The sky's the limit, you know you can have the 5th of December 1991 edition of Top of the Pops!
Supreme
5-12-91: Presenters: Elayne Smith & Mark Franklin
(16) SHADES OF RHYTHM – Extacy
Getting tonight's show underway with what became their second of three top 40 hits when it peaked at number 16.
(15) ERASURE – Am I Right?
Staking a claim for a Xmas hit but despite all the snow the song got no higher.
(11) SIMPLY RED – Stars
A fine live vocal from Mick of course and the song went up to number 8.
(NEW) GUNS N’ ROSES – Live And Let Die (video)
This Wings cover peaked at number 5.
(4) DIANA ROSS – When You Tell Me That You Love Me
She's live in the studio tonight and the song went up two more places.
(21) CLIFF RICHARD – We Should Be Together (video) (Breakers)
Xams must be on the way! This one peaked at number 10.
(17) SALT-N-PEPA – You Showed Me (video) (Breakers)
Went up two more places.
(14) BRIAN MAY – Driven By You (video) (Breakers)
Became his first of two solo top ten hits when it peaked at number 6.
(13) KATE BUSH – Rocket Man (video) (Breakers)
This Elton John cover went up one more place.
(5) THE K.L.F. feat. TAMMY WYNETTE – Justified And Ancient
Another studio epic and the song peaked at number 2.
(1) GEORGE MICHAEL & ELTON JOHN – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (video)
First of two weeks at number one.
12th of December is next.
The 2nd and I think the last edition co-presented by Elayne Smith. I thought she was just fine this evening but maybe she'd decided already that this wasn't for her. The only issue I had was her lack of comment on some really good performances in the studio but then Mark doesn't offer any spontaneous words of wisdom or silliness either. That seems to be the new policy.
ReplyDeleteShades of Rhythm start things off though I missed it so nothing to say about it. Lots of people on the stage probably.
Erasure with a christmassy scene for one of their less well known singles. Loved this at the time and still do. Gentle but with an air of menace and with some deceptively humdrum lyrics. It seems to imply something far more unsettling, some post apocalyptic scene perhaps. Maybe that was just me being an angsty 16 year old. Andy's performance particularly is nicely casual.
Back in the studio for Simply Red. I never bought the album (my sister played it a great deal so didn't need to) but I did buy this single and still think it's a fine record. Vocally very strong in the studio but that's not a great surprise.
Big exclusive for a band that were riding as high as you could get with 'Use Your Illusion I and II' just out and many 6th formers were singing this in a strangulated Axl voice for some weeks.
Great song, covered as GnR would cover it and an unintentionally funny video with Axl running around the stage. In a kilt.
Diana Ross in the studio. Diana Ross. In the studio! Is that the first time since 1964? A great performance of a song that Simon Mayo on the breakfast show would've doubtless referred to as a "warm and fuzzy" one, it's perfect schmalz for wintry nights. I find it hard to be critical. I have a treasured memory of 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' playing on the Top 40 on Radio 1 in 1981 and she looks and sounds every bit the star here.
The audience are all around her for this performance, a regular feature of the seriously dull Chris Cowey period.
Breakers; Too short again. Some Cliffmas good tidings to accompany a mum wrapping a cd or something. Tune sounded quite pretty.
Salt-N-Pepa doing their thing with a then obscure early song by The Byrds, written by the great Gene Clark who passed away earlier that year. In full and in the studio next time. Brian May; A car advertisement tune and my goodness it sounds like it. I went to the Motor Show at Earl's Court with a couple of friends that year. Most interesting thing of the day I can recall was seeing Nicholas Witchell. This was playing on the tannoys. I've never learnt to drive.
Lastly an ultra brief snippet of the fabulous video for a gorgeous single. Kate Bush with her cover of 'Rocket Man', one of THE singles of that time for me. So atmospheric. Who else but Kate would mix '90s ambient, reggae and celtic folk? I've got the 45, bought just before the shop closed on a Saturday when the single was down to about 39 in the charts. This should've been shown in full as an exclusive, album track, whatever. Magical single.
And then another! The KLF and Tammy Wynette with what has to be my single of the year. What a hook and that wah wah riff just tearing through everything. Completely mad (Pacific Island drummers chanting 'Tutti Frutti!') with Bill and Jimmy (I think) dressed as ice creams and a live (link up?) vocal from Tammy Wynette. Brilliant rap and lead vocal. At the end the camera zooms in on an ice cream van. THE ice cream van? You lucky presenters!! Elayne of course makes no reference to this and just links to the No.1.
