Top of the tonsils
07/11/85 (Peter Powell & Steve Wright)
A-ha – “Take On Me” (2)
In the studio to get the show underway but number two was as high as it got.
Far Corporation – “Stairway To Heaven” (16) (Rockpop Music Hall clip)
This dad dancing Led Zeppelin cover made it to number 8.
Level 42 – “Something About You” (6)
At its peak.
The Simon May Orchestra – “Howard’s Way Theme” (22) (breaker)
His third and final hit, peaking at number 21.
Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin – “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” (18) (breaker)
Talking Heads – “Road To Nowhere” (17) (breaker)
Became their only top ten hit when it peaked at number 6.
UB40 – “Don’t Break My Heart” (7)
Peaked at number 3.
The Top Ten:
Arcadia - "Election Day" (10) (video clip)
John Parr - "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" (9) (video clip)
Madonna - "Gambler" (8) (video clip)
UB40 – “Don’t Break My Heart” (7) (video clip)
Level 42 – “Something About You” (6) (video clip)
Colonel Abrams - "Trapped" (5) (video clip)
Feargal Sharkey - "A Good Heart" (4) (video clip)
Elton John - "Nikita" (3) (video clip)
A-ha – “Take On Me” (2) (video clip)
Jennifer Rush – “The Power Of Love” (1) (rpt)
Fifth and final week at number one.
Paul Hardcastle – “Just For Money” (31) (audience dancing/credits)
Rather satisfyingly, this song peaked at number n- n- n- nineteen.
Next up is November 14th, but its yet another Mike Smith edition.
PP seemed happier in Wrighty’s company than in that of some of his other 1985 co-hosts, and perhaps surprisingly he seemed to be the one more inclined to mess around in the joint links. Wrighty played things relatively straight by his standards, though calling Madge a sleazebag, while not entirely without foundation, is not exactly gallant…
ReplyDeleteA-ha in the studio first up, which certainly makes a change from seeing the video for the umpteenth time - I was struck here by the physical similarity between the keyboard player and the former Neighbours star (and briefly successful pop star) Craig McLachlan. On first setting eyes on the Far Corporation, my first instinct was to assume from the giant mullets and curly perms on display that they were German. In fact they were an Anglo-Irish-American supergroup, with three members of Toto involved, though they were produced by a German in the shape of Frank Farian (hence the group name), filling the time between Boney M and Milli Vanilli. It looked as if this clip must have started halfway through the song (it certainly is roughly the halfway point on the original), and for all the grandiosity on display it isn't half as effective. Rolf had the right idea in making his version completely and utterly different from Zeppelin's.
Level 42 are back, with Mike Lindup appearing to sport some particularly big shoulder pads, before the Howard's Way theme and the yachting footage swept me back to Sunday nights, dreading school the next day and resenting my parents for making me watch this tedious quasi-soap full of unlikeable yuppie types - still, it is quite a rousing tune, and at least Simon May didn't sing it! The other two breakers will feature in full very soon.
UB40's latest isn't a bad one for them, quite atmospheric in an understated way, though it does go on a bit and the performance isn't exactly exciting. The playout track is basically Nineteen Part 2 with added Bob Hoskins, Larry Olivier and Pink Floyd-style cash registers. It also serves as a reminder that the new TOTP theme tune was now just a few short months away...
Neil B has made the full final link available:
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/ZspnIPYqxK
From memory, wasn't there a lyrical version of the Howard's Way theme called "Always There", sung by Marti Webb? Not heard either version for years but I seem to remember a slight musical link at the end of the chorus with the end of the chorus to "Georgy Girl" by the Seekers.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed Arthur, Marti Webb's vocal version was called Always There, and was actually played over the end credits of Howard's Way for one series, though after that they used a faster instrumental version instead.
DeleteThese shows just keep getting better and better. What a fabulous line up on this show! PP’s observation about the ‘World Machine’ album by Level 42 is pretty good, but as Wilberforce mentions last week, it has some not-so-good tracks, but the singles and ‘Lying still’ are right up there with their level best (err, didn’t they call their compilation that?!).
