And also here at Vimeo.
It's nearly CHRISSSSSSSSSSSTMAAAAASSS!
01/12/83 (Dave Lee Travis & Steve Wright)
Slade – “My Oh My” (15)
With their biggest hit of the 80's, just failing to clear those melting snowmen off the number one spot!
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton – “Islands In The Stream” (26) (US TV clip)
A final top ten hit for both these two, and what a great one to sign off with! Peaked at number 7.
The Flying Pickets – “Only You” (9)
The battle for the Xmas number one could have only one winner, or rather six of them in this case! You can just imagine the big smile on Vince Clarke's face ...
Genesis – “That’s All” (23) (video)
Peaked at number 16.
Ozzy Osbourne – “Bark At The Moon” (24)
Ozzy's first solo top 30 hit, peaking at number 21.
Cliff Richard – “Please Don’t Fall In Love” (20) (video)
Cliff's christmas offering peaked at number 7.
Tracey Ullman – “Move Over Darling” (21) (video)
Rounding off a great year with her third and final top ten hit, reaching number 8.
Aztec Camera – “Oblivious” (18)
At its peak.
Billy Joel – “Uptown Girl” (1) (video/credits)
Final week at number one for Billy's only number one.
Back to BBC4 next for December 8th.
For those of you like me who cannot open avi. files, here is the whole show on Vimeo (Angelo this would probably be better to use as a link to the show):
ReplyDeletehttps://vimeo.com/217362827
Good heavens, this show was choc full of ageing 70s rockers: Slade, Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Genesis, Cliff Richard, and Billy Joel still at No.1 for the 5th week. I mean you really had to dig deep to find any 80s bands on here, like The Flying Pickets, Tracey Ullman and Aztec Camera, and those three can be proud.
ReplyDeleteSlade - nice to see them still in business in 1983, having first come to our television screens way back in 1971. It was a bit like Hot Chocolate's long tenure from 1970-1984. This new Slade record was somewhat of a reprise their April 1974 hit Everyday which made top 3, and re-titled somewhat as My Oh My for the 80s.
Genesis - one of the better songs from the long Genesis catalogue, but they were still far from their best for making videos, which they improved on enormously later in the decade.
Cliff Richard - great video, taken by the looks of it at London's Embankment Pier and St James's Park. Cliff was now 43, and like Tina Turner in the same chart, still had the rest of the decade to enjoy and his best still yet to come.
Tracey Ullman - a real winner in my opinion, and her lovely elegant style was working well into many viewers' hearts in 1983, this one included, and another fantastic video, to follow her last one, this time with special guest Hank Marvin of The shadows, to follow the Paul McCartney appearance on her last video.
Billy Joel - by the way he was put as playout with no video to accompany the end credits, it looked like TOTP had enough of this No.1 by now, but not necessarily the record-buying public. Shame that he had to go out like this, with only half the song played in the credits, and no viewing of him or his video.
Slade's first TV appearance was actually in 1969, when they were in their skinhead phase, and can be seen here:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrasNTwuF1o
Wow! 'Martha my Dear'!! One of my favourite tracks off 'The White Album'. Didn't realise Slade recorded it, although this is an excellent cover and not listed as a single release. Don Powell's drum sound at times reminds me of when he played on 'You've got to be a Hustler if you want to get on'.
DeleteThanks for the link John, it's great.
Now I need to watch the actual TOTP show - it looks a cracker.
My pleasure, sct! The boys recorded Martha My Dear for their debut album, Beginnings, which was released when they were still known as Ambrose Slade.
DeleteNoddy Holder looked only just recognisable in that footage!
DeleteI don't know if TOTP ever showed the video for 'My oh my' but it's fabulous...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlwA5GLBmJM
Actually thinking about it, the line "we can all swing together..." is surely influenced by the Lindisfarne singalong track 'We can swing together'?
