I'm away at the moment so am posting the next four Top of the Pops write-ups before getting a chance to see them, beginning with the 25th of April 1991...
The only way is Britpop
25-4-91: Presenter: Nicky Campbell
(22) EMF – Children
Getting the show underway and the song peaked at number 19.
(16) DE LA SOUL – Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (video)
Became their second and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 10.
(15) VIC REEVES & THE ROMAN NUMERALS – Born Free
Became his first of three top ten hits when it peaked at number 6.
(14) ELECTRONIC – Get The Message
Became their first of two top ten hits when it peaked at number 8.
(36) ROACHFORD – Get Ready (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 22.
(34) AC/DC – Are You Ready (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(32) FRANCES NERO – Footsteps Following Me (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 17.
(30) BANANARAMA – Long Train Running (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(20) BLUR – There’s No Other Way
One of the decade's biggest bands makes its debut. The term Britpop would not be coined for at least another three years yet, but here is our first taste of it, and this song became Blur's first of thirteen top ten hits when it peaked at number 8.
(26) GLORIA ESTEFAN – Seal Our Fate
Went up two more places.
(1) CHESNEY HAWKES – The One And Only
Fifth and final week at number one.
(32) QUADROPHONIA – Quadrophonia (video) (and credits)
Peaked at number 14.
2nd of May is next.
Rather more frenetic than Robert Miles' Children, EMF get us underway with a song I have vague memories of, and it powers along agreeably, if not too memorably, obviously. Their energy levels remain high, and I wonder if they chatted with a certain comedian behind the scenes?
ReplyDeleteDe La Soul, improbably lifting their chorus from a Curiosity Killed the Cat hit, though they were always eccentric in their samples and inspirations. Not their best, but it's a slick video (black and white, natch).
Hey, it's Vic Reeves, and as often it's a joke that will be lost on anybody who is not Vic Reeves (or Bob Mortimer), but he did make me laugh with his ridiculous phrasing and the sandwiches. I have the CD this is on - I Remember Punk Rock possibly the standout track on there.
Electronic with their second best single, Sumner and Marr producing a winner that is, well, superbly produced. No Tennant this time around, but he's not especially missed, this is strong enough. Two drummers!
Of the Breakers, we won't see AC/DC again - middling effort from the boys, but their worst is better than some acts' best - and Bananarama - weird choice for a cover, but it could have been worse, think The Gypsy Kings were on this one for a strange match-up.
Blur, one of the defining bands of the era, and I believe this debut was where Damon got off his face on masses of drugs before taking to the stage. My, you'd never know, would you? Anyway, musically they hit the ground running, a groovesome little indiepop number that barely hinted at the variety to come.
Gloria with basically Black Cat by Janet Jackson with different lyrics, all a bit unnecessary really. That dress looks like it needed more than one bottle of talcum powder to squeeze into, no wonder her movements are limited.
Enjoy it while it lasts, Chesney... last week at the top as the nation's student unions beckoned.
Have no memory of Quadrophonia, and thought it might be a tribute to The Who, or at least the cult classic movie, but nope, this is a whole other thing. And it sounds pretty great, a glowering slice of techno that is very well put together, wonder what happened to these guys?
I naturally assumed that Neil Tennant was on all the Electronic singles, and so was surprised to see only the New Order component of Electronic on this one, and a quick look at the video indeed also has no Neil Tennant on it.
DeleteConsidering that this second Electronic single was released well over a year after their debut single in December 1989 with Tennant on board, that long gap between the first two singles was also quite a surprise, considering it comes off the same debut album.
Chesney was the first artist to be at number one for five weeks since Paul Hardcastle?! Even if we’re discounting groups, Kylie and Elton would like to have a word…
ReplyDeleteIndeed..that awful racket from Black Box lasted 6 long weeks at the top and Jive Bunny's first No1 was also 5 weeks as was 'The only way is up' by Yazz, 'Never gonna give you up' by Rick Astley and 'The Power of Love' by Jennifer Rush. Someone clearly rushed their homework!
DeleteBananarama - making the Doobie Brothers original single more sexy for 1991, it does make you wonder how these girls moved their career from wearing casual joggers and trainers for their performances, to making an effort and dressing up for the stage, but I would put it down to the pressure of the new personnel coming in and making an effort to dress up, after one of original line-up left to form Shakespeare's Sister shortly after.
ReplyDeleteBlur - first exposure of the British public to Blur, and I must say I don't recall them this early in pop history, as I only remember them from 1994 onwards when they came up with Girls & Boys, but a quick peak at their chart history says that they actually started as early as 1990 with their first single peaking at No.48, so this new one at No.20 and soon to go up to No.8, somehow got past the memory cells!
Chart Rundown - Gary Clail still going up to No.10 this week could consider himself unlucky not to get another call up to the studio, as it was two weeks since his last appearance on the show. I would have put him on playout instead of Quadrophonia, in order to get a first glimpse of his video if not studio appearance, and then put Quadrophonia in the Breakers section instead of Roachford who was as far down as No.36, and could have waited another week!
