Sabrina? Who's she?
21/07/88 (Andy Crane & Peter Powell)
S Express – “Superfly Guy” (20)
Andy Crane's first show gets underway with what became the second of three top ten hits for S-Express when it peaked at number 5.
Def Leppard – “Love Bites” (12) (video)
Went up one more place.
Everything But The Girl – “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” (3)
A second studio performance, and this time they have brought their string section along, but the song was now at its peak.
The Mac Band featuring the McCampbell Brothers – “Roses Are Red” (8)
Making their studio debut here but this song was also at its peak.
Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers – “Tomorrow People” (22)
And another studio debut, but again the song went up no higher.
Michael Jackson – “Dirty Diana” (4) (video)
Yet another song at its peak.
Kim Wilde – “You Came” (16)
Did she record this the other week when she gave the birthday cake to Glenn Medeiros? The song was a big hit for her and it peaked at number 3.
Glenn Medeiros – “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You” (1) (video)
Third of four weeks at number one.
George Michael – “Monkey” (13) (video/credits)
The fifth single from his number one album Faith, and number 13 was as high as it climbed.
July 28th is next.
I certainly share Angelo's thought about the fact that Kim Wilde could have recorded this performance two weeks earlier when she gave the birthday cake to Madeiros at no.1, as she would not have come specially to the studio just to give a cake?
ReplyDeleteThat said, this week was only one of the four weeks at No.1 that we got the Madeiros video on the same week that the Kim Wilde studio performance was shown on TOTP, so it could be that Wilde asked them to play the video for Maderios and not have both of them with studio performances on the same show, particularly as she gave him the cake two weeks ago, as it could start rumours.
Yes, in agreement with Angelo that Kim Wilde's performance was almost certainly taped on the same day she presented the cake to Glen as I thought it odd at the time.
DeleteAlthough not previously aired, I also believe The Mac Band's studio turn was probably recorded on a different day and inserted to the show.
S-Express - mediocre follow up to their No.1 using the Rose Royce Carwash sampling. Funny how now when they do their own stuff with Superfly Guy, they don't do anywhere near as well!
ReplyDeleteDef Leppard - I remember this at the time, and thinking this was far better than anything else they ever did.
Glen Madeiros - on the only one of the four weeks he enjoyed at No.1 that the video was shown, they only seemed to show the second half of the video, and as I have mentioned before that we were in a stage now in 1988 where TOTP was loath to show upward of two minutes of any video, and there seemed to be no going back to the good times of more generous video plays.
George Michael - his last few releases have seen him demoted to playout only on TOTP, and it has been a while since he had a feature slot. Had he done something wrong by going solo?
At least the feel-good factor has yet enough potential with Andy Crane's TOTP debut, as with Liz Kershaw being the other notable co-host with Bruno Brookes in a upcoming TOTP repeat in weeks to come...
DeleteAs we are expected that we might be getting a post-repeat run until December, let's hope no "audio issues" banish any other 1988 episodes after the skipped two from 23/06 and 14/07, as with Susie Mathis being another TOTP guest presenter (in which she hosted one episode)
As the post repeat run may continue right up until the there-fore mentioned final episode of the year will not be shown due to JS being the host for the 25th anniversary special that was shown on a Saturday evening (New Year's Eve) and also the Timelords/GG edit as he appears in the 37th minute of their performance Doctorin' the Tardis on the 25/12/88 episode...
Baring there is three months left of episode runs left for 1988 on BBC4, as we soon about to get 1989 by January 2020 as hopefully fingers crossed we might be getting a post-repeat run with no actual "audio issues" if you check BBC Archive to see if there is any...
Six episodes of Classic EastEnders from 1990 were skipped on Drama this year, as its probably down to the producer not the "audio issues" involving the episodes on broadcast and a episode had been skipped from November 1989 and the 97th episode from February 1986 which was presumably in the BBC lost their copy.
I don't often reply to my own post, but I just realised that the first half of the Glen Madeiros video was shown as playout when climbing at No.11, ie, on the week before he went to No.1, and so now that TOTP decided to play the video on his third week at No.1, they picked up the video exactly where they left off on that playout, and so if you put the two video clips together from the two shows, TOTP can say they played the full video, split between two different shows. At least we got part one and part two in full, instead of in one showing. Phew!
DeleteThe invasion of the kids' TV presenters begins. I never liked Andy Crane much at the time, as I always thought he lacked Philip Schofield's charm and lightness of touch in the Broom Cupboard, but in fairness he did well here, perhaps helped by his prior TV experience and the fact that he began his career as a DJ. He also gels well with PP, now on his penultimate show, who seems to take a slightly paternalistic attitude towards his co-host.
ReplyDeleteS'Express produce another lively performance to get us going, the only notable difference to their previous studio turns being the presence of a male vocalist this time. The record's not bad, a decent sound for the summer, but it's not as much of an earworm as their previous hit. Watching the poodle hair on display in this Def Leppard video, you could be mistaken for thinking you were watching Bon Jovi. You could easily be listening to them as well with this plodding style of rock ballad - I've heard far worse, admittedly, but it's hard to get excited about this one.
