You won't forget about me!
15-4-82: Presenter: David Jensen (Live)
(42) SPANDAU BALLET – Instinction
Getting the live show underway is Spandau Ballet with what would become the first of two top ten hits for them in 1982, when it peaked at number 10. Produced by Trevor Horn.
(6) ROXY MUSIC – More Than This (video)
That stage looks quite hot, Bryan! More Than This didn't get more than 6 in the charts, and was Roxy's final top ten hit.
(15) SHAKATAK – Nightbirds
This chirpy tune was flying on its way towards number 9.
(5) DOLLAR – Give Me Back My Heart
Looking like the couple on top of the wedding cake tonight, with another Trevor Horn production. It peaked at number 4 and was the duo's penultimate top ten hit, though they would have to wait another five long years for their final one.
Jonathan King's USA section was edited out of the 7.30 showing, and presumably the later one too:
(US 7) HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS – Do You Believe In Love (video)
(US 3) VANGELIS – Chariots Of Fire – Titles (video)
(US 2) THE GO GO’S – Our Lips Are Sealed (video)
(US 1) JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS – I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll (video)
(40) SIMPLE MINDS – Promised You A Miracle
It's always exciting to watch a major act make their debut on the show, and Simple Minds had been knocking on the door since 1979 to no avail, until finally they had a breakthrough with the aptly titled Promised You a Miracle, which peaked at 13.
(28) MONSOON – Ever So Lonely
Zoo go all eastern and get their routine on the show this week, helped perhaps by Monsoon singer Sheila Chandra being unwell. The song peaked at number 12 and was the band's only top 30 hit.
(16) BARDO – One Step Further
The duo were still warming up for the Eurovision Song Contest, now just over a week away. One Step Further peaked at number 2 in the charts ~ if only they had taken the advice of their own song.....
(1) BUCKS FIZZ – My Camera Never Lies
Meanwhile, last year's winners triumphantly return to the studio with their third (and final) number one hit, sporting a look that can perhaps be described as sci-fi kitchen.
(11) ALTERED IMAGES – See Those Eyes (crowd dancing) (and credits)
Clare and the boys play us out this week, with See Those Eyes at its chart peak.
We move on to April 22nd next, hosted by Peter Powell.
The banned US section contains a song made famous thanks to a cover and a song which became famous in the UK when it was covered. “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” was originally the B-side of a flop single by Arrows, who had two UK hits but were given their own Granada series at a time when they couldn’t release any singles due to a contractual dispute. The Go Gos’ version of “Our Lips Are Sealed” only made number 47 over here, but co-writer Terry Hall had a crack at it a year later with Fun Boy Three and it made 40 places higher.
ReplyDeletePlease can someone upload the full version of the show with the 'BBC4-banned' US chart rundown bit in, as I need to see these superb video clips cruelly scissored out.
DeleteSorry to be pedantic but I think the Go-Gos hit at No.2 in the US was 'We Got The Beat'. According to a well known website 'Our Lips Are Sealed' reached No. 20 a year earlier.
Deletewon't the videos in the "cruelly scissored" section be available to watch (in full) on youtube anyway? if so, then all you'll be denied is king's contributions (which is not something i'm unhappy about missing out on - not because he's a convicted sex offender, but simply because the man is an A1 tosser!)
DeleteThe Jonathan King slot is not available to watch in UTube, so that is why I was looking for someone with the full copy of the show to upload it, and on WeTransfer if possible.
Deletedory what i was saying is that the offical videos featured in the king presentation are likely to be freely available on youtube. i've now actually checked and they all are (in full - unlike in the king segment), so the only thing you don't have access to is king's leering mug and patronising tones:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzIbyDbmsyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSav51fVlKU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3kQlzOi27M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL5spALs-eA
It's not the same as the way these were packaged onto the original TOTP show which is what I was looking for as upload by someone with the full show.
DeleteMind you, having just watched from your link the debut of Huey Lewis on their full video on UTube, and seeing a beautiful model in bed with six men, it was a little baffling how this group flopped in the UK at the time of their world debut here, and only really got noticed for the first time here in the UK in 1985 with their soundtrack Power Of Love for the movie Back To The Future.
DeleteSo here, much like the story of Hall & Oates taking three years of USA hits until first recognition in the UK, it seems that Huey and his team only thrived in America in their first three years from 1982-1985, and Europe seemed to be a long distance away. Surprising when a video like this is made!
You're in luck Dory - Neil B has made the full version of the show available on WeTransfer:
Deletehttps://we.tl/9tQHUWdrGG
Good Lord, how lucky we are to have Neil B come to the rescue yet again.
