You burden me with questions, but I can't tell no lies ~ it's the 8th of November 1990 edition of Top of the Pops!
Top ten hat
8-11-90: Presenter: Gary Davies
(22) JASON DONOVAN – I’m Doing Fine
Performing this bouncy song for a second time in the studio but it got no higher.
(15) PAUL SIMON – The Obvious Child (video)
At its peak.
(25) EMF – Unbelievable
Now this one really takes me back to my early student days - dancing to it in the student bar after possibly one or two drinks. And it became their first of three top ten hits when it peaked at number 3.
(30) DEL AMITRI – Spit In The Rain (video)
Peaked at number 21.
(5) THE CHARLATANS – Then (video) (Album Chart)
From their number one album Some Friendly
(4) GEORGE MICHAEL – Waiting For That Day (video) (Album Chart)
From his number one album Listen Without Prejudice Volume 1.
(3) STATUS QUO – The Anniversary Waltz Part 1 (video) (Album Chart)
From their number two album Rocking All Over the Years.
(2) PAVAROTTI, DOMINGO & CARRERAS – O Sole Mio (live clip) (Album Chart)
From their number one album In Concert.
(1) PAUL SIMON – The Obvious Child (video) (Album Chart)
From his number one album The Rhythm of the Saints.
(20) THE LA’S – There She Goes
In the studio tonight to perform what became their only top 40 hit when it peaked at number 13.
(11) GAZZA & LINDISFARNE – Fog On The Tyne (Revisited) (video)
Became the world cup hero's first of two top 40 hits when it peaked at number 2.
(28) JIMMY SOMERVILLE – To Love Somebody
This Bee Gees cover became his second and final solo top ten when it peaked at number 8.
(1) THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS – Unchained Melody (video)
Second of four weeks at number one.
(29) 808 STATE – Cubik/Olympic (video) (and credits)
Peaked at number 10.
November 15th is next.
For once, it's number one, it's Arthur Nibble!
ReplyDeleteReliable Gazza (and the best Gazza on this show, believe me) in ‘trendy’ street gear. Ahem.
Jason should have done “I’m Doing Fine Now” by New York City instead of this. You know you’re struggling when you get a studio turn for a one place rise outside the top 20. What a weird under-jacket garment!
Those neighbours trying to shut the next track’s drums up. Next, Paul Simon’s album influenced by Antartic music, accompanied by Seal! If not, p-p-pick up a Penguin!
Early mugshots (missed from the last edition) – why do Northside have apples on their heads?
Ah, wonderful. The band from Epson in the Forest of Dean, whose name was apparently an abbreviation of Epson Mother Fornicators, sort of. Sparky and then some. This reminds me of a football game I went to. A close mate had married a girl from Gloucestershire and picked me up from a train station to go to a game at then non-League side Forest Green Rovers, which my team lost 6-5. He let me in the car, said “Welcome to Gloucestershire, welcome to the sound of Gloucestershire” and then played “Unbelievable” full pelt in the car, much to the chagrin of his wife.
Del Amitri. Arty and humorous (note the upside down window cleaner at the start) without hitting either target fully. A shame, as I quite liked them.
Oh God, not the monthly album chart again!
Unusual taste shown by the record buying public to get The Charlatans to October’s number 5, then zzz, zzz, Cornetto zzz, and something different from Paul Simon’s latest continent ripping-off, erm, coalition album.
The La’s. Just wonderful. Such a shame that leader Lee Mavers (not the Six Million Dollar Man) insisted on the band repeating the same set over and over and over and over and over again, to the point the bassist left and formed Cast. That drummer’s pissing about. Sack him.
Jesus Suzanne Christ! FF the next abomination. From ”Meet Me On The Corner” and “Lady Eleanor” to Lindisfarne prostituting themselves.
Jimi goes all UB40 and out high pitches the Bee Gees. My eardrums! Next.
Actually, no, FF the number one too.
Get yr rave on. 808 State? More BS than LFO on this evidence.
Surely also Run For Home from 1978 as Lindisfarne's finest hour? Any idea which nightclub this new Gazza/Lindisfarne video was filmed? Looks so much fun that they are having out there.
