Furthermore, there doesn’t appear to be any sight of significant change on the horizon. In 1976/77, the punk revolution supposedly took place partly as a music antithesis to the bland music scene (although I personally didn’t mind punk or what they meant to oppose) but see the below extract from Danny Baker’s ‘Going to sea in a sieve’ autobiography which outlines which music genre’s which were available and had changed from about 1969 until 1976, there’s even a massive change on the top of the pops repeats from 1976 to 78. In the past 7 years (to 2006) mainstream music in my opinion has changed very little or not at all other than perhaps that then there were several Indie rock acts such as Kaiser Chiefs and the Artic Monkey’s; X factor was well under way and the die was cast. In the meantime I’m afraid that I’m left with Retro music stations and Radio 2.
Rock music was all-absorbing for me throughout the seventies and it embodied who I felt I really was. To a large extent it still does, given that it was such an extraordinary time in musical terms. Even from this distance, it seems staggering to me that the period between Woodstock and the Sex Pistols was a mere seven years. During that time I experienced the birth – not the warping or co-opting of but the birth of heavy rock, prog rock, glam rock, country rock, soft rock, Kraut rock, punk rock, dub, funk music, disco music, blue-eyed soul, the second wave of reggae led by Bob Marley, and the resurgence of Motown. All genres that were seemingly pulled from the air. This dizzying fulcrum then was the early to mid-seventies – a period you still hear lazy dolts say punk rescued music from.
Well, thank you, punk, but we were doing just fine.
In response to the above great post, and good quote from Danny Baker too, I never cease to be dis-appointed by the fact that the better the technology gets to do things, in this case music in terms of creating and listening, the worse the actual output seems to become. The same could arguably be said of TV generally as well.
Could the generic sound be the over importance placed on use of modern tech gizmo's doing a lot of the work, and diminishing a lot of the creativity? The saxophone has been recently mentioned. When was the last notable sax piece on a decent hit song? Yet on Saturday listening to Pick Of The Pops playing 1977, and 1983 there were quite a few playing, and I noticed that from 1977 there were infact 2 consecutive No1 hits with a decent sax break, When I Need You and Chanson D'Amour.
I've long held the view, going back years, that not enough distinctive instrumentation is used on pop tunes, and I wonder why when there are so many possibilities out there, and I suppose nowadays they can be computer generated anyway, rather than get an actual instrumentalist in the studio. My fathers old 1985 Yamaha organ has countless pre-programmed instruments in it from Harps to Glockenspiels, Xylophone to Sax and so much more. That's a mid 80's Yamaha!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of electronic music, my fave genre in the 1980's by far, with Dare by Human League as an example. But the current mass output bares little resemblence in creativity and distinction. Some people seem to want to niche every little music style and hear nothing else, in some narrow minded way these days. These aren't real music fans. Real music lovers like just about anything that comes along if it is good, well produced and distinctive, or says something or means something. That is why these TOTP, and 1978 at the moment are a joy to watch. Love the tracks or hate them, you never quite knew what was just around the corner. Kate Bush making No1 must surely count as one such good example from then. Nowadays I don't get the feeling that this is the case, except with Bowie's sudden 2013 re-emergence into big time charting which nobody saw coming. Great as all that is, what about the next Kate Bush, or a whole host of other next's? Adele, certainly is not. I don't remotely get the appeal. Pleasant enough maybe, but exceptional? Not to me. I have nothing in my collection by her. Must be a minority there!
I want genuine talents being promoted in primetime TV. Well produced songs. Tunes! It's that simple. Apple didn't name it iTunes for nothing did they.
Adele, certainly is not. I don't remotely get the appeal. Pleasant enough maybe, but exceptional? Not to me. I have nothing in my collection by her. Must be a minority there!
.
Me neither! :yawn: - Can never understand why she is so popular!! - She's very bland compared to great artists that were around in the 70s & 80s!!
Me neither! :yawn: - Can never understand why she is so popular!! - She's very bland compared to great artists that were around in the 70s & 80s!!
I don't want to turn it into an anti-particular artist slant, and was just using her as an example, she is good at what she does, no more in my view. However, as you have mentioned those two decades, it would be fascinating to transplant the 2011 Adele, and her album, from then back to any point in the 1970's or 1980's, exactly as she is and sounds, and wonder how well she would have done? Of course we'll never know. But the thought is interesting. Why has she sold so much? Maybe because other alternatives have not been readily at hand to appeal, so it all funnelled her way. I could be wrong, it's just a devil's advocate question really.
I don't want to turn it into an anti-particular artist slant, and was just using her as an example, she is good at what she does, no more in my view. However, as you have mentioned those two decades, it would be fascinating to transplant the 2011 Adele, and her album, from then back to any point in the 1970's or 1980's, exactly as she is and sounds, and wonder how well she would have done? Of course we'll never know. But the thought is interesting. Why has she sold so much? Maybe because other alternatives have not been readily at hand to appeal, so it all funnelled her way. I could be wrong, it's just a devil's advocate question really.
Adele doesn't float my boat either and you won't find her on my Ipod, bland and somewhat overrated - not a patch on the emergence of Kate Bush. That said, she may have had a place somewhere in the 70s/80s music scenes if she was around but not too indelibly printed.
At least she doesn't sound like anyone else, rely on autotune and pens her own songs so fair enough. A name who has irked me in the past couple of years is Jessie J who has been championed as being a inspiration, hard working and multi-talented - really? to me she is shockingly awful and isn't original in the slightest.
Adele doesn't float my boat either and you won't find her on my Ipod, bland and somewhat overrated - not a patch on the emergence of Kate Bush. That said, she may have had a place somewhere in the 70s/80s music scenes if she was around but not too indelibly printed.
At least she doesn't sound like anyone else, rely on autotune and pens her own songs so fair enough. A name who has irked me in the past couple of years is Jessie J who has been championed as being a inspiration, hard working and multi-talented - really? to me she is shockingly awful and isn't original in the slightest.
