Well I'll be blowed, Hissing Sid has swallowed Toad..
Top of the Pops 15-2-80: Presenter: Simon Bates
(23) KOOL & THE GANG – Too Hot (and charts)
Get us underway with Too Hot (perfect for the Winter Olympics!) at its peak.
(22) MATCHBOX – Buzz Buzz A Diddle It
Are leaping on the double bass once again with Buzz Buzz A Diddle lt now also at its peak in the charts.
(5) KEITH MICHELL – Captain Beaky
Surely a medal winning performance here with from Keith and his banner waving gang with Captain Beaky reaching his chart peaky.
(55) THE FLYING LIZARDS – T.V.
A truly bizarre performance here from the Lizards with their follow-up to Money (which never quite made it onto the BBC4 repeats last year) but sadly it only got to 43 in the charts.
(17) ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS – I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down (video)
The aptly named follow-up to Accidents Will Happen featuring some slightly awkward looking dance moves from Elvis and the boys in their holiday video.
(12) Legs & Co – the girls show Elvis how its done as they go ballroom this week to Michael Jackson's Rock With You.
(39) DAVE EDMUNDS – Singing The Blues
1979 had been a very successful year for Dave and the Rockpile guys but this cover of Guy Mitchell's (and Tommy Steele's) 1957 number one Singing the Blues was his only chart single of 1980.
(8) JON & VANGELIS – I Hear You Now (video)
Now at its peak in the charts.
(21) THE SHADOWS – Riders In The Sky
This single was the band's 28th and final top 30 hit. (not including the ones they had with Cliff). It was edited out of the 7.30 show.
(49) MARTI WEBB – Take That Look Off Your Face
From the latest Lloyd Webber musical, Tell Me on a Sunday, performed live in all its big note glory by Marti here with the Top of the Pops orchestra in clear view.
(45) STIFF LITTLE FINGERS – At The Edge
This was their only top 20 hit, but it was also edited out of tonight's 7.30 showing.
(1) KENNY ROGERS – Coward Of The County (video)
Grabbing the gold medal from under the noses of the Specials to make it to number one this week.
(20) THE RAMONES – Baby I Love You (and credits)
Play over the credits this week as they head towards the top ten.
Next week it's Peter Powell hosting another Friday edition from the 22nd February 1980.
Arch-thespian Keith Michell was the first of two Australian-born acts to reach the British Top 10 in '80, the second being Eurovision winner Johnny Logan - who became an Irish citizen soon afterwards. Excluding Men At Work, who were led by the Scottish-born Colin Hay, there would be no more Top 10 action for Australia in the UK until John Farnham's 'You're The Voice' in '87.
ReplyDeleteThe Flying Lizards - in a word, WEIRD. An early sighting of a vuvuzela, a Fisher-Price toy organ, a euphonium - though I suspect it was actually a synthesiser on the recording - and plenty of "verys" delivered by the male supporting vocalist, as well as Deborah Strickland's usual deadpan spoken lead. Somehow, I can't imagine Sian Lloyd covering THIS on 'Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes'!
Elvis Costello would deservedly hit the Top 10 with his instantly likable rendition of a hitherto obscure soul number originally recorded by Sam & Dave. Though the former Declan McManus is internationally respected as a songwriter, two of his three British Top 10 hits were covers, the other being 'Good Year For The Roses'.
What a splendid routine by Legs & Co! I'd forgotten what an excellent record 'Rock With You' was, until I saw this. Why hasn't Cleethorpes-born composer Rod Temperton - who also penned 'Thriller' among many other hits - been made an OBE yet?
Dave Edmunds' remake of the Guy Mitchell smash may have only been a middling hit, but its B-side 'Boys Talk' is a scorcher - with a lyric consisting almost entirely of girls' name song titles! Check it out on YT!
Kenny Rogers - the most successful C&W singer of the pre-Shania era in terms of British singles sales - scored his third and final Top 2 hit with yet another meaningful story song.
The Ramones play out with what would be their only Top 10 entry, though their follow-up - the dynamic 'Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?' - should have been MASSIVE. Sadly, it stalled at No.54.
Can you imagine Legs & Co doing 'Thriller'?
DeleteKylie more than made up for that lack of Australian top 10 action!
