Kevin misses out on the white dinner jacket yet again...
15-7-82: Presenter: Peter Powell
(12) HOT CHOCOLATE – It Started With A Kiss
Getting this week's show underway with what became the band's second top ten hit of 1982 when it peaked at number 5
(30) PAUL McCARTNEY – Take It Away (video)
The second single from his number one album Tug of War, peaking at 15. But BBC4 took it away from the 7.30pm showing.
(35) CLIFF RICHARD – The Only Way Out
A welcome return to the studio to perform what became Cliff's only top ten of 1982, peaking at number 10.
(24) YAZOO – Don’t Go
This excellent follow up to the excellent Only You, made it to number 3. But edited out of the 7.30pm showing.
(28) DAVID ESSEX – Me And My Girl (Night-Clubbing)
Looks like he's borrowed Bryan Ferry's white dinner jacket to perform his first hit for two years, reaching number 13, but he had a belter of a Christmas tune up his sleeve for later....
(20) JAPAN – I Second That Emotion (video)
Became Japan's second and final top ten hit, peaking at number 9.
(31) DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS with THE EMERALD EXPRESS – Come On Eileen
Our first sighting of this 80's mega classic and soon to be the band's second and final number one.
(23) LEO SAYER – Heart (Stop Beating In Time) ®
Went up one more place.
(14) VISAGE – Night Train (video)
Went up two more places.
(1) IRENE CARA – Fame (video)
The Kids from Fame and Irene herself all have messages of thanks to send to 'London, England' before Irene performs the song in what must have been a quickly put together video specially for Top of the Pops. At least there was no fighting in this one! And the first of three weeks at number one.
(26) DOLLAR – Videotheque (crowd dancing) (and credits)
Soon to peak at number 17.
Next up then is July 22nd 1982, a live broadcast which did have mute links, but that problem has been fixed and it will be shown.
A show filled with 70s bands trying to make it big in the 80s too.
ReplyDeleteHot chocolate - one of those timeless classics that never fails to bring a tear to the eye, so good was this hit in the latter stages of the Hot Chocolate career, and it certainly revived their dwindling career in the early 80s. Still love it.
Dexy's Midnight Runners - after almost a year since the brilliant Show Me, they arrived with a new phase 2 look. Out went the sax and trumpets, to be replaced by violin and accordion. and a new female member for good measure. However, despite this new studio performance, Come On Eileen was better known for the video on the street corner, which made them a big no.1 here, and then in 1983 in America with the same song.
Visage - I could have sworn that one of the brass section members in the video (the tall bald one) was the same one from Modern Romance and Genesis Paperlate that we were discussing on the blog a couple of weeks ago. Was he being handed over between the bands as a floater or something? Weird.
Irene Cara - I didn't realise how good she looks until now, cos I was only 14 in 1982, and too young and shy to appreciate a pretty lass like Irene, so let's enjoy the moment now on this reminisce. Really like this second 'video' for Fame, after last week's messy punch-up 'film' (not video THX) on the New York streets.
Dollar- the more I hear this the more it sounds Jeff Lynne and ELO. Suffice to say that ELO were on a well-earned career break throughout 1982 and most of 1983 before releasing Secret Messages in Sep 1983, so perhaps Dollar this week were reminding us what we were missing during this unusually long absence of ELO.
It was actually Dexys' Phase III look. The 1980 Geno era look was donkey jackets and wooly hats (the Mean Streets look), 1981 was boxing boots, track suits and mini pony tails which they dropped in '82 for what was known as "the raggle-taggle gypsy look".
Deletethe unsuccessful phase II was where mr rowland and his (mostly) new recruits used to go out physically running and working up a sweat before rehearsals... no doubt on kevin's orders!
DeleteThe 7.30 edit felt like a TOTP from the late seventies what with Leo Sayer, Cliff, David Essex and Hot Chocolate all appearing. A strange decision too to chop Yazoo and Macca from the early showing in favour of (in my opinion) weaker songs.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard that Cliff tune before and I doubt I'll bother seeking it out again, not one of his better efforts.
PP was largely inoffensive, unlike the gaudy yellow sweater sported by Leo Sayer, which I suspect he borrowed from Ronnie Corbett's wardrobe.
Indeed Steve, I counted 6 out of the 11 acts on the show where rock-solid 70s bands, so this was somewhat weird in the middle of 1982, as it seemed to be an unusual nostalgic spin back in time during a tidal wave of change in the 80s pop music scene.
DeleteEven in '78, when the new wave revolution was sweeping the world, many members of the 'old wave' enjoyed major hits. Justin Hayward, David Essex and the late Gerry Rafferty all made the Top 5 that year, while Lindisfarne and even prog-rockers Renaissance sampled Top 10 success. Forward to Christmas '79, and who's No.1? Pink Floyd!
DeleteIn '82, as in '78, the old wave and the new wave were able to coexist happily in the chart. They benefited from each other's influence: as the new wave bands became more melodic and accessible, the old wave incorporated elements of newer musical styles into their work.
