Well bugger me, another yewtreed show!
26-8-82: Presenter: Dave Lee Travis
(11) HAYSI FANTAYZEE – John Wayne Is Big Leggy
The slightly controversial song was now at its peak.
(28) SHAKIN’ STEVENS – Give Me Your Heart Tonight
Like John Wayne and his oversized leg, this Shaky tune also peaked at number 11.
(42) DAVID CHRISTIE – Saddle Up
His only top ten hit peaking at number 9.
(4) BOYSTOWN GANG – Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
At its peak.
(30) STING – Spread A Little Happiness (video)
From the movie Brimstone and Treacle, this was Sting's first solo hit, reaching number 16.
(19) ROCKER’S REVENGE – Walking On Sunshine (danced to by Zoo)
Strolled its way to number 4 in the charts.
(20) GARY NUMAN – White Boys And Heroes (video)
He's gone back to his pre-fame white hair here, but the song got no higher in the charts.
(9) TOTO COELO – I Eat Cannibals
Went up one more place.
(1) DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS with THE EMERALD EXPRESS – Come On Eileen (video)
Final week at number one.
(14) KOOL & THE GANG – Big Fun (crowd dancing) (and credits)
At is peak.
Next will be September 2nd hosted by Jimmy Savile.
Thanks D42 for loading this. Very worthwhile edition for a number of reasons… Maybe not for DLT’s headgear nor his slightly cringe worthy interview with the girl from Fame. Nice to see the old BBC logo at the start!
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantayzee – John Wayne big Leggy – Ooops. FF quickly….
Shakin’ Stevens – Give me your heart tonight – Not one of his best but its pleasant enough and it’s the usual suited appearance from Shaky with a white tie!
David Christie – Saddle up – No doubt hordes of people heard this in Ibiza and Majorca and just had to buy it for nostalgic memories. Not dissimilar to Ryan Paris’s ‘Dolce Vita’ which came out a couple of years later, although I preferred that despite the lasso twirling cowboy.
Boystown Gang – Can’t take my eyes off you – A live performance? That cat suit- wow! The ‘Village People’ like chaps backing! I really enjoyed this. A great performance.
Sting – Spread a little happiness – After the doom laden ‘Invisible Sun’ and ‘Spirits in the Material World’ this music hall style ditty was quite a departure for Sting, and all the better for it too. Nice video.
Rockers Revenge – Walking on Sunshine – Very catchy but just a little bit formularised for me. An ideal vehicle for Zoo.
Gary Numan – White Boys and Heroes – Intriguing video but the song is dominated by Pino Palladino’s superb fretless bass which makes up for a lack of a memorable tune. Numan was a big PP fan commenting on his contribution to the ‘I Assassin’ album “He was brilliant. I had never heard playing like it...He came up with stunning bass lines, song after song. I leaned on him heavily during the making of the album. I pushed his playing to the forefront of the tracks and, inadvertently, created a new style. It was one of the first times that the fretless bass had been used as the lead melody instrument, allowing the album to be atmospheric, dreamy and funky”. Pino has popped up on literally hundreds of recordings and always sounds good.
Toto Coelo – I eat Cannibals – Wonderful performance again of an irritatingly catchy tune. It’s strange given what happened with the Spice Girls how this quintet never took off after this as they definitely had something!
Dexys Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen – “I could have sworn I recalled it from ToTP?” I said on last week’s show. I knew it!! Here it is at last and a fine piece of pop video filming it is too.
Kool & the Gang – Big Fun - Repeat comment from the last show’s playout “Good song to dance out to, but still going up?”
David Christie was actually a pseudonym for French singer-songwriter and producer Jacques Pepino. Like Ryan Paris - in reality Italian singer Fabio Roscioli - he adopted a stage name that would be easily pronounceable in Anglophone territories.
DeleteDavid/Jacques had already co-written a British No.1 hit in the shape of Tina Charles' 'I Love To Love', on which he was credited as J. Bolden.
