You only get an 'Ooh' with ...... Gary Davies
20/01/83 (Gary Davies & Janice Long)
Kajagoogoo – “Too Shy” (33)
Getting the show off to a confident start whilst making their debut are Kajagoogoo performing a future number one which was co-produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.
Joe Jackson – “Steppin’ Out” (8) (video)
Janice informs us this video was voted 'the best of the year in America' and to be fair, it is a pretty good one! The song went up two more places but it was to be Joe's final top 30 hit.
Joe's trip advisor review....
Echo & The Bunnymen – “The Cutter” (27)
Singer Ian McCulloch sporting an off the shoulder shirt here and The Cutter became the band's first of three top ten hits when it peak-a-booed at number 8.
Jonathan King – US chart rundown: edited out
Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle – “You & I” (video clip)
Patti Austin & James Ingram – “Baby Come To Me” (video clip)
Toto – “Africa” (video clip)
Men At Work – “Down Under” (video clip)
Melba Moore – “Mind Up Tonight” (25)
Also edited out of the 7.30 show, this went up three more places and was Melba's final top 30 hit.
U2 – “New Year’s Day” (23)
The band's breakthrough hit which became their first of 34 top ten hits when it peaked at number 10.
Laura Branigan – “Gloria” (20) (US TV clip)
Became the first of two top tenners for Laura when it peaked at number 6. And she didn't end up recording the Octopussy theme like Gary had informed us - that honour went instead to Rita Coolidge.
The Stranglers – “European Female” (9) (rpt from 06/01/83)
Now at its chart peak.
Phil Collins – “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1) (video)
Second and final week at the top for Phil.
Billy Griffin – “Hold Me Tighter In The Rain” (28) (audience dancing/credits)
Became his only top 30 hit peaking at 17.
Next up then is January 27th 1983.
Erm Angelo, the Men At Work video clip was the last part of the JK insert, and not a main appearance on the show, as they were No.1 in America and hence part of JK's set of video clips this week.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way then that it was edited out as a main performance/video, as the video was shown last week as a main appearance, and they don't show a song two weeks in a row, unless it is No.1, but it was still only at No.2 this week.
Yes, well spotted, serves me right for rushing! I guess though, technically, (he says thinking up excuses) they were still edited out for a second week running...
DeleteThe obvious clue Angelo, is on the Popscene list for this week's show, Men At Work have no chart number next them like the other clips from the JK insert which is how I figured it out, unlike the other chart acts which all have a chart number next to them.
Deleteangelo i certainly forgive you for what is a minor error, especially given the commitment and effort you put in to ensure the posts for each shows are up in good time for the rest of us to analyse and shred!
DeleteA good show this week, with plenty of new music and new entries, and I enjoyed much more the American acts on the show by far, apart from the British Joe Jackson whose video was of the New York nightlife, so this was almost also American!
ReplyDeleteJoe Jackson - highlight of the show for me this week, and the unveiling of the new video, apparently being shown for the first time in Britain according to Janice Long. I made my comments on this song and video on the blog of the 6th Jan, and suffice to say that this is one of THE records of the 80s in my opinion. Love it immensely, and especially Joe’s hotel room and maid in the video.
Patti Austin & James Ingram – hope someone finds this full TOTP show with the JK insert (though it is not looking likely at present), but this duet by the iconic James Ingram and Patti Austin is to this day one of the greatest love songs ever made, and over the last 34 years a regular on the radio shows when cooling things down with some love songs. The video was also good, but quite basic, and looked like it was possibly from a TV show, like Laura Brannigan’s video on this week’s show.
Laura Branigan – this song and ‘video’ is more poignant, especially since the fact that in 2004, tragedy ended her life at the age of only 47 according to Wikipaedia, she died of a brain aneurism (burst blood vessel) in her sleep, after having headaches for several weeks and did not seek medical attention. At no.20 this week, the video was actually a US TV show clip, according to Popscene.
Chart Rundown – the long-awaited return of Fleetwood Mac after a 3-year absence from the British Charts since Tusk at the end of 1979, and Oh Diane was Oh so good in my opinion as one of this week’s new entries, but we would not get to see it till two shows later, as TOTP was waiting to get some US footage from across the Atlantic no doubt. Also the return of Dire Straits after the brilliant Private Investigations (sct 353 you will be pleased).