Hey Dory, you weren't so complimentary about Tracey Ullman when she was taking the piss out of Thereza Bazar ;o)
DeleteIndeed, but boy did she make up for it with these videos of her own songs, and I can see her in a completely different light. More like bright sunlight.
DeleteMichael Hurll overcomes his alleged deep dislike of Wrighty to let him back on the show for only the second time this year, and he is predictably irritating and OTT in his introductions. He does seem to have a decent rapport with DLT, but thankfully the Hairy Cornflake is not tempted to match his co-host's "I'm mad, me" antics. When they are holding up their Radio Times awards, I wonder who the woman was standing between them?
ReplyDeleteAs Christmas approaches, the contenders for the festive number 1 gather here to commence battle. Ten years on from Merry Xmas Everybody, Slade doubtless hoped this anthemic offering would carry them back to the top, but while it didn't quite do that it certainly came very close, and sparked another mini-revival in their chart fortunes. From the staging of this performance, it looks as if they hoped it might become a football terrace anthem as well. Kenny and Dolly provide a complete contrast with this glitzy live rendition of a fine song. While both are in good voice, the orchestral backing sounds very flat to me, and it's a shame we didn't get to hear the actual record.
Slade were probably rather irritated to be beaten to the Christmas number 1 by a bunch of left-wing actors, but this version of the Yazoo classic is very well done and does have a vaguely festive feel to it, even if the group themselves are not much to look at. I'm not sure it is truly a capella however, as I detect some synth sounds on the backing. Wikipedia claims that Mrs Thatcher once declared this her favourite record, which would be somewhat ironic if true - I know she did once say that she loved Two Little Boys...
Genesis appear to have fallen on hard times in this drab video, and they all have a clothes peg attached to one of their lapels, for some reason. One of the group's better singles anyway, and head and shoulders above virtually all of the Phil Collins solo catalogue. The West Midlands are well represented tonight, as Oswald Osbourne somehow finds his way to the studio for a lively performance. While full of hard rock clichés, this is a surprisingly tuneful effort and the crowd seem right into it - thankfully, nobody chucks a bat onstage!
Long before Mistletoe and Wine Cliff was already making a habit of releasing singles for Christmas. This is the third in a row after Daddy's Home and Little Town, though it isn't exactly festive as a cuckolded Cliff pleads with his lover not to be unfaithful while he is away. It's all a bit forgettable, to be honest, but the video does feature some nice shots of London. Tracey Ullman continues to mine the nostalgia market with this accomplished Doris Day cover, and the ballroom dancing scenes in her video are very amusing, particularly when she is left spinning on the glitter ball. The Aztecs are back for a new performance, seemingly with socks on this time - just a shame that the BBC4 audience won't get to see this one at all. As Dory mentions, the BBC were clearly now fed up with Billy Joel as he gets relegated to the playout, though I can understand why playing the video for a fifth week in a row may not have appealed...
There was an identical situation in the drought-ridden summer of 1976 when Elton John & Kiki Dee were at No.1 for 5 weeks with Don't Go Breaking My Heart, where after 4 weeks of playing the video at No.1, and no studio appearances, Noel Edmonds presenting the show said 'we can't play the same film again' (as the term video had not been coined yet), but they gave it as the playout danced by a very undressed Ruby Flipper, but at least it was something more than just studio audience dancing:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4MOm8R22_k
Thanks for that link Dory. I had quite forgotten that they did that, but it's got a certain charm about it and the video must have been show at least six times prior to this. Noel looks very smart in his suit and tie.
DeleteOn the same day England played (and lost to) West Indies in a One Day Match.....at Scarborough! I don't think they've played international cricket there since...
Presumably those Slade scarves had been stored in Dave Hill's garage ever since 1973? Well, you never know. It's an anthem by the numbers, but it's OK as far as it goes. Not my favourite 80s single from them.