Oh and f r David a Tunisian born Frenchman
Deletei knew "david christie" was an anglophonic pseudonym for a french guy, but i didn't realise it was not his only one... and that he co-wrote "i love to love"!
DeleteThanks again to D42 for making this one available. DLT reverts slightly towards his more wacky persona here, but if you can ignore his hat with the huge deely boppers he does another solid job. He also seems to get on well with Valerie Landsburg during their interview - she at least doesn't seem to have been too bothered by his touchy feely style...
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to this Haysi Fantayzee tune again, it has grown on me a little, despite Jeremy's horrible vocals. This new performance helps because you get a lot of cute close-ups of Kate, though there is still space for some more suggestive choreography. Shaky is back in the studio with a more sober suit than normal and a strikingly different sound, verging on cod reggae. This isn't actually a bad song, but perhaps the change in musical style stopped it from reaching the Top 10.
As DLT notes, there is a bit of a Western theme in this show. David Christie provides a bouncy tune and an enjoyable performance, though the guys doing the lassoing must have had aching arms by the end of it! David was actually a Frenchman called Jacques Pepino, and sadly he took his own life in 1997 after his daughter died in an accident. The Boystown Gang keep the camp mood going as they finally make it to the studio, though the performance doesn't differ much from the Dutch one we saw a couple of shows back. The vocals do appear to be live however, so credit to Jackson Moore for that.
As many people regard Sting as a purveyor of the Devil's music, it is perhaps apt that his first solo hit came about through playing a character who might well have been Satan! The original TV version of Brimstone and Treacle was still banned by the Beeb at this point, so the film would have been the first chance people had to see this highly controversial piece. Apart from the creepy look Sting gives at the end of the video, you certainly wouldn't guess at the story's grim subject matter from it otherwise. Given his reputation for taking himself too seriously, it is nice to see Mr Sumner dancing gamely with some old ladies here, and vocally he does a nice interpretation of this golden oldie.
More dancing from Zoo to follow, as they tackle one of the year's superior dance records. There's plenty of energy to the routine, but as ever the faceless nature of the troupe makes it hard to really engage with it. The Gary Numan video is bizarre, as he starts off dressed like a South African military policeman before pushing women into swimming pools. This dubious imagery does little to help a dire song which sees Numan effectively photocopying his last couple of singles - his glory days were now well and truly over.
A new performance from Toto Coelo, this time all wearing the same shade of bin liner, is followed by a long-awaited glimpse of the famous Come on Eileen video - it's funny how corner shops crop up in both this and the House of Fun promo. Zoo then have another crack at Big Fun over the credits, thankfully without the tumblers, the aerobics and the loud whooping this time...
the numanoid pushes geezers into swimming pools as well!
DeleteI was just wondering why DLT introduced the Gary Numan video as a "BBC TOTP film"? I mean did the BBC make the video for Numan instead of his record company? What was all that about? It certainly did look like BBC-type camera work, much the same type as on David Attenborough's wildlife programmes on the BBC.
DeleteI totally remember this show purely because of DLT's outsized deeley boppers and his "biggest and best" comment. Although ironically this episode most of the audience are wearing cowboy hats instead.
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantayzee, well, I think we have the measure of this one by now. Weirdly a previous hit about iconic cowboys, Quantum Jump's The Lone Ranger, was also about anal sex! What the hell was going on? ELO's Wild West Hero had a lot cleaner theme.
No memory of this Shakington Stevenson tune, though he seems to have borrowed HF's melodica for a Spanish-themed mood. A bit undistinguished when he doesn't get to bust his moves.
David Christie, or was it Chris Tarranty? I didn't remember him looking like that, though it's a fun tune, again with the Western theme (check out the cowboy with his one single lasso move). Someone tell me this really was about riding a horse way out West?
Boystown Gang, the boys get to sing this time, but this looks strictly amateur hour. They may be from LA, Valerie, but I don't know if you'd be mixing with them. I dunno, she might have been broadminded. Sounds like a live orchestra backing them too.