DeleteTalking of Shania Twain, it’s been announced that she’s embarking on her final tour. She’s not even 50! I wonder what the reason is?
I have nothing to add except echo Dorys comments re:L&C and Thriller.....
DeleteI've already been thrilled by Legs & Co every week on TOTP. No particular preference, as I like all of them.
DeleteThe guy doing the 'verys' for the Lizards turns out to be non other than Julian Marshall, of Marshall Hain fame!
DeleteMatchbox, with the director using the "invisible camera" to get the closeups of the band when the wider shots reveal there is no cameraman in sight! Which is more interesting than the ho-hum rock 'n roll throwback to be heard here.
ReplyDeleteKeith Michell, you'd have thought he'd have known the lyrics by now, but nope, read them out of a book. Liked the increasingly pissed off expressions of the banner holders when they began to wonder how long they'd have to keep their tired arms aloft.
The Flying Lizards, well, that was perfectly sensible, and as Simes said a rock solid guarantee they wouldn't be one hit wonders. Or... maybe not. The banana yellow dungarees sported by the male lead made it look like activity time on a kids' TV show. Sounded a bit like that too, but I'm glad of the occasional lunacies on TOTP.
Always liked this Elvis Costello record, possibly because I didn't remember the video. Any idea where they were? I notice they waited till there was nobody around before they started dancing. Very beige-looking chips there, and who has lemon juice on chips anyway?
Legs & Co, do you still get those toilet roll cosies for little old ladies' bathrooms? Anyway, Whackson's Off the Wall LP produced his best material, and this was no exception.
Dave Edmunds, no wonder he ran out of hits after this plodder, pretty lifeless and disappointing considering his stature.
Thought we were going to see what happens at the end of the Jon And Vangelis video, but this was an even shorter clip than last time.
The Shadows and their platinum disc brandished by Simes, bet they were chuffed. Well, Hank always looks like that. Cheesy version of Ghost Riders, but maybe that's why I like it. K-Tel must have snapped it up for a compilation.
Marti Webb, woah there Marti, no need to get so animated, you'll do yourself a mischief flinging yourself around like that! I know Don Black is one of Britain's great lyricists, but "sleep good"? Really? Always makes me think of that French and Saunders joke, this one.
Stiff Little Fingers, my, they were happy to be there, weren't they? Sort of a mix of angry and exuberant, not a bad later stages punk track at all.
Isn't it funny that there's a website called www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com when Kenny Rogers doesn't look like Kenny Rogers anymore?
Regarding the Jon & Vangelis effort, with two consecutive very-short clips of the video on 31.1.80 & 15.2.80, the full video is barely 3 minutes long in full, and so this was not as much a cull of the video as perhaps most think, cos if you watch it on Utube, there is not that much more to show, as we say goodbye to this hit on TOTP as indeed it peaks here at No.8.
DeleteI think you'll find Noel Edmonds is the new Kenny Rogers.
ReplyDeleteAs for reading the lyrics, I'm sure The Fall's Mark E. Smith read the lyrics off a piece of paper when on TOTP with The Inspiral Carpets.
Someone should tell Noel to stop dyeing the beard - it makes him look very creepy these days!
DeleteGood grief, this one was a chore to sit through. The Matchbox/Beaky/Lizards triple whammy at the beginning induced a sense of ennui for me that meant the show never really recovered. The best performance was probably Marti Webb's - while I am not overkeen on her voice, which gets a bit like Cilla's in the choruses, it's a fine song and the Orchestra do a pretty good job here. Doesn't she look lonely on that dark stage though?
ReplyDeleteThe audience looked pretty hacked off by the end of the Beaky rendition, and I can't say I blamed them. The Lizards, meanwhile, were just too weird and self-consciously "arty" - I suppose it's quite amusing that they released this as a single, but they shouldn't have bothered! Stiff Little Fingers at least provided some energy, but the song was just more generic, forgettable punk.
While I will never be Elvis Costello's biggest fan, this was a good, bouncy cover - just a shame about the naff video! A rather less effective cover, sadly, from the Rockpile boys - Guy Mitchell's version of Singing the Blues is, for me, one of the most enduring songs of the 50s, but this sounded rather pallid in contrast. Still better than the Tommy Steele version, mind you...
