I've been fitted up for size for the 10th of March 1994 edition of Top of the Pops!
Top of the cops
(7) PRIMAL SCREAM – Rocks
Getting the show underway with their first of two top ten hits but it got no higher.
(5) M-PEOPLE – Renaissance
They are studio regulars now but the song got no higher.
(19) JANET JACKSON – Because Of Love (video) (and charts)
Got no higher.
(3) DOOP – Doop
Performing what will soon be number one.
(17) MARCELLA DETROIT – I Believe
Performing her first of three solo top 40 hits, this one peaking at number 11.
(23) THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH – Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud) (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(22) THERAPY? – Trigger Inside (video) (Breakers)
Got no higher.
(31) ALISON MOYET – Whispering Your Name (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 18.
(26) CARTER – THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE – Glam Rock Cops
In the studio and this arresting song went up two more places.
(NEW) BON JOVI – Dry County (via satellite)
Peaked at number 9.
(1) MARIAH CAREY – Without You
Fourth and final week at number one.
(NEW) HADDAWAY – Rock My Heart (studio montage) (and credits)
Became his fourth and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 9.
17th of March is next.
Primal Scream - really like this one, and seems to be a throwback to the early days of rock music in the 70s, and doesn't feel 90s at all, but given fresh 90s generation singers.
ReplyDeleteChart Rundown - interesting to see Chaka Demus & Pliers as a new entry at No.27 with Murder She Wrote, and disappointing to see that they lost out on a Breakers slot this week to Alison Moyet further down the chart at No.31. Turned out the Demus & Pliers were at peak position this week, so we would not get to see Murder She Wrote at all.
Doop - six girls and two lads on stage with this one. The two lads in the group seemed to be the mixers on this 1920s Charleston sendup, and although I'm not into those 1920s dresses on four of the girls, the tune was half decent with the two other girls wearing more modern evening dresses that stopped above the knees. Anyway, turned out that Doop were the latest one-hit wonders, as this was the only single they had.
Really good show this one!
ReplyDeleteRidiculously strong opening from Primal Scream, and a song that's never gone away.
M People always give good Pops, it's not their best single by some distance and I'd forgotten it charted so high, but I still enjoyed it.
I found mid 90s Janet Jackson a bit dull but it's perfectly fine here I guess.
Doop - it's funny to hear them calling it a revival of 'an old dance, the Charleston' from a (20)20s perspective when we're so used to it on Strictly Come Dancing. Fun if mildly annoying.
Marcella D - Not as catchy as Shakespear's Sister, perhaps, but I do like this and haven't heard it in years.
Breakers - I love all of these and am sad we didn't have time for them in full, but it's a crammed week of new stuff in the charts. (I'm assuming Moyet beat CD&P to the slot because of the video?)
Carter - another classic Pops act, referencing the show every other line, the suck ups.
Bon Jovi - oh so now we're framing exclusives as 'the world's best acts performing for us'. I mean, yeah it still would be if you waited until the ruddy songs charted, but I can see how acts might be more inclined to perform a pre release to get the sales up. Still, Beautiful South and Therapy? were robbed. The song's a bit dull but listenable.
AoB still at 2 would have been revisited in a former era but I guess they couldn't have fitted it in this week with so much content. Wonder if it would have gone top number one had it been here again?
See you Mariah, bit bored of it now but four weeks is nothing compared to another ballad cover version coming later this year.
Haddaway is alright
Roxette next week? can't wait
Still preferred to have Chaka Demus & Pliers on the Breakers ahead of Alison Moyet!
DeleteIf it's any consolation, Ace of Base went one better in the US charts with The Sign, getting two stints at No.1 - first in March with 4 weeks at the Top, and although pushed off the Top by R Kelly in April, they returned to No.1 in May with the same single for another two weeks at the top spot after R Kelly was done with his Bump 'n Grind at the end of April.
