Speaking of Ossy - did he and the Spurs get Yewtreed?

 

we can only hope something good has come out of Saville... :P

We’ve skipped another Yewtreed episode, so we have reached the end of May already. Simon Bates is on hosting duties.

 

Some rockabilly from Polecats gets things underway. I’m not convinced the cellist is actually playing his instrument.

 

Not a great start, but it gets worse with Champaign. Apparently this was recorded on the day John Lennon was murdered (thanks Twitter). Decide for yourself which was the bigger crime against music.

 

UB40 with a song that seems to have passed me by. I don’t remember this at all. This was a double a-side with Don’t Slow Down which I have also forgotten.

 

A repeat showing for Tenpole Tudor has been cut, as has a Rowan Atkinson-free Vangelis. Apparently the latter will be missing from the late-night repeat as well, due to copyright issues.

 

On to Enigma who should not be confused with the people who gave us Sadness Part 1 and other gems. The “Legs & Co are never cut” rule still applies. That was a bad move this week as we are “treated” to a disco medley.

 

Hazel O’Connor next, complete with a glorious sax break. What a glorious song this is. BTW, Bob Holness didn’t play on this one either.

 

The purple bit of the chart now.

 

After inflicting the hucklebuck on us every week for months (or so it seemed), Coast To Coast are back. Oh joy.

 

Time for the blue bit of the chart.

 

From the ridiculous to the sublime, it’s Kim Carnes.

 

As Kim Carnes was at number ten, we just get a top nine rundown, again with longer clips. It ends well as Adam and the Ants are still number one.

 

We finish with an ex-Beatle, but it’s not John Lennon this time. It’s George Harrison with a song he produced himself, so I can’t mention George Martin.

agreed all round, though I will mention the George Harrison record was a touching tribute to John, and had Paul and Ringo on it, so to all intents and purposes it's virtually the final Beatles record until 1995 gave us 2 more to bow out on (though technically they predate this). That is, of course, one more Beatle than The Ballad Of John And Yoko had on it.

 

George Martin will be back on TOTP in 1982 with Paul doing Tug Of War singles, not to mention Ultravox's fab Reap The Wild Wind - if BBC4 still exists long enough of course! :o

While the weather in the real world remains fairly cold, in 1981-world we have now reached the beginning of June. Richard Skinner is the host.

 

Immediately after the programme (and, in those days, it really was immediate rather than after endless trailers and other promotional rubbish), viewers could see the first part of the television version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. It wasn’t as good as the original radio series, but it was many times better than the film. Repeats of the radio series continued on Radio 4.

 

Siouxsie and the Banshees get the show off to a great start. The number one is still fantastic, but what delights are in store before we get there?

 

Oh dear, Shaky’s back. Except he isn’t. He’s been cut.

 

Crossroads actress and Paul McCartney’s cousin Kate Robbins has also been dropped from the short version. She follows me on Twitter, you know!

 

That takes us on to Squeeze. They’ve done better than this, but it’s still good. At least Jools Holland is no longer there being irritating.

 

Less good is this from Imagination, featuring Leeeeeee John.

 

Back to the good stuff, with The Jam.

 

Snooze time with Michael Jackson, accompanied by Legs & Co. Yawn.

 

It’s the first bit of the chart rundown, in yellow this time.

 

Toyah, with a song whose title she can pronounce. Not quite sure what she’s wearing here.

 

The next bit of the chart is also yellow.

 

Phil Collins, once again falling well short of the quality of his first solo single. And, yes, that paint pot is still there. God, this is dull.

 

The top ten rundown, leading us in to Adam and the Ants still top of the pile. It is worth noting here that hazel O’Connor’s Will You has almost reached the top 100 on Amazon after last night.

 

Finally, some dross from Odyssey over the end credits. Time for the football.

 

There is only one programme next week as The Sky At Night has the Thursday slot. We also skip another Yewtreed episode, so we will be into mid-June.

TOTP 1982 confirmed for later this year

https://twitter.com/BBCFOUR/status/708264405348311041

I notice they didn't confirm if BBC 4 would be continuing, I sort of miss them not doing it month by month like real life lol, hope this speeding up doesn't mean we won't have the annual 'The Story of' each year which is my favourite as it documents how things change each year on the show itself.

 

Anyone else downloaded any tracks from the show - I purchased The Teardrop Explodes Reward the other day after hearing it on episode after episode over the past two months - fantastic track, entered my personal chart too lol

pretty much bought vinyl singles of most of the ones I wanted (I used to visit every "out-of-chart" music retailer in mansfield to get bargains) at the time. If you're looking for bargains the 100 Hits range of cd's have tons of classics for a fiver, that works out at 5p per track! F'rinstance 100 Hits Punk & New Wave has:

 

Blondie, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, Skids, Department S, PIL, Lene Lovich, Motors, Stranglers, Flying Lizrads, Devo, Tenpole Tudor, Ian Dury.

 

That's just CD 1. :lol:

Cheers, I'm finding I love the current 1981 stuff, Kids in America and Vienna are fantastic. I see nothing's changed tho as both peaked at no2 behind Shaky and Joe lol!

After another Yewtreed episode we move on the mid-June and a show fronted by Peter Powell. And tonight he’s going to be Marcel Marceau. Oh, and his hair seems to be a different colour.

 

Not the greatest of starts as Linx get things underway.

 

Phil Collins and his tin of paint are back again. I think “painful” is a suitable word for this song.

 

Boring disco rubbish from Odyssey.

 

It gets worse as Kool and the Gang are next with added Legs & Co. This show is becoming a real ordeal.

