July 6, 20186 yr Well Whitney's SAMLFY is OK I think. My fave single from her is probably 'It's Not Right But It's OK'. 'See The Day' from Dee C Lee is great but rather weird for 1985 as it sounds more 60s than 80s to me! Yes I agree on both counts, I'll think of Suedey when I see the new Whitney biog tomorrow at the cinema :lol: I'm not generally a fan but she had some good stuff here and there and especially 1998-ish and her George Michael duet, now both dead too young.
July 6, 20186 yr Looking at the chart archives King seem to have been the last New Wave sounding act to get chart hits, so I would say 1985 was really the end of New Wave rather than 1986. What actually is New Wave in your opinion?
July 6, 20186 yr I'm watching tonight's totp the Xmas day 1985 episode and it's an hour long. Thankfully Mike Smith took a week off after doing most of December! I see they have got the old white Xmas trees from 1981 out again!
July 7, 20186 yr What actually is New Wave in your opinion? Well it has a sound but it is hard to define. While late 70s New Wave is more punk sounding, I would say 80s New Wave though often is rather fast, disco/funk influenced and with some electronic elements. Wikipedia often gets it wrong though, Furniture's 'Brilliant Mind' in 1986 is defined as New Wave but it definitely sounds more alternative rock to me. Same with Altered Images' 'See Those Eyes' in 1982. Edited July 7, 20186 yr by The Snake
July 7, 20186 yr Yeh I always look at it as post punk bands that list the punk for the main part and produced pop music! Are they seperate from New Romantics?
July 7, 20186 yr https://episodecalendar.com/en/show/top-of-...ps-uk/season/13 Good website to follow the episode guide and performers!
July 7, 20186 yr Yeh I always look at it as post punk bands that list the punk for the main part and produced pop music! Are they seperate from New Romantics? I wouldn't consider most early 80s New Wave as being 'pop' as such (a lot of it still had some 'alternative' qualities), but definitely by 1985/1986 the likes of Level 42 were going more poppy and away from New Wave. https://episodecalendar.com/en/show/top-of-...ps-uk/season/13 Good website to follow the episode guide and performers! So now we will be into 1986! 1986 seems to have been a mostly pop dominated year with some dance too. September of that year in particular has a lot of classic songs in the top 10. Edited July 7, 20186 yr by The Snake
July 7, 20186 yr Did you watch the Story of last night? Made out the year to be terrible as the original New Romantic and New Wave bands of the early decade split or stopped producing hits and there was not much to replace them apart from US artists who didn't always come over for totp and music made huge by movies and novelty! Rounded off perfectly by Jackie Wilson beating the majestic Caravan of Love!
July 7, 20186 yr Did you watch the Story of last night? Made out the year to be terrible as the original New Romantic and New Wave bands of the early decade split or stopped producing hits and there was not much to replace them apart from US artists who didn't always come over for totp and music made huge by movies and novelty! Rounded off perfectly by Jackie Wilson beating the majestic Caravan of Love! I didn't watch it, but 1986 doesn't seem to be a great year for chart music. It is good in January and in August and September but the rest of the year doesn't seem to be great. Having said that it is better than 1987, which is probably my least favourite year of the 80s chart-wise. 1988 and the cheesy SAW type dancepop domination isn't the best either but that year is somewhat saved by the underground dance explosion. 1989 is a good year though!
July 7, 20186 yr They did mention the 'new sound' coming out of Chicago - House! And showed the first ever house song to chart in the top 40 but can't remember it's name!!
July 7, 20186 yr They did mention the 'new sound' coming out of Chicago - House! And showed the first ever house song to chart in the top 40 but can't remember it's name!! 'Love Can't Turn Around' by Farley Jackmaster Funk which made #10. Almost as camp and fun sounding as The Communards' Hi-NRG tune at #1 at the same time (probably why 'Love Can't Turn Around' became at hit tbh) , but hits from the house genre in UK would start to become much more underground sounding through 1987 and 1988. House would become much bigger than Hi-NRG in the long run (although Hi-NRG did kind of come back to the charts in about 1993 in the form of eurodance such as Cappella's U Got 2 Let The Music). Edited July 7, 20186 yr by The Snake
July 7, 20186 yr Yeh that was the one! Some amount of changes socially and culturally that are reflected so well by these totp repeats - as I said by late 83 things became a lot more like modern times imo!
