Has anyone seen Gnasher?
21-10-82: Presenter: Peter Powell
(37) THE PIRANHAS feat. BORING BOB GROVER – Zambezi
It looks like the inhabitants of Beano Town have been let loose in the studio tonight, covering this 1956 Lou Busch top two hit, which became the second and final hit for the Piranhas, peaking at 17.
(3) KIDS FROM FAME – Starmaker (video)
They look so happy now, don't they? But the song got no higher in the charts.
(24) IMAGINATION – In The Heat Of The Night ®
Edited out of tonight's 7.30pm slot.
(35) TOYAH – Be Loud Be Proud (Be Heard)
A colourful performance from Toyah here but the song went up just five more places.
(31) KOOL & THE GANG – Ooh La La La (Let’s Go Dancin’)
In the studio looking very kool in matching suits with what became their biggest hit of the year, making it to number six.
(18) BAUHAUS – Ziggy Stardust ®
An entire band of Bowie impersonators, with a cover that sounds almost identical to the original, although Bowie himself never released this song as a single. It went up three more places.
(7) SPANDAU BALLET – Lifeline ®
Edited out of tonight's early viewing.
(27) SHARON REDD – Never Give You Up (video)
Sharon's facial expressions are giving Zoolander a run for his money here, andNever Give You Up made it to number 20.
(20) SHAKIN’ STEVENS – I’ll Be Satisfied (video)
Shaky and his exuberant fans take over the Shaftesbury theatre as he performs this Jackie Wilson cover which then peaked at number 10.
(1) CULTURE CLUB – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? ®
The first of three weeks at number one.
(9) KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS – Annie I’m Not Your Daddy (crowd dancing) (and credits)
On its way to seriously challenge for that number one spot.
It's (almost) Halloween again next with the edition from October 28th 1982.
PP gazes into his crystal ball, looks into the future and sees this show will be repeated in December 2016. It can be the only explanation for his natty 'man at C&A Christmas jumper.
ReplyDeletePiranhas - hadn't heard this one before. I think its appeal would've worn off quite quickly back in the day but a lively start to the show.
Kids From Fame - I remember Fame from the time but don't recall this.
Toyah - PP may have been gushing over her coat of many colours, but it wasn't one of her finest. Lots of entertainment watching the cameraman blatantly in shot at the side of the stage though.
Kool & The Gang - great song and (for the second week in a row) a clip from the Late Late Breakfast Show. Those outfits were straight out the seventies (or the Freemans catalogue).
Bauhaus - they didn't do a bad job and there was another seventies throwback with the audience being elbowed out the way by the camera.
Sharon Redd - her wardrobe was so sparse she had to wear one of those covers you put round Christmas tree pots (and use one of the decorations as an earring). Pleasant enough, and good of our host to remind us of its availability on 12 inch. Did people really still call discos or clubs discotheques in 1982?
Shakin Stevens - were the audience screaming at him to go away? No amount of video jiggery pokery or handstands could save this poor effort.
Culture Club - Mrs H's favourite band and with Kid Creole the best thing on the show this week. I'm surprised Culture Club didn't return to the studio for their number one though.
Marks then - 5/10 for the show as it was a bit hit and miss, 5/10 for the host, who did a decent enough job but lapsed into some classic Powellisms on occasion.
So, I take it just two acts in the studio, neither of which were in the mugshots. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
ReplyDeleteYes it is a thin show. At what point do TOTP start featuring the whole Top 40 in the rundown? From memory I seem to recall that it was featured on the Tuesday chart and Sunday Chart shows from mid-1978 onwards.
DeleteFrom memory, the unluckiest chart single during the chart countdown extension on Radio 1 was "I Must Be In Love" by The Rutles, which was at number 39 for the last week of a top 30 and dropped out of the 40 the following week.
Delete1984 is when TOTP feature the 40, even the change to Gallup from BMRB in Jan 1983 doesn't prompt the change.
Deletewell done steve for managing to only upload your post just once instead of twice!
DeleteThanks Wilberforce, no idea why my posts were loading twice!
