It only takes half an hour girl to watch the 4th of June 1992 edition of Top of the Pops!
New kids on the show
4-6-92: Presenters: Claudia Simon & Tony Dortie
(16) TAKE THAT – It Only Takes A Minute
Making their studio debut and getting tonight's show undeway with what was to be their first of twenty top ten hits when it peaked at number 7.
(10) FAITH NO MORE – Midlife Crisis (video)
Their first of two top ten hits but it got no higher.
(ALBUM TRACK) LIONEL RICHIE – My Destiny
Here tonight to perform a single from his number one album Back to Front and it became his eighth and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 7.
(5) RICHARD MARX – Hazard (video)
His second and final top ten hit and it went up two more places.
(9) UTAH SAINTS – Something Good
In the studio with their Kate Bush Cloudbusting sample tune that was their second of three top ten hits and it peaked at number 4.
(13) ELTON JOHN – The One (video)
Went up three more places.
(NEW) ERASURE – Take A Chance On Me
In the studio with what was soon to become the duo's only number one hit.
(1) KWS – Please Don’t Go
Fifth and final week at number one
13th of June is next
Take That - this TOTP edition would have been the first time that anyone had heard of Take That, as their previous two singles had only got to No.47 and No.38, and were not high enough for a Breakers slot on TOTP, so this new one was effectively the start for them, and we know what developed for them in terms of fame and careers after this TOTP debut.
ReplyDeleteUtah Saints - wow, No.9 already, this was the one that I remember distinctly rather than their debut single What Can You Do For Me which got to No.10 the previous year. Something Good went much better to peak at No.4 and was their most successful hit. Wonder if Kate Bush liked the sampling, as Saints' first hit sampling The Eurythmics wasn't liked by Annie Lennox but was by Dave Stewart.
Erasure - was the lady rapper on this the lead singer of 2-Unlimited? She looked a lot like her.
KWS - new studio performance at 5th and final week at No.1, but the song title was more appropriate for Claudia Simon at the end of this week's show until the next time she was on presenting the show.
No, Anita from 2 Unlimited wasn't toasting on the Erasure cover, ha, ha! Wrong race, for a start. A quick Google reveals the boys had hired MC Kinky for their ragga tip. Where is she now?
DeleteGood google THX. I have a couple of MC Kinky singles and thought it was her. Looked her up on Facebook and she’s still active doing festival MCing. Also, surprised to see a friend of mine from back home pop up as a personal friend of hers - I’ll chase up for more gossip.
DeleteWow, I wonder if she got any royalties from this repeat performance? Nice to know she's still at it.
DeleteThat opening line, Angelo? *Chef's kiss*.
ReplyDeleteWeird episode this one, lots for the mums but the odd sprinkling of more exciting fare.
Anyway. TT at this point had been doing the rounds for a good year or two, and had been a regular in the teen press (I was a big Number One and Smash Hits reader at the time) and it had become kind of hilariously tragic how much they were trying to make Take That happen yet them not actually happening. Ah, the good old days. I will concede that of the various TT members' back catalogues, Never Forget, Rule the World, Back for Good, Shine, Angels, Let Me Entertain You and Kids are legitimately good pop songs and Relight My Fire was a decent cover, but otherwise I have no time for Funsponge Barlow and his merry band of tax dodgers (except Jason Orange who wasn't involved in that, seems to gave decent principles and has kept himself to himself. He's alright.) East 17 were way better.
FNM I always like and sticking the new entries over the video is a good step ob the way to getting the charts back. Seems to be a lot of stuff happening in the chart, if only we had breakers this week instead of two non-chart songs.
Lionel Richie with a ridiculous sized backing band given they were all miming. I've never minded this song but it doesn't half go on a bit.
Richard Marx - we got a lot of video this week, but I don't mind so much. The video tells the story of the song so it's getting some points for effort.
Utah Saints - giving the MOR a kick up the butt with their best track. This is the 1992 I remember.
Elton - not on his way to number one no Matt what Claudia says.
Erasure - has someone been to Disney's Haunted Mansion recently? Cos that's all looking very familiar. I do like that Erasure always get a massive stage show when they do TOTP. I had forgotten about the silly rap bit (but of course there was one, because 1992).
Then more KWS before a weird two seconds of video (U2? I've already forgotten it) and the credits.