EBTG go for a retro feel to their performance on this occasion, with an old microphone and string quartet, before the Mac Band show up for a well-honed dance routine. It looks as if only the McCampbell brothers bothered to make the trip, but they were the Mac Band to all intents and purposes. Ziggy Marley is also in the studio, looking and sounding very much like his dad on a pleasant but unremarkable summery reggae tune.
Kim Wilde does not appear to be wearing the same clothes here as she did when giving Glenn Medeiros his cake, so it looks as if this performance may have been taped specifically for this show. Whatever the truth of the matter, Kim looks gorgeous and this is up there as one of my favourite of her hits, a featherlight but catchy tune with nice upbeat sentiments. George plays us out, with one of the less played and celebrated tracks from Faith. It's understandable that this is the case, as it sounds like George has dusted down an inferior early Wham track and applied some dreary late 80s production to it. His hat and braces look is far from his best, either...
Well done, Andy Crane, for keeping your head in your debut as an absolute moron of an audience member tried to upstage and shout over your every link. His sleazy wink and blown kiss at the end was enough to make me feel queasy.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, on with the music, and S-Express's difficult follow-up single that I heard on the radio the other day. I think Hey Music Lover is my favourite single of theirs, but this grooves along as perhaps more of a "song" than their No.1, and his choice of sampled vocal bits is solid. Doing the actions, too!
Def Leppard, so this is heavy rock, is it? I've heard heavier from Rod, Jane and Freddy. Whiny, poor me dirge, barely metal at all, no wonder I had a problem with them back then, despite the cool boys being well into them.
In fact, even EBTG are more rock than that, or at least equivalent and there's a better tune, to boot. They've brought more people along (to mime) this time, and the vintage microphone is a nice touch, but this is more or less what we saw before.
Return of the Macs, this time in the studio, and all synchronised as if they were The Stylistics or something. Are those Nehru jackets? A spirited performance, slick as you like, and we would hear this sound again, over and over.
Ziggy Marley, a charming, reflective little reggae number that I was sure had gone Top Ten, but actually stalled here. It must have had a lot of radio airplay (Pete says he was a fan). Live vocal, we've heard a few of those recently. Doesn't half sound like his dad.
Bit more of Whackson than last week, but it's not growing on me, and he makes such a meal of this he's cut off halfway through anyway.
Kim Wilde, I remember a lot of fnarr-style comments about the title along the lines of "He wasn't the only one who did after seeing her in that dress!" but let's try and rise above that, though this performance suggests she knew exactly what she was doing. Innuendo aside, a pretty, celebratory tune, oddly almost relieved in its impressions, and definitely one of her better songs.
For a few seconds I thought Glenn was walking away from a poo he had done on the beach, until I realised it was a rock. Cut brutally short, someone on the production team not a fan, I take it?
This isn't the theme to Monkey! Nothing about being born from an egg on a mountain top at all! George's monkey sounds to be a drugs reference, always a worry when a star takes that route, and though this is lively you can hear why it's not much remembered. Didn't David Bowie wear this outfit at one point?
I take it George didn't do that "my chips are too hot" hand motion across the mouth either!
DeleteTHX, I worked what TOTP were doing when only playing the second half of the Glen Madeiros video this week. They were merely continuing where they left off when they showed only the first half of the video on the playout on the week before he went to No.1, ie when climbing at No.11. If you have both shows, then stitch the two clips together and hey presto, you have the full video played by TOTP in the end!
DeleteNice debut from Andy Crane. Don’t recall him but he did well. Very mixed bag on this show…
ReplyDeleteS’Express – Superfly Guy – Please no!!! Thought this lot were one hit wonders. FF.
Def Leppard – Love Bites – Not one of my favourite rock ballads (‘Try Me’ by UFO anyone?) but a nice piece of Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange stuff from the ‘Hysteria’ album that must be rivalling Jacko for trying to release everything off it on 7”
Everything but the Girl – I don’t want to talk about it – So the strings are live, but there’s definitely a bass playing somewhere that we can’t see, and I think she’s singing live even though the mike looks fake. Hmmm…the performance the other week was totally live, but was this? Anyway I enjoyed it.
Mac Band – Roses are Red - …violets are blue…I’m gonna Fast forward you!
Ziggy Marley – Tomorrow People – Almost played in full on the breakers the other week, I thought that would be the last I’d hear of it, FF.
Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana – Flattered by reaching no4. FF
Kim Wilde – You Came – I was listening and enjoying this joie de vivre of a song and thinking just how much I liked it and how much it was a favourite of mine from 1988. No3 certainly does not flatter this (sold more than U2’s dire ‘Desire’ that reached no1 later in ’88). Kim looked great in this studio outing and its well worth checking out the official video showing Kim in various tasteful (and tight!) outfits for her stage show. A great song written by the Wildes and by far the highlight of the show for me.
