Rejoice! Rejoice! It's the 5th of August 1993 edition of Top of the Pops!
Frog twenty hit
5-8-93: Presenter: Mark Franklin
(26) JULIET ROBERTS – Caught In The Middle
Getting the show underway with her first of eight top 40 hits and it went up two more places.
(31) DANIEL O’DONNELL – Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love
In the studio tonight and the song went up ten more places.
(7) MADONNA – Rain (video) (and charts)
At its peak.
(6) URBAN COOKIE COLLECTIVE – The Key, The Secret
A second time in the studio and the song went up four more places.
(17) MICHELLE GAYLE – Looking Up
Making her studio debut with her first of seven top 40 hits and it peaked at number 11.
(34) YAZZ & ASWAD – How Long (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 31.
(29) THE GOODMEN – Give It Up (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 5.
(24) CULTURE BEAT – Mr. Vain (video) (Breakers)
On their way to number one.
(21) BON JOVI – I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 17.
(NEW) UB40 – Higher Ground (via satellite)
Peaked at number 8.
(19) BITTY McLEAN – It Keeps Rainin’ (Tears From My Eyes)
Performing his first of three top ten hits and this was his biggest peaking at number 2.
(1) TAKE THAT – Pray (video)
Fourth and final week at number one.
12th of August is next.
Daniel O'Donnell - a song sounding like 20 years earlier in 1973, with O'Donnell looking back to the lost romantic age of the 1970s which seemed to have gone forever by 1993. Nice singalong though.
ReplyDeleteThe Breakers - The Goodmen coming in as a new entry at No.29, and this breakers clip was all we got in their eventual climb up to No.5 in the charts, so I'm not sure as to why it wasn't given a TOTP play in the weeks ahead of this Breakers feature when it had climbed so high? I also see that it was a Breaker again 12 weeks and shows later on the 28th October TOTP at No.9, so not sure how that could be. Good Lord!
I see what Mark Franklin means by Culture Beat sounding like Rhythm Is A Dancer, as it sounds like the background riff has been lifted from the Snap chart topper of the previous summer of 1992.
UB40 - eagerly awaited follow-up to I Can't Help Falling In Love, and this while they were still on their third week out of seven weeks at the Top of the US Billboard charts with I Can't Help Falling In Love. Good Lord, what a comeback year this was proving to be for UB40, after a very quiet time since 1990 when they had their last Top 10 single in a combo with Robert Palmer.
Take That - at last, the Take That video on its final week at No.1. A great summer for the boys, and it was still only the first week of August at this point.
Dory, with thanks to the Polyhex website, The Goodmen's tune's chart run was 29-23-25-35-50-56 (back in the chart after a five-week absence) -45-27-9-5-6-10-11-22-34-48-48-48-65.
DeleteAha, so they had two stints in 1993 with the same song, so I guess they are going to be there or thereabouts in the charts for the rest of the 1993 year. Ooh yeah!
DeleteVery eclectic edition this one presided over by Mark Fr.....what year are you living in this week???
ReplyDeleteNever mind.
Juliet Roberts starts things off and I liked it as a breaker but in full it sounds like ultra generic soul/dance that seems to last about 12 minutes.
Some variety please. Um, thanks. Here's Daniel O'Donnell, who on more than one occasion I have actively prevented my mother from listening to in her own house but actually that's not too bad. I've always found him quite likeable in a soppy nobody sort of way and the song isn't too sickly. I was trying to detect signs of ultra sarcastic clapping from the audience but they seemed to take to him quite happily. Not fussed about hearing him on the show again however.
Madonna accompanies the charts with the 'Rain' video. Beautiful song.
Another great record to follow with a 2nd performance of 'The Key, The Secret'. One of the best dance singles of all for me, the wordless parts are pure '93 optimism. Should be really dated but it still sounds very fresh. For me the follow up is almost as good.
Michelle Gayle, as a star of 'Eastenders' would've had a hit of some size and 'Sweetness' is one of the singles of '94. This isn't a patch on that classic. I did enjoy the sampled voice shouting 'Rejoice' over and over in a manner that suggests he'd nut you if you didn't.
Breakers; Yazzwad covering the Ace number. Reasonable version of a classic tune.
