Life is a Top of the Pops, old chum
10/08/89 (Bruno Brookes & Sybil Ruscoe)
Big Fun – “Blame It On The Boogie” (25)
Getting the show underway tonight with the Jacksons cover which became this lesser known boy band's first of two top ten hits and it peaked at number 4.
Lisa Stansfield – “This Is The Right Time” (37) (video)
Peaked at number 13.
Dogs D’Amour – “Satellite Kid” (26)
The lead singer made me think of the Mighty Boosh for some reason, and this tune was their first of two top 40 hits but it got no higher in the charts.
Redhead Kingpin & The FBI – “Do The Right Thing” (23) (video)
His only top 40 hit and it peaked at number 13.
Shakespear’s Sister – “You’re History” (13)
The duo make their debut in the studio with the song that became their first of three top ten hits when it peaked at number 7.
Aswad – “On & On” (32)
Performing this Stephen Bishop cover in the studio tonight and the song peaked at number 25.
The Beatmasters featuring Betty Boo – “Hey DJ I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing” (35) (video)
Became the third and final top ten hit for the Beatmasters and the first of three for Betty Boo when it peaked at number 7.
Liza Minnelli – “Losing My Mind” (24)
The actual Liza Minnelli makes her studio debut with what became her only top ten hit when it peaked at number 6.
Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers – “Swing The Mood” (1) (video)
Second of five weeks at number one.
Lil Louis – “French Kiss” (3) (video/credits)
Went up one more place.
17th August is next.
Bruno and Sybil are not the most enticing partnership ever, but compared to the previous week’s presenting shambles, they both emerge as models of professionalism. Not a great show, something encapsulated by the opening act. I wasn’t aware at the time that this was a cover, but it now sounds utterly throwaway and completely pointless. As for Big Fun themselves, they look like they were grown by Pete Waterman in a laboratory somewhere to match his perfect ideal of a pop star – dire choreography, too. I always thought this Gracie Stansfield hit came after the big chart topper that we will be seeing later this year, but evidently not. This one is tolerable, with quite a nice feelgood chorus, but Gracie’s voice does grate – I see the Betty Boop kiss curl had now been cultivated.
ReplyDeleteYou might assume listening to Dogs D’Amour that they were American, but in fact they hailed from London. I didn’t think much of this eccentric effort, not least as singer Tyla sounded as if he must have been pissed when recording it – his shaggy hairdo was a bit reminiscent of a dog’s coat! Rap time next, though at least Redhead Kingpin is at the softer end of the spectrum. It soon became tedious, however, and I wasn’t sold on the primitive animations dominating a rather basic video. Shakespears Sister make their studio debut, and it is notable that Siobhan is very much centre stage and Marcella doesn’t get mentioned in Sybil’s intro, reflecting how the set-up was originally meant to be. The tensions started, of course, when people began to regard Marcella (with some justification, let’s face it) as the real star…
Pointless cover number 2 of the night is up next, though at least Aswad do invest this with a summery feel that gives the record a vague justification for existing. Trouble is, I don’t much care for the original and this version, too, just seems to go on and on; still, interesting to see a reggae band using a double bass. Since leaving her Betty Boo persona behind, Alison Clarkson has become a successful songwriter for others, but here she is at the beginning of her career with the patronage of the Beatmasters and a very shouty, unmemorable rap that does nothing for me. At least the video tries to do something a bit different, even if its attempts at satirising the music industry don’t work especially well, and Alison herself looks good in her business wear. She did originally call herself Betty Boop, but changed it after realising she might be sued – she certainly didn’t attempt to do a Gracie and emulate the hairstyle!
It was something of a coup to get Liza Minnelli in the studio, even if the golden years of her career were already well behind her. She must have been functioning reasonably well at this point, despite her well-publicised addictions, but she still looks rather addled here. This is however the best song of the night, an excellent PSB production that Liza sings with real feeling, and I am sure she did identify with the title – nice to see her interact with the audience a bit as well. PSB were certainly doing good business at the time rescuing the careers of fading, troubled divas. Lil Louis gets the closing spot, after hitherto being ignored by TOTP despite the steady climb of this record up the charts. I wish they had continued ignoring it, as this is dance music at its most repetitive and uninteresting, accompanied by an equally uninspired, cheap as chips video.
The Big Fun cover is of The Jacksons hit in 1978, and I remember as a 10-year old in '78 when The Jacksons video (erm 'film') was played on TOTP in the days of grainy videos in their early days, and when Kid Jensen was ever present presenting TOTP that year. This new 1989 cover by Big Fun a la SAW was just not in the spirit of The Jacksons, so a big thumbs down from me.
