So a huge thanks to Manorak for making it available on Vimeo
Top of the Pops 23-10-80: Presenter: Dave Lee Travis
https://vimeo.com/130003915
(4) STATUS QUO – What You’re Proposing
On its way to number 2.
(9) THE NOLANS – Gotta Pull Myself Together (video)
Now at its chart peak.
(27) GILBERT O’SULLIVAN – What’s In A Kiss? ®
Would make it to 19.
(37) KELLY MARIE – Loving Just For Fun
The follow up to Feel Like I'm In Love, made it to number 21.
(20) AIR SUPPLY – All Out Of Love (video)
The group's only top 30 hit, peaked at number 11.
(26) KATE BUSH – Army Dreamers (video)
The third single from her Never Forever album, made it to number 16.
(12) ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK – Enola Gay ®
On its way to number 8 in the charts.
(2) OTTAWAN – D.I.S.C.O. (danced to by Legs & Co)
At its peak position.
The Top Ten Rundown:
(10) GEORGE BENSON – Love X Love (video)
(9) THE NOLANS – Gotta Pull Myself Together (video)
(8) SWEET PEOPLE – Et Les Oiseaux (And The Birds Were Singing) (still picture)
(7) ODYSSEY – If You’re Looking For A Way Out (video)
(6) MATCHBOX – When You Ask About Love (still picture)
(5) MADNESS – Baggy Trousers (video)
(4) STATUS QUO – What You’re Proposing (clip of TOTP 23-10-80)
(3) THE POLICE – Don’t Stand So Close To Me (video)
(2) OTTAWAN – D.I.S.C.O. (video)
(1) BARBRA STREISAND – Woman In Love (danced to by Legs & Co)
A new number one, and Barbra's only number one in the UK.
(13) COFFEE – Casanova (crowd dancing) (and credits)
At its peak in the charts.
If the pogoing Nazis show up again next week, I think the studio should hire a couple of large bouncers to see them off, they really are a distraction now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a collection of special guests to share an awkward conversation with DLT, Gladys Knight gets out a couple of sentences while the Pips are silent, Elkie Brooks does indeed look shattered and Adric, well, who knows what Adric was doing there, I thought the remixed theme sounded naff at the time (though compared to the other 80s remixes it was positively inspired) and wouldn't have bought it.
Kelly Marie with massive hair sticking to the formula, diminishing returns spring to mind. Then FM-tastic Air Supply, not one of them playing a violin I note when it was the string section that made the record. Then Kate Bush getting blown up (not like a lilo, in an explosion).
I keep forgetting how short Legs & Co are, seeing Pauline with DLT was like Fay Wray and King Kong. About time they danced to Ottowan, routine didn't tax them but was cute enough though hampered by having to perform in a car park. Was DLT obsessed with motors, then? I can only imagine they were his idea.
Lastly, a makeshift video for Babs, pity they didn't use any Owl and the Pussycat footage, that would have woken everyone up. What's Up Doc? is her best movie anyway, even if Ryan O'Neal wound up calling her the most pretentious woman the world has ever known afterwards.
I don't think it was a case of Pauline or any of Legs & Co being short. I think DLT was standing on a pedestal when next to Pauline, and he's certainly no King Kong.
DeleteWhat I like about the What's Up Doc movie, is when someone says to the judge in court "I want my bike back", the judge then replies "I'll give you broken back."
The best show since the summer strike and of the new Hurll era so far, as much for DLTs hilarious comments between the songs, which themselves reached peak levels this week, and giving the show a much-needed lift after the last two dreary presenters Powell and Vance putting us to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThe Nolans – I very much enjoyed this video, including their banana-coloured outfits, and thoroughly deserving of their Top ten achievement with this effort, moving rapidly up to No.9, but peaking here already.
DLT finishes up after Gilbert O’Sullivan by introducing some ‘very kissable ladies sent in by the director Mr Hurll’, and then insisting on ‘a quick kissypoo’ with Elkie Brooks with his hand sliding further down her waist just before the intro to Kelly Marie’s new single.
Kelly Marie – this new entry sounded too much like her last single and No.1, even the background notes, and perhaps there was too much pressure on her to follow up so quickly with similar results to her September No.1, but not surprisingly, it certainly made little impression on the charts.