I know!!
All these new female artists are a blur to me now - there was one time I would know each and every one of them - their good songs, their bad ones - but they all just pale into insignigficance now!!
The only female artists that really stand out for me nowadays are Lana Del Ray and Amy McDonald...:o
What is the phrase...."The Cream Rises To The Top", well nowadays it should read "The Crap". It beggars belief that such mediocrity can do so well. It is all of this kind of crap mediocrity that is overwhelmingly being promoted first and foremost on major channels before anything else. Take ITV, they appear to only place the acts that have been on their shows across the network. They literally cannibalise themselves on their own creations. The artists are not appearing on true merit, but because of who they are attached to, and the BBC does the same, even with the other sides acts, in some kind of morphed collusion, Jools exempted.
No, you should not have to forensically search out the best music out there, it should be brought to mass attention time and again, with enthusiasm, for all ages. "Pop music" to cover all genres, was the preserve of the young back in the 1950's for sure, but we are now almost 60 years down the track and that ethos surely does not apply anymore, does it? People of 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or whatever now all love pop music, as they have aged with the whole thing.
The cream really has risen to the top tonight thankfully. David Bowie has Britain's new No1 album with The Next Day, the fastest seller so far this year, aged 66. Brilliant on so many levels.
Adele doesn't float my boat either and you won't find her on my Ipod, bland and somewhat overrated - not a patch on the emergence of Kate Bush. That said, she may have had a place somewhere in the 70s/80s music scenes if she was around but not too indelibly printed.
At least she doesn't sound like anyone else, rely on autotune and pens her own songs so fair enough. A name who has irked me in the past couple of years is Jessie J who has been championed as being a inspiration, hard working and multi-talented - really? to me she is shockingly awful and isn't original in the slightest.
I would agree on your Adele comments above, but the bit I've highlighted I strongly agree with, but get this...my own mother in her sixties likes Jessie J! What has gone wrong? :eek:
A truly awful dislike of mine on the male front is Olly Murs. So utterly average it angers me. Voice? What voice? Yeah, so he's an affable young geezer from Essex, but so what. Give me a reclusive, aloof or shy Kate Bush or Bowie who puts out great music any day over such pap. Not to mention that just 2 short years before he came second on the no-X Factor, he was on Deal Or No Deal in 2007, won next to nothing, but in his little chat with Noel at the time never mentioned any interest in music or singing whatsoever. Odd wouldn't you say. No, just a chancer of a media junkie in truth. :mad:
Thanks Jack for that comment, not sure which bit you were referring to though.;)
I don't want to turn it into an anti-particular artist slant, and was just using her as an example, she is good at what she does, no more in my view. However, as you have mentioned those two decades, it would be fascinating to transplant the 2011 Adele, and her album, from then back to any point in the 1970's or 1980's, exactly as she is and sounds, and wonder how well she would have done? Of course we'll never know. But the thought is interesting. Why has she sold so much? Maybe because other alternatives have not been readily at hand to appeal, so it all funnelled her way. I could be wrong, it's just a devil's advocate question really.
I would hazard a guess that Adele has garnered so much public attention and sold so many records for several reasons ...
First of all, she was given an immediate platform starting out with a Brit award - the one where the music industry tell us who we should look out for, rather than letting us choose from a wide selection of artists and make up our own minds. :rolleyes:;) So she was in the public eye from very early on.
Secondly, while I'm not wild about her music, I think it's easy to see why she should be so popular in a sea of conveyor-belt cr*p produced by will.i.am, David Guetta, Calvin Harris or Red One. It's very traditional, her voice is quite accessible and she can sing without Autotune. She has cross-generational appeal. I wouldn't, however, give her the kudos Boy George did, when he compared her to Dusty Springfield. I don't think she has the depth or the mystique of Dusty at her best. And she certainly doesn't have the range or the imagination of Kate Bush, Deborah Harry or Donna Summer - 1978's biggest female artists.
Thirdly, her well documented personal life resonates with her music - so, however heartfelt her well-known songs may be (and I would say they are), we have a narrative to latch onto. This feeds into the modern trend to turn artists' lives into soap operas - something Robbie Williams is adept at. So, regardless of whether or not it's intentional (and it may not be), it's a way of making her accessible as a 'personality' to the public. And we no longer have stars - we have personalities and characters (part of The X Factor's MO).
Finally - and this is where it gets interesting - Adele has a lot of creative freedom. She signed to a small independent label who allowed her an artistic voice and permitted her to do things they disagreed with. Terrifyingly, this is unusual - and yet it has obviously reaped dividends for her (and her label). But, despite this, other record companies refuse to follow this multi-million-selling example of how creative freedom can be lucrative and instead waste thousands on signing and promoting an endless supply of compliant puppets who will do what they are told. Go figure ... :rolleyes:
Your final paragraph Servalan is indeed one of life's mysteries isn't it. Let's just remember, had Kate Bush not had that same freedom, and demanded that it be Wuthering Heights that was released, then we would not now be seeing her top of the charts at this point in 1978, and a remarkable chapter in music history could have remained closed, possibly forever.
David Paton was only in the Rollers in a very early incarnation. My aunty's next door neighbour was in them as well, I think his name was Nobby Clarke and I remember watching TOTP when they had "Keep on Dancing" out and it was so weird to think somone we KNEW was on TOTP. DP keeps his Rollers connection quiet, can't say I blame him.
David Paton left the Bay City Rollers in 1970 - the year before the group performed 'Keep On Dancing' with Nobby Clarke on the 30-09-71 edition of TOTP (repeated on 14-10-71).
You obviously remember that better than I do.
Dave Paton is a lovely guy. My late father in law was good mates with his Dad. I went to his house once when I was about 19. Crap claim to fame but the fact that he'd played on Kate's albums rendered me gibbering and speechless.