DeleteI don't use the word "genius" lightly, but Big Fun... er, don't fit that description. Proof that SAW were losing their touch, though they did wring a couple of Top Tenners out of them, this bunch of chancers infamously blew it when they boasted of being gay, hence the teenage girl following disappeared overnight, and SAW dropped them. You can blame the hypocrisy of the music industry, but there are bigger hills to die on than them.
ReplyDeleteLisa Stansfield with a dance tune that's nice enough, burbles along fine and is well delivered, but isn't terribly exciting otherwise. Maybe it was the boring video which obsesses over her phizog (apart from a shot of... lifebelts?!) that didn't do it justice.
Dogs D'Amour with a song named after a Bud Spencer E.T. rip-off movie for some reason, though I could find no other reference to it in the lyrics. Growly-voiced rawk, sounds a bit like a parody, but while they must have had a sense of humour, they seem to be sincere about this ballad.
Yes, Redhead Kingpin! Loved this at the time, wonder what happened to him? Another track off the Do the Right Thing soundtrack, and one of the best, with a menacing production and socially aware lyrics. No Public Enemy (not with the FBI involved, I guess) but very decent for all that.
Siobhan and Marcella make it to the studio for a performance best summed up by the word "chuffed", Siobhan especially looks delighted her gamble has paid off.
Aswad, bad luck to Brinsley for going out in the first round of Pointless Celebrities last Saturday with the full 200, though half of that was down to Denise from 5 Star. Anyway, nice, bland cover here, but it's not going to get them to the upper reaches of the chart, is it?
Yay, Betty Boo! "The best thing since sliced bread" as she claims to be, from the era where rappers were forever bigging themselves up. This debut is as bright as a button, she was a strong personality and it's a pity she didn't last in the limelight, but such was the fate of UK rappers at the time. Looks like the record company rather than the radio station they're smashing up, though.
Another quality track, Liza with a Z with a PSB production of a Stephen Sondheim tune, so of course it has a touch of class. Despite times when she seems just about to give up the ghost, she hangs on in there, and this was one of her many comebacks. Funnier in Arrested Development than Arthur, I'm saying.
Even more of the Bunny, so we get to the bit where Elvis sounds like one of the Smurfs. Thanks for nothing. They really spent five minutes throwing this together, didn't they?
Lil Louis with a video that seems inappropriate for the visuals (is that a Doctor Who monster?!), but we cut off before the orgasming. Always think of my friend who found this record really funny, but that aside it's a pared down dance hit that wheedles into your brain, yeah, yeah, great in a club, but I like it anyway.
Of course, Lie-za with a zee...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWURas7fYwk
There was only a smigeon more of the Jive Bunny video this week THX, with the Hound Dog bit by Elvis, and I'm surprised that TOTP didn't start off at a third into the video like they did with other number ones so that each week they show a later part of the video until it is completed during its run at No.1, much as they did with Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart at the start of 1989.
DeleteThe first two weeks here of Jive Bunny at No.1, they started off from the beginning of the video, but as yet, they have not got further than Hound Dog, so let's see if more of the video is played in the next three shows for the rest of August 1989 while Jive Bunny stays at No.1 for a whopping 5 weeks throughout August.
@Arthur: I've just realised where Saoirse Ronan got her "pronounce my name right" song from Saturday Night Live from...
DeleteFive weeks of Jive Bunny may be too much for some, but be very afraid at the new entry at no28 heading for six excrutiating weeks at the top very soon!
DeleteToo right, sct! It was a very stagnant year for Number 1 hits, and that Italian house redo of one of my least favourite disco tunes was punishing!
Deleteone week of jive bunny was too much for me! i didn't see the show, but i presume the dread-to-come at no. 28 was black box's "ride on time"? i remember hating it at the time too - not so much because i thought it was utter bollocks in the first place (unlike jive bunny), but because it got absolutely played to death!
DeleteGot it in one, Wilberforce! And it still gets played to death now, which has the knock on effect of Loleatta Holloway's original being played to death too. Her voice is painful to listen to on both.
DeleteBut the singer of Black Box in place of Lolita, as the public face of the group, was rather tasty, and in keeping with the many new girls on TOTP in 1988/89, like Patsy Kensit, Kylie Minogue, Fuzzbox, Transmission Vamp, Martika, Debbie Gibson, and so on, but yeah, I agree the song was played to death and became a bit tired after a few months.
Deletethe person black box used as the "face" of the act to mime to the singing of someone else was allegedly a transexual...
Deletedespite being a big fan of disco as a teenager, i wasn't actually familiar with the loleatta holloway original. but if i had been, i would no doubt have hated "ride on time" from the very first moment i heard it - as i did with practically everything else i fondly remembered from my youth that was starting to be mauled by talentless twats with now-affordable samplers!
