December 2, 20168 yr Author We’ve skipped two Yewtreed weeks so we are now in the middle of October. As a special treat we get a second dose of John Peel. One of the missing episodes was the famous occasion when Dexys Midnight Runners had a picture of Jocky Wilson behind them. The picture that was a deliberate joke, not a cock-up. That show - to celebrate Radio 1’s 15th birthday - had the triple whammy of Savile, Travis and Jonathan King. The voice with the beehive, Mari Wilson, starts things off with a decent song. Oh dear, it’s Barry Manilow. Not a high point of Peel’s career. Still, at least he didn’t pretend to find the prospect exciting. Time for our first look at Tears For Fears. This is more like it. The Pinkees have been cut so their contribution will remain forgotten for now. Back to boredom with Melba Moore. Quality returns in the form of The Pretenders. As ever, a lot of thought has gone into this dance routine. Chart rundown part one. And it’s Depeshay again. Fairly formulaic stuff from Ultravox. The middle bit of the chart. The Beatles with the first of a series of 20th anniversary re-releases. Yes, they’ve been milking the back catalogue for a long time. Still, it’s a fantastic back catalogue so who cares? And dedicated to Pete Best. Musical Youth are at number one. Survivor have gone at last. Carly Simon’s rubbish plays us out.
December 2, 20168 yr Loved Peelie's lovefest with his wife, TWO mentions for the Pig (aka Mrs Peel). Good show, Tears For Fears, total classic. Mari Wilson, with her backing singers frollicking with name plates which help me recall that I liked Kurt best, Musical Youth with their "weed" song (with a slight change of lyric) pop stuff for kiddies eh? Both fab anyway. Ultravox' track is one of their best, George Martin produced, as he did with the Fabs. I was there for Beatlemania, and I was very there for the 20th anniversary of it starting. I have just bought Ron Howard's Eight Days A Week, so hey ho 34 years later and still celebrating! Peelie seems to be less than enthusiastic about Carly Simon. Why? Too chic for him :P
December 5, 20168 yr Re: Mike Smith TOTP Episodes Thanks for getting in touch about Top of the Pops. While he was alive, Mike Smith decided not to sign the licence extension that would allow the BBC to repeat the Top of the Pops episodes that he presented. Since his passing, the BBC is continuing to respect his wishes. I hope this clarifies the situation for you. Best wishes, Richard Carey BBC Enquiries Team
December 5, 20168 yr For me, no presenter should have the power to stop the repeats but nothing we can do about it.
December 5, 20168 yr I'll let Suedey do the full version, just note that this was one of my most-fondly-recalled TOTP of the early 80's, John Peel letting slip his love for Sheena and her fab Machinery, fnar fnar, some great one-liners, and a host of good acts, or at least entertaining ones :lol: Just watched this one - such a classic show with Donna Summer, Stranglers building on their early year success Golden Brown and a classic no1 Come on Eileen - I mean name anyone who doesn't no the lyrics to this chorus - one of the biggest pop songs of all time! A lot of NEs low down the top 30 starting with a huge future hit from The Clash!!
December 6, 20168 yr A lot of NEs low down the top 30 starting with a huge future hit from The Clash!! True, but it would need to wait another 9 years!