DeleteThere's no doubt that WeTransfer or Vimeo is proving to be the best medium for uploading TOTP editions, and without the worry of viruses being transferred through 4-Shared, or the unreliable Dropbox which does not always work.
Uploaders, let's stick to WeTransfer or Vimeo from now on as the standard uploading medium, and thanks again Neil B and John G for the info.
Thank you Neil once again
DeleteMeer
it looks like i have to eat my words and apologise to dory, as from memory i had assumed that king's bits were merely him on location somewhere in the US presenting clips of videos. but as john g has mentioned below, certainly in this case there was an interview with joan jett as well - and presumably one of a bit more probing nature than what we've witnessed on the show in the past?
Deleteby the way, does any one know if king has made complaints that his contributions to the shows at this point are being systematically whitewashed?
Joan Jett was lovely, a sort-of Suzi Quatro for the 80s. Did she have any other hits?
DeleteJoan had five top 20 hits in the US but only the one biggie over here, with four other minor UK hits reaching no higher than 46.
DeleteDid Kid say it was Buck's Fizz's third number one in a row? Making Your Mind Up was followed by two singles which didn't even make the top ten - Piece Of The Action and One Of Those Nights.
ReplyDeleteYou're correct Anonymous, it was their third no.1 but not in a row, as their second and third hits that you mention did not even make the top 10!
DeleteI quite liked One Of Those Nights, it should have been a bigger hit.
DeleteRoxy Music - as the only video on this week's show, I was a bit concerned at the beginning of it, as it looked like Bryan Ferry had a bad back, by his painful-looking posture at the start of the video. However, by this time in Roxy Music's career they were at their peak, and nothing seemed to stop them from having a top ten hit every time.
ReplyDeleteShakatak - I didn't like this track at the time as a 14-year old in 1982, but I must admit that as an adult now, I appreciate its subtle tone, and would liken it to the type of music on a romantic holiday in the evening in the hotel lobby. This was more for the middle aged adults it seemed, but as a teenager at the time, it was switch-off music every time for me.
Dollar- as said on a number of previous occasions I can never get enough of Teresa Bazaar's luscious look at the camera and also at David Van Day, and her light blue minidress this week was really the icing on a 4-year cake that started in 1978 for them, after a successful stint on Guys 'n' Dolls from 1974 to 1977. Pity that this was their last top ten hit until one last effort in 1987 with O L'amour.
Monsoon - the highlight of this week's show for me, and loved the Zoo performance and sexy outfits.
Bardo - I didn't realise till now just how pretty Sally Ann whatever-her-name is on Bardo is. The song I thought was as good as Buck's Fizz Eurovision winning effort the year before, but hey the voters make the choice. Funny how last year's winners Bucks Fizz were on at No.1 straight after Bardo at No.16.
I agree with you about Bryan's odd posture at the start of the Roxy video. I think he was trying to do something arty and avant garde but it just ended up looking weird.
DeleteApparently Kenny Everett did a spoof of this TOTP 15th April 1982 show on The Kenny Everett show, as you can see from this clip that the studio audience is the same, so TOTP must have added his bit while the studio audience were still there:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn169rlkEtE
Thanks for that, it doesn't get more 80s than Kenny Everett doing an impersonation of Shirley Williams. That was Sheila Steafel as the punk, wasn't it?
DeleteYou can even see Craig Fairbrass dancing in the background with Kenny/Shirley. There's also a well-observed TOTP spoof called Crop Of The flops by The Two Ronnies as The Two Jimmys!:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9g-6uA4be4
The Two Ronnies it seems did a similar to Kenny Everett here, with their own top ten countdown and this time three performances: Buster Bloodvessel, Chas 'n' Dave, Adam Ant.
DeleteDidn't Russ Abbot also pile into TOTP with similar sketches?
Not sure about Russ Abbott. Some of the Top Ten act names were the same as on the Kenny one so it must be the same writer, Barry Cryer methinks.
DeleteOK, what does Instinction mean, then? Were we just making up words, Spandau Ballet? Anyway, despite Tony's unusual way of wearing a jacket, this is a pretty good number from them, mostly thanks to that synth sting. Trev strikes again...
ReplyDeleteBryan looked like the world's oldest choirboy at the start of the More Than This video, not sure what the religious connection was. Also, the band were sure to infuriate future DVD buffs by not appearing on the screen in the correct aspect ratio. But the tune's a nice one.
Shakatak's performances still remind one of seeing your teachers dance at the school disco, but the melody trips along slickly.
Really like the grand piano bit of the Dollar ditty, it goes all dramatic, not unlike an ABC record, wonder what possible reason for that could be?
