I hear John Peel's mum is our biggest fan.....
03/02/83 (David Jensen & John Peel)
Haysi Fantayzee – “Shiny Shiny” (36)
Getting the show off to a burlesque kind of start with what became the second and, sadly, the final top 20 hit for the lovely Haysi Fantayzee when it peaked at number 16.
Indeep – “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” (15)
Ingeniously titled to get lots of radio play, with a floor filling bassline ~ and made it to number 13, but it was their only top 30 hit.
The Fun Boy Three – “Tunnel Of Love” (68)
Already we reach the penultimate hit for the Fun Boy Three, taken from their second and final album Waiting, Tunnel of Love made it to number 10. But edited out of tonight's 7.30 slot.
Fleetwood Mac – “Oh Diane” (16) (US TV clip)
From their top five album Mirage, Oh Diane peaked at number 9. Also a 7.30 edit.
Kajagoogoo – “Too Shy” (5)
Still climbing, and now just two weeks away from being number one. But also fell victim to the 7.30 axman.
Tears For Fears – “Change” (19)
The follow up to Mad World, from their number one album The Hurting, Change peaked at number 4.
U2 – “New Year’s Day” (10) (video)
A snowy video shot in David Jensen's 'back yard back home in Canada'! Now at its chart peak. Afterwards, we were treated to the 'Top 10 Video Show' with extended clips of all the songs from number 9 to number two.
Men At Work – “Down Under” (1) (video)
Second of three weeks at number one.
Billy Griffin – “Hold Me Tighter In The Rain” (17) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
Next up is February 10th 1983.
Pleased to say that I really liked this show, as the 80s characteristic music was now coming through quite nicely. Indeed the first two songs featured sexy ladies, and then later in the show, the iconic video by U2.
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantaysee - a mesmerising Kate garner, where it was not possible to be as divinely slender as her, and possibly being a size 4, if not size 6 with such a fine washboard figure with nice pins.
InDeep - two other sexy ladies coming from America especially for performing on TOTP, to tell us that last night a DJ saved their lives from a broken heart. Good Lord, they were obviously meeting the wrong men, and their title of InDeep was very appropriate. They made up for it though with their nice choice of evening cocktail dresses to keep the male viewers glued to the TV.
The Fun Boy Three – regulars by now in the TOTP studio, this was their best effort in my opinion, and a real classic when you count in the brilliant use of violin at the end.
Fleetwood Mac – first appearance on TOTP since their last top 30 hit called Tusk at the end of 1979, and the long three-year wait by Mac fans was finally over, with the brilliant Oh Diane. Why on earth it took TOTP till their third week inside the top 30 to show this single is somewhat baffling, but it could be that they had no footage or no video, and according to Popscene this was a US TV show clip, but hey, who’s complaining, when you get this quality of music.
And then the return of the top 10 rundown in video format, not seen since 1980 on TOTP, but David Jensen giving us a clue that it may be here to stay, as he is looking for feedback from viewers. Hope it stays, as the beginning of 1983 was probably the first time you could get the whole top ten with videos, as 1982 still had some groups not making videos yet, and the video era had now come of age at the start of 1983, and gradually making Zoo a redundant concept on TOTP!
If Peel was correct and the Mac performance was taken from The Late Late Breakfast Show, it would have been recorded late the previous year. Quite why it took TOTP so long to show it is, therefore, a mystery.
DeleteThere is a contradiction here John. According to Popscene, it was a US TV show clip, whereas John Peel says it was from The Late Late Breakfast Show, which is a UK TV show, so who is correct here?
DeleteThis measly footage of just 2:21, and missing the rest of the song, is all that we fans have for this song, as no video was ever made for Oh Diane, as Fleetwood Mac were still by now not really a video group, and got into videos much later than other groups, as essentially they were a stadium band by popularity. Great song though, despite the lack of video material anywhere on the web for this classic track.
Perhaps the clip did come from the US, and had already been featured on the Late Late Breakfast Show!
Deletedory you've failed to cast your roving eye over the phalanx of lovelies - sorry, ladies surrounding the fun boy three! and what about stevie and christine - don't they merit a mention?
DeletePhalanx of lovelies? Don't you mean 'lovely' in the singular, as I could only describe the seated cello player as 'lovely' and in the league of Bananarama, where it seemed clear here that the Fun Boy Three were trying to fill the gap left by Bananarama who where pivotal in Fun Boy Three's only two top 5 singles, and after they had left, there was little or no success for the Fun Boy Three.
DeleteFurthermore, I would say that the non-'lovelies' on Fun Boy Three this week were dressed more like the three cleaners (I mean backing singers) that Captain Sensible brought to the TOTP studio a few months earlier for his performance of Wot!, the follow-up single to Happy Talk.
