Happy New Top of the Pops!
Big Hits!
Big Hits 1989:
Black Box ~ 'Ride on Time'
The year's biggest selling single gets this year's compilation off to a very bouncy start!
Happy Mondays ~ 'Hallelujah'
We get our first glimpse of the 90's here, and yes that is Kirsty Maccoll on backing vocals, and this debut top 40 hit peaked at number 19.
Sonia ~ 'You'll Never Stop Me From Loving You'
With her only number one hit.
Soul II Soul ~ 'Keep On Moving'
With their first of three top ten hits in 1989.
Marc Almond & Gene Pitney ~ 'Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart'
The original had reached number 5 for Gene Pitney in 1967, this new duet version madeit to number one.
Technotronic ~ 'Pump Up the Jam'
This very tasty tune peaked at number 2.
Mike & the Mechanics ~ 'The Living Years'
Their only top ten hit and it peaked at number 2.
Lisa Stansfield ~ 'All Around the World'
This very classy song went all the way to number one.
R.E.M. ~ 'Orange Crush'
Making their debut on the show with a song that peaked at number 28.
Phil Collins ~ 'Another Day in Paradise'
He's back with his piano and paint pot, and this song peaked at number 2.
Rebel Mc and Double Trouble ~ 'Street Tuff'
His only top ten hit and it peaked at number 3.
Jason Donovan ~ 'Too Many Broken Hearts'
With his second of four number ones in 1989.
Sydney Youngblood ~ 'If Only I Could'
His only top ten hit and it peaked at number 3.
Kylie Minogue ~ 'Hand On Your Heart'
With her second of three number ones in 1989.
Beautiful South ~ 'You Keep It All In'
The original lineup with their second top ten hit of the year and it peaked at number 8.
Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville ~ 'Don't Know Much'
Peaked at number 2.
Transvision Vamp ~ 'Baby I Don't Care'
Performing their biggest hit which peaked at number 3.
Tina Turner ~ 'The Best'
Not quite leaving the best till last, and it peaked at number 5.
Paula Abdul ~ 'Straight Up'
Peaked at number 3.
Stone Roses ~ 'Fools Gold'
And here we say goodbye to the 80's and hello to the 90's, with a tune that peaked at number 8.
January 5th is next.
Happy New Year to Angelo and all who contribute to this blog and read it - I hope you all had a good Christmas. I have fond childhood memories of 1989, not least the long hot summer referred to in the documentary, but music-wise I was less than enthralled with the charts at the time and indeed by the end of that year I was no longer watching TOTP regularly. Big Hits reinforced my prejudices, as for me this was probably the most underwhelming compilation we have had since the repeats started. While I only actively disliked a small proportion of the featured songs, there weren't that many I especially liked either, with most just producing a shrug of indifference.
ReplyDeleteMind you, The Story of 1989 demonstrated that a better list could have been put together, from such classics as The Road to Hell, I Don't Want a Lover, Sam Brown's Stop and Liza Minnelli's version of Losing My Mind. I thought the doc was very enjoyable, with the likes of Chris Rea and Shaun Ryder proving good value - it was good to see the former, given his persistent ill-health and the fact he has been quiet musically for a while now. I had no idea that Chris and Texas were both in Berlin the night the wall came down, and it was fascinating to hear their memories of that event.
Anyway, here's hoping that '89 ends up proving more entertaining than Big Hits and my own memories suggest it will...
I thought Chris Rea looked awful, but he was still pretty sharp and gave good interview.
DeleteShaun reminded me of this week's A Year in the Life of a Year, where they had him on Celebrity Mastermind: "Your name?" "Um... I know this... wait a minute... nah, sorry." On iPlayer if you missed it - people complain about Charlie Brooker not doing Screenwipe anymore, but this is just as funny!
Thanks for the recommendation - I've watched it now and it probably was the funniest thing I saw all Christmas, not that there was much competition! Nice to discover that Christopher Eccleston actually does have a sense of humour...
DeleteDon't mention it! If you're looking for a funny half hour, The Goes Wrong Show has been a highlight, two episodes on BBC1 so far and both absolutely hilarious. On iPlayer too!
DeleteNot watched this yet. Some horrors on the listing but three absolute classics are there in my view. No prizes for guessing which three they are for those who follow my tastes!
ReplyDeletei would say that mike and the mechanics (yawn) was a dead cert?
DeleteAbsolutely Wilberforce!
Deletesct that's not my cup of tea to put it mildly (when that song crops up, i always think of ba robertson lapping up all the royalties from massive US radio airplay, that apparently continues to this day), as is a lot of stuff you like. yet despite that, now and again our "venn diagrams" seem to interact with each other!