Then, at No.21 in the rundown was an ugly looking John Williams. Oh Sorry the caption was of ET, but hey, Gary Davies introduced him as John Williams!
Our two newbie hosts acquit themselves pretty well here, with plenty of enthusiasm and, particularly in Janice's case, a fair amount of knowledge of the acts that she is introducing. God knows what Gary is wearing, however - he also nearly forgets to say goodbye at the end! JK meanwhile suffers the double indignity of having his segment chopped and also having his name edited out when Janice mentions him in her link after Gloria. I noticed the other day that he had fired off another letter to the DG complaining about his airbrushing from TOTP history, but I suspect he is wasting his time...
ReplyDeleteWe begin with a bad hair frenzy as Kajagoogoo make their debut. I do very vaguely remember them from the time, though Limahl's solo hit with The Neverending Story a year later sticks in my memory far more. Too Shy has been much derided in the past, but there is some nice bass work here allied to a catchy chorus - not sure that it really deserved to be a number 1, though, and Limahl does look smug. The Joe Jackson video is very atmospheric, and I suspect he conceived it as something of a homage to New York, to which he had recently moved and where he would stay for more than 20 years until the smoking ban drove him out!
Ian McCulloch must have been feeling hot, the way he kept pulling that t-shirt further and further down his body - lucky that it had plenty of "give!" The song itself came over as pretty turgid to me, and a typical example of that mopey, depressing 80s indie sound, though I did quite like the bit with what sounded like a violin. Melba Moore returns to the studio with an impressive belt and baggy trousers, but while her tune has a pleasant groove, it simply isn't distinctive enough to be memorable.
Happily, we get two crackers to follow. While I dislike Bono as much as anyone, and he is his normal slappable self here, U2 in their pomp did produce some fine records, and New Year's Day is definitely up there as one of their best, thanks to the dramatic intro and stirring chorus. Mind you, I noticed one young lady in the crowd was more interested in waving at the monitor rather than attending to Edge's soaring solo! It's a shame Laura Branigan died do tragically young, but at least she did leave us a couple of first-rate singles. Gloria is another song I can just about recall from the time, and I have always loved its bouncy synth sound. Laura gives the vocals all she's got as well, and she looks pretty good here in her sparkly top. We play out with a nice groove from Billy Griffin and some more dubious hair, courtesy of an impressive mullet on one of the dancers...
Would someone please come forward with the full show with JK insert, as this has been met with silence all week.
Deletejohn i would be very interested in reading mr king's latest diatribe to the beeb on being expunged from pop history - can you provide any links?
Deleteanyone who reads this blog will be aware that i find the man utterly odious, and that most of the music he promotes i consider tedious and banal. but i have no moral concern regarding his so-called pedo activities (that i gather involved willing and fully-grown men that were technically under the age of "legal" consent as in force at the time, and which has since been lowered). so as such, as a student of the history of popular music i would probably take his side on this issue. on that basis i also of course still object to the beeb's continued practice of not broadcasting shows featuring presenters who were either never charged with any crimes, or if so have now served their time!
The link is available below. I'm not sure whether JK is currently still under investigation after his recent arrest, or is now in the clear. If the latter, then the BBC really has no excuse for its behaviour.
Deletehttp://www.kingofhits.co.uk/content/view/1152/37/
thanks for that john - it's interesting that king also points out that jimmy savile was never charged with any crime. could it be possible that as time moves on and he fades from the public eye that there could be a revision on his media-created status as the personification of evil? perhaps in the same manner as the school of thought that now says it was unjustified and barbaric for the americans to drop atom bombs on the japanese in the second world war?
DeleteI think that could well happen in time. We have been living in an atmosphere over the last few years which has had more than a hint of the Salem witch trials about it, and we may well end up being as appalled in future about the way the likes of DLT have been hung out to dry as we are today about what went on in the 17th century. As for Jim'll, I have no idea if he is guilty of any of the offences alleged against him, and as he is dead we will never know for sure. As I've said before, I strongly suspect that most of the accusations are from people jumping on the bandwagon, knowing full well that the dead can't sue...
DeleteA bit cruel that Janice starts her run on the TOTP repeats the week that she's booted off her late night Radio 2 show. Boo!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Kajagoogoo, which I was informed at the time was a name drawn from what an actual baby once said, with their bass-tastic Too Shy. They'd obviously spent a lot of time on their look, but the song is catchy enough in a light jazz funk way.
