show, along with Peter Powell who also joined them to bow out this year in 1988, to leave no more presenters left from the 70s.
DeleteI think only Steve Wright and Gary Davies stuck in there till at least till 1989, but really it was as you say the end of the old guard in 1988 to pave the way for the new generation of presenters, now those born in the 60s and beyond, taking over presenting the show.
Dory - Gary Davies remained with the show as a presenter until September 1991, when production of the programme switched to Elstree Studios and the new format discarded all Radio 1 disc jockeys. His last edition as host was the final show recorded at Televsion Centre before the move to Elstree.
DeleteJohn - TOTP Facts on Twitter posted a quote from Hugh Cornwell who said that their record company were desperate for them to have another hit. My Dad had the album this comes from - 'All Live & All Of The Night' - a live album with this track tacked on the end.
DeleteSlimes really looked out of place here, how old would he have been when this originally went out?
DeleteBelieve it or not - only 41!
DeleteBates and Read ere almost exact contemporaries in fact - Mike is just three months younger. Bates and PP would indeed bow out of TOTP during the course of '88, but Mike would remain until 1989, which is also when Wrighty hosted his last show.
DeleteSteve - that explanation for the reasons behind the Stranglers cover certainly makes sense!
DeletePP also left Radio 1 in 88 which would explain why he stopped doing TOTP, and I'm guessing Wright chose not to do it as he never looked comfortable. I wonder if Bates was pushed off the roster or realised his time was up.
DeleteInteresting question, Steve - it may not be a coincidence that Bates departed the roster so soon after a new man took over the running of the show! I've just checked Popscene, and I think he's only got four shows left now.
DeletePresumably Bates wasn't as big a cheese at TOTP as he was at Radio 1 - there was a story about him spending his shows plotting, spreading gossip and running a web of intrigue! Mind you he jumped ship at Radio 1 before Matthew Bannister could sack him.
Deletesteve i always thought slimy was an insincere arse from the moment he first started broadcasting on Radio !. i then had the misfortune to encounter him at a local Radio 1 disco that he was hosting circa 1978 - i asked him inbetween his stage appearances if he could mention a local disco that i was DJing at, and he said in all apparent earnestness that he'd see what could co. then about half an hour later he mentioned on stage that he couldn't promote commercial events as he worked for the been - whilst seemingly looking me in the eye in the crowd whilst he said it! i never had much time for the guy in the first place (it was obvious to me even as a teenager that his ego was more important to him than his interest in music from the moment he started on radio 1), but i remember thinking "what a cunt you are"!
Deletewhat i meant to put above was: i remember thinking "what a two-faced c*nt you are" (sorry, i should have put the asterisk in the c word above as well!)
DeleteMaybe we should start calling him S*m*n B*t*s for his swan song run.
DeleteI could never understand at the time why there was so much fuss every time there was a rumour of B*t*s leaving Radio 1 - even he said you could put a chocolate teapot in his slot and it would still get millions of listeners. Still, he's given us plenty of entertainment over the years on these re-runs!
DeleteYou can't get better than a Kwik Fit Fitter - oh, nope, it's Sinitta and her funboys, still aiming straight at the pink pound only with an 80s aspirational tone to her lyrics. Pretty lightweight, but I wasn't expecting Stockhausen.
ReplyDeleteJellybean serves up a tinny dance version of the old Santana rocker, sadly without Mr Benitez pulling any Santana faces while he plays his keyboard. Actually, this may be more of a cover of the Candido disco version, in fact a quick listen on YT reveals it's practically identical, aside from more electronic instrumentation.
Depeche Mode well on their way to stadium domination - but not quite yet. This is a moody little number, perfect for staring into the distance during, so why does Dave Gahan look to be barely suppressing the giggles? Probably just pleased to be there.
The Stranglers with a musically unnecessary, but maybe financially vital, cover of the old Kinks classic, adding nothing but slicker production and a horn section. Do we really want The Stranglers to be slick when they tackle the rockers?
