I am you, and you are me, and this is the 10th of January 1991 edition of Top of the Pops!
Thumb-tastic
10-1-91: Presenter: Jakki Brambles
(29) BANANARAMA – Preacher Man
Getting the show underwear with a song that peaked at number 20.
(17) WHITNEY HOUSTON – All The Man That I Need (video)
Peaked at number 13
(18) POP WILL EAT ITSELF – X Y and Zee
In the studio to perform their biggest hit to date peaking at number 15.
(3) JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN – The Grease Megamix (video)
Some more clips we didn't get to see in the 1978 re-runs but it was now at its megamix peak.
(27) OFF-SHORE – I Can’t Take The Power (video)
Became their only top ten hit when it peaked at number 7.
(15) JESUS JONES – International Bright Young Thing
The keyboard player certainly seemed to be having a good old time and this song became their first of two top ten hits when it peaked at number 7.
(8) M.C. HAMMER – Pray (video)
At its peak.
(2) ENIGMA – Sadness Part 1 (video)
Knocking on the door to number one.
(30) ROBERT PALMER – Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You
In the studio tonight to perform what became his fifth and final top ten hit when it peaked at number 9.
(1) IRON MAIDEN – Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter (video)
Second and final week at number one.
(26) STING – All This Time (video) (and credits)
Peaked at number 22.
Next up is January 19th.
My 'brief encounter with a rock star' story (well, number one of two - I once got Elvis Costello's autograph). I was at a gig at the long gone Moonlight Club in West Hampstead when, between acts and in front of the stage, I spotted Bruce Dickinson, shorter than I expected (about five foot eight) but very muscly. I went up to Bruce, shook his hand and congratulated him on knocking Cliff Richard off the top spot. Cue a bemused look morphing into a massive all-teeth grin, a thank you and a comical one-sentence reply including a swearword!
ReplyDeleteBra-nanarama with one of their later hits nobody remembers, thought it was going to be a Dusty Springfield cover for a few seconds, there. It's not going to keep them in the Top 10, is it?
ReplyDeleteWhitney with a big, bold, belligerent ballad that fails to make much of an impression, despite all that being thrown at it. Deduced from Jakki's outro that this was her Eddie Murphy period of boyfriends. He sang too, of course.
The Poppies with a greebo tribute to wellbeing, a change of pace that might have been a success for them, but was a step down in creativity. Sounds too amateurish compared with their other stuff.
Does Jakki say Olivia and John were still shagging or did I mishear? Anyway, the actual megamix, so we get Greased Lightnin' with its chorus about a "Pussy Wagon" that gets cut out of TV showings. But not this one. I remember some girls in my primary school performing this for the class. None of us knew what a Pussy Wagon was back then, obvs.
Off-Shore, fairly anonymous dance, video suspiciously similar to C&C Music Factory in the previous episode.
I don't know what Jesus Jones give their keyboard player before they performed, but he must be exhausted. One of their better songs, vocals a bit reedy, but otherwise a solid slice of indie dance.
Is this about the fifth time Pray has been on?! Different bit of the video.
Enigma again, about to be No.1, then coincidentally broadcast on the day Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? album was released 50 years before, Robert Palmer with his vocal mash-up. Not a patch on the original, but Bob's a classy guy.
Iron Maiden surprisingly making it 2 weeks at the top, then Sting to end on with a not bad pop ditty, though the wacky video puts you off somewhat. Rather this than the mandolin.
Not seen the show yet, but there was a USA dance called the shag. In 1987 The Tams just missed the UK top 20 with a dance tribute single over here called "There ain't Nothing Likee Shagging" which would probably have gone higher had it not been banned from radio stations due to a case of mistaken identity about the title!
DeleteWhitney Houston's most lavish video to date, and while only one time on TOTP this week, it got to no.1 in America a couple of months later in March 1991. This was by far one of her best tunes, and I'm surprised that it only peaked at No.13, when lesser hits of hers had gone top 10 in the UK.
DeleteI think it was the third time that MC Hammer got played with the same Pray video, an it had already gone down to No.10 the previous week, before going back up to No.8 to warrant another showing, but they could have done the same for Snap and The Farm in this week's top ten which had similar post-xmas fortunes, but they opted for MC Hammer.
