Hank you very much!
06/12/84 (Gary Davies & Mike Smith)
Big Country – “Where The Rose Is Sown” (29)
Got no higher.
Thompson Twins – “Lay Your Hands On Me” (30) (video)
Made it to number 13.
Shakin’ Stevens (with Hank Marvin) – “Teardrops” (5)
At its peak.
Murray Head – “One Night In Bangkok” (16) (video)
Went up four more places.
Paul McCartney & The Frog Chorus – “We All Stand Together” (9) (video)
His penultimate solo top ten hit, peaked at number 3.
Alison Moyet – “Invisible” (24)
Peaked at number 21.
Spandau Ballet – “Round & Round” (23)
Peaked at number 18.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “The Power Of Love” (1) (video)
First and only week at number one.
The Kane Gang – “Respect Yourself” (21) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
December 13th is next.
Gazza and Smitty get teamed up again, and do a good job in general, though I think Gazza's shirt may well be the worst thing we have seen him wear so far. The girls "laying their hands on him" also looks like another contrived moment to boost his credentials as a ladies' man...
ReplyDeleteBig Country get us off to a no-frills start, with a song that is a bit more tuneful than their previous release, thanks to a fine guitar solo from Stuart. Ultimately, though, it doesn't do much new with the band's established sound and it is no great surprise it got no higher in the chart. The Thompson Twins' fortunes were also on the decline, but this gospel-influenced tune has quite an uplifting chorus, and the video works pretty well with its oh-so-fashionable audience watching the band and their backing musicians perform while sticking their arms in the air. The drummer looked like the same woman who was backing the Fun Boy Three on their later TOTP appearances.
Shaky's back, this time with Hank Marvin in tow. I had no idea on first listening to this on the 22 November show that Hank was involved, as the guitar isn't that noticeable. Presumably Shaky invited him to play on the song in order to give it more "authenticity," but he makes sure that Hank does not crowd his limelight by banishing him to the other side of the audience! Back to video next, with Murray Head looking more animated here than he did in the studio. Giant chessboards feature prominently, as do various Thai stereotypes. Incidentally, I agree with Dory that the intro is the best bit of this song, and we get to hear it this time.
We All Stand Together is regularly cited as the ultimate example of Macca naffness, but actually I don't mind it. This may partly be down to childhood nostalgia, as I remember this vividly from the time of first release and was something of a Rupert Bear fan, as I had an old annual in my possession that I often used to read. However, compared to some of the rubbish Macca has put out over the years I think this has a decent tune - besides, it was Christmas and for the kids, wasn't it? I've mentioned this before, but the video release featured a couple of extra animations, one of them accompanying Linda's "The Oriental Nightfish." In that particular cartoon, a woman loses all her clothes and I remember a shocked teacher at my school turning the video off at that point!
Another great song from a black-clad Alf next, really putting her heart and soul into this impassioned vocal - it's a shame it didn't climb higher, but in fairness it was the third single off an already big-selling album. The Spands look even more preposterous here than they did on their last appearance, particularly Tony in his silvery ensemble -Gary, naturally, is wearing gold. As for the song, it's OK but largely forgettable until Tony lets rip a bit at the end. Frankie then enjoy their final ever week at number 1, though for some reason they eschew a TOTP studio appearance in favour of the following Saturday's Late Late Breakfast Show. The Kane Gang conclude proceedings, but audience and cheerleaders alike seem to struggle to do more than shuffle along to this one.
I think Cliff Richard must have put in a good word for Hank Marvin from his Shadows team. The song still made me think of Happy Days and the Fonz.
DeleteThanks John, Murray Head's video here shows great production and grandeur with the chess theme from the movie of the same name, and I was pleased that this time, second time round on TOTP, that we finally get the full intro in all its grace and splendour, sadly left out two weeks earlier on that awful TOTP studio appearance by Mr Head with the fluffing of his first lines. The second best part of the video was at the end with the sexy girls moving across the chessboard as pawns. Who was the lucky player?
