Top of the grandpops
06/07/89 (Nicky Campbell)
Sonia – “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” (12)
Getting the show underway with what became her first of three top ten hits and was also soon to become her only number one.
Gladys Knight – “Licence To Kill” (6) (video)
At its peak.
Monie Love – “Grandpa’s Party” (22)
In the studio tonight and the tune was on its way to number 16.
Karyn White – “Superwoman” (21) (video)
Her biggest hit and it peaked at number 11.
Bette Midler - "The Wind Beneath My Wings" (30) (breaker)
Became her first of two top ten hits when it peaked at number 5.
Danny Wilson - "The Second Summer Of Love" (32) (breaker)
Their final top 40 hit and it peaked at number 23.
De La Soul - "Say No Go" (33) (breaker)
Became their second of ten top 40 hits when it peaked at number 18.
The Beautiful South – “Song For Whoever” (2)
A new studio performance but the song was now at its peak.
Pet Shop Boys – “It’s Alright” (5) (video)
The duo's final hit of the 80's and number 5 was the peak for this baby.
Chaka Khan – “Ain’t Nobody” (remix) (18)
It made number 8 first time around in '84, five years on she's performing in the studio and it went two places higher at number 6.
Soul II Soul – “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)” (1) (video)
Third of four weeks at number one.
A Guy Called Gerald – “Voodoo Ray” (26) (video/credits)
His only top 40 hit and it peaked at number 12.
Next up is 13th of July
Like Anthea the week before, Mr Campbell is relatively restrained here, and only his silly hair really got on my nerves. Sonia first up, the epitome of that dreaded word "bubbly". Quite how this highly generic SAW tune, which just sounds like earlier hits of theirs reworked into a different order, made it to number 1 is something of a mystery, but clearly there were enough record buyers out there who found Sonia's personality more winning that I do. Even the performance is uninspired, with the obligatory two male backing dancers strutting their stuff behind Miss Evans. Monie Love are in the studio, resplendent in African attire and with a record that doesn't have much in common with the Grandma's Party that Paul Nicholas sang about. This is another of those records that combines irritating rap with an irresistibly hooky, repetitive chorus to worm its way into people's brains.
ReplyDeleteKaryn White turns herself into a domestic drudge for this rather soapy video, as she whinges on about her man not fancying her anymore. She's a good singer, but clunky lyrics married to a forgettable tune do not a great song make. More from the breakers next time, which bring us to a Beautiful South performance identical in all essentials to the previous one - it's notable that Norman Cook was also in the charts at this point with his first post-Housemartins success, using his own name. PSB return on video, but this is not one of their best songs and there is something weirdly unsettling about seeing them looking after all those babies, who would all be in their thirties now. I wonder what became of them all?
Another week, another remix, and Chaka actually turns up to the studio (without Rufus) to perform it. I can't say this version adds anything much to the song, but Chaka is a sight to behold with her enormous hair and extravagant sleeves. She tries to get some audience participation, but it doesn't sound as if she succeeded. A Guy Called Gerald has a better name than he does a record here, as it's nothing more than a plodding dance number accompanied by yet another video full of flashing effects doubtless designed to make you think you are out of your head at a rave somewhere.
Looking forward to Monie Love's follow-up "Dancing With the Captain".
DeleteI think this may have been Chaka's first visit to the TOTP studio, unless she came in 1984 for her No.1 called I Feel For You. Certainly she never performed 'Ain't Nobody' in the TOTP Studio before.
DeleteThe playout this week was certainly one for any epileptics to avoid
You're right, this was Chaka's first appearance on TOTP, they just played the video for I Feel For You.
DeleteThis was at least Chaka Khan's second studio appearance on TOTP. She turned up to promote "This Is My Night" in the edition first shown on 24th January 1985 but it wasn't screened on BBC4 as Shitty was the host. I remembered Chaka had been on the show due to her costume promoting her miraculous tree-trunk thighs and, indeed, a picture of said outfit augments Angelo's critique dated 22nd January 2018. I need to get out more! Unfortunately...
