The world was on fire and no one could save me but the 29th of November 1990 edition of Top of the Pops!
Wicked hair
29-11-90: Presenter: Nicky Campbell
(13) DREAM WARRIORS – My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style
Getting the show underway with a live vocal of what was to be their second and final top 40 hit but despite their efforts it got no higher.
(22) SOUL II SOUL feat. KYM MAZELLE – Missing You (video)
Got no higher.
(16) MEGABASS – Time To Make The Floor Burn (video)
At its peak.
(14) PATRICK MacNEE & HONOR BLACKMAN – Kinky Boots (video)
Failed to chart when first released in 1964, but thanks to Simon Mayo playing it on Radio One, this re-release wiggled all the way up to number 5.
(21) DIMPLES D – Sucker D.J.
In the studio tonight to perform what was to be her only hit and it peaked at number 17.
(24) CHRIS ISAAK – Wicked Game
Also in the studio tonight with the moody song that became his only top ten hit when it peaked at number 10.
(20) PET SHOP BOYS – Being Boring
This second single from their number 2 album Behaviour got no higher.
(18) BOMBALURINA feat. TIMMY MALLET – Seven Little Girls (video)
Got no higher. Oh yeah.
(1) VANILLA ICE – Ice Ice Baby (video)
First of four weeks at number one.
(25) DEEE-LITE – Power Of Love (video) (and credits)
At its peak.
December 6th is next.
Blimey! Admittedly one of them was at the top spot, but this edition might hold the record for most records already at their peak - 7 out of 10!
ReplyDeleteI found this addition quite interesting, not only for the number of times that Nicky Cambell kept reminding us that a new Prime Minister John Major was now in charge at No.10, having ousted Margaret Thatcher that week in November 1990, but also the fact that the 60s serials bombardment in 1990 continued with The Avengers Kinky Boots, having already given us Thunderbirds Are Go, and Jive Bunny, and several others throughout the year so far.
DeleteOne record in the chart rundown this week at No.36 that got no higher, and that we will not see is ACDC's Money Talks, which came with a good video, and they were unlucky that there was no Breakers section this week to feature it, cos it could have given it the extra lift that it needed to make Top 30, as it will tumble down heavily to no.50 on the following show.
Dream warriors -in a word, absolute rubbish!
ReplyDeleteSoul 2 soul - surprisingly ok .
Kinky boots - shouldn’t like this, but I do. Mr wiki says this was originally recorded for TWTWTW, so quite ‘hip’ in its day.
Dimples DJ - again, surprisingly catchy. I needed mr wiki to tell me the sample was from I Dream of Jeanie.
Chris isaacs - on a roll, liked this at the time, and it has stood the test of time. Continuing the then trend of songs charting after featuring in a film, in this case Wild At Heart
(Run down - lightning strikes twice for bombalarina)
Pet Shop Boys - slowing it down, but its not boring (see what I did there?) - very similar to nothing has been proved.
Bombalarina - oh no...
Dee-lite - recycling their piano riff, and failing to write a tune on top...
The Sucker DJ tune by Dimples D had Betty Boo sounding vocals, so I wonder if it was Boo that was the singer on it, and Dimples D as the face on it, in the realms the recent Black Box outfitting.
DeleteFrom what I recall, the Chris Isaak video was quite an intimate one if not racey, and like the Soul II Soul video, it was also in black & white which seemed to be the platform of choice for intimate videos.
Dimples D had been around since 1983, and was a lot older than Betty Boo. Just did a bit of research (Wiki) and it turns out the hit of Sucker DJ was a remix by the dread hand of Ben Liebrand. Apart from that I can find out nothing about D, she seems to have completely vanished.
DeleteDream Warriors, not with The Happy Wanderer despite their hiking attire and walking sticks, but with a ditty that sampled the theme tune to a popular Canadian gameshow, but later in the decade would be associated with Austin Powers, who these gentlemen in no way resemble. Lively performance, anyway.
