Will the real Limahl please stand up
25/10/84 (Peter Powell & (for the final time) Dave Lee Travis)
Feargal Sharkey (with Madness) – “Listen To Your Father” (30)
His first solo hit, peaking at number 23.
Lionel Richie – “Penny Lover” (22) (video)
Went up four more places.
Alison Moyet – “All Cried Out” (8)
At its peak.
ZZ Top – “Gimme All Your Lovin’” (34) (video)
The first of two top ten hits for ZZ Top, both peaking at number 10.
Limahl – “Never Ending Story” (40)
His only solo top ten hit was also his final hit, peaking at number 4.
Billy Ocean – “Caribbean Queen” (25) (video)
Seven long years after his last top ten hit (Red Light Spells Danger) this one made it to number 6.
Eugene Wilde – “Gotta Get You Home Tonight” (32)
His only top 30 hit, peaking at number 18.
Status Quo – “The Wanderer” (23)
Became their 18th top ten hit when it wandered to number 7.
Wham! – “Freedom” (1) (rpt)
Second of three weeks at number one.
Kim Wilde - "The Second Time" (29) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
Next up is November 1st.
One of the best editions of the year I would say. Many times over, some of the best editions over the years have been on DLT-presented shows, not for his presenting, but for the music quality on the show. However, I can see now why this was his last TOTP. He must have overstepped the mark when sending off Status Quo with those remarks of 'haven't you retired yet, what's the matter with you?'
ReplyDeleteWith the changing atmosphere of seriousness by the mid-80s replacing light-hearted 70s sense-of-humour, the poor soul was now not fitting the direction of a more serious show with commercialness and celebrity taking over from whatever was allowed before. We say goodbye to a good, funny presenter if not whatever the BBC have against him.
Some great videos this week, with the highlight being the legendary ZZ Top video which was of course a dream in the end by the mechanic. This concept was repeated with Aha's Take On Me a year later.
Limahl's studio performance was a good one, seeing his affectionate side for the first time with his black female co-lead singer. The same girl featured in the official video, one of two videos made for the song (and the one available on iTunes for purchase) where he also gets affectionate with her, although this original video is not on Utube, but instead the one with scenes from the movie.
Billy Ocean and his Caribbean Queen, as JK told us the week before was originally penned as 'European Queen' but flopped, and so the title change was the key to unlocking its later success. The whole riff of the song is very catchy and one of those great feelgood numbers that I love singing/humming to at times. Good to see that it had significant success on both sides of the Atlantic, as it had been years since 1977 since his last Top 40 hit.
Status Quo - well the remark at the end of this song by DLT was just classic DLT, and where it was seen as funny in a more naive 70s, we were now approaching the mid-80s where the world was getting a whole lot more serious and PC, and not surprisingly it was becoming too uncomfortable for the producers to keep him in the show. Same happened to Benny Hill during the 80s where the funny side was no longer funny.
Actually Dory, DLT had good reason for asking Quo why they hadn't retired yet, as they had announced some months earlier that they were breaking up and had already completed their supposed farewell tour by the time of this appearance!
DeleteThe producers might have been more upset about DLT practically wrestling that poor girl in his first solo link! While I think he's been unfairly treated, this wasn't a particularly edifying sight.
DeleteAnd I don't think the a-ha video is all a dream by a mechanic, is it? It has mechanics IN IT, but I would never have made the connection with the ZZ Top video.....
Noax, you're being unfair. I meant the Aha video copied from ZZ Top the idea of making the subject of the video a dream. The ZZ top video was a dream by a mechanic, and the Aha video was a dream by a corner shop cafe waitress, so come on man.
DeleteIs it a dream though? Or a portal to another world? I've always assumed the latter. But yes, I did miss the point of what you were driving at Dory, so apologies for that.
DeleteForgot to add that the blog title on this one is just brilliant. It is what we have been asking BBC4 every week, and would have made a better title for 1984 than 'Time After Time".