BIB - Christine McVie (nee Perfect) of Fleetwood Mac was born in a tiny village on the outskirts of the small market town in South Cumbria where I grew up. The Perfect family left the area to live and work in Birmingham when Christine was two years old so I can't claim we went to the same school but the chances are we were born in the same cottage maternity hospital.
Pilot's drummer Stuart Tosh left the group to join 10CC and appeared with them on TOTP: Big Hits 1978 performing 'Dreadlock Holiday'.
I wouldn't, however, give her the kudos Boy George did, when he compared her to Dusty Springfield. I don't think she has the depth or the mystique of Dusty at her best. And she certainly doesn't have the range or the imagination of Kate Bush, Deborah Harry or Donna Summer - 1978's biggest female artists.
Hopefully she will grow into that type of artist, we'll see. She is only on her second album so far. Dusty Springfield seemed to peak just a few years before she disappeared to LA. When she came back she wasn't the same ever again.
I have decided to show my confidence that we will be seeing Top Of The Pops 1978 come the new year on BBC4, and so have decided to kick off the thread ready and waiting!
Nothing like a bit of nostalgia to remind of great talent & happier days before austerity
Whilst she'd had success before with the album "19" and singles from it, Adele was considered to be at the same level as artists like Duffy and Pixie Lott. In fact, before "21" they had more or less replaced her as the latest female artists. What really rocketed her to massive stardom was her performance of "Someone Like You" at the Brit Awards. Credit to her for singing live, but I personally can't stand the song - such an awful whiny vocal. But it's a classic example of the average Briton being influenced by something they see on a big ITV show, so really no different in that respect from any X Factor artist (though credit to her for writing her own songs even if they are dreary).
Current vs Nostalgia. The old, "Music was better in my day..." stuff.
The Top Of The Pops repeats have proved that every era has had its brilliant and vibrant music with dross hanging off the edges at the same time. The dross is usually forgotten over time and typically what's brilliant lives on. With these repeats we're currently looking back at a cross section of popular music through a window that opens its curtains at regular intervals. We're able to do so because it was on television and had a straight forward format we can return to to re-pepper our memories/knowledge. In 30 years time, how will people look back on this era of popular culture and discern what was really going on with "pop" music right now?
Truth is, music has recently reverted back to the radio and has become a background commodity on TV (The X Factor and The Voice obviously don't count). It's largely lost its visual presense, not just through the loss of shows like TOTP but also Saturday morning TV which regularly had the popular acts of the day. Even many of the music channels don't show wall to wall music videos, instead going for reality shows and cartoons. They've left it to You Tube and other internet media to pick up the music promo audience. People in the future will more likely have to look up the music culture of now through chart lists and checking on release dates if they wish to casually study it. But, just like any other era, they too will find brillant music as well as dross hanging onto the edges.
There's some great music around at the moment. You won't find most of it on the TV, though. Like I say, music has gone back to radio for its audience. 6Music is where I tend to hear the best of new and older music (other musical outlets are available). They recently had a vote for the greatest 100 songs from the last 10 years. I listened to the countdown over the whole day they went through it and it really showed there's great music out there right now. As good as or even better than the great stuff of years gone by.
Depending on your taste, naturally.
Here's the 6Music's 100 Greatest songs list, for anyone interested...
Hopefully she will grow into that type of artist, we'll see. She is only on her second album so far. Dusty Springfield seemed to peak just a few years before she disappeared to LA. When she came back she wasn't the same ever again.
With the greatest respect, I doubt that's possible.
Rumours have abounded about Dusty, but we never 'knew' her. We never associated certain songs of hers with real events that took place in her life in the way we can with Adele. Adele is a larger than life character but very much an open book. She isn't like Dusty - or, indeed, any genuine star who has an element of mystique about them ... something we don't know but are tantalisingly left to wonder about, and something which adds to their allure.
The world has moved on to such an extent that I think it's very tricky for that kind of stardom to be replicated.
Whilst she'd had success before with the album "19" and singles from it, Adele was considered to be at the same level as artists like Duffy and Pixie Lott. In fact, before "21" they had more or less replaced her as the latest female artists. What really rocketed her to massive stardom was her performance of "Someone Like You" at the Brit Awards. Credit to her for singing live, but I personally can't stand the song - such an awful whiny vocal. But it's a classic example of the average Briton being influenced by something they see on a big ITV show, so really no different in that respect from any X Factor artist (though credit to her for writing her own songs even if they are dreary).
While I'd go with the Duffy analogy up to a point, I don't think Adele is anywhere near Pixie Lott, Ellie Goulding or any of the other conveyor belt pop princesses manufactured by the music industry. I also think she's more her own woman than Duffy, who was always rather in the shadow of Amy Winehouse and whose fortunes have apparently faded fast.
I also doubt the Brits performance was quite as much of a watershed moment as you say. I was working with people at the time who had cottoned on to 21 way before then and it only confirmed to them what they had been raving about for weeks before. I think her success was quite word-of-mouth up until then, but significant nonetheless. If she stood out that night it was more about who her contemporaries were and how stripped down her rendition of that song was compared to some of the OTT theatricals going on. It wasn't that difficult for her to shine, and the narrative attached to that song made it easy for people to latch onto. I also don't think that performance can have had much to do with her success Stateside, where it was very much driven by the music and her voice - to her credit.
Personally, I still think she's quite unremarkable, though ...
A really good show.. Funny seeing Blly Idol looking so young with Generation X.
Still trying to get into the Elkie Brooks track. Might need a few more listens.
Excellent track from Hot Chocolate, a great era from them.
Not seeing much love for Tina Charles so I'll give her some..Always had a wee soft spot for Tina. Obviously nearing the end of her chart time but a nice version of the song. Noticed her chart run goes 28-28-28-27.....So I guess we'll be seeing her again in the next few weeks.
