No, I'm not the bloke from Haysi Fantayzee!
23-9-82: Presenter: John Peel
(9) DAVID CHRISTIE – Saddle Up
Despite getting out his muscular biceps, David couldn't push Saddle Up any higher.
(17) FAT LARRY’S BAND – Zoom (video)
Their breakthrough hit also turned out to be their last when it peaked at number 2. I don't know if this was filmed especially for Top of the Pops, but it did feature a live vocal, and a bit of backing vocal from Fat Larry himself, on the drums.
(6) SHALAMAR – There It Is
Went up one more place. But edited out of the 7.30pm slot.
(18) DEPECHE MODE – Leave In Silence (video)
A video inspired it seems by the Generation Game, for a tune now at its peak.
(26) MUSICAL YOUTH – Pass The Dutchie (video)
About to rocket to number one. John Peel seemingly a very big fan.
(38) CULTURE CLUB – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?
Making their debut on the show (although we did see Boy George last year dancing in the audience) with a song that would become the first of two number ones for this legendary 80's band.
(36) DOLLAR – Give Me Some Kinda Magic
Went up two more places and then we didn't see them again for another five years. And edited out of the early broadcast tonight.
(22) CHICAGO – Hard To Say I’m Sorry
After almost six years since we last saw Chicago with their number one If You Leave Me Now, they return to the charts and peaked at number 4. And what an excellent dance routine from Zoo couple Libra and Leo. They would definitely get a 'ten from Len' I think.
(15) EVELYN KING – Love Come Down ®
Still on its way towards number 7.
(1) SURVIVOR – Eye Of The Tiger (video)
Final week at number one.
The next edition is September 30th 1982, s special show to celebrate 15 years of Radio One ~ but it features Jimmy Savile so won't be shown on BBC4. What would Jockey Wilson say?
Warm welcome to our newest contributor here GB2202…
ReplyDeletePatchy episode for me…..some real highs…and real lows. I’ll list the lows and won’t dwell on them too much. Suffice to say I didn’t really watch these at all…
Musical Youth, Evelyn King, Rockers Revenge (dance out), Shalamar, Culture Club (yes, I’m really not a fan at all!!)
David Christie – Saddle up – Third outing for this rather ordinary but pleasant piece of Euro. This time there are no cowboys, no lassos and no DLT in the background!
Fat Larry’s Band – Zoom – FLB had charted with some minor hits in the late 70s but this big ballad was huge. Everyone was singing it at the time and it only missed out on the top spot due to a novelty record. This is a great live take of the song although I was shouting at the screen when it cut short in the instrumental break. More please next time!!
Depeche Mode – Leave in silence – Definitely the Generation Game conveyor belt…but they didn’t do too well with this song.
Dollar – Hmmm.. not seen this on the early broadcast yet, so note to self; must remember to watch it as I think it’s a one off.
Chicago – Hard to say I’m sorry – Well didn’t they do well!! The dancers I mean. This could easily have been the bit in the middle of the results show of ‘Strictly’ where the pros do a dance whilst you’re kept waiting for who’s in the dance off. This superb track gets a sympathetic dance routine and it’s not cut too short either. Bill Champlin joining Chicago at this point really made a difference along with David Foster’s song writing input.
Survivor – Eye of the Tiger – Last week at the top for this great No1 and I do recall the Record Department manager at WH Smiths where I worked at the time saying to me that she couldn’t understand why it was still at the top as it wasn’t selling well by then. The follow up single ‘American Heartbeat’ didn’t chart and that’s a shame as it’s a pretty good track (“more AOR whining from the boys; I can’t see them living up to their name” said ‘Record Mirror’ at the time).
John Peel never fails to entertain as always although his taste and mine don’t seem to be as one.
I didn’t mind Larry being fat at all. It’s just such a great ballad that still brings a tear to the eye, just for its loveliness. Suffice to say, this quality video is firmly snuggled up in my iTunes video library, and one of the best £1.89 purchases I ever made.
DeleteI remember Zoom by FLB being used in a episode of Only Fools and Horses called Diamonds Are For Heather.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"Zoom" was also used as crucial background music in the final episode of a 2001 BBC comedy called "Bob and Rose", starring Alan Davies as a gay man who falls in love with a woman. The premise sounds terrible, but it was an enjoyable series.
