Top of the Horrors
31/08/89 (Gary Davies)
Big Fun – “Blame It On The Boogie” (6)
Getting tonight's live show underway and the song went up two more places.
Debbie Gibson – “We Could Be Together” (27) (video)
Peaked at number 22.
Guns N’ Roses – “Nightrain” (26) (video)
Peaked at number 17.
Black Box – “Ride On Time” (2)
Coming back fora second studio performance and the song will be number one next week.
Tina Turner – “The Best” (31) (video)
Peaked at number 5.
Eurythmics – “Revival” (30)
It's a wonder the stage didn't collapse, they had so many on there with them! And this lesser known hit went up four more places.
Donna Summer – “Love’s About To Change My Heart” (20) (video)
At its peak.
Tears For Fears – “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” (9) (video)
The title track from their number one albm, this was to be the band's seventh and final top ten hit and it peaked at number 5.
Damian – “The Time Warp” (21)
In the studio to perform what is the only hit version of this song, and it became his only top ten hit when it peaked at number 7.
Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers – “Swing The Mood” (1) (video)
Fifth and final week at number one, but two more number ones were on their way!
Malcolm McLaren – “Something’s Jumpin’ In Your Shirt” (29) (video/credits)
His final top 40 hit and it got no higher.
September 7th is next.
Gary’s battling with the studio crowd here and a roster of largely uninspiring and rotten records.
ReplyDeleteBig Fun – Blame it on the boogie – Oh dear. Bad start
Debbie Gibson – We could be together – Pleasant enough I guess but the last of Deb’s solo hits to really register.
Guns N’ Roses – Nightrain – Visage
Black Box – Ride on time – Two pre no1 appearances and then six weeks for this dreadful noise. I skipped and will be skipping no1 for the foreseeable future. Did they really re-record that vocal?
Tina Turner – The Best – zzz….. If I had a pound…..
Euythmics – Revival – Just ordinary despite the large entourage.
Donna Summer – Love’s about to change my heart – Same thoughts as Debs. I feel love this ain’t.
Tears for Fears – Sowing the Seeds of Love – Hyped to death at the time and I have to admit I fell for it and bought the single, but now I find it an overblown Beatles pastiche.
Damian – Time Warp – Simply hilarious! Believe it or not, I hadn’t seen ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ by 1989 and I had no idea where this came from when I first heard it in a Club. Just love this performance – the highlight of the show. Damian followed this up with a cover of Sweet’s ‘Wig Wam Bam’.
Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers – Swing the Mood – Treated with almost disdain this week. So little of the great record played here and that’s a shame as I was hoping that they’d vary it and play the whole record!
Malcolm McLaren – Something’s jumping in your shirt – Weird. Don’t recall this at all.
….saving grace, Richard Marx is on the way up.
Yes, sct, I seem to remember there was a legal dispute about sampling Loleatta Holloway without due recognition. The re-recording was absolutely dreadful. Italo house goes Kwiksave.
DeleteAh, now then, how many people think Tina Turner's overplayed metal light is actually called "Simply The Best"? If I had a pound etc., etc. .....
DeleteThey only played the final quarter of the Jive Bunny song, as the video is 4 minutes long, but they only showed the final minute of it. Miserly of TOTP, but I guess they had enough of it by now.
DeleteI agree with you, in that they should have played more of it, but in these times of cramming too many songs in 30 minutes of a show, the days of playing a 4-minute video on TOTP were long gone since the 30-minute show format was introduced in 1985.
i remember "(simply) the best" being used as the gladitorial entrance theme for "crith" eubank. those were the days when it came to boxing, with the eccentric dandy eubank as the man we all loved to hate taking on the crowd-pleasing big-punching nigel benn and the classic technician/insider's choice michael watson - they were the coe, cram and ovett of their sport!
Deletehas anyone else noticed that "regular" guys always seem keen to go and see "the rocky horror show" musical live? surely it's because they simply love the music, and not for the convenient excuse to prance about in make-up and womens clothes without attracting suspicion?
Delete@Wilberforce: Don't forget there are also women prancing around in their underwear there as well.
Delete...even more of a reason to head people off at the pass ha ha
Deletei did get invited to go to one such event back then, but despite the allure of strutting about in some stockings and suspenders i declined the offer. and bearing in mind how bloody awful the thing is, i'm glad i did so now!
in fact: if i were ever forced at gunpoint to attend one such show in the future, then i would make sure i was wearing a pair of y-fronts! oh, and some ear plugs of course...