By '84, there was no distinction: it was just music. You only have to look at the original Band Aid's line-up, in which Phil Collins - by then a superstar - and Status Quo performed alongside U2, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
Did any of you catch Petula Clark CBE's concert on BBC4 last night? You should hear her outstanding ballad version of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'! I've moved to that smash hit so many times at Aqua Aerobics. A classic song is a classic song, whoever happens to have composed it.
I saw the first ten minutes of Petula on BBC Four before I went out, and it's great she's still performing with that amount of energy in her 80s. If 70 is the new 40, maybe 80 is the new 50?
DeletePetula Clark is amazing for her age. She has had such a long and varied career and is a superb actress as well.
DeleteShe was on the Danny Baker radio show recently and when he told her his favourite film was The Runaway Bus starring her and Frankie Howerd she said something like "Don't be ridiculous" thinking he was joking. But he managed to win her round in the end
even though i'm a big fan of easy listening, i can't say i've ever really understood the enduring appeal of petula clark - an ordinary singer with ordinary looks as far as i'm concerned...
DeleteNobody belted out Downtown like Pet! Don't Sleep in the Subway was a classic too. Incidentally, Tony Hatch presents a show about theme tunes on Radio 2 this Tuesday at ten.
DeleteHave to agree with Wilberforce on this - Pet's voice has always struck me as very flat and mediocre. Still, you can't argue with her success...
DeleteListen to her song On The Road from the 1970 film Lady In The Car With Glasses And a Gun. It's brilliant.
Deletethis song sounds like a lesser burt bacharach effort to me, even though it was actually written by michel legrand! i'm really into late-60's/early-70's cult films, yet i've never heard of this one. so thanks for that bama
DeleteSome veterans returned to the hit parade in a big way in '82 - and most of them did this by embracing the new technology and keeping abreast of changing fashions within the industry.
ReplyDeleteDavid Essex's splendid 'Me and My Girl (Night Clubbing)', which featured Liverpool's own Real Thing on backing vocals, strongly suggested that he had been listening to Police. The song's reggae beat and spacious arrangement certainly made me think of the artifically blond power trio, as did the crotchet-triplet countermelody heard towards the end - 'Out on the town let me take you/I want to be seen with you' - which could just as well have been sung by Sting.
Leo Sayer's beautiful ballad, penned by The Bee Gees, deserved to climb higher than its peak of No.22. The chorus on that particular single (though not the version performed on TOTP) included experienced session singer Marcella Levy/Detroit, who would later form Shakespear's Sister with Bananarama's Siobhan Fahey.
Sir Cliff's effort wasn't bad at all; it was actually composed by Ray Martinez, formerly of 'You Are The New Day' near-hitmakers Airwaves, and later of Showaddywaddy (long after the hits had dried up).
I agree with Dory about Hot Chocolate's return to form. They made plenty of classic singles, and several that were fair to middling - but they NEVER made a bad single. Like David Essex and many others of their generation, they were employing more synthesisers at this point in their career - but not to the detriment of the quality of songwriting, arrangement or performance. 'It Started With A Kiss' has never dated.
Typo above: ARTIFICIALLY blond.
DeleteWow, wasn't 1982 one big party on TOTP. Even Peter Powell described it this way when introducing the show. Couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteJust saw the Paul McCartney video which I don't recall at the time, but interesting to see in the early part of the video in the house scene where the electric meter reader came in to do the readings and burnt the electric fusebox. I had such an old style fusebox in my house for years until earlier this year when I replaced it with a 21st century electric fusebox after years of putting it off.
Suffice to say that I'm pleased in the thought that I don't have to buy new fuse wire from the local convenience store when the box trips up every year or so.
For some reason the audience are getting up to various bits of business in this episode. As long as they're amusing themselves...
ReplyDeleteHot Chocolate up first with a sad little song, the "You don't remember me do you?" is particularly plaintive, though on the other hand how could you not remember Errol? He was a really distinctive looking guy.
This is possibly my favourite Paul McCartney single of the 80s, just love it, all the different variations on the melody and the way the chorus doesn't return at the end, it just ebbs and flows, totally relaxing. John Hurt in the video, too, playing... what? A record exec? How did they get that shot of the driving car? Neato.
Cliff Richard throwing shapes to a not bad but not brilliant effort, I think it could have benefited from an excellent chorus, it keeps building to one but it never arrives.
Yazoo on the desperate plea Don't Go next, cracking synth tune, like the instrumental break on this where it sounds like Vince is playing Galaxian or something. His hairdo was annoying to look at, so imagine what it was like to wear.
What was David Essex's hit TV show that Pete refers to? Was it The River? Anyway, not an Iggy Pop cover version, but an original tune with some odd, straining to be cool lyrics. Kind of strange, but not offputting.
Never thought this Smokey song was a good match for Japan, maybe it's down to the original being about as good as you would have ever wanted it to be, so this doesn't add anything. More remarkable barnets.
