Believe me, you weren't alone in railing against the jingoistic rubbish :lol:

Time for another trip back to April 1982 with Simon Bates on hosting duties this Easter week.

 

A good start with Haircut 100. I fear it is likely to go downhill from here. Apparentlyu Nick Heyward wrote the song when he was about 15. As he is clearly only 13 here, he must have travelled back in time.

 

Bucks Fizz would have represented a drop in quality but they have been cut. There’s still plenty of scope for things to get worse.

 

Oh look, they have. Here are Chas & Dave.

 

On to the Boomtown Rats with a song most people have forgotten ever existed. According to Bates, the singer is someone called Bob Geldorf, a name much used in the days before Live Aid.

 

Elton John with one of his duller efforts.

 

Zoo doing their thang to Shalamar has also been cut.

 

Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder have penned some fantastic songs. Their joint effort on Ebony & Ivory isn’t one of them. Still, there’s a TOTP exclusive to get excited about. Or not. If Farage is watching, he has probably kicked his television in by now and is writing a complaint about the “leftie BBC”.

 

A less celebrated duo now. It’s Foster & Allen. Oh dear, they’re dressed as leprechauns. Let’s follow a song condemning racism with a racial stereotype.

 

I bring you bad news. Goombay Dance Band are still at number one.

 

We end as we began - on a high. Months after it was originally released, Pigbag have a hit single on their hands. What a shame Peelie didn’t get to introduce them last week after he’d played the song many times when it was first out.

Hmm I wonder what Farage has in his record collection? Presumably Wagner, Dietrich and not much else.

 

I rather liked the Elton-as-crooner effort, Blue Eyes was his tribute to Frankie's style. Sadly, it was the template for his solo career post 1990....

 

That Pigbag track was great, but I now have associations of the Perfecto remix in 1995 (which was fab) and hearing it that year in of all places a huge shopping mall on Orchard Road in Singapore.

Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder have penned some fantastic songs. Their joint effort on Ebony & Ivory isn’t one of them. Still, there’s a TOTP exclusive to get excited about. Or not. If Farage is watching, he has probably kicked his television in by now and is writing a complaint about the “leftie BBC”.

 

It's interesting to note that TOTP began to decline around 2005, just as UKIP began to start getting a foothold in the political landscape, and in the 10 years since Top of The Pops was cancelled, the party have gone from the political fringe into a major political force. Now I'm not saying that the cancellation of Top Of The Pops caused the rise of UKIP and that if we brought it back that UKIP will fade out of existence, but I am saying that if Top of The Pops was brought back it would cause UKIP to fade from existence, because correlation always implies causation.

 

But looking back at old TOTP shows why it is the best use for a public broadcaster - every week on prime time TV you could treated to musicians from all corners of the world, from different cultures, different traditions, and different genres, all tied together by a love of music, challenging the audience to listen to something that they might not necessarily be interested in, a real unifying experience. And if you don't like a song? Well that's fine, because you're likely to be no more than one or two songs away fom one that you do like. Later... does a fine job, but it can feel a little bit too specialist and insular compared to the more mainstream-facing TOTP.

 

/passionate rant.

 

 

A great rant - as you say Later is for the people who want to be cool whereas TOTPs is for the actual cool people :P

Later is for the people who want to be cool

 

Who are these people?!? Later usually has one good guest on per week, one not bad throw back to the 90s and the rest are very poor versions of something that had been a surprise indie hit a few years earlier (yet now filtered, homogenised and ready for public consumption).

 

Speaking of cool. If you watch TOTP again, watch the guy in the hat behind Simon Bates make his way to the dancefloor for Pigbag - then watch some of the moves he's pulling towards the end of the song. Anyone know who he is? He seems to be an ever-present TOTP dancer always wearing knee-high leather boots.

 

TOTP was an ever-changing glorious musical hotchpotch.

 

Bringing it back would be pointless now as the chart is the same, nothing happens, no variety. Having to sit through 15 weeks of Drake and 15 weeks of Bieber week after endless week over the last 12 months would have caused riots in the streets as everybody's brain exploded. :P

 

What's needed is a broadcaster with guts to set up a fast-moving, varied, quality line-up of music that isn't in the charts and doesn't appeal to just niche indie music fans. I'd also make sure it's world music and not just the latest dull British band grime act or dance duo pushed by BBC Radio. Actually, I'd be perfect to pick the music, I like everything genre-wise :lol:

TOTP was an ever-changing glorious musical hotchpotch.

