Sitting down on the job....
05/07/84 (Jimmy Savile & Mike Smith)
OMD – “Talking Loud & Clear” (11)
At its peak.
Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time” (4) (Montreux clip)
Went up one more place.
Ultravox – “Lament” (32)
Went up ten more places.
Thompson Twins – “Sister Of Mercy” (28)
Their run of top ten hits had come to an end, but this one almost got there, peaking at number 11.
Shannon – “Sweet Somebody” (36)
Peaked at number 25.
Prince – “When Doves Cry” (21) (video)
His breakthrough hit in the UK, and the first of sixteen top ten hits when it reached number 4.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes” (1) (rpt from 21/06/84)
Fourth of nine weeks.
The Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)” (6) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
Back to BBC4 next for July 12th.
This is the last time that Jim'll would present a regular show in the studio, though his presence here is almost entirely superfluous, as Smitty does most of the introductions and all the chart rundowns. You get the feeling Michael Hurll was well aware that the Jangly One was now past it, and so was using him here more like an honorary mascot, burbling his usual inanities, than anything else. Smitty, to his credit, is a lot less annoying here than in some earlier shows, perhaps because he has to do all the real work. However, it was apparently the regular use of clips from this edition on news bulletins after Yewtree first broke that led to his refusal to allow any further repeats of shows he hosted, as he felt that his association with TOTP was now toxic to his reputation.
ReplyDeleteOMD are seated on uncomfortable-looking office chairs for the opening performance, so no great surprise that Andy, already prone to hyperactive tendencies in any case, is back on his feet by the end! We then get a clip of Cyndi Lauper miming at the Montreux Festival, which I remember was regarded by the BBC as a big deal back in the 80s, with regular coverage every year. However, for whatever reason it then faded from prominence.
Ultravox quickly follow up the big success they enjoyed with their previous single by releasing the title track from the parent album. The band all look dressed for summer apart from Billy Currie, who once again tries to grab the spotlight by indulging in some weird arm swaying. I'm not familiar with this song, which features some nice synth work but is perhaps a touch too sedate for its own good. I don't really know this Thompson Twins track either - after a slow start which threatens a full-blown dirge it does pick up quite nicely, though I can still understand why it wasn't as big a hit as previous releases. Good to see Alannah without that wretched cap of hers.
Shannon is in the studio to give a performance reminiscent of those recently given by Evelyn Thomas, but this very generic and forgettable mid-80s dance track is nowhere near as memorable as High Energy. Much better to follow from Prince; while I am not a great fan of the Purple One, I think When Doves Cry is possibly his best song, and a fine one with which to make his TOTP debut. Quite a busy video too, with Prince appearing to pee into a pond at one point before getting on to his bike to join the Revolution and some dodgy superimposed doves. The Pointer Sisters play us out, but the audience don't seem keen to jump along...
Interesting regarding the Mike Smith reason to refuse all his TOTP shows being shown because of this very edition, being in the same picture as Saville. Does that mean that if he was not co-presenter on this show with Saville, then we would have seen all his shows on these re-runs? Notice that on the end-credits on this show it shows in big letters Jimmy Saville OBE!
DeleteWith regard to the Thomson Twins, the reason it wasn't as big a hit (and really the start of the decline no more top ten hits were to ensue after the last one) is that when a fan base gets used to a dancy snappy style and then suddenly get a solemn start to a song like this one, it turns them away on the whole. The start of the song is the first impression always, and I think this was the cardinal error for the group during their charting career.
Agree entirely regarding this Prince breakthrough hit in the UK, and also I think his finest. Funny how it took about 4 years in the UK for him to get noticed, as his first hit I Wanna Be Your Lover peaked at No.41 in the UK charts as far back as January 1980! Suffice to say that he was looking much more sexually charged on the video for this new hit When Doves Cry.
There is more to it, sadly. Cast your minds back to October 2012 and you may recall Mike Smith speaking out in defense of Radio 1 and against the behaviour of the BBC & the Met, especially with regards to DLT. It's all on Twitter & his blog, and still can be found online. It was after he stuck his neck out that BBC News started using this show to illustrate their news - as they always used 23-12-75 when reporting on DLT - and Mike recognised what they were up to. Of course, the BBC claimed this was a mistake and not malicious, so "legal action" was taken to prevent them using any footage of Mike from Top Of The Pops, and his death in 2014 meant that could not be easily undone.
