I'm glad this hat's not mine!
01/11/84 (Gary Davies & Mike Smith)
Heaven 17 – “This Is Mine” (36)
Their final top 40 hit, aside from re-mixes, peaking at number 23.
Chaka Khan – “I Feel For You” (2) (video)
Soon to be number one.
Julian Lennon – “Too Late For Goodbyes” (6)
At its peak.
The Pointer Sisters – “I’m So Excited” (28) (video)
Peaked at number 11.
Duran Duran – “The Wild Boys” (5)
Following up The Reflex with this atmospheric tune that reached number 2.
Iron Maiden – “Aces High” (32) (video)
The perfect Halloween band made it to number 20 with this effort.
Jim Diamond – “I Should Have Known Better” (40)
His first solo hit after leaving PhD, quite a standout song which made it to number one.
Ultravox – “Love’s Great Adventure” (13) (video)
Went up one more place.
Wham! – “Freedom” (1)
A new performance for their third and final week at number one.
Meat Loaf – “Modern Girl” (17) (audience dancing/credits)
At its peak.
So back to BBC4 next for November 8th.
This is Mine is another of my faves, great use of brass. A hard sound to the vocals which reflects their style, but the energy ends up making it quite upbeat.
ReplyDeleteThe Pointer Sisters is a decent track though I've always liked Jump more, the whole style of this one is like it's trying to mimic the theme of being excited, and it can feel that literality (just checked, it is a word) may get in the way of the song.
Duran Duran – “The Wild Boys - while not much of a favourite of mine at the time (the wiiild boyyys intro campy bit didn't help) it is actually a typical lusty gnarly Le Bon vocal of the period, and the chorus hammers it home well.
Iron Maiden, the bridge has an echoey effect and the verse seems repetitive. Not actually bad energy to it after that. The guitar break is a highlight and resolute chorus.
The Jim Diamond one I've never liked that much, somewhat a simpering ballad. Hello is better at that, though I don't think it's one of Lionel Richie's very best. The 'I I III' bit does add a bit of energy, that and the guitar that follows are probably the best parts for me.
Love's Great Adventure I still think is decent but I think Dancing With Tears in My Eyes had more emotion to it.
Heaven 17 - I remember this one very well, particularly liking the whole rhythm of the song and the superb trumpet riff throughout the song, making more impact than some of their other better known hits.
ReplyDeleteJulian Lennon - Gary Davies introduces him as having just come over from America specially for TOTP. Was Julian also living in New York with his late father John Lennon, despite John having found another woman, i.e., Yoko Ono? Julian's natural mother was of course Cynthia Lennon who I don't think made the move to New York, so was it just Julian from the original Lennon family to join John and Yoko there?
The Pointer Sisters - probably the most played of their hits over the years, but not their best in my opinion. While it is a very 'pop' record and popular on some dance floors, the true disco connoisseur like me would opt for Automatic as their finest career disco number, closely followed by Jump, and then this one in third place.
Iron Maiden - I was always wondering what their hobbies were in their spare time. It's obviously playing cards by the mere title of the song. The video has some rare and disturbing footage of the Germans dropping bombs on British cities in World War II, and would not have been a moral booster even in the 80s, currently panicking about nuclear war. What's more, it seemed to be on the side of the Germans exploits by the way a general was chalking up each success, and showing less British successes, so I was a little surprised that this video was shown on TOTP at the time, as I think it would have been barred in this day and generation as a morale-dampener, and a bit X-rated in modern day Britain.
Meat Loaf - the playout was short and sweet, but I wonder what Mike Smith's Entertainment USA mention was about in relation to JK and Meat Loaf, and does anyone have the clip?
perhaps not surprisingly given what an arse lennon sr was, julian didn't apparently have that much contact with his dad once he divorced cynthia (who never passed up an opportunity to remind everyone she was once the wife of a beatle) in favour of yoko. according to wiki julian actually had more contact with lennon's beatles colleague macca than the man hinself!
Deletei am curious to know what (if anything) julian receives from the lennon estate - were he (and cynthia) given anything from it, or did yoko cop the lot?
According to Wikipedia: "Lennon was excluded from his father's will. However, a trust of £100,000 was created by his father to be shared between his children (both Julian and Sean). Julian sued his father's estate and in 1996 reached a settlement agreement reportedly worth £20 million."