George and Elton at the top which is understandable though I've always found the song a bit arduous. Lots of showy emoting from the pop kings
but it's touching to see that mutual love and admiration in front of a huge audience.
So goodbye from Elayne. Far too soon. She seemed to really enjoy herself this week. She allowed her editions to be shown as well so sincere thanks.
You may very well be correct about Diana Ross with first TOTP studio appearance on this show. Certainly I don't recall her ever being in the TOTP studio before, as the customary call was to show her latest video, as no-one was ever expecting her to fly in from America for TOTP, but as we have seen before at the turn of the 1990's, a number of other former rock and pop superstars who never did TOTP, were suddenly appearing on the TOTP studio for their new material as they were well into middle age by now, and could no longer pull in the younger audiences.
DeleteThe ice cream van on the KLF studio appearance was indeed a surprise that the end of the song, and having Tammy Wynette performing from America live by satellite during the KLF studio performance was about 30 years ahead of its time, where we have now been seeing this as a regular television tactic during the pandemic, to tune in to them by video instead of in person, to keep people apart as much as possible.
In this case, the KLF preferred to still come to the studio and find a way to link in with Wynette instead of staying away and simply sending the pop video for their new single.
Diana Ross was famously in the TOTP studio with The Supremes doing Baby Love, you must have seen the clip, it's repeated a lot. Don't know if the girls made it over here on any other occasion, though.
DeleteOK, so that is 27 years between the two visits to the TOTP studio. Do you know if she appeared again in the studio after this new 1991 performance, as I think she continued to release new music until 1999 in the UK charts?
DeleteCan't remember, to be honest, it's the Supremes performance everyone goes on about.
DeleteI did have a little look to see if The Supremes ever returned to the studio with Diana Ross with them (and indeed afterwards) and no doesn't look like it. They could've appeared to promote 'Love Child' in Dec '68. They were in the country around that time, appearing on 'The Royal Variety Performance' where Diana Ross made her legendary mid song tribute to Martin Luther King but the edition of 5/12/68 lists the single's appearance as 'crowd dancing'.
DeleteDo we then conclude that Diana Ross did indeed make her solo debut in the TOTP studio here in December 1991 with this new single?
DeleteYes I'd say so.
DeleteShades of Rhythm, well, they gave it a go but surely the record can't sound as bad as this? Everyone's flat, even the keyboards are flat. Not a great start.
ReplyDeleteErasure with their Cliff-style Christmas single, so the production designer goes all out on the set, though the song doesn't quite bear the weight of all this festivity. Not their strongest, but even their weakest stuff was interesting.
I usually don't like Fast-Forwarding, but I made an exception for Simply Mick, I got sick of this at the time and the passage of time has not endeared it to me.
Guns 'N' Roses, good grief this is ludicrously bombastic, an absolute dog's breakfast of a song that was always a bit all over the place. Axl, you're not wearing a kilt, it's too long, what you're wearing is a dress. One of the worst covers of the decade - until their next one.
Diana Ross, her voice is easier on the ear than what we've just heard, but this was basically her muscling in on Whitney Houston's act. Bland ballad that offers her the chance for a few vocal gymnastics, basically. She does have star quality, however.
Was Sir Cliff's Christmas record sponsored by BT? Elton's doing well for royalties this Christmas.
KLF, I was never convinced by this one, it's too cute for me, like they were buying into their own hype. A novelty record, if Black Lace had released it in the 80s I wouldn't have been surprised. The beginning of the end of the KLF, really.
George and Elton at the top, reminded of Phoenix Nights whenever I hear "Ladies and gentlemen, Mister Elton John!"
Bye, Elayne, you were getting the hang of it on your second appearance, but it was not to be.
Pretty much the last swashbuckling performance by The KLF, and another of their singles to reach No.2 at best. There was to be one more single as a follow up to this in March 1992, getting to No.4 with America:What Time Is Love, with a black & white video featuring a ship in stormy seas, but before that I need to check out the Justified & Ancient video with Tammy Wynette to see how she performs in the video.
DeleteThe KLF's last hit was... a tad overproduced.
DeleteI wonder if the sinking ship in the final video for America What Time Is Love, was their way of telling us that their time was up as The KLF in early 1992:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEeYtwwh3SE
They certainly seemed to bring back the lead singer from the 1990 debut single What Time Is Love, in 1992 for this final single renamed America:What Time Is Love, with this new video.