Simple Minds finally have a breakthrough with their meat, potatoes and Brussels sprouts pop rock. Not my favourite of theirs, but it doesn't sound too out of place here.
Oh dear, get well soon, Sheila. Wonder if she'd been on the show, would have been a bigger hit? Great tune, sounded very exotic in 82, she'd just been on Grange Hill of course. Not sure why one of Zoo is sporting a tartan nappy.
Choreographed to within an inch of their lives, Bardo carried our Eurovision hopes and... er, well, we liked it anyway. Sally Ann was on Crackerjack around this time, wasn't she?
Then to show Bardo how it's done, Bucks Fizz fresh from the set of Doctor Who. Cheryl seems to be distracted by some bloke chucking streamers at her, in a "why you, I oughta!" kind of way.
Then Zoo rivalling Clare Grogan for manic dancing to Altered Images. Jolly good show all round, I thought.
Tartan nappies were all the rage in '82. Get with it granddad.
DeleteTHX - 'instinction' is an obsolete term for 'instinct', according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary. Gary Kemp used it for poetic effect; I'm sure you'll agree it makes a much better song title than 'Instinct'.
ReplyDeleteThis was undoubtedly The Year of Trevor Horn, with Dollar, ABC, Spandau Ballet and the late Malcolm McLaren all scoring smash hits with the future superstar producer at the helm. He would rightly win the Radio One DJs' Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the British Rock & Pop Awards - the forerunners of the BRITS.
Dory - thanks for sharing that clip of the comic genius that was Kenny Everett!
Yeah, the Kenny Everett clip was very much part of the TOTP 15th April edition, using the same studio audience, but I liked mostly the top ten chart rundown with political characters of the time, i.e., Geoffrey Howe, Tony Benn, and Shirley Williams at No.1 which Kenny himself performed!
DeleteBrilliant clip Dory - as you say, the Top Ten rundown is the best bit. This sketch was of course shown straight after this edition of TOTP back in '82.
DeleteKenny really had it in for Tony Benn, didn't he? Never forgave him for scuppering the pirates.
DeleteAnyway, "instinction" certainly fits the line of the chorus, which was probably a better reason to include it!
It was just a year after this that Ken appeared at the Tory election rally demanding that someone kick Michael Foot's stick away...
DeleteHaving watched that clip of Everett, I confess I didn't even raise a smile. Garbage of the highest order. We found this funny in the Eighties? Good God.
DeleteWell I smiled a lot. It made me chuckle.
DeleteKid once again proves that he is the ideal host for a live show, coping manfully with the ever-more irritating cheerleaders, especially that woman who kept clapping right through one of his links! His Bucks Fizz gaffe aside, this was pretty much a flawless performance.
ReplyDeleteSpandau jump on the Trevor Horn bandwagon for this so-so effort. The production is predictably good, but the song isn't one of their best; "instinction" might be an obsolete word and not actually made up, but it still sounds really annoying! Fashion-wise the band look to be gradually transitioning from New Romantic clobber towards the sharp suits of the True era, but someone should have told Tone that jacket-draped-over-the-shoulders really is not a good look!
There then follows a hat-trick of songs that have been on before, though all in different visual incarnations this time. Bryan looked uncomfortably close to those flames in a generally unremarkable Roxy video, but still managed to keep his lounge lizard cool. I don't know why Shakatak bothered to turn up at the studio, given that this performance was completely interchangeable with their previous ones, while the most striking thing about Dollar's new turn was DVD's disturbing attempt to turn himself into David Sylvian!
Simple Minds' music has never held much appeal for me. This is one of their better singles, but still feels a bit heavy and ponderous, the bulk of the song failing to live up to the hooky chorus. Zoo do a decent enough routine to Monsoon, though as is so often the case their costumes seem completely unsuited to the music they are accompanying. This was certainly a different sound for the time, a slice of Indian exoticism for the synthpop generation, and it stands up pretty well. "Radford" is credited as one of the dancers - this is presumably Mr Quist, demoted back to the ranks now that Flick was back from her hols...
We then get Eurovision present and past, in the shape of Bardo and Bucks Fizz. I hope the latter act fired their costume person after this performance, as they all looked dreadful, especially the blokes! The cheerleaders get their normal chance to show off at the end, this time to Altered Images, but refreshingly we do appear to get quite a few shots of the civilians getting on down as well...
The Bucks boys were wearing the same hideous jumpsuits in the video last week.