ReplyDeletefeargal sharkey: i don't remember this one at all, and no surprise as it's a mock-soul effort (to which his quavering style isn't really suited) where the only thing of note is that it somewhat curiously switches from a straight rhythm to a shuffle one about half way through. no video of the totp slot on yt though, so i can't see if feargal's already started his transformation from undertones nerd to (somewhat laughably in retrospect) solo lounge lizard or not
ReplyDeletelionel richie: i recall the chorus of this but that's about it, so certainly have no recollection of the video. and oh dear, it's another one with some kind of dramatic preamble - look what you've started, wacko! not as attrocious as his other ballads, but that's not saying much
zz top: or "zed zed top" as they were known by anyone remotely aware of them (which would only have been readers of the weekly rock papers) in blighty up til this point (did anybody know back then that the septics pronounced the letter "z" as "zee"?). we also got to find out that the one without the beard was called mr beard - oh, how we laughed at the delicious irony of that! they'd possibly released even more albums than the "boss" at this point without troubling the uk singles chart compilers, but if you want some straight-ahead driving rock (and without the synthy-bits thrown in for the kidz that other stuff of theirs had at the time) then what a glorious debut this is. there are two things here that you can bet your bottom dollar on: that the video has a dramatic preamble (thanks wacko), and that resident laydeez man dory will be drooling over the totty in it!
limahl: from the sublime to the ridiculous as mr skunk-head becomes the latest pop star to sing on a rubbish theme for what no doubt was a rubbish movie. why wasn't "maddy" given a credit on the record?
billy ocean: having lost touch with the charts in the late 70's after several cod-northern soul efforts, mr ocean (unsurprisingly not his real surname) had a second wind by ripping off... sorry - using lionel rich tea as an influence for his ballads and wacko for his dancefloor stuff. this wasn't the first time that he had nicked a wacko effort in all but name (in this case "bille jean" of course - even the last syllable is the same, for fuck's sake!), as he had done three or four years earlier (literally) to the tune of "don't stop til you get enough" with something called "are you ready". another record related to a hollywood movie (quel surprise), which appropriately was the poundland "indiana jones" in the same manner that billy was the poundland wacko
eugene wilde: now marvin gaye's "sexual healing" get's the plagiarism treatment - hopefully the copyright lawyers were busy that week? however, unlike billy ocean eugene did once do something that wasn't a poor-man's version of something else called "let her feel it" which is a great 80's dance/club track (originally released as a single with his old band simplicious, and later featured on his debut solo album). and his brother al (who recorded under the family surname broomfield) also recorded an excellent r&b-style track called "don't cover up your feelings" a couple of years later
quo: oh dear, how low the once-mighty have fallen. still, at least it isn't "in the army now"
Re pronunciation of ZZ Top - the French pronounce their capital city as Paree, but in the UK we say Par-ris. So, similarly, even if the Americans say Zee Zee, the British pronunciation is Zed Zed!
DeleteI think there is some synth on Gimme All Your Lovin, but only on the chorus and not especially obtrusive. Also, it was When the Going Gets Tough that was used on the Poundland Indiana Jones film you have in mind, not Caribbean Queen.
DeleteWhen the Going Gets Tough was not from a Poundland Indiana Jones, it was from the very expensive Jewel of the Nile, the deeply underwhelming sequel to the rather excellent Romancing the Stone. Liked the theme tune, though.
DeleteThe Poundland Indy was either Richard Chamberlain in the 80s King Solomon's Mines or Chuck Norris in Firewalker.
john thanks for the correction on billy ocean (i should have checked my facts out beforehand!)
Deletethx i meant poundland in as a lack of quality. i tried watching one of those michael douglas indiana jones cash-ins once, and had to give up after a very short time - it was that bad. the same applies to the richard chamberlain effort, but at least it had the excuse of having a paper-thin budget. by the way, sharon stone starred as the love interest in "king solomon's mines" - if only she had been cast instead of kathleen turner in the first douglas film!
