tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post623286847215912031..comments2024-03-28T10:45:51.725+00:00Comments on Never Forget ~ Top of the Pops 1995: Top of the Pops for ThoughtAngelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-18731891740918116642015-04-24T22:13:31.515+01:002015-04-24T22:13:31.515+01:00Yep it's me. Bama B, alias The Nightfly, real ...Yep it's me. Bama B, alias The Nightfly, real name Dave.<br /><br />I had a problem logging in under my new name (I can't work out why) which was indeed in tribute to Donald Fagin, so I have had to revert to my old name for now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11937581521280389248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-22576437625713563782015-04-23T18:20:58.906+01:002015-04-23T18:20:58.906+01:00i've just read the previous "archive"...i've just read the previous "archive" blog edition and have discovered you are in fact our old chum bama boogie woogie masquerading under another alias! perhaps inspired by punk artist spizz who changed the name of his band every year (in this year they were known as "athletico spizz 80)? also maybe the name is influenced by the donald fagan solo album of that name? i used it when i once had a late-night easy listening show on a community radio station, although it spelt it "nitefly"...wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-38460478366709973812015-04-23T18:07:48.510+01:002015-04-23T18:07:48.510+01:00good to see you contributing nightfly, and hopeful...good to see you contributing nightfly, and hopefully you'll be fully caught-up with the latest edition soon as otherwise not all of us may read your comments...<br /><br />presumably chesil beach was used for the pic sleeve of the muffins' single as someone in the art department was familiar with it? although it's quite well known in blighty (ian mcewan later had a best-selling novel called "on chesil beach), i don't suppose it had any resonance for a bunch of canadians?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-38374986350724004982015-04-17T22:35:59.592+01:002015-04-17T22:35:59.592+01:00Still catching up but I'm getting there. For m...Still catching up but I'm getting there. For me this was a special show as I would have thought at the time with no less than 6 of my faves on it.<br /><br />While I liked The Detroit Spinners output from the 1970s I was never a huge fan of their later work, although this is pretty special although I didn't buy it at the time.<br /><br />Now I loved the Bodysnatchers, this and the follow up Easy Life (which stalled at number 50). Admittedly the performance is a bit lacklustre but I don't think that's the bands fault.<br /><br />I loved Squeeze too at this point and bought every one of their singles which were all on different coloured vinyl. Strangely the opening shots of the band with the screen divided into four with close ups of their feet, etc, was almost duplicated on the sleeve of their later single Tempted. This song deserves to be as famous as Up The junction and Cool For Cats but it's easy to see why Jools would exit the band soon when he was sidelined by the cameras in this performance. Message to director -the lyrics mention the piano man.<br /><br />I have absolutely no memory of Rush from the time but I have discovered it since when the guitar part was sampled on Saint Etienne's second album So Tough. I like it.<br /><br />I can't believe that this effort by Sad Cafe got to number 13. It's so average compared to Every Day Hurts and the band have a serious image problem. <br /><br />I have to confess that I was really into The Lambrettas at the time. I have never heard Poison Ivy before and thought this was pretty cool. My mate used to work at Rocket Records and recently told me that Jez Bird (R.I.P.) was a bit full of himself and the bass player was a lot older than the others and was a bit embarrassed about the dressing up as a mods in little suits. The drummer was only 17 which is probably why he looks so nervous.<br /><br />Barbara Dickson, great song but it seems a little out of place here. The band were very big on braces.<br /><br />Even at the time I thought it was a bit odd singing a song about hot dogs but I have to admit that this is a lot preferable to Shaky's later output.<br /><br />I loved UB40 from the start and their first two albums are classics. Politically charged reggae with though-provoking lyrics that still sound good today. Looking at old photos of myself from the time I bore an uncanny resemblance to Robin Campbell down to the hairstyle and the tight white Fred Perry although no one said so at the time (some small children did once mistake me for Terry Hall but that's another story).<br /><br />I bought Echo Beach at the time and just loved it as a great pop tune. Although Chesil Beach is pictured on the sleeve it apparently isn't about any particular beach.<br /><br />Having bought B B Robertsons first two singles this once escaped me and I can see why. Too self consciously comical and not that good really.