Angelo, I just noticed that you've got Frances Nero at No.32 on The Breakers, and then Quadrophonia also at No.32 on the playout?? Ahem, the correct position for Quadrophonia is No.24.
ReplyDeletePretty interesting show this one:
ReplyDelete- EMF with a song I thought I'd forgotten, until it started and I knew all the words.
- De La Soul making Curiousity Killed the Cat coolish.
- The start of Vic Reeves as a pop star. This one's a bit dirgey compared to Dizzy and I'm a Believer. I was never that into Vic'n'Bob in any of their incarnations. sorry Vic!
- Electronic - decent enough but doesn't hit the heights of Getting Away with It.
- Breakers: Roachford with a forgettable track, the Nana's with a cover I'd forgotten all about until just now, Frances Nero with a great tune that always takes me back to 91, and AC/DC who are always entertaining but whom I suspect only have one song and they just keep changing the title and lyrics a bit ;)
- Blur - from this performance you might have expected them to be another Mock Turtles, Soup Dragons etc. It's good enough but it doesn't really hint at the phenomenon they'll become. Also Damon smacking himself on the head with the mic was a bit disturbing, though as others have said, there might be a chemical factor at work there.
- Auntie Glo - great to see her in the studio, with a ridiculous number of musicians and backing singers. I quite like this track but it does seem weird to see her doing a rock track.
- Chezza - it's not been as long since a 5 week topper as Nicky thinks.
- Quadrophonia - erm, what to say .. one of the dancers looks a bit like Bimini Bon Boulash? Otherwise it's just kind of there.
Blur were deffo on a Baggy (Northside) trip with this one. I was never sure if they were taking the mick with this or wanted to be the Only One I Know Charlatans. Other Leisure era Blur hints more of their Britpop sound to come.
DeleteSome tunes peaking outside the Top 40 this week, and worth a mention:
ReplyDeleteNo.64 - The Doors - Break On Through
Classic from pop history, and not sure why this was released again as s single in 1991.
No.65 - Rozalla - Faith (In The Power Of Love)
First ever single from Rozalla who we will get to see later in 1991 when her second single called Everybody's Free which did break through and well into the Top 10 in fact, but here this first single was then re-issued after Everybody's Free, and did much better second time round on the back of her success with Everybody's Free, by getting to No.11 towards the back end of 1991, and worth checking out the debut video peaking first time round this week at No.65:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Dt7Xvn5AA
No.66 - Capella - Everybody
Two years since their last Top 40 single Helyom Halib in 1989, they couldn't quite reach those heights again by 1991, only making No.66 here, but their fortunes were to change as 1992 - 1995 proved to very successful for them with a more upbeat magnetic sort of tempo that managed to pull in the record buyers, and with real vigour.
I imagine The Doors had a re-released single out to cash in on the Oliver Stone biopic that was out in cinemas at the time. And it's terrible (Ray Manzarek would tell anyone who would listen that he hated it).
DeleteSpeaking of Rozalla, she opened up my local nightclub dance floor with a rendition of Everybody’s Free at midnight last night. I wasn’t there (past my bedtime) but 30 years previously I saw her do a PA at Shelley’s nightclub in Stoke. 1991 was a good year.
DeleteOh Christ, it’s the dictionary swallower hosting again.
ReplyDeleteEMF with another sugar rush of a performance and single, decent but it’s still no “Unbelievable”.
You’ll never make Curiosity Killed The Cat street cred. At one stage, one of De La Soul raps “I can’t stand it” – you said it, fella.
Vic Reeves and the Roman Numerals at number XV. Superb mic stand foot flick then a dangerous twirl off stage left later. Were they twins on sandwich duty?
How ironic. Morrissey can’t even buy a breakers slot for his last three singles, yet here’s Johnny Marr. The first line of Electronic’s song has the same notes as the start of ABC’s “All Of My Heart”.
I didn’t get ready for Roachford as the clip finished almost as soon as it started.
A ‘live’ gig video supposedly in a prison for AC/DC this time.
Good to see Soupy had taste regarding Frances Nero.
It’s the Doobie Sisters next, three in a bed. Harumph.
Bleurgh. FF. Never been able to stand the bastards.
An out of hours slot for Gloria’s wowser of an outfit and an attempt to become Latina Turner. See what I did there?
Top ten mugshots: Unexpected shrieking during OMD / The Simpsons, and Cher gets a new phrasing from Soupy, rhyming with ‘whirr’.
Chesney returns for the last airing of his one and only top 26 hit. At least he turned up, good on him.
No outro mention for Quadrophonia’s morse code rave rap rubbish.
I suspect that mass shriek during the Top 10 was when the audience spotted Chesney taking to the stage! You look at him now and wonder if those girls feel a bit embarrassed at getting too excited in retrospect.
DeleteNicky's pronunciation of Cher is full Edinburgh.