I recommend watching the Cannon Films documentary Electric Boogaloo for some eye-opening (and eye-watering) anecdotes about Sharon on the set of those Chamberlain Indy-schmindie movies.
Deletethx that sounds like an interesting documentary (does anyone know why such an odd title though?). i remember cannon being omnipresent in 80's cinema with their action schlock, and then going tits up not too long afterwards despite that. sadly though it appears neither of the guys who owned it in its heyday made themselves available for interview. nor did their infamous directing mainstay michael winner, but at least he had the excuse of dying!
DeleteThe Cannon doc lifts the subtitle from Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, which has become a bit of a meme (e.g. Avatar 2: Electric Boogaloo or whatever).
DeleteOne of the heads, Menahem Golan, has passed away, but the main reason they didn't appear is because as the cash-in merchants they were, they produced their own Cannon doc when they heard about this one! It's not supposed to be very good. But Electric Boogaloo is pretty great, you won't believe the stuff they got away with, and this was just the stuff they were allowed to say legally in the doc. Absolute cowboys!
We finally reach the end of the Yewtree era, though thanks to Smitty there are a lot more skipped shows still to come. DLT is on good form for his final outing, but in retrospect that link where he is playfully manhandling the young girl is somewhat unfortunate. PP is an appropriate choice of co-host, as he would now replace DLT as the longest-serving current presenter, but he makes an unfortunate blunder when he says part 2 of the chart rundown starts from 24, when it then turns out to be 25...
ReplyDeleteIn my memory the only solo Feargal hits were A Good Heart and You Little Thief, so this Chas Smash-penned number was for me an unexpected and welcome opener to the show. The Madness influence is obvious, but the song sounds fresh and lively, and deserved to be a bigger hit. In answer to Wilberforce's question above, Feargal had indeed fully adopted his slick, floppy-haired solo image by this point. TOTP's unofficial Lionel Richie boycott finally comes to an end, with another video of his marred by annoying talky bits and background noise drowning out the music - Lionel also spends much of the time wandering around with a mic that looks as if Kenny Everett bent it on Blankety Blank! As for the song, it's a typically tedious, snoozesome effort.
After Alf, who is looking moody in blue eyeshadow, we get a belated first appearance from ZZ Top, more than a year after this single was originally released. The band themselves had been around for well over a decade, but it took this famous video with its iconic car to fix them in the popular imagination. Good song too, with excellent driving guitar, though I think Sharp Dressed Man and Rough Boy were their best singles.
The Neverending Story was a seminal film for kids of my generation. It was the second film I ever saw at the cinema (after Disney's Jungle Book), and to this day the memory of the hero's horse drowning in the swamp is a traumatic one! I have always liked the theme song, another winner from Giorgio Moroder, and Limahl sings it well enough. He shows good chemistry with his backing singer in this performance too, though I think we can safely assume he didn't really fancy her...
Caribbean Queen deservedly propelled Billy Ocean back to the big time, even if the funky guitar part is blatantly ripped off from Billie Jean. Like Feargal, his image had undergone a considerable transformation to fit in with the yuppified mid-80s, as demonstrated by the video, though it's not as dramatic as his later metamorphosis into a dreadlocked rasta. I got echoes of both Marvin Gaye and Lionel Richie in Eugene Wilde's offering, but at least unlike Lionel he does offer a bit of passion and soul in this otherwise fairly generic effort - he manages a fairly dramatic fall to the studio floor as well! No such histrionics from Quo, who plod efficiently but mechanically through this uninspired Dion cover. This was supposed to be their final single, but in the end would just be the last with Alan Lancaster. Another Wilde to play us out, with the cheerleaders less prominent this week and the crowd appearing to be in decent humour.
john are you just having a postmodern-ironic dig at limahl being a closet gay, or was it actually publically known that he was gambo's boyfriend by this point?