 

Bringing it back would be pointless now as the chart is the same, nothing happens, no variety. Having to sit through 15 weeks of Drake and 15 weeks of Bieber week after endless week over the last 12 months would have caused riots in the streets as everybody's brain exploded. :P

 

 

Now I would disagree with that, and would say that you've got things the wrong way around. I would say that they key reason why there isn't as much diversity in the charts any more is because there is no mainstream BBC TV programme like TOTP that rewards artists who manage to make it into the top 40 chart. If more artists cared about getting their music into the UK singles chart because they know that it would be the key to getting their music heard to 15 million people on a Thursday evening (okay, realistically if the show was to come back its audience would probably only be around 3 million, but that's still a pretty fantastic reward for getting at least 10,000 people interested in your single), then there'd be more diversity in it, but as long as the best an act can hope for these days is one play on a show that probably only gets a few hundred thousand listeners on a Friday afternoon (if it even gets played at all, now that 40-25 are effectively glossed over), the only people who'll be gunning for it are the pop artists.

 

Artists need some great reward for getting into the singles chart, and Top of The Pops was it. If it comes back, then there'll be more of an incentive to make the charts, therefore there'll be much more variety, and much more turnabout, within it.

Ah yes, the Falklands, how marvellous Maggie did nothing about the Argentinian reccy on South Georgia, and didn't bother to send back the protective battleship she'd withdrawn from the region not long before. Who could have predicted a desperate and unpopular military junta would do such a thing to try and divert attention from themselves? Who could have predicted how important the islands were to the British spirit against invading Johnny Foreigners (only the British Empire had the right to do that! The cheek!)? Who could have predicted the most unpopular PM in history could make herself suddenly popular by winning a short war? :o

 

Err, actually a moron could have predicted, and I have such sweet memories of being alone in my criticism of the mouth-frothing indignant British population demanding a war instead of jobs, and killing foreigners instead of racial equality at home.

 

The more things change... etc.

 

To think, without The Falklands we could have had Prime Minister Foot. Makes Corbyn look good and smartly dressed actually!

With The Sky At Night on last night this is our only visit to TOTP-land this week. David Jensen is the host. On the day this was broadcast Arthur Lowe died. Time to remember his key role at the very end of Kind Hearts & Coronets.

 

Spandau Ballet are on first. Nobody has told Jensen that we put the stress on the first syllable of ballet on this side of the Atlantic.

 

On to a repeat performance from Roxy Music.

 

Shakatak pretending to be a bit jazzy. This made the top ten.

 

Dollar still haven’t gone away. With typical BBC bias, this show is full of Tories. Jensen said something about a string of hits. I didn’t realise he was dyslexic.

 

A distinct improvement now as Simple Minds are next. OK, it’s not great, but it’s a lot better than Dollar.

 

The chart rundown includes the England World Cup squad. Oh joy.

 

Monsoon would have swept into the studio, but one of them was in hospital so we get Zoo instead (not looking lonely at all). Ooh, I remember it now! I’ve even got a copy somewhere, but had completely forgotten it existed.

 

Time for the next bit of the chart followed by the year’s Eurovision entry from Bardo. Predictably enough, it’s not very good. Spoiler alert - they didn’t win. Apparently, Bardo still existed into 1983. They didn’t make it as far as 1984 though. Can’t imagine why.

 

Continuing with the Eurovision theme, it’s Bucks Fizz at number one. The blokes seem to have raided the Dr Who costume cupboard.

 

Altered Images are the final act. A few highlights, but not a great show. Let’s hope for better next Thursday.

 

I liked all Dollar's hits. I also loved all three Bucks Fizz No.1's and couldn't choose a favourite really. Didn,t care for any of their other hits though.

There is a new batch of TOTP albums just been released, each album covers a five year period, 64-69/70-74/75-79/80-84/85-89/90-94/95-00/01-06. £5 each.