DeleteLeo and Libra? I take it at this stage Zoo consisted of twelve dancers all named after the zodiac?
dory look above your query, and you'll find that bama has already provided the title of the OFAH episode in question...
DeleteSure, a dory moment, I completely overlooked that. This is one time where it is worth removing my own comment, so as not to look silly!
DeleteGOLD are always repeating OFAH endlessly so why not repeat stuff in the comments?
DeleteAs the countdown to the end of the year was just beginning, this episode had a higher than usual American flavor to it, with 5 of the 10 acts on the show from the US.
ReplyDeleteShalamar – very rare appearance by US band Shalamar in the TOTP studio, having to fly in from the US, and could hardly believe they were actually there, instead of their own video or Zoo. Well done to TOTP to get them over, and a superb chart position at No.6, for what doesn’t sound like a song of top ten quality.
Musical Youth – the video was a retro version of modern day Judge Rinder, with the silliness in the courtroom. I wonder if Judge Rinder got his ITV show inspiration from Musical Youth, as he would have been only 4 years old in 1982, but may have seen it later in the decade, and thought, hmm, I could have a similar courtroom of silliness!
Chicago – well, this was the highlight of the show for me along with Fat Larry’s Band. A show with lots of American flavor, and certainly the Zoo performance by Leo and Libra (two horoscope star signs just by sheer coincidence) as well as JK’s plug for Chicago a couple of weeks earlier on Peter Powell’s show, really ignited this band back into our charts for the first time since 1976 with this classic humdinger of a ballad. The video was not ready yet on both sides of the Atlantic, but, Good Lord, Leo and Libra’s bachata-style dancing certainly did the song a huge favour, taking it to top 5 status in October 1982.
Rocker’s Revenge – at its peak now, and the second time on the end credits with studio audience dancing. It’s a pity the band couldn’t come over from the US along with Shalamar, and also a pity there was no video for this, hence getting bundled onto the playout. Nevertheless, I thought it very worthy of getting to No.4 at this juncture.
Another good turn in general from JP, though I thought the Brian Clough running joke was a bit laboured. I did like his barbed comment about Survivor being the best band in the world with that name - I'm guessing he was not a fan...
ReplyDeleteDavid Christie is back, sporting one of Chas & Dave's piano ties while hemmed in by the crowd on a very small stage, not that it seems to bother him. No lassos this time, but there are a few cowboys dancing along. I've never been all that keen on Zoom, which I find a little treacly. As Angelo mentions, it would be interesting to know if this live vocal performance was made for TOTP or lifted from another show. The singer, who always sounds to me like Mark King from Level 42, sounds a little flat here, and judging from his sideburns and the band's coordinated suits they were having difficulty letting the 70s go. Larry himself was presumably sitting on a reinforced drum stool!
Shalamar finally make it to the studio en masse for an energetic performance. Jeff is still very much the centre of attention however, prowling the stage with his guitar and even treating us to a little bit more moonwalking - he looks rather like Prince here. The Depeche Mode video looked like it had been treated with some early paintbox software, and had some amusing scenes with Dave trying to look tough and the band bouncing around on their spacehoppers.
I was surprised Peel was so keen on Musical Youth, but this does still sound fresh, and the video is entertaining. I'm sure everyone knows this version of the song was sanitised to remove the drug references in the original Mighty Diamonds version, and that Pete Waterman was one of the producers, preparing the ground for his future world domination. Culture Club next, with one of the most famous TOTP debuts. If Shaky had been able to appear on this show, presumably it would have been to reprise Give Me Your Heart Tonight. If the Beeb had wanted to, they could have just shown his previous studio performance again, but thankfully they opted for George and the boys instead. This remains one of the great 80s singles, and I can only imagine the impact George's appearance had - at the time I was very young, so he didn't look that weird to me back then. Sadly for the rest of the band, George is already hogging the camera...
This Dollar effort was sadly lacking in any kind of magic. The dynamic duo keep up their lovey-dovey act, but an acrimonious split was just months away. Another couple follow in the shape of Libra and Leo - star-crossed lovers, perchance? A fairly elegant routine to this insipid Chicago track, although Leo seemed to be under instructions to show off Libra's knickers as much as possible!