The Goodmen with a favourite from my cassette copy of 'Now 26'. Nice clattering stuff with a rhythm (checks Wikipedia) sampled from Sergio Mendes and then sampled, in turn, by Simply Red for 'Fairground'.
Culture Beat; We'll hear this plenty more times. No complaints from me.
Bon Jovi; Surprisingly inane for them. I can hear Alan Partridge singing the chorus of this.
UB40 by satellite; Gosh how exciting. When a neighbor passed away a few years ago I came into the possession of a '60s LP by Ali and Robin's father's group. It's far, far more gripping and engaging than this. Ali introduces Bitty McLean from wherever they are....
...and here he is with his sweet smiley tune that my sister played continually for weeks. I assume 'It Keeps Raining' is a cover. It's a delightful little tune and I like the slightly off kilter feel to it with the faintly out of synch two note guitar part and the cheery vocal refrain that sounds like it's in a different key to the rest of the song. I'm beginning to think 1993 is the happiest year of the repeats so far.
Take That's final week at No. 1 and the video so lots of imploring hand gestures in slow motion. I probably gave up praying they'd go away by this stage.
The drum intro for The Goodmen's Give It Up is one of the best intros that I have ever heard in any era. Of course we couldn't hear it on this Breakers clip, but anyone who cares to have a listen from the beginning of the song, should make it a favourite.Didn't know that Simply Red used sampled it for Fairground which was turned out to be a No.1 for them in 1997. Good Lord!
DeleteDid some research for you, Mic. "It Keeps Raining" was a Fats Domino B-side in 1961.
DeleteBeing reminded of The Goodmen was my highlight this week. There used to be a congregation of street drummers outside Manchester’s Arndale Centre at weekends around this time and I’m sure they used to play this drum intro whipping up a crowd. I also recall bumping into Mick Hucknall here (I wasn’t watching where I was going), maybe he also clocked the drum rhythms for future Simply Red Fairground usage?
DeleteA bit of Googling, I see that The Goodmen also released stuff under the Riva moniker, including a number 3 UK hit with Dannii Minogue in 2001. Watch out for a TOTP studio performance when we get there in a few years!
A couple of songs peaking outside the Top 40 this week for previous hitmakers earlier in the decade:
ReplyDeleteNo.41 Jason Donovan - All Around The World
First time since his debut in 1988 that he failed to make Top 30, and this first failure to make the Top 40 turned out to be his last ever single, so the curtain comes down on an amazing 5 years of Jason Donovan since he appeared in the singles chart for the first time in September 1988 with Nothing Can Divide Us.
No.59 FPI Project - Come On (And Do It)
Surprised that this lot were still going in 1993 considering they had only one Top 40 single with the brilliant rendition of Going Back To My Roots at the turn of the decade, but this new one for 1993 was their last new single, as they returned in 1999 only to re-release one of their other flops with no success.
TOTP
DeleteA further couple of releases of note further down the charts this week…
Cypress Hill - Insane in the Brain at 39 this week, peeked at 32 last week. It will be back in early 1994 rising to 21 in the charts but still no TOTP for them. Maybe deemed too inappropriate for teatime viewing with this one.
One Dove - White Love only reaching 43 this week before dropping further down the charts. They did get Top 30 with their next two releases but turned out to be a much overlooked dance group of the period. Worth noting their cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene - not quite as good as the Sisters of Mercy version, and their debut Supertramp sampling, Andrew Weatherall remixed single, “Fallen”.
PS. Finally realised what I needed to set to allow Chrome / Safari to post comments non-anonymously on my iPhone - “Allow Cross-site Tracking”. I’ll just set this in place when I’m TOTP commenting as seen some pretty nifty hacks demonstrated using cross-site scripting 😃
DeleteHmm, let's see what happens Breakers-wise and in the non-mugshots when Cypress Hill's follow-up "When The Sh't Goes Down" charts!
DeleteI’d have preferred Julia Roberts to Juliet Roberts. Well sung, though, and a re-issue will be a bigger hit next year.
ReplyDeleteA real truck driver’s gear change next. I loved Mark’s wince when introducing Daniel, the inspiration for a “Father Ted” episode about a syrupy singer called Eoin McLove which I recommend you check out. The crowd were very encouraging to the lad, mind you, and he performed like a seasoned trouper.