<br /><br />This was the first Jam single that I actually bought. My brother was into them from the start and I used to borrow his Jam Records but as he was at Manchester Poly by this point I had to buy my own. Looking forward to the Heinz apron next time.The Nightflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06934394816019838586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-84746545665200096912015-04-17T21:31:49.503+01:002015-04-17T21:31:49.503+01:00They all went bankrupt a few years ago (except Rob...They all went bankrupt a few years ago (except Robin Campbell who 'did a deal') so sadly some of them may well have signed on again.The Nightflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06934394816019838586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-31897310166154729752015-04-13T18:20:15.533+01:002015-04-13T18:20:15.533+01:00Of the original line-up of The Bodysnatchers, guit...Of the original line-up of The Bodysnatchers, guitarists Stella and Sarah-Jane and alto saxophonist Miranda would return to the hit parade as members of The Belle Stars, along with drummer Jane's latter-day replacement Judy. Keyboardist Penny was a Belle Star in their early days before making way for tenor saxophonist/keyboardist Clare, who would appear on all the hits. Also in The Belle Stars were singer Jennie, as Wilberforce points out above, and bassist Lesley, who replaced Rhoda and Nicky respectively.Julie Joanne Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13480391445628307945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-63255071694352390982015-04-10T15:20:13.308+01:002015-04-10T15:20:13.308+01:00jesse green! that's a blast from the past. it ...jesse green! that's a blast from the past. it makes me realise these reruns (and various blogs following them) have now been going for four years!<br /><br />regarding the multiple appearances of people with only minor hits, it has to be taken into account that the producer's minions were probably negotiating right up to the last moment with various record companies, managers and so on for bigger acts to make themselves available to perform on the show, and when it didn't happen for whatever reason then the lesser lights with far less commitments (or at least had a totp appearance in the can already) were given their chance instead. either that or some payola was going on!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-50795868373572724162015-04-09T22:29:21.195+01:002015-04-09T22:29:21.195+01:00My my! an "F" word in Radiohead's pe...My my! an "F" word in Radiohead's performance on "Pop Gold" this week! BBC4 would have had kittens! Superb "PG" this week (even if the theme was a bit tenuous and stretched at times), topped off by The Carpenters' drummer's multi-coloured kit. If I could play drums, that's the kit I'd have wanted.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-16898625417782834312015-04-09T22:15:43.610+01:002015-04-09T22:15:43.610+01:00I cheated and Wiki'ed - there was a Penny on k...I cheated and Wiki'ed - there was a Penny on keyboards in 1981 but she left after a year and sax player Clare took over dual duties.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-73468620776551310472015-04-09T18:52:39.483+01:002015-04-09T18:52:39.483+01:00ali campbell always sang like he had a couple of g...ali campbell always sang like he had a couple of gobstoppers in his mouth, so i never had any real idea what he was going on about!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-14318118596400132492015-04-09T18:38:07.970+01:002015-04-09T18:38:07.970+01:00i can't remember the keyboard player's nam...i can't remember the keyboard player's name, or even if they had one. but if so then she's definitely the "brad dexter" of that not-so-magnificent seven...wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-87892715542467174032015-04-09T18:36:01.021+01:002015-04-09T18:36:01.021+01:00ha! i'm now pretty sure the drummer's name...ha! i'm now pretty sure the drummer's name was judy (had to dig deep for that one)...wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-67461679877035352572015-04-09T18:34:26.062+01:002015-04-09T18:34:26.062+01:00i can actually still remember most of the belle st...i can actually still remember most of the belle stars' names... without cheating! jenny - vocals (of course replaced rhoda when they rose from the ashes of the bodysnatchers), sarah-jane - guitar, stella - guitar, clair - bass, miranda - sax. i can picture the drummer but can't remember her name. that's all mainly courtesy of reading "smash hits" magazine over 30 years ago - does it get any sadder...?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-40160253852238645712015-04-09T12:21:43.738+01:002015-04-09T12:21:43.738+01:00Regarding the "Do you think they'll notic...Regarding the "Do you think they'll notice this is a Christmas song?" strapline under the UB40 photo, I checked the lyrics online (they make "One In Ten" seem like "Atmosphere" by Russ Abbot in comparison) and, judging by the line "Jesus, Son of Mary, is born again today" I'd counter it's more of an Easter song. Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-37915639742791794352015-04-09T10:05:07.440+01:002015-04-09T10:05:07.440+01:00Didn't realise until today that Lambrettas sin...Didn't realise until today that Lambrettas singer Jez Bird passed away six years ago at the age of 50. Deep sigh.