Who's a pretty boy, then?
1-7-82: Presenter: John Peel
(34) VISAGE – Night Train
Here's something of a surprise to kick things off, the first ever studio performance from Visage, which unfortunately for them was also to be their final top 20 hit, peaking at number 12.
(13) THE JAM – Just Who Is The Five O’Clock Hero (video)
A live clip next of one the The Jam's least known hits, which peaked at number 8.
(22) QUEEN – Las Palabras De Amor ®
Freddy and his twitching moustache went up five more places.
(30) DOLLAR – Videotheque
Well David has made an effort to dress up and look smart in his suit and trilby, but miss Bazar on the other hand has turned up in an ill fitting string vest and precious little else ~ still, no one's complaining! And the song isn't half bad either, making it to number 17.
(21) CHERI – Murphy’s Law
Looks like the ladies from Zoo have been rummaging through their predecessors' old costumes, and to not such a bad effect too, for a routine to the Canadian's duo's only hit, peaking at 13.
(11) MIDGE URE – No Regrets (video)
With his debut solo single, a synth laden cover of course of the Walker Brothers classic, which peaked at number 9.
(1) CAPTAIN SENSIBLE – Happy Talk
The Captain is understandably in high kicking spirits as he celebrates the first of two weeks at number one.
(14) NATASHA – Iko Iko (and credits)
She's seen off the Belle Stars, and seemingly the rest of her band, and certainly most of her clothes, and now took Iko Iko up four more places.
July 8th 1982 is next with David Jensen.
So that’s what happened to @ABCFRY’s parrot. #TOTP pic.twitter.com/cGCv2NJEvs
— BBC Four (@BBCFOUR) October 21, 2016
Visage - I wonder why it took Visage so long to make their first TOTP studio apparance. I mean their biggest year for hits was 1981 where they just sent their videos instead of appearing in the studio, and so now in mid-1982 with their career almost over, there is a sudden change only now??
ReplyDeleteThe Jam - good Lord, are they still at in mid-1982? It could not have been long till their end, as this song sounds a lot like The Style Council's debut hit a few months later called Speak Like A Child.
Queen - the deserted studio appearance two nights in a row on BBC4. I still haven't picked up their Spanish lyrics at all. Were they rehearsing for Whistle Test?
Dollar - their last hit till 1987 with this one, and one of my favourites of theirs. Agreed with Angelo regarding Teresa Bazaar's string vest with very little inside it. Natasha at the end of the show got a lot of Teresa example to follow for Iko Iko, and didn't she do it well in that new outfit.
Cheri - Zoo with a Legs & Co style routine this week, with a Miss Piggy sounding track. Strange!
Being purely a studio creation Visage did everything they could to avoid playing any gigs and appearing as a band on TV show. They were strictly video only and by and large their clever, "arty" videos were pretty good and are still watchable today. However while there was a video for Night Train, the record company must have persuaded Steve and the backing singers to make a personal appearance to give them a bigger hit. It didn't work. The video is very similar to this performance but has the asddition of a brass section and a steam train. This was their last major hit, the title track from their album The Anvil failed to make the Top 40. A shame as it was quite good.
Deletei also recommend this non-album visage track (despite evidence of midge's squealy guitar and it being a bit of a rip-off of bowie's fame"!):
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fel3n3iNAAg
Had Steve Strange just had a visage, sorry, vision of Stop Making Sense? Or had David Byrne seen Steve Strange two years earlier? This is the song of theirs I'm most familiar with after Fade to Grey, I quite like it, it's got some gumption.
ReplyDeleteThe director does his best to jazz up this lesser-spotted Jam tune, but it's all in vain. Maybe it sounded better on vinyl, otherwise a moany item of social conscience, I bet Ken Loach loves it.
Yes, Videotheque, Dollar, because it's futuristic! We're in the future now! We dance to crazy images like a huge Therese Bazaar face on a screen! Whatever tune there is gets lost in the production, the downside of Trevor Horn's style.
I remember this Cheri song, mainly because of the Smurf input on the chorus (Father Abraham long since given his walking papers), but it's a funky, oddball little thing. You can hear why it doesn't get played much these days, but maybe it should be dusted off more often.
Midge, for all his abilities, is not Scott Walker, and this just sounds doleful rather than melancholy. He's having trouble with his screen ratio too, like someone keeps sitting on the remote.
