I wish you joy and I wish you happiness and above all else I wish you the 25th of December 1992 edition of Top of the Pops!
25-12-92: Presenters: Mark Franklin & Tony Dortie
(-) WET WET WET – Goodnight Girl
(-) RIGHT SAID FRED feat. JOCELYN BROWN – Don’t Talk Just Kiss (video)
(-) DIANA ROSS – When You Tell Me That You Love Me (video)
(-) THE PRODIGY – Everybody In The Place (video)
(-) THE K.L.F. feat. TAMMY WYNETTE – Justified And Ancient (video)
(-) KYLIE MINOGUE – Give Me Just A Little More Time (video)
(-) QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody (video)
(-) MICHAEL JACKSON – Remember The Time (video)
(-) THE TEMPTATIONS – My Girl (video)
(-) 2 UNLIMITED – Twilight Zone (video)
(-) SHAKESPEAR’S SISTER – Stay (video)
(-) SHANICE – I Love Your Smile (via satellite)
(-) MR. BIG – To Be With You (video)
(-) CE CE PENISTON – Finally (video)
(-) RIGHT SAID FRED – Deeply Dippy
(-) SISTERS OF MERCY – Temple Of Love (video)
(-) VANESSA WILLIAMS – Save The Best For Last (video)
(-) DEF LEPPARD – Let’s Get Rocked (video)
(-) SL2 – On A Ragga Tip (video)
(-) IRON MAIDEN – Be Quick Or Be Dead (video)
(-) CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT – Hang On In There Baby (video)
(-) SHUT UP & DANCE feat. PETER BOUNCER – Raving I’m Raving (clip of TOTP 28-5-92)
(-) GUNS N’ ROSES – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (video)
(-) KWS – Please Don’t Go
(-) RICHARD MARX – Hazard (video)
(-) UGLY KID JOE – Everything About You (video)
(-) NICK BERRY – Heartbeat (video)
(-) KRIS KROSS – Jump (video)
(-) ERASURE – Take A Chance On Me (video)
(-) JIMMY NAIL – Ain’t No Doubt
(-) MADONNA – This Used To Be My Playground (video)
(-) SMART E’S – Sesame’s Treat (video)
(-) MARIAH CAREY – I’ll Be There (clip of TOTP 25-6-92)
(-) BILLY RAY CYRUS – Achy Breaky Heart (video)
(-) LUTHER VANDROSS & JANET JACKSON – The Best Things In Life Are Free (video)
(-) FREDDIE MERCURY & MONTSERRAT CABALLE – Barcelona (video)
(-) SNAP – Rhythm Is A Dancer (video)
(-) UNDERCOVER – Baker Street
(-) DR. ALBAN – It’s My Life (video)
(-) THE SHAMEN – Ebeneezer Goode (video)
(-) TASMIN ARCHER – Sleeping Satellite
(-) MADONNA – Erotica (video)
(-) BIZARRE INC. feat. ANGIE BROWN – I’m Gonna Get You (video)
(27) BOYZ II MEN – End Of The Road (via satellite)
(51) RAGE – Run To You (video)
(24) ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT – People Everyday (video)
(3) CHARLES & EDDIE – Would I Lie To You? (via satellite)
(2) MICHAEL JACKSON – Heal The World (video)
(1) WHITNEY HOUSTON – I Will Always Love You (video)
7th of January 1993 is next.
Good Lord, a Christmas 1992 special with mainly videos and live-by-satelitte performances.
ReplyDeleteGot to go with these as my fave video clips on the show:
The Prodigy - Everybody Into The Place
The KLF feat Tammy Wynette - Justified And Ancient
Sisters Of Mercy - Temple Of Love
SL2 - On a Ragga Tip
Smart E's - Sesame Street
Mercury & Caballe - Barcelona
Snap - Rhythm Is A Dancer
The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
Roll on 1993, I think I had enough of 1992 by now.
Aww goodbye 1992 and all those endless number ones! (To be fair, several of them were great, just tended to outstay their welcome)
ReplyDeleteAlthough there was plenty of dross and way too many cover versions, it was actually a better year than I remembered.