Air Supply – one of the all time gems in a pot of gold. I find it staggering that this only made it to No.11 the following week as a result of this TOTP airing of the video in full. How this one and Odyssey did not go all the way to at least No.2 during Barbra Streisand’s tenure at No.1, is frankly quite baffling.
I just love the way that DLT tells Matthew, the new Dr Who companion, to shake hands with the girls behind him, because he is too small to kiss them, and DLT then says ‘leave it to me.’ Brilliant!
Legs & Co – I must say that this was more refreshing than watching the Ottawan video, with Legs & Co dancing between the sports cars in mini skirts this week.
Brrrrrrrr,-Yes-Yes-Yes-Yes (as Kevin Rowland would say on There There My Dear) only for DLT to bring back the ‘kissable ladies’ on his arms at the end of the song. Also nice to see Legs & Co dancing with the audience on the end credits on Casanova by Coffee
Matthew Waterhouse is actually gay, so I'd imagine he was quite content to leave the girls to DLT...
DeleteDLT takes the cringe level up several notches in this episode. The cars were a bizarre feature but a nice free advert on the BBC!
ReplyDelete*thinks about Kate Bush*
Pretty good musically.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe how naive I was all those years ago. Only realised what 'What You're Proposin' was about watching this performance - how come the BBC didn't ban it?
Never heard of the song in the top 10 by Tweet Tweet...
Thanks for putting it up.
i had stopped watching dr who by 1980, so i wouldn't have known or cared who adric was. however, had it been jenna from blake's 7 it would have been a different story. talking of which, i can't help noticing that jenna now seems to be quite a popular name for women in their 20's and 30's - whenever i meet one i ask them if their parents were blake's 7 fans. they reply that they don't know, but no doubt think "what a weirdo"...
ReplyDeleteas for "i'm all out of love": i would rather go without an air supply than listen to that shite!
Wilberforce, I think one of the (very pretty) actresses in Dallas played a character called Jenna. As it was a massive must-watch show for a time, itmay be that character rather than the Blake 7 one which caused the upswing in the name's popularity.
DeleteThe very pretty actress in Dallas that you are talking about is none other than Priscilla Presley, former wife of Elvis Presley
Deleteshaky that makes sense - i would guess that it's the mothers who are mainly responsible for choosing their children's names, and to be honest i can't imagine too many women having ever watched blake's 7... unlike dallas!
DeleteFunnily enough, Priscilla Presley is on The Jonathan Ross Show tonight on ITV
DeleteAll Out Of Love by Air Supply was one of the first music videos I purchased from iTunes as in 2006 when the iTunes era had just taken hold, offering classic pop videos to keep for £1.89.
DeleteNow 10 years on, it's still in my opinion a great song and video in my music library, no matter what Wilberforce or anyone else says, and is a staple item for me like the importance of fibre in a morning cereal for breakfast.
I never really watched "Blake's Seven" but, from memory, Servalan was the main attraction and not Jenna!
ReplyDeleteAh, the lovely Servalan. I'm not going to sleep tonight...
Deleteby chance i've just finished watching (for the first time unbelievably!) the complete series of 60's ITC classic "man in a suitcase" - in not one but but two guest star parts was none other than a younger version of jacqueline "servalan" pearce! and in the second she had both the cropped hair and heavy eye make-up (charlie definitely won't be able to sleep now!)...
DeleteDon't forget Glynnis Barber was in Blakes 7 also...
DeleteAdmirers if Jacqueline Pearce might want to seek out the film 'White Mischief'...
DeleteI suspect that Matthew 'Adric' Waterhouse, the Doctor's first teenage boy assistant, was written into the series as a rival to Flintlock's Mike Holoway, one of the stars of ITV's competing sci-fi series 'The Tomorrow People'.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of the show, here's an edited version of a letter that was published in 'Smash Hits' around that time, summarising a dissatisfied viewer's opinion of this particular edition of the programme:
'First I see some long-haired yobs playing guitars and singing about proposing and then repeating it about 50 times. Next I see The Nolans. Tell me - WHO buys their records? They try to be sexy but they're about as sexy as the back of a table. One thinks she's Pam Ewing from Dallas and the rest try to copy Legs & Co.
'Then who should I see but some so-called "musician" called Gilbert O'Sullivan singing about a kiss when he probably hasn't even kissed a girl himself. Then we have our friend Kelly Marie. And why is the backing always Ottawan and "D.I.S.C.O."? I try to muster as much interest as I can but then I hear the sickly chords of Air Supply and ask the dog to turn over to the comedy on ITV.'