Deletehost: david "kid" is as good as ever and the obvious choice to present (what to me are ludicrous and redundant) "live" editions of the show, the only blunder coming in added time as he couldn't get his facts about bucks fizz right. the unmentionable "audience member" we all love to hate was stood next to him on at least occasions and kid was nearly as tall, which must make him at least six feet (and probably much taller than most of the shortarse jocks the beeb employed at the time)
ReplyDeletespandau: having seen their star as hip elitists and arbiters of taste crash and burn thanks to the failure of their second album to spawn any hits, it was a case of doing whatever was necessary to get back in the public eye. which in their case included hiring the hottest producer in town. despite that, this messy, laboured and tuneless funk-lite is as instantly forgettable two minutes after hearing it now as it was back then. another "break out in emergency" plan was to ditch the pretentious costumes in favour of everyday soulboy gear, although someone should have told ol' foghorn voice that ties don't really go with lumberjack shirts. and why were they bathed in that strange pink light?
roxy: only bryan ferry could appear in a video watching himself on the silver screen as if he were valentino or something! when the rest of the "band" finally appear there's an anonymous drummer but no bass player in sight, which was rather strange
shakatak: they really should have had it written into their contract that they be surrounded by the audience, as (even with a sexily-dressed looker like jill saward on board) they just don't have what it takes as a stand-alone attraction. but at least the guitarist and bassist have a go at synchronised dancing near the end. like all their stuff this is pleasant-enough cocktail funk, but it takes a real dip when the synth solo comes in
dollar: i noticed the nod to "i'm not in love" this time around, but can't remember much else about it. trevor horn may well be the producer par excellence, but both his efforts tonight prove that if you make a shit sauce, then chucking in loads of spice to jazz it up just means you end up with a shit spicy sauce. and theresa comes a poor second to ms saward in the bustier stakes!
simple minds: there was always something about this band with their imagery and sound, long before they finally broke through to the singles charts. even their name (taken from bowie's "jean genie") had an aura about it - despite those ignorant of them being able to point out it was just another term for idiots and they were thus aptly named! i was already very familiar with them via "i travel" and their previous album (the nonsensical but pompously named "sons and fascination", that had the bonus album with an equally nonsensical but pompous title "sister feelings call"), but i really connected with the "new gold dream" album that this was the lead single from. sadly though it's not one of the better tracks, particularly the verses that are practically melody-free (although to be honest melodies were never really their strongest suit). but still good to see them on the show all the same. at the time (and in retrospect too) the stand-out tracks for me on said album were the driving title track and the atmospheric instrumental "somebody up there likes me"
I loved the sleeve artwork on the Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call albums. Very hip at the time.
DeleteSurprised Simple Minds didn't have a bigger hit with Love Song which stalled outside the Top 40
Deletethe same thing happened with (the very similar sounding) "the american", despite to my recollection both getting regular airplay at the time - obviously the world was not quite ready for them at that point!
Deletelike the trevor horn productions on this show, this is a double entry:
ReplyDeletemonsoon: i liked this anglo-indian fusion thing at the time, but not one i've heard over the years since. so i just can't believe how fast it is! but maybe that's because i've got used to the house version (that presumably sampled the original track and then slowed it down) by jakatta? it was well-documented at the time that singer sheila had appeared on "grange hill", but even though i was an avid watcher of the show i had no memory of ever seeing her in it
bardo: going by their his 'n' hers bob haircuts, presumably mr & mrs bardo both went to one of those new-fangled "unisex" hair salons? as a result mr bardo ends up looking like a cross between mark hamill and robin trower! i actually watched this all the way through this time, but the only thing i remember about it is that it modulates not once but twice within a few seconds
bucks fizz: the boys are wearing those weird tabard jackets that appeared in the video, and the general inpression is that they got their clobber from the set of "conan the barbarian". it's probably not a good idea to hand out that streamer stuff on "live" editions as it's inevitable a performer will get a load of it squirted in their direction if not a mouthful of the stuff. this time it's cheryl who gets the treatment, but like the trouper she is she doesn't allow it to affect her highly choreographed dance routine!
I didn't remember Sheila in Grange Hill at the time, but when BBC2 repeated the series on Sunday mornings in the 1990s she was pretty unmistakable and made me wonder why I hadn't recalled her before. Probably because she never got an interesting storyline?
DeleteA somewhat dimly-lit show from what I saw of it.
ReplyDeleteTony Hadley was wearing his jacket in the same manner as Johnny Logan did a couple of years earlier. In Johnny's case it was apparently because his manager told him to.
Shakatak were the darlings of Capital Radio at the time. That pitter-patter beat soon became quite tiring for me. Worth seeing just for Jill Saward though.