Fave songs of the year that got short shrift
(or no coverage at all) here:
Nirvana - Lithium
B52s - Good Stuff
Roxette - Queen of Rain
Prodigy - Out of Space
Kylie - Finer Feelings
Favourite songs that got better treatment:
Suede - Metal Mickey
Shakespear's Sister - Stay
KLF - Justified and Ancient
Snap - Rhythm is a Dancer
Charles and Eddie-Would I Lie To You
Roxette - How Do You Do
Worst things about TOTP this year: moat of the presenters, especially Adrian Rose. Too many non chart songs.
Best things about it: Adrian Rose leaving, the welcome return of the charts
Bit weird going into 93 having not only seen its Big Hits and Story Of, but all the years following.
I remember 93 as not being the greatest year, with a few high spots that pave the way for dance and indie both having a brilliant 1994. Although shoots of Britpop emerged in 91 and 92, it really ramps up in 93 - and my teen years map pretty much exactly against the duration of Britpop so for me the 92-3 era marks a transition in my tastes from pop (albeit with loyalty to old faves like Kylie and Roxette) and into indie, rock and dance. Helped along by hating ruddy Take That (and soon to hate Boyzone and Westlife... E17 and Eternal I had a soft spot for, though)
The KLF's Justified & Ancient was really an overspill from the end of 1991 where it was already at peak position of No.2 at Christmas 1991, but ok we can still count it as the first No.2 of 1992!
DeleteYeah 1992 seems to be a year of indie / dance bands "honing their craft" to use a very annoying phrase. Pulp released Babies, a song that set them on the path to fame and fortune after over 10 years in the wilderness. Suede releasing their first two singles and making their TOTP debut appearance. Radiohead first released Creep, largely ignored in 92, but would pave the way for mega-stardom over the next few years. The Chemical Brothers, Leftfield and Prodigy also laying the foundations on the way to dance music superstars.
DeleteBlur begin to sound more like their Britpop later selves and Oasis continue gigging around Manchester (with an early trip down south to London).
Debut album from Stereolab and debut single from Tindersticks also personal highlights.
Most underwhelming TOTP Christmas show ever?
ReplyDeleteThere was so little memorable about this year it was more like The Chart Show than TOTP.
Does this mean there was a year of Mr Blobby on our screen to come, and nobody got sick of him between this Christmas and the next?
Really could have done without seeing that naked child in the Diana Ross video (WTF?) and Whackson's self-serving plea for the world to be a better place. I blame him for the opposite happening.
Goodbye to a mostly not very good year for music. Please ease off on the covers for 1993!
Story of 98: Great to hear from Air, Moon Safari was one of the greatest albums of the 90s, never mind 98. But more bloody Keith Allen! Give someone else a chance! Justin Currie was surprisingly affable, made me a little guilty at slagging off Del Amitri here so much. But yeah, really the year of All Saints and Robbie Williams. Maybe B*Witched too.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that Fat Les and his entourage performed in the TOTP studio in 1998, as I only recall the video. It was like the whole studio turned into a football stadium with an celebratory pitch invasion before the game started.
DeleteInterestingly enough, there was still a new chart for the Christmas week in 1992, even though without a dedicated TOTP show in favour of the traditional Christmas show, and four tunes peaking this week inside the Top 40 with no TOTP feature for them:
ReplyDeleteNo.23 Boyz II Men - Motown Philly
This first follow-up to End Of The Road, which was still going down the chart at No.27, we now had Boyz II Men with two different singles at No.23 and No.27 this week. Good Lord, we won't get to see Motown Philly on TOTP cos it was released to quickly, and I don't know that they couldn't wait until the New Year to release it in the first month of 1993 to have a better chance of being played on TOTP!
No.31 Kriss Kross - It's A Shame
Wasn't this famous song title done by female vocals before, as it sounds a little familiar? Anyway, this was to be the last Top 40 single for Kross Kross in a relatively short pop career, with only one more single to come in 1993 peaking at No.47 at best, so we have seen the last of Kriss Kross at this point.