ReplyDeleteAh-ha – Take on me – The studio performance is never as exciting as that video, but they manage to look fresh and vibrant here on their ToTP debut. You can’t keep a good song down!
Level 42 – Something about you – Timeless tune. Just makes you want to sing along although I struggle with Mike’s falsetto vocals!
Far Corporation – Stairway to Heaven – I think PP hits the nail on the head when he says that they managed to pull off a good version of this timeless song (unlike a certain disgraced Aussie artist). We get midway into the song here as it’s ‘far’ too long to show in full (the 12” ran to 9’ 45”), so we miss out on the acoustic verses, but we see the power and vitality of the song’s climatic verses with the gospel choir enriching the sound to good effect. Bobby Kimball (formerly of Toto) shares vocals, whilst Toto stalwart Steve Lukather is on guitar. The song was produced by Frank Farian who masterminded Boney M and sang lines such as “she’s crazy like a fool” whilst the other guy performed it. Don’t know if it was ever recorded what Robert Plant and Jimmy Page thought of this, but they must have enjoyed the royalties!
UB40 – Don’t break my Heart – A band who either released singles I liked or hated. Very polarised. This fell in the former category and I like the way that the drummer twiddles his sticks a la Mick Tucker of the Sweet.
Breakers – Simon May Orchestra charting on the back of the hugely popular series ‘Howards Way’, all sailing boats and wicked betrayals etc. etc. my parents lapped it up on Sunday nights but I never watched a single episode as I was always out playing badminton. Marti Webb charted with a moving vocal version (lyrics by the prolific Don Black) just under a year later. Simon of course is better known for the melancholy 1976 hit ‘The Summer of my Life’. Aretha and Annie and their sisters I can happily pass. Talking Heads ‘Road to nowhere’ is one of those Ok songs for me with a weird video, nothing more.
Jennifer Rush – The Power of Love – One million sales, bravo! Not bad for a song that languished in the 40s for weeks! Last week at no1 and another studio repeat. Let’s see if they show any video clips in the next four weeks whilst it lingers in the top10, and which of the two videos??
Paul Hardcastle – Just for the Money danceout – Why did they pick this? Ironically next week it’s at no19!!!
…..in at no60 and about to slip to no79 was one of the weirdest titled singles ever – The Cramps and ‘Can your Pussy do the Dog’. I tried listening to it on YT….who bought that?!
I couldn't quite get into A-Ha performing in the studio, when the iconic video was what everyone seemed to remember. Also, to start off the show with the No.2 in the charts was a sign of changing times for TOTP in these shortened shows to 30 minutes, when realistically they only had time to play songs in the top 20 portion of the charts, and had to leave those in the No.20-30 section as breakers only, or no showing at all, a la ZZ Top for example. As for those in the No.30-40 section, no chance!
DeleteHighlight of the show for me was The Far Corporation, with the superb Bobby Kimball from Toto taking this great song to new heights. It was a throwback to his similar lead vocal on Hold The Line, some 6 years earlier in 1979, with a similar performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htgr3pvBr-I
The Cramps were pretty good fun, sort of a punk/rockabilly outfit. Human Fly is probably their best known tune.
Deletesct the other standout track from level 42's "world machine" album apart from the singles and "lying still" was "a physical presence", that was probably the funkiest track on it. however when they performed it live after its release they had inserted a new bit near the end, that actually improved the song. which makes it a real shame it never featured in the original studio recording. also: on the extended/bonus cassette release there was an excellent additional track called "dream crazy" that presumably came from the "world machine" recording sessions, but was inexplicably left off the album release!
DeleteHaha yes, this was the beginning of a shortlived marketing ploy where a cassette (and CD in this case) release of an album featured an extra track; presumably as there was more room to accommodate it. Paul Young did the same with 'Behind your Smile' on 'No Parlez' and 'Man in the Iron Mask' on 'The Secret of Association'.
