This edition of Top of the Pops from the 13th of June will sadly not be shown on BBC4. So a huge thanks goes to Anonymous for making it available here at WeTransfer.
Girls just want to have spiralling special effects
13-6-92: Presenters: Femi Oke & Adrian Rose
(19) INCOGNITO – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
(7) NICK BERRY – Heartbeat (video)
(16) THE WEDDING PRESENT – California
(4) GEORGE MICHAEL – Too Funky (video)
(17) MANIC STREET PREACHERS – Motorcycle Emptiness
(NEW) U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing (video)
(20) OCEANIC – Controlling Me (video) (Breakers)
(22) TINA TURNER – I Want You Near Me (video) (Breakers)
(18) CYNDI LAUPER – The World Is Stone
(1) ERASURE – Voulez-Vous (video)
18th of June is next.
Thanks again for these. I see Incognito and I think, wedding reception covers band. It's a nice song, not one of Stevie's best but a decent big yourself up tune. This, on the other hand, is just begging to be licenced to a TV ad.
ReplyDeleteA sinister Nick Berry lurks in the shadows, looming menacingly, intercut with a cheap approximation of his hit Sunday evening cosy-a-thon. One basic cover followed by another, great scheduling.
David Gedge has turned up to the studio sporting a T-shirt bearing the word "Shite". Don't do yourself down, Dave. It was OK, but not that bad. Still don't know why they ditched the catchy tunes for this experiment.
George Michael sampling Anne Bancroft in The Graduate, and... is that Irene Handl? What a combination. He has his supermodel pals over to pose, but has put minimal effort into performing himself. Still, he knew his way around a hit record, and this was one for the nation's discotheques (but not the clubs, if you see what I mean).
The Manics with one of their signature songs, all very sorry for itself but with a soaring set of chorus and guitar riffs that lift it above the ordinary.
Superbly directed video for U2, only let down by trying to convince us someone somewhere on this planet finds U2 sexy. The songwriting goes all post-modern, as was their wont at this stage, they did love their 90s irony and were a bit lost without it.
Breakers I have no memory of, then Cyndi throwing shapes with a heartfelt but mediocre state of the world ballad. Brave to kick off acapella, but that's all that stands out.
I notice they didn't show the Muriel's Wedding-style video off the Erasure EP, but that's a nasty little film, anyway. Should be a strobing warning on the video they did show, mind you.
Thanks to Anonymous for this one.
ReplyDeleteIncognito are still going these days. Never got into their identikit jazz funk.
“Heartbeat” is still shown on one of those Freeview channels. My wife sings the theme tune when she hears it play. Unusual hearing it in a Bosnian accent, but still more effective than Nick’s weak berry cordial cover.
Topical (sort of) that The Wedding Present are here after their Ukrainian-ancestry guitarist Peter Solowka had left. Challenging top there on Dave, who obviously wants to eschew his guitar to be a proper frontman for the monthly hits.
George tries to be funky but doesn’t quite cut the mustard. You wouldn’t find any of those outfits in Primark, I can tell you.
The Manics with their anthem, dictionary-cramming verses but a great tune, chorus and sadly missing bridge.
Lots of, erm, fisting at the start of U2’s video. That was enough for me. Does the song title imply they prefer Pepsi?
Oceanic with another higher end rave outing.
Not much sighting of Tina in the vid for her underwhelming effort.
Cyndi does a Wacko and goes way too earnest for her own good.
Great! KWS have gone down. Ah. It’s an other sub-Abba track from Erasure with a horribly over fussy video. Depeche Mode never made higher than number 4 in the singles chart and this reaches number one? No justice.
“We’ll see you again soon”? We never saw you in the first place, you weak, selfish, repeats contract avoiding ponce.
With TOTP not going down any lower than No.22 this week, a plethora of singles inside the Top 40 were queueing up for at least a Breakers slot the following week, but were thwarted as a their peak position was indeed this week:
ReplyDeleteNo.23 Annie Lennox - Precious
It couldn't have been so for TOTP, otherwise they would have invited her into the studio at No.23 this week.
No.24 Inner City - Pennies From Heaven
That is two songs in a row from Inner City making No.22 and No.24 with no TOTP appearance, and especially as it has been 5 singles since their last time on TOTP in 1989. Were we ever going to see them again on the show?
No.26 Tia Carerre - The Ballroom Blitz
Not sure if this was a cover of The Sweet's 1973 hit, but it certainly sounded so from the song title.
No.33 Black Sabbath - TV Crimes
This was to be the last ever single for Sabbath, bringing down the curtain on a long career stretching back to 1970 with Paranoid when it all started for them. They were certainly not short of good music, but 1992 seemed a long way from their heyday in the 70s.
Tia Carrere was indeed mauling the Sweet classic. I think this was another track from "Wayne's World".
DeleteThe bespoke Popscene website says Inner City were on TOTP five times, with a ten year gap until their final outing for "Good Life (Buena Vida)" on 5th February 1999.
