And so a beautiful bromance begins...
13/01/83 (David Jensen & John Peel)
Incantation – “Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Desi)” (14)
Getting the show off to a panpipey start here are Incantation with their only hit single, which went up two more places, taken from their top ten album of (more or less) the same name.
Men At Work – “Down Under” (7) (video)
Despite what the BBC announcer said before the show aired at 7.30pm, this future number one was edited out.
Sharon Redd – “In The Name Of Love” (53)
Quite an eccentric performance here from Sharon but the song peaked at number 31.
Keith Harris & Orville – “Orville’s Song” (4) (rpt from 23/12/82)
At its peak now.
The Belle Stars – “Sign Of The Times” (51)
We'd missed out on their follow up to The Clapping Song, which was a cover of Mockingbird, which failed to make the top 50, but this new one did much better, becoming their biggest hit in fact reaching number 3, and the girls get to wear the white suits this week too.
John Williams – “Theme From E.T.” (17) (film clips)
ET was packing the cinemas up and down the land at the time, hence the theme tune single was in the top twenty, although now at its peak,
Eddy Grant – “Electric Avenue” (22) (video)
This follow up to I Don't Wanna Dance took its name from a street in Brixton, and zoomed to a peak of number 2.
The Maisonettes – “Heartache Avenue” (15)
Another Avenue next, this one peaking at number 7. The two girl backing singers on display here did not sing on the record, but were in fact models hired for the performance.
Phil Collins – “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1) (video)
The first of two weeks at number one for Phil with his cover of the Supremes 1966 top 3 hit.
Donna Summer – “I Feel Love” (21) (audience dancing/credits)
This remix of her classic 1977 number one was now at its peak.
Next up is January 20th 1983.
With Mrs Shakey out on the lash with the girls, it's all calm and serene here at Shakey Towers which means I get to watch ToTP as it goes out AND be nice and early with some comments.
ReplyDeleteAs if to celebrate my good luck it's the strongest DJ pairing ever seen - Messrs Peel and Jensen- hosting. To dampen my mood,however, some instrumental cack is first up. Incantation, for it is they, were riding the pan pipes wave for all they were worth. This pile of tosh was immediately followed by Red Dwarf's Dwayne Dibley - oops, sorry, apparently that is Sharon Redd sporting an unforgiveable haircut and some Edward Scissorhand appendages on her right hand. Weird performance. Bad song.
From one weird-looking bird to another now as Keith Harris sticks his hand up where the sun doesn't shine. Okay, its twee, and unfunny but hats off to Mr Harris for 'singing' live and for ventriliquising at the same time. Then again if he mimed, would he still have 'mimed' Orville's bits? And if so, would it still be a vent act? (we may be entering Schrodinger's Cat territory, here)
The Belle Stars ditch their street-cred clobber for some Fred Astaire cast-offs and jovially bounce their way through Sign Of The Times. The Belle Starr who mimed the talky bit looked a lot like Annie Lennox. Never really liked that song. Still don't.
The album chart run-down jam-packed with left-overs from the Christmas rush to buy mums and dads a nice present, before a hastily cobbled-together video for the ET theme.
After that we get a couple of properties on the Musical version of Monopoly. Electric Avenue. Possibly my least favourite Eddy Grant single and believe me, there is plenty of competition for that award, followed by Heartache Avenue by the Maisonettes - a weak 60s pastiche.
And we reach number one - and its that baldy bloke off of Genesis. Is it a poor number 1? Well, put it this way, I'm already missing that fat Italian bloke in a tight sweater.
A piss-poor show this one with absolutely nothing to commend it. When 'I Wish I Could Fly' is the best song on offer you know we are treading in seriously awful crap. 2 ( I think that may be a record. And not the good sort)
The Peel/Jensen double act worked as well as you would expect and it will come as no surprise that these two ( alone out of all the presenters) only ever worked with each other from now on. Still, for all that, there was a lack of spark here which considering the aural nightmare they were contending with is hardly surprising - 7.
If this is what happens when Mrs Shakey goes for a night out, then I'm gonna have to reconsider chaining back to the sink again.
I felt the complete opposite regarding Incantation. Since its first outing on TOTP pre-Christmas 1982, this fine little ditty has been growing on me now into the early throws of 1983. I particularly like the way it paces quite handsomely towards the end. A nice way to begin the show, me thinks.
DeleteWith regard to Keith Harris & Orville, it was a little odd that they had to repeat the pre-Christmas 1982 TOTP studio appearance, and not ask Mr Harris for a fresh studio performance without the Christmas trees in the background, as we were already at 13 Jan, and the Christmas trees and santa outfits around Harris and Orville just didn't feel right on this particular show.
i too was somewhat surprised that keith harris didn't grab another opportunity to appear on the show. maybe he was performing in panto at somewhere like aberdeen on the day of the recording?
Deleteshakey's comment on mr harris's act reminds me of that ventriloquist that used to perform on the radio! i'd sort-of heard about schrodinger's cat, but had no idea what it was about. so i looked at the wiki entry... and i still have no idea what it's about! when it comes to scientific boffins using animals to make their point, i'll stick with pavlov's dog...
DeleteThe radio ventriloquist was Peter Brough in Educating Archie (his dummy). It was a huge hit, reputedly because Brough was a rotten ventriloquist so it didn't matter that you could see his mouth moving.
DeletePeter Brough's son Chris was married to Ayesha Brough - remember Lift Off With Ayesha?
Deleteapart from "lift off", ayshea (pronounced "asha" apparently) also appeared in the credits and most episodes of the brilliant "UFO" (where she was billed only by her first name). but despite that her character was usually only credited as "SHADO operator" and she hardly said a word throughout the entire series! another lady of similar exotic looks also appeeared in a few episodes as a SHADO operator/background artist - she was shakira baksh, later to be known as mrs michael caine
Deletei may have said this here before, but about 10 years ago i really got into "UFO" when i watched the re-runs on ITV4 (i did actually watch a few episodes when they were originally broadcast in 1970, although as a kid despite the flashy look it moved a bit too ponderously for my liking) and discovered that the building featured in the show as the film studio was actually in borehamwood where i used to visit from time to time. so the next time i was in the area i took the time to look up the place. but sadly i never got to actually see it as (which i later found out due to it now being one of the beeb's properties) it was cordoned off with high fences and guarded entrances as if it was some sort of high security prison!