Delete'Dream Crazy' was placed on the B Side of the 12" of 'Leaving me now' which bizarrely put 'I sleep on my heart (remix)' on the A Side. Confusing or what!
http://www.45worlds.com/12single/record/pospx776
the "world machine" cassette with bonus tracks also featured what i think was the first appearance of the brilliant "new york" remix of "the chinese way":
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L67bh1PziKI
sct to my recollection i think what happened was that record companies issued bonus cassette versions after the original vinyl had been released, probably in the hope (if not expectation) that punters would buy both - bastards! perhaps the best example of this con - sorry, marketing technique was when fashion's "fabrique" album was released in cassette format, with the other side containing remixes of most of the original album tracks - some of which were superior, whilst others were clearly done just for the sake of it:
https://www.discogs.com/Fashi%C3%B8n-Fabrique/release/2205805
sct you've also reminded me of the fad for the "hidden" track that was put at the end of a 74 minute CD when most albums were still traditional vinyl album length. crowded house made particular use of that for the CD release of "woodface", with a throwaway number written by the band's drummer and occasional song contributor paul hester called "i'm still here":
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCmdRPmG40s
On we go to 14th Nov edition with another Mike Smith forbidden edition, so anyone got this one to show us, as BBC4 will go straight to the 21st Nov edition on Friday, with no show on Thursday due to The Sky at Night.
ReplyDeleteOr we could have the 14th Nov edition put up on Thursday in the absence of a show on BBC4 to keep a similar two-shows-a-week sequence.
Anyone remember when Morten from A-ha presented the Eurovision Song Contest? He came across as a bit of a weirdo, or maybe they're all like that in Norway. Why doesn't Alan Partridge ever get mentioned in connection with these guys?
ReplyDeleteThe Far Corporation, good grief, if you thought Led Zeppelin were bombastic this lot makes them sound like Leonard Cohen! Hilariously bad, all overproduced and cords-standing-out-on-the-neck yelling, the drums are ludicrously high in the mix! A gospel choir, too! My sides! Oh well, it gave me a laugh, but I can understand why it hasn't been played on the radio since 1985.
Level 42 back in the studio with their hit, which Pete seems to think is Something 'bout You Baby I Like by Status Quo. Mark dressing down this time.
The best bit of the Simon May theme to Howard's Way was the middle eight where it speeded up and went all jaunty, but sadly we don't get that here, just the bit that sounds like the Jurassic Park theme (topical!).
UB40 with a moody little number, quite pleasant and some nice laidback bongo action. They look terribly sober here. Rather this than some of their covers.
Nearly finished with Jen, and Paul Hardcastle to end on with a little drama in dance music form. Presumably the legal trouble he got into with his 19 dialogue samples led him to create his own. I think this is the only time Bob Hoskins and Sir Luvvy Olarrier ever appeared on a hit record (though Peter Sellers pretended to be Larry on his comedy version of A Hard Day's Night back in the 60s).
a ha: i'd just like to say that their fellow norwegians the kings of convenience are the only rock/pop act of this century worth listening to in my opinion. not only that, but their folky acoustic guitar stylings are so good to my ears that i have about 90% of their output in my music collection - the only artists from the 20th century that even come close in that respect are steely dan and level 42!
ReplyDeletefar corporation: in my younger years of grammar school if one wanted to be seen as cool then one had to dig hard rock, with the likes of deep purple and black sabbath scoring heavy bonus points. but the governors in that respect were led zeppelin, who were considered mandatory listening. one listen of the drum solo in the live version of "moby dick" was enough to put me off such rot for life, although by that time i was rescued from that particular hell by the delights of disco music anyway. having said that, i did appreciate the delicate acoustic guitar picking bit of their anthem "stairway to heaven" that was at odds to their usual bombast. and i remember thinking how utterly redundant this note-for-note cover if it was. as john notes, i had the recollection that various members of toto were involved in it
simon may: i never watched the tv series in question (although i was very familiar with the actors thanks to the hype, and as such always thought maurice colclough looked like ian ogilvy's older and harder brother), can't remember how the theme went, and have to inclination to remind myself. i still shudder at the memory of mr may's attempts at "singing" in the early editions of these shows - presumably someone had pointed out his deficencies in that department by now, and that he stick to writing and producing?