Oh my GOSH, I hope I never hear that charity record again. I also hope they raised a fortune for the kids, but surely there are better tributes to the unfortunate mites to make? Bizarre line-up, too. Considering Sylvester McCoy never used to say anything on Vision On, why did they think he'd be great on record? Hazel O'Connor's last hit, then? Sheesh.
PSB eat up the last of the nation's Christmas record vouchers, then Joyce Sims with a ditty that despite her rather strident voice is actually a relaxing way to end, a nicely put together ballad some way away from her usual dancefloor domain. Presumably she insisted on showing us she could play an instrument even if it wasn't one on the record.
The line-up on the GOSH video, which I assume stands for Great Ormond Street Hospital, included somewhat surprisingly the return of Dollar into the mainstream music scene at the start of 1988, but it happened to coincide with their new comeback single being released in the same month of Jan 1988, called Oh L'Amour, so we are about to see them back in the charts in their own right later in the month, and particularly welcome back to the lovely Theresa Bazaar. Dollar even dated back to the original Guys & Dolls line-up in 1975 on the single There's A Whole Lot Of Loving:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsbSPLKgPP4
Suffice to say that David Van Day & Theresa Bazaar were in the charts in some form or other as far back as the days when TOTP shows were still being wiped in the mid-70s!
Tonight's programme was the first TOTP show produced and directed by Paul Ciani, albeit with Michael Hurll still as executive, who presumably stayed on for a few weeks to hand over the reins.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Genome, Hurll retained a credit on the show until the end of February, after which Ciani took full control.
Delete"Considering Sylvester McCoy never used to say anything on "Vision On" "... I've only ever watched a couple of episodes but have it on good authority that Sylveste was the worst Doctor Who ever to boot.
DeleteNot while Colin Baker has breath in his body! To be fair, Col's stories were rubbish, glitzy nastiness, he's a perfectly decent actor otherwise.
DeleteColin's Doctor was more unlikeable than Sylv's, but for me Sylv was the worst actor to play the role, bar none. He was OK with the light comic stuff, but his attempts to portray a mysterious, "dark" Doctor were pretty painful. It didn't help of course that so many of his stories were rubbish...
DeleteI won't hear a word against Evil Bertie Bassett...
DeleteIronically that is one of the few McCoy stories I quite enjoyed, in a "guilty pleasure" kind of way!
DeleteI think that two Sylvester McCoy stories were head and shoulders above the rest. 'Remembrance of the Daleks' and 'The Curse of Fenric'. Colins era featured a story consistently voted the worst Dr Who story ever - 'The Twin Dilemma'.
DeleteYes, I'd agree those were the two best McCoy stories, but for me Time and the Rani is worse than The Twin Dilemma, bad as the latter undoubtedly is.
DeleteHappy 1988 everyone – I was certainly in a very good place at stage in my life and probably didn’t see many of these shows as I was out most Thursday nights, hence why some of the tunes draw a blank. Some I was very familiar with, and this show contains a mixture.
ReplyDeleteSinitta – GTO – GTO of course was a record label that featured the likes of Donna Summer, The Dooleys, Fox, Dana, Billy Ocean and the much travelled Voyage. Here Sinitta appears to be rehashing much of ‘So Macho’ without the novelty factor. Saying that, not a bad start to the show and 1988.
Jellybean – Jingo – Originally released by Candido in 1979, I recall being on the dance floor when the 12” of that version came on, and it went on and on and on and on… This version is mildly interesting, nothing more.
Depeche Mode – Behind the Wheel – Surprisingly good actually. The second coming had yet to kick off but I quite like this. Another new hair style for Dave Graham.
Stranglers – All Day and all of the Night – Clearly influenced by Genesis who played a snatch of this in the encore ‘Turn it on again’ oldies medley, this is not a bad cover by the aged punk rockers (were they ever punk rockers?). Brass section certainly would have been given the time of day in the era of ‘walking on the beaches looking at the peaches’.
