I can feel your warm face, ever close to my lips, and I hear your voice whispering it's the 18th of May 1990 edition of Top of the Pops!
Belle hair
18-5-90: Presenter: Nicky Campbell
(31) HOTHOUSE FLOWERS – Give It Up
Getting us underway with a live vocal but the song went up just one more place.
(25) LISA STANSFIELD – What Did I Do To You (video)
Got no higher. (Was this edited out of tonight's repeat?)
(22) THE PASADENAS – Love Thing
In the studio giving it all their best dance moves but the song got no higher.
(16) THE CHIMES – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Making their studio debut with this U2 cover and it became their only top ten hit when it peaked at number 6.
(27) EURYTHMICS – Angel (video)
Peaked at number 23.
(29) SAM BROWN – Kissing Gate
In the studio to perform her final top 40 hit and it peaked at number 23.
(21) PAUL YOUNG – Softly Whispering I Love You
Also in the studio tonight with his new David Essex/Jason Donovan look but this song got no higher.
(1) ADAMSKI – Killer
Second of four weeks at number one.
(28) DEPECHE MODE – Policy Of Truth (video) (and credits)
Peaked at number 16.
May 24th is next.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000q5l9
ReplyDeleteLisa Stansfield Is Listed In The Song List Below The Episode Description.
It was cut, Cyril Smith reference before Lisa made by Campbell, here's uncut copy.
ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-n0SlFFvAjJ
Many thanks Anonymous :-)
DeleteOh that was the reason. Fair enough. There will have to be one more edit for this year on the xmas day show that featured a clip from the xmas day '74 edition.
DeleteLisa S is cut from the iPlayer version too.
ReplyDeleteA really weak episode for me, this one. Hothouse Flowers, Eurythmics and Pasadenas all with songs that are fine but not their best, Sam Brown's song is one I'd forgotten and that's not a shame, far too twee and repetitive and Stop! knocks spots off it.
The Chimes' version of U2 is a nice cover, possibly prefer it to the original but that may be Bono fatigue.
Paul Young: was it just me, or was this song and performance all a bit Cliff-esque (except worse at miming)?
Hooray for some Depeche Mode (or Depeschay Mode as Kid Jensen used to call them), even if it's not one of their standouts. The slightly dour ending is about what the episode deserves. Only Adamski from the top 10 and The Chimes from the top 20? I didn't pay a lot of attention to the chart rundown but was everything else going down (or played last week)?
Yes, it was a bit "will this do?" with all the bigger hits being played before, and recently. I don't mind so much when we get to hear some interesting lesser material... but most of this wasn't that interesting.
DeleteQuite like this Hothouse Flowers track, it rattles along nicely with an energetic piano, and the live vocal is an interesting choice when none of the other band is live (that sax is low in the mix). Who does Mr Hothouse thank and why? Actual flowers involved - not thrown together, this.
ReplyDeleteLisa MIA so onto The Pasadenas, not only has everyone forgotten about this song, they forgot to give it a tune at the time as well. They're certainly sweating up a storm with their antics.
Oh joy, a very slo-o-ow version of U2's Still Haven't Found, perfect for the cocktail lounge (did they still have those in 1990?) but a pretty dull listen. Don't get them mixed up with The Times!
Eurythmics on video, all very arty and sincere, but odd they should go back to the Angel well because this isn't going to topple There Must Be an Angel from being their biggest hit. Out of inspiration? The continuity announcer really liked this, I note.
Sam Brown with a title that sounds bowdlerised, and the tune is a faux classic soul number that doesn't cut the mustard in comparison with its influences. Also, Sam's singing too high in parts of it - touch of the Boltons.
Paul Young covers the classic "singing in the shower" '71 hit from The Congregation, but without the somewhat absurd original vocal, there's nothing to make it stand out. Are you playing that guitar or not?!
A repeat of last weeks 'damsk, then to end on Depeche Mode, which translates as "style of the peach", of course. Bit of a self-important plodder, but the keyboard melody isn't so bad. Video impenetrable, as per usual.
I think this is the last time we will see The Eurythmics on TOTP, as their long 7-year rollout of hits since Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This is 1983 finally comes to an end with this final hit called Angel on this show.
DeleteI think they made a comeback 9 years later in 1999 with some new material, but not sure if they ever appeared on TOTP again, on stage or on video, but certainly here in May 1990 the curtain falls on one of the greatest 80s groups ever, and a genius combination of Lennox and Stewart, making for some very memorable hits and performance on TOTP between 1983-1990.
https://youtu.be/vde6an3cNtk I Saved the World Today had a studio appearance.
DeleteGood Lord, whatever made them come back in 1999 with a song that sounds so much like their final hit in 1990 called Angel, as the comeback song doesn't sound that much different to the last one?
DeleteBut anyway, it really is a final goodbye to the long road of hits by The Eurythmics, as 1999 seems a long way away, and I doubt that BBC4 will be continuing that long on the Friday evening repeats to see The Eurythmics comeback.