DeleteWell, good for him I say. I've said before that I've always found John Lennon a mostly unpleasant and quite nasty man and that I prefer Macca's songs anyway!
Delete"Aces High" has nothing to do with playing cards, it is a reference to fighter pilots! I did wonder if Bruce Dickenson wrote this, given he later qualified as a commercial airline pilot, but it was actually bassist Steve Harris.
ReplyDeleteJulian Lennon visited his father in New York during the 70s, but lived with his mother in Britain. As far as I am aware he was still UK-based in 1984, and indeed Gary Davies refers to him as being "back" from the States - he had probably gone over there for promotion purposes, as Too Late For Goodbyes was a big American hit. I know he lives in Monaco these days.
Gazza is back just a fortnight after his previous show, but his chest is thankfully covered up this time. He forges a solid enough partnership with the new, more subdued Smitty, and indeed these two would become the show's presenting mainstays over the next few years.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming Glenn Gregory was wearing that hat for tonsorial reasons rather than because he fancied looking like a cowboy! This isn't a Heaven 17 song I am familiar with, but on first listen it sounded a bit of a mess, its various elements failing to cohere properly - I also thought the brass was too strident. Julian Lennon is back in the studio, making more annoying faces; his Richard Whiteley-style jacket is the only thing that really distinguishes this performance from the previous one.
I'm So Excited originally came out in 1982, but had to wait two long years for UK success. I think it is a great party record, the music conveying the subject matter of the lyrics very well. Quite a fun video too, especially when the Pointers suddenly tip over the restaurant table Simon Le Bon style, though I will always associate this song more with the inventive Crunchie ad it soundtracked in the 90s. Speaking of Simon, here he comes with perhaps his most grating, strangulated vocal ever, and that's saying something! I agree with Angelo that the song is quite atmospheric, if not one of their best, though watching this bunch of mulleted fops on stage it is hard to take them seriously as "wild boys"...
Iron Maiden next, with some wartime footage to liven up an otherwise bog-standard "in performance" video. I do struggle to tell the difference between one Maiden release and the next, but this one did perhaps have a particularly vigorous energy about it. I never used to be that keen on the Jim Diamond tune, but not having heard it in a while I liked it more this time. It is certainly well-produced and performed, though the "IIIII" bit still grates somewhat. At least Jim wasn't ashamed to be going bald, as this performance demonstrates.
Good to see the action-adventure Ultravox video, which is both well-directed and amusing - the bit where the music stops is a bit disconcerting, but in the context of the video it works. This was filmed in Kenya, but around this time it was Ethiopia that was moving to the forefront of Midge's mind, thanks to Mr Geldof. Thankfully we get a new Wham performance after three weeks of the same one. George and Andrew don't look as smart this time, but George's brief bit of dancing with Shirlie brings a smile to the face. Meat Loaf to play out, though the director largely chooses to ignore the crowd in favour of two spotlighted cheerleaders who annoyingly insist on singing along.
I did like that little snatch that George made on Shirlie Holliman for a quick grab and shimmy in the middle of the song. I was also pleased that this was the last of the three weeks at No.1, as I had enough of it already.
Deleteheaven 17: it's no good trying to spice things up with stuff like bongos and horn sections if the basic ingredients (weak songwriting, poor vocals) don't change
ReplyDeletepointer sisters: sadly this doesn't excite me at all, especially after the good stuff that was "automatic" and "jump". i would say now pretty much only remembered for being used in an ad for a chocolate bar (was it crunchie? i'm not even sure about that)
duran duran: didn't anyone ever say to during the songwriting/rehearsal process "er simon, don't you think this is a bit out of your vocal range? you're beginning to strain a bit there"? even if that had been fixed, this is still pretty woeful music-wise (i'll make comment on the video when it appears). drummer roger was obviously the last in the queue when the mullets were being handed out
maiden: anyone who regularly reads my reviews will know that metal doesn't normally do much for me. but give me this over the duran effort any day of the week, as unlike their dirge it's at least got a bit of energy and life about it (and it even modulates at one point!). i seem to remember singer bruce took some time to grow his hair to the regulation metal-length after he joined the band, but he'd got there at this point. i know he's often had short hair since, but i bet even today bassist steve harris still has exactly the same style that he had when he started the band up 40 years earlier!
jim diamond: gary davies (who was obviously born to wear a mullet) introduces this as the "ay ay ay" song (or is that "eye eye eye"?). i have no idea what he meant by that, but i wasn't prepared to endure this snorefest in the hope of finding out
I think Le Bons's vocal is meant to sound strained, expressive effect.