DeleteYes, that 1985 appearance is the only other time I recall Chaka being in the studio.
DeleteArthur - perhaps Monie Love later released "Hip-Hop Like It Used to Be"!
DeleteI'd forgotten Chaka's previous appearance, sorry!
DeleteNo worries, THX. I have trouble remembering what I had for dinner yesterday!
DeleteJohn G, good knock there! All we need then is for the presenter to forget her name like Noel Edmonds did with Paul Nicholas!
DeleteHey, did you know Sonia was from Liverpool? She might have mentioned it. A bright, bouncy, completely disposable SAW effort, nothing offensive or anything, but even at the time I struggled to hear why it was such a hit.
ReplyDeleteGlad's backing singers are a bit offputting, aren't they? Got a little more of this, but they still cut it off before the very end.
Monie Love, never knew she was on TOTP! I'm more familiar with Monie in the Middle or Ladies First (or her collaboration with Queen Latifah for that matter), but somehow I'd forgotten that, shall we say, insistent chorus here. Not her best, and she's blatantly miming, but she has a sunny personality that appeals. Apparently the "grandpa" referred to James Brown.
Karyn White with her whingey hit, she was the wife of Terry Lewis (of superproducers Jam and Lewis), so this doesn't reflect well on him, does it?! Also, who has an office watercooler in their house?!
The Beautiful South singing the praises of PRS cheques, then another house cover version, as The Pet Shop Boys enjoy their last hit of a decade that was so good to them. Not their best cover, it lacks the cheek of the others, but those lyrics still hit home today and you can see what attracted them to it.
Remix time again, and not much difference between Chaka's first and second attempts, it's a decent enough song but I was in no special hurry to hear it again. Would have preferred to hear that voice tackle something new.
JB and company still there at the top, and then woot! Club classic! Ah, remember The Hacienda! Wasn't it great, freezing cold, full of gangsters, ah those were the days! OK, I never went to The Hacienda, but this is a rare house track that sounds good on the radio with its stark production and bizarrely, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore vocal sample. He really was a guy called Gerald!
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DeleteWhen did the SAW era finish, as their common formula is getting quite tiresome by now?
DeleteThe SAW juggernaut began to fade away in 1990, though they sputtered on with sporadic success till 1993.
DeleteThey went all dance music at the end. I think 2 unlimited were one of theirs. .
DeleteHaving a quick investigation, 2 Unlimited were on PWL, the Pete Waterman label, but I don't know how much SAW were involved in producing their music, seems they just distributed them.
DeleteYes, the PWL International / PWL Continental labels (the 2 were pretty much interchangable IIRC) hoovered up foreign dance hits and SAW themselves had very little to do with the production other than removing Ray from 2 Unlimited's raps!
DeleteJust heard on Gary Davies' Sounds of the 80s that punk-disco singer Cristina died this week. You may remember her from Annie Nightingale's regular plays of her cover of Is That All There Is? but the album that's off, Doll in the Box, is pretty great too. She was 61 and had been ill for some time, sadly.
ReplyDeletei came across her "novelty" indie xmas track "things fall apart" a few years ago, and it certainly knocks the far-more-played similar thing by the waitresses into a cocked hat! yes, she may have died relatively young and not been in good health for a while, but she was also married for several years to super-hip ze records founder and mothercare heir ("what attracted you to the millionaire") michael zilkha. so i don't suppose she spent her life selling big issues or worrying about paying the rent?
DeleteThey do say the best things to be in life are rich and healthy, because if you're poor and unhealthy then you have the worst of it, if you're poor and healthy you can have a pretty good life, but if you're rich and unhealthy then all your money can't compensate for being unhealthy.
Deletewell i think money does help a bit when it comes to sorting one's health problems - teeth implants for instance!
