Do You Feel My Bongos?
11/02/88 (Bruno Brookes & Gary Davies)
Eddy Grant – “Gimme Hope Jo’anna” (25)
Getting tonight's show underway with this jolly anti-apartheid singalong is Eddy with what became his fourth of five top ten hits when it peaked at number 7.
Debbie Gibson – “Shake Your Love” (7) (rpt from 28/01/88)
At its pop princess peak.
The Mission – “Tower Of Strength” (20)
In the studio with possibly their best known song, and it peaked at number 12.
Taylor Dayne – “Tell It To My Heart” (4)
This energetic tune went up one more place.
Sinead O’Connor – “Mandinka” (22)
Making her debut with this distinctive rocker which peaked at number 17.
Tiffany – “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1) (video)
Third and final week at number one.
Jermaine Stewart – “Say It Again” (10) (rpt from 28/01/88 + credits)
His second of two top ten hits and it peaked at number 7.
Next up is February 18th
I’ve been off for a few weeks. Have I missed much? Judging by this awful show, not at all! I don’t think I’ll bother reviewing the missing weeks, although I’ll probably skip through them…..like I skipped through most of this. Debbie Gibson, Taylor Dayne, Mission, Sinead….even Eddie Grant. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe only half decent sing is Tiffany…and I much prefer her next hit ‘Could’ve been’ which was no1 in the US at this point in time.
Very disappointing return.
I also found nothing on this show worth commenting on, as it was bare of videos, except for the No.1, and even that was a live sort of video.
DeleteAt least you're back, sct! Welcome home!
DeleteLooks like Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne shared a drummer and possibly a keyboard/keytar player.
ReplyDeleteGood spot!
Deletelike sct, perhaps not surprisingly i'm finding the vast majority of the hits so far this year nothing to get excited about. but i'll still make comment where i think it's worthwhile...
ReplyDeleteeddy grant: musically this upbeat and jolly effort is actually quite good by his usual plodding standards, although the knowledge that (as with "free nelson mandela") it was being used as a vehicle for political posturing (however worthy the cause may have been) makes it an unsettling listen for me. whilst the special aka couldn't have made their cant any clearer if they'd tried, perhaps mindful of losing radio airplay eddy fudges his message by referring to the capital of apartheid in such a way that an ignorant listener might have conceived it as a song about his girlfriend
mission: i have been singularly unimpressed by their hits on these re-runs so far, having no memory of them whatsoever prior to that. however i definitely remember this one, and as back then it impressively sounds grand, anthemic and even bombastic (and i say the latter in the best sense of the word) - one can imagine how thrilling it would be to be in the crowd at one of their gigs when they did this?
taylor dane: all i can say about this is: why did the americans start giving their children surnames as forenames? thankfully that's one stoopid stateside fad that has never caught on in this country
I regret to report that this is not actually the case. At my 4 year olds nursery, there are 2 Taylors on the staff and another 2 (that I know of - there's probably about 80 kids across the 3 classes) children who regularly attend. None are American ...
DeleteAfter more than a year in TOTP exile, Bruno Brookes returns to the fold, and from this point becomes a regular. Presumably Paul Ciani liked the cut of his jib more than Michael Hurll did, though on this evidence it's hard to see why, as he seems quite stiff and nervous, while also struggling with a couple of cues into links. However, as usual Gazza holds things together well enough.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Eddy Grant would eventually score one further Top 10 hit from a remix, this would be his last original release to do anything at all chart-wise. It's a very jaunty, enjoyable record, though perhaps rather too much so to act as an anti-apartheid anthem - I'm sure the political message in the lyrics probably sailed over the heads of many who heard the song, not that that stopped the South African regime from banning it. A jolly studio performance too from Eddy and his band, though Gazza was wrong in his intro - Eddy had last appeared in the studio in 1981 with Can't Get Enough of You.
Before The Mission started playing, I did idly wonder if this might be a new version of the old Frankie Vaughan hit, but sadly that did not prove to be the case - I might have paid good money to hear that! What we get instead is reasonable but unremarkable rock, with a singer whose Bono fixation appears to be as strong as ever. What was the big flag over the stage with the double-headed eagle supposed to signify? Taylor Dayne is much more lively, with big hair and a voice to match, and this is one of the better pop tunes of the year. She feels a little bit like a prototype Anastacia, but with a less annoying voice.
From a woman with copious hair to one with barely any, as Sinead O'Connor makes her debut. I remember this performance vividly from the time, on account of that shaven head - I don't think I had never seen a woman with one before. Although this and her other songs have been completely overshadowed by her big chart-topper from two years later - not to mention the various controversies that have plagued her career - this is a pretty good effort, with a distinctive chorus and some nice vocal work. Was she singing about the Mandinka people of West Africa, by any chance? For Tiff's final week at the top, we get to see the video, which shows her in a dizzying variety of locations from the shopping mall to the beach to the recording studio. She got around, that girl...