ub40: a most unexpected return to form for quite some time, given like most i had probably written them off as doing covers inna reggae-lite stylee on autopilot just for the money by now. actually more synth pop then reggae, and all the better for it as a result - i especially liked the huge crunching snare effect, and the way that the chords changed in a subtle manner over the same looped bass line. i remember many years later reading that they were sued by an aquaintance or colleague of theirs, who claimed to have written the song and that they took all the credit. so their current schism and attendant legal battle isn't the first time they've lined solicitors' pockets to their cost!
paul hardcastle: i couldn't think how this went at all, although i remembered one of his singles featured bob 'oskins (who had recently come to prominence via his turn in some dreadful dennis potter series) rabbiting away in typical cockerney geezer style. and yt reminded me they were one and the same. that apart, as others have said it's just "19" pt ii. so i don't suppose sct rushed out and bought it?
I have long thought that the best hard rock group from the early 70s were Wishbone Ash, who boasted two phenomenally talented guitarists and one of the finest drummers of his generation in Steve Upton. They were also versatile, mixing up blues, jazz and folk influences, though they lost the musical plot once the original line-up began to fragment.
Deletei remember wishbone ash's signature album "argus" being a staple of the local record shop racks when i used to peruse them week after week with no intention of ever buying any because i couldn't afford to! i also thought the blond guitarist looked really cool with his flying v guitar and then-unusual wire-framed specs. well, until his hair started falling out anyway. i did actually get to hear the album in the early 90's, and there is a very good track on it called "time was" that is similar in format to "stairway to heaven" in that it has a delicate acoustic picking section to start with before moving into more hard-driving rock territory:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjIvjmJQJYE
Argus is a great album (excellent cover, too). The self-titled debut LP is also well worth a listen; the final track, Phoenix, is for me their tour-de-force. These days, as with UB40, there are two rival groups using the name, one led by Andy Powell (the blond flying v guitarist) and the other by bass player Martin Turner. In further echoes of the UB40 situation, I don't think there is much love lost between them!
DeleteI can only agree with the above appreciation of the 'Argus' album. It really is a fabulous effort and right up there amongst the best albums ever recorded. None more so than the final song 'Throw down the Sword'. Casual listeners may recognise 'Blowin' Free' which is the most famous track from the album and is almost Status Quo.
DeleteOther Ash treats (as well as 'Phoenix' mentioned by John) are 'F.U.B.B' from 'There's the Rub' and 'Standing in the Rain' from 'Strange Affair'(not the opening song from 'Concerto for a Rainy Day' btw!!).
I've seen both versions of the band live' Turner's Wishbone Ash played 'Argus' right through. Fabulous.
I did go to see Andy Powell's version of the band a few years back, but they were so late getting to the venue we eventually gave up and left, which was a shame. Jailbait, from the Piligrimage album, is another essential Ash track.
Deleteon the subject of different versions of the same band touring, i saw a bus go past me recently with an ad for the latest rogers waters tour the side. however it seems he has to be billed as "roger waters of pink floyd" nowadays, as presumably it's thought he won't get enough punters through the turnstyles on the strength of his name alone otherwise. which must really hurt someone with an ego the size of his!
Deletethis is certainly not related to this edition, and only vaguely to the show in general. but certainly in terms of the era currently being shown it's relevent, as i'd like to report the death of glynn edwards - an actor and familiar face (if not name) best known as dave the hapless owner of the winchester club in "minder", that was perhaps at its peak of both popularity and brilliance by 1985. despite being used as a total mug by arfur daley, good-natured and loveable dave always gave him the benefit of the doubt and went along with his various nefarious schemes (if somewhat reluctantly). and in doing so became almost as much a breakout character as daley himself had previously become, and i for one always enjoyed his appearances on the show. so thanks for that glynn!
