Testing, testing, one, two, three
27/02/86 (Paul Jordan & Steve Wright)
Sigue Sigue Sputnik – “Love Missile F1-11” (7)
Getting tonight's show off the ground with what was to be their only top ten hit when it reached its peak of number 3.
Talking Heads – “And She Was” (19) (video)
Another imaginative video and this time we get to see all the Heads rather than just David's, but this would be their final top 40 hit, peaking at number 17.
Audrey Hall – “One Dance Won’t Do” (27)
Her first of two top 20 hits, this one peaking at number 20.
Alexander O’Neal – “If You Were Here Tonight” (24)
With his first solo hit and it peaked at number 13.
Kate Bush – “Hounds Of Love” (26) (breaker)
Peaked at number 18.
Tavares – “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel” (25) (breaker)
We saw it get to number 4 in 1976, this time around it made it to number 12.
Bangles – “Manic Monday” (10)
In the studio to perform their first of three top ten hits, this one peaking at number 2.
Billy Ocean – “When The Going Gets Tough The Tough Get Going” (1) (video)
Fourth and final week at number one.
Colonel Abrams – “I’m Not Gonna Let You” (29) (audience dancing/credits)
His final top 40 hit, peaking at number 24.
Next up is March 6th.
Wrighty did not seem very impressed with Paul Jordan's long-winded links in this show, perhaps because they made him look even more of a spare part than he normally is. This is the last we will see of Mr Jordan, who promptly disappeared back to the obscurity from whence he came, and I don't think he will be much missed; after a promising start, he ended up trying too hard and showing some of that Smitty-style desperation to be liked, thus achieving the opposite effect. Having said that, he did make a good job of his solo chart rundown here.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ultimate triumphs of style over substance first, as Sigue Sigue Sputnik make their debut. Sadly for them, the OTT image and glossy Giorgio Moroder production can't disguise the fact that this is a pretty turgid and repetitive effort, chiefly notable for guitar licks which sound very similar to those on Dancing with Myself, by Tony James' former band. A couple of the Sputniks have hairdos that seem like outsized parodies of Billy Idol's barnet - I wonder if James was behind that? A much better song next from Talking Heads, made all the more so by the fact you don't here it that often, unlike Road to Nowhere or Once in a Lifetime. It has another very inventive video too, and less irritating than the one for Road to Nowhere.
I don't remember this Audrey Hall track at all, but it jogs along pleasantly enough. She was actually pushing 40 at the time this was a hit, but looks good on it in this performance. I'm not sure that Paul's reference to "padding" would have gone down too well with Alexander O'Neal, given his comfortable proportions. However, this is an excellent slice of 80s soul, slickly produced and beautifully sung. Somewhat improbably, he apparently lives in Stockport these days.
We will see the breakers again, so onward to The Bangles and a deserved chart breakthrough after several years on the scene with this superior Prince song. By some distance the best all-female group of the 80s, they certainly had the looks as well, though the ludicrously big hair rather overshadows their facial features in retrospect. Billy's video gets shown again, this time with the proper saxophonist getting his moment in the spotlight in order to keep the MU happy, before the studio audience dance us out for what would prove to be the final time to a Colonel Abrams tune that sounds a bit too similar to his big hit. The dancing isn't the most memorable, sadly, though we do see a reflected image of one woman that makes her look even porkier than Mr O'Neal...
I did like the household objects revolving around the oscar outside the thatched house in the Talking Heads video. Besides, I could never quite ascertain what it was that "She Was"? It was one of those unfinished titles, like the playout this week by Colonel Abramas with "I'm not gonna let you....", or the massive no.1 in 1993 called "I'd Do Anything for love, but I won't do that..."
DeleteSadly, this is the last we will see of The Talking Heads, as they were to have no more top 40 hits, and the curtain falls gracely on them this week, and it certainly was a nice journey from 1981-1986 as far as the British pop charts is concerned, so thanks for the ride.
The lyrics reveal all to Talking Heads tune, Dory, "And she was lying in the grass", "And she was taking off her dress", etc. She was getting up to all sorts.
DeleteGood Lord, sounds like a feisty chick. I wonder what was under the dress after she took it off?
DeleteBra and pants?