Deletewas it eartha kitt who came up with the quote "i've rich, and i've been poor. and rich is better!"?
The Beautiful South were certainly staying in the Top Ten for quite a while, and now peaking at No.2, they make a new visit and allowed to sing live, which was not granted to Soul To Soul one place above them at No.1. It's difficult to know why the rule applies to some but not others, but it could be that Soul To Soul came in to the studio with some sort of attitude and walked away leaving only their video to show, but who knows the real circumstances?
ReplyDeleteThe Pet Shop Boys were back with a new album and single with It's Alright, but it was not alright, because I thought their peak came with the previous 1988 album Introspective, but 1989 seemed to see them softening their sound somewhat, which wasn't in the realms of the 1985-1988 era which I believe was their finest and distinctive era which made them different from the rest. This new single and move to black-and-white video was a move backwards in my opinion, and it was never to be the same for me from here on in, as far as the PSB sound goes.
PSB’s cover of It’s Alright actually first appeared on their 1988 album Introspective. A remixed version was released as a single the following July to promote their first ever tour.
DeleteGood Lord you're right, it certainly is on the 1988 Introspective album, as I just checked that album on my CD shelf. For some reason I always thought Its Alright was on their next album because it didn't seem to fit musically with the rest of the Introspective album.
DeleteAlso, it was quite odd that there was about a 6-month gap between releasing Left To My Own Devices in December 1988, until this one in July 1989. I always imagined there was a new album by now, especially as this latest single sounded so different to the rest of their masterpieces from the Introspective album.
Sonia - first full outing after last weeks breaker. Still sounds nothing special. Wasn’t she diddy? Was it SAW policy?
ReplyDeleteGladys - took a while to get a full outing. As said before, one of the better later Bond tunes.
(Countdown - Normsn Cook - he says won’t talk about it but chart said don’t blame it on the bassline)
Monie Love - dull rap. still no...
Karyn White - super dull. literally sounds like she is reciting a recipe.
Breakers: bette midler - not a fan of this sort of song, but better than cliff’s version; danny Wilson - nice boppy number; de la soul - not a patch on their ‘3’ song
Pet Shop Boys - difficult to dislike any of their tracks, but this is one of their weaker singles. Chris Lowe looks even more depressed than ever holding the babies
Chaka Khan - another previously good song with the tune remixed out of it.
A guy called gerald - and for the second show running for the run out track... Eject
It’s Soupy’s turn tonight and boy, doesn’t he shout it from the rooftops at regular intervals? Turn your mouth down, laddie!
ReplyDeleteQuite why Sonia’s hit missed out the “From” in its title is beyond me, and TOTP show the omitted word in both the song intro credits and the mugshots. Nice matching black and hair colour outfit there. The song’s not as bad as I remembered.
Our last ever view of Gladys Knight on TOTP if I’m correct, and she’s obviously not miming in the video.
Mugshots: Soupy credits the other side of Norman Cook’s hit. Just waiting for Ted Key and Hugh Whittaker to make the chart and we’ll have a complete Housemartins reunion.
“You’re going to love this”? You tried that shit with Double Trouble, Soupy, and I’m not falling for it with this track either. Monie Hate to my ears, and Grandpa can sod off to the bowls green as far as I’m concerned.
Karyn White channels her inner Smiths with a self-centred me-me-me whinge. Where’s my dinner?
Bette Midler with a song which was also (just) a top 40 hit for Bill Tarmey, i.e. Jack Duckworth out of “Corrie”.
Danny Wilson – love this, such a shame we only get the repetitive song outro here.
De La Soul, introduced in awful stylee by Soupy and making Daryl Hall sound fly into the bargain. No mean feat, that. Hang on, did they just say “Shit”?
The Beautiful South with a fine satirical (ironic?) song but not live – where’s the crowd noise for starters?
