Rip the skies, dance along the ledge, it's the 9th of January 1992 edition of Top of the Pops!
Oranges and Co
9-1-92: Presenters: Claudia Simon & Mark Franklin
(27) THE SUGARCUBES – Hit
Getting the show underway, Bjork makes her studio debut with what was the band's only top 40 hit and it peaked at number 17.
(17) ISOTONIK – Different Strokes
A bright and energetic performance of their first of two top 40 hits and it peaked at number 12.
(5) KYM SIMS – Too Blind To See It (video)
At its peak.
(14) CARTER – THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE – Rubbish
In the studio tonight but the song got no higher.
(28) THE STONE ROSES – Waterfall (video) (Breakers)
Went up one more place.
(21) KISS – God Gave Rock And Roll To You II (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 4.
(13) CE CE PENISTON – We Got A Love Thang (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 6.
(10) THE PRODIGY – Everybody In The Place (video) (Breakers)
Peaked at number 2.
(26) BLUE PEARL – (Can You) Feel The Passion
In the studio and the song peaked at number 14.
(18) SENSELESS THINGS – Easy To Smile
Making their debut with the first of two top 40 hits but this one got no higher.
(1) QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody (video)
Fourth of five weeks at number one.
16th of January is up next.
Much better show this one with the studio no longer resembling an aircraft hangar and more exciting up close camera work. More like it was before in other words. The chemistry between sparkly Claudia and Mr. reliable Franklin is pretty limited. Claudia keeps making odd "who are you?" glances at him. Janice Long and Peely they are not. Not yet.
ReplyDeleteThe Sugarcubes with a mild hit to start the show and this has stayed in the memory from Jan '92. Definitely the first time I'd heard Bjork and this is a great performance. Cannot wait to see her 'Debut' material on the show.
Isotonik follow the chart with something that lost me after the 'Pacific 707' style intro.
Good to see the video again for 'Too Blind To See It'. Love this single, one of THE songs of that new year period.
Carter USM with Jim Bob on top of a battered car. Maybe the deal was you can have a car prop as long as you don't kick anything over. Good natured stuff and I heard it far more quietly than when I last heard it at Brixton Academy the following Christmas.
Breakers time and back to brief clips though they have been briefer. I'm not sure they played the single version of 'Waterfall' here. I think they played a bit of the album version. I think the single version has a different drum track to it. No matter. For me this is just one of the finest British guitar pop songs of all time and it's great to have it here.
Not so keen on Kiss' desecration of Argent's 'God Gave Rock n Roll To You'. Original; brilliant and charming. This; leaden, charmless shite. Get lost duuuude!
Ce Ce Peniston; Allowed the brilliant previous single another chance so that's a good thing.
The Prodigy, 'Everybody In The Place'; Belting techno with a dated video.
Some mangy sods possibly en route to Castlemorton Common (I say that. I wish I'd gone) or possibly ex members of Saturday morning TV botherers Drum Theatre with something I've no recollection of but that was another strong dance tune.
Good stuff next! Senseless Things with a really cool blast of indie. Totp goes like 'The Word' all of a sudden with everything up close. The singer is very indie 1992 but the others look like they've returned from 1995 particularly the guy in the striped jacket. Blur possibly watched that.
2nd last week at No 1 and the last time on BBC4 at the top for Queen's double a side. Again the full showing for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. I've seen the opening about 2,000 times and I still find it genuinely scary. Both sides shown next time.
So here we are with the first proper 1992 editon. There are 18 New Entries in the Top 40 this week and a six minute + Number One so lets see what they can squeeze in shall we.
ReplyDeleteFrom Iceland it's the Sugarcubes. Still a rubbish band name but welcome for bringing us 90s mad legend Bjork. It's like a cross between Indie and Sixties Pop and it's quite good actually, until the stripey shirt man starts shouting. Thank god she ditched the band. If Greta Thunberg was a pop star she'd be Bjork.
Sounding like an energy drink it's Isotonik.. whatever makes you happy I suppose. Not the greatest of dance tunes so I'll just enjoy the dancers and the giant tomato 🍅.
Love this Kym Sims tune. Glad it's managed to escape Number 7 and go Top 5.
Carter are back and I actually found myself quite enjoying this one. Quite surprised the drug references at the start escaped untouched. I do like the staging and lighting of this performance.
Breakers:
Stone Roses: one of their better tunes.
Kiss. It's Bill and Ted. Awful movies.
Ce Ce Peniston: really like this.
Prodigy: 10 thousand times better then Charly.
Parents.must be having knighmares. Just as Bizarre Inc fall out of the charts another pop star comes along encouraging us to play with knives. It does however mean that Blue Pearl are back and I absolutely love this tune. Fantastic dance record and a great vocal as well. Tune of the night.