With TV Times not having a 'Genome' website, unlike its BBC counterpart, I can only guess that the comedy series scheduled against TOTP might have been a repeat of 'Only When I Laugh'. All together now...I'm H-A-P-P-Y...
Admit it, the dissatisfied Smash Hits reader was your good self, wasn't it?!
DeleteI'm afraid you're wrong, THX - the above extract is taken from a vintage copy of 'Smash Hits' that I found when I was having a clear-out not so long ago. I've never even owned a dog! The disgruntled reader's name was "Anthony".
Deleteit's a shame that we can't post any images on this blog site as i have a few old cuttings from music magazines that i think would be of interest to readers
DeleteJulie - the ITV comedy up against TOTP that evening was The Glamour Girls, starring Duggie Brown, Brigit Forsyth and Sally Watts.
DeleteThanks, John! I can vaguely remember that series, which was written by Reggie Perrin creator David Nobbs. Not one of his better efforts, despite the presence of Brigit 'Thelma Ferris' Forsyth. I was on the right lines, though, given that 'Only When I Laugh' co-starred another former 'Likely Lads' regular, James Bolam.
DeleteHuge thanks to Manorak for this special edition of Top Gear of the Pops, where DLT (complete with a top which gives him advice he never took) spends huge chunks of the show engaged in product placement for the Motor Show. Just as well The Cars weren’t on this edition!
ReplyDeleteSome rum song subjects in this show, with Quo singing about nostril drug inhalation which I hadn’t realised either, Kate Bush reflecting on the death of a teenage soldier (must have been difficult for her to only blink in time with the gun trigger cocking effects), OMD’s best of show anti-war classic, and some shite about a woman being disco once again getting two airings on the show. They may have well as used this as the programme’s theme tune and be done with it.
Loved that interview with The Pips. Sheer class. “Bourgie Bourgie” missed out on the mugshots by just two places, whereas Elkie Brooks was in the middle of a chart desert, managing just one number 50 hit from early ’79 to January ’82. The song in the background wasn’t it.
Maybe it was the snipping of this show by UK Gold but, boy, was it fragmented. Not enough of The Nolans (and yes, Dave, we got that crappy joke the first time round, thank you), Air Supply starting in the second verse (still, be thankful for small mercies), a brief and ‘plain vanilla’ Legs & Co routine to our favourite tune, and a tiny snippet of what could have been one of the best outros yet, with the Leggers joining the mob for Coffee’s “Casanova” which I’d forgotten before this re-run but I’ve remembered to enjoy it. I’d have liked to have seen the gals have a crack at a routine for that Sweet People number during its ascent, mind you. Could have been funny.
The chart rundown was substandard, while I’m at it. Who gave Adam and the Ants a ‘down’ arrow for an 18 place climb (obviously, nobody behind the scenes had listened to Tommy Vance’s precise description of the new style chart) and then forgot to give us either numbers or names for the top ten? The rundown gave us our only mugshot for Teena Marie, who followed the sublime “Behind The Groove” with this top 28 smash and nothing else near the top 30.
So, which was better – Barbra Streisand’s film and Legs mosaic for a formulaic Gibb number or Kelly Marie’s facsimile hit which, at least, didn’t have the dancers dressed as minstrels or slaves? Actually, can I abstain?
Still worried by Gilbert O’Sullivan’s failure to rhyme the line before ‘delicatessen’. Surely, he could have written something like “If you’re hungry for a loving lesson”?
Oh, and to answer Gilbert's question of "What's In A Kiss"...saliva, germs, bacteria, maybe hints of breakfast / lunch / dinner prior to brushing teeth and, to paraphrase Jasper Carrott, a hint of pork scratchings if you're lucky. Yum!
ReplyDelete...and the stink of stale tobacco if they're a smoker
DeleteTip of the hat to Manorak for getting this up, I thought as I pressed the start arrow. Having watched it, however, I aint so sure.
ReplyDeleteYes there were highpoints. OMD still sounds great, and Army Dreamers is one of Kate Bush's finest singles with a darn good video to boot (although I'm not too sure what the reasoning was behind the blinking). But other than that?