Yeah, yeah, wedding disco and all that, but Come On Eileen really is a terrific pop song, one of those classics that nobody can sing the words to. I got sick of it for years, but then one day listened to it with fresh ears and loved it again, not a lot of overplayed tunes I can do that with.
Didn't notice this before, but Leo's trousers are awfully tight here. Is that how he hits the high notes?
Ah, so Steve Strange had that massive microphone in the video as well as the TOTP performance. Really like this, especially the burbling synths.
Well, this would have been a treat for me, the Kids from fame with a message from... Los Angeles? Weren't they supposed to be in New York? Congratulations Irene for saying Great Britain when the others just said London, England, thereby alienating millions. Not really, we watched anyway. Just a pity we didn't hear from Mr Shorofsky ("Sh-Sh-Shorofsky!"). Blatantly mercenary message from Bruno, too, maybe aware of how fleeting, er, fame can be.
I'd forgotten about Mr Shorofsky. My local record shop had a massive Kids From Fame display when the album came out.
DeleteRegardless of the musical quality, most of Macca's early eighties videos were top notch. Take It Away deserved to do much better in charts and was a glaring omission from his All The Best compilation.
THX - David Essex was hosting a weekly talent show called 'The David Essex Showcase' on BBC1 at the time. The Belle Stars appeared one week with their then current single 'Iko Iko', which lost out to Natasha's rival version - but chart success was round the corner for The Band Formerly Known As The Bodysnatchers.
DeleteRight, thanks Julie. I suppose a talent show had to be on at the time, there's an inevitability about them even now. Especially now!
DeleteThe River was broadcast in 1988 - I think it had just the one series.
DeleteAh, I was way out, then. That's the TV series I associate with David Essex, though he'd made a few films of course.
DeleteHere's a clip of The Belle Stars performing 'Iko Iko' on 'The David Essex Showcase':
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58JvrUmpmns
Good God, they look like they're trying to dress up like The Village People. Nowhere near the quality of Natasha's sex appeal I'm afraid. However, full marks go to the lead singer for that flower-theme dress. Nice outfit, considering they didn't make it to the TOTP chart, the record-buying public favouring Natasha too.
DeleteDidnt Julie 'Chopper' Harris appear on a later 'Showcase'?
DeleteDidnt Julie 'Chopper' Harris appear on a later 'Showcase'?
DeleteApologies if someone else has already said this but The Belle Stars version of Iko Iko got to number 14 in the US chart 7 years later in 1989 when it was used in the film Rain Man.
DeleteWesty, yes indeed.
Deletewesty thanks for getting another "chopper" reference in!
DeleteMy bad. Julie "Chopper" Harris actually appeared in the "Freddie Starr Show Case" a few months later. Makes sense if I'd thought about it, as Tight Fit would have been releasing a follow-up to "Fantasy Island" hoping to keep their chart career going. The follow up "Secret Heart" stalled at 44 and, chartwise over there, that was it for the Fit.
DeleteSeeing as I messed up the details on Chopper’s showcase, and I think we’ve seen the last of the Fit, here’s what happened next...
DeleteThe follow-up to “Fantasy Island”, with a video shot in Venice, actually stalled at 41. An album was then released featuring the previous three singles, at which time Chopper and the future Mrs. Waterman left the troupe, disillusioned at living off meagre record company retainers and not receiving any recording royalties. Two new women were recruited, and two more singles were released, one being a re-recorded track off the album, which were more or less Steve Grant showcases (ahem) with the new (and in my opinion inferior) gals filling in where necessary.
The power trio we know as the Fit have reformed and released an album last year, and they now hold the Tight Fit music and publishing trademarks.
Prior to the band Chopper Harris, Julie released a single with some guys under the alias of Julie and the Jems. The record sleeve gives each member’s birthdate (but not year), height, and musical influence, though quality control wasn’t fully switched on as one chap’s influence is listed as Luther Van Ross!
Re Leo's trousers... the Barron Knights had already been there in 1977 :o)
DeleteA good show this one, with a nice mix of old and new acts and some memorable tunes. PP is on decent form as well, horrible sleeveless t-shirt aside. His only misstep is his bizarre pronunciation of Trio's hit on the chart rundown - incidentally, why does Steve Miller appear to be doing an Elvis impersonation in his mugshot?
ReplyDeleteHot Chocolate open proceedings, performing this excellent ballad under what appear to be giant hamster wheels, but thankfully unencumbered by Zoo this time. This was probably their last great hit, and is another that I associate with an advert - anyone remember "it started with a crisp, a lower-fat crisp from KP?" Macca next, with a starry video featuring Ringo, George Martin and John Hurt. The opening scenes of the band rehearsing in the house are nicely nostalgic, evoking the Fabs' early days, and the song is reasonable if not anything special.