DeleteI admit I also found it quite painful listening to the Jimi Somerville nostalgia a la The Bee Gees. I wonder what made him do a Bee Gees cover of all the artists he could have chosen from? I mean people don't really associate Somerville or Bronski Beat with The Bee Gees!
Gary Davies with a pretty decent music selection this week. Well there is one colossal exception.
ReplyDeleteJason Donovan; To start with, a thing that has certainly grown on me. Love this stupid record!
Paul Simon; Noisy drum bashing is usually a turn off for me as it makes me think of a group called Drum Theatre who more than once inflicted their racket on 'Saturday Superstore' but Paul Simon can't do anything without taste and melody so this has been great to see and hear again.
EMF; An indie sound of the time and understandable that it closed the 'The Story of '89' doc. Still find James thingy very irritating though, his vocals and his cap. Even at 15 I thought he was a tool who should grow up a bit but the song itself is a catchy one and again I've always had a thing for a wah wah solo. The drummer without his top on. Not nice. That's the 3rd one to do that on the show that I can think of after Bill Ward of Black Sabbath and the fellow from The Piranhas. Ringo never did that.
Del Amitry; Sideboard man returns to lead his band through another pleasant but unremarkable ode to gloom. The video quite entertaining though. I noticed one of the band mimicking Eric Morecambe's laying in the water tank gag from the 'Singing In The Rain' sketch. Strange coincidence that Morecambe and Wise should crop up in the very next BBC4 programme.
Albums feature; Necessary? When Nightmares On Wax is at No.38? Or maybe that was the previous edition. Still, good to see a tiny bit of the 'Then' video.
The La's; Brilliant single by a great, great band. Anyone who doesn't know how musically tight and powerful this lot were should listen to all of their 'BBC In Session' album.
This single I actually remember on original release because I remember it being roundly dismissed on the Video Vote on 'Going Live', all present saying it was too '60s sounding! I thought that it was clearly great and the people on the panel (probably Breathe or someone) were completely wrong and were all earless dickheads, so there. It was fantastic to see it make the charts a couple of years later although for me it's not the best thing on the album. That would be a tie between 'Feelin'' and 'Timeless Melody'.
The gushing dry ice is about as appropriate as balloons for Clannad but it is a classic moment. They should've been huge.
Gazza and Lindisfarne; From the sublime....
Personally I'd have been happy for the World Cup hero to limit his forays into the pop world to making funny quips on Totp from the team's hotel. But this was late 1990 so that wasn't going to happen. You would've thought they'd have let him do the original song with all of its vinegary regional humour but instead he does a rap; one that makes John Barnes sound like Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Do Lindisfarne come out of this with dignity? No. But this is the band that did 'Run For Home', a single that has stayed buried in my subconscious since I was 3 years old. So 3 out of 10 even though it is unmitigated shite.
Jimmy Sommerville; Back with a reggae thing and a cover. Only 2 in the show. What's happening?? Like everything of his this is fine and there'll be another reggaefied cover by another non reggae act (Scritti Politti) coming along fairly soon.
The Righteous Brothers; Seen and heard enough of now.
808 State; Why is this always referred to as 'Cubic/Olympic'? We're listening to 'Cubic'. 'Olympic' is the other side better known as the theme to 'The Word'. It does make a good title but this is much the less friendly of the two sides. The last seconds must surely be among the most discordant music ever played on the programme.
Happy 10th anniversary of repeats bloggers! I'll come up with a chart of my fave performances over the next week. Look forward to reading all of yours
From the earlier days of the re-run, circa 1979/80, there was a group on a few times whose drummer was always topless, wore shorts and sometimes left his kit for some front stage japery - the drummer in disco outfit Liquid Gold.
DeleteYes of course him. Cheers Arthur. Wearing a straw boater as well I think. I suspect Richard Jobson of The Skids wasn't a great fan!
DeleteBest drumming intro chart hit was the 1993 dance hit by the Goodmen, called Give It Up. A dance floor classic made successful I would say by the drumming intro, so move over Paul Simon:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydgjYFRQYCY
Richard Jonson? Haven’t heard that name for a while. Insufferable prick that he was.