DeleteAllegedly? I think you got your facts wrong. Check here in the section Damaging Rumours:
Deletehttp://www.livinglifeboomerstyle.com/katrin-quinol-and-black-box/
Wait till you heard the litigation avoiding re-recorded version of "Ride On Time". Then tell me Big Fun are worse! :-D
Deletewith regard to the black box "singer", i put allegedly as it was always rumoured rather than specifically stated. i have to say that given her strong facial features and lack of feminine curves, then if that was the case it would have come as no great surprise to me. or at least that she was intersexed, in the way that south african runner that has divided the athletics world is?
Deletein actual fact, it may well have been the band or their record company spreading the rumour themselves, as some sort of promotional ploy?
For what it's worth, I remember the Black Box mimer hotly complaining at the time when people accused her of being a man, and she threatened to do a nude photoshoot to prove her, er, credentials. Dunno if she ever did, though.
Delete...if she'd had the op, then that wouldn't necessarily have proved anything!
Deletei can't remember if amanda lear ever appeared on the show, but even now she tries her best to squash rumours that she was born a man - despite evidence to the contrary (and i'm not just referring to her very deep voice ha ha). a bit like kirk brandon refusing to acknowledge that he was boy george's lover, when it was common knowledge on the blitz kids scene! another member of that crowd gavin rossdale (later of bush fame) initally did likewise regarding his alleged relationship with marilyn, presumably for fear of his career going down the toilet a la big fun? however, unlike kirk at least in recent years he has come clean!
I think she was protesting she hadn't transitioned and had no intention of doing so, so the photoshoot would show she had her original womanly bits. That was her logic, anyway!
DeleteWe never got to hear Katrin Quinol sing the song so we'll never know. If you listen to Amanda Lear then it's a bit more clear cut, given the manly voice ('Follow Me' is a great song, but was sadly never a hit)
DeleteThe excruciatingly bad re-recording featured Heather Small on vocals, but I think that's fairly well known these days.
they should have made the black box frontperson sing for real a la milli vanilli! talking of frank farian fakes: does anyone remember right at the start of these re-runs when bobby wedged-afro from boney m had to imitate frank's singing on the records, and made hard work of it even though it was practically a monologue?
Delete"Blame It On The Boogie" was unusual, posssibly unique, as the previous two hit versions were in the chart at the same time, by acts with the same surname. Mick Jackson wrote it and his midtempo mellow take made number 15 in Autumn 1978 while The Jacksons, led by Wacko, did a faster funkier version which reached number 8.
ReplyDeleteLot of new stuff this week - the shows seem to flip between lots of new and mostly reruns..
ReplyDeleteBig Fun - Bored with SAW now... songwriting running out of steam as they just stick their biff biff beat behind the Jackson’s hit.
Lisa Stansfield - I remember the video well. Another track with an annoying drumbeat
(Run down - why has hey dj got a comma after ‘hey i cant dance to’?)
Dog d’amour - sounded like a Bruce Springsteen parody... no pretence about miming it
redhead Kingpin - file under ‘identikit (c)rap, oh yeah’. Sounded like a parody of tone loc
Shakespear’s Sister - ok performance of an ok track - best thing so far!
Aswad - not a fan. Watered down reggae. Didn’t realise that this was a cover.
Beatmasters - quite liked this. Sounded like something else - probably one of their other hits.
PSB / Lisa Minelli - cracking track (from a good album). It is only recently that I heard an original recording from Folies - almost unrecognisable at half the speed.
Lil Louis - dull but hypnotic... weird video. Memory fault - I thought this got to #1
The Beatmasters again 'featuring' a newcomer on the back of their own single, as a springboard to getting their own single eventually. We already had The Cookie Crew, PP Arnold, Merlin, and now Betty Boo! PP Arnold although not a newcomer, clearly needed the same uplift for a comeback or new record deal, but who is next up after Betty Boo for The Beatmasters to 'feature', as I can't wait to find out?
DeleteCan you imagine if a tune like Lil Louis French Kiss got to No.1 in favour of Jive Bunny and Kylie Minogue? Good Lord, it would have opened the doors to a complete takeover of the charts by techno music, leaving the 'proper' music behind. I can only say I'm surprised that this rubbish got to No.3, but No.1 Charlie, please!
@Dory: Claudia Fontaine was the next "featured" artist on a Beatmasters track, but you'll have to check it out on YouTube or Spotify because it wasn't a Top 40 hit.
DeleteI'd have loved French Kiss to go to No.1 instead of Jive Bunny, personally. It's proper music to my ears!