Captain Sensible's backing singers look like they've won a competition. Yet another record we have John Peel to thank for, apparently. Nothing if not eclectic. The Captain looks like he can't believe his luck.
Natasha to end on. I know, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, but reading about her background to this hit, the word "chancer" springs to mind.
Wasn't this Queen's final TOTP studio appearance? I've not seen Thursday's show yet so apologies if this was covered in the corresponding blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing they were forced into doing TOTP to drum up interest in the Hot Space album.
Yes, this was the Queen's final time in the studio.
DeleteThat should just be Queen, of course, not the Queen!
DeleteWell random guests are a big part of early eighties TOTP so I wouldn't rule out an appearance from her majesty!
DeleteWell random guests are a big part of early eighties TOTP so I wouldn't rule out an appearance from her majesty!
DeleteJudging from his get-up, Mr Ravenscroft was about to jet off on his summer holidays after the show. Another wry and amusing performance from him, particularly when he declined to try pronouncing the title of the Queen record over the chart rundown.
ReplyDeleteIt was a surprise to see Visage finally appear in the studio, but Steve seems to be enjoying himself and this is a reasonable song, if musically quite far removed from Fade to Grey. Clearly Visage had a bit of a thing about trains, given that one had featured a few months earlier in The Damned Don't Cry video. As Angelo mentions, this Jam effort must be one of their most forgotten hits, and it is easy to understand why because there is nothing distinctive about it whatsoever. This live performance doesn't help, as to my ears it sounded quite muddy.
This Dollar single was their best since Hand Held in Black and White, and a fitting way to round off their Trevor Horn era. The duo still look friendly enough together on stage, but tensions would lead to a temporary split early the following year. The bits on the big screen looked like they were pre-recorded - I wonder if this was done especially for the show, or if they took clips from the video? Perhaps realising they needed to up their game after the impact of Jeffrey Daniel's routine the week before, Zoo deliver a better performance this time, aided by some colourful 60s-style dresses. Murphy's Law is a real curio, a decent song let down by that annoying chipmunk-like voice that keeps breaking in.
Midge finally gets on the show with his Walker Brothers cover, though only in video form. The promo is a gloomy affair, seemingly influenced by Orwell's 1984, but it matches well the doom-laden synths that dominate the record. I think this is a worthwhile version of the song, and Midge does quite a creditable Scott Walker impression. We are then treated to a no-expense spared new performance of Happy Talk to celebrate its arrival at number 1, with a cast of seemingly hundreds taking to the stage. That stupid stuffed albatross is also back, together with those bits of tinsel that make it feel like Christmas even though it was the opposite pole of the year. Natasha closes proceedings with another new performance among the balloons, seemingly desperate to appear sexy and provocative but manifestly failing on both counts.
How could anyone have 'tensions' with Teresa Bazaar to result in Dollar being away from our screens after this single Videotheque until 1987 when they eventually returned? Do you mean the spat lasted 5 years? Good God!
DeleteFor more info on Dollar,including their 'reunion' in 2009, 'Pop Goes The Band - Dollar' on youtube is worth a look. It's uploaded in 6 segments and gives an interesting insight into the lives of David and Thereza after their time in the spotlight.
DeleteDory - according to Wikipedia a promotional trip to Japan in February 1983 descended into acrimony and DVD decided to quit. Given his reputation, I would not be at all surprised if DVD was the prime cause of the bad feeling. Dollar reformed in 1986.
DeleteAnonymous - thanks for the info. I'll have a look at that when I get the time.
dory, how do you know that thereza wasn't a complete shit and a nightmare to work with? rightly or wrongly, i always got that impression of her - regardless of how cute she tried to make herself!
DeleteHere's something I've never ventured to talk about on here before...
DeleteI know someone who was in a band that were ultimately unsuccessful who were 'produced' by Thereze. In as much as she didn't really know what she was doing and someone else was doing the actual production. He also ended up (supposedly) going out with her. He mentioned nothing particularly negative about her character. So on all available evidence, DVD is almost certainly to blame...
You just have to watch the hilarious/cringeworthy BBC documentary on when DVD tried to take over Buck's Fizz to see he's, um, a bit of a handful.
DeleteBlimey, a week off and blink and I’ve missed a shedload of these episodes, so I had better pitch in here and quick! John Peel as great as ever. Who else could pull off such an offbeat presentation as he could?