Deletesorry - i meant that ayshea appeared in the titles sequence - not the credits!
DeleteSomeone remind me, who was compiling the charts?
ReplyDeleteI quite like Baldy's version of You Can't Hurry Love' but the odd shard of Peel inspiration aside, this was a forgettable show.
I might keep this one on the generic hard disc recorder though, as Orville's Song at full volume would be ideal revenge on our noisy neighbours.
Is that Phil Collins who you're calling baldy? I must admit that it is the first time I heard him called that over the last 40 years or so throughout Genesis and Phil Collins solo. I didn't really like this song, let alone getting to No.1, as it was not classic Collins, and clearly a remake from one of those 60s black girl bands from Detroit-like roots. He had so many better songs that couldn't even make top 5, for Gawd's sake.
Deleteapparently macca upset mr collins a while back by referring to him as "little phil". if he takes offence at that, then i dread to think how he would react if somebody called him something like "baldy " or "slaphead"!
DeleteHe did - 15 years ago. He also took offence to Record Mirror running a regular feature called Phil's World Of Wigs where readers requested different hairstyles for him to model.
DeleteDory - I agree he had loads of better songs -'That's All' or 'Mama' from later in 83 would've been deserving number ones. Baldy - sorry Phil's version of 'You Can't Hurry Love' must be a guilty pleasure.
The Macca 'Little Phil' incident is recalled in Collins' recent book and got picked up by the press.
Deletei would quite happily exchange my hair and height (not that either are particularly impressive, but nobody's ever called me baldy or shortarse) for phil's fame and fortune...
Deletetalking of hair, i noticed that richard clayderman was in the top 10 albums countdown on this edition. although he never had any single successes (or even realised any to my knowledge) he was extemely popular with the older/square crowd at the time, so a very familar face. and he affected a boyish blond mop, that always looked highly suspicious to me in that it had been worked-on hard to try and hide the fact that it was thinning somewhat. and nowadays he looks really absurd in the manner of brian setzer of the stray cats i.e. that he tries to retain the same style of his youth, but his hair has slidden towards the back of his head! having said that, my own hair is now somewhat alarmingly starting to look like mr clayderman's did in the early 80's...!
DeleteI've just Googled Mr Clayderman's photo. I see what you mean, it's still the same style as 1983! Could do with a bit more product I think, not that I'm in any position to critique his hairstyle...
DeleteI recall that his albums always seemed to be advertised on the TV and he was a favourite amongst listeners when I first started doing hospital radio in the 90s.
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DeleteMen at Work - I remember this TOTP show and seeing this video for the first time. My initial thoughts were that I didn't like these people from down under, as they represented beer-guzzling and ragged tent-sleeping, which was not my scene as a 14-year old at the time, having got used to smartly-dressed chart bands like Modern Romance and Spandau Ballet, and I felt that Men At Work were not moving with the times in our Thatcher era.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it was the iconic video for all its meaning to different people, that really propelled this tune to the top of the charts, and I don't think it would have got to No.1 through studio performances. In fact I think Men At Work were only a video band if I am correct, but they certainly made a creative video here which was the key to unlocking its success in Britain and America.
The Belle Stars - talking about Men, the Belle Stars this week dressed as men? Good Lord, it was like the Two Ronnies who regularly did sketches dressed as women, so what was the harm in this? I guess the Belle Stars made more effort here, and as Angelo quite rightly says that their follow up to The Clapping Song failed to make top 50, so something drastic had to be done to get them back on TOTP or remain forever as a one-hit clapping wonder. The smartness in white certainly did the trick, as Sign Of The Times got to their best chart position of No.3.
in the past the obvious bail-out strategy for acts shipping chart water was to do resort to cover versions (most notably showaddywaddy, who i don't think ever released any more original material as singles after "trocadero" flopped). so i would say it was a bit of a turn-up for the books that the belle stars had such a big success with a song of their own after seemingly heading for "where are they now?" territory. but it was only a stay of execution in the end anyway - i wonder if any of them ever appeared in the "which one of this lot used to be in that band" segement on "never mind the buzzcocks"?
DeleteThe Belle Stars might have been a 'one-clap wonder' :-)
DeleteTwo of The Belle Stars - tenor saxophonist Clare Hirst and rhythm guitarist/rapper Stella Barker - took part in the 'Identity Parade' on 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks'. Here's the relevant link:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC4gau9i7lk
thanks julie - how in the hell did you know that? probably even if not forewarned i would have recognised stella instantly. but although i guessed right with clare i wasn't sure as she was probably the one i least remembered, and had changed her hairstyle drastically in the interim (and looked much better for it). but i'm not sure by correctly idenitfying them if i've made myself look impressive or sad!
DeleteVery timely link Julie, thanks. I too recognised Stella only, and agreed with Wilberforce, that Clare had changed quite a bit in 30 years and almost not recognisable as a Belle Star. You could say it is a 'sign of the times'.
Deleteit's easy to recognise someone having watched them on another programme (albeit one made many years earlier) the day before. but even though i wasn't a fan of the belle stars (and have consequently pretty much fast-forwarded through their totp appearances as a result), their likenesses are indelibly burned into my memory as a result of being so frequently featured in all the pop papers and magazines i used to buy religiously and pore over in the early 80's!
DeleteRegarding Men at Work not moving with the Thatcherite times, the same could be said about Australia as a whole, which a couple of months after this show went out would elect a Labor government under Bob Hawke.
Deletegood for them! maybe i should have emigrated...?
DeleteThoroughly enjoyed this show, even Orville was great - er, OK, maybe that's a step too far. But the hosts lifted even the less distinguished passages.
ReplyDeleteIncantation up first, sounds like it should be introducing a documentary about the condor, and I half expected them to collapse in a hyperventilating heap at the end - they seemed to be emitting smoke at least. Loved this at the time, I must admit.
