tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post8673232906633000229..comments2024-03-28T23:09:18.798+00:00Comments on Never Forget ~ Top of the Pops 1995: Top of the Pops (Till You Burn)Angelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-33145925068875041582016-03-17T22:31:24.418+00:002016-03-17T22:31:24.418+00:00Visually Bad Manners going down the same rout Wizz...Visually Bad Manners going down the same rout Wizzard did in the 1970s, dressing up and mucking about. I seem to recall that they had a ventriloquist doll during one performance. This is a great song and the harmonica gives it that melancholy feel that still send a shiver up the spine all these years later.<br /><br />Spandex Bollox making use of the same dwarf actors as The League Of Gentlemen 20 years later and with a plot in their video that is just as odd. They really were really rather stupid weren't they. Were these their everyday clothes or were they in costume? It was so hard to tell wasn't it.<br /><br />Girlschool. I have no memory of this and no wonder it's nothing special but it's still nice to see an all female rock band.<br /><br />Is Sugar Minnott disco then? Really? Still it's a top tune and one that I bought at the time.<br /><br />Department S - I recall spying Vaughan Toulouse and his mate Gary Crowley in the audience in a show from about a year ago. And here he is a fully fledged pop star himself, not watching the stage but on the stage. I the T series Department S as a kid but I didn't care for this much at the time but it was okay.<br /><br />I could watch The Beat all day. Not their best song but a great performance that just makes me smile<br />.<br />Whitesnake, not really my kind of music but my dad knew their manager John Colletta and did some typographic design work on two of their albums so I can't really slag it off.<br /><br />UK Subs borrowing a bit from The Police's Message In A Bottle but a good song which was another I got at the time, heavily influenced by the people I was living with at the time. Not long after this I was dragged to a UK Subs gig and the crowd really really hated the band's new romantic image and a lot of things got hurled at the stage that night. I seem to recall that lead singer Charlie was wearing a frilly-fronted Duran Duran style shirt so he was asking for it.<br /><br />In complete contrast is Ennio Morricone's Chi Mai. I had no liking for this at the time but many years alter I got into Spaghetti Westerns and discovered his music. An interesting Legs performance but it's a shame the girls didn't dress up as politicians.<br /><br />Primary is a terrible title for a song and it's not very memorable so it's little wonder it didn't get very high in the chart with this.<br /><br />I hated The Nolans with a vengeance at the time and now it just seems like harmless catchy pop although there is something irritating about them. And the title of this - Attention To Me - is a bit too self congratulatory.<br /><br />Top Ten including a clip of Ennio Morricone conducting a completely different piece of music.<br /><br />And finally Bucks Fizz at the top spot. I had a sneaky liking for this at the time but I didn't tell anyone.<br /><br />I loved this Jacksons track but I had forgotten that it was from this time, I thought it was from the winter of '81. Funny how your mind plays tricks.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11937581521280389248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-73621043837130401952016-03-07T13:32:28.033+00:002016-03-07T13:32:28.033+00:00Keep On Jumpin' (On That Bandwagon).Keep On Jumpin' (On That Bandwagon).THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-797305370496300382016-03-07T12:49:49.825+00:002016-03-07T12:49:49.825+00:00Bloody Hell! What did I say about UK Subs changing...Bloody Hell! What did I say about UK Subs changing image? Courtesy of 45cat, here's the sleeve for this single...<br /><br />http://www.45cat.com/record/gems45#commentsArthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-34879128854601159872016-03-06T21:36:46.399+00:002016-03-06T21:36:46.399+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-46294987214683440252016-03-06T21:17:42.908+00:002016-03-06T21:17:42.908+00:00Nice hair flicking and "can't believe we&...Nice hair flicking and "can't believe we're doing this" smile near the end from the head Headgirl. Shame about the "Fool For Your Loving" style verse and weak chorus.<br /><br />No truth in the rumour Department S's follow-up was going to be a surly remake of "Hello This Is Joannie".<br /><br />UK Subs go new wave, complete with (miniscule) keyboards! Can't wait for their New Romantic leather kilt, metal wristband and velvet sash makeover.<br /><br />Finally - Noax, how dare you! Glamourpuss were the prototype Girls Aloud. Still, gotta pay attention to The Nolans' fine live take. Arthur Nibblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547006132533866220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-78090299604364570942016-03-06T18:32:35.706+00:002016-03-06T18:32:35.706+00:00Falling behind again....