Eye of the Tiger reaches its final week at the top - there is another version of the video on YT which just features the band, without any clips from the film. Walking on Sunshine then plays us out for the second time in three shows, while Zoo get to dance to it for a third time. Kid will indeed be hosting the next show John, but unfortunately so will a lot of his colleagues, and as a result it won't be on BBC4...
You make a good point about the Survivor video. The one I am familiar with is the one you mention on You Tube with a stagerring 233 million views, with only the band and no clips from the Rocky Film. This is certainly the official video, and the same one served up by iTunes for £1.89, which I'm proud to say is firmly in my pop video music library.
DeleteIt seems that the BBC at the time, wanted for TOTP to add in clips of the Rocky film, as a way of promoting the film, as well as the group at No.1. Taking this one step further, and when we first saw it on JK's American charts slot on TOTP, there was no sign of the band at all in the video, and completely clips from Rocky, so it was like a gradual move from the Rocky clips to the Survivor band, in three stages!
David (presumably pronounced Dah-veed) sets the ball rolling with a virtually identical performance to his last one, though sartorially he has changed his (piano) tune.
ReplyDeleteAll together now: "Zoom! Just one look and my arse went boom!" Ahem, anyway, the one fact anyone knows about Fat Larry's Band is that Fat Larry was the drummer, not the singer. Nice enough tune, but a little thin.
Jody Whatley doing all the heavy lifting in Shalamar here, what does she have, three lines to sing? Always thought she was too thin. But good that the lot of them made it over here at last.
Depeche Mode, sadly sans cuddly toy, it's the space hoppers that make the video, I think. Had that Not the Nine O'Clock News spoof been on yet, the one about the nice video, etc?
Appropriate that Musical Youth should show up now when their "This generation!" intro has been sampled on what will be the final Tribe Called Quest single. This was a breath of fresh air back in 82, and yes, it's a shame how they ended up, but remember them this way.
Culture Club had more staying power, and it sounds like a cliché but we really were wondering if George was a boy or a girl at school the next day. As for the song, more British reggae, I suppose, moody and mournful but with a way of getting into your head.
Bucks Fizz next - oh, nope, it's Dollar. Was this a Trevor Horn production, because it sounds very Europop? There was so much of this around at the time that it didn't stand out.
Chicago give us an patented 80s bombastic ballad, the equivalent of yelling sweet nothings in your beloved's ear. As for our astrological duo, looked more like a gymnastics workout than a dance routine, but I couldn't do that, so more power to them.
Then two repeats to end on, anyone remember when they played Eye of the Tiger as an answer on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and the panels struck poses to every percussive note of the intro?
Interesting point about Fat Larry himself being the drummer, and carrying the band.
DeleteI wonder if there were any other bands where the drummer owned the band, and we could surmise an equivalent title. Here's a couple for starters:
1. "Big Bev's Band" instead of ELO, cos Bev Bevan while not fat, he was rather very tall, and cos he was the lead figurehead at the start, before letting Jeff Lynne take over as lead ELO member gradually.
2. " The Phil Collins band" (Phil Collins) instead of Genesis, after Peter Gabriel left the band, and drummer Phil Collins took over as Genesis lead.
The Dave Clark Five are perhaps the best example, as Dave really did "own" the band - he was the manager and producer as well as the drummer, and the other members were effectively his employees. Mind you, it has been rumoured that he didn't actually play the drums on their studio recordings...
DeleteIncidentally Dory, it was Roy Wood who was initially the main man in ELO, before he fell out with Jeff Lynne and quit to form Wizzard.
Deleteit's a good job no one in his band had to carry larry!
Deleteapparently dave clark's drumming skills were at best rudimentary (someone once related a story that he was asked to do a fill, and replied "what's that?"), so probably no surprise he never actually played on the recordings. in fact in contrast to most of his peers he was much more of a businessman than a musician. as demonstrated when he picked up the rights to "ready steady go" when few were interested in archive material, and mades loads of money out of them when the nostalgia thing kicked in 20-odd years later!
Deletei remember watching the DC5 in that "hard days night"-style film they made in the 60's (called "catch us if you can") one xmas morning in the late 70's and finding it quite enjoyable. it's one of those films i'd like to watch again some time, but will probably never get around to doing so!