Deletehosts: apparently this was paul jor-ache's farewell. if so then a classic case of good riddance to bad rubbish
ReplyDeletesigue sigue sputnick: what a big fuss and palaver over nothing. all the big hair, outrageous costumes and fancy production tricks can't disguise the fact that this is all built on nothing more than an eddie cochran riff that was already decades old, and as such i certainly never fell for the hype at the time. sadly many did though
talking heads: earlier in the decade both they and their offshoot the tom tom club were making glorious and groundbreaking white dance music. sadly now they're just doing little more than regurgitating simplistic rock riffs a la "louie louie" or "hang on sloopy"
audrey hall: if this is genuine reggae of the era, then i'll happily stick to the cod-variety as proffered by scritti politti and latin quarter thanks
alexander o'neal: jor-ache's intro was so gauche, he might as well have told the audience that the guy was dumped from prince's old band for looking too black! his voice has too much of a keening feel about it for my liking, but thankfully that gets pretty much kept in check on this occasion for what is a sublime piece of jam & lewis dance/r&b sound in all-but-name
bangles: talking of his purpleness, this was written by him but presumably never released commercially? if so then no surprise, as it's as dreary as an average monday for a member of the rat race. i always felt a bit sorry for the sisters, as although they were clearly good-looking they lacked the cute factor that susannah hoffs milked for all it was worth
colonel abrams: jor-ache signs off with a hybrid pronounciation of "abrams" and "abrahams" (presumably hedging his bets as he didn't have a clue which was right?). i have no recollection of this near-soundalike to "trapped" - which (clunky break apart) is actually much more preferable than that to my ears, although the colonel himself sounds like he's singing on autopilot
I was thinking the same about Sigue Sigue Sputnik while watching it, and for the hosts to even suggest that it could be no.1 next week, just cos it was a new entry at No.7 this week, is somewhat sickly. What's more, on hearing it a second time, it sounds uncannily like Swords Of A Thousand Men by Tenpole Tudor from 1981, and that didn't make No.1, did it?
DeleteWith regard to Susanna Hoff's cuteness status, I always remember this video clip of her in her underwear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6geQ6-0EdNo
Suffice to say that the Bangles on this week's TOTP would have been our first glimpse of them in the British pop charts, now already at no.10, and with more hits and albums to come, up until the end of the decade.
Apparently Prince did record Manic Monday with girl group Apollonia 6, his protegees, in 1984, but the track was ultimately left off their first and only album.
DeleteThanks for that YouTube link, Dory. My ears hurt but my eyes cheered!
DeleteWhat film is the Susanna Hoffs clip from?
DeleteLooks like The Allnighter, which is rrrruuuubbbbiiiiissssshhhhh, Susanna in her pants or no Susanna in her pants.
DeleteI see from Wikipedia that The Allnighter was written, directed and produced by Susanna Hoffs' mother. No nepotism in the casting, I'm sure...
Deletenepotism is despicable in my view (the ultimate example of course being royalty, whose offspring succeed to te throne automatically - regardless of ability), and if i ruled the world i would make any form of it illegal. had that been the case back in the 60's and 70's, then perhaps the beeb wouldn't have junked the vast majority of their archive material?
DeleteThe Billy ocean video this week, as John G correctly points out, shows a different version with the sax break, this time not with Danny Devito, but with Ocean's regular black band member, but if you look closely, you can see DeVito moving forward solo onto the stage with the sax, so the editors made a bad edit by not covering over it, so it does look a bit odd to see him lunge forward with the sax on his own, only to see the black saxophonist have the final say. Comical, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThere was a reference to this in the 1986 Overview show. As you say, a poor edit, and for what? They're all miming in a video anyway!
DeleteI checked my purchased iTunes version of the video, and it is the same one shown on this week's TOTP, and the edit is exactly the same, ie, version 2 of the video. However, the uTube one from Vevo is the original version 1 with Devito doing the sax break, so it seems the honours are shared all round!
DeleteSo farewell, then, Paul, second time around you made no impression whatsoever. Again.
ReplyDeleteI remember Sigue Sigue Sputnik being a total joke at the time, everyone in school thought they were ridiculous, but I have a grudging respect for something so nakedly, ludicrously crass and commercial. Well, it worked for one single. The album famously featured adverts between the tracks - not in a The Who Sell Out spoof way, they had actual ads for products! That's going to get old pretty fast, no matter how much you liked the tunes. I'd forgotten there was a lady Sputnik.
Talking Heads with an easygoing ditty detailing the adventures of the titular "she" and a video technique that would be used again in such hits as Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble and Tears for Fears' Sowing the Seeds of Love. Famously, this is the first record Simon Mayo ever played on Radio 1. For some reason I thought stuff like Wild Wild Life, Blind and Nothing But Flowers had scraped the Top 40, but apparently not. Oh well, the public's loss.
Audrey Hall, my, that's a sparse production. No recollection of this at all, but it's OK I suppose, I wouldn't have turned off the radio if it had been on, then again I wouldn't have remembered it had been on at all five minutes later. Interesting "forgot my blouse" dress for Audrey, there.
