Come on, this is something we can share, let me take you to the 30th of July 1992 edition of Top of the Pops!
Frilling
30-7-92: Presenter: Mark Franklin
(6) THE SHAMEN – L.S.I.
A second studio performance but the song got no higher.
(10) MICHAEL JACKSON – Who Is It (video)
Got no higher.
(16) KRIS KROSS – Warm It Up
Here tonight but the song got no higher.
(NEW) BETTY BOO – Let Me Take You There
In the studio performing what became her fifth and final top 40 hit when it peaked at number 12.
(23) GENESIS – Jesus He Knows Me (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 20.
(21) JOSÉ CARRERAS & SARAH BRIGHTMAN – Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life) (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 11.
(19) ENYA – Book Of Days (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 10.
(13) BILLY RAY CYRUS – Achy Breaky Heart (video) (Breakers)
On his way to number 3.
(NEW) MADNESS – My Girl
Performing a song which had peaked at number 3 back in 1980, but this time around it had to settle for number 27.
(17) ROXETTE – How Do You Do
In the studio and the song peaked at number 13.
(US 1) SIR MIX-A-LOT – Baby Got Back (via satellite)
Number one in America but only made it to number 56 over here.
(1) JIMMY NAIL – Ain’t No Doubt
A fourth studio performance for his third and final week at number one.
(3) MADONNA – This Used To Be My Playground (video) (and credits)
At its peak.
There was no show on August 8th due to the Olympics, so the next edition is the 13th of August.
The Shamen - I do like this one, and although not as successful as the later single Ebeneezer Goode, it's still a cracking tune for the summer of 1992 for the dance floors.
ReplyDeleteBetty Boo - ooh it's Betty back again with her team in matching outfits and legs. Not one of Boo's best singles, but the sexy look was certainly right up there to propel this single to an eventual peak of No.12, and why not with three hotties on stage?
The Breakers - I don't recall the Carreras-Brightman collaboration, but the video looks interesting enough to watch it in full this weekend. Brightman had gone from Disco in 1978 to Musicals in the 80s, and now to a more operatic style in the 90s.
Madness - 1992 was the greatest hits album bringing out all these singles re-releases, as this one was the third single from the album after It Must Be Love got to No.6 and then House Of Fun to No.40, so an eventual No.27 for this one was not really that much better.
US No.1's - ok so Sir Mixalot was currently the US No.1 and for a total of 5 weeks during the summer of 1992, and which preceded Madonna with her playout song dislodging Sir Mixalot for one week of her own at the US top spot, so on this show alone we had TWO consecutive US No.1's.
Madonna takes the last playout tune this week after three consecutive shows with its return to TOTP, but sadly no more, and back to a show next time with nothing played after the no.1, and just the end credits on their own.
Shame Betty Boo didn't have at least two more big hits before she left the business to look after her very ill mum. "I'm On My Way" peaked at 44 and the sublime country rap "Hangover" peaked at 50.
ReplyDeleteFrom the classic album GRRR! Its' Betty Boo with "I'm On My Way" sampling The Beatles "Lady Madonna"
DeleteBaby Got Back would be sampled heavily in Nicki Minaj's song Anaconda in 2014, making it to number 3 in the UK.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the subtitles, I now know after 30-odd years that Mr C was singing "Coming on like a seventh sense", and not "Coming on like a set of stamps".
ReplyDeleteThey still insist on playing the boring Whackson video, though not in full this time. He seems to be telling us a story here.
Oh, Kriss Kross did have another hit, and due to overexposure of their biggest success, it's good to hear this one for a change. Bit more muscle to this, a hint of things to come for hip-hop, though not for this duo, who met a sad end.
Betty Boo, if the record sounded as good as she looked it would have been a Number 1 for sure, but it's all a bit anaemic and under-energised. She went on to make a mint as a writer, so it all worked out.
Breakers, Genesis take aim at the televangelist phenomenon, and it's a mark of how successful satirising these charlatans is that they continue to fleece the public for huge amounts even after decades of criticism and scandals. Jose and Sarah with middle class pop opera, then Enya with an actual size Tom Cruise, and BRC trying to make line dancing a thing internationally.
Did Madness bring their own set? We had kind of heard enough of this, it's a good song but it's not as if it's ever really been away. Suggs ad libbing as if it's going out of fashion.
Roxette, trying a little too hard to have fun with a ditty out of their bottom drawer. For some reason they're dressed as a Euro metal band.
