I've never come across that before, an artist using the same song as a B-side to different singles. And even more bizarrely on two singles around 5 years apart! I think I'd be a bit p*&%ed of as a fan if I'd discovered that. Part of the joy of record buying for me back then was when you got a new, especially non album track on the flip side. Having said that, its a good song though. I wonder why the record company done it? If they were trying to boost sales you'd maybe expect a previous big hit put on the B-side, not a 5 year old album track that had already served the same purpose.
I wonder if the lyrical content of Spirits Having Flown reminded the record co. of Wind of Change therefore they decided to pair off the two tracks together.
In the same year (1980), Michael Jackson's Rock with you was coupled with 'Get on the floor ' as its B-side. The latter being a wonderful track from the Off The Wall LP. The next MJ single was 'She's Out of my Life' and its B-side was again 'Get on the floor'!! This time remixed slightly. I wasn't complaining as I bought both singles and for me Get On the Floor was my second favourite MJ recording. Only bettered by his No.1 offering from 1981.
I've never come across that before, an artist using the same song as a B-side to different singles. And even more bizarrely on two singles around 5 years apart! I think I'd be a bit p*&%ed of as a fan if I'd discovered that. Part of the joy of record buying for me back then was when you got a new, especially non album track on the flip side. Having said that, its a good song though. I wonder why the record company done it? If they were trying to boost sales you'd maybe expect a previous big hit put on the B-side, not a 5 year old album track that had already served the same purpose.
China Girl will surely know this, although whether she will agree is another matter, but the B side to that David Bowie hit which is her username, No2 in June 1983, was Shake It. I rarely played B sides more than once on any singles I bought but found myself playing that one quite regularly that summer and a few times since.
I wonder how good or bad the chart for this week in 1980 (TOTP 24-1-80) would sound if every single in the forty was flipped over to the B side instead!
Just finished watching the (late) edition of this week's TOTP 1980. For me not one of the best but once again reshowing the series allows me (us?) to appreciate tracks that we maybe overlooked/dismissed/were unaware of all those years ago. The standouts for me this week being...
Sheila B - Spacer - Excellent stuff.
Matchbox - Totally not into them at the time, but that Buzz track is very good.
Some other good stuff though - Joe Jackson, Specials...
As previous poster I preferred Barbara Dickson's January February, not keen on Dollar apart from Who Were You With In The Moonlight, The Regents - ok, Boomtown Rats again not great for me this week, Pretenders again not one of my fav. tracks from them...
Still enjoying the shows though, and of course all the great contributions on this thread - brings back lots of memories - can't believe it was 35 years ago...
Just finished watching the (late) edition of this week's TOTP 1980. For me not one of the best but once again reshowing the series allows me (us?) to appreciate tracks that we maybe overlooked/dismissed/were unaware of all those years ago. The standouts for me this week being...
Sheila B - Spacer - Excellent stuff.
Matchbox - Totally not into them at the time, but that Buzz track is very good.
Some other good stuff though - Joe Jackson, Specials...
As previous poster I preferred Barbara Dickson's January February, not keen on Dollar apart from Who Were You With In The Moonlight, The Regents - ok, Boomtown Rats again not great for me this week, Pretenders again not one of my fav. tracks from them...
Still enjoying the shows though, and of course all the great contributions on this thread - brings back lots of memories - can't believe it was 35 years ago...
A very varied line up, everyone from a glam rock star people thought had fizzled out in 1974 to 2 Tone. It seems the charts in 1980 could accomodate anyone, including a Ramblers style choir that had the Christmas Number One. I'm still waiting for Captain Beaky, though, and the set consisting of hand drawn characters.
A very varied line up, everyone from a glam rock star people thought had fizzled out in 1974 to 2 Tone. It seems the charts in 1980 could accomodate anyone, including a Ramblers style choir that had the Christmas Number One. I'm still waiting for Captain Beaky, though, and the set consisting of hand drawn characters.
Cleverly written by the late, great Jeremy Lloyd!
All together now...
The bravest animals in the land are Captain Beaky and his band
That's Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat
They march through the woodlands singing songs
that tell how they have righted wrongs
Always surprised that more folk, especially forty and above don't watch, its pure history, and highly entertaining.
We do! . There's quite a few 40+ people who tune in each week to watch & also a few Spring chickens watch it also!
Just wish they hadn't waited 35 years to start showing the reruns!! We may have got all the Yewtreed episodes too if they'd started 10 years earlier!!
I remember Caravan by Barbara Dickson really well because my sister had the album it came from, which seemed to be some kind of concept thingy that never went anywhere, it had the feel of an album that was supposed to be an Original Soundtrack to a film or a musical that never got made. I might be completely doolally bob in my memory of it, but I think it had playing cards on the front? Anyone remember this Mike Batt project?
