We'll do the twist and stomp, the mashed potato too, any old dance that you wanna do because it's the 27th of September 1990 edition of Top of the Pops!
Silver oldies
27-9-90: Presenter: Anthea Turner
(21) MONIE LOVE feat. TRUE IMAGE – It’s A Shame (My Sister)
Getting us underway with this Spinners cover and it peaked at nimber 12.
(28) DEPECHE MODE – World In My Eyes (video)
Peaked at number 17.
(4) LONDONBEAT – I’ve Been Thinking About You
A repeat showing and the song went up to more places.
(29) THE WEDDING PRESENT – Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
In the studio to perform this crunching Cockney Rebel cover which peaked at number 25.
(15) THE CURE – Never Enough (video)
An early Halloween offering and it peaked at number 13.
(31) STATUS QUO – The Anniversary Waltz Part 1
In the studio to celebrate their silver jubilee with this medley of old rockers which became their 22nd and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 2.
(9) BASS-O-MATIC – Fascinating Rhythm
A second studio performance but the song got no higher.
(1) MARIA McKEE – Show Me Heaven
First of four weeks at number one.
(34) RIDE – Taste (video) (and credits)
Got no higher.
October 4th is next.
I really enjoyed these last two editions. It's (oh Pointer Sisters Slowhand on 'Harty' in 1981 while I'm typing this! That's a great single) as if someone a little younger and more with it has tapped Paul Ciani on the shoulder and said "more relevent stuff please!"
ReplyDeleteAnthea in a black jacket and ever so slightly sparkly trousers look. Did the weather change that quickly?
Monie Love feat True Image; In studio for a bolshy rap and a vocal that sounds curiously as old as The Detroit Spinners 1970 original. A cover from '90 that for me is most definately worth the effort.
Depeche Mode; Far better than Policy of Truth imo but some way short of Enjoy The Silence. Very much enjoyed the video . It looks like it was a very big influence on U2's 'The Fly'.
Wow! Was that Pamela Des Barres standing to Anthea's right there? That's a level of audience glamour I haven't seen for certainly a while. Imagine the slushy "you ok?" type of talk she'd have recieved from Peter Powell if she'd been next to him a few years before.
Londonbeat; Still a favourite but on before so on to...
The Wedding Present; Laughing boy Gedge who actually is laughing this time. And smiling at audience members! Maybe he was in a really bad mood before. This one I think got played a fair bit on the Breakfast Show and I think it's another worthy cover. I didn't realise that the guitarist almost exactly copies the original's acoustic guitar solo.
The Cure; Love this. A band that I've come to very late but completely fell for their Glasto '19 set on TV. Typically great song with an amiably freaky claustrophobic video similar to the 'Close To Me' one.
Status Quo; I should dislike this but I don't. My best friend since childhood always had the best of album on at his home so this has some nice memories for me. A career's worth of denim on show there.
Bass O Matic; Another performance for this. Such a great tune that chorus is still fabulous. Don't remember a tambourine being so loud on the record.
Marie McKee; "She's over there!!" No she's not!! But I'm not bothered where she is. Great to see the live performance a 2nd time. What a voice she has. I still get tingles from that gorgeous two note passage just after the 2nd line, the sort of ambient effect that John Martyn always aimed for. No. 1 in every sense.
Ride; My first introduction to this band certainly. I knew I'd seen the lead track from 'Fall EP' on the show. Great tune and epic harmoniousness with Mark Gardener not knowing his As from this Ys. Who made all that mess with the feathers? Loz I imagine.
20/9/90 was done by Ciani but 27/9/90 was done by Stanley Appel.
DeleteOh right that's interesting to know. Appel despite being I guess significantly older seemed to have a more citting edge approach than Ciani from memory and from this edition. As someone who was a cameraman on the show circa 1967 he would have a good sense for what was trendy and vital.
DeleteMonie Love with a tune you still hear today, probably because she was a pioneering female rapper and it's good to remember the roots. This is fine, not my favourite but it barrels along.
ReplyDeleteDepeche Mode with their by now trademark indistinct video stylings, not bad, has a couple of nice hooks but they get a bit swamped in the gloom.
Repeat of London Beat (is that a bare naked lady on his T-shirt?) and then The Wedding Present, a lot livelier than their last pisstaking appearance. It's another cover, if you really have to indie up the old Steve Harley number I guess this is the way to do it. They compile all the original gaps into one big one near the end.
