tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post1214938851834864429..comments2024-03-28T23:09:18.798+00:00Comments on Never Forget ~ Top of the Pops 1995: Two Pints of Lager and a Top of the Pops PleaseAngelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-30154051738673060152019-03-06T15:02:02.273+00:002019-03-06T15:02:02.273+00:00Finally, on 5th March 2019, mine eyes see the glor...Finally, on 5th March 2019, mine eyes see the glory of the “Holy Grail” pilot edition from 1980. Huge thanks to gia for unearthing this lump of televisual gold.<br /><br />I guess BA Robertson expected his song to be climbing the charts so he could co-host and sing?<br />We start with some light banter, an awful joke from BA and a spoiler rundown of most of the artistes we’ll see on the ‘show’, complete with footage of the acts impersonated by stand-ins and our first wonderful clip of Legs & Co., I assume accompanied aurally by the Yellow Magic Orchestra’s mugshot hit.<br />‘Saxon’ up first with star performance number one by Beardy Boy, obviously left-handed and miming with a right-handed guitar held upside down and giving it full throttle. The cameraman knew the star of this outfit. No bass drum pedal there!<br /><br />We’re then treated to Legs and Co dressed in studio civvies and looking lovely, providing the second sexiest TOTP dance troupe routine ever in my view (only behind the hoopy tops, berets and chairs routine for “Chanson D’Amour”). I’d forgotten how much I fancied Patti!<br /><br />BA taking the mickey out of Macca for what looked like a spoof video and not a real one. As for “Waterfalls”, not exactly TLC, is it?<br /><br />Interesting mugshot first third, with multiple arrows denoting a climber or new entry and a solitary arrow for a dropper. Maybe they should have had a graded system, e.g. one arrow equals a climb or drop of a set number of places? Matchbox get re-named Match Box.<br /><br />What on Earth was that next Peter Powell link? “ ‘Thin Lizzy’ with Chinatown, or something”!!! I like the fact they chose the stagehand who looked most like Phil Lynott to portray him, but this ensemble needed a Beardy Boy to liven up proceedings.<br /><br />Performance of the show from Mike pretending to be Leo Sayer. Are you chewing? At least he had a go at remembering the words. I loved his ‘ta dah’ ending. Boundless energy indeed.<br /><br />Hmm, no multiple climbing arrows from 20 upwards in the mugshots and no special symbol for a new entry.<br /><br />“The voice you’re just about to see”. Great work there, Pete. Here comes Kate Bush in what looks like another camcorder video, where Kate does one of those Tommy Cooper ‘halved costume for two parts’ routines. No glass smashing or other sound effects on the record in the vid.<br /><br />Darts with a pretty good cover, though Bob and Griff should have worn different colour suits. That Rob Davis out of Mud was in the band about this time. I’m glad the bassist paced out his spot to keep his head away from that swinging gondola.<br /><br />Now for the top ten in video form, sort of. Splodgenessabounds is one word, not two! Great videos there for Stacy Lattisaw and Odyssey, followed by...<br /><br />A still photo testcard of Olivia Newton-John for the entire duration of the chart topper! Ambassador, you’re spoiling us.<br /><br />A nice last link for the outro song, but the lads forget to tell us it’s Change there with “A Lover’s Holiday”.<br /><br />Maybe I’m easily pleased, but I thought this pilot edition was fantastic.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-68899607257040721242015-06-24T14:28:58.316+01:002015-06-24T14:28:58.316+01:00I know that we'll be getting a new blog put up...I know that we'll be getting a new blog put up later today for an August TOTP while we are still in June, but I've been studying the June 1980 charts, and noticed that the first release from the Xanadu movie soundtrack was not Xanadu, but it was I'm Alive by ELO, after a 6-month break from the final release from the Discovery album at the end of 1979.<br /><br />The I'm Alive video would probably have been shown for the first time on a 6th June TOTP if not for the strike, as it first appeared on the TOTP chart rundown as a new entry on the 29th May edition, the last to go out before the strike.<br /><br />An interesting fact is that although we never got to see the video cos of the strike, it was plagiarised by Meck in 2006 to a new generation who were not even born in 1980.<br /><br />The Meck release was called Thunder In my Heart Again which was a copy of Leo Sayer's hit from 1978, coupled with a copycat video of ElO's I'm alive, never shown on TOTP in June 1980 when reaching its peak during the strike.<br /><br />The first link shows the original ELO video, and the second link shows the Meck plagiarism of which I never recall any objections by ELO or the music industry, which does seem rather odd.