I thought I had no memory of Joe Jackson's video, but seeing the whole thing brought back vague memories. You wouldn't get that at Fawlty Towers.
Echo and the Bunnymen finally with a tune worthy of them, not sure about this live version compared to the recording, sounded a bit sparse, but it's a solid, resonant song.
Congratulations to Melba Moore on her recent Heavyweight Championship win. Yet another female singer stranded on that big stage. The song, well, it's bland but inoffensive.
I never got the big deal about U2 at the time, and don't really now, either, they always sounded strained to me, this one's no exception. Nice doomy piano I suppose - and The Edge without his hat!
Laura Brannigan with her heartfelt tribute to Melvyn Hayes, I thought this was fantastic when I was a kid and it still sounds pretty muscular and vivid today. I wonder what happened with the Octopussy theme that she was dropped? Must have been fairly last minute.
The Stranglers repeated next, the drummer emerging from the fog like the Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town.
Then Phil to end on, tightening his grip on the 80s charts. Don't recall the Billy Griffin ditty, but eh, it's OK.
as i never listen to the radio these days, i had no idea that janice long was still employed by the beeb up until this week. but had she known she was soon to clear her desk, would she have consented to being interviewed for "the story of 1983"?
Deletei haven't seen the show yet, but when i do i shall be scrutinising the edge for any signs of hair loss, which is almost certainly the reason why he's worn hats of some kind for the last 30 years or so!
Re “All Time High”, the theme to “Octopussy”, the original contender was none other than Mari Wilson but her lack of profile in the USA saw her nixed. Laura Branigan became the main choice until the film’s producer Cubby Broccoli was won over by his daughter (assistant director on the same film) constantly playing Rita Coolidge records.
DeleteIronic that, given the song’s title, “All Time High” managed the lowest possible UK chart career, spending one week at number 75.
Tim Rice, the lyricist for All Time High has apparently said that he wished he had tried to write a song that was called "Octopussy!"
DeleteI don't think anyone could have rescued 'All Time High' given how tedious it is, but Laura Branigan would at least have been a slightly more inspiring choice than Rita Coolidge.
DeleteJarvis Cocker did a nice version of All Time High on the David Arnold James Bond album of the 90s.
DeleteThe majority of the links in this show were very odd thanks to the BBC chopping out anything whatsoever to do with Jonathan King. The fact that Janice Long's simple mention of him got the chop is the most ridiculous of all. Given that there was no mention of who she was before or after, if you were watching the late night edition without the benefit of blogs like this, you'd have no idea that it was Melba Moore!
ReplyDeleteKajagoogoo - I've always liked this song, and the follow-up. Which was edited out of history by the 'Story of 1983' show by the way - they claimed Limahl got sacked after 'Too Shy' and next returned as a solo artist. Erm, no....'Ooh To Be Ah' came inbetween....
Echo & The Bunnymen - I like the song, though the live or at least re-recorded version doesn't sound as good somehow. Not too sure about the disrobing either.
We didn't miss much in the JK segment really - 2 boring duets, one we've already seen and another that we will at some point.
Melba Moore - Not the most interesting of tunes.
U2 - The first track of theirs that came to my attention, and I really like it. Most of their output up to 'Zooropa' is pretty good, but after that sadly comes the megastar 'Bono as an arse' phase.
Laura Branigan - What a fantastic pop song this is, I know someone who does discos and always plays it!
I've already said how much I love the Stranglers song, and it's good to see it on BBC4 this time. The Billy Griffin track is good too, and I'm not usually into soul tunes.
It's a pity that Billy Griffin only got the playout slot, not just this week but also his only other appearance two weeks later. It could be that there was no video footage available, and also the fact that Zoo were bizarrely not on the show throughout January 1983. Any reason for their absence since 30th Dec 1982? They have not been on for three shows in a row!
DeleteFull copy of show
Deletehttps://vimeo.com/200407746
Meer
Thanks very much Meer. I've had a look at the JK section, but nothing much to say other than that the Eddie/Crystal duet was predictably dull and the Patti/James one reasonably melodic, but still not really my cup of tea. James Ingram appears to be something of a duet specialist - certainly his best known hits have been achieved with a partner. Quite a bit of Africa got played, but we'll be seeing plenty more of that shortly, so no comment from me now. I notice the caption person managed to spell "Jonathan" wrong, and the ice hockey crowd were looking at our host like he was a creature from another planet during one of his pieces to camera - to a degree, you can't blame them...