Cliff appears in the studio for the first time since 1980, taking to the "spring stage" with big specs and his usual pointy moves. He was continuing to sound contemporary at this point, and while the song is not one of his strongest from this era it still makes for a pleasant listen. I find it inexplicable that Yazoo got chopped from the early showing with this fabulous follow-up to Only You, which demonstrates that Alf and Vince were just as adept at up-tempo material as ballads. I am also amazed Vince could see the synth through that hair, but he sticks studiously to his miming duties even when a studio balloon bounces his way!
You have to give David Essex credit for not being one to shrink from embracing new sounds, and this quirky effort works pretty well - a relatively suave Dave seems to be enjoying himself in the performance too. Japan then pop up with a somewhat sterile video that unfortunately reflects the anaemic sound of this crack at one of Smokey Robinson's greatest songs; the tinny sax in particular drags this one down.
I could visualise David Essex wearing the Dexy's denim dungarees! Come on Eileen is of course massively overfamiliar, and I would gladly never hear it again, but I can readily understand why it was such a big hit and this energetic performance helps to make the zillionth listen a bit more enjoyable. The Visage video seemed a bit pedestrian compared to some of their earlier efforts, but the moody shots of the steam train were quite nice, I suppose.
The cast of Fame then give the folks in lil' ol' England some slightly cheesy messages of thanks, though I actually appreciated Lee Curreri's honesty in his blatant plug for the album! Irene proceeds to hit the streets of New York for this enjoyable promo, singing, dancing and eating hot dogs - I noticed Rocky 3 being advertised on a sign behind her at one point, a film that would soon generate its own number 1 hit over here. Back to the studio to finish, with Zoo doing some uncoordinated dancing to Dollar while the crowd are forced to watch...
There's also a big sign outside a cinema (theatre?) Irene walks past called Fire Down Below. I can't find anything on the net to indicate what that was (I always like to spot what's showing at the pictures in old clips).
DeleteThere's a 1974 X-rated hardcore porn film of that name (AKA Perverted Passion), it could be that.
DeleteIt was also the title of a 1957 film starring Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon, produced by Cubby Broccoli in pre-Bond days.
DeleteI doubt it was the 25 year old movie, so it must have been the porn. Don't think I'll be seeking that out, didn't Irene know it was a family show? I know her character in Fame (the film) unwittingly auditions for a porn movie, but still. Just shows you the pre-Disneyfied 42nd Street in all its grubby glory, I suppose.
DeleteIt was the 1974 film even though the billboard said it was the "World Premier", clearly a lie. It was a double bill with an 1981 porno flick called Black Garters.
Deletehost: pp did pretty well this week, but there were a few weird people surrounding him in some links
ReplyDeletehot chocolate: in relative terms this is probably among their best, although not good enough for me to go out searching for it
macca: he seems to have an obsession about going back to the past in his videos - in this one he's in what looks like his childhood council house. but is it the actual house that it now owned by the national trust and kitted-out for the benefit of japanese tourists in the manner as when macca grew up there? one face familiar to me if not others is that of the second drummer (who is obviously there because ringo's not capable of playing on his own). he is steve gadd, who was probably the king of the american jazz-funk-fusion session scene in the 1970's before sadly taking on more prosaic-but-no-doubt-more lucrative assignments for pop superstars such as macca and paul simon in the 80's. and has anyone mentioned eric stewart of 100c fame slumming it as another macca henchman yet? the same fate also later befell the mighty hamish stuart of average white band fame. what must these talented musicians have thought about working with the lovely linda? presumably they just thought about the money...? i have no idea what john hurt's doing here - is it some kind of promotional tie-in with a current movie? but what about the tune i hear you say. exactly
cliff: oh look, there's that rather desperate middle-aged man trying to ingratiate himself with the kids again - no wonder the yewtree squad were after him!
yazoo: much preferable to "only you" in my book and a fine piece of danceable synth-pop, although it's still not in my collection for some reason
david essex: he might be wearing a white tux but he's no bryan ferry, that's for sure. but thanks for adding to the cod-reggae canon dave!
japan: great band, crap record. this was apparently recorded on the orders of their manager simon napier-bell, as he thought only a cover of someone else's stuff would get them a hit. it did of course, but ironically only after they'd had several by their own hand. motown does little for me in its original form, never mind some kind of stilted art-rock treatment applied to it. and their old label didn't do them any favours by re-releasing this either - not that they cared of course! rather sadly they also spoilt the otherwise-solid "gentlemen take polaroids" album with another smokey robinson cover that was equally lame
dexy's: another "classic" that i never got at the time of release, but along with "bohemian rhapsody" et al i suppose i have a grudging acceptance of it now. it will never be in my music collection though
Alternative blog titles this week:
ReplyDeleteMe And My Top Of The Pops
I Second That Top Of The Pops
Come On Top Of The Pops
Top Of The Pops Train
Or It Started With A Pops (if we can lose part of the title)
DeleteUnfortunately Steve, the whole TOTP title has to be used for the blog title. That is the whole challenge as agreed from the start.