Sting, now I really liked this at the time, and felt put out by DLT's snide comment at the end. I was a fan of the old Tin Pan Alley tunes when I was a kid, and found this a very respectable version. Naturally I had no idea about the film or TV play it was connected to, which makes the video cheeky and a bit sinister too. You know? I still quite like this, though they do resort to repetition to pad it out to three minutes.
Rocker's Revenge, tremendous dance production on this with the keyboard riffs, whooping vocals and echo effects. Yes, school disco classic, but none the worse for that. As for Zoo, you can hardly see them.
Gary Numan getting as bad as Status Quo with the same song over and over. Weird seeing him on holiday, he doesn't look like the sort of person sunshine agrees with.
Curious theme, eating cannibals. Were they speaking literally? Anyway, good performance of a good pop effort, I actually like Dracula's Tango even better, but that flopped, alas.
Finally the Dexys video, Johnny Ray intro and corner shop included. Wasn't "Eileen" somebody famous's sister? I want to say Siobhan Fahey, but I'm not sure. Is the shop still there, I wonder?
The Kool and the Gang to end on as the studio gets even darker. Nice to see this one again, and Doris was the icing on the cake (finally, a half-decent TOTP interview - but get your paws off her, Dave!).
I think someone at Beeb has got it in for DLT, even though as Angelo mentions, DLT has been cleared now. Certainly his confidence with Valerie Landsburg, i.e., giving her a kiss and cuddle before Boystown Gang, while quite harmless fun then, does not fit into today's PC world of more personal space and the rise of feminism, and so it does not look like at present we will get BBC4 to change their tune on him. This is somewhat regrettable, as his TOTP shows tend to inject a lot more fun in the whole atmosphere of the show, from the studio audience to the performers themselves.
DeleteIf it was a real orchestra backing the BTG then the conductor wasn't credited the way Ronnie Hazelhurst was when Charlene was one.
DeleteThe shop featured in the Dexys video is still there.
host: dlt looks ever-more out-of-touch with the bright young things surrounding him. he also sounds strangely downbeat and detached at times. even though he's now done his time i don't think joe public will ever see him as anything other than some kind of sexual predator/dirty old man now, which is probably why they still won't show his shows on the telly (so i also give thanks to D42 for the internet booty)
ReplyDeletehaysi fantaysee: the female member has got a virginal white dress on this time, but she still looks dirty and nasty to me. it was better when the third "secret" member emerged from the crowd for the solo on their last appearance, rather than sitting there in full view playing air-melodica (or whatever it is) from the start
shakin stevens: mtco time
david christie: i didn't know mark king of level 42 had already gone solo at this point! it looks a bit silly having a guy on his own pretending to play a bass guitar. musically this is a belated entry to the "ladies night" / "you can do it" / "don't push it don't force it" canon (that i've already done a mix of!)
boys town gang: not only is the music firmly stuck in 1978 (although this sounds like the work of the dreaded totp orchestra, that we thought we'd seen the back of!), the lady singer has even dug out her spandex pants from the same era. out of interest, was she a lesbian? unlikely i would say, but whatever her taste it's pretty obvious what the blond guy's is. so it looks absurd when he tries to "pull" her
sting: the first of many later attempts by him to tackle covers from bygone eras. but although his voice is great for his own stuff, it really doesn't suit material penned by others. the antonio carlos jobim tune "how insensitive" is a good example - it's one of my all-time favourite songs and i own over 30 versions of it, but i had to pass on his effort! his acting debut was in a televised drama/play by dennis potter, who was all the rage at the time. but whatever his appeal was, it was certainly beyond me
rockers revenge: this is a first-class post-disco take on an eddy grant song that i've still yet to hear, probably because i know it just won't compare. i particularly like the excessive use of delay on the vocals - when questioned about it in an interview i read, soon-to-become-legendary producer arthur baker admitted he was a sucker for that effect to the extent of even thinking about putting delays on his doorbell! it's a shame that nowadays if a song called "walking on sunshine" is mentioned, most will think of that cod-motown crap by katrina and the waves
gary numan: the numanoid continues in a funk vein for what is now strictly for the diehards. it's actually quite a good riff when it kicks in, but the rest is gazza's usual tuneless meandering rubbish with other instruments doubling his droning vocals. dying his hair blond again can't hide his receding hairline, but better that than a silly hat
toto coelo: obviously the budget for binliners was limited, so when the coloured ones wore out they had to be replaced with cheaper standard black ones. which makes me wonder: did we use black binliners to dispose of our rubbish back then? i certainly think that round metal dustbins were still in use then, as opposed to the square plastic wheelie bins of today...