1990s filth continues, Sir Mix-a-Lot, once again the preview system fails as this barely registered here, and only became a "thing" when US media broadcast over here kept referencing it. Mr A-Lot appears to have brought many representatives of his arse appreciation society. Always did look fairly ridiculous, but he apparently meant every word.
Jimmy still there one more time, and always available it appears. Then Madonna to send us to sleep with her snoozefest from a movie.
In 30 years I always thought The Shamen's lyric was "Coming on like a circumstance...."
DeleteThe American's must have loved Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1990s filth then, considering he was No.1 for 5 weeks on the US Billboard Chart with this single in July & August of 1992. Good Lord!
Yes, The USA wasn't immune to the 90s filth tidal wave either. You'd have thought the joke would have worn thin after a couple of weeks.
DeleteOh, and glad to have cleared up the Shamen mystery after three decades!
DeleteWell this episode is a thousand times better than the last one because they've actually managed to get people to turn up to the studio. Also because Roxette, obviously.
ReplyDeleteThe Shamen open with a cracking tune, maybe a little sketchy vocal-wise, but if they can do live why couldn't Enya, hmmm?
Jacko on video means we didn't quite escape this one but as it went up I'll let them off. It's not a memorable song though.
Betty Boo in a weird outfit. This one isn't as fun as her earlier hits and the summer backing sound is a bit too reminiscent of other hits like Fresh Prince's Summertime, but very watered down. It's OK, if not spectacular. She's having a comeback at the moment, so good for her.
Breakers - The one Genesis song and video I quite like. Can't stand the syrupy Carreras/Brightman duet though. Barcelona is the only worthwhile track from the 92 Olympics. Then two previous exclusives with Enya miming more convincingly in this video than she did in the studio last week and Billy Ray Cyrus kick-starting the weird line dancing craze that carries on through the 90s (no thanks to Steps giving it a boost in a few years).
Madness is a pointless rerelease but I like the set they've given them and it's a fun performance.
I'm not going to pretend How Do You Do is top tier Roxette, but I've been re-listening to this one a lot lately with it being 30. It's still solid fun and I'm always happy to see them here, and it definitely comes to life more in Marie's section. Lordy do I miss her.
Sir MixALot - UK-wise, 92 isn't its time but it's going to become well known in a few years thanks to a certain popular 90s/00s sitcom...
Jimmy Nail - He may have only technically been number one for three weeks but this is his umpteenth performance. At least he keeps turning up to the studio.
Poor Madge gets short shrift over the credits despite this song doing pretty well. No wonder it's not so well remembered.
A League of Their Own has recently been re-released, so maybe Madonna's theme will be better remembered now. I got really tired of the Tom Hanks "There's no crying in baseball!" clip at the time.
DeleteMy all time favourite of Roxette is Crash!Boom!Bang! which is still to come in 1994, and mainly due to the glamorous, yet sad video of Marie missing out on love every time:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoXrd3_3fYI
That's one of their best videos I think. Almost Unreal is also a cracking video (especially the version without the clips from Super Mario Bros), where Tony from Hollyoaks gets blasted by a video game.
DeleteFour singles peaking inside the top 40 this week from previous chart regulars, with no TOTP for them:
ReplyDeleteNo.26 Marillion - No One Can
Was surprised to see Marillion still going at this point, considering Fish was churning out his solo singles also around this time after leaving the group, but looking at the Marillion singles catalogue, they continued without Fish until 1995, before calling it a day.
No.29 Right Said Fred - Those Simple Things
After Top 3 achievements for their first three singles, the wheels came to a halt with this one, and I can't say I remember it as it didn't get onto TOTP, but their next single in early 1993 called Stick It Out got to No.4, so all was not lost at this point for RSF.
No.30 Dannii Minogue - Show You The Way To Go
Wasn't this something from The Jacksons with this song title? Anyway, it was unusual for this Minogue sister not to get a call up for TOTP which I'm sure she would have done if it climbed further up the chart the following week!
No.32 Bruce Springsteen - 57 Channels (And Nothing On)
It must have been the early days of cable television for the USA as well as Britain if Bruce is complaining of nothing worth watching. I think here in Britain we had around 30 channels in 1992 if you were subscribed to Sky TV, or does anyone know exactly?
Marillion are still going now! They get their fans to crowdfund their records, because the fans are the only ones interested in them.