Many years after its release, in the CD era in fact, I bought Simple Minds' debut album and was well impressed with its bright, spunky, New Wave feel. Here, they're starting to transition into their thumping stadium rock schtick which carried them through the rest of the '80s. What Chrissie Hynde saw in him I really don't know.
Apologies to Dollar fans (hee hee)...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Amyn51xZ0U
The early 80s were very much the golden age of, shall we say, less than affectionate parody (the HeeBeeGeeBees started it of course). It must have been tough in the music biz back then: you had to have a strong visual image to be successful and if you were successful you got ripped to pieces on Not The Nine O'clock News, Three Of A Kind, The Kenny Everett Show or even The Two Ronnies...
thanks for the "dollop" video link 20th - i think tracey ullman was even flatter-chested than theresa, which is no mean feat! quite an amusing parody, but as far as i can tell it was actually the same song (and arrangement) with different lyrics. of course weird al yankovic was doing the same thing around this time too, but what made the heebeegeebees' efforts so wonderful was that not only did they pastiche their targets' tics and idiosyncracies lyrically and vocally, they also put together original songs in-the-style-of one or more of their subjects' hits that were so wickedly accurate that they could almost have been recorded by the original artists themselves!
Delete20th, seeing the Dollar spoof from your link to 'Dollop' from Tracey Ullman's Three of A Kind show, was frankly not as funny as the Kenny Everett spoof of the same TOTP show discussed further up this blog. I never found Ullman funny in 1982, and the lovely Teresa Bazaar did not deserve this copying in my opinion.
DeleteCome on Dory it was v funny and obviously done with affection.
DeleteCan anyone upload TOTP from 8/4/82.I've just got back from holiday and my DVD recorder has failed to record the episode.It's the first I've missed since the 1978 repeats.
ReplyDeleteYou can find it on this link:
Deletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07tq0fc/top-of-the-pops-08041982
You need to click the 'download' icon on the right hand side below the caption/picture.
Thanks Dory I tried the link but the page wouldn't come up
DeletePerhaps you could try it on someone else's computer, as it does come up on mine.
DeleteFinally found the link on BBCiplayer, but after downloading the BBCiplayer downloader it won't allow me to transfer the download to my harddrive. It needs to be on Vimeo,YouTube or WeTransfer. Thanks anyway.
DeleteIs Get i_player any use?
DeleteIs Get i_player any use?
DeleteThe first of five consecutive Spandau Ballet hits with a one-word title. I'll get my coat!
ReplyDeleteIs your coat the one draped over Tony's shoulders?
DeleteIt's the Kid with the mic this week, and we're off to a very decent start with Spandau's Instinction. This is the last of their decent tunes before they slideoff downhill into MOR territory. I have to say their attire is all over the place; part Haircut 100, part Teardrop Explodes, part Ken Barlow. Viewed from a 34 year distance, its all rather unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteRoxy on vid and a particularly boring one at that. It must have taken all of half an hour to edit that - what d'ya reckon? About a dozen different shots? Two scenes? Three blokes? The song'snot bad though.
Shakatak. Music to go up to the sixth floor with.
Dollar. Teresa and DvD come straight from someone's wedding to give us their own particular brand of candy floss pop. You know how, when you're in the pub with your mates, you can fall into the same pint/toilet cycle as someone and it can get a bit embarrassing and so you try your hardest to hold out until he's visited the toilet before you go, because, well, probably he's packing something more substantial than you? Well, I feel the same sort of thing happened here with Dollar and Buck's Fizz in that they were similar bands and always seemed to release singles at the same time. Unfortunately for the twosome, the Fizzers were far more musically-endowed and would out-chart them every time. Perhaps Dollar's management should have timed their releases better?
Simple Minds - before they went all stadium on us.I liked this in 82 - less keen in 2016. Jim's hair is. . .um. . . interesting, isn't it?
Chart rundown with Monsoon at 28. Kid then announces them as being at number 16. Maybe the act who actually is at number 16 will be up next and Kid has ballsed it up?
Zoo dancing to Monsoon. A decent routine, decently performed but I'm too far down the dislike-the-crap-out-of-them path to ever come back.
More charts, with Bardot up next. Guess what number they are? Yup - 16. Don't like this. Its a by-numbers-by-committee Euro entry song. The duo aren't that appealing either.
You wanna see and hear what a decent pop band can do? Step forward the Fizzers at the summit. Even with dodgy outfits and less than appealing dance moves this is a whole galaxy away from Bardot.
And we play out with Altered Images.
Scores then. First the Kid. Points dropped for the Monsoon/Bardot farrago and the Bucks Fizz cock-up, but otherwise a competent capable outing - 7.