DeleteI think this may be a fleeting return for the top 10 videos, I saw a tweet during earlier that suggested it wouldn't be back until 1985.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe it - THREE songs edited out? Fun Boy Three's hit (which actually features a CELLO, not a violin) is a minor post-punk gem, if somewhat mournful. Fleetwood Mac's 'Oh Diane' - only the band's 6th British Top 10 single despite their phenomenal album sales - is a perfect example of good old-fashioned, no-frills soft rock.
ReplyDeleteAs a long-time admirer of Tears For Fears' work, I hoped at the time that they would not turn out to be a one-hit wonder - and was both relieved and pleasantly surprised when they came up with this accomplished second smash. With their indisputable joint gift for pop sensibility, Curt and Roland thoroughly deserved the worldwide fame they would soon be afforded. New wave they may have been, but their style was partly shaped by old wave influences, right down to the employment of former Stackridge (and Korgis) member Andy Davis on keys and marimba. Indeed, the repeated phrase 'But it's all too late...' always reminds me of the chorus of Lindisfarne's 'Lady Eleanor': 'But it's all right...'
Julie, the weekly pattern that TOTP have seemed to adopt is to edit the three songs in a row just before the chart rundown, as it the easiest cut, rather than individual song editing, and it seems to be irrespective of who the performers are.
DeleteI agree Fun Boy Three and Fleetwood Mac's first appearance in the charts since 1979, were unfortunate to be played just before the chart rundown, and in the section most likely to be edited out. Those in between the chart rundown are always safe from the scissors, as it would disrupt the flow of the rundown introductions if they were!
Agreed regarding Tears For Fears with a superb follow-up here to Mad World, and this new song Change is one of the best intros for a record that I have ever heard, and I remember at the time as a teenager that it was a DJs favourite on the double turntable to phase it in after the previous record playing.
Listen, Dory - I was probably a bit hard on Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler last week in relation to 'Twisting By The Pool'. Whilst I regard that song as one of his lesser efforts, he's also had his moments of brilliance as a songwriter - Tina Turner's 'Private Dancer' among them.
DeleteWe appreciate your regular inputs on the blog, considering that you are the only female on here, and pity that there are apparently no other women among this male-heavy blog.
DeleteAccording to Jezza, Shiny Shiny wasn't about anything, it was nonsense, and not about nuclear war as I thought (though they do mention it). Now you hear the influence on The Cure's Love Cats, you can't un-hear it. Uncomfortable-looking corset, Kate, and a Harvey Smith from your fellow singer I see. Charming!
ReplyDeleteIndeep, fantastic bit of funk, it never occurred to me that there were two singers on this record. One of them has a wardrobe malfunction the cameraman is frantic not to display in shot. That BBC sound effects record was a canny purchase. Can't fault this one.
For some reason this is the Fun Boy Three record you most hear these days on the radio, in spite of it being anti-romantic misery from start to finish. From ska to tango, a curious path to take. Nice arrangement, I have to admit.
Fleetwood Mac leave the experimentalism of Tusk well behind with a twee bit of pop, nice enough but gossamer. Stevie gets a lot to do, doesn't she?
1983's answer to Curiosity Killed the Cat next, supremely confident, I'll give them that.
Tears for Fears with more impeccably produced doom pop, Patrick Moore himself couldn't have used the xylophone better. I see they've given up the freaky dancing this time around.
Under a blood red sky it's U2 with a video best described as the anti-Rio. Still not keen on their over-serious bombast, even in the ones that were supposed to be good.
Then we get a bunch of videos, as the producers of The Chart Show take notes. Some glimpses of lesser spotted clips here along with Joe and his hotel room and Laura and her amazing eyebrows. Pete Wylie looks like he wants to be excused in his video.
Men at Work to finish, what had that koala done to be treated so? Oh, not quite over as we have a pair of Gene Kellys to see us off. The presenters are such a great match, I guess you call it chemistry.
I had also thought all these years that In Deep was one female, and don't recall this TOTP show, but seeing it now all these years later, I would say that In Deep was formed perfectly as two new fresh faces (and stylish evening dresses) from America, and the song has such a good rhythm until the DJ who saved their lives last night starts talking.
DeleteWith regard to the Men At Work video, I wonder how many of us spotted at the end of the video a man whipping the group of Men (on their legs) carrying the hearse over their heads across the desert as the song slowly fades out. I never noticed this until now, despite having seen it numerous times over the last 34 years.
Gotta say, I love the rap in the Indeep song, I can still recite it all these years later! Although the toilet flush at the end seemed to have been edited out of this performance.
DeleteIncidentally, anyone hear Janice Long's last ever radio show this week? She was in tears by the end, aw... Her final record was Nothing Lasts Forever by Echo and the Bunnymen. I'll miss her.
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear it but a all credit to her for such a long stint between Radio 1 and Radio 2 for the last 35 years, and this week's TOTP was indeed her first year of all this, way back in early 1983, and where it all started as a fresh-faced DJ on Radio 1 and TOTP.