Deletewhether it's intentional or not, it's still just an unlistenable whiny racket to me!
DeleteThe “eye, eye,eyeeeee etc” bit comes after verse 2.
ReplyDeleteComplete racket.
Firstly, thanks, Gia.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I watched and critiqued this edition last night and I'll keep all my comments as they were even though many have been said already on this thread, to prove great minds think alike.
Thirdly... SECURITY!!!
Much better attire this time, Gary. Now ditch the arse presenting with you if you can!
Once again, the chart topper’s playing behind the presenter links. Clueless.
Another load of brass – is Feargal Sharkey opening again? No, it’s Glenn “Yeehah” Gregory possibly doing an Elton with the titfer. Shame Heaven 17 didn’t put as much thought into this forgettable effort.
It’s the Julian McCartney - er, Lennon trio, with a rainbow deckchair blazer and that disposable pop song again.
A racy (no, not Racey) start to The Pointer Sister’s video for the “Crunchie” TV ad theme which degenerates into another Chaka Khan-style video featuring loads of pointless dancing extras and not much time for the act.
I can get excited now, Gary? Why? Arguably Duran Duran’s most unlistenable song in my opinion due to the appalling uber-whiny vocals. The quickest FF yet of the re-run for me.
Iron maiden? Again? So soon? This may be heavy metal, but it’s as punk as they come. Talk about frenetic, yet they keep it in time and in tune. The song title reminds me of a football match I saw in Devon two years ago (St. Martins v Axminster town, if you're interested) where one of the home players had changed his name by deed poll to Ace High. Good to see we get nearly the entire video to give time to clear the Whine Boys out of the studio.
Jim Diamond, featuring Rory McGrath on guitar. Surely the first song with four “I / Aye” sounds at the start which deserved the accolade was that Modern Romance thing? So, Shitty, He’s Scottish as well so he must be good? What about Andy Cameron or The Krankies for starters?
Highlight of the show by miles next, and a huge shame this can't be shown on BBC4. A brilliant video for Ultravox, complete with Midge gasping for a quick breather and Billy Currie as the mad saviour vicar. You couldn’t make it up.
As with the last time Wham! were on, easy to tell the leader of the outfit (different outfit to everyone else) and the supposed deputy (different clothing under the white jacket).
And we end with banter, Shitty of all people repeatedly naming another prick who’s ruined these re-runs. Says it all, really.
It would have been interesting to see how BBC4 coped with editing that outro!
DeleteI'd completely forgotten about Heaven 17's This is Mine, but it was good to get reacquainted, it's a lot poppier than their usual dance stuff, and should have been a bigger hit.
ReplyDeleteChaka and her video will be back soon, so to another repeat performance, Julian at least giving an apologetic look to the audience after the invisible harmonica bit this time.
The Pointer Sisters may have been singing the most obvious part-ay! lyrics ever, but I do really like that piano break, that bloke earned his money. This is a lot more interesting than the Automatic video, anyway.
Duran Duran, not with the ridiculous, child-scaring video, but a live performance (well, mimed live performance), which is probably a blessing seeing as how Simon has difficulty hitting the high notes on the recording, never mind in person. This has a self-importance that grates.
What is it about British heavy rockers and World War 2? Lemmy was obsessed with the Nazis too. Anyway, couldn't really distinguish between this and their usual fare.
Jim Diamond, such a nice bloke and sad how he ended up. That said, this mournful ditty I found hard to warm to at the time, it was a bit too "heart on its sleeve", though he did have a powerful voice.
Ultravox, this video blew my tiny mind when I was a kid, especially the pause for getting Midge's breath back. Shame we couldn't see it on the BBC 4 repeats. Seeing it now, it is a comedy video that is genuinely funny. Also featuring guns, which you don't get in videos these days. That freeze frame!
Wham back in the studio for their finest moment, sort of sad to see George so happy, poignant anyway. They cut off the trumpet again!
Give Mr Loaf his fuschia and that's it for now.