Although the Kane Gang were sidelined to the playout this week, their consolation prize was being the song in the background throughout the show, which I think made up for not being invited a second time to the studio, because I think it is a very good song.
big country: this starts of sounding like a clone of "wonderland" (which was by far their best effort for me), before it becomes a mish-mash of everything else they did. drummer mark unpronounablename puts in his usual energetic performance... not!
ReplyDeletethompson twins: they are seriously making me revise my opinion of them as synth pop lightweights. i had long since forgetton about this, but it came back to me in a big way as i listened. the choruses are a bit too gospel-like for my liking, but otherwise it sounds not dissimilar to "hold me now". which is a good thing in my opinion. the audience is actually a load of pop star lookalikes, wherein i spotted kid creole, bowie and prince to name but three. i also noted there was a gary glitter clone. so if it hadn't been co-presented by shitty, then would the video have been dropped from broadcast for that reason?
macca: about three years after this was a hit, i remember staggering back to my parents' house with my girlfriend after a heavy night of jugging and actually singing this together! maybe it was triggered by a bout of belching or something? i certainly can't think why we would have done so otherwise. that reminds me that when we stayed there we had to sleep in separate rooms as my straight-laced parents disapproved of sex before marriage. so one night after we came in after they'd gone to bed (partially just to say "fuck you" to them) i shagged her on the lounge carpet instead!
alison moyet: her last single was still in the top 40, so perhaps it was a bit soon to release this and as such it flopped accordingly. i can't remember too much about this plodder other than the chorus, and i can't say i'm too bothered about it - there were a couple of excellent upbeat cuts on the album that would have served as far stronger third singles in my opinion
spandau: unlike alf their last single had dropped out of the top 40, although it seems it was only on the show about a month ago. this one completely passed me by, and no wonder as it's bland and utterly forgettable MOR-pop fare. another case of "how the mighty have fallen" i suppose, although the reality was that they weren't that mighty in the first place - well, not musically anyway
frankie: has anyone mentioned yet that they were the first act to have their first three singles get to number 1, since their fellow-scousers gerry and the pacemakers 20 years earlier? another where chorus apart i can't remember a single thing about it. nor want to
Well done you Wilberforce, hope the shag was good, and that the carpet was shagpile, haha! i hope that the Frog Song was a good precursor to future meetings with your bird at this level.
DeleteThe Thomson Twins were for the first time struggling to make inroads into the top 20. Considering they reached their peak in early 1984 with a No.2 achievement for You Take Me Up, it was to be their finest moment, and so by the end of 1984 with this new gem called Lay Your Hands On Me, the public were not convinced of their future. It's a pity to see the Twins go downhill from here, as I loved their hits leading up to this point, and they deserved a No.1 which was never to be alas!
As for Spandau Ballet, I have to disagree with you on this one, as it is my favourite of theirs. What really made this one for me was the way they sung the lyric "I wanna be your magical mystery.."
Erm, Mike Smith & Gary Davies did indeed mention at the end of Frankie Goes To Hollywood song the fact that their first three singles went to no.1 and the first time since Gerry & The Pacemakers. You need to watch it again, and you will see that they mention this at the end of the no.1.
dory i hope you aren't getting the impression that i'm some kind of stud boasting about my sexual prowess? that's not the case at all, and i only mentioned the incident in question as it related to the track featured on the show. even now i remember it far more for being some kind of insurgency against my domineering parents than some kind of notch-on-the-bedpost (or i suppose chair leg in this case) feat. however i do also remember getting carpet burns as a result!
Deleteas for frankie's achievement: i wouldn't have known that shitty and gary mentioned it, as i didn't actually watch either the programme on the telly or the frankie clip (assuming it was) on yt!
A few on here I don’t remember…
ReplyDeleteBig Country – Where the Rose is sown – Made no29 so that’s probably why I don’t recall it…err it sounds much like Big Country.
Thompson Twins – Lay your hands on me – Peter Gabriel recorded a similarly titled song on his fourth solo album and the Twins effort here is pretty good as well.
Shakin Stevens – Teardrops – Nice to see Hank this time who is clearly enjoying himself now that the Shads hits had dried up.