DeleteI gave Janice's last Radio 2 link a listen. Blimey, she was in pieces at the end, wasn't she? Personally speaking, shame Radio 2 have binned her while Chris Evans (in my view a smug, slappable balloonhead) rolls on regardless.
Deleteas far as i'm concerned, chris evans is the living embodiment of blur's brilliant (and prophetic) album title "modern life is rubbish"!
DeleteAs a radio presenter myself, and someone who has done many an overnight show too, may I see that it is utter craziness to axe live overnight radio. Especially when some of the replacement material is specialist shows like jazz!
DeleteTypically BBC to say it's cost cutting when in reality the combined salary of Alex Lester & Janice Long would be nowhere near that of to use just one non-random example, the over-rated ginger prick stinking up breakfast.
knowing a talentless and loathsome prick like evans would get even a fraction of a penny of my money were i to cave in and start paying for a catch-all tv licence stiffens my resolve to do without!
Deletelike most ex-radio 1 jocks (other than "yewtree'd" ones of course) i'm pretty sure that janice long won't be reduced to selling big issues for a living. local radio (that surely now beckons ms long) may not be either as lucrative or as prestigeous as the national variety, but (contrary to the ignominity suggested in "i'm alan partridge") it's still nice work if you can get it!
DeleteSurely, at least, a position for Janice awaits at 107.6 Capital FM in Liverpool - she actually founded the station herself as Crash FM.
DeleteFully agree with you Noax. If nothing else live overnight radio is a great opportunity to give new presenters some airtime where the odd mistake doesn't matter so much as it would during daytime.
DeleteAs a radio presenter too one of my favourite slots was doing a late night show for a couple of years and being able to play a more eclectic mix of music.
Alex Lester's final record last night was Jimmy Ruffin singing Farwell is a Lonely Sound. Thirty years he's been doing overnights! Oh well, at least Huey Morgan's Friday/Saturday show is back on at a more reasonable hour.
DeleteI can't listen to Evans either, I remember how nasty he was on Radio 1, but I concede he is popular, so would not begrudge those millions who wish to hear him. There's plenty on the other BBC radio channels to listen to, after all.
Radio 2 has lost another long-serving presenter, as Brian Matthew has effectively been pushed out as host of Sounds of the 60s. I think his departure probably breaks R2's last link with the old Light Programme.
DeleteI daresay Janice and Alex will both find new work quickly enough (indeed, I hear Radio Kent have already snapped Alex up), but it does seem weird to axe the overnight live shows when Radio 2 is the most listened to station in the country. As far as I can see, Radio 1 will continue broadcasting live through the night, but perhaps the BBC have concluded that a greater proportion of the R1 audience are nightbirds - that would certainly be true of the student population, I imagine...
I don't think Brian was "pushed out", he's just had too many health problems to continue, but R2 have said they would like to work with him in the future. Mind you, they said that about David Jacobs, and he died shortly after leaving the station. Brian was the last remaining R2 original presenter. A real shame to see him go.
DeleteBrian's take on the situation is rather different from the BBC's:
Deletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/27/radio-2-takes-horrible-decision-replace-britains-oldest-dj-brian/
Reading that, it's not the BBC's fault this time, it's the independent company that makes SOTS who have decided to get rid of Brian. I don't suppose there's anything the Beeb can do about that.
DeleteYes, it does appear to be the production company who are the villain of the piece, though it would be interesting to know what say (if any) the BBC get in the choice of presenter. This looks to me like one of those unfortunate situations where the employee may feel he is still up to the job, but the employers don't see things the same way. It's sad it had to come to this, but I hope Brian does make some special programmes for Radio 2 in the future.
DeleteRadio One use the early hours for specialist shows - Annie Nightingale still appears in one of the 1-4 slots. It's been a very long time since they ran a general music show overnight.
DeleteVery few stations other than the larger national commercial ones like Absolute and Radio X seem to bother doing anything other than non stop automated music these days.
One of the very few upside of the Radio 2 changes is Bob Harris's show moving back to 12-3.
John G, Tony Blackburn was briefly on The Light Programme just before it split to form Radios 1 and 2 although he didn't join Radio 2 until 2010.
DeleteJanice did do a Saturday morning show on BBC WM a few years ago, while still working on R2.
Delete(BBC WM being the station that Peter Powell started on in 1970 when it was BBC Radio Birmingham. Most recently "The Dark Lord" himself, Alex Lester was covering breakfast on that station!)
Janice did do a Saturday morning show on BBC WM a few years ago, while still working on R2.
Delete(BBC WM being the station that Peter Powell started on in 1970 when it was BBC Radio Birmingham. Most recently "The Dark Lord" himself, Alex Lester was covering breakfast on that station!)