Breakers – George Michael – Another fabulous song from the ‘Faith’ album. G.O.S.H with a title ‘The Wishing Well’ it’s ironic that the next breaker recently had his own ‘wishing well’ hit. Anyway, this was co-produced by Keff McCulloch who just happened to do a lot of incidental music for ‘Dr Who’ and sure enough, 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy is there along with the very unpopular companion Mel played by Bonny Langford. Looking through the participants, there doesn’t seem to be any undesirables, and seeing Uriah Heep listed is quite a surprise. Nice video here as well and it’s here with some outtakes at the start. Wonderful charity of course…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsrQxgLDXAA
Terence Trent Darby – Hard to follow the last breaker but this is probably my favourite TTD track.
Pet Shop Boys – Always on my Mind - …of record buyers presumably.
Joyce Sims – Come into my life – Out of all the tracks that they could have chosen we get this. Not a particular favourite of mind. Would have preferred an extended playout of G.O.S.H.
Have to say that I agree with you regarding Jellybean's Jingo, as I remember really liking this at the time, and that even though as Angelo correctly mentions, that there were no lyrics as such, the fact that it had that lull about it of going on and on, it made for a pulsating dancefloor record that you could dance all night to. Love the video too, and also the fact that at No.17 this week, it was adjacent to Jellybeans previous single still in the top 20 at No.16!
DeleteI didn't realise that Jingo was a cover, but I see from some online research that it was written - and originally recorded - in 1959 by a Nigerian percussionist called Babatunde Olatunji. "Jingo" is short for "jin-go-lo-ba", which means "do not worry" in the Yoruba language.
DeleteThe video for Jingo was apparently the UK version only. The rest of the world had a different video, with girl dancers joining him, and Jellybean himself dancing and not playing instruments:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgew3nEWrz4
However, the UK video which we saw on TOTP was only with Jellybean by himself playing the bongos, with no girls in the video, and the emphasis on background graphics instead of the girls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jzVxJZD-UU
Keff was behind Gosh? Well you live and learn. Explains why Sylv and Bonnie are on the record. No idea how I missed this at the time.
DeleteAlso never knew Jingo was a cover.
Thanks all. 😀
I think GTO was actually a type of car or motorbike, but I loved the reference to a fine pop label. Late to the show with this episode but let's try this anyway... if you were a budding pop star, what label would you have liked to be on? GTO carved a superb pop furrow but, given the chance, I'd go for a label with a quirky roster and predominantly paper labels for their singles, so Rialto (home to The Korgis, The Planets and The Regents) it is.
Deleteever since angelo first started hosting this blog, i've endeavoured to review the good, the bad and the ugly that has appeared on the show in its entirety. however from now on i'm going to be very selective i.e. ignore the stuff that did/does nothing for me (there are only so many ways you can describe something negatively just for the sake of it), and only comment on what was shown if i feel it is of personal and/or historical interest to me in one way or another...
ReplyDeletestranglers: i always considered this kinks' tune to be a pale imitation of "you really got me" (although unlike that classic, their recording of this actually topped the charts to my recollection), so as a fan of a lot of the stranglers' early singles i wasn't too keen on this workmanlike cover. as already mentioned, it seemed a rather desperate move to keep themselves in contention now that joe public had lost interest in their own efforts. but despite (or maybe because of) that, hugh still decided to jack the band in not long after. it's funny to think that he spent over 15 years playing with them (which seemed a hell of a long time back then), but he has been (and still is as far as i know) ploughing the live circuit solo for nearly twice as long as that now!
jellybean: yes, candido (who was ancient, even in the disco era) recorded this nearly a decade earlier, and santana (who were big favourites of mine in the late 70's, and my introduction to a long-standing interest in latin music) recorded it a decade before that. but they didn't write it, as it was adapted from a nigerian percussive chant (and likely one of the first-ever recordings of what is now know as "world music") originally called "jin-go-lo-ba" that was released yet another decade before that. all of these interpretations are pretty good in my view, although candido's version just has the edge
You Really Got Me did make number 1 - All Day... got to number 2.