Murry Head – One Night in Bangkok – Thanks whoever pointed out that Murray was the brother of Giles from Buffy…never knew that. Love this track.
Paul McCartney / Frogs – We all stand together – Paul’s excellent compilation ‘All the best’ contains this track. I always skip it. Next…
Alison Moyet – Invisible – Next…
Spandau Ballet – Round and round – Half an hour from here to Wembley? That’s pushing it. Another OK track.
Frankie goes to Hollywood – The Power of love – Easily the best of their three number ones and a song that still sounds great today. Now who did beat three number ones with their debut hits? Ah yes, I guess that would have to be the Spice Girls with ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say you’ll be there’, ‘2 become 1’, ‘Mama / Who do you think you are’, ‘Spice up your life’ and ‘Too much’. The next hit ‘Stop!’ did so at no2 which was a surprise, and then there were another three. Not a bad chart record.
Kane Gang – Respect yourself – Didn’t get to see this dance out but not particularly bothered.
I like Two Become One, otherwise not that big a fan of The Spice Girls.
Deletethe spice girls may well have surpassed the feats of gerry and frankie, but probably by selling nowhere near as many records. ditto westlife having more no.1 hits than the beatles, with a meagre fraction of the sales required! as they say "lies, damn lies and statistics"...
DeleteThe next act to get their first 3 singles releases to No.1 wasn't the Spice Girls. It was...erm..Jive Bunny.
DeleteBig Country with an improvement on their last single, it has a tune at least, but this follow-up album must have been pretty patchy if this was the best they could muster for a second single.
ReplyDeleteThompson Twins, for a change I really like this one from them, in fact it's my favourite of theirs even though it marked the start of the decline to the dumper. Good tune, clever structure, good work all round. Video looks a bit boring until you twig what they're up to with the audience.
Shakin' Stevens, OK, when Hank appeared who was reminded of the guitar solo in Cliff and the Young Ones' Living Doll video? Needs more Rik Mayall.
Murray Head the way he was meant to be heard, much better. Over the top, overconfident, but irresistible for 80s pop fans.
Macca and the Frogs, I loved this at the time, just the right age for it, and I still like it a lot, you don't get megastars making music for kids now because it's taken for granted the target audience for pop is no longer as wide-ranging as it once was, but the Frog Chorus is a terrific example. It was originally intended as a feature film, but they only had enough money for a 20 minute short, and it is great, beautifully animated in the spirit of Rupert.
Allison Moyet, no, we can see you. Like the chiming production on this, quite distinctive, but a second tier song from Alf otherwise.
Spandau Ballet, wasn't sure about this till it reached the chorus and then I was "Oh yeah, this one". I could see why it hasn't stayed in my memory, they were churning out singles in a panic hoping one would stick, weren't they?
Frankie at the top, were they big fans of Penelope Pitstop? Were the singing the song to her? Did they want to protect Penny from The Hooded Claw? Were Frankie the Anthill Mob in disguise?
Kane Gang cut off before the end in the one I saw, but not bothered.
I remember having a crush on Penelope Pitstop in Wacky Races, and wanting to protect her when the Hooded Claw would say "I'm gonna get you Penelope Pitstop", and I was a little afraid of the Hooded Claw.
DeleteI remember when Pitstop got her own spin-off cartoon called The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop when the Anthill Mob would always come to her rescue. I think Frankie Goes To Hollywood also wanted to protect her from the Hooded Claw. OK, now, not all at once.
Sylvester Sneekly aka The Hooded Claw!
Delete"Hay-elp, hay-elp"...
Big Country - the dancing guitar part in the best for me. But their best song from the time remains In a Big Country for me. Just like with Echo and the Bunnymen their best song from then remains The Killing Moon despite their later hit in 84.
ReplyDeleteInvisible - loved this and it still sounds good, though I associated it more with January than December in my mind. While the opening has a bright bell like imitation in the synth sound it still wouldn't seem that christmassy to me.
Frog chorus - obviously a novelty christmas effort aimed mainly at children. I didn't like it at the time but the 'keeping us warm in the night' section has a very sweet melody.
alternative humming version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_meEqKTW6k
Thompson Twins - ok but not as catchy for me as earlier ones. I loved Hold Me Now and You Take Me up at the time, though in retrospect Doctor Doctor could be their finest moment.