 

The top 30 rundown is now in orange. I don’t think we’ve had an orange ssection before.

 

Champaign have been dropped, so the editor is showing us some mercy.

 

Sadly, the idiot has also axed Siouxsie and the Banshees.

 

Thankfully, this classic from The Specials remains in the show. Easily the best song of the night. That head out of the car window wouldn’t get past health and safety today. Twitter seems to like this song too.

 

The next bit of the chart, and they’re still using their new orange colour.

 

It couldn’t last. The dross is back, in the shape of Imagination.

 

Smokey Robinson finishes things off with his second number one. The first was far better.

 

Back to two episodes next week. Thursday’s surely has to be an improvement on what we’ve just seen.

a real treat for soul and funk fans this one. Happily that's me :P

 

Sorry, I like every single track on the show, including the cut ones, but dear oh dear oh dear how can "boring disco rubbish" be applied to the classic soul-funk gem that is Going Back To My Roots, much covered and much-lauded. Tut tut disco was dying on it's feet in 1981, the bpm's were morphing into Hi-Energy, this is all American soul/funk or sultry britfunk pioneers! :teresa:

 

Specials is a classic of course. We'll be seeing it again.

There's room for all shades of opinion, as long as we are all agreed that mine is the only one which is right :D

I agree Phil Collins made some decent pop songs but we are all agreed you give him a hard time because he's a Tory stooge, right? :P

There's room for all shades of opinion, as long as we are all agreed that mine is the only one which is right :D

 

but I've spent my whole life working on the assumption that my opinion is the only that counts! This revolutionary concept is turning my world upside down I can tell you... :o :o :D

I agree Phil Collins made some decent pop songs but we are all agreed you give him a hard time because he's a Tory stooge, right? :P

 

I think it was more the faxed divorce backlash that did him in after all the mooning he'd done early in his career about being dumped...

 

that and one overblown turgid ballad too many (I also like about half of his back catalogue, the half that's not ballad-by-numbers, this one I quite like, it's sincere and understated)

TOTP 20th August 1981 presented by Dave Lee Travis

featuring the debut TOTP performance by U2

We’ve reached the end of June 1981 with Simon Bates hosting once again. This edition was only 30 minutes long in the first place, so there will be no cuts. Whether that is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen. On the day this was broadcast, a Mr and Mrs Smith were celebrating the birth of their daughter Sheridan.

 

Gillan get things underway, complete with double guitar.

 

A slight change of pace for Elaine Paige.

 

Time for a reminder (a seamless link from Memories) that Kirsty MacColl’s first hit was a piece of whimsy with a sesquipedalian title. Unfortunately Bates was wrong - she didn’t make the top ten.

 

The Evasions fill this week’s “Who?” slot. I think that bloke is supposed to be Alan Whicker, although he looks more like Michael Fish.

 

Anyway, it’s time for the first bit of the chart.

 

Some rubbish from Randy Crawford next.

 

Thank goodness that’s over. On to the next section of the chart.

 

Depeche Mode in their jingly-jangly days with Vince Clarke making their TOTP debut. This, of course, is this week’s “Don’t they look young” slot. Their earlier song, Dreaming Of Me, was damned good. Simon Bates was by no means the only person to be confused by their name.

 

The top ten rundown brings us to a tedious Michael Jackson song at number one. Time to go to the red button for an A-Ha concert.

 

There’s another edition tomorrow, although we skip another two weeks courtesy of Yewtree. That includes the 900th edition, hosted inevitably by Savile. As tomorrow is a Bank Holiday, BBC4 have assumed there will be no news worth reporting. Therefore, show number 901 is on at 7.00.

Liked all of them except the novelty whickers world and love the Jacko 1975 teen years oldie. Lush. This was pre thriller and topped the chart on merit.

 

 

We’ve now jumped all the way to mid-July, and a programme hosted by Peter Powell. The daytime schedule was dominated by the start of the Ashes test at Headingly and the Open golf, back in the day when subscription telly didn’t exist. The cricket got off to a bad start for England, but things got more interesting later in the match.

 

Before any act appears, it’s the first airing (for these repeats) of Yellow Pearl as the theme tune.

 

It’s another rocking start, this time in the form of Saxon.

 

Third World are back after a lengthy absence. Wow, those outfits are very yellow. No pearl though.

 

We are deprived of the chance to enjoy Depeche Mode again.

 

The Jacksons are up next, accompanying today’s Legs & Co performance.

 

On to one of Dexys Midnight Runners’ lesser known hits. Nobody here seems to have bothered even trying to mime convincingly.

 

Pray silence now for Kate Bush. Oh, it’s the KKK video.

 

New graphics for the chart rundown as well as some more Yellow Pearl.

 

Bad Manners with a song that’s utterly daft, even by their standards. Kevin Rowland, Kate Bush and Buster Bloodvessel on the same show. Which one gets the “most bonkers” vote?

 

Even more YP for the next bit of the chart. And Depeche Mode still have that extra syllable.

 

Things have been going well since we got The Jacksons out of the way, and that continues with Spandau Ballet.

 

We end with one of the best number ones of the 1980s from The Specials.

Just catching up on the last 2 episodes - the new graphics really signify a move from the 70s to the 80s, we just have to get rid of Legs and co now lol and we are truely into the digital new romantic Thatcherite 80s!

Great to finally have Yellow Pearl as the theme. It's a shame there are so many Yewtreed episodes in 1981 as its difficult to keep up with the charts. Kate Robbins was no.3 one week and mid-20s the next!