Senseless Things up next with the rather fun "Easy To Smile." As good as any other Indie tunes around at the time. Enjoyed that.
Why why why can we not have the Queen flip-side. Even Radio One have turned the vinyl over by now.
Good show tonight.
So as my TOTP watching and R1 Chart listening from 30 years ago have caught up, I have a dilemma. Do I stay with repeats and get ahead of my chart memories or do I stash the TOTP repeats and watch them later..decisions…..
Oh yes, the dancers on Isotonik should have woken up any remaining bored viewers straight after the opener by The Sugarcubes. Would have liked to relax with them after the show.
DeleteEssex band The Prodigy with only their second single after their debut hit with Charly, and still no sign of Keith Flint on Firestarter in 1996, but apprarently Flint was with The Prodigy from the start, but had a whole new look by 1996, so not sure if anyone recognises him on the Breakers this week. He sadly died a couple of years ago at the age of only 49.
Morgie, the Queen flip side was in fact shown the following week on its final week at No.1, i.e. the 16th Jan show, but this was an Adrian Rose presented show, so BBC4 skipped straight to the 23rd Jan show which by then had a new No.1.
DeleteKeith's the one with the long hair at this point Dory. Very unfortunate not to get a complete play of the video on the show with this one, even after moving up to the number 2 slot next week. Not sure if The Prodigy were already refusing (Clash like) to appear on (sell out to) TOTP at this stage, or if they just weren't invited.
DeleteYes, they also didn't come to the TOTP studio for their first hit Charly, so now it's the first two songs only on video. Not sure if they ever appeared in the TOTP studio for their future singles either.
DeleteWhen Firestarter was at Number 1, they showed the video every week and it got complaints for scaring children!
DeleteGood Lord, it doesn't look like we will ever see them in the TOTP studio!
DeleteOK, RIP Keith but Ya Boo Sucks to the Prodge for thinking they were too cool for TOTP.
DeleteClaudia determined to prove herself queen of hyperbole tonight.
ReplyDeleteI was a big Sugarcubes fan in school, based on their Life's Too Good album which the remarkable Birthday came from, and I got the next album too, but by Hit I was losing interest. Not sure why, hearing this again it's a great pop ditty about regretting falling in love, and I kind of missed the Bjork solo records where Einar wasn't interrupting her with shouting. Strong start.
Did Daley Thompson have anything to do with this one? Despite the singer's best efforts, and he is out of tune, he's upstaged by the giant sunglasses-wearing tomato. Or is it an apple? Or an orange? Or has Mr Small been grown to enormous proportions and he's feeling pretty cool about that? The tune, eh, bog standard 90s dance.
We've seen Kym, and she never bothered to come to the studio, but it's a good song, then a post-apocalyptic Carter USM bravely singing about "Rubbish on the radio". Still not sure trying to fit ten million words into every song was a good idea. Jim Bob seems to have injured himself. Fell off a car in rehearsal?
Trace amounts of Breakers, then Blue Pearl's other hit, the one nobody remembers. No wonder, it's pretty undistinguished, even with the double drummer gambit.
I always got Senseless Things mixed up with Mega City Four, but didn't mind either. One got their name from 2000AD comic, the other from Shakespeare (true). Singer is having a hell of a time with that microphone.
Then something to FF to end on...
Love Claudia Simon's fresh approach to presenting, with good forthright stance and clarity of voice. Quite a cutie for me.
DeleteBlue Pearl were back since their last hit in 1990, with nothing released in 1991 so seemingly had the whole year off. Good Lord, the more I hear this new one for 1992, the more it sounds like the new Top Of The Pops theme tune since the show's recent revamp.
I was a big Sugarcubes fan in the Birthday era as well but hadn’t given them much attention for their later releases, although this Hit is rather good. Bjork had been researching the Manchester club scene the previous year with 808 State, contributing to a couple of tracks on their 1991 album, and putting in the ground work for her fantastic Debut LP the following year (ignoring her amazing 1977 debut that is).
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ReplyDelete10000% better than the last episode, with a mixture of classics and songs that have been long forgotten, as well as a decent variety of genres.
ReplyDeleteStarts off very well with the Sugarcubes' best and most famous hit.
Isotonik isn't as well remembered as other dance tunes but it's fine and a nice change from last week's bag of schmaltz.
Kym Sims - one of those that got a bit overplayed but it's a goos track.
Carter - I have a soft spot for them unlike many here and this is one of their more memorable hits.
Stone Roses - not their finest work but still pretty enjoyable.
Kiss - Anyone else see the recent Bill and Ted sequel? If not don't bother. Some things are best left to the 90s. (Haven't seen the new Matrix film yet so can't comment on if the same holds true there).