Really liked the Rockers Revenge classic here, and like The Crown Heights Affair's single You Gave Me Love a couple of years earlier in 1980, (which this seems to draw from somewhat), there was no video ever made for it, but I thought Zoo were brilliant this week, especially at the start of the performance where the male-female combined effort was quite sexy, before we returned to the rest of the routine. Very much liked the summer white shorts on the Zoo girls in what was a heavy disco-light presence (and blurring-effect) of many of the studio performances on the show, shining too strongly on everyone.
DeleteI forgot to mention in my comments that there was also a bit of moonwalking in that Zoo routine - clearly they were desperate to try to emulate Jeffrey Daniel!
DeleteI noticed the attempt at the moon walk as well but he wasn't very good at it was he?
DeleteSting's acting debut had actually been in British road movie Radio On, which is in black and white and doesn't travel very far on its journey, so er, well done everyone. Very influenced by Wim Wenders.
ReplyDeleteThen he was Ace Face in Quadrophenia, disillusioning poor old Phil Daniels. The year before B&T he had been in impenetrable 3 hour TV epic Artemis 81, a programme that would NEVER be put on TV now, not even on an arts channel. Its trails used to frighten the life out of me at the time.
Then he was in the film remake of Brimstone and Treacle, taking over the Michael Kitchen role from the original. They're actually both pretty good in their respective versions, but it's a purposefully unpleasant work.
There you go, Sting's nascent thespian career. Oh, and we had one of those cylindrical cage bins that had a black bin liner inside for ages, from the 70s to the 90s. The binmen would walk into the back garden to get the rubbish in those days!
He turned down the chance to play a part in the 007 movie For Your Eyes Only
DeleteI like to think Gordon was up for the Michael Gothard role so we could have seen Sir Roger Moore kick his car over a cliff. Unless he had a heretofore unmentioned knack for figure skating?
DeleteI think this was the first time we saw Sting outside of The Police who had still not disbanded at this stage, and it was a little unusual to see him performing like this on this video, i.e., West End Musical style with a smile on his face, rather than the customary serious look we had got used to on The Police singles, where you would rarely see a smile from him on those videos and the rare TOTP studio performances. Very un-Sting like on this new chart entry at No.30, and not one that I cherish from his catalogue of singles, as the tune was more befitting of Julie Andrews on Bednobs & Broomsticks, for example.
DeleteAngela Lansbury was in Bedknobs and Broomsticks!
DeleteOh, and so was Bruce Forsyth - you can imagine he's done a nice rendition of Spread a Little Happiness in his time.
DeleteSo was Roddy 'Cornelius' McDowall from the 'Planet of the Apes' movies (and 'Galen' in the TV series). Let's hope they don't try and remake 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' like they have the 'Apes' movies. One of the great cinema moments of all time at the climax of the first original film.
DeleteI did hear a B&B remake was in the pipeline, as Disney seem to be raiding their back catalogue for inspiration recently. How long before we see The Cat from Outer Space or the Spaceman and King Arthur making a comeback?
DeleteAs for the Apes remakes, the first one, Rise, I thought was excellent, really impressive. The second one, hmm, not so good, inspiration was running dry. We're still due another!