Deleteobviously bama boogie woogie is our resident expert on gay culture, but i seem to remember that most out gays of the period chose to have either skinhead or severely cropped styles (ironically when macho skirt-chasing straight guys were growing their barnets long, dying them blond and using loads of hair products). i remember watching a euston films crime series in the late 80's called "the fear", where an actor called jesse birdsall played the gang leader's best mate/sidekick and sported a really cool and bouncy quiff-like hairstyle as was the fashion with straight men at the time. and then his character came out the closet... and ditched most of his hair in the process of doing so!
I was reading an interview with Marc Almond at the weekend, and he said the first 80s pop star to come out was basically Jimmy Somerville, and everyone else of that orientation followed after - even Marc was not publically out till '87, he says.
DeleteI think Dusty Springfield outed herself in the 70s, though how well publicised that was I'm not sure.
i remember limahl was outed as gambo's boyf quite a while back now, but probably not as far back as the 80's. when it came to openly gay pop stars, of course bowie and reg opened the gates by proclaiming themselves as bisexuals back in the 70's, although throughout the 80's if anything both seemed to be more interested in being conceived as straight rather than gay. and of the new generation jimmy somerville and his bronski beat colleagues plus the revelent frankie guys never actually came out is they were never "in" in the first place. whether pretending to be out-and-out fanny-fodder (george michael, limahl) or somewhat ambiguous (boy george, marilyn, marc almond), i would agree that the latter was probably the first closet gay pop star that made a clean breast of his sexuality (although by that point he had very much become an alternative fixture, so i suppose it didn't really matter as far as his pop career was concerned). i do remember the sun supposedly offering a bounty of a million quid in the late 80's to anyone who could conclusively prove that george michael was gay (nobody took the bait). plus i had a personal experience of dirt-digging by the press in that regard around the same time when i was working in an office that kept records of people registered with GP's, and someone claiming to be an NHS colleague pumped me for personal info on someone i knew to be a pop star (a sexually ambigiuous one, who actually came out a decade or so later), and when i smelt a rat he rang off! although being a gay pop star is no big deal these days (and certainly no barrier to success), it still seems certain guys still can't be frank and honest about that kind of thing (yes cliff, i'm referring to you!)
Deletei have also thought a bit more about the sartorial style of out-and-proud gays of the 80's, and unless bama or anyone else suggests otherwise i would make the suggestion that the brutal look of that era was a reaction to the limp-wristed stereotype of yore?
Wilberforce - my comment was based on the assumption that Limahl was closeted at the time. I'm pretty sure he was, but I don't know when exactly he came out.
DeleteI like the Lionel Richie one more than the Eugene Wilde and I think there is soul to it, I think it's one of his better songs. It's just suffered because it was the last single from the album.
DeleteAs for someone's sexuality I'm not sure I really need to know, it's their own business. The only cases the tabloids should be poking around are when there might be illegal activity.
it has to be remembered that pop stars began to take preference over royals, politicians, tv presenters, priests and suchlike as prime scandal/exposure fodder for the tabs in the 80's, whereas strangely enough they were pretty much ignored prior to that - despite the worst excesses of the likes of led zeppelin!
DeleteFeargal's back, with floppy hair, shoulder pads and a new soul sound! That sounds a bit like Madness on this preamble of a single, one of a number of impressive comebacks in the 80s - we'll see another later.
ReplyDeleteLionel Richie attempts another "cinematic" video with Penny Lover, his hymn to Paul Nicholas in Just Good Friends. Or maybe Li's favourite character in Inspector Gadget. Anyway, bland as you like, the novelty was wearing off for us Brits by now.
Alison next, apparently sporting a duvet cover from a teenage boy's bedroom (hope she washed it). Pete certainly likes this one. One of those rare singles where the male backing vocals are higher pitched than the main female ones.
And the one without a beard is called Frank Beard! Ahahahahahahaaaa... erm, thanks Noel. The American Status Quo, they'd been around for aeons before they staked their claim as good ol' rockers with excellent musicianship to prove their professional credentials. It's solid stuff, but I find it difficult to get truly excited by them, they were a bit too slickly marketed.