Men at Work with their classic video, it was played to death back then but seeing it fresh after all these years I did laugh. Seriously catchy tune, a deserved worldwide hit, what a shame it caused them so much trouble over the course of the next few decades.
Sharon Redd, I recognised this from somewhere but I'll be darned if I can recall where, thought it was off a film but apparently not. Maybe there's a soundalike? Anyway, this sounded re-recorded for the show, listening to the 12" mix on YT and it sounds much better, a very decent late disco tune, although Sharon's antics were... interesting. A bit of a character, obviously. What was she holding?! Sad to see she died of AIDS in the early 90s.
Belle Stars and their finest three minutes, a fantastic pop song, impeccably tailored to the ladies' strengths, if only they'd have capitalised on it with the follow-ups. Actually the band is impeccably tailored in their white suits as well.
John Williams doing what he does with a Spielberg theme, not my favourite of his but all credit to him, he does create an iconic melody. I note (as did Kid) the little creature himself is never shown in the video, even though everyone knew what he looked by then thanks to an unbelievable merchandising blitz, which makes it odd I never actually saw the movie until it was out on video, being the target audience and all. And it took so long to be released on VHS that it was the most pirated film around at the time, it made A Clockwork Orange look like some obscure Italian nasty. And E.T. biscuits! Remember those? Sorry, I'll move on...
Eddy Grant follows up his smash hit solo number one with a more muscular ditty, I think the vocals are great here, especially like the deep "Electric Avenue!" growl. Though "No place to hang out the washing!" isn't exactly a rock and roll sentiment, is it?
Two of The Maisonettes appear to have nicked The Belle Stars' jackets. Anyway, love the harmonies on this one, just a really well put together pop record, they never followed it up, but better to burn bright than fade away, eh guys?
Then letting things down a bit, Buster's Motown pastiche, only it's an actual Motown record he's doing. Why does this video make me laugh now? I dunno.
Donna and her remix to end on, maybe it's Frogger she's playing as well as Galaxian.
What 'trouble' are you referring to with Men At Work?
DeleteDrawn out legal action over supposed plagiarism. It's a bit complicated, but there should be details on the internet.
Deletei've already mentioned this in more detail in a previous post - the flute solo melody was supposedly lifted (knowingly or otherwise) from an existing copyrighted song. but even though the copyright holders of said tune only wanted 5% of the royalties from about the year 2000 onwards (and any monies accrued would go to the girl guides organisation rather than any individual), the credited writers still faught the case. apparently when MAW mainman colin hay performs the song nowadays, it is with a re-jigged flute solo that bears no resemblance to the tune it was supposed to have plagiarised!
Delete... i meant "fought the case"!
DeleteSad about Sharon Redd. I wonder if I'm alone watching the dancers etc and wondering if due to their "lifestyle" they all made it out of the mid eighties/early nineties unscathed...
DeleteWere those movie biscuits Rich E. Tea? Ahem....
DeleteBravo, sir! No, they were cola-flavoured green and orange things, looked like custard creams. Why is tie-in food never healthy?
DeleteI used to have those ET biscuits in my school lunchbox every day for weeks. There were actually 3 of them in each pack, the other one being silver coloured. That's *silver* - made without any additives at all I'm sure. Hmm...
DeleteLike many I also saw the movie on (pretty bad) pirate video.
silver biscuits?!?! not that i'm doubting you noax, but as they say "seeing is believing" so i felt compelled to look for evidence of that on the internet. but sadly i couldn't come up with anything...
DeleteAround 1987, a self-consciously modern sweet shop opened where I lived at the time, and they sold silver ball bearing sweets. Can't say I liked them all that much!
DeleteAh, my bad - the memory cheats and it appears that the third biscuit was coloured brown.
DeleteHowever, I'm pretty sure that the cola flavoured filling was coloured silver!
Not the best of shows musically, but it was certainly elevated by the "Rhythm Pals" hosting together for the first time. Their rapport is obvious throughout, and I liked Peel's snarky comments about Renee and Renato, The Maisonettes and the "authenticity" of Incantation. There still seems to be a lot of excitement this week about Gallup taking over the compilation of the charts, and I assume that the album countdown, not seen since 1981, was resurrected to celebrate the fact.
ReplyDeleteThe latter lot are back in the studio to kick things off, surrounded by big flags and pretending they can play pan pipes with roses stuck in them. The famous Men at Work video follows, which is amusing enough to put up with hearing the song for the millionth time - I can't say I've ever been that keen on it, though the flute parts do give it some character. Australia would have a bit of a moment during 1983, with Bowie's Let's Dance video and The Thorn Birds TV series soon to follow.
A golden-taloned Sharon Redd looks even more scary here than she did in the video for her previous single! The song is OK, and she gives this performance all she's got, but her weird voice and appearance are a bit off-putting. The Belle Stars look very stylish - and very 80s - in their white dinner jackets, despite the puzzling Alice in Wonderland and Wild West accessories. It's a good, well-produced song too, though the failure of the title lyrics to scan properly with the chorus tune, thanks to one too many syllables, is a constant source of irritation when I hear it!
The one and only time I ever saw ET was on a pirated copy a couple of years after it was released. The picture was so awful you couldn't really follow what was going on, so to this day I have never seen the film properly. Presumably the Beeb must have got their film rights issues sorted out, because as with Rocky 3 and Fame we get the whole set of clips here. The music is so familiar that it sounds like a treacly Hollywood cliche these days, but it's effective enough. Eddy Grant stays in Barbados for his new video, even though the song is about Brixton - bearing in mind that the riots were still in the very recent past at the time, you can't really blame him! Not a bad effort, but the plinky synths on the chorus do undermine the hard rock edge that Eddy was clearly trying to achieve here.
The show then subsides into anti-climax, with a new performance from The Maisonettes which adds nothing to their previous one, a decent but unexciting new chart-topper and that rubbish Donna Summer remix getting another airing as the playout song. At least the studio audience looks nice and lively as they dance along...