ReplyDeleteKenny and Dolly with a country standard, though it was written by the Bee Gees, demonstrating their range. Or their wide appeal, perhaps. Why does Dolly admonish Kenny with an "Excuuuse me!" here?
Anyone remember the Spitting Image version of The Flying Pickets? With the bald bloke looking like a horror zombie? Ah, those were the days when satire meant something. Anyway, get used to this one.
Genesis, with Phil dressed as Eric Morecambe at the end of Eric and Ern's Thames shows. They should have made more of that resemblance. Song, not their worst, but I can't get excited about it.
Ozzy, as Steve says in his concern, genuinely insane about this time, tried to kill his wife and everything. But on with the music, and this is a very decent solo effort, working those clichés to make something that's not bad at all. Though don't you usually howl at the moon?
Another wild man of rock next, Sir Cliff, with a nice and sweet tune that was beginning his descent into appealing to the nation's grannies. He's done worse too.
Tracey Ullman with another terrific video, really well acted, though she'd never be a match for the honeyed tones of Doris.
Aztec Camera's Spanish guitars in a performance that's much the same as before, then we're spared the Billy Joel video for a 5th time, though we can still hear its sound effects.
hosts: dlt looks kind-of frazzled and also seems rather downbeat, leaving the clowning to his partner. was he not well, or did he and wrighty not get on?
ReplyDeleteslade: continuing there unlikely comeback with a cover of "sailing" - oh sorry, apparently it's one of their own tunes. frankly i'd prefer "merry xmas everybody", even though i've heard it a million times before
kenny/dolly: the latter is starting to get on a bit here, but hasn't yet reached the stage where she looks like one of those cadavers that are made up and laid in a coffin for mourners to look at. the heebeegeebees did a brilliant parody of this kind of schmaltzy duet crap by ageing music legends with a song by "the stars over 45" (featuring "dolly hardon" among others) called "we can't get hits on our own anymore"
flying pickets: this is supposedly acapella, but if they are actual voices rather than synths doing the backing then they've had a hell of a lot of electronic trickery done to them - a taste of what horrors were to come in the future with autotune. i was a regular watcher of "coronation street" in the 90's when the late lead singer brian popped up in it (sans sideboards) as a garage mechanic, and i have to say he was pretty good in the part
genesis: another fairly mediocre post-phil collins solo effort from them, that's all
ozzy: even though i had no interest in his music whatsoever, i used to really enjoy reading the adventures of ozzy on the road as reported by the sounds "oi" scribe gary bushell (antics included pissing on the alamo, "hanging" a dwarf on stage, and of course biting the heads off creatures previously capable of flight). given the notoriety accrued from such acts, it's no surprise that his post-sabbath project "blizzard of oz" got hastily dropped in favour of a solo billing
cliff: i noticed from fast-forwarding through the vimeo screen that his sidies' come a poor second to lead picket. but as far as the facial adornment stakes were concerned they could consider themselves fortunate that noddy had finally reined in his legendary mutton chops, as otherwise they would both have been in the shade (in more ways than one)
tracey ullman: hasn't the novelty worn off yet?
aztec camera: without peeking at wiki or elsewhere on the internet, i'm going to stick my neck out and say i remember roddy frame's bass-laying cohort had the forename of campbell
i don't normally summarise editions, but this really was piss-poor with little if anything to suggest it was actually the fine year in pop that was 1983. and only my determination not to miss a review managed to motivate me to put this one together!
We get Merry Xmas 1983 style next week dont we?
DeleteWe get Merry Xmas 1983 style next week dont we?
DeleteAs we rapidly approach 1984, is there going to be a TOTP Story of 1984 and Big Hits 1984, as I have not heard any talk of it yet, and by now we usually have some banter on here about it? The question is how long is BBC4 going to continue with these repeats, as we have been given 8 years of TOTP shows since this nostalgia all started 6 years ago in 2011?
