good episode. Quo were getting into the start of their parody period, starting with a cover of a Tom Jones song. The covers got less inventive as they went on, bar the odd spark of non-Quo-ish brilliance, like In The Army Now.

 

Talking of Hi De Hi, Paul Shane's daughter lived next door to my mate in Rotherham in the 80's.

 

Love The Passions, Madness, Roxy, Coast To Coast (just to point out Making Your Mind Up sounds like Do The Hucklebuck, not t'other way round :P ) Freeez and Kiki Dee.

 

And so to a shameful confession: I don't hate Joe Dolce's Shaddap Ya Face. I'm sorry, I can only apologise, I know it's supposed to be conforming to racist stereotypes and all that in these enlightened PC days. It's more of a harmless good-natured Chico Marx impression than anything else, that's Chic Marx doing an Italian impression in an era when there were loads of Italian immigrants in the USA. See West Side Story, or any Mafia movie for the next gen of the immigrants. Obviously, I do NOT forgive it for keeping off Vienna from it's deserved top slot, but let's be honest Vienna is the most-remembered number 2 of all-time thanks to Joe Dolce (and John Lennon) so, hey ho, everyone wins in the end. :cheer:

I didn't say that Do The Hucklebuck was a Bucks Fizz rip-off. I merely pointed out the resemblance :P

 

In the meantime, I am grateful to the Twittersphere for pointing me in this direction...

 

just when you think you've heard every Beatles track.... :o

 

The lyric change was an improvement....

I'm glad it's not just me who was unaware of that track :lol: I'm surprised nothing was said at the time Jealous Guy was a hit.

 

The lyric change was definitely an improvement. There's a certain initial draft Scrambled Eggs feel to the original words.

Having watched the extended versions of both last week's TOTPs, I've had Do the Hucklebuck stuck in my head ever since. There is indeed a resemblance to Bucks Fizz in both the drumbeat and the dancing girls - I suspect Bucks Fizz and / or their songwriters were watching!

 

Also no problem with Joe Dolce here. The number of times TOTP showed Vienna, you can't say they didn't give it a fair chance of hitting the top spot. Plus nobody complained when Lennon's Bee Gee's rip off 'Woman' kept it off the top spot a couple of weeks before! ;)

I remember the BBC using Kiki Dee's Star as the theme to Opportunity Knocks in the late 80's. Good song.

 

 

Vienna is good but is is a bit over-rated IMo I much prefer Dancing With Tears In My Eyes to that.

Edited February 2, 20169 yr by fiesta

Here we are then in March 1981 with our host Mike Read in a very blue outfit. This, of course, is before he went purple.

 

The programme starts with our first chance to see Duran Duran.

 

Some good stuff tonight next. Here are Adam & The Ants, the Justin Bieber of the day (in chart-dominance terms that is). Plenty of drums for this one, and almost topless Mr Goddard.

 

Toyah hasn’t survived the edit.

 

Shakin’ Stevens has also been dropped.

 

The first “he’s dead now” slot features Motorhead and Girlschool together, also sometimes known as Headgirl. Very droll.

 

With In The Air Tonight still in the chart, we get Phil Collins’ second single. That pot of paint is still around, but he’s got a proper piano this time.

 

Back to some total rubbish with Kool & The Gang and Legs & Co. Just to add to the frustration, Twitter seems to have died, so there are no sarky quips to entertain me. Whoever chose Legs & Co’s costumes may be rather relieved.

 

As a reward for sitting through Kool & The Gang, it’s Teardrop Explodes. Julian Cope was almost normal at the time.

 

A genuine Who slot now, with the real thing rather than some long-forgotten act.

 

The top ten rundown sees Ultravox still stuck at number two. It brings back those memories of getting back from work on a Tuesday and going straight to Ceefax, only to be disappointed again.

 

Let’s gloss over the number one.

 

Coast To Coast yet again to end the programme. Did they know something about the producer?

good episode, not one I didn't like. Best of all was Teardrop explodes, epic sound and great record.

 

Ceefax? I'm far too young to know what that was - was it like the internet? :lol:

They also culled Talking Heads from the shorter show. No idea why they ditched a great song and two faces of the era in Toyah and Shaky when they could have zapped a terrible Phil Collins track and a boring Kool and the Gang one.

 

I think Coast to Coast was a Mike Reid request - how much does he love that song? Fun to see him dancing with the kids though.

Their big problem last night was a surfeit of songs they hadn't shown before. We know they never seem to cut the Legs & Co performance, which left them no choice but to cut some good songs (and Shakin' Stevens).

good episode, not one I didn't like. Best of all was Teardrop explodes, epic sound and great record.

 

Ceefax? I'm far too young to know what that was - was it like the internet? :lol:

Liar :P

Here we go then for our second dose of TOTP this week with Tommy Vance assuming hosting duties. Later in the evening, a new Ronnie Corbett vehicle, Sorry!, was shown for the first time. Now it’s better known as the title of a Justin Bieber song.