Claudia was later one of David Gilmour's three girl backing singers on the reformed (Waters-less) Pink Floyd, featuring on the 'Division Bell' tour and 'Pulse' live album.
DeleteGood Lord, I see we're back to two shows a week next week, so two more shows next Friday with Jive Bunny at No.1. I do hope we get to see the second half of the video with the climactic end, or will they stick to showing only the first half up to Hound Dog?
ReplyDeleteI found this Chart Show clip of this 10th Aug 1989 week with their own top ten rundown with Lil Louis at No.2, and they actually start the No.1 Jive Bunny clip more or less where TOTP stopped their clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bLHjwKlobg
Was the videos-only Chart Show much better than TOTP at the time? I did love the superb Chart Show graphics that put TOTP to shame!
When this one was repeated on UK gold, Liza was cut out, so glad to see it's been repeated in full on BBC4
ReplyDeleteStaggering. What on earth was the UK Gold Repeats Producer thinking when he decided to cut that out and leave in the rest?
DeletePresumably they must have been a Dogs D'Amour fan. I suppose somebody has to be....
DeleteBruno and a very fetching red frock for Sybil. A rotten show on the whole though.
ReplyDeleteBig Fun – Blame it on the boogie – Groaannnn…. Who thought it worthy covering this? Bad enough that practically every party / dance I go to (and it’s not often these days) the Jacko version is wheeled out and people start doing those silly actions. Blurgh!
Lisa Standfield – This is the right time – One of the better offerings on this show and it’s chopped in its prime.
Dogs D’Amour – Satellite Kid – Sort of poor man’s Rod Stewart and unappealing tune.
Redhead Kingpin whatnot – Do the right thing – Like don’t record singles?
Shakespeare’s History – You’re history – So you leave sassy, sexy Bananarama and go all goth and then produce something akin to a cat being strangled on the chorus?
Aswad – On and On – Stephen Bishop cover eh? Prefer things he wrote like ‘Separate Lives’.
Beatmasters featuring… - Some long title- The return of one of my favourite bands yet again ‘featuring’ someone else. Just dreadful.
Lisa Minelli – Losing my Mind – Wow! The surprise package for me. Liza had been releasing singles in the UK since 1963 and this was her first chart entry aged 43. Slinky, sexy and talented and what a Stephen Sondheim song and Pet Shop Boys/Julian Mendelsohn production to make her ToTP debut! Totally blown over by this just when I was thinking there was only going to be one really decent record on tonight’s show…
Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers – Swing the Mood – Very happy that this repeat to coincide with VE Day contains Glenn Miller sounds so associated with WW2.
Lil Louis – French Kiss – A travesty that this dreadful nonentity of a record should be given air time. I mean how long did it take the ‘songwriter’ to come up with this? The worst record of 1989, and there’s been a fair few others that I have given a wide berth!
Good Lord, now Little Richard, founder of Rock 'n' Roll, has died. I'm not sure if any of the excerpts from the current Jive Bunny No.1 is of the great man, but it would be a fitting tribute to have a further three weeks of Jive Bunny at No.1. RIP
ReplyDeleteJive Bunny sample his intro from Tutti Frutti on their first hit.
DeleteAnother legend gone in the space of days! An outrageous man, but what a performer. One of the original rock 'n' rollers, I think only Jerry Lee Lewis is left.
Reading an obit on the great man, apparently Tutti Frutti was originally about how much Little Richard enjoyed gay sex! Think on that next time Jive Bunny are played.
DeleteFor anyone interested, there is the original 1956 film Rock Around The Clock tonight at 11.15pm on Sony Classic Movies, including some of the best loved bands and songs from the era, starring Bill Haley & The Comets, but not sure if Little Richard is featured.
DeleteNo, it's The Girl Can't Help It you want for Little Richard, the scene where he sings the title song when Jayne Mansfield is sashaying down the street is one of the great scenes in 1950s movies.
DeleteAha, well Rock Around The Clock is on the Jive Bunny single, so definitely worth a watch of the film!
DeleteIt was the Spiceworld of its day! (Not entirely joking)
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DeleteRIP Little Dick - definitely the man who first brought the wildness and animal magnetism to Rock 'n' Roll.
DeleteThat is Little and Large that have died in recent weeks, Little Richard and Eddie Large.