The show also gets a 7. Monsoon and Bardo apart, the music veered from good to very good, helped in no small part by the many studio appearances. Spandau and Bucks Fizz, my pick of the day.
Indeed Shakey, I think all of us spotted the Jensen error of introducing Monsoon at No.16, when he confused this with his next intro of Bardo at No.16. Indeed nowadays something like this would not have gone out on air, as we are in an era of everything being signed off and double checked before airing, whereas in those days, errors were allowed to thrive undetected or uncorrected at the time of airing on a Thursday night on BBC1.
DeleteYou can kind of excuse Kid a little - it was a live show after all, but presumably he had worked out his links for each act before hand and it wouldn't have taken much time to knock up a few idiot boards to keep his links in order. Or maybe because of their day jobs, the DJs were trusted to be able to string a few coherent words together in between the songs, even though in a couple of cases this was palpably a foolish thought. (Powell and Bates I'm looking at you!)
Deleteshakey your "not going for a piss at the same time as another guy in the boozer" comment reminds me of a classic "sid the sexist" strip where sid breaks big fucking dave's "rule" of taking a leak before having sunk a minimum of six pints, and then has to make up excuses to his snitch to avoid a beating!
ReplyDeletewith regard to the "competition" between bucks fizz and dollar, i don't know if they had any such arrangement to avoid each other in the charts or not, but the likelyhood was that dollar were never going to get to number one in any event! i have heard that the beatles and stones once had such an agreement so they could take it in turns at the top. unfortunately though for the fab four they never made a similar arrangement with englebert humperdink!
Wilbs. I feel there is a major difference between the Beatles/Stones and Dollar/Bucks Fizz. Back in the 60s, music lovers tended, in the main, to be in one camp or the other. You bought the Beatles OR you bought the Stones. If there was a 'collusion' to release singles at differing times it would probably to maximise sales rather than to ensure the respective singles got to number 1 (The Stones very rarely hit the top!) The Fizzers and Dollar would have appealed to the same tweeny/teen audience who would have had limited pocket money to spend on music. Had Dollar dropped their singles (as I believe is the current popular terminology) in between Bucks Fizz's singles they may very well have sold more and got themselves a number 1.
DeletePersonally I can't see any comparison between Bucks Fizz and Dollar. After their Eurovision winner, Bucks Fizz maintained a fairly steady course with a 'pop leaning towards soft rock' style. Dollar, on the other hand, have veered all over the place! The next single we'll hear from them is one of their high points though :0)
DeleteJust watched the JK segment (thanks again to Neil B for making it available). King looked to be surrounded by the living dead at the New York Easter parade, and there was also a massive cock-up, as We Got the Beat was correctly introduced by JK as the US no. 2 before we got a clip of Our Lips are Sealed instead! The Huey Lewis video clip looked decidedly creepy to me, as they all sat staring at the woman in bed, while the song simply underlined the fact that this lot were the epitome of safe, bland, corporate American pop-rock in the 80s. The Vangelis clip was fun, with the maestro exhaling cigarette smoke in time to the music, while the Joan Jett interview at the end was quite interesting. She mentioned that she first heard I Love Rock 'n' Roll being performed on a British TV show some years earlier, seemingly on the very same Arrows TV series mentioned above by Arthur.
ReplyDeleteIndeed if you watch the whole Huey Lewis video (see Wilberforce's link further up the blog), then you will see the six men later all in bed with that woman, so you could say even more creepy!
DeleteLet's put this in perspective. We were seeing a new group here in the US Top Ten as early as 1982, who did not reach the UK with anything until 1985, so JK's plug for them did not work at all, unlike Joan Jett, which after this plug, got to No.4 in the UK in the month, i.e., April 1982!
With regard to the GoGo's, I much preferred Fun Boy Three's version of this song a year later in April 1983 which was a firm top ten hit for them.
Vangelis filling the room with his smoke exhale was some sight in that video, wasn't it? But he could get away with it then by means of a top quality tune, but also by the fact that in 1982, anything from world darts at the Lakeside to a Vangelis video on TOTP had people smoking galore on evening primetime TV, with no-one batting an eyelid. Oh, how times have changed in the our current generation.
even though smoking was still very much accepted in society (if not actually encouraged) in the early 80's, considering the subject matter of the film i'm a bit surprised that vangelis was allowed to do so in his video. i don't suppose the top athletes of the time such as coe and ovett (oh, happy days that we'll never see again in british middle-distance racing!) indulged themselves in that manner? but one wonders if athletes from earlier eras such as the one featured in the film saw nothing wrong in having a smoke? it certainly seems that footballers over the years have not been concerned that the dreaded weed would inhibit their athleticism - johan cruyff was a heavy smoker throughout his playing career, and i remember gianluca vialli actually puffing away on a fag whilst on the subs bench at the 1990 world cup finals!
