Music hits me so hard, makes me say - Oh my Lord, thank you for this 5th of July 1990 edition of Top of the Pops!
U Can't Wear This
5-7-90: Presenter: Nicky Campbell
(30) INSPIRAL CARPETS – She Comes In The Fall
Getting the show underway tonight and the song went up three more places.
(29) JANET JACKSON – Alright (video)
Peaked at number 20.
(17) POISON – Unskinny Bop (video)
Went up two more places.
(25) DOUBLE TROUBLE – Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
In the studio and this Rose Royce cover peaked at number 21.
(10) M.C. TUNES versus 808 STATE – The Only Rhyme That Bites (video)
At its peak.
A new monthly feature now ~ the top selling albums of the month:
(5) NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK – Step By Step (video) (Album Chart)
The title track from their number one album.
(4) TALK TALK – Life’s What You Make It (video) (Album Chart)
From their number 3 greatest hits album The Very Best Of Talk Talk.
(3) JASON DONOVAN – Another Night (video) (Album Chart)
From his number two album Between the Lines.
(2) SOUL II SOUL – A Dream’s A Dream (video) (Album Chart)
From their number one album Volume II.
(1) LUCIANO PAVAROTTI – Nessun Dorma (video) (Album Chart)
From The Essential Pavarotti.
(12) F.A.B. feat. M.C. PARKER – Thunderbirds Are Go (video)
Their only top 40 hit and it peaked at number 5.
(4) CRAIG McLACHLAN & CHECK 1-2 – Mona (video)
Went up two more places.
(27) MASSIVO feat. TRACY – Loving You
Singing this Minnie Riperton cover live in the studio but it was to be their only hit and it peaked at number 25.
(9) M.C. HAMMER – U Can’t Touch This (video)
Peaked at number 3.
(1) ELTON JOHN – Sacrifice (video)
Third of five weeks at number one.
(21) GLENN MEDEIROS feat. BOBBY BROWN – She Ain’t Worth It (video) (and credits)
Peaked at number 12.
July 12th is next.
MC Tunes and MC Hammer on the same show. Good Lord!
ReplyDeleteMC Tunes vs 808 State - how did this get to No.10? The video was reminiscent of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, well the middle part of Thriller anyway. That graveyard setting for the dancing, you know. Only the music and dancing style here was rap instead of dance.
Top 5 Album section - signs of the old Jonathan King American singles slot on the early 80s TOTP editions. Remember those? King did it so much better though.
MC Tunes vs 808 State should have gone top 5!
DeleteI would have also liked to see MC tunes vs MC Hammer. Or MC Hammer feat 808 State. Anything goes really.
DeleteInspirals, good one this, chunky pop presumably nothing to do with Mark E. Smith's mob, and as ever they look pleasingly ordinary. Maybe a bit hectoring in the lyrics, but it deserved to be a bigger hit, it pounds along well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure, Janet release every bloody track off Rhythm Nation 1814. This is one of the lesser ones, but it has a nice, smooth production and vocal, and the video has some energetic shapes thrown. They were determined to get a big hit out of this album, weren't they?
Poison's vid was on last time, so on with a change of pace for Double Trouble. Unfortunately it's in the service of yet another lacklustre cover of the kind that has been littering the 1990 episodes, seriously, were only half the artists writing any new material that year?!
They're going to wear out that MC Tunes/808 State video at this rate. Then the top 5 albums, which is basically a bunch of videos. Here was me slagging off Jason Donovan and his album had made the 2 spot! Sorry Jase.
Then someone raids the Supermarionation archives to throw together a Thunderbirds dance track, as ridiculous as it sounds, especially the concept of Parker being a scratch mixing DJ. Best bit's where they go into Stingray, but the International Rescue theme doesn't lend itself to this very well. There was a previous novelty record from the 1960s called Parker, Well Done, but that didn't trouble the charts. Anyway, Barry Gray was a genius, I hope we can all agree. The Busted movie theme from the 00s was a lot better.
Craig's vid we've seen before too, then it's presumably a different Tracy to Paul Weller's pal, doing her best to hit the high notes in Loving You but just being piercing instead. Other than that, yup, lacklustre cover time again.
MC Hammer on vid again, these repeat clips are getting to be a habit, same goes for Elton, though it's the video not the studio performance. Still boring - we demand Healing Hands!