It was very obvious from the Iron Maiden video that they were glorifying the Nazi gains over England, especially the General chalking up each gain. I'm really surprised that TOTP showed this even back in 1984, but it seems the producers did not watch the video before producing the complete show that went out to the 9 or 10 million or so viewers back then!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe song is clearly written from the point of view of a young british spitfire pilot and the video is showing the problems they faced (understatement) against a powerful, hugely confident enemy. Harris himself has confirmed this.
DeleteI wonder if some people get offended when when they see films or even documentaries where the Germans actually win battles?
Anyway, great song on a fairly dull show.
It’s not often I watch an episode early enough to make it worth joining in with the comments!
ReplyDeleteHeaven 17 first, and I think this was their last performance until the 1992 Temptation remix.
I seem to recall the buzz around Too Late For Goodbyes was less about the song, and more concerning how much the singer looked/sounded like his father.
Duran Duran’s Wild Boys get an added “The” in their title, as they do in this blog! The rubber head in the video used to give me the creeps.
Next, Iron Maiden with another mid-table hit. They’d have to wait three and a half years before they’d consistently hit the higher echelons.
A polished, understated performance from the late Mr Diamond. He’d dress down for a later visit, wearing a Feed The World t-shirt in support of a certain charity that is looming in the horizon.
..and Wham! grace us with a new performance. A video for Freedom was eventually put together using footage from their China tour.
I believe we have at least four non-banned performances coming up!
That's right, I remember the Freedom video now, it was a big deal at the time that Wham had gone to China, first Western pop band to play there. But do they still have any kind of following in the Far East, I wonder? Did they even in the 80s?!
Deletesimon napier-bell had become their manager by now to my recollection, so presumably one of his several autobiographies on the seething cesspool that was the music biz gives more details?
DeleteWham! were/are popular around the world. Last Christmas is pretty much an evergreen, a website lists lots of places that have covered it (several in the far east).
Deletehttps://www.buzzfeed.com/alaugh0904/27-versions-of-whams-last-christmas-sung-by-ar-gzl2?utm_term=.lg00G0A7Q#.hjM1O1GP8
Wham may have been the first western act to go to China, but The Moody Blues almost gained that distinction in the early 70s. They were invited, as the American table-tennis players involved in "ping-pong diplomacy" had brought some Moodies albums with them, but the Chinese government changed its mind at the last moment because they were suspicious of why the band needed to being four truck loads of equipment with them!
DeleteThe Moody Blues had some great melodies, yet the only one they are really famous for (outside the progressive fans everywhere) is probably Nights in White Satin.
DeleteI think the Moodies have always been badly underrated - in Britain, anyway. In the States, they remain a big live draw to this day, and they even had a cameo in The Simpsons some years ago.
Deletethey made up for not having any other big hits in blighty (not once justin hayward came on board, anyway) by releasing "nights in white satin" at least three times!
Deletealso: i remember pete frame always referred to justin hayward as "rick hayward" in his rock family trees. does anyone know why (there's no such reference on wiki)?
DeleteThere was a British guitarist called Rick Hayward around in the late 60s/early 70s, but I have no idea why Pete Frame called Justin "Rick" - it could have been a mistake, or maybe some kind of in-joke? I find it hard to believe that he could have confused the two Haywards.
DeleteThe Moodies' highest charting UK single with Justin was actually Question, which got to number 2 in 1970.
yes you're right john. but that's about it as far as moody blues' hayward-era singles success goes (unless you count justin's solo efforts and his odd band-within-a-band project blue jays with john lodge), and that's a poor return for an act that's now been active for 50 years (although they would no doubt think of themselves as an "albums" band)
Deleteregarding the pete frame thing: i always assumed that rick was hayward's given name and that justin was some kind of namby-pamby stage name that he used (which pete frame wasn't very impressed by). but apparently that is his real name, amd i can't believe that someone as steeped in rock history as mr frame made such a schoolboy error. therefore i assume that rick was either an insiders' nickname for hayward, or frame just did it as some kind of wind-up?
DeleteI have certainly never heard Justin be referred to as Rick by anyone. As you say, Justin is his birth name, so Pete Frame's motives are a mystery.
DeleteI think the Justin-era Moodies have always regarded themselves as an albums band first and foremost, and on that front their achievements are impressive - 70 million records sold worldwide, with three UK and two US number 1 albums.
Thanks Gia…this is a great edition.