Deletealso with regard to drummers leading bands (which is not a good thing in my opinion): jon hiseman was the head honcho of colloseum II. and don't forget the likes of buddy rich that ran their own self-named jazz big bands...
DeleteMick Fleetwood has held Fleetwood Mac together ever since Peter Green quit in 1970, though he has never been the major creative force in the band, nor much of a businessman, considering he went bankrupt in the 80s!
DeleteThe DC5 film is pretty good, one of those Swinging 60s movies disillusioned with the times, so it's a bit downbeat. John Boorman's first directing job, too. Better than Zardoz, I'm saying.
DeleteThis week's blog title of Do You Want To Top Of The Pops Me is quite suggestive, and the only performer on the show that I would say yes, would be Theresa Bazaar of Dollar, cos the show was otherwise of very heavy male variety, and I'm not into that sort of thing (sorry Bama).
ReplyDeleteFat Larry was certainly a very heavy male but I wouldn't say Jeffrey Daniel was.
DeleteJohn Peel clocks up the first of three appearances out of four consecutive editions - must have had his own parking space at the studio by now. This first one, of course, features that famous 'did you see...?' moment.
ReplyDeleteDavid Christie is first up in basically a reprise of his previous outing. Poor miming both vocally and bass-guitarly. Oh, and the vocals seem rather far back in the mix.
Fat Larry - Zoom. One of those much-maligned school disco slowies. Like many of their ilk, my initial pro-feelings diminish upon every re-hearing to the point where the music now goes in one ear and out t'other. The band look about five years behind the times. Nice live vocals though - pretty much on the money, so props for that.
Dollar. This is surely a Eurovision Song Contest song, isn't it? Don't remember it at all for the very obvious reason that it's pants. Oh and was there any need for two keyboard players?
Shalamar. A classic tune and very nice to see them in situ instead of having to watch a video or bloody Zoo. Jeffrey playing the Andrew Ridgely role to perfection.
Depeche Mode. The video industry is still quite young at this stage, so congratulations to the group for making a video which, still to this day, ranks as one of the very worse.
Runner-up in this week's 'did you see' - its Musical Youth's video for Pass The Dutchie (did anyone else have an annoying mate who always passed it on the right hand side?) Anyway, if any of Depeche Mode are reading this, THAT is what a video should be. Interesting, humourous, and not at all up its own ass. How good was the video? Well, next week this lot will shoot from 26 to the top slot! A great song and a great vid. Well done you little Brummie imps, you. So, how do you top that?
Easy. Step up to the mic (and miss your opening cue) George O'Dowd. I remember this very programme for this one song. One of a very few that I liked on very first hearing, and yes, its still stands up today. Very confident and charismatic performance all round. Deservedly on route to the top as well.
Chicago. Typical AOR from America. Typical shoite 'dancing' by Zoo.
Repeat showings for Evelyn King and Survivor and Rocker's Revenge to see us out.
Scores.John Peel. Another virtually faultless peformance that failed to score full marks owing to the whole Brian Clough references thing.Maybe it made more sense back in 82. Anyway, Peelie's links were neatly sardonic and he earns a strong 9.
Musically we get an 8. Culture Club, Musical Youth, Shalamar, and Evelyn King being my personal Fortnight In The Seychelles, while Depeche Mode, and Survivor were more like a wet weekend in Taleacre.
A quick cuppa and a Gregg's steak slice and I'll be back for the embargoed multi-dj 15 year celebration.
Does anyone know what Pass The Dutchie is all about, cos to this day I still don't know, and what is a Dutchie being passed on the left hand side that could not be passed on the right hand side? The mind boggles.
DeleteA "dutchie" was a bowdlerisation of "cutchie" which is Jamaican slang for a hash pipe or spliff. It was originally about smoking da herb but obviously toned down in this cover for the kids to perform.
Deletewasn't the dutchie implied to be some kind of cooking pot? (and i mean pot as in kitchen utensil - not "da herb"!)
DeleteThat was the story at the time, but not being Jamaican I can't speak for its accuracy! They could be on about Luxembourg for all we know.
DeleteAn enjoyable show, this one. Peelie helping things along nicely as usual with some decent tunes.
ReplyDeleteAs you do when you're young, the fact that Larry really was FAT meant that we all had a good laugh about 'Zoom' the next day at school. I liked it at the time, less so now it's a staple of Heart / Smooth et al. Mrs Noax simply cannot stand it for some reason.