ReplyDeleteGlynn Edwards is also very visible in two Michael Caine classics: Zulu and Get Carter. Don't know what his singing voice was like, though (to bring it back to the blog).
Deletethere is a slight connection in that the two main stars of "minder" appeared on "top of the pops" (dennis waterman did on several occasions). but to me it was as important a cultural experience to watch the programme at the time, as it was to be listening to the singles charts. i really liked dave, but my favourite of the recurring characters was probably "cheerful charlie" chisholm, the anything-but-cheerful copper who relentlessly pursued arfur to the point of persecution only to be thwarted time and again (and always responded by stating "i'll get you daley!" as arfur grinned and tipped his titfer to him)
DeleteI never watched Minder, but I have seen Glynn Edwards in a memorable minor role in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, in which he played an affable pig farmer who is inordinately fond of his porcine charges.
DeleteGlynn edwards may actually appear on totp shortly as he plays the barman in the Marillion video for Heart of Lothian which is a breaker on the 5 december show.
DeleteExcellent info, Merv! I also remember him as Frank Spencer's harassed neighbour in Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em. I believe Glynn had a house in Scotland.
Deletenow it's been mentioned i do have a dim memory of "dave" from "minder" in the marillion video - good on you merve for recalling that!
Deleteglynn might have been a busy jobbing actor, but i think sometimes his accents left a bit to be desired - i currently have a dvd set for a late 70's kids' tv series called "the paper lads" where he plays an ex-copper turned newsagent in newcastle. he's apparently supposed to be playing a local, but sounds more like dave than a geordie to me!
totp 14th November 1985 is here:https://we.tl/dqkYdRWoej
ReplyDeleteRestored version of 7/11/85, with Neil B's upload of the missing part edited back in to the BBC4HD version:
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/18f92mi72N
hi guys this link has been deleted any body got a copy to share?
DeleteSorry about this, I was uploading these to 4Shared before (where they stay for ever) but it was costing me £70 a year for a premium account so I've decided to start using wetransfer from now on. But unfortunately it only lasts a week there.
DeleteI didn’t remember the trendy ripped jeans phase back in the 80’s unless Morten Harket was a bit of a pioneer. I can never remember his bandmate Pal’s name without recalling an advert back then for dog food – “P-A-L... Pal for active life!” Morten also reminded me this was the time of myriad arm bracelets. At the time I was 23 and going out with a 16-year-old (who asked me out!!) and she had 64 bracelets on one arm – and none on the other!
ReplyDeleteSurely a missing “T” there in Far Corporation’s name. Good to see former Canadian snooker player Bill Werbeniuk on vocals. Just what we needed, a burbling synth version of a rock classic. Still, reminded me of a spit and sawdust pub I frequented on south coast holidays during the 80’s where they had a US single copy of “Rock And Roll” on the juke box which got very heavily rotated.
Pete acts as record plugger for Level 42. Any hip sounds on K-Tel or Ronco while you’re at it?
God, I remember Simon May’s stomach churning vocal turn on “Summer Of My Life”! Looking at the video, they could have mimicked Marvin Gaye and called this “Yachts Going On”. Ahem.
Passing on the other breakers till another show, I really wish the Ubs had retained this smouldering groove and huge improvement for the rest of their career instead of that karaoke shite.
We finish with “19” meets the future TOTP theme. In other words, dreadful.
arthur as a peer i'm a bit surprised that you don't remember the ripped/torn/worn/stressed jeans fashion which did indeed start off in the early 80's (and sadly still persists today) - i remember once going to the beach in 1983 with someone who also brought along a mutual acquaintance that was wearing such things... and that when it came to putting them on again afterwards he struggled to get his legs through all the holes properly! however i have to admit i have no recollection of the bracelets thing - presumably you had to hold on to her other arm when you stepped out together to act as some form of ballast?
Deletealso: pal was supposed to be pronounced as "paul" (no doubt i read that in either "smash hits" of "no.1" magazine). but up until that point i too was probably thinking of the dog food ha ha. i note that although his surname was waaktaar at the time (still not sure how to pronounce that) he nowadays likes to call himself pal waaktaar-savoy!