Then if you ever wanted to see Glenn Medeiros's nipples playing peekaboo, this is the video for you. I thought Bobby was pretty quiet until he showed up to crowbar in a rap. At least it's more upbeat than Glenn's yawnsome Number 1.
didn't mark e smith actually have a minor hit with the inspiral carpets around this time? if so, then maybe mentioning his band was the trigger for that collaboration? btw, does anyone else here know about the mural of mr smith on the side of a fish and chip shop?
DeleteInspirals and Mark E Smith I Want You was 1994
DeleteYes, Mark and the Inspirals had a Top 20 hit with I Want You in 1994, and it was great.
DeleteCouldn't tell you about a Smith chip shop mural, but I wouldn't be surprised if he painted it himself.
A simultaneous posting, Charlie!
Deletei suspect the chip shop owner commissioned it after smith (who may well have been a regular customer) died, as he appears to be some sort of fan judging by what i presume are some of smith's lyrics or quotes also displayed elsewhere on the premises? it seems having huge murals of late local slebs is now in vogue in manchester: prestwich also has one of victoria wood, plus there is one of ian curtis in the city centre's northern quarter
DeleteA giant Ian Curtis is really going to put some sunshine in your day.
Deletelast year i went to the curtis mural with a friend who wanted to take a photo of it. where i noticed the surroundings were far from salubrious even by manchester standards, with the building on the other side of the road from the terraced house its painted on being totally derelict!
Deletepresumably this edition breaks the record for having most mc's on one show? although one is one too many for me!
ReplyDeleteAll you needed for full effect with this show were some Scottish acts whose surnames started with "Mc"!
DeleteLot of videos this week - worried about The Chart Show stealing their thunder?
ReplyDeleteInspirals - great start! Unfortunately all downhill from now on...
Janet Jackson - yet another forgettable track that sounds like a michael reject
Bestselling albums:
Bit of a waste of space as we only had about 15 of each track
FAB - not a fan of these megamixes normally but this was quite fun - probably because the source music was so good
(Comment on craig McLachlan - does he actually play guitar as all the solo bits in the video were close shots? Just asking...)
Massivo - another cover massacring an old classic - was this a plot to try and make the few originals we hear sound better?...
(The football reference were very tedious)
I think that at this point TOTP was definitely competing with the ITV Chart Show, as you could see a similar jampacking of tunes in a small half-hour show, and a pattern had emerged of more videos than studio performances.
DeleteTOTP would have done better to stand its ground and show fewer singles but in complete form, otherwise it showing some sort of submission to a newer entrant, and when you think that TOTP had been going for 26 years up to that point, they really didn't need to compete with a computer graphics sort of show like The Chart Show.
I hate it when self-loving and funny (only in his head) Soupy’s on.
ReplyDeleteYe Carpets with a catchy track despite its repetitive bridge and chorus parts. Baldy Bungle’s wearing a baseball cap! Sadly for me, the early highlight of a dreadful show.
Hopscotch cheat Janet Jackson next. I really wish one, just one, of her videos wasn’t a drilled choreographic bore.
Who’s that tribute Visage loser left of Soupy before the early mugshots?
“Unskinny Bop”. Fully skimmed shite. The sort of up their own backsides metal bands I hate.
Soupy bothered by a witch next to him before a worthless second rate cover with some aerobics ponce prattling on before the singer makes me hit the FF.
Oh God, not MC Tuneless again. It was the FF that bit here.
Great! Another needless feature taking away airtime for a chart song which deserved the exposure more. Well done to Talk Talk, plus I reckon Luciano giving the Decca label their first number one for yonks, and that’s about it for this unwanted feature.
I’m glad I didn’t remember the abomination of the Supermarionation. I just wish MC Parker had worn a parka.
I’m moaning at a repeat for “Mona”.
Oh dear, why cover a song which was performed so perfectly originally you’ll never get anywhere near its heights by covering it or trying to hit those top of the ladder high notes? Soupy joins the ranks of crap chart forecasts afterwards.
Ah, now. The second song in the show I enjoyed. I mentioned on Facebook yesterday that West Ham United’s goals are currently augmented over the tannoy by a track from that well known East London band The Beatles. Given their nickname each goal should have the “Hammer time!” refrain booming out.
Can we have “Healing Hands” now? It’s a double A-side after all.
“She Ain’t Worth It”? It ain’t worth it for me to watch this shite. FF.
Hmmmm meanwhile in Seattle, a tousle haired blonde bloke in a flannel Shirt was watching Poison and thinking “I’ll sort this crap out l, don’t you worry”.
ReplyDeleteI had this one on vhs for quite a while. Not sure why. It wasn't very good. It must've been because of Inspiral Carpets, a great start to the show. The rest very ho hum and one thing absolutely dreadful.