Glenn Medeiros – Nothing’s gonna change my love for you – At last the video, or at least some of it. Had forgotten about the horse riding bit. Still sounds great.
George Michael – Monkey – One of my least favourite tracks on the ‘Faith’ album, this amazingly topped the US charts.
Peter and Andy dressed like dad and son there. Andy did a good job, but would have got higher marks for throwing that annoying attention-seeking prick behind him over the balcony. There were obvious lighting issues on the BBC iPlayer version, with the lighting dimming and returning during The Mac Band and Kim Wilde.
ReplyDeleteGreat trumpet twirling at the back in S-Express. I suspect this track sounds better after four pints in a nightclub but still a bouncy starter.
Def Leppard holding a contest for longest hair in the band, and a lesser heard track these days due to being a real slowie, but it still puts Europe in their place.
EBTG looking like a classy orchestral turn you’d see in a backdrop for something like “Poirot”. From a string section to...
Air violins!! Another four pint disco turn but I enjoyed the jauntiness of the Mac Band, who I guess were a duo seeing as they incorporated those brothers.
Was Ziggy Marley chiding Mike Holoway and his Thames TV kid’s show mates there? Bob-lite and repetitive but still harder sounding than those Aswad wimps.
Oh dear, my finger slipped and I appear to have FF’d Wacko. Ho hum.
My word, Kim’s matured here. Definitely the best she’s looked so far. I always thought if the lyrics said “You Came Along” it wouldn’t have sounded so sniggery or “Carry On”, though maybe that was the intention. Lightweight but catchy.
Only another half a video of Glenn to FF.
I was hoping George Michael’s video would include Johnny Vegas and his PG Tips primate puppet mate to pep up this drivel.
Arthur, I posted about the Glen Madeiros video a couple of posting above yours as to how this was worked out by TOTP, ie two halves shared between two shows to get hey presto a full video!
DeleteI realised that, Dory. I was just pleased I only had half a video to FF in any instance! :-D
DeleteBit dull, a lot of reappearances tonight...
ReplyDeleteSExpress a bit monotonous...
One too many singles from Hysteria for Def Leppard...
Not a major MJ fan, but Dirty Diana is one of his best... A sort of Billie Jean part 2...
Hit 17 for Kim Wilde - pleasant enough ditty.
And George Michael completes the circle with another monotonous (not really any) tune.
A bit of a middling show here - Andy Crane was always very professional but never had that extra likeability that Pip Schofield has. So no surprise that he does a very good job here without being spectacular.
ReplyDeleteS'Express - Their next single is their finest if you ask me but this one's also enjoyable. The acid house flavoured 'Fluffy Bagel Mix' is better than the 7".
Def Leppard - More of their awful rubbish.
The Mac Band - Also awful.
Ziggy Marley - Nothing to get excited about, you can see why he didn't have a long career in music.
Kim Wilde - A brilliant pop song, as almost all of the singles from 'Close' were. Quite why they went with the average 'Hey Mister Heartache' as the lead track from that album is a mystery to me.
George Michael - He didn't seem to like this track as it didn't appear on many of his 'Best Of' collections. Admittedly it's not his finest tune but I rather like it.
Well hello Andy Crane.
ReplyDeleteWhere's Edd the Duck?
No nerves though as he's used to live TV. Even PP is bearable. Did he get a R1 show like Pip Schofield? Sure he was on the Smash Hits Awards Show.
So who can name an s-express song that isnt S-express. Superfly Guy one a handful of hits I think they rack up. This is perfectly serviceable dance tune. Great in the clubs and on the radio. Wouldn't deliberately dig it out. Like Marks waistcoat.
A chance to see more of the Def Leppard video this week. Love this.
How tall is the Crane lad??
EBTG back again. Looking very retro and stylish and with a backing quartet this time. 14 year old me was an idiot for not liking this, it's a classy tune.
I know we are now strictly in the 3 minute rule zone but they could have let Tracey finish the last line..
The Mac Band arrive in the studio and I actually really enjoyed listening to this. As Bobby Brown clearly was as well. 😀 Decent song actually. Very 70s in places but with an almost 90s production
LIVE VOCAL ALERT. it's Mini Marley.
Another 88 reggae hit. What's with that this year. A pleasant tune and a quality live vocal. Very enjoyable.
MJ absolutely the man of the moment and supported by Kim Wilde who gets a huge career boost from the association.
School holidays have arrived and first on my summer 88 playlist was You Came. Great pop song and one of my faves. Lots of memories of the summer of 88 including my first R1 roadshow in Plymouth (with Peter Powell). The
C90 tape I made got a LOT of Walkman and ghetto blaster plays that summer. Fond memories.
On a side note, the red lights are playing hell with the cameras.
Nothings Gonna Stop Me Fasr Forwarding This Number One
And my pocket money this week goes to... MONKEY! Love this funky number from George. Not one of his best loved hits and largely forgotten. But I like it.
Great show this week. Well done all round.
Andy Crane was the first of the kids' TV presenters (rather than DJs) brought in to attract a younger audience. We'll be seeing more of them soon.
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