DeleteIt Started with a Top of the Pops sounds good to me.
DeleteYes, despite my alternatives, I must admit that Angelo's one was the best of the entire lot.
DeleteSorry I was a latecomer to this! Full title will be used in future :-)
DeleteChecking out the artist line-up for this edition didn't exactly get my juices flowing - rather too many 70s artists for my liking. As it turns out, it wasn't that bad at all.
ReplyDeleteHot Choc start us off with possibly their signature tune. There are some similarities between this and 'I'm still waiting', the old Motown song, lyrically and thematically.
Macca on vid for a song that I had all but forgotten. This is much more like his Band On The Run/Venus & Mars stuff and sounds all the better for it. He's never been reticient about referencing the Beatles, though, has he?
Cliff then fingerpoints and Cliff-rocks his way through a passable pop tune. The more I see of Mr Richard, the more his TV appearances irk me. The hands in the air, the pointing, the swivelling. Was there no one in his camp who was strong enough to say 'No, Cliff - stop that. You look a bit silly' ?
Compare and contrast Cliff with the effortlessly cool David Essex. Yes he's come dressed as a Poundshop Bryan Ferry, but he carries it off well and just looks much more at ease and natural. The song is a little-heard belter too.
In between these two, we get Yazoo with probably their best song 'Dont Go'. Last time they were on, Alison Moyet missed her cue and failed to mime the opening two lines. This time, her vocals are so far back in the mix, this could have been an instrumental. A permanent feature on all 80s 'best of' CDs, its over-familiarity has, for me, had a negative impact on my fondness for it. Still, you have to admit it's a good tune.
Unlike other posters here, I quite like this Japan song. The moody interpretation suits Silvian's voice perfectly. Not the best of videos though.
Dexys. It's from the Too Rye Ay album which I absolutely adore, but whenever I play it I skip this, and I think I always have done. It was obviously hugely popular with millions of people - just not me.
Leo gets a second airing, Visage get their video played, and Irene Cara gets to stand, dance, and mime on a New York Street much to her embarrassment and the bemusement of the passers-by.
A very short piece of Videotheque to end.
So then the scores. Powell wasn't as annoying as usual, and his patter OUT of the songs were fine. But his INTROs where just as bad as they have always been. The man just can't do introductions. His countdown was boring, too - 5.
Not a bad show all told. The crowd and the cheerleaders were more prominent - and more annoying so points lost there. But the music itself was above average. Essex, Yazoo, Macca and Japan were my picks on a show that scores 7.
Just seen that the great Henry Winkler (aka The Fonz) is 71 today. I must say that I just loved Happy Days until the series folded in 1984 after a long run of 11 years.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope The Fonz does a Big Al who was with us till the age of 96, and we get another quarter of a century of him.
Henry Winkler was absolutely hilarious as the clueless lawyer in Arrested Development. He's still got it!
Deletedon't forget that the fonz does panto!
DeleteOh no he doesn't! Ohhh... yes he does!
DeletePeter Powell in Dexys-style armpit freeing gear, pisspronouncing the title of Trio’s hit and answering John Peel’s question as to who recorded The Beatles Movie Medley. While I’m at it, I meant to ask this before - does anyone know why Natasha’s mugshot picture had space invaders in the background? Was it because she invaded The Belle Stars’ chart space with her version?
ReplyDeleteI always thought Hot Chocolate’s signature tune was either “So You Win Again” or “You Sexy Thing”. Not really a fan of this effort. I was more taken with Errol’s “Miami Vice” style rolled up jacket sleeves.
I’m surprised no-one’s mentioned that weird couple clapping behind each other’s backs prior to the Paul McCartney video. Great literal interpretation of some of the lyrics in that video.
I always thought “The Only Way Up” was a love song to God, as borne out by Cliff regularly pointing skywards when singing “And it’s you” in the chorus.
Ah, Yazoo, depicting a prototype Flock of Seagulls haircut, a bluesy looking detective way back in the mix and a great slice of synth disco.
Shouldn’t “Nightclubbing” have been a fast, bouncy disco song with that title? Note David Essex’s Peter Powell style pisspronunciation of the words “pop music”. I remember cult indie band Half Man Half Biscuit mimicked this song with “Me And My Girl – Sealclubbing”.
Japan looking and sounding like the new romantic Roxy Music. That Mick Karn was always understated.
The return of the young Alan Sugar (sorry, Kevin Rowlands) with a new band look which does nothing for the sales of vests.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I saw quite a few of those “Here And Now” nostalgia gigs in the day and, for one of them, Visage were first on. Not only did they fail to do ”Mind Of A Toy” as one of their three permitted songs, but Steve Strange looked and sounded like a tramp who’d won a raffle to replace him on stage.
Irene Cara must have been a bit embarrassed at performing that excruciating live video in front of those onlookers, but fair play to her. Shame we suffered loads of “Fame” actors’ and actresses’ waffle and were only treated to ten cents’ worth of that Dollar hit.