Shalamar make a nice 'housewife classic segue' with the above.
I don't think I've seen the Depeche Mode video before. Not in a rush to see it again, the song is a middling effort.
2 big debuts, and which was talked about most at school? Yep, Musical Youth! Probably because of their age I suspect. It bemuses me that they're in London for the video rather than Brum though. I was wondering if anyone knew about Pete Waterman's involvement but I see that John has mentioned it.
Weirdly, Culture Club must have more or less passed me by at the time, even though the nostalgia programmes would you have everyone believe that the world changed overnight. It's a good song, but we've all seen the clip plenty of times now!
Dollar - I still love this, 'cos it's Dollar! I can see why it wasn't a massive hit though. By Trevor Horn standards, that key change near the end is extremely clunky. I like the band all clapping at the end though.
Chicago - No ta.
On to the forbidden fruit then...
host: at one point mr ravenscroft (which of course is his real posh-but-hidden surname, to go along with his posh-but-hidden roots) appears to make some comment about boy george being a brian clough-lookalike. presumably that was some attempt at humour, but if so then i didn't get it. perhaps it was an in-joke for the listeners of his late-night noise - sorry, indie show? if so then it would have fallen on deaf ears, as (unlike the fraud himself) they would rather eat their own vomit than have anything to do with the programme!
ReplyDeletea general point before i start breaking down the acts: there's a whole load of modulation going on in this show, but i'll leave it to you to work out when (if you can be bothered, that is!)
david christie: given that he must have made quite a few francs out of co-writing "i love to love", you would have thought he could have afforded to hire at least a couple of geezers as his backing band?
fat larry's band: which one was fat larry? just joking. i first became aware of mr james and his chums via a late-70's disco effort called "boogie town" that i liked a lot back then, but more recent listening revealed it hadn't stood the test of time. however he was also behind what i do consider an all-time disco classic: "space bass" by slick. but this ballad is far too slick and sickly for my taste, and the singer sounds a bit whiny here too. given his corpulence, you may not be surprised to hear that larry didn't live for that long...
shalamar: still soundy rather weedy to my ears, despite the presence of not only mr daniels but his rather strained-sounding colleagues too. he may look like prince in the studio, but in the charts mugshot they've still got him wearing that ridiculously-outdated afro!
musical youth: have you noticed that they've been allocated different-coloured shirts, presumably so that you can tell them apart? not that anyone is likely to get dennis (green) confused with kelvin or michael. mind you, i'm not sure which-is-which out of those two. apparently dennis and michael still perform as musical youth, but shouldn't that be "musical dotage" now? and given that pete waterman was involved, is this a case of cod-reggae?
culture club: more cod-reggae alert! as i suspected: with a great voice, look and aspiration to appear on totp as a performer, george was apparently rather miffed when his talentless chum/rival jeremy healy got there first! i was working in an office staffed mainly by middle-aged women at the time, so you can imagine all the clucking that was going on around the 80's british equivalent of the water cooler after george hit our screens. musically it's pleasant enough (and time has neither dimmed or enhanced my feelings there), but it seems to get a bit lost and directionless in the instrumental passages
dollar: both are in hot leather tonight, with thereza pulling out all the stops with her mini-dress (calm down dory!) that actually seems to give the illusion that she's got a bit of cleavage for a change. but the fact is that they could have stripped naked and had sex with each other on stage, and it wouldn't have made this any more interesting for me. i can't say i'm sad to hear that this is the last of their candy floss pop for some time now
chicago: i've read above that david foster who was partly responisble for the classic earth, wind & fire tune "after the love has gone" was also involved in this drivel - talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous! the "strictly come dancing" (something i'll never watch as long as i'm capable of drawing breath - why isn't it called "celebrity come dancing"?) routine was equally vomit-inducing. thank goodness for the means to bypass on iplayer...
Yes, Fat Larry James died of a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 38, which is when the band folded, according to Wikipaedia.
DeleteIt wasn't John Peel's idea to change his name, it was the radio station he was working for. In the USA they renamed him John Ravencroft, missing out the S, bizarrely, but on return to the UK the management demanded an easier to remember name and a secretary suggested John Peel. The rest is history...