Delete... i can only imagine much dosh richard o'brien has made for creating utter tosh that is little more than an excuse for trannies to get out the closet without worrying their friends and families? nice work if you can get it...
DeleteI think it's more inclusive than that, it's also a celebration of science fiction and horror movies that O'Brien loves (he used to present some as a TV horror host in the 1990s).
DeleteThe message is more "be yourself" than "be a transsexual", but if you are a transsexual, that's fine, and if you're as straight as Meat Loaf, that's fine too. It'll never be my favourite musical, but it's a bit of fun that's pretty goodnatured for all its perceived subversions. And Tim Curry is superb.
Gazza is on slick form, and doesn't allow the audience member getting in his way at the end to phase him, but I don't think this show counts as "special" for any of the reasons that he lists, least of all for the return of Big Fun, who just go through their silly routine again. Debbie Gibson presents herself in this video as your regular teenager with a mildly rebellious streak, but not that rebellious. The song, alas, is completely forgettable fare.
ReplyDeleteThe same can be said for this G N'R offering, as they just seem to be going through the motions here, and don't put much effort into the video either. Black Box return to the studio as they head inexorably to the top, but as with Big Fun don't give us a radically different performance to last time, and then Tina shows up with one of the most overplayed, and misnamed, songs of all time - yes, it isn't called Simply the Best! It's actually a perfectly decent pop-rock tune, but this is a case of familiarity breeding contempt. Anyone get the feeling Tina wasn't really riding that horse?
Annie and Dave were now approaching the end of the line, and go all Kool and the Gang on us here with a huge backing entourage as they pursue a soul/gospel sound. For all the personnel involved, this is nothing that special, though I suppose the chorus is quite rousing; the next single, however, was much better. Curt and Roland also return to the fray, but you can hear that Roland's megalomania was now taking over as he tries desperately to outfab the Fabs. I think this is a bit of a mess, to be honest, but the animation in the video is quite impressive and I do enjoy the Weller-baiting "kick out the Style, bring back the Jam" line, sadly omitted here.
Back in the studio, Damian sets this old Rocky Horror staple to a house beat and manages to get a big hit out of it. This has actually aged quite well, though Damian's Jack Nicholson-as-Joker look is a bit off-putting. Much better to look at the lovely ladies to either side, I think! TOTP were clearly now sick of the number 1, and move on as swiftly as they can to Malcolm McLaren. It's hard to get a handle on this from the short amount played over the credits, but it's certainly more listenable than some of his previous hits, with quite a hypnotic quality, and Lisa Marie is very watchable.
Yeah, I was also thinking of the Kool & the Gang similarity by means of The Eurythmics bringing their whole entourage on the stage this week. I didn't know they were still knocking around as late as 1989 in the same format as they arrived in 1983, I mean the combo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, but it was the best performance on the show I guess.
DeleteAs mentioned in the show, Revival was the lead single for the We Too Are One album, which would be Annie and Dave's last LP before they split in 1990, though there have been a couple of brief reunions, and one further album, since then. I think this was actually their last TOTP studio performance before the split.
DeleteYep John. I agree with you, the best things about Damian's performance were the two lovelies accompanying him. They're in the video too wearing the same outfits by the look of it. Just love this.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gti_D7jx7cM
Thanks for the link sct, good video. I was prompted to find out what happened to Damian, and sadly he died of cancer three years ago - he was only 52.
DeleteSct, the two girls in the studio performing with Damian were too skinny I thought. I preffered the two excellent lovelies in the Partyman video from Prince currently climbing up the charts! I would recommend watching the whole Prince video to admire them more.
DeleteJohn G, there couldn't have been much more left for The Eurythmics after this one, having only one appearance on TOTP at No.30, as Dave Stewart soon released his first solo hit a few months later in March 1990, with the help of Candy Dulfer on sax, with a song called Lily Was Here:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEooduDs6LA
Annie and Dave would manage three more Top 30 hits before they split, but I don't think they came into the studio to promote any of those.
DeleteIt appears that none of these three further "top 30" hits got any higher than No.23, and so like many other groups who could see that the next generation of pop music enthusiasts had less time for traditional 80s pop, The Eurythmics took the sensible decision to call it a day by the turn of the decade.
DeleteQuite rightfully Dave Stewart looked to other means to continue his career, so if this was indeed the Eurythmics last ever appearance in the TOTP studio, then the curtain comes down on yet another 80s group in the 1989 year, following The Bangles who also bowed out recently in 1989. Goodbye The Eurythmics, it's been a long journey with you since early 1983!