I liked the real life Disney films, eg Diamonds On Wheels which was made in the UK and starred Peter Firth.
Deletethat's another new obscure/cult film to add to (never-likely-to-be-watched) list - thanks bama. i'm old enough to remember peter firth in the bbc tv series "here come the the double deckers!" where he played scooper, the leader of a gang of kids whose base was an old routemaster bus in a junk yard. something from my past i'd like to see again, although i suspect it may not have aged too well! of course another member of said gang was brinsley forde, later to have musical success with aswad (maybe we'll get to see them later on in these re-runs?)
DeleteI did the sleeve notes to the CD release of The Double Deckers soundtrack a few years ago for Cherry Red Records. Peter Firth didn't get involved but I interviewed a few of the other cast members including Melvyn Hayes who told me a few things I wasn't allowed to use for legal reasons.
Deletei didn't know there was a CD release of the HCTDD soundtrack! nor that bama did sleeve notes for record labels!! bama can you now spill any beans on what melvyn said?
Deletenow for my own related name-dropping: i actually met brinsley forde about 20 years ago when he turned up to give a guest lecture/presentation at a music college i was attending. the dreadlocks had gone by then, and despite having had considerable success in the music biz he was a very affable and down-to-earth guy
I've only contributed to a few releases, the Double Deckers being one of them. Sadly I think it has been deleted now.
DeleteI didn't get to talk to Brinsley Forde but I phoned or emailed all the other cast members who were available and they were all very helpful and friendly. The writer/creator Glyn Jones (who also wrote some Dr Who episodes) was decidedly unhelpful at first and had his lawyer contact me threatening legal action, but was helpful in the end once the record company stepped in.
One thing Melvyn told me that I can repeat - one of the songs on the show was written by Joan Maitland who he told me was the real writer of the stage musical Oliver and Lionel Bart had stolen them from her.
The Double Deckers is on DVD, I got a copy for the nostalgia and it was amusing enough. Not exactly Breaking Bad, but it wasn't supposed to be. The opening titles were the most nostalgic bit, and I could have looked them up on YouTube!
Deletebama, by any chance did melvyn tell you that one of his co-stars in a couple of musical comedy films of the early 60's that he was in was secretly gay?
DeleteThe original brimstone and treacle (1976) was not show on tv until 1987
ReplyDeleteWith this the second and last showing on TOTP for John Wayne Is Big Leggy, there is a rare video for this which I do not recall being shown on the video channels over the years, but interestingly the idea of the hero coming out of the comic at the start of the video, seemed to have spawned the idea a couple of years later for AHA's video Take On Me, which turned out to be one of the most acclaimed videos in pop history. The low budget video from Haysi could not compete with the higher budget of AHA, which went on to iconic status.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, here's the Haysi Fantaysee original video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxktxvMNOGs
We won't see DLT - a man whose only crime was being rather too 'tactile' for his own good - ever again because he was the victim of an internal hatchet job. He was stitched up by people connected with the BBC after all the other charges fell through. Utterly, utterly despicable. The BBC really is in dire need of a rude awakening from its wet liberal politically correct positive discrimination out of touch with the majority of its viewership/listenership/readership complacency - Tony Blackburn is too soft and forgiving so screw them into the ground Sir Cliff, we're relying on you!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, time for me to climb down and discuss this show. Musically patchy, I thought, and DLT overdid it with the headgear, a shame because he really was a 'natural' for TOTP. I agree, though, that age was catching up with him by this time.
Talking of age, Haysi Fantayzee: he was 20 and she was 28. Sorry to rain on anybody's parade.
Impressive and unexpected live performance from Boystown Gang. Very 1980s 'live' too, with SM58s (or similar-looking mics) and a monitor speaker on the floor in front of them. With previous live TOTP performances, the answer to the question 'how do vocalists hear themselves?' was apparently, 'with difficulty'.