Don't remember the W...Falling behind again....<br /><br />Don't remember the Whitesnake track at all. Presumably it has appeared on Greatest Hits, but even then it passed me by.<br /><br />Contrary to many contributors, I like the UK Subs. They are shortly releasing their 26th official album having worked their way through the alphabet.<br /><br />Interesting seeing two bass guitars for the Cure track. Seem to remember Peter Hook did that some years ago - Freebass(?). <br />charlie cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09051342047720711857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-81589422057286311672016-03-06T17:35:39.541+00:002016-03-06T17:35:39.541+00:00'The Abominable Snowmen' Dr Who story has ...'The Abominable Snowmen' Dr Who story has 5 out of 6 of its episodes missing sadly. Just episode 2 exists.sct353https://www.blogger.com/profile/15640119850898956884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-59665309043685000972016-03-06T14:25:20.941+00:002016-03-06T14:25:20.941+00:00Another mostly dull show - this period of 1981 rea...Another mostly dull show - this period of 1981 really isn't the best for tunes, isn't it?<br /><br />The Bad Manners song hasn't grown on me. Weird that Peter Powell calls Buster 'Dougie' at the end as well. Were they great mates or something?<br /><br />The Spandau Ballet 'film' is extraordinary, and not in a good way. To think that people had a go at Duran Duran for being pretentious - look who got there first! I'm pretty sure that is Wales - I bet it's the same bit of Snowdonia where they filmed 'Carry On Up The Khyber' and 'The Abominable Snowmen' episodes of Doctor Who!<br /><br />The Girlschool is song is OK, better than a lot of the macho heavy metal crud we've heard recently at least.<br /><br />Department S - one of those that I know I should like, but never really have. I think he must be holding the mic like that to simulate a phone.<br /><br />The Beat, Whitesnake, UK Subs - Boring, average, execrable. In that order.<br /><br />I remember really liking 'Chi Mai' at the time, god knows why. Shame the Legs are back to dancing to slow songs again really.<br /><br />I had tried to forget The Cure being on before myself given that their performance was so awful, so I can sympathise with PP here. And I can sympathise with the studio audience for having to listen to this drivel.<br /><br />The Nolans - best thing on the show, who'd have thought! They're like the prototype Girls Aloud. Sort of. You have to give them credit for nearly always singing live.<br /><br />The correct performance of Bucks Fizz - good!<br /><br />I don't think I've seen The Jacksons video without the silly 'pshoooww!' and 'djing!' noises on before so that was a novelty at least.<br /><br />Noaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790474836630218113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-17840769839442785222016-03-06T12:49:15.416+00:002016-03-06T12:49:15.416+00:00I think if you cut out the heavenly strings, narra...I think if you cut out the heavenly strings, narration and all the nations of world adoring the Jacksons you'd have a decent three minutes. Still better than Earth Song.THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-20705732512148257002016-03-05T17:22:49.745+00:002016-03-05T17:22:49.745+00:00Yes, I meant the long version which was the one pl...Yes, I meant the long version which was the one played in later years by the various music video channels, but of course in 1981, The Jacksons would have put out a shorter version, and even then it was 4-5 minutes long, and still a challenge for TOTP and the like to show in full.Doryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-17756958919266482462016-03-05T16:56:56.586+00:002016-03-05T16:56:56.586+00:00OK, I went to YouTube and there are two versions, ...OK, I went to YouTube and there are two versions, the short and the long. I imagine the short was shown on TV and the long in cinemas, because that has actual credits on it with Whackson's name all over them. Unfortunately both versions drown out the top tune with unnecessary, blaring sound effects. And it's still basically the Jacksons saying "We're great, us! Don't you think we're great?" But I do like the song.THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-73072006189270799402016-03-05T15:54:16.296+00:002016-03-05T15:54:16.296+00:00arthur, your comment on tony "foghorn" h...arthur, your comment on tony "foghorn" hadley's horse bolting still has me cracking up!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-81623565787137053592016-03-05T13:17:59.807+00:002016-03-05T13:17:59.807+00:00Mixed bag tonight. PP on great form but some quest...Mixed bag tonight. PP on great form but some questionable taste perhaps?<br /><br />Bad Manners – Just a feeling – Quickly skipped this awful start to the show!<br /><br />Spandau Ballet – Musclebound – Don’t recall this elaborate video. Must have cost a bit to make, all that chopping and quite a large cast to boot as well. Doesn’t really make up for the fact that it’s not one of their better songs.<br /><br />Girlschool – Hit and run – Energetic but unmemorable. Nice to see the girls having a go on their own.<br /><br />Sugar Minott- Good thing going – Yep, still sounds good. Same performance with the quirky drummer.