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj5_vZAidRQ<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVuqOzG-TMDoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-47122062077107272362015-06-22T20:22:32.885+01:002015-06-22T20:22:32.885+01:00I wouldn't worry about it manorak, your commen...I wouldn't worry about it manorak, your comment didn't affect anything ~ I think it's someone at the BBC who doesn't want the pilot uploaded for whatever reasonAngelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-52708199465453865772015-06-22T19:56:38.998+01:002015-06-22T19:56:38.998+01:00What I said above was meant to be jovial, but I do...What I said above was meant to be jovial, but I do apologize if my comments affected Glenn ,NB, or anyone else for that matter.manoraknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-37344591010053608302015-06-22T19:31:41.001+01:002015-06-22T19:31:41.001+01:00It seems there are persons out there that will not...It seems there are persons out there that will not allow NB to make this pilot available for us ~ but big thanks to NB for trying :-)Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-19820090944629839282015-06-22T19:13:29.072+01:002015-06-22T19:13:29.072+01:00The clip's been taken down already :-(The clip's been taken down already :-(Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-84961856044895504662015-06-22T18:56:36.549+01:002015-06-22T18:56:36.549+01:00Yes, Glenn is thanking 'NB' for the clip. ...Yes, Glenn is thanking 'NB' for the clip. I think we might know who NB is. So if you are reading this Mr Neil B., we would be very grateful if you could let us see the full show, any chance? Please?manoraknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-30490156800384314422015-06-22T18:41:08.984+01:002015-06-22T18:41:08.984+01:00Thanks Manorak ~ that's amazing it's strai...Thanks Manorak ~ that's amazing it's straight from the actual pilot ~ it looks like he might even have the rest of the show somehow?Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-3230899204273072112015-06-22T18:10:30.406+01:002015-06-22T18:10:30.406+01:00Angelo, the Legs & Co clip from 9/7/80 is now ...Angelo, the Legs & Co clip from 9/7/80 is now up on you tube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBIYxL-eznl<br />I hope I've got the link correct, if not it's Glenn Marshall who has uploaded it, and many other rare Legs routines as well as this one.manoraknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-66615325734735844522015-06-22T08:11:02.717+01:002015-06-22T08:11:02.717+01:00It was a Yewtree double whammy for them because th...It was a Yewtree double whammy for them because their song was a Rolf Harris cover!Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-89518807430389275492015-06-21T22:05:11.945+01:002015-06-21T22:05:11.945+01:00That's it! C'mon BBC Four, let's see ...That's it! C'mon BBC Four, let's see B.A. in Music and make up our own minds!THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-15730351068171488432015-06-21T21:49:27.989+01:002015-06-21T21:49:27.989+01:00This one! :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD...This one! :-)<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDK1dMNAJnoArthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-6814659140100541562015-06-21T21:45:32.173+01:002015-06-21T21:45:32.173+01:00What was the TV show B.A. presented that had Annab...What was the TV show B.A. presented that had Annabella Lwin from Bow Wow Wow on who memorably called his programme "shit" live on air, leaving him shamefaced?THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-5175172767724289522015-06-21T21:42:03.631+01:002015-06-21T21:42:03.631+01:00When I said Xanadu has the best tunes out of that ...When I said Xanadu has the best tunes out of that trio, what I maybe should have said was that it was the most consistent, there's a lot of filler in Can't Stop the Music. Also the Leather Man's voice doesn't exactly suit his hardman look, which is all I recall about the band's acting talents (they had a new Cop, I think... might be wrong).<br /><br />By all means check out The Apple, it was an early Cannon effort (there's a documentary out at the moment about their general insanity/inanity, so it has to feature there - haven't seen it myself). It's turned into a Rocky Horror-style midnight movie in some places, with its own cult who know all the lines. I think Joss Ackland (playing God) says it's the worst film he ever appeared in, but he says that about most of his films.THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-16060440051028875412015-06-21T16:22:15.991+01:002015-06-21T16:22:15.991+01:00thx "the apple" (aka star rock) is a new...thx "the apple" (aka star rock) is a new one to me and definitely one to look out for, what with various british thesps, the great 60's/70's itc favourite vladek sheybal (playing a character called "boogalow"!) and singer grace kennedy. talking of which, if by the grace of the beeb we get to see totp 81, then we should see her brother errol in action...<br /><br />as for "can't stop the music" (another on my "ones to watch" list): how can not have the best tunes when it features the legendary YMCA?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-70284654421707167342015-06-21T16:16:26.663+01:002015-06-21T16:16:26.663+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-40352342325006572572015-06-21T16:15:40.541+01:002015-06-21T16:15:40.541+01:00Spoiler alert (sorry folks, look away now if you d...Spoiler alert (sorry folks, look away now if you don't want to know the score)...<br /><br />Having just checked the bespoke Popscene website, it appears that the three records which made number one during the strike are shown during the first 'new look' show, one of which had dropped to number 63 by this stage!<br /><br />Maybe he had touring or studio commitments, but B.A. Robertson wasn't the first guest presenter when we resumed - in fact he was the fourth! It'll be interesting to see if someone who beat him in the queue will have his "Mind yer backs" critique of Village People kept in both uncut and full versions of the show!Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-243687227066316342015-06-21T12:18:05.124+01:002015-06-21T12:18:05.124+01:00The Korgis' biggest hit was indeed a very fine...The Korgis' biggest hit was indeed a very fine piece of work. It has been covered not only by new wave folkies Dream Academy (in '87), but also by the legendary Richard Thompson OBE - who described it on stage as "the only decent song released in the 80s"!Julie Joanne Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13480391445628307945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-3785465942664411452015-06-21T03:13:36.645+01:002015-06-21T03:13:36.645+01:00Angelo, regarding your wish to see Nunhead's f...Angelo, regarding your wish to see Nunhead's finest, Splodgenessabounds, they did appear once on the show with their other top 30 hit but it's on a Yewtreed dition, so here's hoping someone's got a copy they can 'lend' us.