July 15, 20186 yr 2/1/1986 Some great dry humour on totp this week from John Peel - he was clearly getting bored - Wham exclamation mark!! Also Shakys last week at no1 ever, although not the final time we would hear the track I think!! Edited July 15, 20186 yr by Steve201
July 21, 20186 yr 30/1/86 6 Billy Ocean When The Going Gets Tough 4 Madonna Borderline 22 Talk Talk Life's What You Make It 17 James Brown Living in America 13 Simple Minds Sanctify Yourself 15 Grace Jones Pull Up to the Bumper 8 Fine Young Canniballs Suspicious Minds No1 A-Ha The Sun Always Shines on TV Kurtis Blow If I Ruled the World
July 21, 20186 yr 'When the Going Gets Tough' is great and of course a classic! And oh my, the Talk Talk singer has adopted a much cooler looking appearance after his rather geeky early 80s style! :o Another good track from Talk Talk, they had moved to alternative rock from the synthpop, new wave and dance of their early 80s material. I do however still prefer their two 1982 hit singles. The 'Suspicious Minds' cover is OK but definitely not the best from FYC (my fave from them is 'She Drives me Crazy' and I am not sure if the singers vocal style works with the track. 'Pull Up To The Bumper' is OK but nowhere near as good as 'Slave To The Rhythm'. The 'Sun Always Shines on TV' is brilliant, better than 'Take On Me' imo. Edited July 21, 20186 yr by Pus
July 21, 20186 yr Why did FYC move to this cover after their amazing first top 10 single?! I like the contribution Jimmy Somerville in the background, least I think it was him! The lead single of FYC has brillant vocals! I personally think Take on Me is their best but this one is a classic too!
July 22, 20186 yr Author Why did FYC move to this cover after their amazing first top 10 single?! I like the contribution Jimmy Somerville in the background, least I think it was him! The lead single of FYC has brillant vocals! I personally think Take on Me is their best but this one is a classic too! Yes, it was Jimmy Somerville. Twitter opinion was divided on Suspicious Minds. I’m on the side of those who approved of it.
July 22, 20186 yr I'm a bit behind. I watched Thursday's show last night. There were three classics. Broken Wings by Mr Mister still sounds good,The Sun Always Shines On TV is my favourite by A-Ha and West End Girls in its second week at no.1 on video. All three of the studio performances by the Pet Shop Boys were on Mike Smith shows so we never saw them. I've also noticed that they've got rid of the unnecessary top 10 video countdown.
July 22, 20186 yr They keep coming and going from that and the breakers!! March will see a lot of on set changes including the classic 80s totp light sign in the background of the main stage!! Also by 1987-89 we will get a lot of new presenters including Anthea Turner/Bruno Brooke's/Campbell!
July 22, 20186 yr I'm a bit behind. I watched Thursday's show last night. There were three classics. Broken Wings by Mr Mister still sounds good,The Sun Always Shines On TV is my favourite by A-Ha and West End Girls in its second week at no.1 on video. All three of the studio performances by the Pet Shop Boys were on Mike Smith shows so we never saw them. I've also noticed that they've got rid of the unnecessary top 10 video countdown. So 'Its A Sin' won't be shown when we come to 1987 :( One of the few musical highlights of that year! 'Broken Wings' is amazing, wonderfully atmospheric with the production. Yes, it was Jimmy Somerville. Twitter opinion was divided on Suspicious Minds. I’m on the side of those who approved of it.Didn't know he was in it, but I guess his voice is quite similar to the FYC vocalist so it definitely fits. The lead singer of FYC has brilliant vocals! Indeed, also the vocalist for Londonbeat sounds quite similar (hopefully 'I've Been Thinking About You' will be shown when it comes round to 1990)! Edited July 22, 20186 yr by The Snake
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