ITV show ET every five minutes on their channels, if you're interested.
DeleteStrange thing about that film is, although it was supposed to be a heartwarming tale of a boy and his alien, there were a lot of kids absolutely terrified by ET. The internet used to be full of now-grown ups complaining about the nightmares they had after watching it back then.
Yeah John, it was a surprising return of the top ten album chart since 1981, and even in 1981, it was only for one show. Anyway, three interesting points came out of this album chart:
Delete1. At No.9 was "Abba: The first 10 years." How ironic? It was like preparing us for another 10 years of music from them. More like "10 weeks" in reality, haha.
2. At No.4, Dionne Warwick's album cover with Dionne showing some leg. Oh please, this was not how we remember her, or was it someone else's legs transposed on. It looked too sexy for Mrs Warwick?
3. At No.2 The John Lennon Collection. Pleased to say I have that very same album.
4. At No.1, I just love the title of the album "Raiders Of The Pop Charts by Various Artists. Does anyone confess to have bought that album in 1983?
I think ABBA had recorded their last ever song, The Day Before You Came, by that point.
DeleteJohn, with regard to the ET clip, you're right, it seems like the Beeb have resolved their issues with showing movie clips on TOTP, as I noticed on these re-runs that they resolved the issue from the 1980 shows onwards, as in 1978-1979 reruns they still had to transpose Legs & co over the real movie clips shown on the original shows, e.g., Saturday Night Fever and Grease songs.
DeleteThe first indication we got that all this crap was over, was when they showed Barbra Streisand's No.1 Woman In love on the 1980 shows, and they showed it exactly how it was originally aired on TOTP, and not needing a Legs & Co cover-up. Ever since then, we have seen now everything as it was shown then on TOTP, which is great news for all us fans of the show.
However, David Jensen I noticed said at the end of the ET footage that it was a 'film clip', even though he should have said 'video,' as we were already over a year into the term 'video' as common coinage. It was like going backwards even then!
there is another k-tel or similar compilation around this time that featured a guy on a motorbike and had a title that may have been a pun, but if so then a pretty bad one. but i can't remember it - can anyone help?
Deleteanyway, whilst trawling through discogs for it i came across an album by the infamous minipops, who were of course being shown on channel 4 at this time (1983) and causing much polarisation and controversy as a result of inadvertantly becoming a pedos' paradise!
THX - I've never been tempted to watch ET again, not because the alien scared me as a kid (I always thought it was quite cute), but because I'm not keen on films that nakedly try to manipulate your emotions.
DeleteDory - I think in this case Kid was justified in calling it a "film clip", as it was a series of clips taken from the film!
Ok, I'll let him off this time
DeleteYes Dory, I bought 'Raiders Of The Pop Charts' at the time, and as it's the first compilation album I ever bought with my own money I have a soft spot for it (and still have my copy!)
DeleteIncidentally folks, there was one album chart rundown in 1982, weirdly almost exactly a year earlier as I remember John Peel doing it on his first show back after years in the wilderness. Goodness knows why it comes back in January then disappears (at least I assume it will again...)
It's likely that it would sell for quite, as it is extremely rare, and very difficult to source an original copy, especially in vinyl format which would have been the leading album format available (ahead of cassette tape). I must admit I have no recollection whatsoever of this album in 1983, let alone what songs are on it.
DeleteI meant to say, would sell for quite a lot Noax.
DeleteI wouldn't have thought that a No.1 album would be particularly rare, though admittedly when I have seen the album in record shops or charity shops it's been in poor condition, whereas I have looked after mine!
Deleteat the height of my rummaging through boxes of records in charity shops and at car boots a decade or so, i remember this being fairly standard fare. however i wasn't aware it was a 2-record set with both sleeves of a very similar design, so therefore i may have been perceiving both of them as one and the same? whatever their ratio of presence back then, i see you can currently buy both of them off discogs (with the sleeves graded VG+) for the princely sum of 45p!
Deletewhen i took my "11 plus" exam in 1973, my parents bribed me to pass with the choice of my first compilation album in return. so having done the deal (i might not have otherwise... especially if the grammar school had been much further to travel to than the secondary modern!) i went to wh smiths to peruse the racks, and in the end it was a toss-up between a k-tel one with a horrible cover but also with loads of my glam faves on it, or an EMI one with less glam (and more shite like cliff) that had a sleeve design of a shiny 3-D block of gold. tragically i chose the latter... which i realised soon afterwards was a literal case of fool's gold!
Deletehosts: i always had a fair bit respect for the kid (sorry, david), but less so for peelie. however they had seemingly worked-up a mutual admiration society by this point - i suspect peel admired dave (how exactly did mr jensen's chums refer to him? probably not as "the likeable canadian" most of the time) for his good looks and easy-going charm, and kid/dave/david/likeable canadian admired peel for being perceived as the coolest DJ on the planet. they certainly had a bit more chemistry than last week's hosts, but then again two stuffed toys would have too. now kid/whatever is ensconced as peelie's amigo, will he become less affable and more sardonic like his chum as the shows go on? by the way, peel rather annoying still insists of giving "shouts" to people who are unfamilar to anybody other than those who listen to his radio show (this week it's someone called "william")... and therefore unfamiliar to most viewers!
ReplyDeletemen at work: like the majority of their fellow-australian band ac/dc, mainman colin hay was actually a scottish emigre. so in reality the land he came from was only down under iceland! and i suppose rather than an "ocker" (a term that could certainly be applied to his burly rhythm section, who looked like they spent all their free time downing tinnies in those dreadful "walkabout"-style beer halls), perhaps he should have been known as a "mocker"? the music can be summarised in two words: cod reggae!
sharon redd: i would have put my life savings (if i had any) on grace jones being the scariest woman to appear on totp. but with this and her last showing, ms redd is giving her some serious competition to put it mildly! and did those talons influence the drug-taking cheat... sorry, greatest female sprinter of all time flo-jo? i don't know if the music was the original backing or a hatchet job by the totp orchestra, but regardless it sounds like it was recorded in the mid-70's rather than the early 80's. and there was a nasty harmonic crunch in the move from verse to chorus. add in sharon's "distinctive" vocals as well, and it's definitely one i shan't be listening to again
belle stars: yet more cod-60's-style music, this time infused with a peculiar and fleeting funk guitar riff that sounds like it's been sampled from a kid creole record
john williams: that is of course john williams the american film composer, as opposed to john williams the australian classical guitarist (did they not think to have some kind of meeeting to see if they could somehow be distinguished from each other?). this one is of course a master of his trade (you could say the same applies to the other john williams), but i find a lot of his soundtrack work somewhat overblown and sickly. and that especially applies here. all the hype over "ET" really put me off at the time, and as result i've never even seen it. nor ever will, as i still can't see a picture of the alien without wanting to smash its face in with a lump hammer!