Nah, Irene was a trouper! If you want to see New Yorkers with a WTF? expression on their faces in a video, check out Dennis Parker's cult disco anthem Like an Eagle on YT.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujbSkWKTuHo
thx you've reminded me that i've got dennis parker's "like an eagle" album stashed away somewhere (like hundreds of other records clogging up my drum, i'm hoping one day to actually get around to convert it to mp3 format). what i didn't know was that his main claim to fame was as a porn star... but looking at him on the album cover i'm not surprised!
DeleteIt's the moustache, isn't it? He had a regular gig on a TV soap in the 80s too, before meeting a rather sad end.
DeleteHis album is on YouTube, so you could just listen to it there. Eagle is by far the best track on it.
Not just space invaders behind Natasha, but specifically space invaders from the Atari VCS game!
DeleteThis was much more my cup of cha tonight and there were some surprises in that some songs sounded better than my recollection. PP as ebullient as ever having had plenty of time to listen to albums and back catalogues by the sound of it.
ReplyDeleteHot Chocolate – It started with a kiss – Nice song this…best of their latter efforts for me. Still not quite in the traditional HC sound vein for me, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Harvey Hinsley is there with his guitar but you can’t hear the trademark sound. Just who is that energetic dancer behind Errol in the multi-coloured outfit?
Paul McCartney – Take it away – Much better than the previous single with a great video. Is that George Martin I spotted on the piano? Enjoyed this as I haven’t heard it since….er…1982.
Cliff Richard – The only way is out – This is a pretty ‘safe’ song for a single and chugs along nicely with Cliff and his specs. B side featured Kenny Everett btw.
Yazoo – Don’t go – Lacking the hooks of ‘Only you’ this one is a tittle to repetitive for me. Vince looks like he is auditioning for ‘A flock of Seagulls’.
David Essex – Me and my girl (nightclubbing) – Slightly strange sounding song from the perennial Mr Essex who is allegedly doing his final tour ever now. Nice performance.
Japan – I second that emotion – Interesting…riding on the success of their current Virgin label output, their previous label Hansa continued to reissue old cuts. This had been a single only release over two years earlier and had flopped. Here, boosted by the recent spooky top 10 hit it has received decent airplay and hit the charts (and has its own spooky B Side ‘Halloween’). The video must have been shot at the time of the original release as it features guitarist Rob Dean. The chart rundown features a recent photo of just the four piece band however. I really like the 12” mix of this and think that it’s a pretty good cover of the Smokey Robinson hit. I recall hearing it played some years on later and the DJ (Ken Bruce I think) remarking how dreary he thought it was, but that’s just Sylvian’s voice and I think it’s a good record that deserved its top10 placing. Released in two different sleeves as well which must have encouraged collectors.
Dexys Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen – If ever a record had ‘No1’ written all over it, then it was this classic hit. Timeless. Great performance too.
Leo Sayer – Heart (stop beating in time) – As noted previously, underrated Bee Gees song. Didn’t realise it appeared on TOTP twice as Leo’s sleeve notes on his ‘Greatest Hits’ album describe it as a ‘radio hit’.
Visage – Night Train – More train shots (from the ‘Dammed don’t cry’ shoot perhaps?). Not their greatest moment although is all the better for the video rather than the studio appearance from a few weeks back.
Irene Cara – Fame – I have to say that this has matured with age and I quite like the song and the video. I’m not a ‘Fame’ convert by any stretch but compared to the previous No1 this is just so refreshing.
Dollar – Videotheque – I’m missing Therese!
Bucks Fizz peaking at No8 this week with their classic ‘Now those days are gone’. Now I think they missed a trick not following this up with ‘Loves dies hard’ from the same ‘Are you ready’ album. It’s wonderful and they don’t half sing it live brilliantly here….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MhFM8hGRgk
Yes, you and all the other men watching these reruns will be missing Therese, as Videotheque is their goodbye song, and it will not be until 1987 when we see them again for a reunion single called O L'Amour. Can you wait that long sct353? As Meat Loaf once sang "I'm crying icicles instead of tears." Can anyone guess which song this is from?
DeleteDid 'Give me some kind of music' not make TOTP later in 1982? If not, yes a pretty long wait for 'O L'Amour'.
Deleteanother five years before we see the talented thereza again? i can't wait...not! and as for the meat loaf song, as avon once memorably quoted in "blake's 7": i don't know, and i care even less...
DeleteWe do get to see "You Give me Some Kind Of Magic" as it got one airing in September 1982. By the way, those Meat loaf lyrics are from "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad".
DeleteYep Arthur, indeed it is, but was not a hit here, but only in the US for Meat Loaf.
DeleteBack to Theresa Bazaar, at the moment it is tears, but it will be icicles after September 1982.
It's Meat's best song, in my humble opinion.
DeleteYes it was George Martin. Eric Stewart from 10cc was also in the video.