DeleteDory - I suspect Zoo's prolonged absence probably had something to do with their lack of popularity, and even more to do with their increasing redundancy in the new video age. They were now only 8 months away from disappearing altogether.
Thanks Meer for posting up the full show. We could see that there were two cuts of Jonathan King that BBC4 snipped, i.e., the whole JK section, but also at the end of Laura Brannigan when Janice Long mentioned JK's first introduction of it on a previous show.
DeleteI did like the Eddie Rabbit/Crystal Gayle duet. Crystal Gale is incredibly beautiful in my opinion, and first seen on that level when she was in our charts in January 1978 with Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue which gets shown regularly on Vintage TV.
There are two official videos for James Ingram/Patti Austin, but the full video for the one on the JK section which looks like a TV show appearance, is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqiTeiFUBzg
hosts: a bit chalk and cheese, with janice being earnest and enthusiastic whilst gary affects laid-back nonchalance - i think it unlikely that they had a drink together at the bbc bar afterwards. i always thought the latter was a reasonably entertaining radio jock, although his smug mug does make me want to apply a lumphammer to it. you don't hear anything about him these days - does anyone know why?
ReplyDeletekajagoogoo: the only half-decent bit of this is the funk-lite verses, and even they are somewhat lumpy. the bridges and the choruses actually sound like completely different songs just stuck together, making the whole thing a mess - god knows what the "jazzy bit" that was cut out must have sounded like! most of the band looked ridiculous, but i really did take an instant dislike to limahl with his absurd skunk haircut. he was of course supposed to appeal to the girlies and the song makes that clear accordingly, but it makes me laugh listening to this now knowing that he was really more interested in those of his own kind!
joe jackson: i wonder if joe had aspirations to appear in the video as the lounge lizard, until the director told him he was relegated to piano playing duties due to being a geeky balding beanpole?
echo & the bunnymen: once again the band come up with a half-decent musical backdrop, but also once again mr mculloch is the weakest link with his braying tone and boring tune. the more serious music press were really pushing him as some sort of sex-on-a-stick at this point, which was presumably the reason for the titilating striptease act? there was a boozer called "the cutter" in my hometown in the 80's, a real spit & sawdust back-street dive that my crowd never patronised other ocassionally on new year's eve when the trendier pubs were heaving. so after this hit whenever we passed the place on a pub crawl, some wag would inevitably start warbling "spare us the cutter"!
melba moore: i always associated her with the disco era, yet here she is still plugging away with the post-disco sound as late as 1983. like many of its kind this is okay on the groove front, but somewhat lacking when it comes to a memorable melody. although the chorus is memorable enough in that it's very similar to that on the recent evelyn king hit. i'm not a big fan of parentheses in song titles, but surely this would scan better if it was "(make your) mind up tonight"?
U2: comparable to the bunnymen in the post-punk stakes at the time - the latter had a superior rhythm section, whilst bono easily saw off ian mculloch both as a vocalist and a tunesmith. but what really made the difference for me was the effects-laden guitar of the edge. they had made a bit of a dent with "i will follow" (critically if not chart-wise) a couple of years earlier, but had seemed to have lost any momentum they had gained since. until now. i loved this at the time, but in retrospect i wish it had been a commercial flop that in effect killed them off as a going concern, as then i would still be happily able to listen to it and their other early recordings i liked without being put off by the knowledge that bono went on to become a king-sized self-righteous prick!
Gary owns a publishing company called Good Groove these days, and according to Wikipedia he also "manages new artists." I've found a picture of him on LinkedIn, which suggests he isn't ageing all that well...
Deletehttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/gary-davies-4557b724
Gary was the last Radio One DJ to host TOTP before the Stanley Appel revamp of 1991 when everyone had to sing live. He also hosted a rather good Sunday night show on Radio 1 in the early nineties.
DeleteApparently he found out that he'd lost his Radio 1 gig when Nicky Campbell told him he'd been offered the weekend breakfast show, which Davies was hosting at the time.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deletethanks steve - i wouldn't so much say gary hasn't aged well, as become practically unrecognisable from his younger self! other slebs "afflicted" in that manner that spring to mind are eric idle of monty python fame and actor david hemmings. can anyone think of any others?
DeleteI thought he looked good for a man in his late fifties.