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-33632432171026528182015-06-21T00:56:47.161+01:002015-06-21T00:56:47.161+01:00Of the three 1980 turkeys that tried to establish ...Of the three 1980 turkeys that tried to establish the pop musical for the decade to come - Xanadu, The Apple and Can't Stop the Music - Xanadu probably has the best tunes.<br /><br />They're all very camp, and all have a cult following, especially The Apple which has to be seen to be disbelieved, but Olivia is quite jaunty in Xanadu, and dances with Gene Kelly (in his final musical).<br /><br />It's about as good as Toomorrow from ten years before, which was another pop musical flop, if Olivia hadn't been in Grease she'd have been advised to give up movies as a lost cause. Then she was in Two of a Kind and really did call it a day.THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-58234344724789532015-06-20T22:27:49.837+01:002015-06-20T22:27:49.837+01:00I haven't checked the logistics, but wouldn...I haven't checked the logistics, but wouldn't it have been more logical to throw in a few more "Sky At Night" Thursdays earlier this year (Sacrilege! I bet I'm drummed out of the club) so that the final old school TOTP became the last of the re-runs before The Proms, and we got the first new look show after a long absence from our screens, just like back in the day?<br /><br />I don't remember if any guest presenters introduced studio acts in the new era but, if I was an artist or band member who'd made it to the hallowed studio, I'd have been really hacked off if I'd been introduced by B.A. Robertson or the like instead of a Radio 1 DJ. Still, it could have been worse - I shudder at the memory of Femi Oke and Tony "Laters" Dortie hosting the show years later.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-69509535852578112802015-06-20T21:36:42.441+01:002015-06-20T21:36:42.441+01:00In answer to Wilberforce here, I would recommend w...In answer to Wilberforce here, I would recommend watching the movie. I still have the VHS copy of the film in superb condition, and I occasionally watch it every couple of years or so, as it has music from Olivia NJ, ELO, Cliff Richard and Gene Kelly, and I love the music which comes thick and fast throughout the movie. <br /><br />I recommend for all our regular bloggers to watch the original movie over the next few weeks, as the June and July 1980 chart was dominated by songs from it, including the main title track Xanadu at No.1 in the singles chart.Doryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-12381497197757474742015-06-20T21:29:25.557+01:002015-06-20T21:29:25.557+01:00Xanadu is one of those feel good movies that at th...Xanadu is one of those feel good movies that at the time were instant hits at the movies, and the ONJ costume set through to the movie was something very special.<br /><br />In fact the ELO/ONJ video taken from the movie had her in different sexy costumes, which must have helped the single to no.1, as ELO were only heard and not seen on this song.<br /><br />It's a bit of a fantasy movie where Olivia plays the part of a muse that some ordinary artist falls in love with, and this was a surefire formula of the success of the hit and the movie in 1980, only two years after the Grease movie which was still popular at the time, and so Olivia could quite easily get to No.1 with anything she sang at the time.<br /><br />In 2006, Meck took the images from one of the ELO songs called All Over The World from this Xanadu film, and copied this 1980 video from the film to make their own 2006 promo video for Thunder In My Heart Again, and scored a huge success with it, and I bet no-one had noticed where there got the video idea from: - Elo's All Over The World from XANADU of course!Doryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-53976339564959767622015-06-20T13:28:59.757+01:002015-06-20T13:28:59.757+01:00Dexy's best hit (in my opinion) There There My...Dexy's best hit (in my opinion) There There My Dear was on the charts during the strike, their video for it is on you tube though. Shame we got deprived of it for TOTP and consequently later from TOTP2 Nutty Big Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301919297617290031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-1607741476338615212015-06-20T09:51:06.397+01:002015-06-20T09:51:06.397+01:00I have no memory of how the ELO/ONJ song goes, and...I have no memory of how the ELO/ONJ song goes, and to be honest have no real interest in being reminded. however, I would be interested in watching the film it soundtracked, where olivia's love interest is played by michael beck who was the gang leader in "the warriors"<br /><br />also, I didn't think much of the first change single. but the second "searchin" certainly had a big impact on me as a signpost of where the disco sound was going. although their output was patchy, they also later came up with several other classic 80's dance tracks such as "paradise", "change of heart" and "mutual attraction"<br /><br />a shame not to be able to see splodgenessabounds and the korgis (although in the latter's case, in contrast to children it was very much a case of being heard and not seen), but hopefully we won't miss too much else as a result of what happened...?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.com