DeleteFollowing on from Wilberforce's comment, what a shame Paul Darrow didn't guest present TOTP as Avon on a week when Master Bates was presenting. He could've teleported him away...
DeleteNah...Jacqueline Pearce as Servalan!
DeletePeter Powell in relatively restrained form this time, and just one annoying dancing prick (the one in the Jamaica colours) this week.
ReplyDeleteHot Chocolate - I can't believe that no-one else has mentioned this, is it just me that immediately thinks of Alan Partridge? ("DO YOU! You don't remember me DO YOU?")
Good song though.
Paul McCartney - I can't say I remember the song at all, but it's decent enough. Certainly better than the previous single! Not sure what's really going on in the video, it's like they hired John Hurt but couldn't think of a script.
Cliff - This is an Alan Tarney production, surely? Which is probably why it at least sounds pretty decent, even if it's not one of his best efforts.
Yazoo - Blimey, the sound quality on this is AWFUL! This song is much quieter than the others. A shame as it's brilliant.
David Essex - Always found this really weird and awful.
Japan - Not much love for this but I really like it! The video's not up to much though, and since we were talking about ugly bands in the other thread, well....David Sylvian aside, there's not too many pretty boys here!
Dexy's - Like most, I'm totally bored of this now. But I can recall that Summer and it sounded amazing at the time. A pity that it kept Yazoo off the time though.
Visage - For them, a relatively dull video!
Irene Cara - Ah, Lee Curreri as Bruno. I thought he was great, and I'm pretty sure that he partly inspired me to have a go at keyboards. As you can probably guess, that didn't work out well. I also weirdly remember this hastily compiled video, probably because I was obsessed with the TV show.
That should read '...kept Yazoo off the top...'!
DeleteI always thought that the guy who plays Bruno was about to burst into tears (or icicles) when introducing Irene Cara at No.1 with his classmates in that room. What was the matter with him? Does he always cry all day?
Deleteobviously david sylvian was the cream of the crop of japan by some distance looks-wise, but i always thought steve jansen (actually dave's brother - their family name was the somewhat-unfortunate batt, so no surprise they invented stage names!) was pretty cool too. karn and barbieri not so much, although they did have an appropriately moody look about them (and still way above trio in the ugly stakes). however, i did wonder if the thuggish-looking rob dean was (in the manner of ian stewart of the rolling stones) given the elbow on account of not fitting the physical profile?
DeleteNot an Alan Tarney production actually Noax (although I would have guessed that like you have). Produced by Cliff and Craig Pruess (who?))
DeleteI had vaguely heard of Mr Pruess before, so looked him up on Wikipedia. Turns out that he has quite a CV...
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Pruess
It appears Rob Dean left Japan as he felt surplus to requirements with the band heading in a more synthesised direction with their music.
DeleteBBC4 seem to have dropped the "Music" caption at the start of the shows, perhaps they finally realised we know it's music, we don't need to be told.
ReplyDeletePP attired in an ABC tee shirt is in good form. And a terrific start with Hot Chocolate. I mistakenly thought that this song was their return to the Top 30 after the gap, I had completely forgotten about Girl Crazy. But this is by far the better song and still sounds great today. Was there ever a sadder more haunting line in pop history than "You don't remember me do you?". Interesting use of overdubbed spoken vocals by Errol across his lead vocal in the first chorus where he says that line ahead of singing it later. This is the first of three songs in tonight's show where the singer does that.
The video for this is quite good, a performance intercut with old clips of couples kissing and men fighting, etc. The film company I worked for supplied the royalty-free clips for this which was one of a handful of videos we worked on. The clip of the shadow figure of Max Schreck from the 1922 film Nosferatu was also used in the video for Under Pressure.
I had also forgotten about this Macca song which is rather good and nice video as well featuring Ringo, Eric Stewart, George Martin, John Hurt and i think Anthony Newley. When I saw John Hurt I wondered if it tied in with a film but it was a stand alone video. Not sure what it all means but I like it, especially the bit at the start in the McCartneys' front room. And the brass is beautifully arranged.
I had no memory of Cliff's song either but I quite like it although Cliff's image is still stuck in the 1970s and his dance moves haven't improved much.
There are two crowd members dressed as Just William-style schoolboys complete with caps. They are dancing at the back when Hot Chocolate were on plus one crops up in the link here and appears at the end with his similarly attired mate. Were they ACDC fans who turned up on the wrong night or was there some other reason for it? Take 50 lines: " I must not go to the TOTP studio dressed as a schoolboy".
I must admit I liked Yazoo's Don't Go with it's driving rhythms and great synth riff. Not quite sure why Alf is dressed for winter in mid summer but that was the early 80s for you. I had flat top with a quiff at the time but here Vince is all quiff and no hair cut which is a bit too weird.
David Essex, the second example of a song where the singer overdubs his own backing vocals. I remembered the title of this but couldn't have sung it if you'd asked me to. But I quite like it and I think he does a good job in being trendy but in a laid back way. His keyboard player is a dead ringer for Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel.