ReplyDeleteSoul II Soul with Jazzie B has run out of tunes part 3. Cliched black and white video, all production and no hook. Weird how it fell away like that, but I guess some acts just have their time in the sun.
Bit more of Megabastards, then the original Avengers before Iron Man and all that lot. Must admit I was always more of a Diana Rigg man, never got into the earlier series, but this is an example of so wrong it's, well, not right exactly, but strangely entertaining (apart from Patrick's breathless schoolgirls line). They even cobbled together a video.
Dimples D samples another TV theme, this one I Dream of Jeanie, and she does Barbara Eden's dance, too, at the start. Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff ripped this off for their first hit. A bit of fun, really.
Chris Isaak, again with another David Lynch associated hit in the charts, but not Twin Peaks this time, it's his Palme d'or winner Wild at Heart, its logo "tattooed" on the shoulders of the backing singers. Wicked Game shows up in the scene where Sherilyn Fenn is wandering around dazed with her brains bashed out from a car crash, which is a lot more haunting than it sounds. Good late night tune, and I liked Blue Hotel as well.
PSB with a sad, rather lovely little number reflecting on times past, it kind of interrupted their run of hits by underperforming, maybe the arch title put buyers off, but this is a fine song.
Mallet with more music for 5 year olds who are too young to remember the originals, but even they were not as keen on this. At least the video isn't quite as uncomfortable.
Vanilla Ice makes the top, but rhyming poet with know it isn't as clever as he thinks, everyone does that, don't they?
Then Deee-Lite did have another hit, but congratulations on recalling it if you do, because this is about as generic as 90s dance gets. Colourful video again, but Herbie and Bootsy aren't around to make the song stand out.
I must admit that I don't recall this Soul II Soul tune, especially being in combo with Kym Mazelle, but the video is really good, and shows nice friendship between the main two girls by cheek-to-cheek contact, and gave the song a much better footing. Another case where the video lifts the single.
DeleteAlong the same lines, on the Dee-Lite playout this week as the follow-up to their big No.2 hit Groove Is In The heart, and admittedly I don't recall this one either, but the lead female singer dancing moves are quite irresistible on the video, much like the debut hit, and this redeemed the tune quite considerably if like me, no-one remembers it.
The Dream Warriors sample is originally from "Soil Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones.
DeleteShould have read "Soul Bossa Nova"!
DeleteSoil Bossa Nova is the theme to Gardner's World, I think...
DeleteDon't worry, Arthur, up there I just accused Jazzy Jeff of ripping off Ben Liebrand!
i concur with thx that "being boring"'s chances of becoming a big hit were limited thanks to its misleading title. but other factors in that regard were its length (far too long for radio airplay) and the sombre final verse (aids was still very much a sensitive issue at the time). i pernally think it one of their finest moments, and remember it being one of those tracks i would play over and over again as i loved it so much. but it should have remained an album track, with perhaps the similar but less sprawling "my october symphony" released as a single instead?
Deletealso, regarding chris isaak: thanks to his pop success he also briefly tried his hand at beinhg a film star. but the nearest he goty in that regard was a blink-and-you'll-miss him role as a cop in "the silence of the lambs"
Not true about Chris Isaak's acting, Wilberforce, he had his own TV show for a while (which had its fans because of the attractiveness of the female guest stars, call it the Dream On effect). He was also the FBI agent starring in the first act of David Lynch's Twin Peaks movie, Fire Walk with Me, among other things. No idea where he is now, mind you.
Deleteoh well, he might have been managing to pay the rent for a while by doing that, but he wasn't exactly giving someone like bruce willis sleepless nights ha ha. i remember watching "dream on" from back then, and that the daydreaming and somewhat-nerdy pint-sized protagonist had queues of incredibly beautiful women beating down a path to his door!
DeleteSome new singles unlucky to be peaking outside the Top 40 this week:
ReplyDeleteNo.66 - The Stingray Megamix ft Aqua Marine - FAB ft Aqua Marine. So we already had FAB ft MC Parker for Thunderbirds Are Go, and now this second follow-up Stingray, following the first follow-up The Prisoner with FAB, both of which failed to make Top 40 after the Thunderbirds Are Go Top 5 success in the summer. There was clearly no more enthusiasm for FAB's 60s TV series revivals by now.