Have to check out the Kate Bush video on YT, looks like a 39 Steps pastiche - will she end up hanging off the Big Ben clock face? OK, that's probably not her preferred version. A lot of tinny remixes around in the 80s, weren't there? Tavares deserved better.
The Bangles with a wistful Prince tune, obviously appealing to the working masses who could relate to the lyrics. Funny how Steve Wright should say "Steady boys!" in his intro when years later he informed us on TOTP2 that they "all look like men".
Ah, here's Billy Ocean's sax player at last, presumably there had been some knuckle-rapping going on since we last saw the video. Pity, because the original version is superbly edited, and this replacement breaks up the flow. No sense of humour, those PRS chaps.
Colonel Abrams, we're bidding him farewell too, though I'd prefer him as a TOTP presenter over Paul. This is OK, but as noted, not much different from Trapped, therefore no huge incentive to buy it.
I would expect that the black sax player on the Billy Ocean video was disgruntled after the first version of the video with DeVito doing the sax solo, that probably the video was re-edited after its first showing on its first week at no.1, and as a result we see two different edits of the video on week 1 and week 4 of the single at no.1 in the charts. Good Lord, I wish they kept the original version!
DeleteNo thoughts on Xander, THX? This isn't the first time in these reruns that Wrighty's pronouncements at the time turn out to have been contradicted by things he said years later.
DeleteYes, Mr O'Neal! I went off and did something else and halfway through realised I'd forgotten the big guy! So I'm back to say If You Were Here Tonight is definitely one of his best, a schmoove slice of classy soul impeccably performed. Although it does feature one of my least favourite lyrical clichés: Bah mah sad, which crops up all over the place. Also, even at this sedate pace, Alexander proves himself one of the sweatiest soul men around.
Delete"nothing but flowers" was a belated sort-of return to form for talking heads, harking back to the african influences of "remain in light". although of course in the interim paul simon had introduced that sound to a global audience, thus ironically making them sound like copyists and bandwagon-jumpers!
DeleteI love Nothing But Flowers mostly for its lyrics, which are so original there's never been a song before or since like it to my knowledge. The fact it has a great tune is a bonus.
DeleteWell my FF was working overtime on this show and I’m not even going to bother saying much this week as I’m late to the party anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat I will say is this:-
Audrey Hall – One Dance won’t do – Unlike most people on here, I do remember this as being one of those supposedly quirky songs which actually was extremely irritating (a bit like ‘My Toot Toot’ for example).
Bangles – Manic Monday – Wonderful slice of pop. Haven’t seen an all-girl band like this since, probably Clout. Later in the year we’ll be treated to that hit and that dance….can’t wait!
Tavares – Heaven must be missing Angel – Re-release but not sure why? Cricket fans always referred to them as ‘Tav-er-rays’ after Chris Tavare, the England batsmen who famously blocked at the other end in 1981 at Old Trafford whilst Ian Botham blitzed away. Chris was still an England player at this point in time, although he hadn’t been picked for a couple of years and made his final appearance in 1989 scoring just 2. Anyway, great song…and sorry to digress onto cricket once again!
Billy Ocean – When the going gets tough – Much has been said about the doctored video…a more interesting ‘Doctor’ will be with us in the charts very soon!
i remember chris tavare well, and was pleased that he made the england team as he played for kent which i supported as "my team" (if only from afar!). it did annoy me a bit though that his surname was pronounced differently from the 70's disco group!
Deleteyou're not wrong in that he was a plodder to put it mildly, and opening up in tandem with geoff boycott was certainly a cure for insomnia! but that was the way in those days: openers would do their best to frustrate the best bowlers, in the hope that the middle order would make hay against the pie throwers that replaced them once they were spent. thankfully steve waugh's legendary aussie team of the 90's and 00's put paid to that tedium by making sure all their batsmen played with flair and bravado in order to hike the run-rate up, and in doing so forced the opposition to do likewise
Technically the Tavares record wasn't a rerelease, it was a horrible remix. Was Jim Tavare in Tavares? If not, why not?
DeleteThis wasn't a bad show at all, even 1 average and 1 absymal host couldn't ruin it!
ReplyDeleteSigue Sigue Sputnik - I probably like it more now than I did at the time when the hype machine was in full effect. They later tried to repeat the trick by deliberately going to ask SAW for a track, but 'Success' well....wasn't (though I think it's actually a great track!)
Talking Heads - A good song, lesser heard than the 2 big hits but the 80s stations still play it a fait bit. 'Wild Wild Life' and (especially) 'Blind' deserved to make the Top 40.
Audrey Hall - The worst thing on the show, I had to FF it. My recollection is that her other hit is much better.
Alexander O'Neal - He's a great singer, but this slightly dull ballad doesn't really do it for me.
