See you in 2008?
17/11/88 (Gary Davies & Susie Mathis)
Yazz – “Stand Up For Your Love Rights” (2) (rpt from 03/11/88)
A repeat showing of Yazz to get tonight's show underway but the song could go no higher.
All About Eve – “What Kind Of Fool” (29)
A silky live vocal in the studio but the song was at its peak.
INXS – “Need You Tonight” (4) (video)
Went up two more places.
Mica Paris – “Breathe Life Into Me” (28)
Went up two more places.
Tanita Tikaram – “Twist In My Sobriety” (22)
Tanita is in the building, but the song went up no higher.
Robin Beck – “The First Time” (1) (rpt from 10/11/88)
First of three weeks at number one for this one hit wonder.
Salt ‘N’ Pepa – “Twist & Shout” (12) (video/credits)
On their way to number 4.
24th November is next.
Who’s the new host? The Toy Dolls weren’t on that long ago.
ReplyDeleteYazz – Stand up for your love rights – I’m bored with this already. The only way is down.
All about Eve – What kind of fool – Playing live? Good job the sound is working this time! Nice song and very goth like appearance. The guitarist has slung a double guitar over his head like Mike Rutherford used to play during ‘Supper’s Ready’ but I don’t feel it’s needed here.
INXS – Need you tonight – INXS are rather like Simply Red to me. I can’t name any other band member other than the lead singer. Anyway, I like this one. Love the ‘Kick’ sleeve in the video. Very subtle advertising.
Mica Paris – Breathe life in me – Please! I fell asleep during this!
Tanita Tikaram – Twist in my sobriety – First of two ‘twist’ titled songs in this show and by far the best.
Robin Beck – First time - …Not Robin’s first single. That would be ‘Sweet talk’ in 1979 which even had a ‘Beck’ catalogue number. Awful song btw. However, this is a powerful song with a great guitar solo. As mentioned previously, it’s well worth checking out the follow up ‘ Save up all your Tears’ which is fabulous and really should have been a hit – classic Desmond Child/Diane Warren composition also recorded by Cher and Bonnie Tyler. Robin’s version features Steve Lukather on guitar which is always good value for money.
Salt and Pepa – Twist and shout - Was this meant to be taken seriously? I’ll be playing the Beatles classic version long after this has faded from memory.
Here is our new host in 1968, as lead singer of The Paper Dolls. I suppose they were intended to be a British answer to the American girl groups of the 60s, but Something Here in My Heart was their only hit:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXUtmwpLDHQ
Sorry I am getting my Dolls mixed up! Paper not Toy!
DeleteWhat an exotic setting for the video! Glad they chose a day when it wasn't raining, otherwise those massive bouffants would have been down to thir knees!
DeleteI thought it was going to turn into a public information film about not arseing about on the railways. I wonder if Bananarama were tempted to cover this?
Deletewithout cheating i can name another member of inxs (gary garry beers), but probably only because of his silly name. i know there were three brothers also in the band, possibly with the surname pengilly? however hutchence apart i would never have recognised any of them had they passed me in the street!
DeleteSusie was apparently a Manchester DJ - they were really casting their net wide to get female presenters on, weren't they? I don't think she was on in 2008.
ReplyDeleteA repeat of Yazz offers a chance to get another look at the backing singer on the right's penguin dance.
All About Eve bring the full contingent, and Julianne in full live vocal effect to boot. Nice enough, but not as memorable as their biggie, for at least two reasons. Probably more representative of their sound, however.
INXS with their real breakthrough thanks to Mike and the boys posing and mugging throughout their video. Sort of a mix of the moody and the cheesy, but I don't find it too offensive, at least they've worked out a decent little guitar riff for it.
Mica Paris - another "oh, yeah, this one" moment, haven't heard it since it was a minor hit but it's pleasant if unremarkable. Unlike her hat, which is both unpleasant and remarkable.
Tanita's back, as mentioned above her eyes are like holograms, but I think this is the last we see of her.
So Coca-Cola's advertising campaign managers were high fiving themselves as Robin Beck made it to the top. Joke's on them - nobody played this after 1988, anyway. It's no I Can't Let Maggie Go.