Master Bates got the title of Jacko's effort wrong, and was it really Legs as we've never seen them before? We get a routine like this every few weeks! Simes also seemed very excited about the Shads - I suspect he secretly wanted to be Hank Marvin...
Here is a rough translation of the French lyrics from TV by the Flying Lizards. Courtesy of Google Translate (other translation websites are also available).
ReplyDeleteCoquille Saint-Jacques
Etends-moi
Au dessous de toi
Je suis une sphinx
Les genoux a chaque cote de vos cuisses
scallop
Saint- Jacques
Stretch me
Below you
I am a sphinx
The knees each side of your thighs
Here is a rough translation of the French lyrics from TV by the Flying Lizards. Courtesy of Google Translate (other translation websites are also available).
ReplyDeleteCoquille Saint-Jacques
Etends-moi
Au dessous de toi
Je suis une sphinx
Les genoux a chaque cote de vos cuisses
scallop
Saint- Jacques
Stretch me
Below you
I am a sphinx
The knees each side of your thighs
Simon Bates makes a rapid return to the presenter's chair and we begin with Kool & The Gang over the chart rundown. Too Hot is one of the few - very few- Kool songs that I can bear and I was almost disappointed that it was such a brief play.
ReplyDeleteMatchbox next and the singer looks as though he's had a bit of a make-over here, looking cleaner and more shaved than my memory had him.
Captain Beaky. I don't get this at all. How did it get made? Why was it made? How did it get into the charts? And this live performance - complete with lyrical cock-ups from Mr Michell- did nothing to endear itself to me.
Next up - Flying Lizards scraping the bottom of their quirky barrel. The verses are okay and then we get that bizarre unworked 'very-very' bit. What were they thinking/smoking? And, as mentioned above, another great example of ToTP presenters being completely pants in the Mystic Meg department as the Lizards prepared themselves to disappear from our sight forever.
Elvis with a cheap unappealing vid to what was a great song (didn't know it wasn't a Costello original because it just sounds so . . . Elvish)
What did Legs & Co do that prompted Simes to say 'as you may never have seen them before'? Can't see anything new in this at all. The track, though, is Jacko at his finest.
Bad idea of the week - the Rockpile crew sleepwalking their way through a lame, tame rendition of Singing The Blues. They were so much more than this and its a sad way for them to end their ToTP journey.
The Shads appearing beneath a logo that I presume said ToTP but looked more like Toto.
Marti Webb - one of the few 'musical' songs that I would deem to be acceptable, mainly thanks to Don Blacks lyrics. This peformance, however, was very stage-musically with Marti emoting rather than singing. Either that or she was smacked off her tits with a horse tranquiliser!
SLF. Saw these in Liverpool as support for Tom Robinson Band and I honestly thought they were going to be huge. Which puts me in the same fortune-telling bracket as most ToTP presenters. Good song this, though.
And Noel Edmonds finishes us off with Coward Of The County in the number one spot.
Few high spots this week - Elvis and Stiff Little Fingers being the best and plenty of low ones (I'm looking at YOU Flying Lizards and Keith Michell) So points-wise its 4 for the show and 4 for Simes who is docked points for poor fortune telling and that strange Legs & Co comment.
Finally hats-off to Angelo for the best line of the year - so far. And I quote: ' Captain Beaky reaching his chart peaky. Well played sir. Well played.
One thing about this week's show is that Keith Michel and Kenny Rogers sure knew how to get a full 4-minute play on TOTP from start to finish:
DeleteCome out with a song that keeps us in suspense as to what happens at the end, so TOTP has to play the whole song to the last note. The full play on the show is more likely to give a high position in the charts, as in those days there were no competing shows to TOTP and no video/satellite channels, and so what was the result:
Beaky gets top 5 for this effort, and Kenny Rogers has two weeks at no.1.
Anyone else notice that the late night edition had a 'filmised' look to it (i.e. 25 frames per second rather than the usual 'video look' with 50)?
ReplyDeleteThe 7:30 version was fine - so I'm guessing they accidentally broadcast the version converted for iplayer by mistake - as that is the full unedited show (all past editions on iplayer have the same 'film' effect - i assume due to some technical internet reason).