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-14799229926095984492015-04-08T23:26:50.698+01:002015-04-08T23:26:50.698+01:00Fully agree about "Pop Gold". I'm in...Fully agree about "Pop Gold". I'm intrigued by the clips from shows I'd heard of but never seen before, such as the Den Hegarty fronted "Alright Now", and shows I didn't have a clue about, such as "Out Front" and "Raw Soup", the latter apparently a typically ramshackle effort from the days of Carlton (shudder), recorded at a venue in Deptford.<br /><br />Spooky to see David Bowie's performance the week before Marc Bolan (or MARK Bolan as the strapline called him) died. The duo famously played a song together for the show but stopped when Marc tripped off the stage, and they had no time to re-record it as their studio time was about to run out and the technicians either refused to allow them to continue or wanted overtime pay. What a way to end.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-614917559882067602015-04-08T21:07:36.385+01:002015-04-08T21:07:36.385+01:00At last! Finally got round to watching this editio...At last! Finally got round to watching this edition. Just in time for the next one! Anyway…<br /><br />A fine show, with a few dodgy moments but including six of the best for my palate – Squeeze, Rush, Barbara (best thing Alan Tarney ever did), Marthas, Jam and Vapors. Certainly a high strike rate.<br /><br />An enjoyable and knowledgeable host, making a nice cool cat / hot dog allegorical link for two of the acts, informing us of the Canadian influence in the show and namechecking two indie labels. I bet Graduate were ecstatic at the publicity. Mike handled David reasonably well (ah, Soul!) and only let himself down with that owl link which wasn’t a hoot.<br /><br />Did The Bodysnatchers have anyone called Burke and Hare in the group? I once saw The Belle Stars at one of those retro gigs many years ago, and only two of the band bothered to reunite for the tour. This song was just 12-bar ska blah blah blah.<br /><br />I didn’t realise the young David Cameron started out in Squeeze. Jools needed all of five seconds in make-up for his cameo.<br /><br />Loved the scenario just before Sad Café, when that bloke pulled the girl away from the advancing camera at full stretch, as if yanking her out of the way of a runaway train. <br /><br />The Lambrettas were signed to Rocket, who lampooned Two-Tone by releasing this single on the Two-Stroke subsidiary, complete with a mickey take of “Jabsco”, the cool 2Tone dude, on the sleeve. Amy Winehouse also tried the latter ‘tribute’ to lesser effect. The Lambrettas had a later single re-named as its original title, ”Page Three”, was deemed to breach some sort of copyright “The Sun” had.<br /><br />UB40’s lead vocalists were Ai and Robin Campbell, but their band wasn’t condensed. Boom boom tish!<br /><br />BA Robertson reminds me of Jeremy Clarkson for some reason. He comes across as a bit of a “Ravi Shankar” (if you get my drift) here. Had he been egocentric enough to demand his band perform in a different postcode?<br /><br />See, Lambrettas, this is how you ‘do’ mod. Crowning glory for The Jam, with their neighbours from seven miles away giving a different slant (oh dear) to the fade-out.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-53296831048197694662015-04-07T23:42:07.967+01:002015-04-07T23:42:07.967+01:00The Bodysnatchers were definitely miming to the re...The Bodysnatchers were definitely miming to the record. Those 2-Tone recordings were very 'honest' and high quality, so it's easy to think that they were live. There's a clumsy bit here when the band and audience have been clapping for several seconds before the sound man opens the studio mics...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-13667466916791644302015-04-07T23:32:35.981+01:002015-04-07T23:32:35.981+01:00Good for you. Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ra...Good for you. Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-62552732610178579012015-04-07T23:30:40.243+01:002015-04-07T23:30:40.243+01:00Looks like opinions vary for this one, then. For m...Looks like opinions vary for this one, then. For me, it's got to be the best ever! If I had to pick just two editions of TOTP for a desert island it would have to be the fortuitously-surviving 15/02/68 show and this one.<br /><br />The funny thing is, much of it is familiar. The Bodysnatchers and Squeeze (complete with "snatch my body any time" link), the Lambrettas, UB40 and Martha & The Muffins (TOTP edit) have all popped up since the original broadcast, I think that most if not all was on the DJ Heaven episode featuring Mike Read, which I recorded on VHS (going to have to dig this out now!).<br /><br />You can see why the Bodysnatchers never made it huge, though. There's just something lacking in the visual presence department, although I couldn't say what.<br /><br />Legs & Co - yes, well, once again it's something that may have worked with 'proper' video but not with iPlayer. Great song with fascinating lyrics though. It starts with "Begin the day with a friendly voice / A companion unobtrusive / Plays a song that's so elusive", evoking memories of those halcyon days before the advent of tightly-formatted playlists and SHOUTY, ATTENTION-SEEKING BREAKFAST SHOW PRESENTERS but then goes on to say "But glittering prizes and endless compromises / Shatter the illusion of integrity" and "And echoes with the sound of salesmen". As we now know, the salesmen won. Together with the Ramones Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio, it would seem that there was a disillusionment of radio across the pond from as long ago as 1979/80.