I can't help liking Brian and Michael with their Matchstalk/sticks???? (I know this track holds a special place with Rich) Only noticed that their climb to No.1 consisted of a 3-4-1. Doesn't happen very often. Off the top of my head I can think of 'Lucille' and 'The Model' which both did a 2-3-1.Both only held for a single week whereas B&M would hang on for 3 weeks.
Blondie...What can I say that hasn't been said. So spoilt with Debbie and Kate Bush. If Brian & Michael hadn't done their yo yo chart run 'Denis' would have had a week at No.1!
Andy Cameron...:eek: Not really sure what to say!! It's so bad it's funny. For any people fortunate enough NOT to be familiar with Andy Cameron. He's a Scottish 'comedian'. My memory of him (apart from Ally's Tartan Army) is being on radio and tv through the 80's and 90's. My grandad couldn't stand him and he never did it for me. Really full of himself. I actually thought he was dead until I googled him yesterday. He's still alive and kicking at 73.
Again, another chart anomaly when 'Ally's Tartan Army' went 13-16-6.....Apparantly it sold 360 000 in total...Surely it wasn't only Scots who bought the single?
"Scotland are the greatest football team"...where was I
At least we had Gerry Rafferty in the Top 10 to give us some credibility!!!
Oh, and Rich, I still don't know why it was a hit so early considering the WC hadn't started yet!?!
Got to confess, I really like the 1982 Scottish World Cup song..."We Have A Dream"
Great track from Eruption and brilliant to see The Jam back again. They've featured well over the last few months with a good few TOTP's appearances. I was a late developer with The Jam and didn't really get into them until 1981's "Funeral Pyre" of all tracks. It's good to see these early performances.
Another fantastic performance from Kate Bush. Is it true that many people at the time thought she would be a 1 hit wonder, a kind of novelty act. I was only 8 going on 9 at the time so can't really judge it.
The playout with Nottingham Forest made me smile.The familiar formula for a footie song!
Disappointed that we won't be seeing any DLT shows in the near future but I suppose we have to be grateful for what we can get!
Current vs Nostalgia. The old, "Music was better in my day..." stuff.
The Top Of The Pops repeats have proved that every era has had its brilliant and vibrant music with dross hanging off the edges at the same time. The dross is usually forgotten over time and typically what's brilliant lives on. With these repeats we're currently looking back at a cross section of popular music through a window that opens its curtains at regular intervals. We're able to do so because it was on television and had a straight forward format we can return to to re-pepper our memories/knowledge. In 30 years time, how will people look back on this era of popular culture and discern what was really going on with "pop" music right now?
Truth is, music has recently reverted back to the radio and has become a background commodity on TV (The X Factor and The Voice obviously don't count). It's largely lost its visual presense, not just through the loss of shows like TOTP but also Saturday morning TV which regularly had the popular acts of the day. Even many of the music channels don't show wall to wall music videos, instead going for reality shows and cartoons. They've left it to You Tube and other internet media to pick up the music promo audience. People in the future will more likely have to look up the music culture of now through chart lists and checking on release dates if they wish to casually study it. But, just like any other era, they too will find brillant music as well as dross hanging onto the edges.
There's some great music around at the moment. You won't find most of it on the TV, though. Like I say, music has gone back to radio for its audience. 6Music is where I tend to hear the best of new and older music (other musical outlets are available). They recently had a vote for the greatest 100 songs from the last 10 years. I listened to the countdown over the whole day they went through it and it really showed there's great music out there right now. As good as or even better than the great stuff of years gone by.
Depending on your taste, naturally.
Here's the 6Music's 100 Greatest songs list, for anyone interested...
I get the point you are making, but there are a few holes in your argument ...
The comparisons many, myself included, are making is between the singles chart of 1978 and today's. That's rather different from comparing all the music of 1978 with all the music of 2013. The whole point is that the singles chart then contained genuine diversity and was awash with different styles of music. That just isn't the case with the current singles chart.
Ruling out The X Factor and The Voice is rather missing the point. They are hugely important. Record companies view them as great opportunities to showcase an artist's latest single. They reach huge audiences, and are known to have a positive impact on sales. So they are useful marketing tools in the way TOTP was in 1978. The difference is that those shows are restrictive in their choice of artists. There's no chance of finding the 2013 equivalent of, say, The Jam, Funkadelic or Kate Bush on them, because the music industry isn't interested in promoting artists like that to a mainstream audience, and so they aren't anywhere near the singles chart. And, as we are talking about TOTP 1978, surely the singles chart should be the common point of reference ...?
And the music channels do show music - but the vast majority of them show the same acts repeatedly. Depeche Mode, Janelle Monae, Grace Jones and Gorillaz have all made genuinely different and visually arresting videos in the last five years. Have any of them ever been seen on TV? No, because it's easier to carry on playing The Saturdays, Cheryl Cole, Pitbull and whatever other Autotuned creation the music industry is supplying them with. So there is music television: it's just not offering anything distinctive or different.
And radio is little different: it's Radio 1 and Capital that create hits and they are both quite conservative, Capital especially. That 6 Music list may contain some great tracks, but many of them have never been anywhere near the charts, and for a good reason: 6 Music is a niche station. It'd be like comparing John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1978 with the end of year sales charts. And TOTP is about the singles chart.
I would genuinely love to be on here raving about new artists - but I'd be pushed to find any from the 2013 singles chart. And that's the music industry's fault for trying to control what we hear and see. Nothing to do with nostalgia.
A really good show.. Funny seeing Blly Idol looking so young with Generation X.
Still trying to get into the Elkie Brooks track. Might need a few more listens.
Excellent track from Hot Chocolate, a great era from them.
