Bootylicious
02/02/89 (Simon Mayo & Steve Wright)
Holly Johnson – “Love Train” (5)
Holly gets the show off to a full head of steam tonight and the song went up one more place.
Roy Orbison – “You Got It” (3) (clip from other TV show)
At its peak.
Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle – “Wait” (10)
In the studio and the song went up three more places.
Sheena Easton – “The Lover In Me” (23)
Sexy Sheena's in the studio with this Prince style song which peaked at number 15.
Michael Ball – “Love Changes Everything” (24) (breaker)
Peaked at number 2.
Yazz – “Fine Time” (27) (breaker)
Became her fourth and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 9.
Hue & Cry – “Looking For Linda” (31) (breaker)
Peaked at number 15.
Samantha Fox – “I Only Wanna Be With You” (29) (breaker)
Peaked at number 16.
Simply Red – “It’s Only Love” (22)
Once again singing a live vocal in the studio and the song peaked at number 13.
Roachford – “Cuddly Toy” (4)
A second studio performance but the song was at its peak.
Marc Almond & Gene Pitney – “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” (1) (video)
Second of four weeks at number one.
Bobby Brown – “My Prerogative” (18) (video/credits)
Became his first of ive top ten hits when it peaked at number 6.
9th February is next
Holly Johnson - really like this debit solo single, and the cute perky girl on guitar. Really like her fun dance moves too!
ReplyDeleteRoy Orbison - the video getting a fuller play this week, thank goodness. What a huge stage he is on for one person singing. I wonder where this video was performed? Somewhere in Europe probably. This could have been the last footage of Roy before his death shortly after, at the age of only 52. What a huge loss, he would have been 83 now if he was still alive, and hard to believe that he died already 31 years ago.
Sheena Easton - or as Angelo correct put it....Sexy Sheena.
Well hellooooo Sheena, what took you so long to look this good and making my day watching TOTP today? Sheena a sort of Kylie Minogue in height but older and more mature hottie, aged still only 29 in this performance. Thanks Prince for making Sheena think more sexy of herself, you did us all a good turn for 1989!
Breakers - The Michael Ball video is really good, I just love all those musicals-influenced pop songs and videos, Sarah Brightman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Phantom Of The Opera, and now Michael Ball. More of these please!
Almond & Pitney - love this granduese video, although they only cut to the second minute to start the clip, so we missed all of Almond's first verses, as TOTP seemed to go straight to the Gene Pitney section, but clearly could not play the full 5-minute video, but instead the middle two-and-a-half minutes of it. Get onto tube for the whole operetta. "Well Let Me Tell You Now, Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart......"
Brian May actually played guitar on this track. Where was he?
DeleteAccording to Wikipedia:
DeleteOrbison gave his only public rendition of the hit at the Diamond Awards Festival in Antwerp, Belgium on November 19, 1988.
Aha! Thanks for that nugget.
DeleteDare I say it, but Wrighty does finally seem to be getting the hang of this TV lark just as his tenure on TOTP starts to come towards its close. He did seem vaguely competent here, perhaps helped by being partnered with the ever-professional Mayo.
ReplyDeleteLots of songs we've had on before this week. Holly Johnson upgrades to a crown for this new performance, looking ever more like a living cartoon, while we do get to see a little bit more of the Big O this week, albeit not much more. Robert and Kym are back in the studio, though in their case the performance is barely distinguishable from the first one. We finally get something new, if we ignore its breaker appearance the week before, in the shape of a post-Prince Sheena Easton. She looks completely unrecognisable here from the clean-cut girl next door who first appeared on TOTP at the start of the decade, though I'm afraid her vamped-up image doesn't do much for me, not helped by the song being a fairly bland Babyface concoction. This was Sheena's last Top 20 hit, and almost certainly her last visit to the TOTP studio.
Mick's been growing his hair since we last saw him, and he shakes it around in all its flaming glory as he indulges in another live vocal. In truth this didn't sound much different from the record, but that's fine as it is a good tune. Hucknall was now on the verge of breaking into the superstar league, with the album A New Flame about to be released and enjoy massive success. Not sure why he didn't release the title song as the first single, actually, as it's the best thing on the album. Roachford gets in on the headgear act with another energetic turn, before Marc and Gene almost manage to make Vegas look classy in their video, such is the power of a good song. The odious Bobby Brown to close, reviving the lip mic pioneered by Kate Bush a decade earlier and doubtless helping to pave the way for its subsequent ubiquity. Much as I dislike the man, this is a decent record showcasing the clunkily-named "new jack swing" sound.