<br /><br />Just two further comments - could somebody who saw the show as broadcast on their big flat telly confirm that Sad Café's guitarist was trying to take photos with his lens cap on? And boy, did the Lambrettas' drummer look uncomfortable about being put at the front of the stage!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-76431310010534860202015-04-07T13:45:15.393+01:002015-04-07T13:45:15.393+01:00Shaky must be the new Jesse Green. For those of yo...Shaky must be the new Jesse Green. For those of you who are fairly new to the re-runs, Jesse managed a gargantuan four showings (one studio performance, repeated three times) for "Nice And Slow" which peaked at 17. Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-66776376113950518472015-04-06T13:27:43.528+01:002015-04-06T13:27:43.528+01:00I'm a prima donna. Mah Oh Mah.I'm a prima donna. Mah Oh Mah.Julie Joanne Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13480391445628307945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-35473035203345035782015-04-06T11:30:57.338+01:002015-04-06T11:30:57.338+01:00Noted, but it still does not retract from the fact...Noted, but it still does not retract from the fact that the tube station image as well as the Eton images on the bench, are merely covering up the images from the original video with the prime ministers and their photos in that part of the video:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1ct5yEuVY<br /><br />That makes it two weeks in a row in March 1980 where the beeb meddled with the original video at the time in 1980. First with Rainbow's All Night Long, and then the following week with The Jam's Going Underground. <br /><br />One can be excused for wishing TOTP was an ITV programme and not a BBC one, cos they would not have meddled with original promo video footage.Doryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-80406186758989900642015-04-06T10:27:00.527+01:002015-04-06T10:27:00.527+01:00The tube station clip is from (appropriately) the ...The tube station clip is from (appropriately) the video for 'Down in the tube station at midnight'. So which tube station are the boys at here? Looking at the brief clip you can see ' Circle' and 'Victoria' and the 'ct' of 'District'. Can't see 'Metropolitan'. So I deduce that it's Victoria Station rather than Kings Cross, as the District & Circle lines interchange with the Victoria line there.sct353https://www.blogger.com/profile/15640119850898956884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-66891292956461367522015-04-05T22:07:07.190+01:002015-04-05T22:07:07.190+01:00host: probably his best effort so far on what is i...host: probably his best effort so far on what is in general a disappointing show. but there's a weird moment when he has a couple of punters onstage with him as if he's about to begin an interview, and then just introduces the martha & the muffins video without saying a word to them!<br /><br />bodysnatchers: take out the ska rhythms and its just a tuneless 12-bar. would they have got signed up by a label if they were a bunch of geezers? going by this then i'd say highly unlikely<br /><br />squeeze: having already been disappointed by "up the junction" after really digging "cool for cats", this was another nail in the coffin as far as i was concerned<br /><br />rush: i'm quite getting into this again like i did the first time around. but given there are only 3 of them, how did they manage to re-produce their studio sound live?<br /><br />sad cafe: why does the singer need an acoustic guitar when there are already two guys with electric ones?<br /><br />lambrettas: the singer has a nice brightly-coloured suit. the track has a hint of cod-reggae about it (or should that be cod-ska?)<br /><br />barbara dickson: her offerings aren't ever going to be my cup of tea, but better than her abysmal last effort (that only seemed to be on about a month earlier!)<br /><br />UB40: talking of cod-reggae... i liked this, but preferred the other "a" side "king" which (like the other side of "going underground") never got played on the radio. two things i recall reading about them: that they were so skint when they started that they lived on tins of baked beans, and the studio their early hits were recorded in were so cramped that some of them had to play standing outside the window. given the first fact, they were probably the lucky ones. also: air-congas alert!<br /><br />martha & muffins: does anyone know what any of the geezers' names are? does anyone care? keyboard martha looks particularly geeky in this - i mentioned before about her later appearing with the associates as a glamourpuss, but she also turned up looking just as divine as the "backing singer" when roxy music did "avalon" on totp (if we get that far, then i hope it isn't on a "banned" show!). also: the picture sleeve for this single featured a photo of chesil beach, which was very close to the town i grew up in - as you can imagine, living in such a musical backwater us carrot-crunchers got quite excited about that...<br /><br />ba robertson: whatever the intentions of his first two singles, at least they had hooks. unlike this. not even the keyboard player's manicness can save itwilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.com