Deletethanks for that john - i should have checked of course, but i was convinced it was the other way around. given it was a carbon-copy of the first kinks hit, "ADAAOTN" did well to get as high as it did. unlike for example brian poole with his follow-up to his no. 1 hit "do you love me", which was called "i can dance" but might as well have been titled "DYLM pt 2". in that circumstance joe public gave it the shunning it deserved as it failed to make the top 30!
DeleteSee also "Young Girl" and "Lady Willpower" by Gary Puckett and / or The Union Gap.
DeleteThere are of course numerous examples of this phenomenon in pop history - even the Fabs put harmonica on their first few singles to ensure they didn't sound too dissimilar to each other. Thankfully for Ray Davies, he had the talent and the courage to spread his musical wings and ensure career longevity.
Deletei think the kinks had three number one hits. but the one that always gets forgotten about is "tired of waiting for you"
DeleteThey did indeed have three number 1s. Tired of Waiting For You was actually the follow-up to All Day and All of the Night, so Davies proved quite quickly that he was more than just a one-trick pony.
DeleteArthur you are spot on with the Gary Puckett facsimile. Also Carl Douglas 'Dance the Kung Fu' sounded a lot like it's more famous predessesor.
DeleteAnyone see Katie Puckrik's Yacht Rock documentary on BBC 4 last night? Excellent stuff, although until she started using it I've never heard the smooth AOR sound described as "yacht rock" before. But you get what she means, and the interviews were very entertaining (apparently Christopher Cross turned them down because he thought they'd make fun of him - nothing of the sort, Chris!). First ep was the 1970s, next week is the 1980s. Recommended.
ReplyDelete"Yacht rock" is quite a recently-coined term, I think - I first came across it a year or so back.
DeleteYes, on the doc they dated it to about 2010, I think. It's quite evocative, as I suppose the music was intended to be.
DeleteMy favourite yacht rock track came in 1991 with Ride Like The Wind by East Side Beat. "To be to be free again...."
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj7Sr769Sfg
Er, East Side Beat weren't yacht rock, they were Italian house/dance. Ride Like the Wind IS a yacht rock classic, however, when done originally by Christopher Cross. Yacht rock had petered out once Reagan left the Presidency in the late 1980s.
DeleteActually, yacht rock strikes me as exactly your type of music, Dory, all that slick AOR stuff. I think you'd really enjoy the Katie Puckrik documentary.
DeleteGreat, I'll watch it on BBC iPlayer
DeleteYes indeed, however, this was only episode 1, where classic American groups generating out of the late 70s like The Eagles, Hall & Oates and The Doobie Brothers highly featured on the yacht rock documentary, as this was episode 1, and concentrating only the 1975-1979 period.
DeleteI guess when they show episode two for the 1980-1985 period next week, it will mean a whole lot more, when Toto, Chicago and Foreigner (for me the "the Big Three" ) will be featured, and was more part of my growing up years than the late 70s. I guess also a must-see for Sct353.
Glad you enjoyed it! Although I think Chicago were featured in the 70s one, albeit briefly.
DeleteConsider my appetite duly wetted! Many thanks for the heads up.
DeleteDid anyone else know Katie Puckrik's split eyebrow was caused by something like her falling into a rose bush as a young girl and getting a scar which divided the brow in two?
DeleteIt's certainly a distinctive look for her, and she's very well preserved (to go all Dory for a minute).
