I'm on my hols so posting the 22nd of April 1993 edition prior to watching.
Just a hit away
22-4-93: Presenter: Tony Dortie
(23) VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE feat. JIMMY SOMERVILLE – Gimme Shelter
(9) WHITNEY HOUSTON – I Have Nothing (video) (and charts)
(4) NEW ORDER – Regret
(NEW) SILK – Freak Me (via satellite)
(3) SUB SUB feat. MELANIE WILLIAMS – Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)
(29) MIDNIGHT OIL – Truganini (video) (Breakers)
(26) DANCE 2 TRANCE – Power Of American Natives (video) (Breakers)
(25) STING – Seven Days (video) (Breakers)
(24) D:REAM – U R The Best Thing (video) (Breakers)
(22) DEACON BLUE – Only Tender Love
(NEW) JANET JACKSON – That’s The Way Love Goes
(1) THE BLUEBELLS – Young At Heart
29th of April is next.
Voice of the beehive - I remember a batch of gimme shelter covers being released for the charity Shelter, but I dont remember this as one of them. The best was hawkwind with samantha fox.
ReplyDeleteNew order - 3 weeks running. They certainly moved on from that first shambolic performance ten years earlier.
Dance 2 trance - breaker that wet my interest. I hope we hear more of it
Surprised to see the combo of Jimi Somerville and Voice Of The Beehive doing the pop classic Gimme Shelter, as it was actually listed as 'Various Artists' on the charts instead of the people that performed it in the TOTP studio.
DeleteI was expecting to see Beehive with their legendary puffball miniskirts, but clearly not in front of Somerville! Also was not expecting Somerville to be wearing a Shabba Ranks T-Shirt on stage. Ultimate chaos to start off the show!
A show including what would be two consecutive No.1's in America - Silk and Janet Jackson - but not before Snow who was still at No.1 in America this week for the 7th and final week.
ReplyDeleteWhitney Houston - second follow-up to the big No.1 of hers over the new year, and would continue to belt out singles from this album for the rest of the year, before another hiatus for around two years before coming back again.
New Order - back in Britain after their live-by-satellite on the Baywatch set, and seemingly having at last ditched the Electronic outfit with or without The Pet Shop Boys, that had dragged on since 1989. Looks like they are now back to their original 1982 debut line-up when they stormed onto the scene with Blue Monday.
Silk - would have thought that TOTP would have checked the lyrics before allowing them to perform in the TOTP studio. We certainly don't need to know what they get up to with their girls in private. Despite this, they managed two weeks at No.1 in America with this single after dislodging Snow off the top spot.
Janet Jackson - spoiler of Silk at No.1 in America, as she would knock them off the top spot in turn for 8 weeks of her own at No.1 until July 1993, and so the merry-go-round continues. Jackson was still only 26 on that TOTP studio appearance in 1993, and to think she only had her first child at the age of 50 in 2017, only to divorce soon after. Good Lord!
Just checked those lyrics for "Freak Me" as I haven't seen the show yet. Good grief! Mind you, TOTP recently allowed some satelllte performance for a risque song with a backdrop of a huge arse so what would you expect? Robin Nash wouldn't have allowed that on his watch. The exclusive / satellite Midas touch works again here as Slik's delicate tune peaked over here at 46.
DeleteHa ha! I meant to type Silk and not Slik. Imagine Midge Ure trying to get that jiggy!
DeleteA couple of interesting songs peaking outside the Top 40 this week for previous 70s regulars still hoping for some late career success in the 90s:
ReplyDeleteMike Oldfield - The Bell
This was the first of six singles to be released up until the end of the 90s with no Top 40 placing, as all six from this point on failed to make Top 40, so essentially we have already seen the last of Oldfield in terms of a TOTP chat rundown listing with his last single Tatoo getting to No.33 in what was a better year for him chartwise in 1992.
No.63 Judas Priest - Night Crawler
This before a new group called the Nightcrawlers arrived on the scene the following year in 1994, this was Judas Priest's last ever single, in a chart career stretching back to 1979 with their first single getting to No.14, and a largely unsuccessful series of 8 occasional singles from 1981 to 1993, all failing to make the Top 40, this was the end of the road for them now in 1993.
I love how charities throw together odd groups of musicians. VOTB and Jimmy? Great tune although I'm struggling to pick out the Beehive musical input into this. More Jimmy Disco to me. Nice to hear Jimmy sing in a different register and he clearly has no love for Shabba! Great record anyway. Loved that.
ReplyDeleteWhitney still in Bodyguard mode. Another beautiful tune from a top quality soundtrack.
Off the beach and into the studio it's New Electronic Order with their bestest of tunes..no regrets here. How low can Hooky play that bass.
More Amercian Rubbish and B*****ks from the top of the US charts. This time from Silk. Just dreadfully dull and tuneless.
Sub Sub deservedly Top 3. If it's possible to be in love with a song I'm marrying this one.
Breakers:
Midnight Oil: Trug-a-what?
Dance 2 Trance: No longer calling them Indians
Sting: Love this one every day
D:Ream: Pre remixed success
Hooray it's Deacon Blue, one of my favourite bands. Another great tune from them as well. Nice shiny new tops too and they look a bit like Roxette. Like his bike/mic stand.