The Rhythm Pals make a swift return to action, Michael Hurll obviously keen to exploit their evident chemistry as much as possible, and being rewarded with another witty performance. The one slightly jarring note was their jokey implication that liking Fleetwood Mac was somehow "uncool," but I guess at this time that they were still very much seen as one of the rock dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantayzee are back with distinctive look and sound intact and a corseted turn from Kate that certainly lingers in the memory once seen! An enjoyable and infernally catchy little ditty too, a considerable step up on their previous hit. A great club groove and polished performance from Indeep to follow, though the hairy DJ and his mini-rap were a bit laughable.
The FB3 were now approaching the end of their time as the resident house band, and this tango-based effort is definitely up there as one of their best. Not for the first time on TOTP, they are put on a stage with a bunch of plants - it makes me wonder if this was something that they actually liked to have! Anyone have any idea who the all-female backing musicians were? Fleetwood Mac look a bit addled in this clip, perhaps not surprisingly as they were at the height of their drug period at this time. The song itself is very pleasant and listenable, though there are many better songs on the Mirage album and I don't think this one is particularly representative of Lindsey Buckingham's immense talents as a guitarist, songwriter and arranger.
After Kajagoogoo have come and gone with their new performance, Tears For Fears are back with their excellent follow-up to Mad World. Sadly this is a rerecording that does not quite live up to the immaculately produced original, but it is still a great song which further showcases Orzabal's abilities as a writer. U2 take us into the snowy wastes for their video, making me feel even colder after a freezing day, before the Top 10 video rundown returns - Kid seems to think this is a new feature, though in fairness to him he was in the States when it regularly appeared in 1980-81. It takes up quite a bit of the show, and is most interesting for the Wah! video, in which Pete Wylie is singing to a room of thoroughly miserable blokes. Peel refers to them as the "mighty" Wah, as if he was already aware of the rebrand of the group name that would follow. We end with what I assume is an unofficial Zoo routine, with some quite impressive umbrella work to accompany Billy Griffin as he gets used as the playout music for the second time in three shows.
TOTP had to juggle whether to keep on the show a top ten rundown in video format, as this would take up the space of one full song on the show which would have to come out, meaning inviting one less group to the studio, or one less video to play.
DeleteMy thoughts as mentioned in previous blogs, is that TOTP should always have been one hour long, and not 35 or 40 minutes, because then you could play full videos instead of two thirds clips of them, and you could have a top ten rundown in video format every week.
The BBC never seemed to embrace the idea of this back then, and always crammed things in, with playouts cut short etc, which I think is a pity, considering they did make one-hour shows at Christmas time.
the trombonist was almost certainly annie whitehead, and the drummer was definitely june miles-kingston. the latter was originally in the all-female mod revival band the mo-dettes and later with the communards. and after that she sang (with a credit) on ex-communard jimmy somerville's single "comment te dire adieu"...
DeleteThanks for the info, Wilberforce! I remember that Jimmy Somerville song being all over the radio when it came out, but haven't heard it in years.
DeleteI'll critique the show over the weekend, but interesting to see the Fun Boy Three get on the show with a record as low in the chart as 68. Ironically, this made the charts just three weeks after their previous and much less commercial single "The More I See (The Less I Believe)", coupled by a track called "?", actually peaked at 68.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting Arthur that Fun Boy Three's final two singles, i.e., Tunnel Of Love and Our Lips Are Sealed, were their two biggest hits alone without Bananarama, and reaching No.10 and No.7. It's little surprise that they called it a day in April 1983 with no No.1's to show for their one-and-a-half year tenure as The Fun Boy Three, and could not taste the same level of success as they did as The Specials between 1979-1981. But Fun Boy Three seemed to succeed with cover songs, and not their own material which seemed to not chart for them, so it is little wonder that they were about to close down shortly after this effort.
Deletewell they did have residence in the totp car park at the time arthur!
DeleteThe first half of this show was great, I don't think I fast-forwarded anything. The second half was still watchable, if less exciting.
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantayzee - As Alan Partridge might say - Ooh Kate, you're dirrrrrrrty. I like the song very much though!
Indeep - Chalk me up as another one who didn't realise there were 2 ladies on this one. There is no way that the DJ guy is the one who does the rap on the song though. I've always liked this track.
Fun Boy 3 - And another good one! Thanks goodness they've remembered to write a proper tune after their last few dirges.
Fleetwood Mac - I had no memory of this from the time and discovered it later as it appeared on their early 90s Greatest Hits. It's relatively slight compared to some of their others but still rather good.
Tears For Fears - A good song made to sound average by a horrible re-recording. The wibbly bit (non-technical term) that runs throughout and isn't on the single version has a certain similarity to Captain Sensible's 'Glad It's All Over'.
The video rundown is odd, partly as it's sold to us as something never done before (untrue, though it's unlikely audiences at the time would have necessarily known that) and also because it surely could have been done at various points over the previous year if they'd wanted to. My conclusion - someone cancelled at the last minute.
