Do you remember the time you knew the 10th of August 1995 edition of Top of the Pops?
(Sm)Ash hit
10-8-95: Presenter: Lisa I'Anson
(18) MARY KIANI – When I Call Your Name
Getting the show back underway with her first of four top 40 hits, but it got no higher.
(11) ASH – Girl From Mars
Making their studio debut with their first of seventeen top 40 hits, but number 11 was its peak.
(9) TLC – Waterfalls (video) (and charts)
Peaked at number 4.
(24) JULIAN COPE – Try Try Try
A second studio performance for this one but it was now at its peak.
(30) TINA ARENA – Heaven Help My Heart
Here tonight and the song went up five more places.
(7) SUGGS – I’m Only Sleeping
Performing his first of two solo top ten hits, and this Beatles cover was at its peak.
(NEW) MADONNA – Human Nature (video)
Will peak at number 8.
(3) BOYZONE – So Good
A second time in the studio for this song, but it got no higher.
(1) TAKE THAT – Never Forget
Second of three weeks at number one.
(10) FELIX – Don’t You Want Me (video) (and credits)
Had peaked at number 6 in 1992, this time number 10 was as high as it got.
At last, TOTP 1995 is back!
ReplyDeleteJust love Lisa l'Anson who is fast becoming my favourite presenter this year.
TLC - onto the music then, and it was the videos on this show that really stood out. First TLC with Waterfalls - absolutely amazing and calming video. Who doesn't like waterfalls? The lead singer on this, ran a close contest with L'Anson for most cuteness on the show.
Julian Cope - still going strong in 1995, and always best remembered as lead singer on The Teardrop Explodes in 1981 with the powerful (Run To Accept My) Reward, and a far cry for what was to come in this later solo career now into 1995 and still going.
Suggs - first solo single since Madness? Good Lord, yes Madness's last Top 40 single was in 1986, then a flop single in 1988 only getting to No.44, and then in 1992 and 1993 re-releasing their early 80s singles to mixed results, so this new solo career you could say was long due from Suggs, and had around three years of life in it, up until 1998 with seven Top 40 singles for him.
Madonna - the other video on the show apart from TLC, now that TOTP had increased their allowance to two videos on the show (excluding the No.1 slot) since the October 1991 move from London to Elstree studios. This video was a weird but interesting to watch, as Madonna was still churning out new singles and creative videos well into the 90s.
Felix - ah, nice playout this week at its peak of No.10, but Angelo it was actually a re-mix of the original 1992 single that peaked at No.6, and they would later release a second remix of it in late 1996 which would peak at No.17.
I was never really a fan of Lisa on the radio but she does a really good job hosting TOTP. Very natural.
DeleteWell that has been a long wait!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back 1995!
I remember finding Lisa I'Anson really annoying at some point but she's done a decent job so far so maybe it was later in the 90s she started bugging me?
Some good stuff tonight. I'd forgotten Mary Kiani altogether but decent enough pop track.
An excellent twofer of Ash and TLC (look at Alanis sneaking in the charts at 40 there... still adore that track and I remember discovering it even before it charted and being blown away as an angsty 15 year old. Jagged Little Pill is still in my top 5 albums of all time, as it seems to be with most other now 40-something women!).
Very enjoyable Julian Cope performance. Not that fussed about either Tina Arena or Suggs but both perfectly fine.
Decent if not spectacular Madge then two dire boy bands before a good track to see us out over the credits.
KIANI and the Kanaries to open up. "When I Call Your Name" a decent slice of pop. Can't remember what her other 3 hits were so that will be a nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteASH were a really hyped young band who actually lived up to the hype. Six-form angst in the form of "Girl From Mars" which is surprisingly assured for a band so young. Looking forward to seeing more of them over the next few years.
TLC and a rather decent video for "Waterfalls". Loved this so much I went and bought the album to get the full length version. Nice to see 2 fave songs of mine entering the charts from Alanis Morissette and The Connells.
Nice hat JULIAN. Really liking the tune.
TINA ARENA has been released from her Chains. "Heaven Help My Heart" has a very country vibe. Would have fitted in well with Shania and Leann in 98/99. Bit of a disappointment though after her last hit.
National treasure SUGGS has a decent stab at "I’m Only Sleeping" a fairly light and fluffy Beatles number.