Deletebig fun: in my view wacko & his bro's' recording of this is neither disco nor funky, but merely a nondescript piece of pop - which the massive love for and lasting popularity of leaves me utterly mystified. thankfully unlike the above i have managed to erase this effort by big fun (they worked really hard to find a a name for themselves, didn't they?) from my memory, although to my recollection it was a karoake version of the wacko one anyway. despite obviously being marketed as "brother lees"-style (remember them on "the generation game"?) clones of jason donovan, one of them always looked a bit too old and stiff to pull the job off - looking more like some kind of yuppie than a pop star. looking at an old pic of them now, i am wondering if the guy was actually boris johnson in his younger days?!! i knew they came out or were exposed as gays at some point, but not when they were still trying to pull the wool over teenage knicker-wetter eyes as "jackie"-style pin ups. perhaps in retrospect they should have ditched the boy-next-door look as a result, and invested in some leather harnesses and peaked caps instead?
ReplyDeleteliza minelli: i had never actually seen "cabaret" at this point despite it being close to 20 years earlier, but she was still just-about a living legend basically for that one reason alone (other than being judy garland jr of course - how did she get her break in showbiz, i wonder?). which was reason enough for her to become part of the pet shop boys' masterplan to give the gay icons of their youth a new pop audience. although i remember the hoo-ha over it being a cover of something by a broadway composer also considered legendary, in fact like most in blighty the only stephen sondheim song i was familiar with was "send in the clowns" - which for me fell into the andrew lloyd webber category at the time, and so i was not duly impressed. however i do remember liking the slightly-tacky bombast of this recording though, even though i didn't think it was in the same class as what PSB had done with dusty. which was enough to check out the album accordingly, with the result (sorry!) that i discovered another couple of decent tracks on it: a PSB originial called "if there was love", plus what i discovered many years later was a fairly faithful cover of an old disco tune "love pains"
'Love Pains' was the fourth single from the album and was backed by a 'radio edit' c/o my nemisis Steve 'Silk' Hurley!!
DeleteI remember The Brother Lees! Couldn't tell you anything about their act at this remove, though, apart from it was the usual chicken in a basket music and comedy thing.
DeleteThe Brother Lees were regular 'we're short of acts, phone them up' fare for the likes of "The Generation Game". Imagine Mike Yarwood in triplicate doing actions to boot and you're halfway there.
DeleteTalking of baskets, were they the act that wore wicker baskets on their heads to do three simultaneous impressions of Alan Whicker?
Deletei always enjoyed seeing the brother lees whenever they appeared on "the generation game", and have a vague recollection of wondering why they never had a series of their own? their "mick jagger" never failed to crease me up!
DeleteI think the BLs used to perform their act of impressions and then one of them dropped out to do the marking whilst the contestants took their place. Grouco Marx is one memorable impressions they did. They were great! Ah the 70s....
Deleteyes sct, i seem to recall that was what happened. it's funny that our generation all knew who groucho marx was back then, even though most of us had probably never seen a marx brothers movie - the last which had been made long before any of us were born. and yet i suspect the youth of today wouldn't have a clue who morecambe and wise are now?
Deletewhist on the subject of "the generation game", does anyone else agree with me that when larry grayson replaced brucie it was like the shit after the lord mayor's show?
I was a bit too young for Brucie, though vaguely remember him on TGG, but I loved Larry Grayson when I was a kid. Saw him on the repeats of Sunday Night at the London Palladium recently and it had obviously passed me by how risqué his material was! Really funny, too.
Deletewell thx you weren't there at the time. brucie may have had his critics, but he was in his element taking the piss out of hapless contestants in "the generation game". whilst in contrast larry grayson was clearly at a loss how to improvise in that regard, usually resorting to rolling his eyes whilst his "assistant" isla st clair bailed him out!
Deleteat that point it was billed as "larry grayson's generation game", but it should really have been credited as "isla st clair's generation game". yes, even as a teenager it it was really that obvious to me that she alone kept the thing afloat!
DeleteI'm too young to remember the original run of the Gen Game, but I did watch the early 90s revival helmed by Brucie, and I really enjoyed that. I didn't stick around when Jim Davidson took over, though...
DeleteThe best 'Larry' Generation Game was when Mike Yarwood did a sketch of it. The contestants were none other than Abba!
DeleteIf you thought Larry Grayson was bad for "The Generation Game", that was nothing compared to the abhorrence of Jim Davidson.
DeleteI recall that Jim stood in for Bruce on one occasion when he was ill. That should have been enough to convince everyone that he hasn't the man for the job when Bruce packed it in, but no. Never watched it from then onwards as it just wasn't the same. Even Larry and Isla were preferable to me as hosts.
DeleteI was a bit too young to see Brucie in his prime, so for me Larry Grayson is the one I saw most of on the Generation Game, and I really liked him. I also remember The Brother Lees and found them funny - certainly miles better than the likes of Little & Large who somehow had their own show.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOpps, a couple of bloopers in the first run. Take two...