ReplyDeleteHeaven 17 – This is mine – Don’t recall this but it’s OK.
Chaka Khan – I feel for you – Still sounds good.
Julian Lennon – Too late for goodbyes – Probably the last Charisma label hit as Virgin swallowed it up and Julian’s later big hit ‘Saltwater’ appeared on Virgin. Still like this one though.
Pointer Sisters – I’m so excited – Another immortal track from the Pointers, but like Dory I’d go for ‘Automatic’ and ‘Jump’ ahead of this. The record buying public agreed.
Duran Duran – The Wild Boys – Stadium rock at its best. Well and truly in the ‘Radio Gaga’ mode. Must have been great to have been in a large crowd when they played this and joined in.
Iron Maiden – Aces High – I tried to like this but to no avail. Just a noise to me.
Jim Diamond – I should have known better – Hard not to think of the Fab Four but this is a wonderful piece with some great bass and guitar. A deserved no1 hit.
Ultravox – Love’s great Adventure – They must have had a ball making this video but the thing that jars is where it suddenly stops. The single came with a lavish booklet with the lyrics.
Chart rundown – What we didn’t get was “at no42 is Bucks Fizz with ‘Golden Days’”. One of their most underrated songs (also recorded by Cliff) in my view. At least Tel gave it airtime:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhETPrKQCP8
Wham – Freedom – Bearded keyboard player sporting the same outfit and carnation as before. At the start of the second verse. George crosses his arms in a ‘West Ham’ fashion – was he a fan I wonder?
Meatloaf – Modern Girl – Strange choice to playout on; having got Mr Loaf in the studio the other week it perhaps should have been repeated?
Also just outside the top 40 and destined not to enter - On The Wings of a Nightingale (The Everly Brothers) and The Alarm's The Chant Has Just Begun.
DeleteA quick bit of research shows that, after "Too Late For Goodbyes", Charisma had one more big UK hit (joint with EMI), strangely as late as 2008 - "Fascination" by Alphabeta, which reached number 6.
DeleteThe famous label had two more top 40 hits, just, by Julian Lennon and Jellyfish respectively, plus Jellyfish managed 5 more 'hits' between 43 and 59 on Charisma, and Fish and Tony Banks managed one of the smallest possible UK hits on Charisma - one week at 75 with "Short Cut To Somewhere".
Old Jools Lennon actually managed two UK top tens, a number 40 and five minnow hits overall.
It's a pity that the Macca-penned On the Wings of a Nightingale didn't trouble the Top 40. It was the Everlys' comeback single after their reunion, and is a lovely little song, much beloved of Radio 2.
Deletere: the alarm - by coincidence level 42 released a single around this time similarly called "the chant has begun". sadly it also stalled just outside the top 40
Deletealso: arthur your comment on fish and tony banks reminds me of "sweet danger" by NWOBHM band angel witch in 1980, described in a following edition of the "guinness book of hit singles" as something like "the least succesful chart act ever"! despite that, i've justed discovered via wiki that rather incredibly they're still active (although guitarist apart, the list of ex-members is as long as your arm)
Quite a few acts only managed one week at number 75 in their career - from memory rock band Grand Prix, punk band The Adicts and comedy actor Bill Maynard under the alias of Heartbeat Country. Top chart trick had to be that of Canadian indie band Arcade Fire, who made number 75 (for the one week) with a single and number 1 with an album in the UK charts the same week.
Deletei think angel witch were the first to achieve that "feat" though! i wonder if they ever make mention of that fact at their gigs?
DeleteAn interesting observation made by Arthur above regarding the Alphabeat hit on Charisma in 2008. There is no mention of this release in Mark Jones's excellent 'Famous Charisma Discography' book so I am not sure if it is the same Charisma. I reckon the original Charisma fizzled out some time in 1986 when it morphed fully into Virgin - witness Peter Gabriel's four singles taken from his 'So' album.
DeleteAnyway the label was great whilst it lasted and my collection of circa 200 Charisma singles (many loaded onto 45cat) is testament to my own enthusiasm for this eclectic label!
If you click on the picture disc shown on this link, you can just about make out the "Mad Hatter" logo to the left of the barcode atop the record...
Deletehttp://www.45cat.com/record/casst18
Thanks Arthur. I'll get in touch with Mark and see what his take is on it!