I seem to remember the WTIL redo was an attempt to break the US market which they had not done, not even with Tammy Wynette cynically roped in to their previous single. It didn't work and the wheels came off shortly after.
DeleteIt's shame that the KLF had a short-lived career which only lasted a year-and-a-half from WTIL in Sep 1990 to AWITL in Mar 1992. I know they evolved from the late-80s outfit The Timelords, but did they have another Dr Who-style reincarnation after The KLF?
DeleteThe KLF did the equivalent of splitting up in 1992 following their two-fingered salute to the music industry with their BRITS award appearance with Extreme Noise Terror. For me that was a fusing of two styles of music that I never expected to see. Musically poles apart but politically connected, anarcho-punk, which I loved (never did see Conflict on TOTP) and the free party rave culture. After that came the K Foundation and the infamous burning of a million pounds. Good to see they were back this year on Spotify with their Solid State Logik releases.
DeleteThe KLF recorded the Extreme Noise Terror collaboration for a single, too, I think? It sounded terrific!
DeleteSid, I also found the fusing of the two styles of music of The KLF with Tammy Wynette to be something unexpected to see!
DeleteJust checked Discogs THX and there was indeed a limited release of the ENT collaboration, worth a few quid now, I’d have picked up a copy if I’d have known! It is on the Solid State Logic 1 (2021) release and sticks out like a grind core sore thumb. PS. For an intro to Extreme Noise Terror and scene mates Napalm Death you can’t go wrong with the YouTube Snub TV episode 😃
DeleteGood point Dory, the fusing of techno and country, not seen again until The Grid’s Swamp Thing a few years later?
DeleteChart rundown:
ReplyDeleteNo.13 - Kate Bush - Rocket Man
It's really a shame that Kate Bush as a new entry on the chart at No.13 could not get a full play this week, and only a Breakers slot, thanks to the new format of TOTP making it harder to get on the show.
Bush went up only one more place to No.12 the following week, and still no full play, so we will not see her again with Rocket Man on TOTP. Wonder if Elton John was positive or negative about this cover of his 1972 original which got to No.2, a whole 19 years before the new Bush version?
No.25 - Prince - Diamonds & Pearls
New entry this week at No.25 which never got mentioned at all during its chart run. OK, so it fell one place the following week to No.26, and you would have to get into the top 20 now to be on the Beakers, so I can understand, but it's one of my favourite Prince songs and videos, so I thought to give it a special mention, as it is the first Prince track in the Top 30 not to get shown on TOTP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwUKR_9Xdns
No.30 Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight (Live)
At peak this week, and also no play on TOTP during its chart run, this classic by Clapton enjoyed a new live version released on 7-inch single, but not sure where and when the live version was recorded, if anyone knows?
Yeah, Diamonds and Pearls is a really smooth record.
DeleteAll I recall about Clapton's live WT was that it slowed down an already tediously crawling song to a snail's pace, making it close to unbearable. Not a nice guy, either.
Around this time Eric did an Unplugged for MTV so maybe it came from there.
DeleteThe live Clapton song is terrible and as THX stated slowed down.
DeleteDiamonds and Pearls was the first Prince album I bought thanks to this single and the superb Cream. Such a shame we don't even get a clip of D+P here as it's a gorgeous song
How Tammy Wynette was roped in to Justified And Ancient:
ReplyDeletehttps://mobile.twitter.com/TOTPFacts/status/1461791817943470086
And Tammy's thoughts on it:
https://mobile.twitter.com/TOTPFacts/status/1461792020356337676
As this week was the only time The KLF were on TOTP with Justified And Ancient, the video was shown a couple of days after by The ITV Chart Show on its Top 10 Dance Chart, along with the show's new reboot and new graphics on the same week:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKVYFTB1Rw0
Apparently according to The Chart Show captions, Tammy Wynette performed her video part from a concert hall in Croydon while the rest of the band performed on stage in Central London.
Two new entries peaking outside the Top 40 this week from previous chart regulars:
ReplyDeleteNo.50 Orchestral Manœuvres In The Dark - Call My Name
A poor second half of 1991 for OMD with the second song in a row to stall at No.50 as best position, following their No.7 hit in the summer called Pandora's box. They would now take another break until mid-1993 with a couple of Top 30 entries, so we now say goodbye to them for quite a while.
No.68 Beverley Craven - Memories
Third follow-up single to her Top 3 achievement earlier in the year called Promise Me, this new single Memories making only No.68 signalled a withdrawal from the UK Charts to give birth to her first child shortly after, and we would not see her back in the charts until a short-lived comeback in late 1993 with two more singles would then be the final curtain on her chart career.