Hopefully tonights repeat will be fixed (otherwise I'm going to have to frankenstein both versions together to get a half decent copy).
It depends how keen a TOTP fan you are.
DeleteI'm keeping the 7:30 version, because the only ones missed off were the Shadows and Stiff Little Fingers, so I don't need the 'filmiest' late night edition, which you are correct, is very poor by BBC4 to tamper with the original copy for the late-night edition.
Accidentally or not, it does rob the public of what they should be given, considering we pay our TV licence fees to the BBC every year.
Anyway, let's hope the Saturday night edition is shown in the correct format, so the BBC can redeem themselves.
Watching iPlayer on an ageing computer monitor it's difficult to see if it's 'film' or video' look - it's always just a manky digital picture to me (although quite good resolution when my ISP isn't 'throttling' me). What I thought was very telling were the words of two work colleagues who have iPlayer hooked up to their big flat tellies. One said it was as good as broadcast TV whilst the other said it could look a bit 'filmic'. This leads me to believe that people have varying levels of temporal resolution, so it's not going to matter to the TV companies if something goes out with 'film look' if, say, half of the viewers can't see the difference.
DeleteThe version on the iplayer is filmised - I think that's just how it is (all the previous versions look like this too).
DeleteIt's the version shown on TV that's different this week.
The 7:30 version shown on the TV was the usual video, but the later full version had the film look applied for the first time.
As the iplayer shows the full version, and the iplayer version has the film look, I'm guessing it's something to do with that.
(and the Saturday night version was still botched!)
Daf, I also noticed for at least a couple of years now that Vintage TV (Sky Channel 369) uses filmised footage for everything, i.e., 24 hours a day, so all their music videos of the 70s & 80s have what you call a filmised look, and it is obvious that something is not right, and it is a real pity, because everyone knows the resolution is not as per the original videos, but worse, and so it cannot be enjoyed properly.
DeleteLet's hope that this week's show on Thursday and Saturday late night edition is the original TOTP show in clear picture, and the awful blurry filmised look. Here's hoping.
I meant to say in my last sentence 'and NOT the awful blurry filmised look.'
DeleteDid anyone watch the new Pop Gold show on Wednesday night on ITV, to rival TOTP2, by showing performers on ITV shows like Razzmataz, Supersonic, So It Goes, Russel Harty Plus, A Little Night Music, The Other Side of Midnight?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes this show very interesting is that some bands only played on ITV shows/studios, and shunned TOTP, for example the Sex Pistols, who made it big in the charts and played their hit Anarchy in The UK on the show So It Goes, and by the time it got to TOTP to have to play it, they would not (or could not) use ITV footage on the show, and had to use Legs & Co, or use the playout time after the No.1.
I'm sure that in the 70s there were a number of studio performances on ITV shows which could not be carried over to TOTP for rivalry reasons, and Legs & Co then came into play to save the day somewhat.
It will be interesting to see the rest of this Pop Gold series every Wednesday night, and I'm sure there will be many more examples where ITV got some groups in their studios where TOTP could not. Interesting indeed!
Yeah, I watched it, with a mixture of interest in the unfamiliar performances (apart from the Pistols - who hasn't seen that?) and lack of interest in the overfamiliar tunes. Think that Russell Harty Who clip is in the film The Kids Are Alright. How come Tony Wilson was the only presenter we saw from the time? And what was Something for the Weekend, anyone remember?
DeleteI was looking forward to the 80s special next week only to find STV aren't showing it. Heaven forfend they'd broadcast something somebody might actually want to watch on the football 'n' murders channel, eh?
It's strange that STV showed the first show with 70s music but will not show the second one with 80s music. I thought the ITV channels stick to a whole series.
DeleteWhy STV do not continue after the first in the series is somewhat baffling and should not have shown the first one if they were not planning to show the whole series.
The first episode (and presumably the ones coming up) are on YouTube, only ITV in their mastery of technology have made it run too fast, so everyone sounds like the Smurfs.
Deletehost: do he and hank marvin go to the same opticians? unbelievable that he made a flying lizards track his "single of the week"...