DeleteRSF chart return is the Comic Relief single for 1993 so you may wish they hadn't come back. It does contain Bernard Cribbins though so it's not all bad,
DeleteI enjoyed Story of 1991, the best part really is seeing what the acts look like now. A lot devoted to Nirvana considering the paltry amount of attention grunge got on the show, and not really mentioning how Appel clung onto the oldies like grim death, but otherwise I'm glad the wait was over.
ReplyDeleteSo Oceanic were Scousers? Never knew that! And Rozalla has hardly aged. Vic Reeves is always good value, a pity Bowie was an arse that day. Roll on '92!
I didn't quite understand why they showed a 2005 interview of KLF front man regarding the Tammy Wynette collaboration, as the tradition on The Story Of is to interview them now in 2021/22, so it was most odd to see in the corner of the screen '2005 interview', and it would have been nice to see how they look now being interviewed present-day which is the whole point of The Story Of.
DeleteThere were a few archive interviews on it, just people not available or unwilling to go over old ground.
DeleteIf you want to see what KLF's Bill Drummond looks like now (or a couple of years ago), watch his recent film Best Before Death. You'll also get to see him completely naked.
I enjoyed "Story" but wished there'd been a bit of balance regarding the other huge changes... you know, the non-downers removed from the chart rundown, the mugshot-free tickertape version, the album tracks / exclusives / US top tenners taking up UK hit singles' spaces on the show. Just one person chronicling this or a voiceover of the changed from Mel Giedroyc would have sufficed. The programmed was a bit skewed if yo ask me.
DeleteSorry, lack of proof reading before hitting the 'send' button on my Officer Crabtree effort!
DeleteDid anyone else notice the absence of the on-screen new entries on this episode?
ReplyDeleteSurprised they took a week off to make way for the olympics.
I saw that, Rich. I had the volume down ready to see the new enr=tries and.... nothing. Just a slower than anticipated FF for me.
DeleteOoh, good, Mark’s stood back a bit for the intro so he’s less frightening.
ReplyDeleteLyrical rave from The Shamen, complete with some call centre bloke stage right.
Wacko with “Why Is This (On Again)”?
“Warm It Up”? Stone cold gruel.
Ah. Now. The gorgeous Betty Boo in her best outfit, but miming the sung choruses by the sound of it. Note the lyric “House Of Fun”, the title of the only number one by an act later in the show.
Phil Collins in an Elton John wig there.
Jose and Sarah, the new Renee and Renato.
Enya again as well? Throw the book at her!
Mark, Shaky never had a stupid mullet and ponytail haircut and never released a single this bad.
Was Madness’s drummer Woody still in Voice of the Beehive at this point? The band looked very squashed together on that stage.
Per miming while Marie is at least singing live. Meat and potatoes pop rock from Roxette there (Sorry, Rad).
Sir Mix-A-Lot with the biggest ring I’ve ever seen and the most gratuitous backdrop while I’m at it. With the lyrics thrown in as well, how on Earth was this seen as acceptable for TOTP?
Jimmy looks the same again while Sylvia does another chameleon style act. I’m going to miss this.
We sign off with Madonna and “This Used To Be The Playout (Until Stan Screwed The Show)”.
Opening up with The Shamen. Boss Drum is a great album as well so look forward to the other singles. This is a fantastic single and a better performance this time as well.
ReplyDeleteMore of MJ this week. No idea what's going on in the video so I'll just enjoy the song.
Kriss Kross back with their back to front clothing and a song lacking the catchy hook of Jump! Some performances we've had from adult rappers have been worse than this so fair play to them.
Betty Boo looking absolutely gorgeous and a wonderful record as well. Sampling the Four Tops.
Highlight of my week.
Genesis: Depeche Mode took the mick better.
Jose and Sarah: Olympic Games anyone?
Enya: Harry Potter style video.
Billy Ray Cyrus: The American Shakin' Stevens 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Madness are officially back! A great stage set for one of their best tunes. National treasures. Great fun and the second "My Girl" hit of the year.
How do you do Roxette? Cheesy scandi-pop/rock and possibly their worst single. I do love Roxette but this is very below par.
Sir Mix A Lot. Oh now I remember this one. Didn't it tank over here. Does this pass as a novelty record in the USA? Awful. Respect for chucking in all the UK references, at least he's made an effort. Faded out quite early so maybe TOTP didn't like it much either.
Nail back again! Had he moved in? He looks thoroughly bored now as well 😂
No TOTP next week…bloody Olympics. Where's BBC3 when you need it…
If only there was BBC3 in those days, we would never had an excuse to skip a week of TOTP!
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