DeleteThat this was all so hushed up that no-one told BBC Four is evident on The Story of 1981, and that clip of Mike introducing his first show.
Mike was booked in with Shaun Tilley to cover the 4th November 82 show for his TOTP Playback radio show and, despite his refusal to allow UK Gold to screen his editions in the mid-90s, he thought warmly of his 5.5 years on the show - the show he hosted almost weekly at times during his stint on the R1 Breakfast Show between 86 & early 88.
It's possible that Smitty would have taken a different attitude to his shows being repeated if Yewtree hadn't blown up, but we will probably never know for sure - he was definitely upset at the time about those clips being used. However, he had previously blocked his shows from being broadcast on UK Gold, so it would seem that his problems with TOTP went back way before Yewtree.
DeleteJust seen your post Chris - thanks for the very interesting extra details. Do you happen to know why MS didn't allow UK Gold to repeat his shows?
DeleteUK Gold was a non-BBC channel so at the time the presenters had to agree to allow repeats and accept the fee. Mike and Noel Edmonds weren't keen, so declined. Within the BBC, post-John Birt reforms, a BBC presenter no longer has any 'rights' as to what gets repeated, or used - in any context - as clips or, indeed, 'news'. Paul Gambaccini mentioned it - either in his book or on this (highly recommended) podcast http://wordpodcast.co.uk/2017/01/29/word-podcast-259-paul-gambaccini/
DeleteGuys thanks for your informative observations. Very interesting.
DeleteGood to hear from you Chris and thanks for the info. So the BBC have only themselves to blame for being unable to broadcast the Smitty shows then?
DeleteThanks for the info Chris. After reading that, my sympathy levels for his position have gone up by about 1000%. I'm glad there was someone willing to stand up for the people being treated unfairly because of the whole Yewtree and associated enquiries turning into an industry, and rightly having a go a the Met for the way that people like Gambo and Freddie Starr to name just 2 were treated.
DeleteThe Shannon song was ok for me, I thought the Change song we heard recently was way stiffer and more generic.
Deleteultravox: i thought i was way past the shark-jumping point with them, but this is surprisingly listenable with shades of late-era japan about it. but i can see why it wasn't a big hit though. does the shy and retiring billy currie's shirt have a picture of himself on it?
ReplyDeletethompson twins: after a sluggish beginning, this is actually far more enjoyable than i remember it being - perhaps because like the ultravox track it has mallets a go go? however it has to said there is more of a hint of their other hits in the melody, which was perhaps why it didn't do so well as them? annoyah leaves her silly titfer at home for this one - thus revealing her silly barnet!
shannon: i hated "let the music play" at the time, so perhaps i screened this one out of my memory as a result? whatever, it's actually a quality slice of electro-dance groove that i shall definitely be looking to add to my collection
prince: where's the bass?
Angelo, I noticed that the last three shows you have uncharacteristically not included the viewing figures. I'm just really trying to see the trend of the show, as the 10-12 million viewing figures of the 1981-1983 period seem far behind us, and recently we have been getting sub-9 million audiences! So could this be the decline in the popularity of the show from 1984 onwards, or something else?
ReplyDeleteCyndi Lauper - her shaven head on her right side was reminiscent of the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow (I Want Candy, etc), so I wonder if this is where Cyndi got her inspiration on this Montreaux Pop Festival performance?
Chart Rundown - I did not like the new graphics, and preferred the last style which was consistent for the last three years or so. However, they could quite easily have played Gary Glitter at no.25, as he was still climbing the charts, and already two weeks since his last appearance on the show.
Good Lord, that would have then been three reasons for BBC4 not to show this episode, i.e., Jimmy Saville, Mike Smith, Gary Glitter! Perhaps Saville's close association with Glitter in the 70s had gone sour, and asked for Glitter not to appear this week? Who knows?
Shannon - flies in from New York and gets a studio appearance as low as no.36 in the charts. Pity that she was not shown on TOTP while climbing the charts with her first two hits which were much better than this one, even though the videos were available for those!