Limahl and his nameless pal (who does at least 75% of the vocal heavy lifting) with this week's movie song. I too went to see this as a treat with my dad, at the local fleapit (now long gone... sigh), and was appropriately impressed with its embrace of escapism and excellent puppetry. Artax! Nooo! Probably the first German film I ever saw, apart from The Singing Ringing Tree (which is not dissimilar). For that reason I have a soft spot for this soppy ditty.
And here's the second comeback of the night, Billy Ocean, it couldn't have happened to a nicer man, too. Not my favourite of his second wind, but it's slick and catchy enough, sound effects and all.
Eugene Wilde, not one I remember but even so I predicted accurately it would begin with him singing "Ooh baby...!" He gives it his all, performance-wise, but it's not a very memorable tune.
Status Quo, yeesh, how to take a classic rock 'n' roll tune and make it incredibly boring. It's like listening to a vampire drain the life out of his victim, and Rick looks like death warmed up too, he really does seem out of it, it's sad to see.
Did we not see a video for Wham's Freedom, then?
Hearing this Kim Wilde single again, it does owe a lot to the Frankie Two Tribes production, doesn't it?
So farewell, then, DLT, with an appropriately underwhelming show. He would continue his reign of overfamiliar, bumptious terror on Radio 1 for another decade, but even though I found him hard to warm to, I didn't enjoy his downfall. Now, where's Mike Smith's contract?
Some good and bad and indifferent on this one…and the DLT ‘throttling’ link does make uncomfortable viewing…
ReplyDeleteFeargal Sharkey – Listen to your Father – Preferred his previous hit ‘Never never’. In the words of Clifford T Ward….the best is yet to come.
Lionel Richie – Penny Lover – fifth single from the ‘Can’t slow down’ album which everyone must have got by then and a previous minor hit ‘You are’ stuck on the B Side. It’s a relief to actually see Lionel after the ‘Stuck on you’ boycott but as noted above, the soundtrack to the video is intrusive. I like the way the chart rundown picture is the check shirt photo that is on the single picture sleeve.
Alison Moyet – All cried out – FF
ZZ Top – Gimme all your loving- Wonderful stuff. Slightly saucy video but no doubting the durability of this hit which must be on every ‘driving’ compilation ever issued.
Limahl – Never ending Story – Giorgio Moroder’s second hit in the charts and Limahl never sounded better. It’s really a duet with Beth Anderson though as the vocals are really lifted by the harmonies and those Giorgio tinkling keyboards are just so sweet with the guitar sounding a lot like a Brian May solo. Love it; the highlight of this show for me.
Billy Ocean – Caribbean Queen – I loved Billy’s early hits in the 70s but these ‘revival’ hits on the Jive label were just great too and this one topped the US charts.
Eugene Wilde – Gotta get you home – FF
Status Quo – The Wanderer – Why?
Wham! – Freedom – Still a great song.
Kim Wilde – The Second time – Indeed. Good dance out track.
Unlike Dory, I was not exactly excited by this edition. There wasn't much quality here for my tastes.
ReplyDeleteFeargal Sharkey - The first of 5 solo hits, though most people only know one of those. This one is OK, helped by the Madness connection.
Lionel Richie - Tedious tripe.
ZZ Top - It took the UK a while to warm to this one, which is odd as it's a decent rocker, though I was never a huge fan of their stuff.
Limahl - I really like this song, and I've always loved the film too. There's some good Moroder soundtrack songs - my favourite being 'Ivory Tower' which for years was used on the BBC's F1 coverage when they ran down the frid positions!
Billy Ocean - Crap, like most of his 80s stuff.
Eugene Wilde - 'Late night love affair' styled pap.
Status Quo - Just when you thought it couldn't get worse....
Shame (and a bit surprising) that we didn't get a new Wham! performance. Maybe they were on tour?
That should be 'grid' positions, unsurprisingly. Not 'frid'....
DeleteAh Noax, yes indeed and for years I never knew what that music was and all the time it was tucked away on the B Side of 'Never ending Story'. I think I watched all the GP Highlights in that era...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoGMDUkn1A4
I never knew it was the B-side! I think I discovered what it was by the magic of Google....