I forgot to mention the clip of Rick Astley belatedly getting presented with his Brit award by Gazza - Rick looked over the moon, didn't he? Gazza would of course play a supporting role in the Mick Fleetwood/Sam Fox fiasco that would engulf the Brits the following year...
Deletei think it has long been fairly commonplace for black african women to shave their heads, but the first one not of that ethnic background i remember seeing was indian model/actress persis khambatta when she appeared in "star trek the movie". however she was playing an alien in that film, as opposed to sinead who did it as a fashion/lifestyle choice. another shaven-headed female pop star from that era was the singer of banderas, whose rather good "this is your life" made the top 20 in 1991
DeleteBruno should have let rip with some Twisted Lyrics, that would have helped him settle in. It's a pity Billy Ocean wasn't on this episode, he had a good one for his tune.
DeleteAnyway, Eddy Grant with a slightly repetitive effort melodywise, but it's a good melody nonetheless, and he knows his stuff politically judging by those lyrics. Not long to go now, Eddy, before it's consigned to history. Odd he didn't capitalise on this late period hit, last I heard he was inventing a new sort of music, and that was years ago. Guess it didn't take off, though you can't fault his ambition.
Debs on repeat, and I won't repeat what the boys in my class used to sing instead of "Shake your love", though you can imagine.
I'm no fan of The Mission, but even I admit they were on better form with Tower of Strength, probably the best thing they ever did with a chest-beating production all amped up on the Goth rock. Wayne doesn't appear to be wearing his lipstick this time.
Taylor Dane, what a mouth what a mouth what a North and South, blimey what a mouth she's got. And she has a shouty singing voice to match. For material that could have been a ballad, instead it's a yell in your face message of love, not my cup of tea, but you can see why it appealed at the time.
Sinead O'Connor, another that got a lot of airplay on the Radio 1 evening show, and it's probably my favourite of hers, no matter that it was the first thing I'd ever heard from her. Great guitar riff, distinctive vocals, hard to work out lyrics, but above all an excellent tune. Such a pity she suffered so many troubles in the future, any time you hear about her now it's because of some wayward pronouncement or worse, a suicide attempt. And that shamrock tattoo must have hurt like Hell.
Ah, here's the Tiffany video, and that ancient bloke dancing with her is probably the visual equivalent of us lot watching these vintage episodes. To see ourselves as others see us! She got a lot of use out of those shrugging dance moves, didn't she?
Jermaine to end on, but we've seen this before, in my case, this morning.
Oops, I added my review to the end of Wilby's comment! Pardon me...
DeleteWilberforce - the title of Sinead's song, and the fact a lot of African women do shave their heads, does make me wonder whether they were a source of inspiration for her own look.
Deletei always got the impression that ms o'connor would do anything to get peoples back's up (didn't she cause some controversy with tirades against religion?), so maybe she shaved her head just to be contrary? also it was of course a USP for the time that gave her some great publicity just for the price of a visit to the barbers, and was probably a factor regarding her massive success with that prince song...
DeleteSinead tore up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live, which effectively killed her career in the States stone dead. She then became a priest in a renegade Irish church that had broken with Rome, and apparently last year she converted to Islam, and now wishes to be known as Shuhada' Davitt - go figure...
DeleteOut of interest, I checked out Sweet Tee's It's Like That Y'All, it's pretty primitive but amusing to hear her big herself up, especially as hardly anyone remembers her! Unlike the Brits we've seen recently, she favours James Brown samples.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great little rap song. It returned to the chart in remixed form in the 90s with Tin Tin Out's assistance.
DeleteYes, it's quite charming, isn't it? According to Wikipedia, she works in a drug rehab centre now, so respect to her for doing good deeds.
DeleteI'm making one of my rare appearances this week, as I remember Debbie Gibson very well and wish she could have had the opportunity to blossom as a respected singer-songwriter, rather like Carole King did. Deborah - as she is billed nowadays - has since courted considerable success on Broadway and in the West End as a musical theatre actress, but did not deserve to be cast out into the wilderness of reality TV (see her Wiki). Like Helen Shapiro, another teen star who never quite fulfilled her potential, Debbie seemingly peaked too early.
ReplyDeleteThat can also be said of Tiffany, who still records today as a country singer, but with minimal success. She has also acted on film and TV, and has participated in several reality TV series including the Australian version of 'I'm A Celebrity'. Some of you may remember her on ITV's 'Hit Me Baby One More Time', a talent competition for chart has-beens, in which she covered...'Love Machine' by Girls Aloud! I did admire Tiffany's vocal style, which put me in mind of a young Stevie Nicks - but it was obvious from the first heat of 'Hit Me' that Shakin' Stevens, by far the most consistent former hitmaker in the tournament, would win.