Not seeing much love for Tina Charles so I'll give her some..Always had a wee soft spot for Tina. Obviously nearing the end of her chart time but a nice version of the song. Noticed her chart run goes 28-28-28-27.....So I guess we'll be seeing her again in the next few weeks.
I can't help liking Brian and Michael with their Matchstalk/sticks???? (I know this track holds a special place with Rich) Only noticed that their climb to No.1 consisted of a 3-4-1. Doesn't happen very often. Off the top of my head I can think of 'Lucille' and 'The Model' which both did a 2-3-1.Both only held for a single week whereas B&M would hang on for 3 weeks.
Blondie...What can I say that hasn't been said. So spoilt with Debbie and Kate Bush. If Brian & Michael hadn't done their yo yo chart run 'Denis' would have had a week at No.1!
Andy Cameron...:eek: Not really sure what to say!! It's so bad it's funny. For any people fortunate enough NOT to be familiar with Andy Cameron. He's a Scottish 'comedian'. My memory of him (apart from Ally's Tartan Army) is being on radio and tv through the 80's and 90's. My grandad couldn't stand him and he never did it for me. Really full of himself. I actually thought he was dead until I googled him yesterday. He's still alive and kicking at 73.
Again, another chart anomaly when 'Ally's Tartan Army' went 13-16-6.....Apparantly it sold 360 000 in total...Surely it wasn't only Scots who bought the single?
"Scotland are the greatest football team"...where was I
At least we had Gerry Rafferty in the Top 10 to give us some credibility!!!
Oh, and Rich, I still don't know why it was a hit so early considering the WC hadn't started yet!?!
Got to confess, I really like the 1982 Scottish World Cup song..."We Have A Dream"
Great track from Eruption and brilliant to see The Jam back again. They've featured well over the last few months with a good few TOTP's appearances. I was a late developer with The Jam and didn't really get into them until 1981's "Funeral Pyre" of all tracks. It's good to see these early performances.
Another fantastic performance from Kate Bush. Is it true that many people at the time thought she would be a 1 hit wonder, a kind of novelty act. I was only 8 going on 9 at the time so can't really judge it.
The playout with Nottingham Forest made me smile.The familiar formula for a footie song!
Disappointed that we won't be seeing any DLT shows in the near future but I suppose we have to be grateful for what we can get!
BIBs:
1) Indeed, one of the greatest football songs ever, and, dare I say it, much better than "I Have A Dream"!
2) No this isn't true, because her album "The Kick Inside" was so well received.
I get the point you are making, but there are a few holes in your argument ...
The comparisons many, myself included, are making is between the singles chart of 1978 and today's. That's rather different from comparing all the music of 1978 with all the music of 2013. The whole point is that the singles chart then contained genuine diversity and was awash with different styles of music. That just isn't the case with the current singles chart.
Ruling out The X Factor and The Voice is rather missing the point. They are hugely important. Record companies view them as great opportunities to showcase an artist's latest single. They reach huge audiences, and are known to have a positive impact on sales. So they are useful marketing tools in the way TOTP was in 1978. The difference is that those shows are restrictive in their choice of artists. There's no chance of finding the 2013 equivalent of, say, The Jam, Funkadelic or Kate Bush on them, because the music industry isn't interested in promoting artists like that to a mainstream audience, and so they aren't anywhere near the singles chart. And, as we are talking about TOTP 1978, surely the singles chart should be the common point of reference ...?
And the music channels do show music - but the vast majority of them show the same acts repeatedly. Depeche Mode, Janelle Monae, Grace Jones and Gorillaz have all made genuinely different and visually arresting videos in the last five years. Have any of them ever been seen on TV? No, because it's easier to carry on playing The Saturdays, Cheryl Cole, Pitbull and whatever other Autotuned creation the music industry is supplying them with. So there is music television: it's just not offering anything distinctive or different.
And radio is little different: it's Radio 1 and Capital that create hits and they are both quite conservative, Capital especially. That 6 Music list may contain some great tracks, but many of them have never been anywhere near the charts, and for a good reason: 6 Music is a niche station. It'd be like comparing John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1978 with the end of year sales charts. And TOTP is about the singles chart.
I would genuinely love to be on here raving about new artists - but I'd be pushed to find any from the 2013 singles chart. And that's the music industry's fault for trying to control what we hear and see. Nothing to do with nostalgia.
Could not have written it better Servalan, word perfect I'd say. I took a quick glance through the Top 50 on that list, and the majority of tracks I simply did not know. Very few significant sized hit songs on it either. I think I own only about 5 from the Top 50, including Pumped Up Kicks which was the ONLY new song I downloaded in 2011, and that is a shocker. Also the fab Time To Pretend, and one enormous hit Crazy, as well as The Killers and Johnny Cash. What does that Cash track say about things this past decade that it can be put in the top ten? The single scraped the Top 40 I believe. Yet this is one song that had a truly powerful video to go with it. Perhaps his greatest song at the bitter end of his career? At a guess I would imagine that if a similar list came out in 1978 the majority of tracks would be instantly known by music fans, and the wider public, and have been bigger hits? Could be wrong, as '78 undoubtedly had its niche tracks that made little impact despite their excellence. I'll check out the lower 50 later.
Great notice on the 3, 4, 1 with Brian & Michael, Highlander Ian! I overlooked that one. I wonder what week I bought it now? Maybe the week it was at 4, and went to the top next chart? I recall it on Blue Peter, so maybe it had a Blue Peter effect, after all that had millions of us boys and girls watching at the time. When it hit No1 that Tuesday lunchtime, 4th April 1978 it must have come as one hell of a nasty/pleasant surprise. Delete as applicable!
Thanks Jack for your comment. Just as nice to have a kind agreement as much as a constructive difference of views. I am genuinely surprised how many people take a similar view to me about Adele actually.
looking forwards to this weeks upcoming episode,never seen it since it was first on as noel tidybeard wouldn't let his episodes have a UK Gold repeat.shame that we'll miss the march 23rd 1978 episode hosted by DLT (I tried to upload my UK gold recording of it to you tube but it was immediately blocked for the UK ,Germany and The U.S )
I am genuinely surprised how many people take a similar view to me about Adele actually.