Bloody Hell, Pet Shop Boys go MiniPops! I quite like the song but had to FF this through-fingers video. Who in their right minds thought that was a good idea? I can hear a shark jumper in the distance.
Rufus and Chaka Khan, ay, Soupy? Are you sure? Chaka looking like Tina Turner v Orville there. Loved the original version, this was just pointless.
That Bloke Gerald with a mellower and nicer take on the rave scene for the outro. Crap video, mind you.
Don't forget Stan Cullimore of the Housemartins, who gave up the bright lights of showbiz to write children's books. And also make videos about canals (?).
Deletedoes anyone else know that bill tarmey's stage name was a tribute to the american crooner mel torme? however the problem was that mel's surname was pronounced tor-MAY, whilst everyone referred to the corrie guy as bill TARM-ee
DeleteOwn goal forgetting Stan Cullimore there.
DeleteSo into July with Nicky "I'm Scottish" Campbell in full smug mode. Had my headphones but still struggled to hear some of his links. The audience was very loud on this one.
ReplyDeletePint-sized Pop Puppet Sonia up first with 89's summer earworm of a track. No FROM in the title, “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” is correct but even the TOTP countdown got it wrong this week.(12)
Dodgy dance routine as well...
Gladys Knight with a but more of the rather fine “Licence To Kill” video. I like it when the girls lie over the top of the broadband bar at the top of the screen.
Monie Love invites us all to “Grandpa’s Party”. Dress code: anything several sizes too big. Not getting this track at all. Pass.
Karyn White on video “Superwoman” a Wifey favourite and we have the album at home. It's quite a slow tune this one and just as I got into it they cut it off. It's a decent tune though.
Breakers:
Bette Midler - Hated this at the time, and don't we get a Cliff version as well. It's become quite a standard though hasn't it.
Danny Wilson - "The Second Summer Of Love" of "First" as McCampbell tells us. Quite like this but it's just radio fodder really, doesn't stick in the mind.
De La Soul - They knew how to produce decent rap songs and this is much better than Public Enemy last week.
The Beautiful South back again and a new performance of “Song For Whoever” Enjoyed this one.
Pet Shop Boys back with a cover this time. “It’s Alright” is a fair summary of the song. The 10" is the best version of this song. I wonder what happened to all those babies. Maybe PSB should get all of them back together..they'd all be 30 now.
WTF is Chaka Khan wearing. And that hair! “Ain’t Nobody” tried that appearance before. A subtle remix of a decent tube but a bit out of place in 89.
Soul II Soul still No1. Still loving this.
A Guy Called Gerald – I bet he wasn't called that at all.
“Voodoo Ray” an infectious little chill out track.
A Guy Called Gerald's real name is Gerald Simpson.
DeleteWell you live and learn... I
Deletewhy would anyone who was born in the second half of the 20th century actually choose to give themselves a name like gerald? it's like being called herbert or something! i am presuming that this particular gerald falls into that category, so maybe his parents were quite elderly when he was born? as was the case with the only kid in my year at school who had a similarly hideously-outdated name!
DeleteI seem to recall a lot being made of A Guy Called Gerald working at McDonalds on his path to glory!
DeleteIs he back working there now?
Deleteha ha thx you've reminded me of when a chum of mine bumped into leo sayer in a pizza hut about 20 years back - i asked him if leo was his waiter?
DeleteI see Tim Brooke-Taylor has died of the virus now, he was on TOTP a few times with The Goodies, and The Goodies parodied TOTP too, hilariously so.
ReplyDeleteReally sad to hear. I remember when the Goodies was on TV as prime viewing in the early 70s when I was a few years old, and still only had a black-and-white TV at home because my parents could not afford a colour TV in those days, and the show was still fun, hilarious, feel good TV in the days when we only had three channels and transmission would end at midnight latest with the famous test card on the BBC.
DeleteI particularly liked the the single three-man bicycle that the three Goodies would ride together on. must get round to watch the DVD of all the TV series during the current home confinement. RIP Tim.
