July 20, 20159 yr Surprised nobody liked Ian Dury - oh well. And I thought BA Robertson was a great co-presenter, but then I am a fan of his brand of 'comedy'.
July 20, 20159 yr Surprised nobody liked Ian Dury - oh well. And I thought BA Robertson was a great co-presenter, but then I am a fan of his brand of 'comedy'. no i like BA too, he's witty and has a light pleasant irreverence... Ian Dury - not one of his best, though not actually bad as such B-)
July 23, 20159 yr Author We’ve missed two Yewtreed episodes, so we jump forward to mid-September this week. Sadly, the missed episodes include The Jam at number one. Olivia Newton-John is the first woman guest presenter since the new format was introduced. The script is no better than normal. It was only 35 minutes this week, so we shouldn’t lose too much. Another strike meant that there was no studio audience and a lack of studio performances. A decent start with an XTC video. Richard Branson demonstrates his taste for self-publicity. Snooze time next with Randy Crawford. She’s even fallen asleep herself. Please just fly away. On to Stevie Wonder with a track from his forthcoming album, Hotter Than July. This was from the time he was still capable of writing good songs. Apparently, peace has come to Zimbabwe. The hit-and-miss theme continued with some rubbish from Sheena Easton. Thankfully, the editor has taken pity on us and it has been omitted. After being cut a few episodes ago, Nick Straker Band get their moment in the spotlight this week. Jonathan King is not Yewtreed, so we get to see him show us what a Rubik cube is. Fun time with Madness. Time for another guest - and the “now, then” intro hasn’t been cut - as Bates introduces Lynda Carter for a bit of publicity. She even pretends to have heard of various British cities. As interviews go, I wish this would just go. Has ON-J fled the studio in embarrassment? Billy Joel appears on video again. How much of the sax solo will we get this time? Ooh, we get all of it. Oh, ON-J has returned, giving time for yet another excruciatingly awful interview. Clearly, Simon Bates taught Jools Holland everything he knew about interviewing techniques. Anyway, the top ten rundown leads up to the number one. Sadly, it’s Kelly Marie. It’s Queen playing over the closing titles and another episode bites the dust. We now take a break for the Proms. TOTP is back in September (the real one).
July 23, 20159 yr Livvie looked fab and in her prime. Ignoring the padded links mostly, did anyone NOT have Rubik's cube at the time? I know I did and I know I never EVER managed to get it right... I presume the BBC's policy is "once you've served your time" (which is perfectly right, given Dirty Den etc) though JK can write a good letter if he gets chopped out, I understand. He wrote to me at the time, anyway, so I'm OK about it. (I didn't write back, he was plugging New York penpals for his US radio audience) Hmm, maybe Stevie needs to write an impassioned follow-up about Zimbabwe. Not that he's been passionate for some decades, musically, and there has been a noticeable lack of comment on African politics in music generally since Mandela was released, which is a shame as there's room for improvement pretty much worldwide these days... The music? I liked them all, even Nick Straker and Sheena Easton. :lol:
September 11, 20159 yr Didn't realise they still did in 1980, esp Saville! DLT's final TOTP was 25/10/1984 25/10/84 (Peter Powell & Dave Lee Travis) Feargal Sharkey (with Madness) – “Listen To Your Father” (30) WATCH Lionel Richie – “Penny Lover” (22) (video) Alison Moyet – “All Cried Out” (8) WATCH ZZ Top – “Gimme All Your Lovin’” (34) (video) Limahl – “Never Ending Story” (40) Billy Ocean – “Caribbean Queen” (25) (video) Eugene Wilde – “Gotta Get You Home Tonight” (32) Status Quo – “The Wanderer” (23) WATCH Wham! – “Freedom” (1) (rpt) Kim Wilde - "The Second Time" (29) (audience dancing/credits) Savile's final TOTP was 5/7/1984 05/07/84 (Jimmy Savile & Mike Smith) OMD – “Talking Loud & Clear” (11) Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time” (4) (Montreux clip) Ultravox – “Lament” (32) Thompson Twins – “Sister Of Mercy” (28) Shannon – “Sweet Somebody” (36) Prince – “When Doves Cry” (21) (video) Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes” (1) (rpt from 21/06/84) The Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)” (6) (audience dancing/credits) Thanks to Popscene for the info http://z6.invisionfree.com/popscene/index.php?showtopic=1225 Edited September 11, 20159 yr by top40chartsuk
October 1, 20159 yr Author So,we’re back after a long break and it’s time for the show first broadcast the day after I left my teenage years behind me. There doesn’t appear to be a guest presenter this week. Perhaps they shouldn’t have told the potential guests that they would be with Mike Read. Black Slate get things under way with a song I don’t remember at all. Apparently, the song went on to reach the top ten. Ah well. I’m sure I’ll have forgotten it again by next week’s show. Still, at least the hat of the week award has already been decided. The taste police have ruled Mike Read ineligible for the jacket of the week award. Oh, we do have a guest presenter. It’s Leo Sayer. Now, here’s one that I do remember. It’s the pre-Crowded House Finn brothers in Split Enz. Sadly, this didn’t make the top ten although it is far better than Black Slate’s effort. Cool jackets as well. DIana Ross next with a song that sounds almost exactly like her previous single, i.e. another formulaic Chic-produced number. And now Legs & Co do Queen. What could possibly go wrong? And a plug for the forthcoming Greatest Hits set. I wonder if anyone bought it. As for Legs & Co, I’m really not sure where they’re coming from here. Twitter has decided that the costumes were borrowed from Servelan. Time for the chart rundown now (after a pointless appearance by alleged comedian Russ Abbot), pausing at number twenty. On to Ottowan with a typically awful piece of 80s disco followed by the next bit of the chart rundown. Did Ottowan really think people would struggle to spell disco? Oh dear, Russ Abbot is back. Has Leo Sayer been kidnapped? There would have been more disco from Shalamar but that has been cut. Another forgotten song from Linx. Another dreadful song too. Have we really waited all these months for this? Time for the top ten rundown, complete with additional facts, followed by the new number one from The Police with the first song to go straight to the top since The Jam’s Going Underground earlier in 1980. The Police were only the seventh act to do so. The list is substantially longer now. Oh, Leo Sayer is back. Maybe he threatened to sing to his kidnappers. The forgotten hits keep on coming with Change to close the show. The 2 October programme is Yewtreed (DLT), so expect to see some of the same songs next week.