Wilby, I can't recall which arm it was with all the bracelets or which hand I used to hold. To be honest, as she was pretty and shapely I don't remember spending that much time looking at her arms! :-D
Deletethat was a joke arthur, implying if you hadn't neen holding the hand on her other arm that she'd have fallen over otherwise due to the weight of all the bracelets! was she a fan of the bangles by the way?
DeleteBoom boom tish! Actually, she was a big Howard Jones fan and, after I took her to one of their gigs, Prefab Sprout.
Deletewere you like one of the sidekicks in "high fidelity" in that respect then? i.e. weaning your girlfriend off the lightweight pop crap she liked before she met you, and getting her into the "serious" stuff that you liked?
Deletethose comparisons certainly stand with regard to the gulf in quality between howard jones and prefab sprout! i got heavily into the latter after they released the "from langley park to memphis" album in the late 80's, which led me back to "steve mcqueen" that i think had already been released by this time? i do remember their record company releasing "when love breaks down" several times in vain before it finally just about breached the top 30 in late 85 (will i see them on the show doing that before i "retire" from this blog?). but why did they persist when there were several more much better tracks on the album than that?
From memory, Prefab Sprout's label had already released "Faron Young" off "Steve McQueen", and it came top in a Peter Powell Radio 1 show called Slipped Discs, featuring 50 singles which should have been big hits. "Faron Young" only peaked at 71. The ex still liked Howard Jones (I enjoyed some of his stuff without her influence) and bought some real crap like "Here We Go" by Everton FC but I managed to broaden her horizons. In comparison, my wife's faves are (in no order) REM, OMD, Guns 'n' Roses, Nina Simone and Bryan Ferry.
DeleteYou're in luck, Wilberforce - Prefab Sprout will appear in the show after next.
Delete"faron young" was one of the lesser tracks from "steve mcqueen" as well in my opinion, although i've just found out that two of the better ones ("appetite" and "goodbye lucille #1") were flops too - despite the latter being renamed the more obvious "johnny johnny"!
Deletei always thought the album title was rubbish by the way (shades of "cut the crap" in my view), and wish the estate of the film star had blocked it in the same way they did for the american release. i also find it really annoying that there is now a another guy in the movie business using the same name - wasn't equity supposed to stop that kind of thing from happening?
I loved Faron Young (the tune, not the singer), and recall being frustrated it wasn't the hit I thought it should have been. Appetite was also excellent.
DeleteThe other Steve McQueen is a film director, not an actor, and if you've ever seen a photo of him you're never going to get him mixed up with his namesake!
yes i know they look nothing like each other. but if the contemporary (black) british film director does get confused for the 60's (white) tough guy film star bcause there aren't any pictures of him shown to distinguish otherwise, then he's only got himself to blame in my view
DeleteI don't know about that, the original Steve died in 1980, and the current Steve started making movies in the noughties after a career as an artist. He's just remade the old TV show Widows, for example.
Delete"widows" was a fantastic euston films tv crime drama series that originally came out about this time, and the follow-up "widows ii" was just as good (they're both on my "get hold-of to watch on dvd again" list). however a belated sequel "she's out" was utter rubbish, and now you've notifed me i don't hold out much hope for the new film directed by *current" steve mcqueen being any better
DeleteYeah, current Steve McQueen seems to be a man devoid of humour, so I expect the new Widows to be a slog.
Deletea-ha - As I said previously, I do like them and it's good to see them in Studio (my recollection is that they didn't turn up too often) but someone needs to tell Mr.Wright that 3 weeks at No.2 is not usually a sure sign of a future chart topper...
ReplyDeleteFar Corporation - The funniest thing I've seen for a while, particularly mega-mulletman. I don't revere Led Zep and they made such a big deal of not releasing singles so I have no real problem with this cover.