The three-man bicycle was called the trandem!
DeleteThat box set of all the TV episodes is fantastic, OK some of it hasn't aged well, but there's at least a few big laughs in every episode and some of them are absolutely sidesplitting. The punk one is brilliant!
I always associated more with Brooke-Taylor than I did with Oddie and Garden, as Oddie was too maverick and loose-cannon, while Garden was too straight and professor-like, while Brooke-Taylor seemed to be the only normal one of the trio, who seemed to absorb the other two's weaknesses, but also seemed to be the victim of their mistakes.
DeleteStill, The Goodies was certainly must-watch entertainment in the early 70s in the test-card era, even for children like me at the time who found them very entertaining, despite being on after bedtime for most children.
'The Goodies' is one of those shows that everyone seemed to watch in the 70s. It's never on repeat these days. Perhaps the humour is too period based or inappropriate for today's audeience. 'Kitten Kong' sticks in the mind as well as 'The Funky Gibbon'. RIP Tim
Deletei was a big fan of the goodies at the time, but as unlike "dad's army" and "porridge" it never got repeat showings ad nauseum since then i do wonder how much of it would stand up now?
Deletepartly due to it being a favourite spot for a beeb person's busman holiday and partly because it was a good place for birdin' fanatic bill oddie to hang out in when not filming, much of the location work for the goodies was shot in around my home town on the south coast - including the disco parody episode where they filmed in two nightclubs i frequented at the time!
Tim Brooke-Taylor was underrated. President of the Cambridge Footlight Society who got a revue transferred to Broadway, and a major player of BBC radio comedy for several decades. He was also a key component of Rediffusion comedy series "At Last The 1948 Show" which spawned "Monty Python".
DeleteTBT could also claim co-authorship of the famous "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch, which was first seen in At Last the 1948 Show. I first became aware of him through the Bananaman cartoon series, for which the Goodies provided the voices.
DeleteNicky does a pretty good job of enthusing over some of the pretty average stuff on show here….with the exception of one classic…
ReplyDeleteSonia – You’ll never stop me from loving you – Sonia looks as tiny as Kylie who could have sung this song in exactly the same way. Yes it’s catchy but not a million miles away from anything SAW had done already.
Gladys Knight – Licence to Kill – One of the worst Bond themes ever up to this point (worse was to come…hi there Madonna!). Dalton did nothing for me in the lead role either and to be honest, I haven’t watched either of his two outings for years. Perhaps I should reappraise.
Monie Love – Grandpa’s Party – I actually found myself wishing for Paul Nicholas and ‘Grandma’s Party’, so awful is this.
Karyn Whyte – Superwoman – What dross lyrics….cooking the dinner for you, but you’re not hungry…. Song didn’t take whet my appetite either.
Breakers – Wind beneath my Wings – Bette Midler – ah yes, the classic I mentioned earlier. Bette’s version is obviously the best, but those of us watching ‘London’s Burning’ in the 90s may recall Steve Houghton’s rendition in an ‘in plot’ talent show. Very moving scene and song I thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdK9Nsvvqyk
Danny Wilson – Second summer of love – Nicky enthuses but aside from the obvious appeal of the video, I couldn’t see what the fuss was all about. De La Soul – Say no go – Indeed. Don’t put it on the record player…you’ve been warned!
Beautiful South – Song for Whoever – Second case of bad lyric day on the show tonight. What’s all this stuff about pencil cases supposed to be about?
Pet Shop Boys – It’s alright – That’s probably an exaggeration. Diminishing returns from the Boys. Thought: all those babies are in their 30s now!
Chaka Khan – Ain’t nobody – Why did she turn up alone? A very hard song to mime to as most of the chorus is from the backing singers where there are none. Pointing the mike at the audience seems a poor substitute.
Soul II Soul – Back to life – Still at no1?
