Friday 15 December 2017

The Power of Top of the Pops

And so after a few weeks off, it seems the DJs are busy elsewhere, maybe having their office party, leaving the bands to introduce each other, as Top of the Pops returns to BBC4 and it's Christmas Day 1984!

Tonight thank god its me instead of you!



25/12/84

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes”
A mysterious voice introduces this seasonal cold war opener which was number one for nine weeks in the summer. And Holly seems to have a raccoon on his head.

Howard Jones – “What Is Love?”
A live vocal from Howard for his number two hit from the beginning of the year.

Duran Duran – “The Reflex”
Performing their spring number wa wa wa wa one.

Nik Kershaw – “I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
Performing his biggest hit, which rose to number two.

Culture Club – “The War Song”
Another number two here, the much maligned War Song, although personally I quite like it.

Thompson Twins – “Doctor Doctor”
Sneaking into the party with a lowly number three!

Jim Diamond – “I Should Have Known Better”
He only had the one week at number one, so its good to see him in the studio again.

Wham! – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (video)
Jim introduces Wham, explaining that George should have been in the studio, but was feeling under the weather ~ maybe a bit too much Xmas pudding!

Paul Young – “Love Of The Common People”
Paul's come as a lumberjack, but where are the Fabulously Wealthy Tarts?

Duran Duran – “The Wild Boys”
Time for seconds now, starting with this autumn number two hit. And after introducing his 'noisy dressing room neighbours', Paul Young helps them out in the chorus.

George Michael – “Careless Whisper” (video)
Again on video, shame he couldn't make it into the studio to perform this solo number one hit.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “The Power Of Love”
Holly has swapped the raccoon for a black dressing gown, but Paul seems to be sitting this one out, a song that made it to number one for just one week in December.

Thompson Twins – “You Take Me Up”
This time performing a number two hit from the summer.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Relax”
They first appeared in the studio in January performing this tune, then it was banned, seemingly by Mike Read, but in time for Xmas, the power of Top of the Pops has now unbanned it allowing Frankie perform their third number one of the show.

Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (+ credits)
A very ambitious studio performance of the Xmas number one, that was very close to being quite brilliant ~ if only George had made it into the studio, and Bono hadn't mysteriously turned into Paul Weller. But everyone else is here, even Sting has made it in for his bit part, and Sade and Banarama and Marilyn and the Quo - pretty much the whole gang are here for a fabulous finale.



Next up is the final edition of 1984, from December 27th.

60 comments:

  1. Michael Hurll certainly pulled out all the stops with this show, packing an impressive roster of big stars into the studio - just a shame George Michael was ill and couldn't make it, otherwise doubtless every performance would have been a new one. Dropping the DJs was an interesting experiment, but it felt a bit weird and impersonal having nobody linking the show together. Having said that, the acts did a decent enough job for the most part of introducing each other - only Jim Diamond seemed really at sea.

    There were some very enjoyable performances here. Paul Young may have been without his Fabulously Wealthy Tarts, but he and his band seemed to be having a good laugh, and it was amusing to see him join in with Duran Duran straight afterwards. The Thompson Twins were also enjoying some uncharacteristic levity during You Take Me Up, and it was good to see Frankie do The Power of Love in the studio, and to have a now-unbanned Relax back on the show. When he had that dressing gown on, Holly looked like a weird cross between a boxer and some kind of zen master...

    For me the weakest turn here was Howard Jones, spoiling his best song with a flat live vocal and an utterly ridiculous cockatoo haircut that makes the tonsorial choices of Flock of Seagulls' Mike Score look rational in comparison! No question that the Band Aid singalong at the end was the most memorable bit of the show, not just for Weller miming Bono but for the unlikely sight of Jimmy Somerville, Dave Hill and Black Lace all sharing a stage together. Even 33 years on, this still feels like quite a momentous performance in many ways, marking the climax of one of British pop's most creatively fertile and successful eras.

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  2. My twopenny worth for this show:

    1. The criteria for getting on to this show seemed to be that you needed to have a top 3 hit during 1984, and my favourite No.3 on this show was Doctor Doctor by The Thompson Twins. Love this one, even though You Take Me Up went one better to No.2, and turned out to be their biggest hit, despite Doctor Doctor being a superior offering in my opinion.

    2. It was great to see Frankie Goes To Hollywood performing all three of their released songs in 1984, and I was surprised that the Radio 1/TOTP ban on Relax throughout the year was suddenly lifted for this Christmas show. Anyone know why the sudden about-turn by the BBC?