Quo do what Quo do. In fact the same could be said for The Nolans and Gilbert whilst Kelly Marie takes that particular notion one step further by re-hashing her number one hit in a by-numbers identikit fashion.
Air Supply in a moodily-lit vid start mid-song and then go on an on and on in one of the longest drawn out fade outs to grace our screens.
Ottawan maintain their pincer-like grip on Michael Hurll's knackers - how else to explain their multi-plays over the past three weeks?
And then there is DLT. Like everybody else I am totally baffled at the inclusion of all the car stuff - especially as we didn't even get to see them apart from their roof or bonnet. The guests added absolutely zero to proceedings and without them and the cars we could have snuck in a couple of other performances.
"Lets look at the bottom half of the chart" - No, Dave lets look at the bottom third plus one.
And so to the scores. The show gets a four and only Kate and OMD saved it from being a 3.
DLT likewise gets 4. He is clearly at home in front of camera but I'm thinking he is the one responsible for the whole Top-Gear-On-Sleeping-Tablets look of the show and so a possible 6 gets two points knocked off it.
It can't be as bad next week can it?
I'm not a robot.
Kate's blinking was because she has a photographic memory and is a big fan of Barbara Windsor in Carry On Spying.
DeleteI actually thought this show was quite slick compared to some others in this period, perhaps because Michael Hurll directed it himself. However, it was unforgivable to start the show yet again with Ottawan - I don't mind the song but even I am getting sick of it now! The car stuff was also tedious, and seemed terribly self-indulgent - I wonder if Hurll was a car fan as well as DLT? At least Legs were able to dance around them, I suppose, even if it was to bloody Ottawan again!
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the interviews this week. The brief encounter with Gladys and her silent Pips was amusing, and the chat with Elkie Brooks came over as a bit of a minor car crash - I wasn't entirely sure if she was simply tired, or was uncomfortable with DLT's up close and personal interview technique. Either way, she really didn't look like she wanted to be there, unlike Matthew Waterhouse, who had the appearance of the cat who had got the cream two days before Adric's debut in Doctor Who was broadcast. If only he had known that he would become one of the most unpopular companions in the show's history, and one of very few to be killed off! Still, his appearance is appropriate as Doctor Who had just gone through a revamp of its own under a new producer, complete with rearranged theme - I'm a big fan of that particular version, as it's the one I grew up with.
Out of the handful of new songs on show, Air Supply came off best - it is AOR, but of a superior kind, and I'm surprised it didn't go Top Ten. Singer Russell Hitchcock has the appearance of an antipodean Leo Sayer, though of course little Leo himself is an Aussie citizen these days. The Kate Bush video was powerful and effective, though I do feel the equally strong lyrics are undermined by the rather twee arrangement. Still far better than Kelly Marie's xeroxed effort, mind you - I had no idea that she had another hit, and she certainly didn't deserve to with this.
Incidentally, I have read elsewhere that the shamrock t-shirt brigade may have been members of 4 Be 2, a band put together by John Lydon's brother Jimmy. I am pretty sure that "4 Be 2" was printed on the front of some of the t-shirts in this edition, but the question still remains about why they were being let into the studio week after week...
Do you mean 4 Be 2 were a music band or more like a gang? Mind you, we don't know how many repeat audience members there were, because most of them would have more than one set of clothes.
Delete4 Be 2 was a real band that made 2 singles: 'One of the Lads' for Island, and 'Frustration' for WEA. Both were produced by John Lydon. Bassist Martin 'Youth' Glover, later to become a prolific producer, left the band after the first single to focus on his main outfit, Killing Joke.
DeleteApparently "a whole host of Lydon family and friends" were involved in the band, which was named after an Irish joke involving a plank of wood! Another Lydon brother, Martin, seems to have played a part, and many of the band members (without Jimmy) also released a couple of singles under the charming name The Bollock Brothers.
DeleteP.S. I always thought Air Supply's Russell Hitchcock bore an even closer resemblance to Benny Gallagher! Talking of whom, a new stage musical based on the songs of Gallagher & Lyle is due to open in Largs next April: http://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/13924448.Gallagher_and_Lyle_choose_Largs_for_world_premiere_of_their_new_theatre_show/
ReplyDeleteI remember that as late as 1984 as a 16-year old going to my first year of house parties/discos for my age group in the O levels year (now called GCSE's) that All Out of Love by Air Supply and I'm Not In Love by 10CC were the two most favoured last song at the end of the party for the slow dancing/smooching opportunities.