Now known as Janet on her records. This is a much more chilled out and r'n'b JJ and I like it..a very soulful tune. Forgotten how much I liked this one.
Club Bluebells this week. They are really loving this comeback aren't they. Fair play to them. There's no business like show business!
Off to get the VHS now…laters!
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DeleteI wonder how many 'Top of the Pops' editions have opened with a song that opened an album in its original version but wasn't a single. Anyway here's one example, Jimmy Somerville joining up with Voice of the Beehive to cover the classic opener from 'Let It Bleed'. It does as well as it can while losing THAT guitar intro and it's done with real purpose. Very strange to hear Jimmy singing in a lower register. He seems to sing both low and high in the same bar later in the song. The Beehive seemed fairly anonymous during that.
ReplyDeleteWhitney Houston accompanies the charts and I didn't recognise that until the gigantic chorus. Sorry Kev your epoch of No.1 video appearances can't be sustained.
From Venice Beach, California to round the back of Borehamwood, New Order return to the studio and they're in good spirits. I noticed a lovely smiling glance from Hooky to Stephen Morris at one point. Following a Whitney vocal blowout with a live vocal from Bernard Sumner doesn't help his band or this show but he's in great voice tonight and though I still think the single is a better sound than a song, I really enjoyed that.
Satellite randiness from Silk, a classic No 1 in US but nothing over here act. No. 46 in this country apparently though Another Level would take a version of it to No 1 in 1998. They enjoy licking her for as long as is acceptable so let's not dwell on it any further.
Sub Sub back again with Mel and she looks hot in the tight jeans and stripey hat. Love her posing during the string samples while the lads shuffle about as before. Great single.
Breaker videos unremarkable aside from Dance 2 Trance. Always had a soft spot for 'Seven Days'.
Nice to hear the Deacon Blue single again after so long. They were just incapable of coming up with a dull melody for me. Ricky bearing a resemblance to Mark Hollis in those shades. Good to see them still hanging in there.
New item and it's a Tony favourite I think. I love it too. Janet Jackson did that sound so well and the spoken part still sounds really smoky.
The Bluebells go full Ritz in the '20s or something for their latest appearance and credit to them for that. They're really loving their time back in the spotlight and an advert related success is for once very welcome.
Runners and riders with chart positions again while Angelo’s away…
ReplyDeleteVoice of The Beehive with Jimmy Somerville (at its peak) - It’s Voice of the Bronski. Actually, two voices from Jimmy, and I prefer his normal lower register. The bespoke Polyhex chart stats website has the artist and hit down as Various Artists – Gimme Shelter EP (in aid of the “Putting Our House in Order” project). In fact, there were a number of different musical versions released featuring (deep breath…) Heaven 17 with Hannah Jones, New Model Army and Tom Jones, Cud and Sandie Shaw, Kingmaker, Thunder, Little Angels, Hawkwind and Samantha Fox, 808 State and Robert Owens, Pop Will Eat Itself vs Gary Clail vs Ranking Roger vs the Mighty Diamonds vs the On U Sound System, and Blue Pearl. A couple of mindboggling collaborations there, and all versions had that Stones track on as well.
Whitney Houston (peaked at 3) – Her fourth consecutive single with a title starting with “I” or “I’m”. Sound down for this effort and focus on the charts. Oo! Lindy Layton! The The!
New Order (sadly at its peak) - I regret this never made number one. Floor line bass miming from Hooky, who will obviously have chronic back pain in old age.
Silk (flopped at 46) - Freaking awful and incredibly slimy. Next.
Sub Sub & Melanie Williams (at its peak) – Wahay! Obviously enjoying themselves there.
Midnight Oil (reached 29) – More Oz political rock from these chaps.
Dance 2 Trance (reached 25) - This made the top 40? How? I’ll get my coat.
Sting (at its peak) – sadly not the superior Craig David Proper Bo chart topper.
D:Ream (peaked this time at 19) – 72 last year, 19 this, re-released and made number 4 the next year, Blimey! Good forecast there from Tony.
Deacon Blue (at its peak) – More of an album track, not really a single, and Antiques roadshow on Ricky’s mic stand.
Janet Jackson (boom! Made number 2) – Watch and weep, Silk. I forgot how much I liked this. Shame about the vocal miming, though.
The Bluebells (obvious) – No business like show business indeed. “The Story of 1993” told how Siobhan Nana and Bobby Bluebell wrote the track with no ruining the story by saying that Bobby Valentino, who’d been paid a session fee, sued for co-songwriting credit due to his coming up with the fiddle refrain, and he won. Ta and bye, chaps, In truth, I was much more of a “Cath” fan myself.
Sharing in the Bluebells love - their performances are just so joyous aren't they? Really enjoyed their contributions to the Story of 93 as well.
ReplyDeleteLots of songs I have forgotten here - I don't remember the Jimmy S/VOTB cover of Gimme Shelter at all, and the Midnight Oil track is one I do remember but wouldn't have recalled until seeing it here. Same with Dance 2 Trance and DB.
New Order an evergreen, Sub Sub is a good fance tune (and more to come from them as Doves in a few years) and I have a soft spot for I Have Nothing.
Silk is a weird exclusive but the song will have bigger impact when Another Level cover it. Not ever keen on episodes with too many non chart hits but a good performance from Janet here, at the start of
a very successful mid 90s run of hits.