Two songs peaking this week outside the Top 40 for previous 80s chart regulars:
ReplyDeleteNo.52 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance
'Twas also the last dance for Petty and his Heartbreakers, with the curtain coming down right here on a chart singles career dating back to 1977 with his debut hit Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll. Thanks for everything Tom!
No.89 Squeeze - It's Over
Was that referring to Tom Petty, cos it wasn't over for Squeeze just yet, as further new singles in 1995 and 1996 would produce mediocre results with a best placing of No.27 in the summer of 1996 for their penultimate single Heaven Knows.
Not a cover of the Roy Orbison classic No1, nor ELO's very pleasant second track off the 'Out of the Blue' album, nor even the wonderful Level 42 single. No, this was a Difford/Tilbrook composition which they gave this highly original title to.
DeleteThe ELO track has a rare video for it which I had never seen at the time, cos it was only released as a single for the USA, hence never seen in Britain, and the orchestral beginning of It's Over was actually the end of Mr Blue Sky reversed according to Wikipedia.
DeleteIt peaked at No.75 in the US Billboard charts in October 1978, when in the UK at the same time the preferred single release from the same album was Sweet Talkin' Woman, which did much better getting to No.6, and even got a Legs & Co slot on TOTP!
Never realised 'It's Over' was a single release in the US. Backed with the instrumental track 'The Whale' I see... Didn't know about the intro being a 'reverse' either. Jeff Lynne liked those.
DeleteThanks for the info Dory!
By October '78 ELO were coming to the end of their singles releases from the Out Of The Blue Album, releasing a closing singles EP in December, as by then they were already getting us prepared for the next album Discovery and its montage of 'videos' as part of one long film.
DeleteI've always wanted to get my hands on the Out of The Blue video EP where the video singles from the alum were interconnected with scenes from a plane docking in into the famous ELO spaceship as well as the Jet Records tower block leading in to one of the videos, and you only get to see those videos individually on Vintage TV or the newer That's TV channel that replaced it, but never the full uninterrupted video EP in its entirety.
Primal scream - engaging top Stones mode, a good start to the show
ReplyDeleteM people - Move On Up clone, but pleasant enough
Doop - lightweight, repetitive,… and really catchy. True one hit wonderss for pointless and pop master fans…
Marcella Detroit - nice voice, starts a bit Phil Collins, but improves…
Carter USM - biased, but I like this. Chorus reminded me of Parklife.
Bob Jovi - live, exclusive,… and dull
I really enjoyed Mariah live on the 24/02 show. I only recalled the other video featured on this show with her dressed in those black trousers.
ReplyDeleteMariah's version actually outsold Nilsson's definitive version which surprised me. Harry never got to see the song at No1 again as he died in January 1994.
Another show of mostly inessential singles but definitely Ric Blaxill's makeover is changing things for the better. More focus on the music and enjoying the fans/overexcited teens at the front for the rockier things. Mark Goodier, dressed like Mark Owen, doing the honours and a good job as always.
ReplyDeletePrimal so; A perfect start of would be if I hadn't heard the song so many times including pretty much every time I've seen them on TV since 1994. It's good stomping fun but a little hackneyed (or wherever they were living at the time. Sorry) and they could do far better. Still great to see it when brand new and some lovely interaction between Bobby and the late great Denise Johnston.
M People; Back again and becoming less and less joyful. Heather Small's hair didn't help. Good chorus to this one but like all of their singles post 'How Can I Love You More', just a little, um, muscly.
Janet Jackson; Cute, smiley and almost completely forgettable.
Doop; Nope
Marcella Detroit; The highlight of the show for me. Totally forgot this one and what a fine tune! Marvellous single to go solo with, very strong and she looks a real pop star here.
Some good breakers for a change; The Beautiful South; Brilliant return, probably all elephant's trunk in the video. Therapy; Another good one from 'Troublegum'. Alison Moyet; More joking about with Dawn French. Great chanteuse style chorus to that. I thought it was a very old song but apparently goes back only as far as the early '80s.