I wouldn't be too sure about that, Dory, if we can get over the doldrums of 92-93, then there's lots of stuff worth repeating, and it is one of BBC4's most popular programmes.
DeleteListened to Lisa on YT, and it's an OK ditty, but I spent the whole 4 minutes wondering "What does this sound like?!" It's very reminiscent of... something. Anyone identify it?
ReplyDeleteThe 'feel' was a bit Annie Lennox, but it didn't remind me of anything specific.
DeleteMaybe it just sounded like all Lisa's other hits...?
DeleteLisa Stansfield sings "John Craven's Newsround"
Deletehttps://youtu.be/AUeA_LHXaBA
John Craven sings "What Do I Have to Do" (feat. Cyril Smith)
https://youtu.be/_78q6-xjlsw
Ha, thanks, FB! But it was more the chorus I was trying to place!
DeleteNo mention that Tina Heath was on The Sunday Gang too in that John Craven report. And then she joined Blue Peter, got pregnant within seconds, and left.
Got it! It came to me while brushing my teeth last night: Lisa's song is almost note for note Whenever You Need Somebody by Rick Astley. I'm sure she'd be delighted at the comparison.
DeleteOur host tonight is Soupy, who would struggle to even make the quarter-finals of a late 80’s / early 90’s TOTP hosts’ cup competition in my book and who unexpectedly helps to get an act cut out of this show’s re-run.
ReplyDeleteWe start with that lot who got a leg up from a Eurovision vote count break. The singer’s still cramming too many words into each line. I ‘gave it up’ after 30 seconds.
Lisa asks “What Did I Do To You To Get Chopped?”. Nothing, flower, Soupy ballsed it up for you by mentioning the other well known person from Rochdale other than Gracie Fields and, sadly, he turned out to be a complete wrong ‘un. Maybe you should ask Soupy to stump up the repeat fee.
The Pasadenas start with an early John Miles lyric lift and then do their usual souffle turn, all style over substance. I didn’t love this thing.
An unfortunate early mugshot for Sinitta, where one of the ‘down’ arrows flashes somewhere David Essex got to explore after hours when they appeared in the musical “Tahiti”.
Don’t mix The Chimes with The Tymes either. A nice, mellow, gospel tinged semi- Soul II Soul (Soul I Soul, then?) take on a track from a band I can’t stand. Unusual way to hold the mic there.
Oh, this Eurythmics song! I remember it. Directly mentioning Elvis whereas Alannah Myles gave us the subliminal image. For once I could hear David A Stewart low in the backing vocals. All very earnest but a bit too sombre for me.
My peak of the week, as an admittedly sometimes too high pitched (and thus thin sounding) Sam Brown delivers a sweet little tune, with her mum (Joe’s wife) on backing vocals, I think. Hark at that keyboardist! For the uninitiated, a kissing gate is a semi-circular construction with a hinged middle gate which allows pedestrians through but not sheep or cattle, with an urban myth that if you let someone through such a gate they had to kiss you as thanks.
Look at Paul Young thrash that guitar! Is that an attempt at a mullet, boy? This tune washed over me, smooth and gentle yet repetitive.
After the top turn we get another film noir from The Mode and a gal sort of putting her about a bit. To think we got more of this than “Enjoy The Silence”!
At least you don't have to kiss a sheep or a cow at a kissing gate, then. Mind you, the farmers might not be any better.
DeleteIncidentally, the TOTP Christmas Special repeat isn't the 1990 one, it's the 1995 one! Pity about the number 1, but a glimpse into the future past, there.
ReplyDeleteNicky Campbell introduces the show with a reference to the FA Cup final, the replay being the day before. Of course he has to refer to it with a Satre quote. Oh Mr. Campbell you are a wit. Or something. Actually one of my clearest childhood memories of Top of the Pops was the edition right before the cup final replay in '82. (My Grandad grew up in Queens Park) and the presenter wishing both teams well.
ReplyDeleteHothouse Flowers; I suppose its all well and good that they should get a little slice of 1990's pop pie given that so many other bands were now styling themselves on their look from two years before. This isn't too great though, too obviously a rehash of 'Don't Go' with the same big piano chords and mumbly verse singing then big rousing chorus. They did have one further triumph when they stopped trying to revive past glories; the beautiful 'An Emotional Time' that I bought in '93. The song Liam O'Maonlai did with Tim Finn and Andy White, 'Many's The Time In Dublin' is a great one too.
Lisa Stansfield...Can't be with us tonight but she has sent...no video either.
The Pasadenas; Not the song by The Whispers or one with a semblance of its tune. Or any tune. Forgot that as soon as it finished and I really liked 'Riding On a Train'. The performance doesn't help the single either, the group doing the sort of dance that Vic and Bob used to do at the start of 'Shooting Stars'.
The Chimes; Brilliant record and another of the Soul II Soul inspired records that came out around this time. I remember Steve Wright really loving this one, possibly playing it before anyone else on Radio 1 and it still sounds a sunny, joyous thing. Great performance too.
The Eurythmics; Is this one the duo's sign off single? That's how I remember it and if so it's a great way to say goodbye. Beautiful song particularly that key change in the bridge. Unsettling video. I hope David A had a sit down in a Crouch End pub after that experience.