    3. With regard to Band Aid, it was interesting that at this point, only Bono and George Michael refused the appearance on the show for Band Aid; Bono already with his head in the clouds and only sending videos for TOTP throughout the year, and George Michael with an up-and-down relationship with TOTP and probably starting to go the way of Bono as a potential super-elite in the pop world. It is no co-incidence that their ethnic roots as Irish and Greek-Cypriot as smaller ethnic communities meant that they had to be different to everyone in the careers too and not part of the anglo fabric, and to prove themselves over and above the rest, so it is not at all surprising that these two were not there. The likes of Sting, Dave Hill of Slade, Marilyn, Paul Weller and others still came into the studio for this finale with Bob Geldof, even though they did not perform a hit of their own, but Bono would probably have wanted three performances on the show like FrankieGTH, but they had no top 3's this year to get on the show by right.

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    1. if george and bozo were trying to make some kind of point as "ethnic minorities", then why did they bother taking part in the recording in the first place? there's a saying that you can't please all of the people all of the time, and the same applies to getting a large group of them in the same room together - especially if they have prior commitments. which may have been a far more likely reason for the latter's absence? also as a countryman (and possible acquaintance) of bob big gob, perhaps he wasn't cowed into turning up by his bullying demands as the others possibly were?

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    2. Sorry Dory, but you are talking nonsense here. George didn't take part in this show because he was ill, as mentioned at one point by Jim Diamond. Wham would be back in the studio a week later, for the first show of 1985.

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  3. Looks like we're going to get some interesting scheduling in 2018, with BBC4 repeating the repeats of 1981! :

    080181 Richard Skinner 080118 at Midnight.

    220181 Peter Powell 080118 at 0040hrs.

    290181 Tommy Vance 090118 at midnight.

    050281 Simon Bates 090118 at 0040hrs.

    120281 Richard Skinner 100118 at midnight.

    260181 Peter Powell 100118 at 0040hrs.

    050381 Mike Read 110118 at midnight.

    But still no DLT - so why bother?

    And the first 1985 edition ~ 030185 Peel/Skinner 120118 730pm/0030hrs

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    1. Interesting, maybe that means they aren't going past 1985.

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    2. Interesting that BBC4 have decided to reshow 1981, though not sure that I can really see the point or purpose, other than to fill up some late night gaps in the schedules. If they are showing 3/1/85 on Friday 12 January, that would seem to bear out what we heard about the '85 repeats only being transmitted on Fridays.

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    3. Where did you read about this Angelo?

      I haven't been able to find out any info on the net about these 1981 repeats.

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    4. It feels too soon to be repeating the repeats, we only saw 1981 two years ago.

      I suspect it's because they're an easy way to fill a few gaps in the schedule and because the eighties shows are proving popular - the Friday early evening repeats are attracting 500,000 viewers.

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    5. why don't they do some host-free compilations of the yewtree'd and shitty editions?

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  4. i'm not going to bother checking any of these performances out on youtube, instead just make comment on the past year in general:

    i only have two of the songs on this show in my music collection, which are the first two frankie releases. and that's only because i ripped from from an 80's compilation CD i had access to - i certainly wouldn't have gone looking for them otherwise. i don't think i've actually played them since then, and in fact would rather listen to the heebeegeebees' parody version ("two songs" by frankie goes to the bank)

    i know these were just the big hits of the year, but the fact is that i can count the number of things on the show i really liked on the fingers of one hand (and that doesn't include the thumb!). so definitely the worst year in the re-runs so far by a country mile - when george orwell wrote "1984" and depicted the future as a bleak and barren wasteland, he must have had a spooky premonition of that year's pop music!

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  5. Here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends and jolly good company!

    Holly sporting a politically confused hat, a mix of Davy Crockett coonskin cap and Russian Cossack titfer. Nothing like worrying this Christmas could be your last to set things off with a swing.

    Howard Jones and Alannah Currie could have established an exclusive none more 80s hair salon together on this evidence. Least enthusiastic keyboard solo ever.

    Liked the Durannies' improv on the "WORP!" during the miming to The Reflex.

    Nik actually playing (well, miming) that guitar for a change.

    Always the best part of an 80s Christmas, the traditional decoration of the Boy George.

    The Thompson Twins were on jolly form, weren't they? And the one who was soon to leave got to say something, too!

    Jim Diamond much as before, did he know Francis Rossi, then?