Carter; Like Charlie I also thought the chorus sounded like 'Parklife'. Good song, lively as usual and now with a drummer on stage. The police siren whirling away must be a reference to 'Blockbuster'. Soon after this performance they issued an album of b-sides called 'Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked'. Mark doesn't mention this.
Bon Jovi; Appearing earlier to say that they can't perform outside at the moment due to the weather which doesn't ring quite true but at least it reminds us that the Jove were one heavy rock band who had a sense of humour. This is one new phase Bon Jovi single that I don't remember. Clearly due to it having virtually no tune.
Mariah Carey; The studio clip again. Wouldn't it be great if she got the idea for covering the song by idly watching the first 2 minutes of the movie version of 'Porridge' .
Haddaway gets to soundtrack the close ups of various gantries and pop stars earlobes the lucky man.
At least some of Bon Jovi still have a sense of humour to be fair, given Richie Sambora just spent weeks dressed up as a jacket potato full of baked beans on prime time ITV
DeleteHi folks. Unable to log in all weekend (and about to retire for the night) due to email / Blogger difficulties caused by having to change my email address. I'm out tomorrow night so I'll try and watch and critique this week's shows on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteA brief start to the show for me as I can’t stand either the first track or the second act.
ReplyDeleteSome supposed humour from BJ before Janet with a Jamiroquai hat, a slightly pretentious video and a faster beat than her norm.
Non-mugshots: the first of two top 40 hits for Fire Island (the next one’s five calendar years away), Pop Will Eat Itself’s penultimate hit, and the only time we’ll see the name of midlands hiphoppers Credit to The nation, who had five other chart entries between 56 and 72.
Doop. A load of old flappers.
Marcella gets a black and white treatment which would have suited Doop more. Slapped legs for the Letraset applier who mis-spelt her previous group Shakespear’s Sister. ‘Surname’ on her guitar strap (compare and contrast with Elvis Costello’s fretboard last time). The sort of song 4 Non-Blondes needed as a follow-up hit.
Breakers: The Beautiful South cycling on a trunk road (sorry), not the best from Therapy? (who are from Larne, not Belfast) and… oh dear, was that video meant to be funny?
Neither the tickertape nor Goodiebags are brave enough to give Carter their full name. “Selhurst Park Life” wasn’t much cop, so no wonder it never reached the long arm of the charts.
“Dry County”? Derby County would have been more exciting.
FF Pariah Carey again for a snippet of old Hadders over another daft montage.
Let's start by saying I enjoyed this more than any other 1994 show so far...
ReplyDeleteKick your socks off hunny its Primal Scream with a really powerful performance of a storming tune. Rocks a long held favourite of mine and I thought the whole staging was great for this one.
A Sax "Renaissance" as M-People score a 5th Top Ten hit. A slice of joy in a pop-record. Lovely stuff.
Under Ric TOTP really is starting to find some confidence in itself again and some proper swagger too as Bon Jovi introduce JANET JACKSON. It's another poppy number and I really rather liked "Because Of Love"
Speaking of fun and energy here come DOOP!
So we do need to ask ourselves how this became such a big Number One hit single. And I think the answer is purely that it appealed to people who didn't normally buy records. This is the only time I had to go into town and buy a copy of a single for my Nan who was 71 at the time. Great fun.
"I Believe" the really talented sister was MARCELLA DETROIT. I also believe this is a stunningly beautiful record.
Breakers:
THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH – Greetings Jacqui Abbot and a partnership still going strong today.
THERAPY? – Trigger Inside (and repeat infinitely in the absence of a tune)
ALISON MOYET – Comic Relief maybe?
CARTER miming alert but who cares. "Glam Rock Cops" is a great record guaranteed a slot due to the TOTP reference. I think this may be the tune of theirs I've liked the most so far.
Anyone order a Jacket Potato? Richie and the BON JOVI gang with an NYC exclusive of an OK but slightly below par effort from them (for me at least).
Still loving DIVA CAREY and this version of " Without You" and then What Is Love Part III to play us out.