DeleteI remember when she was on the Mark Radcliffe Radio 1 show in the 90s one of the saucy listeners phoned in to ask if her pubic hair was coiffed similar to her eyebrow. It was the 90s! You could just say you were being ironic!
i loved watching katie puckrick on "the word" back in the 90's. in fact i loved the show in general (does anyone else remember that woman exposing herself whilst her band was performing?). they certainly don't make 'em like that anymore! sadly though like a lot of classic tv from that era it's now pretty much unobtainable to watch. now if they showed re-runs of stuff like this on late-night telly instead of those crappy phone-in quizzes, i might actually consider getting a tv licence (seel below)
Deleteas regards "yacht rock": why change the name for it retrospectively when it already had one i.e. AOR? however if people feel they have to do that kind of thing, then i would have thought the term "freeway rock" would have been more apt?
I think the band with the lady parts were L7
DeleteIt's termed yacht rock because (apparently) it's the sort of music that evokes listening to it sitting on a yacht, with a cocktail in hand. As one of the guys says on the doc, they certainly weren't thinking of that at the time, they were just going to work!
DeletePet Shop Boys - still holding out at No.1 since the 1987 Christmas charts and still quite popular at the beginning of 1988, I was just wondering what the computer monitor was doing on this TOTP studio performance, as were still several years away from the internet and wifi, and the monitors were still nowhere near the flatscreen revolution, and still bulky in shape, so how was this enhancing the sound on the track with all these drawbacks?
ReplyDeleteJoyce Sims - not much comment on this one to close out the show as the playout, and like Jellybean, it got a fair old play, with 3 mins 35 seconds, ie, in full, and for me the highlight of the show along with Jellybean. Over the years I always looked for this video on iTunes to snap it up, but has never appeared on there yet, when you consider that the Prince music video catalogue has recently appeared on there at last to purchase. The quality of the Joyce Sims song and video was just superb, and a great way to end the show this week, as first playout video of the year.
Yeah, let's get one of the musical years ever underway!
ReplyDeleteSinitta - Oh. Even by her standards this is utterly dreadful.
Jellybean - Not sure why this was released when the previous single was still high in the chart. It's ok but probably the least interesting of his hits.
Depeche Mode - A bit of a dirge. Thankfully they'll remember how to make decent music fairly soon.
The Stranglers - A perfectly fine if slightly pointless cover.
GOSH - Oh dear. Huge Doctor Who fan that I am, I never realised that Sylvester and Bonnie were on it, but now I know Keff Mcculloch was involved, it makes sense. Shame the song is terrible. Who is the lady singing together with George?
Joyce Sims - I'm not keen on her voice but it has to be said that this song's not dated as badly as her earlier hits.
A ho hum start to the year then, with much better to come...
Don't you mean one of the "best" musical years ever?
DeleteJoyce Sims still works and makes new music, with her last new album coming out in 2014, although her biggest ever hit was Come Into My Life which was helped by the colourful video played in full on this week's TOTP. Suffice to say that she will turn 60 in August this year.
Hi the lady singing with George is Grace Kennedy.
DeleteThanks sct...and yes, Dory you are correct!
DeleteGrace Kennedy...sister of Imagination drummer Errol!
DeleteInto January 88 we go and back to school for me. Almost time to choose my options for GCSES. We won't go there.
ReplyDeleteThe hip and trendy Mike Read and Slimes with us this week. 😀 Guess the rest of them are still on annual leave.
Sinitta. GTO probably the sexiest song ever about a car. Wonder is it means something else as well, too innocent me.
Would happily take my car to mechanic sinitta to fix.
Song is pants though. Imagine the target audience lapped it up.
Jellybean. Great tune. An 8 minute hit as well. Remember this getting a lot of radio play. Mr Madonna was massive for a while (or shitty ex boyfriend as Madonna called him on Graham Norton). Number one in the US maybe. Definitely a big hit over there. Absolutely love this track.
The Mode are back. Sounding very poppy. Don't remember this one at all. Waiting for anything distinctive to kick in. This is really disappointing from them.