There is a simply gorgeous 1992 live version of 'Memories' on YT featuring the magical guitar of Ian Bairnson.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlCmm7-PAcA
Not much to write home about on this one, so I won’t say much.
ReplyDeleteShades of Rhythm – Ecstasy – FF
Erasure – Am I right? – Not bad this one. Don’t recall it.
Simply Red – Stars – FF
Guns n’ Roses – Live and let Die – Dreadful cover. Wonder what McCartney thought of it?
Diana Ross – When you tell me that you love me – Sheer class and classy performer, wonderful live vocal and a stonker of a song. Highlight of this show for me….
Breakers – Cliff – usual Yuletide offering, Salt n’Pepa – no smut this time at least. Brian May – Liked this one. Large band. Kate Bush – this cover was as bad as Gn’R (sorry Mic!).
KLF feat Tammy Wynette – Justified and Ancient – Weirdest pairing since Marc Almond and Gene Pitney. Better effort for KLF overall though.
George Michael / Elton John – Don’t let the Sun go down on me – All proceeds went to AIDS charities which meant it was No1 on 1st December. Shame it was chopped this time after seeing the full video previously.
Jacko – Black and White – No longer No1 thank goodness, but I checked and we’ve got another eight (yes eight!) excruciating singles still to come from the ‘Dangerous’ album. Hadn’t these people who bought these already bought the album for goodness sake?
I did notice that both weeks that George & Elton were at No.1 with this, the show joined the single about halfway through it and deprived us of the opening verses, but hey, they did play it in full the week before it went straight in at No.1.
DeleteOK, so Britain’s Biggest Hits of the 70s - 1974 was shown last night. Some thoughts from me.
ReplyDeleteShowaddywaddy featured with their debut hit ‘Hey Rock n’ Roll’ which was erroneously stated as being their biggest hit when in fact ‘Under the Moon of Love’ (which we’ll be seeing in 1976) was.
Fabulous footage of the Sweet in the studio recording ‘Teenage Rampage’. Never seen that before and I agree with Andy Scott’s assertion about how good Mick Tucker’s drumming was on that track. Checking on YT and it’s there….marvellous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdPpQRzcSk8
Surprised that Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ didn’t figure on this or the 1973 show. It was a huge seller, but maybe sales were split between the two years? But should have got an also ran mention.
Sylvia’s ‘Y Viva Espana’ was one you couldn’t avoid in summer 1974 and gets sympathetic appraisal here. The lady herself featured and looked almost as she did in 1974!
One of my all time favourite No2 hits ‘The Air that I Breathe’ by the Hollies, and it was clip I had never seen. The pundits were likewise enthused by it.
One track to play just one line from this time and it was surprisingly low at No27 in the top30 despite being a chart topper. I’m wondering if the 1975 show will feature ‘Goodbye my Love’ by the Glitter Band as that made No2, and will they discuss it?
Ringo’s Monty Python style video with Carrie Fisher for ‘You’re Sixteen’ was new to me.
Susie Mathis from Piccadilly Radio in the 70s is one of the pundits. My wife was listening and not really watching and though that she was Shirley Ballas!
So many good records I could go on all night…I’ll be singing them for days.
Re Showaddywaddy, I think they meant their highest charting as a new entry, and not where the single finished up in the charts, but it was good to see what lead singer Dave Bartram looks like now in 2021, as he probably hasn't been interviewed on TV for a good 20 years or so, as I certainly have not see him on TV in any capacity for ages. My favourite of their 1974 hits was Hey Mr Christmas, not Hey Rock 'n' Roll, but Hey, 1974 was only the beginning for them!
DeleteYep, also never seen this Ringo Starr video, and also never knew that it was Carrie Fisher in the video who would then be the lead girl in Star Wars soon after in 1977. The narrator felt the need to emphasise to us in 2021 that it was acceptable in the 70's for a 30-something like Ringo Starr to be going out with a 16-year old girl, because at the time it was not frowned upon. I remember reading on Wiki that Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart met his future wife when she was only 13 and he was 29, and they married four years later when she was 17 and he was 33, and stayed married for 31 years until he was 65, so nothing there to be frowned upon.
Just to add one more Sct, I just about remember the Marie & Donny Osmond phenomenon in the early 70's as I was only 6 in 1974, and being only interested in children's programmes, but we seemed to have this lovely duo on the TV in some capacity at all times of the day and evening when the TV stations were broadcasting, and they only seemed absent on the test card.