    I was dismayed to watch Sounds of the 80s on the Red Button last night to see Jeremy Vine mistake a Wham! CHOOSE LIFE T-shirt for a FRANKIE SAYS RELAX one. Can't he read?! It was staring him in the face!

    Not only Paul Young as a lumberjack, the whole band were! Doing Status Quo-style banter we couldn't hear, too.

    Nice to see Frankie on for something more seasonal, and Holly certainly had stage presence. After that, something more seminal. Ahem.

    And to end on, the piece de resistance, as many pop stars as were available to mime Band Aid. I like to think the reason Weller hates this song is because of his Bono miming fiasco here, which still makes me laugh.

    Not a bad show at all, starry enough and with most of the biggest hits - so what was left over for New Year?

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  6. Random Thoughts :

    Two Tribes : The orchestral middle bit at last, but marred by some bizarre 'Knitting Needle' clicking sound all the way through this (unless it's yet another mix variant).

    Jim Diamond : Speculative theme tune for new Michael Elphic / Jimmy Nail vanity project.

    Paul Young : Appears to be keeping the Christmas stuffing warm down his trousers.

    Relax : Incredibly fruity performance - popping a blatant middle finger up (presumably for Mike Read - who's just spat his mince pie out all over the screen), and treating the mic stand to some lascivious extra 'polishing'.

    Band Aid : The bitter tears of Sting.

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    1. Nik Kershaw gives a finger to the camera at one point too

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  7. A bit of a weird show, with some extremely tawdry set dressing, acts doing multiple songs (only justified in FGTH's case, if you ask me) and introducing eah other. No surprise that Howard Jones was the worst at that, though I think Jim Diamond did an OK job - at least he was trying to do an actual link as per the usual TOTP editions!

    There definitely was a weird noise running underneath 'Two Tribes' which was really distracting. Howard Jones had seemingly come dressed as a Christmas gift and wanted to sing live just to show the others up somehow presumably.

    Shame that 'The War Song' was featured, as it was by far the weakest track on the show.

    Nice to get Frankie doing 'The Power Of Love' at last although it's a slightly re-recorded version for some reason.

    We've all seen the finale before of course. A couple of observations - I bet you that Gary 'twat' Kemp demanded that Spandau Ballet got their own podium even though almost everyone else is standing together. Also, why exactly does Weller do the Bono line, because a) For the George bits they pan around the studio, though I suppose the line in question is more iconin and b) Why choose probably the least appropriate person (barring one of Black Lace) to do it? I would've thought Feckin' Bob himself might have given it a go!

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    1. i was just thinking that as far as i can remember there are no female lead vocals on the band aid single whatsoever. but then again if the only option available was bananarama, then perhaps that was no surprise. i wonder if they volunteered their services, and were either fobbed off with excuses or politely declined?

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    2. Good Lord, you're right Wilberforce, but mind you, Boy George's vocals were quite close to being the only female lead vocals, haha!

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    3. Band Aid II sorted that by having Kylie kick things off. The 'Nanas were on that version too!

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    4. by the pop nadir of the late 80's bananarama were not only seen as elder states(wo)men, but probably (and tragically) actually quite credible compared to the rest of the "talent" on that particular recording

      talking of kylie: i was watching some recent hokum on dvd featuring the rock last week where i didn't even recognise her in the one scene (with about three lines) that she had before being killed off. yet despite that she still got star billing at the end of the film!

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    5. Yeah, that's San Andreas with Kylie and The Rock basically being Charlton Heston in an uncredited remake of Earthquake. Happier ending, because it's not the 1970s anymore. I assume Kylie got a featured billing to make up for the way they flung her off a tall building after a couple of minutes (!). Can't Get You Out of My Head was a big hit in the US, wasn't it?

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    6. Oh yeah, and it was Bananarama Mk 2 who were on Band Aid II, with the oft-forgotten Jacqui.

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    7. I can immediately think of three major female singers of the time not involved - Alison Moyet, Sade and Annie Lennox.

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  8. An interesting way of linking the shows together - pity George broke the line. I think there were a couple of retakes though, as the early few just panned from band to band, but a few featured a camera angle change, a classic way to cover a retake.

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  9. Hi guys- remember me? ( Well its been a year, it doesn't surprise me). I'm back- possibly more sporadic than I'd like, but certainly more in evidence than recently. And just in time for the Crimbo Special I see.