Loved this MADONNA tune at the time but "Human Nature" has lost it's allure for me over the years. Decent video.
The thing that was "So Good" about BOYZONE was the tunes. Performances all rather embarrassing. Thanks for clarifying the "riding accident" Lisa. I did wonder.
TAKE THAT still Number One and a pointless but quality re-release from FELIX to play us out.
Good show all round. TLC best. Tina worst.
Taking a break from the 35 programmes I’m behind to report on the ‘new’ stuff
ReplyDeleteMary Kiani - TOH said ‘nice outfit’. That was the highlight of the performance
Ash - I bought this at the time. Live performance is a little lack lustre, but still like the tune. I thought there was a girl in the band, but mr google told me that that was later, they started as a three piece.
TLC - sounded a bit weak - I wonder if they always play the album version these days?
Julian Cope - pleasant enough. Is this pre-‘wierd microphone stand’?
Tina Arena - dull. First FF
Suggs - interesting choice of cover. Didn’t do much with it, other thsn slow it diwn, but it was pleasant enough. TOH said ‘his antics don’t look quite the same when he’s on his own. Looks a bit of a knobhead’.
Madonna - nice video, but not one of her finest tunes. interesting repositioning of the chorus to remove the naughty words. [NOTE just had her first top 10 single in 15 years, dramatically extending her current longevity record]
Boyzone - been watching Take That have we?…
…speaking of which!
Amongst all the comedians and pop stars and wives of sport stars that have turned up on the show its great to see Lisa I'Anson appear as a new regular presenter. Not regular enough for me. She's brilliant at this. This edition a very mixed bag
ReplyDeleteMary Kiani; Last seen tearing it up very strikingly in choker and leathers with The Time Frequency, it's good to see and hear her again. She's a perfect dance singer but it's not a great song. It sounds like it was created to be performed on The National Lottery rather than a rave. More of this sort of thing coming soon.
Ash; 1995 seems to have a new arrival every week and hello to Ash who never stopped putting out cracking singles but for me, never bettered 'Girl From Mars'. Fun and charming and headache inducing if you listen to it loud. It sounded like this was a completely live performance which meant it wasn't completely nuts and not always in tune but Tim Wheeler's sonorously approximate vocals were one of the things that were great about them. Fantastic melody and words that I still can't quite understand. The bassist much more animated than he later became, charging around with bass brushing the floor as if he's determined to pick up where Krist Novoselic left off on the show. Welcome lads.
TLC; Fabulous single and video. The woodwinds on this are so classy and such a good tune and that voice. Hard to focus on the charts with the stunning graphics on display but I noticed the glowering presence of Tricky in there.
Very nostalgic watching this.
Julian Cope; High vis glam next and always worth watching but away from how he looks it just sounded like American AOR to me. Maybe I'm missing something. Speaking of high visibility, who was the character in the audience at the right of the stage with the giant head? The camera picks him (or her) out at every opportunity. The female audience members either side look like they're pretending he (or she) isn't there.
Tina Arena; I know another song with this title, a beautiful, deeply unhappy thing by Elaine Page. This didn't have any sort of tune and was just a chance for Tina to vocalise half cutely and half defiantly while punching the air. Not much to listen to.
Suggs; At a time when you had a band out there who had the temerity to call themselves Laxton's Superb (I saw them supporting The Bluetones the following March) it was always likely someone was going to cover something from 'Revolver'. Just surprising it was Suggs. 'Fun' in that he does his 'what's happening?' play acting all the way through it but a very unimaginative release for someone as talented as him.
Madonna; Very stark video for 'Human Nature' but effective and with a surprising dash of humour.
Boyzone; Their intro to the show was a little confusing but Lisa gives an explanation in her link. Mikey back and all's well. I completely forgot 'So Good' was theirs. As a boy band original it's hard to beat, banging chorus and with plenty of attitude. Liked that.
Take That; My favourite TT number and linen God Howard's nasal tones a good change from the usual voices. Just a great song. I like the fact that the first choir boy you see up close resembles a little Mark Owen. They all look like they're having a whale of a time which you never quite got from previous performances. When the camera goes past Gary and he humorously gazes into it, he looks the spitting image of Neil Finn.
No idea why Felix get a reissue but loved it. The graphics looks like they belong in a far off era to the one we've just seen.