Deletesteve, mine are often not even loading once at the moment for some reason!
DeletePeter Powell dressed up in his best Christmas jumper in October. Who knew. A strange, empty show with only two acts in the studio.
ReplyDeleteI liked this Piranhas record a lot back then and it's a very funny performance. Last time they were on the drummer appeared shirtless and oiled up playing the skins with a couple of fish this time he's nicked one of the Tweets' Birdie Song costumes and has learned a few dance moves. I like the singing schoolgirl backing singers, thank God this wasn't a Savile show.
That Kids From Fame clip again. Gareth Malone's Choir it ain't! I don't remember the show that clearly but it seems odd to have an episode where they're saying goodbye to their dying founder when the show had only been running half a season. Couldn't they wait until Season 2 or 3?
Imagination showing a distinct lack of imagination with a rehash of Body Talk.
Oh no we are now reduced to hearing "Toyah's New Single" before it reaches the Top 30, The "spinning, I'm really spinning" lyrics were nicked from an obscure but brilliant 1981 disco anthem called Spin It by Sunbelt which had Prince-style electronically altered vocals on it, while the tune is nicked from somewhere else I can't put my finger on (someone will know). Even the title is borrowed from The Tams' Be Young Be Foolish Be Happy. Naughty Toyah, write your own songs.
She is one of the two live acts on the show and has a huge stage compared to some we've seen and not a cheerleader in sight. Must have been written into her contract - "On no account must the cheerleaders/dancers be within twelve feet of Toyah".
Kool and The Gang getting slicker by the minute, a cracking dance song even though it's not a reggae song and therefore not strictly suitable for reggae dancing, but that's a minor gripe. This lot could do this sort of thing in their sleep.
Then Bauhaus again - a tribute to Bowie. For tribute read pointless remake. I don't need to see this again.
I had a Sharon Redd 12 inch at this point (oo er) called Beat The Street which was actually better than Never Give You Up, but it was so good to see her in the flesh. Superb performance. Not sure if this is the official video or a clip from foreign TV show.
Another video with Shakey employing all of his three dance movies and a lot of camera edits. Those large balloons looked like the Rover balloons from The Prisoner. I like the freckly girl fan who gets the autogragh and the faux Mariachi band who the crowd seem a bit mystified by.
The top ten and poor Dexys dropping already before we've properly seen them. They were angling on another number one weren't they. Never happened.
Culture Club repeat and then play out with Kid Creole. Does anyone know if they make the show with their Christmas EP which included the superb Christmas On Riverside Drive and The Coconuts singing No Fish Today?
No more Coconuts I'm afraid but we do have Orville to look forward to :-)
DeleteNot to mention Renee and Renato...
DeleteDear addy got to no 29 in December but wasn't not on totp neither was there's something wrong in paradise but in 1990 if we ever get that far a breaker of the sex of it was Featured
DeleteThe Piranhas' backing singers were actually The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, Kim & Maz - who had recently left Jools Holland's Millionaires, and would join Paul Young's Royal Family soon afterwards.
DeleteThanks for that. I had thought they from Paul Young and The Royal Family, so reassuring to get confirmation.
Deletere: toyah's "tune is nicked from somewhere else" - are you implying there was an actual tune in there somewhere?
Deletemaybe the reason toyah had so much space was due to the dearth of other acts in the studio? also the reason she's ripping everybody off is because what little talent she ever had has already been used up...?!
DeleteI would think that in Oct 1982, this lack of TOTP studio performances was partly due to the charts being top heavy with American acts, who were not able to come across to perform in the studio. Kids From Fame, Chicago, Fat Larry, Rockers Revenge, Carly Simon, Melba Moore, Barry Manilow, and introducing Dionne Warwick on the final chart of Oct 1982 on the next show tonight with Simon Bates......
DeleteIt was Dear Addy on the Kid Creole Christmas EP I remembered buying at the time. A shame it isn't on the show, UB40 only got as couple of places higher and were on 3 times.
DeleteJust remembered what the Toyah tune is - The Final Countdown by Europe but of course that comes later in time, so they nicked it from her.