Prince - as commented above, but would add that this breakthrough hit in the UK was no doubt bolstered by its feature/plug last week in the JK segment.
Playout - Oh look, the girl in the summer blue sky minidress is back. She was also on the playout with the same sexy dress about 2-3 shows ago! Nice to see her again.
I'm sure Angelo will correct me if I'm wrong but the ratings for each TOTP are posted by BBC4 when they do live tweets for the 7.30pm showing. They only have the ratings for the top 10 shows in any given week so if TOTP didn't make the top 10, there's no ratings info available.
DeleteOld ratings occasionally get posted on the Digital Spy forums too and there's a website about the Christmas Day TOTP's which includes ratings for some of the shows.
DeleteI think this is what's known in contraband circles as a "double whammy" - plus an image of Sir Jim'll's mug cuts straight into Gary Glitter's!
ReplyDeleteOMD up first, with Andy chair dancing like a secretary in her office when Whitney Houston comes on the radio. The song's so mellow he might as well have been lying in bed.
Cyndi at Montreux, with the director trying to see up her skirt in the shiny floor's reflection. Is the Montreux Rock Festival still a thing? Do Montreux still hand out golden and silver roses as prizes? Wasn't Smoke on the Water written about the festival?
Hey, getting us in party mood, woo, it's Ultravox with the fun time foot stomper Lament. I spent most of this trying to work out what was on their T-shirts, Olympics for Midge, I got that much.
Thompson Twins with a song that takes an age to get going, then they go all faux-religious on us with a hymn to what sounds like a downtrodden housewife in the lyrics. It's OK, much like their other hits: just OK.
Serena Williams next, no, it's Shannon, looking happy to be there, or probably happy she's getting some exposure for one of her singles. Alas, it's not one of the stronger ones, it's amusing enough in its 80s production but a bit in one ear and out the other.
Prince, when I first heard this, when he got to the line "This is what it sounds like when doves cry", I thought he was going to actually start making "coo-coo-coo!" noises. Well, he didn't. Anyway, another video with clips from the relevant movie, Purple Rain in this case, which is a fantastic film to listen to as long as somebody's singing. Pity they left out the part where Apollonia purifies herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka - I bet the Purple One thought about including it, though.
Frankie still triumphant, and a repeat of the Pointer Sisters to groove to for the audience, I know we've heard it before on here but it's a solid choice.
Thanks again Neil B. This was a pretty fine edition (no1 excepted….)
ReplyDeleteOMD – Talking loud and clear – Relaxed OMD reminds me that I really quite liked this at the time.
Cyndi Lauper – Time after time – Presumably Cyndi didn’t sing this classic live at Montreux? Shame, but we get treated to some amazing eye make-up.
Ultravox – Lament – Hot on the heels of one of my least favourite Ultravox hits is the title track from the album that I really like. There is a wonderful ‘feel good’ video to go with it too. I note that the glockenspiel is much in evidence…..
Thompson Twins – Sister of Mercy - ….as it is on here! Is it the same one? At least on this track we get to hear Alannah sing a bit. Not a bad song but lacking the hooks of the previous three hits.
Shannon – Sweet somebody – Wasted flight…
Prince – When Doves cry- Fabulous. I loved Prince’s early hits, but latterly his output didn’t inspire me much. Good video too which we saw a snatch of on the JK slot last week.
Chart rundown- -whizzy new pictures/numbers. Oh look, Billy Joel has gone up again. Actually, this single was flipped to promote the other side; the epic ‘Goodnight Saigon’ from the ‘Nylon Curtain’ album as the A-Side with a different picture sleeve and also listed as a double ‘A’ Side.
Frankie – Two Tribes – next
Pointer Sisters – Jump (for my love) – Surprised they didn’t playout with Jacko again, but instead we get this absolute cracker from the Sisters that the audience are enthusiastically dancing to. There’s a fair bit broadcast too, although I suspect a longer playout sits untouched in the archives.
Thankfully not too much of the ultra annoying Jim’ll which, sadly, means we get a bigger than usual portion of Shitty.
ReplyDeleteIt’s OMD rocking the David Brent furniture stylee. Welcome back, Malcolm!