China Girl will surely know this, although whether she will agree is another matter, but the B side to that David Bowie hit which is her username, No2 in June 1983, was Shake It. I rarely played B sides more than once on any singles I bought but found myself playing that one quite regularly that summer and a few times since.
I wonder how good or bad the chart for this week in 1980 (TOTP 24-1-80) would sound if every single in the forty was flipped over to the B side instead!
Good song. And if they hadn't stuck it on the B-side of 'China Girl' I always thought that could have been a single in its own right. But I suppose as he'd already released three great singles off what was, I think, only an 8 track album that might have been pushing it a bit.
A very varied line up, everyone from a glam rock star people thought had fizzled out in 1974 to 2 Tone. It seems the charts in 1980 could accomodate anyone, including a Ramblers style choir that had the Christmas Number One. I'm still waiting for Captain Beaky, though, and the set consisting of hand drawn characters.
I just watched that on You Tube and have no recollection of it whatsoever! Perhaps
fortuitously! ;-)
So if UKIP win the General Election, or more likely hold the balance of power we could get Mike Read in the cabinet as Culture Secretary! UKIP Shadow Culture Minister, surely not.
Did I also really hear them right when they said he tried to ban their record simply for having the word "fascist" in it?
The new Heaven 17 single, Pray, sounds great. But only on vinyl, with a "download activation code". How does that work? You've got to buy the vinyl single to be able to get the download code for a digital copy? Not the way to get a hit single, and what artist puts a single out and doesn't want it to be as big a hit as possible.
So if UKIP win the General Election, or more likely hold the balance of power we could get Mike Read in the cabinet as Culture Secretary! UKIP Shadow Culture Minister, surely not.
Did I also really hear them right when they said he tried to ban their record simply for having the word "fascist" in it?
The new Heaven 17 single, Pray, sounds great. But only on vinyl, with a "download activation code". How does that work? You've got to buy the vinyl single to be able to get the download code for a digital copy? Not the way to get a hit single, and what artist puts a single out and doesn't want it to be as big a hit as possible.
BIB - I thought that bit may raise some interest here. They do indeed suggest Mike Read tried to ban 'Fascist Groove Thing' because of its lyrical content. Interesting given he notoriously "banned" Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' for the same thing. He appears to have slightly changed his story on that one though having only recently added the detail that he was running out of time to play all the tracks he had left for his show one day and so decided to drop 'Relax', which he says was then interpreted as him refusing to play it.
Does anyone know if he actually played it subsequently?
BIB - I thought that bit may raise some interest here. They do indeed suggest Mike Read tried to ban 'Fascist Groove Thing' because of its lyrical content. Interesting given he notoriously "banned" Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' for the same thing. He appears to have slightly changed his story on that one though having only recently added the detail that he was running out of time to play all the tracks he had left for his show one day and so decided to drop 'Relax', which he says was then interpreted as him refusing to play it.
Does anyone know if he actually played it subsequently?
I was actually listening when he did that. He said something like the lyrics are horrible so he wasn't going to play it.
Looking like with episodes in June and July 1980 not shown because of the Musicians Union Strike and BBC Four not allowed to show the Jimmy Savile and Dave Lee Travis episodes will it be the Kid Jenson Episode from May 29th 1980 and jump ahead to the Peter Powell episode from 7th August 1980 and possibly the pilot epsiode which they showed snippets on The Story Of 1980 could be in end of June or July and the whole of August and the first few weeks of September off because of The BBC Proms like they did last year with 1979.
Looking like with episodes in June and July 1980 not shown because of the Musicians Union Strike and BBC Four not allowed to show the Jimmy Savile and Dave Lee Travis episodes will it be the Kid Jenson Episode from May 29th 1980 and jump ahead to the Peter Powell episode from 7th August 1980 and possibly the pilot epsiode which they showed snippets on The Story Of 1980 could be in end of June or July and the whole of August and the first few weeks of September off because of The BBC Proms like they did last year with 1979.
I'm expecting TOTP to be off air all through summer with possibly a three month break. The break last summer was too long - it spoiled the flow of the repeats - but the break this year will probably be even longer.
I can't see them showing that pilot episode, it looks far too unproffessional and unpolished! It was fine for the purpose it was made for, but I can't see it being broadcastable!
I remember Caravan by Barbara Dickson really well because my sister had the album it came from, which seemed to be some kind of concept thingy that never went anywhere, it had the feel of an album that was supposed to be an Original Soundtrack to a film or a musical that never got made. I might be completely doolally bob in my memory of it, but I think it had playing cards on the front? Anyone remember this Mike Batt project?
Does anyone know how long the kaleidoscope ending lasts for? Does it go with the revamp in August? It's a thing very much associated with the 70s, and seems a bit out of place in the 80s. These days programmes seem to change their image every year, TOTP stuck with the same image throughout the 70s pretty much. Another question about the kaleidoscope, does anyone remember if the original broadcasts showed it in it's entirety like we get now or did it cut off when the credits stopped?