DeleteA lot of the early eighties era TOTP hosts have aged well, even Bates. Unlike a lot of them though Davies hasn't been in the public eye for a long time so seeing a photo of him now would be quite shocking.
DeleteGary looks fine to me, I was expecting some kind of haggard horror show! I used to listen to his Bit in the Middle on my lunchbreak from school. The Day to Day Challenge! With Gary Davies! (Day One!) The urban legend-heavy My Most Embarrassing Moment! The Story Behind the Song (I believe in mackerels! Wear your thongs and socks of string!) Funny what you remember...
DeleteSteve - the main reason Bates has aged well is because he never looked young!
DeleteThat's very true John! He looked 50 even in 1983.
Deletei wonder if gary's linkedin profile photo might not actually be that recent? i know that the ex-nme journalist barbara ellen has had the same (air-brushed) pic accompanying her sunday paper comment column for nigh-on two decades now - perhaps because all the booze and fags she's consumed over the years have now taken their toll?!
Deletept ii...
ReplyDeletelaura branigan: this really sounds like the kind of rubbish that got popular with the great unwashed on package holidays in benidorm and suchlike (and research has just confirmed it was originally a euro hit for some italian geezer), so i'm a bit surprised it was such a big success in the states given that plodding arena rock was still very much in there. i seem to remember my sister liking it, which of course gave me a good reason not to... not that i really needed one!
billy griffin: billy of course made his name as the replacement for smokey robinson in the miracles, and was co-writer of their mid-70's soul/disco hit "love machine" of which the late george michael was so enamoured he insisted on recording a proto-karoake cover of it for wham's debut album (i recommend you have a listen to the b-side of the original version 45/second half of the full-length album cut, which is simply a red-hot extended groove of the main riff). but by the 80's he had gone solo as another practitioner of the post-disco/club sound. this isn't a bad example of that, but nowhere near as good as "be with me tonight" and (especially) "systematic" - both of which i also urge you to check out if that's your bag
We saw several of these on the 1983 taster programmes.(or were repeats)
ReplyDeleteU2 - New Years Day - another one that was in heavy rotation on MTV In 1983. Larry Mullen seemed to be putting a lot into his performance, but it seemed to bear little resemblance to the actual bassline.
Laura Branigan - Gloria - so how much did that video cost? My guess $5..
perhaps that's because larry's the drummer?
DeleteAfter last week's dross, it is very nice to report that this week we begin with a slew of top-drawer tunes.
ReplyDeleteKajagoogoo. Much-derided 'boy band' and rightly so given their haircuts and general naff attire, but this is a fairly decent pop-jazz outing albeit with an annoying ear-wormy chorus. Did they shorten their name to Kaja after Limahl was P45-ed?
According to Sister Cheggers, Joe Jackson's vid won awards. Really? Nothing much to see here. The tune is, however, glorious.
Mac The Mouth goes all sexual on us with the excellent Cutter. This sounds a lot sparser and under-produced compared to the single that I remember. I don't think it was live, so presumably it was re-recorded for the show.
U2 with Bono beginning to show his frontman chops. As much as I have grown to despise this group, you have to admit this is a brilliant effort. And it stands up today too.
Much love on here for Gloria - but its a bit too Europoppy for me. And then its a couple of mis-fires before Billy Griffin sees us out with the really rather fine Hold Me Tighter In The Rain. I don't remember this from its time in the charts but from it being played every weekend at my nightclub of choice in 86/87.
And the scores. Sister Cheggers did alright, showing a knowledge and enthusiasm that is missing from many others. The Oirish accent after U2 was a point-dropper though. Ooh Gary Davies was less assured and I'm not a fan of the girly way he held his microphone. His chart rundown wasn't bad though. So they cop for a 7.
A great opening three quarters was spoilt by the poor end-of-show. The Bunnymen and U2 top score, with Phil Collins comfortably at the bottom of the pile. 6.
A few comments and memories:
ReplyDeleteKajagoogoo - this is better than I remembered, but there's something a bit forced and artificial about it. The best pop songs sound natural and joyous, but everything about 'Too shy', including the performance (check out Limahl's interaction with the bassist during the instrumental bit in the middle), feels artificial.
In the late 90s I was working on a TV magazine and a bunch of us got invited to MTV UK's 10th birthday party. We were all very excited (I even bought a new suit for the occasion), but when we got there we found that the celebrities had all been corralled into a private VIP area. And who was the only pop star in the non-celeb bit of the party? Limahl.