DeleteOf course I must admit that even these two classic love songs were not enough to entice me to ask one of the girls sitting down waiting to be asked for a dance, and I was one of those who also stayed sitting down and wasn't ready for that sort of thing yet. I could only put it down to lack of confidence at the time, coupled with too much exam stress.
A great edition in terms of artists featured, some I believe were the sole showings, so thanks again Manorak for letting us see it.
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo – Much better performance that the previous one shown. The keyboard player is seen a number of times tinkling the keys even if you can’t really hear him!
Nolans – Enjoyed seeing the ‘banana yellow’ video again, but hey, it was cruelly chopped. I’m off to YT to watch the rest!
DLTs French girls interview was a little cringe worthy, as was Elkie Brooks. Elkie’s ‘best ever’ record they allude to I guess was the Gus Dudgeon produced ‘Dance away’ which didn’t chart and is frankly the kind of song that you need to listen to several times to appreciate. Not the same song as Roxy Music btw.
Gilbert O’Sullivan – the purple outline reminds me of the theme tune to the 70s series ‘Thriller’. Anyone have recurring nightmares from some of those episodes like I did?
Kelly Marie – Feels like I’m in love part 2. Same old dance routine, “ch-chs” and pingy drums but I believe the record was originally released in August 1978 before FLIIL?
Air Supply – I believe this was the only time that the fabulous Air Supply appeared on TOTP and the producers treat us to this great record 1:12 into the song, sans the first verse and chorus. An amazing 23.5 million views on YT are testament to what a classy record this is and a cover by Westlife and Delta Goodrem was a worthy effort many years later too. Air Supply were huge in the States.
Kate Bush – Waltzing weirdness. I don’t know how else to describe this!
Matthew ‘Adric’ Waterhouse was never one of the most popular Dr Who companions and made his debut in the Tom Baker story ‘Full Circle’ and sacrificed himself at the end of the Peter Davison Cyberman story ‘Earthshock’. His DLT interview ends with another ‘moment’.
OMD – Another outing for Andy’s unique dancing. It’s amazing that after all these years this song is just so catchy.
Legs and Co / Ottawan – I had to watch that with the sound turned down. At least the girls looked like they were enjoying themselves!
Barbra Streisand – Other than repeating what a wonderful song this is, I’ll save some other thoughts to next week’s edition as this week’s showing interspersed Legs & Co. with the official video.
i remember watching "thriller" way back in the early 70's - they always hired yanks who were either has-beens (such as george chakiris who had been a big name 10 years or so earlier in "west side story") or journeymen/jobbing ex-pat actors in the lead roles, in the hope that an american network might broadcast it!
DeleteAh yes, George Chakiris stars in one of my favourite stories; the Edgar Allan Poe flavoured 'Kiss me and die' also starring the lovely Jenny Agutter.
Deleteto my recollection that episode featured the old "imprison somebody behind a brick wall" routine...
DeleteIs that the same George Chakiris who spent one week in the top 50 in 1960 with a ballad released on Joe Meek's ill fated Triumph label?
Deleteyes, one and the same
Deleteout of interest to see how many yanks featured in it i looked at the acting credits for "thriller" on wikipedia, and noticed the similarly-named george maharis (like chakiris on the slippery slope at the time, having starred in "route 66" a decade earlier) also appeared in the series - i wonder if one of them ever turned up for a job to find they had been mistaken for the other?
Deleteoh yes: and like george chakiris, george maharis also had a singing career of sorts:
Deletehttp://www.discogs.com/artist/656755-George-Maharis
One of my claims to (almost) fame: I auditioned for the youngest brother in the film 'Railway Children', and got a second audition. Unfortunately, between the first and second audition I decided to grow 6 inches, and was consequently taller than Jenny Agutter, so didn't get to do my second audition...
DeleteCheck out the 'Thriller' episode featuring Michael Kitchen - 'Once the killing starts'. Voice aside, you'd never know that it was him as he sports a huge mop of frizzy hair!
DeleteSorry we're getting a little off topic here!
michael kitchen was also one of the trendy hippies that johnny alucard (geddit?) hooked up with in the ace "dracula ad 72"...
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ReplyDeleteI missed the Vimeo link, please could somebody let me know a new link? Thanks in advance :)
ReplyDelete