October 1, 20159 yr loved every track on the show (well, at least liked) and adored Crowded House and Linx. At the time I was only slightly more into Queen and Band Of The Year Police. Sting taking his top off was worth about an extra 100k sales. Oh yes it was! A great show ruined by Russ Abbot, and to a lesser extent Leo's banter with Reid-ey. I'm not going to slag off Mikey as he at least hasn't been convicted of anything more than crimes against music, which is good news for music lovers wanting to view archive material. Belated happy birthday Suedehead2, and also condolences on crossing that invisible half-decade line into the second half. I know how that feels.... :lol:
October 1, 20159 yr Author The worst bit about my latest birthday is that I have moved in to the next age category in most opinion polls :drama:
October 2, 20159 yr Aha, didn't realise TOTP was back on. I shall get me to the iPlayer. Amazing Ottawan fact: producer Daniel Vangarde is the father of Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter.
October 8, 20159 yr Author Peter Powell is the presenter this week. Stand by for some of the same songs as last week as the intervening show has been Yewtreed. There’s a bloke behind Powell looking less than enthusiastic. Perhaps he was hoping for some special attention from Jimmy Savile. We start with Status Quo with another remix of the song that gave them nearly all their hits. Time for a terribly natural - scrub that, just terrible - interview with Dennis Waterman. Speaking of derivative songs (as we were before Waterman turned up), the repeat showing of Diana Ross’s repeat of her previous hit has been cut. A massive increase in quality now with the excellence that is OMD. Frightening thought of the week - this was a hit 35 years after the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima. We are now another 35 years on. Ouch. A few pieces of news now, followed by the first part of the chart rundown. Legs & Co do their stuff to an act going by the name of Coffee. I don’t remember this at all. I hope to forget it again before long as it’s rubbish. More chart rundown. Who on Earth were Sweet People? And what is that bird all about? Another repeat now from Black Slate. Their song was only on a week ago, but I’ve already forgotten it. That hat is rather difficult to forget though. Oh dear, OMD apart this really isn’t a good week. It’s The Nolans. Oh dear, it’s another awful interview. Paul Jones is the latest unlucky victim. Why are they playing bloomin’ Ottowan in the background? Another repeat from last week from Linx. It sounds just as dull as it did seven days ago. We would have had a “Blimey, was he still having hits in 1980?” moment now as Gilbert O’Sullivan was on but his performance has been axed. This was his first top 40 hit for five years and, barring something extraordinary, his last ever. The top ten rundown ends, as last week, with The Police. We end with one more repeat as Ottowan are inflicted on us yet again. Time for Ireland v Germany. It’s Sky At Night week next week, so the next programme is on 22 October.
October 13, 20159 yr Author Interesting extract here from Elvis Costello's new book http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/...top-of-the-pops
October 13, 20159 yr pretty much confirming all previous commentators on the TOTP experience of that period. I also agree with Elvis about his I Wanna Be Loved video. I was also having a bad time and dropped tears along to it many a time, fabulous video.
October 15, 20159 yr DLT's final TOTP was 25/10/1984 25/10/84 (Peter Powell & Dave Lee Travis) Feargal Sharkey (with Madness) – “Listen To Your Father” (30) WATCH Lionel Richie – “Penny Lover” (22) (video) Alison Moyet – “All Cried Out” (8) WATCH ZZ Top – “Gimme All Your Lovin’” (34) (video) Limahl – “Never Ending Story” (40) Billy Ocean – “Caribbean Queen” (25) (video) Eugene Wilde – “Gotta Get You Home Tonight” (32) Status Quo – “The Wanderer” (23) WATCH Wham! – “Freedom” (1) (rpt) Kim Wilde - "The Second Time" (29) (audience dancing/credits) Savile's final TOTP was 5/7/1984 05/07/84 (Jimmy Savile & Mike Smith) OMD – “Talking Loud & Clear” (11) Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time” (4) (Montreux clip) Ultravox – “Lament” (32) Thompson Twins – “Sister Of Mercy” (28) Shannon – “Sweet Somebody” (36) Prince – “When Doves Cry” (21) (video) Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes” (1) (rpt from 21/06/84) The Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)” (6) (audience dancing/credits) Thanks to Popscene for the info http://z6.invisionfree.com/popscene/index.php?showtopic=1225 Thanks for the info didn't realise he did 20 years! And in relation to the story of TOTPs 1981 can't wait to see it - love watching it over the new year each Xmas!
October 16, 20159 yr Feargal Sharkey (with Madness) – “Listen To Your Father” (30) Interesting - did Madness play on the record or were they just larking about with Feargal on that episode of TOTP? Doesn't sound very Madness-ish.
Create an account or sign in to comment