Poor Billy Griffin only getting a playout again though perhaps there was no footage to show for his song.
hosts: so they are known as the rhythm pals? i wouldn't have thought anything peel was playing on his radio show at this point could really be described as "rhythmic". of course he rectifed that in later years when he threw out all that old-hat scratchy guitar indie stuff virtually overnight in favour of the hot new "street" dance music being made by the "kidz" with drum machines and sequencers
ReplyDeletehaysi fantasee: it looks like they've still been nowhere near a bath since their last appearance. behind them, third member whacks away at a snare drum for all he's worth - which is just as well, as apart from the vocals and the odd bit of fiddling (by bobby valentino, formerly of 70's proto new-wavers the fabulous poodles but latterly with a sideline as a clark gable lookalike) i couldn't actually detect any instrumentation otherwise
indeep: this is more like it! a sort-of lo fi version of chic, with everything apart from the singing i believe done by the white guy on "decks" on a real shoestring budget. apparently everyone thought the rap (which inevitably in my view is the worst bit) was by a black dude until he turned up doing it in person. i remember reading that (contrary to thx's assumption) he actually dangled a microphone down the toilet bowl to record it flushing!
fun boy three: it looks like they made it their mission to grab any woman who was active on the british pop scene at the time, and make them part of their backing band! there were one or two familiar faces to me, but i have no idea who the rather apathetic-looking bassist was. i can't remember anything else about this really, other than neville occasionally bashing a kettle drum
fleetwood mac: another one that i can't remember anything about musically. visually lindsey looks like a god, whilst stevie looks like an inspiration for bez
kajagoogoo: more musical banality, therefore time to focus on what really mattered i.e. the haircuts (it's a bit like the classic "not the nine o'clock news" darts sketch, where one opponent throws imaginary arrows in the background whilst the camera focuses on the other's boozing!). beggs and limahl fight it out for the "prize" of most absurd one within the band, but the latter's spunk - sorry skunk look wins by some distance for me. however both are still quite clearly lagging behind mr flock of seagulls as the defining silly one of the era
tears for fears: an improvement on their debut, but still very much a curate's egg of a track. good bits are the bridge where it goes "it's all too late" plus the marimba, and bad bits the middle 8 plus the modulated section that follows it. also curt's vocals are terribly thin, which makes me wonder why songwriter roland didn't insist on using his own far-stronger voice?
The Fun Boy Three's bassist was Bethan Peters, formerly of post-punk band Delta 5, while Nicola Holland - later to join Tears For Fears! - was musical director and main keyboardist. The drummer was future Communard June Miles-Kingston.
DeleteLeeds-based indie band Delta 5 were unusual because they actually had two bassists in their line-up at the same time, and both women at that - the other four-stringer was Ros Allen.
DeleteDidn't The fiddle player with the hayze fantyzee was,in the bluebells
ReplyDeleteBobby Valentino was never a full-time member of The Bluebells, but played fiddle on their biggest hit 'Young At Heart' - and, following a court case, won a share in the songwriting royalties for creating the distinctive violin riff!
Deletefascinating to see that mr valentino managed to win himself a share of songwriting royalties in a legal dispute on a recording where although his contribution may have been a significant (if not defining) part of the sound, strictly speaking it had nothing to do with the vocal melody or lyrics which are traditionally the recognised components of composition. others who made possibly-equally notable instrumental contributions to recordings without actually writing lyrics and/or vocal melodies (such as matthew fisher who played the organ intro on "a whiter shade of pale" and steve norman who played the sax solo on the upcoming "true") failed to convince courts that they too were deserving of royalties cuts. which once again shows the law is an ass!
Deletehaving looked up valentino (not surprisingly that isn't his given name) on wiki, one thing i never knew about him is that his sister is anne dudley. who of course was a member of the art of noise and (probably more importantly) responsible for the orchestral arrangements for trevor horn recordings among many others. but does she get rewarded for her arrangement contributions (which can be argued are a form of composition in themselves) with some kind of royalty rate from the proceeds of recordings she was involved in, or merely receive a one-off fee in advance in the manner that jobbing arrangers traditionally got back in the early days of popular music?
Actually, Procol Harum's Matthew Fisher won his case: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/5941449/Procul-Harum-organist-Matthew-Fisher-wins-share-of-A-Whiter-Shade-of-Pale-royalties.html
DeleteI'm surprised the late arranger Roland Shaw didn't try to claim a share in the royalties from Roger Whittaker's worldwide smash 'The Last Farewell'. That majestic orchestral phrase in 12/8 that bookends the original recording has subsequently been featured on numerous cover versions of the song, including Elvis Presley's rendition!
it's been a while since i last read about the matthew fisher case, and at that point i think his claim had been overturned. but i'm not surprised to hear that it went one way and then the other before fisher finally won what seems a phyrric victory whereby he only gets a cut of future royalties as a result of winning his case. of course i have no idea what percentage of disputed copyright claims get as far as the courts, but what gets me is that the parties concerned in such disputes can't seem to reach an agreement before it reaches that stage, and instead the only real winners are already-well heeled lawyers!