I finally saw the series last night. Brilliant show. Some very precious footage shown. Never seen the clip of 'Seasons In The Sun' before. 'Top Pop' I think. Usually it's the clip from 'Musikladen' that gets shown. Also brief clips of 'Billy Don't Be A Hero' from Christmas Day '74 and I'm guessing David Essex and Charles Aznavour from the other Totp from a few days later. I missed the first part. Was 'Sad Sweet Dreamer' not featured? That was a No 1 for 1 week.
DeleteLooking forward to '75 my birth year.
Another thing. Does anyone else agree with me that 'Kung Fu Fighting' is hands down one of the best pop singles ever made. Amazing to learn that it was originally intended as a B side.
DeleteMic, you're absolutely right about Sweet Sensation's 'Sad Sweet Dreamer', No1 in October. Other No1s from 1974 missing were 'You won't find another Fool like me' by the New Seekers (January), 'You're the first, the last, my everything' by Barry White (December) and 'Lonely this Christmas' by Mud (December). The latter probably suffered, as did Slade the previous year, by split sales across the New Year. That might also apply to Barry White and the New Seekers (and another No2 I was expecting - 'My coo-ca-choo' by Alvin Stardust). Sweet Sensation must have just been a not very big seller for a No1 like (say) Captain Sensible in 1982.
DeleteI'm suprised not to see 'Wombling Merry Christmas' (one of the absolute best Xmas singles) in the chart. I assumed it would be quite high up as I remember an interview with Mike Batt where he said it was smashing all competition in the chart until it was caught in the final week or so by 'Lonely This Christmas'. I always assumed that was their biggest hit.
DeleteI agree with Mic that King Fu Fighting is an all time classic, amazing to think it could have been a never-heard B-side. Getting to the 70s years that I remember musically as a child, although the Wombles were already true pop stars to me by this time. Looking back, 1974 was the year that Kraftwerk moved up a commercial gear with Autobarn and also saw the release of Leonard Cohen’s New Skin .. album and the classics Lover, Lover, Lover and Who by Fire etc.
DeleteLinking back to the present (1991) day, I was half aware that someone had toy-town raved up Kung Fu Fighting. The culprits, those bedroom engineers also responsible for Roobarb and Custard, Shaft. A bit of Monkey-ing around building up to some Kung Fu at two minutes… (apologies in advance) …
https://youtu.be/jl3t0FnnBxk
Kind of a weird episode this one, lots of forgotten songs and cover versions.
ReplyDeleteShades of Rhythm keeping the rave flag flying amongst an episode of CHRISTMAS IS COMING.
Although with Erasure, it's already here. I kind of like the all out schmaltz of this performance even though I prefer their poppier stuff.
Simply Red - simply blah.
Of the various covers, G'n'R probably come out best, mainly cos I don't like Paul McCartney and/or Wings. However, it's a pre-release so doesn't count.
Diana Ross with a song I thought was much older! Good to see her in the studio.
Cliff with a song that's been utterly memory holed over time. It's better than Saviour's Day or that one with Van Morrison, I guess.
Salt'n'Pepa and Kate Bush with some covers I do not remember one bit. I much prefer the Lightning Seeds' cover of You Showed Me.
Plus Bryan May shilling cars, but at least it's an original ad jingle, in a year of endless re-released songs from ads I guess?
KLF/Tammy is a fantastic tune... but by heck is this performance and the concept of a 'MuMu Land' racially uncomfortable.
Elton and George - another rehashed tune - but a good one.
The ITV Chart show following this programme had itself revamped with new format and new graphics, with intro here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbgp_WZgV4g
The Chart Show Top 10 made some generous predictions for for Kate Bush, James, Erasure, Nirvana, putting them still going up to No.9, No.8, No.7, No.6 respectively, however in the new official BBC chart the following day, these tunes were actually only at No.12, No.16, No.18, and No.10 respectively.
The Chart Show only raised Diana Ross to No.3, but she actually got to No.2, and The KLF at No.2 a week too early:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9l7oTFvlU4
Erasure - they churned them out quicker than Sonia didn’t they? Very downbeat, and, tbh, dull
ReplyDeleteSimply Red -they are famous for it, but I hate it… FF
Guns n roses - much used bit of film here. Prefer the studio version.
Diana Ross - didnt remember this, until,it got to the power ballad bit. Best vocal of the night so far.
Greakers
Cliff Ri hard - don't remember this. I presume this broke his stranglehold on Christmas hits
Salt n pepa - was this a cover of the Turtles song?