The Stranglers take off a Kinks record. From punk to passe. Good song but adds nothing to the original. Singing along though.
Breakers:
George Michael. Another big hit from the Faith LP. Quality tune. Still rocking the designer stubble. Wifey says she bought this in video. Remember the days we would pay for a single video of a song from WHSmith.
GOSH: Nice sentiment. Rubbish song.
T.T.D: One of his best and the end of the line for Terence. Flashing some bare chest as well. His star burnt bright and quickly.
PSB:Hooray still number one but for the last time. Sound quality really off on this one for some reason. I had the Discography video with the full on weird video for this. Probably one my most played VHS
What's with all the Window Cleaning gags.
Joyce Sims with a classy record to play out. This is a really great record and still sounds fabulous today. One that has grown on me over the years.
Onwards... Although with the BBC young singers, World Cup football and the proms I think 1988 is gonna take a while to get through.
Incidentally for my birthday last week I got a copy of the new official singles charts book with all the 80s charts in.
DeleteLower down the Top 75 INXS have arrived and New Entries from Public Enemy, Bananarama, Beatmasters, Lloyd Cole and Def Leppard.
Bros have also reappeared at Number 51...😀 They'll be famous very soon
Also noticed that every new entry in this weeks Top 40 got a play on the show (all 5 of them). Wonder how often that happens except at the start of the year
DeleteI believe - though I don't admit to understanding it - that the window washing references are sly digs from Mike Read at ITV's rival offering 'The Roxy'
DeleteThanks Noax. Just didn't get it at all. Thought maybe Benny Hill was on the other side
DeleteAccording to this weeks mail out from TV Cream, - "if you’ve been racking your brains about Mike Read’s references to window cleaners, it was because that was the week Paul “Vision Technician” Nolan started hosting The Roxy."
DeleteNo World Cup this year.
ReplyDeleteBBC4 showing the womens world Cup games.
DeleteWe should get more shows on BBC4 for 1988 than for any year in the repeat run so far - the only ones that should be skipped are the four remaining Smitty shows and the 25th anniversary special at the end of the year, which will sadly be Yewtreed.
DeleteReady and Slimes looking and sounding a bit old school there, but I’d still have them instead of Anthea ‘God No’ Turner and Nicky Fecking Campbell. Mind you, I half expected a George Formby clip to accompany Mike’s window cleaner non-gags, and Slimes had a(n England footballer) John Stones type nightmare here – calling the first act Sinirra (and “right here”? Really?), nis-numbering Jellybean to number 20 instead of 17, and calling Heart American when I thought the Wilson sisters were Canadian.
ReplyDeleteNever mind GTO being a car, Sinitta looked more attired for the Tour De France.
By jingo! We get the gist of Jellybean’s hit in the first 30 seconds, then ad infinitum with an oh so 80’s video.
Wahay, Depeche Martin with a guitar. Apologies to any Essex folk here but, from what my Thames Estuary workmates tell me, if you were from Basildon like Dave Gahan, I guess you’d be happy to be anywhere else. The song never got past third gear for me but might well be a grower.
Rick Astley’s other double A-side mentioned in those mugshots.
The Stranglers there with formula rock by numbers and Jean Jacques playing a Stick™.
Oh dear, a midtempo George Michael song with a midtempo video. I always wondered if Andrew Ridgeley and John Oates, the lesser halves of successful duos, should have got together and shown what they could have done if not under the shadows of their partners.
Is the GOSH song better or worse than “Just Say No”? Discuss. On a personal note, my nephew was very ill as a 7-year-old and he spent two months at GOSH who were superb and probably saved his life, so I’ll certainly give them the benefit of the doubt.
A wonderful almost end-of-chart career single by Terence cut short before those shoo-do-wop-bops and bup-shoo-wup-bups. He was Marmite but I expected him to be around for at least three more years than he managed.