Joe Jackson - the song is okay, but for me he never topped the simple but effective pop of his first two albums, and singles like 'It's different for girls' and 'Is she really going out with him?' A classic example of an artist with a gift for pop, but who wants to be respected as a proper musician who can do clever stuff.
Echo & The Bunnymen - as Wilberforce says, the music press regarded them and U2 as competitors for some kind of guitar-band crown, but this show illustrated that the result was never in doubt. 'The cutter' is an okay single, but Mac's antics with his T-shirt were cringeworthy. I wonder if there were any indie girls watching the show who saw his pale, bony, hairless chest and thought "Cor, I fancy him"?
Another name drop (don't worry, I'll run out of these soon)... In the late 80s I was living in a shared flat near Kilburn with two girls. We had a house party one Saturday night and my flatmate Helen invited an old friend who just happened to be married to Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas. I was amazed to see a genuine rock star (and I seem to remember he looked like one, dressed head to toe in leather) in my flat, but I never actually plucked up the courage to talk to him. It wasn't long after that party that he died in a motorcycle accident.
Melba Moore - anonymous soul-disco of the kind I've never liked. Fast-forward.
U2 - one of my favourite bands at the time. They headlined my second ever gig (The Lyceum in the Strand, supported by The Alarm, late 1981), and they were fabulous live. This TOTP performance captured a fair bit of their charisma. I loved the Edge trying to mime playing the piano and the guitar at the same time.
Laura Brannigan - she gave it a good go, but I can think of at least two better songs with the same title.
Phil Collins - meh.
Billy Griffin - ditto.
i once read a story about pete de freitas that he apparently made a wager that he could go without sleep for a month... and managed it! although perhaps with a bit of pharmaceutical help?
Deleteif you watch the "U2 at red rocks" concert footage (which captured the band at their peak in my opinion, before they lost it with "the joshua tree"), you'll see that the edge would actually play both piano and guitar almost at the same time for real!
DeleteWow-wee, did I enjoy this edition! A fabulous selection of acts on display here, I’ve finished up on a high from watching this and Janice and Gary made a pretty good debut as hosts too. This is really right above there with some of the best TOTP episodes for me and considering at the time I was feeling quite low for various reasons, must have helped my state of mind. In fact there was only one duffer on the show for me..
ReplyDeleteKajagoogoo – Too Shy – Originally intended to be entitled ‘Shy shy’, it was felt too confusing with ‘Talk talk’ and ‘Duran Duran’, so ‘Too shy’ it was. I love the way the camera lingers on each band member during the lengthy instrumental intro. For a debut on TOTP this is remarkably self-assured or perhaps they realised the commercial potential of their song.
Joe Jackson – Steppin’ out – I have run out of superlatives for this video, suffice to say its right up there with some of my all-time favourites. The song is just fabulous too, full of joie de vivre. I’m on an “All time high” watching this!
Echo and the Bunnymen – The Cutter – This is the first decent track that the Bunnymen released and its all the better for the unusual instrumental sounds included. This live (?) rendition doesn’t quite capture the power and mystique of the single mix but, shirt pulling antics aside, it’s a pretty convincing effort.
JK rundown – Some real treats in here. I wonder if run-of-the-mill BBC4 viewers realise that they’re being short changed? I hadn’t heard the Eddie Rabbitt / Crystal Gayle song before as it failed to trouble the scorers over here (although 45cat notes no81) but it’s a nice duet and I agree with Dory that Crystal looks lovely here. ‘Africa’ would go on to be one of my favourite records of 1983 so I’ll wait until it features properly before commenting further.
Melba Moore – Mind up Tonight – I said that there was one duffer and ‘this is it’!
U2 – New Years’ Day – I loathe U2. Really not a fan of them at all and the 25th anniversary tour for ‘The Joshua Tree’ is not one I’ll be rushing out for. That said, I love this song. The performance may be live (or part live) as it does sound slightly different to my ears.
Laura Branigan – Gloria – Another ‘wow’ moment! She looks fabulous standing there belting out those powerful lyrics and it’s so sad that it’s over 12 years since she passed away. Laura did leave us with some stonkers, no more so than the excellent follow up ‘Solitaire’ which bafflingly failed to chart over here but has a great video and is well worth a listen if you’ve not heard it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tKRhM8qlPA
Stranglers – European Female – Ah yes Janice, I totally agree with your comments. Wonderful record with that keyboard solo which I’ve now decided reminds me of a similar one on their debut album on the opening track ‘Sometimes’.