Bama, regarding Sharon Redd in the flesh, there was certainly plenty of flesh on that performance, I mean minidress with body beautiful. I also thought she looked a bit like Grace Jones or Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek.
DeleteDear me, PP was certainly being handed the duff shows in the autumn of 1982, wasn't he? Perhaps it was a punishment for that hideous jumper, not to mention all of his previous fashion crimes...
ReplyDeleteThe number 1 and the playout tune are the only songs here that I really like. At least The Piranhas make an effort visually, not least the singer as Dennis the Menace and the drummer as a parrot, but even that can't save the very slight song. Toyah delivers her usual kind of performance, with a song that sounds practically identical to her last few releases. The chorus is OK, but her moment had been and gone.
Kool and the Gang stick doggedly to their matching outfit policy for this catchy, but distinctly non-reggae, effort. I did wonder if this was from the Late Late Breakfast Show or simply recorded in the TOTP studio without an audience, but I wasn't sure. The Sharon Redd track seemed to go on forever, and I was worried at one point that the dry ice would swallow her up! Not bad, but it sounded a bit too much like Forget Me Nots for my liking, and I wasn't that bowled over by Sharon's voice either.
The mediocrity continues with a so-so Shaky track only distinguished by its bizarre video - did they seriously expect us to believe, even back then, that Shaky could send the kids into an ecstasy of excitement? It's a shame BBC4 viewers missed out on the studio performance of Annie, but it does make for a great playout record, and Zoo respond with some decent energetic dancing. Someone should have told the skeleton that they were a bit early for Halloween, however...
I hope PP got a stylist in time for his next presenting appearance, or it'll be a very dull show indeed.
DeleteDoesn't the singer from the piranhas look like Gary glitter
ReplyDeleteIf he did, then surely he would have been edited out like Glitter, so can't have looked enough like him, as he managed to stay on.
Deletei agree with paul! especially when the guy pulls the same gurning tricks. but surely having the misfortune to resemble the former public enemy no. 1 doesn't mean he gets yewtree'd as a result? that really would be taking things into the realm of the absurd (not that they haven't done so already of course)...
DeleteCharlie Harper from the UK Subs was also a bit Glitter-like.
DeleteBut not all TV channels are as paranoid as the BBC. Challenge showed a Blankety Blank recently which featured a question about Rolf Harris, Talking Pictures TV showed DLT on a few 70s chat shows and GOLD still show the Gimme Gimme Gimme episode where Kathy Burke's character talks about Jimmy Savile visiting her school as a kid and sitting on her face.
Did Pete have a cold or something? Jumper and scarf?! Also, the skeleton man, lots of commitment on the top half, full marks there, the bottom half, hmm, not so impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe Piranhas up first with the seriously catchy Zambesi, there was a number of acts going the comedy route this year (82), weren't there? Not necessarily comedy records but humorous performances of them. Don't get that anymore. I was thinking St Trinian's for the backing singers, and laughed at Boring Bob's longsuffering expressions.
After that, it's a repeat-tastic show, so not much to add that I haven't said already. A bit disappointing, maybe indicative of the chart but a couple of new stagings wouldn't have gone amiss.
Toyah made the effort, however, she's written a book, has she? Did we all read that? Thought not. Quasi-inspirational bigging up of her obsessive fanbase in the lyrics, a bit pandering, but they were not numerous enough to make this a bigger hit.
Noel-endorsed Kool and the Gang clip next, nice enough easygoing dance laidback-ness, all of them teleported down from the Liberator just for the show. But curious they mention reggae and not disco - was there a big crossover between the two that only they were aware of?
Next, the extraordinary Sharon Redd, striking some very strange poses and staring down the camera, she seems to have scared everyone away apart from her hardy cameraman. The song is generic dance pop, "I bet it sounds great in a club" etc.
Shakin' Stevens' fans' ecstatic reaction to a so-so cover reminds me of the time a new girl arrived in our class, and she was given a big folder to put her paintings and artwork in. One of the best things about this was getting to decorate it (I did cartoons), but all she did was get a pink pen and write in large letters "BUCKS FIZZ" on one side, and "SHAKIN STEVENS" in blue on the other. I was unimpressed, it felt like a wasted opportunity. Anyway, Shaky, maybe the reason he was the biggest singles act of the 80s was down to him putting out about a million of the things that all his followers snapped up?