I'm sure the TOTP orchestra (or equivalent) had been let loose on Sharon's track, if you can bring yourself to listen to the 12" on YT it sounds a LOT slicker.
Deletethanks for your advice thx - i listened to the 12" version, and it sounds like a completely different record! and a much better one too which i'm now actually quite getting into - even sharon's vocals are far less grating, and they also take a back seat to the excellent extended instrumental break
Deleteand by the way, congratulations on spelling the word "loose" correctly in context - if i see it spelt as "lose" one more time on facebook, i might be driven to smash my computer up in rage!!!
It's not bad, is it?
DeleteAs for lose and loose, the spelling mistakes that appeared with the popularisation of the internet are a bit baffling, they'd been spelt accurately for centuries and now, nope, not any more. Getting women and woman mixed up is another one - you'd think it was obvious which was correct, but uh-uh. Thus ends my grumpy middle-aged man rant of the day!
what's so depressing is that it's not just the idiot yoof/iphone generation that's mangling the language, it's my peers as well! were they always that bad at spelling, or is it some kind of regressive thing? my guess is that the damage has been done as a result of becoming regular text (txt) senders - something i've never done in my life!
DeleteI'll nominate people who type "would of" instead of "would have".
DeleteAnd people who make up words like "impactful" or "burglarization".
Deletept ii...
ReplyDeleteeddy grant: by far his best effort for me, even though it still retains the lo-fi crudity of his earlier hits. i presumed at the time that there was no such place and that he made the name up, but about 15 years later i visited brixton where a friend lived and stumbled across it when i went out to look for some food. and as a result of all the west indian grocery shops spilling out to display their plantains and similar wares it's little more than an alley, so probably inadvisable to ride a motorbike down it like in eddy's video...
maisonettes: where's the bass player? was he missing last time too? lol tries to look effortlessly cool with some finger snapping at the beginning, but all he succeeds in doing is looking like he's doing a fist-pump celebration after his team scores a goal!
donna summer: diabolically a second airing is given to the pathetic "muzzies mix" of this, a chilling sign of the dystopian future to come where musicians of creativity and originality would be replaced by talentless twats simply mauling and ruining the good stuff from years gone by
A friend of mine visited Electric Avenue last month, he was surprised it was a real place!
DeleteI quite liked the Donner Summer playout this week, and once again we got a lot more of it on the late-night showing. It is becoming familiar practice every week it seems.
DeleteAnyway, the best dancer I thought on this one was the studio audience member standing in front of John Peel as he introduced the playout, i.e., the girl with the red miniskirt and black bow in her hair.
She seemed so happy there, and couldn't wait to start the dancing. What a cutie, and a TOTP moment for her to cherish. Even you must be pleased for her Wilberforce!
i can't make comment on the "cutie" in question dory, for as soon as i heard the diabolical donna summer remix being played over the credits i switched off in protest (even though it sounds exactly like the original record until the space invader noises kick in after a minute or so)!
DeleteCacharpaya brought back great memories of student discos around that time. Mr Ravenscroft had no right to cast aspersions on Incantation's authenticity, given his own less-than-Scouse background. As for his shout out to William, would that have been his son?
ReplyDeleteHi Andy, it was, as confirmed by the BBC4 Twitter during the show.
DeleteWell, it seems we're back on two shows per week from BBC4 this week. Has anyone got a copy of 20.1.83 TOTP, even the UK Gold version? Although BBC4 will be showing it on Thursday, it has a JK segment which they will not show, so we will need a full original or UK Gold copy in time for Thursday's blog. Can anyone provide it here? I can't wait to see the Patti Austin & James Ingram duet on JK's segment, as this is one of the greatest love songs of all time.
ReplyDeleteVery disappointing episode (not helped by the fact that my recording seemed to be slightly out of sync...)
ReplyDeleteMen At Work - very big in the States in 1983. Deliberating avoiding looking things up, so waiting to see if they have the second hit which was as just as big Stateside...
Sharon Redd - never heard before. Won't listen to it again... Dull!
Belle Stars - as someone else has pointed out, the talking Belle Star could double for Annie Lennox...
Maisonettes - Bass player seemed to be playing both bass and rhythm guitar. Very odd...
How come I Feel Love was back in the charts?...
Re The Maisonettes: bassist Mark Tibenham was the band's multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, bass and guitar on the single. On the band's numerous TV appearances, he attempted to mime to all three on one instrument - even sliding a finger down the bass strings during the keyboard glissando, as in this earlier TOTP performance:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ljtHN93Wk
You learn something every day. Thank you.
DeleteThe Donna Summer remix stems from this:
Deletehttps://www.discogs.com/Various-I-Feel-Love-Memorabilia-To-Hell-With-Poverty-Why-Cant-We-Live-Together/release/329536
A megamix of Donna Suummer and other disco hits using I Feel Love as a bed was mixed by Ben Liebrand in 1981 and release as a bootleg, with Soft Cell and Timmy Thomas remixes of the b-side. It was credited to Patrick which most people thought was Patrick Cowley. It was actually Ben Liebrand who mixed it but used a lot of Patrick Cowley tunes in the mix which led yo the confusion. The result was that Cowley was asked to legally remix I Feel Love and was inspired by the megamix where he nicked a few ideas from.
I'm on my own with that one, as always.