The Cure on video, using one of those those false perspective rooms Johnny Ball used to demonstrate on Think Again. The tune is a little sludgy, but it's acceptable enough.
Oh, right, Status Quo do their Jive Bunny impersonation, just what we didn't need. This sounds about a million years old compared to everything else on the show.
Bass-o-Matic back in the studio, still like it but no more to say, then a repeat of Maria earnestly emoting, well, it's better than Steve Miller, I grant you. Didn't the video feature her in a desert? With no racing cars?!
Ride, yes, a goodie from their Fall EP, another big indie sound, shimmering guitars and a plaintive melody add up to a winner. Lady in the video seems to be doing an "Arthur from EastEnders at Christmas" impression.
Another video with a false perspective room was for Squeeze's hit after they'd stopped having regular hits, "Hourglasss".
DeleteYeah, I did think while watching the Status Quo anniversary waltz they were looking to follow the success of Jive Bunny, as the Bunny only just left the Top 40 with Can Can You Party, however it seems that the Quo chose their own 60s favourite tunes as well as throwing in a couple of their own classics!
DeleteBack with another critique not sponsored by Spellcheck!
ReplyDeleteLuckily, Anthea was mostly on decent form tonight.
Interesting role reversal by Monie Love of a surprising non UK hit for the Detroit Spinners, where they sing about a woman mistreating her man. Nice vocals resurrecting the feel of the original chorus. A bit of a De La Soul groove there, with accompaniment by backing group The Uncoordinated Five.
Not one of Depeche Mode’s better songs but still miles better than many bands’ best. Nice shorts, Martin! Second week in a row of man shorts after AC/DC last time.
Good spot earlier about Londonbeat’s singer’s rude top. That boy!
Wahay! A punk / new wave band with a doubleneck. Note the instrumental where Ukrainian Pete plays the fret of one neckboard and strums the other. The scamp! Love the way the audience falls for the fake ending. This was actually the B-side of The Wedding Present’s “3 Songs EP”, with the A-side two originals by singer / guitarist David Gedge, the only surviving member of a band still going strong. Very good live.
Fake bearded lady alert in a weird yet enjoyable video by The Cure. Shame the song sounded more like a not fully formed jam session.
Mid-mugshots: Monie Love with future chart topper Bart Simpson there.
Oh God, do you mean there’ll be a part 2 to Status Quo’s Old Farts on 45?
Bass-O-Matic with a real grower. The percussionist outSnapping Snap wth tambourine and triangle within kit, plus starfish(es) on the keyboard and a fish skeleton brooch elsewhere. As for the track? I’d forgotten how much I liked this. Definitely one of the better of its genre, possibly even on the podium.
NO, Anthea, Maria McKee ISN’T over there! Was this the first number one with mandolins (however brief) since “Maggie May”?
Oo, it’s Goodiebags’ first top 40 rundown on Sunday. I used to love the top 20 rundown with Tom Browne as a teenager.
We finish with the third best known band from Oxford after Radiohead and Supergrass and, according to a gigging mate of mine at the time, Ride and their management were really nice folk. Decent shoegazy groove here if a tad repititive, but I’ve heard far worse.
Standby Arthur - The Waltz Part Two makes Number 16 in December so not long to wait
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis week's pick of the best peaking singles outside of the Top 40, and all three superb ballads:
ReplyDeleteNo. 62 - Up All Night - Slaughter
Great single and video from a new US rock band, and which got to No.27 in America. Particularly liked the last 20 seconds of the video with a God save The Queen rhyme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Za0gWXJW1w
No.69 - So Close - Darryl Hall & John Oates
Brilliant song and video, and made No.11 in America with this one. New material here, and definitely one of their finest ever tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rMkMDFjK8U
No.71 - Only One Word - Propaganda
Similar strong ballad-type tune with very beautiful lead singer, and one of the best tunes peaking outside the Top 40 this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7L2V_NrJHc
Another great track peaking at no80. 'Africa' by Toto. Re-released to promote a Hits album, it is unclear whether the full version has made it to this 7" release or not as there is no timing indicated. The original single release faded out on the last chorus instead of continuing to the gentle instrumental fade out. Fortunately all the versions you hear on the radio now (and that includes last week's 'Pick of the Pops' 1983) feature the full version.
DeletePretty good episode...
ReplyDeleteMonie Love - liked this better than the snippet we heard last time. I didn’t realise this was a cover. Nice...