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in watching up to and including 1995, where record companies were still paying for videos made on location and with defined budgets. After that, gone were the days of filming at locations, and in came computers to take over and give the impression, but the viewer could clearly see the difference, and videos were not really videos any more, or film was not film any more.
I think we are definitely getting 1984, as it was teased at the end of The Story of 1983. We will reach the last show of '83 on Friday week, so unless BBC4 have other plans I would assume The Story of 1984 will be on the week after. The situation should be a bit clearer by this time next week, hopefully.
DeleteSteve Wright was at peak levels of 'irritant' here, fortunately DLT as usual managed to link songs without talking random crap or looking like he was about to be carted off to an asylum.
ReplyDeleteSlade - I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Lea recently when he popped in to be interviewed by one of my fellow radio presenters - he's a lovely man, full of stories of the old days and I specifically asked him a question about their TOTP appearances in the 80s. He said that the other acts were very respectful to Slade, though he did say that he wasn't overly keen on The Flying Pickets ever BEFORE they'd beaten them to Christmas No.1!
As for this song, it's alright but not their best 80s tune.
Rogers / Parton - Can't get excited by it, though I know that others love it!
Flying Pickets - A decent cover version, with Brian Hibbard also having been in Doctor Who as well as Corrie and (less excitingly) once spent some time drinking with my Father-in-law at a Wales vs Ireland Rugby Union match!
Genesis - Quite a jaunty tune, like many on this show, not top notch but certainly listenable.
Ozzy - I'm not his biggest fan, but this song is good fun and he is - as ever - good value in the performance.
Cliff - So nondescript that I could have sworn that we'd already seen it ages ago, but that must have been a different drippy ballad with a vaguely similar video.
Tracey Ullman - Again, not awful but nothing for me to rave about either.
Aztec Camera - Such a shame that both performances of this have been missed on BBC4.
Nice to see the Beeb now as thoroughly bored with the No.1 song as I am. And that, having watched 3 TOTP in a day, is quite enough for me!!
Well, I must say, I have run out of superlatives for this edition. Not a duffer in sight. I thoroughly enjoyed this so big thanks again to Xrayfour for letting us see it and judge. Such a shame that this is being denied a BBC4 repeat.
ReplyDeleteSlade – My oh My – Have Slade ever sounded better? This is a pure and simple terrace anthem complete with instrumental break and false ending before Don belts out the drums to give us another round. Don’t the crowd love it, and don’t our hyper hosts enjoy it too? Steve Wright has never been better on the show than here.
Kenny & Dolly – Islands in the Stream – Huge in the US, we finally catch on here to a great Bee Gees penned song with a live rendition here with some nice interaction between the two stars.
Flying Pickets – Only you – OK, so it’s not in the same league as Yazoo’s original. But it’s certainly different – take a great song, put an original take on it and, bingo! Christmas no1. I always felt that given it was unaccompanied acapella (aside from the drum noise near the start which sounds synthesised) they should have had a crack at singing this live. No backing track needed after all. Instead, it’s a tricky mime; especially for the guys singing the percussion.
Genesis – That’s all – At last! A second single hit off an album for Genesis. Previously they flopped with ‘Many too many’ from ‘..and then there were three..’ (a personal favourite), ‘Duchess’ from ‘Duke’ and ‘Keep it Dark’ from ‘Abacab’. This song was in the live set for a fair while and is one of their most well-known singles. Sadly the third single from the ‘Genesis’ album after this was quite awful!
Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon – Little did we know what the future had in store for Ozzy! This isn’t bad at all for the genre and boy does he look scary! Kids must have been terrified seeing those spooky eyes! What did the audience make of this I wonder as it was hardly regular 1983 fare.
Cliff Richard – Please don’t fall in love – Mike Batt spins another ‘Winter’s tale’ just in time for Christmas (written and produced by the man). This, for me is one of Cliff’s very best singles. It sums up how I was feeling at the time lyrically and the video with snatches of the Embankment, Royal Albert Hall and The Mall is a treat.