ReplyDeleteVisage – Night Train – Continuing the railway theme of the previous single, as Dory says, what a surprise to see Steve Strange and his girls in the TOTP studio. This single contains none of the new romantic mystery of the previous releases and no real tune either. Perhaps this prompted the studio appearance
The Jam – Just who is the five o’clock hero – Just non-descript. One of those that Jam fans bought but everyone else just ignored as I still can’t hum the tune.
Queen – las Palabras de Amor – Wonderful. Unusual to hear Brian’s voice on a Queen single and it was, for me the missing track on ‘Greatest Hits Volume 2’. From the ‘experimental’ ‘Hot Space’ album (whose sleeve design you can see on the screen housing the ‘Queen’ logo) we don’t seem to have been treated to the dire ‘Body Language’ previously on TOTP. We did of course get ‘Under Pressure’ but that always felt like an add-on to the album. The last single ‘Back Chat’ similarly flopped despite an impressive 12” mix. Better things were on the way a year or so later.
Dollar – Videotheque – The word ‘video’ had well and truly arrived. Another great hit from the very watchable duo propelled by the mighty Trevor Horn.
Cheri – Murphy’s Law – Sod’s law? An ideal vehicle for Zoo, but otherwise a forgettable release.
Midge Ure – No Regrets ‘ I bought the 12” of this on release hoping for the third “Our friends have tried to turn my nights to day….” verse that featured on the Walker Brothers excellent version from 1976, but the 12” is identical to the 7” except for the sleeve. Nice version from Midge nevertheless although the video is pretty uninspiring.
Captain Sensible –Happy Talk – This, for me is quite unbearable. One of the worst number ones ever. I just can’t listen to this and even listening to the original soundtrack of ‘South Pacific’ I now cringe at this song. Check out Kire Te Kanawa’s version of ‘A Wonderful Guy’ or Mandy Patinkin’s version of ‘Younger than Springtime’ (yes that Mandy Patinkin from ‘Homeland’) if you want to hear something decent from ‘South Pacific’.
Natasha – Iko Iko – I always thought that the Belle Stars had the biggest hit with this; I was wrong! Interesting performance from Natasha who doesn’t look like she’s putting her heart and soul into it!
Indeeed we were already about 9 months into the new term 'video' when DLT was the first ever on TOTP to coin the term in October 1981. Have you noticed that since October 1981, all the TOTP DJs had finally dropped the term 'film' which I think had lingered since the early 70s.
DeleteVideotheque by Dollar was a case in point here, and my, what a brilliant sound it was at No.30 this week!
I think we've been through this before. The technical term for any short piece of footage was a film but as all pop promos were made on VT (video tape) by 1979/80 then video became the preferred/accepted technical term. Music Week, the trade music magazine, changed is name to Music and Video week in early 1981 and the term gradually fell into common usage through 1981, especially after the start of MTV in August.
DeleteRe Queen, I said more or less the same thing in the last blog when they were shown (two eps ago), but it would be 18 months+ before they returned with the mighty Radio Ga-Ga (which lyrically was the polar opposite of Video Killed The Radio Star). Of course they dominated the chart and the world after that but it was quite a gap.
DeleteThe second piece of bread in this week's Yewtree sandwich is in the capable hands of John 'Peelie' Peel.
ReplyDeleteUp first, Visage in situ rather than on video. He's not much of a front man, Mr Strange, is he? Not much of a singer either. The song isn't awful, but it's nowhere near as good as the grey-shirted lad standing in the audience in front of Strange appears to think it is.
The Jam. This has elements of That's Entertainment in it, and like that song was an import-only release. It's lower-level Weller to be honest, but thankfully they have another two cracking hit singles left to please me before they exit stage left.
Dollar. I can only think of two songs whose title begins with 'video' - both Trevor Horn creations. This is a typical Dollar effort but once again they are trailing in Bucks Fizz's chart slipstream.
After his eponymous hit with David Bowie, The Laughing Gnome is back in an uncredited vocal for Cheri's 'Murphy's Law' danced to by Legs &. . .oops Zoo. Much better from the Zooologists this week with proper dancing. Maybe because the male gymnasts are absent? The blonde haired one dressed in white looks disconcertingly like the millionaire-marrier Debbie McGee.