    No DJs/Presenters so thats all to the good, but unfortunately the links are provided by the acts themselves which sends the cringeometer hovering precariously close to the red zone on a number of occasions. Anyway- the music.

    FGTH. Having missed out on the chance to comment on the summer of Frankie, I'd just like to throw in my tuppenceworth now.

    God,they were good. At the time I thought they were pretty much a shoo-in to be THE act of the decade, and that global fame and wealth was theirs for the taking. Yeah, I know, the input from Trevor Horn was crucial, but then again many people had George Martin tagged as The Beatles' puppetmaster, so no shame in having a studio genius pulling your strings. But they just looked so..... .right - a proper band enjoying the ride and Holly Johnson was a superb frontman. Scores - 10 for Relax and Two Tribes and 9 for The Power Of Love.

    Duran. Compare the depth of production on the Frankie songs to these two songs. Chalk and cheese,mate - chalk and cheese. I knew they were fond of raiding the make-up box and their mums' wardobe, but hadn't realised how far they went down the mullet road. Horrific. Despite the wah-wah-wah-waaaaah vocal bollox, The Reflex outscores Wild Boys 7 to 6.

    Thompson Twins. Started off their chart career well with In The Name Of Love but slid down further and further with each succesive 'hit'.Neither of these floats my boat, and there is something faintly slappable about Alannah Currie. 3 for each song.

    Howard Jones/Nik Kershaw. Forever linked together in my mind. Possibly because they first appeared around about the same time, possibly because they were both singer/songwriters, possibly because they line up just behind Allanah Currie in the 'Slap Me Gold Cup'. Jones' bravery/stupidity in singing live merely highlights his deficiency in that area. Kershaw is the very definition of 'meh'.
    4 each.

    Culture Club stating the bleedin obvious in a song from which I could only remember the chorus and that unneccesary Helen Terry wail bridge. Poor 4.

    I liked the Jim Diamond ditty and I can still stand it today so that must say something. Not exactly Smash Hits frontcover material though is he? Great voice though. 6.

    Paul Young. My least favourite of his hits and he doesn't engage with us much either. 5

    Band Aid. As a massive Xmas hit, it obviously suffers from over-familiarity without the feel good factor that other perennials come with (like The Pogues, Chris Rea etc). This performance, sans Bono and George, is X-Factor amateurish. Sting apparently has to keep a check on his lyric sheet and various people take up miming other peoples' lines. I'm sorry, but I just don't have the ability to like this any longer. 2.

    Well, that was fairly painless. Can't believe I was away so long! My New Year's resolution is to join you all more often.

    Happy Christmas one and all.

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    1. Ah, I see you're back after a long break, like about a year's worth of TOTP in 6 months.
      I put in my tuppence worth on the Toy Dolls Christmas hit Nellie The Elephant which will reappear in the first 1985 shows it seems, and I likened it to Lily The Pink by The Scaffold, mainly due to the Toy Dolls stealing the idea from The Scaffold of the slow escalation towards the end of the song, and both being Christmas hits. Would be interesting to know your 'scores' for these.

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    2. With Frankie I think Holly Johnson was a great front man and characterful singer.

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    3. maybe prattling on ad nauseum about that stupid toy dolls/scaffold thing is one good reason why shakey shakerson went awol for so long?

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    4. i have to disagree with regard to what's been said about holly johnson - i thought he had very average looks and not much in the way of charisma either (regardless of whatever he dressed in, or whatever controversy he caused), and just didn't come over as a glamourous frontman in the way that george michael, simon le bon, green, marilyn et al did. ironically, unlike those and other effete and/or exotic singers that were the norm in that era, it was only the plain-janes of johnson and jimmy somerville that were actually openly gay!

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    5. I definitely wasn't thinking of Holly Johnson as glamorous, more as a character. Marc Almond seemed somewhat cliched in appearance to me in comparison.

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  10. Although the 'Tonight thank god its me instead of you!' line is one of the most expressive parts of the song its sentiment has been criticised and it was even changed in a later version. So getting to sing it or mime it gives you centrestage with that desperate cry while also giving you a questionable line.

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    1. It's "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you!"

      I remember reading on an American site a few years back an article accusing that line of being offensive, thus unfortunately proving the old cliché that Americans don't understand irony.

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    2. Ok, I was just copying what Angelo put down above. :D

      That definitely makes more sense in the song, if still likely to annoy some.