Salt N Pepa, here's a bit of fun, I can't imagine the Isleys or the Fabs mentioning "booty" but here we are. More thought's gone into the video than the track, but not a bad party record for precisely this month in '88.
If the mockery serves us well if TOTP had been continuing into 2008 we would've had Susie Blake with current Radio 1 DJ Reggie Yates (despite it would've been the wrong surname and different person?, as she portrayed Bev Unwin in Corrie and also she was in MBB) and introducing acts like Hot Chip's 'Ready for the Floor' and Goldfrapp's 'A&E', despite Susie Mathis's first TOTP appearance she was on the stage with The Paper Dolls in 1968 with 'Something Here in my Heart' and only if George O'Dowd (aka Boy George) was a crowd dance cheerleader in November 1981 and he did own that stage with Culture Club the following year.
DeleteWhat's with all the annoying clapping and cheering over the opening titles that we are now starting to get? Another week, another new female host, but at least Susie Mathis manages to be enthusiastic without shouting at the top of her voice. She was on local radio in Manchester at the time, so I'm not sure how she wound up with the TOTP gig, but she does pretty well overall. Even so, it is a bit odd to have a 44-year old as a new host on the show, and it's perhaps not surprising she only made one further appearance. Gazza presumably knew her from his Piccadilly Radio days, and they work well together here.
ReplyDeleteA repeat studio performance is not an ideal way to start the show, though I suppose it does afford another opportunity to admire the sheer legginess of Yazz. All About Eve understandably opt to perform live again for this forgotten hit, their final Top 30 entry, and also bring along both a rhythm section and, most unusually for the 80s, a double-necked guitar. Julianne is once more in fine voice, and this is a decent song, but it lacks the immediacy and emotion of Martha's Harbour and for me the chorus leans a bit too heavily on that previous hit.
INXS finally break into the UK Top 10 with a great record. I love the minimal production and the up-front guitar and bass, unusual for this era, and Michael's vocal seethes with restrained passion. Good video too, stitching together various different shots in an inventive composite fashion. Mica Paris looks as if she has come direct from Royal Ascot for this performance, but she can't breathe enough life into this song to make it memorable in any way...
Susie becomes the latest host to have trouble saying "Tanita Tikaram", but the lady herself gives another assured performance, no doubt little realising it would be her last on TOTP. I can't help thinking she let the side down a little sartorially here, given her band are all smartly dressed in white tie and tails. A repeat of Robin's studio turn marks her first week at number 1, and I noticed this time that she had James May (in the red t-shirt) on guitar! Salt 'N' Pepa delve into Fat Boys territory for our playout track; I'm not sure what possessed them to do this, but I suppose it could have been worse. At least the video has a good 60s vibe to it that must have made Susie nostalgic for her own days as a pop star...
It is so obvious that Salt 'n' Pepa copied the retro idea from The Fat Boys
DeleteLot of FF in this...
ReplyDeleteSusan ‘tiger’ mathis hardly looking different from her 1960s publicity photo...
All About Eve - full marks for singing live, but dull song...
Mica Paris - even more dull...
Salt n pepa - can’t remember if I mentioned this last week, but I like the white line segue
That’s all I can say about this episode!
Easy, Tiger! Susie Mathis there with a TOTP appearance gap of John Peel proportions. I liked her. Good pronunciation, animated and humorous and not too shouty. I’d have taken her over Anthea Shriek-Turner any day. Also, she made for a good pairing with Gaz.
ReplyDeleteThe early mugshots show a different photo of Womack and Womack from the same shoot as the ‘debating a parking ticket’ photo, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik? Are they still going? Two and a half years after last bothering us, how hilariously ironic that “Success” peaked at a hugely successful number 31.
All About Eve probably fretting early doors to see if the monitors are working. The whole band and a double-neck this time round. Shame the song sounds out of key in parts and isn’t as good as their biggie.
I don’t need “Need You Tonight” tonight or ever. INXS FFS FF.
For some reason Mica Paris’s hat reminded me of those “There’s Orangey” Jaffa Cake adverts with Victor Spinetti. The hat was far more interesting than the lifeless tortoise of a ‘song’.