Culture Club at number 1, and a line is drawn in the sand. Or something.
thx that's a brilliant anecdote about your classmate's folder. you have to give her some credit though for using different-coloured pens when writing the names of her favourite pop acts on it. presunably the colour selection was based on some kind of gender disparity - but if so, then what does that make mike and bobby g?
DeleteI don't know, maybe they were honorary girls in comparison to that he-man Shaky?
DeleteI knew there was a show coming soon that I'd recorded and kept in its entirety when it was on UK Gold. This, mysteriously, was it. God knows why when it wasn't that exciting. Maybe it was Sharon Redd's staring eyes imploring me to 'RECORD AND KEEP IT'!
ReplyDeleteAt least the start is decent with an amusing Piranhas performance. Then a couple of things we've already seen.
Toyah's song is very slight indeed, but I do like the Kool & The Gang song, in fact it's my favourite from their 80s output.
2 more repeats, then Sharon Redd. Well, what can be said? She was weird enough when she appeared in the studio for a previous single but this is something else. The song itself is her best I think, although that may be down to its appearance on Chart Hits 82 which meant that I heard it quite a lot!
Shakin' Stevens - I'm asking for my money back, as I wasn't suitably satisfied with this product.
I bet Boy George was delighted that they repeated the performance where he cocked up the opening line!
And that's just about it. Hope the next one's better!
Not only did George miss his cue but he also dances (badly) to a non existent tune in the opening of the song. I wonder if anyone ever asked him why he did that?
Deletept II...
ReplyDeleteshakin' stevens: bama points out that he employs all of his three dance moves. except they weren't even his, as the "king" had done them decades earlier. my aforementioned friend watching this with me said the guy must have been popular given the packed audience - i had to point out that it was more likely a rent-a-crowd brought in specifically to shoot the video. in fact most of those looked like they were below the age of consent, so perhaps they were given the day off school to be there (that reminds me of the 2002 world cup where the hosts had to fill half-empty stadia with screaming schoolgirls)? had it been me, i think i would have elected to have been present only on the basis of it being the lesser of the two evils. what gets me about the guy is that it doesn't matter what he wears and what shapes he throws, he just doesn't look like a pop star to me! not that either that or his banal musical offerings seemed to bother others, as he was still a long way from parting company with the singles charts at this point
kool & co: as usual my hand goes straight to the move-it-on device for anything they did post-"ladies night". but when i had to listen to a bit of it as i had misjudged how far to move on, i was sure i could hear a reggae-type thing going on. so given that they're no more from downtown kingston ja than the likes of the police and 10cc, does that make it cod-reggae?
sharon redd: when this was being recorded, perhaps sharon should have pointed out that there were awfully long gaps inbetween her vocal contributions. which might have made things a bit embarrasing in the event she was called upon to perform it "live". but sadly she did not appear to have that foresight, so was reduced instead to giving grace jones-like glares at the camera in the event that anybody even dare to think she looked like she was up shit creek without a paddle. musically this is quite good as a post-disco/club thing, although like bama i agree not quite as good as "beat the street" (if that's a euphemism, then i don't get it!). although like someone else above, i don't care for what is an overly-harsh vocal
Beat The Street features a horn that was sampled on Yazz's The Only Way is Up.
Deletei'm putting any old shit here to see if this sticks (unlike part I of my review!)
ReplyDeletebah - part I of my review keeps disappearing! again!! maybe this time it's the all-powerful toyah who's got it in for me...? anyway, into the breach once more (although this time i've broken it up in the hope it works)...