<br /><br />Department S – Is Vic there? – Anyone called Vic must have rued the day this was released. I used to call our Operations Department at work and there was a guy called Vic there, anyway… <br /><br />The Beat – Drowning – Blimey PP really raved about this one, but it’s as dull as a wet weekend in February. Never heard ‘All out to get you’ but this was pretty turgid and saw the Beat sliding out of the public eye until their memorable Andy Williams revival two years later.<br /><br />Whitesnake – Don’t break my heart again – Coverdale, Lord and Paice from Deep Purple belt out a standard rock track with the climax guitar solo being cut short. Surely this was the promo video not the TOTP cameras?<br /><br />UK Subs – Keep on running – Well with a title like that all I can think of is the Spencer Davis Group. New look for the Subs but same old punky sound.<br /><br />Ennio Morricone – Chi Mai – Absolutely superb. What a piece of music, and the period footage and solemn looking Legs girls in wonderful period dress really do it justice. This was just sooo good. I’ve checked on Amazon and the series ‘Life and times of David Lloyd George’ starring Philip Madoc is not available and has never been released as far as I know. The BBC could really cash in on this being in the charts at this point by belated releasing now that it’s featured on the TOTP reruns. Great to see some footage of Ennio conducting on the chart rundown.<br /><br />The Cure – Primary – Speaking of solemn. Never been much of Cure fan and didn’t realise they were a trio. <br /><br />Nolans – Attention to me – At last! After waiting weeks for a proper feature we get the girls singing live in the studio in slinky black trouser suits. Well worth the wait eh? When I worked in W H Smith Ilford in the early 80s, two of the Nolans came in to buy some bits and everybody was saying “Look, it’s them..”. <br /><br />Bucks Fizz – Making your mind up – First week at no.1 and it’s back to the skirt ripping performance rather than the minis. <br /><br />Jacksons – Playout – Hmm… Not my favourite.<br />sct353https://www.blogger.com/profile/15640119850898956884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-37338752973859647932016-03-04T23:14:56.675+00:002016-03-04T23:14:56.675+00:00john, regarding "happy days" - what a sh...john, regarding "happy days" - what a shame it never actually got billed as "the fonz show"!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-9838233023037942502016-03-04T23:10:48.557+00:002016-03-04T23:10:48.557+00:00at one point in the chart rundown pp announces &qu...at one point in the chart rundown pp announces "more disco" as if it's an embarrassment!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-90293792582727492592016-03-04T23:06:43.436+00:002016-03-04T23:06:43.436+00:00another good case of a supporting/minor character ...another good case of a supporting/minor character "breaking out" (although contrary to popular belief he never actually "came out") was john inman's camp mr humphries from "are you being served". the guy who played his menswear colleague originally had a much higher profile in the show, but in the end left because his character was being squeezed out by the likes of mr humphries and mrs slocombe!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-88369107349131152192016-03-04T22:47:34.116+00:002016-03-04T22:47:34.116+00:00Yes, I'm sure Joel Fabiani was there to captur...Yes, I'm sure Joel Fabiani was there to capture the American market and bring some Stateside glamour to proceedings, but as does sometimes happen the intended "star" ends up being overshadowed by another character. I suppose one of the most famous examples has to be Happy Days, which was meant to be all about Richie Cunningham before it turned into the Fonz show.John Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-44453518671388329122016-03-04T22:40:17.103+00:002016-03-04T22:40:17.103+00:00Let the marathon commence! This was another show ...Let the marathon commence! This was another show which illustrates the growing sophistication of videos. The one for Can You Feel It is really Michael's first big statement in the genre, and also reveals that his Messiah complex was becoming well-formed long before Earth Song. The Musclebound promo was just as pretentious in its own way, though it undoubtedly looked impressive. The band seemed to be auditioning for membership of Ghengis Khan's Mongol horde...<br /><br />Back to the studio, and good to see a different performance of Just a Feeling after the previous unpleasantly sweaty one. Buster actually looks quite good dressed as a City gent, even if he becomes increasingly dishevelled towards the end! Not much love here for the Girlschool song, seemingly, but I thought it was a decent track, undermined slightly by the singer's weak voice.<br /><br />I liked the Department S tune a lot, answer phone gimmick and all, with some moody guitar work helping to give it a real atmosphere. I took an instant dislike to the singer though, his cravat, smoking jacket and annoying microphone-handling technique (as Wilberforce says, reminiscent of Alvin Stardust), making him look like a total poser. Speaking of which, David Coverdale once again illustrated how much he loves himself in this standard-issue stage performance video of a standard-issue Whitesnake song. Did PP really expect us to believe that the BBC had actually gone to a concert and filmed this?