ReplyDeleteTrev and Sybil do a decent co-hosting here and appear to be dressed up for an awards do afterwards. Hope you’re watching and taking notes, Jenny and Nodding Dog.
If only Stefan Dennis had been in Big Fun, that would have ticked all the boxes. Big Fun? More like Huge Letdown with “Blame It On The Dog”. There might have been a crap cover there but I couldn’t hear it for that headache inducing boom thump racket.
Careful where you’re pointing on that T shirt, Trev! And why choose the gal instead of the lad behind you who’s wearing the same article? Humph.
I wish I could cut those bloody annoying kiss curls off. Lisa (not Lie-Za) Stansfield with an okayish track which isn’t as blue as the video wash.
Early mugshots: No mention of Betty Boo, and Vikki Fuzzbox appears to aiming for Wendy James territory. Not that I’m complaining.
Next, if Smokie did light metal. The song sounded more like Dogshit D’Amour to me. Meanwhile, a young Noel Fielding looks at the lead singer and thinks “Hmm, there’s an image I could use when I grow up”.
Followed by something De La Soul could have done better in their sleep. I did the right thing all right (Not half) and FF’d this generic rubbish.
A fine performance from Shev... Shor... oh, the ex-Nana girl, though she’s so thin her waistline’s history. What number’s this at, Trev? 30?? Add an ‘n’ at the end and you’d be correct!
Aswad with not a classic as Trev says, but a wimpy syrupy ballad which previously missed the top 50 by a place or two for Stephen Bishop (it was number one in the bubbling under / breakers section) despite copious Radio 1 play. Always hated this. FF. This isn’t going on and on for me, thanks.
Oh, another rap song. Video at least has some sort of story, verses formula rubbish, chorus catchy, singer Wahay! It’s the Scots / Malay siren that is Alison Clarkson. At the third time of asking tonight, Betty Boo finally gets a mention in the outro! Well done, Bruno.
Now then. An inspired amalgamation of song, singer and production, and a Hollywood star who owns the stage and knows where the ‘on’ camera is every occasion bar one. Topped off by Liza Minnelli’s huge beaming smile as the camera zooms out at the end. The peak of the week and then some.
I agree on this occasion, nice to hear the old style tunes in Jive Bunny’s corned beef hash on a day when they deserved to be required listening. We had something of a Flashmob front garden street party yesterday, and I found it both enjoying and emotional, especially when a khaki-clad woman with a beatbox went round the roads singing half a dozen wartime hits. Typically, I only found out The Red Arrows had gone overhead two hours after they’d been and while I was still asleep!
Next week it’s the return of Turnoff? Come on, Jenny Powell wasn’t that bad last week, really! I’ll forgive her!
We finish with “Sloppy Shag” and an unnerving Minipops-style video for a far more adult track. Glad this is all we hear of it, not that I stayed till the end by any means.
I'm sure I spotted Nicholas Lyndhurst behind Bruno in that T-shirt link...
DeleteGood knock, THX, though 'Rodney' would have been 28 at that time. Either he took a while to mature or that's an unknowing doppelganger!
DeleteYou're right about Fuzzbox at no.38 with their new caption on the chart rundown. Good to see some healthy competition by these chart rivals. Can't wait to see what Vix will be wearing on the next TOTP show for the new single.
DeleteThere was an excellent documentary about Peter Sellers on BBC2 tonight which naturally mentioned his many wives and girlfriends, one of whom was... Liza Minnelli! Never knew that, apparently they were close to being married, too, but presumably she saw sense when she realised what a maniac he was. Interesting footage of them together.
ReplyDeletehe never seemed short of attention from the ladies, despite his very ordinary and almost moon-faced looks. perhaps it was a case of "what attracted you to the millionaire peter sellers?"
DeleteTHX, I was watching instead on Sony Movies Classic the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon with Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields, as I don't think I ever watched it in full before, so unfortunately missed out on Peter Sellers, but I'll catch it later on IPlayer.
Delete@Dory: I'd recommend the Sellers doc, it was very interesting, and quite moving at the end. Lynne Frederick was a very strange person.
Delete@Wilberforce: Don't forget the old cliché about women loving a man with a sense of humour!
As for The Blue Lagoon, the only good bit is where Brooke Shields throws a coconut at Christopher Atkins' head.
i am fairly sure i have read or heard somewhere that (like many of his comic peers) when he wasn't working, sellers had all the humour of a trappist monk. of course he could have had an extremely large penis and/or an indefatigable sex drive? however one usually needs to get rich and/or famous first before one can benefit from those particular attributes...
DeleteSellers was probably what we'd call bipolar now, so when he was up he was way up, and when he was down, you stayed out of his way.