ReplyDeletehost: pp models the forerunner of what has now become the dad's xmas jumper worn in a post-modern kitsch ironic manner to get pissed in at parties at this time of year. but (as i queried on a facebook site recently, for which i got a rather sniffy reply): if you are going to do true irony, then surely such events should take place in the middle of summer?
piranhas: why does "boring" bob grover get a special credit - did they think nobody would buy this otherwise? a belated attempt to follow up "tom hark" with something similar. without course to reference a friend i watched this show with remarked he remembered the original (or at least first hit) version of this by lou busch! as as you've probably guessed from that he's now 70 years old, and of course has seen several of his pop (and general sleb) peers fall by the wayside in recent times (bowie, greg lake, alan rickman etc). but whenever they do and he gets a bit concerned that he'll be next, i have to point out that by the law of lifetime averages they have in fact given him a few more days to live!
kids from fame: as soon as this began i realised i had to move the bloody thing on before the bile started rising from my throat...
The Piranhas had actually followed up "Tom Hark" with a flop and this was at least their second single on their new label.
Deletepart Ib...
ReplyDeleteimagination: the cover of their eponymous album actually featured a painting of the trio wearing cod-roman centurion outfits (with errol pointing at something behind him for some unfathomable reason!). but here they don them for real (or at least ashley does). so what came first - the sleeve artwork or the costumes?
toyah: pop's polymath (or more-like jack-of-all-trades, and even that's stretching things a bit to put it mildly) returns after a lull for one more stab at chart success. having already tried her hand at acting without any noticeable returns and already realising she was supping in the last-chance saloon as a pop star, as pete informs us she's now become a published author as well. and of course her multi-media career culminated in that legendary 10-second voiceover on "tellytubbies". her non-stop efforts to keep herself in the public eye are very similar to those of geoffrey archer, who (probably like most) i despise as an arse of the highest order - you only need to watch that clip of him being disqualified from a sprint race but then running it regardless to realise that. but credit where it's due, he came up with the immortal quote that i can paraphrase here: was there no beginning to her talents? as far as this rubbish is concerned. note how she works certain words into the lyrics in order that she can literally interpret them on stage - no doubt in the hope of deflecting from an absence of any noticeable tune...
phew, that seemed to work...so far!
Deleteif anyone else is having problems uploading posts, then try breaking it up into more than one part, or maybe change a bit of the text...
I have vague memories of Toyah presenting a programme about sex in the 1990s where she sat in a chair that was shaped like a giant uterus.
DeleteThat's ironic seeing as how Toyah can't have children. Sorry, that's a bit of a depressing fact.
Deletebama - I think you are correct, I seem to recall that it was late night on either C4 or C5 and was one of those 'let's talk frankly about sex' type affairs.
DeleteI've hunted in vain for where someone said there was no Xmas TOTP. There is. 1.50 Xmas Day.
ReplyDeleteThe main bone of contention I have after watching this is, ‘Should I stay or should I go’? Its puzzling/baffling/downright annoying why this excellent song was ignored! They plugged lacklustre records and non-movers but not this. Wow! Reminds me of Red Sovine!!!
ReplyDeletePiranhas – Zambezi – Party start to this show which could almost have been at Christmas. Good to see the band not taking themselves too seriously; particularly monsieur le parrot!
Kids from Fame – Starmaker – Once was enough for me two weeks ago – FF
Imagination – In the heat of the night – Ditto
Toyah – Be loud be proud – Don’t really recall this but I must admit I enjoyed it! Much prefer this to the warbling ‘Thunder in the Mountains’. Unjust under achiever. Nice outfit!
Kool & the Gang – Ooh la la la – I counted 10 band members on stage. Pleasant enough piece of discos which I recall being played at the start of parties as kind of ‘warm people up with some gentle boogie before unleashing the real hard stuff clubs tracks’.
Bauhaus – Ziggy Stardust - FF
Spandau Ballet – Lifeline – Surprised there wasn’t a video shown this time rather than a repeat studio performance.
Sharon Redd – Never give you up – So there’s a 12” of this that’s great according to PP. Hmmm.
Shakin’ Stevens – I’ll be satisfied – I just don’t remember this at all. The video reminds me of Queen’s ‘We are the champions’ with less excitement.
Culture Club – Do you really want to hurt me – FF – second No1 in a row for me….
Kid Creole – Annie I’m not your Daddy – Nice track to close.