Majure goes solo with a cover of a Walker Bros song. He doesn't quite reach Scott's heights as a singer and the instrumentation does little to help the atmos.
Leaping like a particularly springy gazelle from number 33 to number 1 is Captain Sensible and to celebrate he has invited everyone he knows to join him up on stage. Yes it's a novelty thing, but compared to other novelty hits, you have to say its ok.
Peel. His usual performance complete with all his trademark moves. Neat and tidy in his links, neat and witty in the countdown. A very enjoyable outing. 9.
The Show. Dollar,Majure, and The Jam were the pick, the others were pretty 'meh'. 6
Indeed Trevor Horn's Video Killed The Radio Star in 1979 was really the first time the term 'video' was brought to ears, however the DJs on TOTP did not start using this term till two years later in 1981, which was a little strange come to think of it, and they insisted on continuing to call them 'film', wether in defiance or just not being convinced that 'video' was a viable substitute term.
DeleteSorry to be so anal retentive, Shakey, but here we go, courtesy of the Polyhex chart stats website…
DeleteTrans-X (who?) made number 9 with “Living On Video” in 1985, India.Arie made 32 with “Video” in 2001, and Lana Del Rey took “Video Games” to number 9 five years ago. There have been four other minor hits (reaching 52, 52, 58 and 74) with “Video” in the title, including two Buggles covers and a Beyonce / Lady GaGa collaboration. Coat please!
Trans-X were a Canadian band, and Living on Video was a catchy bit of technopop that I liked at the time. Think along the lines of what Visage would have released had they endured.
DeleteDon't forget Jeff Lynne's 1984 single 'Video!'
Deletearthur/thx - thanks for the heads-up on the trans-x track. i have no memory of that whatsover despite it being a top 10 hit!
DeleteThe Trans-X track was used as a theme tune to a TV-am summer holiday magazine show for the younglings, on about 9 after the grown-ups had left.
DeleteI know this is nothing to do with July 1982, but I'm just watching on Vintage TV the video for I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper by Hot Gossip in 1978, and I wanted to swap Sarah Brightman for Natasha (of Iko Iko). Get a grip man..
ReplyDeletehost: anyone who reads my contributions here probably knows i think that peelie's a fraud and a charlatan. but i did like his sarcasm for the beatles record in the chart rundown - not something you'd hear the likes of peter powell doing
ReplyDeletevisage: their second album brought forth a harder-edged dance sound with this pretty decnt effort and the superior title track. steve's backing singers look like they're wearing school dinner lady uniforms, and have obviously just graduated from the human league school of unco-ordinated dancing. steve himself borrows bowie's suit that he wore in the "boys keep swinging" video, but sadly none of the drag outfits. on the off-chance that i might be boring you now, i'd like to point out that there's some modulation during the sax solo...
jam: their studio recordings are bad enough, but the modfather's bellowing is likely to be even more in-your-face "in the flesh". not that i hung around to find out
dollar: as far as i'm concerned hats are strictly for practical purposes i.e. to keep your head dry and/or warm (and obviously in gary numan's case to try and hide premature baldness). so why is mr dollar wearing one when he's got such amazing hair that even most women would envy? as far as the music's concerned, all i can remember was it kept switching from the major and minor versions of the same key (thus technically modulating!)
cheri: i was trawling through youtube a while back to expand my 80's dance collection, as sadly i missed much of it at the time as i didn't frequent the hippest clubs that played that sort of thing back then. this had been "watched", yet i obviously didn't feel it was good enough to grab. maybe it was the "disco duck" vocals that put me off? or maybe because it's a shuffle, or because the bass line is perilously close to the cliched disco octave lines? listening again i think it's now beginning to grow on me despite the above. visually this was probably the first zoo choreography effort that has come close to what their forerunners did, and worth watching accordingly
midge ure: there were plenty of pop singers around at this time that sounded like they reaching beyond their range (yes simon le bon, i'm thinking of you in particular), but this is the first case where the singer hasn't got the bottom end. whatever possesed midge to even begin to think about covering a scott walker song? especially one that was a only a few years earlier. and all he did to make it sound remotely different was add some synth drones. oh, and play some of his awful squealing guitar. and the video bored the pants off me as well
captain sensible: one wonders whether the captain was really trying his best with his vocals, or if he was just having a laugh? adding to what's been mentioned already, my favourite songs from "south pacific" are "there is nothing like a dame" and "i'm going to wash that man right out of my hair" - i think it would have been a bit more interesting had he attempted the latter! dolly mixture still have their redundant guitars, but this time they appear to be made out of cardboard
natasha: she's getting a real pasting here isn't she? it's not that she's that bad-looking if you saw her in the street or something, it's just that she's not quite pop star A-list in that department. and she was in her 30's at that point, which in that outfit she would have been considered as mutton dressed as lamb back then!