DeleteMany thanks THX for the tip off about the Peter Sellers documentary. A very interesting programme, and no, I didn't know aboyt the Liza Minnelli connection either. What struck me however was how they didn't mention the Pink Panther films. For me, these were his best films. Those scenes with Bert Kwouk still crease me up!
DeleteFinally, his third wife Miranda (Quarry) Macmillan died on 20th March this year. Presumably his first wife Anne Howe is still alive along with Britt?
Don't mention it, sct! They did show clips of the first Pink Panther film, but not the best one (A Shot in the Dark) or the "comeback" ones in the 1970s.
DeleteI assume Anne is still alive, but there's nothing online about her. I do know his son Michael died, sadly.
Liza was also a friend of Adam Ant's, though that was never a romantic relationship. I watched the Sellers doc and it was interesting, if skewed a bit too much to the Britt Ekland years (I suppose as she agreed to an interview, they wanted to get their money's worth from it). I hadn't quite realise until now how grim his last years were.
DeleteBruno & Shouty Sybs up this week in a show that is rather hit and miss.
ReplyDeleteFirst up let's have some Big Fun with the blonde bombshells in holiday camp jackets. Yes it's Pat and Mick on steroids murdering “Blame It On The Boogie”. Name a member of Bug Fun without googling it...go on. There is no way they are all singing on this record...or they sang on Pat and Micks!
We will await their "duet" with Sonia with keen interest...
Hey Bruno where can I get a TOTP t-shirt? Seriously though I would buy one of them now!
Little Miss Rochdale goes solo and “This Is The Right Time” really shows off her voice - deservedly she gets a Number One later in the year but she should have gone Top Ten with this one.
Wonderful tune.
My god Slade have aged badly...oh no sorry it's Dogs D’Amour. If SAW did rock music. Think they were aiming more for GNR but fell several miles short. Poor.
Just because De La Soul can do it doesn't mean everyone should have a go. Ah look...little Redhead Kingpin is trying to grow a moustache! The real FBI should “Do The Right Thing” and arrest this lot for crimes to music.
Appreciated the NYC geography lesson at the end. Will be useful next time I watch Pointless.
It's the witching hour next as Shakespears Sister (no apostrophe!) take the stage for the tune of the night. “You’re History” is quality from start to finish and one of the highlights of 89. Nice hats as well Ladies!
Charts stats joy - Up 16 to 16 for Lightning Seeds and up 13 to 13 for Shakespeares Sister. Love it when things like that happen.
Aswad went “On & On” but I've forgotten the song and performance already.
The Beatmasters are back and introducing a power-dressing Miss Alison Clarkson (aka Betty Boo). Sticking it to the record company bosses in a cute little video for a very good dance record. “Hey DJ I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing” Well I could and did dance to this a lot.
Sometimes all you need is a great song and a great performer on the stage to sell a number and didn't Liza Minnelli sell this one. Astonishing performance for one of PSBs finest tunes. “Losing My Mind” for this one all over again.
“Swing The Mood” a very apt Number One this week due to Glenn Millers connection with WWII and VE DAY. Also just learnt that Little Richard died yesterday, one of the pioneer of Rock N Roll.
Tutti Frutti indeed... RIP.
Thankfully Lil Louis was cut off before the orgasmic woman joined in. “French Kiss” NOT "French Kisses" as captioned here by TOTP.
They got Sonia's record title wrong in the countdown as well. Good job all...
Shakespear and Liza steal the show!
Hi Anonymous! I'm on to ask if you've got any of the following shows in their original archive state. They're all from 1978 and are 2/02, 30/03, 20/04 and 16/11. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteAnd please Anonymous,can you got 10/12/81 (BBC archive)
Deleteno sorry brie.
Deletegia here it is : https://we.tl/t-WN38c6UXrJ
DeleteThis JS edition of TOTP at the end of 1981 was one of the best shows of the year. It featured many 70s stars with new music, like Showaddywaddy (yes as late as Dec 1981), Dollar, Abba, Ken Dodd, Lulu on the Adam Ant video Ant Rap, and playing out with Phil Lynott's Yellow Pearl with the new Zoo dancers that only just took over from the Legs & Co era that ended only weeks earlier. Good shout gia!
DeleteThanks Anonymous!
DeleteThanks for trying, mate. See you next week!
ReplyDeleteBig Fun - This isn't particularly great (though I do think their next one is a good pop song) and I wish I could remember which one of the 3 it was that I saw do a PA in a nightclub in the mid-90s as certainly the other 2 had buggered off by then...