DeleteA big hand at this point for the Ruthless Rap Assassins who achieved the massive chart feat of 2 singles that BOTH got to No.75 only!
Deletesct353, according to Discogs, Alphabeat released three singles and an album on Charisma....
Deletehttps://www.discogs.com/artist/617624-Alphabeat-3
I recall the lead singer (male) from Alphabeat as one of those Continental types who didn't realise the F word is not acceptable on TV or radio before the watershed. Wash his mouth out with soap.
DeleteAnswering one of my own comments, there were two other songs with "I-I-I-I-I" lyrics beforehand. Fulham punk band The Lurkers were on TOTP in 1978 with top 50 scrambler "I Don't Need To Tell Her" which has every line of each verse start with five "I"s , and way back there was Brazilian siren Carmen Miranda - the singer who wore a fruit basket on her head - who sang "I-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi Like You Very Much".
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing on the topofthepops vine that the 13th December edition is going to be skipped. It seems for some reason they cannot edit out Gary Glitter: 13/12/84 (Peter Powell & Steve Wright)
ReplyDeleteBlack Lace – “Do The Conga” (13)
Wham! – “Last Christmas” (2) (video)
Paul Young – “Everything Must Change” (17)
Kool & The Gang – “Fresh” (11) (rpt from 29/11/84)
Madonna – “Like A Virgin” (5) WATCH
Tears For Fears – “Shout” (32) (video)
Gary Glitter – “Another Rock ‘N’ Roll Christmas” (22) WATCH
The Toy Dolls – “Nellie The Elephant” (16) WATCH
Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (1) (video/credits)
FFS!!!
DeleteAs this performance is presumably sandwiched between parts 1 and 2 of the chart rundown, couldn't they just stitch those together, as they did when they skipped over the Thorn Birds theme a while back? Perhaps it's hard to get a seamless edit, but does the whole show need to be lost just because of that?
DeleteUtterly ridiculous that we're losing the whole show because of Glitter, unless the banned one makes another appearance elsewhere in this edition which they couldn't easily remove. That said, some of the edits in recent weeks have been far from seamless.
DeleteDoes Smitty make any further appearances in 1984?
By my reckoning there's 11 or 12 possible Thursday/Friday slots before Christmas and just 4 or 5 1984 shows left to show.
Watching the YT clip Angelo posted, they could quite easily have edited out GG, particularly as PP is doing the chart rundown on either side of his performance - it's just sheer laziness on the part of BBC4.
DeleteIt looks as if we will be done with the remaining November shows by the end of next week. Smitty, alas, pops up again on 6 December, and if the following episode isn't shown that will just leave 20 December and the two Christmas shows to go out on BBC4. It will be interesting to see if we get them later this month, or if the Beeb decide to hold them back until Christmas.
Well here's the troublesome bit on Youtube:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6aPNkBf9Q
Really? They can't edit that?
Nothing that Neil B cannot come to the rescue with, so I'm not overly concerned if BBC4 decide to skip the show cos of Gary Glitter.
DeleteI suppose it makes it more difficult to edit out because of the direct chart rundown link to Glitter. Ironic really as the song is often heard in shopping malls even this day with stores digging out their seasoned copies of Christmas hits compilations.
ReplyDeletethey could just edit out the whole chart rundown - would anyone really miss it?
ReplyDeleteNot with the godawful version of Yellow Pearl they're currently using! It's always mixed so loud it's difficult to hear the presenter (no bad thing in Bates' case).
DeleteI like the chart rundowns. They can surely just clip out the performance (which is awful anyway) and just leave in the chart placing. It didn't do much harm last time.
Deleteif i have the misfortune to be out shopping before christmas (in my case just for the stuff i normally buy all year round - bah humbug!), then i always listen out for "another rock n roll christmas" among all the usual shit by slade, macca, reg etc in the hope of seeing the shocked reactions of other punters. sadly though i've yet to hear it as yet as it seems the stores get issued with censored compilations these days. however someone i know did say they heard it played once... in daisy and tom of all places!
DeleteIt was mistakenly included on the in-store tape used by the retailer I work for one year. I was in charge of dealing with customer complaint letters at the time and had to create a standard letter about Gary Glitter to send out.
DeleteHeaven 17 - Sadly we didn't get to see 'Sunset Now' but we do get this which is nowhere near as good.
ReplyDeleteThe Pointer Sisters - HOUSEWIFE SONG!