DeleteDavid Christie wearing Chas Hodges' keyboard tie but not playing a keyboard so he loses a few points there. As others have also mentioned he's dumped the lasoo guy but has to put up with even more over-excited cheerleaders trying to hog the limelite. I'd have pushed 'em off the stage.
ReplyDeleteZoom, loved the ice lolly wasn't so keen on the song. It's quite fashionable now for songs to sound like they're off-key or pressed off centre but this was from a time when that wasn't done but I seemed to be the only one who noticed that the lead singer was a bit off key in places. I actually feel a bit sick listening to it. The BBC do their usual of trick with videos of fading when they get to the instrumental break.
Some of the musicians in Dollar's band including the drummer were the same as the ones backing Natasha, so they've had a busy year. This is a nice breezy pop anthem but isn't a patch on the last couple of hits. At the end that we are treated to the the first camera pan from an act to the presenter that they've done in a long time.
Shalamar were on tour in the UK at this time which is why they were available for the show. I know this because I saw them at The Wembley Arena the following week and they were pretty good although we had last minute tickets with a restricted view. This is an impressive performance although it's a shame Jeffrey has cut back on the dance moves.
Before I read the blog I was thinking Generation Game when I saw the Depeche video but of course that show had finished at Christmas 1981 when Larry Grayson retired. The video is okay but nothing special and doesn't aid the song which is a bit average not helped by Dave G's weedy thin vocals. I note it goes down next week.
The AH standing next to Peelie who stares into the camera looking like he loves himself is former disco dance champion Grant Santino. He's been a cheerleader on the show longer that Craig Fairbrass was but seems to be getting more spots now. Why do they always stare into the camera lens, did they have mirrors on them?
Don't let kids sing reggae. Don't let kids sing reggae. Please don't let kids sing reggae. Too late! Well it's okay I suppose apart from the young kid the start whose squeaky voice always annoyed me. A fun video which must have helped push it up the charts and the record companies were getting wise by this point to get the video made early so its gets shown in time. I think the young kid with dreadlocks watching them perform was later the star of the Bob Marley video for the Waiting In Vain reissue.
Now some real reggae with Boy George and co, another Virgin act, Branson must have been rubbing his hands together that night. Two number ones of the way. All the budget seems to have been spent on George's outfit made from some old curtains while the rest of the band have to make do with decorators overalls and grimaces. We can't even see the backing singers I can't work out if one of them is Helen Terry.
The Charts and five out of the bottom section of the 30 are cover versions.
Chicago. I never really liked the line about being away from your body but otherwise this is a cracking song. Not sure about Leo and Libra who seem to have been drafted in from a stage show or ballet school.
The middle bit of the chart and they really don't want Shaky in the Top Ten do they? That's the third week he's spent at number 11.
Evelyn King back again. The Top Ten and effin Survivor again. The chart photo of Survivor makes the group look rather different to the people in the video. It's like those professional photos people have done of their family where they're touched up to the point of not being recognisable as the same people.
Play out with Rockers Revenge AGAIN. Make a video you bastards at least that would save us from seeing Zoo prancing about again in white shorts and thigh length boots. And that's just the boys.
Maybe Depeche Mode should have done a Game for a Laugh video for their next tune, as that replaced The Generation Game in the nation's affections.
DeleteCulture Club were definitely on Virgin but, after a single on the famed Birmingham-based 021 label, Musical Youth spent the rest of their career (9 singles) with MCA.
DeleteAnother great show from the autumn of 82 similar to last week but with a far more palletable host!
ReplyDeleteDavid Christie - Its a bit catchy this one isn't it!?! I don't really remember it at the time but despite its catchiness I'm non-plussed on it.
Fat Larrys Band - Has a sad lilt to it this one but I bet it was a wedding favourite from 82?
Shalamar - Yes, highlight of the show for me, I absolutely love this one, great 80s disco track but it all went downhill for them after this.
Depeche Mode - not a classic of theirs but you can hear a maturing sound starting to come through which would turn them into a great, great band (1984 -1990). The video though has no correlation to the song.
Musical Youth - Ahh, the memories, the first record I ever asked for and I don't admit to that one very often! Kind of came and then disappeared didn't they. I didn't get it bought for me either, my Dad wouldn't buy it!!