Count me in as well, just don't 'get' her at all, I find her music samey, bland and to be frank blo0dy depressing, not what we need in these austere times.
IMO Duffy's Rockferry and its associated singles are far superior to anything Adele has done. Her follow up Endlessly was slated, and received very little airplay, not helped by the fact that the wrong track was lifted as the one and only single, there are at least two other tracks that would have made good summer singles.
The reason may well be the fact that as already pointed out, Adele is an industry assisted 'fave' and (IMO) hyped good beyond reason, after all is she doing anything different to what Alison Moyet was doing back in 1984?
Comments
Rock music was all-absorbing for me throughout the seventies and it embodied who I felt I really was. To a large extent it still does, given that it was such an extraordinary time in musical terms. Even from this distance, it seems staggering to me that the period between Woodstock and the Sex Pistols was a mere seven years. During that time I experienced the birth – not the warping or co-opting of but the birth of heavy rock, prog rock, glam rock, country rock, soft rock, Kraut rock, punk rock, dub, funk music, disco music, blue-eyed soul, the second wave of reggae led by Bob Marley, and the resurgence of Motown. All genres that were seemingly pulled from the air. This dizzying fulcrum then was the early to mid-seventies – a period you still hear lazy dolts say punk rescued music from.
Well, thank you, punk, but we were doing just fine.
Could the generic sound be the over importance placed on use of modern tech gizmo's doing a lot of the work, and diminishing a lot of the creativity? The saxophone has been recently mentioned. When was the last notable sax piece on a decent hit song? Yet on Saturday listening to Pick Of The Pops playing 1977, and 1983 there were quite a few playing, and I noticed that from 1977 there were infact 2 consecutive No1 hits with a decent sax break, When I Need You and Chanson D'Amour.
I've long held the view, going back years, that not enough distinctive instrumentation is used on pop tunes, and I wonder why when there are so many possibilities out there, and I suppose nowadays they can be computer generated anyway, rather than get an actual instrumentalist in the studio. My fathers old 1985 Yamaha organ has countless pre-programmed instruments in it from Harps to Glockenspiels, Xylophone to Sax and so much more. That's a mid 80's Yamaha!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of electronic music, my fave genre in the 1980's by far, with Dare by Human League as an example. But the current mass output bares little resemblence in creativity and distinction. Some people seem to want to niche every little music style and hear nothing else, in some narrow minded way these days. These aren't real music fans. Real music lovers like just about anything that comes along if it is good, well produced and distinctive, or says something or means something. That is why these TOTP, and 1978 at the moment are a joy to watch. Love the tracks or hate them, you never quite knew what was just around the corner. Kate Bush making No1 must surely count as one such good example from then. Nowadays I don't get the feeling that this is the case, except with Bowie's sudden 2013 re-emergence into big time charting which nobody saw coming. Great as all that is, what about the next Kate Bush, or a whole host of other next's? Adele, certainly is not. I don't remotely get the appeal. Pleasant enough maybe, but exceptional? Not to me. I have nothing in my collection by her. Must be a minority there!
I want genuine talents being promoted in primetime TV. Well produced songs. Tunes! It's that simple. Apple didn't name it iTunes for nothing did they.
Me neither! :yawn: - Can never understand why she is so popular!! - She's very bland compared to great artists that were around in the 70s & 80s!!
I don't want to turn it into an anti-particular artist slant, and was just using her as an example, she is good at what she does, no more in my view. However, as you have mentioned those two decades, it would be fascinating to transplant the 2011 Adele, and her album, from then back to any point in the 1970's or 1980's, exactly as she is and sounds, and wonder how well she would have done? Of course we'll never know. But the thought is interesting. Why has she sold so much? Maybe because other alternatives have not been readily at hand to appeal, so it all funnelled her way. I could be wrong, it's just a devil's advocate question really.
Adele doesn't float my boat either and you won't find her on my Ipod, bland and somewhat overrated - not a patch on the emergence of Kate Bush. That said, she may have had a place somewhere in the 70s/80s music scenes if she was around but not too indelibly printed.
At least she doesn't sound like anyone else, rely on autotune and pens her own songs so fair enough. A name who has irked me in the past couple of years is Jessie J who has been championed as being a inspiration, hard working and multi-talented - really? to me she is shockingly awful and isn't original in the slightest.
I know!!
All these new female artists are a blur to me now - there was one time I would know each and every one of them - their good songs, their bad ones - but they all just pale into insignigficance now!!
The only female artists that really stand out for me nowadays are Lana Del Ray and Amy McDonald...:o
*applauds*
I would agree on your Adele comments above, but the bit I've highlighted I strongly agree with, but get this...my own mother in her sixties likes Jessie J! What has gone wrong? :eek:
A truly awful dislike of mine on the male front is Olly Murs. So utterly average it angers me. Voice? What voice? Yeah, so he's an affable young geezer from Essex, but so what. Give me a reclusive, aloof or shy Kate Bush or Bowie who puts out great music any day over such pap. Not to mention that just 2 short years before he came second on the no-X Factor, he was on Deal Or No Deal in 2007, won next to nothing, but in his little chat with Noel at the time never mentioned any interest in music or singing whatsoever. Odd wouldn't you say. No, just a chancer of a media junkie in truth. :mad:
Thanks Jack for that comment, not sure which bit you were referring to though.;)
I would hazard a guess that Adele has garnered so much public attention and sold so many records for several reasons ...
First of all, she was given an immediate platform starting out with a Brit award - the one where the music industry tell us who we should look out for, rather than letting us choose from a wide selection of artists and make up our own minds. :rolleyes:;) So she was in the public eye from very early on.