Does anyone know how long the kaleidoscope ending lasts for? Does it go with the revamp in August? It's a thing very much associated with the 70s, and seems a bit out of place in the 80s. These days programmes seem to change their image every year, TOTP stuck with the same image throughout the 70s pretty much. Another question about the kaleidoscope, does anyone remember if the original broadcasts showed it in it's entirety like we get now or did it cut off when the credits stopped?
This was a common criticism of TOTP, it looked dated by 1980 and the graphics and the kaleidoscope looked like something from 1973. I'm actually looking forward to the 1981 revamp with Yellow Pearl as the theme tune and the flying records over the credits. Also by 1980 I'm starting to feel the dancers look very out of date and a year later they were phased out.
Comments
I wonder if the lyrical content of Spirits Having Flown reminded the record co. of Wind of Change therefore they decided to pair off the two tracks together.
In the same year (1980), Michael Jackson's Rock with you was coupled with 'Get on the floor ' as its B-side. The latter being a wonderful track from the Off The Wall LP. The next MJ single was 'She's Out of my Life' and its B-side was again 'Get on the floor'!! This time remixed slightly. I wasn't complaining as I bought both singles and for me Get On the Floor was my second favourite MJ recording. Only bettered by his No.1 offering from 1981.
I wonder how good or bad the chart for this week in 1980 (TOTP 24-1-80) would sound if every single in the forty was flipped over to the B side instead!
Sheila B - Spacer - Excellent stuff.
Matchbox - Totally not into them at the time, but that Buzz track is very good.
Some other good stuff though - Joe Jackson, Specials...
As previous poster I preferred Barbara Dickson's January February, not keen on Dollar apart from Who Were You With In The Moonlight, The Regents - ok, Boomtown Rats again not great for me this week, Pretenders again not one of my fav. tracks from them...
Still enjoying the shows though, and of course all the great contributions on this thread
A very varied line up, everyone from a glam rock star people thought had fizzled out in 1974 to 2 Tone. It seems the charts in 1980 could accomodate anyone, including a Ramblers style choir that had the Christmas Number One. I'm still waiting for Captain Beaky, though, and the set consisting of hand drawn characters.
Cleverly written by the late, great Jeremy Lloyd!
All together now...
The bravest animals in the land are Captain Beaky and his band
That's Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat
They march through the woodlands singing songs
that tell how they have righted wrongs
Oh, and Hissing Sid is innocent!
Been watching since they started showing em five (?) Years ago, but as I am now 42 really coming into my time.
Always surprised that more folk, especially forty and above don't watch, its pure history, and highly entertaining.
We do!
Just wish they hadn't waited 35 years to start showing the reruns!!
Good song. And if they hadn't stuck it on the B-side of 'China Girl' I always thought that could have been a single in its own right. But I suppose as he'd already released three great singles off what was, I think, only an 8 track album that might have been pushing it a bit.
I just watched that on You Tube and have no recollection of it whatsoever! Perhaps
fortuitously!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02jg497
Also, OMD are on Sounds Of The 80s on the red button this week.
It's now an earworm which is a shame because I don't particularly like it:)
So if UKIP win the General Election, or more likely hold the balance of power we could get Mike Read in the cabinet as Culture Secretary!
Did I also really hear them right when they said he tried to ban their record simply for having the word "fascist" in it?
The new Heaven 17 single, Pray, sounds great. But only on vinyl, with a "download activation code". How does that work? You've got to buy the vinyl single to be able to get the download code for a digital copy? Not the way to get a hit single, and what artist puts a single out and doesn't want it to be as big a hit as possible.
BIB - I thought that bit may raise some interest here. They do indeed suggest Mike Read tried to ban 'Fascist Groove Thing' because of its lyrical content. Interesting given he notoriously "banned" Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' for the same thing. He appears to have slightly changed his story on that one though having only recently added the detail that he was running out of time to play all the tracks he had left for his show one day and so decided to drop 'Relax', which he says was then interpreted as him refusing to play it.
Does anyone know if he actually played it subsequently?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQs02VCjIc
and here is the song clip from the movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzJQzD_2GeA
Thank you for that! Had absolutely no idea it was from an actual film, I only ever knew of the album.
Nearly 50 and still learning new stuff every day...:D
I'm still expecting to hear "Bright Eyes" when it gets to the chorus!
That's how I remember it too.
This was a common criticism of TOTP, it looked dated by 1980 and the graphics and the kaleidoscope looked like something from 1973. I'm actually looking forward to the 1981 revamp with Yellow Pearl as the theme tune and the flying records over the credits. Also by 1980 I'm starting to feel the dancers look very out of date and a year later they were phased out.