Breakers - I genuinely love the Howards Way single, particularly the way it goes from the slow main theme to the ace jaunty bit they used on the end credits and back again. I guess it helps that I actually watched the programme so it's slightly disappointing that we didn't get any clips. I was hoping for a classic Jack Rolfe with glass of whisky in hand moment.
Paul Hardcastle - "The only place you'll be going is the SCRUBS". I know this one very well since it ended up on NOW 6 because they thought it would be a big hit. Just 2 years later the public preferred the jolly Phil Collins version of the train robbery story. More's the pity.
I don't want no scrubs! :-D
DeleteIn fact three weeks at No.2 is a sign that it will NOT be a chart topper, as we saw few shows earlier with Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For A Hero, whether or not she was holding out for a possible no.1.
DeleteIn the hot summer of 1978, Father Abraham was a staggering six weeks at No.2 (was that a record for most weeks at No.2?) with The Smurf Song, but could not quite make it to No.1, no matter how good the tune was.
Right Said Fred also spent six weeks at no. 2 with "I'm Too Sexy".
DeleteAll-4-One had 7 weeks at No.2 behind 'Love Is All Around' and that used to be the record for songs that didn't get to No.1, not sure if it still is.
DeleteMoves Like Jagger was also stuck at number 2 for 7 weeks - as was These Days by Rudimental etc earlier this year. That song did eventually get to the top for one week.
Deleteyou mean they still have charts? if so, then are still banning "vintage" downloads (which i presume accounts for the vast majority of registered music sales these days) in order to give the contemporary artists a chance to become chart toppers (even if they only have to sell 40 copies in order to do so)?
Delete
DeleteThe charts now are compiled on a specific ratio of sales and streams (the latter much more popular). If a song’s sales decline three weeks in a row, the ratio changes and that usually forces a song down the chart. (Are you still with me?!)
This rule was the reason These Days managed to sneak a week at no.1. It’s also the main reason this week’s chart topper managed the feat. Jess Glynne is the singer on both songs.
Johnnie Ray made No. 1 for one week with "Such A Night", then it spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 2!
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, 8 weeks at No.2? It's almost as staggering as 12 weeks at No.1 for Bryan Adams in 1991!
DeleteBryan Adams was number 1 for 16 weeks.
DeleteOh yes, thanks for the correction. Now that is a very long time at No.1.
DeleteI wasn't sure where to post this, but I was hoping to download the restored 3/10/85 edition but the link drykid posted says the file has been deleted. If anyone cane help out with this, I'd be really greatful.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnd so into November 1985 - this year is going so fast. Soon be Christmas!
ReplyDeleteSteve is hyper already - PP even showing some emotion.
So A-ha number one is 5 different countries but not this one - a tragedy, they all look very pleased with themselves don't they. And so they should. Always thought Henry from Neighbours based his look on Magne.
If anyone has seen a picture of Pal recently he has totally lost that pretty boy look.
Now what's this - Far Corporation is something I would associate with the 70s (and I may be wrong as I know nothing about them). Is this really THAT Stairway To Heaven? What have they done to it !!!
It's not a bad tune though - but STH it ain't
Level 42 - Something about you baby..you flirt PP.
Charts: Don't know that Paul Hardcastle song, The Waterboys back again??
Breakers:
Howards Way - OMG used to watch this every Sunday night with my Mum. Loved it - we also watched Dallas together - we loved our trashy TV. Not a bad theme tune either.
Sisters - One of the standout songs from the 80s. This was massive at the time. So much radio airplay. Become a bit of an anthem over the years but still a good song. Great video too.
Talking Heads - Now this is a quality tune. A fabulous video as well. Love this.
UB40 -One of their best songs. Took a lot for a slow song to make it's way into my 11 year old head but I remember liking this at the time.
The sleazebag -bit harsh Steve.
Fergal on his way up...hooray
I am surprised Elton didn't go all the way with this one. Some great songs held off the top by the million selling, red leather clad JR.
Sold a million copies yesterday did it PP - nope - try again...
And here is the Paul Hardcastle song...
Nope don't remember it. Poor.