Brian May - sounds like brian may
Kate bush - odd version of the song
KLF - never failed to put on a show. Heavens knows what Tammy thought of it. Love it
George Michal and Elton John - George was the only man that came close to Freddie vocal (sorry Adam). Classic track, and worthy of its number one slot.
Don't know if anyone watched Guns 'n' Roses today on Video Killed The Radio Star, a series on Sky Arts HD, where video director Andy Morahan and drummer Matt Sorum looked back at the band's iconic 'trilogy' of videos for November Rain, Don't Cry, and Estranged. Worth checking out on catch-up TV, as it's a great half-an-hour of nostalgia.
DeleteYou would expect Kate Bush to have changed the lyrics to Rocket Girl for this cover, as most girls have done when covering a male record, but she was so cool to just sing it as it is, without a care of what people think.
Interesting that on this same TOTP show, another Elton cover was at No.1, with Elton himself joining George Michael. This new 1991 duet was far superior than Elton's solo original in 1972.
After 15 failed attempts at posting my critique for the last unshown edition, let’s hope this works.
ReplyDeleteElayne with Christmas bauble earrings there.
Shades Of Rhythm with a ha-ha-hilarious title and Andy Pandy clown rave. Still awful.
Erasure needed someone roasting hot chestnuts there for full effect. Top vocals, decent tune and as for the lyrics, listen and learn, Morrissey. This is how you do casual angst properly.
It seems the current BBC car park trailer types are all ginger – in Mick’s case, Manc rasta to boot. Can’t stand him but I have to say it’s a nicely put across tune with a killer chorus.
“Hit me”, Elayne? Never, my dear. I’d happily slap Axl for that awful metal karoake caterwauling. Vic Reeves would have done this better.
Diana’s Ross’s 58TH album? In 1991? Blimey! Syrupy but a smooth Las Vegas turn there.
Elayne says 3 new entries in the breakers, so which of the four breakers went up the unseen top 40, then?
No, Cliff, we should NOT be together for Christmas. Any year.
The Condiments give us something slower, slinker and more mellow. Tick.
Anita Dobson’s squeeze with third gear drivetime rock.
Give Jate Bush her due, that was at least a different way to cover a well known song.
KLF smash the old EWF record for the number of peope on stage. I made it at least 14 not including the podium types near the back. An excellent link-up for a suoperb track, but a shame no-one was playing cornet. Ice cream, cornet – harumph!
Peter Kay ditching piano again to join Mick George up front on vocals.
Bye, Elayne. Take that Rose prick with you!
EWF's Boogie Wonderland in 1979 with around 12-13 people on stage was on their video where they looked like they were in some kind of arena, but the placing of 14 people on a TOTP studio stage by The KLF here in 1991 was probably manageable because of the new TOTP studios in Elstree thanks to the revamp a couple of months earlier in October.
DeleteIt's December so time to pick your shades of onesie.Very average club tune. Did not leave me in any kind of XTC (remember them?)
ReplyDeleteA slower number from Erasure next. Nice play for the Xmas Number One with all the snow (not a chance guys). Vince his usual cheerful self. That snow comes in rather big waves. I must admit I found this performance all a bit flat.
Now this is a great tune from Simply Red. How many weddings has this been played at do you think? Thought his usually excellent vocals were a bit flat tonight, especially on the verses.
Great tune for GNR to cover. Live and Let Die the best Bond theme IMHO. This isn't as good as the original unfortunately but a good "loud" attempt. The best performance of this I ever saw was by Macca himself at an X Factor final a few years back. Awesome.
58th Album! Wowzers. She's back in the charts now as well with her new album Thank You making the Top Ten. Think this particular tune may be a bit marmite on here but I like this a lot. A clear play for the Xmas buck but not Xmassy enough to have made any Xmas playlists. Great vocal as you'd expect on the Te Kanawa Plinth (yes I have named it).
Breakers:
Cliff. Can we please have a Xmas without him. This is dire.
Salt N Pepa. Lighting Seeds did the best version of this
Brian May. Driven by advertisement dollars. Catchy though annoyingly.
Kate Bush. A fan of this. I like what she's done with it. From a John/Taupin tribute album.
So onto THE BEST RECORD OF 1991.
Utter madness from The KLF. dancing ice creams, TAMMY WYNETTE, storming beats and singalong chorus! And they put Elayne in the ice cream van. Glorious.
Just PERFECTION.
George and Elton at the top but we saw this last week. An OK show this week and bye bye Elayne...its been.....brief.
Mu-Mu