There is a new batch of TOTP albums just been released, each album covers a five year period, 64-69/70-74/75-79/80-84/85-89/90-94/95-00/01-06. £5 each.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01H8TO...Z61ZQB5QYYJE0KK

Time for another dose of TOTP with this week’s host Peter Powell. The programme was a little later than normal because of Young Musician of the Year.

 

We’re off to a good start with Pigbag. Unfortunately, it’s ruined by Powell babbling over the start. Then we get a good example of how to mime badly to an instrumental.

 

Fun Boy Three and Bananarama are up next. Not as good as It Ain’t What You Do…, but still decent enough.

 

A bit of a dull song from Elton John. He’s wearing a hat. He must have started going bald by this time.

 

We are spared The England World Cup Squad performing This Time We’ll Get It right. Spoiler alert - they didn’t.

 

On to Kim Wilde then (or Kimmy WIlde according to Petey P).

 

Time for another dose of Haircut 100. They were at number 12 which is roughly the age Nick Heyward looked at the time (apart from the prominent Adam’s apple). He was a Pointless celebrity recently.

 

The chart rundown is very blue this week.

 

Ph D have been cut, so we miss their only hit. It was a good one too.

 

Ph D Singer Jim Diamond died just under a year ago. He should have been celebrating his 65th birthday next week. Now here’s a much more well-known singer who died earlier this year - David Bowie.

 

The next bit of the chart is a sort of salmon pink colour.

 

Back in the land of the living, it’s Shakin’ Stevens. He should have a new album in the chart tomorrow. Apparently the song is called Shirley, although it sounds exactly like Oh Julie.

 

There’s a new number one, from Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. Neither of them can describe this as one of their best pieces of work. Not truthfully anyway.

 

The programme was going well up to and including Ph D. The rest was less good, including the playout track from Shalamar.

 

I’m not sure whether I’ll be around for tomorrow’s episode, so I may post a little late. Of course, somebody else might beat me to it.

There is a new batch of TOTP albums just been released, each album covers a five year period, 64-69/70-74/75-79/80-84/85-89/90-94/95-00/01-06. £5 each.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01H8TO...Z61ZQB5QYYJE0KK

 

 

I bought just one last week, 1975-1979 and there's an awful version of Uptown Top Ranking on it. Not the 45 single so maybe a re-record but it's truly awful.

TOTP 13th May 1982 with DLT

The Associates track is completely yewtreed as the 2nd performance was hosted by Savile.

https://vimeo.com/155177946

 

Edited September 23, 20168 yr by Mark.

Do DLT and Saville seem to present all the classic performances - in that episode we miss Duran Duran Hungry Like the Wolf and Yazoo (One of my favourite tracks of that decade)!

They seemed to have a habit of it - The Human League dominated 1981 but didn't appear on the repeats until Don't You Want Me as every other performance got Yew-treed.

Thank god we got the Christmas performance, one of my favs!

 

Didn't realise that DLT still presented up to around 1986 (from the YouTube videos), he really looks quite middle aged standing beside Simon Mayo and the like!

Richard Skinner is our host for this edition from the end of April 1982.

 

Hot Chocolate start things off. This made the top ten, but I don’t remember it. They seem to be recreating an ON-J video behind the band.

 

Our unsuccessful Eurovision entry from Bardo has been cut. At the time, UK entries could still be a hit even if they didn’t win the thing. Still, it’s absence from the edit is no great loss.

 

Standard American female-fronted rock from Joan Jett. They appear not to have had the budget to make their video in colour (or should I say color?).

 

This looks like being the week’s highlight. It’s the first TOTP performance from Yazoo and our introduction to the wonderful Alison Moyet (or Alf as she was often called at the time). Good to see this song is getting lots of favourable comments on Twitter.

 

Standard Scottish rock from Simple Minds.

 

Back to Eurovision for the winning song from West Germany’s Nicole. It’s very dull.

 

On to the first part of the chart. Or the magic numbers on Skinner’s words.

 

Spandau Ballet up next.

 

Another chance to hear this sublime song from Monsoon.

 

Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder still embarrassing themselves at number one. Note that you can only see McCartney’s reflection in the piano lid. Stevie Wonder must be a vampire.

 

We play out with some rockabilly from Rocky Sharpe & The Replays. The way most foottball knockout tournaments go these days, they would have to rename themselves Rocky Sharpe & the Penalty Shoot-outs if they re-formed.