DeleteJust found link to an edited version of Nov 1st
ReplyDeletehttps://www.4shared.com/folder/ib6RH0f7/_online.html
Good Lord, I just watched it and sad to say that Pointer Sisters, Iron Maiden, Wham (with a new performance of Freedom), and the Meat Loaf playout were all chopped off. Best to wait for the whole show to come in from Neil B for the purposes of posting up on the blog, but thanks anyway.
Deletetotp 1st November 1984 (full version) is here:https://we.tl/yrOwvj7O0n
DeleteThank you, that's terrific!
DeleteI like Penny Lover, I don't care if the video isn't that good and has talking in it, the music is the main thing to me. Lovely groove by the end, with the vocal being left hanging right at the end. Very nice balanced middle section that brings more drama. I also like how the backing instruments answer and confirm the vocal such as after 'one day you'll be mine', 'what more can I do'. The backing vocalists are probably meant to indicate some doo-wop influence.
ReplyDeleteVery romantic sounding song, which I definitely prefer to his Stuck on You. Another nice song he could have released was The Only One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XIW6V3NFCE
Gotta Get You Home Tonight has a nice warm sound and groove though not really great hooks, but the performance makes it pleasant anyway.
A reasonable cover (if not amazing) of The Wanderer, it's a pretty good choice to cover.
ZZ Top not really my style at the time, but such a good hook i like it more now and it's easy to see why it was big. The big beards might make them look novelty but they could rock.
I never really liked the Limahl song that much. I didn't hate it, it has a warm sound and some hooks, maybe the filling out of the line with dragged words or wordless vocal annoyed me. The guitar break not that great. One of the best parts is the change when the female vocal comes in (she gets no credit on the record). The arrangement is ok but I wonder if it might have been done slightly richer.
Feargal Sharkey - this is one more vaguely familiar from the time that I got to know more since. Often his vocal style slightly annoys me, but I love the energy on this, I think it's my favourite song that he sang.
The Billy Ocean I think is a classic though at the time it annoyed me. As I said before I find the attempt to make Caribbean a three syllable word annoying, he does the same in the Europyoun Queen version where it sounds even worse. The best version for me is the African Queen one, because it's already 3 syllables and doesn't need any distortion. Though the a does have less bite than the c in Caribbean, or is that just because I'm less used to it? The video for it at 1 min says European Queen on the poster before it changes to African Queen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQq6TRq-Yok
DeleteI do think the main woman in the video isn't that queen-like, I thought they'd have picked someone more obviously like the 'uptown girl' type as Billy Joel would say.
I don't mind most of the campy sound effects like the laughter in it, though the 'she's simply awesome' at the start is slightly annoying. I love the way it opens with the drum sound followed by the downward scale. The song has great momentum to it.
Billy Ocean ended up being appropriately named doing well across the ocean and getting to no1 for two weeks there.
Deleteof course if everyone pronounced caribbean the way americans do (with the emphasis on the "rib" bit), then billy would have been a gum tree anyway
ReplyDeleteSo, bye then, Hairy Cornflake. Daft, overly tactile which became his downfall, sometimes an annoying pain in the arse, but enthusiastic about the music and a bubbly character, and wrongly pillioried by the BBC. So we’re still left with that cock Wright then.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know about you but, not only do I hate the suspense crushing rundown of acts listed by presenters in the preamble, but well done for playing “Freedom” in the background during the links, giving the game away that Wham! were still number one. They wouldn’t play a song going down in the background, would they?
This was very much an edition where I felt other people had or cold have performed the songs with more success. From Madness’s disastrous own label period we have Feargal Sharkey dropping from “Teenage Kicks” and “My Perfect Cousin” to…this, a song which should clearly have been performed, better, by Madness.