December 9, 20168 yr filling in for Suedey, it's Peter Powell hosting virtually none of the great records in the singles chart... Two years on and The Piranhas are back with another 50's cover, Zambezi not as good as Tom Hark. Fun enough though, and anyone naming themselves Boring Bob Grover for the featuring credit is fine by me. Kids From Fame, and the laughably sentimental video for Starmaker. The sad thing is I recognise all of the actors from the show - guess I watched it more than I thought! :o Imagination, In The Heat Of The Night, good ol' Leee John. Anyone who appears in Doctor Who and gives me a hug is fine by me. Toyah slightly off the boil, and off the wall as usual, with Be Loud Be Proud Be Heard, not one of her best tracks, though she still had a couple of crackers up her sleeve in 1983 and 1985. Kool & The Gang, Ladies Night Part 14 (Ooh La La, Let's Stop Dancin') Bauhaus going Ziggy karaoke. It's just not David Bowie, sorry, I couldn't actually get over that main failing at the time, nor since. Spandau also on their "doing it by numbers" period. Lifeline was just a bit, whatever.... Sharon Redd on a decent rnb hit, she sadly was dead within 10 years from AIDS-related pneumonia, far too young. Shaky, and an actual hit I had forgotten that sounds not bad at all, I'll Be Satisfied with that! That leaves the number one, the fabulous Culture Club debut hit Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, I loved the boy/girl? media furore. Sadly the other great track of the episode is left for the playout, Kid Creole & Annie I'm Not Your Daddy, which reminds of a night out at Nottingham's Goose Fair with my college friends at a get together. No actual gooses harmed (funfair, so can't say the same for goldfish).
December 9, 20168 yr It's Halloween so who better than to appear in a series of rubbish costumes than....err Simon Bates. Ah, well. Raw Silk up first, and one I barely recall at all (which is unusual for me in 1982). The Beatles Love Me Do, 20 years to reach a new chart peak of 4. Better late than never, the record that started a pop music revolution. 20 years ago seemed very long ago in those days. These days 20 years ago is Spice Girls, which doesn't seem that long ago at all (to me). Blue Zoo (edited out) but trust me it's a good pop record, Cry Boy Cry, fabsynth. Up next the Bee Gees make a comeback with a classic ballad Heartbreaker. OK they had to get Dionne Warwick to front it as they were at this time persona non grata from the disco backlash which killed their career dead overnight. Dionne's biggest hit in 14 years and her best in 14 years. Ah I videod the next one on my betamax, Mad World is classic brilliance still, Curt all angelic, Roland all arty, and a record that sounded like nothing before, always a good sign. Melba Moore, Love's Coming At Ya, returning her to the top 40 for the first time in 6 years. It's not quite up to the fab This Is It, though. Another one I video'd on my betamax, Eddy Grant's return to the big time, and future number one, giving him a wait of only 14 years since he topped with The Equals (Baby Come Back). My copy of I Don't Wanna Dance annoyingly "jumped/slipped" on recording and I still expect it to do the same. This was the beginning of the end for my Sanyo Betamax videorecorder, though it took a while for the fault to annoy me so much that I switched to VHS. Ahh, the 80's.... Culture Club still on top, and Barry Manilow at least only on the end-credits. Not a fan of his 80's stuff, bar one brilliant Jim Steinman track. Robbie's new album track Heavy Entertainment Show, fabulously namechecks Eminem and Bazza in the same line. Under-rated lyricist Robbie.
December 9, 20168 yr The Piranhas biggest hit was the football anthem from 1980? Is that a 50s cover too?
December 9, 20168 yr Yes also a 50's cover, though I had no idea it was now a football anthem :lol: Me neither. Don't remember the Raw Silk or Blue Zoo songs at all. Were they even hits? Minor ones if they were. Will check later.
December 10, 20168 yr would have Much preferred to have heard Blue Zoo, instead of the Beatles, not that I have anything against the beatles but its just you dont hear Blue Zoo much these days. Incidentally Tim Parry of Blue Zoo later formed Big Life Records with Jazz Summers. Which gave us Yazz, Lisa Stansfield, Orb, Soupdragons and a whole host of pther great 90's hits Edited December 10, 20168 yr by fiesta
December 11, 20168 yr That Piranhas track is played at a lot of football grounds when teams score - think a Premiership club uses it but not sure?! My local team Cliftonville use it when they score, so it's familiar to me!
December 23, 20168 yr Is there no more TOTPs 1982 until next year? Yes, 4 more. Two tonight from 7pm and two next Friday from 7pm too.
December 23, 20168 yr I take it his first show was tonight? (I have the longer versions recording later on)!
Create an account or sign in to comment