Secondly, while I'm not wild about her music, I think it's easy to see why she should be so popular in a sea of conveyor-belt cr*p produced by will.i.am, David Guetta, Calvin Harris or Red One. It's very traditional, her voice is quite accessible and she can sing without Autotune. She has cross-generational appeal. I wouldn't, however, give her the kudos Boy George did, when he compared her to Dusty Springfield. I don't think she has the depth or the mystique of Dusty at her best. And she certainly doesn't have the range or the imagination of Kate Bush, Deborah Harry or Donna Summer - 1978's biggest female artists.
Thirdly, her well documented personal life resonates with her music - so, however heartfelt her well-known songs may be (and I would say they are), we have a narrative to latch onto. This feeds into the modern trend to turn artists' lives into soap operas - something Robbie Williams is adept at. So, regardless of whether or not it's intentional (and it may not be), it's a way of making her accessible as a 'personality' to the public. And we no longer have stars - we have personalities and characters (part of The X Factor's MO).
Finally - and this is where it gets interesting - Adele has a lot of creative freedom. She signed to a small independent label who allowed her an artistic voice and permitted her to do things they disagreed with. Terrifyingly, this is unusual - and yet it has obviously reaped dividends for her (and her label). But, despite this, other record companies refuse to follow this multi-million-selling example of how creative freedom can be lucrative and instead waste thousands on signing and promoting an endless supply of compliant puppets who will do what they are told. Go figure ... :rolleyes:
David Paton left the Bay City Rollers in 1970 - the year before the group performed 'Keep On Dancing' with Nobby Clarke on the 30-09-71 edition of TOTP (repeated on 14-10-71).
You obviously remember that better than I do.
BIB - Christine McVie (nee Perfect) of Fleetwood Mac was born in a tiny village on the outskirts of the small market town in South Cumbria where I grew up. The Perfect family left the area to live and work in Birmingham when Christine was two years old so I can't claim we went to the same school but the chances are we were born in the same cottage maternity hospital.
Pilot's drummer Stuart Tosh left the group to join 10CC and appeared with them on TOTP: Big Hits 1978 performing 'Dreadlock Holiday'.
All of it. I couldn't single one comment I didn't agree with. Well said.
Hopefully she will grow into that type of artist, we'll see. She is only on her second album so far. Dusty Springfield seemed to peak just a few years before she disappeared to LA. When she came back she wasn't the same ever again.
Nothing like a bit of nostalgia to remind of great talent & happier days before austerity
Obviously not everyone, but I would have thought that most people are far better off materially than they were in 1978.
The Top Of The Pops repeats have proved that every era has had its brilliant and vibrant music with dross hanging off the edges at the same time. The dross is usually forgotten over time and typically what's brilliant lives on. With these repeats we're currently looking back at a cross section of popular music through a window that opens its curtains at regular intervals. We're able to do so because it was on television and had a straight forward format we can return to to re-pepper our memories/knowledge. In 30 years time, how will people look back on this era of popular culture and discern what was really going on with "pop" music right now?
Truth is, music has recently reverted back to the radio and has become a background commodity on TV (The X Factor and The Voice obviously don't count). It's largely lost its visual presense, not just through the loss of shows like TOTP but also Saturday morning TV which regularly had the popular acts of the day. Even many of the music channels don't show wall to wall music videos, instead going for reality shows and cartoons. They've left it to You Tube and other internet media to pick up the music promo audience. People in the future will more likely have to look up the music culture of now through chart lists and checking on release dates if they wish to casually study it. But, just like any other era, they too will find brillant music as well as dross hanging onto the edges.
There's some great music around at the moment. You won't find most of it on the TV, though. Like I say, music has gone back to radio for its audience. 6Music is where I tend to hear the best of new and older music (other musical outlets are available). They recently had a vote for the greatest 100 songs from the last 10 years. I listened to the countdown over the whole day they went through it and it really showed there's great music out there right now. As good as or even better than the great stuff of years gone by.
Depending on your taste, naturally.
Here's the 6Music's 100 Greatest songs list, for anyone interested...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014fjyc/live
With the greatest respect, I doubt that's possible.
Rumours have abounded about Dusty, but we never 'knew' her. We never associated certain songs of hers with real events that took place in her life in the way we can with Adele. Adele is a larger than life character but very much an open book. She isn't like Dusty - or, indeed, any genuine star who has an element of mystique about them ... something we don't know but are tantalisingly left to wonder about, and something which adds to their allure.
The world has moved on to such an extent that I think it's very tricky for that kind of stardom to be replicated.
While I'd go with the Duffy analogy up to a point, I don't think Adele is anywhere near Pixie Lott, Ellie Goulding or any of the other conveyor belt pop princesses manufactured by the music industry. I also think she's more her own woman than Duffy, who was always rather in the shadow of Amy Winehouse and whose fortunes have apparently faded fast.
I also doubt the Brits performance was quite as much of a watershed moment as you say. I was working with people at the time who had cottoned on to 21 way before then and it only confirmed to them what they had been raving about for weeks before. I think her success was quite word-of-mouth up until then, but significant nonetheless. If she stood out that night it was more about who her contemporaries were and how stripped down her rendition of that song was compared to some of the OTT theatricals going on. It wasn't that difficult for her to shine, and the narrative attached to that song made it easy for people to latch onto. I also don't think that performance can have had much to do with her success Stateside, where it was very much driven by the music and her voice - to her credit.
Personally, I still think she's quite unremarkable, though ...
A really good show.. Funny seeing Blly Idol looking so young with Generation X.
Still trying to get into the Elkie Brooks track. Might need a few more listens.
Excellent track from Hot Chocolate, a great era from them.
Not seeing much love for Tina Charles so I'll give her some..Always had a wee soft spot for Tina. Obviously nearing the end of her chart time but a nice version of the song. Noticed her chart run goes 28-28-28-27.....So I guess we'll be seeing her again in the next few weeks.