DLT’s cringeworthy headlock link (why did that girl duck down in the first place?) would have been best suited to introducing The Stranglers had they not started dropping, but instead we get Dollar and Pound lover Lionel cashing in with another dollop of post-Commodores syrup complete with stupid background noises in the video. Taking the earlier Terry Wogan / Les Dawson mic comment further, this was a pile of blank.
A bold outfit there for Alison, though black obviously suited her better. Another honest and emotional mime from the consistent Alf.
It’s the Yankee Quo, thus named to ensure their records would be easily found at the back of the record shop racks. Very, very simple and very, very effective. You tell me how often the bassist plays more than five notes in the song or when the drummer changes his pattern, but it works.
The female vocalist with Limahl sounds bored doing those “oh-ohs” in the chorus, but not as bored as me listening to this. Hardly Giorgio and Phil in my opinion.
“Red Light Spells Danger” did indeed spell danger for Les… er, Billy Ocean. After that he released at least five more singles on GTO with just two reaching 54 and 42 in the UK charts, then a flop on Epic, before his successful Jive singles, none of which were my cup of tea unlike his 70’s hits. I know the Caribbean isn’t a continent, but I wonder if America, Asia and Australia were peeved at not getting their own title versions? Mind You, “Antarctican Queen” might not have sold very well.
Here comes Eugene Wilde, looking like Rockwell’s slightly better looking and slightly cooler brother, with a song whose title isn’t the same as the main lyric hook (no “With Me” in the title) and which Alexander O’Neal or Freddie Jackson would have done better.
Dear oh dear oh dear! Quo sleepwalking through “The Wanderer”, which is ironic since they’ve rarely wandered from the same three chords in their entire career.
And we finish with “The Second Time” on TOTP for the second, and last, time.
I definitely have felt Oakey/Moroder is better than this latest soundtrack effort. But as said here the film was reasonably popular so it's a nostalgic song for some people. There was a computer game too I can't remember if that used the theme. Nostalgia can a big influence on opinion, even long lasting hate as a kind of anti-nostalgia.
Deletewhy would epic have signed up a wacko-wannabe/clone like billy ocean, when they had the man himself on their books? mind you, that didn't stop columbia (epic's parent company) from giving the jazz-funk pianist rodney franklin a deal, even though ramsey lewis was already in situ doing virtually the same thing!
Deletewhilst i'm not condoneing the hairy monster's habit of fondling nubile young ladies in some manner, that kind of thing came with the territory at the time. and if any wannabe media whore was that troubled by it then they should have either told the guy as such, or left showbiz and gone back to living a "normal" life
ReplyDeletealso i may have said this before, but whatever people think of him now i still have fond memories of listening to his sunday morning show in the late 80's/early 90's. not only did he do the great "give us a break" trivia spot (which of course was then introduced to pubs as a games machine - and earned me hundreds of pounds in the process!), but he also played some pretty good music on it too (prefab sprout were regulars to my recollection, and of course he viewed michael mcdonald as a god - the guy even ended up performing live on one show!)
I remember DLT as the one with the best sense of humour on Radio 1 and TOTP in the 70s and 80s, and it's funny how his editions of TOTP also invariably had the best music throughout the years. Fun follows fun, and agree totally with Wilberforce that his antics at the time were part of the territory and how TV was accepted in those days.
DeleteLet's try not to rewrite history, and accept that it was what it was, and it would be unusual to see a TV presenter in the 2000s to be making physical contact with a studio audience member in front of the cameras. Can you imagine the newspapers the following day? DLT is 72 now and does not deserve the press that he gets, which assumes he should have lived a 2011 life in 1978 or 1984, and let's remember how much joy and fun he gave us with his humour on those cold winter nights in front of the TV.
...and as others have said, some worse offenders have happily been given airtime on the BBC since, while poor Dave was airbrushed out of TOTP history. And we're still left with that cock Wright.
DeleteThe way things are going these days just about every man in the public eye will be accused of sexual offences.
DeleteYes, it seems that way. Soon we won't be able to watch any films or TV programmes, there will be no politicians left to govern the country and..well..as someone once said, 'This is the way the world ends...'