Apart from Sting's novelty piece (always paired with Captain Sensible's 'Happy Talk' in my mind), Toto Coelo (I've decided Ros is my favourite) and Dexy's (a good-time classic), the rest of the music tended go in one ear and out the other.
So where was the Dexy's video shot then? London or Birmingham? Anybody know?
i had a dim memory that female haysi was substantially older than her "singing" partner. and yes, 28 was a somewhat suspiciously superannuated age to making a debut as a pop star back then. does anybody know if they were they actually an "item", or just professional colleagues? because he hung out with the likes of boy george and marilyn i assumed that jez might actually be gay, although investigation has just revealed he was yet another pop star hubby of that sour-faced siren patsy kensit!
DeleteKevin Rowland was also 28 when he first made his mark as a pop star and Sting was 27.
Deletewithout wanting to sound sexist, i don't think it was such a big deal if geezers were a bit long in the tooth when they made it as a pop star. although i do remember there was some consternation when shakin' stevens' age (early 30's) was made known - perhaps as long as guys were under 30 it was deemed acceptable?
Deletealso: i knew that mr rowland had some roots in the punk era, but didn't realise he was quite that old when he first came to the fore!
DeleteAccording to Wikipedia the semi-visible third member, Paul Caplin, was Kate's boyfriend at the time.
DeleteAnd suffice to say, the lyrics flew well under the radar, as they all did until Mike Read kicked up a fuss about 'Relax'...
Whoever was Kate Garner's squeeze must have been the envy of all men in Britain. Just looking at how she looked into the camera on John Wayne Is Big Leggy, just before she dances behind her singing partner Healy, was just the type of stuff that makes you go for the cold shower to calm down a bit.
DeleteI think every man in his right mind would have wanted to be her boyfriend. Come to think of it, in 1982 if she was 28, that would have been double my age, as I was only 14 and only wished I was about 15 years older. I wonder if she still looks that good now at the age of 62?
obviously i wasn't in my right mind!
DeleteThanks to D42 for this upload of a chart which is jam-packed with cover versions. There must be at least ten of them in the thirty - not many of which were actually worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteBut we start with a new one - and a second, less risque, outing for Hayzi Fandabidozi. I had always took it that the phrase John Wayne is Big Leggy, was a veiled reference to the Cowboy Actor being generously endowed - maybe I'm wrong. Its a decent enough performance although they have clearly been warned about certain movements.
Shakin Stevens has a bit of a Parisienne feel to a so-so tune. Not sure his usual schtick works with this kind of sound - and, to me, turning your back on the audience has always felt a touch disrespectful.
David Christie. Another song that hasn't survived the years, although I quite liked it at the time. He doesn't look like a natural bass player does he?
Boystown Gang. Well blow me - the guys can - and do- sing. A live vocal which isn't bad at all but is marred by an abysmal ToTP backing which IS bad - very bad.
Sting. I saw him this week on a chat show and he still strikes me as a bit of a prat. That is all.
Rocker's Revenge. Another song that I liked at the time, but care less for now. Any attempt Zoo had at becoming a less anonymous outfit were kiboshed by the rather dark lighting.
Gary Numan sounds like someone doing a bad impersonation of Gary Numan. The vocals don't match the backing at all and I was rather pleased when it was all over. Then I was annoyed with myself for not remembering that I could have just FF'd the bejeezus out of it!
Scores. The Yewtree'd Cornflake has slipped back to his wacky ways a touch, but his Fame interview was well done as was his chart countdown so he has picked up points there - 7.
The show. Yuck. Hayzi and the Toto Cuelo girls were ok and the David Christie/Rockers Revenge double was acceptable as was Shaky. But the rest were distinctly underwhelming. 4.
In the lyrics for John Wayne Is Big Leggy, I like the bit that Jeremy Healy says, "now speckled hen you stop your squawking, bid bad rooster doing the talking"......
Deletedory is clearly an alpha male. either that, or foghorn leghorn!