Taylor Dayne was famous all over the globe in the late 80s and early 90s, but her career would also stall within a few years despite some stellar songwriting support from, among others, 'A Walk In The Park' hitmaker Nick Straker! It must be said that the following decade would not be particularly kind to solo female singers, Madonna and the late Whitney excepted. Tina Turner would continue to score major British and European hit singles and albums in the Nineties, but few of these would make much impact in the US. Even Kylie Minogue would go through an erratic period after the dissolution of the Stock/Aitken/Waterman team, but she would happily regain her form in the early Noughties.
P.S. I should add that the arrivals of Marian Carey and Celine Dion in the following decade may have been contributory factors in the fading fortunes of Tina, Kylie and Taylor Dayne, not to mention Kim Wilde.
DeleteWelcome back, JJ! Hope you hang around and critique more.
DeleteI clearly remember "Hit Me Baby One More Time" from about 2005, especially when 911 got booed after they won a heat!
Tiffany finished second overall, I think, with Shalamar third despite a rousing cover of "Hey Ya!". I despised Shaky winning when he did the 'I'm paid for this but you can sing instead' trick of putting the mic out to the crowd for the chorus of "This Ole House". His cover of Pink's "Trouble" made number 20 - the first prize for the contest was a release of the artist's two winning songs in the final on a single.
I wasn’t keen on this edition, and my PC even less so. It kept doing a ‘Morris Minor’ and stuttering the BBC iPlayer function, refusing to play properly. Can’t say I blame it.
ReplyDeleteOh God, it’s Bruno Brookes. Off to a bad start.
I thought Eddy Grant’s effort was hopeless. FF.
So, Bruno, Debbie Gibson’s another lady from America, which implies we’ve just watched another American lady beforehand. See what I mean?
The Mission next with “Give Me The Moonlight” – er, no, hang on. Goth John Cooper Clarke giving it his best Bonio / Jim Kerr stylings for a goth track seen as anthemic, but I just found it a bit meh.
With a big doff of the hat to Unknown, picture the scene as a phone rings and it’s picked up...
“Hank? It’s the American Lady Singer Backup Agency here. Debbie Gibson can’t make Top Of The Pops this week but, if you and your buddy Billy Joe have a shave and change clothes, would you like to masquerade as part of Taylor Dayne’s backing band? Oh, take some earplugs. She’s mighty loud!”. Bruno with a crap chart topper prediction too. That boy’s on form.
By the way, Taylor Dayne’s real name is the slightly less Rockstar-ish Leslie Wunderman.
Lance Corporal Sinead O’Connor lulls you into a false sense of security early doors, then oh dear. F O’F.
Tiffany got a bit close to that passing train if you ask me. Obviously they didn’t have public information films with Brian Wilde voiceovers in the States. Quite a few slightly off key notes in this single which I hadn’t noticed before. Halfway through this, my PC ground to a halt for about the eighth time in the show and I took the hint.
Last post: 8th July
ReplyDeleteMy Post: 1st August
Not far behind am I??? 😁 😁 😁
Bruno and Gary. Fab hosts.
Eddy Grant with probably his signature tune. A really positive upbeat message and beat. Fantastic record. A firm favorite. My Crackers list is filling up already.. 😀
Only 7 on the stage though.. Must try harder.
US sweetheart Debbie Gibson shaking her sparkly red outfit with the old men in charge of the music once more. Still creepy. Song is OK.
Highest New Entry for The Mission. Not a band I'm familiar with at all but I do remember this track I think. Sounds a lot like Alive and Kicking so I could be mistaken. Not really my cup of tea but nice to have a change from all the pop and dance tunes. Singer sounds a bit like Bono in places.
How big is Gary's tie! And that jacket is HUGE!
Surprisingly Bruno needs to put more oomph into the chart rundown. Very lame.
Taylor Dayne brings a cry of "I bought this" from upstairs. Cheers Wifey.
It's a cracking pop song. Sure Hazell Dean and/or Kylie has a crack at this as well. Have to check.
Taylor really gives it some doesn't she. Bless her.
Sinead O'connor arrives on TOTP. A very talented but fragile artist. This is actually not a bad song at all. No idea what is it about or what a Mandinka is. Her appearance is very striking. Impressive.
No Breakers this week.
Tiff STILL at the top and thankfully we are spared her live singing this week as we get the far superior single mix and shopping mall video. The video is crap though.
Rick gets a Brit. Well done Rick. Nice short speech.
A repeat of Jermaine to play us out.
A good show this week. Liked it all.
Go on, Morgie, you can catch up! You can do it!
DeleteHold on....
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