No.67 - MC Tunes (on his own) with Primary Rhyming - and his first flop by not even making Top 60!
No.73 - Holly Johnson back with a new single, and not that long since his last top 40 entry. This one had him very smartly dressed once again in his video, but nowhere near reaching the Top 40 unfortunately.
No.77 - The Human League with Soundtrack To A Generation. What a fall from grace, as their last tune made only No.29 after one TOTP appearance a couple of months earlier, and now this second single from the new album could only reach No.77. Was there any point releasing any more new singles by now?
The Human League had one more big hit to come (Tell Me When) and a few middling ones (One Man In My Heart is a really nice tune).
DeleteThe Human League wanted to release a third single from the album but it was all about losing their fame and their fanbase, and the record company said it was too dull and self-indulgent, so it never got released. Phil and Susanne then had nervous breakdowns after the lebel dumped them, and it was only Joanne who kept them going before a later record contract and a few more TOTPs.
DeleteOh God, Soupy’s even more annoying this time by turning the show into a mock party political broadcast.
ReplyDeleteWe start with my definition of a waste of “Soul Bossa Nova”, though I suppose fair play to Dream Warriors for sampling a track from the intro to a hit quiz show in their native country.
Great, another ‘mood defining’ black and white video. Getting bored with this Soul II Soul beat no matter what speed it’s played at.
Megashite next. FF.
A novelty hit that I enjoyed next, though Patrick MacNee gets a couple of questionable lines to emote such as “sexy little schoolgirls” and “leather is so kinky”. D- to whoever spelt “run amok” as “run a mock” in the lyrics on screen.
Dimples D goes and ruins a childhood memory by using that particuar sample.
Chris Isaak with a classy hit and one of the few with brushes on drums, though the frumpy backing singer in the ill fitting outfit was frugging completely out of time throughout the song. Had she won a raffle to be on stage?
Next it’s Neil Tennant, looking like Timmy Mallett if he ever tried being mature. The track’s a bit understated but not boring. Top marks for getting the word ‘haversack’ in those lyrics.
Talking of Mallett, more sodding ‘ooh yeah’, even down to the fake number plate. Total shite.
Number one? FF Baby.
We finish with the striking Lady Miss Kier and those other two, and a track sadly lacking in horse power and originality to be anywhere near as good as their biggie.
I really enjoyed this edition. Maybe it was the continual references to a new PM that gave me a warm flush of nostalgia (I did rush home from the school coach to see the result of the 1922 comittee that sealed Maggie's fate. God I must've been a boring 15 year old) but I thought most of the records were great. MOST.
ReplyDeleteDream Warriors; A record that was a school consensus favourite almost to match 'The Power'. It still sounds really fresh. Assumed that they would've looked a little more kaliedoscopic rather than dressing like they're en route to the local lake to look at Greebs (or maybe they'd seen the KLF) but it was great to see them do it live and get the crowd involved. Great start.
Soul II Soul feat Kym Mazelle; More good stuff. Anything sung by Kym Mazelle is worth hearing and this is particularly strong. What lifted Soul II Soul above all the people that sounded exactly like them was Jazzie's knack for a tune and the chorus of this is fantastic. The video looks like the party happening right next door to Inner City's private thing for 'Watcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'. Being Soul II Soul of course it doesn't get too raunchy but has some close ups of vibrating boom boxes.
Megabass; Quite enjoyed it this time round. It did at least achieve the seemingly impossible feat of making 'Don't Miss The Partyline' sound mildly exciting.
Nicky follows it with a hamfististed rap which a girl next to him responds to as if it's the most amazing thing she's ever heard.
Patrick McNee & Honor Blackman; If I read every pop study ever published I still wouldn't understand why the early '60s were so in vogue at the time. No complaints about this one though. Their two voices plummily enuniciating the words are still laugh out loud funny (especially Patrick McNee) and I'd forgotten all the jovial 'oh oh!' interjections. The video is brilliantly silly too.