Deleteregarding arrangers making significant melodic contributions to recordings of compositions credited to others, a couple of cases come to mind:
Delete1 - i don't know who arranged the definitive gene kelly version of "singing in the rain", but although the distinctive motif in the intro was apparantly an addition to a tune that was originally written over 20 years earlier, only the "original" composers continued to get credit and therefore presumably the royalties as well
2 - about 15 years ago there were two different commercials that featured the same music, which was a downtempo mix of what sounded like some old easy listening instrumental. i had no idea what it was nor ever expected to find out. but shortly after that i was playing an englebert humperdinck album as background noise whilst decorating my kitchen, and by pure chance suddenly the very same music (minus added "beats") appeared! it turned out to be the intro for another hoary old standard called "from here to eternity", that never appeared anywhere else on the recording. yet when i later found out who had sampled it (kinobe, who released it commercially as "slip into something more comfortable"), the only credit given was for the song's original composers (none of whom's efforts had anything to do with the sampled melody) and not for arranger johnny harris!
I certainly watched this on 3rd February 1983 as I was feeling particularly down, and the video top10 stayed firmly in my mind for ever more. In fact I have all 10 singles in my collection still. What I didn’t recall so well was just how much of the top 10 clips they played in that rundown (with the exception of Kajagoogoo who had already been on, but hey it didn’t harm their fortunes being featured twice).
ReplyDeleteHaysi Fantaysee – Shiny Shiny – Unimpressed by this. Just trite for me.
Indeep – Last night a DJ saved my life – Another one I reached for the FF
Fun Boy Three – Tunnel of Love – Well as a Dire Straits fan, when this was released all I could think of was Mark Knopfler’s masterpiece from ‘Making Movies’ (and it’s ironic that DS are in the charts at this point). Cruelly released as an edited third single, it stood no chance of chart success reaching the dizzy heights of no54. In its 8 minutes glory, it’s fabulous….this FB3 song ain’t and my lips are sealed as to which of their singles I like the best.
Fleetwood Mac – Oh Diane – Speaking of third singles, why was this a third single for goodness sake as it’s so catchy and commercial? Ok, so it’s the Lindsey Buckingham show with poor old Stevie Nicks relegated to rattling a tambourine. That said, it’s a great song. I’ll even go far as to say that the fourth single from the ‘Mirage’ album was the best of the lot! Another Lindsey song which didn’t even make it to the seminal ‘Greatest Hits’ album and didn’t trouble the charts here at all, despite the four track 12” single featuring ‘Rhiannon’, ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Tusk’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70FTf_OHuR0
Kajagoogoo – Too shy – New showing for the very trendy looking band.
Tears for Fears – Change – Nice percussion but not as memorable as ‘Mad World’ but TFF were getting big at this stage and soon we’d get the wonderful ‘Pale Shelter’ re-released and in the charts (albeit remixed).
U2 – New Year’s Day – Great video and song. Surely U2s best ever?
Top 9 Video Show. As noted above, what a great idea this was? Helped by not featuring many of the songs in the main show, but nonetheless it was great to see the ‘Wah’ video and ‘Echo and the Bunnymen’.
Billy Griffin – Hold me tighter in the Rain – I wonder if the Umbrella men managed that in one take?
The only surprise for me on this show was the non-appearance of Michael Jackson.
i was actually quite relieved when i got up this morning to find there wasn't another show posted (even though according to this one the next hosts were not "verboten"), as i wasn't looking forward to trudging to the library in this foul weather to watch it on iplayer there. does this mean that the beeb have now scaled the schedule back to one show a week again? i certainly hope so as although i wish to keep watching and commenting on them, i want to do so as a pleasure rather than a chore!
ReplyDeleteNo such luck Wilberforce as there's two shows next week. Looks like the Friday early and late showings are both 30 minutes.
Deletethe forces of evil seem to be really conspring against me now with regard to totp watch, as this week i've heard on the grapevine that the local library i use to watch the shows legally on iplayer when there's no alternative is going to be shut down! and the next nearest one is several miles away which would be either an hour's bike ride there and back, or cost several quid that i can ill-afford using public transport! the same applies to biting the bullet and shelling out for a catch-all tv licence as well (as well as the moral indignation of paying for something where i wouldn't watch most of what is offered in return). so in the circumstances a certain judas priest song is coming to mind...
Delete"Take On The World"!
DeleteChanging tack slightly, but keeping with closures, I got a letter yesterday announcing my bank branch is closing down in May. I live in a commuter town of 25,000 inhabitants five miles from Heathrow Airport, and this is the second major bank to shut its branch in the town within a year.
it wasn't actually the priest song i had in mind, but it's a similar sentiment!