Culture Club - Now my dad would have bought me this one because he was a big Culture Club fan but I wasn't interested. However, this infamous performance and subsequent public reaction was strengthened by it being a pretty good song.
Dollar - Don't remember this one by them but it looks like every song from their Trevor Horn album was released as a single. Still, every time I watch one of their performances and David touches her, I always think she's thinking 'Oh no not again'!
Chicago - I believe the full version of this song is a bit of an epic but I have to say Ive never heard the full version because it always gets chopped on the radio just as the tempo changes.
Evelyn King - Another cracking disco track from the early 80s. You could say this was her 'champagne' moment.
Survivor - Nothing further to add really.
Rockers Revenge - see Survivor!
Marks out of ten - would have been a 9 but just as I knocked 0.5 off for Smiley Bates I am gonna add 0.5 on for Peely, who was probably my favourite host from the 80s (despite him being a Liverpool supporter!) so for those of you with a little bit of Maths about you, 9.5 for me.
Famously one of Musical Youth turned to crime and then died (of a heart condition), but the rest are still around. A quick Google Image Search reveals I would never have recognised them now from what they looked like then!
Deletei wonder if the musical youth in question turned to crime because he was ripped-off by his management/record company, or if he was just a wrong un anyway?
DeleteI mentioned the long version of Hard To Say I'm Sorry, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembered it. It turns out the uptempo brassy bit at her end was only on their album and was called Get Away.
DeleteThe long version of Hard To Say I'm Sorry, meant Cetera was away from her body for far too long, but anyway, I wonder where this long version could be found, because the compilation CD called "The Chicago Story: The Complete Greatest Hits" clearly states 'single version' as track 2 on the CD which I have in my collection, so it's a shame we missed out on the long version, which I think is the original.
DeleteAn incredibly annoying start to this edition’s viewing – I suffered a 34-second Christmas BBC logo before this show started.
ReplyDeleteAnother great hosting by Peelie, but if only he was correct that only Kid was introducing the next edition, otherwise it would have got an airing.
Yep, numbers 26 to 29 were indeed all covers. As for the mugshots, had Rockers revenge just stepped off the beach for their photo?
That crowd was a bit up close and personal for David Christie, wasn’t it? Monsieur Christie wore a waistcoat and tie but no shirt – uuurgh.
An industrial strength drum stool for Larry. Work that kit, son! “Zoom” is the sort of song that almost brings vom to my lips, but a fine live vocal in fairness.
Howard Hewitt obviously thought “This is my turn in the spotlight”. Did you kill all those raccoons whose tails are on your belt, then?No mic for Jody Watley says it all. Ooo, a moonwalking guitarist! What show was this clip from, by the way?
I really enjoyed the Depeche (Depechay?) Mode video – good game! – especially the different coloured Modes. That conveyor belt reminded me of Roachford’s “Cuddly Toy”.
How ironic Musical Youth’s vid featured a school inspector when, apparently, they couldn’t appear on TOTP due to school duties.
Keep in time, George! Where have your John Lennon glasses gone? And the rest of your rockabilly clobber while I’m at it? A mellow yet slinky sound, and Michael ‘Psychic’ Hurll obviously saw the potential in this number 38 tune.
Wahay! No cleavage but Cosmo Smallpiece alert with Dollar (shown further up the billing order, but I’m too lazy to move my comment!). By heck, I’m gonna miss Thereze. Apparently there was a bloke singing next to her. Not a superb song but worthy of a mugshot, Sadly, Peelie's prediction was way out.
I FF’d most of the last three tracks, but watched in awe at Leo’s wonderful high holds and the delicacy of what I saw of his routine with Libra for Chicago. That was excellent.
Yep Arthur, the 'delicacy' as you put it on Libra and Leo's dancing is in line with some of the lyrics: "couldn't stand being kept away, just for the day, from your body."
Deleteif only they'd had dancers called aquarius and cancer as well, then they would have had a kind-of floaters reunion!
DeleteI would have preferred it to be Pisces and Scorpio, as I'm Pisces male (hence my selection of the fish Dory), and my perfect match is supposed to be Scorpio female.
DeleteOh, and these two signs are both floaters too (if you mean floating in water)
Deleteno - i meant floaters as in ralph, charles, paul and laaarrrrryyy!
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