DeleteYes, Tia's cover of The Sweet was from Wayne's World. I suppose we should be glad Bohemian Rhapsody didn't make a chart reappearance too.
DeleteBlack Sabbath continued to make music as late as 2013, with their last studio album to date. Bill Ward says he wants to make another, though I don't know if Ozzy is up to that, healthwise.
Wayne's World has not aged well. We rewatched it a couple of years ago in a nostalgic moment. we didn't put the second one on afterwards.
DeleteI rewatched both films a couple of years ago, the first is mostly catchphrase mania, but not very funny. The second they actually put an effort in, and it is funny. So naturally, it flopped.
DeleteThe Tia Carerre version of BB was my introduction to that tune and I like it, until I heard the origial of course which is far superior. Gutted we miss the Annie Lennox tune as it's one of my favourites of hers and I was a bot obsessed with Precious at the time and played it constantly
DeleteAdrian Rose continues his achievement of being the only presenter whom I have no memories of from the time. Such a talent!
ReplyDeleteCovers rule the day this episode! The first is not better than the second. dId anyone watch the final episode of Heartbeat? I gave up on it not long after they killed Niamh Cusack off but I do know it went on a lot longer than the actual 60s. In my head the last episode will have ended on NYE 1969 as 1970 struck and if they didn't do that then they were idiots. Anyway, Call the Midwife seems to be handling the transition of time more successfully in that same niche.
The Wedding Present with a track that isn't my favourite of theirs, and then George with one of the most iconic videos of all time, and the looks in this have kept the Drag Race franchise going for nearly 15 years now (the song's OK).
The Manics my favourite of the episode. I have always liked this one and you can hear the seeds of A Design For Life and Everything Must Go. JDB's vocals are a little more shaky than usual but always happy to see them.
U2 with a very creepy opening hand effect on the video, which I couldn't watch all the way through as it made me feel travel sick!
Breakers are alright, could have done with more than two.
I had forgotten all about this Cyndi Lauper track. It's quite Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Given Erasure were in last week, could they really not have recorded the whole EP for future showings rather than us having a video for their first (and last) ever number one?
Stupid auto correct, that should read the first cover is a lot better than the second!
DeleteMust admit I've never seen a whole episode of Heartbeat, it was more a gran's TV show.
DeleteI preferred Hartbeat, with Tony Hart and a revolving roster of art student ladies, and Mr Bennett and Morph for comedy. Better theme tune, too.
Three songs peaking outside the Top 40 this week from previous chart regulars, and worth a mention, as they missed out on TOTP for these new releases:
ReplyDeleteNo.45 Dee Lite - Runaway
Third single in a row to peak outside the Top 40, since their last Top 40 hit in 1990, as 1991 and 1992 were unsuccessful for them and we didn't see them on TOTP as a result. They will always be remembered for Groove Is In The Heart which got to No.2 in 1990.
No.68 The Adventures - Raining All Over The World
First single for four years, and also last ever single from them, as they had not been on TOTP since 1988 with Broken Land which turned out to be their only Top 40 single, as the curtain comes down on this group with a singles career stretching back to 1984.
No.71 XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
Another last ever single this week, as XTC call time on their singles career stretching back to 1979 where they appeared with Making Plans For Nigel which they will always be remembered for.
The Crash Test Dummies will be covering that last one in a few years' time from the soundtrack to one of the Dumb and Dumber films.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I see that the cover got to No.30 in 1995, only three years after the XTC original.
DeleteGreat start from Incognito. Great song and this is a wonderful version of it. A real summer tune as well. Not sure who the Vocalist is on this one?
ReplyDeleteLoving the braces Adrian. A new Number One!
Oh no. Nick Berry is back doing a Dennis Waterman. Heartbeat the cosy Sunday night TV show on ITV which was firmly set in the 1960s for 18 years. Berry ditched the show after 7 years and I don't think we've seen him since.
More noise from The Wedding Present and no sign of any talent yet. 6 months to go.
The superb Too Funky next and George in full on sulking mode and refusing to be the center piece of his own videos. One of his best tunes though and the video is very nice, how many Supermodels does he need!
I think is where I first paid attention to The Manics. This is a decent tune and a strong performance as well. On their way to being one of the great British rock bands.
Now this is one of my favourite U2 tracks and the video is wondeful. Clearly filmed on tour but they've avoided the usual boring convert video. Soon to come the Paul Oakenfold remix of The Real Thing which is even better and one of my all time favourite tracks.
Breakers:
Oceanic: Law of diminishing returns.
Tina Turner: Don't remember this at all.
Is that it!
The world is stone according to Cyndi Lauper so we get a genuine 80s star back in the studio. This must of completely passed me by at the time. A bit of the Kate Bush about it. I like this. Nice subtle performance as well.
Erasure with their only Number One and the video for Voulez Vous which is the best of the 4 covers for me.
A really good show.