By comparison Japan don't really do justice to I Second That Emulsion. It's hard to completely ruin a good song down but this doesn't quite work and after a while David Sylvian's whiny voice starts to grate. Also his Bowie clone look was starting to annoy. I wonder what he looks like now? (I've just Googled him and I wish I hadn't. You can't un-see things).
Dexys. This was the last song featured tonight where the lead vocalist sings two sets of vocals at the same time, in this case in the coda near the song's end. I was already a fan of Dexys but hadn't bought their last single, The Celtic Soul Bros (which would be re-released and make the chart in 1983). I did buy this and the album which included new versions of the singles they released in 1981, namely Plan B, Liars A-E and Show Me. And added bonus (for me) was the sight of drummer Seb Shelton with his shirt off, looking a bit grubby like he had just been mending the car. Whoarr! He also bashed the skins in Secret Affair and I had a thing for him then which carried on with Dexys. He even made dungarees look cool.
As Dexys said at the end of Show Me, this is part one, part two soon.
i've warned people here before what a sourpuss david sylvian is without his make-up!
DeleteRe the BBC Music thing at the beginning, it has been a bit erratic whether they show it or not!
DeleteRe the BBC Music thing at the beginning, it has been a bit erratic whether they show it or not!
DeleteThat bloody thing really winds me up. Even if you've never heard of TOTP before (unlikely) I doubt if anyone is tuning in expecting a moody Scandinavian crime drama!
DeleteThe Charts which really are choc-full of 1970s acts. Then a repeat of little yellow-jumpered Leo Sayer. This sounds better the more times you hear it. He has a great singing voice and this song really shows it off. It deserved to be a bigger hit but I guess he was a bit out of style by then.
ReplyDeleteVisage on video which could be their ode to Amyl Nitrate. The lyrics sound like the plot of a 1930s film set to music and probably are (any ideas which one?). Basically the same performance as on the show two weeks ago but with better dancing, added brass players, shots of steam trains and Steve and Co in a limo and a motorcycle and sidecar. Steve dresses as Lawrence of Arabia as you do. I was a bit mean last time because this is a good song and a classy video.
That clip of the cast of Fame looked like it had been left out in the sun to long, it was so faded and washed out, what had happened to it?
I must say, watching the Irene Cara video really took me back to mid 1982. I can picture myself with my flatmates in Chalk Farm glued to our tiny telly on a Thurday watching TOTP and then Fame. Looking at this specially shot video I would love to go back to Broadway in 1982 and see some of the films and shows they are advertising here (except Fire Down Below). At one point it looks like a giant billboard with Donald Trump's face on it appears behind Irene, when she is stiting on the roof of the taxi, just as she sings "people will see me and cry". Spooky or what!
The Fame cast return to intro the following ep of the show. The edit into Dollar is a bit of a sharp cut as they say in the business and it all fades very ear
Brilliant! Love the way you fade the last word 'early' just there!
DeleteThat was actually an accident but an unintentionally clever one.
DeleteCompletely off topic maybe....but I thought I'd ask if anyone out there listened to Nicky Horne on Capital Radio in the late 70s? He did a vote in 1978 called 'Top Tracks' which were meant to be votes for listeners favourite album tracks. Now '2-4-6-8 Motorway' was a single only cut then but was hugely popular, so they did include it. Anyway the rundown gave me my first ever listen to tracks like the album versions of 'The Cinema Show' and 'The Carpet Crawlers' by Genesis...and many other notable classics. No1 was pedictably 'Stairway to Heaven' and No2 was 'Supper's Ready'. No3 (and here's the tenuous connection with the chart now) was 'Free Bird'. But was it??? I remember writing the whole chart down in an exercise book at the time but it seems I have thrown it out long ago.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember this chart (broadcast over several weeks)? Does anyone have it noted still?
Sorry if this bored anyone....
Somewhere I've got a copy of the Capital Radio Top 100 singles of all time which dates from circa 1977 or 78. From memory Bridge Over Troubled Water or I'm Not In Love was number one. But I don't remember the chart of album tracks.
DeleteCaptain Sensible was followed by Irene Cara at number one and she also follows him alphabetically in the UK Hit Singles book. Spooky eh?
ReplyDeleteMy favourite ever juxtaposition in the Guinness Book of Hits was the brief period when Pet Shop Boys were next to Jon Pertwee.
Deletesurely the best row of entries in the GBHS has to be the following:
Deletesinging corner
singing nun
singing sheep
with the latter classified as "electronic sheep noises"!
Subtitles? Anyone tried putting them on for this episode? How about this for a few 'top 10' howlers...
ReplyDeleteAt no10 it's Natasha with 'I go I go'..
No7 is Trio with 'Da da da da'...
....and at no6 is Imagination with 'Music and Life'.
maybe the trio record was the 12" extended mix?
Delete