CeCe Penistone/Prodigy/Blue Pearl - 1992 has definitely arrived this week. Definitely had all of these on various compilations and taped off the radio mixes. The Prodigy is probably the best of the three but I like the Blue Pearl performance, the singer looks very cool, even if the verses are a bit nothingy.
Senseless Things - I don't remember this at all! They look lkke a cross between Blue, Nirvana, Jesus Jones and the yet-to-exist Busted. It's fine but I'll probably forget it again by the next episode.
Blur, not Blue! There's no Lee Ryans here!
DeleteTwo new singles at their peak this week with no TOTP for them at all during their chart run:
ReplyDeleteNo.22 Erasure - Am I Right (remix) EP
Seems that EP's are not popular with TOTP, and this one was quite good, and not even a Breakers mention for Erasure. It fell badly to No.43 the following week, but could have risen instead if they got a showing on TOTP this week at No.22.
No.68 Enigma - The Rivers Of Belief
Third follow-up single to Sadness Part 1 from the same debut album, and third to fail to break the Top 40 sadly after a debut single going all the way to No.1. I still have the VHS or DVD with the videos for all the singles off this album, and still enjoy watching them 30 years on.
Although doesn't Erasure's massive Abba-esque EP come out this year? (Erasure sure love an EP, huh?)
DeleteErasure doing what PSB did with DJ Culture at the end of last year and releasing a remix single of a song that had only just charted. It was all about the remix in the 90s. Really looking forward to the Perfecto mix of Even Better Than The Real Thing which is epic.
DeleteRe Senseless Things, they opened up a merchandise website last year and played some comeback gigs, though I think singer / guitarist Mark Keds (who died last year) was absent. The phenomenal bassist now plays with Muse, mainly keybaords, and Pop Kid T-shirt wearing guitarist Ben Harding (a friend of mine these days) was making a return to the BBC for this appearance, as he’d previously worked as a clerk there. Ben now combines working as media spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service with playing shredding metal for a garage band called The Charlemagnes, who have a bi-monthly residency at the legendary Hope and Anchor in Islington.
ReplyDeleteI heard about poor Mark from The Senseless Things on the radio last year. That must be why I get them mixed up with Mega City Four, their lead singer died too young as well.
DeleteThanks for the info, anyway.
Mark- “How do you get into those shorts?”
ReplyDeleteClaudia – “Two double G&T’s for starters!”
Boom boom tish!
Our first glimpse of the enigmatic, talented, kooky Bjork in knitwear which (and I REALLY AM sorry to point this out) allows you to see her white knickers from long camera shots. Maybe that was her ploy all along. A great song about love and unplanned / unwanted (?) pregnancy, only marred by that rapping sugar knob.
Now the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum – Tomatotonik next with a fine array of dancers. What you talking ‘bout, Willis?
If you didn’t look at Kym Sims you could almost believe she was Deniece Williams with that vocal range. Choon as I think the kids say.
Ah. Now. Carter's finest hour, health and safety having a wobbler as flames cascade while JimBob jumps off that wreck with one hand bandaged up, hence Fruitbat thrashing the axe on his own. Silly verbose 'hood namechecking fun with John Peel on guest vocals, sort of – you couldn’t hear his Eric Morecambe cribbing “What do you think of the programme so far?” line properly. Marvellous.
Mellow Stone Roses. I do like this one. It sort of cascades over you – see what I did there?
No intro from Mark for Kiss without make-up. It really must have hacked off singer Gene Simmonds that their biggest US hit “Beth” was actually written and sung by the drummer Peter Criss.
CC with one of England’s rudest place names, Peniston (up there with Scunthorpe and Lightwater) and some amenable chicken in a basket R’n’B.
The Prodigy with punk paced rave. Not normally my bag but I quite like this one.
“Here is a lady who’s so hot” announces Claudia in THAT outfit, suddenly trumped by Dominatrix Seal Woman accompanied by dustbin drums. Image yes, track no thanks.
If you thought The Prodigy were fast, Senseless Things knock them and anything else previously on TOTP since inception into a cocked hat. Thoroughly enjoyable, though it was ridiculous that guitarist Ben got shown every time there was a ballistic bass solo from Morgan Nicholls.
FF the number one so as not to sour the taste of a dazzling, effervescent episode.
The saucy dancers on Isotonik was the first of its kind since the fall of Legs & Co and Hot Gossip, as the 80s Thatcher era dressed up the girls a bit more than the sexy 70s, but this was the first time in the 90s that dancing girls on TOTP were willing (or able) to show this much and emerge from this new post-Thatcher era with a new vigour it seemed, and not long before the new PC era emerging later in the decade.
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