<br /><br />I also don't know where PP got the idea that UK Subs had changed their image, as it didn't look that way to me. I guess the song is marginally more tuneful than their previous efforts, with a bit of token synth thrown in, but it's fair to say they won't be missed. I can't share our host's enthusiasm for this Beat effort. It is quite tuneful, but lacks the drive and energy of their earlier hits. Did anyone notice Andy Cox was wearing a Charles & Di t-shirt? The Royal Wedding was just a little over 3 months away...<br /><br />I actually thought the Legs routine worked pretty well with this famous piece of Morricone music, and the girls looked very dignified in their Edwardian costumes. However, the very contemporary Chi Mai does seem a rather strange choice of theme for a period drama - it's quiet understatement certainly does nothing to evoke the spirit of the passionate, fiery Lloyd George. By way of contrast, The Cure give us what sounds suspiciously like a Joy Division knock-off. Not bad, but not as good as A Forest a year earlier and Robert Smith is now beginning to cultivate his annoying Goth look, though thankfully there is no make-up as yet. I thought The Nolans were far more entertaining, to be honest, with a highly polished performance of an impressive song, perhaps the best they had released up to this point.<br /><br />All in all a diverse and interesting show, and PP generally does a decent job hosting. However, he is trying far too hard to pull off that elusive casually sophisticated look, and as well as his Cure gaffe he also seemed to think Sugar Minott was a disco artist...John Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-16951687919082344152016-03-04T22:22:06.323+00:002016-03-04T22:22:06.323+00:00lew grade's ITC productions usually liked to c...lew grade's ITC productions usually liked to cast an american as the lead player in their shows i.e. richard bradford in "man in a suitcase", stuart damon in "the champions" etc, in the hope that they would capture a slice of the international market (although ironically they usually failed stateside). so presumably joel fabiani's character fitted that bill with department s? he was certainly officially the leader of that particular team, although peter wyngarde's jason king character (who was very much the loose cannon/maverick) almost immediately became what is known nowadays as a breakout star, eventually getting a series of his ownwilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-65089115883747749342016-03-04T22:07:46.868+00:002016-03-04T22:07:46.868+00:00Conan the Barbarian came out the following year, b...Conan the Barbarian came out the following year, but there were a whole host of sword 'n' sorcery films being released during the 80s - Excalibur came out in 1981, and you had others like Krull and Legend over the next few years.<br /><br />All episodes of Department S are now on YouTube. I watched the first one the other evening, and while badly dated in many respects it was good fun. It was striking that Jason King, at that point anyway, seemed a bit of a secondary character, with Stewart Sullivan getting a greater slice of the action.John Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-43326979110327314322016-03-04T21:40:59.763+00:002016-03-04T21:40:59.763+00:00The Jam performed both sides of the 'Town Call...The Jam performed both sides of the 'Town Called Malice'/'Precious' AA single back-to-back on a show in early 1982, which should be on in a couple of weeks' time at the current rate. (Mike Read was the host, so it's Yewtree-acceptable).Stratosphearnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-27428071639294442542016-03-04T21:14:20.064+00:002016-03-04T21:14:20.064+00:00a bit like the spandau and beat singles, this is a...a bit like the spandau and beat singles, this is a sort-of "double "A" side" review. by the way, i still don't know what the point of such singles was - does anybody else?<br /><br />beat: i know pp probably didn't mean it as such, but his remarks in the intro suggests that the other track of this "double "A" side" was utter crap. well if this was the better one then i'd dread to hear that - reggae on autopilot (half the band are white, so does that make it semi-cod?) with nary a tune to remember. with his shades and jerky out-of-sync movements, bassist david steele looks like a blind man who's lost his cane. and for some strange reason andy cox is playing a "left handed" guitar upside down...<br /><br />whitesnake: the turgid hard rock churned out by this lot really is the pits with nothing to redeem it whatsoever, and yet it sold like hot cakes at the time. and that's despite having a pair of guitarists not exactly looking like rock gods, with one being somewhat on the tubby side, and the other always wearing a hat as if he has something to hide<br /><br />uk subs: pp says they look very different from before, but i can't say i noticed. charlie harper still has the same "black and white minstrels" hairstyle, that's for sure. the drummer (possibly the guy who was later in talk talk?) is pretty animated, so (although we don't actually see it fall) before long one of his crash cymbals ends up on the floor next to charlie (who must be close to 40 at this point!). and the electric piano used by dept s earlier is still on the stage, even though it seems surplus to requirements. musically this isn't too bad, with more than a hint of "message in a bottle" about it<br /><br />ennio morricone/legs: apparently charlie harper is still active in his 70's, but he's got some way to go to catch up to il maestro, who continues to writes and conduct - even though close to his 90's! flick colby must surely have spent less time on this "let's all walk about a bit in unison" routine than on anything else any of her troupes ever did!