Oh '90. What are you like.
Dimples D; More merry kitsch to accompany a rap. Another good one.
Chris Isaak; The pre Beatles obsession may have got a bit out of hand but it did at least get this into the charts. I'd always assumed this was written for 'Wild at Heart' but according to Wicki it wasn't but what a single. A song that sounds agelessly fine if it came out in '60 or '90 or 2030. Curiously the tory MP lookalike in the bow tie on drums has always been the clearest of totp memories.
Pet Shop Boys; Another marvellous single and Nicky's introduction is spot on. Neil Tennant's personal lament for a friend, and all others, taken by Aids is still deeply affecting, not that the programme gives you the chance to hear that. That the performance is stopped before the quiet grief of the final verse to go to Bomballurina of all things is particularly hard to take but a great song and one that has such resonance also to this last year.
Bomballurina; I wonder if the early end of the previous song was the reason for Nicky's lead melting sarcasm at the start of this and his straightforward slating of it at the end. Anyway another cheap cover of a smirking American crew cut novelty from 1960 which I have no desire to hear again. One thing at least is that Timmy again sings the song completely straight which is a point in his favour. And I will always be able to tolerate him because of 'Summer Run'.
Vanilla Ice; Well it is self aggrandising bollocks from start to finish but not clumsily so otherwise I wouldn't be able to remember every line of it over 30 years later. No I still have affection for this one. The first line where the music stops still makes me laugh for some reason.
Dee Lite; After the spaceparty anthem our dream band made the terrible mistake of following it with a song that sounded relatively serious. Oh dear. Still a fantastically entertaining video. What a pop star Lady Miss Kier was. Literally Daphne from 'Scooby Doo' come to life and with a £2,000 Biba gift voucher.
Whizz, whoosh and they were gone.
Thanks, Mic. I didn't realise "Being Boring" was a tribute to an old friend. Such a shame it peaked so low.
DeleteGarry Mulholland's magnificent book 'This Is Uncool; The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk' is worth buying for his brief piece on this single alone. I think Neil Tennant didn't say explicitly what it was about for many years. When you learn of the subject matter the lines in the 3rd verse are almost unbearably poignant. It should've certainly been a Top 5 single.
DeleteCampbell’s back with some more awful jokes….this time about John Major..ironic that a Campbell would be in no10 later in the decade…
ReplyDeleteDreadful show largely. Only these worth a mention…
Honor Blackman and Patrick MacNee – Kinky Boots – Wow it’s so short even ToTP couldn’t cut it! What possessed people to go out and buy this escapes me but suffice to say it features two megastars – I love Steed in ‘The Howling’ and getting throttled by Grace Jones in ‘A View to a Kill’.
Chris Isaak – Wicked Game – Sooooo smooth. Original and different amongst all the dross.
Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring – OK so it’s not ‘West End Girls’ but it’s not boring either.
Bombalurina – Seven Little Girls – Facsimile formula. Didn’t quite manage to emulate the likes of Alvin Stardust in terms of sales who used the same trick 16 years earlier.
Listed to Gambo’s ‘Pick of the Pops’ and he played 1981 last week… some great stuff but the top10 featured Tony Capstick with ‘Capstick comes Home’ which was one of those he skipped over….surprise!
sct, I take it you mean "Jealous Mind" by Alvin Stardust? As you probably know, that made number one, whereas the superior prequel "My Coo Ca Choo" only made number two, mainly due to being the first release on a new label which suffered distribution problems which may have stopped the single from making the top.
DeleteAbsolutely Arthur! Alvin (or should I say Pete Shelly) was marooned in the top10 for weeks, held off by Gary Glitter and Slade. Didn't appreciate that Magnet records had distribution problems that may have also been a factor.
Delete8, 2, 4, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8
Not bad? Not 'arf!