Guy called Gerald – Voodoo Ray – I think a gorilla called Gerald (who eats daffodils) is more memorable than this. “When a Child is born blaring out when I’m trying to do my work….”.
sct i assume you are referring to the classic "not the nine o'clock news" sketch? i just have to think about the line "wild? i was absolutely livid!" to raise a smile!
DeleteThe 'pencil case' lyric refers to a chap who keeps loads of pens in order to write songs about his former and current girlfriends, with the intention of getting a hit, hence the reference to PRS (Performing Rights Society) cheques, which you get if a song of yours is published and then played on TV or radio. Even lower level regional radio stations pay out something like £20 to the songwriter whenever a track they've written is played on air.
Deleteif a songwriter becomes a member of the PRS, then they also get a cut of the millions of pounds of revenue that it collects from shops, cafes, bars, clubs etc for permission to play music in public environments. however in their case they wouldn't have the notion to submit individual lists of what was played, so they just pay for an annual catch-all licence instead. sadly though if you think you can get your snout in that trough you will discover that the PRS divvy up the proceeds based on the records they keep of what individual tracks are played via television, radio, large venues etc who have the resource to keep and submit those statistics. therefore as usual the rich (in this case rock superstars) get richer whilst obscure and/or struggling artists barely cover their membership fees!
Deletehowever as a result of the current crisis, hopefully all such places now closed for the forseeable future will either refuse to pay their fees or demand a rebate of some kind from the PRS as a result, and so the likes of macca and reg get a considerably lower handout the next time their royalties are due?
if so, then every cloud has a silver lining!
Hi Anonymous! I'm on to ask if you've got any of the original archive versions of the following shows from the mid to late '70's. They are 8/04/76, 3/06/76, 6/10/77, 16/03/78 and 25/12/79. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteonly have 25/12/79 mate, sorry. here it is :
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-w2nK3pIBsa
Funnily enough, M were on that very 1979 show singing Pop Musik, and coincidentally returning back in the current July 1989 chart on these reruns for the first time since. The best part of that Christmas 1979 show was surely Legs & Co in amazing outfits dancing to Anita Ward's mid-year No.1 Ring My Bell on Santa's chimney,
DeleteThanks for this mate. One's better than none!
DeleteSonia - An average tune sung by one of the least talented people on the SAW roster - not as bad a singer as Sinitta, but much more irritating.
ReplyDeleteMonie Love - Not my favourite from her handful of hits. Surely the 'Grandpa' in question isn't James Brown, but Afrika Bambaataa? (he's mentioned in the first line)
Karyn White - Referred to as 'the breakfast song' by one of my friends, this is utter dross.
Pet Shop Boys - Not amongst their very best, but still a good single, though I prefer the remix that sounds a little more like the Sterling Void original.
Chaka Khan - Goodness me, that's a brave outfit and wig. Another barely noticeable remix from her back catalogue, but at least it's a good song.
A Guy Called Gerald - It took a very long time for this to break into the Top 40, as it came out the previous year! Not sure if it's been mentioned above, but the song's name would've been 'Voodoo Rage' but Gerald's sampler didn't have enough memory to contain the whole phrase, so 'Ray' it was...
Going way back to the start of these re-runs for some sad news... Kenny Young, member of and songwriter for both Fox and Yellow Dog, has passed away.
ReplyDelete"s-s-s-single bed" and "just one more night" remain two of my favourite TOTP moments. i was never sure if kenny actually featured in the studio himself or not, but presumably if so then then as the "talk box" guitarist in the former ensemble and the singer in old-fashioned pilot outfit (complete with goggles and "blowing" scarf) in the latter? anyway, thanks for those great memories kenny!
DeleteFrom memory, I don't think Kenny was the talkbox chap in Fox (he may not even have been on the TOTP stage with them), but he was definitely 'Biggles' in Yellow Dog. He used to work as a prolific songwriter in the famed Brill Building.
Delete