DeleteHappy New Year all! I don't watch the "Big Hits" shows but love the "Story" docs. Jenny Powell's matured nicely, Anthea tells us why she shouts everything (so at least there's a half decent explanation) and interesting to find out the facts about one singer's past job, the inspiration for an AOR classic and a non-chart act suffering airplay problems due to a major disaster.
ReplyDeleteJenny Powell surprisingly funny, I thought, and Lisa Stansfield has always been a grand lass - wonder why they didn't mention she'd presented Razzmatazz, though?
DeleteNice to hear what I was listening to obsessively in 1989 on The Story of: Pixies! Didn't get within a sniff of the TOTP studio, mind you, I don't think they were ever on at all even on video, though they did break the Top 40 occasionally.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear Pixies, despite "Monkey Gone To Heaven" only peaking at 60. Someone in the production team must have been a big fan to get that song on the show's soundtrack.
DeleteI once heard (but didn't see) Pixies at a gig, at the much missed Old Trout in Windsor. Like many acts, they were playing the venue as a pre-Reading warm-up and my mates and I couldn't get in so listened from outside. Those inside who couldn't take the submissive heat were let out sweating and breathless via a side door next to where we were listening!
I suspect Monkey Gone To Heaven was used because it's about climate change disasters and perfect for use in the bit about the environmentalism of the 80s. The Doolittle album did better than any of the singles off it.
Deleteas far as i'm concerned, the pixies were what i think of as "emperor's new clothes" music. ditto my bloody valentine, that the music press were (also) beefing up as the future of music around this time to my recollection...
Delete"You f*ckin' die!" Nah, but seriously, Pixies were exactly what I needed to hear as an angsty teen, and I still love their riffs and weirdo lyrics to this day. By the time grunge came along, I was all "been there, done that" and they'd split up anyway. Though they are back together now, minus Kim. MBV still sound good to me, too.
Deleteis that a pixies lyric perchance? as one a decade or so older, perhaps i had already "been there, done that" with punk and new wave when i was an angsty teen myself? plus i was always a disco bunny anyway ha ha
DeleteNo, it was the best "turn down the volume so mum doesn't hear" bit of dialogue from their second album Surfer Rosa, in between a couple of tracks!
DeleteTeens gonna angst, in every era...
Here it is, beautifully animated:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyew_VSxjIQ
The story had a lot more tracks that I remember and enjoyed. Some great interviews - who knew Lisa Stansfield was such fun, such a potty mouth :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to all..
ReplyDeleteGreat documentary with some different stories to hear. Thought Jenny Powell was a great presenter so good to see her on the Doc.
Bit hit and miss with the songs on the highlights show but at least we were spared Big Fun.
Pump up the Jam got the thumbs up from the teen, dancing around the lounge..
Hi Anonymous and a happy new year! I'm on to ask if you've got the original archive shows of the following episodes that BBC4 either cut bits from or didn't show at all. They are all from 1986 and are 3/04, 8/05, 10/07 (all links to Smith), 11/09, 2/10 and 13/11 (all Smith shows) Cheers!
ReplyDeletehappy new brie, here are the three smithy shows, don't have the linked shows am sorry.
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-gzljZEJaLx
Great stuff as usual mate! Didn't think you'd have the linked shows. Thanks again.
DeleteEither the "Story" doc had a bit of poetic licence or Gene Pitney's memory was playing up, but he'd been (just) in the top 30 as recently as 1970 with "Shady Lady" and he'd been in the top 40 with "Blue Angel" in 1974 festive time.
ReplyDeletedoes anyone remember gene pitney being booked for "this morning" on the 11th september 2001 so he could plug his latest nostalgia tour, and instead having to act as the "voice of america" in the wake of 9/11?
DeleteThe best performances on this show were the two duets, namely Almond & Pitney, and then Neville & Ronstadt. Pure class for 1989 by all four singers..
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed most of this - too many sample tracks, but who thought there were so many good tunes around before Madchester..
ReplyDeleteRide on time - loved it then, love it now
Happy Monday - has this been broadcast before, the notes said ‘2019 sees them play in the uk...’?
Sonia - crikey made 2nd in Eurovision. Those were the days (my friend)
Somethings got a hold of my heart - another number one I bought (don’t even hear most number ones these days)
Pump up the jams - appalling miming, didn’t look as she knew what was coming next!
REM - didn't know the (Agent) Orange Crush factlet
Beautiful South - curious change of lead singer... still going strong these days
Ahhhh, wendy.... alao still going strong with a new album due out
Never understood why Tina did better than Bonnie Tyler - both good but Tyler had the better track history at the time.
Paula Abdul track better than I remembered - managed to avoid the FF
And finally... Stone roses - not a patch on Made Of Stone or Elephant Stone, but this is the track that broke them..