Depeche Mode - don’t remember this. Not up to their usual standard - backing was a little disjointed
Londonbeat - I’ve been reading a book about Godley and Creme. The three singers met as backing vocalists on G&C album ‘Welcome Blue Sky’. Not a lot people know that...
Wedding Present - interesting cover of Cockney Rebel. Not the last time they did covers - In 1992 they released a single a month for the year, with a side original, b side a cover
The Cure - another weird video to support a rather good tune...
Status Quo - great fan of the band, but not this cover of Jive Bunny :-) [pre post look at comments shows I am not first with the Jive Bunny joke - curse! ]
Ride - nice example of the Lush type shoegazing indie sound.
Wedding Present were going for a record of having a Top 40 hit every month for a year as I recall. And I think they did it, albeit each hit lasted about a week.
DeleteStood until bloody Ed Sheeran got 16 hits in a week a few years ago.
A daft mull for my mates here...
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any well known track not released by an act which could easily have been a UK number one for them? I can think of four examples (inspired by a song written by the late Trevor Peacock of "Vicar Of Dibley" fame - third one down)...
“Isn’t She Lovely” – Stevie Wonder refused to edit the track down from over six minutes for release as a single; a cover by David Parton made number 4 in the UK
“Michelle” – no singles were released from The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” album in either the UK or US; The Overlanders topped the UK chart with a cover
“Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” – a US number 1 for Herman’s Hermits, never released in the UK (originally recorded and released in the UK by Tom Courtenay – he sang it in a TV play called “The Lads”)
“I’m Henry The Eighth, I Am” - another US number 1 for Herman’s Hermits, again never released in the UK; previously the B-side of a Joe Brown flop (Joe’s biggest UK hit, “Picture Of You”, was also a B-side but it got ‘flipped’ by DJs and became the hit side, reaching number 1 in three music paper charts but, unfortunately, the paper whose chart was used for the national version had it peak at number 2!)
Arthur, a couple of crackers there. My Beatles cover that would have been a no1 for the Fab Four if released as a single is 'Ob-la-di Ob-la-da' which of course, was taken all the way to the top by Marmalade.
DeleteElsewhere Lulu's superb 'To Sir with Love', mysteriously put on the B Side of the forgettable 'Let's Pretend' in the UK, but a massive no1 in the US.
Didn't Paul consider Ob La Di, Ob La Da as a potential single and worked and worked on it. Maybe that's wrong but I've read that he drove the others nuts with it. I love that anecdote about John just going 'Right, we're doing it NOW!!!! and that was it. Final take. Definately a No.1 if put out.
DeleteOn the booklet notes for 'Anthology 3' where an outtake of 'Ob la di Ob la da' is included, it mentions that session musicians were brought in. The recording that resulted (i.e. the one on Anthology 3) was the first instance that the Beatles had brought in session musicians to augment a recording that would remain unissued.
Deletearthur: by complete coincidence i have just discovered that "mrs brown you've got a lovely daughter" was co-written by actor trevor peacock who died a few days ago
Deletebtw, regarding the fab four: i shall no doubt put the cat among the pigeons by saying "beatles, schmeatles"!
Another largely forgettable edition. A few thoughts.
ReplyDeleteStatus Quo- Anniversary Waltz – I recall when I thought the Quo were really heavy….days of ‘Paper Plane’ and ‘Rain’. Here they’re reduced to self-parody. They’d already covered ‘The Wanderer’ before as well.
Wedding Present – My goodness what a travesty! Steve Harley’s wonderful song is right up there amongst the best no1s of the 70s. I didn’t even know this version existed and hope never to hear it again!
Londonbeat – I’ve been thinking about you – Second best song on show.
Cure – Never Enough – I’ve been in one of those trick corridors at a Fairground in Cornwall. Rotten song.
Maria McKee – Show me Heaven – Classy no1. Just love it. Highlight of the show.
Hi Arthur, that's a mullover question. Simon and Garfunkel had two that certainly could've been A sides. 59th St Bridge Song was the B side to At The Zoo in '67 and was for me one of the most commercial songs they ever did. Harpers Bizarre took it to 13 in the Billboard charts. I also don't think America was issued as a single until after they had gone their separate ways. Another utter classic.
ReplyDeleteAlso The Only Living Boy In New York was only a B side to Cecilia in 1970. That would've made the dream farewell single I think and would've probably made No.1 in the US.
I put the mullover question on Facebook as well and a friend mentioned "Out Of Time", recorded by The Rolling Stones but felt not in keeping with their singles releases at the time. The backing track was given to Chris Farlowe, and boom! My friend also mentioned that "Nowhere Man" was issued in the US where it reached number 3.