DeleteJobson of course. :)
DeleteI think he was a presenter on something like 'Naked City' in the '90s and he was a miserable sod on that as well.
DeleteJase with the same manic performance (and backing singers) as before, deeply naff and you can see why it faltered, but I kind of admire him for going a bit nuts as the chart success began to fade - musical theatre beckoned.
ReplyDeleteThe start of the Paul Simon video instead of the middle (it's a long song), still like this a lot, but two repeats to kick off a show is an odd choice.
Ah, here's something new. "Why, Vic, that's unbelievable!" I'm not a violent man, but EMF were always a bit slappable when you saw them, though more acceptable on record. They're Here was my favourite of theirs, but you couldn't get away from this at the time, and it does take up residence in the brain. Sampling shock comedian Andrew Dice Clay, fact fans. Is that cool? Nope.
Those perennial wet blankets Del Amitri try to spruce things up with a wacky video and more jaunty pace, but they end up as their usual sorry for themselves moping.
Album Chart clips, good that The Charlatans had a hit, but Pavarotti's been on more times than Status Quo.
Then one of the most overplayed songs known to humanity, if Lee Mavers hadn't been such a nutt- er, an eccentric we might have had a proper repertoire to choose from, as it is we just get his ode to heroin highs over and over. Didn't mind it at the time, but please, play something different for a change. No, not Whole of the bloody Moon.
Then a record that probably hasn't been played from that day to this, where was Mr Gazza from again? He can't sing, he can't play, he looks awful. He'll go a long way! Well, I suppose he could play football. How about a cover of Nice One, Cyril instead?
Ah, this week's tepid cover, it's white cod reggae from Wee Jimmy. Was surprised to see this made the Top 10, it's utterly unremarkable. Presumably the nation's mums liked it.
She's shagging Whoopi Goldberg! Watch the film and tell me if I'm wrong!
Then to climax, 808 State, this is more like it, angry, belligerent, angular techno, really sounds like a scene being shaken up. They really were excellent at what they did, and certainly piled up the hits for a while.
Nice reference to that KitKat advert with the awful group and the record company man played by the chap who was the Italian in "'Allo 'Allo". Only realised last night through a friend on Facebook that EMF's sample of Andrew Dice Clay includes the "F" word!
Delete808 State venturing out for their first solo single following their joint success with MC Tunes, despite being billed as MC Tunes versus 808 State on their last single.I was surprised that TOTP Played the full video to the end, which meant it got more play that the main feature videos on the show.
DeleteConsidering it was very average, I was a little disappointed that 808 State being the lowest placed chart position at No.29 to get a feature on this week's show, that it got the nod ahead of Berlin at No.3 for the second week, and not shown since it was No.8 two shows ago. Berlin should really have been the playout this week, cos it could have helped them knock off The Righteous Brothers from the No.1 position with that little extra help from TOTP, but TOTP were not to go that way this week.
808 State's first hit was Pacific from 1989, which had no MC Tunes on it at all.
DeleteUnlucky not to get a top 40 single was Wendy & Lisa, peaking this week at No.70 with Rainbow Lake, it was to be their last single release in Britain, and bringing the curtain down on a run of largely unsuccessful hits on this side of the Atlantic since 1987, with the exception being their only TOTP appearance in 1989 with Satisfaction which got inside the top 30.
ReplyDeleteWendy & Lisa were the two gorgeous backing girls in the New Power Generation on Prince's video for the single '1999' which was released in 1983 and then more successfully in 1985 to get to No.2 in the UK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblt2EtFfC4
Coincidentally, Prince is a new entry on this week's chart at No.33 with a song called New Power Generation, just as Wendy & Lisa finally bow out with their final single Rainbow Lake at No.70. Funny that! Anyway, we'll get to see 'New Power Generation' on next week's playout, so all is good.
Good to mention the great Wendy and Lisa Dory. They were engaged in another project possibly while this show was being first broadcast. On Seal's brilliant debut album released the following May. To be honest I still don't exactly know where they appear. I'll have to listen to it again.
ReplyDeleteEmf - I liked this at the time, and still do. Energetic over performance, and poor fashion sense. Never knew that the exclamations were samples.