Chart Rundown - Prefab Sprout at No.35 this week with Jordan:The EP were unlucky not to get on TOTP, as this was their peak position before falling down, and since TOTP only played tunes down to No.30 this week, I'm sure they would have been shown the following week had they not tumbled down.
ReplyDeleteAlso, peaking outside the Top 40 this week at No.76 was Milli Vanilli with Keep On Running, and yes I was surprised that they were still going at this stage with new music at the start of 1991, as their heyday was the 1988-89 period
Amazing that 'Jordan: The EP' only made it to 35. The lead track, 'Carnival 2000' is a stunner and was definately played many times on Radio 1 in the morning at the start of '91. I remember waking up to it more than once. I don't recall it ever being played in the last weeks of 1999.
DeleteA couple of days after this TOTP episode went out, The ITV Chart Show surprisingly had Patsy Cline at No.10, whereas she was at a peak of No.14 on the official TOTP chart.
ReplyDeleteHowever they did correctly predict that Enigma would be the new No.1, and featured it at top spot on their top ten video rundown, so a big thumbs up to ITV for getting it right this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7EP3TCXmtE
Hello 1991! I missed the 1st one of the year so I'm starting here. Pretty good one this edition with a good variety that I think is going to be the main thing about this year. Ambience, tuneful indie, big rock numbers. All featured here, to varying degrees of success. Jakki's is at her most warm and smiley this evening, she's definately my favourite presenter when she's in this kind of mood. '91 yay!
ReplyDeleteBananarama; Good to hear this again. Wasn't expecting much at this late stage and vocally they may be at their most mono voice sounding but that was a good tune that I remembered straightaway. Co-written with Youth apparently.
So goodbye from the girls. I'll miss them but their time has definately come to leave the stage. One of their number will of course be with us again very soon.
Whitney Houston; After 'How Will I Know' my favourite single of hers, dark and brooding, a very underrated record. Another trip to wicki states that it was originally recorded by Linda Clifford in 1982 (I think she had a minute or two of fame on the show). Sadly this single's one and only appearance is the rather bombastic tail end. The verse melody is just sublime and quite haunting but we don't get it here. Great video however. That is some dress. I could see the sparkly band round her neck without even looking directly at the TV.
Pop Will Eat Itself; Ha Ha! My 15 year old self loved this one and it still sounds delightfully daft. Clint Mansell looks like he's come to Totp straight from a sports centre and he spends the whole number lolloping amiably around the stage and punching the air to things that you wouldn't automatically imagine punching the air to. Why can't singers today just occasionally sound like him? That line about George Jetson still cracks me up.
John Travolta & Olivia Newton John; They've got the actual single to show this time. Is it really a Megamix? It just sounds like a medley with a tiny bit of (very dated) repetition. Hey ho. Enjoyable enough.
Off-Shore; Good name for an act. Wind farms in late 1990? I know green issues were in by this point but still. The music nowhere near as good. Standard meaningless phrase belted climactically over some piano chords. This is already being left behind.
Jesus Jones; Great single. I love this tune still. You're right THX, what an extraordinary performance from their keyboard 'player'. I thought he was another Bez until I suddenly saw a keyboard, plus stand (!!!), being whirled about.
MC Hammer; Still ok. Classy video. Funky philosophy. Sensible trousers.
Enigma; It's leapt to No.2 and next week it's at the top. A remarkable achievement for such an unusual sound but so right for its time.
Robert Palmer; Yes, amazing that it gets shown on the 50th anniversary of the release of 'What's Going On'. A strong and respectful cover as you'd expect from Mr. Palmer. Was this sung live? Not sure but there seemed to be a lot of ad libs at the end for him to be miming to.
Iron Maiden; Straight in at No.1 and there atop for a 2nd week. I still remember the astonishment in our household when this appeared at No. 1 on a Sunday evening. Where the hell did this come from??
I like it though. Really dramatic and the video is classic band and fans together stuff. The only real heavy metal No.1?
Sting; Good ending, a song I really liked at the time with that late XTC or 'Veronica' period Costello jangly guitar that's very charming. The video was humourous. Solo Sting? Humourous? It's going to be a year of suprises.