I can't help liking Brian and Michael with their Matchstalk/sticks???? (I know this track holds a special place with Rich)
Blondie...What can I say that hasn't been said. So spoilt with Debbie and Kate Bush. If Brian & Michael hadn't done their yo yo chart run 'Denis' would have had a week at No.1!
Andy Cameron...:eek: Not really sure what to say!! It's so bad it's funny. For any people fortunate enough NOT to be familiar with Andy Cameron. He's a Scottish 'comedian'. My memory of him (apart from Ally's Tartan Army) is being on radio and tv through the 80's and 90's. My grandad couldn't stand him and he never did it for me. Really full of himself. I actually thought he was dead until I googled him yesterday. He's still alive and kicking at 73.
Again, another chart anomaly when 'Ally's Tartan Army' went 13-16-6.....Apparantly it sold 360 000 in total...Surely it wasn't only Scots who bought the single?
"Scotland are the greatest football team"...where was I
At least we had Gerry Rafferty in the Top 10 to give us some credibility!!!
Oh, and Rich, I still don't know why it was a hit so early considering the WC hadn't started yet!?!
Got to confess, I really like the 1982 Scottish World Cup song..."We Have A Dream"
Great track from Eruption and brilliant to see The Jam back again. They've featured well over the last few months with a good few TOTP's appearances. I was a late developer with The Jam and didn't really get into them until 1981's "Funeral Pyre" of all tracks. It's good to see these early performances.
Another fantastic performance from Kate Bush.
The playout with Nottingham Forest made me smile.The familiar formula for a footie song!
Disappointed that we won't be seeing any DLT shows in the near future but I suppose we have to be grateful for what we can get!
I get the point you are making, but there are a few holes in your argument ...
The comparisons many, myself included, are making is between the singles chart of 1978 and today's. That's rather different from comparing all the music of 1978 with all the music of 2013. The whole point is that the singles chart then contained genuine diversity and was awash with different styles of music. That just isn't the case with the current singles chart.
Ruling out The X Factor and The Voice is rather missing the point. They are hugely important. Record companies view them as great opportunities to showcase an artist's latest single. They reach huge audiences, and are known to have a positive impact on sales. So they are useful marketing tools in the way TOTP was in 1978. The difference is that those shows are restrictive in their choice of artists. There's no chance of finding the 2013 equivalent of, say, The Jam, Funkadelic or Kate Bush on them, because the music industry isn't interested in promoting artists like that to a mainstream audience, and so they aren't anywhere near the singles chart. And, as we are talking about TOTP 1978, surely the singles chart should be the common point of reference ...?
And the music channels do show music - but the vast majority of them show the same acts repeatedly. Depeche Mode, Janelle Monae, Grace Jones and Gorillaz have all made genuinely different and visually arresting videos in the last five years. Have any of them ever been seen on TV? No, because it's easier to carry on playing The Saturdays, Cheryl Cole, Pitbull and whatever other Autotuned creation the music industry is supplying them with. So there is music television: it's just not offering anything distinctive or different.
And radio is little different: it's Radio 1 and Capital that create hits and they are both quite conservative, Capital especially. That 6 Music list may contain some great tracks, but many of them have never been anywhere near the charts, and for a good reason: 6 Music is a niche station. It'd be like comparing John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1978 with the end of year sales charts. And TOTP is about the singles chart.
I would genuinely love to be on here raving about new artists - but I'd be pushed to find any from the 2013 singles chart. And that's the music industry's fault for trying to control what we hear and see. Nothing to do with nostalgia.
BIBs:
1) Indeed, one of the greatest football songs ever, and, dare I say it, much better than "I Have A Dream"!
2) No this isn't true, because her album "The Kick Inside" was so well received.
Could not have written it better Servalan, word perfect I'd say. I took a quick glance through the Top 50 on that list, and the majority of tracks I simply did not know. Very few significant sized hit songs on it either. I think I own only about 5 from the Top 50, including Pumped Up Kicks which was the ONLY new song I downloaded in 2011, and that is a shocker. Also the fab Time To Pretend, and one enormous hit Crazy, as well as The Killers and Johnny Cash. What does that Cash track say about things this past decade that it can be put in the top ten? The single scraped the Top 40 I believe. Yet this is one song that had a truly powerful video to go with it. Perhaps his greatest song at the bitter end of his career? At a guess I would imagine that if a similar list came out in 1978 the majority of tracks would be instantly known by music fans, and the wider public, and have been bigger hits? Could be wrong, as '78 undoubtedly had its niche tracks that made little impact despite their excellence. I'll check out the lower 50 later.
Great notice on the 3, 4, 1 with Brian & Michael, Highlander Ian! I overlooked that one. I wonder what week I bought it now? Maybe the week it was at 4, and went to the top next chart? I recall it on Blue Peter, so maybe it had a Blue Peter effect, after all that had millions of us boys and girls watching at the time. When it hit No1 that Tuesday lunchtime, 4th April 1978 it must have come as one hell of a nasty/pleasant surprise. Delete as applicable!
Thanks Jack for your comment. Just as nice to have a kind agreement as much as a constructive difference of views. I am genuinely surprised how many people take a similar view to me about Adele actually.
Count me in as well, just don't 'get' her at all, I find her music samey, bland and to be frank blo0dy depressing, not what we need in these austere times.
IMO Duffy's Rockferry and its associated singles are far superior to anything Adele has done. Her follow up Endlessly was slated, and received very little airplay, not helped by the fact that the wrong track was lifted as the one and only single, there are at least two other tracks that would have made good summer singles.
The reason may well be the fact that as already pointed out, Adele is an industry assisted 'fave' and (IMO) hyped good beyond reason, after all is she doing anything different to what Alison Moyet was doing back in 1984?