Yep, the choreography on this week's Zoo performance on Cheri, was similar to the choreography of Ruby Flipper (precursor of Legs & Co) dancing to Let 'Em In by Wings in 1976.
DeleteThe Walker Brothers 1976 recording of No Regrets was a cover of the Tom Rush original (written in 1968). But you're right in that theirs knocks spots off Midge's feeble effort.
DeleteA quick chart history reminder here, as "Happy Talk"'s vault from 33 to number 1 broke the previous record for highest jump to the top for a song listed in the previous week's chart.
ReplyDeleteyet not having accumulated many sales on the way up, and with summer sales being lower than other seasons, this was the lowest selling number 1 of the year
DeleteYes, indeed. Didn't even make the top50 best selling singles of 1982 (no82 I believe). Sold less than the likes of 'Fantasy Island', 'Ain't no pleasing you' and (sigh!)'Starmaker'... We've still got the latter to 'look forward' to!
DeleteTalking of sales, I was watching one of those BBC4 rock programmes on Saturday night / Sunday morning and it included Uriah Heep. I browsed the net and discovered they received a gold disc for a number one single in New Zealand. Now, I know New Zealand's got a much smaller population than the UK, but I didn't realise you get a gold disc there for sales of 5,000!
DeleteI was thinking that no-one would mention the record chart leap for 'Happy Talk'!
DeleteThe record has been broken at least once recently in this dopey download era of course.
What's the record for the most number ones in the Top 30? There are four this week (Happy Talk, House Of Fun, Good Two Shoes and I've Never Been to Me) but I think I counted 6 one week.
DeleteI don't know the answer, but it will probably be a chart from the late 2000s onwards when downloads led to songs hanging around for ages again I expect!
DeleteOn one of my radio shows I did a chart from 2007 or 2008 (can't remember which) that had at least half a dozen chart toppers in the 40!
Sad to hear of two pop deaths today:
ReplyDelete1. Pete Burns from Dead Or Alive at the age of only 57 - massive heart attack
2. Bobby Vee - who had hits with The Night Has A Thousand Eyes and Take Good Care Of My Baby - of Alzheimers disease at the age of 73.
Former TOTP presenter and long-time Kenny Everett collaborator Dave Cash also left us a couple of days ago, at the age of 74.
Deletecall this gallows humour if you like, but i can't help thinking at some point in pete burns' passing that someone might have raised the question "is he dead or alive?"
DeleteAnother fine job by Peelie, apart from the uncharacteristic dress sense. I liked the deadpan way he joshed that “Happy Talk” was from “Oklahoma” and not “South Pacific”.
ReplyDeleteAn almost Lemmy-height old style mic for Steve Strange, slightly lower for the female vocalist who got her cue correct at the start and her mate who didn’t.
Why no question mark in The Jam’s song title? An even bigger question mark as to why this nondescript song was released as a single. I still think Bruce Foxton’s one of the most underrated bassists.
Interesting pre-recorded contrasting facial screens for Dollar. Almost as interesting as Thereze’s teabag top whose perforations let the flavour flood out. Less interesting than the ‘of its time’ Trevor Horn sheen on the production which smothers the song a bit.
Cheri suffering from Yarborough and Peoples syndrome – ruin a decent song with some stupid chipmunk vocals. That Zoo gal’s black top was remarkably similar design wise to Leeeee John’s most recent chestwear.
As for the rest of the song, Midge Ure’s effort was nothing special, the Captain was even happier to be there than last time (natch) and Natasha still doesn’t register anywhere on the Thereze Bazar scale.
Visage - Another one of those that I don't recall from the time but took to later on. I think that I would've preferred a video given that those girls don't seem particularly with it. Steve Strange was always a good frontman though, and we lost another one of those in Pete Burns yesterday sadly.
ReplyDeleteThe Jam - Forgettable garbage.