No.33 Mike Oldfield - Tatoo
Highly underrated single, and part of the Mike Oldfield recent comeback in 1992, this was to be his last ever Top 40 single, as six more singles released between 1993 - 1999 all peaked outside the Top 40, which was a sad way to go out.
No.40 Brand New Heavies - Stay This Way
With 1992 as their first full year and doing relatively well, they would go on to release lots more singles throughout the decade with mixed fortunes, with their best result coming in 1997 with their only Top 10 hit called You've Got A Friend.
Bye, 1992, or what we saw of it no thanks to Adrian Ponce, and shut the door after you. One year closer to proper hosts and the show getting closer to normal.
ReplyDeleteThe Shamen must have been grinning like Cheshire cats at a successful year. See what I did there?
I can’t stand Mr Blobby but well done for two early head slaps to Dorky. Wish I could have done that!
Chart rundown: Someone can’t spell “Rhythm” when Letrasetting Heaven 17’s hit.
East Side Beat aiming for an Italo house vibe and going for the ‘kicking a football’ pun as the dancers’ shirts are poor replicas of the kits of well known Italian football clubs – Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio and Sampdoria. Back to the filing when you finish, Colin.
Gloria knocking Madge into a cocked hat looks-wise, and the best megamix of the lot in my book.
“Louder, man!” Does he mean the volume or the bassist’s trousers? The Lemonheads’ cover works well, but a shame Evan decided to screw the lyrics up at the end.
Loved Dave Grohl’s wig in the clip for one of Nirvana’s finest.
Captain Birdseye catching a fish finger was the highlight of the next piece of shite.
The Wedding Present looking and sounding claustrophobic. Ironic that “No Christmas” peaked at (December) 25.
Lisa leaves her car park trailer again for more lift music Rochdale R ‘n’ B.
I didn’t bother with the last three horrors. What a way to end the year (I don’t critique the Christmas editions). A fortnight’s break and we’re off again during the bank holiday weekend!
Mark and Laters together again (for the first time since last Xmas?). The Tartan wonder kicks off with January's rather dreary Number One. Nan probably enjoying this with a wee sherry.
ReplyDeleteNice they've made an effort with the set. Still like the Diana song from last Xmas. Nice to see The KLF and a bit of Kylie too. Then onto February and one of my favourite MJ tunes and Shaky's Sister not in the studio, how did they not get an invite?
Shanice from the USofA with 92s most played radio tune (from what I remember). Hearing this once a year is more than enough thank you. We edit the rap out in Britain darling.
I never wanted to hear that Mr Big song again so thanks TOTP, Ce Ce one of the year's dance highlights and onto The Freds before they were vaccine dippy! To be fair a great sing-a-long tune for Xmas day.
Sisters of Mercy an awesome tune, Vanessa still getting her astronomy wrong and love em or hate em it's Def Leppard (love them me). Stuck at Number 2 it's SL2! Curiosity make a (brief) comeback and a great cover from GnR.
Please don't KWS? Oh you have. Why do I always end up liking this tune?.Singing along now….Loving the tinselled dancers. 😜
Hazard still a fab tune, an anti-love song from Ugly Kid Joe which is lots of fun then Kris Kross make your heartbeat faster 🤣
Love a bit of ABBA-Esque then in July it's Jimmy Nail with his club singer routine. Ain't no doubt this is a party banger.
Madonna showing what a good singer she is when she stops messing about and Mariah showing she's not as good a singer as she thinks she is. Achy Breaky the first real turkey of the night and the Janet/Luther tune I dislike more every time I hear it. BARCELONA! SNAP! Storming dance tune.
Some EastEnders appear briefly for some karaoke Rafferty. Again liking the dancers. I think this might have got Dad in from the kitchen, the sprouts will boil over.
Grab your tampax it's Dr Alban and then grab some E's! Shame(n) they couldn't make put in an appearance.
Tune of the year from Tasmin Archer!