Duran Duran - Interesting to see many others agree with my opinion that this is not one of their finest singles. Listen carefully though - I think that for some reason that's a slightly re-recorded vocal (though he's obviously not actually singing it live)
Iron Maiden - I've said it before, although I'm not a huge metal fan, I do have a soft spot for Maiden. This is a very good one I think, it sounds a little like their later single 'Be Quick Or Be Dead'
Jim Diamond - He must have felt like a right pillock miming to this. Fair play to him though, he carries it off very well. I've always like it, and it has to be one of the most forgotten No.1s of the decade.
Ultravox - Good to see this brilliant video.
Note how Smith & Davies are padding relentlessly at the end, obviously the show was under-running ever so slightly!
Oo it's a live Top of the Pops. Anything could happen. But sadly it doesn't. We don't even have Sslimey checking his Timex.
ReplyDeleteI always had a soft spot for Heaven 17 and bought a few of their early singles. They deserved to be a lot more successful than they were because this was a superb brass driven anthem and a great dance track. Never cared much for the band's image though and Glen's Texan hat, Testcard jacket and leather trousers combination is hard to like.
Chaka Khan video again, we're gonna get sick of this one soon. Hate that surly nit in the canary yellow trousers.
Julian Lennon again and he has the courage to look at the camera this time even if it is by accident. I don't like the dancers on the steps to the right who are too distracting with their silly antics but at least they're not on a fucking podium.
Looking at the Pointer Sisters video for I'm So Excited it's hard to believe they're the same three women who appeared in the video for Automatic. What a transformation. Great video with lots going on and a lot more interesting than Lionel Richie's so-so video last time.
Never a massive Duran fan but Wild Boys was a good single. But I think I prefer their videos to seeing them in the flesh. Simon The Bon resembles a fat Rod Stewart here and looks the same age. Some of the others could be in the Rolling Stones. They really had become part of the pop establishment by this point.
I hate heavy metal. I hate heavy metal. I hate heavy metal.
The charts and no less that 5 number Ones in the 40 this week including Jim Diamond. I shouldn't like this but I do and Jim was perhaps the most unlikely looking pop star ever. Never realised Rory McGrath was his guitarist.
I'm glad Ultravox was a non-mover this week as we got to see the fab video. Love the bit where Mij stops for a breather and the pub punch up at the end. I'm surprised it wasn't banned because of the guns and violence but TOTP seemed to have selective banning in those days,
Great to see Wham back again enjoying their time at the top. Not sure why they are all crammed onto that tiny stage though and there are so many of them. George gives good value as usual with lots of dancing and miming bits of business with Andrew and Shirley the latter who looks a bit startled like he hadn't told them he was going to do it.
Play out with Meatloaf and Hurls favourite duo dancers (yawn).
Late to the party again - just as I catch up we get four shows at once..
ReplyDeleteAnd what a great show this one is. I love the extra energy you get from these live shows, 2 great presenters, some quality acts, new graphics and the work experience kid gets his artwork on show twice this week.
Mike Smith was my first R1 Breakfast Show host so I remember him fondly from childhood. Shame we don't get his shows on the TV and I think if we continue he presents about 14 in 1985!
Heaven 17 - Not a song I know and it was fine. Nothing special. Already forgotten it.
Chaka Khan - best song on the show and great to see the video again.
Julian Lennon gives us a similar performance to last time. Great song though..
I can't get excited about Crunchie bars (Still all I think of when this song comes on) but it is a quality tune and a fast paced video as well.
Next is probably my least favourite Duran Duran song. They made a lot of good music though. My wife was a super-fan as a kid/teenager and we went to see them in about 2002/3? They were a brilliant live band and put on a great show. Simons hair has gone the full perm now!
Not much to say about the noise from Iron Maiden. Not my sort of music and they will do much better later in the 80s. Clever video though.
Jim Diamond - this must be one of the most played songs on the radio in the 80s. It is a great tune, I think my Mum had this one at home as it reminds me very much of the time.
Ultravox - the song fits the video very well. Best video I have seen in a while but still not mad on the song. Who knew Midge Ure was a Daily Mail reader?
Pure joy in a pop song next from Wham! and Noel is back!!!!
Good choice of playout from Meatloaf.
Best show in a while. 1984 has really picked up since August onwards after a rather flat first half of the year.