ReplyDeleteLisa Stansfield - This was produced by Coldcut, which is probably why it's a decent song. Weird how the shots in the video are practically identical to that for 'People Hold On', just at a slightly slower pace.
Dogs D'Amour - Utterly dreadful. Someone pass him a lozenge or two.
Redhead Kingpin - Or 'Readhead' as the caption writer would have it (they were having an off week, check out the supposed song title for Lil' Louis at the end!) with one of those mid-table efforts. I wouldn't rush to switch it off, but I don't rave about it either.
Aswad - Tedious
Beatmasters - Now we're talking! I love this one, even with its silly lyrics about 'Aunt Lizzy' and suchlike. Betty Boo had been in The She Rockers for a while - they were a bit like Cookie Crew without the hit singles.
Liza Minnelli - You can always tell someone with talent. She has the camera and the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. Great song too.
Lil' Louis - Not particularly exciting, and what a strangely rapid fadeout just before the moans eh? This wasn't actually banned as such, though I don't think it got much airplay on R1 outside of the chart show.
Both the Cookie Crew and Betty Boo needed The Beatmasters springboard to reverse their non-charting ability. I didn't think the Beatmasters themselves were that great, so somehow the 'featuring' trick seems to work with the record-buying public for some reason.
DeleteDon't know if this is true, but it would be a real shame. BBC4 the best channel around.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/ElisabethHobbes/status/1260873038146555905?s=20
Rumours like this have been flying around for some time so it would seem that it's likely. I will certainly miss the TOTP repeats, though I'm hoping that we at least get to see 1990 (tbh after that, things go downhill rapidly for the show anyway, especially when the 'thou must play live' era arrives)
DeleteIt's not just that though, there have been so many excellent documentaries on. 'Why can't they axe BBC Three?' is too simplistic since it's not aimed at my age group in the way that BBC Four is, but surely they can get rid of something else instead, like 24 hour rolling news or one of the underperforming radio stations?!
it's not entirely surprising, as there are too many TV channels for people to keep up with, BBC4 being one of the exceptions of course. I think things have gone full circle with the BBC, and I can see a time where we will go back to having just BBC1 and BBC2 like it was 30 years ago. Perhaps the TV licence fee can then be halved, as by next year we would only have two, not four BBC channels?
DeleteApparently they're considering putting BBC4 online, like BBC3. I suppose more viewers are watching over streaming and we don't really need to watch them over broadcast TV, but it does feel very "end of an era". But better that than axing it altogether.
DeleteBBC4 used to be my favourite channel, but it has been a shadow of its former self since the budget cuts a few years back. The Beeb does seem to be obsessed with "yoof" at the moment, but the trouble with BBC3 is that a lot of what it produces could just as easily be made by a commercial channel. If the Beeb is not going to produce distinctive public service content, of the kind that BBC4 used to be full of, then there is no case for keeping the licence fee as far as I am concerned.
DeleteThe BBC have to cater for youth as well as us oldies otherwise its audience will eventually die off. I have no problem with ver kids having shows produced for them, and just tonight I've enjoyed Charlie Brooker and Killing Eve (on iPlayer). So they're certainly catering for me. Happy to pay the licence for all that I get for it (mostly radio these days).
DeleteI'm not saying the Beeb shouldn't produce shows for the youth, just that a lot (though not all) of what BBC3 produces doesn't seem to have any extra public service value, and could just as easily be produced by commercial channels. In any case, mightn't youngsters who currently shun the Beeb discover it as they get older and their tastes change?
DeleteIf I remember correctly, the BBC launched BBC3 and BBC4 after ITV had launched ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 in one go, so it wasn't the BBC's intention, but rather to keep up with the competition, but if you look at the quality of the other ITV channels, they are mainly repeats, and do not really warrant four channels, with costs associated with them, so perhaps the BBC are realising after all this time that it was not worth it just to keep up with the jones's?
DeleteYou can't make a direct comparison with ITV, Dory. For a start the 2 BBC channels didn't launch together, and BBC3 started off life as BBC Choice. So there was no intention to directly copy what ITV were doing.
Delete@John G: From what I understand, the little kids ensure CBBC and CBeebies are doing great, but they drift away once they get access to the internet. And who knows what the trends will be in the future that generate audiences? BBC3 is a way of tracking that. Mind you, the lockdown has meant many more families and housemates have been watching TV together like the old days we remember. It's very unpredictable.
Deletemaybe all this will finally get the beeb to review their archaic licencing conditions, and switch to something more revelent to the 21st century users' needs?
Deletebtw i haven't paid for a tv licence for 6 years now...and with a very few exceptions (such as this particular programme) i haven't missed watching the "idiot's lantern" in the slightest!