They are still Top 30 hits, Dory, even if they don't get much higher than 30! In actual fact, the Eurythmics would reach the Top 20 on two further occasions, when they briefly reunited and released new singles in 1999 and 2005. They would also perform on TOTP again during both of those reunions.
DeleteOne of the means Dave Stewart continued his career was directing the absolutely diabolical All Saints movie, which tried to one-up the Spice Girls movie by giving the Appleton sisters a topless scene each. No, not tacky at all...
DeleteI'd forgotten about that, but now you mention it I remember reading some entertainingly stinking reviews at the time it came out!
DeleteI think a lot of people felt everyone involved had that critical kicking coming. Funny, though, All Saints had some well-regarded quality pop tunes (not the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover).
DeleteHaving watched this once before on my DVD+R copies way back in 2010, once in original broadcast form and the other being a UK Gold version from the mid 90s, Gary Davies recalled that it was the first anniversary of BBC Radio 1 in stereo (a day early!) as it had been a simultaneous broadcast with them, Big Fun kicks off yet again with covering a Jacksons classic (in which is Mick Jackson who done it first?), then followed by Debbie Gibson's promo video, and none of the less that it is nearly an all-video show with Tina Turner, Guns'n'Roses, Jive Bunny, Donna Summer, and Tears for Fears plus Eurythmics with 'Revival', which is later covered by Gregory Porter most recently from the last of their studio albums until 1999, despite we got Damian covering a Rocky Horror classic 'The Time Warp' as its a great cheesy track and Black Box's Loletta Holloway sample of 'Love Sensation' to where it became one of the year's top-selling singles, that sample was used again for grime rapper Sway with 'Still Speeding' in 2011 and also not to mention Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch's 'Good Vibrations' in 1991, in which we will be seeing next year and also Loletta Holloway did duet with Mark Wahlberg in that certain song as it was already a "lyric" part of Love Sensation.
ReplyDeleteWe also had a final week of Jive Bunny with 'Swing the Mood' but they'll will return with 'That's What I Like?' in the 12/10/1989 episode and playing us out was the late Malcolm McLaren with 'Somethings Jumping in Your Shirt' with Lisa Marie Experience in video form, one of his best late 80s hits alongside 'Waltz Darling'.
Nice fact there about Gregory Porter, whose voice and style I like. For those who don't know him, he was an American Football player who gave up (through injury?) and is a well respected jazz singer who wears a semi-balaclava over the sides of his face to cover some blemish, wound or injury he doesn't want to be seen and has never disclosed in interviews. Correct about "Blame It On The Boogie". Written and initially recorded by Mick Jackson, the same named brothers recorded it, and it must be the only time when the UK chart included two versions of the same song with the acts having the same surname.
DeleteYes, Jive Bunny while in their final week at No.1, will be knocked off next week by Black Box, but they will do the same to Black Box when their second single hits No.1, so all is not lost for the Bunny fans, another No.1 coming soon in a few shows time!
DeleteWhy did Gary keep walking around the studio, who did he think he was, Noel Edmonds?
ReplyDeleteNo Fun, sang the Sex Pistols, predicting the brief rise and fall of these clowns who start the show not having learned a new dance routine. I suppose it's harmless enough if you want to be nice.
A bit better is Debbie with a pretty little tune, but it's light as a feather and doesn't linger long in the memory. Some terrifying mullets in this video, and they didn't even have a lockdown to blame. Is that Bruno Brookes in Deb's entourage?
GnR, is it Night Train or Night Rain you're on about? It actually sounds like Axl's singing Nitrate. Anyway, bog standard rawk for people who thought they were too cool for Bon Jovi but secretly weren't.
I've run out of things to say about Black Box already, and they're not even at No.1 yet. At least the mimer has remembered to dress herself this time.
Tina Turner with, as mentioned, one of the most overplayed records known to humanity, there was a time when if you tuned into commercial radio they were either playing The Whole of the Moon or this. Every time. I can't listen to it objectively now.
My, the Eurythmics are tremendously excited about their latest record, pity that enthusiasm isn't translated to an exciting tune. This goes through the gospel soul motions without getting to the heart of why that music can sound so inspirational. Almost the end of the line for them.
Bit more of Donna than we saw last time, the video's autumn theme is a bit strange but I suppose it was nearly September.