Sam Brown; Nice to see her back again. Good self written effort even if it fairly obviously bases its chorus on the climactic voice only refrain of Billy Paul's 'Me and Mrs. Jones'.
Paul Young; Say what you like about him, he did pick some great songs to cover didn't he.
Yes, it is a very Cliffed up version of the song which loses the curiosity value of The Congregation's original (the totp clip from Dec '71, I think a rehearsal take, is surely one of the most incongruous things in the show's archive) but the sheer beauty of the melody still shines through. An advert used this song but I can't remember what it was for.
His hairstyle is exactly the same as the one my mother had at the time.
Adamski; Still sounds killer to me. Next week the video, please?
Depeche Mode; Not a great ending, the song a bit of a comedown after 'Enjoy The Silence'
Hadn’t there just been a football match recently? Suprised it didn’t get mentioned. :-)
ReplyDeleteHothouse Flowers - an ok track “I’ll give it 5 but I wouldn’t buy it”
.Pasadenas - my old favourite, the backing track that didn’t match the tune. Trying a bit too hard to be hip, but looking more like dad dancers, with a pretty average track.
Chimes - u2 played at 33?... not what I was looking for
Eurhythmics - again, painfully slow... next
Sam Brown - some of the high notes sounded a bit unnecessary, but pleasant enough.
Paul Young - a fine tune to test your scales on, but not much else. Another one of those tracks that reminds me of something else - possibly groovy kind of love as that had the same sort of scale progressions. [a pre-post read of the other comments show this is a cover, so maybe it THAT that I remember. Also agree with the Cliff comment]
Deoeche Mode - don’t remember this. Curiously the bifty bifty dum sound which I usually hate enhances this track. It’s a funny old world.
Oh dear Nicky Campbell is as irritating as Anthea was in her early shows. New entry ‘Rrrrrrroam’ by the B52s…so why not ‘Rrrrreal rrrrrreal rrrrrreal’ by Jesus Jones?
ReplyDeleteHothouse Flowers – Give it up – KC and the Sunshine Band? No, different tune…but they did follow up with Johnny Nash’s ‘I can see clearly now’. Anyway, good start to the show all things considered.
Lisa Standsfield – What did I do to you – Edited out of the show on iPlayer so can’t comment, but don’t think I missed much.
Pasadenas – Love Thing – Give me ‘Pasadena’ by the Temperance 7.
Chimes – I still haven’t found what I am looking for – Didn’t care much for the original and this is not any better.
Eurythmics – Angel – Madonna? No, but not a bad song for Annie and Dave. Oh yes, Rod Stewart did an ‘Angel’ as well….
Sam Brown – Kissing Gate – Sam in her pre-Floyd days…quite pleasant.
Paul Young – Softly whispering I love you – OK, so if you haven’t heard the original by the Congregation then look it up on Youtube. An angelic female choir followed by some male lead vocals with some real bite and some nice guitar licks. A Cook/Greenaway classic, but I fine this version an insipid bland-out. Shame really as PY did some great covers. Look forward to Senza Madonna.
Adamski – Killer – A touch of class still at no1.
Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth – I’m much liking this recent phase pf ‘Mode’ after they went through that ‘industrial’ sound period. Good end to the show.
Watching that edition made me realize that there isn't a song called 'Angel' that I've heard that I haven't liked! That one by the Eurythmics, Jimi Hendrix and the cover by Rod Stewart, Massive Attack and for me the best, the immortal Angel by Aretha. 'Angels' by Robbie Williams is good too as was I think the theme to the BBC series anout the nurses.
DeleteI always liked 'Free Angel' the B Side of '20th Century Boy'.
DeleteNicky "love myself" Campbell back in charge this week for a show with a roll-call of almost new, lesser known hits. And on a Friday, thanks to Man Utds inability to finish off Crystal Palace.
ReplyDeleteWas this a cover from Hothouse Flowers or did it just sound remarkably like Deacon Blue? Nice to have them back, lets hope they "don't go" again...
Lisa up next and she gets a concert video, seems quite popular doesn't she? Nice to hear a different tune from her.
No riding on a train for The Pasadenas (London being in Tier 4) so we have a lesser known tune which I really enjoyed the performance of and forgot as soon as it finished. Can't even remember the title.
Beautiful version of the U2 song from The Chimes. Pauline Henry should have got a credit for this as without her the song is nothing. Lovely stuff.
Angel builds nicely to a swaying chorus as The Eurythmics give us a very atmospheric tune.
Sam Brown next with a decent song (she wrote it herself you know) that would have sounded great with a singer like Alannah Myles. Browns voice is too weak in the higher notes, a problem she shares with her namesake Sam Smith who is weirdly popular these days.
Slightly older Paul next with a dodgy haircut and a guitar raised to Level 42. Clearly a housewives choice and a nice tune, well performed.
Adam still happy to be out of his bedroom and Number One.
The Mode finish up with a decent album track but lacks a real hook to make it a bigger hit.