Tracey Ullman – Move over Darling – Tracey could do no wrong in 1983. Another great cover and video. Train spotters; where was this shot please?
Aztec Camera – Oblivious – BBC4 viewers will certainly be oblivious of this, and more the pity as it’s a great single getting another outing.
Billy Joel – Uptown Girl – So no video this week? But the video track was used as you can hear the sound effects dubbed over. Maybe it was shown in the studio but not fitted into the show’s footage. OK so five weeks at no1 (well deserved) and no studio footage, but hey, Queen were number one for nine weeks and they showed the video every single time.
Just one regret from this show (or missed opportunity). Yes were not featured with ‘Owner of a lonely heart’ which went on to top the US charts early in 1984.
Yes owner of a lonely heart class tune
Deletesct, were we actually watching the same show? having said that, i liked both "keep it dark" and "owner of a lonely heart". especially the latter, that was essentially a trevor horn makeover. which didn't bother me as the man could do no wrong at this point as far as i was concerned, although i don't know what diehard yes fans made of it. did it ever actually appear on totp?
Delete"Owner Of A Lonely Heart, much better than a owner of a broken heart". Wow, what fantastic lyrics, but I think that this probably did not resonate well with the TOTP programme to feature it during its top 30 run. This delightful number has been played on the radio for years since, and still sounds brilliant. It is certainly one of my all time favourites from the 80s, and pity that TOTP did not have time for it.
DeleteI don't think Steve Howe was too keen on playing the song after Trevor Rabin left, but it was a popular song and the band's best known song. Not too many people can hum 'The Revealing Science of God' after all....
DeleteGlenn Marshall's uploaded 7th Feb 1976 Supersonic if anyone's interested at vimeo.com/217552610
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like 70s pop. It was by far the best time to be a musician, and the most romantic era for music in our recent history.
DeleteWhat was the second song on this Supersonic show? Something about listening to the buddha I think, so anyone who can identify the song and who sings it, would be great thanks.
Also, would like to know the song at 15 minutes into the show with main chorus "for an angel", which sounds like Air Supply type of music, but whoever this band was with lead singer in smart white jacket, would also be great to know.
Thanks for this, what a peculiar show, particularly regarding the presentation. It perfectly highlights the different approaches the BBC and ITV took to music TV.
DeleteAccording to the end credits the two 'unknown' bands were Ozo and Rogue. Neither of them made any impression on the Guinness Book Of Hit Singles.
This episode was highly irritating and mostly not enjoyable. Steve Wright was and still is a complete arse. The line up of songs didn't help matters either. Far too much mediocrity.
ReplyDeleteStory of 1984 and big hits of 1984 are on Friday 2nd June from 9.00
ReplyDeleteExcellent news! Another great year in popular music.
DeleteSeconded! I may not be watching all the shows (either then or now!) but I'm thoroughly enjoying the music from this period. For me, things went downhill around 1986 when the charts started to fill up with tuneless (c)rap.
DeleteHi Dory, see below
ReplyDeleteShow 24: (7th Feb 76)
Sweet - The Lies In Your Eyes (repeat)
Ozo - Listen To The Buddah
Mr Big - I Wish I Was Young Again
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver - Arms Of Mary
Rogue - Fallen Angel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - White White Dove
Hmm, Ozo and Rogue seemed to typify the 70s mood and sound of the time quite beautifully I thought.
DeleteWorking through the forbidden shows, and some crackers coming through. I notice someone else made a comment that I was going to make - lot of long lived acts/performers in this!
ReplyDeleteLove Ozzy!
Don't remember the cliff track - and nice synchronicity with Hank in the Tracey video. Don't think I've seen the Tracey video.she certainly pulled in the guest celebs...
Didn't think I knew the Aztec Camera track until it hit the chorus. They appear to have forgotten to give the verse any obvious tune (did you see what I did there?)