Madge flogging her book, the annoyingly Spotify dodging Bizarre Inc and then it's the end of the world with Boyz II Men. Time for another shandy. Or 3. Christ that was painful.
Rage running, Arrested Development chilling and then the Queen rocks up early to introduce Charles and Camilla with Would I Lie To You Diana? I think.
MJ begging for donations (it's not a Telethon Michael) and Whitney with as Mark rightly says "another cover version" but we can forgive this one as the song wasn't being ruined but improved upon.
My teenager and I agree this is the best TOTP theme. I don't expect anyone else to agree. 🌲
Special Mention for this weeks Number 34. One of my all time favourite Xmas Tunes "All Alone On Christmas" by Darlene Love. This would be the year I discovered this tune and it's been on my Xmas playlist ever since.
Xmas Laters…..
So long then 1992
ReplyDeleteSome really great music in amongst all the dance tunes (some of which were also great) and as usual some real turkeys!
Top Hits
Shakespears Sister - Stay
Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
KLF - America: What Time Is Love?
Army Of Lovers - Crucified
Annie Lennox - Why? / Walking On Broken Glass
Def Leppard - Lets Get Rocked
Ten Sharp - You
ZZ Top - Viva Las Vegas
L7 - Pretend We're Dead
Sisters Of Mercy / Ofra Haza - Temple Of Love 92
Marc Almond - The Days Of Pearly Spencer
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing (Perfecto Mix)
Roy Orbison / kd Lang - Crying
Bob Marley - Iron Lion Zion
Tasmin Archer - Sleeping Satellite
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
And some great dance tunes:
Blue Pearl - Can You Feel The Passion
Clivilles and Cole - A Deeper Love
Ce Ce Peniston - Finally
Opus III - It's A Fine Day
RAF - We've Got To Live Together
Praga Khan - Injected With A Poison
Utah Saints - Something Good
SNAP! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
Felix - Don't You Want Me
The Shamen - Boss Drum
Stereo MCs - Connected
Turkeys
Cicero - Love Is Everywhere
Barbra Streisand - Places That Belong To You
Hammer - Do Not Pass Me By
Shut Up And Dance - Raving I'm Raving
Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You
Undercover - Never Let Her Slip Away
Doctor Spin - Tetris
The Farm - Don't You Want Me
Chris Rea - Nothing To Fear
Ambassadors Of Funk - Supermarioland
Jason Donovan - As Time Goes By
Almost everything by The Wedding Present
Here's the playlists:
TOTP1992
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5aeHBMqgiTgvC9kNvGpD4s?si=ii3Y_OkJRJmLdzzO3lLwXA&utm_source=copy-link
The tunes ignored by TOTP or just missing out on the Top 40
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3z6mxdzhc7FUhJtR3YUlPU?si=U2hrqvsRRVC6PhodfMNIpw&utm_source=copy-link
See you all next month for 1993…..
BBC4 to be scrapped on terrestrial televison and shoved online only! The end of the re-runs on the telly at least unless BBC2 pick them up... which is maybe why they've made and broadcast the recent "Story of" series (fingers crossed)....
ReplyDeleteBBC Four to be online only so TOTP might have been watched via the iPlayer https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/may/26/bbc-announces-raft-of-closures-cbbc-four-online-only
ReplyDeleteRIP Alan White. Longstanding Yes drummer died aged 72 today. Also played with some other famous acts such as Lennon and Harrison in his early years. Released a near unheard of Christmas song 'Run with the Fox' in 1981 with the late Chris Squire (Yes bass player).
ReplyDeleteAlso heard yesterday on the news that Depeche Mode founder and keyboardist Andy Fletcher passed away at only 60. RIP
DeleteHello, sorry for being so late. I enjoyed this particular Christmas special. Certainly the most festive one I've seen so far, with plenty of acts appearing on sets resembling BBC Xmas idents or luxury store window displays. Awww poor Cliff.
ReplyDeleteMark and Tony, which is all we'll have for the next several months so we must accept, and I think they did a good job. Mark ever reliable. Tony not quite so but I enjoyed his quips and his general jollity. Ho! Ho! Ho!, it's late May.