Although as Rad says that it was interesting to see TOTP putting in some new entries over the Faith No More video, I think this lasted only on more show, but at least it was something, as there were four interesting tunes at peak position inside the Top 40 this week, which didn't get any action at all on TOTP through their chart run:
ReplyDeleteNo.27 Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
Sounds too raw, but anything was possible with Cooper. After this, Cooper had nothing to offer on the singles chart for a further two years until 1994, so missing out on this week's show with no Breakers section to promote his new single didn't help his cause, especially as he fell badly the following week down to No.40.
No.28 Lisa Stansfield - Set Your Loving Free
Sounds like one of Sting's early solo releases in 1985, but shuddering to think that Stansfield got no TOTP play or Breakers for this one, considering she was a regular on TOTP for every single up to this one which completely missed out.
No.29 - Benny Hill - Ernie
This 1971 No.1 was re-released at this point in 1992 following the death of the great comedian in April, and just missed out on a Breakers slot, as No.29 was not even high enough to get on The Breakers in the newly revamped TOTP in late 1991.
No.34 The Pasadenas - I Believe In Miracles
1992 was their final year before bowing out, but there was still two more singles to come before the end of the year before finally closing up their singles catalogue for good.
Lisa had performed Set Your Loving Free on 28/5 as a exclusive.
DeleteThanks for the correction, so she's kept a full TOTP sheet so far then.
DeleteTwo facts about Benny Hill's death: he passed away reading Ceefax, and he died on the same day as Frankie Howerd. Benny's agent sent a message of condolence about Frankie on behalf of Benny to the press, not knowing Benny was also dead!
DeleteDidn't know that Ceefax was still going in 1992.
DeleteCeefax lasted till 2012! I used to read it every day, that and Teletext (and Oracle before it).
DeleteGood Lord, you would have thought that the end of Ceefax was around the time that the internet arrived in 1995, but to go on until 2012, who was watching it then?
DeleteI was! Used to read it first thing in the morning.
DeleteGary's doing most of the singing and not much of the dancing, funny that. Anyway, this Jonathan King redo was a reminder that Take That relied heavily on covers before Gaz fired up his PC and commandeered the band. Always surprised he didn't sue Lucas and Walliams for their Rock Profiles spoofs, they were very unforgiving.
ReplyDeleteFaith No More with a grumbling, rumbling piece of rock, were they technically grunge, though? Band a bit close to the camera in the video.
Topically, Li is in the news at the moment because he's supposedly hilarious in the new Foo Fighters horror movie. Curious to see that. But this is what he could do in his sleep, pleasant enough, one for the fans. Talking of comedy, I'm now reminded of the cartoon strip Bloom County and the "Let's Run Over Lionel Richie with a Tank" song.
Richard Marx, you could turn this video into a ten part Netflix series that most people only watch the first three parts of. Bit of career advice for you. Was he innocent, then? Is this the AOR version of the Nick Cave and Kylie murder ballad?
Shouting the sample, but not the Kate Bush sample, the Utah Saints are full of beans here and as these things go you can hear why it was a hit. Kate was fine with the sample, apparently, and happy to give her permission.
Elton again, but it's the video with a lot of hugging and projecting.
Erasure wearing their influences on their sleeve with their ABBA covers, was this the point where naff nostalgia turned into muso respect and multi-platinum CD sales, not to mention hit movies? Not for Erasure, I hasten to add.
Please Do Go, KWS. Oh, they're already out the door.
THX, this was the third version of "It Only Takes A Minute" to chart. Tavares released it first in 1975 but it flopped and 100 Ton And A Feather took the first big chart credit. Tavares had to wait for a reissue in 1986 for it to chart, though only reaching number 46.
DeleteOn hearing that, I assume most people will be relieved Mr King didn't benefit financially from the TT hit!
DeleteTake that - and is this where it all began…?
ReplyDeleteUtah saints - certainly knew how to repackage a riff. Lots of instruments being played onstage, but none of it seemed to be relevant to the music heard. Live shouting not as polished as the released track was…
Erasure - always interesting stage presentation. Ruined by the rap - very rude gesture at the end :-) The start of the ABBA re-evaluation…
I think Take That began with a video where their bare arses were covered with strawberry jelly. Or at least that's the impression a hundred clip shows from the turn of the millennium gave.
DeleteYep Do What U Like was out about a year before this. I think it might have scraped the bottom (ho ho) of the top 75 or something.
DeleteContrary to what Angelo forecast, it only took me 12 minutes to watch that dreadful edition.
ReplyDeleteSpangly Cloudia and Dorky appear to have regressed to having very MOR tastes, unless they were just sucking up to who was on tonight.