Phil Collins – You can’t hurry love – Still love it despite so many hearings. One thing that surprised me about this in retrospect is that Phil never appeared in person on TOTP to promote it, given that he appeared with his paint pot to promote the previous singles (with the exception of the clunker ‘Thru these Walls’).
Billy Griffin – Hold me tighter in the rain – Quite surprisingly for me I liked this. Nice one to play out on.
Chart rundown – Some mouth-watering acts in the chart this week (Keith Harris aside) and yes, Dory, I’m looking forward to Dire Straits with ‘Twisting by the Pool’ from their EP, although my favourite track from this EP was ‘Two young Lovers’. Fleetwood Mac’s appearance with ‘Oh Diane’ was a surprise given it was the third single from ‘Mirage’ but there again it was strange that it was held back until then.
Hope you're feeling better. Genius Melba Moore title pun!
DeleteThanks Arthur - I'm fine now thanks;it was my state of mind in January 1983, post Grlfriend split that was the real killer!!
DeleteMy guess is that the reason Phil Collins didn't appear in the TOTP studio for this song is because it is a cover version of a sixties classic, and not his own material. There could have been an element of guilt, as Collins up to this point wrote all his songs, so this one was a little unusual that he would cover someone else's classic, let alone get to No.1 for two weeks with it!
DeleteA good presenter pairing here, with Janice dressed in Hispanic fashion giving oodles of info and Gary dressed, erm, differently, but showing the chart rundown class that would serve him so well on Tuesday lunchtimes.
ReplyDeleteWhy on Earth were Wah! not on the show with their top three single? Sacrilege. Very unlucky for them there was just one non-mugshot song this week, “Too Shit” by Kajagoogoo’s cut price Level 42 impersonation (Level 21?) led on vocals by that Chris Hamill from Wigan.
Cracking song by Joe Jackson, and neat splicing in the video to synch the flashing lights with the ‘bings’ in the chorus, though surely that dress should have been pink and blue to match the lyrics. There’s a niiiice jazz version of “Stepping Out” by a male vocalist called Kurt Elling.
A fine slice of 80’s indie from Echo and the lads. Don’t know why, but Ian McCulloch always reminded me facially of Jean Alexander / Hilda Ogden, and she never tried to undress on telly! I take it those studio lights were too warm. I wonder if it gave Morrissey the idea for his “Marry Me” moment with “William, It Was really Nothing”? Drummer Pete De Freitas financed and produced one of the best and most underrated Scouse indie tracks, “Revolutionary Spirit” by Wild Swans.
Thanks to Meer for the US clip action, where JK was allowed to get way too close to the ice hockey action (shame a stray puck didn’t nobble him) and was allowed to say “Sexual Healing” but only put up three fingers when mentioning the fourth US sport.
Eddie Rabbitt only managed two minor UK entries and this slow slop wasn’t one of them. Patti and James gave me a more palatable / less unpalatable ballad, then come Toto with their opus which includes that line containing both Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti and, similar to Asia, a map referring to either the group or the song title.
Here comes tonight’s mystery artist – quite why they didn’t start the intro from Gary’s “an American lady” beats me. The song was “Love Come Down” part 47 (not a peach of a song, Melba!)but at least she wasn’t as scary as Sharon Redd.
Had The Edge been moonlighting as a chef? Why the catering plaster on the piano hand? A decent song but already a pointer to the imminent stadium rock, plus Bono had typical rockstar highlights – but, thankfully, not those stupid round yellow framed glasses.
Laura Branigan had loads of US hits but just two top tens and a number 56 in the UK. A well produced and sung Yankee take on Europop with a cheap but very glittery video and, bearing in mind the lost James Bond opportunity, I couldn’t stop singing “Octopus” when “Gloria” kicked in at the choruses!
i had a listen to the wild swans track: to my ears it's okay-sounding new order-influenced indie rock that i probably won't be adding to my collection. but thanks for bringing it to our attention anyway, as i've discovered previously-unheard gems before as a result of contributors' recomendations. what i did find of interest was pete de freitas's use of the then-in-vogue double off-beat break, as also used on U2's "i will follow" and several other similar recordings of that era
DeleteHey, at least you listened, Wilby, and fair play! Due to Pete De Freitas not knowing much about studio technology, The Wild Swans A-side was recorded accidentally in mono while the B-side was stereo!