Tears for Fears, ah, you can envisage them finally finishing this and saying to themselves, well, it's been worth it, this is certain to go to Number One! Hey ho. A real epic, needlessly over the top, but its everything but the kitchen sink efforts are oddly appealing to me even now, though I didn't buy the album.
Poundland Tim Curry next, looking like The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town sans cape, and a bargain basement version of what was an old warhorse even then. Their pelvic thrust actions look as if they have indigestion.
Finally we see off Jive Turkey, then far too little of Malcolm McLaren and Lisa Marie, who I don't think is the same lady who was in the Tim Burton movies and ruined her beautiful face with cosmetic surgery. I thought this was great at the time, and was reminded of it from the clip we had here, so off to YouTube I go later, I think.
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DeleteIt was great to see the return of Tears For Fears after such a long time since the album Songs From The Big Chair, and this new video was similar to the animation on The Talking Heads 1985 video And She Was.
DeleteThe finest contribution from the new TFF album was still to come at the end of 1989 called Advice For The Young At Heart (Soon We Will Be Older), which ever since has sent shivers down my spine every time I hear it, but Sewing The Seed Of Love was not a bad opener for the group's long awaited return.
ha ha thx, great reference to the excellent ohio players track!
DeleteI thought 'Advice for the Young at Heart' was the best single from the album, but it failed to penetrate the top30 as it came out third (after the Oleta Adams vocal 'Woman in Chains'). Sounds a bit like a James Bond theme to me for some reason. The B Side had the deliciously batty title of 'Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams'which actually charted at No71 under that group name a couple of years later.
Deletei am in total agreement with you there sct - i thought it was the stand-out track of an overall really good album at the time. but like the rest of it, the shine's come off that particular track in more recent years
DeleteYes, I'm another fan of Advice For the Young at Heart, though Woman in Chains is a decent song too.
DeleteFunny how these chats get me to listen to things I haven't heard for years. I've never seen the video for 'Advice' before as it wasn't shown on ToTP, but having a look on YT it really is a joy, and the full album version to boot. Oleta Adams is seen on keyboards and backing vocals.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBtzFOgKcv8
'Woman in Chains' is a powerful, 6:20 song that is for me, an album track, and could have been recorded by Genesis...oh wait, Phil's on drums!
I purchased the video Advice For The Young At Heart, from iTunes a couple of years ago, and if you have an Apple ID and iTunes account, get on and buy it to own and keep, as it is one humdinger of a tune and video, and the best £1.89 you could spend this year.
Deletewhy waste £1.89 on a video when you can watch it for free on youtube?
DeleteSowing the seeds of love is a great song despite them trying to out-beatles the Beatles. It's one of my all time favourites.
DeleteDid anybody see the recent Classic albums documentary about Songs from the Big Chair on BBC4? Roland's talking head segments came across as if he was in a mockumentary. Had I not known any better, I could have been easily convinced it was.
It's not a case of 'wasting' £1.89, because the picture quality of a video purchased from iTunes is much better than on youtube, and secondly, you don't need wifi to watch them, because they are downloaded into your iTunes library, so that when there is no public wifi, like on trains, planes, etc, you can simply watch the videos from your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, just as you would watch a movie on your device.
DeleteAlso, many videos on utube have the Vevo logo or other logo on them which is very frustrating. I tend to watch videos on youtube when they are not yet available on iTunes, so its a good second option, as iTunes don't have the videos (yet?) for Jive Bunny, The Bangles, Stevie Wonder, Wings, to name but a few, but they are constantly releasing old videos throughout the year.
well as long as suckers keep paying for something they can have for nothing, then they'll keep pushing it out...
DeleteI dunno, there's something to be said for watching videos (or TV, or films) without logos, adverts or those irritating recommendations popping up every minute or so.
DeleteMy view on this topic is that if you pay for something, you get better quality of picture, not just pop videos, but also films. Considering that three to four pop videos purchased on iTunes are around the same price as a glass of wine in a bar or pub, I would prefer to pay for the three or four videos!
DeleteAn ok show. I actually bought several of these at the time.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Gibson - wouldn’t buy it, but it was listenable. Possibly the best of her songs to date, although that is a pretty low bar.
Guns n roses - law of diminishing returns cuts in for their weakest single so far...
Tina turner - like the song, but prefer the original by Bonnie Tyler. Our band do this, and our singer insists on introducing it as the above-mentioned ‘simply the best’ - drives me nuts!
Eurythmics - don’t remember this. Pretty dull.
Tears For Fears - this got played to death at the time, but still sounds good. As previously mentioned, strong Beatle influence.