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  11. Didn’t enjoy this one particularly – three Frankies and three Thompsons…why? At least we didn’t get Stevie Wonder and predictably Lionel Richie was overlooked. What about 1984 then? What were the best and least favourite records for everyone?

    Best for me (in no particular order):-

    1) Hard habit to break – Chicago
    2) I want to know what love is – Foreigner
    3) Time after time – Cyndi Lauper
    4) Never ending Story – Limahl
    5) Radio Ga ga – Queen
    6) Self Control – Laura Branigan
    7) Against all odds- Phil Collins
    8) Careless Whisper –George Michael
    9) Together in Electric Dreams – Phil Oakey/Giorgio Moroder
    10) Shout – Tears for fears

    (Most surprising song that I liked that I didn’t ever recall hearing before – The First Picture of You by Aztec Camera. I went to the superb Michael Ball / Alfie Boe show the other week and amongst the pre-show staples they played was, surprisingly, this record!)

    Least favourites

    1) Two Tribes – Frankie goes to Hollywood
    2) Dr Beat – Miami Sound Machine
    3) I just called to say I love you – Stevie Wonder
    4) We all stand together – Paul McCartney / Frog Chorus
    5) One love – Bob Marley
    6) It’s raining Men – Weather Girls
    7) War Song – Culture Club
    8) Can’t think of any more in particular…lots of songs I wasn’t keen on….

    Totp most ignored hit of 1984 award goes to Billy Joel with ‘An Innocent Man’. Billy repeated this with his next two singles and Lionel Richie and Grandmaster Flash had long chart runs with no Totp exposure.

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    1. ...of course, I meant The Lotus Eaters for 'The first Picture of you'. Duh!

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    2. apparently the lotus eaters are still active (despite only having one hit single), so you could actually go and see them performing "the first picture of you" in the flesh if you so wished

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    3. All I Need Is Everything by Aztec Camera I think is one of the classics of year, personally I'd put it above the Lotus Eaters song (not that I dislike it).

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    4. I recommend the TOTP2 2017 show this year. A nice selection of songs including a moving new version of 'Streets of London'. I still chuckle everytime I hear this song however thanks to the very funny 'Big Train' sketch!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1YNEtaHbzA

      Merry Christmas.

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    5. Cropped to widescreen though - blooming vandals!

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    6. i had no idea that a cover of "streets of london" had recently been a hit, as i have no interest whatsoever in today's pop charts or the contemporary music scene in general. however by coincidence myself and a friend recently arranged and performed a revised version of it that relates to where we live, whereby the word "london" in the choruses has been replaced by various similar-sounding local districts, such as gorton and longsight!

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    7. There's a Finnish version of Streets of London from the 70s that I've liked for a while now. I didn't know it was a cover at first.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ZaF7m2kL8

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    8. I thought TOTP2 was absolutely dreadful and definitely DON'T recommend it. Constant chopping of the end of songs - Wizzard being particularly egregious - with the same links by Mark Radcliffe as one of the previous TOTP2s that they repeated earlier in the week! Plus the inclusion of lots of big hits just because they were on Christmas shows. Oh, and Ed ****ing Sheeran doing 'Fairytale Of New York'.

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  12. i was going to leave this until the final show of 1984 post from angelo. but seeing as how sct's now broached the subject:

    1984 crackers:

    big country - wonderland*
    china crisis - wishful thinking
    pointer sisters - automatic*
    terri wells - i'll be around
    david sylvian - red guitar*
    scritti politti - absolute
    change - change of heart
    level 42 - hot water*
    zz top - gimme all your lovin*
    eurythmics - sexcrime*

    * only listed in the wake of nothing better to choose from!

    1984 turkeys:

    status quo - marguerita time
    cyndi lauper - girls just wanna have fun
    nena - 99 red balloons
    wham! - wake me up before you go go
    tina turner - what's love got to do with it
    miami sound machine - dr beat
    stevie wonder - i just called to say i love you
    duran duran - wild boys
    madonna - like a virgin
    band aid - do they know it's christmas

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    1. Wishful Thinking only really became more famous for me later but definite classic.

      Sexcrime I liked a lot at the time and still do, though Here Comes the Rain Again has overtaken it now for me, amazing production on that one.

      Automatic is popular here but I always liked Jump more.

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    2. it was pretty much a toss-up between "automatic" and "jump" for a place in my crackers list, although neither would have come close had they been released the previous year!