A quick chat with Richard Fairbrass (Xmas things) then an opening croon from Marti and the boys. I don't think I've ever seen someone play double bass sitting down. Tommy has clearly declined to wander around the audience giving out presents so we get the pedestrian drumming version of 'Goodnight Girl'. I still love this song, still evokes happy 6th form memories. Marti planning to do some Bill Haley covers afterwards.
Videos for January; Was that the producer's favourite month? At least this time the clips are quite long and have full verses or choruses. Good to see KLF and Tammy Wynette get more of a showing. Surprised Shakespeare's Sister didn't get a studio appearance. Kylie, ppprrrr!!!! indeed.
An early bit of satellite interference from Shanice. Very nice. Not much more to say. No festiveness on show so not worth commenting on although an anonymous foot appears in shot early on. I don't imagine Claude Debussy would've been smiling at a piece of his work being used. A piece familiar to anyone who went to primary school in the early '80s courtesy of Tomita's burbly 'Snowflakes Are Dancing' LP.
Feb vids; er, 2
Right Said Fred in the studio and Richard is a one man Christmas party during this all while wearing silver tights and what looks like a duvet from a bed and breakfast. Full of "how are yer?" bonhomie and jokey references to the lead guitarist with the exotic name. I wonder if his brother felt a bit left out. Can't deny the enjoyment and yuletide spirit of that performance.
March wasn't that poor wasn't it? I guess it was in the top part of the charts. 'Let's Get Rocked' instead of 'Why'. Why?
KWS' cover of KC's snorkel coat classic still hideous then more videos. Still love 'Hazard', still hate everything about 'Ugly Kid Joe'.
I'll have to stop at this point as I'm on my way to work. I'll do a part 2 tomorrow.
Pt,2;
ReplyDeleteOne reason I didn't watch that many summer '92 editions was due to the appearance of Jimmy Nail and his middle aged song / shrug. Heard 'Ain't No Doubt' so many times that summer but 1 more play is ok 30 years later. The mix of 'sod all this' spoken word delivery and melodramatic yelp is actually pretty entertaining. Still doesn't hide the fact that the chorus is essentially 'I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor' with boring wino bloke lyrics.
Madonna mourning the loss of her playground then some kids in a playground or somewhere singing a theme song and presumably not knowing why. No idea why but I really like both of those.
Mariah and her boys covering The Jackson 5 so drearily. Which one did the giant "and ohhhhh!!!" middle 8 on the original? For me it's 1000 times more effective than "the shucks, you're so great" effort here.
Tony drops the Xmas goodwill to try to get Daniella Westbrook to agree that the Cyrus hit is awful. She's an actress Tony. Yes it's awful. Still like Luther and Janet, more happy things from her to come. Freddie's tune wasn't likely to be a flop that summer. Snap still sounding brilliant.
Undercover is another act I was very keen to miss mainly as he smeared dance wary bleep nothingness over two of my very earliest and most precious pop memories. And looked fairly disinterested while doing it. What was it that made him briefly a pop star? Looking a bit like Martin Clunes?
Vids; Ok dance then moment defining dance.
The 1st of my two highlights, it's Tony and Mark's favourite Tasmin Archer with another beautiful performance of 'Sleeping Satellite'. Revisiting this wistful gem has been one of the highlights of '92's repeats. Big coat and plenty of soul. And just to make it entirely clear that this is a roundup of 1992, the whole thing presided over by a nice smiling man in the moon.
Great to see a little bit of the video for 'Im Gonna Get You' clichéd though it is.
Boyz II Men over emoting for America again. Did they parachute into that satellite linkup?
The videos resolutely in the twos and threes by this point. I would've happily dropped Undercover for some more. A decent dose of the Development. Yes they'll be back in 1993 Mark.
2nd highlight with a none more festive appearance from Charles and Eddie. How come this never gets shown on Totp2 Xmas compilations? Guitar a little too close to that open fire, plugged in or not. Really great song and the performance as always a blast.