DeleteI do like the time when men were men, and women were women, but it's all very blurred nowadays in the public domain, media, and outside of the bedroom which is the only place where women allow one to be alpha male without complaint and claiming being patronised. Now where's that speckled hen squawking (alias Kate Garner of Haysi Fantaysee)?
DeleteOn the subject of Foghorn Leghorn, now that brings back memories of my childhood growing up in the 70s, and as a teenager in the 80s where cartoon was regular meat on the BBC. Do you remember that Foghorn Leghorn would start every sentence with "I say..", as well as again in mid-sentence. Brilliant nostalgia Wilberforce.
Ta vm, D42!
ReplyDeleteWas it me or did the antennae for DLT’s deely bobbers grow longer during the show?
Was it cold in the studio, Kate? No copulation moves for Haysi Fantayzee’s re-run (the ghost of Robin Nash lives on) but a real fun performance. By the way, I meant to mention this last time but, during their act of love, how can John Wayne and his squaw be in both Lovers Lane and her tepee simultaneously as mentioned in the lyrics?
Shaky’s act was okay in an okayish sort of way. A more colourful suit might have helped matters a bit.
David Christie reminded me of “Ariana” by Stardust in that he looked like the sort of artiste “The Fast Show” would have channelled for inspiration.
An innocent “thanks” kiss on the cheek for Valerie by DLT, followed by one of the most powerful and emotive live vocals on the show. Shame the blond Boystown lad cocked up his movements early doors.
If life’s a door, Sting is the knob. Next.
I seem to recall Rockers Revenge’s tune was used a few years later as background music for Channel 4’s live Monday night second half coverage of English basketball, sponsored by Just Juice. This song suited Zoo’s performance, but I still yearned for Cherry and the gals.
God, I hate fretless bass. A very bright sunshiny video for another dull, cloudy Gary Numan effort.
Another great piece of choreography by Toto Coelo, and a great slow splitz by Lacey (who, sadly, mis-spells “cannibal” on her Twitter account description). Liked the “Hello Mum” message on the back of Sheen’s bin bag top.
“Vi’s Stores” lives on! Admittedly, it’s been renamed, but the focal point of Dexy’s video is now called Brook Drive Mini Market, and I hope one day it gets a plaque in recognition of its lofty pop past. For anyone interested, it’s located in Kennington in south east London.
Maybe "Lover's Lane" was a metaphor, missus?
DeleteThanks for the info about Dexy's corner shop, and damn right it should get a blue plaque.
Thanks Arthur! I wondered if it was shot in Birmingham like the 'Geno' vid, but it's clear that Mr. Rowland had moved on physically as well as musically.
DeleteIn the song I Believe in My Soul Kevin sings "And I'm on the train from New Street To Euston. And out to Harrow again", this actually referenced his late teenage years when he lived in north London, so I assumed at the time the video might have been filmed in Harrow, or even Camden or Kilburn as the song's tune is of Irish origin, but it was Kennington.
DeleteJust Juice. Arthur you win the prize for obscure reference of the week. For some reason that made me smile.
Delete"no pips, no peel and no preservatives - just juice!" i can remember the jingle as if it was yesterday. actually i've just watched the ad on youtube and it's not quite how i remember it, although it does sound quite funky!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55XJc1Qtr6Q
that reminds me that i went to see a local alternative band at this time (1982) and they had a song (if you could call it that) called "just juice" - basically the vocalist just shouted that out over and over again with loads of delay on his voice!
Most fruit juices have sulphur dioxide in them, but don't need to list it on the ingredients. Maybe they could have included that in the lyrics to the ad?
DeleteSting said recently he's gone deaf and refuses to wear a hearing aid. I suppose that lute could grate after a while.
ReplyDeleteIf they had shown this one then DLT's 'wackiness' and his tactile nature with Valerie Landsberg (she looked a bit uncomfortable at first) would probably mean a banning order again anyway!