I guess you mean goodbye from Bananarama for this song, and not for good, as they did continue until 1993 with at least two more top 30 hits, although this new one for January 1991 was their last Top 20 hit, so I guess the slide was beginning at this point in 1991.
DeleteI assumed this was their last appearance on the show. I might be wrong.
DeleteYes you're right Dory. I had a look on youtube and they appear on 25th April '91 and 3rd Sept '92. A bit of a presumption from me there, sorry! Certainly there will be a lot of goodbyes and hellos throughout this year.
DeleteBananarama: One of their least memorable songs, bet it'd be a Pointless answer.
ReplyDeleteWhitney - one of my favourites of hers. I appreciate Whitney a bit more as I age, I thought she was a bit too naff at the time.
PWEI - love this one, just daft fun
Grease Megamix - surely the only Megamix that was still played years later?
Offshore: Kind of forgettable.
Jesus Jones: My favourite of theirs, cracking song.
MC Hammer: Like Jakki said, aww bless. Cheesy and crap but kind of endearing in a goofy way.
Enigma: I always found this a bit eerie and it still gives me a bit of the heebie jeebies even though I can see why it was popular.
Robert Palmer - He's just never appealed to me.
Iron Maiden: I forgot this had two weeks at the top!
Sting - see Robert Palmer.
Presented by Jakki Brambles or is it now Jackie? Great presentation regardless.
ReplyDeleteBananarama – Preacher Man – Wow what an image change! I happened to chance on Big Hits 82 whilst writing this and ‘It ain’t what you do…’ sees the girls in loose fitting dungarees rather than the, um bras and fishnets here, although one of the trio didn’t get the memo.
Whitney Houston – All the man that I need – Rapid FF
Pop will eat itself – X, Y and Zee – It’s zed actually…anyway another quick FF after a few seconds.
Travolta / Newton-John – Grease Megagmix – They really made an effort with this showing some more musical scenes from the memorable film.
Off-shore – I can’t take the power – Me neither.
Jesus Jones – International bright young thing – Regardless of the tune you just couldn’t take your eyes off that keyboard player!
MC Hammer – Pray – Next (hi there Take That!).
Enigma – Sadness Part 1 – Was there a part 2? This is just soo good.
Robert Palmer – Mercy Mercy Me – I’m not so overboard with this as Jackie is. One interesting thing I read in the paper this week was that ‘Addicted to Love’ was originally intended as a duet with Chaka Khan and they cut a demo. However her record company refused to allow its release feeling over exposure of their ‘I feel for you’ artist and so Robert put it out as solo, but did give her a credit on the album.
Iron Maiden – Bring your daughter to the slaughter – Utter drivel.
Sting – All this time – Not a bad way to playout with Gordon.
I mentioned once before on the blog that since the replacement for Siobhan on Banarama got started, she didn't go for the dungarees and track suit bottoms looks, and her smart stage look kicked the other two original Bananarama girls into gear to making more of an effort on stage, and this studio appearance was an example of it. Karen certainly looked fantastic in her outfit.
DeleteWith regard to Jakki's summary of Robert Palmer's tune at the end of it, it could be that when he watched himself on the show afterwards, that it would make him feel open to return to the show in future for a future single, as it was rare for him to perform on TOTP in the studio, as for example his previous hit with UB40 had only the video shown.
Sorry, rather late to the New Year’s party. The last few days have been a bit full on.
ReplyDeleteThe top notch Jakki Brambles introduces Bananarama as a band (ahem), then it turns out there’s a full band on stage. Apparenty there was some SAW-type noise going on. I couldn’t hear it past Keren.
Whitney with what sounded like an overly loud fake Bond theme. Next.
Pop Will Eat Itself, almost looking like EMF’s dads. A decent groove, but not keen on Clint’s vocals. He seemed to enjoy himself, though.
The Grease Megamix, with a truck driver’s gear change from one track to the other featuring the lyric “pussy wagon”.
Off-Shore were off my screen pronto. Let more rave-lite woo yeah rubbish.
Jesus Jones featuring Young Bez on keyboards. I never ‘got’ this band.