 

Thanks to strike action, it’s all repeats and videos tonight.

 

We start with a repeat in the form of Teardrop Explodes again. Not that I’m complaining.

 

Classic pop from Kim Wilde next.

 

Linx, Kelly Marie (complete with bagpipes), Freeez and the Quo have all been binned. Smart move.

 

Sadly, Beggar & Co have survived. Clearly, they could only afford a small stage for this one. Shame they also couldn’t afford to write a decent song. Or employ any talented musicians.

 

It gets better though. Here are Landscape with their only top ten hit. Their other hit - which may appear later this year - referenced a fictional character rather than a scientist. The flautist donated his glasses to a young Ben Elton.

 

After being cut yesterday, Talking Heads make it tonight. Things are definitely looking up, although we could have done without Legs & Co.

 

The chart rundown begins with some band called The Slade.

 

It is followed by another showing for Kiki Dee, then the next bit of the chart.

 

Oh gawd, it’s Coast To Coast again! Couldn’t the people responsible for retrieving this film have gone on strike as well? I’m sure secondary action was still legal at the time.

 

On to the top ten rundown and finally the nightmare is over. There’s a new number one, and it’s another John Lennon song, performed by Roxy Music.

 

Tweet of the night, from the Roxy Music performance -

 

Ceefax subs: HE WHISTLES THE TUNE

Deaf people: What tune?

There's another Twitter contribution tonight.

 

 

:lol:

This is incredibly awkward lol

Aw, I quite like Beggar and Co. There's no disputing their musicianship, even if they do like to odd whip round.

Why does Vance always call them The Slade? It's annoying!!

It’s another Peter Powell-fronted show tonight, and back to some sort of normality after the previous strike-hit episode. He’s opted for pastel shades this week.

 

We start with Sharon Redd and her number 31 smash. What a terrible start.

 

Shakin’ Stevens’ has fallen victim to the 2016 editor’s knife again. Someone really does not like that Welsh bloke.

 

Time now for a classic cover version, from Dave Stewart and former Zombie Colin Blunstone. Some Twitter folk don’t agree with me. Others do.

 

A repeat performance from The Who. The editor must be a fan. This is one occasion when I’m not thinking “Doesn’t he look young?”.

 

Stevie Wonder next. Not one of his best songs, but he showed himself to be capable of far worse a few years later. Now, what are Legs & Co going to do? And what is that sort of gold coloured thing supposed to be?

 

Phil Collins and his tin of paint have been glossed over.

 

We’re in the lead-up to Eurovision, so here comes the UK entry from Bucks Fizz before they head off to Dublin. And, yes, they did that thing with the skirts.

 

First part of the chart rundown in turquoise.

 

Visage were with their second hit. It’s not up to the standard of Fade To Grey, but still pretty good. However, for no good reason, it has been cut, leaving room for Duran Duran with another repeat. Apparently, their debut album “will be due out soon”. Not sure how that works.

 

Anyway, it’s the middle bit of the chart now.

 

We get Toyah this time. Still trying to solve the mythtery of why she was axed before.

 

The top ten rundown ends with the final cover version of the night, from Roxy Music.

 

I’m out tomorrow night, so perhaps somebody else might post some notes. It’s Sky At Night time next week, so there’s just the one show, on Friday.

I'm also out tomorrow night (quizzing) but a few musings on tonights:

 

Sharon Redd wasn't awful, it was that bloody TOTP orchestra and happy clappy crowd, she at least gave a good ol spirited attempt to rise above it all. The podium probably helped that.

 

The Colin Blunstone version was and is sweet, I saw him do it live, still sweet, in Wimborne not long back - he regularly does solo and Zombies tours. It's not, however, by any means in the same class as Jimmy Ruffin's powerful original. Love Colin to bits, but just not :P

 

Stevie Wonder, there appears to be a superfluous "not" in Suedehead's comment. I'm sure it must be a typo as Lately is one of his most touchingly gorgeous songs, with a very sparse arrangement, no frills, not to mention one of his classiest and restrained vocal performances.

 

I concur bout Visage. This cutting will not do at all!

 

Toyah, local lath thtill tourth locally, I really want to catch her next time, I'm fond of her.

 

Bucks Fizz, of course, before they split into 2 (plus one temporary fake version). You know, it doesn't annoy me now nearly as much as it did after it had topped the chart a while....in fact, I quite like it. There I've said it. Still think almost all their singles afterwards were better though :lol:

 

 

 

 

Twitter may have been divided on Stewart / Blunstone, but I think it was largely on my side when it came to Stevie Wonder.

 

Roger Daltrey was 37 when that was filmed, yet he looks in his 50s. The 70s must have been tough ;)