I'm not sure if Sheena Easton appeared in the TOTP studio in recent years leading up to 1989, as she effectively moved to America in 1983 to continue her career there, and this visit to the UK was a bit of a surprise. If it was indeed her last visit to the TOTP studio, then she will be missed.
DeleteI was reading on Wikipedia that a year later in 1990, she returned to Scotland to perform in Glasgow and had bottles thrown at her when she said on stage that it was good to be back home, and not surprisingly she vowed never to perform in her home country of Scotland ever again after this unpleasant homecoming.
If I remember rightly, her last studio appearance had been in 1982. I believe the bottling incident was caused by the Glaswegian crowd objecting to her newly acquired American accent!
Deletedon't forget that sheena made another attempt to get back in the UK limelight about 15 years ago, when she noticed that kylie was cashing in as a gay icon and thought "i'll have a bit of that". however her intended new target audience took umbrage at being taken advantage of in that way, so sent her packing back to the states with her tail between her legs again!
DeleteKing Holly gets us off to a roaring start, still think this is great, especially compared to how Frankie Goes to Hollywood ended up by the end. He's almost upstaged by his guitarist, mind you.
ReplyDeleteBit more of The Big O, maybe there were grumbles at the short shrift he got last time, but it's pretty much the same as before. I remember John Peel saying when Roy died it was like a window in his house being bricked up.
Bob and Kym in different outfits, but again this is more or less the same as before. So far this episode has been almost identical to the one on a couple of weeks ago. Is Kym wearing ruby slippers?
Sheena almost managing to regain her fanbase in the UK, but then giving interviews which revealed a drastic accent change. Scotland was horrified, hence the bottling at the performance in Glasgow Dory mentions above. Who says Scotland is too parochial? A friend of mine was at the gig, and said that despite the accent, she was looking damn fine. It was a nasty bit of business all round. On this song, well, it's fair, but lacks the cheesy hooks of before.
Simply Red back, and Charlie Drake gaining even more self-confidence if that was possible. As for the tune, it goes absolutely nowhere, and marked the point I lost what little interest I had in them.
Roachford back for another too-similar performance, apart from one thing: is he wearing a gun holster?! Very gangsta, Andrew. Still a great song, whatever.
We get the video of Marc and Gene, or the middle of it at least, a trip to Las Vegas providing the backdrop and a showgirl providing the erm, frontdrop (?!).
Bobby Brown, bad man that he is, we will see more of next time.
Sheena's greatest moment came in 1983 with Kenny Rogers in their duet covering Bob Seger's We Got Tonight, which must have cemented her into the American people's hearts:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjolx06SfQM
I don't recall this ever making the British charts, but I do remember hearing it on the American pop chart shows on Radio 1 or 2, and being totally mesmerised by it. She certainly has a great voice, even if Kenny or Prince were not of the same vocal calibre.
Sheena and Kenny made No28 with the Seger cover in February 1983. To be honest I prefer another Bond theme tune singer's duet version:-
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmQDITiPhTw
Bob Seger's original version is definitive for me - the Sheena/Kenny version sounds very weak by comparison.
DeleteTwo songs in this week's edition are due for a revival on oldies radio: Sheena Easton's 'The Lover In Me' and Simply Red's 'It's Only Love'.
ReplyDeleteBoth songs' titles may have been unremarkable, but Sheena's transformation since her last appearance in the TOTP studio was quite the opposite. With almost half a decade of reinvention behind her, much of this courtesy of His Purpleness, the former MOR girl-next-door would storm to No.2 in the US and No.15 in Britain, her biggest solo chart placing at home since 'For Your Eyes Only'.
'The Lover In Me' was the work of LA and Babyface, one of the hottest R&B teams of the era - but Sheena's star would not shine for much longer. 'Arms of Orion', reuniting her with her diminutive former mentor, would provide her with her final British Top 40 hit later in the year, and she would bow out of chartland in the US (and also Australia) with 'What Comes Naturally' in '91.
Mick Hucknall/Simply Red would prove to have more staying power than the original reality TV pop star, continuing to score hits in Britain, Europe and Australasia well into the Noughties - though his later US successes would be confined to the Adult Contemporary chart. I'm not normally a fan of orchestral hits, but the utilisation of this technique actually enhances the arrangement of 'It's Only Love', making it quite memorable.
Sheena Easton's first break in America came well before Prince snapped her up, as in 1983 she duetted with Kenny Rogers on We Got Tonight, but she was still in her shy Scottish big time attire a la 1981 in the UK.