DeleteThat is the beauty of having these nostalgic repeat runs of TOTP, to compare our standards now to those then, and what was fashion then to what is slammed or abhorrent now. Thanks again Neil B for this JK segment of the show - a valuable piece of TOTP pop history - even though it was the US Charts.
DeleteWilberforce - I would imagine a large proportion of the strictly amateur athletes of 1924, when Chariots of Fire is set, were smokers, so I think we can probably excuse Vangelis!
DeleteDory - I agree the FB3 version of Our Lips are Sealed is better, with a more interesting production. However, I still like this version, which has a bright, bouncy feel to it. This is of course the first TOTP appearance of Belinda Carlisle, though it would be a few more years before she became a regular.
Yeah, like 5 years later at the end of 1987! I don't think Belinda Carlisle charted with anything in the UK till 1987. Similarly Huey Lewis also appeared on this week's JK segment and didn't chart in the UK till 1985!
DeleteCertainly an enjoyable show with a fine host, but surprised they didn’t have John Peel on, seeing as his old mate Bill Sharpe was in the studio again.
ReplyDeleteSpandau Ballet had obviously got dressed in the dark – instinction yes, distinction no. The first clue to a live show as there was no keyboardist. Tony Hadley looked more wooden than usual due to his lumberjack shirt. I wonder if his shoes were from Timberland? Boom boom tish!
Who’s that at the start of the Roxy Music video? Jesus, it’s Bryan! It takes more than this to make a decent vid – see what I did there?
Ah, Gill Saward. Her less buxom companion tried jigging about furiously to get more viewer eye time. Sorry, love, it didn’t work. Apparently there were some blokes playing lift muzak at the same time.
What was the cameraman doing zooming AWAY from Thereze Bazar at the start? Dollar’s syndrummer was up for the gig, judging by his arms aloft before he’d even started miming... er, playing live.
Ah, Jim Kerr. That Chrissie Hynde’s had him, you know! Tonight’s award for most fidgety vocalist. Turn that booming bass down!
From the chart rundown shots straight after, was Kevin Keegan really that much bigger than his England teammates? I loved the juxtaposition of his facial expression to the Bananarama gal centre frame in the next mugshot, who looked incredibly frumpy.
Uesless fact - Monsoon’s hit was initially released on the Mobile Suit Corporation label. Courtesy of the bespoke “Left And To The Back” website, Sheila Chandra was sadly struck down with Burning Mouth Syndrome six years ago and is unable to speak.
Ah, the days when our Eurovision songs were catchy and made the charts. Sally Ann obviously enjoyed this workout, stifling a big smirk when she had to keep a straight face at one stage. Steven Fischer reminded me facially of a cross between Tony Blackburn and the Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley. Sally Ann adopted a different style for their last single, courtesy of YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohoDPWtGRz4
Buck’s Fizz, consisting of that Cheryl out of Co-Co, two blokes dressed as camp gladiator kissograms, and the majesty of Jay Aston, given minimal air time. In terms of who deserved more close-ups, the camera definitely lied!
No, no, no, Kid – it’s “Goodbye and good love”. That’s what we remember you for!
Agreed about the foolish move by the cameraman to move away from Teresa Bazaar at the start of the performance. I mean if I was him, I would have moved the camera closer, and maybe tried to get a kiss while I was there. Sorry, I was only 14 then in 1982, so perhaps not.
DeleteDo you think Sheila of Monsoon had too many vindaloos causing this Burning Mouth Syndrome over a sustained period of time, and now unable to speak since 2010? Her voice on this single was absolutely superb back in 1982.
I'd never even heard of Burning Mouth Syndrome before, just looked it up, jeez, that's awful, poor Sheila. Lovely voice, too.
DeleteI just decided to do a random check on our fave Shakatak member Jill Saward on t'net. Interesting. She was previously in a band called Fusion Orchestra where she also played keyboards and flute, and her raunchy on-stage antics got the band banned in Swindon. Unfortunately, from photo evidence of a couple of years back, the years haven't been overly kind on Jill.
ReplyDeletejill gives a no-holds-barred interview on her life and times (including how she lost her looks and how her marriage to fellow shakatak member bassist george anderson broke down) here:
Deletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1055816/My-TV-facelift-killed-Eighties-pop-star-Jill-Saward.html
Me late again. Slapped wrists.
ReplyDeleteThe lighting on this weeks show is very dark with lots of pink filters, it could be a try-out for an episode of The Tube which always looked drab and grubby like that.