Deletedoes anyone remember that couple known as "the mcdonalds two"? sadly i can't seem to dig up anything about them on the internet, but i remember not that long ago that they campaigned against that corporation due to the latter's lack of consideration towards the environment. and were often taken to court as a result. but because they were basically skint and had nothing to lose (and nor could they be bought off), they were a persistent thorn in the side of the fast food giant for many years in what was a real david vs goliath contest. in a similar form of protest i have already begun agitating the tv licence authorities to update the antiquated catch-all fee in favour of customers paying only for programmes they actually want to watch. so maybe i'll end up being known as the "bbc one"?
Ha ha, I like that! I also knew the Judas Priest you meant but I thought I'd throw a curveball.
DeleteOh, and that protesting couple you mentioned were nicknamed the McLibel Two...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLibel_case
Gosh you learn a lot on this site :-)
DeleteNIPPLE ALERT! NIPPLE ALERT!
ReplyDeleteJust watching this edition and can't believe no-one's mentioned the Indeep girl in the all black dress who, at 6:12 in the show, raises her right arm too high and does what Madonna did in an early take of the "Papa Don't Preach" video. Eat that, Kate Garner!
Au contraire, I mentioned the Indeep lady's wardrobe malfunction in my first post. Mentioned Harvey Smith, too. Great minds think alike?!
DeleteI thought the girl in the black dress on InDeep was quite tasty, and had a very unique sexy dance style, and could not have been more than 19 years old if not less. I couldn't see any nipple Arthur. You would need to say how many minutes into the song, not the show, and I'll have another look.
DeleteMeantime, the cameraman was trying to get upskirt with his camera on the other girl with the red dress, but she was having none of it.
The first four songs on the show were just brilliant, until the fifth one, i.e., Kajagoogo, brought the show down a little, but that was soon recovered by Tears For Fears with the brilliant intro on Change, which remains one of my favourite disco intros of all time, along with The Pet Shop Boys intro for Left To My Own Devices in 1988.
Sorry for forgetting the previous Indeep costume post. By the way, it's about ten seconds before the point supposedly towards the DJ. I shoehorned Harvey Smith into my critique on purpose to point out he nearly had a chart hit (he made the bubbling under / breakers section)!
DeleteAs this is the only appearance of In Deep on TOTP during its chart run, I found this other TV show appearance, but cannot be sure which TV show it was on, but they get to do the full five minutes of the song, including the toilet flush towards the end:
Deletehttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbapv_indeep-last-night-a-dj-saved-my-lif_music
Suffice to say that the two girls had the same costumes that they wore on TOTP, but the one with the black dress had different shoes this time, and could not dance as freely as on the TOTP performance which for me was her finest (and unique) dance style that you don't see with other dancers.
Apologies in advance, but this critique has more than a hint of Les Dawson’s Cosmo Smallpiece character…
ReplyDeleteMore great comic interplay from Kid and Peelie, though I didn’t get Kid’s description of the video rundown as moving pictures. So, what’s the rest of the show apart from the hitsound countdown, then? Talking of which, nice serpent action with Central Line and a new photo for The Maisonettes (certain group members pouting last week and smiling this week).
Apparently there were some blokes and a Childcatcher lookalike on stage for Haysi Fantayzee. Who’s the woman with them? Of corset’s Kate! Was the way she said “sh” a lisp or an affectation? Jeremy’s two finger salute reminded me of show jumper and occasional wrestler Harvey Smith, who nearly made the chart with a cover of “True Love” on the Handkerchief label, whose other acts included Lenny Henry, Patti Boulaye and Animal Kwackers!
Indeep’s track was apparently released in vocal, instrumental and sound effects versions. I wish the singer with the red tinged dress had looked before pointing in the wrong direction for the DJ. Oh, and did I mention….? Oh, yes, I did.
I wonder which one(s) of Fun Boy Three thought they needed more women on stage with them? Were they suffering from tunnel vision? See what I did there? No wonder Terry was constantly smirking. Oh, and my favourite was Cello Spice. As for the song, Leonard Cohen goes pop.
Toppatron action for Fleetwood Mac! As for the song, I prefer steak diane or Miss Diane from “Crossroads”. An at times comic turn by Stevie Nicks, plus some 1960’s style mics and a drumkit way too big for what was needed.
Pepe Le Pew on lead vocals for Kajagoogoo, and the song was as much of a stinker to me.
A re-recorded and thinner version of “Change” but a good attempt at recreating the tune, with a young Simon Bates on xylophone, a drummer conserving his right stick action and Curt reining in his shaky mic style. Ironic lyrics – “What has happened to the friend that I once knew?”. Answer – he relegated you in the band.
I liked the way at least one of U2 went from Steptoe mittens to full on gloves during their video. BBC’s North American editor Jon Sopel decided to try the same trick recently –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38786229
The video countdown for numbers 9 to 2 lasted 9 minutes 36 seconds – enough for three complete songs in the show. Nice to see some but not others, and I liked the highly truncated Kajagoogoo vid complete with Peelie’s interjection.