DeleteIt was certainly when the purple Prince changed her look on his video of U Got The Look in 1987, that her solo hit The Lover In Me now in 1989 produced a video of Prince enamour and style. In the video Sheena has a change of clothes during the instrumental break from a red minidress to a black outfit of even less proportions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3mSb6IGCZw
It seems as you correctly say Julie that Sheena has not been active in the music scene since around 1990 when even the American work dried up, so the last 30 years has produced little or no music from her, and turning 60 last year and now living in America which was so good to her in those fruitful 80s.
I thought Sheena had a hit with 9 to 5 in the US, before Kenny got to her? Renamed Morning Train, so as not to confuse her with Dolly Parton?
DeleteShe was an actress, too, was on Miami Vice. She attempted a comeback about 20 years ago, aiming for the pink pound as Wilberforce says, but they didn't want her. There was a BBC doc about it I wish I'd watched, because it's supposed to be unintentionally hilarious.
Yes, the renamed "Morning Train" was a US number 1 in 1981.
DeleteGood Lord, no wonder she moved to the US soon after, which would explain being snapped up by Kenny Rogers for their duet in 1983. Having a US number 1 does get you noticed by other established local artists I suppose.
DeleteNice DJ pairing for the hosts and I must say that I will miss Wrightie if he is off soon.
ReplyDeleteHolly Johnson – Love Train – Give me this any day to ‘Relax’ or ‘Two Tribes’. A tuneful tour de force to start the show off with a stonking Brian May solo, even if he probably was too busy getting ready to promote ‘The Miracle’, so we get a bit of guitar playing eye candy instead!
Roy Orbison – You got it – How to solve the problem of not showing too much of a video; start it off midway. At least we get more this time. Given the Jeff Lynne production, the ‘boom boom’ bit played by BA Robertson sounds the same as in ‘The way life’s meant to be’ and ‘Julie don’t live here’ from the ‘Time’ album.
Robert Howard and Kym Mazelle – Wait – Don’t get the appeal of this at all – give me Hank and his ‘Jungle Rock’.
Sheena Easton – The Lover in me – A sexy mini dress can’t hide a rubbish song. Got bored very quickly with this.
Breakers – Michael Ball – Looking forward to seeing more of this, but needless to say one of my favourite songs of 1989. Yazz – heading in an upward direction. Hue and Cry – McCartney? Sam Fox – you can’t keep a good song down; Dusty, Tourists, Sam…take your pick.
Simply Red – Its only love – This Elvis track from 1971 hit the charts in 1980 and reached no3. Legs and Co donned the cowboy hats to dance to it. As for Mick and Co. It’s OK I guess, and yes, it’s not the same tune as Elvis.
Roachford – Cuddly Toy – I’ve never seen Roachford with Mike and the Mechanics but I assume that he tackles the songs originally sung by the late Paul Young? Songs like ‘Word of Mouth’ and the timeless ‘All I need is a Miracle’.
Marc Almond and Gene Pitney – Something’s gotten hold of my Heart – Not seen the video before, but as with Roy we get it started some way through. Great stuff.
Bobby Brown – Personal Touch – I have no interest in this whatsoever.
Yes indeed, hearing that Orbison track was like Jeff Lynne and ELO in disguise, but he did do it very well on that gigantic stage (somewhere in Europe?) which was on its own probably the size of the whole TOTP studio! This could have been Jeff Lynne getting to No.3 with it, but I think Orbison by name was the power to take to the Top 3 in Britain, which was no mean feat.
DeleteWorth watching the whole video of Almond & Gene Pitney, as it is a good 5 minutes or so, and a mini operetta, of which TOTP seemed to have played the middle part of it only, and not the beginning and end of it, but here it is in all its glory, before we say goodbye to it shortly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ZIErShjw0
Didn't Roy's "boom booms" sound more like the ones in Bang Bang by BA Robertson?
DeleteLorra repeats and FFs again...
ReplyDeleteSheena Easton track a bit subdued..
Breakers - ok, ok, ok, ok (augers well for next week)
Simply Red - yawn!
Was that Carrie Grant on backing vocals for Sheena Easton?
ReplyDeleteSo it's Boy Mayo and Steve Shite this week trying to make themselves heard over the crowd. And a good show as well.
ReplyDeleteNew hat, new performance and Holly Johnson clearly enjoying being back in the limelight again. “Love Train” deservedly in the Top 5. Felt like a TOTP performance from the old days....