ReplyDeleteInspiral Carpets; Great start and a song that I probably would've missed totally if I hadn't videoed the show because I don't remember hearing it anywhere else. Chiming anthemic chorus presaged by that overlapped vocal thing between Tom and Clint that they did again for the theme to '8.15 From Manchester'.
Janet Jackson; Alright
Poison; Better than 'Every Rose..' which really isn't saying much. I do quite like the chorus of this but the rest is just nondescript choogly stuff. Just what is it with these glam metal bands and vast extravagantly lit stages. It's like every folk influenced artist being filmed in front of the same cottage.
Double Trouble; Rebel MC has gone his own way to...not much it would seem, leaving this lot to cash in on the trend for 98bpming mid to late '70s soul classics. I've forgotten just how many there were. I still stick to my view that this scene just about avoided outstaying its welcome. This latest addition? Not very good.
MC Tunes vs 808 State; Did this chap regularly go drinking with one of totp's production team? Yes it's good but again? There are plenty of other videos they could show. Ah, the ending gets shown this week. Not quite as funny as I recall but still hillariously cliched.
Top selling albums feature which I remember well, particularly the snippet of the marvellous Talk Talk video which got me to buy the album, and the 'Dreams a Dream' video. Was that the video Lenny Henry lampooned on his series. It looks like it.
F.A.B feat M.C Parker; was on
Craig McLachlan; I'm not convinced that's him playing that lead bit.
Massivo feat. Tracy; Yes, I genuinely believe that these Soul II Soul influenced '70s covers didn't get overdone but this theory is starting to get stretched. A timeless classic rendered almost completely anonymous, so much so that even though I remember this being on my recording of the show I have no memory at all of the song. Right that's enough now.
MC Hammer; It is distinctive and impossible to forget after a couple of listens but, like Hammer's trousers, the rap and the sample, for me, just don't really fit.
Elton John; Elton's relationship lecture at the top once again. Actually with each week I've warmed to it more amd more. Still dislike that synth sound though.
Glenn Madeiros feat Bobby Brown; Faded out just as Bobby gets into his rap. Well done.
I’m beginning to get past caring now, so bad are some of these shows. The OTT host doesn’t help with his ‘rrrr’ but no Rrrrrrolling Stones. Just unfunny.
ReplyDeleteSome awful stuff featured that I won’t even mention. ‘Loving you’ by Minnie Riperton is one of the most irritating songs ever committed to vinyl and appears on sooo many compilations. IO like most 70s stuff but can’t abide this! The other covers were dreadful too. Best tracks for me were M C Hammer (on a current TV advert), Bo Diddly and of course the marvellous ‘Sacrifice’ at number one (not that we hear much of it).
…and having eaten a lot of Cale recently I keep thinking of J J Cale, but strangely he never troubled the singles charts….only the album charts which we saw for the first time since 1981 I think (when ‘The Friends of Mr Cairo’ was in the top10). I laughed when Pavarrrrrroti was at no1 !
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ReplyDeleteA rather cheeky and in form Nicky up tonight with the most exciting half hour of our lives, beginning with the ultimate dodgy haircuts from Inspiral Carpets. Duane Dibley still looking a bit uncomfortable in front of the cameras.
ReplyDeleteOne of their lesser remembered tunes here but it's a decent number and proves they are more than one hit wonders. Really enjoyed this.
She comes in the fall? Not the rest of the year then?
Janet all suited up for another slice from Rhythm Nation. She is turning into Michael here.. Tune is a fine piece of pop.
Nice some of the audience have come in their PJs
Some more of the Posion video. Singing along here...
Double Trouble up next but no credit for the singer this time. I quite like this. Surprised this doesn't get more radio play these days.
Mc Tunes goes Top Ten! Great video, great tune. Uuugh!
Album Chart: Love that Talk Talk song. Pavarotti was big in 1990!
FAB! I'm so sorry, I bought this! Great fun.
Hey Mona. Here's Henry on video being all country boy! Always liked this one. A proper musician as well unlike Jason and Stefan.
Massivo and Tracy singing live. A real trend at the moment for taking these old ballads and adding a beat which I am a huge fan of. This is very nice.
Tracy has a great voice.
Better than Lionel Blair, it's MC Hammer!
Just an amazing tune that has stood the test of time. 1990s defining tune?
Sacrafice. Again. Come on TOTP!
Glenn and Bobby all hip and trendy to play us out. A bit NKOTB this..
A fun show with some great tunes