Spotted the Japan photo in the chart rundown for ‘Life in Tokyo’ featured the four piece after Rob Dean had left. This song was produced by Giorgio Morodor btw.
those right-on renegades the clash (including their son-of-a-diplomat vocalist) notoriously made it clear that to appear on totp would be "selling out" so refused to do so. therefore it comes as no surprise to me that the totp producers did little in return to promote them
Deletei hadn't noticed that japan were back in the top 30 with yet another old track re-released by their old record company, but by sheer coincidence i was listening to "life in tokyo" tonight as part of an 80's synth pop mix i put together a few years back. and (unlike that bloody awful motown cover) it was certainly deserving of a second chance as it's an excellent electronic dance track... especially the extended instrumental breakdown near the end!
Yes sct353, Kool & The Gang had a staggering 10 band members on that stage, i.e., 9 standing, plus a seated drummer. Now that must be the record number of band members on TOTP for a single, except for the video of Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind & Fire, which had about double that, but nevertheless brilliant!
Deletei think the record for most members in a non-orchestral/choral ensemble to appear in the totp studio is still held by fiddler's dram (13 to my recollection - that i'm guessing arthur will be able to confirm or otherwise)...
DeleteRe Kool & The Gang: they appeared another TV show which cleverly gave them two floors of a house to divide the ten members into five upstairs and five downstairs with two side stairways for even more spread/manouvre, such was their awesome presence on a stage. Suffice to say this worked a treat, and the clip here shows the happiness all round:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvT8gZwmjR4
Ok, so going back to the TOTP clip, Steve Wright on TOTP2 introduced that same 21st Oct clip, as "so a thousand guys on stage all having a good time, dressed in 1982 clothes with somewhere to go..."
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlfXufMa8fs
Dear me, this was thin gruel.
ReplyDeleteI can understand the reasoning for showing “Starmaker” again – top three and a tribute to the by now sadly deceased Michael Thoma – but why on Earth did we have to suffer boring re-runs of the pointless Bauhaus rehash, Spandau Ballet’s slide into MOR and the same old same old from Imagination instead of being treated to a second showing of the wonderful Kid Creole / Coconuts / Coati Mundi routine? Totally illogical.
After a couple of flops, The Piranhas decide to reinvent ”Tom Hark” and somehow it pays off. Kim and Maz were energetic, Boring Bob was strangely enigmatic, and the drummer was vying with Liquid Gold’s Wally Pratt for the title of most slappable sticksman.
Toyah – be loud, be proud, be gone! And indeed she is, as this was her last studio outing and we get just one more video showing for a woman whose book can’t have been about how to write a catchy, original sounding song. Mee and indeed ooow!
Having heard Kool and the Gang’s calypso soul in a basket, I nearly hankered for Paul Nicholas’s take on reggae. I did say nearly.
Sharon Redd’s staring was part Grace Jones and part ”Are you looking at my pint?”. That was an earring and a half.
So we finish with generic, homogenised and monochrome Shaky, a re-run of Boy George imitating Alison Moyet at the start and an outro subjected to Club 18-30 dancing. By that I mean it scored 18 to 30 out of 100.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure Fiddlers Dram hold the (current?) record for most band members on the same stage.
splodgenessabounds had a pretty good stab at the record... including a dog in their ranks! but in the event norris wcwhirter were called in to validate, would he have counted?
Deletethanks to arthur i'e now actually taken the trouble to look up toyah's tome on amazon (somewhat unimaginitively called "toyah"), and surprisingly it's not actually credited to herself but someone else (although i don't suppose whe was tardy in making herself available to the author). but even so, the fact that far bigger pop names didn't have biographies published back in those days says a lot about ms wilcox's desire to publicise herself in any way she could, regardless of (lack of) talent. and you will not be surprised to learn that she has actually also published at least two books by her own hand (or at least credited as such) since then...
DeleteIncidentally, in the new TV Cream podcast where they watch a couple of old TV shows and comment on them, there's clips of the Children's BBC presenters singing Starmaker from Christmas 1982!
ReplyDelete