"could have been number one" Roy Orbison up next. "It's number 3 and he's dead maybe we should forgive him and show more of the video this time"
Oh go on then...
Nice to see Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle again. Quality tune but identical performance. Will we get anything new this week? We'll have to “Wait” and see....
We need to buy Sheena Easton's record as she clearly can only afford the underwear. Nice pre-recorded performance of a good song but got cut quite short me thinks – how was this a not a top ten hit?
Breakers:
Michael Ball – WOW. I don't remember him ever looking that young....or thin...decent show tune though.
Yazz – Amazingly her final hit, so soon. I like this, it's a nice chill out tune. Hopefully she'll get a full outing for this.
Hue & Cry – Lusardi? McCartney?...no I'm done with Linda's. Like the tune. video very cheesy.
Samantha Fox – "I only wanna sleep with you" dream a million school boys, and they must have been buying this...oh this has NOT aged well.
As punchable as Mick Hucknall is he certainly has a great voice and great tunes. This is lovely. Shame he's come dressed in 6th Doctor off-cuts, but oh well.
Roachford with a second go at getting “Cuddly Toy” in the charts and successfully hitting the Top ten. Disappeared for 30 years and suddenly a new album out this month...coincidence?
Marc & Gene still at the top with a bit more of the video.
Mr Almond back with a new album this month and on the cover of the new Classic Pop mag out this week...it's like he knew...
A short dose of Bobby Brown to close. I like this so a full house of top tunes tonight. crikey.
The new Simes as good as always, and Nodding Dog not only giving an excellent performance for him but also joining in the mugshot announcements - was that a first?
ReplyDeleteNever mind Holly’s crown, new gloves this time. The comely guitarist shows us the first slinky black outfit of the show. I wonder what Holly meant by a love train, then? Ahem.
I wish we knew what show that Roy O clip came from. Ludicrous chopping for a top 3 song’s video part 1. Another first as we see a kettledrummer cajole the crowd into clapping their hands.
The zebra and leopard become the monochrome duo this time. Just as I thought there was no chemistry between them, Kym leans over the piano towards Robert. This tune’s grown on me.
Second slinky black outfit of the show from McKylie. Image aye, tune och no.
No breaker play for constant climber Raze, then?
Michael Ball. It’s all him and that f#cking Alfie Boe these days.
Nice mellow tune from a smoky sounding and sultry looking Yazz.
That Linda in the Hue and Cry video looked a bit edgey to me. I wouldn’t scout too far if I were you, lads!
A head in the bin during Samantha Fox’s video which summed up my views on this awful rehash. Hopefully it’ll go down next week. Ah.
Fair play, Charlie Drake always gave a fine live performace. Shame I hate him and his band and his songs. Simply Bland.
Adeva in the mugshots there with her first of three consecutive number 17’s, which reminded me of “Allentown” by Billy Joel, his tribute to a community decimated by the closure of their steelworks, which stayed at number 17 in the US charts for six weeks in a row. Some achievement, that.
Nice early drummer gurn in Roachford’s band. Wearing a gun holster there, Andy? Oo, sexy red and black stripes backing girl’s back, but she gets zilch camera time. Once again the double “I’ve told you three times” bridge part gets chopped.
A criminal chopping for the summit tune. What must Las Vegas’s leccy bill be? I see Cher’s reduced to walk-on parts now.
Okay, now I get it with Booby Brown’s track (again). Still a wrong ‘un, though.
I remember buying the 7" vinyl record of Break For Love by Raze, a good dance floor number at the time I seem to recall, but didn't really see it on the various TV pop shows, and very underrated track in my opinion.
DeleteI didn't realise "Break For Love" charted four times - a re-entry further down the chart soon after this run and then twice more, once barely a year after this current chart foray.
DeleteSteve 'loving the show Steve' Wright has done the rundown before - most recently on one of the 88 repeats. But his rundown appearances were as rare as 'Smitty' getting through an episode without being irritating.
DeleteArthur, you can't keep a good song down, especially with a name like Raze.
DeleteThis was the first 89 show that had a heavy FF quota, partly because we'd seen a lot of the acts before, and also because most of the stuff we hadn't seen wasn't to my liking.
ReplyDeleteSheena Easton - Not great really. We already had shop's own Janet Jackson courtesy of Karyn White without another identikit production. No wonder Prince didn't keep hold of this one.
Simply Red - A middling song even if Mick sings it well as he always does.
Bobby Brown - I liked all of one of his hits, and it's not this one...
Ghostbusters II fan?
DeleteNope, the one I like will be on before we get to that one!
Delete