It's been impossible to find the Capstick Comes Home video, as TOTP showed different clips of the video when it was in the charts, but it has never been on YouTube, iTunes, or any VHS tapes, so if anyone can find it and paste it up on here, it would be brilliant
DeleteThe Capstick Comes Home video may be wiped by now, unless it's lost in a vault somewhere. Is he still alive? Maybe he has a copy on VHS?!
DeleteCapstick appeared in the TOTP studio at first showing of Capstick Comes Home, and then in the following weeks while on the rise, a different clip of the video was shown every week on the Top Ten video rundown, but I am not aware that video was ever shown in its entirety, as it was in the pre-internet days, and the only probable place it could be is with the record company, as I suppose the record companies took ownership of videos as well as singles and albums.
Deletethx i remember capstick's passing being reported quite a while back now
DeleteCapstick is long departed. Apparently he was a complete arsehole by all accounts and the drink got him in the end.
DeleteNicky Campbell in full on John Major obsession tonight (I'm guessing he was now new PM) with one of the best shows for a while.
ReplyDeleteDREAM WARRIORS – My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style
Before Austin Powers came The Dream Warriors. I'm stunned this never went Top Ten and this performance definitely deserves a place in the next "best performances" thread in 10 years time. Absolutely brilliant tune, storming stuff, watched it twice. Will be playing the song all week.
SOUL II SOUL feat. KYM MAZELLE – Missing You
This Soul II Soul number completely passed me by at the time. Very summery vibe (and the sun is shining through the window as I type this) but not as hooky as their other stuff. Strong vocal from Kym.
MEGABASS – Time To Make The Floor Burn
12" version rocks.
PATRICK MacNEE & HONOR BLACKMAN – Kinky Boots
Well I don't know who bought this BUT I remember it being a big part of Simon Mayos' radio show for a while (following Donalds Troosers and with Monty Python to come). Oh how this has dated. Leather is so kinky / Sexy little schoolgirls...oh dear. The TV show is awesome by the way. Cathy Gale and Emma Peel, don't mind which..even though they'd kick my arse. And the whole song for a change......the whole 1 minute 38 seconds of it!
DIMPLES D – Sucker D.J.
Ben Liebrand back again, and another TV show gets it's theme nicked. The US version of Betty Boo? Loved this at the time, still love it now. You ready to kick some ass...oh yes!
CHRIS ISAAK – Wicked Game
Pre-recorded Mr Issak up next with his Roy O homage. It's decent but I always preferred Blue Hotel. A big star in music and films for a while I believe but his chart career wasn't huge. Incidentally how did they get the backing singer into that dress?
PET SHOP BOYS – Being Boring
Height of fashion (mac, glasses and hat) from Neil as PSB get to show us half one of their best tunes. I love a story in a song and this one contains a real emotional punch, The video is superb as well.
BOMBALURINA feat. TIMMY MALLET – Seven Little Girls
Choo Choo. Beep Beep. Not even looking to see what everyone thought of this. Nicky said Oh No but the number plate says Oh Yeah! The album is on spotify if you fancy Hoot Mon, Speedy Gonzales Lollipop and My Boomerang Won't Come Back. No?
VANILLA ICE – Ice Ice Baby
Do you think they are all secretly laughing at him when he goes home for his Mum's curfew?
DEEE-LITE – Power Of Love
Second and final hit, not as catchy and then they were gone...
Deee-Lite had four more minor UK chart entries, all peaking between 43 and 53.
DeleteThe first 4 singles appear to have been double A-Sides as well. May have to have a listen
DeleteWicked Game originally appeared on Chris Isaak's third album, Heart Shaped World, in 1989. After it became a hit, a cash-in compilation album of the same name was released, bringing together the best tracks from his first three albums. It was that compilation, in addition to Wicked Game itself, which made me fall in love with his unique, highly atmospheric take on rockabilly and Big O-influenced lovelorn balladry. I don't think he ever received the level of success and acclaim that he deserved.
ReplyDeleteAm I right in saying this would be the final episode produced by Paul Ciani? He died of AIDS a year later, and he seems to have gotten too ill to continue around this time. He was only 49.
ReplyDelete