DeleteA great episode as we hit the sweet spot of the 80s. 1983 thru 86 is where most of the classics are.
ReplyDeleteShame we only got a bit of the Billy Griffin song though
Yeah, a paltry 45 seconds of Griffin on the early evening playout, and for those lucky enough to see the late night repeat, you get 1 minute and 15 seconds of it. Suffice to say that Griffin is on the playout once again in two shows time, i.e. 3rd Feb '82, so let's see if he gets a longer play at the end of the show.
DeleteHere is best version of totp 20 january 1983 than Meer's version (sound and vision sinc out) https://we.tl/8A37luVh2a
ReplyDeleteWhile I liked Janice long a lot, I never cared much for for unibrow meister ooh Gary Davies and I think she should have presented the show on her own.
ReplyDeleteKajagoogoo were always a guilty pleasure of mine and this is a terrific way to start the show. I like everything about this from the extended intro to the "do do doos" middle bit. Never cared much for the band's image though. When I worked at Our Price Records my manager had his hair done like Kaja bassist Nick Beggs and he bought some leather trousers. We tried not to laugh.
Stepping Out was one of my favourite singles from 1983 and the video is superb. I followed Joe Jackson's career on and off for many years and one his best albums was Blaze Of Glory from 1989 which doesn't have a dud track on it.
The gommie looking wrong-side-of-thirty guy with blond hair standing behind Gary Davies when he introduces Echo and The Bunnymen was one of the reasons I hated the TOTP fake party atmosphere of this era. Where did they find these vacuous people and why are they on the show ALL THE FUCKING TIME? Why not get some real music fans?
I never quite got Echo and The Bunnymen but they did make some very catchy singles and this was one of them. It's a shame we can't see the stringed instrument that's giving the song such a distinctive sound, or who's playing it (Lakshminarayana Shankar). Not sure I care for what Ian Mac is doing at the end there with his ripped necked tee shirt, he thinks he looks weird and cool but he looks more like Liza Minnelli in an off-the-shoulder evening gown.
Melba Moore with a rhythm that would segue nicely into/out of Kajagoogoo's Too Shy, with her follow up to Love's Comin' At you. This is a blatant copy of Evelyn' King's Love Come Down, same song construction with different lyrics. It was written by former athlete Lillo Thomas who had sung back up vocals for Evelyn King so maybe he did nick her song.
While never a U2 fan I did like New Years Day and you can already see here that the band have all the makings of a stadium rock band.
The Charts and then Laura Brannigan's disco ode to Melyn Hayes' character from It ain't Half Hot Mum. I didn't mind this at the time but grew tired of it quickly and I hate the cheap synthi opening. I'm glad I never heard the Jonathan King cover.
What's not to like about The Stranglers European Female, the band's third fine single in a row. Having said that bassist JJ Burnell looks a bit uncomfortable singing lead here but gets away with it, even with the wobbly head thing which David Gray later borrowed.
Sad that Malcolm Mclaren keeps dropping down the chart so we won't see Buffalo Girls again.
Someone unkind once said that Phil Collins looked like he had a stocking little twerp, yes he's bald and proud of it but he did make some good singles and this was one of them.
Playout with as superb disco groove from ex-Miracles lead singer Billy Griffin, the crowd seem to love this and it works well as a playout dance track. Would have been nice see him in the flesh though.
The two songs that really stood out for me on this week's show were Joe Jackson and U2, both songs of which had their videos to thank for their success with these songs.
DeleteBy the start of 1983, we were now at a point where videos were coming of age, and no longer experimental, but rather essential to a song's success in the charts, unless you were Wham or Haysi Fantaysee where there was enough sex appeal in the band, that the video was not going to be make or break for the single.
Talking of Haysi Fantaysee, we will see them back on the first Feb '83 TOTP later this week, and can't wait!
In case it's of use to anyone, I've edited the Jonathan King segment back into my BB4CHD recording, along with the (pointlessly edited out) Janice Long link later on. You can download here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.4shared.com/video/RAA9B3C7ba/TOTP_20-1-83.html
It also enabled you to include Gary Davies introducing Melba Moore, which cruelly edited out by BBC because Davies mentioned King's name.
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