ReplyDeleteI'm suprised that the Stones never issued Gimmie Shelter as a single at the end of '69. Maybe a little too dark but, well, considering where they were at at the time. I'm sure it would've stood a chance against you know who at the top in that year's christmas chart. They did promote it on 'Pop Goes The Sixties' 31/12/69 as well.
ReplyDeleteOk here's a poser ahead of the 10 year anniversary of these repeats. What do bloggers consider the best top 40 single NOT to be shown on Top of the Pops since the repeats began that could've been shown. I'd go with What a Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers. Made 31 in the UK in '79 but doesn't appear.
ReplyDeleteVery recently in fact, and still in the current Sep 1990 TOTP chart is George Michael with Praying For Time. This got as high as No.6, and not played at all, i.e., no main feature, Breakers or playout for this one.
DeleteThere's probably lots of others between 1976-1990 during the first 10 years of these repeats, but I'm just going by the most recent example because it was an example of a top 10 hit not played, let alone a top 40 one!
Yes its amazing that it got missed. Particularly after the 'South Bank Show' special on the album that he did just a short time earlier. There was of course 'Man In The Mirror' being absent but that had no video for them to show. Needed Pans, Legs or Zoo on that occasion!
DeleteHi there Billy Joel - "I am....an innocent Man'....
DeleteGood knock, sct!
DeleteYes that's a big one to get missed.
Deletetwo excellent singles that were outrageously ignored by totp despite being top 30 hits (in the same year i think) were "owner of a lonely heart" by yes, and "this is not america" by bowie & the pat metheny group
DeletePs. Includes editions that were not on BBC4
ReplyDeleteI'd go for "Love Me" by Yvonne Elliman, whose TOTP outings were on wiped editions at the start of the re-run. I still wonder if Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat" Would have been a big hit if shown on TOTP, but it peaked at number 31 without a note being heard.
ReplyDeleteSome great choices! Actually one single I was really looking forward to seeing was 'Magic' by Olivia Newton John, a single I absolutely loved when I was a child. It's release date meant it would've been right on the cusp of the 1980 strike. Could've theoretically made it onto the last pre strike edition (29/05/80).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOlivia had both singles Xanadu and the follow up Magic not played by TOTP during summer 1980 strike. Funnily enough I was watching Now 80s video channel on Sky earlier this week, and they showed the Magic video as part of the No.1 US singles of 1980, as it was No.1 in America for the whole of August that year, at the same time that Britain shared the No.1 slot that month with two weeks each for Abba's Winner Takes It All and David Bowie's Ashes To Ashes.
DeleteMONIE LOVE feat. TRUE IMAGE – It’s A Shame (My Sister)
ReplyDeleteMonie brings the whole class to the studio for a rather funky little number that has held up well. Really enjoyed this.
DEPECHE MODE – World In My Eyes
My favourite period of Da Mode and another excellent tune with an arty video.
LONDONBEAT – I’ve Been Thinking About You
Nice to see this do so well, a few years before their failed bid to represent the UK at Eurovision in 1995 with "I'm Just Your Puppet On A String". They lost out to Love City Groove!
THE WEDDING PRESENT – Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Cover time. So they've speeded it up and used so many guitars you can't hear the vocals. Well, that was interesting....hmmmm. Audience thinking they'd finished the best bit of that one.
THE CURE – Never Enough
You can always rely on The Cure to produce a suitably wacky video. Hope they didn't put their backs out in that little box. Can't remember the song now it's finished so much the same from them.
STATUS QUO – The Anniversary Waltz Part 1
Happy 25th to The Quo. I seem to recall this tied in with Radio 1's 21st birthday celebrations and they got a lot of airplay for this tune at the time, a few years before Radio 1 banned them! I really shouldn't like this medley but I always find it really uplifting and a great sing-a-long so fair play to them.
BASS-O-MATIC – Fascinating Rhythm
Still loving this one.
MARIA McKEE – Show Me Heaven
Even as a teen I knew they weren't "over there" Anthea. Why do they persist with this pretence, who were they fooling? Anyway it's nice to hear the live vocal again.
RIDE – Taste
The bad side of Indie, just dour generic guitar and moaning vocals. Plus a girl smashing stuff up for no reason (I hate it when good stuff is trashed like that just for the sake of "art" - just me probably but always bugs me, no need for it.)