DeleteThis was an unusual show for me as I caught the second half after the pub on Friday evening and watched the rest tonight. Not that I missed much – The Maisonettes’ song was the only one I really liked or didn’t hate.
ReplyDeletePeelie was more smiley, relaxed and jovial with the likeable Canadian in tow. Was their early show pseudo high five the first shown on British TV?
Incantation were on the Beggars Banquet label at this stage and released five follow-ups. Probably five too many.
A decent slightly self-effacing video for Men At Work’s opus, complete with Colin Hay’s “Oh F#ck” as he opens the side door of the campus van (with “Tanetorn Rolls” in gaffa tape on its front, Tanetorn being a town in New South Wales which used to have a music festival) and Colin’s hairstyle miraculously shortening from the map scene onwards.
Talking of hairstyles, that was one of the least startling aspects of Sharon Redd. Ridiculous nails, strange outfit, some weird facial moves and a poor song.
Keith Harris and Orville released at least five follow-ups, including a top 50 smash with “Come To My Party” plus covers of “Being Green” and “White Christmas”. Dear God.
How to tell the lead singer of a band, number 527 – they wear a different colour hat to the others (Belle Stars). Within a few seconds near the end we’re told “Time to live my life without you” and “I want your love, boy, want nothing less”. Make your minds up for goodness sake!
The Maisonettes released at least two follow-ups in the UK and three in the Netherlands (Can you tell I’m distracted through the boredom of this edition?). Some sneaky upskirt camera work for the tall model – er, backup singer, but I thought the shorter girl was really cute. There was neither a bassist nor a keyboard player on the last outing either.
A sneaky re-working of the end catchphrase from “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” (a BBC 2 staple in the early 70’s) by John Peel at the end. This show would have been augmented by an appearance by Goldie Hawn if you ask me.
arthur with regard to the men at work video, don't you mean a camper van? that reminds me of the amusingly-named indie band (of whom i've never heard a note of their music) camper van beethoven!
DeleteIndeed I did! From memory, Camper Van Beethoven's best song was "Take The Skinheads Bowling".
DeleteAs famously used in the end credits of Michael Moores Bowling for Columbine.
DeleteA great double act this week – Deadpan and Dave…
ReplyDeleteIncantation – Cacharpaya – More Pan pipe jigging to get us off to a rousing start and get the audience animated too.
Men at Work – Down Under – Love the “ooh yeah” bit in the second chorus. Men at Work were surely trying to be the Aussie version of Madness here?
Sharon Redd – In the name of love – Stop!!!!
Keith Harris & Orville – Orville’s Song – Like JP, my life just wouldn’t have been the same without this all-time classic. Equally the invention of the FF button has given me much pleasure too.
Belle Stars – Sign of the times – Seven girls all in white suits proving that girl power was on the up. Loved this song.
John Williams – ET Theme – Wow! What a load of clips we’re allowed to see here. I recall seeing this film at the cinema which, at the time was a rarity for me. Nice music. I’ll have to dig the DVD out now!
Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue – undeniably catchy but for me not as good as the previous release.
Maisonettes – Heartache Avenue – Plenty of camera lingering on the two models here!
Phil Collins – You can’t hurry love – Yep, I’m soooo disappointed too that Renee and Renato aren’t no1 anymore. Speaking of no1s, what an anti-climax the album chart rundown was; ‘Raiders of the Pop Charts’? at no1? Really. A Harrison Ford lookalike adorns the cover with the obligatory whip. I think the album was one of those ‘buy one get one free’ and features some recent hits and notable misses – ‘Rawhide’ by the Chaps and ‘Johnny Rocco’ by Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin on the main disc. The second ‘free’ disc contains even more obscurities.
Donna Summer – I feel love – Second dance out for this impaired version of the classic.
it's great when contibutors bring flops to our attention like sct has here - thanks to youtube you can now almost certainly now get to hear them, whilst at the time they would almost probably have passed you by (unless you bought this album of course!). so i checked out a few from it and have put together the following comments:
Deletemorrisey mullen - bladerunner: saxist dick morrissey actually played on the sublime original soundtrack version of the blade runner love theme by vangelis, but this is a toe-curling shakatak-style cocktail funk version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9HQtTuNoNA
precious little - the on and on song: the vocalist was aptly-named here for what is a dire novelty thing. was this sue wilkinson in disguise?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_u29n6ujRY
lene lovich - it's you, only you: still putting out singles and even making videos (where in this one she's transformed into a spanish senorita), despite the fact that she'd been in the chart wilderness for at least three years now. musically it's pretty forgettable synth-pop, but listen out for the motif for "the good, the bad & the ugly" (would ennio morricone have had a case had he sued for plagiarism?):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF-z7kxF1aM
whodini - magic's wand: like lene lovich, another thomas dolby-associated act. he may well have been the first white guy to get involved in producing rap records. but whoever's responsible, regardless of how good or bad the backing is (and this isn't bad) as soon as i have the misfortune to hear (c)rap i scatter tables, chairs and even wheelchair-bound cripples asunder in my haste to get out of earshot!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9fjN5lUgYo
dave stewart/babara gaskin - johnny rocco: yet another thomas dolby-associated act, and another attempt at modernising an old 60's tune (this time a more lively effort than stewart's previous singles featuring guest singers). as (presumably) the follow-up to the no. 1 hit, you would have thought in the circumstances it would have got pretty heavy radio play. but i certainly don't remember ever hearing it, and as a result it bombed completely. can anyone explain why?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo4R2BrGmuc
the beat - i confess: another band fast losing touch with the charts by this point, despite like lene lovich now being on their third album. this uptempo soca-influenced track is actually far superior to what they'd brought out as singles post-"mirror in the bathroom", but by then it seemed their 15 minutes were up. actually that wasn't the case, but they had to resort to putting out a three-year old cover version in order to get their mugshots back in the totp chart countdown! nice trumpet solo in this, even though it wasn't played by wes magoogan who mimes in the video. also notice that dave wakeling is really getting into the androgynous look at this point!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEGj4cfSgP8
nb: checking out the "raiders" comp on discogs, i noticed that the beat (who also had the misfortune to be billed "the english beat" for the american market due to an indigenous one already existing there) have the ignominity of being credited on said website as "the beat (2)", despite being far better known than any other act of that name. the same fate has also befallen much bigger acts such as cream and wings (the website started out as a dance specialist database, therefore presumably the first acts of those names are obscure practitioners of that genre accordingly). but whatever the reason, i find it rather annoying!