ReplyDeleteDel amitri - decent enough, but nothing
Albums:
Most tracks seen before
nice shot of Alderley Edge at the start of Charlatans video
The las - another cracker from the period. Shame they only did the one album, it would have been interesting to see how they developed. [pre post comment - didn’t realise they spawned Cast]
Lindisfarne - fog on the tyne (annihilated) more like. It’s... unbelievable! (Makes the Chubby Brown bast****ation of Living Next Door to Alice seem like Grammy material)
Jimmy Somerville - join the long list of diabolical covers....
808 State - another rave track forgetting to write a tune.
I'd forgotten about the Alice phenomenon! Was in a pub when the DJ played it (the original) and everyone started shouting during the chorus, I was wondering what on earth was going on!
DeleteBTW the original of 'Living next door to Alice' was recorded by New World ('Sister Jane', 'Tom Tom Turnaround')....but it flopped...however the writers had faith in it and gave it to Smokie to have another crack. The rest is history...
DeleteLive and learn - Didn’t know New World recorded Alice first.
DeleteOnly one showing again this week of each show. Does anyone know why?
ReplyDeleteUsual mixed bag although the host is good value for money as always.
ReplyDeleteJason Donovan – I’m doing fine – Pleasant start to the show.
Paul Simon – The Obvious Child – FF
EMF – Unbelievable – Sort of novelty hit, but it works and still sounds good.
Del Amitri – Spit in the Rain – A-Ha are crying in it….DA spit instead. Certainly got the ‘rain’ message across in the video.!
Album Chart – When are we going to see an album chart without Pavarotti in it?!!
The Las – There she goes – To use a phrase from above – “unbelievable”! This song is so well known even to this day….but only made no13? So much forgettable dross went higher (sigh). Anyway, this sounds good.
Gazza and Lindisfarne – Fog on the Tyne – Yes it’s embarrassing, but it did put Lindisfarne back on the map (albeit for the wrong reasons). The original line up is almost there – Alan Hull, Simon Cowe, Rod Clements, Ray Laidlaw, augmented by Marty Craggs and Steve Cunningham. Only Ray ‘Jakka’ Jackson is missing having recently left the band at this point. The song itself is a classic from the original Charisma album of the same name which topped the charts in 1972. A real show stealer at Lindisfarne gigs.
Jimmy Sommerville – To love somebody – Nice cover from Jimmy and his pals.
Righteous Brother – Unchained Melody – I think this is great!
808 State – Cubik/Olympic – This got higher than the Las? I rest my case…. FF BTW.
JASON DONOVAN – I’m Doing Fine
ReplyDeleteClearly not doing fine and needing a second TOTP performance to try (and fail) to lift his chart performance. What the hell is he wearing, that jacket is about 2 sizes too small, he can hardly raise his arms.
PAUL SIMON – The Obvious Child
Cuts off before the big drum solo again...
EMF – Unbelievable
Kicking off their 15 minutes of fame are Smash Hits favourites EMF. Did he ever remove that baseball cap. I wondered whatever happened to them...
DEL AMITRI – Spit In The Rain
Decent tune and some serious sideburn action in a very odd semi-detached. And then a performance in the rain, more than a spit of rain though
THE LA’S – There She Goes
One album wonders The La's, Lee Mavers a victim of his own perfectionism. Listened to the album recently and whilst it's regarded as a masterpiece it left me a bit cold. The exception being this song which is brilliant. The band even "cast" away their guitarist...
GAZZA & LINDISFARNE – Fog On The Tyne (Revisited)
Chris Evans pal and professional boozer Gazza, with a whole load of auto-tune. The man of the moment in 1990 thanks to the World Cup. Trying to find something nice to say.....this is better than the follow up???
JIMMY SOMERVILLE – To Love Somebody
Jimmy back with a UB40 type cover and I really like this. Deserved top ten hit. David Walliams look-a-like on sax.
THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS – Unchained Melody
Same clip again..
808 STATE – Cubik/Olympic
3 whole minutes of this playout (although probably not all broadcast at the time). It's a decent rave tune, not sure the dodgy dancing in a warehouse sells the tune but probably only ravers buying it anyway. I was definitely not dancing in my chair...much.