Dollar - I love this because of, not despite the production! Good use of the Toppotron to pre-record a performance to play in the background, which made perfect sense in the context of this song.
Cheri - I know people who think that this is an under-rated gem that should be heard more often. I'm not with them on that.
Midge Ure - A cover that adds nothing to the brilliant original.
Natasha - She looks like even more of a floozy this time!
So Visage finally appear in the TOTP studio and we finally get a chance to see how bad Steve Strange is at miming and dancing. This is dreadfully under rehearsed with Steve dancing out of step with the music with no obvious pattern to what he is doing and he keeps approaching the mic to sing only to realise, just in time, that he's come in too early. He pretends it's part of the "routine". it isn't. We the audience realise his trick and that is to actually sing as few lines as possible in any Visage song leaving all the interesting stuff to the backing vocalist and musicians, the latter of whom are not visible here (Mij to busy with his solo career). And the TOTP producers realsied how annoying Steve is and try and hide him behind a MASSIVE vintage mic but we can still see him. Damn.
ReplyDeleteNice albeit short live clip of The Jam with their second import single. Not one of their best but a pleasant chugging, brass driven power pop anthem all the same. Paul is well and truly in his suedehead period now but 6 months and two further singles later that image and the band would be over.
A repeat of Queen. This sounds better the more times you hear it but it is still a long way from classic Queen. I think this was the last time Freddie appeared in a tuxedo until his Barcelona duet. I like his gold microphone. Only the best for our Fred.
Dollar are back with Natasha's drummer and bassit or more likely the other way round as Natasha having already stolen the Belle Star's hit decided to nick another band's musicians? David seems to have created namesake David Bowie's next look ahead of him and looks pretty cool for once. This is very 1982 and I quite like it. I recall that a real videotheque or at least a pub with a video jukebox called The Sound and Vision opened in Dean Street, Soho near where I worked at the time. It was as I recall quite expensive. It was a gimmick that didn't last long.
More terrible dancing from Zoo who go all 60s mod chick on us which was barely suitable for a novelty a electro pop record. The overdubbed whoops are really irritating and I kept waiting for the male dancer to appear through that paper screen but it never happened.
Mij as a morphed Milk Tray man at number 11 with a cover of a song last done (better) by The Walker Bros in 1976. We get to hear all 4 minutes of this as opposed to just 2 minutes of The Jam. Boo, fix.
The Top Ten and then Captain Sensible at number one. At least Peelie had the courage to admit that it was his fault this was a hit. I had completely forgotten that this got to number one. A lot of strange things going on here including The Captain saying the C word (he actually says Cuss but it sounds worse), male cheerleaders dressed as camp sailors (hello sailor!), the Dolly Mixture girls and several others in multi-coloured grass skirts, a man dressed as an octopus (very Jimmy Savile) and everyone doing the Birdy Dance. I get the South Pacific stuff but why the Birdy Dance?
And playout with Natasha, sans her backing band (who were clearly only contracted to appear once this week with Dollar). I like the young man in the yellow jumper who seems to be the only person paying Nat any attention and is getting a real eyeful. And she looks really pissed off.
Before we lose Queen until 1984, here is a poignant quote from Freddie Mercury himself:
Delete"We are in a golden age of music. There will be a time when technology becomes so advanced that we'll rely on them to make music rather than raw talent. Music will lose its soul."
Bama - I did wonder what the exactly the Captain sang after "golly I'm a lucky..." Funny coincidence that we have just had a conversation on the 17 June thread about c-words in pop.
DeleteWith Queen now about to go into hibernation until 1984 after Las Palabras and the flop Backchat which only made No.40 following this single, which was your favourite era of the band and why?, i.e.
ReplyDeleteQueen phase 1, 1974-1982
Queen phase 2, 1984-1991
Impossible to choose for me as my 2 favourite Queen songs are split between those. One things's for sure - Queen phase 3 (1993 onwards) where any old crap was released and the entire back catalogue made available to any advertiser who wants one of their tracks, is the worst.
DeleteLikewise...impossible to choose as the eras are so different but Queen moved with the times to stay fresh and relevant. The 'Hot Space' album was a dip for me, which they recovered from in style.
DeletePeriod number 2 for me, purely for the works, magic and the Miracle. Not to mention an obscure little 22 minute gig they performed at Wembley too in that time.....