Damian - this is a song which, like YMCA, you’re not supposed to like, but you get up to dance to at “do’s”. I confess to purchasing the 12” of this.
Lisa Marie/McLaren - don’t remember this, and forgotten it already.
charlie you've reminded me of when a covers band i was in used to do "the "unchained" melody", and the singer inevitably and annoyingly referred to it as "ghost"!
DeleteOK, this was the same Lisa Marie who went out with Tim Burton. Just watched both videos for this song - I can see why they went with the black and white one on TOTP, the colour one is basically her showing off her cavernous cleavage for five minutes. And that's not her doing the singing - just the (non-Malcolm) talking. Great track, though.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDifferent subject...
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly not a Guardian reader, but someone drew my attention to the current top100 number ones that they are counting down. Drawn up by some critics having a good chinwag or something, each artist can only have one entry. As I write today (Sunday 24/05), they've reached no11 (Good Vibrations).
You might be mistaken for thinking that with so many great no1s over the years, there would be no room for such dross as 'Jack your Body' or 'Theme from S'Express', 'Uptown Top Ranking'....horror of horrors; 'Ride on time'....but no, they've somehow made it!! ....and with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at a lowly no46, you do wonder.
Anyway, no Beatles, Abba or Oasis track yet - any guesses what they might be? 'She loves you', 'Dancing Queen' and 'Don't look back in anger' are mine. Then, assuming those three artists do feature, what else could there be room for in the other seven positions? 'Mull of Kintyre / Girls School', 'Save your kisses for me', 'Everything I do (I do it for you)', Jive Bunny...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/27/the-100-greatest-uk-no-1s
Mull Of Kintyre is usually considered the top No.1 of all time. It is currently coming up as No.1 on the 70s video channel Now 70s on Freeview when they show their own top 100 singles of that decade.
DeleteAs pure coincidence, the top 100 of the 70s is being shown as their official videos throughout the morning and afternoon today on the Now 70s channel on Freeview, and already half way through at No.50 by midday. Good Lord, a great Bank Holiday treat reliving the best pop decade of all time! Apparently last day on Freeview, as from tomorrow you will need to have Sky or Virgin to watch the channel.
DeleteGood call! Got it recording now (too many adverts to watch live)
DeleteThis relatively new channel has essentially taken up the gap left by Vintage TV which closed down in 2018, but without the 60s and 80s music, and so able to dig deeper into the 70s charts, including videos long thought lost and forgotten. Highly recommended daily viewing!
DeleteGary Davies impersonating roving reporter Alan Whicker in this edition.
ReplyDeleteNo Gaz, this show isn’t special because Big Fun are on. Blame it on the record buying public.
How many costume changes there, Debbie? No “Electric Youth” but still a pretty little pop tune.
Axl and the lads can’t get the number of apostrophes in their name right, so no surprise they don’t spell this track correctly. Yet another dead boring metal song and video. We’ve had loads of these recently.
Early mugshots: Bye, Fuzzbox. It was lovely knowing you. Sniff.
Loleatta sings “right on time” in an American accent and the Italian lads sample it and have a punning hit title. The singer looks much more attractive in that outfit than in her bra garb.
Simply bored by Tina’s song. See what I did there? The equine part of the video reminded me of “My Lovely Horse” in Father Ted for some reason.
Next it’s Aberdeen and Sunderland’s attempt at Earth Wind and Fire on that stage. Can’t see any chance of a ‘revival’ for this unremarkable minor hit.
Donna’s voice soaring over an SAW hit by numbers. I wish they could have afforded a proper clock.
Tears For Fears with “The West Country Walrus”, or at least the end part. Roland’s head has certainly ballooned, and poor Curt was on screen far less than that sunflower.
Damian can’t be that bad, Gaz? That was dreadful. And keep your thoughts about the best bit of the routine to yourself, potty mouth.
FF the chart topper again to find something(s) jumping in Lisa Marie’s shirt. Yes, I know, sorry. Quite a florid operatic number which I liked and would have preferred to hear more of.
Next week, Gary on a bungee rope. Oh, hang on, it’s Trevor instead!
Earth Wind & Fire clocked up at least 11 people on stage (possibly more?) on Boogie Wonderland in summer 1979:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0
The only other band I'm aware of bringing upwards of 10 people on stage is Kool & The Gang, described once chucklingly by Steve Wright on TOTP2 as 'a thousand people on stage.'
These moments can be considered to be very special in the history of pop, although I wouldn't have put The Eurythmics in that category, so this was somewhat of a surprise to see such an entourage on stage in the TOTP studio this week!