<br /><br />cure: hang on - now pete's telling is this is the cure's debut when we all know otherwise, so the cracks are appearing to show! this might be called "primary" but to me it's secondary compared to "a forest" (of which this has much the same feel). but still better than their later stuff as far as i'm concerned. mr smith still looks quite angelic here, although the monster that emerged later shows up a bit at the end as he starts to get bored. and why was he playing a bass guitar? out of interest, are there any contemporary pictures of him without the psycho/clown look that's become his stock-in-trade around?<br /><br />nolans: of course i hated this lot and all they stood for at the time, but i have quite grown to like them in a postmodern-ironic manner. but the problem i still have with them is that i just don't care for bernie's voice, which always seems rather weak and strained to me. and yet she always seemed to get the nod when it came to fronting their singles, which doesn't say much for the rest!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-68302021715901102062016-03-04T21:12:30.692+00:002016-03-04T21:12:30.692+00:00this edition perhaps set a ghoulish record in that...this edition perhaps set a ghoulish record in that no less than five tracks on the show feature singers that are no longer with us at the time of transmission (!)<br /><br />host: pp's 80's hairstyle is finally starting to suit him, and generally one of his better presentations too. but there are still a few chinks in his armour...<br /><br />bad manners: it's funny how much was made of buster bloodvessel's girth at the time, but if he walked around in that outfit today nobody would think him looking particularly overweight. winston bazoomies is awol this week, so the harmonica job falls to the guitarist. who forgets to mime on it at least once. and why couldn't the puppet have had a drumstick of his own? and whoah! where did legs & co spring from half way through? but a rewind reveals they were there from the very start<br /><br />spandau: the spands and their chums spend time bonding in what looks like the siberian steppes, but is more likely somewhere in north wales (some might say the latter is actually less inviting). was this influenced by the conan films, or were they yet to be made? talking of which: did you know arnie has now signed up for another sequel? this one's called "conan the septagenarian"...<br /><br />girlschool: the singer has great hair, but sadly her voice doesn't match. otherwise it's fairly generic metal that could have been done by anybody. watch the other guitarist, and actually how studied her "nonchalent" manner is<br /><br />sugar minott: is there supposed to be a green hue at the beginning of this, or is that where the tape has decayed?<br /><br />department s: the tv series of the same name was probably the first action show i watched properly (i was around 8 at the time), and it still has great sentimental value for me (and of course a great theme tune). i bought the dvd boxset a few years back, and although it's a bit patchy in places plotwise it's still very stylish. unlike most fans, i wasn't so much into the flamboyant fop jason king as his clean-cut and no-nonsense american compadre stewart sullivan. presumably vaughan toulouse and his mates had similarly warm and fuzzy childhood memories when it came to naming their band? i quite liked this at the time, but it couldn't really be seen as synth pop nor new wave, which may have explained their brief career (the less successful follow-up "going left right" was better in my opinion). also the (then very unusual) telephone answer machine thing rendered it almost a novelty record, which probably didn't help their cause either. i presume vaughan's unusual microphone style is meant to imitate a telephone, although it reminds me of a similar technique employed by alvin stardust a few years earlierwilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-34994139617499247792016-03-04T19:27:04.807+00:002016-03-04T19:27:04.807+00:00Normally i love these re-runs, but i thought this ...Normally i love these re-runs, but i thought this show had the worst selection of songs in ages.<br /><br />Comes to something when Bucks Fizz and the Nolans have the best songs on the show. <br /><br />The Jacksons were also good, but faded out and had i have caught the full version, i would have included Sugar Minott in my good list<br /><br />But the rest i didn't like or rate at all. 1981 has to get better!<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656821189691902130.post-87621281651204060482016-03-04T15:07:40.208+00:002016-03-04T15:07:40.208+00:00Well, you weren't to know that the BBC would b...Well, you weren't to know that the BBC would block all the DLT and Saville editions, otherwise we would have asked you to post them up for us on here!Doryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718769648375882927noreply@blogger.com