Kid introduces the show with former disco dance champion Grant Santino standing in front of him mugging at the camera. Why do we need "disco dancers" on a show with no disco music?
Then it's Spandex Bollox. Despite my loathing of the band's dressing up antics I quite liked this one. Tall Tony Hadley is a commanding presence as always but commits the faux pas of wearing striped tie with a checked shirt (that's a no-no) while the Kemp brothers look ridiculous in their ill fitting jodhpurs.
Then Roxy on video. At the start Bryan is standing like he's done his back in, poor thing. It's a strange video but I quite like it even if it doesn't really make sense. Why is Bry in a cinema on his own viewing footage of himself and the band and giving himself a cricked neck in the process?
Then Shitattack. Why does the bearded keyboardist feel the needs to stare at the camera all the time? I like the gentle laid back vocals on this one although the tinkly piano riff does annoy after a while.
Then Dollar with a fine duet in the tradition of Diana and Marvin's You Are Everything and R and J Stone's We Do It but with an updated sound for the 80s. I'm not sure I like David perched on the piano though, that was perhaps a bit too cheesy. At the end their second drummer (the one standing up) is really getting into it, flicking his about like a demented chicken.
I watched the American Charts segment with JK. I feel a bit sorry fo the Colonel Sanders clone, he looks as though he's about to keel over. Maybe it's Mr King's foul breath. Some interesting records in the US charts including Junior which I liked at the time and the Huey Lewis track which I heard much later. Great harmonies. We'll gloss over the song JK mentions called Don't Talk To Strangers and just mention the Vangelis video which implies that he knocked the Chariots theme in between drinking a coffee and smoking a fag. What a star! The Go-Gos, I had this on picture disc and I remember the Funboy 3 cover.
Oo, The Simple Minds, the 1980s have really started now. Nice one. And 1982 was as really big year for Caledonian sound - with The Simple Minds, The Associates and Altered Images all charting. Not sure I care for the guitarist's baggy brown leather get up but maybe that was all the rage in Glasgow.
While I like the Monsoon song, at the time it always reminded me of the Kinks' Be My Friend which annoyed me for some reason. For once Zoo actually get it right and do a great dance routine which elements of Bollywood dancing combined with other moves.
So Craig Fairbrass is a huge Bardo fan as well as a Dollar fan, judging by the way he's cheering them on. I don't think he's had a haircut since he first appeared on the show and his uber mullet now looks like the type of hairsyle Princess Di had in the early days.
The Top Ten and then Bucks Fizz with the girls in bits of chiffon and the boys in those vile studded jumpsuits which were obviously designed by some mad queen. But its a great tune and one that I find myself singing even when I don't want to.
Playout with Altered Images which is a great tune to dance to but not disco dancing thank you Grant Santino.
so bama, are simple minds the definitive article?
DeleteNot especially, it was just a grammatical error, but ahead of U2 they seemed to sum up the sound and feel of the decade.
DeleteHey, I've just seen the full show thanks to Neil B - I thought I was getting just the JK segment but I should have guessed from the time it took to download!
ReplyDeleteSome really good music on here I thought. I never realised that 'Do You Believe In Love' dated from 1982 - I personally remember it as a double A-side with 'The Power Of Love' around '85/'86. And I think that 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' in the lower reaches of the chart was the 'laughing version'.
I win the lateness award as I was on holiday when this show went out on BBC4 (and the next one, actually) so I will be brief.
ReplyDeleteSpandau Ballet - Even the genius of Trevor Horn can't make this mess of a song much cop, though he *almost* manages it. The duff vocal doesn't help, though it's nowhere near the nadir of 'Musclebound' on that score at least.
Good on 20thCR for pointing out that 'Do You Believe In Love' (for me, their best tune) was officially a UK Top 10 hit as I was reading the comments thinking that no-one was going to! Not that you'd ever know of course due to radio stations only playing THAT bloody song of theirs all the time.
Simple Minds - I like their early stuff best, though I do like some of their stadium rock era songs. 'Promised You A Miracle' is good, but I prefer their other hits from that album. If you get a chance, listen to their 1st album 'Reel To Reel Cacophony'. The track 'Carnival (Shelter In A Suitcase)' in particular is great.
simple minds debut album was actually "life in a day". but granted, it does sound like an entirely different band to that which recorded "real to real cacophony" and several more notable albums up to and including "sparkle in the rain" (after which came the shark-jumping point for me!)
DeleteAh yes, I forgot that 1979 was when both were released (at least I think that's right) but I have listened to and enjoyed both. I love the early singles like 'I Travel'.
Delete