It's a shame that we missed this one, for the most part there was some good stuff here, proving that 84 perked up a bit musically at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteBig Country - Shame about this one though. You know my feelings on this lot by now!
Thompson Twins - My favourite of all their singles. Lovely song structure, great chorus. Pop perfection. The Americans got a slightly different version where the chorus is more staccato - Oh. Lay. Your. Hands. rather than oh laaaay yooouuuur haaaands. The version we got is better.
Murray Head - Nice to see the video with some Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) I notice, probably not as common as pastime as it is these days.
Macca & The Frog Chorus - I don't care what anyone says about this, it's lovely and magical and I never tire of hearing it.
Alison Moyet - Another good single from Alf.
Spandau Ballet - Whereas this is pretty poor stuff as they head down the dumper (one highly over-rated big hit to come admittedly)
FGTH - Obviously my memory of them doing this in the studio was a false one! Shame.
By the way, it's a shame that the Culture Club tune didn't feature. 'The Medal Song' admittedly stiffed somewhat, but it's MILES better than their previous hit!
As Jean-Claude Van Damme would tell you, the MMA in the Bangkok video was just called Thai boxing back then, or kickboxing if you prefer.
DeleteI listened to that Culture Club track on YT, and as far as I know I've never heard it before, but it has a nice Caribbean vibe. No idea what the Frances Farmer bit is about in the video (not played by Jessica Lange this time).
there seems to be plethora of mixes of "you take me up" on YT: one with a blues harp wailing away on it, plus a godawful dance remix by francois kervorkian. but why did they remix things for the american market? to make it sound a bit more "normal" and AOR? tears for fears did the same thing with "mother's talk" around this time too
ReplyDeletenow if anyone's wondering what tom bailey's up to these days (other than residing in the "where are they now?" category), then check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTKePZAa6tc
Big thanks to drykid and James2001 for this mash-up, which worked instantaneously (and dropped midway, but hey), unlike the double WeTransfer offer which would have required five hours to download on my PC.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like Gary Davies was wearing a two tone bib. Shitty looked like a knob as always. Never mind the Christmas countdown, sadly we’ve got the countdown to Wilby leaving us.
“Wonderland” was wonderful, but Big Country’s latest was an awful rip-off of it. Funny to hear them sing a song namechecking the English national flower rather than the Scottish thistle.
Had the Twins hired Fun Boy Three’s old female backing band? I wish Tom Bailey had said “What a wonderful audience” Brucie style. An okay song but not an obvious upper echelon reacher.
Shame they didn’t swap Stuart Adamson with Hank Marvin. What a guitar solo – eat that, Angus Young! Still, made a change from a prick on the podium as usual.
The instrumental start to Murray Head’s song was way better than the rest of it.
Paul McCartney and the frogs on the mugshot caption. I much prefer toad in the hole myself. At this point my PC showed impeccable taste and crashed when his mush started.
Like an AC/DC album title, Alison’s back in black, and with her shoutiest song yet. The ‘spend a dime’ line reminded me of the much loved (in their own country) Canadian band The Tragically Hip, whose lead singer Gord Downie recently passed away. His lyrics namedropped loads of Canadian references such as “drop a Caribou” (make a public phone call – the caribou’s on the tail of the Canadian quarter).
“Round and Round”? Down and down, more like. Horrible jacket for Tone and Gary Kemp looking more slappable than ever.
We get a snatch of “Relax” prior to Frankie’s third chart topper! A beautiful song, Holly Johnson’s best vocal performance by miles, and a truncated version of the song as I thought so I'm vindicated. The video misses out part of the first verse, as confirmed by this admittedly eye-hurting evidence...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdnAbtIF3YM
And to paraphrase The Pretenders, we’re back on The Kane Gang.
If the double WeTransfer file is too much for your PC, Neil B has made the 13th December show available in a separate file here:
Deletehttps://we.tl/3B3Rip8cIk
Thanks for that. I'll check it out over the weekend.
Delete