The Bangles - A good song, not surprisingly given its source, but most males my age were going too goggly-eyed over the Hoffs (not my type!) to notice that her voice isn't all that. There's a reason that 'Be With You' is my favourite Bangles song - she doesn't sing it!
Then the boring No.1 again and as Paul Jordan points out, an unfinished song title. Shame a voiceover didn't provide some hindsight at this point by saying 'I'm not gonna let you present Top Of The Pops again, Paul?'
One other point to note, a more important milestone than Mr. Jordan disappearing from the roster - according to TV Cream, that was the last episode with audience dancing at the end so truly the end of an era!
I did mention in my comments that this was the last show to end with the audience dancing. The audience does still feature in the end credits for a few more months, but they are a long way from the camera and most of the screen is taken up by the video of the playout song.
DeleteThe studio audience dancing on the playout had been a regular item since 1964, with only fashions changing through the years, but whoever's idea it was from the beginning, enjoyed the same concept continued for 22 years, so not a bad achievement at all! I wonder what's up next for the show, I guess a video to end every show as you mention?
DeleteThat's right, there will be a playout video from now on - it looks like this is combined with a shot of the audience until June, and after that it's just the video.
DeleteApologies John, so you did. Sometimes when I'm a bit late to the party I do only skim read comments....
DeleteNo worries - I'm sure we all do it from time to time...
DeleteMany years ago Prefab Sprout released a fine album called “Jordan : The Comeback”. Here we get “Jordan : The Farewell”. About time, frankly. Just a shame he didn’t take Nodding Dog into oblivion with him while was at it.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, it amazes me how that Nik Kershaw edition got dropped for potentially fit inducing lighting, yet here we’re subjected to far worse with Sigue Sigue Sputnik plus photo bulb flashes in the Talking Heads video.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik had loads in common with Steve Shite in my opinion – ugly, vacuous and talentless.
Lots of Pythonesque video effects for Talking Heads’ track. What was it called again?
Audrey Hall with a tune as slight as her frame. You need more croissants, my dear. Not exactly “Girlie Girlie”, is it? What was it called again?
The big fella’s back! Mind you, if you think Alexander O’Neal’s big, wait for Darryl Pandy! Shame he didn’t try to tackle Jordick after thate padding comment. I love this track and Alexander mimed it very well.
Kate Bush’s video makes Talking Heads’ one look like a holiday infomercial. Cheer up, woman! I much preferred the Futureheads’ wonderful punky cover of this.
A horrible re-mix of a big disco hit for the lads with Puerto Rican ancestry.
It’s Susannah and the other three. Obvious a Prince song by the sound of it, but I never really liked this. More of a “Walk like An Egyptian” man myself.
An FF for the chart topper, followed by an horrendous outro link (what a way to finish your TOTP career) and a nondescript song, more Private than Colonel. What a dumper for the final communal trot. I think the full song title was “I’m Not Gonna Let You Dance Over The Credits Again”.
I've found out Audrey Hall finally got her first hit after at least 16 years and 14 singles, and she'd just started back as a solo singer here after a fruitful career as a backing singer.
ReplyDeleteB team presenting this week.
ReplyDeleteNot a chance of being number one Steve but a bright start from these pop punks giving the BBC VFx team a chnace to shine. I seem to recall them being everywhere in 1986. Their press coverage hugely disproportionate to their success. Song is crap and always was... amazed they never got a Dr who cameo...
Talking Heads with their hit that isn't Road To Nowhere. Gets occasional airplay these days. Must admit I quite like it. Interesting video using some of the techniques Gabriel will borrow later in the year.
Audrey Hall I don't recall the name at all. Bit of reggae lite. Not as much fun as Amazulu and lacking a chorus and a tune.. next.
Alexander O'Neal leaves his helmet at home but brought the curtains and turned them into a suit. This is the second song tonight lacking any kind of real hook. Disappointing. Great voice though,
Breakers:
My favourite Kate Bush record by a mile. Love this. Don't recall the odd little video.
Tavares. And 1986s sixties fetish continues... Great song though so it's forgiven.
Bangles with the Prince written Manic Monday. 11 year old me fell in love with this song. It is a quality pop song. One of the 80s best. So much hairspray......One of them looks like Sam Fox.
Billy gets a fourth week. Quite right too. UK video. Wonder if this video is what turned a teenage Zeta-Jones on???
Another Eastenders plug and Mr Abrhams plays us out. Not a bad tune.
An OK show. Bangles, Billy and Talking Heads best of the bunch.
morgie was "abrhams" deliberately spelled that way in order to fall between the correct "abrams" spelling and the oft-mispronounced "abrahams"?
DeleteWas trying to be funny. Amazed anyone noticed..
Delete