Not Blue Zoo but 2 Zoo (uncredited?) for the outro dance routine, with the first chorus of Billy Griffin’s song sounding nastily warped. David Hamilton wouldn’t have allowed that with any of his TOTP video collection, I can tell you.
I've just been really fascinated by this whole In Deep phenomenon in this week's TOTP, especially as this was the only appearance of this song on TOTP, and no video was ever made for it.
ReplyDeleteThe trio coming all the way from New York to perform on TOTP (as David Jensen tells us), comprised two 18-year old girls, and Wikipeadia mentions that one of them was Zaire-born Regane Magloire, who later went on to perform on Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam in 1988. It's impossible to know which of the two girls was Regane Magloire who had only just turned 18 in Nov 1982 or Rose Marie Ramsey, as there are no pictures on the Wikipaedia page, so was it the cutie with the amazing dance moves in the black dress or the ultra slim lead singer in the red dress? Does anyone know?
Google Images confirms Regane as the sassy mover in the all black dress and Rose Marie in the red trimmed dress.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Arthur, and what a cutie she is. On the TOTP appearance this week, it seemed she had just turned 18, and flew in from New York to the TOTP studio to sing and dance for us, and her cute 18-year old looks and sassy dance moves must have really got her places, like the position of the girl in the Technotronic video for Pump Up The Jam some a few years later, as well as a few other acting roles. Those google images you are referring to, include some nice glamour images, and I wonder what she is doing now, considering she is still quite young at 52, only 4 years older than me, and a fellow 60s child.
DeleteDoes anyone know what the song Shiny Shiny is all about? We had gone into a dissection of John Wayne Is Big Leggy a few months ago when the July 1982 TOTP shows were no, but I'm seeing nothing here about Shiny Shiny, and it deserves some debate, considering the effort that Kate Garner put in this week to her corset size 6 costume. Ooh err!
ReplyDeleteSome forums say the lyrics of "Shiny Shiny" are just a mishmash of words, some say they refer to death and / or the apocalypse.
DeleteAccording to Jeremy Healy on the start of the year TOTP doc, it was all nonsense, wasn't about anything in particular.
DeleteSad to see John Wetton of Asia and loads of other groups died today. Did we see Heat of the Moment on TOTP? Massive hit in the States, a minor one here.
ReplyDeleteTHX I was just about to mention John's sad passing myself. He had beaten the Big C once before but sadly not this time. An extraordinary life indeed.
DeleteI think we saw 'Heat of the Moment' on the JK USA spot, but I may be wrong.
Sad news. "Heat Of The Moment" did indeed get a short snippet in a USA chart spot as it reached number 4 over the pond, but it surprisingly stalled at number 46 over here and never got a full TOTP slot.
Deletewetton one of the few rock musicians from my old stamping ground bournemouth that "made it"!
DeleteLooking at the charts in two shows from now, I noticed that Fleetwood Mac would get to No.9 and still rising by the 17th Feb show, yet TOTP did not play them again after this week's show on 3rd Feb '83. I guess the song was not punchy enough, and did seem a bit lazy in its progress through the duration of the song.
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note, this coming Saturday 4th Feb 2017 marks the 40th Anniversary of the release of the iconic Fleetwood Mac album Rumours, and I noticed that in the London area, many local pubs will have cover bands singing songs from the Rumours album. i'm quite tempted to spend my saturday evening at one such such pub venue in East London, providing that people/audience don't get too loud with alcohol consumption.
With the above sad news about one of Asia's members passing away this week, it is refreshing to note that all of the Fleetwood Mac members are still with us, despite an average age of 70 among the 5 members of the group, and where some of their peers are falling away at 70 with their earlier racey lifestyle of alcohol and drugs, here is a group that can be proud to still be going, no doubt having had similar adventures in their earlier young adult years.
Seems a good place to post this:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6B6CyZHnZU
All of the Fleetwood Mac members from this line-up are still with us, though there are others from previous incarnations, most notably Bob Welch, who are not. The members whose survival most surprises me are Peter Green and Danny Kirwan, given the serious mental health issues they have suffered in the decades since they left the band.
Deletedanny kirwan managed to release a few solo albums in the 70's before he seemingly totally lost it, and i would recommend giving the songs "second chapter" and "hot summer day" (both with brilliant string arrangements by gerry shury) a listen...
DeleteA fleetwood mac a thon? Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteOn the Mac performance, wasn't Stevie giving ol big head daggers!!
Now that was more like it. good double act..
ReplyDeleteHayzi - nonsense but fun :-)
Terry Hall didn't exactly put a lot of effort into his performance or miming.
Fleetwood - Must have heard it in the album, but can't say I remember this..
Tears -.useless fact of the week - their drummer now runs a sauce company in company if his wife. Often seen at the local artisan markets...
Video run down - can't say I've ever seen the echo and bunny men video before. Anyone else remember The Chart Show, video run down program on ITV MID 80s?