ReplyDeleteIgnoring the songs we'd already seen, with a quick 'top marks' to Boystown Gang for singing live and just about overcoming the TOTP backing experience, my thoughts on the new stuff.
Shaky - I actually rather like this one, perhaps because it's different from his usual stuff. It was also on Ronco's 'Raiders Of The Pop Charts' compo which got a lot of spins on my record deck...
David Christie - It's OK, I can cope with it once in a while.
Sting - Ditto. Certainly better than a lot of his later maudlin solo stuff.
Rocker's Revenge - A mighty tune, later sampled by lots of late 80s / early 90s dance acts. Loved this one at the time.
Gary Numan - Ermm....something constructive to say about this? Nope, can't think of anything. It's just....there.
It's ironic that the recording here clips off DLT's name at the start. They were at it even then. Nice to see the old BBC1 logo though, I miss the old logos.
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantaysi return for a second go and this is a better performance without the distracting ho-downing cheerleaders in the background. And the whole thing seems better rehearsed, I particularly like the shot near the end where the camera gets all three members in line. Still feel a bit sorry for the melodeon player stuck there at the back, they could at least have given him a chair to sit on. I thought Michael Hurl loved his props, I'm surprised he didn't build them a teepee.
"The best in rock and roll" according to DLT. I don't think so but Shakey's okay although a little shaky here and not looking at at all retro in that suit. This sounds like a slowed down version of Oh Carol and was penned by Bill Livesy who used to be in Ronnie Lane's band. The song was originally released as part of a four track EP featuring a song called Boppety Bop written by Shakey.
David Christie's song sounds like a rewrite of Do It Anyway You Wanna by People's Choice and another disco song which I can't put my finger on but as he wrote a lot of songs for soul/disco acts in the 1970s maybe he wrote those as well. He looks a bit lonely miming with a guitar with no other musicians but Hurl has roped in (see what I did there) a couple of lasooing cowboys to fill the stage. This is the type of thing I would have loved when I was 13/14 being a sucker for funky disco tracks but by 82 I had moved on musically.
Nice to see Valerie from Fame being interviewed by DLT, but he was doing thar annoying thing of not listening to her answers before he gets the next question out.
From funky to hunky. The Boys Town Gang seem a bit cheesy by today's standards but back then it was a novelty to see a woman with a powerful voice accompanied by two muscular male dancers/backing vocalists. It's easy to see why this was a hit because it has a lot going for it and this somewhat theatrical performance is better than the one from Top Pop.
Sting has another shot at being a film star after looking a proper nana as the Ace Face in Quadrophenia. A great song but really anyone could have done it. There must have been dozens of professional theatrical singers and hoofers who were peed off that they didn't get the job. But hey kids that's Showbiz. I have never seen the film but saw the BBC play on which it was based.
Zoo are back and looking good. This early electro dance tune was the right type of tune for them to strut to and they a very good job overall but some dancers are better than others. I had forgotten about this song which bought together Arthur Baker and Jellybean Benitez.
Oh no Gary Numan's going down the Elton John route of when your hair starts dropping out you dye it a funny colour to distract from the thinning tresses, in this case bleached blond. This is another Numan hit that I have zero memory of at all and small wonder, it's shite. One thing I learned from this ho-hum video is that if ever they film The Gary Numan Story, Simon Pegg can play Gazza.
You are what you eat they say, so I guess that makes The Toto Coelo girls cannibals. They have opted for matching bin bag dresses this time but with coloured accessories. Nice.
The Top 8 and then the Dexys video at last, the one we all know and love, filmed in Kennington. There a site detailing the video locations here:
http://www.bombedoutpunk.com/locations/dexys-midnight-runners-the-london-video-locations-of-come-on-eileen/
Playout with Kool and The Gang and with at least some of the crowd clapping along in time. Big Fun indeed.
On a marathon catch up, and just reached the special BBC video for Gary Numan. Anyone else remember a series hosted by DLT where they had specially recorded videos accompanying old sixties hits?...
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