Sign right here on the dotted line, it's the 2nd of April 1992 edition of Top of the Pops!
Poptastic and Popadopoulos!
2-4-92: Presenters: Dave Nice & Mike Smash
(17) WASP – Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)
Smashie and Nicey make their hosting debut and WASP get tonight's show underway with what was their biggest hit but number 17 was its peak.
(21) ROXETTE – Church Of Your Heart (via satellite)
Taking absolutley no notice of the hosts and the song got no higher.
(12) MR. BEAN & SMEAR CAMPAIGN – Elected (video)
Comic Relief is in the air tonight and this Alice Cooper cover peaked at number 9.
(22) KYM SIMS – Take My Advice (video)
Peaked at number 13.
(9) SOUL II SOUL – Joy
A second studio performace of this song and it went up five more places.
(19) PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION – Money Don’t Matter 2 Night (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(23) SALT-N-PEPA – Expression (Remix) (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(26) THE PASADENAS – Make It With You (video) (Breakers)
Went up six more places.
(28) CURTIS STIGERS – You’re All That Matters To Me (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 6.
(NEW) CHRIS DE BURGH – Separate Tables
Live in the studio tonight and the song peaked at number 30.
(1) SHAKESPEAR’S SISTER – Stay (video)
Seventh of eight weeks at number one.
Next up is April 9th.
Good Lord, I couldn't find anything of interest in this show, not even Dave Nice & Mike Smash presenting it, so straight on to the singles that were at peak this week with no TOTP for them:
ReplyDeleteNo.34 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Too Good to Be True
This was to be Petty's final Top 40 hit, and not even a Breakers slot this week. Petty released two more singles until 1994 which both stalled outside the Top 50, so time was closing in his career soon after this week's new entry at No.34.
No.49 Chaka Khan - Love You All My Lifetime
First new single in two years since early 1990 when she got to No.21 with I'll Be Good To You, and would go on to release the occasional single through the 90s, but with little or no success.
No.68 Adamski - Get Your Body
Third single in a row to fail to break the Top 40 since his last success The Space Jungle which got to No.7 in 1990. Two further singles were released with no further impact, with both failing to break the Top 60, Adamski was as good as washed up by now.
Could we not have Smashie and Nicey presenting every week? They really made me laugh. Heaven knows what WASP made of them, but anyway, the band's biggest hit in the UK sounds... like all their other records, really. White, fringed boots on Mr WASP are an interesting choice. I'm sure it's what Edgar Allan Poe would have wanted.
ReplyDeleteEither Roxette had no sense of humour or they couldn't hear the comedians at all over the satellite link. Maybe both? But this is fairly undistinguished stuff, could have done with some production to punch it up, though all we get are acoustic guitars.
Biggest laugh of the episode! No, not Mr Bean, the video was weirdly depressing, it was Harry Enfield introducing it as "He's back! Old Mr Rubber Face, the man with the daft voice - Bruce Dickinson!" They should have done a Smashie and Nicey comedy record.
Kim Syms revealing why she didn't have further hits, it's because she kept releasing the same song. Sure, there are slightly different lyrics in this one, but it's exactly the same melody and production.
Soul II Soul back again, much the same though the audience seem into it, but they're upstaged by Nicey chatting up the (male) backing singer (!).
The Breakers, and sadly this is all we get of Prince's Money Don't Matter Tonight, which is rather wonderful, a moody, gentle number that's one of his 90s best. Are the Pasadenas a covers band now?
"Blubmungous" Chris De Burgh is tonight's exclusive, but frankly you can keep him if this dirge is the best he can come up with. I was hoping he'd sink into the dry ice.
Siobhan and Marcella STILL there, and we are getting the barest minimum of the video now. Then Cher threatens to be on next week. A mediocre lineup saved by the presenters, this one.
Or Roxette had expected this after they done rehearsal.
DeleteNah, I think Rad is right, and they were oblivious to the Bjorn Borg and Volvo references because they couldn't hear them.
DeleteCouldn't they have just said Harry Enfield presenting instead of calling him Dave Nice? He was certainly looking and talking like Alan 'Fluff' Freeman, so I wonder whether there was any of this in the whole idea? Anyway, what is wrong with saying Harry Enfield as this week's presenter?
DeleteI think Roxette were just nervous live by satellite by not acknowledging Nice & Smash.
Exactly the same as what I was thinking when I saw the new Kym Sims video. I thought it was a rehash of her last single Too Blind To See It. Good Lord!
I think you're missing the joke, Dory! Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse were presenting to promote their latest TV show that started the same evening, so presented in the guise of their comedy characters, as they would have on the sketch show. Everyone watching would have known who they were.
DeleteAlso, Smashie and Nicey: End of an Era is one of the greatest comedy specials ever made. I'm not a huge Enfield fan, but when he got it right he was superb.
Well it was a nice surprise to see Roxette as the thumbnail on the iPlayer as I didn't think they'd be on again until How Do You Do! (Not that I can remember if they do come on for that, but it is definitely a more TOTP-friendly song)
ReplyDeleteAlso a nice surprise? Not having any missing episodes this week. However we're very much in an episode of 'artists who've all had much stronger singles than this' with Shakespear's Sister being the only (arguable) exception to this rule.