Oh dear, Susie. Tanika Tikaram? Still a better effort with her name than Anthearse, mind you. Oo, a white oboe! Spot the leader part 27 – the only one all in black. That’s it for our favourite Fijian / German. Bye, Takika!
No mention of Enya’s song title in the mugshots. Had she released a Madame Cholet Acid Mix?
Our hosts fall into the elephant trap with Robin Beck as this was at least her second single though, admittedly, “Sweet Talk” was released way back in 1979.
“Twist & Shout”? Press and FF.
Bye, Susie. See you in 2008 if the show’s still going. Ah...
Considering that The Travelling Willburys had a huge leap this week from No.37 up to No.21, and TOTP completely ignored them, it was just fitting that on the evening after BBC4 aired this show, that ELO concert for Radio 2, shown on BBC4 last night, had them performing Handle with Care. Funny that, and somewhat a relief that justice was done for The Travelling Wilburys the following night on the same channel, ie, BBC4!
ReplyDeleteSteady on! 'Handle with Care' was one of my favourite singles of 1988. I never realised it was cold shouldered by ToTP. That's a travesty given all that 'Jack' stuff and other rubbish they did feature.
DeleteA 13 week chart run however peaking at No21, going down and then bobbing back up to No31 at the end of the year suggesting that it was a steady seller.
Susie Mathis made a nice change from the recent shriekers we've had on, however bizarre it was that she should suddenly turn up. Shame she didn't have much of interest to announce given how many repeats we had on this show.
ReplyDeleteAll About Eve - Here's by far the best thing on this edition, with Julianne Regan looking as lovely as ever and singing beautifully, by now presumably insisting on a live vocal after what happened before. This single deserved to go higher.
INXS - A good song, even if it did take an eternity for it to get into the Top 40 here. The video was interesting at the time but sadly by their next album every single video seemed to involve Michael Hutchence moving towards the camera in a moody way. For me, their best album was 'Welcome To Wherever You Are' - all the singles from that were great.
Mica Paris - An ironic title given that I was losing the will to live while it was on.
Salt'n'Pepa - In the same vein as the 2 Fat Boys hits i.e. terrible.
Welcome to Wherever You Are would probably have done better if it had had a better cover. Whoever thought that was a great image for an INXS album should have been fired. "Nah, don't bother putting Michael on it, nobody finds him attractive..."
DeleteYes, I agree with that. The images of the singles were consistent with that and while they could arguably get away with not having Hutchence on those, he really should have been on the album cover.
DeleteWell that was a surprisingly good show and mostly ladies night again including sorta newbie Susie Mathis. She does a good job as well (certainly better than Anthea and Sybil).
ReplyDeleteNo breakers tonight and we kick off with a repeat of “Stand Up For Your Love Rights”.
This song is seriously growing on me now thanks in no small part to this energetic performance. Great stuff and so nearly a second number one for Yazz.
All About Eve are no kind of fools so we get another live vocal. This completely passed me by in 88 and all I remember is not liking Martha's Harbour very much. This however is fabulous and the vocal is amazing. Seriously impressive song and a real surprise. First of two tonight..
How did this not get any higher? Must of not had much radio play.
We see more of the INXS video for “Need You Tonight” which has made it to number 4 already.
Second surprise of the night, this time from Mica Paris. No recollection of “Breathe Life Into Me” but a very nice song. Quite soulful and yet very modern at the same time. Classy. What the hell is she wearing on her head though!!!
A new performance from Tanita Tikaram and another song that deserved to go higher. Absolutely brilliant.
Nice wide shot of the camera man there....
Gary and Susie use different words to say exactly the same thing introducing Monica from Friends with her “First Time” at Number One. Nice to see John Virgo on keyboard as well.
Not detecting a lot of love on this forum for Salt ‘N’ Pepa's version of “Twist & Shout” so I will give it all the love it needs. I like it. It's fun, danceable, great video which we got to see a lot of. generally fab-u-lous.
Great show. Enjoyed that one.
ah yes: like pete wingfield, john virgo is another yorkshire ripper look-a-like!
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