Bringing it down, Jacko with a smileless introduction then his song about world peace, designed for little children to sing at grownups at family parties.
The Christmas / Jan No 1 to end with and I found it rather affecting this time round. Will be bored of it again the next time I'm sure.
The most festive of specials fittingly ends with a swirling collection of video clips inducing a mild post celebration headache.
Favourites of the year;
ReplyDelete20. Suede, Metal Mickey
19. Wet Wet Wet, Goodnight Girl
18. Stereo MCs, Connected
17. Tears For Fears, Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)
16. The KLF, America, What Time Is Love
15. Ce Ce Peniston, Finally
14. Annie Lennox, Why
13. Nirvana, Come As You Are
12. The Stone Roses, Waterfall
11. The Shamen, Phorever People
10. Charles and Eddie,. Would I Lie To You
9. Tasmin Archer, Sleeping Satellite
8. Dina Carroll, Ain't No Man
7. En Vogue, My Lovin'
6. The Future Sound Of London, Papua New Guinea
5. Tori Amos, Crucify
4. The Manic Street Preachers, Motorcycle Emptiness
3. Shakespeare's Sister, Stay
2. R.E.M, Man On The Moon
Single of the Year: The Shamen, Ebeneezer Goode
I still prefer Phorever People personally but I didn't quite realise what a fantastic generational thing Ebeneezer was until seeing these repeats. A massive gleeful statement which took me back like nothing else to that time and still sounds vital. For all its silliness, the end line; "It's time to shout loud!!!" is brilliantly pitched defiance in the face of attacks on the culture following Castlemorton and the like. Ha ha haaaa! Great year in the end.
Turkeys (of which there are plenty);
10. Jimmy Nail, Ain't No Doubt
9. KWS, Please Don't Go
8. WWF Superstars, Whatever that was called
7. The Chippendales, Give Me Your Body
6. Undercover, Baker Street (git!)
5. Ambassadors of Funk, Supermarioland
4. Dr. Spin, Tetris
3. Undercover, Never Let Her Slip Away (double git!!)
2. Billy Ray Cyrus, Achy Breaky Heart
1. Take That, It Only Takes a Minute; Sorry lads, I did end up really liking you but I really hate this single. It still sounds like Big Fun trying desperately to get back in the charts with an arrangement that in keeping with its lyrics, actually sounds like having the flu. They'll get way better but this single stopped me from appreciating that for about 2 more years.
Should've been included on the show;
St. Etienne, Avenue
Should've been included if it had made the top 40;
The House of Love, Feel
See you all in '93, laters!
Confirmation today that 11th February 93 edition with Rolf Harris is being skipped. 4th and 18th on Friday 17th June.
ReplyDeleteMorgie.
Interesting to see the end of "The Story of 1999" finish with a 'next up' for 2000, which suggests someone at the BBC is willing to try to get the re-runs to go to the very end... well, apart from the actual very end when you-know-who hosts quite a lot of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens when they reach 2007, as TOTP ended in 2006, so there would be no TOTP studio performances for Big Hits 2007 onwards. Will they show videos instead?
DeleteLooks like 24th June will be Glastonbury so no TOTP
ReplyDeleteA delightful mix of popular music Mister Angelo. I'll tell you a Jimmy Nail story sometime that involved where my Mother worked...
ReplyDeleteDo tell us the Jimmy Nail story Paul Rance :-)
ReplyDeleteAngelo, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actor Timothy Spall visited the place my Mother worked at with a view to buying the property in the mid-'80s. Jimmy Nail later also turned up with a view to either buying, or just checking it over for his mate, as I seem to recall Jimmy was a bit of an expert on doing up old houses and sellin 'em. Anyway, neither bought the property. My Mum never saw Jimmy, but she met Timothy and his family, including Rafe Spall who was playing with Ed Coleman who lived at the house. Both boys have grown up to become quite well-known actors now. Timothy asked about employing my Mother, and he was a very likeable bloke apparently. Mum came out with the "I've seen you somewhere" line and said that Timothy "had a face like a full moon".
ReplyDelete