The ITV Chart Show Top ten video rundown following this show, played the Paul Young & Zucchero video at No.9 as the feature tune, as we didn't see the video on TOTP, and notice that the missing woman in their lives turned out to be a hottie. Also the top ten rundown had Electronic as high as No.6, whereas they peaked at No.8 on the official BBC chart:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq02H3zXQAQ
Paul and Keith Lemon's missing woman was played by a model? You do surprise me. Once again, Bella Emberg was waiting by the phone...
DeleteThe unfunny host is back and even the audience are not laughing much.
ReplyDeleteEMF- Children – Next.
De la Soul- Ring Ring - …why don’t you give me a call.. next
Vic Reeves – Born Free – The Matt Monro version is a wonderful passionate rendition of a classic John Barry/Don Black song. Such moving lyrics sung with real feeling. I don’t know what John and Don thought of this version but it pales into insignificance and the performance with bird flip chart and sandwiches is just plain bizarre.
Electronic – Get the message – I did! This was actually better than I was expecting. One of the show highlights. Interesting reading above about the Tennant factor or non-factor.
Breakers – A couple will be on next week. AC/DC – sounds exactly like an AC/DC record! No subtlety there. Bananarama – Fun Girl Three! The same theme continues on the picture sleeve of the single.
Blur – There’s no other way – Bouncy debut from the four letter word band. No hint that they would become quite big, but an impressive debut song.
Gloria Estefan – Seal our fate – One word ‘wow!’. I was transfixed by the outfit and image. Just adorable! Quite enjoyed the song too.
Chesney Hawkes – The one and only – Nice to see Chesney and the boys back in the studio to celebrate not being the first act since Paul Hardcastle to manage 5 weeks at the top.
Quadrophobia – Quadrophobia – Weird. Were they ‘Who’ fans?
EMF - don’t actually remember this, but it was pretty good. Keyboard player was a bit hyper.
ReplyDeleteDe la soul - its no Magic Number
Vic Reeves - how the heck did this get released and played. Dull dull dull…
Elrctronic - love the album this is off, hardly a duff track. As other mention, I hadn’t realised Neil Tennant wasn’t on this.
Breakers - played a touch more of the tracksthis week
Roachford - not my cup of tea
Ac/dc - pretty raunchless for these guys
Frances nero - not sure what the excitement is with this track. Maybe a full version will improve my opinion
Bananarama - odd song to cover [pre post check on comments - not just me then!]
Blur - going by damon’s eyes, they should have performed their first single, shes so high [not just me again!]
Gloria estefan - quite upbeat for her, and not too bad (I see I liked it when I heard it as a breakers snippet as well)
Quadrophenia - had its moments, but was too monotonous
Well I was up to date for a day..😂
ReplyDeleteOh it's Campbell again. Delighted to know (via twitter) that his daughter makes him watch these episodes on BBC4 as they go out and he really does cringe at his performance. And it definitely is a performance.
EMF – Children
I wonder what their children think of this? Seems can you can make one song into 3 hits! Seriously don't mind this though. Nice to hear something other than Unbelievable. Lead EMF has been on C5s 90s chart show recently and let's just say it looks like he enjoyed himself back in the day.
DE LA SOUL – Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
Question: how many answer phones has this been on. Answer: way too many.
I'm a real fan of this one. De La Soul were excellent in the early 90s and this really isn't normally my kind of music
VIC REEVES & THE ROMAN NUMERALS – Born Free
Old Vic responsible for a couple of big hits this year only one of which is actually any good. This isn't the one. Loved Nicky's intro though. Some comedy stuff going on with the girls. 😛 Cheese and pickle anyone.
ELECTRONIC – Get The Message
Well this is a delight. Quality pop song. Shame the band were so short lived. Best tune of the night.
Breakers:
ROACHFORD – I'm ready. Nice tune.
AC/DC – Yes I'm still ready get on with it. Awful.
FRANCES NERO – one of the best tunes of 1991
BANANARAMA – Gutteed Long Train Running doesn't get a studio slot. I want the Bananas. They've gone all Spanish drums..hmmmm.
BLUR – There’s No Other Way
One of the 90s most consistent bands and a great frontman in Damon. Musically very assured and a proper Indie start for them before they branch out into much cleverer and smarter sounds. Talk about seizing your moment though, great performance.
GLORIA ESTEFAN – Seal Our Fate
In the studio. Wowzers. Guess she was on tour. Going for the "Billy Ocean Most People On Stage Award". I make 13! We may have a winner. Always been a bit dismissive ot this one but I enjoyed that. Time for a reappraisal.
Back for one last hurrah it's CHEESY. It's been fun but Cher is waiting in the wings. 6 years since 1989 Nicky? You need a new calendar. That is not weird Nicky, that is WRONG!
QUADROPHONIA – Quadrophonia
Don't remember this having a rap in it. Oh well. Nice club tune.
A great show tonight. Enjoyed almost all of that.
What an arrogant cunt hawkes is. I am?? Prick. I remember daltrey on pebble mill promoting this waste of space as someone who plays his own instruments.
ReplyDeleteCue fucking miming.