DeletePeriod 2 for me too, I've still got A Kind Of Magic on vinyl. Queen's 1986 show at Knebworth was also the first gig I went to - I was 13 and got to go because my dad's mate wasn't able to.
DeleteJanice Long on her Radio 2 show last night mentioned she was being interviewed today about her time on TOTP, for the 1983 BBC Four documentary. So it looks like the repeats continue next year! Let us rejoice at that news.
ReplyDeleteHuzzah! A quick look at the Popscene website reveals 10 current Yewtreed episodes for 1983 (down to 4 in the unlikely event that DLT contests and wins).
DeleteI thought they might continue, but you can never be sure, so this is good news!
DeleteOn a different note, I understand that we are getting the forthcoming Bates episode where the audio was originally missing as well!
This is really good news, although to be honest, why wouldn't they keep on keeping on? It must be a fairly cheap thirty/forty minutes of TV for the Beeb; it ticks the box for considering the older licence-payers; and judging by the level of twitter traffic during the 7.30 shows it's a very popular show.
DeleteGreat news about the reruns continuing although I agree with John G's point below about reverting to one show a week -it'll feel more like a treat then.
DeleteThat said the show is frequently (according to the Digital Spy ratings forum) the most popular BBC4 show of the night and almost always in the top three.
As for that Bates episode, what a shame the audio can't stay muted for his links!
if that's so then i'm really looking forward to 1983, as at the time i was rehearsing with a band every thursday evening and of course like most back then i didn't have the means to record episodes so missed most if not all of them. i was convinced that said band would go all the way, and that my "sacrifice" would be worth it as i would appear on the show myself in due course. perhaps unsurprisingly the band never made it in the end, but one guy involved did actually appear on the show a few years later. sadly it wasn't me!
DeleteOK Wilby, I will bite. Who was that then?
Deleteit was a guy called pete evans, whose taste of fame came with indie act the house of love. he was a drummer who could really groove, and i felt his talents were wasted on a band like that. but he's been in the business ever since as far as i can tell, and said band have been active again for the last 10 years - as many from these old shows have proved, it seems it's much better to be a has-been than a never-was!
Deleteby the way: although i never had the opportunity to perform on TOTP, i did actually get to appear on the telly this year (as part of the cast for something called "the passion" that was shown on BBC4 on easter sunday)
DeleteIf you're on again you'll have to let us know in advance so we can all watch.
Deletethere might be a possibility that the beeb repeat it on future easter sundays (it was a dramatised setting of js bach's religious opera "the passion of st matthew"), but that may depend on copyright issues (the show was pulled off youtube after only 30 days for those reasons)
DeleteHey, I bought that big House of Love album (on cassette)!
DeleteI flit between indie stations on my iPhone while commuting to and from work, and I've already heard two House Of Love singles this week - "Christine" and "Shine On". Didn't they release an album called "Fontana" which was on the Fontana label?
DeleteNice one Wilber, thanks for the info:
Delete"She, she she she shine on....."
Gary Kemp has tweeted that he has also been interviewed for The Story of 1983. Great news, but I hope BBC4 consider reverting to just one show a week, as I think they have been pelted at us too quickly this year. By my reckoning 11 shows will be Yewtreed, as I assume the 1000th edition in May will have a Jim'll presence.
ReplyDeleteGood to see that they will be showing the 22 July edition next week. The Beeb have presumably dubbed the audio for the links back on to their copy from the recording they were given a few months back. Apparently there is also a mute links issue with the 5 August show, but it seems they are being helped by the same person to overcome this too.
They have indeed re-dubbed the links from an off-air copy for the 22nd July edition. Not sure about the situation with the 5th Aug one, I wasn't aware there was another with the same problem!
DeleteAnd also worth saying, since we give them stick for not playing the DLT shows now they theoretically could, the BBC didn't have to bother with this re-dubbing exercise, so well done to them for going for it. After all, we wouldn't want an edition without Bates speaking, would we? Oh no, hang on...
DeleteJust watched last Saturdays pointless celebrities which was 70s based and included Babs and DeeDee from pans people and martin/Sandra from brotherhood of man.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone was talking about Jacqueline Pearce, mind you.
Deleteservalan from blakes 7!
DeleteA legend!
DeleteA totally excellent edition bar Cheri and Captain Sensible. Dollar were the best, what a way to conclude the Trevor Horn era! Videotheque however does tease how the music would sound in around 85/86.
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