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    3. Automatic has held out longer on the dance floors to this day as classic disco, whereas Jump fell into the hands of those girlies called Girls Aloud, so Automatic has managed to hold onto its uniqueness with the Pointer Sisters, so you can chalk me up another who puts this one into the 1984 crackers.

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    4. in that case "automatic" must be in a very small minority of 70's and 80's dance records that haven't either been sampled or covered karaoke-style (or "mauled", as i like to think of those vile practices) by talentless oiks in the last 20 years or so?

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    5. It's probably because of the awful video for Automatic, that put off not only TOTP by using Zoo dancers, but also the girlie bands some 20 years later from covering the song like they did for Jump, thereby preserving Automatic for the Pointers Sisters alone over the years.

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    6. because of the awful video?!? that's hardly going to stop these 21st century talentless tossers from sullying our heritage! i'm sure its turn will come to be mangled soon enough...

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    7. I suspect Jump has been played more but for some maybe it's overplayed. I probably prefer the classic Van Halen song more now, but both are great. Automatic is decent but less catchy for me.

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  13. A top 10 best is impossible, a top 100 would be easier.

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    1. i could probably have done a list of top 20 crackers for most if not all years in these re-runs prior to this one, but this year was a turkey in itself as far as i was concerned!

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  14. Like Wilberforce, I was going to do my list on the 27/12/84 thread, but as the retrospectives have already started here are my top singles of the year, in no particular order:

    Human League - The Lebanon
    Oakey/Moroder - Together in Electric Dreams
    Ultravox - Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
    Pointer Sisters - Automatic
    Spandau Ballet - I'll Fly For You
    Flock of Seagulls - The More You Live, the More You Love
    Nik Kershaw - The Riddle
    Wham - Freedom
    Prince - When Doves Cry
    Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy

    Away from TOTP, there were a couple of excellent albums released in '84 that never got the recognition they deserved. Mike Oldfield's Discovery is one, and Stationary Traveller by Camel is the other. The latter was a concept album centred around the Berlin Wall and people trying to get from East to West; there are some fine songs on it, and Andy Latimer's guitar work is superb throughout, particularly on the instrumental title track:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKW9rIQwHCY

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    1. John - yep 'Discovery' is probably my favourite Mike Oldfield album. The segue from 'To France' into 'Poison Arrows' is a great moment on side 1. Not heard the Camel album but will keep an eye (and ear) open for it.

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    2. Smalltown Boy has always been one of my favourites, though my favourite Spandau is definitely Only When You Leave.

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  15. Here's a really good podcast conversation for your holiday quality time:
    https://soundcloud.com/adam-buxton/ep60-thomas-dolby

    Adam Buxton talks to Thomas Dolby, who we've seen recently. Excellent anecdotage about Shane Magowan, Magnus Pike, Michael Jackson, David Bowie... one of these things is not like the other! TOTP is discussed. Anyway, he's a good guy and can spin a good yarn.

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    1. i wonder how magnus pike would feel if he knew his name is now in use as mockney rhyming slang for ladies who love their own kind?

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  16. Saved this for Xmas Day....

    What a treat. FRANKIE in fine form, good to see a live performance of Power even it sounds like a re-record.

    Shame George couldn't make it. Good to see the Wham video though.

    Thompson Twins a real highlight for me. A real discovery for me through these repeats. Fast becoming a big fan.

    Remember the Band Aid performance from the time.

    Myself and the Wifey both think Howard Jones should have mimed. ...

    Duran Duran went down well and Paul Young fab as well.

    A great show and I didn't miss the DJS. ....If only they'd stuck with this format, we'd have all the repeats,

    Merry Xmas all.....

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  17. My average rating for song for this show would be over 8.5, which just shows how much British music had reached a peak compared to the 73 Christmas show, which was ok but not in the same league at all.

    I also didn't think Howard Jones vocal was that bad, I still enjoyed the song.

    The War Song may have been slightly more uptempo than normal I'm not sure.

    The best placement in the playlist was probably from The Power of Love to You Take Me Up, a nice shift in tempo.

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  18. For some reason I thought the Talk Talk song It's My Life had been mentioned but I don't think it was here. Anyway amazing song with a classic video making reference to animals and their lives. Clever juxtaposition of animals in captivity and free, and the transforming of the black bar of silencing into a bird of freedom. It definitely moved me when I first got it. And the performance obviously is great.

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  19. Surprisingly, It's My Life only got to 46 in the UK charts on its initial 1984 release - it would take a reissue six years later to finally get it into the Top 20.

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