It's the end of August and we are getting ready to go back to school (GSCE year for me) as Ooh Gary brings us a LIVE edition of TOTP including several "walking and talking at the same time" links.
ReplyDeleteJason (not that one), Mark and Phil bring some Big Fun to the studio with their pop-tatstic version of “Blame It On The Boogie”. I really wish we knew who sang on this as they all mime the solo and the harmonies. Possibly none of them!
Is that Joe Pasquale gooning away at the front?
Debbie Gibson still churning out pop songs for Middle America although she's gone all leather clad and hip here. Cheesy is not the word for “We Could Be Together” If the cast of "Stranger Things" suddenly broke into song...Not good.
Guns N’ Roses up next with a video we've seen three times already for a song that is forgettable. Time to catch the “Nightrain” to the next stop "new material"
Black Box back for a second "Loletta" mimed version of “Ride On Time”. That right sleeve will not behave will it Katrin?
What happened to the sound at the start of this one? it popped in my headphones and sounded different afterwards.
Hoorsey videod signature tune at the ready it's simply “The Best” for Tina Turner. I wish I had a £1 for the number of times I've heard this song since 1989. It is a great song though.
Eurythmics Eleven up next, giving Billy Ocean a run for this money for filling a stage. “Revival" has a bit of a county feel to it. I actually quite like it, and they were all certainly enjoying the party weren't they.
Was hit 33 the last one for Donna Summer (save re-issues)? “Love’s About To Change My Heart” has had a decent remix here. Nice.
Tears For Fears with the first single from the amazing album "Seed of Love" which will of course introduce us to Oleta Adams. “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” will need about 4 showings to get us the whole 6 minutes and 17 seconds of this brilliant tune (and not a second wasted). Big fan of this one.
Not much to say about Damian and his “Time Warp” other than FAB-U-LOUS
Even TOTP are sick of Jive Bunny as we get about 45 seconds of this video. FIVE WEEKS at number one. My word, and there are 2 more Number One's to come before the end of the year.
So long Malcolm McLaren. “Something’s Jumpin’ In Your Shirt” is an odd tune even for him. Not sure if I like this or not....
Enjoyed the show tonight...
I also counted 11 people on stage on The Eurythmics comeback single, equalling Kool & The Gang with 11 people on Ooh La La La Let's Go dancing on TOTP in 1982. I'm not sure which Billy Ocean single you are referring to that had so many band members on the TOTP stage? (videos not included, must be TOTP studio performance.)
DeleteThe most notorious presence of band members on stage if videos are to be included, is the legendary 1979 video for Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind & Fire, which to this day still stands out as one of the finest group of band members performances on a stage, and I think exceeded 11 people, and is surely the mother of all disco videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0
I think Billy got 9 on for Get Outta My Dreams which was quite impressive. 11 is crazy though
DeleteThis was the least interesting edition for quite some time sadly (most of the best stuff having already been on) so not as special for me as Gary was claiming.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Gibson - Pleasant enough but a rather insubstantial song.
Guns'n'Roses - More dreadful, badly sung rubbish from them.
Tina Turner - HOUSEWIFE CLASSIC. And as someone who had to listen to people from Stoke requesting this constantly and calling it by the wrong title 100% of the time, I wish it never existed.
Eurythmics - A weird choice of single to release first from the album, since I always thought it sounded dated at the time.
Tears For Fears - Whereas this has aged rather well, in fact I'd say that I like it more now than I did then.
Damian - I don't mind this throwaway piece of pop at all, and you have to admire their persistence in making it a hit.
It first came out in 1986 (!) with 2 weeks in the chart 6 months apart (!!) and a top position of No.94.
Then reissued and (presumably) renixed as 'The Time Warp II' in late 1987 it made No.51. They tried again in 88 but it stalled at No.64.
Phew - I think he deserved his time in the sun, don't you?
Malcolm McLaren - This is really good, though we hardly see any of it. I may have said before when 'Waltz Darling' was given similar short shrift that the album is also excellent.
Did not know about the fact about The Time Warp. Any idea why it bombed out on the first few attempts before it finally came through as a hit in 1989?
DeleteNo idea, perhaps there was a Rocky Horror revival around that time that it latched onto? Certainly I remember watching it for the first time on video not long after Damian was in the chart, and it was one of those 'cult' things most of the 6th Form seemed to love. Me? I thought it was alright, couldn't see what the fuss was about though...
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