DeleteThe Feargal Sharkey track was the first release on Madness's own Zarjazz label. And it's pretty impressive. He is of course backed by Madness minus Suggs and plus a few session musicians. Around this time I applied for a job at Zarjazz Records as a general assistant but I didn't get the job. I didn't ever get an interview but then I guess they got a lot of applicants.
ReplyDeleteThe Penny Lover video looks like a good idea turned bad. I'm not that keen on the song but the video with its confusing message and overdubbed real sounds does it no favours.
Great ZZ Top video which has been shown countless times on MTV etc, and was the first of many 80s hits for them. Not quite how three girl and the lucky grease monkey can all fit in the two-seater customised coupe but then I guess it is a dream.
I hated the Limahl track at the time and not a lot has changed, couldn't wait for it to end. It's never ending torture.
I bought a few of Billy Ocean's singles in the 1970s and was surprised when he suddenly made a return to the chart after such a gap. Catchy song with a slick production. Not quite sure what the video has to be with the Carribean but it's okay if a little disappointing. I wonder if he gets together with his "queen" at the end?
A lot of songs going down in the bottom part of the chart and going down slowly (eg Alphaville, Animal Nightlife) which means they must have still been played on the radio even if they weren't on the show again..
Don't remember the Eugene Wilde song but it's a nice laid back groove and he has a good distinctive voice.
Never liked Status Quo much and I think it was this track that put me off them completely. I wish they had retired then.
Wham still at number one with the strangely cut off start. And end with the boring Kim Wilde track which I had forgotten was such a big hit.
Sad to think this was DLT's last show and it looks as though he didn't know it at the time.
Firstly thank you Neil B for this (any many other) forbidden fruits.
ReplyDeleteNot read the other comments yet but need to start with DLT. Even if the Beeb had considered showing this one they may well have been really uncomfortable with his man-handling of the poor young girl on the Lionel Richie link. It made me uncomfortable and I just don't think the Beeb could risk showing it in the current climate.
A shame really as I was always a listener to his weekend Radio 1 show and quite enjoyed it.
Maybe I'm judging it by todays standards but some things just look wrong and this is one of them.
As for Peter Powell he looked like he couldn't be bothered with most of his links. How much longer does he present the show for I wonder? He seems to have had enough. Mind you, I saw him at a Radio 1 roadshow in 1988 and he seemed bored then!
I have to say I have never heard this Feargal Sharkey tune before and it's a belter. Really looking forward to 85 as "Good Heart" is one of my favourite records from my childhood.
A good performance too.
Lionel finally gets a play of a new single. Another song I didn't know and unfortunately this one is a bit of a stinker. Not sure what was going on in the video either.
Always good to see Alf. Great song, great voice, not so great wardrobe choice.
Very Tegan Jovanka (I know there are some Dr Who fans on here)...
ZZ Top - Classic song, classic card, classic video. Just an all round great 80s tune.
Hated "Never ending story" growing up. Still can't stand it now - it's just a nothing of a song and never gets going for me.
Was a BIG fan of "too shy" and along with "Save all your kisses for me", "Making your mind up" and "karma chameleon" were my songs of choice when I was 8 - Mum said I used to sing them around the house all the time...poor Mum.
Not sure about the video for Billy Ocean but another great tune.
Time for the chart rundown and No 32 - Eugene Wilde, who the hell is he......
.....and he appears!
Turns out he's a Michael Jackson wannabe with a not very good record. I think Bobby Brown may have been watching though...
The Quo turn up with The Wanderer which I remember from their "Anniversary Waltz" at the end of the 80s. Didn't realise it had been a hit for them before. Very Quo by numbers I'm afraid - nothing to recommend.
A repeat showing for Noel and the gang at No 1 followed by a great play out of Kim Wilde and the crowd really "go for it..."
Sorry
Not a bad show -Sharkey wins the night I think
Now off to find out what everyone else thought...
Classic Car (not card) OBV.
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