I’m surprised Cyndi Lauper could lift her arms up with all that wrist baggage.
It’s Ultravox with the ever slappable Billy Currie. Japan meets Phil Collins? No thanks.
The Thompson Twins with a murder song. Cripes! Very unfair of The Sisters of Mercy not to release a song called “Thompson Twin” in return as a thank-you.
What a horrible new mugshot design!
I really wish we’d had Shannon in the studio performing “Let The Music Play” instead of this. Still, a decent, perky performance nevertheless.
Not a big fan of Prince, I’m afraid, so a quick FF for me, as per the number one.
So, Mike, The Pointer Sisters are jumping up? They’re static at number six, you idiot.
Yeah, I remember when the group Sisters Of Mercy came along at around 1985-86, I always thought of The Thompson Twins, but the sound difference between the two groups could not be more different!
DeleteAgreed about Shannon. If fact her video for Let The Music Play was available and even in the music video rundown, but they never showed it as a main list play even when it was going up. Similarly the Pointer Sisters only got one main list play for each song, i.e., Automatic and Jump.
arthur i'm guessing that like myself you don't think prince's music matches up to the hype? i always thought he fell between the two stools of white rock and black dance/r&b, and the fact that he refused to use a producer (or at least some kind of sounding board to bounce his ideas off) meant his copious output was wildly inconsistent to put it mildly. the only track of his i unreservedly like is the live version (apparently he never recorded a studio one as far as i i can tell) of "it's gonna be a beautiful night"
DeleteMore or less nailed it, Wilby, though I do think "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" is majestic.
Deleteof course by the early 80's prince had already made several albums, but up to that point he was strictly regarded as a black r&b artist in the manner of stevie wonder (albeit nowhere as successful). but then he got rid of his afro and started dressing in androgynous style (with some very brief briefs and a pair of stockings to my recollection), and suddenly the american and british rock press were hailing him as some kind of hendrix for the 80's!
DeleteArthur, the finest moment for Prince as far as I'm concerned is when he released Diamonds & Pearls in 1990. The Most Beautiful Girl came out later in 1994 and more successful, but still the riff on Diamonds & Pearls was just majestic, to use your expression.
DeletePrince, like Adam Ant, always just seemed too weird to me. The video of When Doves Cry definitely left a negative effect on me. My sister though loved both of them. Now I can like When Doves Cry more. Though most of his music doesn't appeal to me that much, there's a bit of camp sounding side to some of his stuff to me, can feel overblown.
ReplyDeleteThanks again Neil, this edition was quite enjoyable! As others have observed, Jim could easily have been replaced with a waxwork dummy and a speaker going 'Uhuhuhuh, now then, now then' for all he actually did on the show. And of course, the rundown redesign is exactly as 1984 as you expect to be i.e. horrid.
ReplyDeleteUltravox - Lots of love for this it seems! Not from me, I find it a bit of a dirge.
Thompson Twins - Slightly confused on this one, as I thought the single version started with the slow bit, but with no vocals. Maybe I'm thinking of the album version. Anyhow, I really like it and would much rather hear this than the big hits yet again.
Shannon - A shame she couldn't jet over for the 2 bigger hits, given that TOTP didn't bother with them at all. Now 3rd single syndrome has set in, even appearing on the show wasn't going to boost it much. Surprisingly though, especially given that I was barely aware of it before, this is pretty good stuff.
Prince - I bet if you asked people what his first big hit was, 99.9% would say..erm...1999. I do like lots of his songs, but agree that he also produced an awful lot of drivel. And his fans tend to be extremely hardcore. However, this is one of his better songs thankfully.
Surprised at another FGTH repeat, though at least BBC4 viewers haven't missed a new performance. Less surprised at The Pointer Sisters to close the show, a sensible choice.
I thought When Doves Cry put Prince on the map here though, and that video too. I certainly liked 1999 more at the time though.
DeleteTOTP showed the video for Shannon's "Let The Music Play" in a February edition hosted by Slimes and Hey Wow Powell but, inexplicably, BBC4 cut it from the show which then ran short and they filled the gap with a "Sound of..." clip!
DeleteHmmm, that seems to be an assignment for Drykid!
Delete