Oh no, the boy band floodgates have just opened. Coming soon, Westlife, Boyzone and all manner of soul-sucking boy bands. In my book, you’re only a band if you play instruments. Plenty of action but a turgid sub-PWL rehash by Take That.
Dorky plays it safe and fails to say “On A Ragga Trip” in the countdown.
Faith No More with a dull, moody effort only enlightened by having the new entries tickertaped across the bottom. All we need now is the full 40 to 2 back!
We miss Pop Will Eat Itself for Lionel Richie? Sheesh! At least it wasn’t quite as embarrassing as the video for “Hello” complete with clay head. My favourite Lionel Richie? The run-out groove.
An excellent Nick & Kylie comparison by THX for Richard Marx’s sinister ballad.
I fecking hate Utah Saints and I hate this bastard track even more, with good reason. When Margaret Thatcher came up with the 1990 Broadcasting Act, a deliberate ploy to get rid of Thames Television after their “Death On The Rock” edition of “This Week” jeopardised an IRA trial, “Something Good” was played on telly to death as the anthem of incoming station Carlton and their shallow promises. When they took over it was the death of ITV in the London area and the slow road to what ITV has become now. Homogenised shit.
Great. Another exclusive gets a chart play as well. Cloudia should have said “This is heading for the one” for full but incorrect effect.
Dorky gets his chart topper forecast correct. So that’s why the stage looks like a Halloween setting. Yet another cover which doesn’t hold a candle to the original.
KWS, please feck off.
Oh God, an awful edition is made even worse with the news Bonio is on the next one.
Barry Garlow can play piano, will that do? Even when you don't want him to.
DeleteHaha I never want him to. And I hated Westlife more than Boyzone who I hated more than Take That so there's some absolute dross coming our way (though also a lot of excellent indie and alt rock)
DeleteFour songs peaking outside the Top 40 this week and worth a mention:
ReplyDeleteNo.46 The 49ers - Got To Be Free
First single for two years since Girl To Girl got to No.31 in the summer of 1990. This new one was the first of two singles in 1992, neither which could break into the Top 40.
No.47 Dr Hook - A Little Bit More
Re-release of the smash hit that got to No.2 in the long hot summer of 1976, and not sure why it was released again in 1992, but this was one of Hook's finest masterpieces.
No.48 Frankie Knuckles - Rain Falls
After this flop stalled at No.48 this week, Knuckles would not be back until 1995 with two more songs that got to No.34 and No.36, and that was about it from him/them knuckles.
No.66 Jam & Spoon - The Complete Stella
Interestingly this group didn't come into view until 1994 when their careers took off, but this initial phase in 1992 brought two releases that both failed to make Top 40, but worth a mention here until we reach 1994 when they released their most famous single Right In The Night which was a dance floor classic.
Utah Saints - was that Barry Scott from the Cillit Bang ads on vocals?
ReplyDeleteFaith No More - seemed like it was a sort of 'daytime' version where it was trying to cover up - or make a noise over - the "menstruating heart" lyric.
So long then childhood.. it's the last TOTP before my 18th birthday……Which makes me 4 months younger than baby Robbie in Take That. Superstardom awaits for 2 of these five and teenage adulation for the other 3. No signs of how big they would become here and the number of boy bands to follow in their wake. OTAMG is a fairly by the numbers pop song so no sign of the quality hits to come. The performance is rehearsed to within an inch of it's life. Don't they look young….
ReplyDeleteWow Claudia looks sparkly. Very hot.
Onto video and Faith No More. Never knew they went Top Ten. This is clearly a prototype Linkin Park. Not as good as their previous singles for me.
New entries over the video, much better idea.
My Destiny is a great song from Mr Rich Tea. Definitely my favourite song of his. Mrs Morgie is a big fan. She would approve.
The wonderful Hazard up next and I really like the video for this. Great storytelling. Poor Mary.
Utah Saints. I love this tune. Bit of Kate Bush as well. Result. Yes! Proper anthem. Tune of the night.
Not heading for Number One it's Elton on video. Lovely tune. When he's on form he's brilliant.
It's Abba-Esque. It's Erasure. Loving the staging and costumes on this one. I also really like the rap in the middle of this, it works surprisingly well. The video is fabulous as well. A really great idea.
My 15 year old heard this on the radio the other day and liked it so much he went and played the EP on Spotify. It's now on his playlist and it's led him to ABBA! At dinner the other night he was listing his favourite ABBA songs. I call that a result.
KWS back in the studio. This is a long 15 minutes…
U2 laters….