I notice that you couldn't find anything for The Chaps, wilberforce!
DeleteAs I said in a different thread above, I bought that album and enjoyed most of the non-hits (even Precious Little, though I've seen the light regarding that one now!) and 'Rawhide' was my favourite of the lot. I've always been convinced that it must have been a more famous pop star pissing about but have been able to find out absolutely zilch about it.
How can the album be called 'Raiders of The Pop Charts', when none of the singles on it managed to chart at all??!! Good Lord!
DeleteThe Chaps were proudly Scottish, as a follow-up single was "Jock The Rapper" plus they re-worked "Rawhide" in a Celtic stylee like this...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWMDuRZBnnw
There were some big hits on it, Dory! Admittedly there were quite a few flops, as I see Arthur has flagged up below..
Deletenoax i did give the chaps a listen, but thought their effort merely a fairly faithful (if pointless) cover of the old frankie laine cowboy tv series theme, therefore unworthy of comment. talking of "rawhide": about three years back i was watching the first sequel to the 50's schlock sci-fi classic "the creature from the black lagoon" and wondering if anyone in it was still alive. then mere moments later there was a scene in a laboratory where the assistant was none other than (a very young) clint eastwood!
DeleteWilberforce - glad my mention of some of the more obscure 'Raiders' grabbed your attention! Thanks for all the background research and YT links.
DeleteThe first of the Now albums was released towards the end of '83 - did anyone here buy that at the time?
Deletethanks sct - as usual, much of it is useless trivia that i actually remember from back then rather than doing any fresh research!
DeleteThere is indeed a connection between Precious Little and Sue Wilkinson if you study the record labels - the common link is a lady called Trisha O'Keefe.
DeleteA Google search does find a singer called Trisha O'Keefe but she wasn't born (or maybe only a little sproglet) when these records were made.
Confusingly, there's also an art rock band called The Chap who I think are still around.
DeleteAlso, (spoiler) Clint blows up the giant spider at the end of Tarantula.
thanks thx - that one wasn't on my list of vintage cult films to watch!
Delete“Raiders of the Pop Charts” was sold as a double album, but you can now buy the two discs separately on the net with one disc costing nearly a tenner more than the other! The double album was released by Ronco, purveyors of the foam rotating record cleaner, button fastener and that dangerous machine which helped you make drinking glasses out of bottles! The album spent two weeks at number one, but these tracks barely or never raided the chart….
ReplyDeleteSide A
1. The Chaps : Rawhide (a Scottish act on Stiff who failed to chart)
Side B
1. Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin : Johnny Rocco (made 49 and 70 with follow-ups to “It’s My party” but but not with this)
Side C
1. Lene Lovich : It's You, Only You (Mein Schmerz) (reached number 68)
2. The Beat : I Confess (number 54)
3. Precious Little : The On And On Song (released singles on at least four labels, none of which scuffed the charts)
4. Whodini : Magic’s Wand (number 47)
5. Pale Fountains : Thank You (number 48, memorable for its verse medley which was a scale going up and down)
Side D
1. Gregory Isaacs : Night Nurse (best known for use on a cold remedy advert, but no chart entry)
2. Morrissey Mullen : Bladerunner (Jazz fusion? On Beggars Banquet? Have a guess if this bothered the compilers…)
so the chaps stiffed chartwise then? freeez were on beggars banquet as well, so morrissey mullen weren't the only funk-oriented act on their roster. i think the pale fountains got mentioned on this blog a while back and i checked this track out then as a result - they were more early 80's hip liverpool scenesters a la wah, where the music failed to match up to the hype!
DeleteA quick whizz through this one.
ReplyDeleteMen At Work - Such a shame that song and video have both been done to death as I loved them at the time!
Sharon Redd - More scary than a lot of the Doctor Who monsters these days. And not a particularly great song either. Presumably someone on the show wasn't keen on her - take a look at the graphics that pop up at the end of her performance. Ummm...is that a swastika I see?
The Belle Stars - Rotating their line-up like a Premier League football manager, this time the cute one (sorry, I very much don't know their names) has a hat again (yay!) but is shoved at the back playing sax (boo!)
Eddy Grant - Another that's been overplayed since. There's an Electric Avenue here in Birmingham too!
From this point on my recording gets a bit out of sync - someone else had this problem I notice - so that it looks like Lol Mason is the worst mimer in the world during 'Heartache Avenue'.
I was hoping for an extended dance-off to Donna Summer but was disappointed. I repeat that it's the first single ever bought so unlike almost everyone else here I have a lot of love for it. If you think the remix is bad, check out the truly absymal mid-90s one!!
Indeed the playout this week on the late night repeat was bizarrely only one-and-a-half minutes long, but on the plus side, it was still double that of the early evening repeat which was only 45 seconds of it, so Donna Summer was a little short-changed all round!
Deletenoax the belle star you refer to must be miranda - sorry, but i very much (and somewhat tragically) DO know their names!
DeleteI'm sure Harry Hill would like to enact a 'fight' scene between The Belle Stars and Amazulu!
DeleteAmazulu wins hands down
DeleteAnyone with the full 20.1.83 show with JK insert, before tomorrow's BBC4 show with that bit likely to be removed?
ReplyDeleteHaving fallen off the radar for a couple of weeks I'm back and catching up.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see Peelie and the Kid presenting these shows again. I remember these from the time and they did make what had become a synthetic Party Time seem so much more palatable, that's not to say I didn't like the music or at least most of it.
Incantation has novelty written all over it, the crowd knows it and the band know it but they are enjoying their moment in the spotlight. I like then way each band member takes the trouble to carefully mime each solo part and the camera misses most of them.