ReplyDeletekool & the gang: smooth shite from guys who now had their eyes firmly on their bank balance. a good tempo for the chart rundown though
matchbox: not surprisingly given what it had to endure, that double bass looks like it's been bolstered with rivets. some bore was once going on to me about how the titanic was built: i replied "oh, that's riveting"...
keith michel: as others have noted, if a true thespian he would have had this tripe down pat without the need for reference. i thought slimy would have to spend the duration enduring this from above, but the banner holders (couldn't they have at least had the bloody things on poles?) gave him the chance to escape...
flying lizards: a bizarre moment of programming with two non-singing tracks in a row. it's a shame we never got to see the "money" totp appearances, but i assume they were as weird as this? they should really have called it a day after "money" or at least have stuck to cover versions in their minimalistic manner, as when you strip all the oddness out this is a simple 12-bar (but then again, so is "money"!). did anyone else notice the bassist swapping his instrument around on every bar? or deborah (who must surely be related to jenny agutter?) pulling a trumpet out of thin air at the end? perhaps surprisingly although they never bothered the totp captioners again they carried on in their primitive style for several years afterwards - their take on james brown's "sex machine" has to be heard to be believed!
elvis costello: not as bad as his usual stuff. i thought at the time it was some kind of soul pastiche, so perhaps no surprise it's a cover of a sam & dave tune (thanks julie!). pete thomas is so tall and spindly it's a shame he's usually hidden by a drumkit. at a guess this video was recorded on the south coast of france?
wacko/legs: i never thought this a patch on the first two singles from "off the wall" at the time, but now i think it definitely superior to the title track, and even rivalling the classic "don't stop" - from the off (the wall), the drummer has the groove effortlessly nailed! with regard to legs: as others have said, what's different about this long-skirted floaty routine to all those that have gone before? also: does anyone actually still use those lady-in-crinoline-toilet-roll-hiders?
two-parter alert!
ReplyDeletedave edmunds: dave and co doing their best to stop the 80's from happening (aurally if not visually). i read a story a while back that guitarist billy bremner changed his name due to constantly being mistaken for the terrier-like leeds utd footballer. then somebody with the same (new) name became famous...
jon & vangelis: or rather just jon (unless vangelis was one of the dancers?)
shadows: i could have sworn that brian bennett (aka "golf club dad" - thanks arthur!) wasn't using any sticks to start with! he's a great drummer, but even he couldn't play syndrums and snare at the same time. there's no ape-armed keyboard player this time, but george from cockney rebel has finally made his way back to the fold - appropriately in the shadows at the back of the stage...
marti webb: all i want to say about this is that through curiosity i have ascertained her given name is margaret. otherwise it's the usual lloyd-webber bollocks...
stiff little fingers: not bad as far as punk records go. their own label was cunningly called "rigid digits", which actually sounds better than the band name! singer jake burns often appeared waring specs, which was a shame as he was actually quite a cool-looking dude without them. i remember he later worked as a producer on radio 1 programmes where his thick northern irish accent would get to be heard on air now and again. unlike "golf club dad", the drummer does actually play without sticks. well, with one hand anyway...
kenny rogers: err slimy, this guy doesn't actually appear to be wearing a stetson! unlike "lucille" i have no memory of this whatsoever, and yet unlike that it actually somehow managed to make number one!
Regrettably "Lucille" did top the charts for one week (one week too many perhaps).
Deleteapologies anonymous - in future i must remember to check the facts out before posting, rather than rely on a 35-year+ memory!
DeletePoor link-up by BBC4. I watched the Sunday morning edition, where a female announcement was followed by Simon’s “Thank you, Mister Voice”. Was that the first time we’d seen a ‘double vision’ chart rundown?
ReplyDeleteWe start with two songs back after a three week gap.That scream at the start of Matchbox echoed my thoughts as to what was coming next. Then we had a big cock and Simon Bates on the podium – or was it one and the same? I agree the running order was weird – all we needed was a rap song after the Lizards and we’d have had a spoken word hat-trick. Interesting to see Deborah on the podium instead of with her band mates. Shame about her appalling Corporal Jones style miming. M&S sell Coquille Saint-Jacques. Very nice with some tabasco and Parmesan on top. Bags of flavour!
