Top of the Pops!
18-1-79: Presenter: Peter Powell
(30) SHALAMAR – Take That To The Bank (and charts)
(53) OLYMPIC RUNNERS – Sir Dancealot
(28) ANNE MURRAY – You Needed Me (video)
(3) RACEY – Lay Your Love On Me
(27) DAN HARTMAN – This Is It (danced to by Legs & Co)
(54) FRANKIE MILLER – When I’m Away From You
(5) OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN – A Little More Love ®
(2) IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
(18) THE THREE DEGREES – Woman In Love
(26) BILLY JOEL – My Life (video)
(7) CHIC – Le Freak
(1) VILLAGE PEOPLE – Y.M.C.A. (video)
(11) CHAKA KHAN – I’m Every Woman (and credits)
Shalamar ~ play over the chart rundown with their first top 20 hit.
Olympic Runners ~ then give us an energetic, onesie clad, invisible trampolining start to the show. Shame the song wasn't quite good enough to take off in the same way though! Two members of this band, Pete Wingfield and Mike Vernon, also played for Rocky Sharpe and the Replays.
Anne Murray ~ this instantly recognisable country song peaked at 22 for this Canadian singer. Boyzone did better when they covered it in 1999, and took it to number 1.
Racey ~ edited out of the 7.30 showing - not to worry you can catch them in the second showing at 1am.....
Dan Hartman ~ is this week's choice for the Legs and Co routine. A full compliment of Legs this week too. 'This is It' reached number 17.
Frankie Miller ~ edited out ~ catch him at 1am...
Olivia Newton-John ~ ditto for the delicious A Little More Love.
Ian Dury and the Blockheads ~ ah, it's the classic one where Davey Payne plays two saxophones at the same time - a real 'where were you' moment this. I remember where I was when I first saw it - in front of the telly watching Top of the Pops :-)
The Three Degrees ~ take the country song that failed to chart for Twiggy in 1977 and turn it into a top 3 smash hit. They just sang it a whole lot better really, and had more sparkly costumes.
Billy Joel ~ I've always like this song, it has more than a touch of class and a fair bit of piano oomph! This was a good time for Billy what with Barry White's cover version of Just the Way You Are also in the top 20. I expect he was grateful now that his suicide attempt of 9 years earlier had not succeeded.
Chic ~ freakishly ironic that a song written about not being allowed into a dance club would go on to become one of the biggest dance floor fillers of all time.
There then follows a brief appearance by latest teen sensation Leif Garrett who informs us that 'I Was Made for Dancing' has just charted at number 43, and also that Britain in January is nothing like California....
Village People ~ and from one timeless disco classic to another, with its final week at number one before Ian Dury hit it with his rhythm stick. Though we won't get to see that whacking moment on BBC4 next week because unfortunately that's a banned DLT episode.....
Chaka Khan ~ who played over the chart rundown last week, now plays over the end credits this week, with her Ashford and Simpson written song at its peak number 11 position in the charts.
So next week then BBC4 takes us to February 1st 1979 and a show hosted by Mike Read.