Men At Work. I liked this a lot to start with but grew very tired of it very quickly. They never did manage to capitalise on the success of this did they, the follow-up being a bit lack lustre by comparison. My mum loved this but always had trouble singing along properly, putting the stresses in the wrong places.
I had completely forgotten about this Sharon Redd song although of course here she is backed by Ronnie Hazlehurst and his orchestra which is why it sounds a bit clunky. I thought for a moment she had lost a contact lens on the floor until she appeared to find something that looked like a guitar strap.
Keith Harris and Awful. More than the surreal sight of a green furry duck in a nappy I think I was more put off by Keith's nasty matching brown leather jacket and strides.
Loved Sign Of The Times a lot and bought their album. My mate was a big Belle Stars fan and joined their fan club and even got to appear in one of their videos as part of a crowd.
The LP charts is a bit boring and bit pointless especially as their not even going to include clips or performances reflecting it. I recall in the early 1970s they used to do the album spot where an artist would play one or two tracks from their album.
Went to see ET and really liked it but had no memories of the theme music making the charts, it's amazing how you forget these things.
Charts then Eddy Grant. I actually preferred this to his last hit. Electric Avenue was of course in Brixton. I used to go to Brixton regularly to have my hair cut, there was a barbers there who did the best flat tops in London.
The Maisonettes. While I really liked the song I always thought the band weren't trying that hard to capture the complete 1960s look, especially the singer who must have realised that beards didn't go with the era/style they were recreating.
The Top Ten and Phil Collins at the top spot. I had an on and off relationship with his music, while Ii quite admired some of his hits there was always something distinctly off putting about him. Good video though.
Playout with the Patrick Cowley remix of I Feel Love. While i liked this a lot I preferred the bootleg Megamix trip which came out a year earlier combined with other euro disco hits.
good to see you back on the trail bama!
Deletei was quite into genesis in the early phil collins era ("a trick of the tail", "and then there were three", "duke") in the late 70's/early 80's, but had long since moved on to other things. then a few years back i had the opportunity to rip the CD's for my mp3 collection which i took, even if it was just for nostalgia purposes. the music still actually sounded pretty good, but it was a real struggle to listen to it again without being distracted by phil's rather annoying thin and whiny voice, that i couldn't help but associate with all the solo shite he inflicted on us!
My thoughts too regarding Phil Collins. I remember in the 80s that I really liked some of his songs, but others that charted I really switched off. There was something very unpredictable about his catalogue of songs, that you didn't know what was coming next and how you would react to it. On and off relationship for me too here.
DeleteMy favourite of his was the 1987 top ten hit In Too Deep, which today still gives me goose pimples when I hear it. We're in for the long hall now with Collins, so get ready to set up camp until at least 1992 with his chart singles, if we ever get that far with these episodes.
Steps up to the crease and plays a quick single for the century, I thank you very much! :-)
ReplyDeleteHello again in 2023, as BBC4 played this show again last night, and looks like they again edited out the Men At Work video as they did on the early evening showing in 2017. Men At Work and the John Williams 'Theme from ET' video were the two highlights of the show for me, ahead of the studio performances.
ReplyDeleteHello also from '23. Good to see them carrying on with these extra repeats and sensible of them to alight on the 1st edition that pairs Peel and Jensen. A funny pairing but I was surprised at how little screen time their double act actually occupied. Two links near the start, two either side of the chart topper. Early days for the format I guess. Sorry I'm being over analytical; These are two grown men following opening titles wearing outsized Mexican hats. A funny start, and like the high five that they do as the camera pans away which, by Kid's response, looked entirely unrehearsed.
ReplyDeleteIncantation; No suprise that in this period of the show, it's a novelty from far, far away that opens the show. Incantation following on from Goombay Dance Band and whoever else to get the party started. I remember this one well from aged 7, I liked the tune and the weird instruments and this is a real bit of nostalgia.
Men At Work skipped. Not happy and someone called Sharon Redd isn't much compensation. Never heard of singer or song but it was pretty strong and she's a good watch. Then the nails.
Keith Harris and Orville; Then a link that's very well known. Kid's lines seem spontaneous as JP initially looks unsure what's coming his way. "I know you've played them a lot on your show". Kid doesn't let the joke slip and JP responds just as you'd hope. Certainly no other pairing could do good natured sarcasm like these too. Some talent in Keith Harris' performance of course but the song is brain ticklingly awful. I noticed that when Keith improvises, "we all love him don't we?" only the voices of children can be heard replying.
The Belle Stars; Great single and such a charismatic frontperson in Jennie Matthias. And appropriate to a particular anniversary today, the first woman to appear bears a great resemblance to Selina Scott. Always loved 'Sign of the Times' and I'm convinced I saw them perform it or at least a feature on the single on Thames' 'Afternoon Plus' but can't find any evidence of it. Also the TOTP set here is my favourite of all of them so very happy this has been shown again.
John Williams; "Happy birthday William"; a nice touch from JP and the tear jerking film clips for the 'ET' theme. Good to see it all which I almost certainly didn't at the time as I was scared of the man in the protective hood emerging from the tunnel. He looks perfectly friendly now.
Eddy Grant; With the angry one after the fun one. Sorry I'll stop commenting as a 7 year old. Another great tune from the man. He really had a top notch run of singles.
The Maisonettes; I thought for years that this was a Four Seasons single from the '60s or early '70s which is a little daft as it has synths plastered all over it but that's how authentic sounding 'Heartache Avenue' is as a Frankie Valli style homage. As former co-lead singer in City Boy, Lol Mason has form in melodramatic lyrics but it works with the brilliant '60s style tune. That whoo hook stayed in my head for hours after.
Phil Collins; Renee and Renato have slipped from the top prompting some classic JP sarcasm but a little surprising in that he doesn't follow it up with any wry comment on what's replaced it. Can't deny I do really like this cover of 'You Can't Hurry Love' really because it doesn't stray from the original and his voice perfectly suits it. The video would've definitely been a "HOW?????" watch at the time.
'I Feel Love' remix and another early chop after the credits.