On second / third thoughts, “Rain” is quite atmospheric. Non-mugshots: Secret Life made it one place higher with a re-issue two years later, and Ali and Frazier was a female duo doing an Ace of Base sampling cover of Althia and Donna’s big moment. Spoiler alert – we get a snippet next week.
Chooooon! Key to the dancefloor well and truly found.
Mark loses his bet but I can see why he was confident about Michelle’s track. The EMF-style “Rejoice” loop actually detracted from this. Unusual skirt, and what on Earth was that backdrop?
Yazzwad – haha there! First of three laid back reggae songs on tonight’s show.
Wonderful video for The Goodmen! I’m lying.
I could never get my head around Culture Beat’s female vocalist singing “I’m Mister Vain”.
What was that Bon Jovi song called again?
Erm, Ali, if you dig deep you actually get lower ground. Just thought you should know. Still, decent mid-pace UB40 fare and a nice intro for the next act.
See, Shabba? Look, Shaggy. This is how to do non-chest beating mellow dancehall. A bit repetitive but compassionately put together and a nice turn by Bitty.
Take That get a bigger scream than Danial O’Donnell. Never thought I’d type those words.
Bitty's cover version is actually very faithful to fats Domino's origianl, even down to the syncopated guitar refrain...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOwD_zz7dOE
More facts about Delroy McLean...
ReplyDeleteHe was nicknamed Bitty because of his small nature.
He'd previously been a sound engineer and occasional backing vocalist for UB40, hence the lads were so pleased for him in his intro.
His single made number one in New Zealand for seven weeks and got a platinum disc there for sales of 10,000! And yes, I know New Zealand's population is relatively small. Just wondered how many copies you needed to sell each week to be either number 1 or number 30. I have read elsewhere you get a gold disc in Bulgaria for 1,000 sales!
That should read 'small stature'.
DeleteJULIET ROBERTS makes a strong debut with her radio friendly "Caught In The Middle". I seriously think people went out and bought this to stop Radio 1 playing it, which they did a lot!
ReplyDeletePass the sick bucket its an insipid folk/country tune from DANIEL O’DONNELL. Unbelievably dull.
MADONNA and URBAN COOKIE COLLECTIVE we've seen before.
Move over Anita Dobson, step aside Nick Berry, give up Sophie Lawrence, Don't get any ideas Sean Maguire! MICHELLE GAYLE has finally shown us some serious singing talent from EastEnders. Gorgeous, lovely voice and a great tune. Fab-U-Lous
Breakers:
YAZZ & ASWAD – Hello 1988. Lovely tune.
THE GOODMEN – Club Classic
CULTURE BEAT – Monster Tune
BON JOVI – Sleep is for Tortoises
Reggae time next and UB40 are always welcome. "Higher Ground" such a nice tune. Then they introduce another great talent with a great tune. BITTY McLEAN's tune still sounds fresh today. Proper summer tune as well.
Take That now off to find their clothes.
Cilla Black!
Sad to hear Coolio has died at 59. Chef, TV star and of course rapper on Gangsters Paradise, one of the finest rap tunes of all time
ReplyDeleteMy 15 year old watching the news this morning knew the track and said all his friends listened to it as well.
Timeless
Yeah saw this on the news today, very sad. I remember the Gangsta's Paradise No.1 in 1995 which was the last year that I was following the charts, primarily to follow the singles releases from Meat Loaf's Welcome To The Neighbourhood album, and when that completed, I lost interest in the singles charts after following the charts avidly since 1978 as a 10-year old.
DeleteAlso around that time, TOTP2 had just launched, and I felt it was the natural transition to follow that, and move on from TOTP1. It was like a radio listener of a certain generation moved from Radio 1 to Radio 2 which I think I had done by then and before the TOTP move!
DeleteMissed commenting last week as the start of the academic year is a crazy time for me. As others have said, a very diverse episode. Personal highlights were UCC, Michelle Gaye and Bitty M I could have done without Daniel O'Donnell but fair play to him for making the Pops.
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't rude to ask, Rad, are you studying or lecturing or administrating at a place of learning?
Delete