An Elvis appearance that isn’t serious? Wahay! If memory serves, the next EC performance on TOTP is his most frivolous if not comical. I see The Attractions had been taking synchronised dancing lessons from Sheer Elegance. Anyone else notice Elvis singing at one stage in front of a billboard with posters of his image all over it?
My wife joined me to watch the last six songs and, having never heard Jon Anderson before, said “Is that really him singing that high?”. She also thought there were penis shapes either side of the new stage for The Shadows and, from a certain angle, I could see her point. Nice to see Golf Club Dad had scrubbed up for the occasion. Bet he used some Denim or Censored for extra effect.
Marti Webb’s showing reminded me of when I saw “Tell Me On A Sunday”, performed completely solo by Denise Van Outen who was, to my surprise, excellent. At least Marti didn’t keep gawping into the monitors like Jake Burns, who looked like a kid locked in a sweet shop.. The ‘old girl’ and I took in a superb SLF gig last year and seeing them 35 years ago on the telly made her go all maudlin. By the way, the drummer had both sticks in his right hand.
Did BBC1 have any female continuity announcers in 1980? I wouldn't have thought that Simes would have known who the duty announcer would be when he recorded this.
DeleteSorry, what I meant was, they should have had a male announcer on BBC4 for this episode for consistency's sake with Simes's link. I don't think BBC1 had a female announcer in 1980 but, in my ITV area, we had the splendour of Sheila Kennedy during the week and Trish Bertram at (London) weekends.
Deletethanks for the coquille saint-jacques culinary tip arthur (i'd never heard of it and had no idea what it was - my piss-poor knowledge of french made me assume it was a chicken dish!). there is a marks and spencers a stone's throw away from me so i might nip in and try some of it sometime
Deletealso: with regard to the suggestion that brian "golf club dad" bennett would choose to wear denim aftershave, he actually played the drums on the brilliant music that accompanied the denim adverts!
Wilb, M&S coquille Saint Jacques comes in a two-pack of scallop shells, with the scallops hidden under a mashed potato topping.
DeleteThanks for the Brian Bennett "Denim" info - I didn't know that!
If you ever watch a blue movie from the 1970s called The Opening of Misty Beethoven, the Denim theme (actually called Confunktion) plays over one of the sex scenes. Guess that stuff really works! Which is in no way hilarious, of course. Not that I ever watch that kind of thing.
DeleteSo we've now got big and little pictures for each act during the chart rundown. Would have been more effective if the big and little pictures were different, but it's cheaper to push a button on the Quantel machine than to take/source two pictures, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI was fooled at first, thinking that the Matchbox performance had a live vocal, but crap lip-syncing on the shouts between the verses quickly gave the game away.
Keith 'one take' Michell again. Quite obviously under-rehearsed. Hisssing (sic) Sid is innocent indeed!
Flying Lizards - weird but strangely infectious. Didn't lodge in memory at the time but it's now on 'The Edge Of The Seventies' 3 disc compilation. Their next single - which failed to chart - was a relatively straightforward synthpop version of 'Move On Up' and can be found on 100 Hits: Punk & New Wave. (Hey, this indexing system seems to be working!)
I can remember this Elvis Costello number well and wondering why the vocals seemed to be at such a low level. Looking back now, it's an early example of a recording which was 'mixed' as opposed to 'balanced' - this became a trait in the '80s (think about all those 'remixes').
As we have never seen them before, eh? Mind you, I fail to see the connection between this MJ single and old-time ballroom dancing, but that's our Flick...
Rockpile, with no bass guitar if you look carefully. Personally I like this. I think that the next time we heard them they had got the legal issues sorted out and could legitimately call themselves Rockpile, and released the rather good 'Teacher Teacher'. Well, Capital Radio played it even if no-one else did.
Why do we only ever get to see the first half of the Jon & Vangelis video? Was the tape damaged or something?
A rather static Marti Webb, who clearly doesn't 'do' multi-camera TV performances. Quality song though.
Another quality song (although it has to be said, a different kind of quality!) from SLF. Like the late Keith Moon, their drummer knows what to do when miming on a kit with plastic cymbals (compare with the OGWT performance of 'Relay'). Now if Brian Bennett had adopted this style it would have livened things up no end....