Smashie and Nicey telling us we're firmly into Comic Relief season, though the Royal Family jokes wear thin quickly.
WASP live from 1987 open up, it's daft as a brush and one I don't remember at all. Don't mind it but seems weird in 1992, especially wearing boots fresh from the mid-80s.
Then Roxette who will be in their MTV Unplugged phase right about now hence going acoustic (it's a shame they never released an album of that show... a DVD was added to the limited edition RoxBox box set in 2006 which I obviously have, and various tracks have turned up on albums and B sides over the years but never the full audio. It features some cover versions, which Roxette rarely ever did. I can only think of four-and-a-half covers in all their recordings, and three of those were the Unplugged ones that never got released). Anyway, I can't believe we're getting Church of Your Heart when we could have had Spending My Time instead of titting around with Michael Jackson/Queen videos or whatever was going on when that was in the charts. I like Church of Your Heart fine (and possibly prefer it in this format to the recorded version) but it was always a dumb single choice. And I don't think they could hear the presenters. Pretty rainbow lighting effect on the wall, very in keeping with the colours of the Joyride album.
Bruce joining WASP (and Def Leppard) in reviving hair metal for a second or two.
Kym Sims with a weak and not-unique-enough follow up, then Soul II Soul. I think this performance was slightly better than the last time.
The breakers are all in that vein of slightly sub-par singles from artists who have done much better, but I would take every single one of them over TURGID PRE-RELEASE NONSENSE FROM CHRIS DE BURGH.
And we still couldn't repeat one of the Stay studio performances?
Er, we're still waiting for the next episode of TOTP, the 16th April one with Adrian Rose presenting, before next Friday's two final April episodes, so there is still one missing episode the week if you see what I mean.
DeleteBlog post coming soon, if can't wait here it is
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-ArjaSp1G4M?src=dnl
Thanks Anonymous, it's just that I couldn't wait to see Claudia Simon on this show, not Adrian Rose!
DeleteSmashie and Nicey start the show. You ain’t seen nothing yet! (See what I did there?)
ReplyDeleteWASP with Axl Rose vocals, the Ugg boots of their day, and a loud and uninventive opener. Less is mor(gu)e. I prefer bees myself.
Rundown: clever segue by our hosts of stumbling over pronouncing Ce Ce Penistone, then three “Right!”s into Right Said Fred.
I remember reading that Simon Mayo said his worst interviewees were Roxette, po-faced and unhumorous. I loved the way our hosts were drowned out – “Anyway, great to tal…” but wasn’t keen on the busking that followed.
Mister Bean talking is something that broke the mystique of the character. This was as funny as piles, though the cover version of Alice Cooper’s hit was pretty good.
Take my advice, Kym, use a different backing track for your follow-up.
Soul II Soul, another annoying example of an exclusive getting a second outing when other deserving tracks at the time didn’t even get a mention.
No intro announcments for the breakers - a lovely smooth effortless effort from Prince, an okayish track from The Condiments, another cover by those boring Pasadenaszzzzz and Curtis picks the tempo up one gear.
I’d have loved to have heard all the Prince track instead of De Burgh’s quickly FF’d donkey shite.
The first line of the number one, “If this world is wearing thin”, applied to all those stupid unfunny quips about the royal family.
Great. Again, we’re told in advance which artist’s unreleased track will pollute next week’s show.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell as some of you have probably gathered I have opted out of 1992 in the main as the shows are so awful in the main and so many to keep up with these Adrian Rose skips.
ReplyDeleteI'll dip in occasionally and Chris de Burgh caught my eye here. From the 'Power of Ten' album I'll admit it is not a personal favourite of mine from Chris. The best track on that album for me is 'A Celebration' which was put on the B Side of another single release. Not much to celebrate.
Old school TOTP this week with Fluff and Edmonds…oh wait, hang on…is it Comic Relief time?
ReplyDeleteLet's rock.. it's WASP (does it stand for something?) If you like this sort of thing it seems like a good performance..not my thing though. Like his boots! Sure women in the 70s used to where them.
It's pronounced Peniston 🤣🤣🤣
Roxette wondering what the cabbage is going on before we get an acoustic version of Church of Your Heart which actually works better than the rather average (for them) version on the album. Very nice.
Vote Bean! Can't be any worse than Boris. I must say getting Iron Maiden involved rather than one of your usual pop stars/bands is an inspired idea.
Stop everyone in Dover going to the toilet 🤣
This is actually Too Blind To See it with different words! Scandalous! How did she get away with this and who actually bought it. I'm stunned.
Last weeks exclusive has put Soul II Soul in the Top Ten which is nice but we have a smaller stage this week so the backing singers are on the balcony.
Breakers:
Prince: Nice slow number.
SnP: Remixed the life and soul out of it
Pasadenas: cheese
Curtis Stigers: The better hit.
Chris De Blurgh getting an exclusive. Kinda fits the smashy and nicey vibe. It's a terrible song of course..how come he gets the big set? Trying to think of other songs about tables…..
Only the second funny joke in the show introduces the video for Shakin' Stevens Sister. Can we not have them back in…
Bizarre show. Prince Philip turning in his grave!
I can only think of The Table by Beautiful South
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