“Pray”? I pray this is the last time we see this. Why does Jakki keep looking to the side when there’s a video next? Is there a secret Toppotron we’re not aware of?
Enigma’s ambient monkdisco next. If TOTP play this again, it could become a habit. Boom boom tish! To answer sct's question, there was no "Sadness Part 2" on the single, but the follow-up (which only reached number 55) was called "Mea Culpa Part II"!
Jakki obviously rates Robert Palmer, and I agree he’s an excellent singer, but I couldn’t quite believe in this double cover for want of a better description.
A cast iron number one followed by Sting trying to rip off Paul Simon’s stylings. This and the video went down with me as well as The Titanic.
There is an enigma part 2 but it is no part 1
Deletehttps://youtu.be/HHdylh210Ho
I recall in the 1981 fad that Stars On 45 had started with doing disco compilations on a single, there popped out a group called Enigma who brought out two singles that made top 30 in the summer of that year, in a similar style to Stars On 45.
DeleteSuffice to say that on the retro charts, they are referred to as 'Enigma (UK)', so as not to be confused the the 1990s Enigma on this week's chart with Sadeness Pt 1.
Bananarama - don’t remember this at all... not their usual standard, bit dull [pre post look - love the underwear joke angelo]
ReplyDeleteWhitney Houston - quite liked this until she started the scale warbling...
Pop will eat itself - 13th single?... crikey! A quick look at discogs shows I had most of them as well. Definitely not as good as their ‘89 high. Was that a touch of neneh cherry in there?....
Offshore - and another ‘one sample, two riff’ borefest
Jesus jones - ah we seem to be into the grebo period. Look out, someone’s invaded the stage, and trying to make off with the keyboards. Very surprised to see that this was their biggest hit.
Enigma - had a listen to part 2 - very different, and quite frankly, rubbish
Robert palmer - another pointless cover, only rescued by the clever segueing the two songs
Sting - not a fan, but this was...ok... sounded a bit like Paul,Simon... [pre post read of comments - not just me then]
ReplyDeleteLeather clad Jakki Brambles in the house for show packed with new tunes.
BANANARAMA – Preacher Man
Looking rather hot its the Bananas with one of my faves of theirs. Just a great pop tune. From the one and only album with Jacqui.
WTF is that thing he's blowing into. An electronic harmonica?
WHITNEY HOUSTON – All The Man That I Need
Another belting ballad from Whit. She did these very well didn't she. Nice.
Surprise.. you are going to be on stage with Whitney in her new video. Bad news.. there's about 600 of you so no-one will see you.
POP WILL EAT ITSELF – X Y and Zee
A Top 20 band that never seemed to break the upper parts of the chart. A few hits in the early 90s. This one's OK. They will do better.
Good performance, worth ditching the mic stand as the singer is a live wire.
JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN – The Grease Megamix
Love this film. Great tunes
OFF-SHORE – I Can’t Take The Power
Dance music time. Great in a club. Lacking somewhat in tune. Not played on radio anymore and quite obvious why.
JESUS JONES – International Bright Young Thing
One of the best tunes of 1991 arrives earty door.
They've had a few in the dressing room haven't they. I want what the keyboard player is on 😂😂😂 Bloody loved that.
M.C. HAMMER – Pray
Slowly creeping up the chart. A Xmas hangover.
ENIGMA – Sadness (or Sadeness) Part 1
Now do we add the "e" or not. The Offical chart books say No. The single and album track listing say Yes. Take your pick. Suitably different to everything else in the chart and heading to Number One. I am definelty a fan. And I always use the E 😛
ROBERT PALMER – Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You
Another great voice now from the fabulous Robert Palmer. Really like this mix of tunes. Could listen to his voice for hours. Quality.
IRON MAIDEN still at the top. Watch this plummet from next week.
STING – All This Time
Another voice I have a lot of time for. I remember picking up a "best of" cassette in the 90s and loving every tune.
A really good show tonight.
Whitney went all the way to No.1 in America with All The Man That I Need a few weeks later in February 1991, and stayed at the top for two weeks, so her peak at No.13 in Britain in January was not the end of the story for this particular hit.
Delete