Dodging the PSB re-run, we get Joyce Sims with a mellow groove and nice dress / backdrop co-ordination and some wonderful high notes. The audience chap in the white shirt and white tie reminded me of Andrew “Wiggy” Neil whose superb political chat show “This Week” finishes next month because Andrew’s decided to stop and the Beeb (that lot with next to no significant events left on their roster but who now expect over-75s to pay a licence for a much diluted service, the bastards) said no one else was good enough to compere the show so that’s it. Expect some more diverse (i.e. shit) BBC3 stuff transferred over in its place.
This week is being replaced by Brexitcast from BBC Sounds
DeleteIt's not the Beeb who scrapped the over-75s licence (for those who can afford it), it was the Government, the Government just made it look like the Beeb's decision because the Tories prefer Murdoch media (i.e. are running scared of Murdoch media).
Deletearthur i explained the background of heart and the wilson sisters here a few weeks back when you were probably on "leave" - they were americans living and playing in seattle, when nancy's boyfriend had to illegally cross the border to vancouver to escape the draft for 'nam. so the band decided to follow him and base themselves there! so i suppose i have to reluctantly say that slimy was right in this particular case
Deleteregarding tv licences: i haven't paid for one for several years now, as i don't consider it worth it. instead i only watch stuff that interests me via either dvd's or youtube. the only downside of the latter is that when athletics events (that is the only sport that interests me these days) are posted there they are not only usually commentated on in a foreign language, but the idiots that upload the clips often give away the winner of the race in the title - thus making them redundant to watch in my view!). i did write to the licencing authorities (who still make the assumption that everyone watches the telly, whether they have a licence or not) suggesting that they update the licencing laws (that as far as i know have never been changed since the first broadcast from alexandra palace close to a hundred years ago) to reflect the changing requirements of viewers in the 21st century and the age of mass media. however all they did was try to fob me off to the beeb themselves. at which point i decided i had more important things to concern myself with, and the licence fee was their loss. however, if anyone here feels they are not getting value for money with what the tv licence offers (and think of all YOUR money going into the pockets of the likes of claudia winkleman when you pay for one!), then i suggest either do as i do or start up some kind of campaign against it
after his post-wham! motor racing career barely got off the starting grid, ridgers did actually release a solo album circa early 90's called "son of albert". whether it was driven by desperation, egomania and/or record company pressure and greed i have no idea, but suffice to say it got crucified by the music press and hardly rivalled his ex-partner's success in terms of sales. after which he perhaps rather wisely decided to retire to the west country on his wham! royalties, to live a life as a surfing country squire! it may be easy to say this in retrospect, but perhaps george should also have accepted that he was spent as a creative musician at that point and done likewise?
DeleteThanks for putting me right re the TV licences (my fault) and Heart (I’m afraid I was missing at the time of the explanation and didn’t see it).
DeleteRe the duo in the shadows, I knew Andrew Ridgeley made a whopping number 58 with his first single, “Shake” and he released one other flop. John Oates appears to have gone solo as late as 2014 with at least three singles.
DeleteArthur, I also liked Joyce Sims nice evening dress on her video. The song has one of the best intros I have ever heard, although this piano/organ intro was missed off on the beginning of the TOTP playout, so go on, give it a listen here:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_H23dEmO4Y
Arthur - Andrew Neil is widely known as "Brillo", presumably a reference to that strange substance on top of his head!
ReplyDeleteDelving back into the past as I have almost caught up...
ReplyDeleteGood start with the extremely slinky ms Sinitta...
Jingo - listening, I thought this was sampling a Santana track. Reading mr wiki, it is actually a 1959 song, but was covered by Santana. So there I go...
Stranglers - not a lot different from the Purple Helmets (side project band) version... (who was the guy dancing on his own on one of the other stages?)
GOSH - band aid formula (surprised to see Noddy in there..)
Just watching a fly on the wall programme about Leeds Airport, and up popped Sinitta...
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